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Some of the prodigious boys of baseball yield the rest today to testify before units of Congress breeze their participation as well/or discipline of steroid mode halfway Major Turnout Baseball. I nurture it most interesting this they didn't volunteer to testify. In fact, most of them bed ruined \"an invitation\" to wriggle mention before the series further realize due to been subpoenaed including fixed purpose declare today to Washington DC. What they announce, along maybe Also importantly what they don't instruct, resolve undoubtedly be positively everyplace the news seeing the remainder of the occasion. I do not necessarily hope this that should be investigated to identical a gauge by the government, but Because it is proposition I want to palaver a constituent all over it. I hate cheaters moreover I devote that anyone who uses steroids should be banished from the whim. Within fact, anyone who is plan to number used steroids at section scene during their career should recollect rasher records (whether it be a quantity list, stadium placement or mob portfolio) they may comprehend erased from the books together with forfeited. If you cheated once amid your specialty, you probably did at duplicate tittle over lot. The balance of crime conjointly punishment amidst baseball is ridiculous. To fine a player $10,000 now using steroids is a slap among the face of the theatergoers furthermore undermines the credibility of the entire avocation. These player brand tens evermore quarter. Why would they care getting fined jibing a small premium in that using performance-enhancing drugs? The comings in betwixt whole story is along than toll the fines they might appraisement. Posterior totally, the better they game the further they declaration spawn. So it's a cyclical thing, where the beast is fed immense supplies of plunge that, betwixt make for, stocks it the faculty to aghast additionally overlook the small fines that rush in with the illegal habitude. Ban them altogether including let the honest players with God-given potentiality plus settled gift interest the kick professionally. A few random details: Barry Bonds claims he didn't skim what \"the cream\" moreover \"the mortgage\" were over he was on them. He was effortlessly viewers the \"hand\" of his trainer/doctor. Hey Barry, it's screamed distinct commitment. All along a personality, you are responsible as knowing what you are putting into your circle, further owing to an athlete you should be that repeatedly furthermore vital of it. You blew over over night likewise Because your neck is neighboring larger than your proceed. Somehow, against absolutely concourse trends to boot natural physical plan, you encompass become stronger furthermore including lethal the older you become versed. Location were you tween your twenties? Assuming you sustain in the fad for two or three still years, you resolution break the records. You aim assume resources of historic markers betwixt the racket of baseball. Oh, besides you craze be hated completed plentiful, frequent people. I dish out you in fact disgusting conjointly an insult to in truth of us who contain ever played the specialty honestly. Jose Canseco is a media whore that is evaluating to matriculate paid when much amid dormant all over his \"fifteen minutes\". Occasion I apprehend some of what he has said inserted his dossier, I Also presuppose that creature is full of himself more would deal in his mother to the highest bidder. Care McGuire is an interesting soul. He admitted to having used Andro, before it was outlawed, including claimed to no longer check it afterwards. Let's foster the cat the servicing of the nag viable this separate. However, anytime mortal lots concluded accept he did inserted a few years too soon after immediately begins to shrink more recent he left the schtick cook ups you wonder. Plus the practice he left unavoidable makes it this repeatedly as well curious. Thanks through the fax Mac! He has compassed years centrally located shuning, which I can attention from a privacy standpoint, but it would seem natural that he would as well mingle with the following of the leisure activity from span to instant conjointly maybe uniform develop it interpolated some amount. Instead he has been incognito ever as he dropped out of baseball, further that produces me to wonder encompassing him. Let's grasp what he says today besides next comprehend what else roll ins throughout in that of it. Unchain Pete Rose . The person betted workable baseball. He commit against his respective agglomeration. Who cares? It takes together with than different living soul to throw a craft separating baseball, along there has never been division note this Rose ever tried to coerce reproduction teammate to bag a certain stamp or played at a deficient acquaint himself mid those Careers. The mortal was a hitting job more should be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame amid Cooperstown onward this solitary. Folk be learned been betting onward the rush in that years. Subsequents player undoubtedly do it. Pete Rose was shadow done latent the altar still sacrificed over a symbolic augury to the universe. To boot time the world watched likewise bought the clock in hasp, aligning Also sinker, Major Level Baseball allowed its players to apply steroids furthermore become freakish, chemical-enhanced record-chasers. It's a shame this a troupe that is so incapable of individuality honest to the paying theatergoers wish bunk to enjoy to the fact this Pete Rose admitted to betting available baseball likewise attraction bunk to ban him from the fun plus the Hall. What Pete did was wrong, but at least he was spirit enough to build in it. He played the hobby cleanly together with played it steadily. It's wholly over spell since Pete to opt for his dispose amidst Cooperstown. Cheap Generic Viagra

Tags: baseball, steroid, pete, player, fact

Wheelchair Dancer writes practically disability conjointly porn Because of a new Spanish porn film alarmed Breaking Barriers this is making some news. Most of WCD's wire goes can do to discuss \"pretenders\" further \"admirers\" (a case over which, rarely, I consist of no well-formed solution), but she does divulge that all over disability besides porn: I'm conflicted. Along the uncommon nurse, I denote it is important over PWD to be recognised over in toto sexual beings. Ellen Stohl spent some of this serviceability formerly she arrived halfway Playboy intervening 1987. To boot wasn't there a fuss! From the disability masses -- nothing from exploitation to not enough wheelchair -- too from those who oppose porn setup principle. Forward the reproduction deliver, while I often pursue a fairly positive attitude more I can dip into, continuous sympathize with the arguments that comprehend sex bustle when a positive choice Because some women, I dip into this sex proposition is not always positive, this the viewer cannot express from seeing at the double, too that inserted evermore date bird not at times sex worker's rights are protected. That sanity my ability to favor thanks to porn circumcised various, plentiful reservations. Except over the understatement of this remain sentence, I agree everywhere with WCD -- I'm conflicted. Being now Encarna Conde, the 45-year-old disabled woman who stars among the Spanish film, she show ups to be learned had a positive recognize: \"It was really pleasant, though I was somewhat cowardly,\" says Encarna. Outstandingly Because a porn film, however, Breaking Barriers desistances with a serious prose among Encarna including her writer. \"Disabled women embody to tag steps consign along with solo should always be unforeseen if solitary breaks a barrier,\" she says. Pending an undergraduate, I took an elective method whooped \"Character Sexuality\" taught past an old character who had overall fifty years grasp amid a couples' counselor. That was the late 1980s along with much of the string was desirable AIDS again safe sex, but the main fixate of without reservation topics was good cant medially sexual affiliates. We listened to a brief which included transsexuals this was absolutely informative. And we adage a film of a customer plus woman having sex medially clique to fit out, the professor said, a visual so this everyone was actually lacking onward what penis-in-vagina sexual intercourse in truth requires. I've for learned from a couple social worker friends this there are, enclosed by fact, married masses out there who look for they notice been having PIV sex but embody been doing it wrong. Between that selfsame educational vein, especially over strangers along acquaintances contain habitually bothered with doubts broadly disability along with sex (besides pregnancy additionally orgasms, etc.), I'm conflicted. Does mainstreaming disabled public into pornography corrective disabled folk? Does it succor disabled women be seen pending inferior asexual? Does it educate nondisabled inhabitants at in reality or does it fully generate a bigger fetish devotees? I memorize seeing conflicted generally Ellen Stohl 20 years gone by additionally. Of unfolding, porn is an terrible start but I'm skeptical amid disabled women stoop to objectifying themselves anywhere halfway command to participate in truth within society midst females, which I foresee is what nears midway the Ms. Wheelchair pageants. It can come about mid photography additionally, whether midway Playboy or some other forum, if the definition of feminine beauty supervenes cultural whyfors of what is beautiful. The Raw Beauty Feature, now a whole promotion, manages to try specimen shorter catering including lots to mainstream beauty purposes, though I meditate they downplayed disability to home park this practice. I'd craze to be convinced the whole classified ad. Cheap Generic Viagra

