Tuesday, March 31, 2009

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Stevie Nicks: Fabulous And Thin At 60 Top
Stevie Nicks is 60 but she still feels like she's on the "edge of 17," thanks to super-efficient Power Plate workouts that have whipped her into incredible shape. "When I gained my 30 lbs., it was because I went on tranquilizers for eight years," Nicks told PEOPLE Monday, the day before her new CD, The Soundstage Sessions, and Live in Chicago DVD hit stores. "I don't blame myself for that."
 
Rob Fishman: My Mother, the Future of Journalism Top
They've got high hopes for journalism, high apple pie in the sky hopes. Well not exactly an apple cobbler, but a " new news pie ," in the words of industry Pangloss, Jeff Jarvis. Because denial's neither just a river in Egypt nor a shabby URL , it's the lofty rhetoric, unbridled optimism and wishful thinking that transmogrifies journalism into an "ecosystem." Denial is the belief that journalism will save itself. Reading as Jarvis waxes poetic on the future of this profession, one can't help but remember that great scene in 2004's In Good Company , in which industry titan Teddy K. asks: "Synergy. What does it mean? Why does a business swim with it and sink without it, in this new ocean of megabytes, streaming video and satellites?" Clasping his hands together like a yin yang, he says, "This is unbreakable. This is inevitable." Yet where some see a digital utopia at the end of technology's inexorable march, others see a cesspool . Jarvis's piece comes on the heels of an announcement by the Huffington Post that it will start a $1.75 million fund for investigative journalism. In his estimation, the future of journalism "is not about some single new-fangled product and company taking over the old-fangled and monopolistic predecessor. News comes from a broad ecosystem with many players adding in under many models for many reasons." In this "new ecosystem," news organizations will be responsible for "aggregating, curating, organizing." Revenue, Jarvis says, will come from a hodgepodge of advertising, contributions from foundations, individual donations, and volunteerism. Journalism's salvation, in short, lies in synergy. Synergy is a fancy way of saying, The sum of the parts is greater than the whole. So let's look at the different pieces of Jarvis's pie. News Outlets as Curators It's interesting that "curator" is the role we imagine for online news outlets. Curators are custodians, experts entrusted by the public to watch over our treasure troves. Hence Walter Cronkite was the "most trusted man in America." Jennings, Brokaw and Rather--the "Big Three"--were called "voice of God" anchors. And those paladins of journalism, Woodward and Bernstein, unmasked corruption for the public good. These were all "establishment" figures. Woodward and Bernstein worked at The Washington Post under the close scrutiny of editor Ben Bradlee and publisher Kay Graham. They embodied the "old-fangled and monopolistic" organizations that Jarvis today decries. But it's precisely because traditional outlets were monolithic that they avoided the pitfalls of online journalism. Even if the Times was vaguely liberal and the Journal vaguely conservative, there was never a face or a name to put to those biases. Today, Arianna Huffington and Matt Drudge are right there on the banners. As Nick Kristof writes of journalism today, "When we go online, each of us is our own editor, our own gatekeeper. We select the kind of news and opinions that we care most about." This phenomenon--what Kristof calls the "Daily Me"--is felt more acutely when the provider of news is not a faceless bureaucracy, but an online personality with unabashed political leanings. Reading the narratives crafted by HuffPo and Drudge each day, one comes to realize Kristof's fear: "we'll be irritated less by what we read and find our wisdom confirmed more often." Putting the revenue question aside for a second, there are legitimate concerns with how ably an online outlet can serve the public. So far, no blog site appears ready to accept the newspapers' mantle. Advertising Revenues Craig Moffett, an analyst at Bernstein Research, has been cited several times for his take on ad revenues: "The notion that the enormous cost of real news-gathering might be supported by the ad load of display advertising down the side of the page, or by the revenue share from having a Google search box in the corner of the page, or even by a 15-second teaser from Geico prior to a news clip, is idiotic on its face." If newspapers have learned anything this year, it's that advertising is not a reliable source of income in this digital age. The Times has learned the hard way what another report concluded: "The Internet has taken away far more advertising than it has given." Philanthropic Contributions David Swensen, Yale's in-house investment guru, championed "News You Can Endow" as a solution for journalism. (Since then, it's worth noting, he's been discredited as the "man who gutted the Ivy League.") But the recession has been a bad time for billionaires, and private foundations are not what they once were. HuffPo's new endowment, as laudable as it may be, amounts to only one-tenth of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune's news budget. Beyond the bottom line, as Jack Shafer notes in Slate, "there's also something disconcerting about wanting to divorce the newspaper from market pressures." Among Shafer's many concerns are that newspapers would become beholden to wealthy philanthropists, that foundation-run organizations are typically more concerned with "social justice" than journalism, and that the introduction of an affluent deus ex machina ignores the fundamental problem of journalism today--namely, that it's not sellable. Individual Donations Spot.Us has the idea of individuals paying directly for stories. Readers can commission a "quick hit" story for between $150-350, while an investigative story will run you $1,000. "Traditionally, .001 percent of the population gets to set the news agenda, and they were called editors," said Spot.Us founder David Cohn. "What I'm trying to do is increase the number of people who set the editorial agenda." Besides the glaring problem with this approach--the ethical quandary of turning journalists into mercenaries--one wonders, If everyone's an editor, is no one an editor? Kristof's Daily Me is ultimately a descent into anomie, where professional and ethical standards fall by the wayside. A more innocuous version of Spot.Us imagines newspapers as mega-churches , where newsreaders become charitable parishioners. But the reason we're in this problem in the first place is that newsreaders feel entitled to free content. If we wanted to pay up, we'd be buying subscriptions. Volunteerism "Some people will volunteer," Jarvis says, "podcasting their school-board meetings, just because they care." These people are my mother, who in January launched Scarsdale10583.com , a community news blog. While she's many things--a voracious reader, an MBA, and a former copywriter--my mother will be the first to admit that she's not a journalist. In fact, she doesn't see herself as competition to our local paper, The Scarsdale Inquirer , which she thinks is "one of the best community newspapers around." "They have a staff to cover everything that's happening in the Village, while I'm dependent on certain sources and my own capacity--which is one person," she says. In the same way that Web-MD turned every hypochondriac into a doctor, Blogspot validates anyone with a camera phone as a journalist. Taken one by one, the pieces of this pie aren't always palatable (and in fact, many are unsavory). The real problem, however, is that the synergy is not there: The parts are far weaker than the aspirational whole. Handouts, hobbyists and hired guns can fill short-term voids, but the dilemma of modern journalism, in the long run, remains.
 
Madonna Breaks Silence, Confirms Adoption Push Top
NEW YORK — Madonna has confirmed her attempts to adopt a young Malawian girl and said through a spokeswoman that she is following standard procedures in adopting the child amid criticism by some that she was using her fame to quicken the process. The 50-year-old pop superstar also confirmed she took her 3-year-old son David, also adopted from Malawi, to visit with his biological father Yohane Banda for the first time since she and David left the country in 2006. "Madonna is committed to maintaining an ongoing relationship with David's Malawian roots," said Liz Rosenberg in a statement Tuesday morning. Madonna arrived in the African nation this week with David, her 12-year-old daughter Lourdes and 8-year-old son Rocco, and has toured the country and also visited a day care center built by her charity. But she also came to the country in attempts to bring home another child from Malawi. In her statement, Madonna confirmed she is trying to adopt a girl named Chifundo "Mercy" James who is about 4 years old. Malawian welfare official and another person involved in the proceedings had confirmed an adoption application was under way and spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is considered sensitive. The girl's 18-year-old mother was unmarried and died soon after she gave birth, according to the child's uncle, John Ngalande. Her father is believed to be alive but has little contact with his daughter, he said. A coalition of non-governmental organizations called Mwakusungula have criticized Madonna's adoption attempts, saying that adoption should be the last resort and that children need to be taken care of by their own family. "Mercy James is a child who has her extended close family members alive and we urge Madonna to assist the child from right here," a statement from the coalition said. But others have said that the adoption would give enormous opportunities to the child that she would be unable to achieve in the impoverished African nation. Malawian law is fuzzy on foreign adoptions. Regulations stipulate only that prospective parents undergo an 18- to 24-month assessment period in Malawi, a rule bent when Madonna was allowed to take David to London. Madonna may also face challenges as a single mother; she divorced Guy Ritchie last year. Madonna first traveled to Malawi in 2006 while filming a documentary on the devastating poverty and AIDS crisis. Her Raising Malawi organization, founded in 2006, raises funds to provide food, shelter, education and health care for children. ___ Associated Press writer Celean Jacobson in Lilongwe, Malawi, contributed to this report. More on Celebrity Kids
 
Bob Giloth: The UnMalling of America Top
"More than 400 of the 2,000 largest malls in the U.S.have closed in the past two years...[I]n the past 12 months,retail sales have dropped an unprecedented 9.8 percent." The Week , " The vanishing shopping mall ," April 3, 2009. It's not just damn malls.It's the suburbs. "The suburban dream of the big house and big lawn is vanishing. The Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech predicts that by 2025 there will be a surplus of 22 million large-lot homes..in the U.S." Bryan Walsh, "#2 Recycling the Suburbs, 10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now ," Time Magazine, March 18, 2009 There seem to be lots of ideas for the empty malls -- sites for Walmart, lifestyle centers, faux downtowns, etc. But all those empty houses. Having survived (and prospered from) the suburbs of the 1950s and 1960s I derive a certain amount of perverse pleasure contemplating the future uses of mega-homes -- maybe as communes and microfarms. Of course, the other salient trend these articles don't talk about is the suburbanization of poverty -- the full capture of cities by elites (including environmentalists)and the apartheidization of metropolitan regions. To be fair, all of Jim Rouse's commercial creations are in trouble -- suburban malls and urban food courts/playgrounds. While walking through Baltimore's fabled Harbor Place the other day I was astonished by the makeover of the second floor of the food court into a retail center -- and a badly done one at that. And it was sort of empty. More on Poverty
 
