Sunday, June 7, 2009

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U.S. Will Let Some Banks Repay Aid: Chase, Goldman, Amex Expect To Be On List Top
The Obama administration plans to announce as soon as today that some of the nation's largest banks can repay billions in federal aid, but some officials caution that the show of progress is being underwritten by multiple layers of less visible government support.
 
Chef Gordon Ramsay Shocks Audience With 'Lesbian' Rant About Journalist Top
Foul-mouthed reality TV chef Gordon Ramsay has shocked a public audience by vilifying a high-profile Australian journalist in an obscene, sexist rant at one point claiming she is a lesbian. The putrid tirade against Tracy Grimshaw which included references to her looks and sexuality and depictions of her as a pig shocked audiences who went to see the celebrity chef at the Good Food and Wine Show in Melbourne, Australia.
 
Robert Kuttner: Fantasies of Green Shoots Top
There is a huge reality gap between the happy talk about green shoots, banks passing stress tests, the rise in unemployment slowing -- and what's happening out in the real economy, especially if you take a close look at banking and housing, ground zero of the economic crisis. Credit remains tight for all but the most blue-chip borrowers. Despite the Fed's policy of keeping short term interest rates at just above zero, average rates on conventional 30-year mortgages, now above 5.5 percent, have jumped nearly a full point since April. Last Wednesday, the FDIC quietly folded a program that was the centerpiece of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's effort to get toxic assets off the books of banks. The program, whose details were unveiled in late March after six awkward weeks of delay while the administration worked out the details, included special incentives for what Geithner delicately termed "legacy assets." These are the junk securities on banks' balance sheets, mostly backed by sub-prime loans, for which ordinary buyers cannot be found. The Treasury drafted the Federal Reserve to provide special loans, and the FDIC to run a pilot program to attract speculators to bid on the securities. All told, the government was prepared to put up 94 percent of the capital if private investors would put up 6 percent. Government would guarantee most of the losses, and split the gains 50-50. The plan took Geithner full circle to something like the original strategy attempted by his predecessor, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, when Paulson came to Congress last September asking for $700 billion to buy up toxic assets from banks. But after Paulson got Congress to approve the money, he concluded that he couldn't make the original plan work. Instead, the Treasury pumped several hundred billions into the banks directly. The toxic assets stayed on the banks' books. Now, Geithner's do-over seems to have collapsed, too. There are a couple of reasons why. First, the government has bent the accounting rules to allow the banks to carry nearly worthless securities on their books at their nominal full value. The Wall Street Journal ran a terrific investigative piece June 3 on how the banking lobby and legislators of both parties pressured the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to suspend its rules requiring assets to be carried on banks' books at their current market value. With this change, banks had no incentive to sell these deeply depressed securities at anything like their actual market value. So if a speculator, armed with Fed funding and a government guarantee against losses was prepared to take a speculative flyer in a bond by bidding, say, 30 cents on the dollar, the bank was not prepared to sell at less than 90. Hence, no deal. Second, some hedge funds and private equity companies sniffed around these deals and concluded that they weren't worth the bad publicity or government scrutiny if the deals resulted in big windfall profits (the only kind that hedge funds pursue). Cooking the books to inflate the value of depressed securities also explains how zombie banks like Citigroup could pass the government's "stress tests" with flying colors. Citigroup, which has depended on $45 billion in straight government cash and hundreds of billions more in guarantees, was found by the stress-testers from the Fed and the Treasury to need only $5 billion more to be adequately capitalized. This is, of course, preposterous if you value the junk on its books accurately. So the banking sector, despite the pretty picture painted by the stress-tests and the banks' recent success in selling stock to investors reassured by the government's too-big-to-fail actions, remains weak. As a result, banks are hesitant to lend. And this weakness keeps dragging down the rest of the economy. The flipside of weak banks is a depressed housing sector. Just as the administration chose bailout over government takeover of failed banks, the administration opted for an entirely voluntary effort to induce banks to refinance sub-prime and other mortgages that homeowners could not afford. The program, announced by President Obama February 18, aims to help at-risk homeowners keep their homes. But the terms of the plan exclude the most hard-hit homeowners. Today, one homeowner in four owns a house worth less than the mortgage on it. However, you can qualify for a refinancing only if the home's value is within five percent of the value of the loan. In other words, if you have a $300,000 mortgage on a house valued at $250,000, forget about help. And you are also excluded from help if you are behind in your payments - the situation of most people who need help. Worst of all, the program depends entirely on the voluntary cooperation of banks. The administration will spend up to $75 billion on inducements to banks to vary the terms of loans. But at this writing, well under 100,000 loans have been modified, out of the several million at risk of foreclosure. As a consequence, people continue losing their homes, depressing the value of other homes. The Times recently reported on a woman who heard about the administration, approached her lender, Countrywide (one of the worst sub-prime offenders and now part of Bank of America) and asked for a refinancing. The bank offered a new loan that would save the woman all of $79 a month, and in return the bank wanted $18,000 up front. Basically, the banks seem to be viewing refinancings as new profit opportunities. The one stick in a plan full of carrots was a provision empowering bankruptcy judges, as a last resort, to vary the terms of a mortgage. The banking lobby went all out to kill this provision. In the end, twelve Senate Democrats voted against it, and the administration made no political effort to save it. Rep. Alan Grayson of Orlando, one of the hardest-hit parts of the country in terms of foreclosures, tells the story of a woman with a $300,000 mortgage on a house now worth perhaps $60,000. She could afford the payments on a $60,000 mortgage. But the bank would rather foreclose, bear the expenses of carrying the house which will be at risk of vandalism and deterioration until is it is sold. The bank would actually be better off writing down the mortgage to $60,000 and allowing the woman to stay in the house. But few banks see it that way. In similar circumstances in the 1930s, the Roosevelt Administration created the Home Owners Loan Corporation, and the government refinanced mortgages directly. But the Obama administration prefers to work through the private sector, and the private sector is averse to refinancings in most circumstances. Another progressive Member of Congress, Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Toledo, tells of cascading foreclosures in her district, where banks are selling foreclosed homes at a few cents on the dollar to syndicates of speculators, some from the very sub-prime lenders who caused the collapse. Rather than sell to local government or local non-profits, which want to keep people on their homes, the banks want to get a few bucks onto their balance sheets fast. The situation cries out for more effective national leadership, and the government's failure to provide that leadership means that the downward spiral in housing will continue. The weakness of the mortgage relief program and of the banks' balance sheets have one big thing in common--an administration that is far too deferential to the big banks. For the crisis to be solved soon, rather than lingering on and on, we need direct government refinancing of mortgages, and direct government restructuring of zombie banks. Robert Kuttner is co-editor of The American Prospect and a senior fellow at Demos . His recent book is " Obama's Challenge ." More on Barack Obama
 
