Syndicate June Birthdays!

June 1st- Lostgirl

June 1st- Homiedajedi of h2flow

June 21st- Tamalamadingdong

June 1st- Beetlejuice

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!

Greenland ice could fuel severe U.S. sea level rise

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New York, Boston and other cities on North America's northeast coast could face a rise in sea level this century that would exceed forecasts for the rest of the planet if Greenland's ice sheet keeps melting as fast as it is now, researchers said on Wednesday.

Sea levels off the northeast coast of North America could rise by 12 to 20 inches more than other coastal areas if the Greenland glacier-melt continues to accelerate at its present pace, the researchers reported.

This is because the current rate of ice-melting in Greenland could send so much fresh water into the salty north Atlantic Ocean that it could change the vast ocean circulation pattern sometimes called the conveyor belt. Scientists call this pattern the meridional overturning circulation.

"If the Greenland melt continues to accelerate, we could see significant impacts this century on the northeast U.S. coast from the resulting sea level rise," said Aixie Hu, lead author of an article on the subject in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

"Major northeastern cities are directly in the path of the greatest rise," said Hu, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.

This is an even bleaker assessment than an earlier study indicated. A March article in the journal Nature Geoscience said warmer water temperatures could shift ocean currents so as to raise sea levels off the U.S. northeast coast by about 8 inches more than the average global sea level rise.

NOT LIKELY BUT POSSIBLE

However, this earlier research did not include the impact of melting Greenland ice, which would speed changes in ocean circulation and send 4 to 12 more inches of water toward northeastern North America, on top of the average global sea level rise.

That could put residents of New York, Boston and Halifax, Nova Scotia, at risk since these cities and others lie close to sea level now, Hu said in answer to e-mailed questions.

Not only would coastal residents be at direct risk from flooding but drainage systems would suffer as salty ocean water would move back into river deltas, changing the biological environment, Hu wrote in an e-mail.

"In a flooding zone, because the higher sea level may impede the function of the drainage system, the future flood may become more severe," he wrote. If cities are prone to subsidence -- where the ground sinks -- higher sea levels would also make that problem worse, according to Hu.

The ice that covers much of Greenland is melting faster now due to global climate change, raising world sea levels. But sea level does not rise evenly around the globe. Sea level in the North Atlantic is now 28 inches lower than in the North Pacific, because the Atlantic has a dense, compact layer of deep, cold water that the Pacific lacks.

Greenland's ice-melt rate has increased by 7 percent a year since 1996 but Hu said it is unlikely to continue. Still, he and his co-authors ran computer simulations that included this fast-paced melting, along with more moderate scenarios with ice-melt increasing by 3 percent or 1 percent annually.

Hu said it was hard to say whether the 7 percent annual increase could go on for the next 50 years but said it was possible since the current rate of increase in climate-warming carbon dioxide is higher than the high end of projections by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

(Editing by Bill Trott)

Openly gay teen voted prom queen at LA high school

LOS ANGELES – An openly gay teen was voted prom queen at Los Angeles' Fairfax High School in a campaign that began as a stunt but ended up spurring discussion on the campus about gender roles and teen popularity. Sergio Garcia, 18, was crowned queen Saturday night at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

"I feel invincible," Garcia said in his tiara and charcoal-gray tuxedo.

A few days earlier, he gave a speech that won over some cynics and led to an ovation and his unlikely victory.

"At one time, prom may have been a big popularity contest where the best-looking guy or girl were crowned king and queen. Things have changed and it's no longer just about who has the most friends or who wears the coolest clothes," Garcia told a gymnasium full of seniors. "I'm not your typical prom queen candidate. There's more to me than meets the eye."

Garcia assured the crowd he wouldn't wear a dress on prom night.

"I will be wearing a suit," he said. "But don't be fooled, deep down I am a queen."

The school, which sits at the end of the rows of chic shops on Melrose Avenue and was once attended by members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, has long been a haven for students who would be considered outcasts at many schools.

