text:
The Most Important Election of Your Life Is Not This Year
What Does G4S Know About the Orlando Nightclub Massacre?
Chris Hedges Discusses Israeli Occupation With Israeli Journalist Amira Hass (Video)
Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren Campaign Together for First Time (Video)
Rally Outside U.K. Parliament Boosts Embattled Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn (Multimedia)
Jon Wiener $27.95
Gage Skidmore (CC-BY)
Observers credit a spate of attack ads for Newt Gingrich's recent tumble—and Mitt Romney's rise—in Iowa polls ahead of the state's Republican caucus. But where did they come from? Not Romney's campaign, but rather a PAC staffed by former Romney insiders and empowered by the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling to spend as much as it likes to destroy his opponents.
Flickr / Gage Skidmore
Andrew Breitbart, founder and publisher of America's premier right-wing smear outfit, BigGovernment.com, has released yet another candid cam hatchet job, this one supposedly showing two professors at the University of Missouri instructing students on how to use violence to further the goals of the labor movement.
When Elizabeth Cheney, William Kristol and their media friends slander Justice Department attorneys as the "al-Qaida 7" and malign the "Department of Jihad," they are engaging in the smear tactics that became synonymous with Joseph McCarthy.
The former vice president's ambitious daughter has in her hand a list of nine Justice Department lawyers whose "values" she has the gall to question. She ought to spend the time examining her own principles, if she can find them.
Is the conservative creator of torture-evangelist "24" really the right person to helm a miniseries about the Kennedys? On the basis of a draft of the script, some scholars say "no." Above is one of those scholars, Theodore C. Sorensen, an adviser to President John F. Kennedy.
The screwball industry has ratcheted up from accusing Obama of killing his grandma to accusing him of trying to kill your grandma.
Why this obsession over Obama's birthplace persists is a question that evokes disturbing answers.
On this Tuesday, the 48th anniversary of your birth, we thought we'd remind you that you were born in Honolulu, which is in the United States of America, no matter what those pesky "birthers" have to say about it. Here's a copy of your birth certificate, in case you need one.
Flickr / brownpau
If there's been a more clinically insane political phenomenon in my lifetime than the "birthers," I've missed it. Is this what our national discourse has come to? Sheer paranoid fantasy?
White House / Ollie Atkins
Two Truthdig contributors are under siege by an "independent historian" and The New York Times. If that sounds preposterous, just wait until you see what made it onto the front page. Last Sunday, the paper of record cited an unpublished article contending that historian Stanley Kutler deliberately altered transcripts of Nixon's secret tapes in order to protect John Dean.
On Wednesday, Fox News' Carl Cameron kicked off a round of Republican in-fighting that had snowballed considerably by Wednesday, thanks to reports from unnamed McCain campaign informants about Sarah Palin's alleged "diva"-like behavior.
By Mike Luckovich
Stephen Colbert has figured out John McCain's new campaign strategy of trying to paint his rival as a socialist: "Clearly the McCain campaign is targeting its most important voter: Joe the McCarthy."
Every election season, some independent groups sizzle with controversy and impact, and others fizzle. We couldn't tell at first, but the National Republican Trust PAC appears to be of the sizzling variety.
So, everyone has a relative, or perhaps a neighbor, who has spread warnings in hushed tones about Barack Obama's years of secret indoctrination at a Muslim madrassa (gasp!) in Indonesia—as though affiliating with a Muslim community of any description is cause for concern—a rumor that has been disproved many times. Here's a fun look into the origin of the chain e-mail that started that particular smear.
If guilt-by-association is a game Sarah Palin wants to play, Keith Olbermann is more than happy to go head-to-head. Rev. Muthee, the witch vanquisher, anyone? How about secessionist Joe Vogler?
AP photo / Ron Edmonds
Truthdig's chief political correspondent weighs in on the week in politics. From "pallin' around with terrorists" to Tuesday's debate, Team McCain is "going for the gut," but will it work?
Flickr / buddhakiwi
"Americans need to ask themselves if they've ever befriended an unrepentant terrorist," says McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds. The AP called similar remarks by running mate Sarah Palin "racially tinged" and Time said the claim was "simply wrong," but the McCain campaign shows no signs of backing down from its new strategy.
Flickr / aesop
Team McCain has rejected the "vicious smear" that as mayor of Wasilla, Sarah Palin wanted to ban books from the local library, but the campaign's 1,615-word memo on the subject indirectly supports the accusation. As Palin's mayoral predecessor recalls, "She asked the library how she could go about banning books." According to the Anchorage Daily News, she also fired the library director "without warning" for "not fully supporting her efforts to govern."
The Center for Investigative Reporting has traced the origins of a mysterious attack ad that made headlines earlier in the campaign with its portrayal of Barack Obama as an anti-Christian Muslim who refuses to pledge allegiance. It turns out that the nonsense was assembled by a hypnotherapist, a wedding videographer and a felon on the run, showing "the outsize influence that a hodgepodge collection of political amateurs can have in a national election—in this case, by accident."
Here come the goons, right on schedule. The "author," and I use the term loosely, whose vicious lies damaged John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign has crawled back out from under his rock to spew vicious lies about Barack Obama.
As if he's already secured the nomination, Rudy Giuliani has begun to focus his vitriol on the other party's presumptive nominee, Hillary Clinton: "I don't know Hillary's experience. She's never run a city." It's been a long, long time since we've had an ex-mayor occupying the Oval Office. Maybe Giuliani is on to something here. There just has to be some parallel between being a mayor and the leader of the world's only superpower.
Keith Olbermann handed "comedian" Rush Limbaugh the "worst person in the world" award Friday for claiming that the Virginia Tech shooter must have been a liberal.
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As the latest news headlines discuss FDA concerns over the harmful effects of exogenous testosterone replacement, sociologists review the latest casualties from an advertising strategy called "medicalization." Medicalization is the intentional creation of disease terminology to describe normal bodily functions and processes. This is done to sell consumers products or services.
Advertisements and promotional materials may mimic scientific or medical reports but there is very little actual clinical research. In other cases, legitimate research may be intentionally misrepresented to support use of their products.
New face, same story
While much of the story has remained the same for decades now, there is a new face to the victims.
Testosterone is just the latest gimmick in a quasi-medical quest to find the fabled fountain of youth. For decades, the pharmaceutical companies have been marketing hormone replacement as the key to youth, vitality, glowing skin and sexual enjoyment. The only difference this time around in the ever revolving onslaught of 'instant medical fixes" is the target audience: Men.
Related: See Abc's report on Testosterone & the Fountain of Youth.
For decades, women (and their doctors) were the main targets of pharmaceutical advertisers in their quest for profits from hormone replacement therapies.
Since the turn of the century, female health and sexuality were a source of avid interest and income for a myriad of quasi-medical practitioners and snake oil salesmen. Much of this interest was focused on retaining female desirability and sexual vitality, but masked as medical illness.
Menopause and the aging process itself were medicalized and re-catagorized as a disease state. Like any other medical disease, menopause and the female aging process were to be avoided at all costs. Generations of physicians were taught that not only was exogenous estrogen the cure for their female patients but that withholding prescriptions to this magical elixir was akin to a lifetime sentence of dull skin, deep wrinkles, a dowager's hump and a sexless identity. Furthermore, as natural stores of estrogen 'dried up' within their withered patients, crippling depression and early dementia were likely to set in.
Estrogen as a "cure-all"
At the peak of this "medicalization" in the 1960's; middle-aged and elderly women were subjected to enormous pressure and disinformation campaigns aimed at selling "youth in a bottle," often with devastating effects. One of the guiding forces promoting estrogen replacement was famed gynecologist, Dr. Robert Wilson. In 1966, he published a landmark piece of propaganda, "Feminine Forever," which advanced poorly supported theories that menopause and associated effects could be easily avoided with just a little pill. As explained by Robert Bazell at NBC news; whether Dr. Wilson's motives were financially or medically founded remains debatable, but the effects of his efforts are indisputable.
"Feminine Forever"
It's no wonder then, as medical historians peruse vintage medical advertisements and journal articles, that record numbers of women were placed on hormone replacement therapies despite very limited knowledge of the long term effect of these treatments. It's a decision that continues to haunt the medical community today; as the first generation of women to graduate from oral contraceptives in their 20's to hormone replacement in their 50's and are now entering their seventh and eighth decades, some still on hormone therapies.
Related: compare Low T advertisements to historical estrogen propaganda
In light of massive controversies of the 1990's, estrogen is no longer seen as a panacea treatment for the normal aging process. As serious concerns regarding the link to female cancers (breast, uterine, ovarian/endometrial) emerged, as well as the cardiovascular effects and thrombogenic (clot-causing) potential regarding all types of female hormone replacement, including contraceptives, estrogen has lost its allure among executives. Companies no longer tout estrogen replacement as essential to the well-being of older womanhood, and it is no longer automatically prescribed by physicians unilaterally. But it has taken over forty years for chemists, medical specialists and the general public to understand that there is no "magic pill" for female youth and sexuality.
From avoiding aging to managing menopausal symptoms, to a cream for vaginal dryness
As concerns over the health effects of estrogen containing medications developed, estrogen doses were dramatically reduced. At the same time, the marketing strategies behind hormone replacement were downplayed. No longer an essential requirement to prevent America's mothers and grandmothers from becoming withered, stooped and demented crones, hormone replacement was now marketed as a short-term bridge to alleviate the physical manifestations of menopause like hot flashes.
Most recently, it seems that estrogen has been downgraded to something along the lines of a prescriptive equivalent to K-Y jelly. For feminists and physicians alike, it's been quiet victory for women's health.
The Low T phenomenon
Just as estrogen was losing its marketability, along came a new segment of willing volunteers. Prompted by the success of erectile dysfunction and male pattern baldness prescriptions after widespread and pervasive ad campaigns in heavy television rotation, "male menopause" was born. As New Zealand researcher, Elizabeth Watkins explained in her 2007 article, "The medicalization of male menopause in America," the concepts of "low T", "testosterone replacement" and similar ideas didn't come from scientific literature or medical research.
Instead "Low T" is the newest, less-than-subtle marketing foray into issues of male virility, ego and insecurities. Instead of selling penis pumps, hidden lift shoe inserts or woven toupees, older males are being sold a medical "condition" and a seemingly 'easy' cure: testosterone.
Serious medical side effects
Unfortunately, while the onslaught of ads manipulating men under the guise of medicine and health may represent advancements in gender equality, these very real medications also carry very real, serious and potentially fatal consequences. In fact, recent studies linked testosterone use to increased risk of heart attack, stroke and death. One study showed the risk of heart attack to be double in men taking testosterone.
Not for everyone, and never an easy decision
While there are legitimate medical uses of hormone therapies for both genders, these treatments are individualized for specific users and circumstances. Treatment options are made in conjunction with medical professionals who specialize in treating these conditions. Together patients and professionals carefully consider these issues while weighing the risks and consequences of use.
"If it sounds too good to be true"
There is no magic solution to restore youth, vitality or create a sexual satyr. But there is always someone out there ready to capitalize on our willingness to believe in fast, easy or miracle solutions.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
TC TO JANE WELSH CARLYLE; 21 September 1849; DOI: 10.1215/lt-18490921-TC-JWC-01; CL 24: 242-243
Scotsbrig, 21 Septr (Friday) 1849
We were all much disappointed today when, going to the Postman's place of deposit, the answer was, He had not called at all! No remedy for it. On coming home, however, a Note of Geraldine's1 with a Dumfries Newspaper lay here: The Postman had given them to one of Jamie's harvest-people by the wayside; and so, tho' not by an abbreviated route, they had arrived.
Poor creature, you have had a "bad headache" again; a most sad preparation for a long journey! Could not travel on Wednesday, but had to lie in sick misery instead. I rather dreaded such a thing, as the residue of past ailments. However I do now infer from Geraldine's Note, which seems to bear tho' indistinctly the London Postmark according to its intention, that you are at least in your own home at Chelsea; which is one point gained, and a great one.2 Tomorrow surely will bring me a Note from your own hand: may it report all well, especially your poor little self well. A good sleep in your own old bed would cover a multitude of cracks. We shall lie in wait for the Postman tomorrow, and catch his Letter at first hand!— I must have written you today at any rate, independent of Geraldine's Letter, for tomorrow there will be no post to London.
Repose here, excellent sleep nightly, and a day of the most perfect vacancy from effort or disturbance of any kind, are duly vouchsafed me: no other news have I, or can I have. About 8 o'clock usually I awaken; find a Tub of excellent rain-water with two big sponges waiting me from the previous night; get into these, and splash (a blessing denied me, all the time, at Glen Truim); splashing is hardly done when in my Mother's room a neat hot breakfast, of coffee, toast, and an excellent egg, waits me: after which a day of "sauntering about the doon,"3 reading some foolish, empty but not entirely insane Book (Voyage en Espagne, an old image of Spanish grandeur, folly and wickedness of Louis XIV's time, has served me these last 3 days); dinner of chicken-broth with a slice of excellent ham, is "on the table at 4" (an hour or more too early,—except when, as yesterday, I omit it altogether); tea at 5, all ready for tea by that time: after which I sally forth with a stick in my hand, and take a long stretch of walking. One night round by Castlebank, Grahamhall (if you knew all these localities, on the Pennersaughs side) and Ecclefechan: last night, by Cushat Hill, and damp shady woods, which brought me home by Waterbeck;—a strange impressive kind of course for me, with the autumn wind soughing over the back wildernesses, and "ghosts" sitting on the tail of every cloud for me! After porridge, I have a little more reading sometimes, at all events an ultimate smoke is due; and then I tumble into bed. Such a life as I say to myself, cannot last forever! Yesterday Grahame came, poor old fellow; I had to omit dinner, get him some tea quam primum [as soon as possible], and set him on his way again. Wearisome extremely was the good man's talk to me, is indeed almost all talk.— I wait your report on Chelsea, and shall then try to fix my day.
Jamie is ending his cutting operation today; busy too in "carrying," has already two ricks in: a loud grey northwind blowing everywhere. Irish beggars abound; hardly any other new phenomenon at all. A poor vagrant Irishman coming from Langholm4 was taken with cholera on the edge of this Parish; nobody wd take him in; he was carted to Waterbeck; still nobody had pity enough to overcome his cowardice and horrow;5 the poor man was again carted to and fro for hours; finally was carted back to Langholm, with difficulty there was got into a house, and in a short space after died: no more shocking history have I heard this long while.— The express train (from Lockerby a little before 1 p.m.), which reaches Eustn Sqre at 11, that seems the Train for me. God bless thee, dear little Goody! Write, write.
T. Carlyle