Dr. Irene S. Levine: What are you doing on June 8th, Best Friends Day? Do Something! Top
Set your cell phone alarm, mark your calendar, and write it across the top of your hand in red ink. Get ready for Best Friends Day (BFD), sponsored by DoSomething.org and BFF Entertainment . The two groups have declared June 8th, 2009 a national day of celebration for best friends to do something together to change the world. What can two best friends do on that day to have fun, show affection for each other, and do something that has a larger impact by helping others? DoSomething and BFF have come up with some great suggestions: 1) If you use Twitter and add the hashtag #BFF to your tweet, your message to your friend will be streamed onto the iconic Times Square billboard in New York City on that day. Everyone will know that you are participating in Best Friends Day☺. 2) You can text "bff" to 30644 and sign up to volunteer or tell how you have changed the world. 3) If you send a BFF Bouquet from 1-800-FLOWERS on the day, a percentage of the sale will be donated to Do Something.org 4) Tune in to The Today Show, which will air a Best Friends Day feature on June 8th. Perhaps you'll get another idea of how to help. 5) If you are a teen, get involved with DoSomething.org ---the organization that uses "the power of online to get teens to do good stuff offline." If you are an old person (over the age of 20) or you're privileged to have a business, check out DoSomething on the web and come up with your own unique way to participate and help. The CEO, creative force, and cheerleader for the non-profit is attorney and HuffPo blogger Nancy Lublin , who dubs herself 'chief old person.' In that role, Lublin raises funds from the corporate sector to support grants that help teens get things done. Last year alone, DoSomething.org inspired and empowered 12 million kids to get involved in a variety of projects in their local communities and around the world. This isn't Lublin's first successful philanthropic venture. At the age of 23, she created Dress for Success , an organization that provides women with the tools and confidence they need to succeed in their careers. That non-profit has expanded to more than 70 cities in four countries. (Disclosure: I'm proud that my son, Andrew, was privileged to work with the wonderful team at DoSomething.)
 
Korena Elaine Roberts Befriended Pregnant Woman Found Dead With Baby Through Craigslist Top
PORTLAND, Ore. -- A pregnant 21-year-old found dead with her baby no longer in her womb befriended the woman charged with killing her through Craigslist, her mother said Sunday. Police said they found Heather M. Snively's body Friday in a crawl space in Korena Elaine Roberts' home in Beaverton, a Portland suburb. They'd been called there because a newborn wasn't breathing. The baby later died. Roberts told officers she'd recently given birth to the baby boy, said Sgt. David Thompson of the Washington County Sheriff's Office, and both were taken to a hospital. Doctors could not save the baby, and they alerted authorities after determining Roberts had not given birth. Roberts, 27, was charged with murder in Snively's death and could face charges in the baby's death as well, Thompson said. She was being held without bond and the jail did not list an attorney. Autopsy results were scheduled to be released Monday and Thompson would not say whether Snively gave birth before she died or the baby was removed. Police have not released a motive for the killing. Snively's mother, Heidi Kidd of St. Albans, W.Va., said Snively met Roberts a few weeks ago through Craigslist, the online classified service. Roberts told Snively she was pregnant and wanted baby clothes, Kidd said. They befriended one another and kept talking online. "I guess they decided to meet and I guess that was the wrong thing to do," she said. "But Heather's always been a very trusting person." Thompson said detectives have not confirmed the women met through Craigslist. Roberts has two children, both under 10, who were staying with relatives and not at home when police believe Snively was killed, Thompson said. Kidd said her daughter was eight months pregnant, and Snively's Facebook photo shows her lifting a pink shirt to expose a large belly. Snively and her boyfriend, identified by Kidd as Christopher Popp, recently moved to Oregon from Maryland because he got a better job. Popp, the baby's father, reported Snively missing Friday night and is not a suspect, Thompson said. Kidd said her first grandson was to be named John Steven. "I'm still in shock; it hasn't hit me," she said. "I mean, that initial phone call; I just couldn't believe it. I just could not believe I was talking about my own child."
 
