OSLO, Norway (AP) — Norway's vast fund for oil wealth has posted a 0.3 percent return in the second quarter, with rising bond prices offsetting the slump that has spread across many of the world's stock markets.
The second-quarter return is equivalent to 4 billion kroner ($723 million) and the market value of the Government Pension Fund Global, commonly referred to as the oil fund, is now at 3.11 …
Heavy rains and flash floods left seven people dead in Egypt and Israel on Monday, including a British tourist who was killed when a sailboat capsized on the Nile River.
Egyptian police said the British tourist was with three companions on a Nile sailboat cruise when their boat overturned in heavy winds and sudden rain.
The three others, including the victim's wife, survived. The other two in the boat were an Indian and a Canadian tourists, according to Maj. Gen. Nagi al-Hassi, security chief in the southern city of Aswan.
The heavy rains also washed away a dozen mud brick homes in southern Egypt and killed two women there, He added.
…
WASHINGTON The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Wednesday that he has nodoubt the military action against Iraq was justified, but he saidPresident Clinton has more work to do to convince the nation that hewas not just seeking to derail his pending impeachment.
"No, I don't question his integrity," Jackson said afterwatching Clinton's remarks about Iraq on television. "To me, it's anissue of judgment. It's not an issue of integrity. I supportPresident Clinton."
Moments before the president's broadcast, Jackson said at theWashington headquarters of Rainbow; PUSH: "I think there is a …
SIRTE, Libya (AP) — Libya's revolutionary forces have seized a convention center that had served as a key base for fighters loyal to Moammar Gadhafi in the fugitive leader's hometown, as they squeezed remaining regime loyalists in the besieged coastal city.
The inability to take Sirte, the most important remaining stronghold of Gadhafi supporters, more than six weeks after anti-Gadhafi fighters seized the capital has stalled efforts by Libya's new leaders to set a timeline for elections and move forward with a transition to democracy.
Gadhafi supporters also hold the inland enclave of Bani Walid, where revolutionary forces also reported key gains after weeks of faltering …
Iraqi women face extreme poverty and personal insecurity despite an overall decrease in nationwide violence, a prominent aid group said Sunday as it urged the Iraqi government to increase state aid for women and their families.
Oxfam, a British-based charity, said most of 1,700 women interviewed for a survey were not receiving any state support and were unable to provide their families with food and basic services as well as education and medical treatment.
The report, titled "In Her Own Words: Iraqi women talk about their greatest concerns and challenges," was released to coincide with International Women's Day.
Oxfam and an Iraqi …
Sir Martin Sorrell is credited with unleashing the power ofconsolidation in an industry that hitherto had a smattering of largeagencies working on their own steam. WPP, the world's largestcommunication company that he heads, owes its status to thecalculated moves this financial wizard has made in acquiring strongmedia brands across the world and then making them part of his well-orchestrated system.
During a recent visit to India, he took time out to speak onissues as diverse as global business dynamics, new media and thechallenges to old media. Excerpts of the interview:
Given the downturn, what can a company do to maintain aneffective advertising and …
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice put Washington's heft behind new Mideast peace overtures on Tuesday, scheduling an unexpected meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas this week.
The meeting - the second between Rice and Abbas in two months - was announced a day after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called on the Palestinians to return to peace talks, saying his country would be willing to leave most of the West Bank in exchange for a "real peace."
Israel and the Palestinians also agreed Saturday on a cease-fire to end five months of fighting in the Gaza Strip, and Rice's visit was seen as a further push to use the momentum to start new …
The U.S. Navy has seized nine suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden after a merchant ship reported being fired upon.
In a statement from the 5th Fleet's Bahrain headquarters, the Navy said Thursday that the Indian-flagged Premdivya said it was fired on by people in a skiff.
A helicopter from an American ship fired two warning shots at the skiff to keep it from …
When doctors checked Bear linebacker Otis Wilson'smagnetic-image scan for his injured anterior cruciate ligament,Wilson said, "They said they couldn't find it. I'm like, I know it'sthere."
But a fully torn ligament can roll up like a window shade, andWilson said Wednesday the prognosis was 90 percent the knee ligamentwas torn all the way. No one can be 100 percent certain untilMonday, when East Lansing, Mich., surgeon Lanny Johnson will view theknee through an arthroscope and, if he finds what the Bears fear,open it up for conventional surgery.
"It doesn't look real good," trainer Fred Caito said. He saidthe ligament was torn at least partially. He also …
JUBA, South Sudan - Uganda called Sunday for rebels to disarm to end a 19-year insurgency as peace talks got under way in Sudan.
The Ugandan government delegation to the talks in Juba, the south Sudanese capital, said the Lord's Resistance Army, or LRA, should "renounce and abandon all forms of terrorism ... cease all forms of hostilities ... dissolve itself and hand over all arms and ammunitions in its possession together with their inventory."
South Sudanese Vice President Riek Machar is mediating the negotiations behind closed doors.
Southern Sudan is pushing to resolve the insurgency in neighboring northern Uganda because it wants to secure its own territory …
John H. Powers, 78, a retired beverage company executive, diedSunday at the Olympia Fields Osteopathic Medical Center, 20201 S.Crawford.
Mr. Powers, an Olympia Fields resident, retired in 1966 as avice president of Seven-Up Bottling Co., where he had worked for 30years. He then worked as an accountant for Canfield's Beverage Co.until 1983.
He was a U.S. …
DETROIT (AP) — Jim Arrighi last saw Petey, his 4-year-old Jack Russell terrier, in the backyard of his home in Erin, Tenn.
That was in July, and the 73-year-old retired electrician had nearly given up on seeing his pet again when he learned the dog turned up safe about 500 miles away in suburban Detroit.
A Michigan Humane Society volunteer was expected to return Petey to Arrighi on Thursday morning.
"This is just a little town and everybody is buzzing about it," said Arrighi's daughter, Tyanne Morrison.
Most of Erin's roughly 7,000 residents know one another, and many of them would recognize Petey, which is why Arrighi, Morrison and their friends suspect he was pooch-napped by an out-of-towner.
Morrison believes Petey left his yard "and somebody picked him up."
"We searched. We knew someone had gotten him," she told The Associated Press by phone on Wednesday. "We got on 4-wheelers and went all over the area. There had been some more dogs over the last few months that were missing."
While struggling with the loss of his dog, Arrighi also lost his wife, Juanita, who suffered from pulmonary disease and died Oct. 12.
"Since my mother passed away, even I told him 'why don't we go to the pound to give a home to a puppy that don't have a home,'" Morrison said.
Last week, a homeowner in Rochester Hills, about 20 miles north of Detroit, saw Petey in his backyard and took him to a Humane Society animal care center.
As it does with every recovered dog and cat, the Michigan Humane Society scanned Petey for an implanted microchip, which led the organization to its owner, spokesman Kevin Hatman said.
Arrighi, who has been staying at Morrison's home since his wife died, was thrilled to receive the call, she said.
"He thinks my mother, who is in heaven, sent the dog back to him," Morrison said.
She said their local veterinarian likely recommended Petey get a microchip.
"It was only about $70 total," Morrison said. "Now, a lot of people are inquiring about it."
In September, an implanted microchip helped an animal control agency in New York City locate the owners of Willow, a calico cat who turned up on a Manhattan street after going missing five years ago in Colorado.
