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Opinion Journal: After Bin Laden
Global View Columnist Bret Stephens and Matthew Kaminski of the editorial board forecast the impact of Osama Bin Laden's death.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... was all the mod and the demand was hurt and it's the it's almost ten years ago has now been killed by US forces welcomed opinion Journal I've ... it's also what it means for America now is the back Kaminski our editorial board member also Brett Stevens global view columnist deputy editorial page editor ... I'm certainly and we sold so last night the footage from our Westpoint the U S military Academy some celebration of this has been a lot of fun coming ... what ... what's your reaction but when you see that ... at long last the last ten years leader of the market has been killed ... what's hard to feel ... anything but ... to my ... satisfaction and sense of vindication ... um and frankly of a sense that ... not so much just revenge ... of the best time has been served I knew I live near ground zero I was there ... of a force seven o'clock ... this morning wandering around camera crews were ... setting up of the people were already starting to come out in force and people understand ... that this ... and these concludes one chapter in a now more than ten year long saga because it did that arrogance of the monster didn't simply began ... on not on the nine eleven ... but it's an important it's the end of an important chapter and hopefully it will have ... on ... not only a ... tactical and strategic effect when it comes to dealing with the bin Laden's ... but also an important symbolic one ... the ... net with two of the operation of a specific set of all that bad but it ... just kind of opening thoughts I mean when you first heard the news of ... what what you think this does mean for the US for the war on terror ... it really depends on how we suppress this is getting them ... going forward ... obviously the money was the charismatic ... in the face of of this of violent Islamism ... growth in last twenty years ... in his demise uses to keep the whole ... in OK and and and for this movement ... customer to Zawahiri is is a difference to the ... man is not clear who's we can take over ... at the same time ... the age of terror is not soon behind this piece on Tuesday that the ... terror warnings have gone up now that there's a reason for the Confucian ... and Somersby and maybe we are modeling so ... we had a franchise network that there are other ... carriers now to Yemen I painted it in ... the peninsula ... it is as we've taken over the last two attacks ... have been planted in the U S came from there ... I saw Hamas today to condemn the US killing of ... connoisseurs will he I think it's a great defences of the week with this is not over and these calls that it is time to ... push back from Afghanistan are really not ... at the time the ... sucky response to a Pakistan Willow Omar the Taliban leaders are certainly in Pakistan Dino Moralist where he is ... said to be prices Advantage now with the Pakistanis ... who ... are in should be embarrassed by what happened yesterday ... to be so finish the job in Afghanistan ... and do not mind all ... the extra commitments ... see others are in ... OPTR shadow toward the orders were to be a will do I look at the so ... years up from three hundred sixty degrees today because this is a special half hour edition of opinion Journal lot about ... looking for us so up to the what's what's given to the ... the operation that that that took down the top of what you've actually been to this part of Pakistan ... in this particular town ... about this ... as Pakistanis Call that we would look at it is up ... about that because this is a city named after a ... British military officer ... very pleasant ... place I think if you wanna look for comparison the United States like Colorado Springs is a major ... military Academy their temperate climate ... of tiny forest going up ... um ... hillsides ... it said this was not say Karachi finding finding ... a needle in haystack fourteen million people it wasn't a wild hinterlands of from the northwest ... Fronteer ... this was ... this is an area that it's it's hard to believe that sadly some of Pakistani officials ... didn't know there was something suspicious about this compound ... bill ... practically cheap to gel ... next to their equivalent of Westpoint ... video that that that you have pointed out that it's not but ... not necessarily a strange thing in Pakistan that have high walls and barbed wire around your your house but not ... to Bridgepoint ... how much do we think the Pakistanis ... new gotten a lot ... of suspected it knew about the operation I mean what does this tell us about ... their involvement ... we don't really know is the end ... of the incessant questions that really need answers in ... the coming days ... I think Now's Time's come with the Pakistanis and say ... what he should know about this how to get this property is only five years ago ... he was six times bigger than any house around now ... as you pointed out we go to the nicer parts of all four ... of every houses with Pershing on compound with the Barb wire high walls ... this place seems that stood out in the race was not normal ... there ... on ... the military knew that there were so something was built ... I'm ordering right next to it ... on the other hand I'm you know Pakistan is not the most of the best one country ... in the world of an understatement ... on the degree to which the Pakistanis to note government with the controls of the state is always to be in ... doubt ... I'm ... the one thing that they cannot today is the county because he was right next to this very important ... on military installations which is not that was well from the Indian border ... this is a set of no-fly zones in effect an American drones could not have patrolled over there ... and survey did not it wants to tap their son's story this morning that ... present Obama consider sending some proper bombers decision ... to blow it to smithereens ... he wanted the body but we could not have done the kinds of operations that we have been doing for a loss of twenty years in the North West ... provinces of Pakistan in the mountains of Waziristan of these names that Americans ... are now familiar with its Isar the sanctuaries for lobby groups the biking American soldiers in Afghanistan ... there was actually a security recent report from London to be Rears ... but the really I mean that with the critical question is not ... what the Pakistanis know ... when the islands and at one level ... and the property pointed out ... that the decision was made not to try to Baba facility but to us and in the ... team up with what we know about this team and that it seems that ... the decision to send it I would say ... precredit to present Obama for of for ... taking what ... probably looked like a risky operation and saying go ahead and note no doubt about it you might recall that ... in two thousand five ... um there was a good information about the whereabouts of us will operate the Number two of the the guy ... and at least according to the New York Times on Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of Defense ... of veto the decision to send a team like this one ... to take that to take him out because he felt that they were just ... too many American ... special forces and called the Obama administration clearly had no such qualms ... president Obama as you mentioned in a speech made about getting ... hold of some of the modern ... um what are the top priorities of his of his counter terrorist ... counter terrorist efforts ... the teams that whenever one ... known as the chase top ... teams Joint ... special operations Command ... and the jigsaw emerge ... after the failure of the desert one attends nineteen eighteen by ... then-President Jimmy Carter to rescue ... our hostages in ... Tehran Tehran ... that ... operation as everyone knows it turned out to be a catastrophe in part because ... it brought in ... a different ... services but hadn't really integrate their ... operations to chase up and some ... you know we ... began to sort of ... assume ... proper shape in the next twenty years ... was really perfect in honor of General Stanley McChrystal who before ... he was ... running the show in Afghanistan ... was ... running these kinds of special operations ... in Iraq that were able to use the word Gastar seems the cuts that Saddam Hussein out despite a fall in December ... up from two thousandthree ... again the terrorist Zarqawi who was ... killed in a similar kind of rain ... in the summer of ... two thousand six CBC has become more and more professional they were running operations largely held for success in ... Iraq outgoing after upbeat and in Iraq ... to account for a lot of our successes against Taliban ... and this is not the first time that special operations have gone into Pakistan ... to get other high value target will assume this talk about that because ... obviously not a lot is said about the style of imported into the especially officially the one above its offices to it yet so what what has been happening on the ground ... for this and it's from the submissions of and going over the border is very quiet spent mentioned ... about five years ago ... there was even one incident where ... the chain's top team went into the village ... and a cut of the gutted the messy ... Pakistanis were furious to cut up some protection to begin and present Butcher ASA Ceraso cited ... Hawk's a bit too risky to do too much of ... over the years they have certainly been going over the border very very quietly ... sometimes in cooperation with Pakistanis ... sometimes not on the Pakistanis ... are happy to cooperate with us when it's against the terrorists are attacking them ... the US uncooperative when it means that ... the U S attack haven't gotten a lot was completely without the art you can tell me that was the ... present Obama said ... in mentioning this piece that there was some Pakistani cooperation that enabled this ... was a very big statement ... and every scene to try to ... cover for them ... when I was later on on a conference call last night with White House officials ... are on background they basically made very clear that ... they should know information about this going back to two thousandseven the first time ... by the Pentagon which was this alias for one of Obama is mistrusted for years ... until yesterday operation in the country ... on that this this scheme came in with the Pakistanis knowledge of these ... thus far is doing what they were doing ... even this morning we heard that Bob ... was a copper skinned down ... the work that day there were some of Pakistani journalists to report that old Pakistani up the cracks in the area ... he was a little fire fight ... between the ... covers were so flying out of Pakistan ... the Pakistanis do know ... these guys were ... and it scrambled jets trying to intercept them ... in the world and in that they were called off but the Americans ... on so the Pakistanis ... are I mean I think our cooperation Pakistan is the worst of the last six months to their intensely been as bad as ever been BP dioxide ... which is the military ... spy agency Pakistan ... and the C I a ghost case in February with the CIA operative who was ... arrested for for killing when it turns out to his eyesight failed cannot or ... are just getting station chief brand of Islamic on December ... so we can switch is its use of the deal would order to get ... back to where we go from your taxes but for now what we are to show a clip from my last night for the president's speech ... late last night talking about the of the operation ... so shortly after taking office ... the director Leon Panetta ... the director of this EIA ... to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda ... even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt ... dismantle ... and defeat his network ... then ... last August ... after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community ... I was briefed on a possible lead to deadlock ... was far from certain ... ten took many months to run the spread to grab ... I met repeatedly with my national security team as we develop more information about the possibility that we have located in London ... hiding within the compound ... deep inside pockets ... finally ... last week ... a determined that we have enough ... intelligence to take action ... unauthorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden ... and bring him to justice when we're talking about ... how this all began how the intelligence came together ... and of ... as we're saying some cable TV Chatter last night that this all began with the Gitmo ... from a ... prisoner they're talking about a possible Cordier yes that's right the way the way ... Martin was found just as we found ... previous other high-level targets ... is you create ... sort of ... matrices of who knows ... who else and then we discovered one of the inmates the get-go it seems that what's been reported ... as part of the aliens ... of one of bin Laden's ... current