text:
Andrew Ralph Stynchula
Position: DE-DT
Height: 6-3 Weight: 252 lbs.
Born: January 7, 1939 in Greenwald, PA
Died: August 1, 1985 in Great Harbour Cay, Bahamas
High School: Latrobe
College: Penn St. (school history)
Drafted by the Washington Redskins in the 3rd round (28th overall) of the 1960 NFL Draft.
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 36 (2665th overall since 1950)
Sponsor this page for $5 and help Pro-Football-Reference.com provide this service. Your message will replace this ad.
1963 Game Log: Regular Season · Playoffs · vs.


text:
Lady Raiders Fall to Fourth Place at Big 12 Championships
Gabby Dominguez wrapped the second day of the Big 12 Championships tied for eighth overall.
April 20, 2013
Live Scoring | Round 2 Results | Round 3 Pairings | Photo Gallery
AMES, Iowa -The Texas Tech women's golf team fell to fourth place Saturday at the Big 12 Championships after an 8-over-par 296 second round at The Harvester in Rhodes, Iowa.
The Lady Raiders, who led the tournament after 18 holes on Friday, are just seven strokes back of leader Baylor, which climbed the leaderboard over the second round following a 2-under second round.
Oklahoma State and host Iowa State are a stroke back of the Lady Bears in a tie for second place at 30-over for the tournament. Tech is now 36-over, four strokes up on fifth-place Oklahoma.
"We still have a chance to win the tournament, and that's our message to our players," Tech head coach JoJo Robertson said. "The weather was much better today and I hoped that would result in a few more birdies. A good start tomorrow will put us right back in contention so that's what we will hope for."
The Lady Raiders played through cold and rainy conditions on Friday which caused high scores throughout the nine-team field. Tech's second-day card was 20 strokes better than its opening round score.
Beverly Mendoza recorded Tech's lowest score on the day with an even-par 72 that moved the junior into a tie for 15th overall. She is one of three Lady Raiders among the top-20 individuals, joining Kim Kaufman and Gabby Dominguez.
Kaufman and Dominguez are both tied for seventh at 7-over for the tournament after Kaufman fired a 4-over 76 second round while Dominguez was just 1-over, a five stroke improvement from the day before.
Elin Arvidsson completed Tech's card with a 3-over 75 to move into a tie for 23rd overall. Kimmy Hillimproved by 16 strokes from the first round with a 4-over card.
The Lady Raiders are expected to tee off the final round at 8:50 a.m. Sunday morning. Tech will be paired with Oklahoma and TCU over the final 18 holes.


