LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

LETTERS/COLUMNS: SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR FOR PUBLISHING TO FRONTPAGENEWS1@YAHOO.COM. PLEASE INCLUDE DAY/EVENING/ CELL NUMBER, HOME NUMBER, AND EMAIL. CONTACT VAN STONE: FRONTPAGENEWS1@YAHOO.COM OR (215) 821-9147 TO SUBMIT A REQUEST FOR ANY WRITER. PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE WRITER DIRECTLY! ALL APPEARANCE REQUEST WILL GO THROUGH THE MANAGING EDITOR'S OFFICE. COPYRIGHT: THE USE OF ANY SUBMISSIONS APPEARING ON THIS SITE FOR MONETARY GAINS IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. TO LEARN MORE: PHILADELPHIA FRONT PAGE NEWS WWW.FPNNEWS.ORG. YOUR TOP STORIES OF THE DAY (215) 821-9147.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

This Nutter Endorses Seth Williams For Philadelphia District Attorney by Darryl Nutter dnutter_pres@yahoo.com (215) 917-2067

This Nutter Endorses Seth Williams For Philadelphia District Attorney by Darryl Nutter dnutter_pres@yahoo.com (215) 917-2067




PHILADELPHIA - On May 19th all the citizens of Philadelphia will need to make a decision. This is a chance to elect a District Attorney with the heart and determination to help create and mold a safer place to live. For too long repeat criminals have roamed our streets inflicting lawlessness, crime and violence, even murder. They have been allowed to go free on technicalities only to end up perpetrating the same crimes again.

Well it's time for the citizens of Philadelphia to stand up and say NO MORE! Our next top prosecutor has to have proven leadership abilities, and have the courage to go after these repeat offenders and get them off our streets. Philadelphia leads the nation in the rate of homicides caused by handguns. Many don't feel safe in their own homes. Our children are in constant danger every day as they travel to and from school.

This is the time to do something about it. And this is why we here at Frontpagenews.us have enthusiastically endorsed Seth Williams for our next District Attorney.

Seth Williams has proven over the years that he has leadership and experience to get the job done. Seth Williams has the vision to give Philadelphians the change we deserve. Even when Seth was an assistant District Attorney he created the Repeat Offenders Unit to prosecute habitual criminals.

As Inspector General, Seth fought to rid city government of corruption and fraud. This is the opportunity for all of Philadelphia to reach out and get involved with the movement Seth Williams is developing. To reduce crime more effectively Seth wants to prosecute criminals through Community Based Prosecution. He wants to create partnerships between law enforcement, community groups, business leaders, clergy, and YOU.

All the people of Philadelphia are the keys to making our city the safest place to live and raise our families. When you go to the polls on May 19th, vote for a new day and a new D.A.

Please vote for Seth Williams!

Views At Phila. Front Page News; Dawn Segal For Municipal Court Judge On May 19, 2009? You Betcha!

Views At Phila. Front Page News; Dawn Segal For Municipal Court Judge On May 19, 2009? You Betcha!


Dawn Segal, Esquire

I am Dawn Segal and am running to become a Municipal Court Judge in Philadelphia. I have practiced law for 25 years, essentially living in courtrooms in Philadelphia and the counties, representing plaintiffs and defendants. Based upon this experience, I was an Acting Judge in Philadelphia for several years and have been recommended by the Philadelphia Bar Association, the one group who rates the qualifications of lawyers in Philadelphia. I have also received endorsements from Philadelphia NOW, Liberty City Democrats, Local 159 of District Council 33, the Philadelphia Black Clergy and Vicinity and the Faculty and Staff Federation at Community College

I became a lawyer because I came of age during Watergate and saw the tremendous positive social changes brought about by lawyers - both in terms of reforming the political system and fighting discrimination. Once I graduated from Temple Law School, I volunteered for Women Against Abuse representing battered women and then served on the Women Organized Against Rape board, first as personnel director and then president for 5 years. I then had children with my partner, Nancy, and volunteered for my synagogue until my sister became ill and couldn't afford treatment or medicine. I fought the insurance company for her and was able to get her the drugs and treatment she needed, although she ultimately died.

I spent my career attempting to advocate for those who needed assistance and after my sister died, realized the fragility of life and decided to do more to contribute to the greater good. Since what I know best is how to try a case and believe all should be treated with respect and integrity, I decided to try to become a municipal court judge.

Unfortunately, the local Democratic Party appears less interested in qualifications and more with party loyalty as they have not endorsed me and several other qualified candidates, and they have also barred us from wards and all contact with party officials and threatened sanctions against those who do. Thus, I am taking my campaign to the people who I believe are the only ones whose endorsement I need and want.

If you believe in the right of individuals to make their own decisions about who to vote for, I need your support in 2 ways. The first is to help me publicize my campaign by telling your friends about me and my qualifications, since the party is prohibiting me from reaching out to any one connected to the Democratic Party. If you have an email list, if you could send a blast about my candidacy for municipal court and the need to vote for me at button number 40 that would be great.

Second, you can contact me at 215-802-0213 or go to my web site at www.dawnsegal4judge.com to find out more about me and to volunteer in my campaign. You can hand out my literature and/or work on Election Day at the polls for me, since my name will be blacked off of any Democratic Party materials.
Regardless of what you do, if you think I am qualified and you want someone representing you whom places integrity and compassion above all else, I ask for your support. Thank you. Dawn Segal

Fall TV cheat sheet: What's in? What's out?

Fall TV cheat sheet: What's in? What's out?

Ausiellobubbleshows_l Go ahead and bookmark this page now, because over the next few weeks, as the networks begin finalizing their fall schedules (starting with NBC on Monday), you're going to want to come back often as I update this list of the shows that are likeliest -- and unlikeliest -- to be renewed. (If you can't wait for the page to refresh, you can stalk me on Twitter.) Oh, and don't bother looking on this chart for, like, Dateline or any show with the name Howie in its title; I left off the ones that bore us.



ABC
The Bachelor: Already renewed.
Better Off Ted: Could go either way.
Brothers & Sisters: Already renewed.
Castle: Could go either way.
Cupid: It's a goner.
Dancing with the Stars: Already renewed.
Desperate Housewives: Already renewed.
Dirty Sexy Money: Officially canceled.
Eli Stone: Officially canceled.
Grey's Anatomy: Already renewed.
In the Motherhood: It's a goner.
Lost: Already renewed.
Private Practice: Already renewed.
Pushing Daisies: Officially canceled.
Samantha Who?: Could go either way.
Scrubs: Prospects brightening.
Supernanny: Already renewed.
Surviving Suburbia: A long shot.
Ugly Betty: Already renewed.
The Unusuals: A long shot.
Wife Swap: Already renewed.

CBS
The Amazing Race: Already renewed.
The Big Bang Theory: Already renewed.
Cold Case: Could go either way.
Criminal Minds: Sure thing.
CSI: Sure thing.
CSI: Miami: Sure thing.
CSI: NY: Sure thing.
Eleventh Hour: Could go either way.
Flashpoint: A long shot.
Gary Unmarried: Could go either way.
Ghost Whisperer: Sure thing.
Harper's Island: It's a goner.
How I Met Your Mother: Sure thing.
The Mentalist: Sure thing.
NCIS: Sure thing.
New Adventures of Old Christine: Could go either way. ABC poised to pick up if CBS passes.
Numb3rs: Safe bet.
Rules of Engagement: Safe bet.
Survivor: Already renewed.
Two and a Half Men: Already renewed.
The Unit: A long shot.
Without a Trace: Could go either way.
Worst Week: A long shot.

FOX
24: Already renewed.
American Dad: Already renewed.
American Idol: Already renewed.
Bones: Sure thing.
Dollhouse: Could go either way.
Family Guy: Already renewed.
Fringe: Sure thing.
House: Sure thing.
King of the Hill: Officially canceled.
Kitchen Nightmares: Already renewed.
Lie to Me: Sure thing.
Prison Break: Officially canceled.
The Simpsons: Already renewed.
Sit Down, Shut Up: It's a goner.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: A long shot.
'Til Death: Already renewed (unfortunately).

