News for today's 2018: 09/26/12

Today's archidose #621

9:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

Here are some photos of "<a href="http://thedesertforest.com/">The Desert Forest</a>" at <a href="http://www.burningman.com/">Burning Man</a> in Black Rock City, <s>Arizona</s> Nevada, by Phoenix, (2012), photographed by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/red_gloww/">Ben Lepley</a>. More information on the installation can be found at <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/918828755/the-desert-forest-burning-man-2012">Kickstarter</a>. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/red_gloww/8000043673/" title="the desert forest by Ben Lepley +_+, on Flickr"><img alt="the desert forest" height="426" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8437/8000043673_96cea75e65_z.jpg" width="640" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/red_gloww/7998347690/" title="The Desert Forest by Ben Lepley +_+, on Flickr"><img alt="The Desert Forest" height="800" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8304/7998347690_0831390575_c.jpg" width="630" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/red_gloww/8000051458/" title="the desert forest by Ben Lepley +_+, on Flickr"><img alt="the desert forest" height="509" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8036/8000051458_26ef332cd2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/red_gloww/7998426706/" title="The Desert Forest by Ben Lepley +_+, on Flickr"><img alt="The Desert Forest" height="800" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8303/7998426706_f7690c0c12_c.jpg" width="541" /></a> To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: <blockquote>:: Join and add photos to the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/archi-dose/">archidose pool</a>, and/or :: Tag your photos <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/archidose/">archidose</a></blockquote>

Today's archidose #621

Here are some photos of " The Desert Forest " at Burning Man in Black Rock City, Arizona Nevada, by Phoenix, (2012), photographe...

And You Think That You Have Had Some Wacky Dreams!?

9:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">As many of you know, I have been under the weather of late, not eating, and have been downing cold/sore throat pills by the gross, and sleeping… <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFxBe6y0VUqrhUbJAfq_9E-iXa1xy_t5DiH-Bx_BjcFKt-3IFz8Tl5CA27gKwYGDUYrHty7PHO5OPfw_RRZkBTo5R0zhfQl16wfLRH58FSkuyaEGVcJePcSwRSiE57ZtyPWQwV_T6ZOtc/s1600/sleeping+on+the+couch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFxBe6y0VUqrhUbJAfq_9E-iXa1xy_t5DiH-Bx_BjcFKt-3IFz8Tl5CA27gKwYGDUYrHty7PHO5OPfw_RRZkBTo5R0zhfQl16wfLRH58FSkuyaEGVcJePcSwRSiE57ZtyPWQwV_T6ZOtc/s400/sleeping+on+the+couch.jpg" width="400" /></a>A Lot!! I bet that over the last 72 hours I have, and I’m not exaggerating, slept 48-50 hours, and… When you combine the illness, along with the no food, the drugs, and the sleep, strange things are bound to happen, and strange things have happened to me, in the form of the unbelievable dreams I have had during this period of an over zealous sleep cycle. Now dig it… These crazy dreams began Sunday night, when I dreamt that Mitt Romney went on national TV, it may have been 60 Minutes, and declared to the nation that it was more than fair for him to pay a lower tax rate than a family making 50,000 a year because when rich people like him pay a lower rate, they invest, spur growth, and create jobs. Ha, IKR!!?  Tell me that ain’t some whacked out Salvador Dali type of a dream. I mean c’mon, you’d have to be a totally out of touch asshole and worthless Presidential candidate to say that on national TV.  Ha…I woke up to go the bathroom after that, and peed all the floor I was laughing so hard. And Monday night?  Oh Dear God, Monday night I went to sleep for good at about 11:15.  The dreams I had between then, and 9:30 Monday morning.  You can’t make this shit up. I was dreaming that I was officiating the Green Bay/Seattle football game.  I was standing in the end zone watching a scrum of players go up for a last second Hail Mary pass.  Not only did I miss a blatant offensive pass interference call, I ruled that the guy who didn’t actually catch the ball, actually did…and for a game winning TD no less. Can you imagine the furor that would take place over something like that if it happened in an actual NFL game on Monday Night Football?  Oh My…I shudder to think. Tuesday morning after waking, falling back to sleep, and evidently still thinking about the botched call dream from earlier, I had a dream about Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.  It was pretty damn funny. They were talking about how they were outraged by the replacement refs, and wanted the real, unionized refs back on the field officiating NFL games. I got up to take a shower, and was chuckling the entire time thinking… “Romney and Ryan calling for the return of Union employees? You’re losing your mind Mahoney; you’d better eat something.” Well I still had no appetite, but I did get good news in the form that I didn’t have to go into work, so what did I do?  That’s right, I laid on the couch, and within a few minutes, was sound asleep and once again dreaming. My first dream?  I dreamed that Schmoop came home early, with not only beer for her, but two Vitamin Waters for me, and then proceeded to pre-make dinner for me should I decide to eat later.  Ha!!  Yeah right, like that would ever happen!! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYRpZSjTpR_QGlxcRuy3K-Cx38i8DKaM4J1wZxlAUjdXnI4WNUnvqyZ0ZC9mI4pSDdY5XmQ3-mlVSXj_SdlipJB8QLEcOo0FbEbmuhsNaFvYKSE6A3MkMOMO8zqwrvhS5smqRY06weyKQ/s1600/Romney+Ryan+2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYRpZSjTpR_QGlxcRuy3K-Cx38i8DKaM4J1wZxlAUjdXnI4WNUnvqyZ0ZC9mI4pSDdY5XmQ3-mlVSXj_SdlipJB8QLEcOo0FbEbmuhsNaFvYKSE6A3MkMOMO8zqwrvhS5smqRY06weyKQ/s400/Romney+Ryan+2012.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> And then listen, no seriously, I actually had dream about this…it was so freaking surreal. I had a somnolent vision of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan standing before a crowd at the Dayton International Airport, and the crowd assembled begins chanting, “Ryan!! Ryan!! Ryan!!” Ha!!  And only after Romney tells the crowd... “No, No, It’s…Romney/Ryan!! Romney/Ryan!! Romney/Ryan!!” do they say, “Okay, whatever.”, and then chant softly, but politely, “Romney/Ryan.” People often say that truth is stranger than fiction, but I’m telling you, truth would have to be pretty damn strange to top the dreams I have had the last few days. Cheers!! Matt-Man <a href="mailto:mattmaniws@ymail.com">mattmaniws@ymail.com</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MattMan_IWS" target="_blank">@MattMan_IWS</a></div>

And You Think That You Have Had Some Wacky Dreams!?

As many of you know, I have been under the weather of late, not eating, and have been downing cold/sore throat pills by the gross, and sleep...

Mitt Romney: This is Easy!

9:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Hola voters! As you know on Monday of this week I sat down for a very special, in depth interview with President Obama. Because we are always fair and balanced here at IWS, we offered GOP nominee Governor Mitt Romney the same opportunity. Luckily we are part of the 53% of interview requests he agrees to. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6JU1ZAvaQPLT23U0CEJpHdJVpfSGjQ7JzkI0xI_SjnreLeApWK_7-9KzaffZtXjbbKOsrrPXfobEAB03Q-Ms_PGoXC5UPmv72xA6bkBTEg_JX38-9YD7cJajHL6SwRJIpV-4zWH6CC0/s1600/mitt-romney-money.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6JU1ZAvaQPLT23U0CEJpHdJVpfSGjQ7JzkI0xI_SjnreLeApWK_7-9KzaffZtXjbbKOsrrPXfobEAB03Q-Ms_PGoXC5UPmv72xA6bkBTEg_JX38-9YD7cJajHL6SwRJIpV-4zWH6CC0/s320/mitt-romney-money.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Jay: Governor Romney, let’s get right to it. A few days ago pres… Mitt: I’m sorry to interrupt but, are you sure this neighborhood is safe. I’m pretty sure I saw a young colored man while walking to your apartment. Jay: Oh don’t worry. It’s perfectly safe. Besides, it’s daytime.  Aaaand the secret service guys are outside. Mitt: Okay then. Jay: The other day President Obama sat in that same chair and basically said that the majority of the economic problems are George W. Bush’s fault. Do you agree with that assessment? Matt: Of course not! That’s just plain crazy. President Obama inherited an economy that had strong fundamentals and turning things around should have been easy and straight forward. He should be creating 600,000 jobs a month without even breaking a sweat. Jay: 600,000? That’s a big number! Mitt: Well, look at what a great job President Bush did overall. He inherited an economy that had just suffered the shock of 9/11 under Clinton. He picked up all the pieces and put it all back together. The only thing that he wasn’t able to do was lift the huge burden of regulation from Wall Street in time to avoid a downturn there at the end of his presidency. That of course was because he had a democratic congress to deal with. Jay: Uh … Okay. Anyway, we’ll move on. Governor, you have made the claim that you will balance the budget without any real pain or sacrifice on the part of the American people. How are you going to do that? Mitt: Well, that’s not exactly what I’ve promised. I have said that I’m going to bring austerity to poor and working class and even some middle class Americans who, quite frankly, have it a bit too good right now. These people are going to have to finally pay their fair share. Jay: Okay, so how do you balance the budget then? Mitt: I’m just gonna do what Ronald Reagan did. I’m going to cut taxes, restore the military to its previous greatness and bring the economy back to ITS greatness and the budget will be balance purely through economic growth and the creation of millions and millions of new jobs. Jay: But, you can’t do that without some spending cuts, right? What would you cut? Mitt: We’re gonna cut funding for Planned Parenthood, the National Endowment for the Arts and start running commercials on PBS. That should be enough. Jay: Riiiiiight. Okay, let’s try foreign policy. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a powerful speech at the U.N. today. You have been very critical of Obama’s handling of Iran and what you believe to be his lack of support for Israel. How would things be different in a Romney administration? Mitt: My relationship with Israel is so good that the people of Israel and American Jews are starting to call me Mittanyahu! Hey-OOOOOOO!  Heh.  Anyway, I understand that since Obama is a Muslim he is naturally unfriendly to Israel, but I think he just needs to face reality. Jay: And that reality is? Mitt: Well, he started a war with the wrong country. He went into Iraq when he should have launched an attack on Iran. Simple. Jay: *Stares in disbelief* Governor, I think there are few holes in your … um … facts. Mitt: Nope. I don’t think so. Hey look, I gotta skedaddle. We’ve got the family jet warming up at the Boone County International Airport, so I need to go. Ann and I have reservations at Per Se in New York. We’re having dinner with Donald Trump. Exciting huh!? Jay: Oh yeah! Lots of fun. Thanks for your time Governor. Okay, there you go. We’ve got a couple of straight shooters running for president huh? I hope these two interviews this week have helped you make up your mind. Jayman <a href="mailto:Jayman3768@gmail.com">Jayman3768@gmail.com</a> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jayman_iws" target="_blank">@Jayman_IWS</a> </div>

Mitt Romney: This is Easy!

Hola voters! As you know on Monday of this week I sat down for a very special, in depth interview with President Obama. Because we are alway...

Antibiotic Prescription? It May Depend on Where You Live - NYTimes.com

7:05 PM Tukiyooo 0

A new study has found that older men and women in the South are more often prescribed antibiotics than older Americans elsewhere, even though there is no evidence that the South has higher rates of pneumonia and other diseases for which antibiotics are necessary. The findings suggest there are greater rates of antibiotic overuse in that part of the country. Many experts have expressed concerns that antibiotics are being overprescribed and overused, leading to unnecessary spending on prescription medicines as well as more widespread bacterial resistance to the drugs. In the elderly, who are more likely to suffer adverse side effects and reactions from antibiotics, the health consequences can be amplified. Despite this vulnerability, antibiotic use among seniors has not been as closely studied as it has been among younger Americans. So a team of researchers looked at prescribing patterns among men and women over 65 across the country, comparing rates over a period of several years and doing breakdowns quarterly. Their research, published in Archives of Internal Medicine, showed that during a typical three-month period, about 21.4 percent of older Americans in the South used an antibiotic, compared with about 17.4 percent in the West. The rate in the Midwest was 19.2 percent, and in the Northeast it was 18.2 percent. The researchers adjusted their findings for health status, demographics, insurance coverage and other differences that could have influenced the findings. Even after controlling for these variables, the rate in the South remained higher. The study was not designed to determine specifically whether antibiotics in the South are overprescribed, but the data point to overuse as a likely explanation, said Dr. Yuting Zhang, an author of the study and assistant professor of health economics at the University of Pittsburgh. "We don't know the exact reason," she said, "but what we can say is that antibiotic use is higher in the South, and this is consistent with previous research that shows the quality of prescribing is poorer in the South compared to other regions." Dr. Zhang and her colleagues found that there were also seasonal variations in antibiotic use. Regardless of region, antibiotic prescription rates tended to peak in the first quarter of the year, from January through March, and then drop to a nadir during the third quarter, from July through September. The seasonal peak is probably related to the rise in respiratory infections during the winter months, Dr. Zhang said. But since many people are infected by cold and flu in the winter months and these viral infections are not susceptible to antibiotics, the seasonal trends may reflect further evidence of poor prescribing patterns. The findings were based on Medicare data collected from the beginning of 2007 through the end of 2009. The data was based on about one million patients per year. Though antibiotic overuse remains common in all areas, one lesson from the findings is that it may be worthwhile to target the South with programs aimed at reducing unnecessary antibiotic use, Dr. Zhang and her colleagues noted, using rates in low-prescribing areas like the West as a goal. An accompanying editorial from public health experts went further, calling the persistence of antibiotic overprescribing "a failure to translate national public health priorities and evidence into local practice and policies." "We need to find better ways to compel individuals and organizations to address the significance of the problem of antibiotic overuse," they wrote. "Strategies to achieve transformation at these levels may need to differ substantially from the current educational approaches that have been in use among patients and clinicians thus far." <a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/antibiotic-prescription-it-may-depend-on-where-you-live/?hpw">http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/antibiotic-prescription-it-may-depend-on-where-you-live/?hpw</a>

Antibiotic Prescription? It May Depend on Where You Live - NYTimes.com

A new study has found that older men and women in the South are more often prescribed antibiotics than older Americans elsewhere, even thoug...