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text:
Mayor's Office
Local Chief Executive
Municipal Mayor: Jonathan D. Tan
The Mayor as the Local Chief Executive (LCE) heads the local government organization. The Local Chief Executive is responsible for the human resource development and management of the staff and personnel of the local government and exercises supervision and control over all programs/projects and other government concerns pursuant to the provisions of the law.
Under the Office of the Municipal Mayor the following complements are under his direct supervision:
- Personnel Staff
- Market and Slaughterhouse
- Human Resource Development
- Municipal Tourism Office
- Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office(MDRRMO)


text:
Worthy Causes
Donations Put to Work
HORNADY MFG CO Rifle Ammunition
Custom-grade ammunition from the factory. Built to the tightest tolerances for peak performance rivaling and sometimes surpassing handloads in many guns. The InterLock is designed to be a devastating hunting bullet and nothing less. The InterLock Ring - a Hornady exclusive - ensures that the core and jacket remain locked during expansion. The InterLock retains more mass, energy and momentum after impact and transfers that energy to the target. Its reliable stopping power has earned the InterLock a worldwide reputation as a bullet for serious hunters. This ammunition is new production, non-corrosive, in boxer primed, reloadable brass cases.
SPECIFICATIONS:Mfg Item Num: 8060 Category: AMMO CENTERFIRE Caliber :7mm Remington MagnumBullet Type :Interlock Spire PointBullet Weight :154 GRMuzzle Energy :3149 ft lbsMuzzle Velocity :3035 fpsRounds/box :20 Rounds Per Box, 10 Boxes Per CaseGame Category :Fragmentation :Casing Material :Penetration Factor :


text:
Freshman Xianmei Jin
Sept. 29, 2013
By Tyler Wooten
KANSAS CITY -- Saluki women's golf will make the trek to the University of Missouri-Kansas City on Monday for the two-day UMKC Fall Invitational at the Shoal Creek Country Club golf course (6,124-yards, par 72) in the hopes of bouncing back with a high finish.
A total of 60 golfers will compete in the tournament, and nine schools will field squads in Kansas City: Bradley, Cal State Bakersfield, Drake, UMKC, Northern Illinois, Nebraska-Omaha, South Dakota State, Southern Illinois and William Jewell College.
Competing for Southern will be seniors Ashleigh Rushing and Cassie Rushing, junior Kris Grimes, and freshmen Brooke Cusumano and Xianmei Jin. Sophomore Mattie Lindner will also compete as an individual.
Competition begins Monday morning at 8 a.m.


text:
20 Oct 03:00 2003
ANN: Albert v0.4.7 released
Stig E Sandoe <stig <at> users.sourceforge.net>
hei, Albert, the javadoc-alike tool for Common Lisp, has made a couple of steps further from the v0.4.6 release. The v0.4.7 release contains several fixes and add-ons which you might find useful when documenting your CL software: - Control presentation of functions/variables/etc depending on whether it's exported from a package. - Support for including legal notice/licencefile. - More precise control of presentation via configurable settings. - Albert is now usable with MK-Defsystem, CLISP and without any intermediate xml-files (ie it can be run with CL alone). - Several bugs and issues fixed, as well as improved the lisp-reader to handle more situations with grace, instead of ending in an ERROR. Navigation icons also updated to work properly with Internet Explorer. (See Changelog for more details. This is a 'Release Early+Often' release.) Several known issues remain, e.g make presentation order for 'package full listing' configurable. These will be addressed, but to be able to make correct priorities feedback from you is needed. To be able to make Albert useful for Lisp projects I need to know what's important for your lisp project and what features you need. I'm also interested in knowing how you use Albert and about any problems with the current release. Please use my mail-address or the bug/request trackers. Albert has a homepage at: http://albert.sourceforge.net/(Continue reading)


text:
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text:
Permanent URL to this publication: http://dx.doi.org/10.5167/uzh-36321
Gross, K; Pasinelli, G; Kunc, H P (2010). Behavioral plasticity allows short-term adjustment to a novel environment. American Naturalist, 176(4):456-464.
View at publisher
Many species are currently experiencing anthropogenically driven environmental changes. Among these changes, increasing noise levels are specifically a problem for species relying on acoustic communication. Recent evidence suggests that some species adjust their acoustic signals to man-made noise. However, it is unknown whether these changes occur through short-term and reversible adjustments by behavioral plasticity or through long-term adaptations by evolutionary change. Using behavioral observations and playback experiments, we show that male reed buntings (Emberiza schoeniclus) adjusted their songs immediately, singing at a higher minimum frequency and at a lower rate when noise levels were high. Our data showed that these changes in singing behavior were short-term adjustments of signal characteristics resulting from behavioral plasticity, rather than a long-term adaptation. However, more males remained unpaired at a noisy location than at a quiet location throughout the breeding season. Thus, phenotypic plasticity enables individuals to respond to environmental changes, but whether these short-term adjustments are beneficial remains to be seen.
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|Communities & Collections:
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|Dewey Decimal Classification:
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590 Animals (Zoology)
|August 2010
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text:
Last night, I found it hard to go to sleep. So I started reminiscing about life. I don't know what got me started, but I started thinking about the past November through January. And as I lay there, supposedly trying to sleep, I couldn't help but literally laughing out loud about the past. I'm sure some of you know, and I have briefly referred to in the past, how Rob and I got engaged on November 6 and got married on January 2. It was quite the speedy turn around. But last night I was remembering in detail all the frustrations and obstacles that came up along the way, and in hindsight, it's a really funny story. Let's start at the beginning. Rob proposed the night before my 21st birthday. As my dad likes to say, "You gave up your freedom before you even had it!" We were planning to get married on May 15th. We were planning on Rob getting Fort Campbell as his next base, and we were planning on buying a house in Nashville so that I could continue going to my college and he could go to work at Fort Campbell. We had everything worked out perfectly. Except for the fact that I only had six months to plan a wedding, and David Tutella's wedding book suggests having a good nine months to a year to plan! I was behind and had to hit the ground running.
So the day after we got engaged, I was just so anxious that I started looking for dresses that afternoon! And not only did I look for dresses that afternoon…but I looked at 10 different stores and tried on over 30 different dresses within the next 5 days. I was worn out with dress shopping, and I didn't even have a venue yet (we will get to that part of the story in a minute). Finally, I found this wonderful dress at a really high end boutique where pretty much everything was out of my price range…except for this one dress. It had been a sample dress, and it was the last one left. It was on clearance for 60% off of its original price, and I snagged it for an amazingly low price. So, exactly one week after the day I got engaged, I had my wedding gown.
Now came the time to look at venues. I had started looking at a tea house that was located just a couple of miles from my home. It was beautiful. We had gone there and looked at everything, talked with the people, gotten a rough estimate of the price, and it all just seemed perfect. So, I was ready to put down my deposit right after the engagement. I kid you not, weeks passed and I could not get these people to call me back. She said she would have dessert menus to me on a certain day, and never did. She said she would call me at certain times, and never did. And every time I called for her, she was busy. So then, when I complained to the manager (which was the wedding planner's mother) she never apologized to me for being left hanging on a wire for weeks, instead she said that her daughter would get back to me when she had time. Not only that, but she acted like I was the one causing the inconvenience. I don't know if they had forgotten the meaning of customer service, but I respectfully told them they would not be hearing from me anymore.
I was devastated. This was the place that seemed so perfect. And now, with only five and a half months left to plan, I had to find an alternate venue. So I started calling place after place after place. My mom, my sister, and I put our heads together to try to think of every place imaginable. I will never forget the Wednesday night that I called a venue to get pricing information. They asked me what my budget was, and when I told them, they said, "Good luck having a wedding in Nashville for that. Most people spend about $20,000." TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS?! I started bawling. I didn't have near that kind of money, but I wanted this to be the day I had always dreamed of. I didn't know what to do.
That same night, I called a place called the Hermitage Hotel. I was sure they would be out of my price range, being that they were a beautiful historical hotel, the only 5 star 3 diamond hotel in the South. However, the wedding planner was so nice. I told her my budget, and while she said it might be hard, we could manage it. She invited me to come down and look at the place and talk to her. I went as soon as I could, and I fell in love.
Three weeks after the engagement, and two days after I found my new wedding venue that had penciled me in for May 15, Rob found out that he was being stationed in Korea. KOREA! This might have been worse news than the $20,000 wedding. We had a lot of discussing and praying to do over that Thanksgiving break (as he found out 2 days before Thanksgiving). He also found out right when all of the chaos was going on between the North and the South. I was at my wits end. We knew he would have to leave in March. And we knew that no matter what, from this point forward the plans that we make with him being in the army are never going to go the way we plan. So we knew that he would definitely be in America until March. And we knew that he was going to Korea. And we didn't know what would happen after that, or where he would go after that. So we didn't know if waiting another year to get married would be the smartest thing. So we decided to go with what we knew.
On November 29, we set the day in stone. January 2, 2011. There was an opening at the Hermitage Hotel for that day, and he would already be in Nashville on Christmas break. It was perfect, except for the fact that I had exactly 33 days to plan a wedding…oh, and exam week was coming up…oh, and I had to have an unexpected surgery 23 days before my wedding.
The month flew by. On November 30, my mom and I did 12 hours straight of shopping, getting together and sending invitations, finding bridesmaids dresses, ordering suits for the men, picking out flowers, and taking my dress to get altered (just to name a few). I remember as we were buying the invitations at 8 o'clock at night, the woman at Michael's almost didn't let me use three coupons on three different boxes of invitations. I said, "Listen. I just found out that I have to move to South Korea and now I have to plan a wedding in a month." I continued on with my sob story for another minute or two until she finally let me have 40% off all of my invitations instead of just one box of them. Not only were we going to plan this wedding in a month, but we were going to save as much money as possible.
The night before the wedding, I started feeling so sick. I had a fever and was aching all over and had the worst sore throat I had ever had. I went to my bachelorette party, and as I was walking back to my car, found that I had been towed. Yes, towed. On my wedding's eve. After every other thing that had happened…now and $80 tow charge at midnight the night before my wedding. Not to mention I was sick, had a fever, and I had such a sore throat I just wanted to have my whole neck removed.
It had been a rough month. Emotions were high. Times were intense. I had more than one emotional breakdown. I had nightmares every night of being late to my own wedding or something going terribly wrong. But in the end, I wish that the whole thing was filmed. Looking back, it was one of the most fun times of my life. I wish I could do it all again.
And then, when that Sunday morning finally came, I just took it all in. It went by so fast. I remember that I didn't want to cry as my daddy walked me down the aisle…and I cried like a baby at 2 pm on January 2. It was everything I could have every asked for. It didn't go the way I ever would have planned…and that's what made it perfect.
That's the funny thing about plans. It's like that saying that says make your plans in pencil and give God the eraser. I think that God showed me through my wedding what life is like. At times, it's hectic. It's crazy. It is overwhelming. And that's what we have God for. And in the end, it's so worth it. The harder it is, the deeper an impact it makes on your life. And looking back on it, it's something that makes your story unique and a memory to cherish forever. Embrace it.
No related posts.