Obama Could Be Handed First Legislative Defeat Due To Anti-War Liberals Top
President Obama, who has suffered relatively few setbacks in the Democratic-controlled Congress, has allowed one key administration bill -- the $96.7 billion supplemental appropriation for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars ( HR 2346 ) -- to become a Christmas tree for other controversial "must-pass" provisions, including $108 billion for the International Monetary Fund and language keeping detainee torture photos secret. The emergence of opposition from left and right to the expanded legislation has inspired anti-war forces to try to hand Obama his first major defeat. In one of the ironies of the legislative process, the threat of Republicans to vote en masse against the measure has empowered the liberal wing of the House Democratic caucus, giving it potential veto power over the legislation. A number of war critics in the blogosphere including Jane Hamsher at firedoglake.com ; buhdydharma on Dailykos.com ; and Jason Rosenbaum at theseminel.com , think there is a chance to actually defeat the war-funding bill. Other anti-war advocates in Congress privately warn that they are likely to be outmaneuvered, and that many in their ranks are not willing to deal Obama a major legislative defeat. The legislation itself has had a short and volatile history. In the first major blow to the President, majorities in both the House and Senate last month used the bill to voice adamant opposition to plans to close the notorious Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, "Gitmo" or Guantanamo for short, by cutting the money needed to pay for the costs of closure. The action denied Obama the ability to fulfill one of his core campaign promises. The measure appeared headed to the President's desk for signature after it was passed by the House, 368 to 60, on May 14, with only 51 Democrats and nine Republicans voting 'no', and sent to the Senate In late May, however, the Senate added two separate provisions, both of which have provoked a firestorm of opposition in the House. The House leadership had planned a vote on the measure last Friday, June 5, but pulled the bill when it became clear that it could be defeated. The first new and controversial provision would authorizes $108 billion in U.S.-backed loans to be distributed by the International Monetary Fund. This money is a high priority for the President, who made the loan commitment at the April 2 Group of 20 "G-20" meeting in London -- attended by leaders of major industrialized and developing economies -- in an attempt to demonstrate U.S. support for countries struggling to stay financially afloat in the global recession. House Republican leaders, fully aware that rejection of the IMF money would be a major setback for Obama, are calling on all GOP members to oppose the measure if it includes the IMF money. House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio) told colleagues: "Just think about this a moment. We're going to provide the International Monetary Fund $108 billion that we don't have. So we're going to borrow $108 billion from the Chinese, we're going to give it to the IMF, and we're going to expect our kids and grandkids to pay for it. Americans aren't buying this. And I tell you what: Republicans in the House aren't going to buy it, either." Further complicating the IMF issue is the emergence of a block of 41 House Democrats led by Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.) who wrote a May 21 letter to top Democrats on the Appropriations Committee seeking changes in the IMF sections of the bill which would require the IMF a) to back off from certain austerity requirements imposed on poor countries; b) to provide more access and transparency in the loan process; and c) to use $5 billion for grants and debt relief instead of for loans. It is not clear how many of these 41 House Democrats are prepared to vote against the legislation which has not been changed to accommodate their demands. The problems don't stop there. The Senate, with the backing of the Obama administration, has also added an amendment that would allow the administration to keep secret photographs of U.S. torture and mistreatment of detainees and prisoners, allowing the Department of Defense to exempt such photos from provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), who sponsored the Detainee Photographic Records Protection Act, said the language specifically addresses a FOIA suit filed by the ACLU for the pictures: the Lieberman amendment will "authorize the Secretary of Defense, after consultation with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, to certify to the President that the disclosure of photographs like the ones at issue in the ACLU lawsuit would endanger the lives of our citizens or members of the Armed Forces or civilian employees of the United States government deployed abroad. The certification would last five year and could be renewed by the Secretary of Defense if the threat to American personnel continues." The result is that HR 2346 -- combining the Iraq-Afghan war supplemental with the IMF loan money and with the detainee-photos secrecy provisions -- now faces four separate sources of opposition: First, all 178 Republican members; Second, liberal/progressive Democrats critical of the forced austerity policies of the IMF; Third, the 51 Democrats and 9 Republicans who voted against the Afghan-Iraq supplemental on May 14, before the Senate made its additions; and Fourth, members, mostly Democrats, adamantly opposed to the FOIA photo provisions. To be certain of passage, the administration and House Democratic leaders need to be sure of 218 votes, and, without major surgery to the legislation, prospects of achieving that goal are currently dim. According to Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chair of the House Financial Services Committee, there are two choices available to those seeking passage of the war supplemental: take out the IMF funding, or take out the anti-FOIA Lieberman amendment: "You can have the war and the IMF, or the war and the pictures," Frank told Jane Hamsher. Frank, an anti-war Democrat who opposed the war supplemental on May 14, strongly supports the IMF provisions and will back the measure if the IMF funding stays in. He is strongly opposed, however, to the FOIA amendment, and said he has warned the Obama administration that there are so many House members opposed to the Lieberman provision that "they have no chance of passing this if the pictures are in it... There are many Democrats who are very upset about that." If the administration and House leadership adopt the Frank strategy and eliminate the Lieberman FOIA amendment, they will still face a major hurdle. Keeping the IMF provision in raises the likelihood that all the votes for the measure will have to be provided by Democrats. There are 256 Democrats, meaning that proponents of the bill can only afford to lose 38 Democratic votes. A total of 51 Democrats, however, voted against the measure on May 14, and another 18 voiced concerns about the practices of the IMF, for a total of 69 potential no votes -- 31 of whom would have to be persuaded to vote yes. In addition, there is the danger for the administration that some members of the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition - members representing conservative swing districts - may feel under pressure to vote no because of local opposition to foreign aid spending and to the IMF. Some opponents of the war, including Frank and George Miller (D-Calif.) have indicated that they are prepared to support the administration and to back the bill. The Democratic whip operation will be frantically counting Democratic votes this week to see what changes, if any, can produce a majority. One factor working in Obama's favor is that many of the critics of war spending are members of the Congressional Black Caucus and they are likely to be reluctant to hand Obama a serious defeat at this early stage of his presidency. Conversely, if that strategy for getting to a majority fails, the administration will be tempted to drop the IMF money to get at least 140 Republican House votes. Despite their desire to embarrass the president, House Republicans, without the excuse of the IMF money, would be under intense pressure to vote for a bill providing money for American troops under fire in Afghanistan and Iraq. A key Senate aide noted that the measure will pass in one form or another "only with great difficulty. Once Obama gets back [from overseas] he may need to be the closer and seal the deal." Supporters of the bill "lose Democratic votes on the money for Afghanistan and sure as hell won't pick up Republican votes because of the IMF money, and if this language relating to detainee photo's isn't stripped out, they may lose a handful of more Democratic votes as well."
 
Amy Goodman: Dr. George Tiller Didn't Have to Die Top
George Tiller did not have to die. He was assassinated while in church in Wichita, Kan., on Sunday, targeted for legally performing abortions. His death might have been prevented simply through enforcement of existing laws. His alleged killer was seen vandalizing a Kansas City clinic, Aid for Women, both the week before and the day before the murder, putting glue into its door locks. The manager of that clinic, who calls himself "Jeff Pederson" to protect his identity, told me he called the FBI and local police both times, but the vandal, the alleged killer Scott Roeder, was not arrested. Pederson had Roeder's first name and his license-plate number. He had images of him on the security video. He recognized him from previous protests. Pederson said: "The clinic was closed on Memorial Day weekend. A worker tried to get in on Memorial Day but couldn't. The locks were Super-Glued. I went to the videotape and I saw the same guy on the videotape who had done it in 2000." Pederson called his contact at the FBI, agent Mark Colburn. "He [Colburn] said the videotape wouldn't be clear enough, and since I had touched the locks, I had ruined it with my DNA. So I bought new color video cameras." On Saturday, May 30, the clinic manager said "Scott" struck again: "My head nurse calls me, 5:40 Saturday morning. She had come to prep for the patients. When she was coming back from the store she noticed the Taurus [Roeder's car]. She made her way to the back door. She saw him. He saw her and bolted. She followed him to his car and started talking to him. "He tried to stand in front of the license plate, but she got it, 225 BAB. As she ran back to the clinic, he shouted 'Baby killer!' at her." Pederson called Colburn, reporting the second vandalism and letting him know he had better video. Pederson said Colburn told him, "The Johnson County prosecutor won't do anything until the grand jury convenes." The next day, Tiller was murdered, allegedly by Roeder. I called the Kansas City FBI and reached Colburn. He immediately referred me to FBI spokesperson Bridget Patton. I asked her about the incidents at the clinic and why the suspect hadn't been arrested either time. She said: "I am not sure of the timeline, but whenever an act of vandalism occurs at an abortion clinic, we are notified of that vandalism and respond appropriately." Tiller's medical practice, which included performing late-term abortions, drew rage, protests and attacks during the decades of his career. His clinic was bombed in the mid-1980s. He survived an assassination attempt in 1993, when he suffered gunshot wounds to each of his arms. Bill O'Reilly on Fox News Channel demonized him as "Tiller the Baby Killer." He was the target of a political prosecution by a former Kansas attorney general, Phill Kline, and was acquitted just months ago on misdemeanor charges that he violated state rules on providing abortions. Roeder was picked up shortly after the shooting Sunday in his Ford Taurus. On Tuesday, he was charged with first-degree murder. I asked Pederson if he thought Tiller's murder could have been prevented if the authorities had simply arrested Roeder after he vandalized the Kansas City clinic. Pederson paused. "I don't know," he said. But Dr. Susan Robinson was adamant. She flies to Wichita every month to perform abortions in Tiller's clinic. She said, "It is generally regarded amongst those who do clinic security, if local authorities are not responsive, if they don't show up or they don't vigilantly enforce the law, that it encourages the anti-abortion people to push it further and further." She said: "In Wichita, Dr. Tiller was constantly dealing with the same lack of enforcement. Wichita prohibits placing signs on city property. But they allow the anti-abortion protesters to set up dozens of crosses and leave them all day. Dr. Tiller went to the city attorney over the crosses, and complained that people block the clinic driveway. He told me that the city attorney said, 'I would rather be sued by George Tiller than the anti-abortion folks.' " The 1994 federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) makes it a crime to block or damage a reproductive health service facility. Enforcing FACE saves lives. George Tiller will be buried on Saturday. Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column. Amy Goodman is the host of "Democracy Now!," a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 750 stations in North America. She is the co-author of "Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times," recently released in paperback. © 2009 Amy Goodman
 