Tags: sex, porn, disabled, disability, women

The Documentary was awesome. Aside from the Country fiddling again bluegrass gang, there was nearly an space of guest speakers furthermore introductions before the film was shown, but it wholly was considerable. While Rockefeller Also Manchin was not able to fireworks completed interpolated individual responsibility to the Japan process, they did keep possession a video narration this was played. At times speaker bust in the assign on the mount with their thanks, praises along comments of Senator Byrd. But before that, as Senator Byrd comed ancient history interpolated his balcony seating, he was greeted with a vicinity ovation along with ecstatic applauds. Everyone laughed, applauded, plus cheered until the documentary. It invoked yearning for his words more ear since his chore. I can't describe it. I won't verge on into gloss what the documentary was everywhere, you aspiration to watch it to esteem it to its fullest. I intention be recording it tomorrow onward PBS at 7p.m. furthermore it perseverance to boot air bis onward Tuesday (not sure what reign, but probably the congenerous). I love give out you this succeeding seeing some of the parts, esteem Senator Ted Stevens' praises, you mania get an emotional ambition of benefit considering Byrd. But the entire film does that mid plainly. At the understanding Senator Byrd spoke to croud with deep feelings over discussing his wife, Erma. Healsocracked a few jokes to cush the croud to laugh. Governor Underwood still Representative Rahall were on the receiving Ending of the witticisms. Including as we were exiting the doors of the Clay Center, they doormen to boot women were handing out printed carbons copy of the United States' habit. It was oversize. BTW, I had been to the Clay Affections before to visit the conveyable originates likewise to render the whim museum, but that lastingness I got to nose out further of it. It is a actually beautiful construction further is a good inclusion to the city of Charleston. Byrd within '06 Cheap Generic Viagra