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Dogfish Co-Workers took part in their first ever brewery salsa competition on May 27, 2011. No, they weren't dancing with the stars, they were dancing in their kitchens trying to create the greatest salsa ever known to man, well, ever known to one man, Sam who graciously offered his services as our official judge! Sam tasted and studied each and every creative concoction before offering his winning conclusions. (I can't be sure but I think it's safe to say he enjoyed eating the salsa more than the Spam we made him try once?)
Our Judge Sam C.
The Warehouse, HR, Marketing, The Brewers, Accounting, Sales, Maintenance and Packaging were all represented with thirteen delectable entries. Competing for the three top titles were Patrick F., myself, Todd F., Mark C., Ryan H., George M., Angela B., Bryan H., Adam L., Cindy D., Lewis M. & Chad C. There was a large variety of dishes from what one might consider "typical salsa" to salsas containing different types of fruit, one was even accompanied by home made tortilla chips with cinnamon and sugar, (combined with the strawberry salsa - it was simply to die for!).
Participants had a good time watching Sam deliberate over his choices. When he was finished, not only did he determine which salsa (or Salsa) he thought were the best - he actually graded and critiqued each entry! No one got less than a B+!
Eager Co-Workers Await Results
When everything was said and done - and Sam had major heart burn - he decided that first place was a three way tie between Adam L., Chad C. & Bryan H. Second Place went to Angela B. and third place went to George M. who made the homemade tortilla chips.
Three Way Tie 1st Place Winner Chad
Three Way Tie 1st Place Winners Adam L. & Bryan H.
2nd Place Winner Angela B.
3rd Place Winner
Once the judging was over, co-workers from all over the brewery stopped by to try the different salsas. A great time was had by all. Scratch that...a delicious time was had by all!
Stay tuned for more celebrations from the DFH co-workers!
posted 6/9/11


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DNA Database In NJ Would Be Expanded Under Legislation
Under current New Jersey law anyone convicted of 1st through 4th crimes must provide a DNA sample and pay for the procedure.
State Senator Nick Sacco sponsored the bill to make that law and he's now introduced another measure to significantly expand the state's DNA database.
Under Sacco's measure, DNA sampling would be expanded to include people convicted of disorderly persons offenses. The Senator hopes to increase the accuracy of the database and shed light on currently unsolved crimes.
The bill also establishes that a person who refuses to submit a blood or biological sample is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree. Fourth degree crimes are punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 18 months, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
"If we're serious about keeping our State's law-abiding citizens safe, we have to give the law enforcement community every tool possible to fight crime," says Sacco, D-Hudson and Bergen. "The DNA database has been one of the most significant advances in police technology in recent years, allowing police officers to gain new insights in unsolved crimes and exonerate innocent individuals. By expanding DNA sampling to anyone convicted of a crime, we can greatly increase the accuracy and effectiveness of the database."
Sacco feels DNA sampling is to 21st century police work what fingerprinting was for the 20th century. He explains, "We can quickly and easily obtain a DNA sample and compare it to an electronic database of evidence collected at crime scenes for unsolved crimes committed anywhere in the State. DNA evidence can make the difference between a cold case and a new lead, and we ought to do what we can to improve the effectiveness of this tool."
According to published reports, lawmakers in New York are considering similar legislation which would extend sampling to anyone convicted of a misdemeanor – New Jersey's criminal code does not contain misdemeanors, but rather disorderly persons offenses. The New York legislation, which is the result of negotiations between State lawmakers and Governor Andrew Cuomo, has already garnered support from the state's 62 district attorneys, 58 sheriffs, and 400 police chiefs.
Sacco hopes New Jersey can get his law on the books and then work with New York. He says, "DNA evidence has proven to be an accurate weapon in the war on crime. By creating an 'all-crimes' DNA database in New York and New Jersey, we can lead the nation in this cutting-edge area of criminal justice and crime prevention."


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Posted by Don Pavlin on 02/11/2013 12:05pm MDT tags: Photo
Photos from the 137th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York. More than 2,700 prized dogs will be on display at the annual canine competition. Two new breeds, the Russell terrier and the Treeing Walker coonhound, will be introduced in the contest.


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A mobile home was destroyed and several acres of vegetation were charred after a fire in Junction City Sunday.
The blaze was reported around 1:30 p.m. off Highway 299 and Rifle Range Road.
CAL FIRE said the fire started in the mobile home then spread to two to three acres of vegetation around the home.
Fire crews from several agencies were able to get the fire contained in less than an hour, but officials estimated they would still be on scene mopping up for several hours.
CAL FIRE said no one was hurt and the cause is under investigation.