The Michigan Humane Society recommends that all pet dogs and cats get microchips implanted, in addition to making sure they have collars and identification tags.
"It's wonderful when we see microchip reunions, including those that seem like miracles," said Marcelena Mace, shelter manager at the Rochester Hills Center for Animal Care. "It really proves that no matter how far your pet may travel, a microchip can help him find his way home."
Microchips, which also are implanted in pet cats, are about the size of a grain of rice and typically injected near the animal's shoulder blade, said Adam Goldfarb, director of pet care issues with the Washington, D.C.-based Humane Society of the United States.
The chips do not have their own power sources and only can be found and read with a scanner.
"In the last few years there has been a real jump in microchip usage, especially in animal shelters," Goldfarb said. "There are not nearly as many that should be microchipped. Sometimes owners are not great in registering their animals with microchip companies or updating their home information."
MERIDA, Mexico - President Bush's trip to sunny Latin America was no day at the beach. He was buffeted by complaints about immigration laws, ethanol tariffs, the Iraq war and accusations that the United States was ignoring its southern neighbors.
And back home, the problems continued to pile up.
The revelation of close White House involvement in the firing of eight federal prosecutors sent White House aides into full damage control mode on Tuesday - from afar.
Instead of following their scripted plan of celebrating a shoring up of diplomatic ties with Mexico, White House aides found themselves backing and filling on why the prosecutors were axed.
This came on top of revelations of shoddy outpatient care at Walter Reed Medical Center, an affair that has resulted in top-level Army resignations; the conviction on perjury and obstruction charges of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, and the FBI's acknowledgment that it broke the law to ferret out personal information about Americans.
Democratic presidential hopefuls demanded the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said Americans "deserve to know who in the White House is pulling the strings at the Department of Justice, and why." Said former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards: "Attorney General Gonzales should certainly resign now." Both are Democratic presidential hopefuls.
"The buck should stop somewhere," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said in an interview being aired Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America."
Gonzales accepted the resignation of his top aide and responsibility. "I acknowledge that mistakes were made here," he said, echoing the classic phrase from the Watergate era.
White House officials said the president still had full confidence in the attorney general.
As to all those Democratic calls for Gonzales' resignation, "I imagine before the day is out, every presidential candidate will call for his resignation," White House counselor Dan Bartlett said. "But the bottom line is the facts speak for themselves. The reason why these U.S. attorneys were removed were for good reasons."
Asked about the convergence on the White House of all this bad news, Bartlett said, "I think you're trying to connect a lot of dots that aren't connectable."
Fred Greenstein, professor emeritus of politics at Princeton University, offered one explanation for why Bush was finding trouble at every turn: "When you're down, you're a target. It's the blood-in-the-water phenomena. The story becomes the shortcomings of the administration. I know that's happened in other presidencies. Things that might have been passed off suddenly become very important."
But the larger, overarching context is the war in Iraq and public discontent with it, Greenstein said. So missteps in other areas "look like the same story: This is a guy who's not up to the job. The administration has managed to be globally unpopular. Iraq is the great connecting tissue that does pull all the dots together."
Nobody disputes the president's ability to fire or not renew the jobs of federal prosecutors. They're political appointees who serve at his pleasure.
When the party in the White House changes hands, it is common for the new president to fire all the sitting U.S. attorneys, as Ronald Reagan did in 1981 and Bill Clinton in 1993. By contrast, Bush allowed some to stay on the job for several months when he took office in 2001, although all were replaced eventually.
In the current controversy, Democrats have accused the Justice Department of playing politics with the prosecutors' jobs. They suggested some of the prosecutors were fired for either investigating Republicans or failing to pursue cases against Democrats. Several of the ousted prosecutors have told Congress they were improperly pressured by Republicans on pending cases.
Even some Republicans suggest the rifle-shot dismissals of the eight prosecutors was handled clumsily, raising issues of political interference with the administration of justice rather than the president's undisputed ability to make political appointments. It displayed "idiocy on the part of the administration," suggested Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
And Republican Rep. James Sensenbrenner, a House Judiciary Committee member, warned that the Justice Department was "going to have to come up with some answers" in explaining the firings. "If they don't, they're going to lose everyone's confidence."
For Bush it all adds up to trouble ahead, trouble behind.
---
EDITOR'S NOTE - Tom Raum has covered Washington for The Associated Press since 1973, including five presidencies.
Share prices on the London Stock Exchange were lower at midday Thursday.
At noon, the FTSE 100-share index was down 12 points at 6,404.7.
Abstract
Purpose: Primary health care reform presents new opportunities for registered dietitians (RDs) to contribute to health promotion and disease prevention in family practices. Since this is an emerging area of RD practice, a health promotion specialist was contracted to conduct a needs assessment and develop a plan for implementing nutrition-focused healthy lifestyle activities.
Methods: The needs assessment was conducted as part of an Ontario-based demonstration project in three Family Health Networks (FHNs).
Results: The needs assessment revealed a lack of agreement about what types of activities should be undertaken, a lack of information on the population's needs, a lack of coordination with other agencies in the community, and barriers of time and resources. The health promotion specialist recommended that health care team members in each FHN develop a shared understanding of their goals, and undertake the entire planning and evaluation cycle. Specific strategies were suggested to increase awareness, to provide health education, and to improve environmental support.
Conclusions: A significant need exists for conceptual development, planning, testing, and evaluation of disease prevention and health promotion in family physician-based primary health care organizations. The findings may be useful to others interested in increasing the focus on health promotion and disease prevention in such practices.
(Can J Diet Prac Res 2006;67 Suppl:S39-S46)
R�sum�
Objectif. La r�forme des soins de sant� primaires offre aux di�t�tistes professionnelles (DP) de nouvelles possibilit�s de contribuer � la promotion de la sant� et � la pr�vention des maladies en m�decine familiale. Comme il s'agit d'un nouveau domaine de pratique di�t�tique, un sp�cialiste en promotion de la sant� a �t� engag� pour �valuer les besoins et �laborer un plan de mise en oeuvre d'activit�s ax�es sur l'alimentation saine.
M�thodes. L'�valuation des besoins faisait partie d'un projet exp�rimental men� dans trois r�seaux de sant� familiale (RSF) de l'Ontario.
R�sultats. L'�valuation des besoins a r�v�l� un d�saccord quant aux types d'activit�s � mettre en oeuvre, l'absence d'information sur les besoins de la population, un manque de coordination avec d'autres organismes de la collectivit� et des obstacles li�s au temps et aux ressources. Le sp�cialiste en promotion de la sant� a recommand� que les membres de l'�quipe de soins de sant� de chaque RSF s'entendent sur leurs buts et entreprennent un cycle complet de planification et d'�valuation. Des strat�gies particuli�res ont �t� sugg�r�es pour accro�tre la sensibilisation, fournir de l'�ducation en nutrition et am�liorer le soutien du milieu.
Conclusions. Des besoins importants se font sentir en mati�re d'�laboration de concepts, de planification, de contr�le et d'�valuation de la pr�vention des maladies et de la promotion de la sant� dans des organismes de soins de sant� primaires en m�decine familiale. Les r�sultats peuvent �tre utiles � ceux qui souhaitent accro�tre la place de la promotion de la sant� et de la pr�vention des maladies dans ces milieux.