NBC
30 Rock: Already renewed.
The Biggest Loser: Already renewed.
Celebrity Apprentice: Already renewed.
Chuck: Could go either way.
Friday Night Lights: Already renewed.
Heroes: Sure thing.
Kath & Kim: It's a goner.
Kings: It's a goner.
Knight Rider: It's a goner.
Law & Order: Likely
Law & Order: CI: Could go either way.
Law & Order: SVU: Already renewed.
Life: A long shot.
Lipstick Jungle: Officially canceled.
Medium: Safe bet.
My Name is Earl: Could go either way.
The Office: Already renewed.
Parks and Recreation: Safe bet.
Southland: Sure thing.

The CW
90210: Already renewed.
America's Next Top Model: Already renewed.
Everybody Hates Chris: It's a goner.
The Game: It's a long shot.
Gossip Girl: Already renewed.
One Tree Hill: Already renewed.
Privileged: Prospects brightening.
Reaper: It's a goner.
Smallville: Already renewed.
Supernatural: Already renewed.

Phila. Students Place #8 in National Chess Tournament

Phila. Students Place #8 in National Chess Tournament


by KYW's Karin Phillips

The chess club at the Russell Byers Charter School in center city Philadelphia has captured the #8 ranking in the 2009 United States Chess Federation Supernationals tournament.

And team player Ayannah Woods, 11, finished as the 55th best player in the nation and eighth among the top ten female players:

For full story go to:

http://www.kyw1060.com/

Philadelphia Begins Rollout of ''Big Belly'' Trash Compactor Receptacles

Philadelphia Begins Rollout of ''Big Belly'' Trash Compactor Receptacles


by KYW's Steve Tawa

One day after Mayor Nutter laid out his plan to make Philadelphia the "greenest" city in America by 2015 (see related story), he checked out the installation of the first of hundreds of solar-powered litter baskets around center city.

The first set of trash cans, called "Big Bellies," went in at 15th and JFK Boulevard (above). Jackson Patterson, from Big Belly Solar in Boston, says that each receptacle has an automated trash compactor hidden inside:

For full story go to:

http://www.kyw1060.com/

Philadelphia Hand-Held Cell Phone Ban Signed Into Law

Philadelphia Hand-Held Cell Phone Ban Signed Into Law

by KYW's Pat Loeb

Driving while on a hand-held cell phone is officially illegal in Philadelphia. Mayor Nutter, Thursday, signed a law banning the devices for drivers, bicylcists, skateboarders, even people on scooters.

Enforcement won't begin until November. Police say they need a few months to gear up, then a three month period where they'll just be issuing warnings. But Deputy Commissioner Jack Gaittens says he welcomes the ban

For full story go to: http://www.kyw1060.com/

Four Probable Swine Flu Cases in Pennsylvania

Four Probable Swine Flu Cases in Pennsylvania

by KYW's Tony Romeo

The Pennsylvania health department says that as of Thursday afternoon there were a total of four "probable" swine flu cases in the Commonwealth -- all in the Philadelphia region.

The first probable case, announced Wednesday, involved a two year-old Philadelphia child with an onset date of March 23rd, state health department spokeswoman Stacy Kriedeman says. She says the three new probable cases are much more recent.

Kriedeman says the department is still awaiting the final word from the CDC, but soon will be able to do its own testing of probable cases:

For full story go to:

http://www.kyw1060.com/

Swine Flu Cases Confirmed in New Jersey and Delaware

Swine Flu Cases Confirmed in New Jersey and Delaware


KYW Newsradio Team Coverage

The H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, has made its way to the Delaware Valley with several cases reported in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.

KYW’s David Madden reports from Trenton that New Jersey officials insist there’s nothing to worry about even as they confirm the first five cases of swine flu in the Garden State.

For full story go to:

http://www.kyw1060.com/

House passes credit card bill that helps consumers

House passes credit card bill that helps consumers

AP Photo
Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., left, Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., center, and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., right, make an announcement about their amendment to the Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights bill that would cap interest rates on all credit cards at 18 percent, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, April 28, 2009.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Riding a crest of populist anger, the House on Thursday approved a bill to restrict credit card practices and eliminate sudden increases in interest rates and late fees that have entangled millions of consumers. The legislation, dubbed the Credit Card Holders' Bill of Rights, passed by a bipartisan vote of 357-70 following lobbying by President Barack Obama and members of his administration.

The measure would prohibit so-called double-cycle billing and retroactive rate hikes and would prevent companies from giving credit cards to anyone under 18.

If they become law, the new provisions won't take effect for a year, except for a requirement that customers get 45 days' notice before their interest rates are increased. That would take effect in 90 days.

Similar legislation is before the Senate, where it could be taken up as early as next week.

"This is a unique opportunity to end abusive practices that afflict millions of families across the nation, to contribute to our economic recovery, and to take a stand for American consumers," Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and the bill's primary sponsor, said after the House vote. "Now it is the Senate's turn to act."

Consumer advocates and some Democrats have unsuccessfully sought for years to bring new rules to the industry.

Supporters want to put a final congressional package under Obama's eager pen by the Memorial Day holiday. They acknowledged, though, that House passage of the measure was an opening salvo and a lengthy legislative slog lies ahead, in which industry interests could prevail in getting restrictions weakened.

"The administration supports Congress' efforts to ... provide additional strong and reliable protections for consumers that ban unfair and abusive practices," the White House said in a statement following the House vote. "The nation's credit card system must have more accountability, including more effective oversight and more effective enforcement of credit card issuers who violate the law."

Obama's engagement in the issue diverged sharply from his handling of a plan to spare hundreds of thousands of homeowners from foreclosure through bankruptcy, which met defeat in the Democratic-controlled Senate Thursday on a 45-51 vote. Obama had embraced the plan, but facing stiff opposition from the banking industry, he did little to pressure lawmakers who worried it would encourage bankruptcy filings and catapult interest rates higher.

Before approving the credit card bill, the House adopted a series of amendments - some of which were pushed by the White House - that amplified the restrictions on industry practices.

The House measure incorporates Federal Reserve regulations due to take effect in July 2010 but goes further by adding restrictions for credit cards for college students as well as other changes. Payments made by card holders that exceed the minimum monthly level would have to be applied first to the portion of the remaining balance with the highest interest rate, and then to any other balances in descending order.

Consumers would have to be notified 30 days before their accounts are closed.

Double-cycle billing eliminates the interest-free period for consumers who move from paying the full balance monthly to carrying a balance.

Opponents tried vainly on the House floor to temper a fast-moving bill with amendments that would have given credit card issuers some openings to raise rates within the proposed restraints.

"We shouldn't take credit opportunities away," said Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas. "I just want consumers to have choices. I want there to be a competitive marketplace."

Hensarling and other Republican opponents endorsed the bill's requirements for clearer disclosure in the fine print of credit card agreements. But they said the legislation overall could prompt lenders to restrict credit in an already tight market to compensate for the new requirements.

That's the leading argument made by banking industry executives against the legislation.

Edward Yingling, president and CEO of the American Bankers Association, said the group "strongly believes that any additional legislative efforts should strive to achieve the right balance between enhancing consumer protection, and ensuring that credit remains available to consumers and small businesses at a reasonable cost."

"We continue to believe that more work needs to be done to achieve that balance," he said.

Supporters of the bill also drew on the economic crisis to make their case.

"Americans deserve a fair shake," said Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo. The credit card industry "has taken advantage of millions of vulnerable Americans."

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., the bill's chief sponsor, said the changes were needed because "many people are turning to their credit cards because they have lost their jobs."

The bill's boosters are tapping into public anger over corporate excesses and the conduct of banks and other companies receiving billions of dollars in taxpayer money.

"At a time when millions of families continue to struggle to make ends meet, additional safeguards are needed to ensure consumers are not being saddled by questionable industry practices," the powerful AARP, the lobbying group representing seniors, said in a statement supporting the bill.

Obama met at the White House last week with executives of the credit card industry and made clear he wants to sign a bill into law. And a day before the House vote, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner convened a meeting with Maloney and representatives of consumer and civil rights groups.

"We need new commonsense rules of the road to establish a more fair, transparent, simple consumer credit market," Geithner said in a statement issued Thursday. "This bill is a major step toward that goal."