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Oct 26 2012
Steroid Injections and Meningitis. Lawsuits Begin. Doctors in Crossfire.
By now it's common knowledge that a compounding pharmacy in Massachusetts delivered tainted preservative free methyl-prednisolone to a number of hospitals / clinics. The taint was a fungus. And morbidity and mortality have climbed.
Why did doctors/ facilities even order from a compounding pharmacy? Two reasons: First, the typical preservatives used to suppress fungus can wreak havoc if the injection accidentally strays into the spinal sac (CSF). So, preservative-free is, in principle, a good idea as it is impossible to know with certainty the injection is in the epidural space. There are ways to be quite sure – but not completely sure.
Next, preservative-free methyl-prednisolone was in short supply. Major manufacturers had exited the space.
Lawsuits have been initiated against New England Compounding Center alleging product liability, pharmacy malpractice, general negligence, breach of warranties, and more.
Most recently, two New Jersey lawsuits have targeted an orthopaedic clinic and two doctors – alleging negligence and violation of product liability laws. For attorneys prosecuting these cases, they assume that there will not be enough assets or insurance to cover claims for affected patients. New England Compounding Center will likely have to file for bankruptcy if its assets cannot cover the load. And, whether the Compounding Center has adequate insurance to defend and cover claims, who knows? Doubtful. So, attorneys will likely broaden their pool of defendants.
Typically, it's difficult to prevail against a physician in a product liability claim if the doctor didn't manufacture the defective product. The questions that will be probed: Did the doctor still use the product after the recall? Did the doctor timely notify patients at risk once aware of the problem? Would a reasonably reasonable practitioner use such a pharmacy for the specific prescription?
"The flood gates are going to open," D'Amore (a medical malpractice lawyer at the Cochran Firm in Washington, D.C.) predicted. "You're going to get people suing everyone."
State laws and the courts have traditionally protected health care providers from product-liability claims, he said. A medical malpractice suit would also have to show that providers acted both negligently and outside the norms of professional standards, D'Amore added.
That might be cold comfort to doctors who are sued, yet prevail over time.
16 Responses to "Steroid Injections and Meningitis. Lawsuits Begin. Doctors in Crossfire."
# Dr. Painon 26 Oct 2012 at 6:35 pm
I am a pain physician. I am board-certified By the American Board of anesthesiology with a subspecialty in pain medicine. I have performed over 32,000 steroid injections!!
We have never used compounding agents in our Practice. Interestingly in all, in 2004 the FDA, Recommended that we use Celestone or betamethasone for steroid injections in the spine that is epidural steroid injections. The FDA contacted Schering-Plough the manufacturer of Celestone to increase production for pain physicians. Originally Celestone was only approved for neonatal lung maturity. We stopped using methylprednisolone or triamcinolone in 2004 because of the FDA. We continued use methylprednisolone in joints that is the sacroiliac joint knee and hip joints Until last year when we changed everything over to Celestone. Basically we did this because it was getting too confusing ordering different types steroids. The reason for Celestone over methylprednisolone in the epidural space has to do with the particulate size of the Celestone. Celestone is a lot smaller hence if there is an asked this an accidental injection into an artery there's less chance of clotting the artery. I believe the real reason for using compounded steroids in the epidural space is cost.
# Kathyon 26 Oct 2012 at 6:40 pm
Another irresponsible post. First, plaintiff's are under a burden to sue all possible tortfeasors because if they don't, in most jurisdictions, the percentage of liability (or an amount), eventually attributed to a non-party, who could have been sued, will be deducted from any verdict in a plaintiff's favor. I don't know who "D'Amore" is, but if in fact he/she said, what you say he or she said, then he is also irresponsible. The reason physicians are usually insulated from product liability actions is not because what the say-nothing D'Amore stated, but as you already stated in the post, they cannot be held liable if they utitlized the steroid in the prescribed manner for epidural injections and did not use it after the recall and timely notified their patients after the recall. As for ordering the steroid from a compounding pharmacy, there are a number of drugs which cannot be obtained from regular pharmacies and presuming any number of physicians utilized this particular pharmacy, I cannot see any liability.
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# medical malpractice articleson 27 Oct 2012 at 5:41 am
Good site! I really love how it is simple on my eyes and the data are well written.
I am wondering how I could be notified whenever a new
post has been made. I've subscribed to your RSS feed which must do the trick! Have a great day!
# Medical Justiceon 27 Oct 2012 at 1:16 pm
Kathy, call me old school, but, I am not a fan of the shoot first, aim later club. Let's be clear, the statute of limitations, if that is of concern, will not come into play for a while. So, thoughtful attorneys can investigate first, then get a better idea of who the likely (not just possible) tortfeasors are. Then the likely tortfeasors can be sued.
I think we have just coined a new phrase here. "Defensive lawyering". With defensive medicine, the doctor feels compelled to order every conceivable test under the sun (no matter how unlikely a test will yield an answer) to feel comfortable he/she will be immune from litigation. With defensive lawyering, an attorney must sue every possible tortfeasor, no matter how unlikely that defendant violated a standard of care causing damages. Defensive medicine and defensive lawyering impose negative externalities.
# Kathyon 27 Oct 2012 at 4:07 pm
The statute of limitations varies and I know of no lawyer who would take a chance that they would be caught in that situation. The fact is we very well may not know the actual involvement of an individual physician until after depositions so your shoot first, aim later analogy does not work since it would put the attorney at risk for malpractice for missing a statute. In actuality, thoughtful attorneys will not sue a physician in consultation with their client who signs off in an informed consent letter acknowledging their understanding that if that physician is found a percentage liable, then they they will lose that percentage or some part of the award. The idea that somehow or another the statute of limitations provide a buffer is erroneous for many reasons: 1. you assume that the client comes with the entire time period; 2. you fail to understand just how long it takes to get all of the pertinent records; 3. check the records for completion; 4. obtain those portions not provided (the path report which is exactly what you need, the second operative report, the list is endless), 4. Analyze the records, do medical research and a memo of usually no less than 5-8 single spaced pages, 5. Locate appropriate experts for both liability and causation if necessary. These things take a lot of time and I know because I've been doing it this way for many years and successfully. In wrongful death cases you have to have an administrator of executor appointed and this may well be complex depending on how many children are involved, tax implications, and any complexities with a preexisting estate. And, just like a doctor, we have more than one client at a time.
Lastly, your analogy to defensive medicine is also faulty. First, the physician is in control of the medical information and has a relationship with the patient. The attorney representing a plaintiff has only the information from the client who is not medically sophisticated, has to rely on the medical records which may be difficult to read, sparse EHR, and the attorney does not have access to investigations performed after the fact or the impressions of other pertinent medical witnesses. You see Medical Justice the actual odds are stacked in your favor. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have, since I actually have a plaintiff's medical malpractice practice, I understand how it works in the real world. You've been talking to too many defense attorneys.
# Harlan Ribnik, MDon 27 Oct 2012 at 5:57 pm
Adding to the list of defendants will surely add to the costs of litigation geometrically, not linearly. Plaintiffs generally see about 25% of the award, and this will decrease with the only clear winners being the attorneys. Oddly, it is the defense bar that most reliably is paid, regardless of the merits of the case.
It remains a puzzle to me why our system, unlike that of nearly every other civilized nation, will not adopt a "loser pays" mode of dispute settlement. Specious claims will not be brought, understanding that if you lose, you will have to pay to play. We simply can't afford the system as it is.
This excellent website really has all of the information and facts I
needed concerning this subject and didn't know who to ask.
# Tom MDon 28 Oct 2012 at 12:14 pm
Interesting Post and comments. i would like to know more about what defines proper use of compounded medications. Does there have be a advantage? Does it have to be the only way to get the medication?
# Medical Justiceon 28 Oct 2012 at 12:52 pm
Tom…Great question. My understanding is there were good reasons to use single dose preservative-free methyl-prednisolone. Single dose versus multi-dose vials prevents the issues that nearly bankrupted a professional liability carrier in Nevada. In a surgicenter, allegations were made that multi-dose propofol vials were used for sedation in colonoscopy. Several patients developed hepatitis and the question was whether the vials were a vector from an infected patient. This suit was settled with Teva Pharmaceuticals and Baxter for several hundred million dollars. Then, Teva exited the propofol market. Next, preservatives can cause severe arachnoiditis if injected into the thecal sac. Why would a medication intended for the epidural space ever get into the thecal sac? Because even with fluoroscopic guidance, it happens. And if it happens despite the best of technique and an abundance of caution, the patient can be injured.
So, strong argument can be made for single dose, preservative free steroid vials.
What I do not know is whether these compounds could be purchased from big Pharma. For all types of steroid medications, there have been episodic shortages. So, even if available, having more than one source would make sense.
# Dr. Painon 28 Oct 2012 at 2:03 pm
Medical justice…. Methylprednisolone can be purchased preservative free single-dose vials. In fact this is what we used until 2004. Once again the FDA recommended use of betamethasone or Celestone for interlaminar epidural steroid injections. Celestone is with a preservative and is in a multidose vial. I did not believe anybody still used methylprednisolone for interlaminar epidural steroid injections. I believe the answer is preservative free Celestone for interlaminar epidural steroid injections. This would have to come directly from the manufacturer Schering-Plough. The transforaminal epidural steroid injection is a whole different ballgame!!
# Michael M. Rosenblatton 29 Oct 2012 at 11:56 am
This article discusses the legal exposure for physicians who used an unexpectedly adulterated product over which the only control they had was to use or not use it. An interesting way to look at this is through plaintiff's attorneys' eyes, who deliberately selects the widest range of defendants they can in order to avoid charges of errors and omissions on their part. Medical Justice correctly compared this to a shotgun approach often used by physicians (tests and procedures) to avoid the same complaints.
In this case, Government dropped the ball. There was no or completely inadequate supervision of the compounders. Physicians pay taxes (like everyone else) for regulation. The same complaint was used regarding the financial industry, during the great crash of 2008. The model used by Government to fix the financial crisis was to lend/give money to miscreants to increase liquidity in the emergency.
Maybe Government should face up to their responsibility: Provide physicians with a pre-paid Government issued insurance policy relating only to this incident.
In the case of the Great financial collapse, erstwhile regulators who utterly failed their duty stepped neatly through revolving doors to 7 figure incomes from private investment firms after the fact without answering a single question. Congress, in their infinite wisdom (Rep. Pete Stark) has chosen instead to block physicians from the same financial structures that private industry and legal providers have used and continue to use for years.
Michael M. Rosenblatt, DPM
# John Michael Sheehanon 01 Nov 2012 at 6:42 pm
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# Custom bottled wateron 01 Nov 2012 at 7:52 pm
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# Questionon 02 Nov 2012 at 11:03 am
Dr. Pain – Since no manufacturer makes celestone preservative free and particulate free then it would have to be purchased from a compounding pharmacy right? It seems that if the compounding pharmacies that provide sterile injectables (not commercially available) were required to test each lot for bacteria, endotoxins, and fungus using a 3rd party lab and not allowed to ship until the microbiology results were on record it would be much safer. Some pharmacies do this already and some do not so the cost of production may go up a little but it would be safer and eliminate issues like the one being discussed.
# Expert medical lawyeron 21 Nov 2012 at 8:17 am
This is really good action taken by the government. This is looking like that the government is more conscious about medical malpractice issues.