Christine Hassler: Getting To The Core Of What You Want Top
Dear Christine, I recently read your book and did the exercise, "Getting to the Core of What You Want" and I discovered that the only thing I really want is to be happy, self confident and surrounded by people I love. My question is, what about all the dreams I have about tangible things like my career, travel, marriage and so on? Do we have to give that up and only focus on what really matters at the end? Or are we supposed to try to get it but not be affected if we can't make it? I have to say I feel naked without all those goals I had in mind. I'm lost, what am I supposed to do now? Getting to the Core, 22, France Dear Getting to the Core, You have presented a conflict many individuals on a personal growth path encounter. I acknowledge you for realizing at a young age that at the core of what we all really want is to feel joy, inner peace and love. And achieving those things is an inside job - nothing external can fulfill our internal requirements. But we can still have dreams and goals! Holding a vision for what we'd like to create in life is not a problem, becoming attached to the outcome we think goals will provide is what gets us off course. If we chase goals with expectations, we will consistently be running through life looking for something or someone outside of ourselves to fulfill some need or desire. A trap many of us fall into is allowing our roles and achievements to define who we are. Consequently our focus becomes extremely goal-orientated and all of a sudden we are human "doings" rather than human "beings." But you do not have to give up the doing in order to be. We can begin to create harmony between the two by realizing that our external life is a reflection of who we are rather than an identification of who we are. How do you do this? Begin by adopting an "in-out" rather than an "out-in" approach to life. Most of us have this backwards. Continue to focus on generating internal happiness, self-confidence and love based on no one and nothing outside of you. Then take those qualities "out- in"to the world and use them to create the life you want. Youre dreams then are a natural extension of who you are and a way to utilize and share your unique gifts, talents and experiences. Still lost? Allow me to give you an example. When I was in my early twenties, I chased after the goal of becoming a successful agent in Hollywood. And I achieved that goal by the age of 25 because I thought it was what I really wanted. Everyday as I sat in my office in Beverly Hills, I tried to talk myself into my job. But the truth was that I was insecure and bought into the belief that achieving great success in a tough industry would make me feel better about myself. Wrong. I thought what I wanted was external success, but what I really wanted was to feel accepted and at peace. As soon as I realized that no job could bring me that, I resigned and began my own journey of excavation and investigation. I began to learn how to create acceptance and peace within by healing unresolved issues and embarking on a path of growth and learning. As I got clearer about who I was, what I wanted naturally became an extension of that and I was able to focus on goals that were more in alignment with the core of what I want. Know that cultivating internal awareness sometimes does leave us feeling a bit lost because we are conditioned to embark on a very linear, goal-orientated approach to life. When we move within where we don't always know what's next, it's natural to feel "naked", but know your awareness of "what really matters" says to me that you're more on track than you actually think. Allow that awareness to be your compass. Allow the process (notice I said process, not result) of manifesting your dreams and goals to be fueled and infused with the happiness, confidence and love you want. Follow your joy. You will never feel lost if you do that. There is nothing you are "supposed to do." And remember that the key to opening the door to "what really matters" is stepping into the awareness that you are actually achieving all your dreams and goals right now in this very moment. - Christine Send your questions and comments to christineAThuffingtonpost.com *Follow HuffPostLiving on Twitter and become a fan of Huffington Post Living on Facebook * More on The Balanced Life
 
Unions Demanding Obama Fire BofA CEO In Wake Of Wagoner Ouster Top
The major unions are grabbing on to the ouster of General Motors chief Rick Wagoner to launch a campaign to pressure the Obama administration to engineer a similar axing of Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis. More on Bank Of America
 
Patrick Takahashi: Extraterrestrial Intelligence? Top
America has a fascination for extraterrestrials (ET). ET, the 1985 movie, was the most financially successful film of all time released to that point. Thirty-two years ago -- can you believe it was that long -- Steven Speilberg wrote and directed Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Monsters vs. Aliens, Knowing and The Race to Witch Mountain were #1 at the box office the past three weeks. These flicks have entertainment value, but what is the reality of extraterrestrial intelligence (ET) and flying saucers? First how do Americans feel? Remember, 90% of us believe there is a God and the majority does not think it is responsible for global warming. There is a plethora of polls, but, in general, 60% feel there is ET life somewhere in the universe. Are there UFOs? Absolutely, for any flying object that cannot be identified is by definition a UFO. However, what about flying saucers piloted by some extraterrestrial? Anywhere from one third to one half of Americans think they are real. In comparison, one half to three fourths believe in angels, yes, the kind with feathered wings. Religion is dominant in the USA. Most scientists don't want to even be associated with UFOs because the odds are far too low to warrant their attention, not to mention the potential of sullying their credibility. Consider this: light, which in one second can travel around our globe 7.5 times, takes 100,000 years just to get from one end of our little ole Milky Way galaxy to the other. Us, Homo sapiens, only appeared 100,000 years ago. Then, if you want to get to Andromeda, our closest galaxy (the latest guess is there are 500 billion galaxies up there), a spaceship traveling at the speed of light would take 2.2 million years. Plus, what form of energy will enable a craft to travel such distances? Sure, you read about wormholes and stuff like that, but, for now, it is best to be rational and consider becoming a nonbeliever of flying saucers. In Chapter 4 of Simple Solutions for Humanity , I relate my experiences in this field, starting with Project Cyclops, and also Orion, a short stint I had at NASA's Ames Research Center. The question then was, are we the only planet in the universe? I interacted then with Barney Oliver, Jack Billingham and Carl Sagan, and actually proposed a project to detect earth-sized planets. The concept rested on the principle that for life to occur, there needs to be an atmosphere, and starlight (sunlight) causes population inversion (a condition which induces lasing), meaning that spikes of monochromatic light can be detected, both proving that a planet exists and providing the gas composition. I took cues from Charles Townes, who had just moved from MIT to Cal-Berkeley and wrote on this subject in Science . NASA tossed my proposal aside and remarked that the Hubble Telescope would soon fly and will then accomplish this task. Well, earth-sized extrasolar planets are beyond the capability of Hubble. So, a little more than two years ago, the European Union launched CoRoT to find extrasolar planets similar in size to ours. The principle had to do with these planets transiting (moving across the star) and measuring any diminution of light. On March 6, NASA placed into space Kepler, at a cost of nearly $600 million, to do almost exactly the same thing. The key question I ask is, why do we need both? Secondly, as the atmospheric composition will not be determined through this copycat photometric technique, so the potential of life as we know it cannot be determined, for so much money, couldn't we have somehow adjusted the mission to provide more useful answers? Okay, anyway, now we know that there are more than 300 planets out there somewhere. Currently, most "seen" (we have not actually seen them, we have mostly measured wobbles in stars, surmising that the movement must have been caused by a planet or more) have been Jupiter-sized or larger, but just the fact that there are other solar systems answers the original question: yes, there are a lot of planets around other stars. Now that we have proven that there are probably billions of planets out there, with odds that some of them could, perhaps, have intelligent life billions of years more advanced than ours (the Universe is slightly less than 14 billion years old and our solar system has been around for less than 4.5 billion years), let us get on to detect possible signals, as Jodie Foster did in Contact . Yes, I know that was a movie, but this is an life posting, not a scientific publication. Oh,by the way, did you know that historically, NASA was prohibited from doing SETI research? Yes, there is a privately funded SETI Institute (the Paul Allen Telescope Array is one of their projects), but Congress did not allow the federal government to directly spend money on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence . That is, until 2003, when congressional attitudes somewhat shifted, and NASA actually began to provide a few bucks to this activity, but only a very few. In this time of economic turmoil, can funds be justified for SETI? If we can spend $600 million for Kepler when Europe already was doing that, will expend $8 billion for our next nuclear aircraft carrier (which is by any current war standards already obsolete), and provided $150 billion of bailout money to AIG, sure, a justifiable amount would be worth the investment, for, perhaps, streaming in from space could be the answer to world peace, cure for cancer, solution for global warming and resolution to our global financial crisis. Our civilization will survive recession, Peak Oil and Global Warming, as we did the Cold War. Can our next few billion years, though, be more progressive and successful than our past 100,000 years? Through SETI, I suggest that it would be well justified to seek the wisdom of far more advanced societies from our common universe. The worst case result would be no signal, but a lot of useful science, at a cost far less than the AIG bailout.
 