Garcia said he saw fliers advertising the prom and the election, and they didn't specify that the queen must be a girl. He thought the role would suit him better than prom king.

"I don't wish to be a girl," he told the Los Angeles Times. said. "I just wish to be myself."

Senior class president Vanessa Lo said she and many other students were initially against the idea but were won over by Garcia's speech and became convinced he wasn't just an attention-seeking clown.

"It just goes to show how open-minded our class is," Lo said.

Seventeen-year-old Unique Payne called the speech "great" and said she voted for Garcia "because I support the gay community."

Other students weren't as happy, and suggested many voted for Garcia just to see the spectacle of two boys dancing together at the prom.

"I'm not really happy about that," said 17-year-old Juan Espinoza. "He should've run for prom king.

Canada over worst of swine flu: Butler-Jones

OTTAWA -- Canada's chief public health officer says the country has seen the worst of the swine flu - for now.

Dr. David Butler-Jones said Monday it appears that spread of the virus is waning. "It looks at this point like we're over the worst of it in Canada for this season," he said.

"But, again, I'm going to hedge my bets on that because we're watching very closely and it's still within the incubation period of previous cases, so you could see a second spike."

There has so far been a confirmed total of 520 cases - including one death - of the strain of H1N1 in Canada. Nearly all the cases have been mild.

The virus seemingly peaked around the end of last month and the beginning of this one, Butler-Jones said.

"Once we've been a couple of weeks past the presentation of cases, etc., and we see the numbers, then we can say with some confidence that we're over the worst," he said.

"We seem to be trending in that way, but we'll have to wait and see over the next few days."

Some health officials have suggested the virus isn't likely to peter out over the summer as flu strains tend to do when the mercury soars in the Northern Hemisphere.

Butler-Jones didn't rule out more cases over the summer and a resurgence in the fall.

"We are suspecting that this will be back in the fall given how widely it's spread so far," he said.

"We need to be planning for that, including the development of vaccines and other things."

The federal government has signed a contract with pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline to produce a new vaccine for swine flu when one is developed, Butler-Jones said. Every Canadian is covered for two doses of the vaccine under that deal.

Federal scientists are working on a vaccine strain at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.

In a further sign that spread of the swine flu virus is tapering off, Ottawa lifted its advisory against non-essential travel to Mexico on Monday as flu cases there start to level off.

The federal government says travel to Mexico - the epicentre of the swine subtype of H1N1 - is no longer a risk to Canadians since the virus has been spreading through Canada for some time.

The Canada Border Services Agency will continue to visually check travellers for signs of illness.

But the Public Health Agency of Canada will cease some Mexico-specific travel measures such as distributing health alert notices to passengers on direct flights to Mexico and having quarantine officers meet every direct flight entering Canada from Mexico.

News of the travel advisory being lifted comes as Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq attends the annual World Health Assembly meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.

Several countries - including China, Britain and Japan - urged the World Health Organization against raising the swine flu alert to the highest level.

WHO Director General Dr. Margaret Chan agreed to keeping the alert level at the current Phase 5 out of a possible six - one level short of a worldwide pandemic.

Aglukkaq said Canada was one of the countries in Geneva pushing for the WHO to take into account whether the virus was causing severe or mild illness, not just how quickly it was spreading.

"It has been raised by other countries, as well," she said. "Canada is not alone in those thoughts."

Utah and Arizona report swine flu-related deaths

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah officials reported the state's first death associated with swine flu and Arizona recorded that state's third victim, pushing the national death toll to 10 people.

David Sundwall, executive director of the Utah Department of Health, said a 21-year-old man with swine flu died Wednesday morning at aSalt Lake City hospital.

Sundwall said the man was overweight and had chronic medical conditions, including respiratory problems and other health issues, that would put him at risk.

Dagmar Vitek, medical director for the Salt Lake Valley Health Department, says an investigation to determine how the man contracted the virus is under way. She said officials don't believe he traveled recently.