For Veterans, a Surge of New Treatments for Trauma - NYTimes.com

7:04 PM Tukiyooo 0

Suicide is now the leading cause of death in the army. More soldiers die by suicide than in combat or vehicle accidents, and rates are rising: July, with 38 suicides among active duty and reserve soldiers, was the worst month since the Army began counting. General Lloyd Austin III, the army's second in command, called suicide "the worst enemy I have faced in my 37 years in the army." This Thursday, the Army is calling a "Suicide Stand-Down." All units will devote the day to suicide prevention. There are many reasons a soldier will take his own life, but one major factor is post-traumatic stress. Anyone who undergoes trauma can experience post-traumatic stress disorder — victims of rape and other crimes, family violence, a car accident. It is epidemic, however, among soldiers, especially those who see combat. People with PTSD re-experience their trauma over and over, with nightmares or flashbacks. They are hyperaroused: the slam of a car door at home can suddenly send their minds back to Iraq. And they limit their lives by avoiding things that can bring on the anxiety — driving, for instance, or being in a crowd. PTSD has affected soldiers since war began, but the Vietnam War was the first in which the American military started to see it as a brain injury rather than a sign of cowardice or shirking. A study of Vietnam vets 20 years after the conflict found that a quarter of vets who served in Vietnam still had full or partial PTSD. America's current wars may create even more suffering for those who fought them. In the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts soldiers have been returned to these wars again and again, and they face a deadly new weapon — improvised explosive devices, or I.E.D.'s — which cause brain injuries that, terrible in themselves, also seem to intensify PTSD. "We surmise PTSD will be worse," said Dr. James Kelly, the director of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, which studies and treats the intersection of PTSD and traumatic brain injury. "Some people are on their 10th deployment. Previously, people didn't have those doses. And there are multiple blast exposures and other blunt blows to the head. This kind of thing is new to us." When we think about treating PTSD, we usually picture a single patient and a psychotherapist. The two treatments in widest use are, in fact, just that: cognitive processing therapy, where patients learn to think about their experiences in a different way, and prolonged exposure, in which the therapist guides the patient through re-experiencing his trauma again and again, to teach the brain to process it differently. These therapies help a lot of veterans — about 40 percent of those who go through treatment are cured. But there are many, many more suffering veterans who are not helped. It's not just that these treatments don't work for everyone — no therapy does. More important, they are not broad enough. PTSD is often accompanied by and entwined with other serious problems — depression, sleep disorders, chronic pain and substance abuse. Sometimes these resolve if the PTSD does, but often they require specific attention — which the standard PTSD therapies don't provide. There is another way these treatments need broadening — they need to reach more people. The military and Veterans Affairs hospitals do not have enough psychotherapists to offer them on the necessary scale. And many soldiers are wary of psychotherapy and afraid of the stigma it carries. Today, the military is fighting that stigma. The V.A. is trying to integrate mental health care into primary health care; soldiers are now routinely screened for issues like PTSD, depression or substance abuse. A public awareness campaign called AboutFace features dozens of vets talking about their PTSD and how they got better — the point is: they are people just like you. A new program calledComprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness builds in resilience training for all soldiers at every phase — pre-deployment, in theater, upon return. It seeks to make regular mental health exercises as routine for soldiers as physical training. According to a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine, since 2005, the Pentagon and the V.A. have greatly increased funding for PTSD research. The V.A. has added 7,500 full-time mental health staff members and trained 6,600 clinicians to do cognitive processing and prolonged exposure therapies. Starting in 2008, all large V.A. clinics were required to have mental health providers onsite. The V.A. also added more centers that offer free, confidential counseling. Mobile centers bring counselors (themselves combat vets) to rural areas where other counseling is scarce. All this effort however, is falling short. Only about 10 percent of those getting mental health care in the V.A. system are veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan — a vast majority of those treated are still Vietnam veterans. But some 2.4 million soldiers have been through Iraq and Afghanistan. The RAND Corporation's Center for Military Health Policy Research did a telephone survey of vets from these conflicts and found that one-third were currently affected by PTSD or depression or report exposure to a traumatic brain injury — and about 5 percent had all three. RAND also found that only half of those who reported symptoms of major depression or PTSD had sought any treatment in the past year. Individual therapy is not the only way to treat PTSD. In January, a young man with the nickname of Trin (he asked that his real name not be published) sat down in a small, drab, room at a Veterans Affairs clinic in New Orleans with nine other men. All were veterans — of Iraq, Afghanistan, Operation Desert Storm or Vietnam; Trin had served in Iraq. All had PTSD. The men took chairs facing each other around tables pushed into a square, along with two women, who were running the group. The facilitators asked everyone to do three drawings: of how they felt, where they were and where they wanted to be. Trin drew himself with no facial features. The next week, the facilitators put on some music and everyone stood up, faced a wall, and bounced to it. At other sessions they took large sheets of paper and colored in their family trees, with different colors for divorces, early deaths, conflicted relationships. And at almost every meeting over 10 weeks, they practiced conscious breathing and mindfulness. "When they asked us to draw and color, people were rolling their eyes," Trin said. "We had older gentlemen, and some people might have thought this is kind of soft — not my lane." Trin was anxious, cold and short-tempered. He was drinking a lot. Before starting this group, Trin had tried individual therapy, with no success. "My psychiatrist would ask a question and I would answer it," he said. "It was like talking to a wall. He didn't understand what I had gone through." He gave Trin a prescription for an anti-anxiety drug, which helped a little. When Trin heard about the group, he quickly volunteered. By session five — the midpoint — he was sure it was helping. His sleep improved. The breathing exercises were things he could use to calm down. And having the group itself helped — men who had been through what he had gone through. On the last day, the group passed around stones — one for each participant. When your stone was passed around, each group member had to say something nice about you. "We put all that energy and kindness into each stone," said Trin. He carries his in his pocket. Trin's program is a 10-week course designed by the Washington-based Center for Mind-Body Medicine. It is one of perhaps half a dozen different kinds of alternative therapies being tried for PTSD in military and V.A. hospitals. You name it, and it's being used somewhere in the veterans' health system: The National Intrepid Center in Washington is one of many places using acupuncture to treat stress-related anxiety and sleep disorders; it has been shown to be effective against PTSD. At the New Orleans V.A., the same clinicians who ran Trin's group also did a small study using yoga. They found vets liked it and attendance was excellent. The yoga reduced the veterans' hyperarousal and helped them sleep. There is even a group in the Puget Sound V.A. Hospital in Seattle that treats PTSD — including among Navy Seals — using the Buddhist practice of "loving kindness meditation." ("We had a little bit of debate about changing the name," said Dr. David Kearney, who led the group. "But we decided to keep it, and it worked out just fine.") One of the most promising techniques is mindfulness, inspired by Buddhist teaching, which emphasizes awareness of the present moment in order to choose how to respond to thoughts, feelings and events. Dr. Amishi Jha at the University of Miami is working with the military to develop mindfulness-based training for soldiers before they deploy, and Dr. Kearney has done a very small study of the effect of mindfulness on PTSD. The Center for Mind-Body Medicine's program — the one Trin did — is the most comprehensive of all of them, giving participants a variety of different strategies to choose from: breathing, meditation, guided visual imagery, bio-feedback, self-awareness, dance, self-expression, drawing. And it is the one with the strongest evidence that it works to cure PTSD. In a trial in a Kosovo high school, students with PTSD who did the 10-week program had significantly greater reductions in PTSD than a control group of students assigned to wait for the course. Other before-and-after studies (with no control group) in Gaza have found an 80 to 90 percent reduction in PTSD with the technique, and those results still held months later. This is significantly better than any currently used individual therapy. The Mind-Body program is in use at various V.A. hospitals, military bases, and at the National Intrepid Center. In some places it is studied, as well. At the Minneapolis V.A. Health Care System, for example, the psychologists Beret Skroch and Margaret Gavian found that in a Mind-Body group of patients with numerous problems, about 80 percent showed improvement. Trin's group in New Orleans is part of the first randomized controlled trial measuring the program's effect on PTSD among U.S. veterans. Researchers are still measuring whether the results lasted two months after the last session, but Dr. James S. Gordon, the founder and director of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine, said that the patients' improvement at the last session was "at least as good" as the individual therapies the V.A. uses, with significantly lower dropout rates. If those results hold up, then mind-body medicine is a potentially valuable addition to the V.A.'s limited menu of widely used therapies. It is built for large scale: psychotherapists are welcome but not necessary. Some of the groups are run by lay people; in Kosovo, high school teachers ran the groups. In Gaza, Center staff have trained 420 group leaders and worked with 50,000 people. Gordon said the center is currently capable of giving 10-day training and support for 1500 group leaders a year. Another advantage is that the program is broad-spectrum, showing success not only with PTSD, but depression, pain, sleep disorders and substance abuse. Dr. Barbara Marin, chief of addiction treatment services at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, uses it there for patients with substance abuse problems. She calls it a "very effective" model. Mind-body medicine and the other alternative therapies, moreover, may be more attractive to soldiers than the individual treatments, which have a 20 percent dropout rate. Both C.P.T. and prolonged exposure ask the patient to relive his trauma — an upsetting prospect for many soldiers. Some veterans avoid psychotherapy because they do not want to be singled out, judged and labeled deficient. The alternative medicine groups, by contrast, have a dropout rate of virtually zero. Members can talk about their past trauma if they wish, but there is no pressure to do so. Instead, the groups are centered on the present, helping members to learn practical skills they can employ immediately. The facilitator does not sit in judgment — she's a participant in the group, sharing skills she might use herself for better sleep or stress reduction. Everyone, after all, can use help dealing with the stress of re-entry to civilian life. Going to a skills group instead of psychotherapy could remove much of the stigma of treatment. Despite the vast increase in research money, studies of these skills groups have been small and isolated. Only randomized controlled trials are persuasive enough to get Washington to adopt a therapy on a wider scale, but these are too few and too slow, and starting new ones now would take years. It is time to take the most promising ideas and try them with thousands of people, not just a few dozen — and if they work, to expand them further. That is not cautious. But to continue with therapy as usual is to condemn hundreds of thousands of soldiers to a tour of duty without end. <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/26/for-veterans-a-surge-of-new-treatments-for-trauma/?hp">http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/26/for-veterans-a-surge-of-new-treatments-for-trauma/?hp</a>

For Veterans, a Surge of New Treatments for Trauma - NYTimes.com

Suicide is now the leading cause of death in the army. More soldiers die by suicide than in combat or vehicle accidents, and rates are risin...

