Notre Dame pounds Wake Forest

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Out he came with a double-tap to his chest and a finger pointed to the sky. Then Manti Te'o ran onto the field one last time, spinning around with his arms open to a Notre Dame Stadium crowd madly waving green and white leis for him and him alone.

As he approached midfield, the Irish linebacker ripped his helmet off before a bear hug from his father, who told his son he loved him, how proud of him he was. Everyone cried. And then Te'o was alone again, off to a corner of the field, to blow kisses to the student section before going to work.

After Notre Dame mushroom-clouded its way to a 38-0 obliteration of Wake Forest and its first 11-0 start in 23 years, the cascade of possibility had just begun. Te'o was chin-deep in leis, overjoyed, but in no way knew his team would be, effectively, the No. 1 team in the country by night's end.

"Just magic," Te'o said. "There are no words to describe this place and how I felt at that time. Just joy. Pure joy."

Imagine, then, the before-midnight exhilaration when Oregon and Kansas State, both previously undefeated, lost in stunning fashion. With that, Notre Dame all but assuredly would ascend to No. 1 in the BCS standings, its intoxicating run ending against punch-drunk rival USC, one game to seal a national title shot and a gilded page in the densest college football history tome there is.

Only, in essence, the most important game they ever have played.

"We're going to be more focused than ever," said receiver John Goodman, who had a 50-yard touchdown catch. "The program is at an all-time high. It's something we want to keep going. We won't let USC get in our way. We just know we have one more, and we're good to go for a national championship, hopefully."

As for this Saturday, the celebration raged on after Senior Day festivities ended. Quarterback Everett Golson's 20-for-30, 346-yard, three-touchdown day spurred 584 yards of offense and the defense's first shutout since the 2009 opener turned Wake Forest (5-6) into dust.

Four plays in, tailback Cierre Wood was in the end zone after a 68-yard run. Then came Golson's three scoring tosses: A 2-yarder to Tyler Eifert, the bomb to Goodman and a 34-yard floater to TJ Jones.

The Irish were up 31 at halftime. Notre Dame won five previous home games by 23 points, total. Wake Forest was rendered indistinguishable from the marshmallows squished on the sideline after the students hurled them from the stands.

"I thought everything came together," Golson said. "My head is down, my foot's on the gas. I'm never going to look up and lose focus."

So here comes USC, hated USC, the Trojans either swashbuckling in pursuit of ruining their rivals' dreams … or devastated as a season of disappointment grinds to a close.

"Our guys know what's at stake now," Irish coach Brian Kelly said. "This is about an undefeated season. They cannot do anything else but beat USC. The rest is up to other people to decide."

They would decide Sunday. They would decide Notre Dame was No. 1. And so it all will come to an end for the Irish, one way or another, in southern California. Early in the fourth quarter Saturday, at a timeout that became a send-off, Te'o followed seniors Kapron Lewis-Moore and Zeke Motta to the sideline. Te'o pounded his chest, then screamed and punched the night air all the way there.

One of the best nights of their lives, and it would get even better. And here comes the biggest one of all.

bchamilton@tribune.com

Twitter @ChiTribHamilton

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Apple, Samsung allowed to add products in U.S. patent lawsuit

(Reuters) – A U.S. judge allowed Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to pursue claims the iPhone5 infringes its patents on Thursday, while also allowing Apple Inc to add claims that the Samsung Galaxy Note, Galaxy S III and the Jelly Bean operating system violate its patents.

The ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal in San Jose, California, was the latest development in a continuing legal war by Apple against manufacturers like Samsung whose products use Google Inc’s Android software.

Representatives for both Apple and Samsung declined comment.

The case is one of two patent infringement lawsuits pending in the U.S. District Court in San Jose by Apple against Samsung. An earlier lawsuit by Apple that related to different patents resulted in a $ 1.05 billion jury verdict against Samsung on August 24.

Apple filed the second lawsuit in February, alleging that various Samsung smartphone and tablet products including the Galaxy Nexus infringed eight of its patents.

Samsung denied infringement and filed a cross-complaint alleging that Apple’s iPhone and iPad infringed eight of its patents.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh issued a preliminary injunction against pretrial sales of the Nexus in June. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned the sales ban on October 11.

Following the debut of the iPhone on September 21, Samsung sought to add it as an Apple product that infringed its patents. Apple moved likewise to add the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, Samsung Galaxy S III and the Jelly Bean operating system in connection with the Galaxy Nexus.

In his ruling Thursday, Grewal said Samsung acted with “reasonable diligence” in asking the court to allow it to add the iPhone 5 to the case.

Apple did not oppose adding the iPhone5. Nevertheless, Grewal warned Apple to “think twice before opposing similar amendments reflecting other newly released products — e.g. the iPad 4 and iPad mini — that Samsung may propose in the near future.”

The case is Apple Inc v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., et al., U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 12-cv-00630.

(Reporting By Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Richard Pullin)

Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Stephen Colbert joins US presidents at wax museum

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stephen Colbert is taking his place among the presidents at the Madame Tussauds wax museum in Washington and will be featured in a new media gallery.

Colbert visited the museum Friday to unveil a wax figure created to represent him. The museum says Colbert donated his own clothes to dress the figure in a suit, tie, cuff links and lapel pin. Colbert wore an identical outfit.

The new figure will be the centerpiece of a new media gallery with a replica of “The Colbert Report” set where guests can sit next to Colbert’s figure behind his fake news desk.

Designers from Madame Tussauds went to Colbert’s New York studio in June to take more than 250 measurements and photographs of the Comedy Central star to create the wax figure.

Entertainment News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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The Neediest Cases: Emerging From a Bleak Life to Become Fabulous Phil

For years, Phillip Johnson was caught in what seemed like an endless trench of bad luck. He was fired from a job, experienced intensifying psychological problems, lost his apartment and spent time in homeless shelters. At one point, he was hospitalized after overdosing on an antipsychotic drug.

“I had a rough road,” he said.

Since his hospital stay two years ago, and despite setbacks, Mr. Johnson, 27, has been getting his life on track. At Brooklyn Community Services, where he goes for daily counseling and therapy, everybody knows him as Fabulous Phil.

“Phillip is a light, the way he evokes happiness in other people,” his former caseworker, Teresa O’Brien, said. “Phillip’s character led directly to his nickname.”

About six months ago, with Ms. O’Brien’s help, Mr. Johnson started an event: Fabulous Phil Friday Dance Party Fridays.

One recent afternoon at the agency, 30 clients and a few counselors were eating cake, drinking soft drinks and juice, and grooving for 45 minutes to Jay-Z and Drake pulsating from a boom box.

Mr. Johnson’s voice rose with excitement when he talked about the party. Clients and counselors, he said, “enjoy themselves.”

“They connect more; they communicate more,” he continued. “Everybody is celebrating and laughing.”

The leadership Mr. Johnson now displays seems to be a far cry from the excruciatingly introverted person he was.

As an only child living with his single mother in public housing in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, he said, he tended to isolate himself. “A lot of kids my age would say, ‘Come outside,’ but I would always stay in my room,” he said. He occupied himself by writing comic books or reading them, his favorites being Batman and Spiderman because, he said, “they were heroes who saved the day.”

After graduating from high school in 2003, he worked odd jobs until 2006, when he took a full-time position at a food court at La Guardia Airport, where he helped to clean up. The steady paycheck allowed him to leave his mother’s apartment and rent a room in Queens.

But the depression and bleak moods that had shadowed him throughout middle and high school asserted themselves.

“My thinking got confused,” he said. “Racing thoughts through my mind. Disorganized thoughts. I had a hard time focusing on one thing.”