The administration is advocating stricter practices that could crimp banks' revenue at the same time the government is shoring up the financial institutions with hundreds of billions of dollars in bailout aid.

The credit card changes could cost the banking industry more than $10 billion a year in interest payments, according to a study by the law firm Morrison & Foerster.

Amid the recession and rising job losses, consumers - even those with strong credit records - have been defaulting at high levels on their credit cards. Banks already battered by the mortgage and credit crises have been bleeding tens of billions in red ink from the losses.

U.S. credit card debt has jumped 25 percent in the past 10 years, reaching $963 billion in January, according to figures from the White House. The average outstanding credit card debt for households that have a card was $10,679 at the end of 2008, according to CreditCard.com, an online market.

Walter Reed marks 100 years of warrior care Apr 29 By Craig Coleman and Kristin Ellis WRAMC at 50 Photo credit WRAMC A nurse helps a patient und

Walter Reed marks 100 years of warrior care


Today the 247-bed center is one of the world's premiere medical facilities with 60 outpatient clinics and 16 operating rooms -- combining patient care, teaching and research.

New center for prosthetics training

The Military Advanced Training Center is a recent addition to Walter Reed. The 31,000- square-foot rehabilitation center opened in September 2007. It has cutting-edge technologies like computer- and video-monitoring systems and simulation rooms.

An oval track dominates the second floor of the $8.9-million facility. Here patients learn to walk on their prosthetic limbs.

Service members injured before the days of infra-red camera-assisted motion analysis and treadmills that mimic uneven ground went through different methods of physical therapy.

Before World War II, amputees used an obstacle course, where patients were required to jump from box to box and climb clumsily over obstacles. It was eliminated once therapists found patients achieved better results by receiving instructions and practice on everyday tasks.

"War changes everything in the military," said Sherman Fleek, Walter Reed command historian. "The doctors realized we have to do more than just heal these guys. Let's give them a skill."

Warrior Clinic

The Warrior Clinic, with its Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant restrooms, double- wide doors, lower examining room tables, was specifically designed for wounded warriors and their families. Its comfortable seating, warm amber lighting, and 50-inch flat-screen televisions invite relaxation.

Capt. Ingrid Pacowski is part of the Triad of Care, a concept initiated by the Army Medical Action Plan. It calls for a nurse case manager, who handles the administration of their medical care, and a Warrior Transition Brigade squad leader, who works with the chain-of-command to solve military issues, and a primary care physician.

"It's good for them to have a general doctor who can be like their family doc who then helps all the specialists, bring all their care into one place," Pacowski said. "[They have] some place they can go to sick call; and a doctor they know they can bring their problems to."

Pacowski acts as a medical liaison, delivering medical information to the case manager and chain of command to avoid gaps in treatment.

"The Soldier is getting a comprehensive kind of care in all aspects of their lives," Pacowski said. "Their families are taken care of, their administrative and military stuff is taken care of, their medical side of the house is taken care of, and they've got a nurse case manager who's helping to bring all that stuff together."

WWI begins rehabilitation focus

The teamwork approach used today originated at the outbreak of World War I, when the resources of Walter Reed surgeons, prosthetists, nurses and therapists were consolidated and patients were treated by a team to provide consistent and comprehensive treatment.

Large-scale combat led to a sharp increase in the number of Army nurses, and to a new focus on patient rehabilitation and therapy. The growing need for specialized therapy led to the evolution of the Occupational Therapy and Physical Reconstruction departments at Walter Reed.

"The wounds they came back with, what we saw at Walter Reed was a result of what happened in Europe. They were out to save lives, ensure survivability. The idea of how much of a limb or muscle mass to take wasn't realized," Fleek said. "In World War I we had a lot of amputees. It was like the opening of modern medicine."

Col. Norvel Van Coots, commander of the Walter Reed Health Care System, said many of Walter Reed's recent improvements were brought on by Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

"Each of these improvements occurred because we rose to the challenge of sparing no expense, no effort in taking care of these deserving men and women," Coots said. "While each requires constant monitoring and effort to ensure we are meeting the needs of our Warriors in Transition, I believe these developments have made 'the Home of Warrior Care' a reality, and not just a slogan."

"For 100 years, this place has treated hundreds of thousands of people," Fleek added. "Hundreds of thousands of people have passed through those gates and have been healed...and not just the patients, the staff too... these guys are doctors and nurses because it's in their blood."



Chrysler succumbs to bankruptcy after struggle

Chrysler succumbs to bankruptcy after struggle

AP Photo
A vehicle leaves the Chrysler assembly plant in Brampton, Ontario, Canada on Thursday, April 30, 2009. Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday and announced it will temporarily halt most of its vehicle production while it completes a deal with Italian carmaker Fiat designed to revive its tattered fortunes.

DETROIT (AP) -- After months of living on government loans, Chrysler finally succumbed to bankruptcy Thursday, pinning its future on a top-to-bottom reorganization and plans to build cleaner cars through an alliance with Italian automaker Fiat.

The nation's third-largest car manufacturer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York after a group of creditors defied government pressure to wipe out Chrysler's debt. The company plans to emerge in as little as 30 days as a leaner, more nimble company, with Fiat potentially becoming the majority owner in the future. In return, the federal government agreed to give Chrysler up to $8 billion in additional aid and to back its warranties.

"It's a partnership that will give Chrysler a chance not only to survive, but to thrive in a global auto industry," President Barack Obama said from the White House.

Chrysler said it will close all its plants starting Monday and they will stay closed until the company comes out of bankruptcy. At least three Detroit-area factories sent workers home Thursday after suppliers stopped shipping parts over fears they would not be paid.

CEO Robert Nardelli announced he would step down when the bankruptcy is complete and take a post as an adviser with Cerberus Capital Management LP, which will give up its 80 percent ownership of Chrysler under the automaker's plan. Vice Chairman Tom LaSorda, who once ran the company when it was owned by the German automaker Daimler, said he would retire.

"A lot of us are scared," said Steve Grabowski, 33, who has worked at a Warren, Mich., parts stamping plant for seven years and was sent home Thursday. "We knew something like this was going to happen, but we didn't think it would be so soon."

Chrysler's bankruptcy filing is the latest step in a drastic reordering of the American auto industry, which has been crushed by higher fuel prices, the recession and customer tastes that are moving away from the gas-guzzling SUVs that were once big money makers.

Lee Iacocca, the retired chairman and CEO who led Chrysler through a government bailout in the late 1970s, said it was a sad day.

"It pains me to see my old company, which has meant so much to America, on the ropes," he said in a written statement. "But Chrysler has been in trouble before, and we got through it, and I believe they can do it again."

The government has sunk about $25 billion in aid into Chrysler and rival General Motors Corp.

GM faces its own day of reckoning on June 1, a date the administration has set for it to come up with its own restructuring plan. GM has announced thousands of job cuts, plans to idle factories for weeks this summer and has even offered the federal government a majority stake in the company as it races to meet the deadline.

Like at Chrysler, debt may be the stumbling block. GM has asked its unsecured bondholders to exchange $27 billion of debt for a 10 percent stake in the automaker. The creditors balked, saying that would leave them with just pennies on the dollar and they deserve a majority stake if they give up their claims.

When Chrysler emerges from bankruptcy, the United Auto Workers union will own 55 percent of the automaker and the U.S. government will own 8 percent. The Canadian and Ontario governments, which are also contributing financing, would share a 2 percent stake.

Under the deal, Chrysler would gain access to Fiat's expertise in small, fuel-efficient vehicles. The U.S. automaker eventually wants to build cars that could get up to 40 mpg, far more economical than its current fleet focused on minivans, Jeep SUVs and the Dodge Ram pickup.

In exchange, Fiat would initially get 20 percent of the company, but its share could rise to 35 percent if certain benchmarks are met, and Fiat said Thursday it could get an additional 16 percent by 2016 if Chrysler's U.S. government loans are fully repaid. Fiat would also get access to the North American market through Chrysler factories and dealerships.

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said he planned to spend time meeting Chrysler employees and touring its plants over the next few weeks.