Iran Offers US Help Rebuilding Afghanistan Top
Iran made a significant conciliatory gesture towards the Obama administration today, offering to help US-led efforts to stabilise and rebuild Afghanistan. More on Iran
 
Anne Dilenschneider: The Eight Degrees Of Service Top
Over the years, I have found that the gift of service is that it challenges and changes me. When I lead workshops or retreats that include reflection on service, I share a number of exercises that have helped me frame and re-frame this topic over the years. Here are three of them. 1) Service involves withholding and giving: Service is often as much about withholding as it is about giving. When you are given an opportunity to serve another this week: Withhold your opinion. Give your ear - listen with an attitude of tenderness and patience - (just as you would want someone to listen to you) If you speak, offer open-ended questions (rather than those that can be answered with "yes" or "no") so that you are able to hear what is really needed. 2) Service challenges our motives: When you are given an opportunity to serve someone this week: Notice your attitude . . . is it open or closed? When we hold tightly to what we're given, our hands are closed -- we can't give or receive. When our hands are open, we can do both! A major aspect of service is learning to give with an open hand. This means noticing . . . when we give in order to impress others . . . when we give, expecting the recipient to "repay" us somehow (it may not be in an obvious way) . . . 3) Service provides us with opportunities for our growth: Marian Wright Edelman of the Children's Defense Fund keeps this list on her refrigerator: Eight Degrees of Service There are eight degrees in the giving of service, one higher than the other. 1. Those who give grudgingly, reluctantly, or with regret. 2. Those who give less than is fitting, but give graciously. 3. Those who give what is fitting, but only after being asked. 4. Those who give before being asked. 5. Those who give without knowing to whom, although the recipients know the identity of the donors. 6. Those who give without making their identity known to the recipients. 7. Those who give without knowing to whom, and neither do the recipients know from whom they receive. 8. Those who help others by giving a gift or loan, or by making them business partners or finding them employment, thereby helping them dispense aid to others. As Scripture says, "You shall strengthen him, be he a stranger or a settler, he shall live with you" (Lev. 23:35). This means strengthening them in such a manner that falling into want is prevented. As you find yourself engaged with others in the world today, consider the kind of service you are giving... *Follow HuffPostLiving on Twitter and become a fan of Huffington Post Living on Facebook * More on The Giving Life
 
Todd Palin At Home In Esquire's "How To Be A Man" Issue (VIDEO) Top
For the most, Todd Palin has managed to stay out of the spotlight--but now Esquire will publish a rare profile of the state's First Dude, along with original photographs of the father of five at home, putzing around the kitchen and lounging around in his socks. "Todd Palin Is the Man for America Now" will appear in the magazine's May "How to Be a Man" issue, on newsstands in early April. Here's a video that previews a few of the photos: More on Video
 
Project Elwood: Blagojevich, Tribune Held Secret Talks About State Buying Wrigley Field Top
CHICAGO — Newly opened state records reveal heavy lobbying last year by Tribune Co. representatives looking to get then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich to agree to have the state buy Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. The Chicago Tribune reported in Tuesday's editions that it obtained the records under the state's Freedom of Information Act. Blagojevich was arrested on federal corruption charges that include allegations he tried to pressure Tribune Co. to fire members of the newspaper's editorial board. The e-mails, phone logs and calendars show the negotiations were nicknamed Project Elwood _ apparently a reference to a character in the "Blues Brothers." Tribune company spokesman Gary Weitman said in a statement that neither the company nor CEO Sam Zell had done anything wrong. More on Rod Blagojevich
 
Israel's Covert War On Iran To Continue Despite Disapproving White House Top
Facing mounting U.S. opposition behind the scenes, Israel still plans to continue a covert operation to delay Iran's nuclear program by assassinating key Iranian scientists, U.S. officials said. More on Israel
 
Clinton: No 'War On Terror' Term For New Team Top
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The phrase "global war on terror" is finished, at least as far as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is concerned. The top U.S. diplomat told reporters Tuesday that the Obama administration has quit using that line to describe the effort to fight terrorism around the world. "The administration has stopped using the phrase and I think that speaks for itself," Clinton said. Clinton spoke as she headed to Europe for a week of diplomatic meetings. The phrase "war on terror" is widely disliked in Europe and elsewhere overseas, where even close U.S. allies suggested it was overly militaristic and perhaps counterproductive. It is also now associated with a range of Bush administration policies such as harsh interrogation practices that President Barack Obama has pledged to abandon. Clinton was asked about the phrase as she headed to Europe for a week of diplomatic meetings. Pundits have noted the absence of the "war on terror" language, but top administration figures have had little to say on the subject before now. "I haven't heard it used. I haven't gotten any directive about using it or not using it, it's just not being used," Clinton said. Then-President George W. Bush used the phrase as a rallying cry after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. More on Hillary Clinton
 
UK Troops Begin Iraqi Withdrawal Top
British forces have begun their official withdrawal from Iraq after the UK's commander in the south of the country handed over to a US general. More on Iraq
 
Credit Crisis May Kill Midway Privatization Deal: Report Top
Mayor Daley's $2.5 billion plan to privatize Midway Airport has run into turbulence -- and it just might be grounded entirely -- because of the nation's credit crunch and Wall Street slide, City Hall sources said Monday.
 
The Top Cities For Men: Chicago Is Best, LA Doesn't Make Top 10 Top
The AskMen.com editorial team chose this year's best cities by applying a statistical formula to eight lifestyle categories (you'll find them listed within each city's profile), then evaluating the results in conjunction with some of the less tangible characteristics that make cities great cities. Of course, the ongoing global recession influenced the selection and ranking of the Top 29; criteria such as cost of living and economic stability carried greater weight than they might have in different circumstances, securing places for some surprising inclusions. Their spots didn't come at the expense of some classic favorites, however: cities like New York City and Paris have experienced an economic beating, but they still offer enough in the way of women, culture and entertainment to offset this. In short, the cities on the list are diverse, but they all have one thing in common: They're great cities for men to live in.
 
Life.com: Time Inc. Launches Photo Site Top
Life went through several incarnations as a print magazine, most recently, and least iconically, as a weekend newspaper supplement that lasted three years. Now the brand is being resurrected yet again, this time in a way that combines the nostalgia it evokes with what just might prove to be a more forward-looking business model. Today marks the launch of Life.com, a photography site rich in features and functionality and created as a partnership between Time Inc., which published the magazine, and the giant photo agency Getty Images.
 
Google's April Fools' Day Jokes Through The Years (SLIDESHOW) Top
More than any other Web company, Google has put together some of the most memorable and sophisticated April Fools' pranks, ranging from a toilet Internet service provider to a pagerank system based on pigeons. Since 2000, Google has published one or more gags each year, according to Wikipedia, except for two years -- 2001 and 2003. Last year -- the peak of the Web 2.0 bubble -- included more than a dozen. Google's YouTube even "Rickrolled" everyone. More on Google
 
Walgreen: Healthcare Free For Jobless, Uninsured Top
NEW YORK — Drugstore operator Walgreen will offer free clinic visits to the unemployed and uninsured for the rest of the year, providing tests and routine treatment for minor ailments through its walk-in clinics _ though patients will still pay for precriptions. Walgreen said patients who lose their job and health insurance after March 31 will be able to get free treatment at its in-store Take Care clinics for respiratory problems, allergies, infections and skin conditions, among other ailments. Typically those treatments cost $59 or more for patients with no insurance. Hal Rosenbluth, chairman of the Take Care Health Systems division, described the plan as something close to an experiment: He said Walgreen isn't sure of patient demand or how much providing the services might cost the company. It's likely to generate more attention for the clinics, however. Rosenbluth said a typical Take Care patient tells eight other people about his or her experience. So far, about 30 percent of Take Care patients were new customers to Walgreen. The program is expected to last through the end of 2009. Walgreen runs 341 Take Care clinics in 35 markets around the country, including Chicago, Atlanta, Miami and Cleveland. Free services will be offered only from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Walgreen said it will not offer free checkups, vaccinations or other injections because it is focusing on providing services patients might otherwise get at an urgent-care center or even an emergency room. Patients must present proof they are unemployed, including a federal or state unemployment determination letter and an unemployment check stub. They will have to sign a form at the clinic saying they have lost their jobs and health benefits. If they find a new job or get new health insurance, they will no longer be eligible for free care. Spouses and children are also eligible for free services if they don't have insurance of their own. Medical lab operator Quest Diagnostics is participating in the program by offering free tests for step throat and urinary tract infections. Walgreen bought the Take Care clinics in May 2007. Take Care says it has seen about 1.2 million patients since its launch in November 2005 and estimates that up to 30 percent of them were uninsured.
 
FinancialStability.gov: Treasury Launching Major New Site With TARP, Contract Info Top
The Treasury Department is launching a new interactive website on Tuesday that officials say will bring unprecedented amounts of transparency to the administration's financial stability, housing, and economic recovery programs. The site, FinancialStability.gov , includes a bevy of data, charts, contracts and other Treasury-related information. Of particular pride to its designers, the site includes an interactive map of the country that shows which state's banks have received what amount of money through the Capital Purchase Program (a part of the TARP). Localizing the program even further: a simple click of a particular state provides a list of when that transaction took place and how much was paid for specific assets. As for March 2009, banks in 48 states had received investments "ranging from as small as about $301,000 to as large as $25 billion." The two states left out: Montana and New Mexico. For the more dogged watchdogs, the site also links to the physical contract signed by each institution and the Treasury and a published list of bank lending surveys, which, the site's designers say, will become "a much more robust way to track bank lending." Hoping to make the text a bit easier to navigate, the site's creators included a list of economic data charts and a "Decoder" section -- "a brief list of frequently used terms and acronyms that you may find throughout FinancialStability.gov" - as well as a list of the specific programs being overseen by Treasury: Capital Assistance Program Consumer and Business Lending Initiative Making Home Affordable Program Public-Private Investment Program Capital Purchase Program (CPP) Asset Guarantee Program (AGP) Targeted Investment Program (TIP) Automotive Industry Financing Program All told, the site tries to strike a more educational tone -- as opposed to, say, political -- walking visitors through some notably complex topics of finance. "To protect taxpayers and ensure that every dollar is directed toward lending and economic revitalization, the Financial Stability Plan will institute a new era of accountability, transparency and conditions on the financial institutions receiving funds," reads the About section. But that doesn't mean that the authors didn't frame the administration's policies in the best possible light. Take, for instance, the description of the public-private investment program designed to purchase toxic assets from the banks. "This approach is superior to the alternatives of either hoping for banks to gradually work these assets off their books or of the government purchasing the assets directly," reads the site. "Simply hoping for banks to work legacy assets off over time risks prolonging a financial crisis, as in the case of the Japanese experience. But if the government acts alone in directly purchasing legacy assets, taxpayers will take on all the risk of such purchases, along with the additional risk that taxpayers will overpay if government employees are setting the price for those assets." READERS : Take a look at the data on FinancialStability.gov and report to us what you see.
 