In neighboring Arizona, health officials said Wednesday a 13-year-old boy from Tucson also has died with swine flu. The teenager died Friday of complications from the flu. He had been hospitalized May 10.

The Arizona Department of Health Services, which confirmed test results, said an older sibling of the teen is hospitalized with the virus, and other family members have recovered from the flu, according to spokeswoman Patti Woodcock.

In New York, students, officials, educators and friends gathered Wednesday at the funeral of an assistant principal who became New York City's first confirmed death related to swine flu. Hospital and city officials said complications besides the virus probably played a part in Sunday's death of the 55-year-old educator.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 5,700 confirmed and probable cases of swine flu in 47 states and Washington, D.C.

The World Health Organization said 41 countries have reported more than 10,000 cases, mostly in the U.S. and Mexico. The organization said 80 deaths have been reported

Allwine, voice of Mickey Mouse for 32 years, dies

LOS ANGELES – Wayne Allwine, the actor who voiced Mickey Mousefor more than 30 years, has died.

The Walt Disney Co. says Allwine died Monday of complications from diabetes, with Russi Taylor, his wife of 20 years and the voice ofMinnie Mouse, by his side. He was 62.

"Wayne dedicated his entire professional life to Disney," chief executive Robert Iger said in a statement Wednesday. "Over the last 32 years, (he) gave so much joy, happiness and comfort to so many around the world by giving voice to our most beloved, iconic character, Mickey Mouse."

A Southern California native, Allwine joined Disney in 1966 when he took a job in the mail room. He went on to work in the sound effects department and began voicing the company's main mouse in 1977.

His falsetto can be heard in 1983's "Mickey's Christmas Carol," 1988's "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and at Disney theme parks around the world. He won an Emmy Award in 1986 for his sound editing on the NBC series "Amazing Stories."

Allwine was the third man behind Mickey's voice. The first was Disney himself, then Jimmy MacDonald, who became Allwine's mentor and passed him the reins after voicing the mouse for 30 years.

"He said, 'Just remember kid, you're only filling in for the boss,'" Allwine once recalled. "And that's the way he treated doing Mickey for years and years."

"Mickey's the real star," Allwine continued. "You know you just have to love the little guy while you have him, because he won't be yours forever."

Roy E. Disney, director emeritus for The Walt Disney Co., said Allwine did more than give Mickey a voice. He "gave him a heart and soul as well."

"He did an incredible job of bringing emotion, humor and appeal to the character, and superbly carried on the tradition originated by my Uncle Walt, and later by sound-effects wizard Jimmy Macdonald."

Besides Taylor, Allwine is survived by five children from a previous marriage: Erin, Alison, Peter, Christopher and Joshua.

Man sought prostitute for son, 14

A father who asked an undercover police officer posing as a prostitute to take his 14-year-old son's virginity has been given a suspended prison sentence.

The man from Bulwell, Nottingham, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was given a 10-month suspended jail term.

Nottingham Crown Court heard the man, 42, had approached the undercover policewoman in the Mapperley area in July believing her to be a prostitute.

He admitted trying to solicit a woman to have sex with a child.

You have a duty of care to your son to look after his moral welfare, not to break him into the ways of sex through a prostitute  Judge Jonathan Teare

The court heard the father was arrested during an undercover operation by the city's vice squad.

The man drove up to the undercover officer and asked her how much she would charge for sex with his son, who was sitting next to him in the car.

Judge Jonathan Teare said he was not sending the father to prison because of his previous excellent character and that he believed he did not mean any harm to his son.

He said: "What you were doing that night was to expose your 14-year-old son to a prostitute because you didn't know she was a police officer.

"You have a duty of care to your son and that is to look after his moral welfare not, as you might think, to break him into the ways of sex through a prostitute."

The father's barrister Matthew Smith said: "There is a thorough sense of shame the defendant feels.

"It's completely at odds with every other part of his character."

Mr Smith added that the boy would be allowed to continue to live with his father.

The defendant will be placed on the sex offenders register for five years.

