Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/273998794?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Monday, December 31, 2012
9 killed, at least 20 injured in Oregon bus crash
Oregon State Police / Reuters
Rescue personnel respond to the scene of a charter bus crash on I-84, east of Pendleton, Ore. in this photo released on Dec. 30. Police said the bus may have gone out of control on the highway before crashing through a guardrail and down an embankment.
By NBC News
LA GRANDE, Ore. -- Nine people were killed and at least 20 others hospitalized on Sunday after a tour bus veered out of control on an icy stretch of freeway in eastern Oregon and rolled nearly 200 feet down an embankment, state police said.
State police reported that the driver apparently lost control of the charter bus around 10:30 a.m. on the snow- and ice-covered lanes of Interstate 84 and crashed through a guardrail before plunging down an embankment. The Oregonian newspaper reported that the bus ?tumbled nearly 200 feet before coming to a halt.
Oregon State Police Lt. Gregg Hastings told the newspaper that about 40 passengers were on the bus at the time of the crash, which occurred near milepost 227 on Interstate 84 near Deadman Pass, according to the East Oregonian?newspaper.?
Hastings told the East Oregonian that he learned the bus was returning to Las Vegas from British Columbia, Canada. ??
Rescue workers used ropes to help retrieve the injured from the scene. Westbound lanes of I-84 were closed.
The Oregonian said 18 passengers were transported to St. Anthony's Hospital in Pendleton, about 13 miles northwest of the crash scene. Hospital spokesman Larry Blanc would not say?if or how many passengers sustained life-threatening injuries, it said.
Three fixed-wing aircraft also were on standby at the Pendleton airport if needed to transport injured to hospitals elsewhere, state police said.
Authorities did not immediately identify the operator of the charter bus.
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Sunday, December 30, 2012
Keri-Anne Payne considers switching to the pool after the pain of fourth at London Olympics
She knew straight away when the podium slipped out of sight. ?The race was a lot rougher than normal,? she recalls. ?But it was at the feeding station on the third lap when I got hit a couple of times and suddenly, having been first, I was eighth and then I had to catch up. It took so much energy and that meant I didn?t have quite enough at the end?.
If it was any consolation Payne had other things to concentrate on immediately after her race: her marriage was just four weeks away. ?That helped console me ? it meant that, straight after the race, I had a new focus,? she said. ?David (Carry, her then fianc?) was amazing, he was so important for me.?
Payne admits thoughts of retirement have drifted through her head but when she reflected on her year she took some pride from her fourth place.
In the lead-up to the Games she had battled a kidney infection ? which she kept secret from the wider world ? and her coach had been ill. She took enormous strength from the thousands of people who had lined Hyde Park, many of them there to watch her compete.
?That moment of real excitement, that spark of competing, I know I want to do that again,? she insisted. But the Olympic experience has brought about significant life changes. She has changed clubs to Warrender Baths, moved house from Manchester to Scotland and started swimming again, this time in the pool, not open water.
At the Edinburgh short course championships earlier this month Payne said her body took all of the initial 800m swim to remember what to do. It was only in the 400m the next day that everything all came flooding back. ?That pain and the excitement ? it was all there again,? she said. ?I was quite pleased with the 400m as it was a gritty race and I was pleased to have got back into that fighting spirit.?
Payne is still weighing up whether to continue with the open water, or switch to the pool and concentrate on the Commonwealth Games. She intends to head to South Africa for the Midmar Mile swim near Pietermaritzburg, a race she has previously used as a pre-season warm up.
Payne is giving herself time to think about what to do. She knows she has unfinished business. That is what fourth place does to an athlete.
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College Preview: Alamo Bowl
Here is your chance to gift yourself or someone else a holiday subscription to bobgretz.com.
Until the first of the year, a special holiday rate of $50 is available for full-year subscription covering the 2013 season. This offer comes ahead of what will be a modest price increase that will go into effect in February.
Sign up today and treat yourself to a holiday break. Or, grab a gift subscription for someone that would enjoy our coverage of the Chiefs, pro football and college football.? There?s going to be a lot of news and information around the Chiefs in the coming months; we?ll be right in the middle of the action. Post-season coverage, Senior Bowl, the NFL playoffs, the Scouting Combine, the Free Agency period and the NFL Draft is just ahead and we?ll have extensive coverage on every aspect of those events. Don?t miss a day.
If it?s a gift, then subscribe under that person?s name and e-mail me at info@bobgretz.com with their e-mail address and information and when you?d like them to be informed of your gift; it can happen within 24 hours if needed.
Happy holidays!
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Source: http://www.bobgretz.com/chiefs-football/college-preview-alamo-bowl.html
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Continuing Education for Nurses - SkyBlue Cross Global ...
Continuing Education for Nurses
http://www.skybluecross.org/
The following article relates not only to nurses but also to those aspiring to enter the noble profession of nursing. We hope you will get some insight into this field.
Although we have used the female reference for nurses throughout this article ("she", "her"), this is done purely for convenience and in no way reflects the gender status of nurses in today's society.
Most people assume that once a nurse has completed her education and has become registered, that is the "end" and that no more learning or education is required. This couldn't be further from the truth. There's more to nursing then just tending and looking after patients.
It is highly critical that a nurse maintain and continue her ongoing education and is kept current on her profession. This is an integral part of maintaining her registration.
A nurse?s life in the 21st century is extremely fast paced. There are medical advances in precedures almost on a daily basis and it is essential that a nurse is kept abreast and is at the forefront of these improvements. This requires a high level of time management and dedication to improve oneself in addition to spending long hours in clinics and hospitals. Of course this is much easier said than done.
It is in the best interests of a good hospital to provide everything needed for nurses to continue their education. A good hospital will also more than likely pay for the education of their nurses. A lack of funds should not be a deterrent to a nurse continuing her education.
Many nurses regularly subscribe to nursing periodicals and magazines to keep up to date with their ongoing education.. Nurses are encouraged to go through the relavent published journals on a regular basis.
Of course let's not forget that just as important to success is the keeping of portfolios and timely documentation detailing all the training and education received throughout the nursing carreer. This written journal also serves as a method of organizing in an orderly manner, all the continuing education undertaken.
Admittedly, there exists a challenge with regards to access to this education for nurses, namely the expense, since nursing is still not considered to be among the better paid professions. This challenge to accessibility can perhaps be met by employers coming forward and funding the continuing education of registered nurses.
Please be sure to check out the many additional resources available on this topic online.
Source: http://skybluecross.blogspot.com/2012/12/continuing-education-for-nurses.html
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Must Have Accessories for an iPad
Apple devices are so sleek and delicate that they need extra protection from regular jerks and accidents. The accessories for such portable devices must be cool and useful. They must be handy and practical in usage. Any additional accessory must not hinder the usual mechanism of the device. The extended peripherals go beyond the obvious limits of the device. Whether it is for connecting to the camera or streaming an audio clip, an accessory comes in handy for both the purposes. Accessorizing the device can also be looked upon as an effective measure to protect your investment. An iPad is an innovative invention with features like fast processor, hi-tech camera and retina display. Invest in good accessories and protect your gadget from probable damage. Below mentioned are few of the must-have accessories for your iPad.