Obesity Epidemic: Smartphone Fitness Apps Don't All Work Out, Brigham Young Study Says - ABC News

6:55 PM Tukiyooo 0

<base href="data:">Need to sculpt your abs, drop a few pounds or run a marathon? There's an app for that. On iTunes alone, there are more than 1,500 fitness software applications or "apps" from which to choose. In 2011, nearly 10 percent of cell phone users downloaded at least one of them to help track or manage their health, according to a 2011 Pew Research Center Internet survey. In an effort to find out if any of these smart phone and tablet apps are actually effective, researchers at Brigham Young University in Utah analyzed 127 popular downloads and rated them for their ability to get users to change aspects of their lifestyles. Most apps fell short of this goal because, the researchers found, they weren't based on the sound scientific theories proven to spur real behavioral change. Lead author Sarah VanWagenen said the most common sin committed by a fitness app is lack of customization. "The majority don't ask for age, height, weight or any kind of basic health information," she said. "You just sign up and they give you a program and some advice based on general recommendations." Each app was scored based on features that promoted motivation, social networking, accountability and behavior tracking. According to VanWagenen, these are the tried and true features of any high quality behavior change program. The highest scoring app the team looked at was the hypnotherapy aid Sport and Fitness Excellence. It received a 28 out of a possible 100 points. The average score was 10 and more than a third of the apps received scores in the single digits. Clearly there is room for improvement, VanWagenen said. Part of the problem may be a disconnect between app developers and the social scientists who study behavior change. At this point, most developers are gamers or social media developers. Very few have backgrounds in public health or psychology. Not that developers are against learning some lessons from traditional behavioral change models designed in labs. It's just that the world of app development moves so quickly. According to Brian Wang, the co-founder of the firm that markets the social networking app Fitocracy, there aren't the time or resources to review the literature or consult research experts. "Based on my past ten years of experience, the common thread to success is a sense of community and strong social bonds. Without fail it works. We didn't need a controlled study to tell us that," he said. Wang claimed that nearly 20 percent of Fitocracy members are active users and that about five percent are "super users" whose log-on time adds up to several hours per day. "Users are treating us like Facebook. It's where they come to stay in contact with likeminded people and all that support really makes a difference to them," he said. VanWagenen doesn't necessarily disagree with that assessment, but said that social engagement is only one tool for successful behavior modification. For example, an app like Fitocracy may be appealing for someone who has already made the decision to make changes, but it may not be a draw for those who are still undecided about starting a program. On the other hand, a popular app like the diet diary MyFitnessPal may attract people who like the focus on counting calories but may ultimately lose a lot of users due to lack of social support. VanWagenen does say that apps have been getting better as time goes on. Though the Brigham Young study was just published, the apps her team reviewed were offered by the iTunes app store in 2009. It takes time to do a study and get it published. Many of today's most popular apps weren't yet available. And, VanWagenen said, many developers are stumbling into some good use of theory whether they know it or not. For instance, sites like Fitocracy plan to up their game in the near future by placing a lot more value on user feedback. Their long term plans include "crowd sourcing," techno-speak for pooling and analyzing aggregated data so they can spot trends and report them back to their users. They could mine the data from say, Fitocracy members who lose the most weight over a six-month period, and then use that information to lay out a diet and exercise blueprint for new users with the same goal.<div> </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVpLaU5AOjp-YGk6kx6ePwdSIjRZC7WhKeKfXd_-MSVPegbQd4ZmArQpmcYD3T9wMYG4FFlvyxkh6UY-SzSjf2NwLiIEsW3tKDNuTTHboj2dtWdJyApOqT8C8YuMRvXbZsQLbnyZLE0sg/s1600/ht_Fitocracy_nt_120925_wg-758011.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5792669457356143218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVpLaU5AOjp-YGk6kx6ePwdSIjRZC7WhKeKfXd_-MSVPegbQd4ZmArQpmcYD3T9wMYG4FFlvyxkh6UY-SzSjf2NwLiIEsW3tKDNuTTHboj2dtWdJyApOqT8C8YuMRvXbZsQLbnyZLE0sg/s320/ht_Fitocracy_nt_120925_wg-758011.jpg" /></a> </div><div>Sites like Fitocracy use social engagement to help people get fit. </div><div><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Health/obesity-epidemic-smartphone-fitness-apps-work-brigham-young/story?id=17322887&singlePage=true#.UGOxmrScR91">http://abcnews.go.com/Health/obesity-epidemic-smartphone-fitness-apps-work-brigham-young/story?id=17322887&singlePage=true#.UGOxmrScR91</a> </div>

Obesity Epidemic: Smartphone Fitness Apps Don't All Work Out, Brigham Young Study Says - ABC News

Need to sculpt your abs, drop a few pounds or run a marathon? There's an app for that. On iTunes alone, there are more than 1,500 fitnes...

Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower

6:51 PM Tukiyooo 0

I have no doubt that my continued On Plan success this week has come from the aid of my husband in the cooking department.  There is simply not enough time in my day to do all that I want to do, which includes cooking a healthy and full course meal each night.  On weekends I typically do a slew of meal prep for the upcoming week, but September has completely devoured all of my weekends with weddings and other fun activities. Tonight, Joel made one of my <a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/2011/04/slow-food-fast-italian-sausage-peppers.html" target="_blank">favorite meals</a> in the pressure cooker.   He used the sweet turkey sausage from Shady Brook Farms along with some broth, peppers and onions.  Out comes a delicious hot sausage meal in, literally, minutes.  That <a href="http://www.qvc.com/CooksEssentials-3-Quart-Stainless-Steel-Digital-Pressure-Cooker.product.K35934.html?sc=K35934-Zone&cm_scid=zone&cm_sp=MERCHZONE-_-Best+Sellers-_-2" target="_blank">pressure cooker</a> was one of the best things I've ever received as far as cooking tools.  Meals are completed so quickly and easily and deliciously. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidVDTMySe9hiNardAAnzPcF8stve9y0z7sBBOCYEG8ePcl_rRmSjxXRmT-EnsWXaREgqfw9KYHwreJRz08mOvy_cLR5WpZ1vMfNV-Ofoe6jGwOhX-oa3pxL9KO6q-C8eQm0ZpEmlBusto/s1600/sausage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidVDTMySe9hiNardAAnzPcF8stve9y0z7sBBOCYEG8ePcl_rRmSjxXRmT-EnsWXaREgqfw9KYHwreJRz08mOvy_cLR5WpZ1vMfNV-Ofoe6jGwOhX-oa3pxL9KO6q-C8eQm0ZpEmlBusto/s400/sausage.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">an old pic of these delicious sausages! (you can tell it's mine since I don't eat peppers & onions :) )</td></tr></tbody></table> In addition to the tasty meat came the side dish of <a href="http://www.mccormick.com/Recipes/Vegetables/Turmeric-Roasted-Cauliflower-and-Tomatoes.aspx" target="_blank">turmeric roasted cauliflower</a> - a veggie dish I most recently enjoyed at FitBloggin via the McCormick Spice experience.  Anything that is simple and gets me eating veggies is a major plus to me.  However, next time we are going to half the amount of olive oil and not include any salt.  It was super salty and oily.  I know that EVOO is good for us digestively speaking (helping us to absorb other nutrients more easily), but there was definitely too much oil for this Weight Watchin' gal. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5WxfzvFFZg4incso5OqPsZVD8u1taUQI-nhg8UJnluZPFPlcaG2xq_j4xOSImoL7ro-p2HdFDS932Uj42qeETT1sriQwdJRGGg7GPBFuZ_pGdTVDdM5jnDegkNFe6Ql_4QtZDa4AkCqs/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5WxfzvFFZg4incso5OqPsZVD8u1taUQI-nhg8UJnluZPFPlcaG2xq_j4xOSImoL7ro-p2HdFDS932Uj42qeETT1sriQwdJRGGg7GPBFuZ_pGdTVDdM5jnDegkNFe6Ql_4QtZDa4AkCqs/s400/photo.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I did finish off my day slightly over my DPT by 3 PP.  I had a cup of chocolate milk after my dinner.  I love milk so much and drinking it was totally worth it.  It served as my dessert for the evening!  </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And after that very salty dish, it's just me and my Nalgene tonight!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia9XC_CSqMe65IIAKPJ5XVvAbNqj9a3iQO3FVPjskA4AP8hZvWc__511eT15ZbvIgURmCzW5JjW1MhXyxLWidrxFloWmrWevBz1xlON8ppqhhAZhDqdWeGP5FczXqiy0EVUttE3y_tkXQ/s1600/nalgene+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia9XC_CSqMe65IIAKPJ5XVvAbNqj9a3iQO3FVPjskA4AP8hZvWc__511eT15ZbvIgURmCzW5JjW1MhXyxLWidrxFloWmrWevBz1xlON8ppqhhAZhDqdWeGP5FczXqiy0EVUttE3y_tkXQ/s320/nalgene+2.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div>

