| THURSDAY • JULY 30, 2009 |
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 ORGANIC FOOD IS NO HEALTHIER, STUDY FINDS: Organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over ordinary food, according to a major study published Wednesday. Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said consumers were paying higher prices for organic food because of its perceived health benefits, creating a global organic market worth an estimated $48 billion in 2007. A systematic review of 162 scientific papers published in the scientific literature over the last 50 years, however, found there was no significant difference.
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NO HEALTHCARE REFORM VOTE BEFORE AUTUMN: OBAMA: President Barack Obama said Wednesday there will be no vote on his proposed reforms of the US healthcare system before autumn, a setback that is costing him more political capital with each passing day. “This bill, even in the best-case scenario, will not be signed — we won’t even vote on it probably until the end of September or the middle of October,” he said in a session here to muster public support for the reforms.
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 U.S. ADVISERS BLUNT MEMO ON IRAQ: TIME TO GO HOME’: A senior American military adviser in Baghdad has concluded in an unusually blunt memo that the Iraqi forces suffer from deeply entrenched deficiencies but are now capable of protecting the Iraqi government, and that it is time for the U.S. to declare victory and go home. Prepared by Col. Timothy R. Reese, an adviser to the Iraqi militarys Baghdad command, the memorandum asserts that the Iraqi forces have an array of problems, including corruption, poor management and the inability to resist political pressure from Shiite political parties.
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 SECURITY CHIEF URGES ‘COLLECTIVE FIGHT’ AGAINST TERRORISM: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano urged Americans on Wednesday to join a “collective fight against terrorism” that combines the efforts of individuals, companies and local, state and foreign governments. Answering critics who have accused the Obama administration of downplaying the risk of terrorist attacks, Napolitano said the threat has not abated and outlined an approach that emphasizes burden-sharing as federal spending and political support for post-Sept. 11 security measures wane.
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MOUSSAVI BARRED, CLASHES ERUPT AT NEDA MEMORIAL: Clashes erupted as two of Iran’s main opposition leaders tried to join the several thousand people at a memorial for the slain woman who became the symbol of Iran’s post-election violence, witnesses said. Security forces barred opposition leaders Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karrubi from the grave site of Neda Agha-Soltan, the 26-year-old woman shot in election protests on June 20, witnesses and news reports said. About 2,000 to 3,000 people were gathered at Agha-Soltan’s grave, Iran’s Press TV reported.
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PRESIDENT LOSING GROUNG: Despite his public-relations blitz over the past two weeks to promote his plans to reform the nation’s health-care system including holding two town halls on Wednesday President Barack Obama has lost ground on this issue with the American public, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
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 LBN-MUSIC INSIDER: ***The rock icons who played Woodstock 40 years ago got peace and love — but they didn’t know if they’d get paid. “The promoters threatened that any band that demanded money would be exposed to the crowd,” Dave Marsh reveals in the September issue of Relix, noting that one of the bands that struggled to get paid was The Who. “The Who’s management got the $11,200 owed them . . . When Roger Daltrey called it ‘the worst gig we ever played,’ he didn’t mean the music.”
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 LBN-HISTORICAL COMMENTARY By FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE: Once upon a time, in some out of the way corner of that universe which is dispersed into numberless twinkling solar systems, there was a star upon which clever beasts invented knowing. (1873)
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POSTAL PROBLEMS: The postmaster general expects a $7 billion deficit this year, up from a projection of $6 billion just months ago.
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NO HELP: Many mortgage companies are reluctant to give strapped homeowners a break because the companies collect lucrative fees on delinquent loans.
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 LBN-NOTICED: ***Lindsay Lohan was seen going on a mega shopping spree at Madison and Diavolina boutiques in Los Angeles. The starlet dropped over $1,200 on camisoles, tank tops, sunglasses, a beret and two shoulder bags during her outing. ***John Mayer was flirting up a storm at Sullivan’s in Palm Desert, California during a group dinner. ***Leonard DiCaprio was spotted having a casual dinner with friends at Rande Gerber’s Penthouse bar and restaurant in Madrid, Spain. ***Carrie Underwood loaded up on beauty products at The Cosmetic Market in Nashville. The singer picked up some Moroccan Oil hair products, Bliss body lotion and Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray during her visit.
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LBN-BUSINESS INSIDER: ***Microsoft and Yahoo announced that they had agreed to collaborate on Internet search and advertising in a bid to challenge Google.
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 LBN-MEDIA INSIDER: ***Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska, is reported to be considering a syndicated radio show. However, radio conglomerate Clear Channel has already passed on her. The main objection to Palin as a radio talk-show host is that she would “have to hold forth for three hours a day.” ***Buffetted by a severely declining ad market, Variety’s parent company is putting a major portion of its US division up for sale again, and has ousted CEO Tad Smith, the company announced on Thursday. In a story posted at Variety.com, global RBI CEO Keith Jones said that John Poulin would replace Smith.Variety is not among the properties for sale.