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"The Real Housewives of Atlanta" star NeNe Leakes was shocked when she learned that Kenya Moore was hosting a masquerade ball in NeNe's honor without informing her about it. The ball was for charity and would be benefitting one of NeNe's favorite charities. However, NeNe didn't seem to enjoy it too much. According to a new Wetpaint Entertainment report published on Feb. 16, "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" star NeNe Leakes is now revealing that she may not be friends with Marlo Hampton anymore.
She learned before the ball that Kenya and Marlo had been hanging out and it sounds like Marlo was shocked that NeNe acted out after learning about their friendship. "Tell the whole of Atlanta why you're not talking to me — because I'm Kenya's friend?" Marlo shouts after NeNe as she decides to leave the party. Then, we see Gregg escorting NeNe away, while she hurls a water bottle into the ground. "Don't try me like that!" she screams back.
It is questionable whether these two remain friends to this day, but NeNe is often quick to cut people out if she feels wrong about the entire thing. What do you think?


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What Bush Said About Us:
Please Tell Me It Isn't So!
Mary Lamble
From: "Mary Lamble"
To: "Positive Atheism" <email@example.com>
Sent: February 24, 2002 4:46 PM
Subject: I appreciate the site
I just found your site, while surfing the web. I've been an atheist since age 11 or 12 (now 42). It is so nice to see an intelligent site that does not allow rudeness. I've enjoyed other sites, but this one I intend to visit, often.
George W. Bush mentioned in one of his speeches, recently, that 95 percent of Americans are believers. Please tell me this is not true. When I was at the Naval Academy, I was a member of the 5 percent club. It seems that I can't get above 5 percent, anywhere. (The Naval Academy 5 percent club, consists of midshipmen who didn't really belong. We just slipped in accidentally).
I would like to believe that with advances in technology and understanding of science, we would leave theism in the dust. My hope is that we can put enough doubt in the minds of children, that as they reach the age where they begin to think for themselves, they will come to the same conclusions I did. When people ask me why I am an atheist, I answer: religion doesn't make sense, or I'm not brainwashable, or I think for myself. It's becoming more difficult to "fool" children. They're too savvy.
Unfortunately, Western Kentucky, where I live, is still very backwards, and still producing poorly educated children. Media is where we can reach the minds of children. Is anyone contemplating a web site for children with questions about god? I'm not ready to start one of my own, but I'd love to help, possibly contribute.
Maybe as the elderly theists die off, so will their religions. The future belongs to the children. I have cautious hope.
From: "Positive Atheism" <email@example.com>
To: "Mary Lamble"
Subject: Re: I appreciate the site
Date: February 26, 2002 6:40 PM
It is so nice to see an intelligent site that does not allow rudeness
Well, we discourage gratuitous rudeness, but we do acknowledge that there are times when certain people are just plain asking for it.
George W. Bush mentioned in one of his speeches, recently, that 95 percent of Americans are believer. Please tell me this is not true.
It would be morally wrong for me to tell you it was not true if it was true, but I am happy to tell you that I can say, with a clear conscience, that it is simply not true!!! Gee-Dub is wrong -- very wrong -- wrong on an order of twice the figure he gave. (And that's pretty wrong, I tell you!)
According to the most recent "American Religious Identification Survey" put out every ten years by the City University of New York, those American adults who put down "Not Religious" constitute a little over 14 percent of adult Americans. (We're not just talking about those hoity-toity Christians who think their religion is so real that they actually distinguish it from what they call "religion," this category further identified itself in the survey with language such as, "secular humanist," "atheist," "agnostic," and a few others -- just to make sure.)
We have listed this survey in our Web Guide under People, in case anybody forgets and ever wants to look it up, just go to our Web Guide and it's right there. We also covered that survey and what it means to us in our November, 2001, issue, in what was a revision of an e-dispatch we issued shortly after the survey was released to the public.
I will give you one small fact that should put it in perspective, and you will see just how far off the mark the leader of our nation actually is when it comes to this matter (so far off that it can only mean that he's deliberately misrepresenting the truth or that he's listening only to those who would misrepresent the truth, because any look around will show that there are more than five percent atheists -- even in North Dakota and Alabama! But the truth is that even if his figures were accurate, he's still a bigot for thinking that percentages mean anything substantial. Furthermore, he is being grossly incompetent in his responsibility of representing all the people if he'd gloat over the "fact" that 95 percent of the people are just like him!
Here's your fact (or fact-set, if you will):
If atheism (nontheism; the lack of a god belief; whatever) was a religious denomination, we are, both in numbers and by percentages, the fastest growing denomination in America. We are head and shoulders ahead of second place in both respects, even approaching an order of ten for each of these figures.
If atheism was a religious denomination, we'd be the third largest denomination in the land, behind only the Baptists and the Roman Catholics.
If atheism was divided into two separate denomination, those under age 30 and those age 30 and above, the 30-and-above denomination would still be in third place, but the group of adult atheists under 30 would now be the sixth largest denomination in America.
I don't know where George Bush is getting what he tells us is "information" (real information has the distinction of being factual, or at least being strongly verifiable, such as having a thorough-going, exhaustive survey backing it up), but CUNY's ARIS is the most thorough survey of religious affiliation and identification going: it is the authoritative study of this area of American social life. If George Bush is our President, and if he is going to even pretend to make statements of fact -- and -- if he doesn't at least compare his statements to what this survey has said (of course, justifying why his pronouncements would deviate from it), if not obtain his information verbatim from this survey, then his irresponsibility borders on deliberate misleading and misrepresenting. In other words, for contradicting this study and failing to explain why, he would be hard-pressed to convince us, at this point, that he's not deliberately lying to the public for the purpose of either making atheists look bad or making people like himself look good. That, I think, is how authoritative this information happens to be. I looked at some of the raw data from it and was quite impressed: this study makes a Gallup poll resemble the old "man in the streets" reporting they used to do in the early days of television, when the reporter would stop people on the sidewalk and ask them a question.
I would like to believe that with advances in technology and understanding of science, we would leave theism in the dust.
The Enlightenment-era Rationalists (Deists) made this error, too. It's very tempting, and most of the writers up through Ingersoll, even, tended to think that religion was rolling over and breathing its last. As close as I can come to thinking I have an explanation for that is that the human mind has several distinct weaknesses, and that the monotheistic religions have spent the past 2,500 years perfecting techniques for exploiting these weaknesses. Also, we've only been free from the tyranny of The State Church for two-and-a-quarter centuries or less (and most of this, only conceptually, not physically). Another factor is that in America (the only country where the problem still exists to any degree at all), we have not seen the destruction that comes from a fundamentalistic government having absolute power. Even the Soviet Union, who operated under the guise of atheism, was clearly religious in its approach to atheism, and this is easily seen by anybody who bothers to look at the situation very hard at all.
Finally, we need to keep in mind that if there is a genetic factor at all, the predisposition toward credulity has been rewarded by the state church for thousands of years, while the predisposition toward independent thought has met with persecution that all but resembles natural selection. The tendency to buck against the Church has been "unnaturally selected" our of the European races for thousands of years. Still, I cannot place very much weight on this argument because we have seen how the Europeans have systematically shunned religion throughout this past century. Was it the patently wasteful World War I, as PAM reader Ruth Saunders suggests, or was it the all-out destruction of World War II, as I have pondered? Whatever it was, the almost wholesale rejection of religion by Europeans discredits, considerably, the notion that a genetic factor could play much of a role at all. If it plays a rule (and certainly it plays some role), it's not, by any means, the prominent factor that I and others have though it might be in the past, simply because evolution does not work that fast: natural selection is not likely to have caused changes as widespread as Europe has seen them as quickly as Europe has seen them: the changes are, for the most part, culturally inspired, and any genetic effects are negligible, if detectable at all.
In any event, religion (particularly the Christian religion) has, for thousands of years, enjoyed vast benefits that not only the rest of us have not enjoyed, but they have enjoyed these benefits at the expense of the rest of us! Any time one of my ancestors or ideological predecessors was burned at the stake, guess who got to place his or her estate directly into their treasury? The Church, that's who! This is why the feeble attempts to "apologize" just make me want to retch! The Church can barely bring herself to admit fault, to say, "We're sorry, we did wrong!" But where is that money? Where did my ancestors' and predecessors' money go? The American states confiscate millions from the tobacco interests for producing a product that people ingested voluntarily, knowing it was dangerous since way back in 1964 and before. They take this money for a product that's still legal in all 50 states! But where is the money that was taken, forcibly, from my ancestors and ideological predecessors? And where is the admission, on the Church's part, that they were wrong, ideologically, that my predecessors had a point in suggesting that the Church was pulling the wool over the eyes of the people?
Year after year, decade after decade, century after century, the church has gained advantage after advantage, being allowed to engage in business but then being allowed to hide her capital gains in accounts that the various Revenue Departments cannot even look at! Meanwhile, we pay her freight! And you think we have enough time at the end of an exhausting day, supporting our families and then supporting the Church that we don't even agree with, much less belong to, to wage an informational campaign in the hopes of giving our children a fighting chance against her indoctrination machine!?
And we wonder why America is so religious!? It's because we are PAYING the Church to proselytize and we're paying her again to prevent the other side from being heard! And since, after that, we haven't the capital left to take care of our own responsibilities in feeding our poor and rehabilitating our wayward, we gleefully palm those responsibilities to a Church eager to exploit this situation to gain more converts. And we wonder why America is so religious!
I think I should stop right here, as the sweat pours from my brow and off my back just typing this into the terminal. Thanks for the opportunity to think about this a little more. Please write again real soon! I'll post this as soon as I have a few free moments from all the other responsibilities of keeping this project up to par (I found and fixed the "fat pictures" bug in the Big List of Quotes today! Yay!!).
Is anyone contemplating a web site for children with questions about god?
Since Christians produce virtually all the censorware programs, which all, inevitably, pretend to protect our children (and adults) from "dangerous ideas." (And who else distrusts their own philosophical outlook so much that they'd even care about "dangerous ideas" or would go beyond protecting from exploitation? but this is where Censorware has come to.) So how would you get such a project past their "flaming sword turning every which way" if the Democratic National Committee can't even get through most of this stuff?
I wouldn't do anything for kids on the Internet, but would, rather, advocate doing it locally; that is, to offer after-school classes in history and science (featuring heavy emphasis on Liberal Scientific Method with a side dish of identifying rhetorical fallacy). This is something that even most Liberal Christians would support if we did it right. For this reason, I have repeatedly recommended that atheistic activists invest in projects that do not have a religious test (in other words, avoiding "atheists only" groups and projects except small, important but superficial projects addressing the needs of those who are already out-of-the-closet atheists).
The most I might do on the Internet might be to market a software program for kids on CD-ROM. Hey! You get these game CDs for kids in Lucky Charms, and (I kid you not) they all have The Holy Bible stuck prominently in the CD-ROM ("prominently" meaning you gotta go past the link to the Bible program to get to the good stuff). Meanwhile, creationists are exploiting children's natural interest in dinosaurs for the purpose of planting doubt in real science: let's take science back where it belongs and help foster that natural human curiosity that gets all kids (all humans) questioning anything they're told by anybody (including us).
There's a handful of ideas for you (for someone who has the resources that I don't, who can either make these ideas fly or use them to initiate a more productive brainstorm than my feeble mind is capable of holding on its own).
But anything directly on the Internet dealing with kids would, I think, need to be hosted and handled by the most trusted and most prominent agencies going, some group such as the National Academy of Sciences, who has already erected a fine response to creationism in their page called, "Science and Creationism." The Smithsonian is another natural, I'd think, considering Smithson's pronounced lack of orthodoxy! One of the better science foundations would work, such as the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in San Diego or Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland, Oregon (who has already taken some flack for an evolutionist display recently).
Getting endorsement and sponsorship and hosting from a big agency such as these would eliminate the distrust folks have (and ought to have) for the Internet, and this distrust is precisely why we have shied away from doing much for the kids under middle school-age. As far as I can tell, our readership stops at about 12 and that's fine with me: any younger and you'd better make sure the parents approve. Even if we think the parents are out-and-out nuts, it's still their right and their responsibility to educate their kids the best they know how.
In any event, the bottom line would be to teach some foundational skill, such as liberal scientific method, that doesn't necessarily polarize theism against atheism. I don't see how we could possibly go wrong with that, and I don't see how such an agenda could do anything but better equip our kids against the wiles of the real enemy of education and free thought: fundamentalism and the notion of the supremacy of doctrine and dogma over autonomous thinking and pure, unadulterated doubt.
Cliff Walker
Positive Atheism Magazine
Six-and-a-half years of service
to people with no reason to believe
Material by Cliff Walker (including unsigned editorial commentary) is copyright ©1995-2006 by Cliff Walker. Each submission is copyrighted by its writer, who retains control of the work except that by submitting it to Positive Atheism, permission has been granted to use the material or an edited version: (1) on the Positive Atheism web site; (2) in Positive Atheism Magazine; (3) in subsequent works controlled by Cliff Walker or Positive Atheism Magazine (including published or posted compilations). Excerpts not exceeding 500 words are allowed provided the proper copyright notice is affixed. Other use requires permission; Positive Atheism will work to protect the rights of all who submit their writings to us.


