Envelope tests positive for ricin at Washington mail facility

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="234" id="ep_672" width="416"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="movie" value="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_embed_2x_container.swf?site=cnn&profile=desktop&context=embed&videoId=us/2013/04/17/piers-bash-ricin-letter-latest.cnn&contentId=us/2013/04/17/piers-bash-ricin-letter-latest.cnn" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000" /><embed src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_embed_2x_container.swf?site=cnn&profile=desktop&context=embed&videoId=us/2013/04/17/piers-bash-ricin-letter-latest.cnn&contentId=us/2013/04/17/piers-bash-ricin-letter-latest.cnn" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="416" wmode="transparent" height="234"></embed></object><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 166px;"><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></div><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 9px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/global/red_bull.gif); background-position: 0px 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">Laboratory tests confirmed the presence of ricin, Senate official says</li><li style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/global/red_bull.gif); background-position: 0px 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">The letter had a Memphis, Tennessee, postmark and no return address</li><li style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/global/red_bull.gif); background-position: 0px 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">It was addressed to Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi</li><li style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/global/red_bull.gif); background-position: 0px 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ricin is a highly toxic substance derived from castor beans</li></ul></div></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Washington (CNN)</strong> -- An envelope that tested positive for the deadly poison ricin was intercepted Tuesday afternoon at the U.S. Capitol's off-site mail facility in Washington, congressional and law enforcement sources tell CNN.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he was told the letter was addressed to the office of Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi. A laboratory in Maryland confirmed the presence of ricin after initial field tests indicated the poison was present, according to Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance Gainer.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">However, the FBI said additional testing is needed as field and preliminary tests produce inconsistent results.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Only a full analysis performed at an accredited laboratory can determine the presence of a biological agent such as ricin," according to the bureau. "Those tests are in the process of being conducted and generally take from 24 to 48 hours."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">In a statement late Tuesday, the U.S. Capitol Police said more tests would be conducted at the Army's biomedical research laboratory at Fort Detrick, Maryland.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The letter had a Memphis, Tennessee, postmark and no return address, Gainer wrote in an e-mail to senators and aides.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sen. Claire McCaskill told reporters after a briefing for lawmakers that a suspect has already been identified in the incident, but a knowledgeable source said no one was in custody Tuesday night.</div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="em1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt cnn_strylftcexpbx" id="expand18" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 27px 0px 10px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="clickToPlay" id="clickToPlayvideoContainerexpand18" style="background-image: url(http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/video/416_player_Click_to_play_off.png); border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; height: 42px; left: 45px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 27px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 136px; zoom: 1;"></div><img alt="" border="0" class="box-image" height="120" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130416185607-tsr-bash-suspicious-letter-sent-to-senate-office-00022225-story-body.jpg" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="214" /><cite class="expCaption" style="background-color: black; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; bottom: 0px; height: 20px; left: 10px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0.85; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 214px;"><span style="border: 0px; color: white; display: block; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; left: 4px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; top: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;">Letter laced with ricin sent to Senate</span></cite></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Wicker, the junior senator from Mississippi, has been assigned a protective detail, according to a law enforcement source.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/16/health/what-is-ricin/index.html" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A primer on ricin</a></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Postal workers started handling mail at a site off Capitol Hill after the 2001 anthrax attacks that targeted then-Majority Leader Tom Daschle and Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, among others. Senators were told the post office would be temporarily shut down "to make sure they get everything squared away," McCaskill, D-Missouri, said Tuesday afternoon.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"The bottom line is, the process we have in place worked," she said. Members will be warning their home-state offices to look out for similar letters, she added.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">A previous ricin scare hit the Capitol in 2004, when tests identified a letter in a Senate mailroom that served then-Majority Leader Bill Frist's office. The discovery forced 16 employees to go through decontamination procedures, but no one reported any ill effects afterward, Frist said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ricin is a highly toxic substance derived from castor beans. As little as 500 micrograms -- an amount the size of the head of a pin -- can kill an adult. There is no specific test for exposure and no antidote once exposed.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">It can be produced easily and cheaply, and authorities in several countries have investigated links between suspect extremists and ricin. But experts say it is more effective on individuals than as a weapon of mass destruction.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ricin was used in the 1978 assassination of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov. The author, who had defected nine years earlier, was jabbed by the tip of an umbrella while waiting for a bus in London and died four days later.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Wicker, 61, was first appointed by former Republican Gov. Haley Barbour to the U.S. Senate in December 2007 after the resignation of then-Sen. Trent Lott. He was then elected to the seat in 2008 and won re-election in 2012 to a second term.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Before joining the Senate, he was a U.S. representative in the House from 1995 to 2007. Before that, he served in the Mississippi Senate.</div></div>

