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Knee and hip replacements are two of the most commonly performed elective operations. For the majority of patients, joint replacement surgery relieves pain and helps them to live fuller, more active lives.
However, no surgical procedure is without risks. A small percentage of patients undergoing hip or knee replacement (roughly about 1 in 100) may develop an infection after the operation.
Joint replacement infections may occur in the wound or deep around the artificial implants. An infection may develop during your hospital stay or after you go home. Joint replacement infections can even occur years after your surgery.
The goal of this article is to help patients understand why joint replacements may become infected, what the signs and symptoms of infection are, how infections are treated, and how to prevent infections.
Any infection in your body can spread to your joint replacement.
Infections are caused by bacteria. Although bacteria are abundant in our gastrointestinal tract and on our skin, they are usually kept in check by our immune system. For example, if bacteria make it into our bloodstream, our immune system rapidly responds and kills the invading bacteria.
However, because joint replacements are made of metal and plastic, it is difficult for our immune system to attack bacteria that make it to these implants. If bacteria gain access to the implants, they may multiply and cause an infection.
Despite antibiotics and preventative treatments, patients with infected joint replacements often require surgery in order to cure the infection.
A total joint may become infected during the time of surgery, or anywhere from weeks to years after the surgery.
The most common ways bacteria enter the body include breaks or cuts in the skin, major dental procedures (such as a tooth extraction or root canal), and through wounds from other surgical procedures.
Some people are at a higher risk for developing infections after a joint replacement procedure. Factors that increase the risk for infection include:
- Immune deficiencies (such as HIV, lymphoma)
- Diabetes mellitus
- Peripheral vascular disease (poor circulation to the hands and feet)
- Immunosuppressive treatments (such as chemotherapy or corticosteroids)
- Obesity
Signs and symptoms of an infected joint replacement include:
- Increased pain or stiffness in a previously well-functioning joint
- Swelling
- Warmth and redness around the wound
- Wound drainage
- Fevers, chills and night sweats
- Fatigue
When total joint infection is suspected, early diagnosis and proper treatment increase the chances that the implants can be retained. Your doctor will discuss your medical history and conduct a detailed physical examination.
Imaging tests. X-rays and bone scans can help your doctor determine whether there is an infection in the implants.
Laboratory tests. Specific blood tests can help identify infection. For example, in addition to routine blood tests like a complete blood count (CBC), your surgeon will likely order two blood tests that measure inflammation in your body. These are the C-reactive protein (CRP) and the Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR). Although neither of these tests confirm the presence of infection, if either or both of them are elevated, it raises the suspicion that an infection may be present. If results of these tests are normal, it is unlikely that your joint is infected.
An additional test to help identify an infection is to analyze fluid from your joint. Your doctor uses a needle to draw fluid from your hip or knee. The fluid is examined under a microscope for the presence of bacteria, and is sent to a laboratory and monitored to see if bacteria or fungus grow from the fluid. Additionally, the fluid is analyzed for the presence of white blood cells. In normal hip or knee fluid, there are a low number of white blood cells. The presence of a large number of white blood cells (particularly cells called neutrophils) indicates that the joint may be infected.
Nonsurgical Treatment
In some cases, just the skin or soft tissues around the joint become infected, and the infection has not spread deep into to the artificial joint itself. These are called "superficial infections." If the infection is caught early, your doctor may prescribe intravenous (IV) or oral antibiotics.
This treatment has a good success rate for early superficial infections.
Surgical Treatment
Infections that go beyond the superficial tissues and gain deep access to the artificial joint almost always require surgical treatment.
Débridement. Deep infections that are caught early (within several days of their onset), and those that occur within weeks of the original surgery may sometimes be cured with a surgical washout of the joint. During this procedure, called débridement, your surgeon removes all contaminated soft tissues. The implant is thoroughly cleaned, and plastic liners or spacers are replaced. After the procedure, IV antibiotics will be prescribed for approximately 6 weeks.
Staged surgery. In general, the longer the infection has been present, the harder it is to cure without removing the implant.
Late infections (those that occur months to years after the joint replacement surgery) and those infections that have been present for longer periods of time, almost always require a staged surgery.
The first stage of this treatment includes:
- Removal of the implant
- Washout of the joint and soft tissues
- Placement of an antibiotic spacer
- IV antibiotics
An antibiotic spacer is a device placed into the joint to maintain normal joint space and alignment. It also provides patient comfort and mobility while the infection is being treated.
Spacers are made with bone cement that is loaded with antibiotics. The antibiotics flow into the joint and surrounding tissues, and over time help to eliminate the infection.
Patients who undergo this staged surgery typically need at least 6 weeks of IV antibiotics, possibly more, before a new joint replacement can be implanted. Orthopaedic surgeons work closely with other doctors who specialize in infectious disease. These infectious disease doctors help determine which antibiotic(s) you will be on, whether they will be intravenous (IV) or oral, and the duration of therapy. They will also obtain periodic blood work to evaluate the effectiveness of the antibiotic treatment.
Once your orthopaedic surgeon and the infectious disease doctor determine that the infection has been cured (this usually takes at least 6 weeks), you will be a candidate for a new total hip or knee implant (called a revision surgery). This second procedure is stage 2 of treatment for joint replacement infection.
During revision surgery, your surgeon will remove the antibiotic spacer, repeat washout of the joint, and reimplant new total knee or hip components.
At the time of original joint replacement surgery, there are several measures taken to minimize the risk of infection. Some of the steps have been proven to lower the risk of infection, and some are thought to help but have not been scientifically proven. The most important known measures to lower the risk of infection after total joint replacement include:
- Antibiotics before and after surgery. Antibiotics are given within one hour of the start of surgery (usually once in the operating room) and continued at intervals for 24 hours following the procedure.
- Short operating time and minimal operating room traffic. Efficiency in the operation by your surgeon helps to lower the risk of infection by limiting the time the joint is exposed. Limiting the number of operating room personnel entering and leaving the room is thought to decrease risk of infection.
- Use of strict sterile technique and sterilization instruments. Care is taken to ensure the operating site is sterile, the instruments have been autoclaved (sterilized) and not exposed to any contamination, and the implants are packaged to ensure their sterility.
- Antibiotic prophylaxis. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons recommends that clinicians consider preventative antibiotic use (prophylaxis) for patients with joint replacements prior to any invasive procedure that may allow bacteria to enter the bloodstream. Antibiotic prophylaxis consists of taking a single dose of oral antibiotics 1 hour prior to any procedure, such as a dental procedure. The risks and benefits of antibiotic prophylaxis should be discussed between you and your surgeon.
- Preoperative nasal screening for bacterial colonization. There is some evidence that testing for the presence of bacteria (particularly Staphylococcus species) in the nasal passages several weeks prior to surgery may help prevent joint infection. In institutions where this is performed, those patients that are found to have Staphylococcus in their nasal passages are given an intranasal antibacterial ointment prior to surgery. The type of bacteria that is found in the nasal passages may help your doctors determine which antibiotic you are given at the time of your surgery.
- Preoperative chlorhexidine wash. There is also evidence that home washing with a chlorhexidine solution (often in the form of soaked cloths) in the days leading up to surgery may help prevent infection. This may be particularly important if patients are known to have certain types of antibiotic-resistant bacteria on their skin or in their nasal passages (see above). Talk to your surgeon about this option.
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
9400 West Higgins Road
Rosemont, IL 60018
Phone: 847.823.7186
Email: email@example.com


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The Must-Have Fantasy Football Apps for 2012
The rigidity of a PVC mask can make it fit poorly and feel like a bucket on your face. Take a step up with the Tri-Ex, which forms a tight but comfy seal, thanks to its silicon fabrication. The field of vision is nice and big too.
Shirts in the water aren't just for scrawny dudes: Covering up with a skin like O'Neill's guards against sun exposure and collisions with reefs or sand. Plus, it dries fast for a seamless transition from the water to the no-shirt-no-service bar.
9 Unusual Human-Powered Contraptions

subset: commoncrawl


text: You are currently searching through Zazzle's short-sleeve clothing section for kids and babies, where you can find many styles, colors, and sizes of shirts available for customization or ready to buy as is. Most Zazzle t-shirts are shipped within 24 hrs. of ordering. Two popular kids' short-sleeve shirt styles on Zazzle are the Girls' Baby Doll and the Kids' Ringer T-Shirt. We have no minimum order for t-shirts, so get your one-of-a-kind shirt today! Add your own images and text for free! To find other related products, go to the main page.