Weight Watcher Recipes Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower

I have no doubt that my continued On Plan success this week has come from the aid of my husband in the cooking department. There is simply ...

Senior Software Quality Engineer (C++, Java, QA, SQC, Automated test) (#108676)

3:55 PM Anonymous 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div dir="LTR">Position: Senior Software Quality Engineer Location: Milpitas, CA Duration: Full time Job Description: The EBEAM division is the leading manufacturer of advanced Wafer Review & Inspection systems. Our electron-beam (e-Beam) review and classification system accurately identifies and sources high resolution images of wafer defects. The defect classification system delivers the performance required to re-locate, image and classify yield-critical defects for the 2Xnm design node and beyond, whereas Our electron beam inspection system captures leading-edge physical and electrical defects on a wide range of layers and structures, supporting advanced process development and production monitoring. Responsibilities:</div><div dir="LTR">As Software Quality Engineer you will: •Develop and execute software Test Plans, Procedures, and Automated Test Scripts. •Design and develop Software Test Automation framework utilizing simulators, Review and inspection systems, this will include developing test code in QTP test scripts, Java, Python, Perl. •Participate in all stages of software development including deployment/trouble shooting at customer sites. •Must have good understanding of general SW principles. •Need to be able to work with hardware and systems/application groups to understand system requirements and map them to a software design. •Interact with multi site team members •Handle software sustaining activities •Be able to communicate effectively, conduct technical presentations. •Be able to conduct detailed analysis, consider the tradeoffs for the various solutions, and make decisions on which solution to implement and why. •Leverage on teams strength and abilities. •Regularly interacts with senior management or executive levels on matters concerning several functional areas, divisions and/or customers. •Lead and take responsibility for planning and test execution for software product excellence in quality, reliability, user experience and functionality. •Communicate and share information, learning, and methods with cross-functional team members to achieve organizational/program goals. •Willing to travel on short notice globally. Preferred Qualifications: •Works on problems of diverse scope where analysis of data requires evaluation of identifiable factors. Demonstrates good judgment in selecting methods and techniques for obtaining solutions. •Experience in software testing, test automation. •Excellent verbal and written communications skills is a must. The candidate will be working with a culturally diverse team. •Expert level understanding of Black box, Gray box, and White box testing techniques applicable to object oriented and structured programming methodologies. •Expert knowledge of software development life cycles i.e. Waterfall, SCRUM, DOD V..etc •Must be able to work with changing priorities and schedule pressures. •Knowledge of equipment automation - SEMI standards/ SECS/GEM is a plus including software such as SECSim Pro or CCS Envoy. •Experience in testing Semiconductor Motion control software, Machine vision software and other software interfacing variety of hardware is a major plus. •IBM's Rational Team Concert (RTC)  is a plus. Minimum Qualifications: Master's Level Degree with at least 3 years of experience or equivalent. OR Bachelor's Level Degree with at least 5 years of experience or equivalent. Kindly send your resumes to <a href="mailto:Sivaram.bose@kla-tencor.com">Sivaram.bose@kla-tencor.com</a></div></div>

Senior Software Quality Engineer (C++, Java, QA, SQC, Automated test) (#108676)

Position : Senior Software Quality Engineer Location : Milpitas, CA Duration : Full time Job Description : The EBEAM division ...

Tuesdays with Morrie

2:17 PM Tukiyooo 0

Tomorrow we are going to the theatre to see the play "Tuesdays with Morrie" (or should that be Thursdays with Morrie?!) This book was turned in to a film and now obviously a play. Ciaran very much enjoyed the book, as did I.  He passed it to a good friend of his who passed it around his whole family while on a big family holiday.  It is possibly the only book he has read that he recommended to someone else, other then "A catcher in the rye". I hope we enjoy the play - I saw the film and did not think it was up to much in comparison to the book. It is on in the <a href="http://www.draiocht.ie/">Draiocht theatre</a> which is close to my work and where we used to live.  Before we moved house we used to regularly go to the theatre with a meal beforehand in a little Italian restaurant next door to the theatre.  We would walk from out house (or cycle) and we always commented how civilised it was to have a theatre so close to our house!  I miss that.....  :-( If you are on Facebook check out <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.434438253259183.86462.122333021136376&type=1">ODKM</a>'s new office furniture (supplied by <a href="http://www.kubekitchens.ie/calligaris-tables">Kube</a>) - looks great but I don't think Bones will be happy to hear he is banned from going near it! BTW, tomorrow night is <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Arthurs-Day-2012/170085959747908">Arthur's Day</a>, hope you enjoy it!!! Raise a pint of the black stuff for me and I'll do the same for you!

Tuesdays with Morrie

Tomorrow we are going to the theatre to see the play "Tuesdays with Morrie" (or should that be Thursdays with Morrie?!) This book ...

Electrical Systems Manufacture Engineer (RF, digital, analogue, PCB Manufacturing) (#108589)

11:40 AM Anonymous 0

Position:  Electrical Systems Manufacture Engineer Location: Milpitas, CA Duration: Full time Job Description: KLA-Tencor's SensArray Sensor Wafers provides a unique way of monitoring equipment that effects process environment of production wafers which is not available from conventional process. Measurements such as temperature and RF voltage are used by both chipmakers and process monitoring equipment manufacturers to visualize, diagnose, and control their processes and process tools. Responsibilities: Primary responsibilities: Develop, implement, maintain methods and operation sequence process in the manufacture or fabrication of parts, components, sub‑assemblies, and final assemblies.  Interface with design engineering in coordinating the release of new products.  Estimate manufacturing cost, determine time standards and makes recommendation for tooling and process requirements of new or existing product lines. Maintain records and reporting systems for coordination of manufacturing operations. KNOWLEDGE: Having wide-ranging experience, use professional concepts and company objectives to resolve complex issues in creative and effective ways. JOB COMPLEXITY: Work on complex issues where analysis of situations or data requires an in-depth evaluation of variable factors. Exercise judgment in selecting methods, techniques and evaluation criteria for obtaining results. Internal and external contacts often pertain to company plans and objectives. SUPERVISION: Determine methods and procedures on new assignments, and may provide guidance to other personnel. The successful candidate will have excellent electrical system troubleshooting and diagnostic skills.  As such, the candidate must be able to work in a wide range of aspects of electrical systems, i.e. RF, digital, analogue, power, packaging/thermal, and F/W. As the primary interface between the design engineering team and manufacturing, the candidate must be the champion and have a well versed knowledge in design for manufacturability and design for test. In addition, the candidate will be a primary technical interface with suppliers. Preferred Qualifications: •Excellent communication skills. •Experienced with Cadence schematic and layout tools. • Work experience in PCB manufacture or design. Minimum Qualifications: Doctorate (Academic) with at least 2 years of experience. OR Master's Level Degree with at least 5 years of experience. OR Bachelor's Level Degree with at least 8 years of experience. Kindly send your resumes to <A HREF="mailto:Sivaram.bose@kla-tencor.com">Sivaram.bose@kla-tencor.com</A>

Electrical Systems Manufacture Engineer (RF, digital, analogue, PCB Manufacturing) (#108589)

Position : Electrical Systems Manufacture Engineer Location : Milpitas, CA Duration : Full time Job Description : KLA-Tencor&...

