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A virulent, drug-resistant gut infection that causes potentially deadly diarrhea, especially among the old and sick, is up to 20 times more common than previously thought, a large survey of U.S. hospitals and health care centers finds.
Thirteen in every 1,000 patients were infected or colonized with Clostridium difficile, known as C. diff, according to surveys by nearly 650 U.S. acute care and other centers, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, or APIC, reported Tuesday.
That’s between 6.5 and 20 times higher than previous estimates of the nasty bacterial infection tied to overuse of antibiotics and improperly cleaned hospital rooms, said Dr. William R. Jarvis, the study’s lead author.
“Hopefully this will be a wake-up call about the importance of preventing this organism,” said Jarvis, a private consultant who was formerly in charge of fighting hospital infections at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On average, there may be more than 7,000 infections and 300 deaths in U.S. hospitals on any single day from C. diff., which can cause problems ranging from severe diarrhea and colitis to blood-poisoning and death, the study indicated.
Epidemiologist Dr. L. Clifford McDonald, the CDC’s C. diff expert, said previous analyses have estimated about 520,000 infections and up to 30,000 deaths a year, far lower than the APIC figures suggest.
The APIC study was the largest, most comprehensive review of its kind, Jarvis said. Other studies have been limited to a single hospital or a single state, or they used health care discharge data that overcounted some patients and left out others, he noted.
What no one questions, McDonald said, is the idea that C. diff is increasing.
“It’s important data that confirms that there’s an awful lot of this, that’s the bottom line,” McDonald said.
In recent years, McDonald and other infection control experts increasingly have been worried by the spread of C. diff, particularly the virulent NAP1 strain that produces roughly 20 times the toxins of a common, more benign variety.
The toxic strain is becoming resistant to all but the most powerful antibiotics, putting it the same category as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, the so-called superbug that riveted the nation's attention last year.
C.diff second only to MRSA
An APIC prevalence study in 2007 found that MRSA was present in 46 patients in 1,000, a rate about 10 times higher than previous estimates.
“C. diff is a lot less than MRSA, but, having said that, it is still the No. 2 multi-drug-resistant organism,” Jarvis said.
The new APIC survey asked the agency’s 12,000 infection preventionists to count the number of patients with C. diff on any single day between May and August to provide the first-ever snapshot of the extent of the bug’s reach.
Of some 110,550 patients in hospitals and health care centers in 47 states, C. diff was detected in 1,443 patients, with more than 94 percent infected rather than simply colonized with the germ.
Nearly 70 percent of those patients were older than 60, with many far older than that, Jarvis said. Nearly 70 percent had underlying diseases, such as kidney failure, diabetes or heart failure that made them more susceptible to infection.
More than a quarter of the patients had to be admitted to intensive care units, nearly 20 percent developed shock and more than 16 percent required aggressive treatment to combat plummeting blood pressure, the study showed.
C. diff infections typically lead to higher costs and longer hospital stays. If infections reported in the survey were extrapolated to all U.S. hospitals on a single day, patients would rack up an average of more than $32 million in costs and 40,000 extra days in the hospital.
The APIC survey confirms what many infection control professionals already believe: that the infection is sparked by antibiotic use that disturbs the normal flora in the gut. About 80 percent of the patients with C. diff in the APIC study had recently received antibiotics.
“We’ve long been encouraging the public not to demand antibiotics as a solution to all of their problems,” McDonald said. “This brings it home to roost, doesn’t it?”
The study also confirms suspicions that most cases of C. diff are contracted in health care settings. More than 72 percent of the infections in the APIC study were considered to be hospital-acquired, and more than 54 percent were acquired less than 48 hours after admission, the survey showed.
That means people are picking up the bug in the environment, mostly likely from inadequately cleaned surfaces. C. diff produces hard-to-kill spores that are transmitted through feces. People become infected when they ingest the spores, usually by touching surfaces and then touching their mouths, or by eating contaminated food.
Most common hospital cleaners don't eradicate C. diff, which is best cleaned with a strong bleach solution.
Antibiotic use, hospital hygiene are key
There are several keys to preventing C. diff infection, said Dr. Brian Koll, chief of infection control at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York.