Smart Cover:
The display of an iPad accounts for 90 per cent of its classy look. The heavy price paid can be safeguarded by further investment in a smart cover. The smart cover is designed such that when you take the cover off the iPad it automatically gets active and when you put the cover back it will again slip into the sleep mode. You can further use this cover as a keyboard stand or video stand.
iPad Movie Mount:
You can maximize the film making potential of your device by choosing this accessory. You can also attach this to the other pieces of film equipment. This can transform the iPad into a movie-making machine that will open new horizons for you. If you are already in this field, this accessory automatically becomes a must for you. You can also avail the usage of a free app that lets you control the video recording functions manually. You can further connect it to a tripod, a shotgun mic and lighting which will help you in improving the quality of the video recording.
iPad Camera Connection Kit:
This accessory is specially designed to highlight the new retina display feature of the display. It gives you the option of importing the photos from the digital camera by using USB cable or by directly connecting to a SD card. The camera connection kit supports standard formats, including RAW and JPEG. It also supports SD and HD video formats along with H.264 and MPEG-4.
Screen Protector Mask:
To protect your iPad from fingerprints, dust, dirt and scratches buy an anti glare/anti fingerprint screen protector. It is made from a tough adhesive polymer. It is easy to stick on your screen and can be easily removed too. Furthermore, the touch screen functions remain as they were before. The screen protection kit comes with an applicator card and a micro fiber cleaning cloth.
Invoxia Audi Office:
It is a professional audio and speaker system for such devices. It has features like Bluetooth, full duplex hands free, 2 USB ports, and back ground noise removal. It is compatible with iPad 2 and iPad. It works on Vivo Acoustic Technology that has 8 broadband speakers and 8 digital microphones.
Source: http://www.readingprinters.co.uk/computer-hardware-articles/2708-must-have-accessories-for-an-ipad
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Saturday, December 29, 2012
Hawaii lieutenant gov. picked to fill Senate seat
HONOLULU (AP) ? Hawaii's lieutenant governor and former head of President Obama's 2008 election effort there has been named the state's newest U.S. senator, a choice that went against the dying wish of revered longtime Sen. Daniel Inouye.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie appointed Brian Schatz to the post Wednesday, instead of Inouye choice U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa.
The 40-year-old Schatz, a former state representative and onetime chairman of the state Democratic party, said his top priorities would be addressing global climate change, preserving federal funds used in Hawaii for things like defense spending and transportation, and getting federal recognition for Native Hawaiians for forming their own government, similar to many Indian tribes.
Schatz, who ran with Abercrombie for the state's top two offices in 2010, beat out Hanabusa and Esther Kiaaina, a deputy director in the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
The three candidates were selected by state Democrats Wednesday morning from a field of 14. The candidates briefly made their cases before the state party's central committee.
"No one can fill Sen. Daniel K. Inouye's shoes, but what we want to do today is find the right person to walk in his footsteps," Schatz told the committee.
"I want to be your senator because I believe Hawaii needs seniority, and we need someone who can build it up over decades and decades. And I pledge to you, if I'm given this opportunity and obligation to serve, I will try to make this my life's work and rebuild the tenure that Hawaii so desperately needs," he said.
The White House said Schatz would fly to Washington Wednesday night with Obama, who was returning from his Hawaii Christmas vacation early as Congress considers what to do about the so-called fiscal cliff.
Schatz could be sworn in as early as Thursday, which would make him Hawaii's senior senator. Hawaii's other senator, Daniel Akaka, is retiring at the end of this Congress after 22 years.
Even before winning the 2010 general election, Abercrombie expressed faith in Schatz, saying he would put him in charge of attracting more private and federal investment in Hawaii. Other responsibilities included leading the state's clean energy efforts and Asia-Pacific relations.
"To the people of Hawaii, I can assure you this: I will give every fiber of my being to doing a good job for the state of Hawaii," Schatz told a news conference in Honolulu. "We have a long and perhaps difficult road ahead of us, but we can succeed if we work together. I understand the magnitude of this obligation and this honor, and I won't let you down."
Inouye, by far Hawaii's most influential politician and one of the most respected lawmakers in Washington after serving five decades in the Senate, died last week of respiratory complications at the age of 88. He sent Abercrombie a hand-signed letter dated the day he died, saying he would like Hanabusa to succeed him, calling it his "last wish."
Four days after eulogizing Inouye in the courtyard of the Hawaii Capitol, Abercrombie said he had to consider more than just Inouye's wishes in filling his seat.
"Of course Sen. Inouye's views and his wishes were taken into account fully, but the charge of the central committee, and by extension then myself as governor, was to act in the best interests of the party ... the state and the nation," Abercrombie said.
"The law makes explicitly clear, as do the rules of the Democratic Party, that while everyone's voice is heard and everyone's view is taken into account, nonetheless, no one and nothing is preordained."
Under state law, the successor had to come from the same party as the prior incumbent. An Abercrombie spokeswoman said the governor did not feel any political pressure from within his party to make the choice he made.
"While we are very disappointed that it was not honored, it was the governor's decision to make," Jennifer Sabas, Inouye's chief of staff, said in a statement. "We wish Brian Schatz the best of luck."
Selecting Hanabusa, 61, would have required a special election in Hawaii's 1st Congressional District. Last time that happened, Hanabusa lost to Republican Charles Djou because of a winner-take-all format that split votes between Democrats.
Abercrombie said the possibility of a special election was a factor, as well as Hanabusa's "key position" on the House Armed Services Committee. The governor said she was on her way toward establishing a senior position on that panel, and it's important for Hawaii ? with its four-member delegation ? to establish seniority in both chambers.
Schatz will serve until an election is held in 2014. He said he will run for re-election to try to keep the Senate seat until 2016 ? the end of Inouye's original term ? and would run again for Senate in 2016 if given the chance.
Hanabusa congratulated Schatz in a statement.
"Having served as chair of the Hawaii Senate Judiciary Committee when the succession law was passed, I fully respect the process and the governor's right to appoint a successor," she said.
Last week, when Abercrombie announced he would not seek the seat himself, his spokeswoman Louise Kim McCoy said Abercrombie intends to make his current post as Hawaii governor the last office of his political career.
Inouye would be "very happy" with the choice, Hawaii Democratic Party chairman Dante Carpenter said. Schatz has less experience than some older politicians in the Senate but he will be building seniority, which is "critical" to the state of Hawaii, he said.
"In the words of Sen. Dan Inouye ? invoked more than once ? seniority in the United States Congress is everything," Carpenter said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had urged Abercrombie to name Inouye's successor before the end of the year. The next Congress begins Jan. 3.
Democratic Rep. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, was elected in November to succeed Akaka.
First in line to replace Schatz as lieutenant governor is Senate President Shan Tsutsui, who said he planned to discuss the prospect with his family before deciding.
___
Becky Bohrer can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bbohrerap.
___
Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hawaii-lieutenant-gov-picked-fill-senate-seat-000914007--election.html
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Friday, December 28, 2012
AP Interview: Tymoshenko daughter urges sanctions
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) ? The daughter of jailed former Ukrainian premier Yulia Tymoshenko urged Western nations Thursday to impose sanctions on officials involved in her mother's imprisonment.
Tymoshenko, the country's top opposition leader, is serving a seven-year prison sentence on charges of abuse of office after a trial that was condemned by the West as politically motivated and which strained Ukraine's ties to Europe and the United States. Tymoshenko denies the charges and accuses President Viktor Yanukovych, her longtime foe, of orchestrating the trial to bar her from politics.