Strikeforce...

Strikeforce is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts (MMA) and kickboxing promotion based in San Jose, California. It is headed by Scott Cokerand Silicon Valley Sports and Entertainment, operators of the HP Pavilion and the San Jose Sharks. Its events and fights are currently shown on NBC, HDNet as a part of HDNet Fights, and Showtime. Future events are also expected to air live on CBS in 2009.

Scott Green will be the host of Strikeforce for Syndicate. He will handle interviews and talk diverse tactics about the sport.

Rumours???

So I was suppose to start this awhile ago....in case you missed TamUmers Rumers then here are a set of rumers.....

1) Doctor Gorilla and Golddog111 are supposedly having a relationship at Drg's nursing home and are apparently into the freaky shit.

2) Shuli, Dolaf(jewkkake), and TheRealKennedy(jewnig) are operating a underground sex operation of young jewish boys between the ages of 4-16 years old...famous syndicate customers may include yucko the clown and Lobosco.

3) Thanks for taking my email girls. I heard a rumor that really bothers me and it involves a few people we all know.

It started on new years eve when someone, we shall call "Beano" had a party at his house for new years eve. He had friends and family come over for a good time to drink and smoke and do whatever. So he invited some internet friends over. One tall giant we can call "Misturb'd" and "Fogny". 

It started out innocent, everyone sittin around having a good time with drinks and good food. But as the night progressed, Beano started imagining the giant Misturb'd in a wig and in a skirt and lets just say, to keep what happened once new years hit, Beano made Misturb'd program director for a certain internet network. It involved refried beans, a cucumber, and a lot of chorizo. Not a pretty sight says onlooker Fogny, who to this day rarely comes back online because of this.

This is one of those stories they never wanted to get out but little birdies are everywhere.

4) This guy Lobosco, I think he is a new member here wacks off to the syndicate. I am his brother and I see him on here all the time. He does not know I am his brother and I struck up a conversation with him...

5) Rumor has it that Grinch has to remove Jashley's diapers before he rapes her like a oversized twinky.

Thats all for now bitches! Check out more rumers on Mondays at 12 pm est after DTS

Former Catholic head of Milwaukee admits he's gay

NEW YORK – A Roman Catholic archbishop who resigned in 2002 over a sex and financial scandal involving a man describes his struggles with being gay in an upcoming memoir about his decades serving the church.

Archbishop Rembert Weakland, former head of the Milwaukee archdiocese, said in an interview Monday that he wrote about his sexual orientation because he wanted to be candid about "how this came to life in my own self, how I suppressed it, how it resurrected again."

Called "A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop," the book is set to be released in June.

"I was very careful and concerned that the book not become a Jerry Springer, to satisfy people's prurient curiosity or anything of this sort," Weakland told The Associated Press. "At the same time, I tried to be as honest as I can."

Weakland stepped down soon after Paul Marcoux, a former Marquette University theology student, revealed in May 2002 that he was paid $450,000 to settle a sexual assault claim he made against the archbishop more than two decades earlier. The money came from the archdiocese.

Marcoux went public at the height of anger over the clergy sex abuse crisis, when Catholics and others were demanding that dioceses reveal the extent of molestation by clergy and how much had been confidentially spent to settle claims.

Weakland denied ever assaulting anyone. He apologized for concealing the payment. The Vatican says that men with "deep-seated" attraction to other men should not be ordained.

In an August 1980 letter that was obtained by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Weakland said he was in emotional turmoil over Marcoux and that he had "come back to the importance of celibacy in my life." He signed the letter, "I love you."

The revelations rocked the Milwaukee archdiocese, which Weakland had led since 1977. He was a hero forliberal Catholics nationwide because of his work on social justice and other issues,

The archbishop, now 82, said he seriously considered the potential pain for the archdiocese of renewing attention to the scandal and thought about waiting "until I was dead" to have it published. But he decided to move ahead with the project.

"What I felt was that people who loved me as bishop here, when they read the book will continue to love me. The people who found it difficult, I hope will be helped a little bit by the book," he said.