He said Fiat was preparing for Chrysler to "re-emerge quickly as a reliable and competitive automaker." Fiat also plans to reintroduce brands like Alfa Romeo in North American markets.

First, though, bankruptcy court Judge Arthur Gonzalez will have to sort out the issue of Chrysler's creditors, who hold $6.9 billion of the company's debt. The company's first hearing is set for Friday.

The Treasury Department's auto task force had been racing for the past week to clear the hurdles that led the government to reject Chrysler's initial survival plan one month ago. Along with the Fiat deal, Chrysler adopted a cost-cutting pact with the UAW on Wednesday.

Four of the largest banks holding 70 percent of Chrysler's debt agreed this week to a deal that would give them $2 billion. But a collection of hedge funds refused to budge, saying the deal was unfair and would only return a small fraction of their holdings.

When the hedge funds refused a sweetened offer Wednesday, Chrysler and the government resorted to bankruptcy.

Obama chastised the funds for seeking an "unjustified taxpayer-funded bailout."

One lender, OppenheimerFunds Inc., said it rejected the government offer because it "unfairly asked our fund shareholders to make financial sacrifices greater than the sacrifices being made by unsecured creditors."

Later Thursday, one of the hedge funds that had been a holdout issued a statement agreeing to the offer.

"We believe that this is in the best interests of all Chrysler stakeholders, and our own investors and partners," said the statement from Perella Weinberg Partners. The fund said it was working "to encourage broad participation in the settlement."

The White House said Chrysler could comes out of "surgical" bankruptcy in 30 to 60 days. Under normal circumstances, it would be difficult to complete such a large bankruptcy so quickly.

But John Pottow, a University of Michigan professor who specializes in bankruptcy, said the government's level of involvement is much greater than a typical corporate bankruptcy.

"If you have the president of the United States who wants something to happen, I think anything's possible in bankruptcy protection," he said.

The Fiat deal and bankruptcy cap a disastrous time for Chrysler.

The Auburn Hills, Mich.-based company lost $8 billion last year and its sales through March were down 46 percent compared with the same period last year, leading some auto industry analysts to question whether Chrysler can survive even in bankruptcy.

But company executives told reporters Thursday that Chrysler vehicles with Fiat's fuel-efficient technology should reach showrooms in 18 months.

Vice Chairman Jim Press said Chrysler has cut expenses to operate profitably at a lower sales volume, and he said it would be able to take advantage of Fiat's distribution network to sell more vehicles globally.

Also, the company has new products coming out such as the new Jeep Grand Cherokee, which debuts in early 2011.

Press said the company predicts that small-car sales will rise dramatically around the time the Fiat products hit the U.S. market.

"The real volume pickup opportunity for smaller cars is going to start to ramp up about two years from now," he said.

Despite the turmoil with Chrysler and GM's looming deadline, Obama urged consumers to keep buying cars.

"If you are considering buying a car, I hope it will be an American car," he said.

Source: Justice Souter retiring

Source: Justice Souter retiring

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Justice David Souter has told the White House that he will retire from the Supreme Court at the end of the court's term in June, a source said Thursday night.

The source spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for Souter.

Speculation that the 69-year-old justice will be stepping down has been fueled by his failure to appoint law clerks from the fall term.

National Public Radio reported that Souter will remain on the bench until a successor is confirmed.

The Supreme Court declined to comment on the report.

Souter's retirement would give President Barack Obama his first pick for the high court. Court watchers expect him to choose a woman to join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, currently the only woman on the Supreme Court.

Souter has never made any secret of his dislike for Washington, once telling acquaintances he had "the world's best job in the world's worst city." When the court finishes its work for the summer, he quickly departs for his beloved New Hampshire.

He has been on the court since 1990, when he was an obscure federal appeals court judge until President George H.W.. Bush tapped him for the Supreme Court.

Bush White House aide John Sununu, the former conservative governor of New Hampshire, hailed his choice as a "home run." And early in his time in Washington, Souter was called a moderate conservative.

But he soon joined in a ruling reaffirming woman's right to an abortion, a decision from 1992 that remains still perhaps his most noted work on the court.

Souter became a reliable liberal vote on the court, and was one of the four dissenters in the 2000 decision in Bush v. Gore that sealed the presidential election for George W. Bush.

Yet as Souter biographer Tinsley Yarbrough noted, "he doesn't take extreme positions." Indeed, in June, Souter sided with Exxon Mobil Corp. and broke with his liberal colleagues in slashing the punitive damages the company owed Alaskan victims of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Stone’s VSP Chapter Blast Zack Stalberg Opinion About Phila. City Council by Van Stone vspfoundation@yahoo.com (610) 931-8810

Stone’s VSP Chapter Blast Zack Stalberg Opinion About Phila. City Council
by Van Stone vspfoundation@yahoo.com (610) 931-8810



Recently, at a The Thoughts Of Black Men (TBM) meet, a member mentioned that she’s never heard so many Philadelphians complain about how a guy named Zack Stalberg is talking down about the Philadelphia City Council experience and its impact on the Philly Budget Crisis. Somehow Stalberg has analyzed the politics and financial salary of each city councilperson, internalizing the importance of each council’s business, government and economic cash concepts, and says he knows all the answers as to why city council should be smaller in member size now! In fact, Stalberg, former editor at the Philadelphia Daily News for 20 years, named President and Chief Executive Officer of the Committee of Seventy, Philadelphia, in February, 2005, most recently went a step further giving his opinion as he attacked Philly’s city council questioning it’s budget. Stalberg called on Council to set an “honest budget.”
Council’s cash is from the city.

Meanwhile my many Van Stone Productions (VSP) residents feel as I do about the 17-member City Council. It’s a beloved entity that is understaffed and overworked serving a multitude of races. Philly's population is a whopping 705,107 Males (46.5%) and 812,443 Females (53.5%). Stalberg opines that “City Council is a handy whipping boy,” hurting the city’s $4 billion budget.

Now at first, I didn’t look into Stalberg’s own view of Council and just where he was going with it. Because I’ve been busy with new projects and programs. My readers would be happy to know that I have become the newly appointed TBM Philadelphia City Chapter President because of closely assisting Teee Coston, founder of the TBM dealing with the worlds of media, business and city government in the Philadelphia County. Being known as the friendly neighborhood reporter and now the blog reporter, I started to get flooded with phone calls from Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell’s constituents seeking for me to get involved in support of the councilwoman’s district.

But for Stalberg to go after Council as if it was one individual instead of fault-finding about a councilperson here and there has made my investigation into his slanderous comments an education about Phila. City Council and the history of Philly story. I mean, SCOOP readers, the Phila. Front Page News at www.frontpagenews readers and future TBM City Chapter Presidents who work closely with their city council need to know about this Stalberg guy and his relationship with Council. Now it seems that Stalberg grew up in Philly and is supposed to have the reputation as a reporter who has tangled with every mayor of Philadelphia, incumbent and otherwise, since Mayor Dilworth. And he gets credit for one of Philadelphia Daily News most memorable political headlines about Mayor Rizzo lying. Yes, this can fit as Philly history. But it’s negative. All of this negative history makes a defender of city council, any city council, wonder what is he doing trying to start new Philly history by making ruckus with my beloved city council?

I strongly disagree with Stalberg because his recent views about Council seems to be highly suspect. For example: Stalberg has this view that Council members make six-figure salary and have too many staff. But Philadelphia, considered by much experienced government integrity leaders as a state, is coextensive with Philadelphia County. Whew!

It has been reported that Philadelphia City Council, regardless of having new members or long-term members, for the last 5 years has had leftover money dealing with Council fiscal-year budgets. And all of that money has been accounted for and returned to the city‘s general fund. But Stalberg says about this city money, “I think they’ve got a great opportunity here to try to turn that image around.” I think that my beloved 17 leaders, their small army came to 119 altogether, have an outstanding image of serving a population estimated at 1,463,281. Therefore, the TBM Chapter statewide members will soon discuss ways to support Philadelphia City planners and Philly Council despite a terrible economy

Phila. City Controller Incumbent Dodges Budget Bulldog Mandel’s Budget Test by Van Stone - vspfoundation@yahoo.com (610) 931-8810

Phila. City Controller Incumbent Dodges Budget Bulldog Mandel’s Budget Test
by Van Stone - vspfoundation@yahoo.com (610) 931-8810



Brett Mandel, he calls himself the Budget Bulldog, is testing the audit accountability of Philadephia City Controller Incumbent Alan Butkovitz. Local politicians understand just like their constituents do that the old saying is true when it comes to standing up to justifiable challenges, pressure busts pipes. So far, Mandel has backed the City Controller into a corner where Alan seems to dodge the challenger’s questions about managing a better budget particularly dealing with one of the Philadephia Row Seats called the Clerk of Quarter Sessions.