In 2008, after two years on the job, Mr. Johnson was fired for loud and inappropriate behavior, and for being “unpredictable,” he said. The boss said he needed counseling. He moved back in with his mother, and in 2009 entered a program at an outpatient addiction treatment service, Bridge Back to Life. It was there, he said, that he received a diagnosis of schizophrenia and help with his depression and marijuana use.

But one evening in May 2010, he had a bout with insomnia.

He realized the antipsychotic medication he had been prescribed, Risperdal, made him feel tired, he said, so he took 12 of the pills, rather than his usual dosage of two pills twice a day. When 12 did not work, he took 6 more.

“The next morning when I woke up, it was hard for me to breathe,” he said.

He called an ambulance, which took to Woodhull Hospital. He was released after about a month.

Not long after, he returned to his mother’s apartment, but by February 2011, they both decided he should leave, and he relocated to a homeless shelter in East New York, where, he said, eight other people were crammed into his cubicle and there were “bedbugs, people lying in your bed, breaking into your locker to steal your stuff.”

In late spring 2011, he found a room for rent in Manhattan, but by Thanksgiving he was hospitalized again. Another stint in a shelter followed in April, when his building was sold.

Finally, in July, Mr. Johnson moved to supported housing on Staten Island, where he lives with a roommate. His monthly $900 Social Security disability check is sent to the residence, which deducts $600 for rent and gives him $175 in spending money; he has breakfast and lunch at the Brooklyn agency. To assist Mr. Johnson with unexpected expenses, a grant of $550 through The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund went to buy him a bed and pay a Medicare prescription plan fee for three months.

“I was so happy I have a bed to sleep on,” he said about the replacement for an air mattress. “When I have a long day, I have a bed to lay in, and I feel good about that.”

Mr. Johnson’s goals include getting his driver’s license — “I already have a learner’s permit,” he said, proudly — finishing his program at the agency, and then entering an apprenticeship program to become a plumber, carpenter or mechanic.

But seeing how his peers have benefited from Fabulous Phil Fridays has made him vow to remain involved with people dealing with mental illnesses or substance abuse.

He was asked at the party: Might he be like the comic-book heroes he loves? A smile spread across his face. He seemed to think so.

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Chocolatier finds sweet spot in Belize

Katrina Markoff, the founder of high-end Chicago chocolatier Vosges Haut-Chocolat, is nearing completion on two high-profile projects: a winery-style chocolate facility in Logan Square and an education center at a cacao plantation and eco-lodge in Belize.

Markoff isn't ready to talk about the Logan Square project, her spokeswoman said. But in an interview last week, she said she hopes the Belcampo farm in Belize will become the source of a majority of Vosges' cacao once its plants mature.

The project means Markoff will soon play a role in every aspect of production from seed selection through packaging without having to assume the financial risk of owning a tropical plantation.

Belcampo Group CEO Anya Fernald said the education center that Markoff helped design will open in mid-December, and Markoff will teach her first "master class" on cacao to guests at the 12-room lodge April 23-27. In exchange for her time and expertise, Markoff will receive a better price on the beans.

"I've always wanted to be involved through the full vertical, from actually growing the varietals of cacao I want, and being particular about how they're grown and harvested and fermented and dried," she said.

Once the farm reaches full yield in about five years, Fernald estimated it will produce 250,000 pounds of cacao annually. Already, with only 60 acres planted so far — all under a rain forest canopy — Fernald said Belcampo is already Belize's largest cacao plantation.

"The integrity of that project is really, really unique and special," Markoff said. "Typically when people buy beans to make chocolate, they just buy whatever is available in the commodity market. There's not a lot of control over how it's grafted, where it's planted, how it's nurtured, who's taking care of it. You just don't get that kind of control."

Bluhm continues gambling push

Chicago real estate and gambling executive Neil Bluhm is entering the race to build one of four planned casinos in Massachusetts and has launched an online gaming division in Chicago, said Greg Carlin, chief executive of Bluhm's Rush Street Gaming.

Earlier this year Rush Street hired Richard Schwartz from Waukegan-based WMS Industries and appointed him president of Rush Street Interactive, its new online gaming division.

"We think (Internet gaming) is going to be eventually legalized throughout the country, or in jurisdictions that have bricks-and-mortar casinos," Carlin said. "Illinois is actually a leader in selling lottery tickets online and could be a leader in Internet gaming as well if they get ahead of the curve and pass legislation before some of the other states."

Nevada and Delaware have legalized some forms of Internet gambling.

In recent years, Bluhm has built three casinos: Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, one in Pittsburgh and another in Philadelphia. In October, Bluhm sold his first U.S. casino, Riverwalk Casino and Hotel, in Vicksburg, Miss., for $141 million in cash to Churchill Downs Inc. (Bluhm held a 70 percent stake in Riverwalk.)

Churchill Downs, a horse racing and wagering company, also owns Arlington Park in Arlington Heights. Its largest shareholder is Duchossois Group, founded by Arlington Park Chairman Richard "Dick" Duchossois.

Duchossois has been trying to persuade the Illinois Legislature to approve slots at racetracks, which, if successful, would make Arlington Park a competitor of Bluhm's Des Plaines casino.

As for the Massachusetts casino, the gambling commission there will weigh applications for casino licenses well into 2013.

Alvarez joins Culloton

Public relations firm Culloton Strategies has hired Michael Alvarez, a commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, as senior vice president for public affairs.

As the Sun-Times reported in January, Alvarez, 32, has worked for Barack Obama, Rod Blagojevich and Richard M. Daley — while he has close ties to Ald. Richard Mell, Blagojevich's father-in-law.

In addition to his $70,000 annual salary at the water district, Alvarez has a $60,000-a-year public relations contract with the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority and a "fast-growing" lobbying practice, the Sun-Times reported.

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Former Bears coach Mike Ditka suffers 'very minor stroke'

Former Bears coach and Hall of Fame tight end Mike Ditka was hospitalized Friday after suffering what he said doctors told him was a "very minor stroke."

Contacted Friday evening, Ditka said, "I feel good right now and it's not a big deal."

Ditka was at a suburban country club playing cards Friday when he noticed his hands "weren't working quite right," and then he had a problem speaking.

Ditka, 73, has not had any major health problems in recent years. But in 1988 when he was coaching the Bears he suffered a heart attack.

These days, Ditka spends his time doing broadcast work for ESPN, tending to his restaurant Ditka's on East Chestnut in the Tremont Hotel, making appearances and playing golf.

Ditka will not fulfill his ESPN duties from Bristol, Conn., this weekend, the network said.

After he suffered his heart attack at 49, he was back in the office eight days later and back on the sidelines in 11 days against doctor's orders.

At the time, Ditka said he was "embarrassed" by the heart attack, and he reflected on his mortality when he returned to Halas Hall.

"I don't know what I experienced," he said at the time. "I think I almost experienced embarrassment. It kind of was embarrassing that it happened to me. I mean, how could this ever happen to me? That's the way I felt in the beginning, and then it didn't matter. I mean it was so bad at a certain point that I knew that we're just mortals. I mean, we're here for a while and then we're gone. It can happen to anybody at any time. It was a very humbling feeling after that, believe me."

The Bears made Ditka the fifth overall pick in the 1961 draft out of Pittsburgh. He was rookie of the year and went to five straight Pro Bowls for the Bears. As a pass catching tight end, he helped redefine the position.

Ditka eventually ran afoul of owner-coach George Halas and was traded to the Eagles in 1967. He finished up his playing career with the Cowboys.

In 1982, Halas hired Ditka to coach his team. Ditka was coach of the year in 1985, when the Bears won the Super Bowl, and in 1988. After going 5-11 in 1992, Ditka was fired.

