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The Los Angeles Dodgers Filing for Bankruptcy

Dodgers Filing for Bankruptcy

According to Los Angeles Dodger’s owner Frank McCourt the team has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy under the U.S. Bankruptcy code.  The move is being done to protect the franchise and help to provide a path where it will enable the Club to complete a media transaction while capitalizing the team.  McCourt says that the reason for the bankruptcy filing is because Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig refused to allow the Fox transaction.

“The Dodgers have delivered time and again since I became owner, and that’s been good for baseball,” McCourt said. “We turned the team around financially after years of annual losses before I purchased the team. We invested $150 million in the stadium. We’ve had excellent on-field performance, including playoff appearances four times in seven years. And we brought the Commissioner a media rights deal that would have solved the cash flow challenge I presented to him a year ago, when his leadership team called us a ‘model franchise.’ Yet he’s turned his back on the Dodgers, treated us differently, and forced us to the point we find ourselves in today. I simply cannot allow the Commissioner to knowingly and intentionally be in a position to expose the Dodgers to financial risk any longer. It is my hope that the Chapter 11 process will create a fair and constructive environment to get done what we couldn’t achieve with the Commissioner directly.”

The Dodgers have been trying for about a year to have Commissioner Bud Selig put his stamp of approval on a transaction.  The transaction would ensure that the Los Angeles Dodgers would be one of the top capitalized franchises in Major League Baseball now and for years to come.  The Dodgers sought Selig’s approval for a transaction that the Dodgers negotiated with FOX.  That deal would have immediately given hundreds of millions of dollars in capital to the Dodgers. The commission denied the deal to go through, knowing that the Dodgers franchises’ projected cash and liquidity needs for 2011.

“The deal with Fox demonstrates that the Dodgers have enormous value which substantially exceeds the team’s current and future liabilities,” announced Bruce Bennett, bankruptcy counsel from Dewey & LeBoeuf. “The team is entering the bankruptcy case with enough committed financing to meet all of its short term expenses and to successful reorganize. The media rights will, one way or another, generate enough value to facilitate a reorganization.”

Governor Chris Christie from New Jersey Is Not A Fan Of Gay Marriage

Christie Against Gay Marriage

New Jersey’s Governor Christie admits he is “not a fan” of gay marriage will not be following New York by legalizing it.

New Jersey does allow gay couples to have civil unions, Christie told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that a marriage should be only between a woman and a man.

On June 24, New York became the sixth U.S. state to allow homosexual couples the right to wed. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the law after the New York’s Republican-controlled state Senate approved it earlier that night in a 33-29 vote. In January 2010 the New Jersey Senate discarded a gay marriage bill backed by former Governor Jon Corzine.

“In our state, we’re going to continue to pursue civil unions,” said Governor Christie, 48, a first-term Republican. “I am not a fan of same-sex marriage. It’s not something that I support.”

Fans of the failed New Jersey gay-marriage bill said the state’s civil union law doesn’t give same-sex couples federal protection or equal treatment by hospitals, insurance providers and out-of-state firms who don’t recognize the arrangements.

“I believe marriage should be between one man and one woman,” Christie spoke out. “I wouldn’t sign a bill like the one that was in New York.”

Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and so does the District of Columbia, this according to the Washington-based Human Rights Campaign, which supports equal rights for gay, bisexual and transgender people. New York and Maryland recognize such marriages from other jurisdictions.

New York’s new law, enabling same-sex couples to marry in New York, will be in effect in 30 days. New York has 19.4 million residents and is the nation’s third most-populous state.

Christie, who has said he won’t seek the Republican presidential nomination for 2012, also objected when he was asked whether he’d be interested in running for vice president.

Diabetes Reaches Epidemic of 250 million

Diabetes Reaches Epidemic

The total number of cases of adult diabetes has more than doubled since 1980 to a total of 347 million world-wide.  This number is much larger than originally thought and suggests that the costs of treating diabetes will also balloon.

A study which was published in The Lancet Journal, international researchers who worked with The World Health Organization discovered that the rate of diabetes has at best remained the same or either risen in the world over the past 30 years.