Morpholio Trace

11:30 AM Tukiyooo 0

Yesterday <a href="http://mymorpholio.com/">The Morpholio Project</a> released the app <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/morpholio-trace/id547274918?ls=1&mt=8">Trace</a>, "an evolution of design process, enabling the development of ideas, free thinking and communication amongst a global community of designers and creators." <iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/50059894?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=ff9933" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="640"></iframe> This morning I played around with the app briefly, importing a photo and "tracing" over it with black and red lines, adding sheet after sheet, just like a real roll of tracing paper (nothing worth posting here, believe me). Basically Trace is a drawing tool, along the lines of the gazillion others on iTunes, but one that is synced up with <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/morpholio/id484413042?mt=8">Morpholio</a>, therefore allowing people to import their portfolio and mark it up. Sketches can then be saved, emailed or shared again via the Morpholio app. I'll admit that I've browsed Morpholio, but I've yet to upload anything to it, so therefore I'm missing out on realizing the full potential of Trace. Nevertheless it's clear that Trace benefits from being straightforward (everything is up top in a retractable menu), simple (two colors—black and red—and three lined widths), and familiar (yellow just like trace paper, but with adjustable opacity) without being too sentimental, like Apple's <a href="http://scm-l3.technorati.com/12/09/12/71981/ibooks-shelves.jpg?t=20120912154940">wood-grain bookshelf</a>. The app is free, though various grid underlays do cost $0.99. Overall the app is a good idea with a very good execution, though it's probably best they didn't call it Bumwad.

Morpholio Trace

Yesterday The Morpholio Project released the app Trace , "an evolution of design process, enabling the development of ideas, free thin...

Poor Pain Control for Cancer Patients - NYTimes.com

9:34 AM Tukiyooo 0

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><div id="well" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div align="left"><div class="entry-content"><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">Recounting her father's struggle with cancer was difficult for the young woman, even several years after his death. He'd endured first surgery and then chemotherapy and radiation, she told me, and the cancer had gone into remission. He was thrilled, but the aggressive treatment left him with chronic, debilitating pain. Once active, he struggled to get around in his own home.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">"It wasn't the cancer that got him," the daughter said. "It was the pain."</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">Her father had turned to all of his doctors, with little relief. His surgeon had looked at his operative wounds, pronounced them well healed, then stated that they were in no way responsible for his disability. Both his cancer doctor and his radiation doctor congratulated him on being in remission but then declined to prescribe pain medications since they were no longer treating him and couldn't provide ongoing follow-up and dosing guidance. His primary care doctor listened intently to his descriptions of his limitations, but then prescribed only small amounts of pain meds that offered fleeting relief at best.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">"I'll never forget what my father had to go through," she said, weeping. "I wouldn't wish this on anyone."</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">I wish I could have reassured her that her father's case was unusual. Sadly, according to a <a href="http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/early/2012/04/11/JCO.2011.39.2381.abstract" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; ">new study in The Journal of Clinical Oncology</a>, a significant percentage of cancer patients continue to suffer from pain as her father did.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">Researchers who surveyed more than 3,000 cancer patients found that nearly two-thirds said they were in pain or receiving pain medications. Roughly a third felt they needed more painkillers to fully treat their symptoms.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">A month after the patients saw their oncologists, the researchers again asked the patients about their pain. Instead of showing improvement, the percentage of patients who continued to be in pain remained unchanged.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">Their pain, in other words, had not been treated.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">The findings are a sobering echo of research from nearly two decades ago that revealed that <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199403033300902" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; ">more than 40 percent of cancer patients</a> did not receive adequate treatment for their pain. While patients were reluctant to ask for relief or to take prescribed pain medications, the researchers found that physicians were just as unwilling to prescribe the needed medications. Nearly a third of cancer specialists waited until the patient was only months away from death <a href="http://annals.org/article.aspx?volume=119&page=121" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; ">before offering maximum pain control</a>.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">These results were eye-opening for the oncology community and helped fuel a firestorm of initiatives in the late 1990s and early 2000s aimed at improving how doctors address pain in general. <a href="http://www.mbc.ca.gov/licensee/continuing_education_laws.html" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; ">State medical boards</a> began to mandate that all doctors take pain management courses before renewing their licenses to practice. In a move presaging today's checklists, pain was declared a patient's "fifth vital sign," a body function to be assessed after temperature, heart rate, respiration rate and blood pressure. And <a href="http://www.va.gov/PAINMANAGEMENT/docs/TOOLKIT.pdf" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; ">hospital systems</a>, regulatory <a href="http://www.fedprac.com/PDF/027120026.pdf" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; ">agencies</a> and entire medical specialty organizations, confident that better education and more explicit efforts were all that was needed, heralded the various proposals as the new norm.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">Unfortunately, that new norm turned out to be not so different from the old.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">"It was a 'Groundhog Day' moment, certainly not a feel-good one," said Dr. Michael J. Fisch, lead author of the recent study and professor and chairman of the department of general oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. While there had been a slight improvement in the number of patients whose pain was controlled, nearly a third of patients were still inadequately treated.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">Some of the disappointing results may have been owed to physician and patient fears of narcotic addiction or concerns over side effects. But the main reason, Dr. Fisch and his colleagues believe, is that early initiatives simply underestimated the complexity of good pain management.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">To optimize pain treatment, physicians need to carefully navigate the exam-room interaction, ask open-ended questions and empathize with patients who, in some of the most challenging cases, come from backgrounds very different from their own and describe pain and its effects on their lives in unique ways. A patient from China, for example, might describe her leg as feeling "sour" rather than painful. A man from a community that values stoicism might mention that he is now confined to his bedroom but not volunteer a description of sharp, 8-out-of-10 knifelike pain that he now suffers from intermittently.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">Not surprisingly, minority patients in the study tended to have more difficulty getting adequate pain control.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">Cancer patients who were living with the disease were also less likely to have their pain adequately controlled, compared with others. The current reimbursement insurance system offers little incentive to any single provider to take on responsibility for all of their complex needs. Oncologists may no longer be interested in seeing or caring for them because they have finished their cancer treatment and are doing relatively "well." Primary care providers may not be comfortable taking on the intricate follow-up schedules required to detect recurrent cancer.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">And many doctors may simply hesitate to take on the heavy responsibility of monitoring a patient's ongoing narcotic use, the complicated challenge of figuring out whether the dosage is sufficient while worrying about the potentially lethal complications of prescribing too much, or creating an opportunity for abuse.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">"A doctor can't help but wonder, 'Am I going to be the one responsible for refilling these prescriptions until the end of this patient's life?'" Dr. Fisch said.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">While this study offers important follow-up data to work conducted two decades earlier, it also represents a growing interest among researchers in the symptoms of cancer, particularly for the growing number of people who are living longer than patients from even a decade ago. Thanks to advances in cancer treatment, more than half of all cancer patients now live five years or more <a href="http://www.ecogsoapp.com/index.html" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; ">past their initial cancer diagnosis</a>. "We need to be better prepared for this best-case scenario," Dr. Fisch said, because it's one that can include not only more years of life but also persistent fatigue, arthritis, hot flashes, depression, sleep problems and chronic pain.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">In the case of chronic pain, one thing is clear: Adding assessments to a checklist of vital signs and mandating more physician education aren't enough.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; ">"Pain is all about the doctor-patient relationship and taking the whole person into account," Dr. Fisch said. "Those things are not quick fixes."</div></div></div></div></div><a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/poor-pain-control-for-cancer-patients/?ref=health&pagewanted=print">http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/poor-pain-control-for-cancer-patients/?ref=health&pagewanted=print</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "> </div>

Poor Pain Control for Cancer Patients - NYTimes.com

Recounting her father's struggle with cancer was difficult for the young woman, even several years after his death. He'd endured fir...