The Face Returns? Legendary Style Magazine Could Be Revived Top
In 1980, Jerry Dammers grinned gapily from the cover of the first issue of the Face. Appropriately this year's big ticket is the Specials reunion tour - sans Dammers - and, in a slick piece of media synchronicity, there is also talk that the Face may be back on the road again.
 
What Anne Frank Might Have Looked Like At 80 Top
Eva Schloss, Anne Frank's step sister, is shown a photo of what Anne might have looked like if she had lived to her 80th birthday, but thinks the portrait looks too "peaceful".
 
Lebanon Election Results: Pro-Western Majority Declares Victory Top
BEIRUT — Lebanon's pro-Western coalition declared victory early Monday, as local television stations reported the faction had successfully fended off a serious challenge by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah and its allies to grab the majority in parliament. Official results for Sunday's election were not expected until later Monday, but the winners were already celebrating by shooting in the air, setting off fireworks and driving around in honking motorcades. The election was an early test of President Barack Obama's efforts to forge Middle East peace. A win by Hezbollah would have boosted the influence of its backers Iran and Syria and risked pushing one of the region's most volatile nations into international isolation and possibly into more conflict with Israel. "I present this victory to Lebanon," Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said on television after stations projected his pro-Western coalition was winning. "It is an exceptional day for democracy in Lebanon." OTV, the television station of one of Hezbollah's key Christian allies, former army chief Michel Aoun, conceded that the party's candidates who challenged pro-Western competitors in several Christian districts had been defeated, preventing a victory for the Hezbollah coalition. But Aoun was able to hang on to his representation in other districts. Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation, a leading private Christian TV station, projected the pro-Western coalition to win 68 seats in the next parliament, with 57 for Hezbollah and its allies and three for independents. That would almost replicate the deadlock that existed in the outgoing parliament, in which the pro-Western bloc had 70 seats and an alliance of Hezbollah and other Shiite and Christian factions had 58. The leader of the largest bloc in the pro-Western coalition, Saad Hariri, said early Monday in a televised speech that he extends his hand to the losing side "to work together and seriously for the sake of Lebanon." He urged supporters to celebrate without provoking opponents. But despite the conciliatory tone, Lebanon was at risk of sliding again into a political crisis over formation of the next government similar to the one that buffeted the country for most of the last four years. Hezbollah had veto power in Saniora's Cabinet for the last year, which it won after provoking the worst street clashes since the 1975-1990 civil war. The pro-Western coalition had vowed not to give Hezbollah and its allies a blocking minority in the new government if they won. The battle in Christian districts was the decisive factor. Lebanese generally vote along sectarian and family loyalties, with seats for Sunnis and Shiites in the half-Christian, half-Muslim, 128-member parliament already locked up even before the voting started. Christians in the pro-Western coalition warned that Hezbollah would bring the influence of Shiite Iran to Lebanon. The Maronite Catholic Church made a last-minute appeal, warning that Lebanon as a state and its Arab identity were threatened, a clear reference to Hezbollah and its Persian backer, Iran. Sunnis were also driven to vote for the pro-Western coalition to get back at Shiite Hezbollah gunmen for seizing the streets a year ago in Beirut from pro-government supporters. Some 3.2 million people out of a population of 4 million were eligible to vote, and the interior minister said after polls closed that the turnout nationwide was about 52.3 percent, an increase over the 2005 figure of 45.8 percent. Saniora won his first parliamentary seat in the southern port city of Sidon, defeating a pro-Hezbollah Sunni incumbent, according to TV projections. The race for the parliament is the first major event in the Middle East since Obama reached out to the Arab and Islamic worlds last week in his speech in Cairo in which he called for a "new beginning between the United States and Muslims." Obama challenged Muslims to confront violent extremism across the globe and urged Israel and the Palestinians along with Arab states to find common ground on which to forge peace. Hezbollah, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization, has been one of the staunchest opponents of U.S. policy in the Middle East and a sworn enemy of Israel. It fought the Jewish state in southern Lebanon in 2006 in a devastating war and has tried to smuggle weapons to the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza through Egypt. Obama's speech did not resonate in the election campaign. But warnings by the United States that it could reconsider aid depending on the election's outcome have sparked Hezbollah accusations of U.S. interference. The U.S. has given around $1 billion to Lebanon's pro-Western government since 2006. In his Cairo speech, Obama said the United States "will welcome elected, peaceful governments, provided they govern with respect for all their people." Former President Jimmy Carter, in Beirut to monitor the elections, expressed hope that the United States, Iran and other countries will recognize the results "and not try to interfere in the process." Hezbollah's coalition includes the Shiite movement Amal and Aoun's Christian faction. Opposing it are the overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim supporters of current majority leader Hariri, allied with several Christian and Druse factions. Hezbollah tried to strike a moderate tone in the election campaign. The group only fielded 11 candidates and must work with its various political allies. The group's Christian allies argue that involving Hezbollah more deeply in the political process _ rather than shunning it _ is the only way to bridge the country's sectarian divides. Their opponents counter that the heavily armed Hezbollah would be driving Lebanon into the arms of Iran, which could use it as a front in the Islamic republic's confrontation with Israel. In Israel, government officials were concerned about gains by Hezbollah. Israeli Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom said last week a victory by Hezbollah would be "very dangerous for the stability of the Middle East, and by that, the stability of the entire world." The voting was largely peaceful, with complaints of long waits at polling stations from voters, many of whom had to travel across the country to cast their ballots. Army troops in armored personnel carriers and trucks took up positions on major highways, part of a 50,000-strong security force deployed for voting day. President Michel Suleiman, among the early voters, cast his ballot in his hometown of Amchit on the coast north of Beirut. He set the political tone for the post-election period irrespective of who won, hoping for a national unity government, a prospect both sides have already raised.
 