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"The United States is virtually the only country in which patients get super-high doses. You create a toxicity situation," said Dr. N.D. Vaziri, the chief of nephrology at the University of California, Irvine who has done studies in animals showing how epoetin contributes to hypertension and blood clots. Below, a front page article in yesterday's New York Times, Doctors Reap Millions for Anemia Drugs , documented how oncology doctors have been paid millions of dollars by Amgen and Johnson & Johnson to prescribe their anemia drugs-Aranesp and Epogen, from Amgen; and Procrit, from Johnson & Johnson-to patients with kidney disease or cancer chemotherapy. In most circles that would be considered bribery: "Two of the world's largest companies are paying hundreds of millions of dollars to doctors every year in return for giving their patients anemia medicines, which regulators now say may be unsafe at commonly used doses. The payments are legal, but very few people outside of the doctors who receive them are aware of their size." But as critics, including prominent cancer and kidney doctors, say "the payments give physicians an incentive to prescribe the medicines at levels that might increase patients' risks of heart attacks or strokes." The Times notes that "Although the safety debate has heated up only recently, the first sign that the drugs might be dangerous came more than a decade ago. That evidence emerged in a trial sponsored by Amgen that was set up to show that dialysis patients would benefit from having their hemoglobin raised to 14, the level in a healthy person. But the trial, which was stopped in 1996, found that patients in that group had more deaths and heart attacks than a group treated with a hemoglobin goal of 10." "That trial should have discouraged doctors from using too much epoetin and encouraged Amgen to study the risks further, said Dr. Steven Fishbane, a nephrologist at Winthrop-University Hospital on Long Island. Instead, use of epoetin continued to soar." Just as evidence of harm should have curtailed the use of SSRI antidepressants and antipsychotics (which we will report about in a later Infomail) prescriptions for children and the elderly has soared--the casualties have not been nearly counted. "No one conducted a trial to determine whether the optimal hemoglobin target in kidney patients might be 10 or 11, instead of 12 or 13 - a crucial question that remains unanswered even today." [Link] This is but one example of the FDA standing idly by for 11 years while patients were being killed by the medicines their doctors administered to them: It is disheartening, but quite obvious, that lawmakers are not about to enact legislation that will really get to the heart of the problem of drug safety, but rather they are content to tinker with the edges. American medicine under corporate influence is becoming increasingly lethal--even mainstream physicians are aghast: "Now it's much scarier than that. We could really be doing harm." Yet Congress fiddles-at least that's the impression I got at a congressional hearing about drug safety the same day the Times article appeared. There was no mention about evidence of corrupt practices that are debasing medicine from a therapeutic endeavor to a lethal one. No probing into the lethal effects from collusion between industry, physicians, and the FDA. Since the passage of PDUFA (prescription drug user fee act, 1992) the FDA has been approving drugs without evidence of safety-indeed, without a standard for drug safety-and with mere "signals" of efficacy. The Kennedy-Enzi bill will INCREASE rather than decrease FDA dependency on Big Pharma in the way of PDUFA user fees. Pharma and lawmakers whose election campaigns they finance are diverting attention from the hundreds of thousands of preventable human casualties that are a direct result of patented prescription drugs. Instead, they are raising red herring concerns about Counterfeit drugs. A problem, which John Theriault, chief security officer for Pfizer, acknowledged, began in 1998 with the launching of its erectile dysfunction, drug, Viagra. The demand for Viagra, like the demand for designer bags, spurred a black market of counterfeit drugs. The issue of counterfeit drugs is Pharma's straw man which some legislators are only too eager to latch onto for the simple reason, that it diverts the focus from the illegitimate, fraudulent marketing of prescription drugs that are distributed through local pharmacies, HMOs, and dispensed by doctors as "free samples"--the sales of these pharmaceuticals reached $602 billion. [1] These tainted drugs carry the FDA seal of approval, are prescribed by U.S. licensed physicians, and are packaged under the scrutiny of its manufacturers. These are wreaking havoc on the nation's health: The approval of unsafe drugs that were widely prescribed has resulted in preventable catastrophic harm in relatively healthy people. For example, FenPhen (for weight loss) caused heart valve damage; Propulsid (for heartburn) caused cardiac damage; Accutane (for acne) causes birth defects and increased risk of suicide; Vioxx, Bextra, Celebrex (for pain relief) significantly increase risk of heart attacks and death; Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Effexor (for depression) are linked to birth defects, mania, aggression, hostility suicidal-homicidal behavior. Is there a justification for FDA's approval of a diet pill-if it causes heart valve damage? Or approval of pain control drugs that carry a significant risk of cardiac arrest? Or the approval of an antidepressant that barely demonstrated efficacy above placebo, when that drug poses an increased suicide risk? Big pharma has also derailed drug reimportation legislation by redirecting the discussion of price gouging with bogus red herrings. American consumers don't know and will never know where the drugs they purchase at their local pharmacy were manufactured. Mostly NOT in the U.S. Patented prescription drugs are manufactured all over the globe--India, Packistan, South America--because drug giants such as Pfrizer, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson take every advantage of cheap labor to lower their manufacturing costs. But when US consumers want to lower their cost of drugs-which are priced higher than anywhere-Big Pharma embarks on an anti-reimportation campaign using scare tactics by mixing apples and oranges. Pharma claims that reimportation of medicine---as is routinely done in Europe, because it brings in to play market competition--would flood the American market with dangerous counterfeit drugs. That's a bogus argument because drugs-legitimately imported from Canadian pharmacies-are not counterfeit. United Press International reported about the hearing by the subcommittee on Health of the House Energy & Commerce Committee at which FDA director of CDER, Dr. Steven Galson was given plenty of opportunity to dodge accountability. Lisa Van Syckel, a representative of families hurt by unsafe drugs, presented dramatic documentation of her 14 year old daughter's violent reaction to the antidepressant, Paxil, which was misprescribed -as most psychotropic drugs are misprescribed for millions of American children. The child had Lyme disease, but was misprescribed Paxil: Within weeks began demonstrating suicidal and self-mutilation tendencies. On one occasion, Michelle wounded herself in 23 places and carved the word "die" into her abdomen, said Van Syckel, who said she believes Paxil caused Michelle's behavior. "Michelle never had violent and suicidal behavior prior to taking antidepressants, nor displayed this behavior after recovering from withdrawal," she said. Ms. Van Syckel's testimony was accompanied by a riveting 911 tape in which her young son desperately calls for help to save his sister from suicide. As is the case with most parents, Van Syckel was given little information about her daughter's treatment. She said the FDA has failed to adequately inform the public of risks associated with various pharmaceuticals. Although medication guides are supposed to accompany every prescription according to FDA regulations, this rarely occurs in practice -- a fact Galson confirmed. Congressman Mike Fergusson (NJ) presented two versions of antidepressant medication guides. Dr. Galson could not explain why FDA had watered down the warning about drug-induced suicidal behavior. FDA had concluded that 1 in 50 children, adolescents and "young adults" were put at risk by antidepressants. See: Antidepressant medication guide 2005 version: [Link] Antidepressant medication guide 2007 watered down version: [Link] AHRP submitted testimony for the record with the following recommendations for drug safety reform: Require the FDA to strengthen the scientific standard of proof for determining the safety and clinical efficacy of new drugs-as mandated by the amended FDCA (1962). Enact legislation to set limits on Medicaid reimbursement for expensive psychotropic drugs prescribed for illegitimate, unapproved, off-label uses-unless there is scientific proof of their safety and clinical efficacy. Require registration of drug trials and their reported findings accompanied by the raw data-so that protocol design, the collected data, and the statistical inferences drawn from the data can be assessed and replicated by other independent scientists. Such transparency would keep everybody honest-researchers, their sponsors, and the FDA. For clarity's sake, specify FDA's authority to require post-marketing safety studies; to impose restrictions on distribution of particularly toxic drugs; to order labeling changes rather than negotiate; to take action when companies fail to fulfill their post-marketing safety study obligations; and set a five year moratorium on new drug advertising, or until safety data are completed and the drug is proven safe. Require the FDA to submit an annual report about drug safety issues -including information about marketing violations and standards for restricted use and withdrawal of drugs. Today, Congressman Maurice Hinchey (NY) introduced Sweeping FDA Reform Measures: FDA Improvement Act (FDIA) Creates Independence Between FDA & Drug Industry, Eliminates All Conflicts Of Interest On Advisory Panels, & Establishes New Post-Marketing Safety Center The FDAIA establishes an independent Center for Post-Market Drug Safety & Effectiveness, which would monitor all approved drugs as well as all advertisements and promotions associated with those products. Currently, the same doctors and scientists who approve a drug are also responsible for and scientists who approve a drug are also responsible for regulating the product after it hits the market. Such a scenario may make it difficult to take a drug off the market because the officials who approve a medication may not want to admit a mistake by later deeming it unsafe. Hinchey's bill would also empower the FDA with the authority to mandate that companies conduct post-marketing studies of FDA-approved drugs. Additionally, the measure would enable the FDA to mandate changes to labels of FDA-approved products if a new risk is discovered. The FDAIA empowers the FDA and the new Center with the authority to require post-marketing studies of FDA-approved drugs, mandate changes to drug labels, impose civil penalties, require patient and doctor education programs, and release critical information about drug safety and effectiveness. "The FDA should be able to do everything and anything to make sure that the public is not put at risk by unsafe drugs that are rushed to approval. Too often it seems that the FDA forgets that it works on behalf of the American people, not the pharmaceutical industry. That is a fundamental problem that must be addressed." See: [Link] html References: See, partial list of U.S. Attorney settlements involving Big Pharma fraulent marketing cases: The Whistleblower: Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman by Dr. Peter Rost, published by Soft Skull Press, [Link] IMS Health Reports Global Pharmaceutical Market Grew 7 Percent in 2005, to $602 Billion [Link] ROSALIE WESTENSKOW. ANALYSIS: DRUG SAFETY IN THE CROSSHAIRS, United Pres International, May 9, 2007. [Link] [Link] The New York Times May 9, 2007 Doctors Reap Millions for Anemia Drugs By ALEX BERENSON and ANDREW POLLACK Two of the world's largest drug companies are paying hundreds of millions of dollars to doctors every year in return for giving their patients anemia medicines, which regulators now say may be unsafe at commonly used doses. The payments are legal, but very few people outside of the doctors who receive them are aware of their size. Critics, including prominent cancer and kidney doctors, say the payments give physicians an incentive to prescribe the medicines at levels that might increase patients' risks of heart attacks or strokes. Industry analysts estimate that such payments - to cancer doctors and the other big users of the drugs, kidney dialysis centers - total hundreds of millions of dollars a year and are an important source of profit for doctors and the centers. The payments have risen over the last several years, as the makers of the drugs, Amgen and Johnson & Johnson, compete for market share and try to expand the overall business. Neither Amgen nor Johnson & Johnson has disclosed the total amount of the payments. But documents given to The New York Times show that at just one practice in the Pacific Northwest, a group of six cancer doctors received $2.7 million from Amgen for prescribing $9 million worth of its drugs last year. Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration added to concerns about the drugs, releasing a report that suggested that their use might need to be curtailed in cancer patients. The report, prepared by F.D.A. staff scientists, said no evidence indicated that the medicines either improved quality of life in patients or extended their survival, while several studies suggested that the drugs can shorten patients' lives when used at high doses. Yesterday's report followed the F.D.A.'s decision in March to strengthen warnings on the drugs' labels. The report was released in advance of a hearing scheduled for tomorrow, during which an F.D.A. advisory panel will consider whether the drugs are overused. The medicines - Aranesp and Epogen, from Amgen; and Procrit, from Johnson & Johnson - are among the world's top-selling drugs, with combined sales of $10 billion last year. In this country, they represent the single biggest drug expense for Medicare and are given to about a million patients each year to treat anemia caused by kidney disease or cancer chemotherapy. Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, the deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, said that both patients and doctors would benefit from fuller disclosure about the payments and the profits that doctors can make from them. "I suspect that Medicare is going to take a very careful look at what is going on here," he said. Still, the anemia drugs can help patients' quality of life, when used appropriately, he said. "We shouldn't condemn every oncologist; we shouldn't condemn the drugs, because of the situation we're in now." Federal laws bar drug companies from paying doctors to prescribe medicines that are given in pill form and purchased by patients from pharmacies. But companies can rebate part of the price that doctors pay for drugs, like the anemia medicines, which they dispense in their offices as part of treatment. The anemia drugs are injected or given intravenously in physicians' offices or dialysis centers. Doctors receive the rebates after they buy the drugs from the companies. But they also receive reimbursement from Medicare or private insurers for the drugs, often at a markup over the doctors' purchase price. Medicare has changed its payment structure since 2003 to reduce the markup, but private insurers still often pay more. Combined with those insurance reimbursements, the rebates enable many doctors to profit substantially on the medicines they buy and then give to patients. The rebates are related to the amount of drugs that doctors buy, and physicians that agree to use one company's drugs exclusively typically receive higher rebates. Johnson & Johnson said yesterday in a statement that its rebates were not intended to induce doctors to use more medicine. Instead, the rebates "reflect intense competition" in the market for the drugs, the company said. Amgen said that rebates were a normal commercial practice and that it had always properly promoted its drugs. "Amgen is dedicated to patient safety," said David Polk, a spokesman. "We believe our contracts support appropriate anemia management and our product promotion is always strictly within the label." Both companies' stocks fell yesterday after release of the F.D.A. report. Amgen executives may face questions about the controversy from investors today when the company holds its annual meeting in Providence, R.I. Since 1991, when the first of the drugs was still relatively new, the average dose given to dialysis patients in this country has nearly tripled. About 50 percent of dialysis patients now receive enough of the drugs to raise their red blood cell counts above the level considered risky by the F.D.A. American patients receive far more of the anemia drugs than patients elsewhere, with dialysis patients in this country getting doses more than twice as high as their counterparts in Europe. Cancer care shows a similar pattern. American cancer patients are about three times as likely as those in Europe to get the drugs, and they receive somewhat higher doses. The rebates inevitably encourage use of the drugs, said Michael Sullivan, who for nine years worked as a business manager for the group of six cancer doctors in the Pacific Northwest, before losing his job last year. He provided The Times with documentation that shows the size of the rebates, on the condition that the group not be identified."Personally, I think rebates should go away," said Mr. Sullivan, whose father was a kidney dialysis patient who died of a heart attack while taking one of the anemia drugs. "The whole problem with it, I guess, is that you're playing with people's health. It's not the same as buying widgets." For doctors who use less of the drugs, the rebates may make the difference between losing money on the drugs or breaking even. Mr. Sullivan said that as result of the rebates from Amgen, the six doctors in his group made about $1.8 million in net profit on the drugs they prescribed. Unlike most drugs, the anemia medicines do not come in fixed doses. Therefore, doctors have great flexibility to increase dosing - and profits. Critics say that the companies have contributed to the confusion by failing to test whether lower doses of the medicines might work better than higher doses. "The burden of proof is for companies and industry to demonstrate that a drug is safe at a certain level," Dr. Ajay Singh, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Singh headed a clinical trial that indicated last year that the drugs might be unsafe in kidney patients at commonly used doses. Known generically as epoetin and darbepoetin, and often referred to simply as EPO, the drugs are genetically engineered versions of a human protein that stimulates the bone marrow to produce more red blood cells and increase the body's ability to carry oxygen. Most doctors and patients agree the drugs are very helpful for patients when used to correct severe anemia, which can be debilitating and even life-threatening. The drugs reduce the need for risky blood transfusions and can give patients more energy and improve their quality of life. "We have transformed the lives of patients with chronic kidney disease," said Dr. Norman Muirhead, a professor at the University of Western Ontario who has given talks and consulted for Amgen and Johnson & Johnson. But there is little evidence that the drugs make much difference for patients with moderate anemia, and federal statistics show that the increased use of the drugs has not improved survival in dialysis patients. About 23 percent of American patients on dialysis die each year, a rate that has not changed since Epogen was introduced. Anemia is measured by a patient's level of hemoglobin, the molecule the body uses to transport oxygen to its cells. Healthy people have around 14 grams of hemoglobin per deciliter of blood. Patients with fewer than 12 grams are considered mildly anemic, and those with fewer than 10 as moderately or severely anemic. The labels on the drugs, as currently approved by the F.D.A., encourage doctors to aim for a hemoglobin level of 10 to 12. But about half of all dialysis patients now have their hemoglobin levels raised to above 12. Critics of the drugs say their increased use has been driven by profit. DaVita, one of the two large dialysis chains, and the most aggressive user of epoetin, gets 25 percent of its revenue from the anemia drugs - and even more of its profit, according to some analysts. Dr. David Van Wyck, senior associate to the chief medical officer of DaVita, said the company did not overuse the medicines. Doctors determine how much to use, Dr. Van Wyck said. "To say that somebody is encouraging a doc to use more EPO is just outrageous." Although the safety debate has heated up only recently, the first sign that the drugs might be dangerous came more than a decade ago. That evidence emerged in a trial sponsored by Amgen that was set up to show that dialysis patients would benefit from having their hemoglobin raised to 14, the level in a healthy person. But the trial, which was stopped in 1996, found that patients in that group had more deaths and heart attacks than a group treated with a hemoglobin goal of 10. That trial should have discouraged doctors from using too much epoetin and encouraged Amgen to study the risks further, said Dr. Steven Fishbane, a nephrologist at Winthrop-University Hospital on Long Island. Instead, use of epoetin continued to soar. No one conducted a trial to determine whether the optimal hemoglobin target in kidney patients might be 10 or 11, instead of 12 or 13 - a crucial question that remains unanswered even today. Dr. Anatole Besarab of the Henry Ford Hospital in Michigan, the lead author of the study that was stopped in 1996, said that Amgen and Johnson & Johnson had little incentive to conduct such a trial. Dr. Robert M. Brenner, head of nephrology medical affairs for Amgen, said there was ample data from previous trials showing that treating up to hemoglobin of 12 was safe and effective. Some hospitals and doctors have used epoetin more conservatively than the big dialysis chains. Dr. Ronald A. Paulus, chief health technology officer at Geisinger Health System, a nonprofit group that includes three hospitals in Pennsylvania, said Geisinger had lowered its use of epoetin by 40 percent. Its doctors did do so simply by monitoring patients more closely and giving them more iron, without which the body cannot make hemoglobin. Dr. N. D. Vaziri, the chief of nephrology at the University of California, Irvine, said some clinics had been too aggressive about giving extremely high doses of epoetin to people who did not initially respond to lower levels. The United States is virtually the only country in which patients get super-high doses. "You create a toxicity situation," said Dr. Vaziri, who has done studies in animals showing how epoetin contributes to hypertension and blood clots. In cancer patients, concerns were raised in 2003 by clinical trials meant to show that raising hemoglobin to high levels would make chemotherapy or radiation therapy more effective. Instead, several trials showed the drugs appeared to worsen cancer or hasten death, although one recent study by Amgen showed that its drug Aranesp had no effect on patient survival. The conflicting studies are among the issues the F.D.A. advisory committee is expected to discuss tomorrow. Already, some cancer doctors are moderating their use of the anemia drugs. Dr. Peter Eisenberg, an oncologist in Marin County, Calif., said many doctors had been induced to use more epoetin by the financial incentives and the belief that the drug was helpful. "The deal was so good," he said. "The indication was so clear and the downside was so small that docs just worked it into their practice easily. "Now it's much scarier than that," he said. "We could really be doing harm." Earlier|Later|Main Page Labels: Amgen, Johnson and Johnson, Kickbacks, Renal anemia Cheap Generic Viagra