He coached the Saints for three seasons, retiring with a record of 121-95, before settling into his broadcasting career. Ditka is one of only two men, Tom Flores being the other, to win a Super Bowl as a player, assistant coach and head coach.

dpompei@tribune.com

Twitter@dan pompei

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Do people turn to Twitter for CPR info?

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Amid snarky comments and links to cat videos, some Twitter users turn to the social network to find and post information on cardiac arrest and CPR, according to a new study.

Over a month, researchers found 15,324 messages – known as tweets – on Twitter that included specific information about resuscitation and cardiac arrest.

“From a science standpoint, we wanted to know if we can reliably find information on a public health topic, or is (Twitter) just a place where people describe what they ate that day,” said the study’s lead author Dr. Raina M. Merchant.

According to the researchers, they did find some people using Twitter to send and receive a wide variety of information on CPR and cardiac arrest, including their personal experiences, questions and current events.

Merchant, an assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, said they were excited to find so many people talking about these topics in a meaningful way.

The researchers, who published their findings in the journal Resuscitation, write that some researchers and organizations already use Twitter for public health matters. Those efforts include tracking the 2009 H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic and finding the source of the 2011 Haitian cholera outbreak.

When it comes to such outbreaks, “Right now, it’s mostly an educational tool for public health officials or professionals,” said Dr. Gunther Eysenbach, editor and publisher of the Journal of Medical Internet Research and of the University Health Network in Toronto.

With more than 500 million Twitter accounts, Merchant said that understanding how tweets can be filtered may allow doctors and other healthcare providers to respond to people’s questions in real time, and possibly find new ways to educate the public about health matters, including cardiac arrest and CPR.

TWEETS AND RETWEETS

For the new study, the researchers created a Twitter search for key terms, such as CPR, AED (automated external defibrillators), resuscitation and sudden death.

Between April and May 2011, their search returned 62,163 tweets, which were whittled down to 15,324 messages that contained specific information about cardiac arrest and resuscitation.

Only 7 percent of the tweets were about specific cardiac arrest events, such as a user saying they just saw a man being resuscitated, or a user asking for prayers for a sick family member.

About 44 percent of the tweets were about performing CPR and using an AED. Those types of tweets included information on rules about keeping AEDs in businesses and questions about how to resuscitate a person.

The rest of the tweets were about education, research and news events, such as links to articles about celebrities going into cardiac arrest.

The vast majority of the Twitter users sent fewer than three tweets about cardiac arrest or CPR throughout the month. Users that sent more tweets typically had more followers – people who subscribe to a certain person’s messages – and often worked in a health care-related field.

About 13 percent of the tweets were re-sent, or retweeted, by other users. The most popular retweeted messages were about celebrity-related cardiac arrest news, such as an AED being used to revive a fan at a Lady Gaga concert.

“I think the pilot (study) illustrated for us is that there is an opportunity to potentially provide research and information for people in real time about cardiac arrest and resuscitation,” said Merchant.

“I can imagine in the future we will see systems that would automatically respond to tweets of individual users,” said Eysenbach, who was not involved with the new research.

He added that businesses already have systems automatically responding to tweets, and one potential would be for a piece of software to analyze a user’s location to locate the nearest AED.

“Twitter is a really powerful tool, and we’re just beginning to understand its abilities,” Merchant told Reuters Health.

“People should join the conversation and tweet. And healthcare providers should really be part of that conversation,” she said.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/T2bj7u Resuscitation, online October 29, 2012.

Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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The tailor behind Elvis Presley’s signature ’50s style dies in Memphis

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Bernard Lansky, the man who helped created Elvis Presley‘s signature fashion style in the ’50s – pegged pants and two-toned shoes – died Thursday in his Memphis home. He was at 85.

Presley frequented Lansky’s men’s fashion store on Beale Street – a popular spot for blues, rhythm and blues and jazz music – after years of admiring the clothing styles as a teenager working at a nearby theater.

“When I get rich, I’m going to buy you out,” Lanksy recalled Presley telling him before becoming a rock ‘n’ roll star. “Don’t buy me out,” the salesman responded. “Just buy from me.”

And that’s exactly what the musician did, just after Presley signed with Sun Records in 1954.

“I put his first suit on him and his last suit on him,” Lansky bragged.

“It’s a statement to say that he dressed one of the most influential entertainers of all time,” Julie Lansky, his granddaughter, told AP. “He knew that for any entertainer, they had to look different.”

Lansky’s success continued long after his most famous client died on August 16, 1977. After moving his shop to the Peabody Hotel in Memphis’ downtown district in 1981, he went on to dress musicians like B.B. King, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, ZZ Top, Kiss and Hootie and the Blowfish.

Music News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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States Decline to Set Up Exchanges for Insurance

WASHINGTON — Georgia, Ohio and Wisconsin joined more than a dozen other states on Friday in saying they would not establish health insurance exchanges, while a handful of other states said they would take advantage of an extra month allowed by the Obama administration to make decisions.

The exchanges — online markets where consumers can shop for private insurance subsidized by the federal government — are a centerpiece of President Obama’s health care law.

The administration has been urging states to set up exchanges, as Congress intended. The federal government will create and run exchanges in any state that is unable or unwilling to do so.

Mr. Obama and his health secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, have promised to give states flexibility in carrying out the new health care law and running the exchanges. However, Republican governors said they had not been allowed much latitude to date.

Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio, a Republican, said Friday that his state “will not run an Obamacare health exchange, but will instead leave that to the federal government to do.”

“Based on the information we have,” Mr. Kasich said, “states do not have any flexibility to build and manage exchanges in ways that respond to unique needs of their citizens.”

Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, another Republican opposed to the health care law, said, “From a philosophical standpoint, I prefer state-run over federal on any day on any subject.” But under the law, Mr. Walker said, “Wisconsin taxpayers will not have meaningful control over the health care policies and services sold to Wisconsin residents.”

For decades, under governors of both parties, Wisconsin has been a national leader in the regulation of insurance.

Caroline F. Pearson, who tracks state developments at Avalere Health, a consulting company in Washington, said it appeared that about 18 states would choose to run their own exchanges, while 10 to 12 would seek partnerships with the federal government, and 18 to 20 would have federal exchanges.

Friday was to be the deadline for states to declare their intentions. But Ms. Sebelius said Thursday night that she was extending the deadline to Dec. 14. In any event, she must decide by Jan. 1 whether states are able to run their own exchanges.

Americans are supposed to be able to start shopping for insurance through exchanges in October 2013. By January 2014, most Americans will be required to have health insurance under the law.

Obama administration officials said they would be ready to run the federal exchanges, but they have not provided any information about their plans or their progress.

Gov. Rick Scott of Florida, a Republican, asked Friday for a meeting with Ms. Sebelius to discuss plans for an exchange. He said he was still analyzing his options, but had not seen evidence that an exchange would lower health costs for Floridians.

Gov. Nathan Deal of Georgia, a Republican, said his state would not establish an exchange. He expressed concern about what he described as “the one-size-fits-all approach and high federal burden imposed on states.”

Other Republican governors, including Jan Brewer of Arizona, C. L. Otter of Idaho, Terry E. Branstad of Iowa, Chris Christie of New Jersey, Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania and Bill Haslam of Tennessee, said they would use the extra time to seek more answers from Washington and feedback from constituents.

In a letter to Ms. Sebelius, Mr. Branstad said his state wanted to create its own exchange, but needed much more information. He included a list of 50 questions and said that unless they were answered, Iowa might have no choice but to opt for a federal exchange.

Many of the questions were about the costs of building and running an exchange. Mr. Otter said he would consult leaders of the Idaho Legislature and make a decision by the new deadline. An advisory committee appointed by Mr. Otter recommended last month that Idaho create its own exchange. But, Mr. Otter said, “I don’t want us buying a pig in a poke.”