thrifting thru the south

7:54 AM Anonymous 0

Looking thru someone's vacation pics can be a bit of a bore, but I promise you will like these.  We've done this drive a dozen times, so this year we decided to take our time getting down to FLA and take 'back roads', stopping in towns and shops along the way. (Do I have a great hubs or what?!) I won't attempt to even remember where each of these things were, just know that next year I think I'll drive a U-Haul down. Enough gibber gabber. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd8CFYF4gFHlmhE3_h7aCn-0TQxLk4VmnkeTYrMdnu4pQo8M28cjUqXlu6YJktdqi6oEiSaEV6oLeV8mdTwJ6qC1j7ny0TVgkTasqkNxDtDLlPiSp0UFUZDD4qI3a1BRCS0DL192ZyD5JJ/s1600/P8249200.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd8CFYF4gFHlmhE3_h7aCn-0TQxLk4VmnkeTYrMdnu4pQo8M28cjUqXlu6YJktdqi6oEiSaEV6oLeV8mdTwJ6qC1j7ny0TVgkTasqkNxDtDLlPiSp0UFUZDD4qI3a1BRCS0DL192ZyD5JJ/s640/P8249200.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy09iwtaeIJsBbym4BtoyM1oRL2uHUXZlcsvLAW5_ZQC8-SD7m_ellP8_87lShPMQpJ1MuCZpeoNrXwGX_w5RFKbj8uKdUE5WGA1hxPgXGC5BcRug48qoRyX16f_emA8eAB4DfizJTSq3F/s1600/IMG_0010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy09iwtaeIJsBbym4BtoyM1oRL2uHUXZlcsvLAW5_ZQC8-SD7m_ellP8_87lShPMQpJ1MuCZpeoNrXwGX_w5RFKbj8uKdUE5WGA1hxPgXGC5BcRug48qoRyX16f_emA8eAB4DfizJTSq3F/s640/IMG_0010.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7K7R8R0nEfSLVJOgIIR6kK52vH0EnDhItgyqMxRfwAhnxt0XRn2nwp_8P2cXupFR3NO4VsW-S0XXOXvM9WX-rzNPwLyJ-Q8f2oyQEr10TkidrlsDpqfaaR0OFWyXOpV2sfuMs_MrvFXOE/s1600/IMG_0013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7K7R8R0nEfSLVJOgIIR6kK52vH0EnDhItgyqMxRfwAhnxt0XRn2nwp_8P2cXupFR3NO4VsW-S0XXOXvM9WX-rzNPwLyJ-Q8f2oyQEr10TkidrlsDpqfaaR0OFWyXOpV2sfuMs_MrvFXOE/s640/IMG_0013.JPG" width="476" /></a></div>There were 8 of these chairs (2 arm and 6 regular). AND extra fabric and they were a steal. I don't want to talk about it. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjitZUJnmsug0m3pZnU7rTWbXD_2sop7YgopMUljVPaJffP77VGeX8QDE0qDT_YgPR88kOj_PA0X4BNpmIgxfbZXVOU7bzW5iCqebZ7xRGQqAbqg2rj1qGQ3k9eN4exYi9zw1zACGr0eVph/s1600/IMG_0014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjitZUJnmsug0m3pZnU7rTWbXD_2sop7YgopMUljVPaJffP77VGeX8QDE0qDT_YgPR88kOj_PA0X4BNpmIgxfbZXVOU7bzW5iCqebZ7xRGQqAbqg2rj1qGQ3k9eN4exYi9zw1zACGr0eVph/s640/IMG_0014.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> More Foo <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHAmQYkUuQ_J_PtyhzZpX2JSDXwM2StrslPP-nc7twLO42m6UHnmC8WowZ2sQTeFaJgEFMl27w-pa2aozdO1G9hDfOqc2DmD7VPuMjIEiGGrSnDaLhrMrNvvjBebwqgtje2nC0iTWHH4qA/s1600/IMG_0015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHAmQYkUuQ_J_PtyhzZpX2JSDXwM2StrslPP-nc7twLO42m6UHnmC8WowZ2sQTeFaJgEFMl27w-pa2aozdO1G9hDfOqc2DmD7VPuMjIEiGGrSnDaLhrMrNvvjBebwqgtje2nC0iTWHH4qA/s640/IMG_0015.JPG" width="476" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-bDTNrjFGnVXBExOJ66im4l9BhSOUhPdZqXk5XCPKFhEAjjyyec5i1gXyING_PjGxMh5efACYpSabo2152XpgugKeleLCDK7WJXv61BEfEx7djUi2Fm5TWgS3VF9q3Z1GF-LeC46t4kL/s1600/IMG_0016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-bDTNrjFGnVXBExOJ66im4l9BhSOUhPdZqXk5XCPKFhEAjjyyec5i1gXyING_PjGxMh5efACYpSabo2152XpgugKeleLCDK7WJXv61BEfEx7djUi2Fm5TWgS3VF9q3Z1GF-LeC46t4kL/s640/IMG_0016.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjVNezSLkhSKqXq-jW3rXRu1XyUK1sLHIP_Mtk7bseU_hRJ3X5_OgZVyeepXFAqgUM9SdOnkdZ_-Di2ZGyCl_P5-XqJPCL5Ma96Mpr_0IB73qPcK4xjchowTy2ZMMWX4vhk6w18iezmgCo/s1600/IMG_0026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjVNezSLkhSKqXq-jW3rXRu1XyUK1sLHIP_Mtk7bseU_hRJ3X5_OgZVyeepXFAqgUM9SdOnkdZ_-Di2ZGyCl_P5-XqJPCL5Ma96Mpr_0IB73qPcK4xjchowTy2ZMMWX4vhk6w18iezmgCo/s640/IMG_0026.JPG" width="476" /></a></div> Love the white chandy. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7JMOXaOdPpvx2eTxSnLjUJOE_7j7GmbKJOcSOPGxC7pBFUABCZ2zUqoH1Evk0RMgXkEp9XGJkqgSrbB6uCZvdenF2VwaQJgNNgLSpN5S0_7xLeWbaoA_qDcJbE5UE7jqc_msQHk0TYIu/s1600/IMG_0086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7JMOXaOdPpvx2eTxSnLjUJOE_7j7GmbKJOcSOPGxC7pBFUABCZ2zUqoH1Evk0RMgXkEp9XGJkqgSrbB6uCZvdenF2VwaQJgNNgLSpN5S0_7xLeWbaoA_qDcJbE5UE7jqc_msQHk0TYIu/s640/IMG_0086.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTLZAV-VESN4YVdAF0RIGG8WIhxl-o1YS9XxkMcGwAp-aYtEa6ywc-GwyvRzIIHXghKH627bW_lT6s-ZCsiqYCvlkbzXRCthya-LMfes9ZC8hCdouAP5zAu2cy2Yo4K62VRmI9YvhLej13/s1600/IMG_0300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTLZAV-VESN4YVdAF0RIGG8WIhxl-o1YS9XxkMcGwAp-aYtEa6ywc-GwyvRzIIHXghKH627bW_lT6s-ZCsiqYCvlkbzXRCthya-LMfes9ZC8hCdouAP5zAu2cy2Yo4K62VRmI9YvhLej13/s640/IMG_0300.JPG" width="476" /></a></div>Great vintage chandy for a little girls room. And on the way home, we went to Heaven aka <a href="http://www.scottantiquemarket.com/" target="_blank">Scott Antique Market</a>. I am FOR SURE going back for more of this. It was eye candy overload, so I didn't take too many pics, but here are some of the best. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicPWfSMcbUfFKxn60j42qNaLfpXnJEgS4-jtJ61SYcziiMFAPYwtVdCi8novSAtrurQV2yMibK1HfHQsrCzT16UjSGxo7AczD8OflcxLOtcCtH0RuJ5HE5GFv7cYLh8YaZDfI3bO7MGOqS/s1600/IMG_0236.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicPWfSMcbUfFKxn60j42qNaLfpXnJEgS4-jtJ61SYcziiMFAPYwtVdCi8novSAtrurQV2yMibK1HfHQsrCzT16UjSGxo7AczD8OflcxLOtcCtH0RuJ5HE5GFv7cYLh8YaZDfI3bO7MGOqS/s640/IMG_0236.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN5S0ZJ49l5haer8_M9Pfjf1tT7isoa3hq0cFHHbsImZWWpxtn0P6Zs6-BiYxVX_0b74beTHUxp6FVGIqk_RnP-sRe78mcJSM_b-g-CgtB_alXxZehzN-nQmLFecQrWX19MMCguJ2qpMRc/s1600/IMG_0237.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN5S0ZJ49l5haer8_M9Pfjf1tT7isoa3hq0cFHHbsImZWWpxtn0P6Zs6-BiYxVX_0b74beTHUxp6FVGIqk_RnP-sRe78mcJSM_b-g-CgtB_alXxZehzN-nQmLFecQrWX19MMCguJ2qpMRc/s640/IMG_0237.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgko-F_0Gu-CbEJ1KLTsSCBZGu2knwJYJD90kTQ8pzhD7VZn8aiXooe53fexhFabzzhhc5_196WsfjpDntprssQP-CbBVF8ogN2FJQiuoNP99Xk32QP_22RL1e9Lo7Cpeo3ab7be-E32cS8/s1600/IMG_0238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgko-F_0Gu-CbEJ1KLTsSCBZGu2knwJYJD90kTQ8pzhD7VZn8aiXooe53fexhFabzzhhc5_196WsfjpDntprssQP-CbBVF8ogN2FJQiuoNP99Xk32QP_22RL1e9Lo7Cpeo3ab7be-E32cS8/s640/IMG_0238.JPG" width="476" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWuU6aw74LC2vE-8H3x3V27y-rWXG1vvkydg33I4y52c64LcmgaSMV0wBGm0Uhmq49SLdSxW0eRVseFJz6xNBwqVn132QleBgZKZ1SfLnY5otoAZ9hqXTD_JKZBQofp7a74jL1fPdgnGK/s1600/IMG_0239.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWuU6aw74LC2vE-8H3x3V27y-rWXG1vvkydg33I4y52c64LcmgaSMV0wBGm0Uhmq49SLdSxW0eRVseFJz6xNBwqVn132QleBgZKZ1SfLnY5otoAZ9hqXTD_JKZBQofp7a74jL1fPdgnGK/s640/IMG_0239.JPG" width="476" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiSLw90yygGtceCNwkd6z_yYC7i3LmnY9R7GK8jU0dsr2QMW_AhoZZPwygv7EEec61oyqdL4X1t5Va-P6P321APJ4q9vhSH9DOZvbWFx9G7ULlhiH6GDwYk3GCetvhlqFKZ9WGr8AJKotk/s1600/IMG_0240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiSLw90yygGtceCNwkd6z_yYC7i3LmnY9R7GK8jU0dsr2QMW_AhoZZPwygv7EEec61oyqdL4X1t5Va-P6P321APJ4q9vhSH9DOZvbWFx9G7ULlhiH6GDwYk3GCetvhlqFKZ9WGr8AJKotk/s640/IMG_0240.JPG" width="476" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF8DrCOt41pO9uISmnPUFr1Cl-XomazLLgzGuCPlZ_ddfEt7rg10ib3j6QfeimkwxZWEHiSYR5EB92SSqLdcJzBR_3uaSUZvbgki-gL1_0E9DuK3jZGc5vyvu9HULCIL6uxZFeql8JawHi/s1600/IMG_0241.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF8DrCOt41pO9uISmnPUFr1Cl-XomazLLgzGuCPlZ_ddfEt7rg10ib3j6QfeimkwxZWEHiSYR5EB92SSqLdcJzBR_3uaSUZvbgki-gL1_0E9DuK3jZGc5vyvu9HULCIL6uxZFeql8JawHi/s640/IMG_0241.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7TYkXaL-WzU2uIwcq-qaXjV9k0uQAAQtjHeKvAnPcpaO-C8t7T4fdYv4QOuZzA3dB1yVuJ0b-Ta7dS1OA69KHlPT8OOscj2niEuis4DONnsgXCL_xlu9PsMvBppqrXuzmOsIIEd2Hzy6O/s1600/IMG_0242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7TYkXaL-WzU2uIwcq-qaXjV9k0uQAAQtjHeKvAnPcpaO-C8t7T4fdYv4QOuZzA3dB1yVuJ0b-Ta7dS1OA69KHlPT8OOscj2niEuis4DONnsgXCL_xlu9PsMvBppqrXuzmOsIIEd2Hzy6O/s640/IMG_0242.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi90K9ja8NAy6YnIafBzfXjvaob-Kty104L4DhOtkpEORLemRFxJ6Nr52gBhczGii3ajCYyD13WndpACQ2R7J4heaYGdLXfViYAd1X7UVoTsQDaxVVO5Q7N2hGT3g1wkI4dsUvhu-nZSky0/s1600/IMG_0243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi90K9ja8NAy6YnIafBzfXjvaob-Kty104L4DhOtkpEORLemRFxJ6Nr52gBhczGii3ajCYyD13WndpACQ2R7J4heaYGdLXfViYAd1X7UVoTsQDaxVVO5Q7N2hGT3g1wkI4dsUvhu-nZSky0/s640/IMG_0243.JPG" width="476" /></a></div>Memories. Some of these things I might have taken home with me (but not as many as I wanted to). Stay tuned...