text:
A Pediatric Longitudinal Evaluation to Assess the Long-Term Safety of Protopic for the Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis (APPLES)
This study is ongoing, but not recruiting participants.
LEO Pharma
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
LEO Pharma
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First received: May 17, 2007
Last updated: July 7, 2016
Last verified: July 2016
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
Detailed Description:
This is an observational study to assess the long-term safety of Protopic® Ointment for the treatment of atopic dermatitis. Patients whose ages are/were < 16 years at the time of first tacrolimus ointment exposure are eligible to participate. No drug is distributed during this observational trial.
|Atopic Dermatitis
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Observational Model: Cohort
Time Perspective: Prospective
|Official Title:
|APPLES: A Prospective Pediatric Longitudinal Evaluation to Assess the Long-Term Safety of Tacrolimus Ointment for the Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis
Resource links provided by NLM:
Genetics Home Reference related topics: atopic dermatitis
MedlinePlus related topics: Eczema
Drug Information available for: TacrolimusU.S. FDA Resources
Further study details as provided by LEO Pharma:
Primary Outcome Measures:
- The endpoint is the occurrence of serious adverse events, including the observation of systemic and cutaneous malignancies [ Time Frame: At six month intervals for ten years ]
|Study Start Date:
|May 2005
|Estimated Study Completion Date:
|August 2022
|Estimated Primary Completion Date:
|August 2022 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
1. Protopic Exposure
Pediatric subjects whose ages are/were <16 years at the time of first tacrolimus ointment exposure
Detailed Description:
Data will be collected at enrollment and every 6 months thereafter either by interview, Internet, or physician office visit. Each subject will be followed for 10 years in this study.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|up to 16 Years (Child)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
|Sampling Method:
|Non-Probability Sample
Study Population
Pediatric subjects whose ages are/were <16 years at the time of first tacrolimus ointment exposure
Inclusion Criteria:
- Subjects who first used Protopic® 0.03% or 0.1% before they were sixteen years of age and were treated for at least 6 weeks for the treatment of Atopic dermatitis may enroll into the study.
Contacts and Locations
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below. For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00475605
Show 313 Study Locations
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00475605
Show 313 Study Locations
Sponsors and Collaborators
LEO Pharma
|Study Director:
|Medical Director
|Astellas Pharma Global Development
More Information
Keywords provided by LEO Pharma:
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017
|Responsible Party:
|LEO Pharma
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT00475605 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
FG506-06-37 ( Other Identifier: Sponsor )
03-0-161 ( Other Identifier: Sponsor )
|Study First Received:
|May 17, 2007
|Last Updated:
|July 7, 2016
Keywords provided by LEO Pharma:
atopic dermatitis
tacrolimus ointment
Protopic Ointment
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Dermatitis, Atopic
Skin Diseases
Skin Diseases, Genetic
Genetic Diseases, Inborn
Skin Diseases, Eczematous
Hypersensitivity, Immediate
Immune System Diseases
Immunosuppressive Agents
Immunologic Factors
Physiological Effects of Drugs
Calcineurin Inhibitors
Enzyme Inhibitors
Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017


text:
Hi all - great to have the season going, eh?
Let me just say I apologize in advance for this entire post.
OK, I'm going to ask something here that's been bothering me for some time now. I know its probably mostly guys posting around here, so I've never brought it up, but I'm going to go ahead and ask. This might seem a little odd, but....
Is Jermaine O'Neal a good looking guy?
See, here's my point: There are some guys another guy can look at and just think "good looking guy". Doesn't mean anything (not that there would be anything wrong if it did mean something....), but you know? Mel Gibson, for instance - good looking guy.
I see some NBA guys and I can platonically acknowledge they're good looking guys - I would like to look more like AD, for instance.
Now, take Jermaine...I saw him at Circle Center a while back, and he's got an odd baby-face kind of thing going on. I saw him on the bench last night and I asked myself "is he good looking or not?" I can't for the life of me tell.
Any opinions out there?????
As I said earlier, I apologize.....It's early in the season and I'm just getting warmed up.


text:
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DOVER, Del. — When Jimmie Johnson wins, Dale Earnhardt Jr. usually is happy.
Earnhardt feels that if he can't win, he'd rather see a teammate win.
But finishing second to anyone is a bitter pill to swallow, especially when he had one of the fastest cars all weekend at Dover International Speedway.
MORE: Johnson's win | Dover results | MWR co-owner trying to save 56 team
Earnhardt finished second in the AAA 400 after a pit-road miscue early in the race and after running out of time with four fresh tires to Jimmie Johnson's two over the final 26 laps.
"It sucks to lose regardless of who wins," said Earnhardt, whose team shares a building with Johnson's at Hendrick Motorsports. "It's probably harder to run second than it is fifth or 10th.
"When you have a car like we had today, you don't get good cars every week, you'd like to capitalize."
Earnhardt crew chief Steve Letarte said he was proud the "48-88" teams could finish 1-2.
"I joked with the boss (Rick Hendrick) after the race that if it wasn't for Jimmie Johnson, I'd have had a heck of career," said Letarte, who worked with Jeff Gordon before being paired with Earnhardt in 2011.
"I finished second to him once in the points and I'd have to check the stats but it feels like 10 or 11 times I've finished second to him on the racetrack."
Earnhardt led 80 laps, including 76 of the first 117 before he erred when coming down pit road on a green-flag stop. Actually he never came down pit road when he first slowed because he only had two tires on the commitment line — the Dover rule is that all four tires must either be on or under the box on the outside of the line — and so he returned to the racetrack.
He came down pit road on the next lap and came out nine seconds behind Johnson.
"If I had not given up that track position, had a smart enough race to keep the lead when it counted right at the end, we might have won the race," Earnhardt said.
"It would have been hard to get by us, just like it was to get by Jimmie. I think missing the commitment cone was a big factor in us not finishing one spot ahead of where we are."
It wasn't the only slow pit stop for Earnhardt, who also was slowed some by Mark Martin when coming down pit road on his last green-flag pit stop of the day.
"I came on pit road about as hard as I could," Earnhardt said. "The 14 (of) Mark was running maybe 5, 10 miles an hour slow in the first couple segments."
On his final pit stop — under caution with 29 laps left — Earnhardt came in fourth and came out fourth as the first car with four fresh tires.
"We considered two versus four but we figured the leaders would have to take two and there were enough lapped cars behind us (in line on the track) that we figured we could restart in the same position we were running with four," Letarte said.
"We were right. We came in fourth, out fourth. The first car on four tires was our goal and that's where we ended up."
Earnhardt darted into second on the first green-flag lap but didn't have enough time to catch Johnson. The team knew it really needed about 35-40 laps before the difference between two and four tires would really start to show.
"As we got to traffic (near the end), Jimmie was starting to struggle a little bit in the last couple of laps," Earnhardt said. "My car actually got better the longer I ran and drove better, did what I needed it to do in the corner as we ran.
"It wasn't quite clicking just yet. Our car was starting to come around. The difference in the tires between our two cars was about to show. But the race is 400 laps. That's the way it is."
Earnhardt led laps in only five of the first 22 races for a total of just 94 laps. But he's led in five of the last seven races for a total of 151 laps.
"We came here to run better, and we ran better," Letarte said. "We passed cars that usually dominate this place. That was good.
"It was big step in the right direction for the 88. We've had good cars all year long and today we had a great car. It was nice to have a great car."
It would have been nicer to win.
"I'm a little disappointed we didn't pull off the win," Earnhardt said. "I felt like we had the perfect strategy — (we) had maybe the best car, arguably the best car."


text:
By Grant Langston
"The Country" means a hundred different things to a hundred different people. To me, it has always meant freedom.
There's something about the lack of people and the open space that gives you an opportunity to stretch out and have an adventure. As a teenager that meant the ability to get into trouble without having someone on your back. Blow something up. Build a potato gun and shoot it at cars that whizzed by on Hwy 36. Build a tree house in the woods and use it as a base of operations for pine cone battles, runs to the bootlegger, or a place to stash our Playboy or OUI Magazines (which we pronounced as "O-U-I", having no idea that it was French).
The country meant that in the summer you said goodbye to your mom at 7am and you got home when the streetlights came on. What you did in the intervening 13 hours was between you, your little brother, and whatever gang of boys you were running with that day. You were 12-years-old. You solved your own problems. You made your own fun.
Continue reading
This post was submitted by Grant Langston.


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NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- Stocks stalled out to start the week, even as market strategists opined about where equities are headed next in this post-election world of fiscal cliff worries. Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ, noted a rather disturbing similarity between Wall Street's reaction to President Barack Obama winning a second term and Harry Truman's surprise victory in 1948. "Both 1947 and 2011 were pre-election years in which the market ended the year almost exactly where it started," he wrote in emailed commentary on Monday. "Cooperation between Congress and the President was rare, and the traditional third-year 'priming of the economic pump' before the election was absent. As a result, 1947 and 2011 are the only pre-election years since 1900 that recorded 0.0% price changes, versus the more normal 11.1% gain, which is twice the average return for years 1, 2 and 4 of the presidential cycle." In 1948, after Truman was famously able to overcome Thomas Dewey, the S&P 500 lost 11.7% through the end of the month, erasing its 9.7% year-to-date gain prior to the election, a fact that doesn't bode well for the index's performance this November. "In 2012, the S&P 500 advanced 13.6% year to date through Election Day, on a projected 12-month improvement in the global economy and corporate earnings, and Wall Street"s hoped-for replacement of a seemingly unpopular Democratic president or the swing to a Republican majority in the Senate," Stovall said. "Wall Street got neither election outcome, so it took its ball and went home." He continued: "Should the market experience a 1948-style response to this year"s election outcome, the S&P 500 could fall to 1261, or only four points above where it started the year. In that case, let's just hope the historical comparison plays out, as the S&P 500 advanced 3.1% in December 1948 and 10.3% for all of 1949." Meantime, Deutsche Bank's David Bianco was sticking to his guns after last week's ugly sell-off, reiterating a 12-month target for the S&P 500 of 1500 and advising investors to use this recent dip to scoop up growth stocks with the potential to lift their dividends. "We still believe that the fiscal cliff will be averted with compromise legislation, but President Obama's reelection and a larger Democrat majority in Senate raise the likely amount of tax hikes vs. spending cuts in the new legislation," he said, adding later: "Political rhetoric may extend the sell-off, but a correction (S&P less than 1320) is unlikely unless negotiations fall apart." Wall Street seems set to take the temperature on fiscal cliff talks on a daily basis from here, meaning a rocky end to 2012 is likely in store because negotiations like these tend to go down to the wire. While the feeling remains that level heads will prevail and a solution will be hammered out, the waiting around for that solution may live up to its billing as being the hardest part for investors to deal with.
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Aug 22, 2013 at 12:16 pm
ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) — A sudden deluge of rain flooded Rochester streets, stranded motorists and created traffic jams as drivers tried to make their way to work.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for Rochester Thursday morning. Forecasters say more than 2 inches of rain fell in less than an hour in some areas around the city, including Mantorville.
Police worked to detour motorists away from flooded areas, where some vehicles floated in the flood water. The Post-Bulletin says at least eight vehicles were stalled in water up to their headlights in one area.
The storm knocked down power lines and cut service. A home in Rochester was struck by lightning and caught fire Thursday morning.
Staff Writer
Temp: 57°F (14°C)
Dewpoint: 54
Wind: 10 NW
Weather: Cloudy