Gov. Bev Perdue of North Carolina, a Democrat, said her state intended to join the federal government in establishing a hybrid form of exchange. Ms. Perdue will soon be succeeded by Pat McCrory, a Republican, who will decide what role the state should play.

Heather H. Howard, a lecturer at Princeton University who provides technical help to states as director of the State Health Reform Assistance Network, said the guidance provided by the Obama administration was sufficient for states to make decisions. States like California, Maryland and Washington have made great strides in developing exchanges, she said.

Ms. Howard said that governors might try to use the extra time to negotiate. “They’re feeling their oats and testing the limits of what leverage they have,” she said.

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Sources: Liguori planned as next Tribune CEO

When Tribune Co. emerges from bankruptcy, the new owners plan to name television executive Peter Liguori as the company's chief executive, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Liguori is a former top TV executive at Fox and Discovery. The decision to name him Tribune's CEO ends months of speculation and will usher in a new era for the Chicago media company, which owns newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, and television stations.

The Federal Communications Commission on Friday signed off on waivers needed to transfer Tribune Co.'s broadcast properties to the new ownership, the final significant hurdle before the company can emerge from its long-running stay in Chapter 11.

While a date for emergence is not set, the new ownership group controlled by senior creditors Oaktree Capital Management, Angelo, Gordon & Co. and JP Morgan Chase, will likely take the reins by the end of the year. An initial step for the owners will be to appoint a board of directors. It will have final say on who becomes CEO, but sources say the owners have chosen Liguori.

"The decision has been made," one of the sources said.

Los Angeles Times publisher Eddy Hartenstein has been CEO of Tribune Co. since May 2011. A Tribune Co. spokesman declined comment.

A former advertising executive who transitioned into television more than two decades ago, Liguori, 52, is credited with turning cable channel FX into a programming powerhouse during his ascent to entertainment chief at News Corp.'s Fox Broadcasting. More recently, he served as chief operating officer at Discovery Communications Inc., where he helped oversee the rocky launch of the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Liguori is considered by some observers to be a good fit for Tribune and its new owners. While the company's identity is closely connected to publishing, broadcasting is now its headline business and core profit center. One of Liguori's main jobs will be to help maximize TV ratings, advertising dollars and increasingly important affiliate fees for WGN America and Tribune Co.'s 23 local stations, according to industry insiders.

Liguori "is a very, very smart hire for Oaktree and the guys that run the company because I think what Tribune needs more than anything is somebody to kind of build the brands back and make it a true media company, as opposed to just a collection of businesses," said Jeff Shell, London-based president of NBCUniversal International, who worked with Liguori for six years at Fox beginning in 1996. Shell, whose name had once been floated as a candidate for Tribune CEO, spoke recently about his former colleague's potential value as head of Tribune Co.

Liguori, who could not be reached for comment, became president of Fox's FX Networks in 1998, when it was a small basic cable channel airing reruns of everything from "M*A*S*H" to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Elevated to CEO in 2001, he remade FX by offering edgy original programming. Starting with "The Shield" in 2002, Liguori rolled out "Nip/Tuck" and "Rescue Me," creating first-run successes that redefined FX, and perhaps basic cable, in the process.

"FX was a channel, when he took over, a little tiny cable channel losing a bunch of money," Shell said. "He made it into something big by imagining something different, and I think that's what Tribune needs."

Liguori became president of entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Co. in 2005, where he headed program development and marketing. Squeezed out in 2009, he then joined Discovery as chief operating officer, where one of his responsibilities was to oversee the nascent joint venture with OWN.

In May 2011, Liguori assumed the dual role as interim CEO of OWN after inaugural head Christina Norman was forced out at the struggling network. That added responsibility evaporated two months later when Winfrey made herself CEO of OWN. Liguori left Discovery in December and the company eliminated his COO position.

Liguori has been working since July as a New York-based media consultant for private equity firm, the Carlyle Group. He currently serves on the boards of Yahoo, MGM Holdings and Topps.

Tribune Co. has been operating under bankruptcy court protection for nearly four years, having buckled under the $13 billion in total debt it took on after its 2007 buyout. The company's stay in bankruptcy was prolonged by a drawn-out battle for control among creditors.

With the court having finally resolved the major ownership questions, the FCC's decision to grant waivers was the last major piece of the puzzle to come together.

The Federal Communication Commission's Media Bureau issued the waivers of its so-called cross-ownership rules for Tribune's media properties in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, South Florida and Hartford, Conn.

The waivers allow the agency to transfer TV and radio station licenses in those markets to Tribune's new owners, the group led by Oaktree Capital, Angelo Gordon and JPMorgan Chase.

The FCC granted Tribune a permanent waiver for the company's ownership of the Tribune and WGN-TV. The FCC also gave one-year waivers for the Tribune's ownership of the Los Angeles Times and KTLA-TV Channel 5 and for similar arrangements in New York, South Florida and Hartford.

The company would have one year in those four markets to sell either its newspapers or broadcast stations. But the FCC is in the process of considering loosening its media ownership rules to make it easier for companies to get waivers for newspaper and broadcast station combinations in the top 20 markets.

"We are extremely pleased with today's action by the FCC," Hartenstein said in a statement Friday. "This decision will enable the company to continue moving forward toward emergence from Chapter 11, a process we expect to complete over the course of the next several weeks."

Tribune Newspapers reporter Jim Puzzanghera contributed to this report 

rchannick@tribune.com | Twitter @RobertChannick

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Fiscal cliff could cost state $1B+

State officials warned Thursday that Illinois stands to lose more than $1 billion if Congress and President Barack Obama cannot reach an agreement to prevent the "fiscal cliff" brought on by preset tax increases and budget cuts.

The prediction came during a hearing held by House lawmakers, where a top aide to Gov. Pat Quinn also said the administration plans to float a proposal to borrow money to help pay off more than $8 billion in overdue bills. Similar proposals pushed by Quinn have failed to gain traction in Springfield.

But it's possible the backlog could grow even larger if the fiscal cliff is reached, according to revenue officials, who say the state could lose $1 billion. That's because federal tax increases that would automatically go into effect would send a ripple through the state's economy, leaving less money for people to spend and resulting in less tax revenue for the state.

Such a loss could be detrimental to the state's already shaky financial situation, and the $1 billion estimate does not even include federal budget cuts that could mean less money from Washington for a variety of state agencies.

"The picture looks really bleak," said Natalie Davila, who heads the research department for the Illinois Department of Revenue. "And in our opinion, things could only get worse."

If an agreement is reached to prevent the fiscal cliff, officials say Illinois would see "modest" increase in tax money collected. But it won't be enough to cover all of the state's expenses, including an expected $1 billion increase in the state's annual pension contribution, which is projected to jump to $6.8 billion in the next budget year. The pension payment is made out of a state operations budget that is $33.7 billion.

Quinn budget director Jerry Stermer said the growing pension payment underscores the need for lawmakers to reach an agreement on how to overhaul the state's employee retirement system. Without major changes, he argued, the required contribution will continue to swell, leaving less money for other things, including education, health care and public safety.

The governor wants lawmakers to revisit the issue and pass changes by Jan. 9, when a new set of legislators is scheduled to be sworn in. Reaching a deal, however, is anything but certain.

Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, said that while he understands the importance of changing the pension system, he is just as concerned with finding a way to pay down the backlog of bills. He argued that it's a major drain on service providers, who have maxed out credit lines, cut programs and laid off staff as they wait months to be paid by the state.

Stermer said the governor is interested in working with lawmakers on a plan to borrow money to pay down the bills and said the administration plans to "come to the General Assembly with a proposal in the next number of weeks to consider a refinancing of some of that."

Stermer did not provide details, and Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson later said that no new proposal was in the works. Anderson said that while the governor "has always been interested in refinancing as an option to help pay down old bills," he is focused on pension reform.