Making environmental hygiene a priority that involves staff at all levels is vital, he said. So is emphasizing efforts such as proper hand hygiene for staff, patients and visitors; wiping down equipment between uses; and ensuring that staff members use bleach to kill the C. diff bugs.
“In many respects, our rooms are inspected with as much rigor, if not more, as the kitchen is,” said Koll, whose hospitals have lowered C. diff infection rates to 4 of per 1,000 patients.
Patients also have to take steps to protect themselves, Koll said. Limit antibiotic use whenever possible, insist on proper hand hygiene and speak up about any cleaning concerns.
“Patients and their family members should know they can ask whether or not a piece of equipment has been cleaned or hands washed from any and every health care worker,” he said.
Editor's Note: Julian E. Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. He is the co-editor of "Rightward Bound: Making America Conservative in the 1970s" and is completing a book on the history of national-security politics since World War II, to be published by Basic Books.
PRINCETON, New Jersey (CNN) -- Now that he is president-elect, Barack Obama must start thinking about what to do with Joe Biden.
Vice presidents have had very different roles in recent decades, particularly as the power of the office increased.
During the past eight years, we have watched Dick Cheney expand the influence of the vice president into virtually the policymaker-in-chief with his unprecedented role in shaping the war on terrorism.
Obama will face a number of herculean challenges starting in January. One of them will be to effectively work with a Democratic Congress where there remain major tensions with the executive branch, as a result of President Bush's aggressive use of presidential power, and growing divisions among different factions of the Democratic Party.
With the responsibility of controlling united government in difficult economic times, conflicts are likely to flare among Democrats as legislators realize that failure could result in a backlash.
This is where Joe Biden should come into the picture. Along with Rahm Emanuel -- who will be Obama's chief of staff -- Biden should be used by Obama as a point man on Capitol Hill to help twist arms, make arguments and build voting coalitions.
Biden has often said that his role model for the vice presidency is Lyndon Johnson, who served with John Kennedy from 1961 to 1963 before becoming president.
Biden has explained that "People knew -- as they know about me now -- that he understood politics in the broad terms of Congress, and he understood the detail of the legislation."
Biden has the right idea about what he could contribute as a long-term senator in the office of the vice president -- but has it wrong in terms of how he sees the history. Ironically, Lyndon Johnson should be a model for how the new administration should not treat the vice presidency.
Johnson was miserable during his time in the office and Kennedy did not use him well. LBJ could have been an enormous asset. He was a southerner and former Senate majority leader who could have helped Kennedy sell programs such as civil rights and Medicare in a Congress dominated by Southern conservative Democrats.
But instead of using Johnson as a legislative deal-maker, he isolated him from the political arena. Tensions between Johnson and Senate Democrats were partially to blame. Johnson's ego got in the way when he tried to keep his office in the Senate and suggested to Democrats that he should be invited to head their strategic meetings. His colleagues rejected the suggestion.
At the Democratic Conference meeting on January 3, 1961, Johnson was devastated when he heard colleagues who helped him gain power say they didn't want him there. Sen. Al Gore Sr. said, "This caucus is not open to former majorities."
Kennedy was also leery of Johnson's ambitions and circumscribed his interaction with Congress. Johnson's biggest roles were to help promote the national space program and to lead the White House Committee on Equal Employment, from which he pushed for civil rights initiatives.
Kennedy also sent Johnson on numerous overseas trips. According to his biographer Robert Dallek, "Kennedy was happy to have Johnson gather intelligence on what senators and representatives were thinking, but he had no intention of allowing him to become the point man or administration leader on major bills." Johnson bitterly remarked that the president was making no use of him in dealing with the Hill: "You know, they never once asked me about that!"
In the end, Kennedy did not have much success with legislation. Most of his major proposals languished in the congressional committee system and he was forced to use executive power to develop programs like the Peace Corps. The decision to constrain and isolate Johnson was clearly a mistake and didn't help his cause.
Johnson is also a negative example in terms of how, after becoming president when JFK was assassinated and then winning a race for the presidency in his own right, he treated his own vice president, Hubert Humphrey. From the start, Johnson understood that Humphrey could be an enormous source of strength with legislative relations.