With Tymoshenko in jail, Ukraine's fragmented opposition forces were unable to muster a majority in parliament following an election in October, and Yanukovych's allies again control the legislature and the government.
In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, Tymoshenko's daughter Eugenia, 32, said prosecutors and judges involved in her mother's case should face Western sanctions such as travel bans and freezes on bank accounts.
"We understand that we cannot do it by ourselves inside Ukraine and that is why we need great international support, but also (an) understanding of our international friends that Yanukovych will not just voluntarily give up his power," Eugenia Tymoshenko said in her mother's office in central Kiev. "People like judges, like prosecutors ... they have to be put forward for sanctions. Those are the main executors of repression. Of course, there are people behind them who are in the ruling party, but it could be the first step."
The European Union suspended a key cooperation deal with Kiev over the Yulia Tymoshenko case.
Separately, Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin, who is in charge of the ex-premier's prosecution, recently had his long-term U.S. visa revoked. The U.S. Embassy in Kiev would not comment on the move, citing its privacy policy.
But the visa cancellation followed efforts by Kuzmin to question U.S.-based witnesses in a nearly 15-year-old murder case in Ukraine in which Kuzmin claims Yulia Tymoshenko is implicated. She denies all the accusations.
Her daughter also exhorted the international community to investigate and prosecute alleged instances of "international corruption" involving Ukrainian officials in the West. For instance, Yulia Tymoshenko has petitioned American authorities to investigate how Ukraine's Justice Ministry commissioned a top U.S. law firm to analyze her trial for what Ukraine's government says was a mere $12,000.
Tymoshenko's lawyer Serhiy Vlasenko has said that such a report must have cost well over $1.5 million and accused Yanukovych's allies of paying for it illicitly. The report by the New York-based firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom claims that there is not sufficient evidence that Tymoshenko was prosecuted for political reasons, though it finds numerous flaws in her trial.
The law firm has not commented on its fee for the report, which was dated September but not made public until earlier this month.
Yulia Tymoshenko has been in prison for about a year and a half, but Eugenia Tymoshenko expressed hope that Western pressure could eventually free her mother so that she could run against Yanukovych in the 2015 presidential election.
"Yanukovych's main task was to keep my mother in prison for the elections in 2015," Eugenia Tymoshenko said. "It (takes) great responsibility and great power and energy to stop this train that's been going on the reverse side for Ukraine ? away from democratic, European values."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-interview-tymoshenko-daughter-urges-sanctions-155105067.html
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Harry Reid On Fiscal Cliff Negotiations - Business Insider
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said this morning that it "looks like" Congress will fail to come to a deal to avert the year-end fiscal cliff, blaming the failure on House Speaker John Boehner's "dictatorship" running the lower chamber.
"It looks like that's where we're headed," Reid said.?"I don't know, time-wise, how it can happen now."
It's not exactly a surprise ? leaders left Washington last week without any imminent signs of a deal in the making. But it's a grim warning just days before tax hikes and automatic spending cuts begin to take effect.?
Markets tanked immediately in the aftermath of Reid's floor speech, with the Dow off more than 110 shortly after noon.
Reid opened the Senate session by launching into a lengthy criticism of the House and?Boehner, saying he "seems to care more about his Speakership" than making a deal on the cliff.
The House is being run "by a dictatorship of the Speaker," Reid said. He accused Boehner of waiting until the election of the Speaker on Jan. 3 to get involved with negotiations. And he urged the lower chamber to?pass?the Middle Class Tax Cut Act, which the Senate narrowly passed in July. The bill made permanent all of the Bush-era tax cuts on incomes of less than $250,000 for couples and $200,000 for individuals.
Reid also slammed the House for not being in session on Thursday. He said that instead of being in Washington, Republicans are "out watching movies."
"They had to have a conference call," he said.
Reid's comments come a day after Boehner put the onus on the Senate to make the next move in fiscal cliff negotiations.
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Buying an Arizona Home as a Foreign Buyer - Arizona Real Estate
What is FIRPTA
Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act
All funds deposited for escrow must be via wire transfer. International (out-of-USA) transfers are executed through SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), and there is an additional charge for this type of transfer. Typically this charge is deducted from the wired funds and varies from bank to bank. The charge is usually a flat rate and does not exceed $50, so it is a good idea to wire an additional $50 when wiring from outside the USA.
IRS Withholding
When a foreign owner gets ready to sell, they could be subject to a 10% (of the sales price) withholding unless the transaction is exempt from FIRPTA.
FIRPTA Withholding Exemptions
- Most common: sales price is not more than $300,000, the foreign buyer (or a member of their family) must have plans to reside at the property for at least 50% of the number of days the property is used by any person during each of the first two 12-month periods after the sale.
- Seller to provide a certificate showing they are not a foreign seller
- Seller receives a withholding certificate from the IRS excusing withholding
Applicable Forms
- Application for IRS individual taxpayer identification number: Form W-7
- Application for withholding certificate for Dispositions by Foreign Persons of Real Property Interests: Form 8288-B and Instructions
This article is courtesy of First American Title Insurance Company.
Source: http://www.azsearchforhomes.com/buying-arizona-home-foreign-buyer/5891
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Thursday, December 27, 2012
A burden that children should never have to bear - World Vision Blog
An eight year old Syrian refugee child named Layla[1] shares, ?I saw my cousin dying in front of me, so I always see this scene in front of my eyes.?
As children all over North America happily rummage through the cheerful remains of Christmas Day?s joys?festive gift wrap strewn about, the latest version of Halo blaring from 40 inch television screens?the existence of Syrian children presently seeking refuge in Lebanon is one far less carefree.? In this season of joy, it?s difficult to fathom that at least 66,000 children like Layla are coping with the loss of home and childhood as their families struggle to survive the displacement of war and onset of a cold, snowy winter in Lebanon?s Bekaa Valley.
*????? *?????? *
Over the past three months, Syrian refugees have poured across Lebanon?s borders at an exponentially increasing rate.? UNHCR reports that 154,387[2] Syrian refugees are currently residing in Lebanon.? Nearly 75 percent of these refugees are women and children; children who should be focused on homework and playing are instead grappling with educational upheaval, a lack of stability and anxiety and exposure as they face uncertain futures and adapt to life in a foreign country whose host communities do not fully accept them.[3]
In short, Syrian refugee children are bearing burdens no child anywhere should ever have to carry.
Unfortunately, experiences like Layla?s are not uncommon. ?In Robbed of Childhood, Running from War, a newly released World Vision report, World Vision found many children willing to share openly and ?at length about violence, death and the politics of war.?
In the report, which surveys 100 Syrian children aged 7-13 in the Central and Western Bekaa region of Lebanon, children spoke with World Vision staff ?about images of their homes and schools burning, people getting shot and tanks roving their neighborhoods. Even indirect exposure to violence such as images of dead bodies on the news, continues to haunt them.?
Wael, showing a book he brought with him from Syria. It is his most precious procession away from his real home. It is his geography book. He flips through its pages every now and then and dreams that one day he will return with it to his home to finish his education.
One child told World Vision:
?My three brothers died in Syria.? They were younger than me. They shot my brothers when they were playing with their friends on the street.?