students at this time to figure out ... who was with the guys real name was ... and and what his area of operation was that we were able to get closer and closer ... and so we found this compound in ... the body ... that looks ... like ... no other house units ... in its neighborhood so that led to intense of ... satellite surveillance I imagine the most of inhuman surveillance as well ... there's some speculation the Raymond Davis the owner of the operative who was rested impacts and they've been involved in that ... operation we ... we simply don't ... know for I know for sure ... but that ultimately leads to a finding of of of high confidence ... that ... there is a high level of ... Target in in in that come out of the establishment was on the lot in this post is a whopper year some some other ... figure ... I think remains ... remains the scene ... that's the work of intelligence it takes a long time ... and again I could also present for pulling the trigger when he got the information ... about that though the Journal's reporting that ... of the block was identified by his wife of Appia ... at the compound there that we've also up ... heard that ... one of the of a woman at the compound which uses a human shield by the LGA ... would be a part of ... commentary on ... Mr ... lawyer Bid LogMeIn's he does deserve Mr ... if I ... if that was his wife in fact shielding him so we don't know that at this point but the ... but that it will we go from here the question of obviously huge morale boost for our troops and for Americans generally ... what does it say to people in Afghanistan or Pakistan does that say ... we're winning you should rally to our cause or more ... can we expect less of an impact ... as to what was said and we are winning ... anyone with taxes country confined to the kitchen bench ... that was the great ... problem with the moms to be around nine years later even if he was involved in the day ... operations is this a huge mark in about some that say I'm the blonde in the dot ... to dot the big guy he's finding somewhere ... I say when ... he's not on the bench forgotten to take a long time ... um I think in Afghanistan or go from here ... as I've recap shows that you're serious we are ... committed to the SEC should show that I think it's worrying that initial reaction ... Boston iOS hints at Twitter you know that in some of his life ... Bogs a top speed was done enough to pull out ... but analysts warn that will stay standing here what what the first thing I think ought to be done his photographs of the Martin's courts ought to be released ... on ... the knee so there's not a death or move ... saying that ... we didn't really know ... exactly I mean he's just seen that people will believe anything that a lot of people with true Thursday ... staffers and so on ... um it's important those photographs the ... the ... police that people understand that it's not just the say so an American president ... that the modernist said ... that in fact he's got ... it on they're they're there they're two points ... Matt is exactly right this can be at an inflection point where we decide well ... you know the mission is copper's a war on the nine eleven is is is avenged war on terror ... is over ... or we understand that this is just one ... significant victory ... in an ongoing Sts ... in an ongoing struggle I hope the people understand that ... also I don't think we should be underplaying the symbolism of his death of the net is an organization ... that relies on symbols it's part of Mr. it's buried in a widening ... the ... twin towers ... because those were symbols of American economic ... might and promised why did they get the Pentagon's similar reasons same same reason they were going after ... Congress ... this is an organization that is dedicated ... to symbolically it up if you will end in London was ... in London and his survival was essential element ... of bumpiness involved in the American had ... taken over Afghanistan and taken over ... Iraq bombs other countries ... and yet they can find this ... single man now he has been found he is ... the isthe ... is a major blow ... that also alluded to something that ... really and I think is very important which is that organizations like Al Kita ... you don't simply reply Mischer leadership from you know ... with ... with the next guy ... the bench it's more snow is that it's on the bench and as you replenishment you find other leaders have busker Rhys mother less capable he takes time for these organizations to ... to get back together we found for instance in in her room when we captured of email Guzman ... that this unbearable mean also terrorist movement errors terrible movement killed tens of thousands of people ... really fell apart ... we found ... out when we when after The out that many in ... the ... cartel ... leaders ... in in Colombia ... that once you've got to kingpins it wasn't so we see two of replenishment something sellers can happen when with without TV here ... and in law then you know Bernard Lewis points out this is a God who spoke to Wedding therapy he had to ... get a fluency that was the kind of rhetorical force ... get a rhetorical force that is is just not easily ... maps of that that won't matter is a lot ... for the rhetoric the ideology the symbols that can sustain the pace of life and he actually printed out if he's been in the last twenty years ... we've never had ... initially this whose demeanour succeed ... it also ... raises the question is would look around the region that we talk about ... Afghanistan and Pakistan ... um that what you think the impact is on ... on the year of spring and of ... in Libya and Syria Egypt Mean places where are we seeing a huge change this is this a factory it or is this kind of a non event for us someone is fighting the regime in Syria ... he said that complements was happening in Tunisia ... and Egypt ... spray ... your lot to serve post the strongest this is a post on this phenomenon ... people in the Arab world are now not in the vicinity of America and Israel and training them for all their problems ... they're bringing their own cross the ... one more open countries better governance ... you go ... a stronger economy ... in the sense that this also symbolically is ... the kind of funeral for political Islam ... that would be great now again as always things we don't really know Temenos gonna happen in these countries and we don't know was to take over these countries but if it does play into that so the narrative that it's a very ... nice comforting one from an American arrested over a ... relief role in the ... Milsons point of view ... of of the government's ... that this is that the survey page has been turned ... on the world to NAR consume their own problems of how to ... make their lives better not how to ... explode a suicide vest in Israel or well you know I have an opportunity in a few odd ... outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates ... about a month ago when I asked him you know ... for the winners and losers in doubt in the Arab Spring one of the points that he was very emphatic about ... was that the biggest losers all came in because prolonged time Takeda ... has essentially of offer the proposition that because politics of the Arab world don't work ... the ... the the best album for those politics is radicalism is terrorism ... and furthermore that politics don't work because the United States is supporting various kinds of corrupt autocratic dictatorial ... regimes now the narrative that has shifted dramatically perceive that there are opportunities there is a political space that's being ... created ... and at the same time the alternative that in London ... has been offering ... isn't ... necessarily is attractive ... for his role as EU did ... not unattractive but for sure I watching what happened last night that certainly doesn't seem like a man that ... anyone would be would-be you're in for a ... now up ... it's it may seem a little crass but coming back for on domestic politics here ... a lot of us have expected that ... this next election in twenty twelve is going to be about economics right now I think if you look at ... President's ... suffering popularity lot of it is about the price of gasoline ... but this does seem to underline ... that ... that that will probably be true going in that ended the fall of twenty twelve lead on national security this is a huge win for the president I think anyone would say it's a ... it's a it's a remarkable achievement he said it was the ... the ... greatest achievement in the in the war against OK that last year's starter argue with that ... does this ... does this suggest that the stronger at present the national security issues and that the really has to be all about the economy before the election was tomorrow ... percentiles has agreed to provide a ... prepaid phone for America ... I think it's because it was pitch perfect ... he ... president George Bush technically that is his leadership ... that means possible a bikini ... the gutsy call by ... not calling up with Bill Clinton tried to twelve years ago when the sun cruise missiles into the scam sell it after the ... bombings in Africa ... the insurer to get the body ... you know it is satisfied comedian American soldiers lost ... some of the modern indie and took him out of their stuff think ... drone attack would not at the same satisfaction among Americans ... it also undercut the argument that Obama has weakened national security ... he notes his credit again he's been ... he's ... committed to the effort in Afghanistan Canadian rock defaulted on Libya ... this responds in Middle East ... but ... your point that it still very long way away and I think it a month from now ... we have the same conversation on the scene on down the price of gas but jobs but the ... cardinal of Opel deserves the credit ... and in this doesn't just benefit and politically because he's managed to get control of the spin cycle ... he's done something to read that and and and courageous and smart and he's shown genuine political leadership and no one should begrudge him ... the political advantage that he's going again ... I would agree with McIntyre you don't remember the senior President Bush ... in March nineteen ninety one as ... the US of hold ups the downs forces in Kuwait get approval rating epic in excess of ninety percent ... did help a ... great deal in ... November of ninety two against ... against Clinton I think some of this will probably be largely ... forgotten or discounted by the electors of the time the election of roles and ... but to the extent that Obama has demonstrated ... a real feel for national security issues being genuine unequivocal convincing win in the war on terror ... he ... is going to read I deserve to ... political benefit it's it's a great achievement for the present great day for America ... thanks


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Travel in Weekend #34 Link Party
Today in my Link Party - Travel in Weekend - Knight's camp in the forest. Wandering through the forest you come across a wild animal but also on the camp resting on the trail of the knights and their retinue. Well, maybe once, now I knew where and when you can see as they rested on the trail of former travelers.
If you have interesting photos (and certainly you have) places that are worth visiting cities or wild areas, churches, buildings, bridges and old towns, I invite you.
Please only link to your post and not your whole blog.
Visit others, leave an Comment and make new Friends!
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THE MUSIC MAN -- ABeautifulMind created a handsome graphic from the cover design of Clay Aiken's new CD, A Thousand Different Ways.
School Fall To Remember
Soap Encounter Cramps Style
Every year when the new school season begins, I remember a fall (LOL, pun intended!) about 10 years ago when I almost missed the annual autumn ritual of teacher workdays, open house, freshmen orientation, all leading to the first day of classes with students.
I have read with interest -- and occasional wistful memories -- teacher reports of preparing classrooms, curriculum, bulletin boards, and even sharing the preview samples from Clay Aiken's upcoming CD, A Thousand Different Ways, over the intercom during the workdays. Standing-O for 4evrgonzo, who interested several staff members in purchasing ATDW in this manner!
An 8/29 story -- Clay Aiken Fans Generating Giant Buzz Online About New Album -- in the Raleigh Chronicle provides an excellent overview of the activity surrounding the 9/19 debut of ATDW, highlighting various fan club sites, the CD release parties, and Clay's current list of TV appearances:
9/15 - Tonight Show with Jay Leno
9/19 - Good Morning America
9/22 - The View
9/26 - Jimmy Kimmel Live
Dangerous Shower Maneuver
Returning to my fall story of 10 years ago, a couple of weeks prior to freshmen orientation I stepped on a piece of soap while showering in the bath tub and, being extremely limber, inadvertently lunged into a full-fledged split that ended abruptly with an indisputable thwack as the tub ran out. For the first time in my life, I had a broken bone, unfortunately in my right leg.