The Minnesota senator had served as Johnson's chief liaison to northern liberals in the 1950s. He had proven enormously effective as Senate Whip at obtaining the votes needed for passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964.
But from the start of his vice presidency, the relationship was full of tension. One month after the election, LBJ said that Humphrey was constantly trying to appear in the press and, after letting him see a memorandum about rumors that Johnson was dying from liver disease, he said "You'd like that, wouldn't you Hubert...."
Initially, Johnson did use Humphrey to help him sell the War on Poverty. According to the Senate Historical Office, Humphrey, known by many as the "field marshal on Capitol Hill," regularly "delivered votes from lawmakers who seemed immune to blandishments from any other quarter." Humphrey chaired a number of key committees on civil rights.
But, like Kennedy, Johnson eventually excluded Humphrey and limited his role. The problem came when Humphrey expressed strong doubts about America's escalating role in Vietnam. In 1965, Humphrey privately told the president that if they ended up "embroiled deeper in fighting in Vietnam over the next few months, political opposition will steadily mount."
Johnson's response was brutal. He did not allow Humphrey to participate in deliberations over the war and stripped the vice president of many duties. According to one aide, "He was frozen out, really sent to purgatory for a full year."
Johnson eventually brought Humphrey back into the inner circles of decision-making in 1966, but only after Humphrey changed his tune and agreed to sell the war in Vietnam in Congress. The decision would undermine his chances for the presidency in 1968.
Obama should think about Lyndon Johnson as a perfect example when he decides what to do with Biden -- but not in the way that Biden has suggested. Obama needs to use Biden to strengthen the chances for the administration's programs as they make their way through the House and Senate during extraordinarily difficult times.
If Obama takes Biden's words to heart and replicates Johnson's experience, he will lose one of his best weapons.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Julian Zelizer.
Tuesday , November 11, 2008
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LOS ANGELES —
Obviously seeing the public slamming that Vanessa Hudgens and Miley Cyrus experienced when their steamy snaps were stolen and exposed wasn’t enough of a warning for Adrienne Bailon to keep her clothes on.
The 25-year-old Disney diva (who dates Robert Kardashian, the younger brother of fellow sex-scandal starlet Kim Kardashian) recently had her very private pics stolen from her laptop at New York’s JFK airport. The computer was anonymously returned to her record label for $1000, but the photos were removed. They have apparently since been shopped around to media outlets, although have not yet surfaced publicly.
Nov. 10, 2008—
The prime suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway has been caught on camera apparently arranging to bring Thai sex workers to Europe, according to a Dutch television program.
Joran van der Sloot, the man last seen with Holloway in Aruba the night before she disappeared in 2005, was set up in a Bangkok hotel by Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries, who made headlines earlier this year for releasing an undercover video of van der Sloot talking with a friend about taking the American teen's body out to the ocean.
The Dutch television program that aired last night detailed how men working for de Vries allegedly got to know van der Sloot, saying they were interested in bringing Thai women to the Netherlands. In e-mail conversations over several months, van der Sloot allegedly detailed how the women would be told they would get three-month visas to work as models but would actually be working as prostitutes once they got to the Netherlands, according to the Dutch broadcast.
In the grainy undercover video, shot at the Landmark Hotel in Bangkok, van der Sloot, once baby-faced but now heavier with scruffy facial hair, can be seen meeting with de Vries' men as he brings two young Thai women to a meeting in a hotel room. The meeting was recorded by hidden cameras. Later he is also caught on tape allegedly accepting a $1,000 cash advance for his services, the Dutch broadcast claimed.
De Vries later confronted van der Sloot on the phone and told him about the sting, prompting van der Sloot to angrily deny any wrongdoing, but he also thanked DeVries for the $1,000.
Dutch news reports said today that Thai authorities had requested a transcript of the de Vries video. The Dutch media claimed that van der Sloot had left Bangkok and his whereabouts were not known.
The Dutch reporter won an Emmy for his undercover work earlier this year in which van der Sloot appeared to admit he was present when Holloway died and that he had helped to dump her body in the ocean. De Vries said then that he is "totally convinced Joran is telling the truth" on the tape.