According to Mandel, Butkovitz was directly responsible for waste and fraud mismanagement in city government. And also, Alan "remained silent," about the fact that the Clerk of Quarter Sessions failed to pay the city more than $5 million in fees from forfeited bail. Also the Clerk of Quarter Sessions is far behind in the handling of $1.4 billion court fines and refunds. And the City of Philadelphia is owed $1 billion from defendants they didn’t show up for trial after they had been released on bail. A better program might have been put together by the leadership of the city controller so that millions of dollars would not perhaps be uncollected. It seems this has been the norm during the last 2 years.Brett has publicly pledged to audit each city agency annually, making the city’s budget transparent by posting it on the Internet. Butkovitz systematically discredited Mandel’s proposed policies and provided examples of how he has already improved the city’s budget during his term. Consider that most of the city departments have been struggling terribly with cutting cost and creating new program ideals where there would be available money from getting a better grip on their budgets. Butkovitz’s only answer to Mandel’s claims was that Mandel’s plan to audit each city agency annually is "penny ante." Butkovitz claims that his office conducts departmental audits on a two-year cycle instead.
And “if you do them every year,” replied Butkovitz “then it doesn’t leave enough time for Performance and Special Audits.”

Butkovitz stands behind his version that things in Philly are looking pretty well when it comes to the controller because before he took office in 2005, the City Controllers Office only conducted two Performance Audits a year. “Now it conducts seven,” said Butkovitz. Although Butkovitz prides himself in using a Performance Audit or investigation of the Philadelphia School District, under Paul Vallas’ tenure, to uncover a $200 million deficit, as an example of how well the incumbent has been handling things, he failed to mention that the Vallas deficit does not speak volume enough to answer Mandel’s claims.

Mandel is questioning Butkovitz about the overall budget. Mandel seems to understand clearly that the overall budget is generally the best starting point to gain an understanding of existing funding patterns. And Mandel is attacking the very areas of most concern to the Philadelphian people today. The economy (controlling inflation-high cost of living); jobs (unemployment and underemployment); gasoline and oil prices; crime (vital benefits for cops and fire personnel); schools (serving all of the needs that exist within the constituency groups that an agency serves); (taxes; health (soaring medical cost); the environment (clean air, water).

Mandel so far seems to have the development of confidence among other city officials and is waiting for Butkovitz to bring up budgetary matters that both candidates can talk about.

Home Gardeners Show Their Green Thumbs at Area Nurseries

Home Gardeners Show Their Green Thumbs at Area Nurseries


by KYW's Steve Tawa

The brief fling beyond spring into summer this past week has helped home gardeners get their green thumbs back, now that those perennials are - hopefully - coming back strong.

Everything is looking good right now:

(Murphy): "This is the time when everyone spends money on the annuals. They look beautiful."

Joan Murphy of South Philadelphia calls herself a "container gardener.

For full story go to: http://www.kyw1060.com/

First Lady Memorialized in New Comic Book

First Lady Memorialized in New Comic Book


by KYW's John Ostapkovich

There's another Obama comic book out now, but this one's not about the President but the First Lady.

The Michelle Obama bio-comic is the latest from Bluewater Productions of Bellingham Washington. Part of its "Female Force" series, it joins earlier profiles of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. Chris Ryons of Atomic City Comics on South Street says there were bio-comics last year for both Presidential candidates:

"Like at the time there was one for John McCain and one for Barack Obama, so this is along the same lines but it deals with Michelle Obama."

For full story go to: http://www.kyw1060.com/

Secretary of Interior Brings Obama's ''Green'' Message to Philadelphia

Secretary of Interior Brings Obama's ''Green'' Message to Philadelphia


by KYW's Hadas Kuznits

The US secretary of the interior was at the Nation Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Wednesday, to give a pep talk to some National Park Service employees.

Secretary of the interior Ken Salazar noted that, like President Obama, he was celebrating his own first 100 days in office. And he emphasized the Obama administration's new "green energy" initiatives:

For full story go to: http://www.kyw1060.com/

Nutter Outlines ''Green'' Goals for City of Philadelphia

Nutter Outlines ''Green'' Goals for City of Philadelphia

(File photo: Fairmount Park)

by KYW's Steve Tawa

Mayor Nutter made the pledge when running for office, and has now followed through on his promise to try to make Philadelphia the "greenest" city in the United States by 2015 (which would be at the end of his administration if he wins a second term).

At a press event on Wednesday at the Franklin Institute, city officials noted that there are a total of 169 initiatives folded into 15 goals in "Greenworks Philadelphia."

For full story go to:

http://www.kyw1060.com/

Hundreds Turn Out at Phila. ''Walk at Lunch'' Health Event

Hundreds Turn Out at Phila. ''Walk at Lunch'' Health Event


by KYW's Hadas Kuznits

Wednesday was "National Walk at Lunch Day."

Independence Blue Cross sponsored the event, and fitness trainer Kimberly Garrison says walking is one of the best exercises you can do:

"You're really talking about working the heart. The great thing about it is that it's free."

For full story go to: http://www.kyw1060.com/

Phila. Lawmaker Introduces Bill to Legalize Medical Marijuana in Pa.

Phila. Lawmaker Introduces Bill to Legalize Medical Marijuana in Pa.


by KYW's Tony Romeo

Proponents of legalizing medical marijuana on Wednesday outlined a bill they have introduced in the Pennsylvania legislature.

Chris Goldstein of Pennsylvanians For Medical Marijuana says the bill introduced in the Pennsylvania House is very similar to one in the New Jersey legislature:

“This is the most restrictive medical marijuana bill out there in the country today, with the lowest limits on possession and the lowest limits on plants.”

For full story go to: http://www.kyw1060.com/

In Philadelphia and Jerusalem, Israel Marks 61st Year

In Philadelphia and Jerusalem, Israel Marks 61st Year


KYW Newsradio Team Coverage

The state of Israel marked its 61st anniversary on Wednesday.

KYW's Mideast Bureau chief Jay Bushinsky reports from Jerusalem that despite grave threats to its national security by Iran and dangers closer to home posed by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hizbollah in Lebanon, Israel celebrated the 61st anniversary of its independence in relative calm and self-confidence.

For full story go to: http://www.kyw1060.com/

Philadelphia Reports First 'Probable' Swine Flu Case in Pa.

Philadelphia Reports First 'Probable' Swine Flu Case in Pa.

by KYW's Jim Melwert

The first probable case of swine flu in Pennsylvania is in Philadlephia, but health department officials stress there's no reason for panic.

Pennsylvania's first probable case of swine flu, is a 2-year-old child who became ill on March 23rd, according to the state Department of Health.

The case is over a month old, and the child has fully recovered. But Pennsylvania Health Department spokeswoman Stacey Kriedeman says it is to be considered ‘probable’ under the definition of swine flu, according to the CDC.

For full story go to:

http://www.kyw1060.com/


Huge ice chunks break away from Antarctic shelf

Huge ice chunks break away from Antarctic shelf

AP Photo
An Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) image dated April 28, 2009 and made available on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 shows the breaking away of the ice bridge of the Wilkins Ice Shelf in Antarctica - The Charcot Island, visible in the upper left corner of the image, and the Wilkins Ice Shelf in the lower right corner, are connected by an ice bridge which is approximately 100 kilometers long and only a few kilometers wide. Should the ice bridge break up due to increasing temperatures in the Antarctic spring, this would remove the stabilizing factor that has been keeping the ice sheet grounded to the peninsula.