Conservatives score wins in EU parliament voting Top
BRUSSELS — Conservatives scored victories in some of Europe's largest economies Sunday as voters punished left-leaning parties in European parliament elections in France, Germany and other nations. Some right-leaning parties said the results vindicated their reluctance to spend more on company bailouts and fiscal stimulus to combat the global economic crisis. The European Union said center-right parties were expected to take the most seats _ 267 _ in the 736-member parliament. Center-left parties were headed for 159 seats. The remainder were expected to go to smaller groupings. Right-leaning governments were ahead of the opposition in Germany, France, Italy and Belgium, while conservative opposition parties were leading in Britain and Spain. Greece was a notable exception, where the governing conservatives were headed for defeat in the wake of corruption scandals and economic woes. Germans handed a lackluster victory to Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and a historic defeat to their center-left rivals in the European Parliament vote months before a national election. The Social Democrats got an unexpectedly dismal 20.8 percent _ the party's worst showing since World War II in any nationwide election. Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and a regional sister party won 37.8 percent, down from 44.5 percent five years ago. But the outcome was enough to boost Merkel's hopes of ending the tense left-right "grand coalition" that has led the European Union's most populous nation since 2005, and replacing it with a center-right government. "We are the force that is acting level-headedly and correctly in this financial and economic crisis," said Volker Kauder, the leader of Merkel's party in the German parliament. French President Nicolas Sarkozy's governing conservatives trounced the Socialists, while an ecology-minded party vaulted to a surprisingly strong third place, according to official results. The Socialists, who dominated the last vote in 2004, suffered a stinging defeat, barely clinging to the No. 2 spot. "Tonight is a very difficult evening for Socialists in many nations in Europe," said Martin Schulz, the leader of the Socialists in the European Parliament. "(We will) continue to fight for social democracy in Europe." Far-right groups and other fringe parties gained in record low turnout estimated at 43.5 percent of 375 million eligible, reflecting widespread disenchantment with the continentwide legislature. Britain elected its first extreme-right politician to the European Parliament, with the British National Party winning a seat in northern England's Yorkshire and the Humber district. The far-right party, which does not accept nonwhites as members, was expected to possibly win further seats as more results in Britain were announced. Lawmakers with Britain's major political parties said the far right's advance was a reflection of anger over immigration issues and the recession that is causing unemployment to soar. Near-final results showed Austria's main rightist party gaining strongly while the ruling Social Democrats lost substantial ground. But the big winner was the rightist Freedom Party, which more than doubled its strength over the 2004 elections to 13.1 percent of the vote. It campaigned on an anti-Islam platform. In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders' anti-Islamic party took 17 percent of the country's votes, taking four of 25 seats. The Hungarian far-right Jobbik party won three of 22 seats, with the main center-right opposition party, Fidesz, capturing 14 seats and the governing Socialists only four. Jobbik describes itself as Euro-skeptic and anti-immigration and wants police to crack down on petty crimes committed by Gypsies. Critics say the party is racist and anti-Semitic. Fringe groups could use the EU parliament as a platform for their extreme views but were not expected to affect the assembly's increasingly influential lawmaking on issues ranging from climate change to cell-phone roaming charges. The EU parliament has evolved over five decades from a consultative legislature to one with the power to vote on or amend two-thirds of all EU laws. Lawmakers get five-year terms and residents vote for lawmakers from their own countries. The parliament can also amend the EU budget _ euro120 billion ($170 billion) this year _ and approves candidates for the European Commission, the EU administration and the board of the European Central Bank. Many Socialists ran campaigns that slammed center-right leaders for failing to rein in financial markets and spend enough to stimulate faltering economies. "People don't want a return to socialism and that's why the majority here will be a center-right majority," said Graham Watson, leader of the EU's center-right Liberal Democrat grouping. In Spain, the conservative Popular Party won two more seats than the ruling Socialists _ 23 to 21 seats _ with over 88 percent of the vote counted. Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi's Freedom People's Party held a two-digit lead over his main center-left rival in the most recent polling despite a deep recession and a scandal over allegations he had an inappropriate relationship with a young model. Italian results were being released Monday. In Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown was facing a showdown with rebel lawmakers on Monday after the party's expected dismal results in the European parliament and local elections were announced. Brown has been struggling with the economic crisis and a scandal over lawmakers' expenses. The opposition Conservatives are expected to win the next national election, which must be called by June 2010. According to a BBC projection, Labour was trailing the United Kingdom Independence Party in third place. It put the main opposition Conservative Party at 27 percent, UKIP at 17 and Labour at 16, followed by smaller parties. "This time we have come second in a major national election. That is a hell of an achievement," said Nigel Farage, leader of UKIP _ which advocates Britain's withdrawal from the European Union. An exit poll showed Irish ruling party Fianna Fail, which supports EU plans to strengthen its authority, trailing its rival Fine Gael by 23 percent to 30 percent. The outcome of many Irish races was unclear early Monday. The count was halted for an hour Sunday night in Ireland's North West EU constituency after candidate Declan Ganley, founder of anti-treaty party Libertas, raised procedural questions about the opening of ballot boxes. An exit poll in Poland showed Prime Minister Donald Tusk's pro-business Civic Platform party with 45.3 percent and the nationalist and conservative opposition Law and Justice party second with 29.5 percent _ a shift to the center-right for Poland at the European parliament. The Democratic Left Alliance-Labor Union garnered 12 percent. In Sweden, the Pirate Party, which advocates shortening the duration of copyright protection and allowing noncommercial file-sharing, looked set to take its first seat with 7.4 percent of the vote. Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands and five other EU nations cast ballots over the last three days, while the rest of the 27-nation bloc voted Sunday. ___ Associated Press writers Geir Moulson and Patrick McGroarty in Berlin, Angela Charlton in Paris, Harold Heckle in Madrid, Raphael Satter and David Stringer in London, Constant Brand in Brussels, Pablo Gorondi in Budapest, Hungary, Ryan Lucas in Warsaw, George Jahn in Vienna, Derek Gatopoulos and Elena Becatoros in Athens, Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Alison Mutler in Bucarest, Romania, Keith Moore and Malin Rising in Stockholm and Veselin Toshkov in Sofia, Bulgaria, contributed to this report. More on European Union
 