text:
OROVILLE — A couple whose children were removed from their Concow residence following a 2011 marijuana-related arrest have lost their children a second time.
On Tuesday, Tehama County officials removed the children from the couple's Red Bluff residence, where they moved about a month ago. Daisy Jean Bram and Jayme Jeff Walsh were arrested and Walsh remained in custody Wednesday.
Daisy Jean Bram claimed Wednesday in Oroville that officials made sure to conduct their raid Tuesday — a day before a hearing in Butte County Superior Court to clarify the terms and conditions of their release for the local cases.
Visibly frustrated, Bram said it was officials' third attempt to bring child-abuse charges against the couple. She said she wanted to be left alone and didn't know why things were personal for officials.
"It just feels like a witch hunt, no matter what we do or where we go," she said.
Bram noted parallels between Tuesday's incident and the original arrest on Sept. 29, 2011. She alleged Eric Clay was involved in both incidents — as an investigator at the respective county district attorney's offices. Bram also said her now 16-month-old son Zeus had been in her arms during both incidents.
In addition to Zeus, Bram's children include 2-1/2-year-old Thor and 3-month-old Invictus.
Bram said there was a hearing Friday in Tehama County's juvenile dependency court.
Bram said there may have been an ounce of marijuana in the residence, but it was secured in jars out of the children's reach.
Butte County deputy district attorney Jeff Greeson said outside of court that the Tehama County activity was done based on what officials there discovered. He wasn't aware the couple had moved from Oroville until he was contacted by Tehama County officials on Jan. 16.
Greeson said he sent officials in Tehama County the conditions of Bram and Walsh's release in the Butte County cases on Jan. 17. He said terms included being available for searches and testing and notifying the court of address changes. The terms also included no marijuana use, even under Proposition 215.
He said Tehama's Child Protective Services acted on information from an independent third party to investigate the defendants' residence. Bram and Walsh reportedly refused to comply, which prompted CPS to return with sheriff's deputies. Officials did a cursory walk-through and found poor living conditions.
Greeson said officials ultimately found an indoor grow of 58 plants, along with 28 needles.
He said the Tehama County District Attorney's Office is reportedly seeking felony charges of cultivating marijuana and possessing it for sale, as well as felony child endangerment.
Bram and Walsh face similar charges in Butte County where they are awaiting a trial date for felony charges of cultivation and possession for sale.
Clay had testified at preliminary hearing that he found 38 mature plants, 58 smaller ones and 7.1 pounds of marijuana at the couple's Yellow Wood Road house in Concow. Regarding sales, Walsh reportedly sold 50 plant clones to a Chico collective and a half-pound to a medical marijuana patient.
The defense has claimed the couple were acting as a collective of two.
During an earlier hearing, an apparent doctor's recommendation was presented for Walsh. Bram reportedly had an oral recommendation from a doctor who died in 2007 and her attorney, Michael Levinsohn of West Hollywood, argued some doctor's recommendations don't necessarily expire.
The couple had initially faced child-abuse charges but they were dropped following a November 2011 preliminary hearing. The prosecution subsequently refiled the charges against Bram. A preliminary hearing has started in that case.
Wednesday's hearing was also set to select a new date for the ongoing preliminary hearing, but it was sidetracked because of the new case.
While acknowledging Walsh's absence wasn't by choice, Judge James Reilley issued an arrest warrant for him and set bail at $500,000.
Based on the new case, Greeson said he would seek to remand Bram into custody.
The judge ruled that nothing would happen until Levinsohn could appear at a hearing set for this morning.
Staff writer Ryan Olson can be reached at 896-7763 or firstname.lastname@example.com


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Photo Gallery: Rooms With A View
Celebrate scenery with unadorned windows.
Photo Gallery: Rooms With A View
Visually expand small spaces.
A south-facing Vancouver condo unit offers generous sunlight and views to the water beyond the balcony. A white metal dining table is paired with a set of iconic Harry Bertoia wire chairs. The Mayuhana spun-plastic globe pendant light was a prototype ordered from Yamagiwa in Japan. Glossy walnut floors warm up the space.
To see more rooms with a view, visit our photo gallery.
A fireplace in front of the window offers a dual focal point.
Unadorned windows in this Vancouver condo offer a view of the Granville Street Bridge, flooding the small space with natural light, even on overcast days. An oversized custom chaise maximizes seating without adding clutter. Slipcovers and laminate floors keep the space child-friendly.
To see more rooms with a view, visit our photo gallery.
A unique pendant light adds a sculptural note in a clean-lined space.
A simple Parsons style outdoor table and sleek chairs seat up to 12. Surrounded by water and trees, this Muskoka boathouse is a unique place to entertain.
Multiple drapery panels customize light and privacy.
Wraparound windows maximize views of Trading Bay and the Algonquin Highlands beyond. Clean lines, a Moroccan lantern and paisley-print bedding offer a contemporary take on a classic lodge look.
For a streamlined look, conceal ovens with pocket doors and fridges with panelling.
In the kitchen of Larry Williams and Sharie Kennedy Williams, black polished granite flooring extends to the outside patio and plays off the natural granite seen through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The Glass Boat House offers views of Stoney Lake, on the eastern fringe of the Kawarthas in Ontario.
To see more breathtaking rooms with a view, visit our photo gallery.
A rustic light fixture complements the surroundings.
A curvaceous Saarinen Tulip table and matching armchairs contrast with minimalist lines. This sustainable and stylish home in British Columbia's interior embraces the Rocky Mountain landscape with stunning floor-to-ceiling windows.
Opt for single pane picture windows to blend an interior seamlessly with the exterior.
Views to vast gardens add colour to this clean-lined space, while skylights and recessed lights provide ample lighting. A sleek rectangular oak dining table continues the strong horizontal lines reflected by the windows, beams and kitchen island. Classic Wishbone chairs in a similar tone create a cohesive look.
To see more breathtaking rooms with a view, visit our photo gallery.
This spectacular work space seems to float above West Vancouver's Bachelor Bay.
Not for the easily distracted, architect David Zacharko's office design features panoramic views of the waterfront. A glass waterfall desk disappears against the window, keeping with the ethereal feel of the Vancouver holiday home.
Vintage mid-century modern pieces mix with new classics.
Full-height windows frame ruggedly beautiful views throughout the holiday home — it's as though no walls exist. In the living room, a neutral palette and natural materials make the interior almost recede into the leafy landscape.
A custom-made bed and cabinetry emphasize the low horizontal lines of this bedroom's windows.
Trees and plants surround this Cambrian Heights, Alberta home, which overlooks Confederation Park. The room cools in the summer as trees provide shade, and warms up in the winter as sun filters through bare branches.
A beachy and relaxed cottage in Quebec.
This remote house situated near the St. Lawrence River needs no window coverings; in the dining room, the view acts as a large scale living mural. Owners Richard Ouellette and Maxime Vandal chose trellis-back chairs to elevate a humble barn-board table. An oversized raw-wood chandelier strikes a rustic note in an otherwise formal setting.
For more lighting options, see our Statement Lighting photo gallery.
Floor to ceiling glass walls reveal an incredible view of the Vancouver shoreline and mountains in the distance.
A wall-mounted television, large-scale deep walnut vanity and marble countertop with undermount sinks creates a lavish and luxurious environment in this bright and spacious bathroom.
Sheer curtains let in soft, diffused light, while the open-concept plan keeps this beautiful space bright and airy.
A 20′ wide bowed window offers a stunning view of Montreal; the gentle curve of the window is repeated in the large sofa, coffee table, and circular rug.
Vancouver interior designer Nancy Boultbee downsized from a house to surround herself with sea and sky.
A practical layout and amazing views are the best features of interior designer Nancy Boultbee's Vancouver home. White slipcovered furniture offsets the warmth of the wood and allows the view to shine.
Keeping furniture away from windows maximizes light.
A suede ottoman designed by the owner — interior designer Nancy Boultbee — is a grounding element in this space, while white linen drapes help to brighten the room on Vancouver's grey days. Nancy uses fun, printed throw pillows to add pops of colour in her otherwise neutral palette. An antique opium bed that she picked up in Thailand frames a view of English Bay.
For more inspiration from western Canada, see our Photo Gallery: The Best Of The West.
Limit accessories to keep the focus on the view.
Views of the city and Rockies continue in Nancy's restful bedroom. The white oak platform bed blends in with the floor, and is topped with crisp white linens to create a sophisticated, hotel-like look.
Large windows transform this room into a spa-like escape.
A departure from the white walls found in the rest of the condo, Nancy chose to paint this peaceful space a moody charcoal colour. The sleek soaker tub and chic accessories keep the focus on the view.
Let dramatic scenery take center stage with minimal furniture and accessories.
"We love the way the garden is incorporated in the experience of the living room," says 3rd Uncle principal Arriz Hassam. "It appears like a monumental painting; it is contemplative, beautiful and changes by the season. The Barcelona chairs in red leather and turquoise rug are simple and complementary to the dramatic view."
See more 3rd Uncle Design projects in our photo gallery.
For Suzanne Dimma's tips on decorating an outdoor space with indoor style, read her blog post.
A neutral colour scheme keeps this room bright.
Painting interiors a crisp white or soft neutral enhances the amount of light coming in from large windows. Here, views of Georgian Bay can be taken in from a comfortable window seat. Pale bedding and open side tables also keep the room fresh and airy.
For more inspiration, see our Traditional Cottages photo gallery, Cottages & Country Houses photo gallery, more Melody Duron Interiors, and Bedside Table Styling Tricks.
Large windows brighten up a sunroom.
Interior designer Melody Duron wanted this room to have an organic, outdoor feel, so she brought in a teak dining table and casual indoor-outdoor wicker chairs. She also painted the window seats a soft grey to complement the granite surrounding the Georgian Bay home.
For more inspiration, see our Traditional Cottages photo gallery, Beautiful Sunrooms photo gallery, Cottages & Country Houses photo gallery, plus more Melody Duron Interiors.
A Vancouverite channels the relaxed vibe of his cottage into a dream city retreat.
This chic beach house in the sky has an incredible panorama of Stanley Park, English Bay and the towering cityscape. In the living room, a TV is hung below the window, which puts the focus on the great view — it's also at an ideal viewing height when lying on the sofa. A weathered wood cabinet with louvered doors is a cottage classic that keeps clutter out of sight.
For more inspiration from western Canada, see our Photo Gallery: The Best Of The West.
Teak and Carrara marble contrast against vein-cut, travertine marble floors.
Interior designer Rosie Daykin gave this kitchen-dining area indoor-outdoor flow by focusing the elements, like the kitchen island, toward the windows.
See more photos of this modern space in our Rosie Daykin's House gallery.
Glass walls blend this interior with the outdoors.
A low, backless modern sofa keeps sight lines to the backyard open and coordinates with the outdoor dining chairs for a cohesive look. Accessorizing with a yellow cushion indoors and vase outdoors makes the two spaces continuous, as do the floor to ceiling sliding glass doors. Landscaping with native plants and rocks mirrors the stone facing on the home's exterior, as well.
See more indoor outdoor design inspiration in our photo gallery.
Modern patio chairs are an unexpected — yet comfortable — alternative to bulky armchairs.
A wood ceiling, tall ferns and a trendy Breton striped floor rug add to the seaside vibe of this living room in Calabogie, Ont. The wall-to-wall windows allow for expansive views to the lake, making you feel like you're sitting on a beach.