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by Geraldine Beaubien, midwifery student from Ireland who visited The Birth House in February, 2013
The short time that I spent in The Birth House was enough to show me a model of care that seems to work. It works for the women, their families and for the midwives attending them throughout their pregnancies, births and in the post-partum period. The midwives approach was very much an open one that gave the women a chance to express what exactly their needs were. The small details such as the offering of tea on their arrival to the centre and the comfortable chairs in the sitting room really said a lot to me. This reminded me that pregnancy is not an illness and birth is not a medical emergency. It is a miracle. It is our foundation as humans and we should treat it that way.
Many midwives have written many books about the sacred art of midwifery. It is sort of an ideal I hold some place in my head and hope that one day, I can work in a place that gives me the space to practice in such a way. This sacred art is being performed in The Birth House. Women and their families that I met during my stay appeared to have very strong connections with the midwives. They really knew each other. The consultations weren't spent flipping through charts but through conversation. This, I thought, is real midwifery.
In Ireland, midwifery has a very strong history. Midwives have been the main care-givers for women throughout their pregnancies and birth and in the post-partum period. This is something that we value immensely. Midwives attended home births throughout history. It was the only way for years. Although, the role of the midwife in the tertiary hospitals in Ireland may have changed over the years. Women in Ireland in the 21st century choose hospital births. Currently, the rate of home births is just under 1%. I work in a busy maternity hospital in Dublin, Ireland. In 2012, there were well over 9,000 births. We expect more in 2013. This puts a great pressure on the midwives to give the care that they want to give.
Thankfully, our community midwifery programmes are becoming more and more popular. Women can book in to have their babies in the hospital but they can be seen in satellite locations within a certain distance from the hospital. This alleviates pressure in the massively busy antenatal clinics that run Monday-Friday. The community midwifery programme also allows low risk women to be discharged after 12 hours of the birth for their care to be followed up at home. It may seem small, but it is a step in the right direction.
There is also a DOMINO (Domicile in and out) scheme that has been set up. This is where low-risk women will be seen by the same group of midwives throughout their pregnanacy, birth and in the post-partum period. I have met a few women that have booked in and birthed their babies under this scheme and they have been extremely happy with their care. It has only been set up in the last year and we hope to see more women partake in the scheme.
Women are asked to draw up a birth plan early in the antenatal period and this is honoured as much as the midwives possibly can in the delivery suite. We don't accommodate water births in the Republic of Ireland due to a neonatal mortality that occurred in a midwifery-led unit in years past. This is going to change in the coming months.