Envelope tests Envelope tests positive for ricin at Washington mail facility

STORY HIGHLIGHTS Laboratory tests confirmed the presence of ricin, Senate official says The letter had a Memphis, Tennessee, postmark and no...

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Mental Health, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Become Concerns After Boston Marathon Explosion

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><br /><div class="float_left" style="border: none; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div id="potd_block" style="border: none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="big_photo" itemprop="photo" style="border: none; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Mental Health Boston Explosion" class="pinit" height="190" id="img_caption_3095183" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1090263/thumbs/s-MENTAL-HEALTH-BOSTON-EXPLOSION-large.jpg?15" style="border: none; height: auto; list-style: none; margin: 1px; max-width: inherit !important; padding: 0px;" width="260" /><div class="caption" style="border: none; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 0px 7px; max-width: 260px; padding: 0px; width: 260px;">A woman kneels and prays at the scene of the first explosion on Boylston Street near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15.</div></div></div></div><div class="articleBody" itemprop="articleBody" style="border: none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">The morning after the deadly Boston Marathon explosions, Joyce Maguire Pavao called local hospitals and the Red Cross, rushing to find victims.</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Family and friends who had been near the attack were unscathed, but Pavao, a psychologist who usually works in child welfare, was looking for something else: people who needed help recovering from trauma.</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">"It's like an experience in an war zone, a bomb on a sidewalk," said Pavao. "It's traumatic for the people that were involved, for those hurt, for those who saw them get hurt, for the people that helped afterwards."</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">After two bombs packed with pellets exploded near the finish line of the city's marathon Monday, killing three people and injuring more than 170, the recovery continues. The streets are being cleaned of debris, hospitals are tending to victims with burns and severed limbs, and law authorities are investigating a terrorist act. But as Boston slowly returns to normal, people like Pavao are tending to an often less visible effect of disaster: post-traumatic stress disorder and mental health issues that can emerge in weeks, months and years after the trauma.</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">"There is so much we know about PTSD these days, and there are so many instances in our world that are traumatic. If we acknowledge them and find the best way to address them, we can save people from having residual, difficult problems," said Pavao. "Horrible images are ingrained in people's minds, and there will be memories and triggers. But you can manage them better if you have assistance, if you have someone to talk to."</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Across Boston, trauma counselors, disaster chaplains and mental health professionals were dispatched to hospitals, churches and recovery resource centers to help those who are spiritually and emotionally drained, and in shock.</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Not far from the blast sites is the Park Plaza Castle, a historic Victorian building that's become a makeshift resource center for victims, where Boston officials are offering shelter to displaced residents and information on counseling. In New York and across several states, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has a 24-hour, toll-free "<a href="http://www.disasterdistress.samhsa.gov/" style="border: none; color: #6aa3b1; cursor: pointer; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">disaster distress helpline</a>" (1-800-985-5990). Though it had only logged a few dozen calls since Monday, volume had doubled by Tuesday, officials said.</div><div class="ad_wrapper" id="ad_mid_article" style="border: none; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 10px 10px 10px 0px; padding: 0px; width: 300px;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="250" hspace="0" id="adsonar_serve786435" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="adsonar_serve786435" scrolling="no" src="http://ads.tw.adsonar.com/adserving/getAds.jsp?previousPlacementIds=&placementId=1519975&pid=2301767&ps=-1&zw=300&zh=250&url=http%3A//www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/16/mental-health-post-traumatic-stress-boston-explosion_n_3095183.html&v=5&dct=Mental%20Health%2C%20Post-Traumatic%20Stress%20Disorder%20Become%20Concerns%20After%20Boston%20Marathon%20Explosion&ref=http%3A//www.google.com/trends/hottrends&metakw=mental,health,,post-traumatic,stress,disorder,become,concerns,after,boston,marathon,explosion" style="border-style: none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" vspace="0" width="300"></iframe></div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">"Trauma is a completely natural response to an unnatural event, and most people are resilient," said Lloyd Sederer, medical director of the New York State Office of Mental Health. "But you need to help people understand what happened, that these are predictable symptoms and that there are ways to take care of yourself."