I gingerly crawled out of the tub, carefully hobbled to the telephone, and called my sister, who had broken her ankle the previous spring. She, or course, told me to call my doctor. Later that afternoon, as arranged by my primary physician, my brother-in-law drove me to an orthopedic specialist, Dr. Murphy.
Orthopedist Renders Tough Verdict
The broken femur was x-rayed, set, and firmly encased in a cast. I was told to put no weight whatsoever on my right foot and that most likely I would not be able to drive or climb stairs for six weeks. Impossible! All my middle and high school orchestra classes rehearsed on the second floor of their respective schools.
This was approximately 10 days prior to orientation for a very talented, carefully recruited incoming freshmen class of fiddlers. In the 1950s and 60s, Grimsley High School's orchestra was unrivaled in the state of North Carolina. However, when I arrived on the scene, the program had dwindled from a 96-piece full symphony to approximately 14 string students. For three years, I had worked diligently at the primary feeder, Kiser Middle School, building award-winning ensembles in the 6th - 8th grades. The fall's 35 incoming frosh represented the fruition of that process.
PHOTO INTERMISSION: Today's clickable interlude features the talents of five visual artists -- ABeautifulMind (1); Ambassador Of Love (2); Cindilu2 (3); Amazing_CA (4); and Claystruck (5).
Wheelchair to the Rescue
The first thing I did to keep weight off my leg was use a wheelchair that a fellow teacher located at her church. I sat on the side of the tub for sponge baths and literally never touched the floor with my right foot. Other times, I held my right leg off the floor and hopped on my left foot with the aid of a walker.
Following about 10 days of this, I returned to Dr. Murphy's office for an x-ray progress report. Bewilderment filled the face of the physician's assistant as he scoured my pictures. Finally, he rendered this verdict: "Nothing has changed."
I immediately thought the worst and was silently screaming "Oh, no!" when he clarified that this was good, very good. The bone, meshing and healing quite nicely, had not moved even one tiny bit. I was fitted for a boot, and Dr. M concurred on the step-climbing, but no driving for six weeks.
Bumming Rides Everywhere
Despite having to hustle rides to and from school, not to mention BETWEEN schools twice a day, I was anxious to start the new year. Since I am barely 5' short, another friend located a set of junior crutches that helped immensely.
On orientation day, I greeted my 35 freshmen string students from my rolling desk chair, welcoming them to high school and outlining goals and requirements for the school year. By graduation, I had taught most of these musicians for a total of seven years. In that time, not only does a student become one of your own, but together we helped put the Grimsley Orchestra back on track.
The frosh, combined with the upperclassmen string players, eventually totaled 60-plus with a full orchestra of 85-plus. Together we delved into the school's phenomenal music library, the envy of many surrounding colleges.
I'll never forget one spring when an adjudicator, a college professor whose wife had directed this same orchestra program many years earlier, greeted me afterwards with a bear hug and the excited declaration: "I can't wait to tell my wife that Grimsley is back!"
And we were. Have an awesome school year, all!
RELATED TAGS: Clay Aiken, A Thousand Different Ways, Raleigh Chronicle, Tonight Show, Good Morning America, The View, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Grimsley High School Orchestra , Opening of School


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As has been first leaked and then officially released, the vicar of Christ published an encyclical about taking action on climate change, in particular making it a moral issue. Reading the long document from the Vatican, it tries to lay out a response in showing a growing precedent in papal concerns about the environment as well as the morality of the use of natural resources to destructive ends for short-term gains. Some of the most interesting quotes on that point came from Pope John Paul II, such as the need to "safeguard the moral conditions for an authentic human ecology" (italics in original).
The production of this statement hasn't been a surprise, and conservative voices in America had already been making statements about how the Pope should keep out of this debate. As well stated by The Onion: Frustrated Republicans Argue Pope Should Leave Science To Scientists Who Deny Climate Change. The irony is also very strong because Pope Francis has training in the natural sciences, namely as a chemical technician (but not a Masters in chemistry as has been reported, as noted by Forbes).
However, because of the nature of the response by the Vatican to take up the challenge of combating climate change, it may do more to polarize than the advance the conversation. The biggest issue with the acceptance of anthropogenic global warming is a political and psychological one, in that the acceptance of man-made climate change goes against the moral feelings of deniers. It suggests that standard free enterprise and industrial work is a negative force and requires something like government regulation or communal forces to undermine free trade. So no wonder Fox News voices are calling the Pope "dangerous" among other things. Then again, I have to imagine that so long as millions of people feel that someone like the Pope has the moral high ground it will be hard to put all of that cognitive dissonance aside. What the future will hold when it comes to public opinion on the reality of climate change and how to respond to it we will have to wait and see.
As for how to respond to it, things like carbon taxes and other market-based approaches certainly appear to be viable ways to go forward without abandoning basic capitalism–and really, it doesn't undermine capitalism at all since it is forcing polluters to actually pay for the damage they cause and have prices reflect it (see externalities). However, other ways to combat the problem appear to have run against some points of Catholic dogma. As Lawrence Krauss notes, the encyclical doesn't allow for dealing with population growth (see paragraph 50 of the encyclical). While it is certainly true that even without population growth the fact that poorer people want to have and will access more technology that produces carbon dioxide (be that cars or machines that have to be built and thus contributed to global warming, or the greater demand for meat) obviously having still more people wanting the same can only accelerate this issue. Also, demanding that we be less of consumers (paragraph 206) and it seems to be a part of a larger woe about technology and commerce. It is then less surprising that the encyclical saying nothing about discovering new energy sources and instead a call for less demand and more efficiency (192) and even some poo-pooing nuclear power (184), which may be one of the avenues we must take to reduce carbon emissions and still keep the lights on.
On the other hand, are the particulars for how the Pope wants to combat climate change really going to have an effect? The real point of the coverage of this story is the fact that the faith leader of over 1 billion people is calling for action on this serious issue, and it is that soundbite that will have any chance of resonating. The worst that I can expect is what will happen with Protestant response and how that could get into battles of biblical exegesis. Plenty of Christians have tried to say that the Bible tells them to subdue the world and make it work for humankind. Others want to highlight the aspect of environmental stewardship. I will be curious to see how that debate goes.
Bottom line: the papal call for environmental action is more likely to help in the long run, but I can expect to see a lot of push-back from the powers that be who want to maintain the status quo. For me, I'm onboard the Francis train.


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At 9 minutes to midnight on the Saturday night I crossed the finish line at Yarramalong, a sleepy hamlet 90mins north of Sydney, to complete my first 100km ultra marathon race. I set myself this goal since leaving Checkpoint 3 (81.6km) at about the same time the previous year, as a volunteer, heading home after an amazingly inspiring day. How the hell did I finish when the conditions were atrocious and claimed many, many runners?
"How are you feeling?" was the question I kept getting asked in the week leading up to the race. "Calm" was my reply and "I just want to get to the start line and get it underway". I can imagine most runners were feeling the same.
It's always a restless sleep the night before a big race and with this race it was no different. Driving to the start the car thermometer said 25C. Not a great omen for the day.
Before I knew it I'd checked in at Teralba, a sleepy outer suburb of Newcastle, the starting point for the race. Wristbands on (1 recording my number and 1 recording my weight), weight-in, toilet stop done, compulsory pre-race coffee in hand and we were listening to the race directors briefing. Lots of familiar faces in the crowd both runners and supporters to say hello to, good luck, can't believe we're doing this etc. Every little personal interaction gave me a lift, mentally and physically.
Before long we're making our way to the start. 6am we're off. It was all a bit surreal but in a calm way and just relieved to be under way. 8 months of hard training and I have gotten to the start line injury free. Tick – first goal achieved.
A quick look at my watch shows I was running at 5:30min/km pace. There's no way I could run 100km at this pace. Continue this fast and your race will be over very quick I told myself. So I slowed down and walked up the hill out of Teralba.
The field became strung out quite quickly and I found a good rhythm, while chatting away to fellow runners. 7km down and we're on the trail. Kevin Andrews, from Terrigal Trotters, was there at the Wakefield trailhead, dressed in Elvis attire, cheering on the runners. He checked me in at the start and I seemed to see him everywhere on the day. Each sighting gave me a massive lift. Thank you Kev.
My hydration and nutrition was going well. My plan was to eat and drink heaps for the first Leg. Thankfully I was able to do this as very often I can struggle to get food in. Passing under the M1 Freeway (at 10km) it started to rain very, very lightly. I remember thinking "ah this is nice but what if it rained heavy all day?" Ha – wishful thinking!!
15km down and we're crossing Freeman's Drive, a major road to the Hunter Valley wine region. I stopped to adjust my left sock as I could feel it rubbing on my little toe.
Surely not a blister, surely not this early? Across the road and a quick "you're going great" from a fellow Terrigal Trotter and we're on the huge climb up to Heaton Lookout. I was so glad to have done this section of the track as a training run 2 months previously. Knowing what was coming next is a huge advantage in any race. The climb is long and hard but I got to the top feeling fresh and ran to the lookout with a fellow training buddy. I took my left shoe and sock off and indeed I had a blister on my little toe. I stuck a band-aid on it and was thankful that I had a change of shoes to put on at CP1.
Through the jungle section, a particular dense rainforest section of the run, no problem with a train of 4-5 other runners. Past Macleans lookout and onto the gravel road towards Checkpoint 1, 28.6km. I came across a runner swaying as he ran. Really? So early into the race? I thought. I stopped to see how he was and he had run out of water. The only water I had left was in my hydration pack which he happily accepted.