The experiences of these children make one?s heart heavy?even as someone who has worked with survivors of humanitarian crises around the world, I cannot imagine a world in which my very young son, who should freely enjoy an existence crashing dump trucks around our living room, bearing the devastation and politics of war.? But children who have fled Syria are doing just that.?
?My brother is 13 and used to go to school in Syria. Here he works with steel.?
?My sister, 15, used to go to school but here she works at a laundry shop.?
Like many displaced children in humanitarian crises throughout the world, Syrian refugee children in Lebanon are sometimes forced to choose work over school. ?The reasons for this are many, including challenges with enrollment, language barriers (while Syrian children are taught in Arabic, the Lebanese system includes English and French) and the economic pressures facing refugee families. ?I cannot imagine a world in which my son has to opt of middle school to support our family?s financial needs.? But this is the reality facing Syrian refugee children every day.
In the midst of holiday festivities, after Christmas sales and time with dear family and friends, consider coming alongside Syrian refugee children in Lebanon to help them shoulder burdens children should never bear.? Now that?s a world worth imagining.
Elizabeth Ranade-Janis is the Program Management Officer for the World Vision Humanitarian & Emergency Affairs Team
Make a donation to the Syrian refugee crisis. The number of refugees fleeing conflict-ridden Syria has tripled in the last three months, according to UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency. More than 100,000 registered Syrian refugees are in Lebanon, where World Vision has been providing basic hygiene kits and food vouchers to help them survive. Your gift will help continue this urgent response.
[1] At the request of parents, the names of all children have been changed to protect identities.
[2] Note that this number represents only the Syrian refugees who feel it is safe to official register with UNHCR; there are many others believed to be living in Lebanon.
[3] From Robbed of Childhood, Running from War, World Vision, December 2012.
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Source: http://blog.worldvision.org/disaster-relief/a-burden-that-children-should-never-have-to-bear/
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Former Salt Lake City Anchor Battles Cancer for Third Time - TVSpy
Dick Nourse, retired news anchor for Salt Lake City?s KSL, has recently been diagnosed with throat cancer.
?(My family?s) support, including that shown by members of my extended ?TV family,? was key to my recovery during my first battles with cancer, and it is a great source of strength for me now,? Nourse said in a statement posted to the station?s website. ?My wife, Deb, and I are extremely grateful. We know we?ll get through this.?
This is the third battle with cancer for the retired anchor who left the NBC affiliate in 2007. He overcame non-Hodgkins lymphoma in the early 1980s and later survived a bout with prostate cancer.
You can view the station?s story about Nourse after the jump.
The station said Nourse will soon begin radiation treatment and chemotherapy.
Source: http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/former-salt-lake-city-anchor-battles-cancer-for-third-time_b74615
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Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Faced with gun-toting drug smugglers, Arizona ranchers demand security at the border
Wave after wave of Mexican drug and immigrant smugglers are crossing into the U.S., passing through the Arizona border where nearby ranchers say they feel unprotected by their own government. NBC's Mark Potter reports.
By Mark Potter, NBC News correspondent
ARIVACA, Ariz. --? Just before nightfall, 73-year-old rancher Jim Chilton hikes quickly up and down the hills on his rugged cattle-grazing land south of Tucson, escorting two U.S. Border Patrol agents.??
Watch the story tonight, Dec. 26, on "NBC Nightly News"
He wants to show them the disturbing discovery he made earlier in the day: a drug-smugglers' camp on his private property.? Stacked together under a stand of trees are blankets, jackets, food, water, binoculars and bales of marijuana from Mexico wrapped in burlap. The smugglers, themselves, are nowhere in sight and are believed to have fled the area, which is about 10 miles north of the Mexican border.
Rancher Jim Chilton shows what's left of a drug smugglers camp on his ranch.
"The druggers outrageously use my land at will," said Chilton, who frequently finds evidence of smugglers on his land -- well-worn trails, cut fences, discarded water bottles, clothing and shoes. His home has been burglarized twice and he is constantly on the lookout for armed smuggling groups while he and his employees round up cows on his remote land.
"Can you imagine riding your horse through here on your own land and running into a guy with an AK-47 and 20 or 30 guys behind him dressed in camouflage and carrying drugs?," he asked.
Hidden cameras in southern Arizona captured footage of armed drug smugglers in 2012.
Like living ?in a no-man?s land?
The land where Chilton raises his cattle covers 50,000 acres south of the small town of Arivaca, Ariz.? About five miles of his property runs along the international border, where all that separates Mexico from the United States in most areas there is a four-strand barbed-wire fence. Chilton owns some of the land outright, but leases most it from the state and federal governments for cattle grazing.
Mark Potter / NBC News
Ranchers Jim and Sue Chilton in Arivaca, Ariz., say drug smugglers use their land frequently, and their home has been burglarized twice.
He and his wife, Sue Chilton, complain they feel caught in the middle between the Mexican drug and immigrant smugglers and the United States Border Patrol, which the Chiltons and other ranchers accuse of concentrating most of its patrols and checkpoints miles north of the border, far beyond where the ranchers live and work.
"It's like living in a no-man's land. The Border Patrol doesn't really protect us, they try to arrest people north of us," said Chilton.? "I think the druggers should be stopped at the United States border. They shouldn't be allowed into this country. The Border Patrol should secure the border at the border."
Ranchers Jim and Sue Chilton live on the U.S.-Mexico border where drug smugglers constantly walk across their property.
Jeffrey Self, who heads the U.S. Customs and Border Protection joint field command in Arizona, said it is not fair to characterize the area as a "no-man's land."? He conceded, though, that Arizona ranchers are correct when they report Mexican drug and immigrant smugglers crossing their land.
"Yes, there is traffic out on those ranch lands. Communities continue to be impacted to a certain extent,? he said.? ?But you can't discount the fact that gains have been made over the course of the last few years.?
Jeffrey Self, head of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection joint field command in Arizona, says a lot of gains have been made at border protection, but acknowledges more is needed.
With 5,500 Border Patrol agents assigned to Arizona, double the amount stationed there in 2004, Self argued that much more territory is being patrolled now than in the past.? And he said daily surveillance flights and advances in camera and sensor technology have also helped dramatically reduce the number of illegal border crossings.?
"If you look back to 2000?there were 610,000 aliens arrested in Arizona,? Self said.? ?Just look at last year, we came in at 119,000."?
Over the past decade, however, there has been a dramatic rise in the amount of illegal drugs smuggled from Mexico into Arizona.? The Border Patrol there seized about one million pounds of marijuana during each of the last several years -- about four times the amount seized in 2000. Other illicit drugs, such as heroin and meth, are also entering Arizona in greater quantities than ever before.
?He came out screaming?
For neighboring rancher David Beckham the problem is even more severe.? Earlier this year he made the painful decision to move himself, his wife and three boys away from their ranch, which sits about 12 miles north of the Mexican border.
Arizona rancher David Beckham says drug smugglers crossing his land forced him to move his family.
"It's not safe, it?s not safe for my kids," he said.? The Beckhams have had numerous run-ins on their land with Mexican smugglers.
Their cattle fences are frequently cut and paths heading north from Mexico cross their property.? Beckham says a smuggler even fired shots at him while he walked his land with a U.S. Border Patrol agent.? Several illegal border crossers have also approached his house at night--one even reaching his hand into their bathroom window.