BERLIN (AP) -- Massive ice chunks are crumbling away from a shelf in the western Antarctic Peninsula, researchers said Wednesday, warning that 1,300 square miles of ice - an area larger than Rhode Island - was in danger of breaking off in coming weeks.

The Wilkins Ice Shelf had been stable for most of the last century, but began retreating in the 1990s. Researchers believe it was held in place by an ice bridge linking Charcot Island to the Antarctic mainland.

But the 127-square-mile (330-square-kilometer) bridge lost two large chunks last year and then shattered completely on April 5.

"As a consequence of the collapse, the rifts, which had already featured along the northern ice front, widened and new cracks formed as the ice adjusted," the European Space Agency said in a statement Wednesday on its Web site, citing new satellite images.

The first icebergs broke away on Friday, and since then some 270 square miles (700 square kilometers) of ice have dropped into the sea, according to the satellite data.

"There is little doubt that these changes are the result of atmospheric warming," said David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey.

The falling away of Antarctic ice shelves does not, in itself, raise sea levels, since the ice was already floating in the sea. But such coastal tables of ice usually hold back glaciers, and when they disintegrate that land ice will often flow more quickly into the sea, contributing to sea-level rise.

Researchers said the quality and frequency of the ESA satellite images have allowed them to analyze the Wilkins shelf breakup far more effectively than any previous event.

"For the first time, I think, we can really begin to see the processes that have brought about the demise of the ice shelf," Vaughan said.

He said eight ice shelves along the Antarctic Peninsula have shown signs of retreat over the last few decades.

"The retreat of Wilkins Ice Shelf is the latest and the largest of its kind," he said.

The Wilkins shelf, which is the size of Jamaica, lost 14 percent of its mass last year, according to scientists who are looking at whether global warming is the cause of its breakup.

Average temperatures in the Antarctic Peninsula have risen by 3.8 degrees Fahrenheit (2.5 Celsius) over the past 50 years - higher than the average global rise, according to studies.

Over the next several weeks, scientists estimate the Wilkins shelf will lose some 1,300 square miles (3,370 square kilometers) - a piece larger than the state of Rhode Island, or two-thirds the size of Luxembourg.

One researcher said, however, that it was unclear how the situation would evolve.

"We are not sure if a new stable ice front will now form between Latady Island, Petrie Ice Rises and Dorsey Island," said Angelika Humbert of Germany's Muenster University Institute of Geophysics.

But even more ice could break off "if the connection to Latady Island is lost," she said, "though we have no indication that this will happen in the near future."

Scientists struggle to understand swine flu virus

Scientists struggle to understand swine flu virus

AP Photo
Lead scientist Lupe Garbalena handles a sample while testing for swine flu at the Houston Department of Health and Human Services Wednesday, April 29, 2009 in Houston. A Mexico City toddler who traveled to Texas with family to visit relatives is the first confirmed death in the U.S. from swine flu.

ATLANTA (AP) -- Mexico's health secretary may have thought he was allaying fears about swine flu when he suggested that the nation's swine flu death rate was 6 or 7 percent. In reality, that would mean a monstrous killer virus - and no experts are close to saying that. The secretary's comment reflects how much remains unknown about the new flu virus - most notably how lethal it is and why it seems so much deadlier in Mexico than anywhere else.

American health officials believe they are getting closer to answering those questions, or, at least, to ruling out wrong-headed theories.

"We've begun to knock off hypotheses," said Dr. Scott F. Dowell, director of global disease detection with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Among the factors disease detectives have discounted are Mexico's air pollution, secondary infections and poor health care. But they still do not know why so many Mexicans have died, although it could be because many more people actually have had the virus than health officials realize.

In Mexico, the virus is suspected of killing more than 150 people and sickening more than 2,400. Recent information suggests swine flu-related hospital admissions and deaths may have peaked and are declining, but no other country has shown any numbers close to those seen in Mexico.

The only other country to report a swine flu death is the United States, and that involved a toddler from Mexico who was visiting Texas with his family.

The leading theory remains that the virus itself is not significantly different in Mexico, but that the outbreak has for some reason just hit harder there, infecting more people overall. The more people who are infected, the more likely there will be severe cases and even deaths.

When the Mexican health secretary spoke this week about a 6 or 7 percent death rate, his figures were based on the number of deaths divided by the number of suspected infections. But authorities cannot be certain how many people have been infected, especially those who suffered only mild symptoms.

Mexican authorities have not tried to count mild cases, focusing instead on the severely ill and the dead. So the death rate may be much lower than 6 or 7 percent - and probably is, according to some experts.

A 6 to 7 percent death rate would make the Mexican swine flu nearly three times deadlier than the worst flu pandemic in the last 100 years - the 1918 Spanish flu, which killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million people worldwide.

That seems unbelievably high for this new virus, said Richard Webby, a flu researcher at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis.

Webby and others do not believe the swine flu in Mexico is different from what's been seen in U.S. patients. The virus samples in both countries match.

The CDC sent four epidemiologists and one lab scientist to Mexico over the weekend to investigate the disease there, and the agency expects to send a half-dozen more people this week, said Dowell, of the CDC.

Among the hypotheses being ruled out as explanations for Mexico's higher death rate:

- A second infection complicating the flu cases. A common danger in flu is that the patient is co-infected with pneumonia or other bacteria, which can lead to death. But lab tests of 33 Mexican patients, including seven who died, did not find that problem.

- Low-quality health care. CDC investigators have not seen any obvious problem. They have found capable doctors and well-equipped, high-quality hospitals, Dowell said.

- A medicine is compounding the problem. Investigators have looked into whether patients who got sick had taken some over-the-counter medicine or folk remedy that actually made things worse.

Such a problem has sometimes occurs in children recovering from flu who are given aspirin - a severe illness called Reye's syndrome, which causes vomiting, lethargy and even seizures. But there's no evidence of something like that in Mexico, Dowell said.

- Altitude or air pollution: Mexico City's altitude and its infamous air pollution have raised speculation that those factors may have made people more susceptible to the virus. But severe cases are being reported over much of Mexico, including coastal communities and places with cleaner air, making that theory unlikely.

The CDC has also been investigating when the swine flu first hit Mexico.

Some have wondered whether it's possible people have been getting sick with the virus for months, but the illness went undetected because special swine flu tests were not used to diagnose patients.

But CDC officials say no, the flu probably did not hit Mexico until March at the earliest. An analysis of hundreds of samples from Mexico that were collected from January to March never turned up the swine flu virus, Dowell said.

There's also the question of where it started - a standard inquiry of public health investigations since at least the mid-19th century.

One of the heroes of public health history is John Snow, a London physician who helped end an 1854 cholera outbreak by determining that cases were clustered around a water pump and that the disease was spread through water. The pump handle was removed, and the cholera deaths subsided.

But flu is different because it's spread by human-to-human contact. Scientists know it's more difficult to pin down the origin of a novel strain of influenza to a specific country, let alone a village or pig farm.

Knowledge of the origin is also less useful than in a cholera outbreak.

"Flu, unlike cholera, spreads around the world in a matter of weeks. You can't remove the pump handle" to stop the epidemic, said Dr. Andrew Pavia, a University of Utah pediatrics professor who leads the Infectious Diseases Society of America's pandemic flu task force.

A current theory is that the outbreak started in the town of La Gloria on the eastern coast of Mexico, because a 5-year-old boy was the first known case. He first suffered flu-like symptoms in late March. However, Mexican health officials have downplayed claims the outbreak started in La Gloria, because mucous samples of other patients from there found nothing.

Dowell said the place of origin is a secondary concern at the moment.

"That probably will be useful in the long term. But for the present, our team in the field is focused on things that will make the most difference for mitigation" of the outbreak, he said.

Obama says method was torture, no regrets on memos

Obama says method was torture, no regrets on memos

AP Photo
President Barack Obama responds to a question during a prime time news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday April 29, 2009. The news conference marks his 100th day in office.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama said Wednesday night that waterboarding authorized by former President George W. Bush was torture, and the information gained from terror suspects through its use could have been obtained by other means. "In some cases it may be harder," he conceded at a White House news conference marking a whirlwind first 100 days in office.