Previous projections had the cases at 285 million worldwide.  Out of the 347 million people diagnosed with the disease, 138 million live India and China, with another 36 million in the USA and Russia.

Type 2 is the most common type of the disease and is usually associated with sedentary lifestyle and obesity.

“Diabetes is becoming more common almost everywhere in the world,” said Majid Ezzati, from Britain’s Imperial College London.  Ezzati led this study as well as Goodarz Danaei representing the Harvard School of Public Health in the US.

“Unless we develop better programs for detecting people with elevated blood sugar and helping them to improve their diet and physical activity and control their weight, diabetes will inevitably continue to impose a major burden on health systems around the world,” Danaei added in a joint statement.

Diabetics have inadequate blood sugar control.  This is a situation which can lead to more serious complications such as stroke, damage to the nerves and kidneys, heart disease and blindness.

Medical experts say that diabetes cause around 3 million related deaths each year world-wide.  This number is only expected to continue rising with the number of persons who are affected increase.

Needless to say that diabetes is a drug maker’s friend because it is one of their booming markets.

Peter Falk, Star of Columbo Dead at the age of 83

Columbo Dead at 83

For fans of the one of the most beloved fictional detectives Thursday’s news of star of Columbo Peter Falk was sad news.  Falk died Thursday night in his Beverly Hills home at the age of 83.  The announcement came from Larry Larson who was a longtime friend and is also the lawyer for Mr. Falk’s wife whose name is Shera Danese.  In recent years Falk had been treated for Alzheimer’s disease.

Mr. Falk’s career ranged from drama to comedy and included movies and onstage performances.  For three and a half decades he played the canny lead on the hit show Columbo.  He received nominations for two Oscars.  Some of his co-stars include Bette Davis, Jason Robards and Frank Sinatra.

Falk’s character Columbo was a lieutenant for the Los Angeles Police Department and he was a mass of peculiarities and quirks.  He seemed distracted in his raincoat always looking for a lighter for his signature stogie.

Mr. Falk had one glass eye which was the result of an operation where he had a cancerous tumor removed when he was a child.  The glass eye made all of his characters have a peculiar, curious look, almost like a squint.   With a mild speech impediment which made his L’s sound funny when he would introduce himself as Lieutenant Columbo.

Being so eccentric made Columbo a progenitor of characters later on like Tony Shalhoub’s Monk.  It also made him appear keen and at most times amusing.

Mr. Falk went to Hamilton College in upstate New York for a brief period.  He later dropped out and joined the Merchant Marine as a cook.  Later in life he returned to New York City, attended New School for Social Research where he earned a degree in political science.  He also attended Syracuse University, earning a public administration master’s degree.

While President Obama meets with Democrats the Republicans Leave Debt Talks

President Obama meets Democrats

Announcing that President Obama needs to concern himself with Democratic demands for tax increases to reduce the national debt, two Republicans got out of the high profile talks today about budgets.

Eric Cantor who is a Republican from Virginia and House Majority said the talks about raising the $14.3 trillion dollar debt ceiling while at the same time cutting the budget will not go anywhere until President Obama gets in on the requests that have been made for tax hikes that Republications oppose.

With this stalemate Cantor says, “I will not be participating in today’s meeting, and I believe it is time for the president to speak clearly and resolve the tax issue.”  “Once resolved, we have a blueprint to move forward to trillions of spending cuts and binding mechanisms to change the way things are done around here.”

In a statement jointly with Republican leader Mitch McConnell from Kentucky, Senator Jon Kyl from Arizona decided to withdraw from the talks.  Kyl said, “The White House and Democrats are insisting on job-killing tax hikes and new spending.”

“President Obama needs to decide between his goal of higher taxes or a bipartisan plan to address our deficit. He can’t have both,” said the two Republican senators. “But we need to hear from him.”

A spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Jesse Ferguson said that Cantor exited the talks to “protect taxpayer subsidies for Big Oil and more tax breaks for multimillionaires.” He adds that the Republications are not interested in coming up with a compromise.