"Several years ago, one of my children was taking a shower and had a gentleman reach into the shower while he was in there, and he came out screaming, absolutely refusing to take a shower for the next couple months."
The Beckhams, like the Chiltons, scoff at the Obama administration?s claims the U.S.-Mexican border is safer than ever.?
"It's a joke, they can believe what they want. They can live in candy land," said Beckham. "You can't have a safe and secure country without a safe and secure border, and we don't have it. We don't."
Sue Chilton says she believes a U.S. government decision to not to heavily patrol right along the border is, in effect, creating a free-access zone for Mexican smugglers.
"We have, without any reason or logic to it, decided to cede as much as 15 or 20 miles of the United States to the cartels, and we live in that section that has been ceded," she said.? "They have lookouts in the mountains within a mile of our house."
Several advocacy groups concerned about border security have placed motion-activated hidden cameras near the Chilton's ranch and elsewhere in southern Arizona.? Their videos, many of them shot recently, confirm the ranchers' complaints, revealing wave after wave of drug and immigrant smuggling groups, sometimes heavily armed, crossing U.S. land miles north of the Mexican border.?
"First, it's a threat to our life," said Chilton. "Second, it's a threat to our livelihood."
Border Patrol: agents more thorough than ever
As to the complaint the Border Patrol places most of its patrols and checkpoints miles north of the border fence, Jeffrey Self of the Customs and Border Protection?s joint field command in Arizona said agents are assigned where they will be most effective in apprehending smugglers and illegal immigrants.?
"I would get less out of putting those agents on the line than having them operate those checkpoints," He said.??
Still, many agents do patrol the border fence, he said, and are "in and around those ranchers every day, 365 days a year."? Serious problems stemming from distance and budgets, however, do hamper some daily Border Patrol operations.? Agents stationed in Tucson have to drive as many as two hours a day just to reach parts of the remote and rugged border.? And a spokesperson confirmed that a Border Patrol FOB (Forward Operating Base), built west of the Chilton ranch, is currently unmanned because there isn't enough money to pay agents' overtime fees. The FOB was built to house agents day and night right at the border near Sasabe, Ariz., and to reduce the current drive times.??
Nevertheless, Self said, his agents are doing a better, more thorough job than ever.?
"Is there still traffic coming across [ranchers?] property?? Absolutely.? Do we want them to feel safe in their homes?? Absolutely.? We're going to work toward that effort."
Drug smugglers move through Arizona in this footage captured by hidden cameras in 2012.
Ranchers describe smugglers as ?desperate?
The Chiltons, Beckhams and other ranchers in southern Arizona give high marks to the Border Patrol agents, themselves, respecting the dangerous work they do and appreciating their willingness to help property owners in need.?
The complaint they have is with where those agents are assigned.? The ranchers also believe, as do many of the agents, themselves, that smugglers crossing the border now are more heavily armed and confrontational than in years past.
"They seem to be a lot more desperate.? The people coming across now are different, they are not friendly," said Beckham.
Surveying her ranchland, Sue Chilton described what happens when smugglers walk close to their house at night:? "We turn out the lights, Jim gets his guns and we sit somewhere in the dark in the middle of the house where we are not close to our window and wait for the action to be finished."
Her husband, Jim, who comes from several generations of ranchers, said he has never seen the border as dangerous as it is now.
"It's outrageous. I'm a citizen of the United States.? I expect to be protected like everybody else," he said.? "The border is not secure, it is worse than it's ever been."
?
?
?
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Air Bagan survivor tells of terrifying landing
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) ? Air Bagan says it has found the black box after a dramatic Christmas Day crash-landing, as survivors told terrifying tales of escape and expressed disbelief that only two people died.
Details of the accident remain unclear, though the airline and officials have blamed heavy fog for the aircraft's crash into a rice paddy field where it burst into flames. Four foreigners were among 11 people injured.
Australian survivor, Anna Bartsch, on Wednesday described the landing as a fast, very bumpy roller-coaster ride. She recounted looking out the window, seeing flames and racing out to safety.
"It's amazing that the injuries were not more serious," said the 31-year-old. "It could have been much worse."
Air Bagan is sending the black box to Singapore to study the cause of the accident.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/air-bagan-survivor-tells-terrifying-landing-105022407.html
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Chuck Hagel, John Kerry: Is Obama Too Reliant on Senate Talent? (Atlantic Politics Channel)
Teacher Brings Loaded Gun To Minnesota School For Fear Of Newtown Shooting
Fear over the Newtown school shooting prompted a Minnesota teacher to bring a loaded gun to school last week, forcing a school lockdown. The unnamed teacher, a female in her 50s, has been placed on administrative leave from Seward Montessori School in Minneapolis.
"This is the first case like this I've ever heard of," Minneapolis police Sgt. Bill Palmer told KMSP. "In this day in age in this week, handguns in schools are of great concern to everyone."
Acting on a tip from a staff member, the school principal alerted the school resource officer, who confiscated the gun from the teacher, in her 21st year of employment at the school. The loaded .357 Magnum handgun was in the educator's locker in the teacher's lounge, according to the Star Tribune. School officials confirm that no students or staff were harmed or injured.
While the teacher was not arrested, she could face misdemeanor charges for violating conditions of her Minnesota conceal carry permit, which prohibits firearms in schools without written permission from a principal or school official.
Parents were notified of the incident by phone.
"I had a little meltdown, I was in shock," Jeanette Wiedemeier Bower, the parent of a 10-year-old at Seward Montessori told KMSP. "You trust that the people who take care of your kids have everything under control."
In a statement to KARE, Minneapolis Schools officials said the district followed safety procedures in dealing with the incident, and school leaders "have been vigilant in preparing for emergency situations by reviewing safety plans."
The Sandy Hook Elementary shooting that killed 26, including 20 children, has spurred renewed national interest in gun control. As lawmakers on the left express staunch support for stricter gun laws, those on the right are starting to show willingness for change.
Still, Republicans in a number of states have announced plans to introduce legislation that would allow or even require school staff to carry guns. Republican state Rep. Tony Cornish, for one, plans to sponsor a bill that allows teachers to carry loaded weapons in classrooms.
One school in Texas does permit concealed carry by teachers, and former Education Secretary Bill Bennett took to "Meet the Press" earlier this month to express his support for arming school staff.?
Still, experts say that bringing weapons onto school grounds would do more harm than good, and teachers have called the proposal "absurd."
"Singular horrible events like this past week make us all upset, but if we look at the data, it doesn't make sense that that's where we need to beef up security in a very expensive way -- not only financially but also at the cost of our children's feeling of security," Kenneth Dodge, director of the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University told The Huffington Post last week. "Isn't it morestraightforward to just get rid of the guns?"
Also on HuffPost:
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/25/teacher-brings-loaded-gun_n_2362989.html
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Tuesday, December 25, 2012
A Brief History of Chemistry Sets
[unable to retrieve full-text content]A brief history of chemistry sets: Utilitarian tools of the trade made way for skill-building sets and, later, zany approaches to ?kitchen chemistry.?
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/25/science/a-brief-history-of-chemistry-sets.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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We Asked, You Answered: Why are you committed to drinking local ...