The Media Consortium: Weekly Audit: Workers Will Build the Recovery, not Wall Street Economy NewsLadder Top
by Zach Carter, Media Consortium MediaWire Blogger With new bailout plans for Wall Street being unveiled almost every week, it's easy to forget that nearly all of the work that fuels our economy takes place outside of Manhattan. While reviving the financial sector is an important part of recovery, any lasting economic solution must also empower American workers and protect them from corporate abuses. Workers' rights are a core issue for our democracy, as progressive icon Noam Chomsky argues in an interview with Paul Jay of The Real News. The discussion covers the current economic crisis and its implications for the democratization of the U.S. economy. It's a fascinating exchange. In the video below, Chomsky advocates for a much broader palette of reform than a simple clean-up the financial sector. Chomsky notes that while the recent bank bailouts have brought a great deal of attention to the disconnect between public investment and private profit, it has become routine for the taxpaying public to foot the bill for important research that eventually creates big corporate profits. To ensure that we all reap the benefits of our investments, it is essential to make institutions accountable to their communities, rather than exclusively dedicated to maximizing shareholder returns. The first step in democratizing the U.S. economy, according to Chomsky, is promoting unionization by enacting the Employee Free Choice Act, which makes it easier for workers to organize. "The Employee Free Choice Act is always misrepresented," Chomsky says. "It's described as an effort to avoid secret elections. It's not that. It's an effort to allow workers to decide whether there should be secret elections, instead of leaving the decisions entirely in the hands of employers." EFCA would give workers more control over their circumstances, leading to improved wages and living standards for laborers. In a column for The American Prospect , Terence Samuel points out that even if Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's plan to bailout Wall Street succeeds in stabilizing the banking sector, banks can do little to bring about recovery if U.S. citizens are all broke. If we want to get out of the bubble-and-bust cycle, we must establish a middle class that has money to spend. Fundamentally, that means raising wages. Robert Eshelman puts the plight of today's workers into focus in a devastating piece for Salon. Even where clear, straightforward laws to protect laborers from predatory employers exist, major corporations have been able to use the fear of being fired to push employees into "voluntarily" working under illegal conditions (Wal-Mart just agreed to pay out $640 million to settle charges that it intimidated its own employees into skipping mandatory breaks and accepting pay rates below the minimum wage). "If corporations were able to exert such coercive power when the unemployment rate was around 5 percent, what can they do in a job market in which 14.8 percent of the population can't find adequate work?" Eshelman asks. Under the Bush administration, the U.S. Department of Labor systematically ignored its duty to enforce labor laws. Writing for Colorlines, Michelle Chen highlights a report from the Government Accountability Office that takes the Department to task for failing to even return phone calls from workers who complained about employer abuses. Millions of jobs are hanging in the balance as President Barack Obama formulates his rescue plan for the U.S. auto industry. But while the administration has insisted that factory workers at GM and Chrysler have to accept wage cuts, they've almost bent over backwards to funnel bonus money to executives at failed insurance giant AIG. General Motors' CEO Rick Wagoner has stepped down at the Obama administration's request, and while it's hard to feel sorry for an executive who lobbied aggressively against the environment and ran his company into the ground, his ousting reflects Wall Street's privileged status in Washington. As Josh Marshall highlights in Talking Points Memo, it is astonishing that executives at Bank of America and Citigroup, who have put taxpayers on the hook for far greater sums of bailout money than GM and Chrysler, have not been subjected to the same treatment as Wagoner. We've all seen the grim statistics indicating how severe the current economic crisis really is, but the proliferation of roving tent, shack and lean-to communities along U.S. railways underscores the true costs of the recession more grimly than any consumer spending metric or gross domestic product projection. All over the United States, people who cannot afford even rental housing are living in makeshift structures without access to basic amenities. It's much like the rise of Hoovervilles in the late 1920s and 1930s, where out-of-work laborers took up residence anywhere they could. While these squatter communities are growing as the crisis deepens, the worst part of the whole phenomenon is that they were common before the current downturn, as Scott Bransford notes for High Country News. Whatever happens on Wall Street, fixing the economy will mean making sure ordinary people have access to basic amenities, and guaranteeing that workers have the power to prevent abuses from corporate America's executive class. This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about the economy. Visit StimulusPlan.NewsLadder.net and Economy.NewsLadder.net for complete lists of articles on the economy, or follow us on Twitter . And for the best progressive reporting on critical health and immigration issues, check out Healthcare.NewsLadder.net and Immigration.NewsLadder.net . This is a project of The Media Consortium , a network of 50 leading independent media outlets, and was created by NewsLadder . More on Barack Obama
 
Michelle Obama Oprah Interview: "My Happiness Is Tied To How I Feel About Myself" Top
This month's O Magazine features Michelle Obama on it's first ever shared cover. Oprah sat down with Michelle in her new home to discuss to her brand new life . America's newest First Lady had some sage advice that we can't help but agree with. On health: When we first started running, my big concern was making sure we ate well on the road. So we started looking at our diet, trying to eliminate junk, getting seasonal fruits and vegetables that were grown locally. We walked the kids through reading labels. We talked about why one juice might be better than another. On exercise: Well, I just started thinking, if I had to get up to go to work, I'd get up and go to work. If I had to get up to take care of my kids, I'd get up to do that. But when it comes to yourself, then it's suddenly, "Oh, I can't get up at 4:30." So I had to change that. If I don't exercise, I won't feel good. I'll get depressed. Of course, it's easier to do it here, because I have much more support now. But I always think about women who don't have support. That's why work-family balance isn't just a policy conversation; it's about changing the expectations of who we have to be as women and parents. Michelle Obama also prescribes to our vision that a good life is a giving life: I know that all I can do is be the best me that I can. And live life with some gusto. Giving back is a big part of that. She's been in the White House for less than 3 months, but she's already lent her spotlight to several different causes and stayed true to her and Barack's Service Initiative. On February 10th, she spent the afternoon with children and teens at a local community center, while on March 5 she dedicated her lunch hour to serving those less fortunate at a soup kitchen. And lastly, Michelle summed up exactly what it means for her to be happy: My happiness is tied to how I feel about myself. Truer words have never been spoken. *Follow HuffPostLiving on Twitter and become a fan of Huffington Post Living on Facebook * More on Michelle Obama
 
Bill O'Reilly Threatens To Not Travel To Spain Anymore (VIDEO) Top
Oh, snap, y'all! Fox News' Bill O'Reilly is WARRING, people! And not just with tearful towheaded turf taker Glenn Beck. No, no! O'Reilly has heard the latest news from Spain, and is just mad indignant over it all. So during last night's "Talking Points" section, he gave Spain a hot mug of SUCK IT . Why? Well, it seems that Spain has cast a rueful eye at the Americans who dreamed up every foreign policy disaster and every facile abridgment of the moral code of the past decade and decided that there ought to be a law, or something, maybe a Spanish one ! A high-level Spanish court has taken the first steps toward opening a criminal investigation against six former Bush administration officials, including former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, on whether they violated international law by providing a legalistic framework to justify the use of torture of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, an official close to the case said. [...] The complaint under review also names John C. Yoo, the former Justice Department lawyer who wrote secret legal opinions saying the president had the authority to circumvent the Geneva Conventions, and Douglas J. Feith, the former under secretary of defense for policy. The other Americans named in the complaint were William J. Haynes II, former general counsel for the Department of Defense; Jay S. Bybee, Mr. Yoo's former boss at the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel; and David S. Addington, who was the chief of staff and legal adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney. It's actually a shrewd move, ensuring that some of the worst men in the world will never come to Spain. I wish that I could do something similar for, say, my apartment. But, because this this whole matter is obviously a global conspiracy between the Center For American Progress, the National Broadcasting Company , FC Barcelona, and the United Parcel Service, with the strings being pulled by villainous puppetmaster Amanda Terkel , O'Reilly is decrying Spain's sovereign right to have their own opinions about stuff. "So here's the deal, Spain," intoned O'Reilly, as if Spain cared, "If this goes forward, you'll be insulting America." And, the money shot: "Unless this action is condemned by Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero, then I am not going to that country." Clearly, Spain should not look this gift horse in the mouth. [WATCH.] [Would you like to follow me on Twitter ? Because why not? Also, please send tips to tv@huffingtonpost.com -- learn more about our media monitoring project here .] More on War Crimes
 
Alexander Lebedev To Sue Forbes For Defamation Over Ex-Billionaires List Top
Alexander Lebedev, the Russian businessman and media owner, has said he will sue Forbes magazine for reporting that he lost $2.5bn (£1.8bn) in the global financial crisis. Lebedev, who bought the Evening Standard in January, said he planned to go to court to claim compensation from the American magazine, which publishes annual "rich lists" estimating the fortunes of billionaires. "Forbes magazine claimed that I lost $2.5bn in the global financial crisis," he told the Russian news agency, Interfax. "That's absurd. I will demand compensation of material and moral damage caused by this defamation."
 