In a sign of the deep emotions still surrounding Weakland and his departure, the Archdiocese of Milwaukeehas released a public statement alerting local Catholics to the upcoming book.

"Some people will be angry about the book, others will support it," the archdiocese said.

Weakland also writes about his failures to stop sexually abusive priests. In a videotaped deposition released last November, Weakland admitted returning guilty priests to active ministry without alerting parishioners or police.

"Any deposition is just a part of a whole picture and that picture has not been painted yet. And anybody can take out of that any sentence they want," Weakland said in the interview.

"I try to deal with this, I hope in an honest way, admitting my weaknesses in not being able to see this earlier, but at the same time doing what I could confront it."

Advocates for abuse victims said that Weakland's cover-up of his own sexual activity was part of a pattern of secrecy that included concealing the criminal behavior of child molesters.

Weakland, a Benedictine monk, served in Rome as leader of the International Benedictine Confederation and also worked on a liturgy commission for the Second Vatican Council, which made reforms in the 1960s meant to modernize the church.

Weakland said he wrote in the memoir that he was unprepared for "how lonely it is" to be a bishop and how difficult it can be to get the "feedback and support you need."

U.S. Catholics have long debated whether the priesthood had become a predominantly gay vocation. Estimates vary from 25 percent to 50 percent, according to a review of research on the issue by the Rev. Donald Cozzens, author of "The Changing Face of the Priesthood."

Weakland said Christians needed to speak more openly about gays in the priesthood without the "hysteria" that often characterizes the debate.

The archbishop has been living in a retirement community near the Milwaukee archdiocese and plans to move to St. Mary's Abbey in Morristown, N.J., this summer. He said he was not bitter about how the scandal had eclipsed his decades of work in the church.

"I refused to let myself become a victim and refused to let myself become angry," he said. "I want to take responsibility but I want to move on."

Gary Bababooey Pitch

Michael Jackson concerts may face legal challenge

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A music promoter plans to sue to blockMichael Jackson from performing in London this year, claiming that a contract signed by the "king of pop" prevents him from giving a concert until July 2010, the head of the promotion company said on Monday.

New Jersey-based AllGood Entertainment Inc contends it signed an agreement in November with Jackson's manager, Frank DiLeo, committing the singer to perform in July 2010 along with his brothers from the Jackson Five and sister Janet Jackson.

Under the agreement, Michael Jackson cannot give another concert until that Jackson Family reunion show, said Patrick Allocco, managing partner at AllGood Entertainment.

AllGood Entertainment sent a cease and desist letter to DiLeo and toconcert promoter AEG Live, which has signed Jackson to perform a series of 50 shows at London's 02 Arena starting in July, Allocco said. In the letter, AllGood Entertainment warned that its agreement with DiLeo barred Jackson from performing the London shows for AEG Live.

A source at AEG Live acknowledged the company had been contacted and called AllGood's claims meaningless. The source said rehearsals in Los Angeles are continuing in preparation for the July shows at the 02.

A representative for Jackson did not return calls.

Allocco said his company's plans to sue in federal court come after failed attempts to negotiate with Jackson and reach a deal to allow the London shows to go ahead.

"As of right now we've gotten zero cooperation from anyone, Frank DiLeo refuses to honor our agreement and that's why we're filing a lawsuit by week's end," Allocco said.

AllGood Entertainment said that its one-time concert featuring Michael Jackson is scheduled for July 3, 2010, at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. The concert would be available as a pay-per-view event over the Internet, Allocco said.

Jackson could make up to $30 million for the show, Allocco said.

"Thirty million for one show is unheard of, that's why we're so frustrated," he said. "Frank DiLeo is standing in our way. AEG has been constantly frustrating our ability to get this show."

Jackson's series of concerts in London also have been touted as unprecedented. AEG has said that, all together, the shows will gather the biggest audience ever to see an artist in one city.