"My first reason is that Michigan wine tastes wonderful to me.?I feel soooo good contributing to our local economy and local farmers.?The second reason is that I made a New Years Resolution last year to only buy Michigan wines. I am happy to say that for the first time ever?I have kept my New Years Resolution!!! All of my friends know that I only buy MI wines and tease me about being a wine snob, but I?ll take that title happily. I would rather be a local country snob than a hoity toity California or French snob. LOL!!! I liked that resolution so much I am going to renew it this year.? I am sad to report that I did not keep the second part of my resolution.?That was to visit each of the main wine trails during the year.?I was able to make it to 2 ? (Leelanau, Pioneer and part of Sunrise).?Time just got away from me. I am going to renew that resolution as well and plan things better."
??Shawn Dilts,?Ovid
"Vacationing with my family is when I discovered Michigan wine. It was a Michigan Lake Harvest Riesling (I call them a gateway drug to other wine) that got me obsessed with Michigan wineries, I've been hooked ever since. I have to admit that my palate has increased greatly since then. :-) I love that we have this industry in our state and I love what it brings. There is nothing better then being up north and sipping wine in a tasting room!"
??Leslie Jablonski, Fort Wayne, Indiana
"My reason for drinking local wine, is simple. I love it!?
Until my first trek to Traverse City after hitting legal drinking age, I had zero interest in wine. I'd disliked everything I'd tried, and chalked it up to 'just not being a wine drinker'. Then, while in TC for a bout of Red Wings training camp, I was hauled along for a day of tasting.?
I was hooked.?
This was in 1998, and I was the ripe old age of 22, and every holiday season since then, I have made gifts of local beverages, to dear friends and family (but only the people I really like, because the investment is never a cheap one). It used to be just wines, but now, I do microbrews and craft beers, too (you should see my husband's Advent Calendar this year. It really is a sight to behold.)
I also make a habit of bringing what I call 'vino virgins' to wineries in my area.?
I have brought so many people into Robinettes Cellars that Alicia Robinette teases me that I need a punch card. I also organize treks to the Old Mission Peninsula twice a year, designed to indoctrinate new people - people who love wine, but have not had the opportunity (or sometimes the inclination) to make the trek from Grand Rapids to Grand Traverse County. I make a third trip for a select group, because Leelanau is mostly dry, and not for every palate.?
In 2013, I'm going to add a fourth trip, and visit the wineries to the south, because a great bunch of businesses is being slighted.?
I don't see why people bother to get Napa or Australian wines, when we have such an amazing selection available in Michigan. Whether your taste be dry red, semi sweet or sweet white, or a completely different fruit altogether, Michigan really does have something for everyone!"
??Roberta Pelton, Grand Rapids
"I do not live in Michigan but some of our favorite vacation destinations are in Michigan, specifically the UP, which we have visited four times in the last few years. There are various cultural events going on at wineries to see. The several southwest Michigan wineries are a great quick trip from home and it is fun to drink and discover Michigan wines. The wines are high quality and reflect the fantastic fruits grown right in Michigan."
? Janet Rozycki, South Bend, Indiana ?
"My community is surrounded by local farms. They are centennial family farms, and new sustainable, organic farms. Eating locally grown food is so important to my family because we maximize the nutrients available in the food (which includes specific immunities specific to our locality), but also because we support the farms, local families who work there, and the community that supports the business. In turn, the farm supports the community. Locally produced wine is part of that food community for us. We know who grows the grapes that make the wine we drink. As a result, our family has a deep respect for the food we eat, and the effort it took to grow and produce it."
??Shelly Vrsek, Dexter
"I drink Michigan wine because it's simply a better product! ?I truly like it better than all other wines I've tried."
??Laura Besser, Belmont
"My reasons for drinking Michigan wine are: As a native Michigander I want to buy locally (or in this case, statewide) as much as possible. I also think Michigan grapes and winemakers produce some terrific wines! ?Hubby and I hosted a wine tasting dinner last year and among a blind comparison between French and Michigan wines (a friend who's in training as a sommelier paired the wines), Michigan wines won overwhelmingly!"
??Suzette Burkitt-Wesolek, Williamston
"I support the local growers/producers/distillers/brewers/restaurateurs etc. by buying and eating locally produced products as much as possible. Helps the economy by keeping the dollars local. I like having local produce, beers, wines, spirits, and handmade food, and getting to know the people who grow/produce it."
??Bruce Gaugush, Lansing
"One of the main reasons that I drink Michigan wine is that the money I spend on wine stays in the state. Wine is an agricultural product. Michigan wine?provides jobs to?winery and vineyard workers. The main reason I drink Michigan wine is that it tastes so damn good!"
??Bill MacDonald, Ann Arbor
"I love to learn about wine, and what a better way than to learn by visiting tasting rooms! Living here in Michigan with plenty of tasting rooms just a short drive away, gives us Michiganders just that luxury."
??Amber Stevens, Lake Orion
"We drink ONLY Michigan wine! ?My friend came home from L.A. this summer telling me about all the great varieties from CA ? I tried some, but Michigan is better! ?I also love it that I have been there, met the people who actually make the wines, and even have had the chance to meet the wine dogs!"
? Sherri Adcock, Bay City
"I do believe in supporting local economy. I was born in Michigan and will live here the rest of my life. Even if that wasn't important for me though, I have to say that Michigan wines are far more superior ?than other wines. I find them to be more complex and flavorful than any other wines."
??Jennifer Hayden, Ionia
"1. ?Michigan Wine is readily sampled and tasted before purchase.
2. ?Michigan Wineries encourage responsible imbibing.
3. ?We support Michigananders Right to Wine!
4. ?Michigan Wineries employ Michiganders.?
5. ?Michigan Wineries are home to some of the finest Wine Dogs on the Planet.
6. ?Michigan Wine with Michigan Cheese is a Mighty Fine time.
7. ?Michigan Wine variety and taste is as broad as the Big Mac.
8. ?Michigan Wine warms the heart and body on a cold winters night.
9. ?Michigan Wine fits in a standard box which stacks well on my basement stairs because it never lasts long enough to cellar.
10. I like it."
??Mark Jackson, Adrian
"I love the state of Michigan and could not imagine ever leaving or moving to another state. By purchasing local products we are able to support Michigan companies and help keep our money in the state. In addition we help reduce the carbon footprint and it helps with?staying green (which I am big into). Most importantly we love the wine areas and are able to enjoy the beautiful sights while we drink delicious wines from Michigan's bounty!
I wouldn't have it any other way! I love Michigan and I love Michigan Wines!"
? Sebastian Karwaczynski, Macomb Township
"Michigan provides us with locally grown foods and wines with (what I would call) an olfactory and gustatory journey.?'My journey' began many years ago and has, over time, translated into a broader, never-ending journey of self-discovery. My wish for the New Year is to keep pushing forth, whether it be into the next 100 varieties, or unearthing new expressions of the first 100. Never stop discovering, learning, questioning."
??Sally Breidinger, Stanton
"We started 2006 by celebrating the end of our "Annus horribilis" of?2005. We both had had some health issues and we decided to celebrate!?We started to tour different local (or not so local ??our family motto?is 'The worse the weather the farther we go') wineries."
??Beth Jackson, Adrian
"We drink Michigan wines to support our local economy and growers. ?As a matter of fact we have a group of 14 of us that go wine tasting every year for the past nine years and we ALWAYS stay in Michigan. ?We have even passed this along to our kids. ?My oldest is getting married in 2013 and only wants Michigan wines and beers at her?reception."