(Rev can prat rech di�t�t 2006;67 Suppl:S39-S46)
INTRODUCTION
Because food and nutrition are basic requirements for life, diet is an important focus for health promotion and disease prevention activities. All Canadian commissions and reports on primary health care (PHC) reform have envisioned a role for the PHC sector to promote health and prevent disease, including efforts to promote healthy diets, as part of a restructured health system (1,2). The focus and nature of efforts to promote health and prevent disease have varied considerably to date, from a wide range of programs developed over the past 40 years in community health centres (1,3) to specific programs of immunization and disease screening by family physicians (FPs) (4).
Registered dietitians (RD), with their focus on nutrition and healthy lifestyles, can contribute to the development of health promotion and disease prevention programs across many types of PHC organizations, including teambased and interdisciplinary family practices. Little specific guidance is available in the literature, however, on "best practices" in such organizations (5).
This paper was developed as part of a multifaceted Ontario Primary Health Care Transition Fund project (2004-06) to develop an inter-disciplinary model for nutrition services in three Family Health Networks (FHNs) in Kingston, Stratford, and Parry Sound, Ontario. Selected aspects of nutrition services were evaluated. Key project deliverables included completion of a systematic literature review, a key informant survey, completion of a Delphi process to develop a template for interdisciplinary nutrition services, a human resources and costing analysis, evaluation of dietitian counselling services, and client satisfaction surveys.
Family Health Networks are organizations of three or more FPs and selected other health care professionals who provide 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week access to PHC services, and are funded in a blended funding model; this model includes capitation (population-based funding of health care services) and incentives for specific prevention activities, such as immunizations and disease screening. Under the FHN initiative, patients have been encouraged to enroll as FHN members, but can opt to continue to see their physicians under a fee-for-service system. These FPs may practise in one or multiple locations. Other features include support for the development of electronic health record (EHR) systems (6).
This paper reviews recent conceptualizations of disease prevention and health promotion in family practice settings. It also provides the results of a needs assessment conducted hy a health promotion consultant, with recommendations for possible activities at three demonstration sites. The lessons learned may help RDs working in similar settings (7) to achieve their mandate for health promotion in ways that address the needs of their practices, and to complement the work of public health departments and other agencies.
Health promotion in primary health care
The definition of health promotion from the first international 1986 Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (8) is still frequently cited. The charter defines health promotion as "the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health" (8). According to this charter, health promotion involves
* a holistic view of health.
* a focus on participatory approaches.
* a focus on the determinants of health, such as the social, behavioural, economic, and environmental conditions that are the root causes of health and illness.
* building on existing strengths and assets, not just addressing health problems and deficits.
* using multiple complementary strategies to promote health at the individual and community levels.
The vision in the charter challenges all stakeholders in primary health care to "reorient services":
The responsibility for health promotion in health services is shared among individuals, community groups, health professionals, health service institutions and governments. They must work together towards a health care system which contributes to the pursuit of health. The role of the health sector must move increasingly in a health promotion direction, beyond its responsibility for providing clinical and curative services. Health services need to embrace an expanded mandate which is sensitive and respects cultural needs. This mandate should support the needs of individuals and communities for a healthier life, and open channels between the health sector and broader social, political, economic and physical environmental components. Reorienting health services also requires stronger attention to health research as well as changes in professional education and training. This must lead to a change of attitude and organization of health services, which refocuses on the total needs of the individual as a whole person (8).
Twenty years later, one of the goals of the Ontario Primary Health Care Transition Fund projects has been to increase disease prevention and health promotion in PHC organizations (9). An approach has been the development of indicators for assessing implementation and outcomes of such activities (10). While such work will inform future evaluation, implementation at the local level in FP-based primary care settings is still in the early stages. Among the many issues to be resolved are the appropriate focus and scope of health promotion and disease prevention activities in such practices. This was evident in the Delphi consensus process for die demonstration project (11). Participants in that process were drawn from a range of disciplines, and included representatives from relevant health professional groups in Ontario, the lead physicians and RDs from the three demonstration sites, and representatives from academia, support organizations, and the College of Dietitians of Ontario. The majority of participants rated more disease prevention than health promotion activities highly. A similar variety of perspectives was evident in a recent analysis of PHC documents from four countries (Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand) (12):
Three distinct notions emerged in the evaluation questions around health promotion. The first is health promotion as a population health strategy that has traditionally been the domain of public health. The second is clinical preventive activities which include advice to adopt healthy behaviours or refrain from risky activities, and involve health professionals following clearly established clinical practice guidelines. The third is the promotion of better self-care, transferring the responsibility for health back to the individual (12).
Clearly, the conceptual basis for and scope of health promotion and disease prevention in interdisciplinary FP-based practice settings need further development. One conceptual framework, developed by Kletchko in New Zealand (Figure 1), suggests that health promotion should be integrated with the rest of the continuum of care (13). The roles of individual professionals and integrated teams also need to be defined to ensure creation of effective services for the population. Much additional work is needed to develop this area of primary care further in an evolving Canadian health care system.
NEEDS ASSESSMENT METHODS
The RDs in the three FHNs felt that they would benefit from consultation with a health promotion expert. A request for proposals was issued to contract with a consultant (C.P.) to conduct a needs assessment and recommend strategies for the RDs working at the three FHN sites. The consultant visited all three sites, conducted in-depth interviews with each RD, and held lunchtime focus groups with staff at two of the three sites. All staff members were invited to these group sessions. A semi-structured interview was administered and statements were recorded on paper to identify the gaps, barriers, and desired strategies for health promotion programming. At the third site, a self-administered questionnaire was developed and completed by many of the staff, as a focus group was not feasible. Each of the three RDs also completed a self-administered questionnaire. The consultant developed, administered, and analyzed all data.
NEEDS ASSESSMENT RESULTS
The sites
Each site differed with respect to geography and demographics. While limited information is available on FHN populations, recent analysis of Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs, the Ontario regions for health planning) showed that health and lifestyle issues are common in all three regions compared with Ontario as a whole (Figure 2) (14,15). Parry Sound is located in a northern rural area; Stratford and Kingston are more similar in that they are urban centres in southern Ontario. The majority of patients seen by the dietitians required one-on-one counselling as treatment for one or more health conditions (14).
Gaps in health promotion
Awareness strategies: Effective awareness strategies involve good health communication, which means that patients need to be exposed to healthrelated messaging frequently. The purpose of health messaging is to influence individuals, populations, and organizations positively to promote conditions conducive to human and environmental health (16). At all three FHN sites, use of health promotion awareness methods was limited to posters in the offices and some handouts, such as Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating (17) and other credible resources.
Education/skill building: Individuals need to develop knowledge, attitudes, behavioural skills, and confidence in order to adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles (18-20).
Health education is often done through one-to-one sessions or small groups or classes, which involve a more intense level of knowledge or skill development (i.e., attending multiple workshops or classes as opposed to reading a brochure). They are interactive, allowing for the continuous exchange of ideas, insights, and feedback between participants and facilitators. Health education sessions are often participant or learner-directed, thereby allowing for more flexibility in accommodating diverse needs and learning styles (21).
At all sites, the group health education opportunities for patients were directed at treating specific health issues, such as weight and dyslipidemia. Already successful strategies could be expanded.
Environmental supports: The creation of supportive environments is an important part of health promotion, which enables people to make healthy choices more effectively (16). Restaurants that serve healthy foods are an example of an environmental support.