Leo & Kate Help Last Titanic Survivor

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The last survivor of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 is getting a hand from Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

The "Titanic" stars, along with director James Cameron, have contributed to a $30,000 fund for Millvina Dean, 98,Access Hollywood has confirmed.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Celebs Who Give Back

The Irish Independent was the first to report the news.

The stars came forward after an appeal by photographer Don Mullan in the Sunday edition of the paper. Mullan had asked the stars and director of 1997 blockbuster to help Millvina, who has struggled with her nursing home bills.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: See Acting Powerhouse Kate Winslet Looking Gorgeous On The Red Carpet

Millvina was the ill-fated ship's youngest passenger - only nine weeks old upon being carried unto the Titanic from Southampton, England - and is now its last remaining survivor.

The photographer had been selling a limited edition shot, entitled "Still Surviving," of Millvina's hands signing an autograph in order to raise funds for her, and decided to reach out to the "Titanic" stars to pitch in. The photo is part of a new exhibition of his called "A Thousand Reasons for Living."

"I figured that if the edition sold out, it would secure Millvina for a full year. My plan, however, was to double the impact and thereby secure her for two years. I decided, therefore, at the opening of the exhibition, to publicly challenge James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, 20th Century Fox and Celine to match me dollar for dollar,'' Don told the Independent.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Leonardo DiCaprio

He is still waiting on a response from Celine, who won an Oscar for the film's theme song, "My Heart Will Go On," and the film's studio, 20th Century Fox.

US soldier guns down 5 fellow soldiers in Iraq

BAGHDAD – A U.S. soldier opened fire at a counseling center on a U.S. base Monday, killing five fellow soldiers before being taken into custody, the U.S. command and Pentagon officials said.

The shooting occurred at Camp Liberty, a sprawling U.S. base on the western edge of Baghdad near the city's international airport and adjacent to another facility where President Barack Obama visited last month.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs called the shooting a "terrible tragedy" and said Obama planned to meet with Defense Secretary Gates later in the day to discuss the matter. Gibbs said the president's heart goes out to the victims' families and wants to know what happened.

A brief U.S. statement said the soldier "suspected of being involved with the shooting" was in custody but gave no further details. A senior military official in Washington said three others were wounded, but theU.S. military in Baghdad said nobody else was hurt.

In Washington, Pentagon officials said the shooting happened at a stress clinic, where troops can go for help with the stresses of combat or personal issues. It was unclear whether those killed were workers at the clinic or were there for counseling. No details were released about the gunman or what might have provoked the shooting.

"Anytime we lose one of our own, it affects us all," U.S. military spokesman Col. John Robinson said in Baghdad. "Our hearts go out to the families and friends of all the service members involved in this terrible tragedy."

Separately, the military announced Monday that a U.S. soldier was also killed a day earlier when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Basra province of southern Baghdad.

The death toll from the Monday shooting was the highest for U.S. personnel in a single attack since April 10, when a suicide truck driver killed five American soldiers with a blast near a police headquarters inMosul.

Attacks on officers and sergeants, known as fraggings, were not uncommon during the Vietnam war as morale in the ranks sank. However, such attacks are believed to be rare in the wars in Iraq andAfghanistan.

In 2005, Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar was sentenced to death for killing two officers in Kuwait just before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

In June 2005, an Army captain and lieutenant were killed when an anti-personnel mine detonated in the window of their room at the U.S. base in Tikrit. National Guard Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez was acquitted in the blast.

Additionally, there have been several incidents recently when gunmen dressed as Iraqi soldiers have opened fire on American troops, including an attack in the northern city of Mosul on May 2 when two soldiers and the gunman were killed.

Also Monday, a senior Iraqi traffic officer was assassinated on his way to work in Baghdad. It was the second attack on a high-ranking traffic police officer in the capital in as many days.

A car cut off Brig. Gen. Abdul-Hussein al-Kadhoumi as he drove through a central square in the capital and a second vehicle pulled up alongside and riddled him with bullets, police said, citing witnesses. Al-Kadhoumi was director of operations for the traffic authority.