Feeling fresh as I ran into Checkpoint 1. There was Elvis again aka Kevin Andrews. Support crew there. Everyone saying I looked really good, really fresh. Spirit boosted. After refueling and a change of clothes and shoes I took off towards the often dreaded Congewai Valley. I was walking most of the hills at this stage not because I wasn't able to run them but as a way of conserving energy. It wasn't a slow walk but a fast power walk about a 6km/hr pace. I'd done a lot of this in training after reading somewhere of the importance of it. "Even the elite runners walk some of the hills" it said. Well I'm not elite so I'll be walking a lot of the hills I figured.
Not long after Checkpoint 1 the clouds broke and a brutal sun came out. I remember suddenly being aware of this, looking up and literally seeing the clouds rapidly evaporate. I knew then a very hot Congewai Valley awaited. Still I was hydrating (or so I thought!) and eating well. I could feel the heat building, evaporating the sweat quickly and drying the throat.
I managed to pass a few runners on this leg but always made sure to have a chat as I past them and see how they were doing. Running along with one runner we got on the subject of billabongs along Congewai road and the possibility of jumping in one. Then we came across the greenish, slimiest billabong ever. It didn't stop us submerging out hats in the foul water and putting them back on. Our need to get cool water on our heads was that great.
On the downhills into Congewai valley my left shin was causing me a lot of pain. I couldn't run the downhills. Bugger. Just before I got to Congewai Road I caught up with a fellow Terrigal Trotter and GNW rookie Mark Hope ahead of me. That gave me a massive lift. He was doing it very tough though so I walked a bit with him and tried to lift his spirits. We tried to walk a kilometer, run a kilometer into Checkpoint 2 but the conditions were too oppressive. The temperature was 38degrees! As I past the GNW turn off towards the communications tower, the route I would have to take after leaving Checkpoint 2, I could see runners walking very, very gingerly up the track. Not a great sign. Everyone was doing it tough.
I finally made it into Checkpoint 2, 52.5km and the weigh in showed I had lost 4.5kg! That was a massive surprise to me. I thought I was hydrating well enough. Apparently not. I sat down with my support crew and all I could say was "it's so hot, it's so hot".I caught tidbits of updates and realized quickly that many people had pulled out, top runners included. I tried not to focus too much on this. I remember thinking "what if I was unable to continue?" Then I focused on all the long hours of training I had done, how I had been thinking about this race everyday for the last year, how shit I would feel in the next few days if I did not complete it. This solidified my reserve to continue as long as I felt a bit better. I got lots of fluid into me, including my not so secret weapon – hot tea. If you know me you'll know how many cups of tea I have a day. It's an Irish thing. Even on a stinking hot day it restores me physically and mentally.
After the first cup I began to feel just that tiny bit better. I put 100% of my focus on this feeling and it grew. Another cup of tea and I felt a little bit better. Change of clothes. A bit better again. And so on until I felt strong enough to continue. A kiss good bye to support crew Maddie and daughter Eva. Bag check and gee up from fellow Terrigal Trotter Ian Temblett and I'm off. Eva and her best buddy Nina ran along the school fence shouting goodbye. Yet another boost to my spirit. Every little boost helped and added up to pushing me along towards my goal.
From here I walked slowly to the top of the communications tower. It was hell. Runners were either coming back down, crashed out on the track or walking soooo slowly. Half way up the climb I was buggered. I sat down and threw up 3 times. Somehow this helped and with renewed vigour I continued up the climb. I came across Graham Ridley another fellow Terrigal Trotter in a bad way ¾ of the way up the climb. Cramping really badly and in considerable pain he was pulling out. We phoned the race director and Graham decided to head back down to Checkpoint 2. At that moment a top runner came down the climb, pulling out, heading back to Checkpoint 2. He looked pretty fresh and I was surprised to see him pull out. It didn't stop me continuing, just hardened my resolve in a perverse kind of way. Stupidity or stubbornness? Probably a combination of both!
I finally made it to the top. I sat down with 2 other runners, nobody really saying much and had a banana. I was feeling much better now and decided to go for it and ran off towards Checkpoint 3. I had heard that a cool change had come through down the coast a bit and I was beginning to feel the effects of it. I shouted with joy at one stage, welcoming the cooler winds.
Somewhere along this section I realized I was going to finish the race. I remember getting a bit emotional and then quickly telling myself I'll have plenty of time for this at the end. That I was wasting energy that my legs needed. I actually visualized pushing the emotion from my head down my body into my legs. That sure helped!
When I did this section of the trail, Checkpoint 2 to Checkpoint 3, in a training run earlier in the year I ran most of it on my own. I knew that would stand me in good stead on the day and I was not wrong as I ran most of it alone during the race.
Steep descent into Watagan Creek valley, still sore left shin but moving along nicely. Such a beautiful valley. The climb out of the valley was hard as expected but I managed to pass a few runners on the way. Pleasantries exchanged which always gives me a lift and I'd like to think they felt the same.
Thankfully the water at the unmanned drink stop at the top of the was not too warm. I filled up 2 bottles and continued on to the Basin, Checkpoint 3. A combination of running and speed walking got me to the Basin with the last bit of daylight in the sky. That became a goal during the day, get to the Basin before it got totally dark.
I changed my clothes again at the checkpoint. This was a good strategy that helped enormously on the day. I also refueled with veggie soup, tea, cold mango and cool drinks. Good to see plenty of Terrigal Trotters around, chatting to them lifted my spirits even more.
After about 20mins at the checkpoint it was on with pack, hi-vis vest, light and off for the last leg. I saw fellow Trotter Mark Hope coming into the checkpoint as I was leaving. I was so happy to see him make it as he was in a really bad way at Checkpoint 2. I felt and knew that nothing was really going to stop me finishing now. I've never felt so focused and sure on anything before. In what felt like no time at all I was on the road into Yarramalong, the 100km finish line. Mark Hope caught up with me and we ran for a bit. He had more running left in his legs and ran off ahead. Rather than try and keep up with him, maybe make a race of it (dangerous thinking), I was just happy for the guy that he was going to complete the race.
I thought the road section into Yarramalong would be a breeze but it dragged on and on. But eventually I made it to Yarramalong, running the last 1km then up the driveway into the school and under the finish banner! I finished the GNW100km ultra!!! Wow. Gobsmacked.
Thank you Ken Hickson, another Terrigal Trotter, for putting the medal around my neck and thank you awesome support crew Maddie and Eva. Finally thank you to the organizers, amazing volunteers and fellow runners for making this race what it is.
Things that motivated me and got me through the day:
- Prior knowledge of and training on the course
- Pacing oneself – not going out too hard too early
- Walking lots of hills to conserve energy
- Knowing that no matter how bad you're feeling this will pass and a period of feeling good will follow
- Backing yourself/belief in yourself – in my case I knew I'd done the training and was capable of finishing the run
- Having mantras – in my case "Failure is not an option" and "one step at a time" helped enormously
- Have fun and enjoy the day no matter how crap you may be feeling
- Unless you're in a position to win the race, stop now and again and enjoy the scenery. Take some photos. After all the training you deserve this
- Always focus on the positive, no matter how small, accentuate it
- Block out the negative
- Lastly it felt like something was willing me along to finish that wouldn't let me fail. It was like every cell in my body has decided to finish this race and nothing was going to stop it.
Food that got me through the day:
While running
- Water in hydration pack
- 2 x bottles of half/half water/sports drink mix
- Bananas
- Muesli bars
- Protein sports bars
- Jam/marmalade white bread sandwiches
- Gels – Cadel Evans brand
While at Checkpoints:
- Cups of hot sweet tea
- Coke
- Water melon
- Mango
- Hot veg soup
In short I try to have as much 'real' food as possible and less of the 'unreal' sports orientated food.


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With Penny at work, Bernadette and Amy decided to take girls' night to her. Too bad that meant Penny had to serve the wine instead of drink it.
After pouring their glasses, Penny told her crew that she was less than excited to go with Leonard to a Halloween party at the comic bookstore. Not only did she think the patrons were a tad creepy, but she also felt like she couldn't participate in conversations with Leonard and his friends since she has a limited knowledge of both comics and science.
Instead of letting Penny wallow in her own self-pity, Bernadette reminded the waitress that relationships are all about compromise. For example, Leonard takes an interest in Penny's acting career, even though he doesn't independently have an interest in casting calls and read-throughs.
If the pharmaceutical career doesn't pan out, Bernie could totally be an advice guru.


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Paula T. Hammond and colleagues at the Koch Institute of Integrative Cancer Research at MIT note that triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive disease that is difficult to treat with standard-of-care therapy, and patients' prognoses are poor. These cancer cells evade treatment by ramping up the production of certain proteins that protect tumors fromchemotherapy drugs. Interfering with this process could give anticancer drugs a better chance at killing resistant tumors. Recent research into molecules called small interfering RNAs, or siRNAs, is opening doors into possible new treatments using this approach. These molecules can halt the production of particular proteins, so they are ideal candidates for dialing down the levels of protective proteins in tumors. But there are challenges to using siRNAs as part of a cancer therapy, so Hammond's team set out to address them with novel molecular engineering approaches.