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Willits >> The draft city of Willits 2014-2015 budget projects the continued drawdown of the city's reserve funds for the next fiscal year. This continues the trend set over the past five years. Only the unexpected windfall resulting from the dissolution of the Willits Redevelopment Agency has offset the red ink.
The final city budget is to be discussed at a special meeting of the Willits City Council on Monday from 4 p.m. until whenever.
Leftover issues from Monday's meeting are slated for resolution at the city's regularly scheduled meeting starting at 6:30 p.m. on June 25. Should the council fail to reach an agreement on the budget prior to July 1, it can continue to operate under the prior year's budget.
While deficit spending cannot proceed forever, even with $505,000 in projected red ink, the city still expects to have $1.374 million remaining in its reserve account at the end of 2014-2015 fiscal year. This positive cash position is in part due to one time receipts of $874,080 and $82,000 associated with the shutdown of all redevelopment agencies by the state.
The draft budget has the city spending 12.4 percent more than it takes in.
The projected red ink in the draft budget does not include any salary adjustments resulting from ongoing salary negotiations with city staff.
During the 2013-2014 council budget discussions, every member of the city council stated dissatisfaction with the red ink and that resolving it would be a priority for them during this fiscal year, which is now ending on June 30, 2014.
When facing the same issue one year ago Councilman Bruce Burton said "These new costs for the general fund are permanent, recurring costs because we have added staff. The sooner we get to zero [in the emergency contingency fund] the sooner you (the other city council members) will have the political will (to deal with it)." Burton and Councilman Larry Stranske voted against the 2013-2014 budget and Mayor Holly Madrigal, Councilwoman Madge Strong and Councilman Ron Orenstein voted in favor.
Stranske said of the 2013 budget it was "kicking the can down the road."
Strong and Madrigal approved the 2013-2014 budget but expected the analysis of the city's management structure would lead to the structural change needed to bring expenses in line with revenue. While the city had a firm analyze the city's management structure in June 2013, the anticipated reorganization has not fully materialized. Orenstein proposed cutting 3 percent out of each future year's budget to get back in balance but failed to receive any support.
The 2013-2014 projected deficit is even higher than the $476,675 projected in 2013, which at the time was the largest projected deficit in city history.
The city is also projecting red ink in the water and sewer enterprise funds to the tune of $371,019 for the sewer plant and $854,807 for the water plan. Whether the city's debt holders for the substantial loans the city has engaged in during the past several years will be comfortable with this situation is still to be determined. Interim Finance Director Gordon Elton advised the council in February that water fees would need to go up 20 percent just to pay for an unbudgeted $1.5 million increase in the water plant project. A specific justification for why spending another $1.5 million above the authorized $5.7 million project has never been provided to the public. The council voted on March 26 to apply for this additional $1.5 million in new debt. Burton was the only dissenter.
The original $5.7 million water plant project is not yet in service.
Assuming the city takes on this new $1.5 million of debt, the city may need to increase water rates even more to cover the expected costs for replacing the leaking water main under N. Main Street (estimated at $2.6 million) and potentially the $2.1 million emergency water supply system (depending upon grant availability).


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A "Pre-Enrollment" Protocol for HIV-Infected Adolescents
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
PRIMARY: To identify, characterize, and co-enroll HIV-infected adolescents into existing and future ACTG (or other NIH-sponsored) HIV treatment protocols through the systematic and recurrent assessment of eligibility. To assess the ability of adolescents enrolled in ACTG 220 to adhere to ACTG (or other NIH-sponsored) HIV treatment protocols; and to define factors that influence the adolescent's ability to enter or adhere to study protocols.
SECONDARY: To describe the nature, stage, and progression of HIV infection in adolescents.
Little is known about HIV-infected adolescents as a group and, as a result, small numbers of them are currently enrolled in ACTG drug studies. Creative approaches are needed to encourage enrollment of HIV-infected adolescents whose socio-demographic profile has made access to NIH-sponsored research unlikely.
|HIV Infections
|Study Type:
|Official Title:
|A "Pre-Enrollment" Protocol for HIV-Infected Adolescents
|Estimated Enrollment:
Little is known about HIV-infected adolescents as a group and, as a result, small numbers of them are currently enrolled in ACTG drug studies. Creative approaches are needed to encourage enrollment of HIV-infected adolescents whose socio-demographic profile has made access to NIH-sponsored research unlikely.
At entry and at every subsequent visit, participants are systematically evaluated for eligibility and willingness to enter ACTG (or other NIH-sponsored) HIV treatment protocols from a menu developed and updated by the Pediatric Adolescent Working Group of the ACTG. A survey of participant attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs is administered and updated semiannually. Participants attend clinic visits every 3 months and are followed for a minimum of 6 months, until the end of the study. They receive periodic physical exams, STD and gynecologic or genitourinary evaluations, HIV symptom assessment and related diagnoses, TB evaluation, and laboratory tests (hematology and immunology).
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|13 Years to 20 Years (Child, Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria
Participants must meet the following criteria:
- HIV infection.
- NOT currently enrolled in an ACTG treatment protocol.
Exclusion Criteria
Co-existing Condition:
Participants with the following condition are excluded:
- No legal provision for consent to participate in clinical research can be determined.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00000780
Show 51 Study Locations
|Study Chair:
|D'Angelo LJ
|Study Chair:
|Futterman D
|Study Chair:
|Abdalian S
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT00000780 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|November 2, 1999
|Last Updated:
|June 23, 2005
Keywords provided by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID):
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
AIDS-Related Complex
Adolescent Behavior
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
HIV Infections
Lentivirus Infections
Retroviridae Infections
RNA Virus Infections
Virus Diseases
Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes
Immune System Diseases
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017


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My father once passed along a bit of advice he'd picked up during his lifetime: "Don't do or say anything you wouldn't want to see on tomorrow's front page." This has been much more helpful than my grandmother's advice — "When in doubt, don't" — as I can't imagine anything worth doing that doesn't fill most people with a bit of doubt. (Will I be effective in this new job? Is investing my time and energy in this relationship a good idea?) But the thrust behind both pieces of advice is similar: Think twice before painting yourself in a negative light. Unfortunately, that's what a lot of farm groups are doing with the recent slew of"ag-gag" bills.
The bills vary state by state, but in general they work to discourage the filming and release of another Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) undercover video highlighting animal abuse on a farm or in a processing plant.Legislation of this sort, proponents argue, simply mandates reporting to authorities any abuses seen. These people and groups prefer to call the bills "See Something, Say Something"legislation, arguing that this is, after all, in the animals' best interest.
Everybody's wrong. No one should abuse livestock (unless they want to be on the front page tomorrow — and thusly shamed — for having done so), but attempting to quash the exposure of this behavior and then saying you're motivated out of animal welfare concerns is an invitation for HSUS and other groups to sow more public distrust of your organization.
Here's a piece of advice I've picked up during my lifetime: "The best defense is a good offense." Putting credits in the public's trust bank — through telling your story over social media, holding farm tours and answering tough questions — is the only way you'll get people to reserve judgment (or extend forgiveness) when accusations this sort are aired, via HSUS or otherwise.