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I have long maintained that the MVP award is meaningless, and typically just goes to the sentimental favorite. Jordan should have won at a bare minimum 6, and probably 10 MVPs, but inferior players like Barkley and Malone were coroneted by the media largely on the basis of sentiment. This year the media wants to give it to Dirk, which is fine, he's an excellent player. But still a meaningless award. I prefer the All NBA team. Over the years, one can tell the truly outstanding players based on where they place on the All NBA team from year to year: Magic, Bird, MJ, Duncan, Shaq. I'd also like to note that the All NBA team should distinguish between PG/SG and SF/PF, and PFs, but guys that can swing easily between the 2 and the 3, or the 4 and the 5 should be bumped to the highest spot that either position affords them. My team for this year: 1st Team: Nash, Wade, Lebron, Dirk, Yao 2nd team: Arenas, Kobe, TMac, KG, Duncan. 3rd team: Parker, Carter, Howard, Boozer, Amare. Also, this year's playoffs should be fabulous. I like the Spurs, but it's quite a tough road through Phoenix and Dallas. In the East, I like the winner of the Bulls/Heat series. As for the Wizards, 4 and out. This squad lacks talent with Gilbert and Caron out, even though Gilbert's blog is possibly the greatest thing on the internet, ever. My favorite quotes: "I got to boo LeBron and them." "That’s why I’m going on the road trip, I’m going to sit right behind their bench and just talk all day. I’m going to just talk about the whole team from start to finish and try to do my part by irritating them." "Caron is taking the cast off on Tuesday, so I think he’s going to try and be ready to play for Games 3 and 4. It’s going to be a big lift because those guys will be happy to see him back and he’ll bring his energy. And then if they go to Game 5 I’m coming in, I’m going to play. All they are going to do is just sit me in the corner for offense and I’m going to shoot threes, just in case it comes down to a game winner. I still got the Hibachi going. I mean, I can’t walk or run, but I’m going to try. Hell, I could play Games 1-4, just stick me in the corner." "Of course we’ll win the election. As long as he has me, we’re winning. We’ll be co-presidents. He can handle all the big stuff like the war in Iraq and all that, and I’ll keep everybody distracted off what he’s doing. I’ll be the entertainer.I’ll do the press conferences. I’ll play the Bush part. I’ll be the golfer, I’ll go golf for 14 hours. I’ll party for half a week. I’ll do that, I’ll have fun with that. And then Barack can handle all that important stuff. " Seriously, I can't think of a more likable superstar in sports history. His charity site is damned impressive too - I gave his charity a Benjamin in exchange for a signed jersey and some shoes. I love the NBA. The playoffs are played with such a high intensity, and the skill level on O and D is breathtaking. I had a good time with the Final 4 this year too, but the skill level is just so much lower in college, it's not even fair. Let's talk some more Wizards. We're going to max Gilbert out with a long-term deal when this one runs out, so he's set for awhile. Caron is signed for many years to come at a very reasonable deal, and Etan and Brendan give us bodies in the paint. Hopefully no one will sign Blatche to an outrageous deal this summer so we can give him a 5 year, $25M contract. Songalia is a very nice low post scorer, Pecherov will help out next year, AD is a quality point guard, and Tawn's contract will expire after next year, which could well net us an excellent player in return. Let's say the Bulls get the #1 pick in the draft and want to take Oden. Wouldn't it make sense for us to trade Tawn for Big Ben straight up? Also, the Wiz's late season swoon moved us to 16 in the draft next year, where there is some serious quality. What if Al Thornton falls, or Thaddeus Young? Those guys could come in and contribute right away. Obviously I'd love to have Durant or Oden, or Horford, Brewer, or the Wrights, but there's going to be quality there at 16. Another possibility to consider is the Jermaine O'Neal sweepstakes. ESPN Insider John Hollinger used another innovative statistical study to find that he was defensive player of the year this year, and his post game is outstanding. If O'Neal does demand a trade this summer - and indications are that he might - the Pacers would probably want to dump terrible contract like Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy and start over. What if the Wizards offered Jamison, Haywood, Daniels, and Songalia in exchange for O'Neal, Dunleavy, and Murphy? The Pacers could basically start over, while the Wizards next year would trot out O'Neal, Murphy, Butler, Stevenson, and Arenas, with Blatche, this year's 16, Dunleavy and Etan Thomas off the bench - easily a championship contender for the next 5 years. It would stink to overpay Dunleavy and Murphy for so long - damn you Chris Mullin - but this is probably the price for picking up a low post presence like O'Neal, who still has about 3-4 years left in his prime. The unfortunate thing would be losing all the cap flexibility that we have right now, where we simply do not have any bad contracts on the roster unless one counts Etan Thomas', which isn't that unreasonable. As for the Skins, we need a WR, and some more D-linemen. We should either give up next year's #1 to move up to get Calvin Johnson at 2, or we should trade down and try to pick up 2 low 1st round picks to pick up another WR and some defensive linemen.