They designed a two-stage, "stealth" drug delivery system to attack TNBC cells in mice, often used as stand-ins for humans in research. They created "layer-by-layer" nanoparticles through assembly of components in a certain order around a nano-sized core. An anticancer drug is loaded into the core of the particle, which is then wrapped in a layer of negatively charged siRNA, alternating with positively charged polypeptides, then coated on the outside with a stealthy tumor-targeting shell layer. That layer helps keep the particles in the body long enough for therapy to work. It also allows the particles to specifically bind to TNBC tumor cells. When tested in mice, the nanoparticles targeted the tumors and reduced the levels of protective proteins by nearly 80 percent. With the cancer cells rendered vulnerable, the nanoparticles' anticancer drug payload showed significantly enhanced therapeutic effects and shrunk tumors by 8-fold. The scientists state, "In summary, the results here provide a potential strategy to treat an aggressive and recurrent form of TNBC, as well as a means of adapting this platform to a broad range of controlled multi-drug therapies customizable to the cancer type in a singular nanoparticle delivery system." They also say that the "layer-by-layer" nanoparticle components are biocompatible and biodegradable, which will allow rapid translation into potential clinical benefits.
Researchers from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed an innovative cancer-fighting technique in which custom-designed nanoparticles carrychemotherapy drugs directly to tumor cells and release their cargo when triggered by a two-photon laser in the infrared red wavelength.
The research findings by UCLA's Jeffrey Zink, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and Fuyu Tamanoi, a professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, and their colleagues were published online in the journal Small and will appear in a later print edition.
Light-activated drug delivery holds promise for treating cancerbecause it give doctors control over precisely when and where in the body drugs are released. Delivering and releasing chemotherapy drugs so that they hit only tumor cells and not surrounding healthy tissues can greatly reduce treatment side effects and increase the drugs' cancer-killing effect. But the development of a drug-delivery system that responds to tissue-penetrating light has been a major challenge.
To address this, the teams of Tamanoi and Zink, which included scientists from the Jonsson Cancer Center's cancer nanotechnology and signal transduction and therapeutics programs, collaborated with Jean-Olivier Durand from France's University of Montpellier to develop a new type of nanoparticle that can absorb energy from tissue-penetrating light.
These new nanoparticles are equipped with thousands of pores, or tiny tubes, that can hold chemotherapy drugs. The ends of the pores are capped with nanovalves that keep the drugs in, like a cork in a bottle. The nanovalves contain special molecules that respond to energy from two-photon light exposure, which prompts the valves to open and release the drugs.
The operation of the nanoparticles was demonstrated in the laboratory using human breast cancer cells.
Because the effective range of the two-photon laser in the infrared red wavelength is 4 centimeters from the skin surface, this delivery system would work best for tumors within that range, which possibly include breast, stomach, colon and ovarian tumors, the researchers said.
In addition to their light sensitivity, the new nanoparticles are fluorescent and can be monitored in the body using molecular imaging techniques. This allows researchers to track the progress of the nanoparticle into the targeted cancer cell before light activation. The ability to track a targeted therapy in this way has been given the name "theranostics" - a portmanteau of therapy and diagnostics - in the scientific literature.
"We have a wonderful collaboration," Zink said. "When the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center brings together totally diverse fields - in this case, a physical chemist and a cell signaling scientist - we can do things that neither one could do alone."
"Our collaboration with scientists at Charles Gerhardt Institute was important to the success of this two-photon-activated technique, which provides controls over drug delivery to allow local treatment that dramatically reduces side effects," said Tammanoi.http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/273432.php?tw
Nanoparticle drugs, which are medications packed into tiny containers with the potential to travel straight to tumors, were considered to be a potential silver bullet against cancer. However, new cancer drugs based on nanoparticle technology have not produced the anticipated improvement in overall survival rates.
Scientists at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill now believe that failure may more to do with the tumor's immediate surroundings rather than the drugs and tumors.
The work, published in Clinical Cancer Research (2014; doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-14-0493), merges relatively old and new ideas in cancer treatment, on one hand underscoring the importance of personalized medicine and on the other, reinforcing a relatively new idea that the tumor microenvironment might affect the delivery of drugs to tumors.
The tumor microenvironment is a factor that may alter drug delivery from person to person, from cancer to cancer, and even from tumor to tumor.
Tumors create bad neighborhoods, said William Zamboni, PhD, the study's senior author and an associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. They spawn leaky, jumbled blood vessels that are like broken streets, blind alleys, and busted sewers. There are vacant lots densely overgrown with collagen fibers. Immune-system cells patrolling the streets might be good guys turned bad, actually working for the tumor. And we're trying to get a large truckload of medicine through all of that.
In their work, Zamboni and colleagues from the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and the UNC School of Medicine joined forces to see how much of the standard small-molecule cancer drug doxorubicin and its nanoparticle version, Doxil, actually made it into two varieties of triple-negative breast cancer tumor models. Triple-negative breast cancer accounts for 10% to 17% of cases and has a poorer prognosis than other types of breast cancer.
At first, what they saw was no surprise: significantly more of the nanodrug Doxil made it into both triple-negative breast cancer tumors compared with the standard small-molecule doxorubicin. That's nothing new, Zamboni said. We've seen that for 20 years. They also saw the same amount of doxorubicin in both tumors.
What did surprise them was that significantly more of the nanodrug Doxil, twice as much, was delivered to the C3-TAg triple-negative breast cancer tumor than to the T11 triple-negative breast cancer tumor.
These tumors are subtypes of a subtype of one kind of cancer and are relatively closely related, said Zamboni. If the differences in delivering nanoagents to these two tumors are so significant, we can only imagine what the differences might be between breast cancer and lung cancer.
Zamboni and his team suggest that better profiling of tumors and their microenvironments would allow doctors not only to better identify patients who would most benefit from nanoparticle-based cancer therapy, but also that clinicians may need to learn more about a patient's tumor before prescribing treatment with one of the newer nanoparticle drugs.
It looks like the tumor microenvironment could play a big role in cancer treatment, said Zamboni. It may be the factor that could point us in the right direction for personalized care not only for triple-negative breast cancer but for any type.
The device, which consists of gold nanoparticles embedded in a hydrogel that can be injected or implanted at a tumor site, could also be used more broadly to disrupt any gene involved in cancer.
"You can target any genetic marker and deliver a drug, including those that don't necessarily involve drug-resistance pathways. It's a universal platform for dual therapy," says Natalie Artzi, a research scientist at MIT's Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES), an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, and senior author of a paper describing the device in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of March 2.
To demonstrate the effectiveness of the new approach, Artzi and colleagues tested it in mice implanted with a type of human breast tumor known as a triple negative tumor. Such tumors, which lack any of the three most common breast cancer markers -- estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and Her2 -- are usually very difficult to treat. Using the new device to block the gene for multidrug resistant protein 1 (MRP1) and then deliver the chemotherapy drug 5-fluorouracil, the researchers were able to shrink tumors by 90 percent in two weeks.
To read more:
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University combined finely crafted nanoparticles with one of natures potent disrupters to prevent the spread of triple-negative breast cancer in mouse models.
The highly aggressive cancer subtype is difficult to manage and, currently, the FDA has no approved targeted treatments. But striking results from a new study published in the journalCancer Research make the researchers optimistic they have a potential game-changer for triple negative cancer and more.
There are multiple targets within a cell, says William Schiemann, professor of oncology at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, and a leader of the research. With this technology, we can target any gene or any location, for other cancers, more diseasespotentially even immunology-based diseases.
Regular injections of nanoparticles carrying siRNA silenced the gene that regulates expression of the protein β3 integrin. Expression of β3 integrin in the cell-development process called the endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), is essential for the cancer to spread from its primary tumor.
Nearly 15 percent of breast cancers in the United States are triple negative, and the subtype is most prevalent among African-American women in their 20s and 30s
According to the National Cancer Institute, the five-year survival rate for women whose cancer is discovered early and contained to a primary tumor is 98 percent. But, the survival rate for those diagnosed with distant metastases plummets to less than 25 percent.
To try to tackle metastasis, Schiemann teamed with Zheng-Rong Lu, the M. Frank and Margaret Domiter Rudy Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve, Jenny Parvani, now a postdoctoral investigator, PhD student Maneesh Gujrati and undergraduate student Margaret Mack.
Lus lab has been developing lipid-based nanoparticles to deliver medicines to specific targets in the body for a decade. Lipids include fats and oils, but these organic molecules are also building blocks in cell structures and functions.
Schiemans lab investigates ways to manipulate the EMT process. He suggested they target the β3 integrin gene with siRNA, short for small interfering RNA or silencing RNA.
The nanoparticle, which Lu labeled ECO, navigates a number of roadblocks. It crosses the blood-brain barrier, which is key to effective therapy. Metastatic cells from this type of cancer often lodge in the brain.
ECO withstands degradation and remains cloaked from the bodys immune system while circulating in the blood. ECO induces endosomes to wrap and transport it inside a cancer cell. The particles makeup prevents entrapment in the endosomal membrane and digestion by enzyme-packed lysosomes.
The nanoparticles are coated with RGD peptide that draws them to the gene that controls expression of β3 integrin. When attached to the gene, TGF-β, the nanoparticle releases siRNA, which jams the machinery.
The study adds to growing evidence that a lack of β3 integrin stops production of migrating cancer cells.
In this study, five mice with a mouse version of triple-negative breast cancer were injected with particles every five days for 14 weeks. Compared to control mice, the treated mices tumors shrunk significantly, but more importantly, the treatment significantly inhibited metastasis.
Five mice with human triple-negative breast cancer received the same treatment, which produced the same results.
The results were really, really surprising, Lu says.
I was shocked, actually, Schiemann said. We can do most anything in vitro in the lab, but to do this in the live body of a mouse is a huge hurdle to clear.
Four weeks after treatment was stopped, the treated mice remained tumor free while cancer continued to grow in untreated controls.
No significant difference in body weight across treatment groups and controls were found, indicating low toxicity of the treatments.
The researchers are further testing whether the delivery system is safe and seeking grants for dosing experiments and other steps toward clinical trials.
Were also looking at different genes, different therapies and more delivery platforms, Lu says.
