1ST BUSINESS NEWS & INFORMATION

FY 2009 Budget Deficit Projected to Be $482 Billion

WASHINGTON July 29 (FNC) — The White House on Monday reported a projection for a $482 billion budget deficit for the budget year ending in September 2009, a number that would be the highest number recorded. The budget office predicts the economy will grow at a rate of 1.6 percent this year and will rebound to a 2.2 percent growth rate next year. That's a half percentage point more than predicted but also the widely cited "blue chip" consensus of leading economists. The administration also sees inflation averaging 3.8 percent this year, but easing to 2.3 percent next year — better than the 3.0 percent seen by the blue chip panel.

WTO Talks Limp Into 9th day, Still in Stalemate

GENEVA July 29 (Reuters) — Talks to rescue a world trade deal will continue on Tuesday with players trying to avert a collapse over measures intended to help poor countries protect their farmers against import surges, ministers said. Quashing suggestions from reporters that the talks were about to fail, they said they would try to find ways out of the impasse.

Oil's Gold Connection

LONDON (Reuters) — While much of oil's recent decline has been put down to an assumption that demand will fall as leading economies slow, hedge fund experts say there are also less fundamental reasons behind the move.

Schering, Merck Hit by Cholesterol Drug Fallout

NEW YORK March 31 (Reuters) — Shares of Schering-Plough Corp and Merck & Co tumbled on Monday after doctors at a prominent medical meeting recommended patients try older cholesterol drugs before the companies' newer medicines. Schering-Plough shares dropped 19 percent in pre-market electronic trading, while Merck shares fell 11 percent, as analysts cut their sales forecasts for the companies shared drugs, Vytorin and Zetia. The value of Vytorin and Zetia, which generate about $5 billion in combined annual sales, has been questioned since the results of a controversial study were released in January.

Murrow Honored
Through 2008, RTNDA is honoring Edward R. Murrow "not only because it his centennial, but because this October will mark 50 years since he delivered his famous 'wires and lights in a box' speech" at the RTNDA convention in Cleveland, Ohio. The year of celebration is also the topic of the President's Column by Barbara Cochran, from the February issue of RTNDA's Communicator.

Rhode Island Joins Fight Against Illegal Immigration

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island March 28 (FNC) — Linking the presence of undocumented workers to Rhode Island's financial woes, Gov. Don Carcieri signed an executive order that includes a series of steps to combat illegal immigration. The order signed Thursday requires state agencies and companies that do business with the state to verify the legal status of employees. It also directs the Rhode Island State Police and prison and parole officials to more aggressively find and deport illegal immigrants. The Republican governor said he understands that illegal immigrants face hardships — but he does not want them in Rhode Island, America's smallest state. "If you're here illegally, you shouldn't be here illegally. You shouldn't be here," Carcieri said.

Brothers Attacked by Tiger File Claims Against City of San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO March 28 (FNC) — Two brothers who were attacked by an escaped tiger at the San Francisco Zoo have filed claims against the city alleging negligence and defamation. Mark Geragos, who is representing Kulbir and Paul Dhaliwal, submitted papers seeking monetary compensation for "serious physical and emotional injuries" on Wednesday. The claims are a prerequisite to filing a lawsuit. The documents allege the city and the San Francisco Zoological Society failed in their duty to provide a safe zoo environment, defamed the brothers by spreading falsehoods about their possible role in provoking the attack and improperly impounded Kulbir Dhaliwal's car. The pair were injured on Christmas Day after a 250-pound Siberian tiger scaled the walls of its enclosure, attacked them and killed their friend, 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. The animal eventually was shot dead by police. The walls of the outdoor enclosure later were found to be lower than the height recommended by an accrediting agency for the nation's zoos.

Speech Row Rocks Canada

OTTAWA March 28 (BBC) — Canada is often thought of as a land of bland consensus and multicultural harmony - the last place where you would expect to see a religious minority up in arms, and journalists accusing the state of gagging freedom of speech. Yet in recent months, these have become fixtures of the country's public debate. The opening shot was fired by Mark Steyn, an outspoken columnist regarded by supporters as the Canadian equivalent of Denmark's cartoonists or the Netherlands' Ayaan Hirsi Ali. In a 2006 article he used demographics to suggest that the West would succumb to Muslim domination. The piece, entitled "The future belongs to Islam" and published by the Toronto magazine Maclean's, argued that Europe was "too enfeebled to resist its remorseless transformation into Eurabia". To some, Steyn had crossed the line between vigorous polemic and Islamophobia.

At Odds Over Views of Dutch Film Maker

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) March 19 — Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Wednesday distanced himself from remarks made by an anti-Muslim populist Dutch film-maker, saying he condemned attempts to demonize religious or ethnic groups. Geert Wilders, who is also a right-wing lawmaker, praised Rasmussen in a Danish television interview for backing freedom of speech after local newspapers reprinted satirical cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, and criticized Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende for bowing in the face of Muslim anger. Wilders plans this month to show a 15-minute video which criticizes the Muslim holy book, the Koran, despite appeals from the Dutch government and mounting unrest in the Muslim world. Protests have been held in several Muslim countries over the last four weeks after Danish newspapers published the cartoon -- one of 12 that prompted deadly riots in many Muslim countries in 2006 -- in solidarity with the artist following the arrest of three men on suspicion of planning to kill him.

Film Director Jules Dassin Dies

April 2 (BBC) - American film director Jules Dassin has died in an Athens hospital after a short illness, at the age of 96. Blacklisted in Hollywood after WWII, he went to Europe where he married the late Greek actress and later culture minister Melina Mercouri. She starred in Mr. Dassin's most famous film, Never on Sunday. After Mercouri's death in 1994, Mr. Dassin fought to realize her main goal: the return of the Parthenon, or Elgin, marbles from Britain to Greece. A spokesman for Hygeia hospital in Athens said Mr. Dassin had been admitted for treatment two weeks ago. "Greece grieves the loss of a rare human being, an important creator and a true friend," Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said in a statement.

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In praise of vegetables

The Guardian:

(By Edward Pearce)

Forget the zucchini squash. Simply savor the delights of broad beans, parsnips and potatoes.

news from UNOS:

The OPTN/UNOS Board of Directors has approved a policy modification expected to improve the efficiency of organ allocation by better identifying and prioritizing candidates whose immune system would likely reject an organ offer. The OPTN will now utilize a statistically calculated formula to identify immunologically "sensitized" candidates rather than relying solely on individual laboratory testing of candidate blood samples. more...

The classic and still timely musing by author ALT on parenting in America.

Where Have All the Children Gone?