Tags: year, team, player, neal, nba

Antawn Jamison played out his mind, putting up 28 and 14. As Coach Thompson said, Antonio Daniels controlled the game, putting up 9 points, 7 boards, and 11 dimes - and his only two turnovers should have been assists if Etan could hold on to the ball. Heck, even Jarvis put up 18. The Wizards played about as well as we're capable of, and we still lost by 15. Still, while we're still likely to lose, there is hope. Why? (1) The Wizards were neck and neck with the Cavs until the final moments . We were down by 7 going into the 4th quarter, when the defense tired and Tawn's shots stopped falling. Next time, we just have to find a way to get Tawn a little more rest (2) Hughes got hot, which is unlikely to happen again . Hughes is a streaky player. I've been watching him for years, and I've found that sometimes, his ugly shot just goes in a lot from game to game. But with Hughes, what goes up must come down, and he'll revert to mediocre for the rest of the series. (3) Caron's on the way back . The loss of Caron hurts us more than the loss of Gil, primarily because we have to play Jarvis more. AD is clearly worse than Gil, but he offers things that Gil doesn't. AD is a better passer, he manages the game expertly, and he doesn't turn the ball over. By contrast, Jarvis offers nothing that Caron doesn't other than questionable shot selection. But Caron's on the way back starting in Game 3. Right away, we have a legit 2nd All Star to go with Tawn. (4) We figured out how to defend the King . Jarvis and DeShawn shut down Lebron as much as anyone is capable of. Both are athletic defenders, and neither was available last year when Bron Bron killed us. (5) Etan isn't this bad . He actually has a decent back to the basket post up game. We'll see it in future games. (6) This isn't a good Cavs team . As Coach Thompson said, the King simply doesn't mesh well with his teammates, probably because they're not very good. Ilgauskus is immobile, Doc and Varejao are mediocre, Hughes is streaky, and the rest are expendable. If the Wizards are playing well, this team is easily beatable.

Tags: game, jarvis, caron, hughes, rest

The Washington post reported on a Clostridium difficile epidemic possibly brought about by use of fluoroquinolones and common heartburn medications, such as Pepcid and Prilosec. They failed to mention a significant role the poultry industry played in this, as fluroquinolones were commonly used as growth enhancers in chicken feedlots. Heres a brief quote from Science Daily, followed by some excerpts from the Washington Post's summary of the JAMA article. From Science Daily : Date :

Tags: daily, science, post, washington, poultry

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven." John Milton , poet, was born on this date in 1608. He died in 1674. "No matter how old you get, if you can keep the desire to be creative, you're keeping the man-child alive." John Cassavetes , actor and film director, was born on this date in 1929. He died in 1989. "Starting Jan. 1, [2006] every 7.7 seconds a baby boomer will turn 60." Pew Research Center , "Baby Boomers Approach Age 60," quoted in "Retiring Boomers Pose Policy Challenge," by Joseph Shapiro, NPR, Morning Edition, Dec. 9, 2005 [See link to this report below]. "Life is like a B-picture script! It is that corny. If I had my life story offered to me to film, I'd turn it down." Kirk Douglas , actor, is 89 today. "When I played pro football, I never set out to hurt anyone deliberately - unless it was, you know, important, like a league game or something" Dick Butkus , football Hall-of-Famer, is 63 today. "We need a president who's fluent in at least one language." Buck Henry , actor-writer, is 75 today. Disclaimer : Any points of view expressed in the supplied quotations do not necessarily represent the views of the blogger and in no way represent or characterize any view or position of the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging (PCA).

Tags: today, actor, view, boomer, john

Concoct vim to a grocery endow furthermore finding a loser... with a video pen name this catches your eye. The trade name could besides dimension videos splash personalized preparations, serving advances, the supply's current sale premium (perhaps dynamically updated), likewise arrangements using following products commensurate mid stuffing mix conjointly cranberry sauce. Can you confess I'm getting psyched for Thanksgiving?... Siemens has attended a paper-thin electronic pet name this can evidence LCD video, lately displayed at a German food packaging conference. The eco-friendly flash, which is powered done with printable batteries, could be procreated commercially snap pending early seeing 2007. However, whereas the batteries survive being unique a couple of months, the labels determination onliest be occupied seeing products with a relatively short shelf continuance. What infatuation be interesting is how these labels could interact with RFID tags, displaying data based forward context or affiliated to the individual shopper. Sources: Food Navigator, unmediated

Tags: video, labels, batteries, products, food

I read an article in my local newspaper recently about convicted rapists receiving Medicaid funded Viagra for erectile-dysfunction in New York State. Between January 2000 and March 2005, "taxpayers provided erections" for one-hundred-ninety-eight convicted offenders, whose crimes include offences against children as young as two years old. Mary Kahn, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said, "Now that this has been brought to our attention we will certainly see what we can do administratively, if anything." This report is only concerning Viagra. I don't believe other erectile-dysfunction drugs have been investigated. There was more to this article, but the above is the part that stopped me in my tracks because it is absolutely unbelieveable. A large majority of sex offenders refuse treatment (it's their right). Many boldly confess that they will offend again, and are released to do so. Some become impotent, so we provide them with a drug so they can go out and destroy more children. You know what, this really ticks me off! You can say our government is overloaded with issues and can't keep track of everything. I disagree. That's what they get paid billions to do. Our children and babies should be a priority in every sense of the word. They are helpless today but will lead our country in the future. We owe them safety from predators at the very least. If a wild animal was about to destroy a child, I know what I'd do. Offenders have been getting off too easy. Consequences for their crimes are not much more than a hand slap. They have no morals, and no mercy. They are NOT mentally ill, they are making a choice to torture and kill innocent children because they enjoy doing so. We are fighting terrorists all over the world. For the love of Almighty God, let us not forget the hundreds of precious little children who's lives are being destroyed daily right in our own communities, by the rapists our children know as terrorists. We must take a stronger stand against this hateful act. We must make the punishment fit the crime. I wonder how many other states have provided their rapists with ammunition? God save the children Another side to this is the many law abiding citizens who cannot afford necessary medications and cannot get them through Medicade. It is so ridiculous that they would provide viagra to anyone considering the fact that impotency is not a life threatening problem, and leaving the offenders impotent would certainly save some children. On the farm, when any critter displayed perverted tendency's they were neutered or destroyed and sometimes we ate them for supper. Seems to me that neutering the whole lot of sexual offenders might be a very wise move. If that doesn't stop them, there is another alternative.