??Katie Wolff, Royal Oak
"Dear Santa,
I understand you are new to the ?shop local? principals, since you are so isolated at the North Pole!? My reasons for supporting our local stores include:
Every day you vote with your dollar when you shop local and do not support out-of-state owned box stores. Local businesses support other local stores and services, have children in local schools and truly care about you, their customer. They are sad when you lose a pet or family member, are concerned when they are sick and notice when a customer is having a bad day. They appreciate that you work hard for your money and completely value your purchases at their business.
Buying Michigan wine fits into these values.? It keeps our money in Michigan, helping support our great State and the friends we meet along the wine trails who own the vineyards and work at their wineries.? Not to mention, as an added bonus, the wine is wonderful tasting, easily affordable, and makes great gifts throughout the holidays.
Sincerely,"
???Holly Whitehead, Mount Pleasant
"If it wasn't any good, I wouldn't drink it. Thankfully, Michigan is putting out some great wine, as well as craft beer and spirits. I enjoy supporting local wineries and brewpubs, which keeps my money in Michigan. And I suggest to everyone I meet that they need to give Michigan wines a try."
??Dave Moss, Huntington Woods
"By drinking from the area you live in, you are truly experiencing the local flavor! Every region I've lived in has had its special delicacies, but I'm more intrigued by how similar things can taste so different. I'm originally from a?riesling?region in NY, so trying the?riesling?here is a great way to have something familiar in a new way."
??Katy Meyers, East Lansing
"I drink Michigan wine to support all the wine makers and wine growers because I want to see local companies and farmers thrive!? We drink cider too to support apple and pear growers :)?So important to keep agriculture alive here so that our orchards don't turn into housing developments!!!"
??Heather Smith, Traverse City
"I like to drink local / Michigan wine for the entire experience ? good wine, nice tasting rooms, family owned, beautiful and and vineyards."
??Mary Anne Kenerson, Clarkston
"I love supporting local and sustainable products.? Drinking Michigan Wines allows me to support local folks who take the time to produce a quality product, as well as Michigan in general."
??Jessica Semke, Owosso
"We drink Michigan Wines because: Most of our Michigan wines were purchased at the vineyards, on our yearly restocking trips. That makes the wines more personal, and reminds us of the fun we had when visiting the scenic?vineyards and possibly even talked to the wine makers."
? Walt Bischoff, Muskegon
"I?m having a hard time answering this question today, because?really, why WOULDN?T you buy Michigan made?!? I can make all kinds of arguments about how our economy is boosted by locavores,?why doing so is healthier for our bodies and?better for our environment, and how costs can be decreased by cutting out shipping costs, etc...
Our wines are comparable with some of the worlds finest because of?a similar climate to where some of the first winegrowing and making took place. I may be biased being born here, but I think our mitten state is more beautiful too. Don?t agree??Then?I bet you have never been on a vineyard tour in?Leelanau,?Mackinaw,?or Traverse City, just to name a few.
Anywhere you go to experience?pure Michigan (by the bottle or otherwise), you will find great tastes, pleasant people, unique?arts, and good times. What could be more motivation that that?!
We can?give Santa one taste and he?ll agree,??*CHEERS* to PureMichigan! :)"
??Sam Goodheart, Westland
Source: http://www.michiganbythebottle.com/2012/12/buylocal.html
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Gaza official: Israeli fire wounds 2 Palestinians
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) ? A Gaza health official says two men have been wounded by Israeli fire in the central Gaza Strip.
The official, Ashraf al-Kidra, says Israeli forces fired at the men east of Deir al-Balah late Sunday. Their identities were unclear. The official initially said the men had been killed, but he said that the two were found to be seriously wounded.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
Such incidents have been rare since Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers wrapped up an eight-day battle last month. Israel launched the offensive to stop years of rocket fire at Israeli communities.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gaza-official-israeli-fire-wounds-2-palestinians-213423219.html
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Monday, December 24, 2012
Sunday, December 23, 2012
news local: Boat Transportation | Sports n Recreation Info Center ...
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As gun control controversy rages, officials make only vague mention ...
"People had one level of care and now have a different level of care. To think those cuts didn’t have any effect would be foolish." - Sue Walther
Every week, Roger Morgenthal has to make the choice.
Is the person sitting in front of him an immediate danger to themselves or others because of severe mental illness? Should this person be kept in a hospital to receive treatment, even if it is against his or her will?
Morgenthal has served as the mental health hearing officer for Cumberland and Perry counties since 1976. In that time, he estimates he?s held between 9,000 and 10,000 such hearings for 5,000 to 6,000 people. He felt he had reason to worry that maybe 10 of those people, all in the throes of psychotic disorders, might be dangerously violent toward others.
Since Adam Lanza murdered his mother, 20 school children and six adults in Newtown, Conn., public officials from President Barack Obama down have talked about the need for a new dialogue on guns. Somewhere in those statements, the officials make vague mention of improving mental health care.
Gun laws have a Presidential task force. Mental health care, as usual, is receiving lower billing.
Gun control is controversial, but comparably simple. With one piece of federal legislation, Congress could install a national assault weapons ban.
Mental health care is vastly more complex, governed largely at the state level, with 50 different sets of laws that reflect dramatically different philosophies and levels of funding.
So far, we don?t know Lanza?s mental health history. It?s unclear if stronger commitment laws or better treatment options would have prevented the massacre in Newtown.
But other mass murderers, like Arizona shooter Jared Loughner, did have a history of mental illness. Some experts say better treatment and intervention measures might have kept Loughner from shooting former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killing six people.
The politicians talking of improving care don?t specify if they mean for the very few people whose illness might prompt violence, or the majority of those living with mental illness who are more likely to be the victims of violence and crime.
Few are talking about the slipover affects of mental illness that touch our society.
According to the Treatment Advocacy Center:
? A third of the homeless population has untreated mental illness.
? About 16 percent of people in state prisons have untreated mental illness.
? About the same percentage of people living with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia will eventually take their own lives.
No major public official has yet to call for a significant increase in spending on psychiatrists, social workers, group homes, peer support services or pharmaceutical research to better treat the six percent of Americans living with serious mental illness.
Here in Pennsylvania, advocates say the lack of housing and other resources makes it difficult for those recovering from breakdowns to maintain necessary stability. That was made worse by budget cuts last year.
Most people who have never had contact with the mental health system through a family member or friend do not understand how it works. That ignorance, and the evil stigma that has long surrounded those with illnesses of the brain, has made it difficult for any reforms to gain popular support.
What?s more, the groups of advocates that care passionately about improving mental health care disagree about how far the state can go to compel people who are clearly not well to receive treatment. Some want the reach of the state?s commitment law expanded, others think it goes far enough.?
Resources needed
Any attempt to reform the mental health care system begins with a question:
What scale do leaders want to aim this reform?
A small scale reform, aimed only at the minority of those living with severe mental illness who are potentially violent, would do nothing to lessen the other forms of human misery that plague the chronically untreated. Such narrow measures, advocates argue, would do nothing to prevent those with worsening conditions from deteriorating until they became a potential danger.
Reform on a larger scale, a combination of education, treatment, housing, support services and better drugs, could keep people off the streets, out of jail and safe. It would also be costly.