thrifting thru the south

Looking thru someone's vacation pics can be a bit of a bore, but I promise you will like these. We've done this drive a dozen times...

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 09/26/2012

2:30 AM Tukiyooo 0

<ul class="diigo-linkroll"> <li> <a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2012/09/advisory_groups_creating_a_positive_school_community.html">Advisory Groups: Creating a Positive School Community - Finding Common Ground - Education Week</a> Nice article on student advisory groups as part of school climate reform. The climate in a school is so important. "According to the latest National School Climate Study (2012) "A growing number of State Depart¬ments of Education are focusing on school climate reform as an essential component of school improvement and/or bully prevention" (page. 2). Schools are often looking for quality ways to create a safe atmosphere for students. Using advisory groups is one way to promote a healthier and more nurturing school climate. Student advisory groups are not what you are probably thinking. This doesn't just mean that school social workers and school psychologists work with groups of students who are in need. Advisory groups are small groups of students that span the grades in the school system and every staff member has a part in it. It can help make a large school feel a little bit smaller." tags: <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edreform">edreform</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/tumblr">tumblr</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2012/09/in_byot_its_the_y_and_o_that_matters.html?intc=es">In BYOT It's the Y and O That Matters - Finding Common Ground - Education Week</a> "The students were surprised that I was allowing handheld games. I made the decision for several reasons, one of which is that I don't like to ban things that I think have positive potential. I feel that it is our job as educators to teach students how to use something properly rather than ban it because it makes us uncomfortable. We do that a lot in education. We don't like something or do not fully understand it so we ban it. However, some very innovative districts are researching ways to allow students to bring in their own devices. They understand that we either get on board with technology because it's an integral part of our students' existence or we get left behind, and schools can't afford to get left behind. In a report entitled BYOT: How Personal Technology is Transforming the Classroom, Greenwood-Henke says, "The "Y" and "O" are much more important that the "T" in BYOT"." tags: <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/byot">byot</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/byod">byod</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/byol">byol</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edreform">edreform</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://mashable.com/2012/09/25/extinct-office-tech/">Not Just the Fax: 10 Office Technologies on Their Way Out</a> A linked in survey reviews the technologies on their way out in the next 5 years. An interesting post for office managers and administrators of all kinds to read. I think that you should ask what is replacing these things. If you're blocking Skype and VOIP, you're stuck with a desktop phone, for example.  Topping the list.  "1. Tape recorders (79 percent) 2. Fax machines (71 percent) 3. The Rolodex (58 percent) 4. Standard working hours (57 percent) 5. Desk phones (35 percent) 6. Desktop computers (34 percent)" tags: <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/office">office</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/management">management</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/tumblr">tumblr</a> </li> </ul>Posted from <a href='http://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 09/26/2012

Advisory Groups: Creating a Positive School Community - Finding Common Ground - Education Week Nice ...