The work is funded by National Institutes of Health grants EB00489, CA129359, CA177069, National Science Foundation grant DGE-0951783, and Department of Defense grant BC133808.http://www.cemag.us/news/2015/05/nanoparticles-prevent-spread-breast-cancer
For most cancer patients, its not the original tumor that poses the greatest risk. Its the metastases that invade the lung, liver, and other tissues. Now, researchers have come up with an approach that tricks these spinoff tumors into swallowing poison. So far the strategy has only been tested in mice, where it proved highly effective. But the results are promising enough that the researchers are planning to launch clinical trials in cancer patients within a year.
The new work is very innovative stuff, says Steven Libutti, a geneticist and cancer surgeon at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, who was not involved in the study. The treatment, he explains, works in three steps to place a conventional chemotherapeutic agent near the nucleus (or nuclei) of a metastatic cancer cell where the drug molecules are most lethal. Its almost like a multistage rocket that lifts astronauts off Earth, sends them to the moon, and returns them safely, he says.
At the heart of the new therapy is a chemotherapeutic agent called doxorubicin (dox). The drug has been a mainstay of cancer treatment for years, as it jams up DNA in the cell nucleus and prevents tumor cells from dividing. But when its injected into the bloodstream, the drug can also kill heart muscle cells and cause heart failure, which often forces oncologists to either dial back the dose or discontinue it altogether. Delivering dox only to tumor cells is therefore highly desirable, but it has been a major challenge.
Hoping to provide such cell specificity, researchers led by Mauro Ferrari, a nanomedicine expert, as well as president and CEO of the Houston Methodist Research Institute in Texas, have spent years developing porous silicon particles as drug carriers. The particles micrometer-scale size and disklike shape allows them travel unimpeded through normal blood vessels. But when they hit blood vessels around tumors, which are typically malformed and leaky, the particles fall out of the circulation and pool near the tumor. That was step one in delivering chemotherapeutic drugs to their target. But just filling such particles with dox doesnt do much good, Ferrari says. Even if a small amount of the drug finds its way inside tumor cells, those cells often have membrane proteins that act as tiny pumps to push the drug back outside the cell before it can do any damage.
Silicon particles act as nanoparticle generators (iNPG) that carry stringlike polymers loaded with a chemotherapy compound called doxorubicin (p-Dox).
Nature Biotechnology
To get large amounts of dox inside the metastatic tumor cells and then past the protein pumps, Ferrari and colleagues linked numerous dox molecules to stringlike molecules called polymers. They then infused the dox-carrying polymers into their silicon microparticles and injected them into mice that had been implanted with human metastatic liver and lung tumors. As with the previous studies, the researchers found that the silicon particles congregated in and around tumor sites, and once there the particles slowly degraded over 2 to 4 weeks.
As they did so, the silicon particles released the dox-carrying polymer strands. In the watery environment around tumor cells, the strands coiled up into tiny balls, each just 2080 nanometers across. That size, Ferrari says, is ideal, because its the same size as tiny vesicles that are commonly exchanged between neighboring cells as part of their normal chemical communication. In this case, the dox-polymer balls were readily taken up by tumor cells. Once there, a large fraction was carried internally away from the dox-exporting pumps at cell membrane and toward the nucleus. Ferrari says at this point his team isnt sure exactly why the dox-laden balls are ferried toward the nucleus, though this is exactly what they wanted.
Not only is the region around the nucleus devoid of dox-removing pumps, but it typically has a more acidic environment than near the cell membrane. And Ferraris team used this to their advantage as well. They designed the chemical links between dox molecules and the polymer to dissolve under acidic conditions. This releases the dox at the site where its cell killing potency is highest.
Up to 50% of cancer-bearing mice given the treatment showed no signs of metastatic tumors 8 months later, the researchers report today in Nature Biotechnology. In humans, Ferrari says, thats equivalent to being cancer-free for 24 years. If this research bears out in humans and we see even a fraction of this survival time, we are still talking about dramatically extending life for many years, Ferrari says. Thats essentially providing a cure in a patient population that is now being told there is none.
The new treatment isnt the first nanomedicine to show promise. According to a recent nanotechnology working group study published in The Lancet, more than 50 nanomedicine compounds are now in clinical trials. However, the new work is promising, Libutti says, because the silicon microparticles tend to target tumors in the liver and lung, common destinations of metastatic tumor cells.
The new work holds out hope for improving the effectiveness of other chemotherapy drugs as well, Libutti says. Theres no reason to believe you couldnt make a version of these particles with any chemotherapeutic agent.
Thanks so much for sharing all these articles with us Donna. It's so exciting to see the advances researcher make everyday!
Scientists have devised a triple-stage "cluster bomb" system for delivering the chemotherapy drug cisplatin, via tiny nanoparticles designed to break up when they reach a tumor.
Details of the particles' design and their potency against cancer in mice were published March 28 in PNAS. They have not been tested in humans, although similar ways of packaging cisplatin have been in clinical trials.
What makes these particles distinctive is that they start out relatively large -- 100 nanometers wide - to enable smooth transport into the tumor through leaky blood vessels. Then, in acidic conditions found close to tumors, the particles discharge "bomblets" just 5 nanometers in size.
Inside tumor cells, a second chemical step activates the platinum-based cisplatin, which kills by crosslinking and damaging DNA. Doctors have used cisplatin to fight several types of cancer for decades, but toxic side effects - to the kidneys, nerves and inner ear -- can limit its effectiveness.
To read the entire article:http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/308459.php
In a pair of firsts, researchers at Case Western Reserve University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have shown that the drug candidate phenanthriplatin can be more effective than an approved drug in vivo, and that a plant-virus-based carrier successfully delivers a drug in vivo.
Triple-negative breast cancer tumors of mice treated with the phenanthriplatin -carrying nanoparticles were four times smaller than those treated either with cisplatin, a common and related chemotherapy drug, or free phenanthriplatin injected intravenously into circulation.
To read the entire article:
Cancer treatments, including chemotherapy, have helped many people with the disease to go on to live healthy lives.
Nevertheless, chemotherapy takes a toll on the body. During treatment, chemotherapy attacks all of the body's cells, not just cancer cells. The result destroys healthy cells, causing many patients to suffer major side effects during and after treatment.
And because current treatments aren't specifically targeted to cancer cells, only 0.01 per cent of chemotherapy drugs actually reach the tumor and its diseased cells.
"I'm working on figuring out how we can deliver more of the chemotherapy drugs to the tumor and less to healthy cells," says Sofie Snipstad, who recently graduated from the Department of Physics at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Last year, she won a Norwegian science communication competition for PhD candidates called Researcher Grand Prix. When she made her winning presentation about her research during the competition finals, she was in the middle of testing a new method of cancer treatment on mice.
Now her research has shown that the method can cure cancer in mice.
Her study, Ultrasound Improves the Delivery and Therapeutic Effect of Nanoparticle-Stabilized Microbubbles in Breast Cancer Xenografts has just been published in the academic journal Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology.
Snipstad's method targets cancerous tumors with chemotherapy so that more of the drug reaches cancer cells while protecting healthy cells. The experiments were conducted in mice with an aggressive breast cancer type (triple negative).
Researchers undertook many laboratory experiments before conducting their tests with mice which were the first actual tests using this delivery method for chemotherapy. In addition to causing the tumors to disappear during treatment, the cancer has not returned in the trial animals.
"This is an exciting technology that has shown very promising results. That the first results from our tests in mice are so good, and that the medicine does such a good job right from the start is very promising," Snipstad says.
Instead of being injected straight into the bloodstream and transported randomly to both sick and healthy cells, the chemotherapy medicine is encapsulated in nanoparticles. When nanoparticles containing the cancer drugs are injected into the bloodstream, the nanoparticles are so large that they remain in the blood vessels in most types of healthy tissues. This prevents the chemotherapy from harming healthy cells.
Blood vessels in the tumor, however, have porous walls, so that the nanoparticles containing the chemotherapy can work their way into the cancerous cells.
"My research shows that this method allows us to supply 100 times more chemotherapy to the tumor compared to chemotherapy alone. That's good," Snipstad says.
However, the nanoparticles can only reach cells that are closest to the blood vessels that carry the drug-laden particles, she said. That means that cancer cells that are far from the blood vessels that supply the tumor do not get the chemotherapy drugs.
"For the treatment to be effective, it has to reach all parts of the tumor. So our nanoparticles need help to deliver the medicine," she said.
The nanoparticles used by Snipstad and her research team were developed at SINTEF in Trondheim. The particles are unusual because they can form small bubbles. The nanoparticles are in the surface of the bubbles.
These bubbles are an important part of the cancer treatment. Another essential part is the use of ultrasound, which is Snipstad's area of research.
The bubbles that contain the chemotherapy-laden nanoparticles are injected into the bloodstream. Ultrasound is then applied to the tumor. The ultrasound causes the bubbles to vibrate and eventually burst, so that the nanoparticles are released. The vibrations also massage the blood vessels and tissues to make them more porous. This helps push the nanoparticles further into the cancerous tumor, instead of only reaching the cancer cells closest to the blood vessels.
"By using ultrasound to transport the chemotherapy-laden nanoparticles into the tumors, our research on mice has shown that we can deliver about 250 times more of the drug to the tumor compared to just injecting chemotherapy into the bloodstream alone," she says.
The mice were divided into three groups:
Group 1 received no treatment, and the tumor continued to grow.
Group 2 received the treatment using drug-laden nanoparticles. The growth of the tumor stagnated after time, but the tumor did not disappear.
Group 3 received the treatment using drug-laden nanoparticles, bubbles and ultrasound. In this group, the tumor shrank until it disappeared. One hundred days after the treatment was discontinued, the mice were still cancer-free.
"For the treatment to be effective, we have to trick the cancer cells to take up the nanoparticles so that the chemotherapy reaches its target," Snipstad says.