Obama also expressed optimism that Chrysler could remain a "going concern," possibly without filing for bankruptcy. He said "unions and creditors have come up with a set of potential concessions that they can live with," adding, "All that promises the possibility that you can get a Chrysler-Fiat merger."

The prime-time news conference was the third of Obama's presidency, and the first not dominated by the economy that has thrown millions of Americans out of work.

At a town-hall style meeting in Missouri earlier in the day, as well as in the White House East Room, Obama said progress has been made in rebuilding the economy, yet more remains.

"And all of this means you can expect an unrelenting, unyielding effort from this administration to strengthen our prosperity and our security - in the second hundred days, and the third hundred days, and all the days after."

He called on Congress to enact his ambitious agenda, including health care legislation, a new energy policy and steps to impose new regulations on the financial industry to prevent a recurrence of the collapse that recently brought the economy to its knees.

Obama also said he was "absolutely convinced" he had acted correctly in banning waterboarding, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning, and approved making public the Bush administration memos detailing its use as well as other harsh methods used on terrorist suspects. "Not because there might not have been information that was yielded by these various detainees ... but because we could have gotten this information in other ways, in ways that were consistent with our values, in ways that were consistent with who we are."

Obama has come under heavy criticism from former Vice President Dick Cheney and other Republicans for his actions, who have questioned whether they have rendered the country less safe.

Cheney as well as some congressional Republicans have urged Obama to release memos they say will show waterboarding was successful in obtaining information. But the president, in a White House exchange with House Republican leader John Boehner last week, said the record was equivocal.

Obama told reporters he has read the documents Cheney and others are referring to.

The news conference lasted an hour and covered topics ranging from the outbreak of swine flu - which Obama referred to as the H1N1 virus, evidently in deference to U.S. pork producers - to abortion and the recent flare-up in violence in Iraq.

He gave assurance that one way or another Pakistan's nuclear aresanl would not fall into the hands of Islamic extremists. He said he was confident that Pakistan would handle the issue on its own but he left the door open to the U.S. taking action to secure the weapons if need be.

On the auto industry, he was notably more upbeat about Chrysler's prospects for survival than an administration report issued nearly a month ago.

"I'm feeling more optimistic," he said.

Obama did not say so, but Italian automaker Fiat Group SpA is expected to sign a partnership agreement with Chrysler LLC by Thursday as part of negotiations to keep the struggling U.S. automaker alive without bankrupcty protection.

The administration has given General Motors Corp. an additional month to present a restructuring plan that meets his administraiton's approval.

"They're still in the process of presenting us with another plan," he said.

He added, "I would love to get the U.S. government out of the auto business as soon as possible."

On a political matter, Obama said he thought that Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter's switch Tuesday from Republican to Democrat would "liberate him to cooperate on critical issues like health care, like infrastructure and job creation, areas where his inclinations were to work with us but he was feeling pressure not to."

Specter gave majority Democrats 59 votes in the Senate, pushing them one step closer to the 60 needed to overcome Republican filibusters. But Obama said he did not expect a rubber stamp Senate, an acknowlegement that his ambitious legislative agenda poses challenges.

WHO warns swine flu threatening to become pandemic

WHO warns swine flu threatening to become pandemic

AP Photo
Doctors look at the charts of a patient who is suspected of having swine flu at a hospital in Oaxaca, Mexico, Wednesday, April 29, 2009.

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Global health authorities warned Wednesday that swine flu was threatening to bloom into a pandemic, and the virus spread farther in Europe even as the outbreak appeared to stabilize at its epicenter. A toddler who succumbed in Texas became the first death outside Mexico.

New cases and deaths finally seemed to be leveling off in Mexico, where 160 people have been killed, after an aggressive public health campaign. But the World Health Organization said the global threat is nevertheless serious enough to ramp up efforts to produce a vaccine against the virus.

"It really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic," WHO Director General Margaret Chan said in Geneva. "We do not have all the answers right now, but we will get them."

It was the first time the WHO had declared a Phase 5 outbreak, the second-highest on its threat scale, indicating a pandemic could be imminent.

The first U.S. death from the outbreak was a Mexico City toddler who traveled to Texas with family and died Monday night at a Houston hospital. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius predicted the child would not be the last U.S. death from swine flu.

The virus, a mix of pig, bird and human genes to which people have limited natural immunity, had spread to at least nine countries. In the United States, nearly 100 have been sickened in 11 states.

Eight states closed schools Wednesday, affecting 53,000 students in Texas alone, and President Barack Obama said wider school closings might be necessary to keep crowds from spreading the flu. Mexico has already closed schools nationwide until at least May 6.

"Every American should know that the federal government is prepared to do whatever is necessary to control the impact of this virus," Obama said, highlighting his request for $1.5 billion in emergency funding for vaccines.

Just north of the Mexican border, 39 Marines were being confined to their California base after one contracted swine flu. Senators questioned Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano about her decision not to close the border, action she said "has not been merited by the facts."

Ecuador joined Cuba and Argentina in banning travel either to or from Mexico, and other nations considered similar bans. In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy met with cabinet ministers to discuss swine flu, and the health minister said France would ask the European Union to suspend flights to Mexico.

The U.S., the European Union and other countries have discouraged nonessential travel to Mexico. Some countries have urged their citizens to avoid the United States and Canada as well. Health officials said such bans would do little to stop the virus.

Germany and Austria became the latest countries to report swine flu infections Wednesday, with cases already confirmed in Canada, Britain, Israel, New Zealand and Spain.

In addition to the 160 deaths, the virus is believed to have sickened 2,498 people across Mexico. But only 1,311 suspected swine flu patients remained hospitalized, and a closer look at daily admissions and deaths at Mexico's public hospitals suggests the outbreak may have peaked during three grim days last week when thousands of people complained of flu symptoms.

Scientists believe that somewhere in the world, months or even a year ago, a pig virus jumped to a human and mutated, and has been spreading between humans ever since. Unlike with bird flu, doctors have no evidence suggesting a direct pig-to-human infection from this strain, which is why they haven't recommended killing pigs.

Medical detectives have not zeroed in on where the outbreak began. One of the seven deaths in Mexico directly attributed to swine flu was that of a Bangladeshi immigrant, said Mexico's chief epidemiologist, who suggested that someone could have brought the virus from Pakistan or Bangladesh.

Miguel Angel Lezana, the epidemiologist, said the unnamed Bangladeshi had lived in Mexico for six months and was recently visited by a brother who arrived from Bangladesh or Pakistan and was reportedly ill. The brother has left Mexico and his whereabouts are unknown, Lezana said.

By March 9, the first symptoms were showing up in the Mexican state of Veracruz, where pig farming is a key industry in mountain hamlets and where small clinics provide the only health care.

The earliest confirmed case was there: a 5-year-old boy who was one of hundreds of people in the town of La Gloria whose flu symptoms left them struggling to breathe.

Days later, a door-to-door tax inspector was hospitalized with acute respiratory problems in the neighboring state of Oaxaca, infecting 16 hospital workers before she became Mexico's first confirmed death.

Neighbors of the inspector, Maria Adela Gutierrez, said Wednesday that she fell ill after pairing up with a temporary worker from Veracruz who seemed to have a very bad cold. Other people from La Gloria kept going to jobs in Mexico City despite their illnesses, and could have infected people in the capital.

The deaths were already leveling off by the time Mexico announced the epidemic April 23. At hospitals Wednesday, lines of anxious citizens seeking care for flu symptoms dwindled markedly.

The Mexican health secretary, Jose Angel Cordova, said getting proper treatment within 48 hours of falling ill "is fundamental for getting the best results" and said the country's supply of medicine was sufficient.

Cordova has suggested the virus can be beaten if caught quickly and treated properly. But it was neither caught quickly nor treated properly in the early days in Mexico, which lacked the capacity to identify the virus, and whose health care system has become the target of widespread anger and distrust.

In case after case, patients have complained of being misdiagnosed, turned away by doctors and denied access to drugs. Monica Gonzalez said her husband, Alejandro, already had a bad cough when he returned to Mexico City from Veracruz two weeks ago and soon developed a fever and swollen tonsils.

As the 32-year-old truck driver's symptoms worsened, she took him to a series of doctors and finally a large hospital. By then, he had a temperature of 102 and could barely stand.