</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Sederer, who administered mental health programs in New York City after Sept. 11 and is currently organizing similar resources for Hurricane Sandy victims, said many witnesses to the Boston attack may have trauma symptoms in the days and possibly weeks after the bombings, including a general sense of fear, mental replays of the experience and nightmares. But he cautioned that a minority could develop longer-lasting PTSD and related symptoms, such sudden debilitating flashbacks, anxiety, social isolation and drug and alcohol abuse.</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">"The (physically) closer you are to the experience, the more it is potentially life-threatening to you or the closer you get to witnessing a life-threatening or deadly event, the more likely you will remember it indelibly," he said. "The most important resources are your own family and community. It helps to talk to someone to understand what you have gone through."</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">That's one of the reasons for the disaster distress hotline, said Anne Mathews-Younes, who directs mental health services for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The administration, which also runs National Suicide Prevention Hotline, first launched the disaster line during the BP oil spill. It's been manned continuously since then, but has seen a spike since Monday.</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">"We know from experience with Hurricane Katrina that sometimes we don't immediately experience our stress or distress. Sometimes it has taken people up to two years to realize they are not feeling or acting like themselves," said Mathews-Younes. "It can be a simple as people lacking energy or not sleeping enough. We train people to give reassurance."</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Experts said isolation is one of the worst things for those who have experienced the tragedy. They point to the candlelight vigils and prayer gatherings in the Boston region throughout the week as immediate, organized ways to cope.</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Boston resident Charlotte Robinson, whose family left the marathon uninjured, described herself as "dazed" by the attack and planned to mourn at a memorial service at the Israeli consulate Tuesday evening. After she saw dozens of ambulances rush by her home in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood to aid victims on Monday, Robinson said she felt as though she was in a "horrible nightmare." But recounting the experience with her partner, Marilyn, has helped her process it, she said, and she's looking forward to reflecting with other residents.</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">"It's a somber time and it's tough to see your city like this," she said, "but it feels better if we come together."</div><div class="promo_holder clearfix" style="border: none; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;"><div class="fmvps-wrapper" id="SmartPlayer_0" style="border: none; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div id="adaptvDiv0" style="border: none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><object data="http://cfiles.5min.com/FlexPlayers/SmartPlayer_217.swf" height="411" id="FiveMinPlayer378125371613477" name="FiveMinPlayer378125371613477" style="border: none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="570"></object></div><div id="tacodaTrack_0" style="border: none; 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word-wrap: break-word;">Boston Marathon Blast Caught on Camera</span></span></a></div><div class="videoCube trc_spotlight_item horizontal origin-default thumbnail_top syndicatedItem" data-item-id="192202100089221401" data-item-syndicated="true" data-item-thumb="http://cdn.taboolasyndication.com/thumbnails/2224/192202100089221401/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.angieslist.com%2Ffiles%2Fnull%2Fbathroom_remodel_1.jpg" data-item-title="5 common bathroom remodeling mistakes to avoid" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px none rgb(214, 213, 211); box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; direction: ltr; float: left; font-size: 11px; height: auto; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; width: 135px; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://www.angieslist.com/articles/5-common-bathroom-remodeling-mistakes-avoid.htm?CID=TBL168&utm_source=taboola" rel="nofollow" style="border: 0px; 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Boston Marathon Mental Health, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Become Concerns After Boston Marathon Explosion

A woman kneels and prays at the scene of the first explosion on Boylston Street near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15. The...