Similarly, individuals need supportive follow-up in order to make appropriate lifestyle changes (22). Follow-up support groups that enhance health education opportunities and encourage the maintenance of behaviours could be useful at the three FHN sites. For instance, a support group offering healthy cooking classes once a week for six months would encourage and support participants' lifestyle change (23).
The FHNs may or may not provide environmental supports, but patients must be made aware of environmental supports in their community. At all three sites, the RDs had developed some informal links with outside community agencies and were aware of community programs.
Partnerships with outside agencies: At each site, formal partnerships with outside agencies appeared to be limited. When asked if the FHN partnered with any outside agencies, a physician from one site responded, "Whom would we partner with?" Another physician stated, "Our public health unit is not visible." Others cited time and resources as barriers to partnerships. In addition, some health professionals wanted the FHN to be a one-stop shopping centre for patients, while others felt the onus was on patients to search out their own health promotion information and environmental supports in the community. Whatever the reasons, few partnerships existed.
Behaviour change theories: Physicians and other health professional groups are currently providing screening and referrals for RD counselling, but procedures supporting behaviour change could be more effective. Health counsellors frequently do not properly evaluate patients' readiness for change. They may make incorrect assumptions about levels of preparedness and go ahead with high-energy, actionoriented programs that do not meet the level of change required for patients (24). Methods and tools for the family practice setting are needed to assess patients' readiness to make a change with their health, and to ensure appropriate health promotion (24-26).
Barriers to programming
A number of organizational and other barriers to health promotion and disease prevention programming were identified from the questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups. The following themes emerged from the needs assessment.
Competing priorities: Competing priorities for available time and resources are a barrier to health promotion programs in an environment in which treatment has priority. Several gaps in treatment services became evident during the project; these highlight the issues that dietitians and other team members must address in developing any health promotion initiative.
Physicians identified more nutrition counselling for people with diabetes as a major need. Diabetes services are provided at diabetes education centres throughout the province, so the assumption at the beginning of the demonstration project was that only small numbers of patients with diabetes would be referred to the FHN RD. Subsequently, about 10% of all patients referred for counselling had diabetes as the primary reason for counselling. These patients often had multiple comorbidities and required ongoing nutrition counselling and follow-up. This experience is consistent with the results of a recent national survey that identified FPs as the primary managers of type 2 diabetes (27). Nationally, individuals with type 2 diabetes visited their FPs an average of 8.2 times a year, and only 66% of patients had seen a diabetes educator.
Physicians identified another gap in nutrition services: ongoing support for overweight and obese individuals, who often had two to five comorbidities (e.g., dyslipidemia, hypertension, impaired glucose tolerance, gastrointestinal problems, mental illness, anemia, adult eating disorders, liver failure, calcium deficiency, a mood disorder, or a physical disability) (28).
Services for children also continue to be needed, especially for problems such as fussy eating, underweight, overweight, and eating disorders.
Time and resources: Time and resource issues are closely related to the competing priorities discussed above. Each RD cited time as a barrier; the majority of their time was spent counselling or treating clients rather than implementing health promotion strategies. This finding is supported by workload statistics (29). Almost every health care professional cited lack of funding as a barrier to having health promotion in his or her FHN. When asked about the ideal situation that would permit health promotion strategies in the FHN, appropriate funding was the first issue mentioned.
Each RD, but not every health care professional, also cited lack of appropriate health education resources as a barrier to implementing effective healthy lifestyle strategies in the FHN. While numerous resources are available, they are often not targeted to the needs of family practices and patients. A lack of credible resources was evident, whether the issue was fact sheets with Web site listings for patients or ways to include the SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely) philosophy to help patients make a lifestyle change.
A common conceptual basis: As was found in the Delphi process and policy document review, different health care professionals had differing views of health promotion (30). A shared understanding of the FHN's role and priorities for disease prevention and health promotion must be developed, given the time and resources needed to implement quality health promotion programs.
Data availability for needs assessment: To define the target groups for health promotion strategies, an FHN population needs assessment is required. If health care practitioners can identify the gaps in their practices, they can begin to address them. This will improve with implementation of the EHR, as screening will become possible for existing conditions requiring nutrition or healthy living advice, or for patients with family histories of chronic conditions. For example, currently most medical offices can only use billing codes to estimate how many of their patients have diabetes; these offices may not have a method to monitor patients' progress with all the key indicators of health maintenance (e.g., body mass index, glycosylated hemoglobin levels).
Knowledge of community services: Finding and updating knowledge of community services for patients can be timeconsuming for an FHN because of patients' multiple health conditions and the many self-help, hospital, and private services available in each community. Many public health units attempt to help with this challenge. Some community agencies may aggressively target physicians to be sure they know about services, while others are not aggressive or lists are not close at hand when a patient is sitting in the treatment room. While this barrier can be addressed, it requires the FHN's ongoing commitment to maintain electronic lists and referral forms for immediate access.
PROGRAMMING STRATEGIES
The following strategies, many adapted from public health, are recommended as a starting point for health promotion programming. These strategies take into account the identified themes that emerged from the needs assessment. At this level, health promotion strategies usually fall within four general types of activities: activities to increase awareness, education and skills building, creating or reinforcing environmental support for change, and policy development (Figure 3).
1. Establish a practice database of conditions.
Dietitians could use the EHR to screen the FHN database for existing conditions requiring nutrition advice, or to identify patients at increased risk for chronic conditions. This database would be developed and analyzed with other FHN team members.
2. Establish a database of service providers.
To define gaps in service, the existing services in communities and regions need to be identified. If a service is not available or accessible, the FHN can partner with other agencies to foster or improve the identified service for patients, or initiate the health promotion or education strategy themselves.
3. Develop a plan.
Nutrition health promotion is a key skill of public health and community RDs (1). If their interests and skills permit, RDs may take the lead in developing the FHN health promotion plan, including facilitating the development of priorities and a shared understanding of terminology and the health promotion process. All FHN team members could consider taking a basic course in health promotion to increase their confidence in the subject and to update their knowledge of electronic media. Several courses exist, such as the Ontario Health Promotion Resource System course Health Promotion 101 (21). Other options include contacting the Dietitians of Canada (DC) Community Dietitians in Health Centres Network or public health nutritionists, or hiring a health promotion consultant, as was done for this project.
4. Improve and create partnerships.
Numerous resource sites and centres can assist RDs with their health promotion work. The availability of such centres varies across the country, but many also have Web sites (21,31).
Formal and informal partnerships can be cultivated with outside agencies, such as public health units, self-help organizations, agencies working with addictions, and fitness organizations associated with local government or free-standing groups (e.g., city recreation departments, the YMCA, Good Life Fitness). Supporting other agencies with their health promotion strategies can benefit the community and patients.
5. Develop strategies and activities.
Numerous specific strategies and activities can be developed. Some ideas, most adapted from public health, are listed in Table 1. A crude estimate of the resource needs for each strategy is provided. The FHN may also consider using or adapting the resources from food and/or pharmaceutical companies. For example, Kellogg Canada has joined forces with DC to create a health promotion resource designed for children, called Mission Nutrition(TM). Pharmaceutical companies have also developed many patient handouts over the years, and may be interested in supporting the development of health promotion resources. 6. Evaluate and build on success.