Obama Family Paris Photos: First Family Tours Pompidou Center, Ladies Go Shopping Top
TEXT FROM AP ... SLIDESHOW COMPILED BY HUFFINGTON POST President Barack Obama spent a few hours as a tourist this weekend, seeing Paris with his wife and two young girls after his trip to the Middle East, Germany and the beaches of Normandy. Obama on Sunday was wrapping up a six-day trip abroad that took him to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Germany and France. The tour included a speech to Muslims on Thursday and a trip to a Nazi concentration camp a day later. On Saturday, he marked the 65th anniversary of the Allied invasion at Normandy. After the D-Day ceremonies at Omaha Beach, Obama returned to Paris with wife Michelle. They stayed at the U.S. ambassador's residence and spent time as tourists with their daughters. The Obama family was up early on a cool and overcast Sunday morning. Shortly after 9 a.m., they arrived at the Pompidou Center, a modern art museum constructed of color-coded ducts that has become a famous landmark since it opened in 1977. Obama and his family went to the top of the Pompidou Center, which has one of the best views of the whole city. Daughter Sasha was celebrating her eighth birthday in Paris as well. Crowds lined the streets in patches, with gawkers taking pictures of the motorcade. The whirlwind tour of Paris began early Saturday evening at the 12th century Notre Dame cathedral, where Obama lit a candle and listened to a children's choir. Thousands of tourists lined the streets. Then, the first couple went out for dinner near the Eiffel Tower. It was precisely the type of sightseeing the French and Germans wanted to see. During stops in both countries, local reporters asked the U.S. president why he wasn't spending more time in their countries. Obama grumbled about his busy schedule on Saturday in Caen, France. "I would love nothing more than to have a leisurely week in Paris, stroll down the Seine, take my wife out to a nice meal, have a picnic in Luxembourg Gardens. Those days are over, for the moment," Obama said to laughter. Obama called French President Nicholas Sarkozy a friend and said the pair can pick up the phone and chat anytime. "I think you guys are reading too much into my schedule," Obama said. As for Sunday, the White House was not releasing a schedule, other than to say Obama would fly back to the United States. More on Photo Galleries
 
Jeff Jarvis: Product v process journalism: The myth of perfection v beta culture Top
An alarm went off on some desk at the New York Times business section: Oh-oh, time to slam blogs again . But the latest assault reveals as much about The Times and the culture of classical journalism as it does about bloggers. Like the millennial clash of business models in media - the content economy v. the link economy and the inability of one to understand the other - here we see a clash over journalistic culture and methods - product journalism v. process journalism. In The Times, Damon Darlin goes after blogs for publishing rumors and unfinished stories, calling it a "truth-be-damned approach" and likening it to yellow journalism, the highest insult of the gray class. He hauls out the worst example again - just as bloggers trying to go after MSM reporters do: the Steve Jobs heart attack rumor and Times WMD reporting (or Jayson Blair or Dan Rather), respectively. Darlin leads with TechCrunch and Gawker sharing bogus rumors of Apple buying Twitter. He acknowledges that TechCrunch said in its post that it could not confirm the story. But still, he uses it to jump to the first of his broad-brush generalizations: "Such news judgment is not unusual among blogs covering tech. For some blogs, rumors are their stock in trade." Couldn't one say the same thing about political reporters who spread rumors and trial balloons, knowing they are just that, or business reporters feeding rumors and speculation about mergers or firings? Blogs are hardly alone in scoop mentality. Newspapers invented scoops. When I tweeted about the story, calling it a slap to bloggers, Times Sunday business editor Tim O'Brien - who'd just issued his customary long string of tweets flogging his stories, including this one - responded : "isn't about 'product vs. process' or 'old vs. new'. it's about people publishing things they don't believe to be true. standards." One word: standards. But which standards? Whose standards? The Times' standards, of course. They set the standard, don't they? Well, yes, they do, sometimes. Just not all the standards all the time. At my school , we say we teach what we call the eternal verities of journalism. But I also try to make sure the students are open to new worldviews and new methods and means of journalism. Those can come from bloggers and from the public we serve. Darlin touches on one such new view when he writes: [TechCrunch founder] Mr. Arrington and the other bloggers see this not as rumor-mongering, but as involving the readers in the reporting process. One mission of his site, he said, is to write about the things a few people are talking about, "the scuttlebutt around Silicon Valley." His blog will often make clear that he's passing along a thinly sourced story. To quote Gawker founder Nick Denton, when we put up "half-baked posts" we are saying to our public: Here's what we know, here's what we don't know, what do you know. I believe it is critical to clearly label that, giving caveats and context. The same is true of 24-hour cable news, where the viewer must become the editor, understanding the difference between what is known now and what what can be confirmed later ( see : the West Virgina mining disaster). In short: We who publish must learn how to say what we don't know at least as well as we say what we know. This is journalism as beta. I make a big point of that in What Would Google Do? - that every time Google releases a beta, it is saying that the product is incomplete and imperfect. That is inevitably a call to collaborate. It is - even from Google - a statement of humanity and humility: We're not perfect. Ah, but there's the problem: journalism's myth of perfection. And it's not just journalism that holds this myth. It is the byproduct of the means and requirements of mass production: If you have just one chance to put out a product and it has to serve everyone the same, you come to believe it's perfect because it has to be, whether that product is a car (we are the experts, we took six years to tool up, it damned well better be perfect) or government (where, I'm learning, employees have a phobic fear of mistakes - because citizens and journalists will jump on them) or newspapers (we package the world each day in a box with a bow on it - you're welcome). The posse of pros who jumped on me in Twitter this morning will say that they do make mistakes and corrections but first they always try to get it right - perfect - while bloggers instead spread rumors. But that's where the fundamental misunderstanding comes. It's a matter of timing, of the order of things, of the process of journalism. Newspaper people see their articles as finished products of their work. Bloggers see their posts as part of the process of learning. I believe the contrast in methodology will become even more stark as we start using tools such as Google Wave to create news collaboratively in present-tense. Online, we often publish first and edit later. We do that on blogs. One could say that 24-hour TV news does that, though I rarely see the editing. Even a division of The New York Times Company - About.com (where I used to consult) - does its work in that order. (That is why About had dozens of writers for every editor [I don't know the mix today], while The Times has three editors for every writer. That level of editing before publication is what makes The Times The Times - both from a journalistic perspective and, today, from an economic perspective; it may be what makes a newsroom like that unsustainable.) Online, the story, the reporting, the knowledge are never done and never perfect. That doesn't mean that we revel in imperfection, as is the implication of The Times' story - that we have no standards. It just means that we do journalism differently, because we can. We have our standards, too, and they include collaboration, transparency, letting readers into the process, and trying to say what we don't know when we publish - as caveats - rather than afterward - as corrections. The problem with this tiresome, never-ending alleged war of blogs vs. MSM (Arrington attacks The Times) and MSM vs. blogs (The Times attacks Arrington) - (Mark Glaser scolded me for rising to The Times' bait - is that it blinds each tribe from learning from the other. Yes, there are standards worth saluting from classical journalism. But there are also new methods and opportunities to be learned online. No one owns journalists or its methods or standards. Robert Picard writes that journalism is not business model; it is not a job; it is not a company; it is not an industry; it is not a form of media; it is not a distribution platform. Instead, journalism is an activity. It is a body of practices by which information and knowledge is gathered, processed, and conveyed. The practices are influenced by the form of media and distribution platform, of course, as well as by financial arrangements that support the journalism. But one should not equate the two. The pity is that there are Timesmen who already are using these new methods. I see bloggers there asking readers to help them with stories, admitting they don't know everything yet - which means they are publishing incomplete news. I wish one of those people had been assigned to this story (if it needed to be written at all) and that such an open-minded, curious journalist could have seen and explained these different worldviews and how they are clashing as they also merge. But that, apparently, was not the assignment. * * * I addressed the myth of perfection in the foreword of Craig Silverman's Regret the Error (now out in paperback ): Nobody's perfect - not even journalists . . . especially not journalists. Reporters and editors make mistakes. Indeed, they are probably more likely than most to do so. For just as bartenders break more glass because they handle more beer, so journalists who traffic in facts are bound to drop some along the way. Yet too often, they won't admit that. What is plainly obvious - even a matter of liturgical confession for people of many faiths - is heretical to the reporting cult: People are fallible. But journalists too often believe they are not. I was one of them. We were trained to seek and attain nothing less lofty than truth. Accuracy. Objectivity. We were the trusted ones. Impartial experts. Fair and balanced. Alan Rusbridger, editor of London's Guardian, said at a 2007 meeting of the Organization of News Ombudsmen at Harvard: "Since a free press first evolved, we have derived our authority from a feeling - a sense, a pretense - that journalism is, if not infallible, something close to it. We speak of ourselves as being interested in the truth, the real truth. We're truth seekers, we're truth tellers, and we tell truth to power." But then he quoted Walter Lippman saying in 1922: "If we assume that news and truth are two words for the same thing we shall, I believe, arrive nowhere." It is time for journalists to trade in their hubris and recapture their humanity and humility. And the best way to do that is simply to admit: We make mistakes. Craig Silverman's examination of the art of the correction in his blog and now this book could not come at a better time for journalism. For the public's trust in news organizations is falling about as fast as their revenues (and, yes, those may be related). One way to earn back that trust is to face honestly and directly the trade's faults. The more - and more quickly - that news organizations admit and correct their mistakes, prominently and forthrightly, the less their detractors will have grounds to grumble about them. But for journalists, to admit mistakes is to expose failure; corrections, in this logic, diminish stature and authority rather than enhance them. . . . But this discussion should be about so much more than just errors and corrections. This is about new and better ways to gather, share, and verify news. And it is about a radically different and improved relationship between journalists and the public they serve. These changes in the culture and practice of journalism will not just bolster journalism's reputation but expand its reach and impact in society.
 