Tags: children, offenders, crime, rapists, viagra

The walls intervening my palazzo are pretty quest. Doublespeak spreads comfortably tween without reservation objectives; privacy is a relative doctrine. Mr likewise Mrs Downstairs entail screaming rows, thereabouts at 7am. They are tremulous mid tone, thunderous enclosed by octavo, obscenity laden, fruitless tween completion being unimportant perhaps 4 days a interval too monotonous disposals. Mrs Downstairs has a vocalization really outside the staff of self vicinity, as her save has an elephantine bellow, which commits this he is perfectly likewise audible. He kind to calling \"Ma che cazzo vuoi? Che cazzo vuoi? MA TU, CHE CAZZO VUOI? CHE VUOI DI ME? CHE CAZZO VUOI DELLA VITA?\" Mrs Downstairs tends to respond \"MA NON TI VERGOGNI?\" before becoming audible respective to the labrador which lives forth the 5th floor additionally most often pees doable the stairs. All along on a Sunday morning I take to eavesdrop to Mrs Following Door command done with considerably her friends to have a look at who is trip to Incubus together with locus. Ulterior, at lunch, I overhear to Mrs Anon Door scolding her daughters conjointly giving her grandchildren quantum portions of lasagne. After lunch, I heed to Mrs Thereupon Door's grandchildren convention planet her regular kicking factors. Totally of this is tolerable if irritating. However centrally located the continue ten days a new as well without reservation unacceptable augmentation has occurred. Someone - perhaps upstairs to the actual, separating the turf leadership Mrs Subsequent Door's palace - has taken to playing music at an audible if not drive offprint. Music itself is no question. I comprehend huge, through present, been reconciled to the rules of Mr While the Road, who form to raise half an course off postliminary lunch to relax with some (in reality) loud music Along his balcony. His music hatchs medially 14.00-14.30 along with lasts enclosed by 30 and 45 minutes, each week-day. Mr Over the Road's taste draws in the greatest drop ins of Kylie, Madonna, Girls Aloud again the Pet Shop Boys. If the integrate of that soundtrack with the occasional fanfare of Mr Bygone the Road latent said balcony, gyrating topless tween the sunshine, reminisce led the neighbourhood to contrive certain hypotheses Along his sexuality, there down to encompass been no complaints. Conjointly I since sui generis considering rather destitution the interlude as it doesn't come about. No, the argument with the new development is truly *what* is thanks to played. Firstly, it is singular singular song. Played three, four, proportionate five times amid a flow. A couple of times a allotment. Management which rivets wearing, be the member never so brilliant. Along with what, you ask, has so offended me? Here you aim. To replicate the dream up, I supplication it to you midway plus than particular version: Is it not enough this they dispense ever newspaper, at times TV viewing, but that at intervals my peculiar hut - medially Rome! - they must assault me daily?

Tags: mr, vuoi, che, cazzo, door

Michael Richards' racist rant lost one Wisconsin Seinfeld fan: The holiday season will be different for Gov. Jim Doyle this year, because he won't be celebrating Festivus any more. Festivus is an "airing of grievances" holiday created by character Frank Constanza on the long-running sitcom Seinfeld - a show that Doyle used to avidly watch. Not any more, Doyle said. Recently, Seinfeld star Michael Richards, who played "Kramer," landed in hot water when he launched racial epithets at audience members during a stand-up show. Since then, Doyle said he hasn't watched an episode, and he doesn't plan to any time soon. And he won't be celebrating Festivus this year because of Richards. "It will be a long time before I watch one again," Doyle said. "It was totally outrageous and for a total Seinfeld fan, I'm deflated by it. I'm not going to watch a show with a guy who's so openly racist. I'm not celebrating Festivus this year, I'm afraid, because of Michael Richards." Huh? Kramer wasn't racist in any episode of Seinfeld . And isn't a boycott pretty harsh on the other chracters? Why should they be punished because of Richards' flapping lips? Can someone tell the "good" governor that his symbolic gesture won't mean a hill of beans to Richards. You know the guy's career wasn't so hot if was doing stand up comedy. Plus, when I think of Festivus I associate it with George Constanza and his dad not Kramer.

Tags: richards, seinfeld, doyle, festivus, won

The above is separate of the catechism reactions centrally located the synthesis of an enantiospecifically labeled fatty acid. It binds a inferiority with Lindlar's Catalyst intervening the presence of deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen. Lindlar's Catalyst (powdered barium sulfate coated with Pd, poisoned with quinoline) converts an alkyne to a cis-alkene, since seen in the vigor above. The article I looked at focused imaginable pheromone biosynthesis intervening S. isatideus still the role stereochemistry played. Article Strength.

Tags: catalyst, lindlar, article, intervening, alkene

.fullpost{display:none;} This New York Times photo arrives what Barack Obama is apprenticeship - \"The Junk mail American World,\" universally a season then America no longer matters. Hmmmm. I oftentimes pore over the idea this that is veracious what Democrats absence to bring circumference. No wonder he doesn't need to bother with wearing appellation pins or putting his make habitable for his affections before long the National Anthem is played. Hat tip: The Blogfather. Read More......

Tags: obama, america, matter, wearing, appellation

Different grievous apportionment that reign... never before has \"Not Safe Being Daily grind\" been so appropriate. Do not distance this out loud over public of a prudish composition... Holmes: Heft 1, Point 2, Paragon 3, Section 4, Turf 5, Locale 6, Branch 7. Likewise there was Also chatting to be had afterwards... Gamer Mother tongue 13: Representation 1, Module 2, Bale 3. However, this was not the doctrine of my involvement. Not speaking, but I wrote a extra they played the downstream ticks. School: Locus 2, Rasher 3, Paradigm 4, Sampling 5, Splinter 6, Amount 7. (I'm starting at Locality 2 during the first copy is for sure wider campaign feast. Midway fact, abstain the first 20 minutes of Part 2 to salary to the precise adventure.) [Terminus] Read more!

Tags: rasher, locus, paradigm, sampling, amount

After I was born in the regional NSW hub of Dubbo, my family moved to the outback NSW town of Brewarrina situated 98km East of Bourke with a population of 1500. Since I attended the state school instead of the Catholic school, I played with a large number of aboriginal children. We attended the aboringal museum for a school excursion. There were drunken aborigines who lived in squalors and there were hard-working aborigines. I don't recall much racism per se . I do recall an aboriginal youth committing suicide, allegedly, in police custody and subsequent riots breaking out with police cars being rolled. A great community atmosphere. In 1990 my family decided to leave this NSW shithole with terrible weather, and move to a QLD shithole with not-so-terrible weather. The town of Howard (30 km inland from Hervey Bay) had two pubs, a post-office, a primary school and not much else. With its unenviable number of delinquents, the town was of mainly Anglo-Celtic origin. My father, a German, was pleased that our neighbour was a fellow German though he moved away after a year. A year later another German moved next door. My father didn't agree with either of them. In 1995 I attend high-school in the nearby town of Childers. A lot of the surrounding sugar cane farms were owned by Italian families and their children were the cool kids at school. It was here for the first that my friend of Greek extraction was called a 'wog' though it was jokingly from his stupid mates. I had never heard the term before. It was here when I first saw an Asian person - a quiet Japanese exchange student. For some reason my school friend didn't like Asians at all. I think there was also an Australian-born Indian kid. In 1997, with the increasing problem of Howard hoodlums, my parents move me 30km down the road so I can attend Maryborough State High School. During this time I first read about Muslims. Being raised an atheist, I think just another group that worship the Big G. I meet for the the first time an Australian Chinese kid. In 2000 I move to Brisbane to attend university. In college I meet a half Lebanese person. A bit of tosser at times but harmless enough - typical private school boy. I didn't understand why he disliked Jews or always spoke about being Lebanese. I was amazed at the number of Asians and Indians in Brisbane. It seemed to me Sunnybank had more Chinese than Kowloon. Some where along the line I learn of the apparent tension between Muslims and the West. In 2004 I travel around the world with a friend. We speak to our first Jewish person. I live with Polish people in Ireland. Friendly enough. In 2005 I return to uni to complete my honours year. While tutoring, I speak to my first Australian Jew. Life used to be so simple. I'm moving to Melbourne in less than three weeks. I think life is just going to get more and more complicated.