Google Venture Fund To Invest In Startups Top
Markets may be down and investors depressed but Google apparently believes this is a good time to invest in start-up companies. On Monday, the company announced the creation of Google Ventures, a venture capital fund that aims to invest in a broad array of technology-related industries. "We think we can find young companies with truly awesome potential and encourage their development into successful businesses," wrote Bill Maris and Rich Miner, the two executives charged with leading the venture fund, in a post on Google's blog. More on Google
 
NY20 Special Election Tuesday: Referendum On Obama, GOP Top
Voters in upstate New York will pick a new congressman Tuesday in a race that has been described as a litmus test, a referendum and a bellwether for Democratic agendas and Republican political fortunes. More on Barack Obama
 
Disney, YouTube Sign Video Deal Top
LOS ANGELES — The Walt Disney Co. said Monday it has agreed to provide short-form videos from its ABC and ESPN television properties to run on Google Inc.'s YouTube under an ad-revenue sharing arrangement. Disney has yet to announce a deal with YouTube to share full episodes of such programs as "Lost" or "Desperate Housewives," despite the shows being available in full on ABC.com and sites such as Comcast Corp.'s Fancast or Time Warner Inc.'s AOL. "This deal provides us with the opportunity to reach a broader online audience, to experiment with different monetization models and to extend the reach of our advertisers," said Anne Sweeney, president of the Disney/ABC Television Group, in a statement. Disney will be able to sell ads against the videos in conjunction with its other marketing efforts. Google has a similar video ad-sharing deal with broadcaster CBS Corp., which provides both short-form and full episodes. Google remains locked in a legal battle with Viacom Inc., which is suing it for $1 billion for infringing on copyrights for such shows as Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." The ESPN channel will debut in mid-April, while the ABC channel, including videos from ABC Entertainment, ABC News, ABC Family and SOAPnet, will debut in May. More on ABC
 
Case-Shiller: Home Prices Dropped 19% In January Top
WASHINGTON — A widely watched index shows American home prices dropped by the sharpest annual rate on record in January. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city housing index released Tuesday tumbled by a record 19 percent from January 2008. It was the largest decline since the index started in 2000. The 10-city index dropped 19.4 percent, also a new record. All 20 cities in the report showed monthly and annual price declines. Prices in the 20-city index have plummeted 29 percent from their peak in summer 2006, while the 10-city index has fallen 30 percent. Prices are at levels not seen since late 2003.
 
Haneen Zuabi, New Arab-Israeli Knesset Member, Praises Iranian Nuclear Ambitions Top
New Balad MK Haneen Zuabi, the first woman to be elected to the Knesset as a representative of an Arab party, has welcomed Iran's growing influence on Palestinian affairs and praised Iran's quest for a nuclear weapon as a means of offsetting Israel's regional military edge. Having Israel as the region's sole nuclear power, she said, was "dangerous to the world." More on Israel
 
Oprah's South Africa School Plagued By Second Sex Scandal Top
The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy in South Africa has suspended seven girls for sexual misconduct and the harassment of other pupils. The suspensions, first reported by the Afrikaans on Sunday newspaper, are the second sex controversy to plague the school, which opened with much fanfare in early 2007. According to the Telegraph: According to the Afrikaans on Sunday newspaper, one 15-year-old "preyed" on a schoolmate and coerced others into lying to officials investigating the alleged incidents. Six other pupils have been excluded from the $46 million (£32 million) girls-only boarding school after being alleged to have touched each other intimately, or "intimidating others into partaking of inappropriate behaviours". A letter sent to one of the suspended girls' parents is said to have read: "You have been found guilty of physical contact of a sexual nature with another pupil on campus, harassment, bullying other girls on campus and of being dishonest by not telling investigators the whole truth". A prior scandal came just ten months after the Academy's January 2007 opening when dorm matron Virginia Tiny Makgobo was arrested for "indecent assault and soliciting under-age girls to perform indecent acts". From AFP (November 2007): An emotional Oprah Winfrey said she was "shaken to the core" by sexual abuse claims at her elite girls' school in South Africa. "This has been one of the most devastating, if not the most devastating experience of my life," the US talk show host told journalists in Johannesburg via a live satellite link from Chicago. "When I heard the news I spent about a half-hour crying ... I couldn't wrap my mind around it." [WATCH: Oprah's response to the first scandal] More on South Africa
 
Huff TV: Arianna And Congressman Frank Debate Mark-To-Market Rules, Bailout Double Standards On CNBC's Squawk Box Top
Arianna co-hosted CNBC's Squawk Box Tuesday morning where she interview Representative Barney Frank. Watch below as they get into a heated discussion about double standards concerning the auto bailout and banking bailout and mark-to-market rules. More on CNBC
 
Eric Boehlert: Norm Coleman's a Sore Loser. Why Won't The Press Say So? Top
Coleman, of course, has the right to appeal his Minnesota election case, just as other suspicious second-place candidates have done in the past. What seems to be unique is this case, though, is how so much of the press coverage has politely refrained from suggesting that Coleman's a sore loser for adopting his marathon litigation approach. Traditionally, candidates who lost and cried foul had a rather short window to prove their case before the media lost patience and started calling the candidate out as petulant and self-involved. But not with Coleman. As he and his attorneys look over their recount legal options, they in no way have to be concerned about or factor into play the potential "sore loser" meme that could do real damage to his effort. They can play hardball with impunity because they're getting a free pass from the press. If Coleman soon suffers yet another recount loss and appeals to the Minnesota Supreme Court, will the press finally dip its toe into the sore loser pool? What if Coleman loses at the Minnesota Supreme Court in April or May and then appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could then tie up the Senate seat into next year? Will the press then suggest Coleman and Republicans are sore losers? Read the full Media Matters column here . More on Al Franken
 
NBC Universal: Going Green Saved Us $2 Million Top
NEW YORK — NBC Universal says it saved $2 million last year by going green. The media giant has been promoting environmentally friendly efforts on its TV shows and in practice, looking for reduced power costs and telling its executives to lay off the bottled water. The company says its polls show NBC's image as a "green" network is being recognized by viewers. Although it hasn't translated into ratings success, the company believes it's a smart strategy for the future. NBC executive Lauren Zalaznick says advertisers are interested in reaching consumers concerned about the environment.
 
Waxman And Markey To Unveil Climate Change Legislation Top
Two powerful House Democrats plan to unveil a draft of a climate change bill Tuesday, officially kicking off the legislative race to cap carbon emissions and create a regime of tradable credits that polluters can buy and sell. The draft is authored by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. The select committee was created by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who hand-picked Markey to lead it. In general, the Ways and Means Committee has jurisdiction over legislation that raises revenue, but Waxman and Markey are charging ahead regardless. "We're going to work on a bill and where Ways and Means may have jurisdiction," Waxman told the Huffington Post, emphasizing "may" just as Markey walked by. "We'll work with them." Some observers had expected Waxman to set a stake on the left with his opening bid, but the package he'll unveil is more generous to businesses as they are forced to transition to an economy where the cost of emitting carbon is borne by polluters and not merely by the sky. It broadly follows emissions reductions guidelines called for by the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of business and environmental groups. "That's right," Waxman said when asked if the bill would include transition assistance for business. "The transition allocations will be worked out on a member-to-member basis because there's a lot of intense interest from the members in that issue." Divvying out such revenue is also a good way to secure the votes of fence-sitting members of Congress. The revenue raised from charging for carbon permits is expected to be hundreds of billions of dollars. The legislation would also raise the price of electricity, leading the GOP to dub it the "light-switch tax." With those increased costs in mind, Waxman said, some of the revenue raised will go back to consumers. "Some ratepayers are going to face a big increase and we've got to try to minimize that increase so people can pay their bills," he said. Green groups and the coal industry have been battling over whether to invest money in so-called "clean coal" technologies -- with environmentalists insisting that such technology is a fantasy and that coal needs to be phased out. Waxman wouldn't use the phrase "clean coal" but made clear that funding for the technology is on the table. "In some areas, [the transition] will take time. We cannot, for example, have the utilities in this country run without coal. You have to develop the technology so that sulfur can be sequestered and coal can be used without causing the environmental harm that it does at the present time. So we have to be mindful that we need money to invest in new technologies." So "clean coal" is in? "We're being mindful of the fact that we've got to develop a transition using coal so that we can make it as part of the portfolio of our energy supplies," he replied adding, with a laugh, that those are "my words--I won't pick up yours." Waxman pitched the climate change bill as not just an environmental remedy but the catalyst for an economic transformation. "The whole idea of the legislation is to move us to energy independence and to put us in the lead again in terms of new technology and new industrial jobs. I think it's going to transform the economy as we move to a low sulfur economy," he said. "We want to give incentives for the entrepreneurial spirit of the American people to kick in." More on Climate Change
 
David Letterman's Ode To The News (VIDEO) Top
Last night, David Letterman aired his "Late Show News Recap," that included clips of America's broadcasters, talking heads, and politicians using semi-silly words and phrases like "mumbo jumbo," "hoity toity," and "humpty dumpty." When strung together they kind of make you lose faith in the media and gain faith in the powers of Final Cut Pro. WATCH: More on David Letterman
 
GDP, Federal Spending Now Equal Top
March 31 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve have spent, lent or guaranteed $12.8 trillion, an amount that approaches the value of everything produced in the country last year, to stem the longest recession since the 1930s. New pledges from the Fed, the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. include $1 trillion for the Public-Private Investment Program, designed to help investors buy distressed loans and other assets from U.S. banks. The money works out to $42,105 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. and 14 times the $899.8 billion of currency in circulation. The nation's gross domestic product was $14.2 trillion in 2008.
 