Holloway, 18, was last seen May 30, 2005, while visiting Aruba on her high school's senior class trip. Van der Sloot had been detained twice relating to Holloway's disappearance, but was released both times after law enforcement officials said there wasn't enough evidence to hold him.
Aruban investigators traveled to the Netherlands earlier this year to question van der Sloot after de Vries' explosive tape caused them to reopen the case.
"I am telling you honestly, I know what happened to that girl," van der Sloot told an associate of de Vries', Patrick Van der Eem, on the undercover video. He went on to say that Holloway died in his arms and that he called a friend to dispose of her body.
"Joran is telling the truth about what happened to Natalee," De Vries told "Good Morning America" in an exclusive interview in February, adding that "she died in his arms on the beach that night."
On the tape, van der Sloot told van der Eem that Holloway suffered a seizure during a romantic encounter between the pair, who had met hours before at a local nightclub.
At another point he told van der Eem, "I tried to shake her. I was shaking the bitch. I was like, 'What is wrong with you man?' I almost wanted to cry."
Van der Sloot said he felt lucky the police were not able to recover Holloway's body.
"I think I am incredibly lucky that she's never been found because if she had been found I would be in deep [excrement]," van der Sloot said on the tape.
De Vries dismissed van der Sloot's claim that he was lying on the tape or that drugs affected his statement, saying, "I don't buy these allegations."
Instead de Vries said the only question that remained was the identity of "Daury," the "really good friend" whom van der Sloot said he called from a pay phone and who he said helped him dispose of Holloway's body.
"Our insider was pushing him the next day [after the taped confession] a little bit on the name; and then he came up with 'Daury,' but the name he mentioned is not the Daury in the news," De Vries said.
Van der Sloot's attorney, Joe Tacopina, said there's evidence to suggest the pay phone call never happened. Tacopina said the Aruban Coast Guard checked the pay phone that Joran talked about on the tape and found no such call, which would apparently give credence to van der Sloot's claim that the story he told on the tape was a lie.
"The Aruban Coast Guard has already looked at that pay phone. There is no such call," Tacopina said.
But de Vries said Aruban investigators told him it was not possible to for them to determine if the call was placed.
"I don't know how [Tacopina] knows this, because I had a telephone call a couple of months ago; saying it's impossible to say," De Vries said. "Maybe he is the same like his client and made some things up."
Aruban investigators have yet to publicly weigh in on recent developments in the case.
Some say that De Vries' methods, namely the fact that he used van der Eem to gain van der Sloot's confidence and videotaped him unknowingly, crossed a journalistic line. But he said he had no regrets.
"We did what we had to do, and what we accomplished is that the investigation is reopened and that Joran is again a suspect for homicide. Before this Joran considered himself as a winner," De Vries said.
If van der Sloot's own words are to be believed -- his fears about the body being found, and his calling a "really good friend" instead of an ambulance -- then his story raises questions about the identity of his friend with the boat, Daury, and the possibility of that pay phone call.
ABC News' Elizabeth Vargas caught up with Daury Rodriguez, a 21-year-old Aruban man and longtime friend of van der Sloot's, in Aruba in February. Rodriguez denied that van der Sloot had called him or that he was with van der Sloot on the beach the night Holloway disappeared.
"So when Joran Van der Sloot said he had a friend named Daury who was here on the beach May 29, 2005, it wasn't you?" Vargas asked him.
"No," Rodriguez replied. He also told Vargas that van der Sloot apologized and said in an online conversation that he'd lied.
November 10, 2008 12:30 PM
ABC News' David Chalian Reports: Gov. Sarah Palin is clearly not ready to relinquish the spotlight following her defeat with John McCain on the Republican presidential ticket last Tuesday. The Republican Governors Association has announced today that Gov. Palin will be the featured guest at its annual conference later this week in Miami, Florida.
Gov. Palin is set to be a featured speaker at a panel discussion entitled, "Looking Toward the Future." Other featured speakers expected to partake on the panel are General Tommy Franks, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), Bill Kristol, Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN), and Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC). (Try to count on one hand how many of those folks have 2012 circled on their calendars.)