Steve Rosenbaum: Sustainable Soda? Could Pepsi Really Be Eco-Friendly? Top
It's hard not to arrive at PepisCo with a chip on your shoulder. It's a pun, but it's also true. After all, Soda is bad for you. And chips (they own Frito-Lay) can't be healthy - they're just too darn good! So - when I was invited to tour the Pepsi R&D facility in Valhalla, NY - I came prepared to be assaulted with PR "Spin". What I discovered was something entirely different than what I expected. The trip to Valhalla, in the suburbs of Westchester, is 45 minutes from the City . There, the well-groomed corporate campus seems a world a way from the noise and hustle of Manhattan. In fact, a few times in the day I thought I'd gotten in time machine and gone back to 1952. The halls of the R&D center are spotless, tiled, and look vaguely like a midwestern high-school. The building is a working laboratory, with gleaming beakers and enthusiastic and upbeat Pepsi folks in white lab coats. The Ultra geeky protective glasses are required - adding to the high-school science ambiance. Once inside - it's clear that Pepsi is far from a local, or even national company. In fact - the challenge of the place is the increasing need for localization of brands for a multi-national company. Localization, it seems, requires a hands-on understanding of cultures, tastes, and marketing that puts the Pepsi products worldwide on something of a collision course with customers' increasingly demanding need for unique products, new flavors, and always changing brands and promotions. This change isn't just facing food manufacturers of course. Automotive, and even media companies are facing the opportunities and challenges of a fast changing global market. But while others may be griping about these changes - journalists, for one, seem to be spilling a lot of ink bemoaning the end of their special kind of media - Pepsi seems to take it all in stride. Putting the politics of food aside for a second, the folks in the lab coats seem genuinely excited by the complexity of how color, smell, taste, and local customs create complexity (and opportunity) in the snack business. For example, one Pepsi Colorist (think Soda, not hair) explained that an apple flavored drink had failed in China when it was golden colored (it looked too much like liquor) but had taken off when it was changed to an apple-green color. Who knew? I guess they did. So, what about the pressure for social change? Well, first of all - whether you think it's Pepsi responding to a changing market or leading the way - sugar seems to be very much something that they're looking to reduce or replace. There were a number of new low sugar products on their way to market (Trop50, 50% less sugar in orange juice) and Pepsi has licensed a pure brand of a herb named Stevia (PureVia is the Pepsi brand name for this) to reduce sugar in many of their products. Pepsi people as a whole seem genuinely concerned about health related issues, the environment, and their ability to make a difference in nutrition and food safety. Ok, I know - eye roll here - but wait for a second. Pepsi is run by Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi, the CEO since 2006. The Indian born Chemist and Yale trained MBA has been named one of the most powerful women in the world by Forbes. So, she's got a global perspective, and is driving hard to create a company that has an impact. Besides the Pepsi soda brands, they own Quaker Oats, Gatorade, Frito-Lay, SoBe, Naked, Tropicana, Copella, and Mountain Dew. A snack company for sure - with a diverse mix of carbonated, non-carbonated, and so called 'salty snacks' brands. Confession, I'm munching on a swag bag of Red Sky Sea Salt 100% Natural Potato Chips as I write this - is that bad?( Love 'em - the salty snacks. ) CEO Nooyi's internal campaign at Pepsi is called Performance With Purpose. Ok, sure - this could be a corporate marketing campaign, but it doesn't seem like it from talking to the folks and seeing what they're doing. From 100% recyclable potato chip bags to sustainable urinals, Pepsi is thinking a lot about their impact on the environment, nutrition, health, sustainability and customer's changing expectations about how products impact their bodies and the planet. Lame-O. LINK: Performance with Purpose Of course the proof is in the execution of Pepsi's corporate drive to be more eco-friendly, health conscious, and socially aware. And I fully expect the comments to be full of snack-food haters that think Pepsi can't be part of the solution so long as they produce Fritos. But I'm willing to be convinced otherwise. Potato chips aren't going to vanish off the planet - and unless they do - making them more healthy, and their packaging bio-degradable seems like a good thing. You could say this is just good business sense - but there seems to be more going on than that. Maybe you saw the "Dear Mr. President" campaign? Here's what it looked like if you missed it during the Inauguration: It was a Pepsi driven, user-submitted video 'letter' that captured passions of voters, and connected the Pepsi "refresh everything" campaign to the changing political climate. It was the work of Ami Irazabal, Pepsi's U.S. brand marketing director. The campaign got more than 700 video entries and 750,000 You Tube views. Hmm... is that just luck, or is Pepsi putting its marketing money where its corporate mouth is- and embracing and encouraging change? It's easy to believe that big is inherently bad. And I'm certainly a fan of the shift to slow food, small media, and handmade goods. But big could also allow a company to do big good things - and there's no doubt that Pepsi has the global footprint to foster real change if they wan to. The irony of all this is that when I arrived, I thought I had gone back in time. But I came away from the Pepsi tour thinking about change, and the future, more than the past. Could bio-degradable potato chip bags be the start of something big? Stay tuned to the Salty Snacks channel to find out.
 