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Boston Marathon Massacre...The Victim Has Been Common Sense

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Cheeeeeers Chuckleheads!!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfr2xOLmlaYwJ2H-wxZx3KAPhsqD15VM53ZAIV17hEc93dito1R6W7nJ6_D3U57cMLdqxcUM8XwLRgO-TbmFgQKH5HAnlomvyiCJdVA4abPDdSPet9zIvGVHJ4JjN5_tY8LdfiPjJiGc/s1600/Boston+Marathon+Massacre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfr2xOLmlaYwJ2H-wxZx3KAPhsqD15VM53ZAIV17hEc93dito1R6W7nJ6_D3U57cMLdqxcUM8XwLRgO-TbmFgQKH5HAnlomvyiCJdVA4abPDdSPet9zIvGVHJ4JjN5_tY8LdfiPjJiGc/s400/Boston+Marathon+Massacre.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I watched TV and listened on the radio Monday, as the great tragedy at the Boston Marathon unfolded, and I was shocked.<br /><br />Some nut job had the audacity to strike the American people once again in the form of terrorism…or was it terrorism, because as you know, that Kenyan Born President of ours did NOT say terrorism quickly enough.<br /><br />He was probably lazily, as black people are accustomed, sauntering around the White House in his dashiki saying, <i>“What the Hell?  Why some Al-Qaeda dude or white guy gotta be harshing my poll numbers?”</i><br /><br />To which Press Secretary Jay Carney probably said, <i>“Because you are THE man and we will sliiiiiide over questions of that sort.  Amirite, Mr. President?”</i><br /><br />Seriously?  This Boston Massacre thing has sent me to the moon, Alice!!<br /><br />You know which groups have been the most ridiculous during this awful event?  The Media (specifically talk radio and Cable TV) and, well…Americans themselves.<br /><br />Let me tell ya…When I first heard abut the bombings at the Boston Marathon, I didn’t realize that it was the work of a terrorist, because President Obama was measured in his initial statement.<br /><br />ONLY did I know that it was terrorism when Sean Hannity, Mark “My Testimony Helped to Set OJ Free” Fuhrman, and the gaggle of geese of goofiness at FOX News said, <i>“It’s God Damn Terrorism!!”</i><br /><br />Annnnnnnnd to piggy back on that, Sean Hannity had Rudy Guiliani on his show Tuesday night in order to allow Rudy to give his anti-terror insight, which is great, because…well…wait…<br /><br />Didn’t the World Trade Center Towers get taken down by zealot, IQ challenged foreigners under Giuliani’s watch, and yet?  He’s Lionized!!  Screw that, and screw Rudy “9-11” Giuliani!!<br /><br />There is something very sad about this incident in Boston, which is far more sad than the lost of precious life.<br /><br />There were many people, long before the dead were cold, and the amputees were de-limbed, who were blaming Obama, blaming Muslims, blaming everyone except the coward who detonated the bombs.<br /><br />That’s sad.<br /><br />Americans have become a populous of right here, right now…<br /><br />Many have become…<br /><br /><i>“I need to know which side I fall upon, and I need to know right now, so I have patriotic talking points to disperse at work, or at a church, or at my family’s house so I can look righteous and informed, even though I hate others who do not think, look, or act like me.”</i><br /><br />Sadly…I know people like that, in fact, I felt compelled to ultimately unfriend a lifelong friend over this incident yesterday on Facebook.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik6vXM4gABMyI6QAadeKM05C6nZT3QSnHtMReTbib4h2WdRZ-QWxL3yQlpA6LzGXIt_u4-sVpwX0V5k7cIKoj5C_uyK-JDHbvo2ieHoYMuHi679dIuS66DeX3FeYrpEg1m2xGfwWdJmr4/s1600/David+Lawrence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik6vXM4gABMyI6QAadeKM05C6nZT3QSnHtMReTbib4h2WdRZ-QWxL3yQlpA6LzGXIt_u4-sVpwX0V5k7cIKoj5C_uyK-JDHbvo2ieHoYMuHi679dIuS66DeX3FeYrpEg1m2xGfwWdJmr4/s320/David+Lawrence.jpg" width="305" /></a></div><br />Uuch…While he has always been somewhat of a Tea Party-type nut, he implied that when the GOVERNMENT came out with their report on the Boston bombing, it would be a cover-up!!<br /><br />Yeah…It’s just like the United States government to cover up a bomb blast that killed three and injured hundreds, especially when thousands of personal cameras and 24 hour cable TV is around recording it all.<br /><br />I have my theory about this brutal lunacy, and I think it’s homegrown, but from this, I have also developed another theory based upon the comments that I have read after the tragedy.<br /><br />While my life is not the resplendent amusement park that I would have hoped it would be at this point, I am happy, however…<br /><br />I think there are many 5’7 or shorter white guys out there who blame their lack of getting laid on Muslim, Black President Kenyans, who have sequestered the hell out of police protection, which resulted in the bombing of an event which is host to many foreigners, whom they hate to begin with.<br /><br />Wait…What? No, that’s about right.<br /><br /><i>Cheers!!</i><br /><br /><i>Matt-Man</i><br /><i><a href="mailto:mattman@ymail.com">mattman@ymail.com</a></i><br /><i><a href="https://twitter.com/MattMan_IWS" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">@mattman_iws </span></a></i></div>