Reuse Water From Cooking Veggies Top
Like with the freshly boiled water from Wednesday, it seems a waste of power to just power it down the drain when we're done. With pasta or potatoes, the water is often starchy and with veg such as broccoli, the water can be "discoloured" from the veg itself - so not really suitable for washing stuff. So is there anything that can be done with it? I know some people use veg water as the liquid when making stock but what else? More on Food
 
Iraqi Gays May Soon Be Executed: Gay Rights Group Top
It's no secret that LGBT life in Iraq these days is as dangerous as it gets - quite possibly the most dangerous in the world. Secret underground networks have emerged to help escort LGBT Iraqis out of the country. Since the fall of Saddam Hussein (no friend to LGBT rights himself), the safety situation for LGBT Iraqi citizens has become even dire. And there's concern this week that the Iraqi government is going to start executing LGBT people. More on Iraq
 
Karzai Accused Of Bid To 'Legalise Rape' Top
Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, has signed a law which "legalises" rape, women's groups and the United Nations warn. Critics claim the president helped rush the bill through parliament in a bid to appease Islamic fundamentalists ahead of elections in August. In a massive blow for women's rights, the new Shia Family Law negates the need for sexual consent between married couples, tacitly approves child marriage and restricts a woman's right to leave the home, according to UN papers seen by The Independent. "It is one of the worst bills passed by the parliament this century," fumed Shinkai Karokhail, a woman MP who campaigned against the legislation. "It is totally against women's rights. This law makes women more vulnerable." The law regulates personal matters like marriage, divorce, inheritance and sexual relations among Afghanistan's minority Shia community. "It's about votes," Ms Karokhail added. "Karzai is in a hurry to appease the Shia because the elections are on the way." The provisions are reminiscent of the hardline Taliban regime, which banned women from leaving their homes without a male relative. But in a sign of Afghanistan's faltering steps towards gender equality, politicians who opposed it have been threatened. "There are moderate views among the Shia, but unfortunately our MPs, the people who draft the laws, rely on extremists," Ms Karokhail said. The bill lay dormant for more than a year, but in February it was rushed through parliament as President Karzai sought allies in a constitutional row over the upcoming election. Senator Humeira Namati claimed it wasn't even read out in the Upper House, let alone debated, before it was passed to the Supreme Court. "They accused me of being an unbeliever," she said. Details of the law emerged after Mr Karzai was endorsed by Afghanistan's Supreme Court to stay in power until elections scheduled in August. Some MPs claimed President Karzai was under pressure from Iran, which maintains a close relationship with Afghanistan's Shias. The most controversial parts of the law deal explicitly with sexual relations. Article 132 requires women to obey their husband's sexual demands and stipulates that a man can expect to have sex with his wife at least "once every four nights" when travelling, unless they are ill. The law also gives men preferential inheritance rights, easier access to divorce, and priority in court. A report by the United Nations Development Fund for Women, Unifem, warned: "Article 132 legalises the rape of a wife by her husband". Most of Afghanistan's Shias are ethnic Hazaras, descended from Genghis Khan's Mongol army which swept through the entire region around 700 years ago. They are Afghanistan's third largest ethnic group, and potential kingmakers, because their leaders will likely back a mainstream candidate. Even the law's sponsors admit Mr Karzai rushed it through to win their votes. Ustad Mohammad Akbari, a prominent Shia political leader, said: "It's electioneering. Most of the Hazara people are unhappy with Mr Karzai." A British Embassy spokesman said diplomats had raised concerns "at a senior level". Related Article: US and Iran at Afghan talks Read more from the Independent . More on Afghanistan
 
Pistachio Salmonella Risk: FDA Urges Caution Top
FRESNO, Calif. — In another food scare sure to rattle consumers who watched the national salmonella outbreak in peanuts unfold, federal food officials are now warning people not to eat any food containing pistachios, which could carry contamination from the same bacteria. The Food and Drug Administration said central California-based Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc., the nation's second-largest pistachio processor, was voluntarily recalling more than 2 million pounds of its roasted nuts shipped since last fall. "Our advice to consumers is that they avoid eating pistachio products, and that they hold onto those products," said Dr. David Acheson, assistant commissioner for food safety. "The number of products that are going to be recalled over the coming days will grow, simply because these pistachio nuts have then been repackaged into consumer-level containers." Two people called the FDA complaining of gastrointestinal illness that could be associated with the nuts, but the link hasn't been confirmed, Acheson said. Still, the plant decided to shut down late last week, officials said. The recalled nuts represent a small fraction of the 55 million pounds of pistachios that the company's plant processed last year and an even smaller portion of the 278 million pounds produced in the state in the 2008 season, according to the Fresno-based Administrative Committee for Pistachios. California alone is the second-largest producer of pistachios in the world. According to the company's Web site, Setton Pistachio is in the corporate family of Commack, N.Y.-based Setton International Foods Inc. The company sells nuts, dried fruit, edible seeds, chocolate and yogurt-coated candies. The FDA learned about the problem last Tuesday, when Kraft Foods Inc. notified the agency that it had detected salmonella in roasted pistachios through routine product testing. Kraft and the Georgia Nut Co. recalled their Back to Nature Nantucket Blend trail mix the next day. The FDA contacted Setton Pistachio and California health officials shortly afterward, in what Acheson called a "proactive move." By Friday, grocery operator Kroger Co. recalled one of its lines of bagged pistachios because of possible salmonella contamination, saying the California plant also supplied its nuts. Those nuts were sold in 31 states. Fabia D'Arienzo, a spokeswoman for Tulare County-based Setton Pistachio, said the company was only recalling certain bulk roasted in-shell and roasted shelled pistachios that were shipped on or after September 1. Because Setton Pistachio shipped tote bags of nuts weighing up to 2,000 pounds to 36 wholesalers across the country, it will take weeks to figure out how many products could be affected, said Jeff Farrar, chief of the Food and Drug Branch of the California Department of Public Health. "It will be safe to assume based on the volume that this will be an ingredient in a lot of different products, and that may possibly include things like ice cream and cake mixes," Farrar said. "The firm is already turning around trucks in transit to bring those back to the facility." Salmonella, the most common cause of food-borne illness, is a bacteria that causes diarrhea, fever and cramping. Most people recover, but the infection can be life-threatening for children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems. For nuts, roasting is supposed to kill the bacteria. But problems can occur if the roasting is not done correctly or if roasted nuts are re-contaminated. That can happen if mice, rats or birds get into the facility. Last winter, a national salmonella outbreak was blamed on a Georgia company under federal investigation for flouting safety procedures and knowingly shipping contaminated peanuts. The outbreak is still ongoing. More than 690 people in 46 states have gotten sick. Nearly 3,900 products made with peanut ingredients from Peanut Corp. of America have been recalled. California public health authorities have taken hundreds of samples at Setton's processing facility, but lab results have not yet determined whether salmonella was found at the plant, Farrar said. The food companies' own tests of the contaminated products isolated four different types of salmonella, but none were the same strain as the one found in the peanuts, Acheson said. ___ Associated Press writers Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in Washington and Tracie Cone in Fresno contributed to this report. ___ On the Net: http://www.settonfarms.com http://www.fda.gov More on Food
 
MSNBC's 10 PM Search "On Indefinite Hold," Will Continue Olbermann Repeats Top
NEW YORK — MSNBC will continue airing Keith Olbermann's talk show twice each weeknight in prime time, putting on indefinite hold a search for a new 10 p.m. program. That time slot has attracted attention ever since MSNBC chief executive Phil Griffin suggested earlier this year he was on the lookout for a new show. Fans of the Internet show "The Young Turks" and of Air America's Sam Seder have openly campaigned for their favorites. MSNBC currently reruns Olbermann's "Countdown" show only an hour after its original airing ends. It trails Fox News Channel's Greta Van Susteren and CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" in the ratings, but MSNBC executives have been surprised at its showing. Fox has 2.1 million viewers, on average, in the time slot in March. Cooper on CNN has 1.2 million and Olbermann has 902,000, according to Nielsen Media Research. On a handful of nights, a rerun of Olbermann has even beaten a live Cooper in the 25-to-54-year-old demographic that MSNBC watches most closely. MSNBC may give up entirely on the idea of putting a new live show in that time slot, Griffin said. "We're not going to mess with it until we see where it levels off," he said. "It places the burden, if we are going to put a show there, (for it) to be a big show because the repeat of `Countdown' is doing so well." The statistics have taken MSNBC by surprise. Griffin said it seems many viewers who are putting children to bed or are otherwise busy at 8 p.m. prefer to watch at 10. NBC News has a big financial incentive to keep things the way they are. It costs the network nothing to show the rerun, while a new program would cost millions of dollars for on-air talent and production costs. Cenk Uygur, one of "The Young Turks," said he believed MSNBC would do even better in the ratings with a new show but he understood the decision. "I'm not put off by that," he said. "We're in a good position. We're almost certain to get on TV one way or another." More on MSNBC
 
Ford: Car Payments Covered For Newly Unemployed Top
DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it is offering a payment protection plan to help reassure consumers who may be putting off buying a new car because of worries about losing their job. The offer comes as auto sales have been battered by the recession and tight credit, reaching their lowest levels in 27 years. Ford's sales declined 48 percent in February. Ford said Tuesday it will cover payments of up to $700 each month for up to a year on any new Ford, Lincoln or Mercury vehicle if consumers lose their jobs. The program runs until June 1. Hyundai Motor Co. launched a program in January that allows buyers to return a vehicle within a year if they can't make the payments due to a job loss or disability. The company said the program helped it avoid a double-digit sales decline last month, reporting a 2 percent slide. Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford is also offering zero percent financing on certain Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles. "Consumers remain anxious about the economy and their own outlook for the future," Ken Czubay, vice president of sales and marketing, said in a statement. Ford's announcement comes a day after President Barack Obama said the government will back new car warranties issued by General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, who have accepted federal assistance and are seeking more, to help boost consumer confidence about buying their vehicles. Ford has not requested federal bailout funds. GM has said it is considering a program that would help new car owners keep their cars, in the event they lose their job. New GM CEO Fritz Henderson is likely to announce a program similar to Ford's at a news conference later Tuesday. The company's current sales incentives expire today, and GM normally announces changes at the end of the month. "Stay tuned," said GM spokesman John McDonald. Ford also said it would partner with its dealers to introduce a program that would help local charities affected by the economic downturn. Shares of Ford rose 6 cents to $2.82 in premarket trading. More on Cars
 