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In September, Microsoft proposed a new strategy that it claimed would allow the company to hire more workers in the US. Part of its proposal involved a request to the US government to add a new category for immigration services that would allow for 20,000 citizens from overseas to come to the US to work that have the skills that Microsoft says it needs to fill its job openings.
It's that part of the company's idea that has raised some concerns. The Seattle Times reports that some experts and groups believe that Microsoft wants to fill open positions with overseas workers because they are cheaper than US workers that have the same qualifications.
University of Pennsylvania economist Peter Cappelli states, "What companies like Microsoft seem to want is employees with quite specific skills who don't need any training and ramp-up time." He says Microsoft can find those workers outside the US and offer them lower wages versus training workers here in the US and paying them more.
For its part, Microsoft denies these claims. Karen Jones, the company's deputy general counsel for human resources, said, "We simply cannot find qualified Americans to fill these jobs." She added, "If we can find American workers, that's always going to be our first choice."
Source: The Seattle Times


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Cuban Baseball
(continued from page 2)
In the stands, the scene is extraordinary. Every fan is making noise. Everyone. Some have brought things to bang on; others improvise as best they can. And here in this town in the heart of some of the greatest cigar-tobacco-growing country in the world, everyone appears to be smoking a puro, or cigar. Bands from Montecristo and Partagas cigars litter the stands.
That's it, however. No ticket stubs lie on the ground because admission is free. There are no ushers or concessions and none of the following: programs, scorecards, public-address announcers, commercial advertisements, promotional giveaway nights, or vendors hawking their goods in the crowd. This is baseball at its most basic level--played outdoors on grass by men who don't get paid a salary and are officially considered amateurs with "other jobs," although for many that job is year-round training.
A foul ball is hit into the stands. It is caught, dropped and caught again. Everyone is clapping and laughing. The fan throws it back on the field, and it is returned to the umpire to be put back into play.
Scarcity is a way of life. The Revolution isn't thirty-five years ago. It is a living, everyday thing for the baseball fanaticos who make the short walk from the downtown center for the afternoon games. Night games ended with the dissolution of the former Soviet Union, which had kept the petrol flowing and electrical generators operating.
A spectator returning a foul ball is just one example; everyone sacrifices for the Revolution. Even in the stadium, fans are reminded of their past and present. Some of the country's ubiquitous slogans--Revolution O Muerte (Revolution or Death)--are inscribed on the outfield fence.
Omar Linares, known as "El Niño," comes up to bat for Pinar del Rio. The third baseman with world-class hitting power has been walked twice so far--out of respect. His stance is wide, his hands back, the bat head cocked forward. The outfield is deep and straight away. Linares gets ahold of one and sends it out. High and deep down the left-field line. A home run out of any park, even though the modern, single-deck Pinar del Rio stadium is small by U.S. Major League standards: 360 feet in the power alleys and 390 feet to straightaway center. The left fielder takes one step back and then turns and stops. Pinar del Rio's lead is one run wider.
For the inhabitants of Pinar Del Rio as well as the rest of Cuba's 10 million-plus population, the Revolution includes something uniquely American: the game of baseball. While Havana cigars, especially those rolled with tobacco from the nearby Vuelta Abajo, have made their mark throughout the world and cultivated their own folklore, at home the Cuban people have embraced la pelota (the Cuban term for baseball) every bit as much as cigars. Baseball is more than the national sport, it is the national obsession. And with good reason. Cuba was the first country outside the United States to play the American game and they have been doing it successfully for more than 100 years.
The game between Pinar del Rio and Los Agropecuarios is part of a playoff series to determine who will advance in the Serie Nacional. Later in the year will come the Serie Selectiva, an elimination tournament that will pit the best players against each other in a six-team national World Series. And from that will come players who tour with the Cuban national team.
This demanding and challenging process has been eminently successful over the past 30 years. Prior to Cuba's victory in the 1992 Olympic competition, the national team had won seven of the previous eight world championships (Cuba did not compete in 1982). In its last seven international tournaments, Cuba's record is 72-1, the only loss to the United States in the 1987 Pan Am Games. They have been Pan American Games champions since 1963, won the Intercontinental Cup in seven of eight tournaments since 1979, and five of eight World Youth Championships (ages 16 to 18) since 1984.
It wasn't always this way, according to reputable Cuban baseball historian, Angel Torres. In 1865, young Cubans who had learned the sport at universities in the United States began to introduce the game to their countrymen. In 1866, American sailors loading sugar in Matanzas invited the Cubans to play a game called base ball. Their boat was docked in the bay long enough for the Americans to help build a baseball diamond at Palma de Junco. Less than three years later, the first organized game between two Cuban teams took place.
U.S.-Cuba relations improved toward the end of the nineteenth century. The Cuban patrons of baseball supported the revolution against the Spanish, and in fact, funneled money they made promoting the game into the hands of the revolutionaries. After the defeat of the Spanish (in the Spanish-American War), American Major League teams began touring the island regularly to take on teams made up of American black players--who were denied spots on Major League rosters in that era--and Cuban players.
The Detroit Tigers were one of the first teams to travel to Cuba to play in a series of exhibition games. Without Sam Crawford and Ty Cobb, the team's biggest stars, Detroit lost seven of 12 games. Coming on the heels of a Cincinnati ball club's four-and-seven record the previous year, against teams composed of Cubans and players from the Negro leagues up north, people began to take notice. Cincinnati had run into 20-year-old Cuban fireballer José Méndez, who shut them out 1-0, giving up only a ninth-inning single. The "Black Diamond," as he was known, also had another complete game shutout in the series. The Major Leaguers simply couldn't catch up with his fastball.
The Tigers were American League champs from 1907 to 1909. In the winter after their third straight championship season they faced Bombin Pedroso, who promptly no-hit them for ten innings. The next year they brought Sam Crawford with them, and Pedroso no-hit them again--this time over 11 innings. This took place during a 12-game series against two of Cuba's storied ball clubs, Havana and Almendares. After seven games the series stood deadlocked at three victories each with one tie. That's when Ty Cobb showed up ready to play in the last five games.
Baseball was in Cuba's blood by that time, and the fans were very familiar with the American ballplayers, having followed their seasonal exploits closely in the newspapers. The Cubans knew who Cobb was and they packed the Havana ballpark for his first appearance. He didn't disappoint, hitting two singles and a home run to lead the Tigers to victory. His team ended up winning seven of 12 games.
Cobb's Cuban visit was memorable for another incident that took place during that series, an incident that baseball historians recall whenever Cuba and Cobb are mentioned together. In one game at Almendares Park outside Havana, he was thrown out stealing second; not a routine occurrence for this quintessentially aggressive ballplayer. Cobb jumped up and disputed the umpire's call, charging that the distance between first and second base was longer than between home and first. To placate the fiery American, the umpire had a tape measure brought out, and sure enough, the distance between the bases was three inches longer than the standard 90 feet. You're right, the umpire told Cobb as they moved the base up, but you're still out!
Cobb wasn't happy in general with his visit to Cuba. Three of the Negro League ballplayers, including Hall of Famer John Henry "Pop" Lloyd, topped Cobb's .370 average during the series. Cobb swore after that experience he would never again play against black men--and he didn't.
Over the next few years, big-league managers like Connie Mack and John McGraw barnstormed with teams through Cuba and competed against the best Cuban and Negro League stars. Méndez and Pedroso dueled with the likes of Eddie Plank, Chief Bender, and Christy Mathewson. McGraw toured with his New York Giants after the 1920 season and added newly acquired Yankee slugger Babe Ruth to his roster. Ruth, who had learned to roll cigars at St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, had a life-long love affair with the puro. It was said that some of the initial balking he did over his sale from the Red Sox to New York was because he didn't want to leave his cigar factory in Boston.
Babe loved the idea of going to Havana and he gambled and smoked incessantly. He gained 25 pounds and had a good time. On the field it was a different story. José Méndez struck out "the Bambino" three times in one game. Meanwhile, Cuba's Cristóbal Torriente, who bore a physical resemblance to the Babe and had established himself as one of the top hitters in Cuba, hit three home runs for Almendares. This prompted Ruth to say: "Tell Torriente and Méndez that if they could play with me in the Major Leagues, we would win the pennant by July and go fishing for the rest of the season." To which McGraw added, "If we could paint Méndez white, he'd be the best pitcher in baseball."
Neither man would ever have that chance because of their skin color, although both excelled for years in Cuba, Mexico, and on barnstorming tours in the United States. One who did play early on in the Major Leagues was light-skinned Adolfo "Dolf" Luque. His success with the Cincinnati ball club in 1923 (he pitched a league leading 27-8 with a 1.93 ERA) earned him the nickname "Pride of Havana." The Cuban people extolled his feats with "Beloved Cincy" and, in the course of following his exploits, cemented their love affair with American baseball.
This was in the midst of a period known as the golden age of baseball in Cuba. In the late '20s, while the New York Yankees put together one of most fabled ball clubs of all time, the Leopards of Santa Clara boasted a team composed of Negro League stars Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige playing alongside Cuban greats Alejandro Oms, Lazaro Salazar, and perhaps the greatest Cuban ballplayer of them all, Martín Dihigo.
Dihigo played all over the Western Hemisphere from 1923 to 1946 and is the only man elected into the Hall of Fame in four countries: Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, and the United States. His bust in Cooperstown takes its title from the large statue of his likeness in front of Havana's Estadio Latinoamericano--"El Inmortal." For all his exploits, Dihigo was never considered the best at any one position. According to Hall of Famer Cool Papa Bell, that's because he played all nine with superior results. Hitting and pitching, often in the same game, he earned the nickname, "the Black Babe Ruth."
Said to be Satchel Paige's toughest opponent, he often outdueled Major League stars. In 1938 he batted .387 to pace the Mexican League, won 18 of 20 decisions, struck out 184 in 167 innings, and had an ERA of .90. In effect he won the "triple crown" of both hitting and pitching in the same year. Not content, he returned to Cuba for the winter league and won 14 of 16 for a yearly pitching total of 34-4.
While Martín Dihigo and others like him were not able to play in the Major Leagues, Dolf Luque carved out a 20-year career with Cincinnati, Brooklyn, and New York. Perhaps the greatest impact he had came toward the end of his career when, in a relief role, he won the final game of the 1933 World Series for the New York Giants over Washington, D.C. Luque's four innings of shutout ball to clinch the series so impressed Senators' owner Clark Griffith that he sent scout Joe Cambria to Cuba on a full-time basis.
By this time, the Cuban fan was almost as knowledgeable as his American counterpart. The mania for American baseball was especially pronounced in the late 1920s. At that time, Cuban President Gerardo Machado tried to alter the Constitution and stay in power; he was president until 1933. At the outset of his power grab, however, violent protests cut communications with the island for a week. When communication was finally reestablished, the first request to the outside from El Mundo, Havana's leading newspaper, was for the week's baseball box scores.
By the Second World War, Cuban fans were lamenting the lack of immediate and complete information about the United States baseball leagues. They listened to radio broadcasts to get the results. In June of 1939, on the brink of the war, one fan from the city of Camaguey wrote to The Sporting News, describing his nation's fascination and priorities:
We are all familiar with Major League baseball in the United States and believe it or not, you hear more talk about the game than you do about international and national politics. We like to talk more about who was the winning pitcher and who hit home runs than we do the European situation--Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, and Chamberlain's umbrella.
We Cuban fans want to hear the play-by-play of the games through stations like Pittsburgh, Schenectady, and others. Baseball is not only for the United States, as so many think. It belongs to us, too. Over 80 percent of the people in Cuba are fans.
With the arrival of scout Cambria, or "Uncle Joe" as he was known, Cuban fans who followed the United States baseball leagues finally began to get more than just box scores. Cambria funneled Cuban players to the majors (primarily to the Washington Senators), and he supplied some of the best talent of the postwar era. Led by Orestes "Minnie" Miñoso, the list included Camilo Pascual, Willie Miranda, and Sandy Amoros from the early 1950s through Pedro Ramos, Miguel "Mike" Cuellar, and Zoilo Versailles, all of whom appeared in the majors by the end of that decade.
During the winter, dozens of Major Leaguers played on the island. Historian Angel Torres recalls how the Cuban and American players enjoyed themselves on and off the field while maintaining a caliber of play often equal to that of the big leagues. In addition to Havana and Almendares, there were two other teams in the league: Cienfuegos and Marianao.
With all four teams located in or around Havana, there was no need to travel, and teams played round-robin-style from October through February. Some of the players changed clubs year to year but great rivalries, especially between the Havana team (known as the Reds or the Lions) and Almendares (the Blues or Scorpions) drew the passion of the fans across the country, three-quarters of whom were loyal to the Havana ball club. If, at the end of the brief season, their team was victorious, the fans would include in their celebration a funeral for the opposition club, complete with draped casket, funereal music, and a procession to the cemetery where the losing team would be laid to rest.
During this period, baseball also filtered into the galleries of the big cigar-rolling factories in Havana. In addition to the works of literature recited daily by "readers," the rollers also heard newspaper accounts of the previous night's games, complete with box scores. During the World Series, they would listen to the voice of Buck Canel, sponsored by Gillette, announcing the play-by-play. His patented "No se vayan que esto se pone bueno" ("Don't go away, this is getting good") only served to enhance their enjoyment and appreciation of the games.
It was during this time that the seeds were planted for Cuba's closest connection with the Major Leagues. The Havana Cubans joined the Florida league in 1946 and the Cuban Sugar Kings started playing Triple A ball in the International League ten years later. American players began coming to the island regularly now.
While all was right with baseball in Cuba, it was a different story in politics. Fidel Castro, a former right-handed pitcher for the University of Havana, was also a left-handed thinker as he sat in the stadium stands taking in the action. Castro, who seized power early in 1959 was, by most accounts, a second-string pitcher at the university during the mid-'40s. Scouted by Joe Cambria, Castro was told he didn't have a Major League arm. (To be sure, the same can be said for many of the 280-plus pitchers on Major League rosters today.)
Castro did have a chance to pitch, however, in an exhibition game later that summer. As recounted in The Sporting News--Castro, playing for Los Barbudos ("The Bearded Ones"), pitched a scoreless inning on July 24, 1959, prior to an International League contest between the Sugar Kings and the Rochester Red Wings. He struck out two, and to show his appreciation, he rushed down to shake hands with the umpire after a dubiously called third strike retired the side.
As relations with the United States began to falter in 1960, Castro tried unsuccessfully to change the national sport from baseball to soccer. Baseball was an American game, and in the antigringo climate of that time, that seemed reason enough. The people, however, wouldn't stand for it. So while the last wave of Cuban-born-and-raised players to play in the Major Leagues (Tony Oliva, Bert Campaneris, Tony Perez, Luis Tiant Jr., etc.) made their way north in the early '60s, the government began organizing the game at every level at home. With the United States embargo in full swing, the Cubans started to manufacture their own equipment, set up amateur leagues for every age group, and took advantage of players like Martín Dihigo, who returned to teach and coach in his hometown of Matanzas.
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Pines, spruces, cedars, and their relatives make up an important tree familly. They're conifers (CON-uh-furs), trees with cones to hold their seeds.
Most conifers have special leaves that are narrow and pointed like needles or are flat like scales. And most are evergreens--they stay green all year round.
If you would like a worksheet to do this activity, try our Meet the Conifers worksheet from Ranger Rick's Nature Notebook.
With scissor or a hole punch, make two small holes every six inches or so. Push a twist tie through the holes. Now you have a place to put your conifer sprigs as you find them.
No matter where you live, there are sure to be some conifers nearby. To figure out who's who in the conifer family, you'll need to answer these questions.
If you are making a Conifer Quest board, snip off a tiny sprig from each different tree you find, or even better, pick up a sprig from the ground that is still green.
Place the sprig inside the twist tie and twist it tight.