Advocates argue we?re not doing a good job of paying the mental health bills we already have.
Beginning with former Gov. Tom Ridge, Pennsylvania has closed many of its large mental health facilities.
That program continued through Gov. Ed Rendell?s administration, including the closure of Harrisburg State Hospital. At the same time, the state built smaller facilities in each county. Numerous studies have shown people with severe mental illness are more likely to recover in the least restrictive settings.
These new facilities were aimed at treating people with specific needs. In theory, a person could move from a crisis center to a residential treatment center to a structured group home to outpatient treatment.
But the system doesn?t always work that like.
Instead, waiting lists have been common at most of the midstate?s residential facilities since they opened. People wind up staying at inpatient hospitals ? designed to house someone for a few days ? for months.
And that was before last year?s budget.
The state cut payments to the county mental health offices by 10 percent. There was also a 10 percent cut to the Community/Hospital Integration Program Projects ? money specifically designated to pay to treat people in residential facilities and through outpatient services instead of state hospitals.
?For the first time in the modern history of hospital closures, the commitment was not honored because the dollars were cut, and they were cut significantly,? said Sue Walther, executive director of the Mental Health Association in Pennsylvania.
?People had one level of care and now have a different level of care. To think those cuts didn?t have any effect would be foolish.?
By eliminating the general assistance fund, the state also removed the payments that advocates said often covered co-pays on drugs for people waiting to qualify for Social Security disability.
The state Department of Public Welfare said that by allowing 20 counties ? including Dauphin County ? to accept the funding in block grants, the counties had more freedom to better use the money they were given.
However, most counties, including Adams, Cumberland, Lebanon, Perry and York, were not invited to participate.
When asked if services were cut along with the funding, Donna Kirker Morgan, a welfare department spokeswoman, wrote in an email: ?This would be up to the individual counties to determine how they would make changes, so I am going to defer to them.?
Kirker Morgan did not respond when asked if agency was doing anything to determine the potential impact of the cuts.
With the state facing serious financial challenges ? and little political will for a tax increase ? the welfare department was given a smaller budget last year. Many of the services it oversees, like Medicare, could by law not be cut, Kirker Morgan said. Mental health care was one of the areas that could.
She noted that, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey of 2010 data, Pennsylvania spent the fourth most per-capita on mental health care of any state in the country.
Advocates counter the lack of housing affects even the most serious cases.
When he has to decide if a person should continue to receive involuntary care, or what level of involuntary care they should receive, Morgenthal often finds his options limited.
?Honestly, I don?t have the option of saying I want this person in outpatient group care because the options just aren?t there,? Morgenthal said. ?If a social worker says we don?t have any place to put this person ? there?s a waiting list in structured group homes for six or eight months ? I don?t have a place to put this person.?
Change the law?
?Only a small percentage of people with untreated severe mental illness are prone to violence, but those that are can have a disproportionate impact on society.
Ten percent of homicides in America are committed by people with untreated severe mental illness, according to the Treatment Advocacy Center.
By the letter of the law in Pennsylvania, a person can only be treated against their will if they present a serious harm to themselves or others in the past 30 days. Technically, a person would not just have to threaten to harm someone else, they would need to have attempted to carry out an act.
If the person does not meet the standard ? even if he or she has clearly decompensated and is not thinking rationally ? they can refuse treatment, including medication.
In theory, if the first time a person seriously attempts to carry out a violent act was a mass shooting, there would be no legal way to intervene before that.
Some advocates feel it?s time to change the law.
?There needs to be an expansion of the definition of a danger to self or others,? said Taylor Andrews, a longtime mental health advocate from Carlisle.
?For an individual that has a known condition, who has responded to treatment in the past, and is deteriorating and will likely continue to deteriorate if they aren?t treated, and you know they cannot make a rational decision about treatment, they should be considered a danger to themselves.?
Other states, like New York, allow for earlier intervention.
Since changing the law, and investing significant money, New York has seen a 74 percent drop in homelessness among the mentally ill, a 77 percent drop in hospitalizations, an 83 percent drop in arrests and an 87 percent drop in incarcerations.
State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery, has introduced legislation that would change Pennsylvania?s law, though it does not include new funding. Greenleaf estimates his bill would affect about 400 people a year.
The biggest problem with the law as its currently written, Greenleaf said, is it does nothing to help people with anosognosia ? a condition that prevents people with mental illness from recognizing the effects of the disease.
The way the law is written in Pennsylvania and other states, people with irrational minds need to keep making the rational choice to continue treatment in order to stay well, said Doris Fuller, the executive director of the Virginia-based Treatment Advocacy Center, which backs Greenleaf?s bill.
Many people who did not recognize their condition until after they were involuntarily committed said they would not have been able to recover without the initial ruling, Fuller said.
At the extreme end, Loughner, the Arizona shooter, was forced into treatment after his arrest. By the time of his sentencing, he said he understood what he had done and deeply regretted it.?
Medication isn?t enough
Many in the mental health community do not agree with Greenleaf or the Treatment Advocacy Center.
The consumer movement began in the bad old days of mental health care, which were exactly that bad, and not that old.
Supported by research saying peer support groups, housing options and other support services were as important to successful long-term recovery as medication, they helped push treatment out of the large state hospitals and into the community.
The consumer movement also led the fight against the stigma that those with severe mental illness were evil or inherently dangerous.
When those in the consumer movement hear Greenleaf?s proposal, they see society trying to take a shortcut, instead of building holistic treatment options that help those with severe mental illness fully establish their lives.
?We need to look at what we?re offering and tailor the offerings to meet their needs,? Walther said. ?There?s evidence to suggest peer support and things like that can move people toward recovery.?
MHA and the Pennsylvania Mental Health Consumers? Association both oppose Greenleaf?s bill. So does DPW?s Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, which believes the current standard is sufficient, Kirker Morgan said.
Walther is skeptical that anosognosia exists. Instead, she said, it?s a question of creating an environment where people are willing to be treated. Pennsylvania?s current commitment laws can protect a person in the most acute cases, she said.
?I understand why this has an appeal,? Walther said. ?But even if I could accept this argument, if you don?t have the support services there, forced medication is not going to be enough.?
It requires money
Morgenthal, the hearing officer, says both sides are right.
He has between 50 and 100 people he sees two or three times a year, his regulars. He also has another 100 or so he sees every few years, after their recover breaks down.
He believes the law as currently written does give him wiggle room when deciding to continue a commitment, especially in these cases.
?Frankly, if it?s a patient that I know well and they have a pattern, I?m not going to disregard their medical history,? he said. ?I?m going to say to the court, ?This is what?s likely to happen, let?s try and prevent that.??
He also thinks the law needs to go further.
A man or woman shouldn?t need to be able to carry out a plan to kill themselves in order to be committed.
?I think a good psychiatrist or psychologist has the ability to tell if someone has a sincere intent to harm themselves instead of just a cry a help,? Morgenthal said.
Most of the people he sees couldn?t carry out a violent attack in the actual world. But if they are having delusions telling them they should and are unwilling to be helped, he should be able to order them into treatment. He should be able to order they continue that treatment after they have been discharged.
But without a real investment in treatment options and support services, he said, simple changes in the wording can only matter so much.
Source: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/12/as_gun_control_controversy_rag.html
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