Shelly Palmer: Google Starting VC Firm: MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer March 31, 2009 Top
Disney and Google have signed a deal to bring the famed entertainment company's content to YouTube . As expected, the short-form deal includes content from ESPN, SOAPnet, The Disney Channel, ABC Family, ABC News, and ABC Entertainment. Google has begun giving Chinese users links to free music . In accordance, the search giant has teamed with Sony BMG, EMI, Universal, and Warner Music Group to provide Chinese users with free and legal music downloads. The groundbreaking deal is Google's attempt at playing catch up to a web search marketplace dominated by Baidu. Google is expected to announce that it will commit $100 million to a venture capital fund . The new fund, to be called Google Ventures, is expected to manage for returns, a break from how traditional venture capital firms handle backing start-ups. Google will team with William Marris and former Google exec Rich Miner to jump start the firm. The 2008 Internet Advertising Revenue Report notes that interactive ad sales were up in 2008 . However, like most forms of advertising, due to the economic crisis web ad growth slowed in 2008, with a total of $23.4 billion spent, a 10% increase over 2007. Besides cable advertising, which grew 7.8% in 2008, internet advertising is the only form of advertising which grew in 2008. NBC and DirecTV have renewed Friday Night Lights for two seasons . The popular TV show will air in an untraditional way, premiering on DirecTV before its broadcast on NBC, a paradigm the two media companies used for the third season of Friday Night Lights. Produced by Universal Media Studios and Imagine TV, Friday Night Light's currently draws approximately 4.5 million viewers on NBC, a 27% decline from its 6.2 million viewer average last year. Shelly Palmer is a consultant and the host of MediaBytes a daily show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment. He is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV (2008, York House Press). Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, NY (the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy® Awards ). You can join the MediaBytes mailing list here . Shelly can be reached at shelly@palmer.net . More on NBC
 
G20: France Threatens Walkout Top
France will walk away from this week's G20 summit if its demands for stricter financial regulation are not met, the finance minister has told the BBC. More on G-20 Summit
 
Hummer Dealers Impacted Top
CHESTERFIELD, Mo. -- In 2005, Jim Lynch placed a big bet on a big vehicle. He was already a successful Hummer dealer, but he spent $7.5 million on a new 34,000-square-foot showroom in a wealthy suburb of St. Louis. He even turned 60 acres of Missouri River flood plain into a rough-terrain test track, with visions of people coming from afar to try, and buy, his brawny sport utility vehicles. More on Cars
 
Used Cardboard Boxes As A Business Top
When Marty Metro's first business model to sell used cardboard boxes failed, it didn't get him down. His passion for his idea kept him retinkering until he got it right. Today, UsedCardboardBoxes.com is a financial -- and environmental -- success story. More on Small Business
 
US, Iran Relations On Full View As Nations Meet On Afghanistan Top
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — If common purpose in Afghanistan offers the chance for a thaw in the 30-year chill between the United States and Iran it wasn't in evidence as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton described the overhaul of the U.S. war and development effort Tuesday. Clinton did not mention Iran, which shares a nearly 600-mile border with Afghanistan, at the outset of an international strategy session proposed by Washington and billed as the sort of "big tent" session where U.S. and Iranian diplomats might happen to bump into one another. "The range of countries and institutions that are represented here shows the universal recognition that what happens in Afghanistan matters to us all," Clinton told the gathering of about 80 nations and organizations. The top U.S. diplomat echoed President Barack Obama, who joins her in Europe this week, in saying the cost of failure in Afghanistan would be too high. The backsliding war in Afghanistan is a main theme of Obama's first foreign trip as president, with European and other allies eager to see Obama use the issue to make an overture to Tehran. Clinton and Iran's delegate shared the same large table at the U.N.-sponsored discussion. At similar sessions meant to improve security in Iraq, U.S. diplomats exchanged a few well-publicized pleasantries with Iranian delegates. "The international community has declared that by being present in Afghanistan it intends to help the people of the country in establishing security," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Medhi Akhundzadeh said, in remarks that also avoided any direct mention of the United States. "It has to safeguard this objective and refrain from any kind of deviation from this motto or from giving priority to political or military matters." Washington ruled out what it called "substantive" discussions with the Iranians ahead of the session, and Clinton said she had no plans to seek them out. She told reporters Monday that it was a good sign that Iran decided to come. Iranian political analyst Saeed Leilaz said the presence of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan works to Iran's benefit, because they hold the Taliban at bay. "However, Iran cannot openly support U.S. presence in Afghanistan due to its anti-American image in the world, as well as its old disputes with Washington," Leilaz said. The United States broke diplomatic ties with Iran after the U.S. Embassy was overrun and diplomats taken hostage during the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The revolution toppled the pro-U.S. shah and brought to power a government of Islamic clerics. The U.S. cooperated with Iran in late 2001 and 2002 in the Afghanistan conflict, but the promising contacts fizzled _ and were extinguished completely when former President George W. Bush called Iran part of an "Axis of Evil." Obama campaigned with a pledge to talk face-to-face with Iranian leaders if it proved in U.S. interests to do so. Lower-level contacts would presumably come first. Tuesday's meeting was the first major opportunity, and it followed an unusual outreach by Obama this month. Obama send video greetings for the Persian new year celebration and expressed hope for better ties. Iran's supreme leader said there will be no change between the two countries unless the American president puts an end to U.S. hostility toward Iran. "They chant the slogan of change but no change is seen in practice. We haven't seen any change," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said. __ _ AP reporter Nasser Karimi contributed to this report from Tehran. More on Afghanistan
 
Aaron Sorkin Off Limits For Ex-Facebook Employees Top
Former Facebook employees tell us the company sent out letters warning them not to talk to "West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin, who -- his publicist tells us -- is still working on a movie about the social network's founding. A Facebook spokesperson confirmed the news, telling us Facebook sent the letters, but not in reaction to any one specific project. More on Facebook
 
William Bradley: Afghanistan: Third Time's The Charm? Top
President Barack Obama, flanked by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Bob Gates, announced the new U.S. strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan on Friday. America has won two wars in Afghanistan in the past quarter-century. First against the late Soviet Union, then against the radical Islamist Taliban. But each time, eminently distractable America has taken its eye off the ball, and the victories have proved evanescent. Now, under new President Barack Obama, the U.S. is hoping the third time's the charm. But does the new strategy miss the reasons why America succeeded -- to the extent it did -- the first two times around in Afghanistan? Does it meet the announced mission, or lead to something else? And how is it faring so far, in the midst of international conferences and at the beginning of a tour by Obama that takes him to summits in Britain, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Turkey? A just-concluded conference in Moscow finds some fresh support for the new Obama strategy from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), comprised of Russia, China and the former Central Asian Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The U.S. and Iran, neither a member of the SCO, participated in the Moscow meeting, at the assistant secretary level. Now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is at the Hague in the Netherlands for a UN-sponsored conference on Afghanistan, looking for more support. Let's look at some of the latest developments and other factors regarding this fateful new Obama strategy. Barack Obama and John McCain sounded similar themes about the troubled Afghan War while campaigning against each other last July. ** The history factor, as always, looms large, though, as usual, is little discussed. America has actually won two wars in Afghanistan -- so-called "graveyard of empire" -- in the past quarter-century. First against the Soviet Union, playing a major role in breaking the back of the Soviet empire in a Vietnam-in-reverse. Then against the Taliban in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. But in both cases, the US worked closely with and relied upon Afghan proxy forces, which were fighting for their own reasons. There were only small US and British forces inside Afghanistan during those wars. The US value-added was technology, special ops forces, and air power. Which are highly disruptive, but which do not build effective governments. ** The differences with the Bush/Cheney approach are significant but not overwhelming. The biggest difference is that Obama has always been focused more on Afghanistan and Pakistan as the danger zones for the US and its Western allies, whereas Bush and Cheney were much more interested in Iraq and Iran, neither of which were involved with the 9/11 attacks. A new Afghan security force, selected by tribal elders, is being trained now by U.S. Special Forces. Obama is focusing on Afghanistan and Pakistan as a joined crisis, whereas George W. Bush and Dick Cheney thought of Pakistan as a reliable frontline ally far past the vanishing point of reality for that fantasy. And under Obama, the US is focusing more on training Afghan army and police personnel. The announced mission is different. Bush and Cheney said they wanted to build a sustaining democracy in Aghanistan, though, in the midst of their fateful Iraq fixation, did little, certainly relative to Iraq, to realize that goal. Obama says the mission now is "to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future." But the policies he is pursuing to stabilize Afghanistan have a lot of nation-building in them. It may be that we are not far from being in a position to accomplish our goal of keeping Afghanistan free of Al Qaeda bases, and then turn our attention to AL Qaeda in Pakistan. But the actual mission seems to involve far more. ** The mission creep factor. But, while Obama seems to draw a bright line between counter-terrorism and nation-building, the policies he is pursuing have the built-in possibility, if not likelihood, of mission creep. There's a lot of nation-building in this counter-terrorist strategy. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, meeting over the weekend in Moscow about the Afghan War, offered support for the U.S. ** The Moscow conference was a reaffirmation of Russian support for the US on Afghanistan, with Russia and Central Asian allies providing supply lines for US and NATO troops fighting in Afghanistan to supplement, if not replace, the traditional routes through Pakistan which are under increasing challenge from jihadists in that deeply troubled country. The countries agreed that, due to the threats of massive drug trafficking and Islamic jihadism on their doorsteps, helping the US stabilize Afghanistan is a high priority. President Dmitri Medvedev spoke glowingly of Obama, and Kyrgyzstan may relent on plans to expel the US from its base outside the capital city of Bishkek. During the Bush/Cheney years, a few Central Asian bases for US forces emerged after 9/11, but US forces were kicked out, with only the Kyrgyzstan base remaining after some ugly incidents between Americans and local citizens. ** The Hague conference comes a few days before the NATO summit, at which Obama himself will be the main participant and at which Afghanistan will be a major topic. What seems likely at both events is that there will be no new commitments of continental European troops to the fight. There will probably be some new commitments to reconstruction and civil affairs. The British are offering new troops, as they draw down their force in Iraq to nothing by the fall. The only other new troops on the way to Afghanistan are Australians. They've already pulled out of Iraq, following the landslide defeat of Bush's great friend, Conservative John Howard. Of course, Australia, being nowhere near Europe, is not a NATO member. But Turkey is. Obama criticized the failing Bush/Cheney policies on Afghanistan and Pakistan last September. ** The Turkey factor looms increasingly large for the Obama Administration. Hillary Clinton made Turkey one of her early stops are secretary of state. Obama, after going to Britain, France, Germany, and the Czech Republic on his upcoming first big foreign trip, will finish up in Turkey before returning to Washington. Obama will summit with Turkish leaders and do a roundtable discussion with Turkish students. Turkey is a major Islamic power, strategically situated, with a stable government, large economy, and powerful military. It can be very helpful to the US in the Middle East and in Afghanistan. We'll see if Turkey, which has shied away from combat situations in Afghanistan, although it helps protect the capital city of Kabul, comes up with more troops for the fighting there out in the countryside. Then Vice President-elect Joe Biden went to Afghanistan 10 days before the inauguration in January. ** The Afghanistan react is favorable, with President Hamid Karzai pleased that a seeming bid to create the post of prime minister as a rival to his much-criticized presidency has apparently been shelved. He's also probably happy that the so-called "minimalist" approach to Afghanistan -- focusing almost exclusively on counter-terrorist operations to the exclusion of the economy and civil society -- was not adopted. ** The Pakistan react is favorable, with President Asif Ali Zardari, hailing the new Obama strategy, promising more cooperation against jihadists, and letting a rival political party resume its rule in the country's largest province, Punjab. Obama promised not to use American ground troops against Al Qaeda and Taliban cadre using Pakistan as a safe haven without consulting with the Pakistani government, though the aerial drone attacks seem to be ramping up. Zardari has to like the former, though not the latter, along with the tripling of US aid for economic and civil society development. ** The India react is favorable, with the longtime bitter rival of Pakistan saying it will support the new US policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan. We'll start to see what they actually do after Obama meets with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in London. What's most helpful is what India hasn't done, i.e., retaliate for Pakistani links to the Mumbai terror siege of this past Thanksgiving. That could bring the whole house of cards falling down in Pakistan, and Afghanistan as well. We'll know more in a week. But for now, this looks increasingly like an American show, with some fresh help from longtime allies Britain and Australia, now free from their own Iraq adventures. With tantalizing, strings attached help from Russia, Turkey, and a few others. It also looks like it could turn into a different show than advertised if Obama is too slow to declare victory. You can check things during the day on my site, New West Notes ... www.newwestnotes.com. More on G-20 Summit
 