The governor previously has pushed a plan to borrow $8.75 billion to whittle down the backlog and rush payments to the thousands of vendors waiting on money. The loan would be repaid over 14 years using money generated by a portion of last year's income tax hike.

The plan historically has been met with skepticism by Republicans who say more borrowing would only worsen the state's money woes. Supporters argue that the state already is borrowing the money, but is getting it from small businesses who need it instead of Wall Street investors.

Talk of the fiscal cliff came as lawmakers were discussing a proposal by House Speaker Michael Madigan that would allow the General Assembly to limit how much the state can spend on employee pay increases when unions negotiate new contracts. Currently, that's an agreement reached by the governor's office and union representatives without input from legislators, who drive much of the budget-making process. The proposal was not voted on.

mcgarcia@tribune.com

Twitter @moniquegarcia

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Why David Geffen is getting the “American Masters” treatment

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – David Geffen is not a singer. Nor is he a movie star. Nor is he a writer.

Thus he would seem an odd subject for “American Masters,” a series devoted to artists ranging from Willa Cather to Woody Allen.

Yet series creator Susan Lacy claims that the mogul has had a profound impact on American popular culture that equals any of those figures. She pleads her case in “Inventing David Geffen,” which will be broadcast November 20 on PBS. The documentary had its premiere in Los Angeles on Tuesday night.

“He seems like a bit of an odd choice,” Lacy admitted to TheWrap. “But I have a degree in American Studies and I learned that the people with the most influence are often the ones behind the scenes.”

In Geffen, Lacy saw a figure like Alfred Stieglitz, a photographer whose lasting legacy was a series of modernist shows he held at his New York galleries that influenced visual arts in this country and brought cubism to the masses.

Some arm twisting must have been required to get the press-averse Geffen to emerge from semi-retirement to reflect on his career in movies, music and Broadway. Lacy said that part of the reason she was able to convince him to participate is that he was a fan of the series and had participated in her documentaries on figures such as Joni Mitchell.

“It wasn’t hard,” she said. “I knew from other people that he thinks my Leonard Bernstein documentary is one of the best documentaries anyone ever made. Mike Nichols told me that he makes everybody who stays with him watch it.”

In addition to Geffen, the documentary features interviews with his friends and colleagues — an A-list rolodex that includes Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Elton John, Neil Young, Clive Davis, Barry Diller, and Irving Azoff. His sphere was huge, Lacy claims because his influence was tectonic.

By championing musicians such as Jackson Browne and Laura Nyro, Geffen put his own imprint on the emerging singer-songwriter movement in the 1970s. Later, Geffen managed to adapt to shifting tastes, by aligning himself with groups like Aerosmith and Guns ‘N Roses and helping to usher in the heavy metal craze. For more than 30 years, his labels – Asylum Records, Geffen Records, and DGC Records – represented the high-water mark for musicians, who clamored to get in the door.

“He had an incredible eye for talent,” Lacy said. “These people would have eventually found their way. But he helped them get there. He fixed their teeth and allowed them to write music that’s history.”

Though he made his name in music, Geffen also became a force in the theater and film businesses.

He enriched himself by producing hit musicals like “Cats” and “Dreamgirls,” and branched out into movies with memorable pictures like “Risky Business.” In 1994, he co-founded DreamWorks SKG, the studio behind Oscar-winners like “American Beauty” and “Saving Private Ryan.”

“In each decade, he has done something that has affected the culture,” Lacy said. “If I had to boil it down to one thing it would be his genius at business.”

It’s a mastery of deal-making and talent-scouting that has made him a very wealthy man, worth an estimated $ 5.5 billion. It is also a trajectory that Lacy maintains cannot be replicated in a more fractured media landscape, where mega-corporations wield disproportionate influence and are more interested in quarterly earnings than fostering rising stars.

“Even he would say that nobody could do what he did today,” Lacy said. “The times have changed so much. I asked him if he could raise $ 2 billion to start a new studio, and he said ‘absolutely not.’ And record companies, well, we know what happened to them. Behind all the conglomerates and corporations, to find someone with a genuine sensibility like David Geffen‘s would be impossible. He was unique.”

Celebrity News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Change Rattles Leading Health-Funding Agency

Major changes erupted at one of the world’s leading health-funding agencies Thursday as it hired a new director, dismissed the inspector general who had clashed with a previous director and announced a new approach to making grants.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Dr. Mark Dybul, who led the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, in 2007.

Dr. Mark Dybul, the Bush administration’s global AIDS czar who was abruptly dismissed when President Obama took office, was named the new executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Dr. Dybul, who was selected over candidates from Canada, Britain and France, was backed by the United States, which donates about a third of the fund’s budget, and by Bill Gates, who helped the fund through a cash crisis earlier this year.

He is respected by many AIDS activists in the United States, though there is some lingering controversy about his time in the Bush administration related to abstinence policies and anti-prostitution pledges imposed by conservative lawmakers as well as concerning strict licensing requirements for generic drugs.

The fund, which is based in Geneva and has given away more than $20 billion since its founding in 2002, has been in crisis for more than a year. Some donors shied away after widely publicized corruption scandals, while others, notably Mr. Gates, said the scandals were exaggerated and increased donations.

Its last executive director, Dr. Michel Kazatchkine, quit in January after the day-to-day management duties of his job were given to a Brazilian banker, Gabriel Jaramillo, who was charged with cutting expenses.

By some accounts, 40 percent of the employees soon left, although Seth Faison, a fund spokesman, said the total number of employees declined by only 8 percent. The fund also dismissed its inspector general, John Parsons, on Thursday, citing unsatisfactory work.

Mr. Parsons and Dr. Kazatchkine had privately clashed. Mr. Parsons’s teams aggressively pursued theft and fraud, and found it in Mali, Mauritania and elsewhere. But the total amount stolen — $10 million to $20 million — was relatively small, and aides to Dr. Kazatchkine said the fund cut off those countries and sought to retrieve the money. The aides claimed that Mr. Parsons, who reported only to the board, went to news outlets and left the impression that the fund was covering up rampant theft.

The fuss scared off some donor countries that were already looking for excuses to cut back on foreign aid because of the global economic crisis.

Mr. Parsons did not return messages left for him Thursday.

Dr. Dybul’s appointment was welcomed by the United Nations AIDS program, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Malaria No More and Results.org, an anti-poverty lobbying group. By contrast, Jamie Love, an American advocate for cheaper AIDS drugs who works in Washington and Geneva, said he expected Dr. Dybul “to protect drug companies.”

The fund also announced a new application process, which it said would be faster and focus more on the hardest-hit countries rather than all 150 that received some help in the past.

In an interview, Dr. Dybul said he felt the fund was “on a strong forward trajectory” after changes were put in place in the last year by Mr. Jaramillo, and now would focus on “hard-nosed implementation of value for money.”

Both the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the fund spend billions, but in different ways.

The fund supports projects proposed by national health ministers and then hires local auditors to make sure the money is not wasted or stolen. Pepfar usually gives grants to American nonprofit groups or medical schools and lets them form partnerships with hospitals or charities in the affected countries.

The conventional wisdom is that the Global Fund’s model is more likely to win the cooperation of government officials but more vulnerable to corruption — and also spends less on salaries and travel for American overseers.

Dr. Kazatchkine said he did not expect Dr. Dybul to “Pepfarize” the Global Fund.

“I hope that, after a year of turbulence, the fund finds the serenity needed to move forward again,” he said.

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United Airlines experiences yet another major computer glitch

A massive computer outage at United Airlines early Thursday stranded passengers across the country.A spokesperson for United tells WGN-TV that the airline is up and running again.