These announcements were made when Obama was meeting at the White House with House Democratic leaders regarding negotiating on budget cuts and the debt ceiling.  No comments were made afterward.

Other Republicans and Cantor, who control the House, stand on opposing any increases to the debt ceiling until the Democrats and Obama will agree to major budget cuts.  GOP members continue to say they oppose any tax hikes.

The Kardashian Ladies Celebrate Kim and Kris’s Engagement

Kim and Kris’s Engagement

Newly engaged Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries celebrated with family and friends at a last-minute engagement couple honoring the newlyweds-to-be on Thursday.  The couple became engaged in May and was honored by Khloe and Lamar with close to 50 of their family and friends in attendance.

Khloe said, “We obviously move really fast in my family. We’re so crazy busy, and Kris was going back to Minnesota to be with his family.”  She continued to say, “On Monday, we realized that Thursday was open,” she explained, “so I was like, ‘Am I really going to throw a party on Thursday?’”

Khloe and her sister Kourtney recruited the help of the same party planner who helped to beautifully orchestrate Khloe’s last-minute wedding to Lamar Odom in 2009, Sharon Sachs.  Khloe told Us Weekly, “so I was like, ‘You can put together an engagement party in three days.’”

The party was a huge success, especially given the fact that many of the people at the party were meeting Kris Humphries for the very first time.  “Everybody had the best time and got along,” Khloe said. “It was so sweet to see everyone hang out with each other.”

Kim, now 30, along with her fiancé Kris was quite pleased with the entire spotlight on their engagement shindig. The party continued as the Kardashian clan flew to Vegas the next night to celebrate Khloe’s birthday party held at the Sugar Factory.

51 Beauties Compete for the Title of Miss USA in Las Vegas

Miss USA in Las Vegas

Sin City was the site for Sunday night’s broadcast of The Miss USA pageant in Vegas.  With fifty-one beautiful young ladies from around the USA competing for the title, the pageant was filled with struts and smiles for the judges and the live audience.

The new Miss USA replaces 2010’s Miss USA Rima Fakih and will represent America in the Miss Universe pageant in September in Brazil

Last year Fakih, who is an Arab-American from Michigan and was born in Lebanon, had a near-stumble in her evening gown before winning the coveted crown. Contestants for this year’s crown hope to avoid stumbles and instead shine in swimwear, evening gowns and nailing interviews at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino which is on the Las Vegas Strip.

Las Vegas odds maker Johnny Avello said the auburn-haired Alyssa Campanella who represents California is the 8 to 1 favorite in the competition during just-for-fun odds.

This year is the 60^th anniversary for the pageant.  It has grown from being a bathing revue in Long Beach in 1952 to it’s now made-for-TV venture which is partly owned by tycoon Donald Trump and NBC.  NBC airs the pageant live to viewers on the East Coast.

Miss USA recently has been critiqued as judges at times have asked sticky questions and challenged the beauty queens to reveal their opinions more strongly than they might have wanted to do in the past pageants.

This year’s judges include several well-known celebrities, including Chef Rocco DiSpirito, actress Mariel Hemingway, Dallas Maverick center Tyson Chandler, magician Penn Jillette, and rapper and producer Lil Jon.

The show will be co-hosted by E! News Anchor Giuliana Rancic and Bravo’s Andy Cohen.

A stage performance by British rapper Tinie Tempah and Eric Turner is planned during the evening gown competition.

Mexican Kindergarten Teacher & Students Sing Songs Undercover As Guns Battle Outside

Guns Battle Outside

A Mexico kindergarten teacher is being hailed a hero after a video surfaced where she orders her students to take cover and they sing songs while suspected gunman execute five people outside their building.

In the video, the unidentified teacher, calmly instructs her little students to lie on the ground and stay down as bursts of gunfire fly outside the classroom.

“Nothing’s happening, sweetheart, just put your little faces on the floor,” the heroic teacher tells the terrified children, according to a translation. “Nothing is going to happen…just don’t lift your heads please.”

As automatic fire rattles on, some of the children begin lifting their necks to see outside.