To study this process, she has grown cancer cells and examined them under a microscope. Here, she has seen that the nanoparticles camouflage the chemotherapy drug, allowing the cancer cells to take them up. But for the treatment to work, the nanoparticles have to release the cancer drug exactly when and where it is needed.
"We can do that by changing the chemical composition of the nanoparticles so that we can tailor properties, including determining how quickly the nanoparticles break down. After the cell takes up the nanoparticle, the nanoparticle dissolves and releases the cancer drug inside the cell. That causes the cancer cell to stop die.https://www.news-medical.net/news/20170826/New-approach-delivers-drugs-to-cancer-cells-while-protecting-healthy-tissues.aspx


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All Contents © Copyright 2007, Boston Neighborhood News, Inc.
Kennedy Shriver Hailed at JFK Library
By Ed
An overflow crowd filled the Stephen Smith room at the John F. Kennedy Library & Museum on Nov. 16 for a tribute event to Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Mrs. Shriver was joined for the evening by four of her five children -- sons Bobby, Anthony, and Mark and daughter Maria Shriver -- and Eunice siblings Jean Kennedy Smith and Senator Ted Kennedy, and Ted's wife Vicki. The event was hosted by Paul Kirk, the Library Foundation's chairman of the board, and featured a lively 45-minute panel discussion with the four Shriver children. Facilitator for the event was Harvard Law School professor Mary Ann Glendon, whom President Bush recently nominated to serve as US Ambassador to the Vatican
"We are privileged to listen to a conversation as if we were sitting around the Shriver dinner table, hearing her children's perspective of the contributions Eunice Shriver continues to make to public life, to the lives of millions across the globe, and to their own personal lives," Kirk said. "It is said that the purpose of life is a life of purpose. For all the world, and I mean that literally, that lesson is best embodied in the inspirational examples of Sargent and Eunice Shriver. And for those who were blessed to have Eunice and Sarge as parents, it is not surprising what our special guests and their brother, Tim, are doing with their still young lives.
If you are ever asked what is a one-word definition of an "inspirational agent for positive change", the answer is: 'It's a Shriver,' and this generation is just getting started.
"Some months ago, we had a memorable event here in which we paid tribute to one of my favorite human beings, Sargent Shriver. Sarge's own career speaks volumes about the importance of unselfish service to a life of purpose. For most mortals, the vision, the genius, the tenacity, the love that Eunice contributed to the global success of the Special Olympics would be nothing less than the achievement of an 'Impossible Dream,' but it is only part of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver story. So, as we did on Sarge's evening, I thought it might be instructive to put Eunice's incredible career of service in a more complete perspective by taking a brief walk down biography lane. Here's how that story unfolds:
"She graduated Manhattanville College, and was employed in the Special War Problems Division of the Department of State, helping former POWs to reorient to civilian life; she was a social worker at the Penitentiary for Women, Alderson, W. Va., and at the House of the Good Shepherd and at the Chicago Youth Shelter of the Chicago Juvenile Court; she has been executive vice president, and later president of Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation, with a mission to identify the causes and develop prevention of intellectual disabilities, and to educate society in erasing discrimination and providing hope to those so afflicted.
"She inspired the establishment of President Kennedy's Committee on Mental Retardation as well as the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, and was a driving force for the creation of the Kennedy Institute of Medical Ethics at Georgetown and a similar institute at Harvard University. She also is founder of Community of Caring, a program to help prevent teen pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse presently serving over 1,200 elementary, middle and high schools in 20 states and DC, and also the founder of Camp Shriver, a day camp enabling intellectually disabled children to develop capabilities in sports and physical activities at the Shriver home in Maryland.
Camp Shriver was the precursor of the Special Olympics, which, of course, is recognized as a global force for a better humanity, providing esteem and hope, achievement and opportunity to more than 2,250,000 children and adults competing in 26 sports in more than 150 countries around the world.
The purpose of life is a life of purpose. I am certain you will feel the powerful compassion which Eunice Shriver continues to bring to her life of purpose This Library and its Foundation are officially dedicated to the memory of a president of the United States whose legacy continues to inspire the citizens of this country and others around the globe. But, the power of the story that is told here is as much from the story and example of members of his family who, by their service, have done or continue to do the same.
When I think of Eunice's
story, I can hear President Kennedy's voice and his words as
if he were describing perfectly the life and work of his
sister: 'The energy, the faith, the devotion we bring to
this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it--
and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.' "
Mrs. Shriver Hospitalized; Condition is Called 'Fair'
Mrs. Shriver, who is 86, was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital two days after the Library event, said a spokesman for her daughter, Maria Shriver. "She has had many health challenges in the past several months, and in every case she has bounced back," Daniel Zingale said. "I hope and expect it will be the same in this case." He would not elaborate on her status, saying, "the family's privacy must be respected."
However, a spokeswoman for Massachusetts General Hospital said Shriver was in fair condition, according to The Associated Press.
People News-
Irish young women out there can now begin preparing for the 2008 New England Rose competition. Next year's Rose will be named at the Gala Rose Ball at the Doubletree Hotel Boston/Westborough on Sat. April 26, and then have a chance to compete against the rest of the world in the International Rose held in Tralee every August. To enter a young lady must be between the ages of 18 and 27 on or before the first day of the international competition. The other stipulations are that the contestants must either have been born in Ireland or have ancestors who were born there, with proof of same; must never have been married; must be a resident of New England; and must never have represented any center as a Rose at the International Festival in Tralee. Anyone interested has until Feb. 29 to enter, and should contact the Boston New England Rose Center and John Griffin at 617-957-1782 or by emailing firstname.lastname@example.com. The winner in the New England competition gets complimentary airfare to Tralee, as well as photography and wardrobe.
Jim Poston, the British consul general in New England from 1995 to 1999, died at the age of 62 in October. Poston was well known for his influential work in Boston and New England at the time of the Good Friday Agreement, making sure his home government understood the voice of the people across the world in the important discussions. He was able to bring unionist David Trimble to Boston to meet with members of the Irish diaspora here, and her later was given an honorary degree from the University of Ulster.
Bostonians may also remember Poston as the voice of the grieving British Government after the death of Princess Diana in 1997. He personally greeted hundreds of mourners who arrived at the Consulate office looking to sign a book of condolences.
Before his time in Boston, Poston also served the British government in South Africa, Brussels, Israel, Nigeria, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. While in South Africa he was present for the release of Nelson Mandela. He retired from the position of governor at the Turks and Caicos Islands in 2005. Poston leaves behind his wife, Romey, two daughters, and a son.
The Harvard Club of Ireland has recently named Dr. Sean M. Rowland as its newest president. Rowland comes from serving as president of Ireland's Hibernia College, an online accredited university he helped to start. Rowland is best known here for his work at Boston College's Irish Institute where he served as executive director and started such degree programs as the Domestic Policy, Leadership and Management Development, and the Program on International Governance. He holds degrees from St. Patrick's in Dublin, Boston College, and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He is pictured above on the left with Thomas C. Foley, U.S. Ambassador to Ireland (center) and Richard Burke, former Vice President of the EU Commission.
President George W. Bush will meet with the new leadership team of Northern Ireland this month. Dr. Ian Paisley, First Minister of Northern Ireland, and Martin McGuinness, Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, are scheduled to appear with Bush at the White House on December 7, in a historic meeting. As the first pair to run Northern Ireland under the groundbreaking agreements signed this past year, Paisley and McGuinness will make their first trip to the country that has played a large hand in peace in the North during the past decade.
Baroness May Blood was recently in Boston for a lunch with members of the Irish American Partnership. Blood is a native of Belfast and was a mill worker for almost 40 years, where she became influential in the union politics. Blood has been influential in the Good Friday Agreement, and in 1999 started the Women's Coalition Party, a cross-community party working for inclusion, human rights, and equality in Northern Ireland. The British MP was hosted for lunch at Amrein's in South Boston by Joe Leary, head of theIrish American Partnership.
In a unique event, the John F. Kennedy Library hosted a spousal conversation recently between Richard Goodwin and Doris Kearns Goodwin. A speechwriter for JFK, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Sen. Robert Kennedy, Goodwin has a fascinating history including work on LBJ's "Great America" speech and being on the stage with RFK the night of his assassination. Kearns Goodwin is one of the country's most-accomplished historians and a Pulitzer Prize winner who has written, among other things, about Lincoln, baseball, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and the administrations her husband worked for. This conversation was the first time the two had sat together on the public stage to talk about their life histories.
The Missionary Society of St. James the Apostle recently cited three honorees for their charitable works for those in need. Joseph Corcoran, Joseph Milano, and Donald Rodman were recognized at the Society's 20th annual Cardinal Cushing Award Banquet at Boston College High School. Corcoran founded the Corcoran Jennison Companies, a pioneer of the mixed-income housing concept, in 1971. He also founded the American City Coalition, which is a nonprofit that plans and implements the revitalization of urban neighborhoods. Milano is president and CEO of the Union Oyster House in Boston, and Rodman is president of Rodman Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, and the Rodman Health and Fitness Center, both located in Foxboro. Additionally, he founded Rodman Ride for Kids, which has raised millions for improving the lives of children, and he is affiliated with Catholic Charities of Boston. The St. James Society was founded 49 years ago by Cardinal Richard Cushing in response to Pope John XXIII's calling on priests and religious from North America to aid the faithful of South America. In its almost 50-year-long history, over 300 priests have served in the Andean countries. Currently there are about 40 priests serving through the society.


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The Asha 503 dual sim features a 3-inch capacitive LCD display (covered with protective Gorilla Glass) supporting 262 thousand colors and not the 16 million we're used to seeing on most smartphones nowadays. This makes color transitions less smooth and with a very low resolution of 240 x 320 pixels.