Chicago's Sun-Times Media Group Files For Bankruptcy Protection Top
Chicago's Sun-Times Media Group filed for voluntary chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, it announced Tuesday morning. The group's flagship publication is the Chicago Sun-Times , but it operates 59 newspapers and websites serving over 300 communities in the Chicago metro area. Tribune Company, the parent of Chicago's other big paper, the Chicago Tribune , also filed for bankruptcy protection in December. "Over the past several months, the Company has taken several steps to reduce costs and strengthen our organization. However, the significant downturn in the print advertising environment that has affected newspapers across the country has continued to severely impact us," said Jeremy L. Halbreich, Chairman and Interim Chief Executive Officer of Sun-Times Media Group. "Unfortunately, this deteriorating economic climate, coupled with a significant, pending IRS tax liability dating back to previous management, has led us to today's difficult action. Importantly, we firmly believe that filing for Chapter 11 protection and exploring the potential sale of assets or new investment in the Company offers us the best opportunity to protect our respected media properties for the long-term." Halbreich added, "With today's filing, it will be business as usual as we continue to operate our newspapers and online sites. We provide the area's best source of local news and information and remain committed to continuing to serve our readers, advertisers, and communities. We have enjoyed a long, rich history in the Chicago area and our goal is to preserve and sustain these strong print and online news and information assets that are such an integral part of the fabric of Chicago and its neighboring communities." Full press release below: CHICAGO, Mar 31, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) Sun-Times Media Group, Inc. today announced that it and certain affiliates (the "Company") filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The filing was made earlier today in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The Company and its principal operating subsidiary, the Sun-Times News Group, will continue to operate its newspapers and online sites as usual while it focuses on further improving its cost structure and stabilizing operations. The Company has retained Rothschild Inc. to commence a process for the sale of assets pursuant to Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The Company believes it has sufficient financial resources to continue customary day-to-day operations during this process. The Company operates 59 newspapers and their corresponding online sites. Those titles include: the Chicago Sun-Times, the SouthtownStar, Beacon News (Aurora), Courier-News (Elgin), Herald News (Joliet), Lake County News-Sun (Waukegan), Naperville Sun, Post-Tribune (Merrillville, Ind.), and weeklies published by Pioneer Press and Fox Valley Publications. The Company also publishes free shoppers and content on all of its corresponding online news sites and other sites such as YourSeason.com. "Over the past several months, the Company has taken several steps to reduce costs and strengthen our organization. However, the significant downturn in the print advertising environment that has affected newspapers across the country has continued to severely impact us," said Jeremy L. Halbreich, Chairman and Interim Chief Executive Officer of Sun-Times Media Group. "Unfortunately, this deteriorating economic climate, coupled with a significant, pending IRS tax liability dating back to previous management, has led us to today's difficult action. Importantly, we firmly believe that filing for Chapter 11 protection and exploring the potential sale of assets or new investment in the Company offers us the best opportunity to protect our respected media properties for the long-term." Halbreich added, "With today's filing, it will be business as usual as we continue to operate our newspapers and online sites. We provide the area's best source of local news and information and remain committed to continuing to serve our readers, advertisers, and communities. We have enjoyed a long, rich history in the Chicago area and our goal is to preserve and sustain these strong print and online news and information assets that are such an integral part of the fabric of Chicago and its neighboring communities." The Company intends to move through the Chapter 11 process as quickly as possible and expects the process to be completed in 2009. The Sun-Times Media Group's legal advisor is Kirkland & Ellis and its financial advisor is Rothschild Inc. Huron Consulting Group is acting as restructuring advisor to the Company. More information about the Sun-Times Media Group's bankruptcy case is available by clicking on the "Chapter 11 Information" link at www.thesuntimesgroup.com. About Sun-Times Media Group Sun-Times Media Group, Inc. is dedicated to being the premier source of local news and information for the greater Chicago area. Its media properties include the Chicago Sun-Times and Suntimes.com as well as newspapers and Web sites serving more than 300 communities across Chicago. Further information, including updates about the reorganization, can be found at www.thesuntimesgroup.com. Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements made in this release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or imply future results, performance or achievements, and may contain the words "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "estimate," "project," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," "plan," or similar words or phrases. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in reports filed by Sun-Times Media Group with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in its Forms 10-K and 10-Q. New risk factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict all such risk factors, nor can it assess the impact of all such risk factors on the Company's business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. SOURCE: Sun-Times Media Group, Inc. Posted by Danny Shea More on Newspapers
 
Rewriting Contracts Now Seen As Acceptable Top
Contracts everywhere are under assault. The depth of the recession and the use of taxpayer dollars to bail out companies have made it politically acceptable for overseers to tinker with employment agreements. More on The Bailouts
 
Obama's Europe Trip: Eight-Day, Five Country Trip Top
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama left for Europe Tuesday, packing a weighty agenda as he heads for critical economic and political talks in his first journey across the Atlantic since taking office two months ago. Obama's focus: a G-20 meeting of the world's major economic powers and a NATO summit marking the 60 years since the alliance was founded to blunt Soviet aggression in Europe. Accompanied by his wife, Michelle, Obama boarded a helicopter on the South Lawn of the White House under sunny skies shortly after 8 a.m. for the for the short flight to nearby Andrews Air Force Base, Md, and his takeoff. Obama's eight-day, five-country trip begins early Tuesday, sending him to meet with European leaders who split with the United States over the war in Iraq and the treatment of suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay under President George W. Bush. First up: a summit of the world's economic powers in London to address the global financial meltdown that has defined the first two months of Obama's administration. "The president and America are going to listen in London, as well as to lead," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. The main event in London is Thursday's summit on the global financial crisis among the Group of 20 wealthy and developing nations. Together, they represent 85 percent of the world's economy. Obama planned to meet with leaders of Britain, Russia and China _ major players in the U.S. financial system. He also scheduled meetings with leaders of India and South Korea while in London. But money isn't the sole agenda item. Obama plans to attend international summits on urgent topics, including the downward-spiraling fight against terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also will make his first stop in a Muslim nation, Turkey. Wildly popular around the globe but relatively inexperienced in foreign affairs, Obama and his wife also will squeeze in a Buckingham Palace audience with Queen Elizabeth II. He will deliver a speech in France on the trans-Atlantic relationship, and an address in Prague on weapons proliferation. And he will host a round-table session with students in Turkey. When Obama went to Europe last summer _ he was a senator seeking the presidency _ he was received like a rock star. His welcome this time is expected to be no less enthusiastic. Since taking office, Obama has made down payments on several campaign promises that had endeared him to Europe, such as addressing global warming and moving to end the Iraq war and close the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay. Obama isn't doing too badly with his constituents at home either. In Washington Post-ABC News poll released Tuesday, 66 precent of respondents said they approve of the way he is handling his job. Sixty percent said they approve of the way he is handling the economy. More on G-20 Summit
 

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