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Dallas -- Corner Bakery Café has signed a franchise agreement to open its first restaurants in New York's Nassau County beginning in 2013. Earlier this year, Corner Bakery Cafe announced similar expansion plans in the Northeast, including Northern New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Four M Bakery, LLC, a group of veteran restaurant operators, which also owns 12 Buffalo Wild Wings through Four M Capital, LLC, has plans to open seven Corner Bakery Cafes in Nassau County.
With several locations expected to open in the next 24-36 months, Corner Bakery Cafe is currently reviewing sites for its first restaurants in Nassau.


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Topic: Help, My mum has nonresectable CC
I found out on Tuesday Jan 8th 2008 that my mum has bile duct cancer, and that it is not operable.
I was also told that chemo would not help, and that all that can be offered is palliative care.
I am in pieces, and am desperatley trying to find out what to do?
Do i just accept this and wait the 3 / 9 months she has been given to live, or is there anything i can do?
She is 77years, but very young at heart, and she is in denial about the whole thing..
Andy / Manchester /UK


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Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model One out of the three major indices are trading up today with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI) trading down 57 points (-0.4%) at 13,961 as of Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013, 11:45 AM ET. The NYSE advances/declines ratio sits at 1,624 issues advancing vs. 1,238 declining with 155 unchanged. The Financial sector currently sits up 0.2% versus the S&P 500, which is unchanged. On the negative front, top decliners within the sector include ING Groep N.V ( ING), down 3.8%, Nomura Holdings ( NMR), down 2.5%, American Tower ( AMT), down 1.3%, Royal Bank of Scotland Group (The ( RBS), down 1.2% and UBS ( UBS), down 1.1%. Top gainers within the sector include Altisource Portfolio Solutions ( ASPS), up 10.5%, Willis Group Holdings ( WSH), up 4.0%, Icahn ( IEP), up 2.5%, Marsh & McLennan Companies ( MMC), up 0.9% and Prudential Financial ( PRU), up 0.7%. TheStreet Ratings group would like to highlight 5 stocks pushing the sector lower today: 5. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group ( MTU) is one of the companies pushing the Financial sector lower today. As of noon trading, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is down $0.10 (-1.6%) to $5.72 on light volume Thus far, 311,955 shares of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 1.8 million shares. The stock has ranged in price between $5.70-$5.75 after having opened the day at $5.74 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $5.81. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides financial services to individual and corporate customers in Japan and internationally. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has a market cap of $81.6 billion and is part of the banking industry. The company has a P/E ratio of 30.6, above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 6.5% year to date as of the close of trading on Tuesday. Currently there are 2 analysts that rate Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and none rate it a hold. TheStreet Ratings rates Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group as a hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, increase in net income and attractive valuation levels. However, as a counter to these strengths, we find that the company's return on equity has been disappointing. Get the full Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Ratings Report now. It's Official: Action Alerts PLUS beats the S&P 500 with Dividends Reinvested! Cramer and Link were up 16.72% in 2012. Were you? See what they are trading for 14-days FREE
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This is a unique recipe for Chicken with a Pecan, Bacon and Panko crust. Pecans and cooked bacon are chopped up in the food processor and mixed with panko. A delicious maple syrup mustard sauce is drizzled over top for serving. It has elements of sweet and salty that I love.
Sometimes I get 'stuck' in a chicken rut because I eat it so often. It's a never-ending quest to come up with new recipes. Bacon is a known flavor miracle worker and can make just about anything taste better, except maybe an old shoe.
This would make a wonderful dinner salad over a bed of greens with a honey-mustard vinaigrette drizzled over the top.
Bacon & Pecan Crusted Chicken w/ Maple Honey Mustard
(by Reeni)
8 slices bacon
1 and 1/2 pounds Chicken Breast, skinless and boneless
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup panko crumbs
Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
Cook the bacon until crispy. Drain on paper towels and let cool. Rough chop.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cover your chicken with saran wrap and pound to an even thickness (1/2″) using a meat mallet(or a skillet). Season with salt and pepper.
Coarsely chop the pecans and bacon in a food processor. Add the panko, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Pulse once or twice to incorporate the panko.
Place your crumb mixture into a shallow dish, and your beaten eggs in another.
Dunk your chicken in the egg and then dredge with the pecan mixture. Press it on by hand if needed.
Place in a large baking pan and bake until cooked through and juices run clear. About 20-25 minutes depending on the size of your chicken breasts.
Serve with maple honey mustard.
Maple Honey Mustard sauce
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
2 tablespoons mayonnaise(optional)
Whisk everything together in a small bowl. If you want a creamier, richer sauce add the mayonnaise. Taste and add more honey or mustard if desired.