GENERAL 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2
3G Network HSDPA 900 / 2100
SIM Dual SIM (Micro-SIM, dual stand-by)
BODY Dimensions 102.6 x 60.6 x 12.7 mm (4.04 x 2.39 x 0.5 in)
Weight 111.4 g (3.92 oz)
DISPLAY Type TFT capacitive touchscreen, 256K colors
Size 240 x 320 pixels, 3.0 inches (~133 ppi pixel density)
Multitouch Yes, up to 2 fingers
Protection Corning Gorilla Glass
SOUND Alert types Vibration, MP3 ringtones
Loudspeaker Yes
3.5mm jack Yes
MEMORY Card slot microSD, up to 32 GB, 4 GB card included
DATA GPRS Up to 85.6 kbps
EDGE Up to 236.8 kbps
Speed HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps
WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth Yes, v3.0 with A2DP
USB Yes, microUSB v2.0
CAMERA Primary 5 MP, 2592x1944 pixels, LED flash
Video Yes, VGA@19fps
Secondary No
FEATURES OS Nokia Asha software platform 1.2
Sensors Accelerometer, proximity
Messaging SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, IM
Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML
Radio Stereo FM radio
GPS No
Java Yes
Colors Yellow, black, green, red, blue, white
- SNS apps
- MP4/H.263 player
- MP3/AAC player
- Photo editor
- Organizer
- Voice memo
- Predictive text input
BATTERY Li-Ion 1200 mAh battery (BL-4U)
Stand-by Up to 480 h (2G) / Up to 480 h (3G)
Talk time Up to 12 h (2G) / Up to 4 h 30 min (3G)
Music play Up to 36 h
MISC SAR EU 1.43 W/kg (head) 0.64 W/kg (body)
• All cell phones we sell are Brand New & SIM unlocked so you can use them with any compatible GSM service provider.
• Triband or Quad band (850/900/1800/1900) Phones can be used WorldWide.Phones with 850 MHz & 1900 MHz can be used in the USA and North America. Models with 1900 MHz will work with AT&T, Voice stream, T-Mobile, Rogers and models with 850 MHz will work with Cingular. Some models may not have English language manuals. You may be able to download English versions from the manufacturer's website.
• Dual Band (900/1800mh) phones are for use overseas in Europe, Australia Asia, Africa and South America. They will not work in USA & CANADA.
• Some models may not have English language manuals. You may be able to download English versions from the manufacturer's website. If you are looking for any particular color for cell phone please put it in the comments section of shopping cart. Cell Phone colors are not guranteed. Cell phones are only exchangeable for same within 10 days, no refunds. The manufacturer may provide support after 10 days.


text:
Wednesday, 18 June 2014
A must-have for your workouts: Nike Pro Sports Bra
About a year ago, I decided I had to come off the couch and start working out. I've never really loved working out and never hated it either, but since I stopped playing soccer a few months before that (I was in a soccer team for over 5 years), I hadn't replaced it with anything else. Because I missed the exercise, I signed up at the gym at my Uni. With a friend, I started doing classes, like Zumba or Body workout, which I really enjoyed. What bothered me, though, was wearing a bra during those exercises. It feels horrible to wear when you have to jump around.
I decided I needed a good sports bra. At the time, I didn't know anything about them at all (I still don't, to be honest), and had no idea what would be a good one for me. What I did find out soon enough is that when it comes to sports bras, you shouldn't go for the cheapest option. When you are going to invest in something like that, you'd better buy something that lasts and actually works. The cheapest ones don't support at all, so why wear it? However, I didn't have the money to buy the supposedly best bras they sell here in the Netherlands, so had to go for something in the middle. Then I came across this lovely, bright pink sports bra, that I wanted to have instantly; the Nike Pro Sport bra(€30). After trying it on, comparing it with cheaper and more expensive alternatives and having a little chat with the lady from the store, I decided that this was the bra I wanted. I bought a size M, while I usually buy things size L. It fits nicely, but quite tight, which I like because then I know it will keep everything in place! The lady told me it has to fit this way, because you don't want it to move. So if you were to try a new sports bra, definitely compare different sizes to see which fits best. A size down might fit even better then your normal size, even though that already seems to fit well.
After using it regularly for a year, I can say I definitely love this! As you can see, I've even bought a second one a couple of weeks ago! It's stayed in the same shape it had when I bought it and I've put it in the drying machine loads of times. The material is quite thick and supports enough, but doesn't feel too hot or suffocating at all (if you know what I mean by that). It also doesn't get wet (hence the "dry fit" on the side) and doesn't feel like you're sweating loads when you have it on. I did have to get used to the feeling of wearing a sports bra, because it is tight and feels very different from a normal bra, as it pushes your boobs into your chest instead of pushing them up. After I got used to it, I didn't have any issues with it at all. All in all, I can really recommend this sports bra and if you're on the hunt for one, definitely try this one out! They also got them with cute prints and in other bright colours!
Do you wear a sports bra when you workout? What kind?
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text:
holding in
this is how honest this is. it has no real flow, and is almost incredibly corny. but it is exactly how i feel in this moment.
what i feel for you ends all time
it makes you mine
remember how warm we were outside
...it was freezing.
i feel like your there
at the simple thought of you, my very soul shivers
i feel you with a feeling of incomplete desire
i burn for you at night fueling my hearts fire
i wish for you with hope so very cold to me
as i know you with my heart and know that you no longer know me
ice cold nights
the meeting of our skin...
when we collided in the darkness
i knew the you that knew you knew me
i knew you
i knew you
and trusted every stare
into my eyes you poured your self
and left my eyes still ever thirsting
one more look
one more touch
one more anything at all
id even rise, despite the knowledge...
and memory of the fall
i love you with a love
that you will forever carry
i love you with a love
that you know isn't just for me
i hate you with a passion because you didn't fight
you let me walk away from you
leaving you there...in the night...
i punish me with thoughts
that i let linger in my mind
with memories and tastes
that i will never again find
ill love your soul forever
with the deepest part of mine
and picture you always
as you are.
i passion for your lips
i yearn for your hands
slipping off my shirt
with that smirk i couldn't stand.
i miss you with all of me
i miss the you that misses me
and i beg that you know, in spite of everything
i should never have walked away.
Best wishes for a happy and creative New Year, Pink'Um. I can taste, smell and feel the sentiments your words express.
I wish I had your talent. You made me feel like I was in your shoes. Just an ounce of your talent please. Send it my way one of these days.
That I'm not sure. I'm simply using past conversations we've held in private to draw the conclusion. If that would be incorrect, then no. If that's correct, then I would think so. I'd rather not mention anything we speak of in private conversations in a public domain, such as your hubs.
Hey Pink, that is quite an expression of feelings you're having and very much enjoyed. It's always a pleasure to read you and even learn more about you. However, this one seems similar to much of your other work. I mean that in general, because of 'who' you're possibly referencing. Since I know it isn't me, I guess I can smile about that. :) Thank you for sharing. :)


text:
By Reuters
Posted Friday, February 5 2010 at 00:41
In Summary
Uganda has faced intense pressure from Western governments and human rights groups over the draft legislation, which was presented as a private members' bill last year.
U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday denounced as "odious" a proposed anti-gay law in Uganda that has drawn international condemnation.
The Anti-Homosexuality Bill (2009), now before the House's Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, proposes life imprisonment for acts of homosexuality and introduces a serious crime called "aggravated homosexuality".
"We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are -- whether it's here in the United States or ... more extremely in odious laws that are being proposed most recently in Uganda," Obama told the National Prayer Breakfast.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking before Obama at the annual bipartisan gathering of religious and political leaders, also criticized the draft law being considered by Uganda's parliament.
Clinton said she recently called Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and expressed the "strongest concerns" about the proposed legislation. The call was made on Dec. 20, a State Department official said.
Early this year, President Museveni publicly disowned the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, saying it does not represent the party or government position.
Mr Museveni, who said he wanted to clear the confusion the Bill has created both locally and internationally, indicated Uganda cannot risk its foreign policy by allowing the Bill to pass in its present form. He said cabinet will sit with Mr Bahati to handle the matter.
Uganda has continuously faced intense pressure from Western governments and human rights groups over the draft legislation, which was presented as a private members' bill last year.
It would prohibit sexual relations between people of the same sex as well as the recognition of homosexual relations as an acceptable lifestyle, Navi Pillay, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said last month.
Pillay said the draft law would breach international standards and it "proposes draconian punishments for people alleged to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered -- namely life imprisonment, or in some cases, the death penalty."
It could lead to a prison sentence of up to three years for anyone failing to report within 24 hours the identities of any lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered person, she added.
Uganda's Ethics and Integrity Minister Nsaba Buturo has said a revised law would probably limit the maximum penalty for those convicted to life in prison rather than execution.
Obama, who won strong backing from homosexual voters in the 2008 presidential election, has promised to fight on their behalf.
In his State of the Union address last week, he said he would seek the repeal of the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy that permits gays to serve in uniform as long as they hide their sexual orientation.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Obama condemns Uganda's anti-gay bill
Posted by wamala dennis mawejje at 7:11 AM
1 comment:
- Kold_Kadavr_flatliner, sub/dude said...
Yay! The stanky BOs gonna croak sooner or later, but then, if he doesn't repent, he'll be even more stanky for eternity. Thar's no overpowering God, whorizontal BO; either L or R at the General Judgment... and I fear for your indelible soul. But, hey, BO, that's totally up to one person. YOU. God bless you.
- October 6, 2011 at 9:15 AM
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text:
Ned grew up in rural Australia. His first wife was Aboriginal, and their children grew up strongly identifying with the indigenous community. Ned wrote two plays about the stolen generation, touring them with indigenous theatre groups.
Read Ned's interview in the Guardian Weekly.
Monday, 10 March 2008
Ned Manning interviewed in The Guardian Weekly
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