General Growth Properties

General Growth Properties, one of the largest mall operators in the nation, filed for bankruptcy early Thursday morning in one of the biggest commercial real estate collapses in United States history. “Our operational model is sound,” Thomas H. Nolan Jr., the company’s president and chief operating officer, said on a conference call early Thursday morning, citing “the unprecedented disruption in the real estate financing markets and the need to extend maturing debt” as the reason the company filed.

Despite bargaining for months with its creditors, General Growth faced dwindling options for handling its more than $25 billion in debt, largely in the form of short-term mortgages that will come due by next year. The company has been severely wounded by the recession, which has wreaked havoc upon the retailers who inhabit its more than 200 malls in 44 states. Many stores have shuttered, depriving mall operators like General Growth of revenue.

As the second-biggest operator of malls in the nation, behind only the Simon Property Group, General Growth’s troubles have been closely watched by the real estate and retail industry for months. Founded in 1954 and expanded through a series of acquisitions — topped by a $12.6 billion deal for the Rouse Company in 2004 — the company has a huge retail presence that has served as a barometer for the troubles bedeviling the American retail market.

Naltrexone

Naltrexone really helps kleptomania, imagine how people would steal for this drug. The promising results for Naltrexone come in the new issue of Biological Psychiatry that reports Naltrexone, which has helped alcoholism, could also reduce cravings to steal. The study find Naltrexone should be categorized as opioid antagonists because it haleps “stealing-related excitement and cravings”.

Kleptomania appears to share many…similarities to substance use disorders: urges or cravings, tolerances, withdrawal, repeated unsuccessful attempts to cut back or stop, and impairment in areas of life functioning,” Dr. Jon E. Grant and colleagues at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Minneapolis, point out.

Naltrexone, a drug commonly used to treat alcoholism and drug addiction, reduces stealing urges and associated behavior in individuals with kleptomania, according to study results published in the current issue of Biologic New generation of anti-addiction drugs effective, some experts say Drugs seem to block release of brain chemicals linked to pleasure, excitement Established rehab programs slow to adopt the use of medication.

Tea Party

Tea Party tomorrow evening at the State Capitol in St. Paul from 5 to 8. It promises to be a fun event, one of many such that will take place around the country to protest the federal government's excessive and wasteful spending, endless bailouts, tax increases, and the crushing debt that the administration intends to run up for years to come. I'll be covering the event for Power Line and Pajamas Media and will post photos and video when it's over.

Today’s the day! It’s Nationwide Tax Day Tea Party day, and Michelle Malkin’s going to be in the thick of things all day. Make sure you check in at her blog often for updates on the goings on all across the country, including pix, video, etc. And don’t forget the official site for the Tax Day Tea Party, which will have updates all day as well. You can also visit that site to see if a Party will be held in your area, for those who decide at the last minute that they’d like to attend. Fellow North Carolinians, click here to find out where Tea Parties are being held in NC.

And so it goes with today's Tax Day Tea Parties, which harken back to the Boston Tea Party when Americans rebelled against British rule. Then, the impetus for the protest was for unfair taxation. Now, the cause is what protesters say is wasteful federal spending, such as the bailout money offered to companies such as A.I.G. and G.M.