Development of a logic model for the FHN health promotion plan will help RDs to evaluate success and define future plans. This process entails setting clear goals and identifying target groups, and defining costs and measurable criteria for both processes and outcomes. A short-term iterative approach is recommended for the planning through evaluation stages, so that the FHN can build on each small success.
RELEVANCE TO PRACTICE
If the vision of a reformed PHC system is to be realized, conceptual development, planning, testing, and evaluation of health promotion programs are needed in family practice organizations and settings. As Tommy Douglas once said, "Let's not forget that the ultimate goal of Medicare must be to keep people well rather than just patching them up when they get sick... All these programs should be designed to keep people well - because in the long run it's cheaper than the current practice of only treating them after they have become sick" (32).
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the staff at the three FHNs for their interest and participation. The commitment of each lead physician - Dr. Murray Overington, Kingston, Dr. Mark Wilkinson, Stratford, and Dr. Richard Woodhouse, Parry Sound - was especially appreciated, as they were instrumental in ensuring successful completion of the project. Funded by the Ontario Primary Health Care Transition Fund, 2004-2006. This report does not represent the official policy of the funding partners, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, or other organizations.
[Sidebar]
Appropriate funding was the first issue mentioned.
[Sidebar]
Competing priorities for available time and resources are a barrier.
[Reference]
References
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11. Brauer P, Dietrich L, Davidson B. Practice management guide for new services in Ontario. Toronto: Dietitians of Canada; 2006.
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[Author Affiliation]
PAULA BRAUER, PhD, RD, Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON; THERESA SCHNEIDER, MPH, RD, Nutritional Assessment Services, Kingston, ON; CHRISTINE PREECE, BA, MHS, Preece Consulting, Sarnia, ON; DEBORAH NORTHMORE, RD, Stratford, ON; EVA WEST, RD, CDE, Bracebridge, ON; LINDA DIETRICH, MEd, RD, Dietitians of Canada, Toronto, ON; BRIDGET DAVIDSON, MHSc, RD, Nutrition and Research Consulting, Kitchener, ON
STEERING COMMITTEE
Paula Brauer, PhD, RD, Linda Dietrich, MEd, RD, Bridget Davidson, MHSc, RD, John Krauser, Primary Health Care Team, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Toronto, ON, Karen Parsons, Primary Health Care Team, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Kingston, ON
NEW YORK - An ailing 74-year-old Gambino crime family captain who recommended an undercover FBI agent for mob membership before he was arrested in a sting asked for leniency Tuesday but received more than 12 years in prison instead for racketeering.
"Give me one more shot," Gregory DePalma, who uses a wheelchair, asked U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein.
"If you were in my shoes," the judge replied, "I don't think you would."
DePalma was convicted June 6 by a jury in a case that featured the exploits of Joaquin Garcia, a rotund FBI agent who capped a career of disguises by posing as "Big Jack" Falcone.
DePalma believed Garcia's act enough that he recommended he be made a member of the crime family. Before that could happen, DePalma and 31 others were arrested.
DePalma's lawyers had protested the government's use of sophisticated bugging devices placed in their client's cellular telephone that enabled investigators to listen to conversations even when the telephone was off.
Lawyer John L. Pollok had accused the government of turning DePalma into a "human microphone" with the eavesdropping devices.
The judge said the government received proper approval from courts as it steadily increased the scope of its audio surveillance, trying to destroy the new leadership of the crime family during a three-year probe.
The ruling cleared the way for the government's use of parts of 5,000 hours of taped conversations showing DePalma working energetically from 2003 to 2005 extorting restaurants, construction companies and a Bronx topless nightclub, where he was introduced to the undercover agent.
Hellerstein said he could not be lenient because DePalma was "a man thoroughly immersed in criminal activity" after he was freed from prison in early 2003.
The judge rejected the Department of Probation's suggestion that DePalma receive less than the recommended minimum of 12 years.
"I'll be dead maybe in about five," DePalma said.
A federal judge on Monday gave prosecutors an additional three months to obtain a corruption indictment against Gov. Rod Blagojevich, saying the complexity of the case against him makes it "unreasonable" to expect the indictment sooner.
Chief Judge James F. Holderman's decision to grant the extension was expected, came without any opposition from defense attorneys and didn't indicate any slowdown in the government's corruption investigation of Blagojevich and his administration.
Holderman also has been asked to decide whether redacted versions of secretly made FBI recordings of Blagojevich can be given to an Illinois House committee working to determine whether there is enough evidence to impeach Blagojevich. A hearing was planned for Monday afternoon.
Holderman said the case against Blagojevich is too complex to expect a speedy indictment.
"The ends of justice served by the extension outweigh the best interests of the public and the defendants to a speedy trial," the judge said.
Blagojevich, 52, is charged in a federal criminal complaint filed last month with an array of offenses, including a plot to sell or trade the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama following his election as president. The governor says he is innocent.
Blagojevich and former chief of staff John Harris also are charged with plotting to squeeze potential campaign contributors for money illegally and trying to get the Chicago Tribune to fire editorial writers calling for the governor's impeachment.
Federal prosecutors have 30 days after filing such a complaint to replace it with a grand jury indictment, which would allow them to take the case to trial.
The deadline for an indictment against Blagojevich would have run out Wednesday. Holderman extended the deadline to April 7.
According to an FBI affidavit attached to the complaint, Blagojevich described his power to appoint a senator to fill the seat as a "golden" thing and vowed to get something in return _ a Cabinet post, a high-paying job after leaving office, a position for his wife or campaign cash _ in exchange.
Authorities also allege in the affidavit that Blagojevich schemed to withhold $8 million in aid to a children's hospital until the head of the hospital made a sizable campaign contribution. He allegedly used the power of the governor's office to pressure roadbuilders and someone interested in casino legislation for political donations.
Blagojevich also discussed with Harris the possibility of holding up financial aid to the Tribune in its efforts to sell Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, unless the editorial writers were fired, the affidavit said. According to the FBI recordings, the governor pressed Harris to apply the pressure in meetings with a financial adviser to the newspaper company.
Illinois House members investigating whether the governor should be impeached are reviewing evidence they've heard in hearings since Dec. 16. Members say a committee vote on whether to recommend impeaching the governor could come Wednesday or Thursday.
Blagojevich appointed Roland Burris, a former Illinois attorney general, to Obama's Senate seat despite Democratic leaders' pledge not to seat anyone named by the governor facing federal corruption charges.
On Monday, the governor made a less controversial move regarding another job made vacant by the presidential election, setting a special election April 7 to fill the congressional seat Rahm Emanuel is vacating to become Obama's chief of staff. The primary will be March 3.
A new report by CEOs For Cities reviewed data comparing walkability to housing prices in 15 markets across the country, including Chicago.
According to "Walking the Walk, How Walkability Raises Home Values in U.S. Cities," just one more point on a home's WalkScore (computed by WalkScore.com) adds an estimated $5,260 to the price of a Chicago area home's value. That was the highest added value by far of the cities studied.
The next highest was San Francisco, with an average value increase of $2,985. And a WalkScore in the top 25 percentile added an estimated $31,562 to the price of a home in this area. While the study focused on sale prices, it noted that rent prices tend to follow sale prices.
That's good news for properties within a mile or so of city centers, train stations, bus stops, grocery stores and schools. And it's bad news for many of the newer homes built in far-flung subdivisions miles from the drug store, Junior's soccer practice, tuba lessons and the video game store.