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Written by Deb Egenberger
Thursday, 24 December 2009 19:40
LIKE A SNOWFLAKE: Brady students performed during an all-school holiday music program on Friday. Above, kindergartners Carra Terry, Jade Achenbach, Dominick Dillard and Cooper Franzen sing "If I Could Fly Like A Snowflake."
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Four people were arrested in the parking lot of a Vallejo motel late Saturday and early Sunday, police said.
The first set of arrests happened at 11 p.m. at the parking lot of Vallejo Inn, 101 Maritime Academy Drive. The Crime Suppression Unit detectives were patrolling the area when they spotted two people, a man and a woman, in a parked car acting suspiciously, police said.
As they approached the car, the officers allegedly saw narcotics packaging and a crack pipe in plain view. The woman in the car was also determined to be under the influence of narcotics, police said.
She was identified as Denise Shipman, 38, of Vallejo, while the man was identified as Jerry Patton, 42, also of Vallejo.
Police reportedly found cocaine, methamphetamine and a crack pipe in Patton's possession. Patton was also on probation, police added.
Both were arrested and booked into Solano County Jail.
About two hours later, at 1:10 a.m., different patrolling officers passed by the motel's parking lot and also noticed a parked car with two occupants acting suspiciously, police said.
The occupants were also a man and a woman.
The man, Walter Morita, 45, of Fairfield, allegedly was found to be in possession of methamphetamine. A felony arrest warrant for possession of stolen property was also found on Morita, police said.
Meanwhile, the woman, Shaleida Martin, 32, of Suisun City, had a $100,000 arrest warrant for probation violation, as well as another warrant for a theft conviction out of Napa, police added.


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Oriole Nectar
Item# 40-446
This item is currently not available.
Additional Information
Nectar for Oriole Feeders
- Nectar concentrate attracts orioles
- Easy to mix; no boiling needed
- Makes 48 fl. oz.
Fill your oriole feeder with this orange-flavored sucrose nectar to attract colorful orioles to your landscape. Simply mix the concentrate with water; no boiling is necessary. One packet of nectar makes 48 fl. oz. of nectar.
Product Details
- Sucrose and flavoring
- 8 oz. of concentrate makes 48 fl. oz. of nectar


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On the morning of Wednesday June 22, 2011 the daughter of prominent Egyptian singer Hani Shaker passed away at one of the hospitals in Cairo after a long battle with cancer. Hani's daughter Dina had been suffering from stomach cancer and had went on several medical trips to several European countries to receive the proper treatment. Dina's medical trips were semi successful and she had recovered from the pain for a short time, then the tumor had spread to the point that doctors were not able to control the disease.
According to the internet website MBC.net, the last months in Dina's life were very painful and Hani halted all his career activities to remain at the side of his daughter. Hani had postponed all previously scheduled performances in the hope that his daughter would recover.
[1] http://www.albawaba.com


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Image: Cottonmouth Trevally off Botany Bay
A small (25 cm to 30 cm long) Cottonmouth Trevally at a depth of 1 m, near a fish attracting device, 8 km north-east of Botany Bay, New South Wales, April 2004.
- Photographer:
- Heath Folpp
- Rights:
- © Heath Folpp
The water depth was 150 m. One fish was caught on hook and line by J. Diplock of New South Wales Fisheries. It is now registered in the Australian Museum Fish Collection (AMS I.43293-001).
Last Updated:
Tags fishes, ichthyology, Uraspis secunda, Cottonmouth Trevally, Carangidae,


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YOUNG gymnasts from Otley have demonstrated their skills in front of their families, friends and VIPs.
Otley Rhythmic Gymnastics Club held its annual display at Benton Park School, Rawdon, last weekend.
The four to six year old gymnasts were visited in the afternoon by Otley Town Mayor Councillor Nigel Gill (Lab, Manor), who chose the best routine. He then presented an award to the winning girls - Helena Addy, Grayce Fielding, Amelia Lee, Lily Lucas-Hooton, Lillie Sherlock-Boyes, Wejdan Qaisieh, Mabel Walker and Maya Wharton.
Then in the evening the second special guest of the day, MP Greg Mulholland (Lib Dem, Leeds North West), attended to present the club's special awards for the year.
The club's head coach, Karen Priestley, said: "We are very proud of all of our gymnasts, they all performed very well.
"The club display is our biggest fundraising event and we would like to thank everyone who supported us."
The special award winners were: Best Newcomer to Competitive Gymnastics - Linnéa Hoppé; Endeavour - Ruby Bradbourne; Cup for Dance - Bronte Staines; Most Improved - Emily Clay; Achievement - Sophie Edmondson; Club Girl - Eloise Savage; Volunteer of the Year - Rachel Savage; Assistant Coach of the Year - Sarah Goodwill; 10 Year Award - Zoe Hofman; Class Girls - Lillie Sherlock-Boyes, Emilia Blackie, Paula Zaice, Elle Hinton and Lydia Wilson; 100 Per Cent Attendance - Maia Parkin, Leah Hinton and Livia Mirfield.


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Get an overview of this hotelBayside hotel with free breakfast and free area shuttle
Popular property highlights
Situated on the waterfront, this hotel is within a 10-minute walk of Silverdale Waterfront Park and Port of Silverdale. Kitsap Mall is 0.5 mi (0.9 km) away.
Hotel Features
This smoke-free hotel features a restaurant, an indoor pool, and a fitness center. Free buffet breakfast is provided, as well as free WiFi in public areas, free self parking, and a free area shuttle. Additionally, a bar/lounge, a spa tub, and a sauna are onsite.
Room Amenities
All 104 rooms provide conveniences like sitting areas and refrigerators, plus free WiFi and flat-screen TVs with satellite channels. Guests will also find microwaves, room service, and premium bedding.Information missing or incorrect? Tell us!Opens in a new window
Oxford Suites Silverdale
Hotel Amenities
Hotel Amenities
In addition to an indoor pool, Oxford Suites Silverdale provides a spa tub, a sauna, and a fitness center. The hotel offers a restaurant. A bar/lounge is on site where guests can unwind with a drink. Guests can enjoy a complimentary breakfast each morning as well as a complimentary manager's reception. Wireless Internet access is complimentary.
A 24-hour business center is on site at this 3-star property. Event facilities measuring 1700 square feet (158 square meters) include conference space. This business-friendly hotel also offers multilingual staff, gift shops/newsstands, and coffee/tea in a common area. A complimentary area shuttle within 5 mi is available for guests. Complimentary self parking is available on site.
Oxford Suites Silverdale is a smoke-free property.
- Number of buildings/towers - 1
- 24-hour front desk
- Number of floors - 4
- Bar/lounge
- Coffee/tea in common areas
- Free newspapers in lobby
- Free breakfast
- Concierge services
- Conference space
- Dry cleaning/laundry service
- Elevator/lift
- Fitness facilities
- Gift shops or newsstand
- Grocery/convenience store
- Laundry facilities
- Multilingual staff
- Total number of rooms - 104
- Luggage storage
- Restaurant
- Safe-deposit box at front desk
- Free self parking
- Free area shuttle
- 24-hour business center
- Conference space size (feet) - 1700
- Conference space size (meters) - 158
- Free reception
- Sauna
- Smoke-free property
- Spa tub
- Steam room
- Indoor pool
- Free WiFi
Family Friendly Amenities
- Family Hotel
- Indoor pool
- Free Wi-Fi
- Area shuttle (complimentary)
- Grocery/convenience store
- Laundry facilities
- Refrigerator
- Microwave
- Cribs/infant beds (complimentary)
Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
Available in some public areas: Free WiFi
Free self parking
Room Amenities
- Free cribs/infant beds
- Premium TV channels
- Air conditioning
- Free newspaper
- Satellite TV service
- Coffee/tea maker
- Free toiletries
- Desk
- Free local calls
- Hair dryer
- Daily housekeeping
- Iron/ironing board
- Flat-panel TV
- Free WiFi
- Microwave
- Pay movies
- Premium bedding
- Private bathroom
- Refrigerator
- Separate sitting area
- Shower/tub combination
- Phone
- Room service (limited hours)
- Connecting/adjoining rooms available
Where to Eat
A complimentary buffet breakfast is served each morning between 6:30 AM and 9:30 AM. A complimentary manager's reception is offered each day.
Waterfront Bistro - Overlooking the ocean, this bistro serves dinner only. Guests can enjoy drinks at the bar. A children's menu is available.
Room service (during limited hours) is available.
Nearby Things to Do
An indoor pool and a spa tub are on site. Other recreational amenities include a sauna and a fitness center.
Children under 18 years old are not allowed in the swimming pool without adult supervision.
The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or nearby; fees may apply.
- Golfing nearby
- Downhill skiing nearby
- Cross-country skiing nearby
- Snowboarding nearby
- Snowmobiling nearby
- Snowshoeing nearby
- Kayaking nearby
- Sailing nearby
- Scuba diving nearby
- Water skiing nearby
- Rafting nearby
- Scooter/moped rentals nearby
- Mountain biking nearby
- Bicycle rentals nearby
- Hiking/biking trails nearby
- Ecotours nearby
- Ski equipment rental shops nearby
- Golf lessons available nearby
- Segway rental/tour nearby
- Sledding nearby
- Snow tubing nearby
- Rock climbing nearby
If you have requests for specific accessibility needs, please note them at check-out when you book your room.
Hotel Policies
Check-in time ends at 1 AM
Check-in time starts at 4 PM
Minimum check-in age is 18
Check-out time is 11 AM
Payment types
Children and extra beds
- Children are welcome.
- Rollaway/extra beds are not available.
- Free cribs (infant beds)!
- Pets allowed for an extra charge of USD 25 per pet, per stay
- Dogs and cats only
- 2 per room
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy.
Optional extras
- Pet fee: USD 25 per pet, per stay
Hotel Name
- Oxford Suites Hotel Silverdale
- Oxford Suites Silverdale
- Silverdale Oxford Suites
- Oxford Hotel Silverdale
- Oxford Suites Silverdale Hotel Silverdale
We should mention
Only registered guests are allowed in the guestrooms. The property has connecting/adjoining rooms, which are subject to availability and can be requested by contacting the property using the number on the booking confirmation.