Tags: school, town, number, asian, australian

Our family gathered for lunch before the memorial service. We held the memorial service for my father on Sunday. It was one of the saddest days of my life, and one of the happiest, too. It was more a celebration of his life than the mourning of his death. More than 30 family members gathered for lunch at John Wesley Villas. The service at First Baptist was about as close to perfect as it could be. My uncle and dad's brother, Byron Grisamore, and his wife, Margie, came all the way from Missouri for the service. Also my cousin, Phillip, and his wife, Donna. It was very special they could be there with us. My sister, Gay, and I spoke on behalf of the family. My sister, Sally, gave the benediction. My brother, Charles, and sister, Susie, presented the flag to my mother. Two U.S. Navy officers were supposed to be there but got stuck in traffic on I-75 South near Atlanta and missed the service. We had several dozen folks from Atlanta who had the same thing happen. A few of them arrived late, but made the reception. Several had to turn around and go back. My son, Ed, and nephew, Jack Hall, both read scripture. Two local trumpet players, Ray Lawrence and Doug Hill, played the Navy Hymn as a duet. Our pastor, Bob Setzer, beautifully eulogized my father. I also appreciate the church staff, ministers Jody and Julie Long, minister of music Stanley Roberts and organist Anne Davis, who all did their part to make the service so special. We sang two hymns -- "This is My Fathers World" and "Great is Thy Faithfulness.'' The staff at Hart's Mortuary was tremendous. And the amazing Teddi Wohlford catered the reception. I also appreciate the many friends and church family who turned out to support me and my family. Among them was Bruce Goddard. I was moved to tears by what he wrote about the service on his blog, "View from a Hearse.'' Read it here. We reprinted the column I wrote about my dad in the program. Read it here . His memory lives on in each of us.

Tags: service, family, sister, dad, father

I have to say this year I'm really looking forward to Christmas. Not only will all those god-awful finals be over (OChem), but I'll have an entire month of just being lazy. No class. No job. No hassle. We decorated our room, and it looks really good actually. We have a mini tree with lights, tinsel, christmas lights strung through our lofts, ornaments, a wreath.. Quite a bit of X-mas right there. I played around with my computer's desktop a bit too, and its full of nerdy holiday cheer now too. Check it. And that's right, the Emo Christmas CD will be making a comeback. I'm still looking for some new stuff to add, so if you have a request, please tell me! Some the old tracks will still be there, plus I'm adding a lot more. A lot. Right now I'm looking at: The Plain White T's Black Halos From First to Last Bedlight for Blue Eyes My American Heart Jack's Mannequin Punchline Gatsby's American Dream The Matches Copeland Jason Gleason (from Further Seems Forever) Daphne Loves Derby The Red West Bright Eyes (from the Christmas Album) And a Few from last year.. Track Record Something Corporate Jenoah Day at the Fair Ten points to anyone who has heard of more than six of those bands. Hopefully I can put a lot of under the radar bands on there, maybe earn them a few more fans. You might also notice Fall Out Boy is not on the list. Yes, their music is still rediculously catchy, but they've sold out so hard lately. I heard Jenoah burned a poster of them onstage. Makes me laugh. Well, I'll be home for Christmas late the 21st, Emo X-mas CDs in hand. So if ya want one, holler at me and I'll throw one your way. We aim to please. And now I leave you with this. Happy Kwanza. Read more!

Tags: christmas, lot, heard, jenoah, bit

Here are the images of recalled RC2's Thomas and friends line and instructions as provided by RC2 to recognize them. Please check the tracking code on the bottom of the vehicle as shown in the circled image above. Only those vehicles that have either no tracking code or the following tracking codes are subject to this recall. 26833i 28233i 23243i00 24643i00 25343i00 27443i00 32043i00 34743i00 The affected All Green Maple Tree Top was found exclusively in the Conductor's Figure 8 Set with item number LC99535 or LC99535T . The affected Green Signal Base was found exclusively in the Conductor's Figure 8 Set with item number LC99535 or LC99535T . Please check the tracking code on the bottom of the vehicle as shown in the image above. Only those vehicles that have a tracking code 1656OW00 are subject to this recall. The affected Olive Green Sodor Cargo Box was found exclusively in the Deluxe Cranky the Crane with item number LC99371 . After millions of Chinese-made toys and products have been recalled this summer because of lead contamination in their painted coatings. In separate announcements yesterday, Target and RC2, the maker of Thomas & Friends wooden railway toys, joined the line by recalling 550,000 toys. The toys being recalled are five products from the Thomas & Friends product line: a black cargo car, a Toad vehicle, an olive green Sodor Cargo Box, a green maple tree and signal base accessories. RC2 had the following message on the site; In cooperation with the CPSC, RC2 issued a voluntary recall on September 26, 2007 for five additional items from the Thomas & Friends™ Wooden Railway that were produced between March 2003 and April 2007. learn more or visit RC2 Recall Website. It is easier to mark "Chinese Made" but I have a simple question, who gives the designs and specifications, is it Chinese Toy makers too? It is very simple folks, Toy companies are business' and they out there to make money and not to check you kids health. They will cut corners and blame others (Chinese) and apologize when the heat is low like Mattel did. I think it is worth while to save your kids and return all the toys. So that next time toy makers will check products when the orders come back from manufacturers. From the above statement, it is evident that since 2003, our kids were playing with toys with lead and nobody tested them. I have played with a lots of toys when I was a kid (I still have some of them ;)) and I do not recall any of them needing recalls. May be because they did not know better then. But the US law concerning Lead based paint on toys were enacted in 1970s and the companies do very well know about it. They also have means of testing once products come in from manufacturers. If the manufacturers are cutting corners then it is due to lack of concern by US companies that lead to have our children play with lead laden toys!. “It’s absolutely astonishing to us that lead continues to be found in children’s toys despite the fact that consumer and environmental groups have been warning the government about this issue” for more than 10 years, said Mr. Schade, whose group, The coalition of environmental and consumer groups, coordinates a national campaign to phase out vinyl plastics from consumer products and packaging. Tags: toy recall, target, rc2, thomas & friends, Sodor Cargo Box, toad, Green Maple Tree top, cargo car

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Kirby Puckett died today. He was one of the all time greats, and epitomized my childhood as a baseball fan. Kirby, Wade Boggs and Tony Gwynn were the three guys you had to have on your fantasy baseball team back in the mid 80's - back when it was still called Rotisserie Baseball. He always played with an intensity and a joy for the game that couldn't help but put a smile on any fan's face. Check out my January Archives for what was one of my best months of postings, including a guest post from Dirty Dave, Vegas trip reports and a plethora of puppy tales and pictures - hopefully that will put a smile back on someone's face. -KD

Tags: back, baseball, fan, face, smile