Strategy

From its roots in California, hospital owner Prime Healthcare Services Inc. is expanding across the country by acquiring financially troubled hospitals, including Roxborough Memorial and Lower Bucks in the Philadelphia region. At hospitals on the verge of closing, the for-profit company is generally welcome - even as disputes with a large union and a major competitor in Southern California dog the firm's reputation. In Roxborough, where the community hospital has changed hands three times since 2003, Prime and its regional chief executive, Peter J. Adamo, have made a positive impression, Bernard Guet, executive director of the Roxborough Development Corp., said Thursday.

FIRST, THERE was the 1 percent, the evil elite who would just as soon release the hounds as release their tax returns. Then there was the 99 percent, rabble-rousers who occupied the streets even as Newt Gingrich said they should occupy tubs. Next came the 47 percent, slackers who had the gall to need help from time to time. Well, there's a new group that's worse than all of them. It hasn't been written about in the papers or on the Internet. It doesn't even have its own reality show, but it poses a greater threat than all the other groups combined.

NEW ORLEANS - The Eagles saw what LeSean McCoy can do if they feed him the ball. Now, they just need to realize what they can do if they give McCoy the ball near the goal line. McCoy carried 19 times for 119 yards in Monday's 28-13 loss to the New Orleans Saints, who have one of the worst rushing defenses in the NFL. It was the most carries McCoy has had since a Sept. 30 win over the New York Giants. Yet on eight goal-to-go plays, the Eagles handed the ball to McCoy just once. They passed the other seven times.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran is weighing a more confrontational strategy at possible renewed nuclear talks with world powers, threatening to boost levels of uranium enrichment unless the West makes clear concessions to ease sanctions. Such a gambit - outlined by senior Iranian officials in interviews this week - could push Iran's nuclear program far closer to the "red line" set by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for possible military options. But it also suggests that economic pressures and diplomacy have pushed Iran to the point of considering an ultimatum-style end game in efforts to seek relief from the U.S. and European sanctions, which have targeted Iran's vital oil exports and its ability to use international banking networks.

A complex financial strategy that was supposed to save Philadelphia money on bonds it sold investors in the mid-2000s could end up costing the city up to $186 million, compared with what issuing simple fixed-rate bonds would have cost, city treasurer Nancy Winkler told City Council members at a hearing Tuesday organized by Jim Kenney (D., at-large). According to testimony from Winkler and other experts, the city arranged interest-rate swaps with Wall Street banks in exchange for up-front cash and to protect taxpayers from the risk of rising interest rates.

Andy Reid's intent on Monday, after Nnamdi Asomugha openly questioned some of Juan Castillo's play-calling, was clear. The Eagles coach could not let his defensive coordinator be second-guessed, even if Asomugha made some perfectly reasonable points, and even if the facts don't entirely back up Reid's claims. Reid, however, gave Castillo a less-than-enthusiastic endorsement when he was asked Monday if the coordinator would continue to call plays when the Eagles return from the bye. "That's the way I'm looking at it right now," Reid said.

DENVER - Obama advisers conceded Thursday that the president delivered a lackluster performance in the first presidential debate, and said that the campaign would tweak its strategy, which centered on taking a calm and cautious approach to Mitt Romney, for the next one. An animated Romney set the terms of the 90-minute debate at the University of Denver Wednesday and stayed on offense, while President Obama avoided delivering the sharpest attacks...

By David D. Foster The war in Afghanistan is lost. Not in the military sense of winning versus losing. The war is lost in that it is missing - indefensibly absent from the debate surrounding the election for our new commander in chief. Under the current plan, there are 28 months of combat remaining-nearly 10 times the length of the Gulf War and more than half the total duration of World War II. As a nation we have been lulled into believing that the tough decisions have already been made and that we are on a two-year glide path to the end of the war. That is simply not the case.

ATLANTIC CITY - The state's Assembly Tourism and Arts Committee meets here Wednesday for a special public hearing. Call it a mini-State of the State of Atlantic City. With gambling revenue continuing to tumble - as evidenced by the recent financial travails of the $2.4 billion Revel, Atlantic City has to come up with another strategy to survive, and hopefully again thrive. The hearing, which will feature the state's heavy hitters in travel and tourism, comes at a crucial time.