"They sent him away because they said it was just tonsillitis," she said. "That hospital is garbage."

That was April 22, a day before Mexico's health secretary announced the swine flu outbreak. But the medical community was already aware of a disturbing trend in respiratory infections, and Veracruz had been identified as a place of concern.

Gonzalez finally took her husband to Mexico City's main respiratory hospital, "dying in the taxi." Doctors diagnosed pneumonia, but it may have been too late: He has suffered a collapsed lung and is unconscious. Doctors doubt he will survive.

Swine flu has symptoms nearly identical to regular flu - fever, cough and sore throat - and spreads like regular flu, through tiny particles in the air, when people cough or sneeze. People with flu symptoms are advised to stay at home, wash their hands and cover their sneezes.

While epidemiologists stress it is humans, not pigs, who are spreading the disease, sales have plunged for pork producers around the world. Egypt began slaughtering its roughly 300,000 pigs on Wednesday, even though no cases have been reported there. WHO says eating pork is safe, but Mexicans have even cut back on their beloved greasy pork tacos.

Pork producers are trying to get people to stop calling the disease swine flu, and Obama notably referred to it Wednesday only by its scientific name, H1N1. U.N. animal health expert Juan Lubroth noted some scientists say "Mexican flu" would be more accurate, a suggestion already inflaming passions in Mexico.

Authorities have sought to keep the crisis in context. In the U.S. alone, health officials say about 36,000 people die every year from flu-related causes.

Mexico's government said it remains too early to ease restrictions that have shut down public life in the overcrowded capital and much of the country. Pyramids, museums and restaurants were closed to keep crowds from spreading contagion.

"None of these measures are popular. We're not looking for that - we're looking for effectiveness," Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said. "The most important thing to protect is human life."

Spector Becomes a Democrat, Now What?

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Veteran Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party on Tuesday, saying he has found himself increasingly "at odds with the Republican philosophy."

Sen. Arlen Specter was expected to face a tough re-election battle in 2010.

Sen. Arlen Specter was expected to face a tough re-election battle in 2010 as a Republican.

"This is a painful decision. I know I'm disappointing many of my colleagues," he said at a news conference announcing the move. "The disappointment runs in both directions.

"I'm putting principle at the top of the list," he added.

The switch puts Senate Democrats one vote shy of a filibuster-proof majority of 60 seats. They can reach the 60-seat mark if Al Franken holds his current lead in the disputed Minnesota Senate race.

CNN

Episcipal Priest Defrocked for Practicing Islam


"Universal Life Church: Episcopal Priest Defrocked for Practicing Islam: "

A priest of St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle, Washington was defrocked on April 2nd, 2009 for her Islamic beliefs. Reverend Ann Holmes Redding, a priest with the Episcopal Church for 25 years, converted to Islam two years ago yet she remained in communion with the Episcopal Church.

'I have people who love me very much who really don't want me to do this, and I love them very much. And I would love to be able to say, 'Because I love you I will renounce my orders' or 'I will renounce Islam' ... I hate causing pain to people who love me, that's not my intention,' Redding said.

(CNN)"

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

With the series tied, tonight's Game 5 in Orlando is pivotal to the Sixers' chances

With the series tied, tonight's Game 5 in Orlando is pivotal to the Sixers' chances


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76ers coach Tony DiLeo remains confident. "We've proven we can play in Orlando. . . . We're going down to win this game."

For an athlete, there is little that is more infuriating than learning someone wanted to play you, that someone thought, of all the options, you would be the easiest.

But that's what happened on Sunday night. Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy picked 76ers forward Thaddeus Young as the weaker of two defenders and told his players that whomever Young guarded must create.

Considering this strategy ended with a game-winning three-pointer by Orlando's Hedo Turkoglu - released in rhythm over Young - you can't fault Van Gundy's logic.

The Sixers didn't practice yesterday. But, before flying to Orlando, Sixers coach Tony DiLeo spoke about Sunday's 84-81 loss, which tied this best-of-seven series at two games apiece. Tonight's pivotal Game 5 is at Orlando's Amway Arena.

DiLeo said all the right things, such as Orlando's plan wasn't really a slam on Young but rather a compliment to Andre Iguodala.

"I take it that AI is a premier defender in the league," DiLeo said. "They didn't want to go against AI."

Orlando's go-to guys are Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis. Van Gundy figured Iguodala would be on Turkoglu, Young on Lewis. Since he felt comfortable with either shooting the final shot, he set up a pick-and-roll between the two and let the Sixers defense decide the shooter.

"Thad is very grounded. I don't think it will affect Thad," DiLeo said. "It may motivate him."

Young and the rest of the Sixers are going to need motivation for the task that lies ahead: Home-court advantage, once in the Sixers' possession, has returned to the Magic.

After Sunday night's win, Turkoglu called this a "totally new series" and said his team was returning home to have some fun. A packed Amway Arena should await both teams but aid only the Magic.

How many more times, after a season filled with resiliency, can the Sixers rebound?

"Two," DiLeo said. "We're confident. We played four games, won two, could have won the other two. We've proven we can play in Orlando. . . . We're going down to win this game in Orlando."

Entering Sunday night's game, the Sixers had contained Turkoglu and Lewis, holding them to a combined 26.0 points a game, 8.5 points below their regular-season combined average. On Sunday, they combined for 34 points.

"I just thought Turkoglu was more aggressive. A lot of it was on him," DiLeo said. "Our defense was basically the same defense."

DiLeo said the Sixers coaching staff would look at a few things, see if there are any new wrinkles they could throw at Orlando's forwards and look at the aggressive pick-and-roll defense of Orlando center Dwight Howard when Iguodala dribbled off an on-ball screen.

"We were right there," DiLeo said. "It's not like they had a good game and blew us out."

Speights? Sixers rookie forward Marreese Speights, who was a nightly contributor during the regular season, has not played in the last two games of this playoff series. Yesterday, DiLeo said they will "look at that."

DiLeo said that Orlando plays Lewis, who is perimeter-oriented, at power forward, which is an awkward defensive matchup for the more interior-minded Speights.

DiLeo said they could use Speights' offense and that he would "find some way" to get him in the game.

Philadelphia Front Page News Endorses Lawyer Adam Beloff by Shera Minor frontapgenews1@yahoo.com

Philadelphia Front Page News Endorses Lawyer Adam Beloff by Shera Minor frontapgenews1@yahoo.com



Adam Beloff

The on-line Philadelphia Front Page News has given Adam Beloff, an attorney who practices in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey, high marks for a career spent dealing with cases involving adoption, divorce, child custody, abuse, juvenile delinquency, estates and guardianships.



Adam Beloff, Esquire, Democratic
Challenger against Incumbent
Phila. Common Pleas Court Judge.

Beloff, who seeks election to a seat of Court of Common Pleas Justice, has been publicly endorsed by one of the most frequently read newspapers on the internet.

Philadelphia Front Page News editorial board, which consists of devout volunteers working to fight for the rights of families in court, has endorsed Adam because he has a solid devoted career in legal matters. In his long time as an attorney, Beloff has handled Pennsylvania and New Jersey cases well and has demonstrated reliability. FPN recommends his election as the next Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge on May 19 Primary.

Top GSA architect joins Perkins and Will

Top GSA architect joins Perkins and Will

Edward Feiner, a former chief architect of the General Services Administration, joined Perkins and Will Inc. in D.C. as principal.

Effective May 11, Feiner will work with business development, design and project delivery at the firm.

His positions since leaving the GSA have included senior vice president and chief architect of Sands Corp. in Las Vegas and managing director at the D.C. office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP.

As chief architect of the GSA from 1996 until 2005, Feiner presided over the government’s multibillion-dollar design and construction program. He founded the GSA's Design Excellence Program, which streamlined the process of commissioning a new building and focused on design quality.

“Ed joins our team at a critical juncture as we strive to produce a more sophisticated level of design to meet client demands in this era of responsible architecture,” said Phil Harrison, CEO of Perkins and Will, which has 21 offices around the world.

The D.C. office, founded as Ai in 1984, became part of Perkins and Will in 2005.

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