A survey of 900 home sales in Austin, Texas, found that home prices rose $8,000 per mile the closer they were to the central business district. And for every minute saved on the owner's daily commute, $4,700 was added to average home values.
The report concludes that people will pay to live near other people and enjoy the mix of urban vibrancy, short blocks and diversity that all create what author Jane Jacobs (The Death and Life of Great American Cities) calls a "sidewalk ballet." That's a big turnaround from decades ago, when it was a sign of success if you could afford to flee the noisy, dirty and dangerous city.
To be fair, there are still some Chicago neighborhoods from which one might hope to flee, and there are suburbs with engaging streetscapes. And though the author seems to carefully explore the connection between walkability and home prices, the gauge of walkability was the Web site, WalkScore.com.
I want to love WalkScore.com, but I am still frustrated by its limitations. It uses Google Maps to find nearby walkable places, rate them for usefulness and give a home a score. But when I used it this week, it was still missing many locations on its walkable map, even though those places are in the Google map system.
That may not mean that it is over-rating Chicago values; in fact it might be under-rating them. Hard to say. Give it a try, have fun, and brag to your friends if your town has a score above 75/100.
WHAT ONLINE SHOPPERS REALLY WANT
Recent reports suggest that nearly 85 percent of home buyers start searching online. What are they looking for? According to Realtor.com, Chicago area shoppers are trying to find an incredible deal (read short sale or foreclosure) in a popular town.
All of the top listings on Realtor.com were under $319,900, and the majority of them were in the west and southwest suburbs. Three of the top nine were in Naperville and the bulk of them look like luxury mini-mansions that have fallen on hard times.
My personal favorite, based on photos, is the charming Sears home in Downers Grove. It has excellent curb appeal, plus it's in the village's walkable sweet spot -- three blocks from a train stop.
Here's what visitors viewed most in the past week:
1. 220 Burton Dr., Bartlett; $249,000; 4-bedroom estate home; short sale.
2. 25 Second St., Downers Grove; $275,000; 3-4 bedroom Sears home. Near train.
3. 24127 Merlot Lane, Plainfield; $299,900; 4 bedrooms, first floor master; 12 years old.
4. 24240 Eagle Chase Dr., Plainfield; $299,900; 5-bedroom plus den, 3-car garage, luxury home; short sale, "as is."
5. 21272 Longview Dr., Frankfort; $289,900; 4 bedrooms; short sale.
6. 104 Coventry Ct., Naperville; $300,000; 4 bedrooms; short sale.
7. 2207 Popple Ct., Naperville; $319,900; large luxury home sold "as is"; not financeable through traditional means.
8. 2720 N. 72nd Ct., Elmwood Park; $279,000; 4-bedroom brick Cape Cod.
9. 1120 Crimson Ct., Naperville; $245,000; 3-bedroom single family.
Find links to these properties at www.searchchicago.com/homes.
Kay Severinsen is editor of SearchChicago-Homes.
Color Photo: Bloomberg / A recent report concluded that people will pay more to live in vibrant, ubran areas. ;
Early last month, and before he said he would leave office, Gov. Tom Ridge unveiled legislation intended to upgrade Pennsylvania's open records law. But critics say his plan would keep the law weak compared with those of other states.
Pennsylvania's Right to Know law was written in 1957. Documents that are routinely released in other states, including internal audits, memoranda and proposals from losing bidders on contracts, are kept secret here.
Moreover, local governments often violate it. A consortium of Pennsylvania newspapers reported last year that, when they sent out mass requests for records that are public, local governments often ignored or refused the requests.
Ridge's bill, which he announced during his September radio address, does include some improvements.
Unlike the current law, it would require governments to disclose information on computer if it is kept that way, and it would require governments to make "a good-faith effort" to respond to a request for records within 10 days.
It also would allow requestors to collect attorneys' fees if they proved in court that a government withheld records without reasonable cause.
"Our law doesn't even contemplate computers," he said. "There are no deadlines to respond to requests and no penalties when government flaunts its obligations. Simply put, the law is in need of some significant change," Ridge said.
However, in the most crucial provisions, Ridge's bill does not offer change.
It keeps in place the state's definition of a public record as one that deals with the spending of money or the "fixing of rights." The definition pre-dates the 'federal Freedom of Information Act.
Under the current law, and in Ridge's bill, the government would only have to release those records that are defined as "Any account, voucher or contract dealing with the receipt or disbursement of funds by an agency or its acquisition, use or disposal of services or of supplies, materials, equipment or other property; and any minute, order or decision by an agency fixing the personal or property rights, privileges, immunities, duties or obligations of any person or group of persons.
By contrast, most states and the federal government say that all government records are public unless they fall under a specific exemption for privacy, police investigations or other special circumstances. In states such as Florida and Texas, the phone records, e-mail and appointment calendars of the governor, mayor and other officials are public records open to anyone.
Ridge also would keep the burden on the requester to prove that the records are public, while many states require the government to prove why a record is not public if it wants to withhold it.
"Pennsylvania's law is so bad," said Rebecca Daugherty, an attorney and open records expert for the Arlington, Va.based Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press. "It doesn't need patching up. It needs an overhaul,"
Tim Reeves, who had been Ridge's spokesman, said the governor crafted his proposal with an eye toward getting it through a legislature that has little stomach for more openness in government - even though the publicrecords law doesn't apply to them.
When Ridge called for open-records reform in his February budget address to the General Assembly, he was booed.
For years, Reeves said, open-records advocates have put forward model legislation, only to see it die without a vote.
"Our calculation was, if you change it all, then nothing gets done," he said.
In announcing his plan, Ridge said, "When our Founding Fathers gathered in Philadelphia, they knew their noble experiment in self-government would fail if government was not subject to vigorous public scrutiny.
"To truly be free, people need to know bow their government affects their rights and spends their money," Ridge said.
Ridge's proposal includes new language prohibiting government officials from interrogating Pennsylvanians about why they want the records they want.
Sara Lee Corp., grasping for a growth strategy, gave investors atriple dose of bad news Thursday, and its shares took their biggestone-day plunge in 15 years.
The Chicago-based company reported worse-than-expected results andslashed its earnings forecast for the current quarter, and its CEOsaid it needs to sell more of its poorly performing businesses--evenafter three years of massive restructuring.
Sara Lee's shares plunged 9.8 percent, or $1.94, to end the day at$17.80, the lowest close in nearly three years. The 9.8 percent dropwas the biggest one-day decline since January 1988.
"We have too large a part of our portfolio in businesses that areeither not growing or in significant decline," said Chairman and CEOSteve McMillan, citing as an example the hosiery business in Europe.
Analysts also have pressed Sara Lee to either increase itspresence in household products or get out of the business, whichincludes Ambi-Pur toilet and air freshener and Kiwi shoe polish.
McMillan surprised Wall Street analysts by jumping onto thecompany's earnings conference call and announcing that managers willreview every aspect of their business in order to downsize orjettison laggards and identify companies Sara Lee could buy to boostgrowth.
"It's clear to me we need to take another hard look at ourportfolio of businesses and brands to determine those that should berun dramatically differently in the future," McMillan said. Some willbe milked for cash, others downsized and some likely will be sold, hesaid.
Sara Lee's top-performing products, like its namesake desserts,Hanes underwear and Jimmy Dean sausages, together produce about 40percent of Sara Lee's revenues. The biggest performers should begenerating 60 percent to 70 percent, McMillan said.