In addition to delivering remarks at the panel discussion, Gov. Palin also plans to hold a Thursday morning press availability where she is likely to face some questions about her role in the campaign and her future in the party.
It will be hard to miss Gov. Palin this week. Not only is the former vice presidential candidate attending the first high profile gathering of Republican elected officials after the party suffered severe losses last week, but she is also sitting down with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren and NBC News' Matt Lauer for her first nationally televised interviews since the campaign.
In the days following John McCain's loss to Barack Obama, the Palin fallout has been the dominant story line on the Republican side of the ledger. News accounts of anonymous McCain campaign aides accusing Gov. Palin of having little knowledge of world affairs (and geography) coupled with more details spilling out about her now infamous wardrobe lingered for days after the campaign came to a close. Gov. Palin met with reporters in Alaska on Friday to pushback on those accusations and to call the anonymous sources doing the leaking, "cowards." An aide to Gov. Palin, Meg Stapleton, spoke to ABC News' Kate Snow last week defending Gov. Palin from these accusations that emerged after the election.
The annual gathering of the Republican Governors Association falls on the heels of a tough election cycle for the GOP and will serve as the first opportunity for many party leaders and potential future standard bearers to regroup and begin to put forth the face, message, and mission of the Republican Party at the start of the Obama era.
WASHINGTON DC (CNN) -- On the day that President-elect Barack Obama is visiting the White House, a new national poll suggests that the current occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is the most unpopular president since approval ratings were first sought more than six decades ago.
Seventy-six percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday disapprove of how President Bush is handling his job.
That's an all-time high in CNN polling and in Gallup polling dating back to World War II.
"No other president's disapproval rating has gone higher than 70 percent. Bush has managed to do that three times so far this year," says CNN polling director Keating Holland. "That means that Bush is now more unpopular than Richard Nixon was when he resigned from office during Watergate with a 66 percent disapproval rating."
Before Bush, the record holder for presidential disapproval was Harry Truman, with a 67 percent disapproval rating in January of 1952, his last full year in office.
As Obama visits the White House to start the transition from the Bush administration to an Obama administration, 57 percent of those questioned think the transfer of power will be relatively easy and free from tension, with 39 percent saying the transition will be difficult. 
Watch what Bush and Obama may talk about »
"A majority say that the transition from Bush to Obama will go smoothly, although nearly one in four predict a lot of tension between Bush aides and Obama aides in the next few weeks. That sentiment is highest among Democrats, but even among them, a majority believes that the transition will be relatively easy," Holland said. Watch Obama's ambitious agenda »
The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted Thursday through Sunday with 1,246 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Football dispute leaves 2 dead
An Escambia County couple died Saturday after an argument over the Alabama/LSU football game ended in shotgun blasts, according to Conecuh County authorities.
District Attorney Tommy Chapman identified the people killed as Dennis and Donna Smith of Appleton Road near Brewton.
The shooting allegedly occurred about 7 p.m. at the home of Michael Williams near the Owassa community in Conecuh County, Chapman said.
Williams was arrested, Chapman said, and charged with two counts of murder.
Dispatchers at the Conecuh County Sheriff's Office declined to comment about the case.
Investigators said witnesses told them that Dennis Smith, an LSU fan, called Williams, a fan of the Crimson Tide, after the game Saturday evening and an argument ensued.
Officers said Donna Smith was a relative of Michael Williams' girlfriend.
Soon, the Smiths arrived at Williams' home and the men wound up in a physical altercation, officers said.
Smith retrieved a pistol from his vehicle, and threatened Williams, who armed himself with a shotgun and fired two blasts, striking and killing Dennis Smith, officers said.
Donna Smith then threatened Williams, who shot and killed the woman, they said.
Investigators said alcohol was believed to have been a factor in the killings, and the investigation was ongoing late Sunday.
By Maria Sheahan
BONN (Reuters) - Deutsche Post said on Monday it was shutting down its U.S. domestic express parcel business and cutting a further 9,500 jobs, severing ties with a service that has been a drain on earnings since 2005.
To counter a slide in demand in the United States that has accelerated with the credit crisis, Europe's biggest mail and express delivery company said it will now focus its U.S. operation on international shipping, leaving a rump of 3,000-4,000 DHL staff in the country.