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Rarely does a month go by without a head-scratching announcement of some activist group or another "fighting to protect the environment" by attacking somebody involved in agriculture.
They always play to the public's naiveté, and they always want your money to support their misguided mission.
Now, here's a chance to put your money behind a decidedly different mission: Help save a small family farmer-producer from being bankrupted by one of the more notorious activist groups around.
Here's the story.
The Waterkeeper Alliance, a New York City-based group who claims its goal is "to protect every major watershed around the world through grassroots advocacy," is suing Maryland farmers Alan and Kristin Hudson for (allegedly) violating the Maryland Clean Water Act.
At the heart of this suit, according to SaveFarmFamilies.org, a group formed by the Wicomico County (Maryland) Young Farmers and Ranchers, the Maryland Farm Bureau and Perdue Farms to raise funds for the Hudsons' legal defense, is a pile of fertilizer on the family's 20-acre Berlin, Md., farm. It was believed by the Waterkeepers to be untreated poultry litter, which they identified from a small plane they flew over the Hudson's property.
However, the pile was actually biosolids, which the Hudsons obtained from nearby Ocean City, Md., as part of a program run by the Maryland Department of the Environment to recycle municipal waste for agricultural purposes. MDE determined that no action was required, other than to spread the biosolids on the farm's cropland.
However, the Waterkeepers have persisted with their suit, which labels the Hudsons' operation a "factory farm," despite the fact that they have only two chicken growout houses and are farming property that's been in the family for four generations. The legal costs could force the Hudsons into bankruptcy before arguments are heard in court sometime next year.
"If this extremist group succeeds in forcing the Hudson family to settle or declare bankruptcy before arguments are even heard in court, they'll do it to other family farmers here and across the country," said Lee Richardson, a member of the Wicomico County Young Farmers and Ranchers, "just because we don't conform to the Waterkeepers' misguided image of how animals should be raised."
Maryland happens to have a robust farming industry that is responsible for 14% of the state's workforce, the largest percentage of any single sector, according to the Maryland Farm Bureau. Many local farmers are worried that if this lawsuit succeeds, it would open up the flood gate for more litigation.
"This extremist group is sending a message to American farmers: If you raise chickens, hogs or cattle—and don't do it their way—then the Waterkeeper Alliance is willing to use the courts to force you out of business," said Val Connelly, a member of the Maryland Farm Bureau and SaveFarmFamilies.org.
Addressing the real issues
The traction that the Waterkeepers are getting with this and other similar legal tactics is the undeniable damage done to Chesapeake Bay's water quality over decades of abuse from a variety of pollution sources. Like all the other states bordering the bay, the Maryland Department of the Environment is pursuing several watershed restoration initiatives, including spending more than $129 million this year in half a dozen projects—all aimed at upgrading or enhancing wastewater treatment facilities to reduce the discharge of nitrogen and phosphorous into waterways that eventually empty into beleaguered Chesapeake Bay.
That's because the most important measure that government, from municipalities to states to the federal agencies, can take to improve water quality is investing in better treatment of the billions of gallons of commercial, residential and industrial wastewater that daily flows from storm and sanitary sewers in every urban area in the country. Wastewater is the main source of water pollution and that's where both public- and private-sector eco-advocates need to focus their energies.
Of course, agriculture shouldn't receive a free pass to engage in environmentally unsound practices surrounding the use of fertilizers and other inputs, nor land application of manure, composted or not.
But for an "enlightened" environmental organization to focus on a single farm family as defendants in a big-ticket, politically motivated lawsuit reveals the real motives of activists such as the Waterkeepers: drive animal agriculture out of the local and national farm economy.
You have to ask: Are these do-gooders simply pursuing a vegetarianism-for-all agenda, or do they really think that undermining production agriculture to "save" the environment will somehow benefit society?
Either way, they're so wrong that to label them misguided represents charity of the highest order.
› For more information on efforts to help the Hudsons, log onto www.savefarmfamilies.org or contact Ryan Stanton at 410-449-4641.
Dan Murphy is a veteran food-industry journalist and commentator


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healthy - Page 3
7 Ways To Look Younger Now
Are you tired of feeling older than you actually are? People tell you all the time how good you look but you just don't feel that way. Would you like to feel as young as you look? Simple changes can be made to your daily life to help you feel younger and look great. They don't have to be dramatic changes but even the slightest change could make a world of difference.


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(Los Angeles - October 24, 2013) - Legendary alternative rock pioneers Jane's Addiction will be inducted to the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday, October 30th by special guest speakers John Densmore of the iconic L.A. rock band The Doors and Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters. The band will unveil their star at 6436 Hollywood Blvd, next to the Playmates of Hollywood Store in the category of Recording. Jane's Addiction will celebrate the occasion with a live outdoor performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, located in the heart of Hollywood.Jane's Addiction celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the release of their album Nothing's Shocking in 2013, and spent this summer sharing the stage with Alice In Chains on the Rockstar Uproar Festival. At the tour stop in George, WA at the Gorge Amphitheatre, GoPro created an unprecedented moment by capturing live footage from Jane's Addiction's performance entirely with GoPro cameras. The film making was done mainly by the band themselves, with cameras being attached to drummer Stephen Perkins kit and chest, on the neck of Dave Navarro's guitar, on Chris Chaney's bass, on Perry Farrell's monitors, and around the stage in places larger cameras could not have gone. Always innovators themselves, Jane's Addiction was able to capture new perspectives and angles rarely seen before.Oct 24 San Bernardino, CA San Manuel Casino presented by KROQOct 30 Hollywood, CA Hollywood Walk of Fame InductionOct 30 Hollywood, CA Jimmy Kimmel Live
Head over to San Manuel Casino tonight in Highland, CA to see Jane's Addiction's last show of the year!
Check out the new tees in our Jane's Addiction Online Store. Lot's of your favorites and classics, including Nothing's Shocking items!
Jane's Addiction has added Myrtle Beach, SC to their 2013 tour routing. Come see Perry, Stephen, Chris, and Dave on September 19 at HOB Myrtle Beach.
Onsale 8/28.


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SAN PABLO — An innovative new program here involves lasers and job training, and it draws participants from as far as San Jose and Stockton.
High-tech skills for Silicon Valley jobs? A steppingstone to Google or Apple?
Not exactly. The big draw is the blank slate — on peoples' bodies.
Every month, dozens come to a low-cost tattoo-removal clinic in San Pablo. They wear protective goggles and wince in pain under a hot laser, in search of a fresh start. Sponsored by the San Pablo Economic Development Corp., the city and New Skin Adult Tattoo Removal, a San Jose-based tattoo-removal company, the monthly clinic is the first step in the city's Removing Barriers program.
The program, which started in April, has added job-readiness training and financial-responsibility classes to its regimen, said San Pablo Economic Development Corp. General Manager Leslay Choy.
The cost is $50 per session for residents, $75 for nonresidents. It typically takes six to 10 sessions to remove a tattoo.
Participants who complete the job-training component of the program are reimbursed more than half the costs for the tattoo removal upon completion.
"We want to not just erase visible barriers but also offer the job-readiness component," Choy said. "Our goal is education and training to enhance the work force."
The program represents a novel approach in the Bay Area by the tiny city, which comprises just 2.6 square miles and makes fewer headlines than its more high-profile neighbors.
But San Pablo has a stubbornly high unemployment rate, 14.4 percent, higher than neighboring Richmond and well above the state average of 8.6 percent, and city leaders hope the relatively low-cost partnership might make a difference.
"We truly want to shift the needle in terms of unemployment and underemployment," Choy said. "We are determined that people think of San Pablo as a place with a highly capable work force."
While tattoos are common — more than 45 million people nationwide are estimated to have at least one — career counselors and job seekers say they can be barriers to employment. Most of the participants got tattoos when they were younger that they now regret, Choy said.
For Fiona Lam, tattoos were a barrier to employment, and to personal healing. In her late teens, she got several tattoos on her neck and forearms.
"I was in a different state of mind," she said.
When she sought employment, it was a problem.
"When they're visible right away, like the one on my neck, it's not good for first impressions," Lam said.
Now 22, Lam said her tattoo removals have given her new hope.
"I'm really excited about the future for the first time," Lam said, adding that she recently landed a job in a senior living facility.
The program is administered with the help of a part-time intern and some volunteer staff. Total costs amount to about $66,000, paid by a portion of proceeds from measure Q, a voter-approved sales tax increase of one-half cent for five years and a quarter-cent five years after that, Choy said.
City Manager Matt Rodriguez said he's pleased that the program has grown.
"We believe in building programs for people who are struggling with barriers to gainful employment," Rodriguez said. "Tattoo removal isn't glamorous, but it provides incredible hope to many looking for a second chance."
Contact Robert Rogers at 510-262-2726 or email@example.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/SFBaynewsrogers.
8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Sept. 28, Oct. 26, Nov. 30 and Dec. 21. All clinics take place at the San Pablo Economic Development Corp. offices (13830 San Pablo Avenue, Suite D). To schedule an appointment or for more information, call 510-215-3189.