This despite the fact that Sara Lee has steadily increasedadvertising and promotional spending on its key brands, including a50 percent increase in Sara Lee's fiscal third quarter, which endedMarch 29.
The company's overall ad spending in the fourth quarter of 2002jumped 12 percent, to $73 million, from the year-earlier period,according to Nielsen Media Research.
One analyst expressed exasperation with Sara Lee's constantrejiggering. "It almost seemed like non-core brands (half thecompany) were viewed as hopeless and were now being evaluated fordivestiture," wrote John McMillin of Prudential Securities in aresearch note. "Frankly, we are tired of Sara Lee announcing plansbefore the plans have really been drawn."
Three years ago, Sara Lee started a restructuring program thatresulted in the sale or closing of 18 businesses, including Coachleather goods and the PYA/Monarch foodservice distribution company,so it could focus on its core operations in food and beverages,intimates and underwear, and household products.
The company heightened its standing in the bread business when itbought Earthgrains Co. of St. Louis, the biggest acquisition in its61-year history, for $2.8 billion in cash and debt nearly two yearsago.
The consolidation with Earthgrains continued Thursday, as Sara Leeannounced it will cut 296 jobs when it closes three bakeries in GrandJunction, Colo.; Tucson, Ariz., and Springfield, Mo., by July 3. Thecompany had already cut more than 700 jobs and closed seven bakeriessince it acquired Earthgrains. Sara Lee now operates 53 bakery plantsin the United States.
Sara Lee also will cease making 58 of its 108 regional breads byyear's end. The brands to be sliced accounted for less than 1 percentof Sara Lee's fresh bread sales.
In the fourth quarter, Sara Lee will take a pre-tax charge of $17million to $19 million, or 1 to 2 cents per share, for the plantclosings, bread cutbacks and restructuring in its food-service coffeeoperations in the United States.
Sara Lee has been hard hit by poor sales at retailers to whom itsells clothes, and by economic, tourism and accounting woes in thefoodservice industry, which distributes Sara Lee's food torestaurants, cafeterias and other institutions. Foodservice generatesmore than 10 percent of Sara Lee's yearly $1.5 billion in sales, andapparel accounts for 35 percent.
These conditions and the pre-tax charge led Sara Lee to forecastfourth-quarter earnings of 36 to 38 cents per share, compared with 43cents in the same period a year ago. Analysts had forecast fourth-quarter profit of 46 cents.
Sara Lee also downgraded its full-year earnings forecast to $1.49to $1.51 per share, compared with its January outlook of $1.54 to$1.60.
In its fiscal third quarter, the company's net income increased4.7 percent, to $269 million, or 33 cents a diluted share, from theyear-ago quarter's $257 million, or 31 cents a share. But theincrease was primarily because of a weak dollar and a strong euroboosted sales overseas. Analysts had expected the company to earn 34cents.
Sales increased 3.6 percent, to $4.4 billion; the result wouldhave been a 2 percent drop but for the currency's effect.
Workers at Sri Lanka's state television channel fear they are being hunted. In the past two months, staff members have been stabbed, threatened and beaten by unknown assailants.
The violence has grown so bad that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had to give employees at the station, Rupavahini Corp., a personal promise of protection to prevent a walkout that would have likely forced it off the air.
The attacks, which employees say may be connected to a feud with a powerful government minister, are part of a wave of intimidation against journalists that has grown as a civil war between government forces and ethnic Tamil rebels has escalated sharply over the past two years, local and international media watchdog groups said.
Senior government officials publicly criticize journalists as unpatriotic, police repeatedly detain and arrest reporters, and senior military officials bar reporters from the conflict zone and call for strict censorship of all war reporting.
"It's very clear, the government wants to control the media and journalists," said Sunanda Deshapriya of the Free Media Movement.
Rajapaksa spokesman Chandrapala Liyanage denied the allegation.
"We have not imposed any censorship, and we don't want to control the media," he said.
The incidents were largely ignored until Labor Minister Mervyn Silva and his bodyguards walked into Rupavahini's offices Dec. 27 and reportedly attacked news director T.M.G. Chandrasekara for not covering one of Silva's speeches.
In a ruckus broadcast live on TV stations across the nation, the staff fought back, trapping Silva and his bodyguards in an office until police brokered their release in a deal that included a humiliating apology from the minister. As the men were led out under police escort, the angry employees hooted and jeered Silva and stoned his car.
A month later, a wave of attacks began against employees of the state television station, which is seen as more of a government mouthpiece than a critic.
Reporter Lal Hemantha Mawalage was attacked by two men on a motorbike as he headed home from work late Jan. 25. Four days later, two armed men broke into another employee's house in search of the man and threatened his mother, according to watchdog groups and station employees.
A group of men tried to stab journalist Priyal Ranjith Perera on Feb. 27, and the TV station's librarian, Ranjani Aluthge, was repeatedly slashed with a razor blade as she took a bus home from work March 5.
On Friday, two men attacked station official Arunasiri Hettige with a metal pipe at a bus stop, beating him so badly he had to be hospitalized.
Police are investigating the attacks, but no one has been charged, police spokesman N.K. Ilangakoon said.
Employees of the station fear for their lives, said one staff member, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he worried about retribution for speaking.
Reporters at other television stations who covered the Dec. 27 incident said they had been threatened and attacked as well. Susil Kindelpitiya, director of news at the private Sirasa television station, said he was chased as he drove through the streets of Colombo and has seen suspicious people with guns lurking around his house.
"I believe that those threats are linked to what happened at Rupavahini," said Kindelpitiya, who supervised his station's live coverage of the incident.
"Definitely, all the attacks started after the Dec. 27 incident," said Kanchana Marasinghe, a Rupavahini employee and union activist.
Silva, who has been accused of repeatedly threatening journalists, denied any connection with the violence. "I also condemn these attacks. No one has a right to assault or threaten others," he said.
The climate of fear grew so strong at the station that President Rajapaksa called an emergency meeting Monday with station officials, Silva and his top police and military officials to address the problem.
Rajapaksa ordered his security team to protect the employees and quickly complete investigations into the attacks, said Liyanage, his spokesman.
Marasinghe said he was hopeful things would improve, "but you can't say what will happen in the future. We are waiting to see what's next."
CENTRAL CITY, Colo. (AP) — Don Boring owns a grocery store, a liquor store and now, a medical marijuana dispensary. The main difference among them is that he has to produce his own pot inventory.
Colorado set a Sept. 1 deadline for dispensaries to show they grow at least 70 percent of the pot they sell — the first requirement of its kind in the 14 states, along with Washingon, D.C., that have medical marijuana laws. Lawmakers added the requirement to Colorado's new law in hopes of keeping small-time caregivers from growing pot in their basements to sell to dispensaries.
Boring knows the types well. When he opened Annie's Dispensary last spring, he got so many visits from caregivers trying to sell him pot that he came up with a name for them — "guys on bicycles with backpacks."
Boring doesn't see those guys anymore.
"The days of the guys on the bicycles with a backpack selling marijuana are over, and I think that's a good thing," Boring said.
Lawmakers who supported Colorado's new pot law hoped the grow-your-own requirement would force shadowy corner pot shops to close and alleviate fears that the marijuana fueling Colorado's pot industry is coming from illegal sources. Lawmakers wanted to keep better track of how medical marijuana is produced.