'Billy Elliot' takes 7 early Tonys; Lansbury wins Top
NEW YORK — "Billy Elliot" dominated Sunday night's Tonys, collecting seven awards, including director of a musical, book of a musical and choreography, but the show and its composer Elton John were upset for best score. That award was taken by "Next to Normal" _ which seemed to stun "Normal" composer Tom Kitt and lyricist Brian Yorkey. Still, the director award to Stephen Daldry of "Billy Elliot" was a big one. "I have been blessed in my life to spend the majority of last 10 years of my life working on the story of 'Billy Elliot,'" said Daldry, who called it "a long, extraordinary journey." He said the award belonged to everyone connected to the show and especially to "three great gifts of Broadway, our three little Billys." "Billy" also received design prizes for sets, lighting, sound and a tie with "Next to Normal" for best orchestrations, which Kitt shared with Michael Starobin. Angela Lansbury received her fifth Tony, this time for her performance as the dotty medium Madame Arcati in a revival of Noel Coward's "Blithe Spirit." Her win in the featured-actress category tied the record for acting prizes held by Julie Harris, who has five plus a special lifetime achievement award given in 2002. Who would have thought," Lansbury began, drowned out by a standing ovation. "Who knew that this time in my life that I should be presented with this lovely, lovely award. I feel deeply grateful." Roger Robinson's portrayal of a mystical shamanlike character in "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" was honored with the featured-acting prize. "It has taken me 46 years to come from that seat, up these steps, to this microphone," said Robinson, who thanked his mother in Bellevue, Wash., "who's 98 years old ... who encouraged me and raised seven children single-handedly." "Billy Elliot" and "God of Carnage," whose director Matthew Warchus also won, were the biggest attractions in a Broadway season that finished with a flourish on stage and, despite the economic downturn, at the box office, too. The British musical, which tells the story of a coal miner's son who dreams to dance, was expected to dominate the musical prizes, while Yasmina Reza's satiric look at the collapse of middle-class propriety was the favorite for the best play crown. Besides "Next to Normal," which examines a family fractured by a mother's mental illness, the competition for "Billy Elliot" for the top musical prize was "Shrek," DreamWorks' tale of a cantankerous green ogre, and "Rock of Ages," a celebration of '80s music. "God of Carnage" faces "reasons to be pretty," Neil LaBute's look at an unraveling relationship; "Dividing the Estate," Horton Foote's gently comic examination of a squabble over money; and "33 Variations," Moises Kaufman's drama about a dying woman's pursuit of a musical mystery. The Tonys twittered this year, with Mark Indelicato of "Ugly Betty" as the night's uber-tweeter from backstage at Radio City Music Hall. He offered such timely nuggets as "NPH's (host Neil Patrick Harris) favorite beverage while warming up for the start of Tonys? RED BULL, natch!" Jane Fonda, nominated for lead actress in a play, offered: "The trick is to be Zen about it. Winning is sometimes not the prize." Brett Michaels injured himself in the show's opening production number when he rocked it out with a number from "Rock of Ages." The extent of his injury was not immediately known. Broadway had a surprisingly robust 2008-2009 season. And the spring was exceptionally busy, with stars such as Nathan Lane, Bill Irwin, David Hyde Pierce, John Goodman, Matthew Broderick, Allison Janney and Brian Dennehy all arriving in the last week of April. Attendance during the 2008-2009 season slipped a bit (to 12.15 million from 12.27 million the previous year) but not as much as was feared because of the recession. And grosses for plays and musicals actually were a bit higher than a year earlier, setting a record of $943.3 million. Forty-three shows opened during the season, the highest number of new productions since 50 opened during the 1982-83 season. The awards were voted on in 27 competitive categories by more than 800 members of the theatrical community, including producers, actors and journalists. The Tonys are presented by the League and the American Theatre Wing, a nonprofit service organization. The Wing founded the Tonys in 1947.
 
New Orleans Mayor Quarantined In China: Ray Nagin And His Wife Were On Plane With Passenger Showing Flu-Like Symptoms Top
NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and his wife have been quarantined in China after a passenger on their flight exhibited flu-like symptoms. Nagin's office said Sunday the couple and a security guard were quarantined in Shanghai as a precaution and were exhibiting no swine flu symptoms. There was no word on what flight it was, how many people were aboard or exactly where they're quarantined. His office says a passenger had "signs and symptoms of an influenza-like illness suspected to be of the H1N1 subtype." Spokeswoman Ceeon Quiett says people sitting near that passenger on the flight from Newark, N.J., were quarantined. Nagin left Friday for an economic development trip. He was to travel next to Australia, where he'd planned to speak on climate change and sustainable building. More on Swine Flu
 

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