The gunmen were armed with pistols equipped with silencers, the police added on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Incidents involving gunmen armed with sophisticated weapons, including silencers, have been on the rise since a string of high-profile robberies in April.

___

Associated Press Writer Pauline Jelinek contributed to this report from Washington.

Chuck Daly, Pistons Coach, Dies at 78

Chuck Daly, who coached the Detroit Pistons’ Bad Boy teams to two consecutive N.B.A. championships, then coached the Olympic Dream Team to a gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Games, died Saturday in Jupiter, Fla. He was 78.

Duane Burleson/Associated Press

Detroit Pistons head coach Chuck Daly yelled instructions from the sidelines during game four against the Milwaukee Bucks in Milwaukee on May 15, 1989.

Daly’s death was announced by the Pistons. In March, they said he was being treated for pancreatic cancer.

When Daly became the Pistons’ coach in 1983, the franchise had never won an N.B.A. championship since entering the league in 1948, representing Fort Wayne, Ind. In his nine seasons with Detroit, Daly’s teams made the playoffs every time. His Pistons swept the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1989 N.B.A. finals, then beat the Portland Trail Blazers in a five-game final the next year.

Daly was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in 1994. When the N.B.A. celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1996, he was named one of the 10 greatest coaches in league history in balloting by members of the news media. The Pistons retired No. 2 in 1997 to commemorate his consecutive N.B.A. titles.

Daly’s Pistons featured scoring and flash in the backcourt, with Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and Vinnie Johnson, and muscle up front, with Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn, Dennis Rodman, John Salley, Mark Aguirre and James Edwards.

The Bad Boys were known as fierce defenders quick to toss an elbow or a body. Daly was a fast-talking figure who exuded energy and passion, but in dealing with these rugged sorts he used persuasion in place of an iron hand.

“If you’re going to be a coach, it’s going to be a selling job night in and night out,” he said. “I’ve had surgery on my right knee. It comes from bending a lot.”

As Brendan Suhr, an assistant to Daly, put it: “Chuck is a communicator. In the pro game, 95 percent of coaching is knowing the people. With Chuck, I’d raise that to 99 percent.”

Thomas once remarked: “Chuck Daly put a lot of trust in us. We had guys on the floor telling each other what to do, putting together game plans.”

When Daly assembled the first United States Olympic basketball team using professional players, he had enormous talent and egos to match. He blended the superstars on that Dream Team, led by Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, and they rolled to a gold medal.

For all the Olympic team’s scoring prowess, there were flashes of the Bad Boys aura. In the opening game, the 250-pound Charles Barkley drew a flagrant foul for smashing an elbow into the chest of a 174-pound player from Angola.

After the United States routed Croatia to win gold, Jordan remarked that “people said that no one plays defense in the N.B.A., but the biggest difference is our defense.”

Charles Jerome Daly, a native of St. Marys, Pa., grew up in Kane, Pa., and decided on his future while in high school.

“I remember telling my mother, ‘Mom, I’m going to be a basketball coach, and I bet I can make as much as $10,000 a year at it,’ ” Daly recalled. “I had read all the John Tunis sports books as a kid.”

Daly played basketball at St. Bonaventure and at Bloomsburg (Pa.) State College, then coached high school basketball for eight seasons in Punxsutawney, Pa. He went on to become head coach at Boston College (1969-71) and at Penn (1971-77), taking the Quakers to four consecutive Ivy League titles.

He entered the N.B.A. in the late 1970s as an assistant to Coach Billy Cunningham with the Philadelphia 76ers, and he was the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers for part of the 1980-81 season.

Daly resigned as the Pistons’ coach after the 1991-92 season, then coached the Nets for two seasons, taking them to the playoffs each time. He worked as a pro basketball television analyst, then coached the Orlando Magic for two seasons before retiring for good with a 638-437 record over 14 seasons.

Daly is survived by his wife, Terry; a daughter, Cydney; and two grandchildren.