But dispensary owners complain the growing requirement is confusing and impossible to enforce.
For one, the law isn't clear on how pot shops arrive at the 70 percent figure. Is it 70 percent by weight? Is it determined by the month? By the day? And what about pot shops barred by zoning from adding a growing operation? The law isn't clear, and pot shop owners have a lot of questions about how the growing requirement will be enforced.
"It's the equivalent of requiring a grocery store to produce 70 percent of its own corn. You're asking a retailer to also become a producer," said Brian Vicente, head of Sensible Colorado, a marijuana-legalization advocacy group. Vicente serves on a state advisory panel trying to clarify how the pot law's requirements will work. "Nothing about this requirement is clear," he said.
State authorities say it could be a year before pot shops know how the growing requirement will be measured. A month ago, Colorado received 809 applications for marijuana center licenses, though state officials say it will be next July before it will start awarding the licenses.
Matt Cook, the senior director for medical marijuana enforcement for the Colorado Department of Revenue, said the state received an additional 309 applications for "infused product" manufacturing — think pot brownies and such. The state also received 1,219 permit applications for "premises cultivation," or growing pot.
All combined, the state has collected $8.2 million in application fees for the three types of licenses, Cook said, with the money to be used to set up a new state office to regulate the nascent pot business.
Dispensary owners say the state must be joking if it thinks it can keep track of all medical marijuana.
Take a single marijuana plant, Boring explained. Some plants produce one ounce of smokable marijuana, while others are capable of producing 10 ounces or more, depending on how well they're cared for. So what keeps an unscrupulous marijuana center owner from claiming to be raising more pot than he is?
"How are they going to know? Are they going to come check on my plants every day? It doesn't make sense at all," Boring said. "It's just going to be impossible to enforce."
Veronica Caprio, owner of 420 Highways in Idaho Springs, complained that the vagueness of the state's growing requirement forces many dispensary owners to lie. She says many are still mapping plans to grow enough pot to supply their patients.
"It's too broad for me to honestly answer," she said of the growing requirement. "Do I think I can get to 70 percent? Absolutely. Can I produce it right now? Hell, no."
Danyel Joffe, a Denver lawyer who specializes in advising medial marijuana business owners, says other states are watching to see how Colorado attempts to enforce its growing requirement.
"No one has tried anything like this before on this scale," Joffe said. "We're going through the birth pains of a whole new industry. I'm telling my clients to grit their teeth and stick through it."
CAIRO, Egypt - President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party won a majority of seats in elections for Egypt's upper house of parliament, a state-run newspaper reported Tuesday.
Officials results were expected Wednesday, but Al-Gomhoria newspaper said that the ruling National Democratic Party had won most of the 88 contested seats in Monday's vote.
At least one leftist opposition party fielded a candidate, but it was not immediately known if the candidate won.
The paper, which did not cite a source for its results, reported that candidates fielded by the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's most powerful opposition group, failed to win any seats in the 264-seat Shura Council, or consultative body.
National Democratic Party officials hailed the results. "This is due to the confidence, the people have showed in the party's candidates," said Safwat el-Sherif, the NDP's secretary-general.
The Muslim Brotherhood denounced the results as a setback for democracy.
"With such an election, Egypt has become a laughing stock all around the world," Brotherhood spokesman Hamdi Hassan told reporters.
The group accused the government of barring its supporters from polling stations and rigging the vote. Police said authorities arrested 400 Brotherhood members Monday.
Violence also erupted between supporters of rival candidates on Monday, with one person killed. The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights said their observers witnessed attacks on opposition supporters, voters banned from polls and instances of vote-buying.
Mubarak, a top U.S. ally, has said his government is bringing greater democracy to Egypt, but critics say the changes he has carried out have only strengthened his party's grip on power.
Only 176 members of the Shura Council are directly elected for six-year terms, with half of those seats coming up for election every three years. Mubarak appoints the remaining 88 members.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Agriculture Department is allowing widespread planting of genetically modified alfalfa, attempting to bring to a close a lengthy legal and regulatory process in which organic producers attempted to curtail the use of the modified crop.
The decision announced Thursday is a blow to the organic foods industry, which complains that modified seeds can contaminate their organic seeds through pollination. Alfalfa is primarily grown for hay.
Vilsack said the department will make other efforts to ensure that organic and other non-modified alfalfa seeds remain pure. He said the department will do additional research on preventing cross contamination of seeds and improving detection of that contamination.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took his case for a peace deal directly to ordinary Israelis on Thursday, assuring them in Hebrew-language newspaper ads that a withdrawal from the West Bank, Gaza Strip and parts of Jerusalem would bring them full recognition by the Arab world.
The full-page ad, published in three Israeli dailies, spells out this trade-off, first offered in the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. The ad says 57 Arab and Muslim countries would establish diplomatic ties with Israel in exchange for a withdrawal from the lands the Palestinians seek for an independent state. Underscoring the promise, dozens of colorful flags of these countries frame the ad.
It was the first time a Palestinian leader has tried to reach Israelis in this way, said Abbas aide Saeb Erekat.
Abbas felt that ordinary Israelis don't know enough about the Arab offer and wanted to approach them directly. "Not enough has been done to promote it," Erekat said.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni welcomed the Arab peace plan as a positive gesture, but said its positions on key issues such as final borders, the status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees are not acceptable.
"The Arab world understands what I say now, a peace plan is not put on the table by saying 'take it or leave it,'" Livni told Israel Radio.
Israel is holding separate talks with the Palestinians and Syrians and has acknowledged the Arab initiative as a useful starting point in negotiations to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. Livni has been Israel's chief negotiator with the Palestinians over the past year.
The campaign comes at a troubled time for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. A year of negotiations has not brought tangible results, and Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu says he won't continue talks in the current format if he wins Feb. 10 general elections. Opinion polls give Netanyahu a strong chance of winning.
Many Israelis are also skeptical about a peace deal, in part because the embattled Abbas no longer speaks for all Palestinians. He lost Gaza to the Islamic militant group Hamas in a violent 2007 takeover, two years after a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the territory. Gaza militants have fired thousands of rockets and mortars on Israeli border towns since the pullout, and Israelis fear a West Bank withdrawal could bring more attacks.
Zvi Sternbach, an Israeli tour guide in Jerusalem, said he found the ad reassuring, but wondered whether it will have any impact. "I think it's very refreshing, if anyone will listen to it," he said.
The Arab initiative could help dispel such skepticism by offering Israel a much bigger prize than just a potential end to the conflict with the Palestinians. Most Arab and Muslim countries don't have diplomatic relations with Israel.
Israeli President Shimon Peres repeatedly has praised the plan in recent weeks, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak has said it could serve as the basis for negotiations of a regional peace agreement.
The ad ran in the Haaretz, Yediot Ahronot and Maariv dailies.
"Fifty-seven Arab and Muslim countries will forge diplomatic ties and normal relations with Israel in exchange for a full peace agreement and an end to the occupation," reads the ad. It reprints the text of the Arab initiative.
Israeli Arab legislator Ahmed Tibi, who has joined the campaign, said he hopes the ads will stir debate in Israel.
"I am sure we will take other steps to attack the Israeli public opinion positively, and convince them that this is the optimal tool for putting an end to the occupation and the Israeli-Arab conflict," he said.
The ad is also to run in newspapers in Europe and the U.S., Tibi said.