The move increases the group's job cuts in the United States to 14,900 and will reduce its air shipments to fewer than 100,000 per day from 1.2 million.
Restructuring costs for the U.S. express business would now reach $3.9 billion, $1.9 billion more than previously planned, Deutsche Post said.
Additional restructuring, one-off charges in other businesses and write-downs on some assets would likely lead to a full-year net loss, it added.
Post shares gained more than 9 percent and were up 7.1 percent at 10.02 euros at 1629 GMT, while the German blue-chip DAX index was up 1.77 percent. Post's share price has more than halved over the past six months.
"The announced measures -- as dramatic as they sound, given that they include very drastic job cuts -- are necessary in order to get the company's cost and performance problems under control again," ING analyst Axel Funhoff wrote to clients.
Sluggish consumer spending and shrinking investments by businesses are hurting shippers around the world, with the United States being hit hardest. Retail sales there dropped for a third consecutive month in September, posting their biggest decline in more than three years.
Deutsche Post said the U.S. express business would post an EBIT loss of $1.5 billion this year, more than the $1.3 billion previously expected.
The U.S. business has been hurting Deutsche Post's earnings since it moved its U.S. air hub to Wilmington, Ohio from northern Kentucky three years ago. The move came after it bought rival Airborne Express for $1.05 billion, making its DHL business the No. 3 player in the United States.
But if cooperation with UPS went through as planned, there would no longer be a role for the Wilmington hub, Chief Financial Officer John Allan told journalists. He did not say whether it would then sell or shut down the airport.
Deutsche Post has agreed to cooperate with UPS on air freight in the United States, but the talks have stumbled as sliding demand squeezed margins and the crisis cut into companies' spending. Post Chief Executive Frank Appel said he was still confident the talks would wrap up by year's end.
Deutsche Post confirmed it saw full-year EBIT at about 2.4 billion euros, excluding one-time effects and its Deutsche Postbank unit. The company had cut its outlook last month. It held off giving a new outlook for next year.
Third-quarter adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) fell 8.5 percent to 429 million euros ($553.2 million), just missing an average estimate of 433 million euros in a Reuters poll of analysts.
The company trades at about 6.9 times its estimated 2009 earnings, at a discount to rivals UPS and rival FedEx as investors worry that the U.S. express business will remain a millstone around its neck.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Circuit City Stores Inc, the No. 2 U.S. consumer electronics retailer, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday just a few weeks before the start of the key holiday shopping season, becoming the largest retailer to file under Chapter 11 this year.
Circuit City fell victim to tighter credit terms from vendors and a loss of market share to Best Buy Co, Wal-Mart Stores Inc and other rivals.
The retailer and 17 affiliates filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Richmond, Virginia, where it is based.
Circuit City filed one week after saying it would close 155 stores, or more than one-fifth of its retail base, and eliminate 17 percent of its U.S. workforce. It also said it was considering all options to restructure.
In a court filing on Monday, Chief Financial Officer Bruce Besanko said the retailer filed for Chapter 11 in order to continue its turnaround efforts.
"In large part, a Chapter 11 filing is due to three factors, all of which contributed to a liquidity crisis that prevented the company from completing its turnaround goals outside of formal proceedings: erosion of vendor confidence, decreased liquidity and a global economic crisis," Besanko said.
PINCHED SUPPLIERS
Circuit City had lost money in five of the last six quarters. In recent weeks, suppliers pinched by the global credit crunch have tightened terms, sometimes requiring up-front payments before shipping goods.
Larger rival Best Buy, which is based in Minneapolis, has said it might take over stores that distressed rivals close.
Yet a flood of discounted merchandise from liquidating Circuit City stores could hurt Best Buy during this holiday shopping season, said Jefferies & Co analyst Dan Binder.
"Longer term, you've got Best Buy, who's dominant in the sector, taking share. But in the short run it could feel the pain of the liquidation activity," Binder said.
"There's already soft demand out there and probably too much supply. This exacerbates the situation," he added.
According to the filing, Circuit City had $3.4 billion of assets and $2.32 billion of debt as of August 31, and more than 100,000 creditors.