While Daly’s Pistons were known for rough-and-tumble play, he was an elegant presence at courtside in dark blue suits, nicknamed Daddy Rich for his taste in fine clothing.

“You read the article that said I had 199 blue suits?” Daly said before coaching the East against the West squad of the fashionable Pat Riley in the 1990 N.B.A. All-Star Game. “Now I have 200. I went into a store and sure enough I bought a blue one. Nobody ever looks bad in a blue suit.”

As for his interest in clothing, he said: “This is not a game where you upstage the players. This is a business like any other business. You get bored. I get bored. You do something for fun.”

After crash, MA transit GM seeks operator cell ban

BOSTON – The head of the Boston-area transit authority says he'll ban all operators of trains and buses from even carrying a cell phone on board.

That's after a conductor told police he was texting at the time of a trolley collison Friday.

About 50 people were hurt, though none of the injuries were life-threatening.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority already bans operators from using cell phones. But general manager Daniel Grabauskas said Saturday the temptation was obviously too great for some.

He said he wasn't "going to wait for someone to die" to make a change, hopefully by the end of next week.

Steve MacDougall, the head of the union that represents most MBTA works, backs the change, saying public safety must be his members' top priority.

Schedule Change!

TamUmers Rumers will now be held on Mondays at 12 midnight est. They will follow the Dirty Twig Show. Remember to email rumors at tamumersrumers@live.com and have them heard every Monday night right after you get two hours of twig farting into his microphone and some stunt that will scar you for a few days!

Peace Out

JunglePiratewithTits!

Japan, Australia confirm first cases of swine flu

TOKYO – Japanese authorities scrambled Saturday to track travelers who arrived on the same flight as three people diagnosed with the country's first confirmed cases of swine flu. Australia also joined the ranks of affected countries with its first confirmed case.

Authorities in Tokyo quarantined a high school teacher and two of his teenage students who returned Friday from a school trip to Canada on a flight from the U.S. after they tested positive at the airport.

A lab at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases later confirmed they had the virus that has killed at least 47 people and sickened more than 3,100 in 30 countries, most in the U.S. and Mexico, Health and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe said.

Since the outbreak began last month, several countries, includingJapan, have screened air travelers for flu symptoms. But news reports said as many as 11 people on the Northwest Airlines flight from Detroitthat landed in Tokyo on Friday avoided those screenings.

Taiwan's Centers for Disease for Control Deputy Director-General Shih Wen-yi said 16 passengers who were on that flight — including two Americans and 14 Taiwanese — have arrived on the island. Shih said authorities were looking for them.

Masuzoe acknowledged it would be difficult to trace all those who came into contact with the three infected Japanese, who had visited Canada's Ontario province on a home-stay program with about 30 other students. The three were isolated and recovering at a hospital nearNarita International Airport.

"There are limitations to what we can do, but we will continue to monitor the situation and strengthen or relax such measures as needed," he told reporters.

Public broadcaster NHK TV urged people who were aboard the flight to call a special telephone number for consultations. So far, 49 have been traced and will be monitored for 10 days, officials said.

Asia has been largely spared from the virus that continues to claim lives in worst-hit Mexico, which announced its 45th death Friday even as it emerged from a national shutdown that closed schools and businesses and shuttered churches and soccer stadiums.

But a handful of cases have cropped up in the region, including in South Korea and Hong Kong. The Chinese territory quarantined more than 200 people in a hotel after confirming its first case in a guest a week ago. They were released on Friday, and many were unable to contain their delight as they poured from the building for the first time in seven days. One man hugged a police officer and broke into song.

Australia reported its first case on Saturday in a woman it said was no longer infectious. She first noticed her symptoms while traveling in the U.S., federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon told reporters.

New Zealand — the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to confirm cases — reported two more on Saturday for a total of seven. The two high school students returned last month from a school trip to Mexico. Six of the country's cases were in students and a teacher on that trip; the seventh traveled on the same plane as the group.