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LBN-BOOK NEWS: ***Reed Business Information is putting Publishers Weekly and its affiliated publications, Library Journal and School Library Journal, up for sale. The sale of the group is part of RBIs strategy to divest most of its trade magazines in the U.S. Last year, Reed Elsevier, parent company of RBI, tried to sell all of RBI but dropped the sale when it couldnt get the price it wanted in a depressed market for media properties.
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LBN-HOLLYWOOD INSIDER: ***Michael Moore’s examination of the world’s economic crisis and the directorial debut of former Gucci designer Tom Ford are among 23 films vying for the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival. Organizers announced the lineup for the 66th festival on Thursday.
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LBN-SPORTS INSIDER: ***Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, the sluggers who propelled the Boston Red Sox to end an 86-year World Series championship drought and to capture another title three years later, were among the roughly 100 Major League Baseball players to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, according to lawyers with knowledge of the results.
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LBN-COMMENTARY By ROYAL OAKES (Litagator & Broadcast Legal Analyst): Has the justice system failed us in the incidence of Lily Burk? Why or why not? It’s easy to cite a tragedy as proof of a systemic failure. Crafting a solution is not so simple. Society should make imposing the proper punishment a priority that trumps other goals. Talk of releasing prisoners early because of budgetary concerns is shameful, given the oceans of pork slathered across the countryside by self-interested politicians. The government should protect us from external forces, assure our safety domestically, and provide basic levels of assistance. Beyond that, taxation is theft. Lawmakers should spend money on ridding the streets of predators, not giveaways designed to enhance politicians job security.
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 LBN-RECOMMENDS By KURT ANDERSEN (Author of Reset, Host of Studio 360): I have been completely entranced by Richard Holmes’ The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science. It’s history the way I like it best: wide-ranging, lucid, revelatory and witty. And here at our present historical inflection point it’s an important reminder that an adventurous amateur spirit and rigorous empiricism are among the most important keys to progress, delight and enlightenment. (On the other hand, my current must-see guilty pleasure is Toddlers & Tiaras on TLC, which is a riveting illustration of how, to quote the subtitle of my new book Reset, our values need restoring and America needs renewing.)
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LBN-THIS DAY IN HISTORY: Jimmy Hoffa Disappears from a Detroit Parking Lot (1975): Hoffa, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, was an influential US labor leader with alleged ties to the Mafia. As a young man, he developed a reputation for standing up for coworkers and clashing with management. In 1964, he was convicted of attempted bribery and spent seven years in jail before President Richard Nixon commuted his sentence in 1971. His unexplained disappearance in 1975 prompted decades of speculation.
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 LBN-A DIFFERENT VIEW:
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 LBN-OVERHEARD: ***After weeks of negotiations, Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine Jackson and his ex-wife Debbie Rowe have reached an out-of-court agreement that gives Katherine Jackson full, permanent custody of the pop icon’s three children, while Rowe will be granted “meaningful visitation rights.” ***Madonna is now a newspaper columnist. In a front-page bylined article in Israel’s Yediot Ahronot, the Material Mom says her life was changed by Jewish mystic Eitan Yardeni when she was pregnant with Lourdes 14 years ago. “I suddenly realized that I spent my entire life worrying only about myself and soon I’ll be responsible for the life of another person,” she writes. “I started seeing that being rich and famous is not the end of the road, but only the beginning.” ***Jude Law has a little love child on the way. As reporters circled yesterday, the actor’s rep released this statement to Entertainment Weekly: “Jude Law can confirm that, following a relationship last year, he has been advised that he is to be the father of a child due in the fall of this year. Mr. Law is no longer in a relationship with the individual concerned, but he intends to be a fully supportive part of the child’s life. This is an entirely private matter and no other statements will be made.” Law, 36, has three kids with ex-wife Sadie Frost.
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LBN-DID YOU KNOW: ***7.5 million toothpicks can be created from a single cord of wood. ***The plastic ends on shoelaces are called aglets. ***Ancient tribes of long ago that wanted to banish people without killing them would burn their houses down — hence the expression “to get fired.” *** Every human spent about half an hour as a single cell. ***The elephant is the only animal with 4 knees.
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LBN-QUOTE: “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” – Saint Thomas Aquinas.
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LBN-HISTORY: On July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis, which had just delivered key components of the Hiroshima atomic bomb to the Pacific island of Tinian, was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. Only 316 out of 1,196 men survived the sinking and shark-infested waters.
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