United Airlines, just a week before the year's busiest travel period, experienced yet another major computer problem Thursday morning that delayed hundreds of flights across the country, mostly on the East Coast. Some airline industry observers called for "heads to roll" at the world's largest airline.

The latest glitch involved the dispatch system software that enables Chicago-based United to communicate with airplanes before departure, delivering information on the plane's weight and balance, number of passengers and baggage, said United spokesman Charlie Hobart.

Flights of United's regional jet service, United Express, were not affected.

The outage occurred from about 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Thursday and resulted in 257 delays directly attributable to the outage and more through the day, along with about 10 cancellations. The airline said it had 636 delays Thursday, far more than its typical number of about 300. The delays affected a relatively small number of the airline's 5,500 daily flights — fewer than 5 percent, Hobart said.

The impact at O'Hare International Airport seemed to be minimal, United and airport officials said.

United has had rampant problems with an unrelated system, its passenger reservation system it switched to in March. In August, the airline had another unrelated network outage that occurred when a piece of communication equipment in a United data center failed and disabled communications with airports and the United website, United.com. That was due to a failure at a United vendor.

The computer problems, especially the reservation system problem that affected flights in midsummer, have had Jeff Smisek, CEO of United's parent company, United Continental Holdings, making public apologies since March. He conceded to Wall Street analysts that operational problems hurt the airline's third-quarter profits as many customers fled to competitors. But he said during an earnings call with analysts in late October that those problems were behind the airline and that he was confident United would perform well during the busy holiday travel season.

Aside from weather-related delays, such as superstorm Sandy and a snowstorm on the East Coast, that seemed true until Thursday's outage. Even on Thursday, United's on-time performance was about 80 percent, meeting its target, a spokesman said.

"It was a software issue that we found and fixed in that two-hour period," United spokesman Rahsaan Johnson said. "It will not happen again."

Hobart said he did not have details about what went wrong.

Joe Brancatelli, a business travel writer at JoeSentMe.com, said the failures point to a larger problem.

Some industry observers said United is out of excuses.

"It is flat-out unacceptable," said Henry Harteveldt, co-founder of Atmosphere Research Group. "This makes United a laughingstock among airlines."

He said airline computer systems are complex and Thursday's problem might be a one-time issue, but the repeated failures are not only embarrassing for United, they "undermine trust in the airline" and "demoralize employees."

"There are clearly failures in the airline's strategy and the airline's execution, and heads need to roll," he said. "United's (chief information officer) should resign or be dismissed."

Hobart said the airline has improved recently.

"Since this summer, we've significantly improved our operational performance, with nearly 85 percent of our flights on time so far this month and nearly 80 percent of flights arriving on time in October, despite operational challenges like Hurricane Sandy," he said. "We understand this outage was frustrating for our customers, and we are enabling them to rebook without penalty and receive a full refund if their flights were delayed by at least two hours."

"Mostly what it says is that (airlines) have got to stop looking at mergers as two route maps you can smash together," Brancatelli said. He contends that the United-Continental merger was not planned properly.

"There are too many things going wrong," he said. Blame rests with "the guys running the show," he said of United's top executives. "The fish stinks from the head."

gkarp@tribune.com

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'Jihad' ads on CTA buses cause controversy

The controversial ads unveiled on the back of 10 CTA buses Wednesday read, “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man.” They conclude with the words, “Support Copts. Defeat Jihad,” referring to friction between Muslims and Coptic Christians in Egypt.

Within hours of the buses' first runs, messages appeared on Facebook and Twitter denouncing the campaign. Many said degrading a spiritual tenet of Islam -- one that refers to a Muslim's personal quest to become a better person -- amounts to hate speech.

“This whole campaign insinuates Muslims are violent,” said Asaf Bar-Tura, programs director for the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, which protested the ads on social media Wednesday. “If it's within their legal powers, (CTA) should either not put it up because they incite hate and stereotypical thinking or put a label next to each sign saying `The CTA disagrees with this ad.’ ”

So far, federal judges have sided with the advertisement's sponsor, the American Freedom Defense Initiative, which sued transit authorities in New York City and Washington, D.C., when they initially rejected the ads. Those judges ruled that public forums such as buses and trains can't bar advertising entitled to First Amendment protection.

Pamela Geller, executive director of the initiative, said she believes the Jewish Council has good intentions, but denies that her ad qualifies as hate speech.

"There’s nothing hateful about it," she said in an e-mail. "9/11 was hate. 3/11 in Madrid was hate. ... The Christmas underwear bomber was hate. ... Pushing back against such hate is not hate."

"Perhaps this is the strangest thing of all: their utter lack of awareness, or denial, of the barrel pointed straight between their eyes," Geller said. "It is an odd combination of naivete, brainwashing and self-loathing that I will never comprehend."

Although Geller posted on her blog "Atlas Shrugs" a letter from her lawyer threatening legal action against CTA if they didn’t place the ads, Brian Steele, a spokesman for the CTA, denied that the CTA was threatened with a lawsuit. But the precedents did deter the CTA from rejecting the ads, which are expected to run on different routes each day for the next four weeks.

“While those courts agreed that the AFDI ads violate anti-disparagement or anti-demeaning standards similar to CTA's, that violation in and of itself did not remove AFDI's First Amendment protection to place the ads,” Steele said in a statement.

“CTA understands that this ad may be offensive to our customers,” he added. “While the courts have ruled this ad is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment, we object to its divisive message.”

The estimated ad revenue is about $4,500, a spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, said the group expects to launch its own nationwide ad campaign next week. As part of the campaign called “My Jihad,” individual Muslims define what the spiritual concept means for them.

“I don't feel the urge to fight … I'd rather put out the alternative,” Rehab said. “People can decide what racism is.”

mbrachear@tribune.com
Twitter: @TribSeeker

jhilkevitch@tribune.com
Twitter: @jhilkevitch

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Judge throws out Justin Bieber paparazzo chase case

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Criminal charges filed against a photographer who pursued teen pop star Justin Bieber at high speeds on a Los Angeles freeway in July were thrown out on Wednesday, striking a blow to California’s crackdown on overly aggressive paparazzi.

Celebrity photographer Paul Raef was the first person to be prosecuted under the state’s 2010 law that criminalizes dangerous driving when taking photos commercially.

Raef was charged in July with two counts of violating the law stemming from a July 6 incident on a freeway in Los Angeles‘ San Fernando Valley.

Dismissing the charges, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Thomas Robinson called the state’s anti-paparazzi law “problematic” and “overly inclusive.”

The law “sweeps very widely and would increase the penalties for reckless driving” in unintended cases, Robinson said.

Robinson faulted the law’s vague definition of commercial photography, saying that it could also apply to a photographer who was speeding to reach an arranged photo shoot with Bieber.

Raef could have faced up to a year in prison and $ 3,500 in fines, if convicted. His attorney, Brad Kaiserman, said the law is “about protecting celebrities.”

A message left with Bieber’s publicist requesting comment was not immediately returned.

Raef still faces lesser charges of misdemeanor reckless driving and failing to obey police orders after he allegedly pursued Bieber, 18, at high speeds. He will be tried on those charges at a later date.

Bieber, who was pulled over by police for driving 80 miles per hour in a 65 mph zone, told officers at the time that he was being hounded by paparazzi, and police said they noticed Raef’s car following the “Boyfriend” singer.

About 30 minutes after the traffic stop, Bieber called police to report that Raef continued to follow him. Police later found Raef and other paparazzi together in downtown Los Angeles.

The Canadian singer received a speeding ticket at the time.

(Reporting By Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Sandra Maler)

Celebrity News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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I Was Misinformed: The Time She Tried Viagra

I have noticed, in the bragging-rights department, that “he doesn’t need Viagra” has become the female equivalent of the male “and, I swear, she’s a real blonde.” Personally, I do not care a bit. To me, anything that keeps you happy and in the game is a good thing.