The company has arranged a commitment for debtor-in-possession financing of $1.1 billion, which will allow it to continue to operate during the bankruptcy proceeding.
Among the company's largest unsecured creditors are Hewlett-Packard Co, Samsung Electronics Co and Sony Corp, the filing shows. The largest shareholders include HBK Master Fund LP and First Pacific Advisors LLC, according to the filing.
Shares of Circuit City last traded Friday at 25 cents, New York Stock Exchange data shows. They fell to 13 cents in premarket trading.
The men are going at it this week for the year-end championship and Rafa Nadal is not playing due to an injury. Andy Roddick from the USA is playing and it appears he is about to lose in the round robin match against Andy Murray of Great Britain. Roger Federer has already lost in the round robin match he had against Giles Simon, so another loss and he's out of the Masters Cup.
Go Tsonga, Roddick, Djokovic!!
Decontee Williams was so excited by Barack Obama’s victory on Tuesday night that she started jumping up and down — and went into labor. Twelve hours later, Barack Jeilah was born at Phoenix Baptist Hospital to Ms. Williams and Prince Jeilah. The baby was 8 pounds 9 ounces and had a full head of hair.
“I love Barack Obama, and I love the name,” said Ms. Williams, 31, who came to the United States as a refugee from Liberia in 2003. “In Africa, we call it a blessing. That is a good name.”
In the last week, Barack, Obama, Michelle, Malia and Sasha have become inspirations for first and middle names across the United States, according to news reports. But the Obama baby boom has been even more pronounced in Kenya, particularly in Kisumu, an area in the western part of the country where relatives of Mr. Obama live.
From Election Day through Saturday afternoon, 43 children born at the Nyanza Provincial Hospital in Kisumu were named after the Obamas, with 23 boys given the first and middle name Barack Obama and 20 girls named Michelle Obama.
Pamela Odhiambo, who gave birth to a girl during Mr. Obama’s victory speech in Chicago, named her Michelle Obama. “It’s a new start, a new beginning,” said Ms. Odhiambo, 18.
There have been other presidential naming trends in the past century, according to Social Security Administration data. Franklin jumped to No. 33 in 1933, up from No. 147 in 1931. Dwight surged in the 1950s and Lyndon in the 1960s. Theodore hit its peak in the first decade of the 20th century.
“Honoring new presidents with baby namesakes used to be an American tradition,” said Laura Wattenberg, author of “The Baby Name Wizard.” But she pointed out that the custom faded around the time of Watergate, in part because people became more cynical about the presidency.
Ms. Wattenberg said Barack and Obama might break that trend for a number of reasons. Blacks, particularly moved by Mr. Obama’s victory, tend to be more open to new names and to naming children after public figures. Also, Mr. Obama drew strong support from people of child-bearing age, and his name sounds fresh.
Mr. Obama has said that Barack has the same etymological roots as the Hebrew name Baruch, “one who is blessed.”
A shift away from traditional names has meant a decline in the prevalence of John, George, William and James, the popularity (or unpopularity) of presidents notwithstanding.
There is perhaps more hope for presidential surnames, as parents look for untraditional monikers with a classic flavor. Lincoln (for boys) and Kennedy and Reagan (for girls) jumped in popularity in the 1990s. But none of those can compare with the surge by Madison, which broke into the top 10 for girls in 1998 and peaked at No. 2. (Though that may have more to do with a mermaid in the movie “Splash” than a framer of the Constitution.)
And the names can also track the rise and fall of the public’s perception of presidents. Hoover came out of nowhere to land at No. 367 for boys’ names in 1928, the year Herbert Hoover was elected the 31st president. Then the Great Depression started, and it dropped to No. 945 in 1931. And Clinton, a top 200 baby name for boys in the 1970s and 1980s, still ranked No. 211 in 1992. By 1999, the year after the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke, it had sunk to No. 664.
Even the most tainted presidencies have left a nomenclature mark. The Watergate president inspired some parents, at least overseas. In Venezuela, Nixon Moreno was one of the leaders behind student protests two years ago.
Then again, his co-organizer was Stalin González.