To distract them, the teacher tells them that they are going to sing, and begins singing “If All The Raindrops,” a song made popular by Barney the Friendly Dinosaur.

The video ends with some of the children on their backs, pretending to catch imaginary chocolate raindrops in their tiny mouths.

The classroom was not hit by the gunshots and no child was injured, according to local reports.

Mexican authorities said the attack occurred Friday close to an unlicensed taxi stand in the northern industrial city of Monterrey.

Gunmen riding in SUVs pulled up to the stand and started opening fire, four drivers were killed.  One was a man whose wife said he had just gotten off a bus, the Latin American Herald Tribune reports.

The neighborhood is known as a hub for “pirate taxis,” that serve as lookouts for drug gangs, and use radios and cell phones to report police activity.

The killings near the school occurred less than one day after suspected hit men killed six people who were riding in a car in a Monterrey suburb of Guadalupe.

School District Plays Down The Arrival Of IRS Auditors; Officials Have Mixed Reactions

School District IRS Auditors

State and city elected officials had reactions which were mixed when they heard of news that the IRS was conducting an audit of the Philadelphia School District’s finances.  This is happening at the same time the district has asked for up to $110 million from the city as the district faces a $629 million funding gap in the upcoming fiscal year.

IRS auditors appeared at district headquarters in preparation to work on an audit.  This was on Tuesday and the same day the district officials asked City Council for between $75 million to $110 million for a budget shortfall.  District officials asked the IRS to reschedule their work.

District officials on Wednesday fired Eileen Pelzer who was payroll director and had been responding to IRS requests since April.

Yesterday in a statement the district officials said the IRS inquiry was “a random, routine audit.”  District spokeswoman Jamilah Fraser said that the district had no comment on the dismissal of Pelzer.

“It is not a criminal or civil investigation,” the district officials stated. They noted that “school districts nationwide” are “audited by several entities every year.”

“The purpose is to ensure that we are complying with the tax code and that our employees are doing the same,” the District’s statement included.

“When the IRS came into the office, they gave us a list of 28 items. It was not expanded to that number and it did not contain questions about expense reimbursements for School Reform Commission members. We intend to fully comply and answer each of the items.”

Thursday state Senators Vincent J. Hughes and Shirley Kitchen had sent a letter to Council President Anna Verna and Mayor Nutter to ask for more funding for the city’s schools.  Kitchen mentioned to the Daily News that the audit did not mean changes to her position.

“I think the city should demand answers from the district,” Kitchen added in an interview late yesterday. “Accountability and answers are warranted. But still we should not turn our backs on our responsibilities to the children of Philadelphia.”

Presidential Candidate Edwards Soon Indicted

John-Edwards-Indicted

United States Federal prosecutors will soon indict former presidential candidate John Edwards on for allegedly breaking the law by using campaign cash to cover up an extramarital affair with a former campaign staffer

A source tells ABC News, that Edwards is aware of the charges and is considering his options, including a plea bargain that could potentially prevent the case from going to trial.

It has been two years since in 2008, investigators began reviewing Edwards’ fund-raising and payments his campaign made directly to his former campaign videographer Rielle Hunter who later gave birth to his child. The government will reportedly allege that Edwards used hundreds of thousands of dollars of illegal campaign contributions from a pair of wealthy contributors to hide his affair with Hunter and her subsequent pregnancy.

Andrew Young, a former top Edwards aide who initially pretended to be the father of Hunter’s child and later wrote a tell-all book about his former boss, has testified repeatedly before the grand jury and is expected to be a key witness in the potential trial.

Last month, Young was spotted in Washington after reportedly meeting with prosecutors. In recent months, former top Edwards’ staffers have testified before a North Carolina grand jury in the case, as prosecutors have tried to determine how much Edwards knew about his campaign’s finances.

In March, Edwards added former White House counsel Greg Craig, a well-known defense attorney in Washington, to his legal team.

Amid his legal troubles, Edwards has largely vanished from the public eye. Neighbors near his North Carolina home say he’s stopped going to restaurants and bars in the area. The last time he was captured by cameras was at the funeral of his estranged wife Elizabeth, who died of cancer in December.