But then, I am proud to say, I was among the early, and from what I gather, rare female users.

It happened when the drug was introduced around 1998. I was 50, but after chemotherapy for breast cancer — and later, advanced ovarian cancer — I was, hormonally speaking, pretty much running on fumes. Whether this had diminished my sex drive I did not yet know. One may have Zorba-esque impulses when a cancer diagnosis first comes in; but a treatment that leaves you bald, moon-faced and exhausted knocks that out of your system pretty fast.

But by 1998, the cancer was gone, my hair was back and I was ready to get back in the game. I was talking to an endocrinologist when I brought up Viagra. This was not to deal with the age-related physical changes I knew it would not address, it was more along the feminist lines of equal pay for equal work: if men have this new sex drug, I want this new sex drug.

“I know it’s supposed to work by increasing blood flow,” I told the doctor, “But if that’s true for men, shouldn’t it be true for women, too?”

“You’re the third woman who asked me that this week,” he said.

He wrote me a prescription. I was not seeing anyone, so I understood that I would have to do both parts myself, but that was fine. I have a low drug threshold and figured it might be best the first time to fly solo. My memory of the directions are hazy: I think there was a warning that one might have a facial flush or headaches or drop dead of a heart attack; that you were to take a pill at least an hour before you planned to get lucky, and, as zero hour approached, you were supposed to help things along by thinking beautiful thoughts, kind of like Peter Pan teaching Wendy and the boys how to fly.

But you know how it is: It’s hard to think beautiful thoughts when you’re wondering, “Is it happening? Do I feel anything? Woof, woof? Hello, sailor? Naaah.”

After about an hour, however, I was aware of a dramatic change. I had developed a red flush on my face; I was a hot tomato, though not the kind I had planned. I had also developed a horrible headache. The sex pill had turned into a bad joke: Not now, honey, I have a headache.

I put a cold cloth on my head and went to sleep. But here’s where it got good: When I slept, I dreamed; one of those extraordinary, sensual, swimming in silk sort of things. I woke up dazed and glowing with just one thought: I gotta get this baby out on the highway and see what it can do.

A few months later I am fixed up with a guy, and after a time he is, under the Seinfeldian definition of human relations (Saturday night date assumed) my official boyfriend. He is middle aged, in good health. How to describe our romantic life with the delicacy a family publication requires? Perhaps a line from “Veronika, der Lenz ist da” (“Veronica, Spring Is Here”), a song popularized by the German group the Comedian Harmonists: “Veronika, der Spargel Wächst” (“Veronica, the asparagus are blooming”). On the other hand, sometimes not. And so, one day, I put it out there in the manner of sport:

“Want to drop some Viagra?” I say.

Here we go again, falling into what I am beginning to think is an inevitable pattern: lying there like a lox, or two loxes, waiting for the train to pull into the station. (Yes, I know it’s a mixed metaphor, but at least I didn’t bring in the asparagus.) So there we are, waiting. And then, suddenly, spring comes to Suffolk County. It’s such a presence. I’m wondering if I should ask it if it hit traffic on the L.I.E. We sit there staring.

My reaction is less impressive. I don’t get a headache this time. And romantically, things are more so, but not so much that I feel compelled to try the little blue pills again.

Onward roll the years. I have a new man in my life, who is 63. He does have health problems, for which his doctor prescribes an E.D. drug. I no longer have any interest in them. My curiosity has been satisfied. Plus I am deeply in love, an aphrodisiac yet to be encapsulated in pharmaceuticals.

We take a vacation in mountain Mexico. We pop into a drugstore to pick up sunscreen and spot the whole gang, Cialis, Viagra, Levitra, on a shelf at the checkout counter. No prescription needed in Mexico, the clerk says. We buy all three drugs and return to the hotel. I try some, he tries some. In retrospect, given the altitude and his health, we are lucky we did not kill him. I came across an old photo the other day. He is on the bed, the drugs in their boxes lined up a in a semi-circle around him. He looks a bit dazed and his nose is red.

Looking at the picture, I wonder if he had a cold.

Then I remember: the flush, the damn flush. If I had kids, I suppose I would have to lie about it.

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FCC recommends cross-ownership waivers for Tribune Co.

The staff of the Federal Communications Commission has recommended that the agency grant Tribune Co. waivers of so-called media ownership rules, paving the way for the company to emerge from its long-running bankruptcy.

The waivers -- the last major hurdle in the four-year case -- would take effect Friday as long as none of the five commissioners raise serious objections, according to a person at the FCC who wasn't authorized to speak and therefore did not want to be identified.

No vote is required for the waivers to take effect.

The waivers would set the wheels in motion to emerge from bankruptcy, something that can happen as soon as new ownership, a group led by senior creditors Oaktree Capital Management, Angelo Gordon & Co and JPMorgan Chase & Co., can complete the necessary paperwork.

The FCC staff is recommending that the agency grant a permanent waiver to Tribune's ownership of the Chicago Tribune and WGN radio and television stations and that it give  one-year waivers for the Los Angeles Times ownership of KTLA-TV Channel 5 and for similar arrangements in three other markets.

The FCC also is circulating among commissioners a proposal for new media ownership rules that would ease restrictions on consolidations among newspapers and TV and ratio stations, according to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. That proposal is expected to come up for an agency vote at the next regular meeting.

Once the new rules are in effect, Tribune's new owners could seek permanent waivers in the Los Angeles, New York, Hartford, Conn., and South Florida markets.

Tribune Vice President Shaun Sheehan declined to comment.

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Hastert uses government office for private business

A Tribune investigation has found that former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert has used his taxpayer-funded office to conduct private business. Federal law allows former House speakers to maintain a government-financed office for up to five years, but they are not permitted to use the office for financial gain. (Nuccio DiNuzzo, Chicago Tribune / November 14, 2012)

By Katherine Skiba and Todd Lighty




Tribune reporters

11:55 p.m. CST, November 13, 2012

Former U.S. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert has conducted private business ventures through a little-known government office that has cost taxpayers about $1.8 million, a Tribune investigation has found.

Former House speakers are allowed to maintain a government-financed office for up to five years to wrap up matters relating to their tenure. They are not permitted to use the office for financial gain.

But the Tribune found that a secretary in the ex-speaker’s government office used email to coordinate some of his private business meetings and travel, and conducted research on one proposed venture. A suburban Chicago businessman who was involved in the business ventures with Hastert said he met with Hastert at least three times in the government office to discuss the projects.

Hastert, an Illinois Republican, said he did not misuse the office. “I didn’t work on any private business out of there,” he said.

Court records, interviews and dozens of emails link the Office of the Former Speaker to J. David John, a Burr Ridge businessman who made six of the emails public in a lawsuit in DuPage County. John alleges in his suit that Wheaton College officials and others ruined his business relationship with Hastert, who is not a defendant in the suit.

Read the full story as a digitalPLUS member: Hastert used government office for private business

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She’s got the voice, now Christina Aguilera looks for hits

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Christina Aguilera has the vocal chops, the look, the strut and millions of new fans thanks to her stint as a judge on TV singing contest “The Voice.”

But can she still sell records?

The singer, who had global hits with “Genie in a Bottle” and the female empowerment ballad “Beautiful” more than 10 years ago, bids to reclaim her status as one of the world’s biggest pop stars with her new album, “Lotus,” released on Tuesday.

Aguilera, 31, says the title and the mixture of dance-pop, ballads and rock-tinged tracks reflect the hopes and disappointments of recent years that saw her 2010 tour for album “Bionic” canceled, a divorce and the box-office flop of her debut feature film, the musical “Burlesque.”