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College Hockey:Sioux Pull Away From Eli
ND Wins Fight-Marred Game; Eight DQ'ed
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Jason Notermann had two goals and two assists and David Lundbohm added two goals as No. 5 North Dakota skated to a 7-3 victory over Yale at Ingalls Rink before a sellout crowd of 3,486.
The Bulldogs (0-1-0), playing in their season opener, had an early lead before sixth-ranked UND (6-0-0) tallied seven of the next nine goals to break open the non-league contest that was marred by a fight in the second period.
"This was a very hard-fought game," North Dakota head coach Dean Blais said. "It was a certainly a lot closer than the score would indicate."
Late in the second period, UND took the lead on a tip in front of the Yale net. Andy Schneider gloved Joe Callahan's clearing attempt and sent the puck in the direction of Cohen. Before it reached the Eli netminder, James Massen re-directed past Cohen at 16:28 to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.
Less than a minute later, things got very ugly between the two teams. UND defenseman Matt Jones slipped to the ice as Chris Higgins went to check him against the boards, and Rory McMahon went after Higgins. A number of altercations broke out and, several minutes later when the fights finally halted, four players from each squad were handed major penalties for fighting that carried game disqualifications.
Those disqualifications also mean all eight are suspended for the next game. North Dakota's McMahon, Nick Fuher, David Hale and Kevin Spiewak were all tossed, while Higgins, Evan Wax, Stacey Bauman and Nick Deschenes went to the Yale dressing room.
"There is no place for that kind of stuff in college hockey – or any hockey," Taylor said. "I do not think Higgins' initial hit was illegal, there was no penalty for that, it is a shame that what followed had to happen."
The disqualifications wiped out North Dakota's entire third line and a defender, while Yale lost two top-line skaters, a second-liner and one of their top defenders.
Aside from the bru-ha-ha, the on-ice turning point of the game may have come early in the third period, with Yale trailing 2-1. An Eli skater had a breakaway, but Siembida made the biggest of the 26 saves he made on the night.
"That was a huge save Siembida made on the breakaway there at the start of the third," Blais said. "That gave us a great deal of momentum and who knows what might have happened if Yale had scored there. We had a few breaks and bounces, and got lucky, but sometimes you need that."
North Dakota parlayed that defensive stop into an offensive fury, taking a two-goal lead early in the period. A behind-the-net pass from Brandon Bochenski was one-timed on the ice past Cohen at 3:54, and the Eli unraveled from there. The Fighting Sioux then got goals from Jason Notermann and Lundbohm to put the game away and give the Sioux a 5-1 lead.
Yale captain Denis Nam added a power play goal at the 6:33 mark on a backhanded shot from close range which ended a string of five straight UND scores. Notermann added another score for the Sioux at 10:51, and less than three minutes later, freshman star Zach Parise fed Quinn Fylling to give the visitors a 7-2 lead. Ryan Steeves scored Yale's final goal on a penalty shot at 14:26.
Yale got on the board first on a shot by senior blueliner Greg Boucher from the right point. The officials ruled that the puck just nicked off the stick of freshman forward Christian Jensen, who was on his knees between the circles, and flew over North Dakota goalie Josh Siembida"s left shoulder 4:29 into the game.
The Fighting Sioux responded less than three minutes later on a pretty wrap-around play by junior center David Lundbohm, who got his fourth goal of the season. Lundbohm picked up the puck in the corner and then raced to the opposite side of the Yale goal before poking it inside the right leg pad of Peter Cohen at the 7:00 mark. Cohen stopped 30 of the 37 shots he faced.
The Eli had a golden opportunity to take the lead entering the second period on a power play. Jensen had a pair of chances at point-blank range but couldn"t net the puck through heavy traffic, with one bouncing off of Sioux goaltender Josh Siembida and the top of the net. Yale controlled the puck for the first part of the period, as the Sioux did not get off a shot attempt until seven minutes into the second, and their first shot on goal came with 8:30 left in the frame. The Bulldogs took 26 shots on the night, the most the Sioux have allowed so far this season.
"There are positives we can take from tonight," Yale head coach Tim Taylor said. "We created some good offensive opportunities, and we had a lot of young players with a lot of valuable minutes out there."
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The St. Louis Cardinals entered this season with a "problem" that other teams envied. The Cardinals had arguably the deepest Major League roster, while simultaneously boasting one of the best farm systems in baseball. The Cardinals brass and announcers happily discussed the overflow of talent in the organization during Spring Training. However, after yesterday's 0-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs the Cardinals are now one game under .500 for the season at 15-16. It is now all too obvious that the "problem" has become a problem. Here is how it evolved.
The Cardinals troubles started when GM John Mozeliak felt pressure to get more depth on the bench and improve team speed. To accomplish these goals, Mozeliak signed second baseman Mark Ellis to a two-year $8.75 million contract. Mozeliak then traded away David Freese to obtain centerfielders Peter Bourjos and Randal Grichuk from the Los Angeles Angels.
There was nothing wrong with these moves by themselves. By all accounts Ellis was a superb defensive second baseman and there was some need to have a backup for rookie Kolten Wong. It made sense to move Freese and his larger contract demands so that Matt Carpenter could be moved to third base to make room for Kolten Wong. It also made sense to add Bourjos and his excellent defense to center field given the defensive liabilities of Matt Holliday in leftfield and Allen Craig in right field.
The problem was not what Mozeliak did, it is what Manger Mike Matheny has done with the roster since then.
Matheny, like many managers, clearly has a bias towards players who have played for him in the past and for veterans. Therefore, when Kolten Wong struggled a bit over 76 plate appearances (.225 AVG, .276 OBP, .268) he was quickly benched, even against right-handed pitchers. In his place, the veteran Ellis and Matheny favorite Daniel Descalso were given more playing time. Eventually Wong would be demoted to Memphis and Ellis and Descalso have started at second base ever since.
As documented by Bernie Miklasz via Twitter, while Wong has struggled his numbers are actually vastly better than all other players who have started at second base. Wong was 16 for 69 at second base (.232 average), while every other second baseman has gone 5 for 59 (.084).
Instead of allowing Wong to simply work through his struggles, which every Major League baseball player must do at some point anyway, the Cardinals organization curiously abandoned what they previously called the long-term solution at second base. Who knows what effect the demotion had on Wong's confidence. What is known is that the effect on the Cardinals offense has been negative.
Then there is the curious case of Jon Jay and Peter Bourjos. By all indications Bourjos was acquired mostly for his defense in centerfield, one of the few positions where elite defense can make up for sub-par offense.
Like Wong, Bourjos struggled a bit out of the gate with a .208 AVG, .291 OBP, and .417 SLUG. Bourjos was given even less of an opportunity to work out of his slump as he has only 55 plate appearances this year. Bourjos defense, as advertised, has been outstanding with a 33.9 UZR.
Because Bourjos committed the Cardinals sin (pun intended) of struggling over 55 plate appearances, he has been largely relegated to the bench while Jon Jay is given starts in center. Jay, over 84 plate appearances, has .243 AVG, .317 OBP, and .365 SLUG.
So the Cardinals benched Bourjos with a .708 OPS (On-base plus SLUG percentage) because they desperately needed the offense of Jon Jay, who is currently sporting a .682 OPS. Oh, and by the way Jay is playing sub-par defense in centerfield with a -0.8 UZR.
Bourjos and Wong are the two primary examples, but there are many more that could be expounded upon if there was time. Carlos Martinez has been relegated to a relief role even though he is clearly a starter in the long-term and outperformed Joe Kelly this spring. Oscar Taveras is mashing away with a .852 OPS in Memphis while the big league club gets blanked by Jake Arrieta. The Cardinals are a team built for the future by their general manager, but the team's manager is still playing in the past.
The Cardinals do have an influx of young talent, but it is currently being stowed away due to the favoritism toward older, more established players on the roster. There is not only a Ferrari in the garage (Carlos Martinez), but also a Lamborghini (Bourjos), and a Porsche (Wong), and a Bentley (Taveras). Some ask what harm can exist with this excess. Well the Cardinals are currently 15-16 while the drive around used Escorts, and anyone familiar with nice cars knows that one of the worst things you can do is let them sit dormant for too long. That, in summary, is the problem with the St. Louis Cardinals of 2014.


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Patrick R. McCarthy, PGA
Main Address:
Huntington Crescent Club
PO Box 1800
Huntington, NY 11743-0469
(631) 421-5180
PO Box 1800
Huntington, NY 11743-0469
(631) 421-5180
Washington Dr & Rt 25A
Huntington, NY 11743
Huntington, NY 11743
(631) 421-5180
Patrick McCarthy is a PGA Professional in Huntington, NY. The PGA of America comprises 27,000 men and women professionals with one singular goal in mind - to make the game of golf more enjoyable for you.
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