“Lotus represents the unbreakable flower that stands the test of time. No matter the roughest of weather conditions, it remains strong and continues to thrive. (The album) is a nod to my fans who have been here with me the whole journey, and a nod to myself,” she said.

“It is a record of freedom and embracing that…It is very artistic at times, it is very fun at times, it is very free. I think that’s how music and life should be, away from all the negativity,” the four-time Grammy winner said in an appearance at a Billboard Film and TV Music conference in Los Angeles last month.

Aguilera will perform one of the tracks – “Make the World Move” – with her fellow judge Cee Lo Green live on “The Voice” this week for the show’s more than 10 million viewers.

But music industry experts say Aguilera’s popularity on “The Voice” – where her powerhouse performances leave aspiring pop stars in the dust – may not guarantee huge album sales and won’t give the singer a No. 1 hit.

This week also sees new releases from British boy band One Direction and singer Susan Boyle as well as the new “Twilight” film soundtrack.

NOT A BLOCKBUSTER

“I think ‘Lotus’ will certainly debut in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 album chart. But we don’t see it as being a blockbuster out of the gate,” said Keith Caulfield, associate director of charts at Billboard.

“It is a long road to rebuilding Christina as a brand and as a musician, after the last album didn’t so very well,” said Caulfield. “But it’s not always about first week sales.”

Much like Jennifer Lopez on “American Idol,” Aguilera has seen her star rocket in her 18 months on “The Voice.” Just a few months before the TV show made its debut in spring 2011, Aguilera was arrested for being drunk in public in West Hollywood, and her 2010 album “Bionic” had sold a disappointing 312,000 copies.

“‘The Voice’ has reinvigorated her entire career. A lot of people think she is the star of ‘The Voice’ – the judge you tune in for,” said Lyndsey Parker, managing editor at Yahoo! Music.

Yet the first single – “Your Body” – from the new album failed to make a big impact when it was released in September. It peaked at No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and never really caught fire on radio.

“It came and went, which surprised me because I think it is a very strong song. And pretty much everything I have heard on this album is strong. I think it’s a real return to form,” said Parker.

“There are very few people in pop who can sing like her. I do think there is a renewed appreciation for great singing that can be done live and that isn’t just about flash. And Christina is coming back to prove that. I think some people are looking at her to take back her crown,” Parker added.

“Lotus” includes duets with both Green and Aguilera’s fellow “Voice” judge, country singer Blake Shelton. It also features the piano-driven ballad “Blank Page,” which is reminiscent of her 2002 hit “Beautiful” and rock-tinged tracks like “Army of Me.”

Aguilera says she hopes to inspire a new generation of singers who were not around in 1999 for her first big hit “Genie in a Bottle.”

“It’s so exciting for me to show them what I do as an artist,” she said. “I’ve been through a lot over the past few years, going through ‘Burlesque,’ a divorce…having a few setbacks….Stuff happens! This is the business. It’s not going to be all cute and pretty and tied up in a bow.

“All of that combined is in ‘Lotus.’ It embraces the woman that I’ve become, and embracing myself coming full circle as a pop star,” she said.

(Additional reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Music News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Kidney Donors Given Mandatory Safeguards

ST. LOUIS — Addressing long-held concerns about whether organ donors have adequate protections, the country’s transplant regulators acted late Monday to require that hospitals thoroughly inform living kidney donors of the risks they face, fully evaluate their medical and psychological suitability, and then track their health for two years after donation.

Enactment of the policies by the United Network for Organ Sharing, which manages the transplant system under a federal contract, followed six years of halting development and debate.

Meeting at a St. Louis hotel, the group’s board voted to establish uniform minimum standards for a field long regarded as a medical and ethical Wild West. The organ network, whose initial purpose was to oversee donation from people who had just died, has struggled at times to keep pace with rapid developments in donations from the living.

“There is no question that this is a major development in living donor protection,” said Dr. Christie P. Thomas, a nephrologist at the University of Iowa and the chairman of the network’s living donor committee.

Yet some donor advocates complained that the measures did not go far enough, and argued that the organ network, in its mission to encourage transplants, has a conflict of interest when it comes to safeguarding donors.

Three years ago, the network issued some of the same policies as voluntary guidelines, only to have the Department of Health and Human Services insist they be made mandatory.

Although long-term data on the subject is scarce, few living kidney donors are thought to suffer lasting physical or psychological effects. Kidney donations, known as nephrectomies, are typically done laparoscopically these days through a series of small incisions. The typical patient may spend only a few nights in a hospital and feel largely recovered after several months.

Kidneys are by far the most transplanted organs, and there have been nearly as many living donors as deceased ones over the last decade. What data is available suggests that those with one kidney typically live as long as those with two, and that the risk of a donor dying during the procedure is roughly 3 in 10,000.

But kidney transplants, like all surgery, can sometimes end in catastrophe.

In May at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, a 41-year-old mother of three died when her aorta was accidentally cut during surgery to donate a kidney to her brother. In other recent isolated cases, patients have received donor kidneys infected with undetected H.I.V. or hepatitis C.

Less clear are any longer-term effects on donors. Research conducted by the United Network for Organ Sharing shows that of roughly 70,000 people who donated kidneys between late 1999 and early 2011, 27 died within two years of medical causes that may — or may not — have been related to donation. For a small number of donors, their remaining kidney failed, and they required dialysis or a transplant.

The number of living donors — 5,770 in 2011 — has dropped 10 percent over the last two years, possibly because the struggling economy has made it difficult for prospective donors to take time off from work to recuperate. With the national kidney waiting list now stretching past 94,000 people, and thousands on the list dying each year, transplant officials have said they must improve confidence in the system so more people will donate.

The average age of donors has been rising, posing additional medical risks. And new ethical questions have been raised by the emergence of paired kidney exchanges and transplant chains started by good Samaritans who give an organ to a stranger.

Brad Kornfeld, who donated a kidney to his father in 2004, told the board that it had been impossible to find good information about what to expect, leaving him to search for answers on unreliable Internet chat rooms. He said he had almost backed out.

“If information is power,” said Mr. Kornfeld, a Coloradan who serves on the living donor committee, “the lack of information is crippling.”

Under the policies approved this week, the organ network will require hospitals to collect medical data, including laboratory test results, on most living donors to study lasting effects. Results must be reported at six months, one year and two years.

Similar regulations have been in place since 2000, but they did not require blood and urine testing, and hospitals were allowed to report donors who could not be found as simply lost.

That happened often. In recent years, hospitals have submitted basic clinical information — like whether donors were alive or dead — for only 65 percent of donors and lab data for fewer than 40 percent, according to the organ network. Although the network holds the authority, no hospital has ever been seriously sanctioned for noncompliance.

“It’s time we put some teeth into our policy,” said Jill McMaster, a board member from Tennessee.

By 2015, transplant programs will have to report thorough clinical information on at least 80 percent of donors and lab results on at least 70 percent. The requirements phase in at lower levels for the next two years.

Dr. Stuart M. Flechner of the Cleveland Clinic, the chairman of a coalition of medical societies that made recommendations to the organ network, said 9 of 10 hospitals would currently not meet the new requirement.

Donna Luebke, a kidney donor from Ohio who once served on the organ network’s board, said the new standards would matter only if enforcement were more rigorous. She noted that the organization was dominated by transplant doctors: “UNOS is nothing but the foxes watching the henhouse,” she said.

Another of the new regulations prescribes in detail the medical and psychological screenings that hospitals must conduct for potential donors. It requires automatic exclusion if the potential donor has diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension or H.I.V., among other conditions.

The new policies also require that hospitals appoint an independent advocate to counsel and represent donors, and that donors receive detailed information in advance about medical, psychological and financial risks.

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