Boston Marathon Massacre...The Victim Has Been Common Sense

Cheeeeeers Chuckleheads!! I watched TV and listened on the radio Monday, as the great tragedy at the Boston Marathon unfolded, and I was sho...

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"The Most Important Room in the World"

The unveiling of the restored UN Security Council Chamber, what's called "the most important room in the world," happened earlier this evening. Below are some photos I took and some brief explanation of the original project and the ceremony.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/8656957986/" title="UN Security Council Chamber by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="UN Security Council Chamber" height="485" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8113/8656957986_aa7bb08edf_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The room, situated within the United Nations Conference Building, was presented to the UN as a gift from Norway in 1952. It was designed by architect Arnstein Arneberg, though most of one's attention is drawn to Per Krohg's mural that graces the east wall and serves as a backdrop for the members seated at the circular table.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/8656957126/" title="UN Security Council Chamber by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="UN Security Council Chamber" height="480" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8117/8656957126_a95de17913_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Arneberg designed the room to embody the Norwegian art and culture of the time, though he also wanted a "character so neutral that it could withstand the test of time." While hardly timeless, the combination of modern architecture, a figurative mural, modern furnishings, and richly patterned wallpaper is a successful one that manages to exude calm and respect.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/8656956774/" title="UN Security Council Chamber by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="UN Security Council Chamber" height="800" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8114/8656956774_b113f3cdd2_c.jpg" width="600" /></a><br /><br />One detail pointed out both in the informative pamphlet and during the Norweigan Minister of Foreign Affairs' address is how the ashtrays (next to the microphones on the circular table, above) have been exchanged for data outlets; the detail is the same but the function under the black cover conveys the changes that have taken place in the last 60 years, or more accurately the last decade.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/8655852171/" title="UN Security Council Chamber by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="UN Security Council Chamber" height="480" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8104/8655852171_797bcb85d0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (below) addressed the packed house, saying (I think rather nicely and accurately) that "the room speaks to us in a language of dignity." Espen Barth Eide, the Norweigan Minister of Foreign Affairs, said later that the room is "an inspiring space for carrying out the UN's core tenets of peace and security."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/8656956082/" title="UN Security Council Chamber by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="UN Security Council Chamber" height="800" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8106/8656956082_798913e03b_c.jpg" width="600" /></a><br /><br />Overlooking the circular table and large mural are about 20 rows of seats, half of them fixed red seats (the same as the ones flanking the circular table, visible in the second and second-to-last photos) and half of them folding green seats (below). In this upper section of the space the Damask wallpaper designed by Norway's Else Poulsson has a really strong presence. The original wallpaper was removed and remade as part of the restoration; one piece of the old wallpaper was made into a tie and given to Ban Ki-moon as a gift.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/8655853247/" title="UN Security Council Chamber by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="UN Security Council Chamber" height="480" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8109/8655853247_f3764e72ce_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />This last view of the UN Security Council Chamber shows the seats that flank the circular table. For some reason the photo does not capture the greenness of the wallpaper, but I think it reveals how the furnishings and materials manage to work together, even as the combination of modern, marble, and regular pattern blends some usually irreconcilable design features.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/8655850925/" title="UN Security Council Chamber by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="UN Security Council Chamber" height="480" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8102/8655850925_c7bd1c9757_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />After the ceremony there were some drinks in the North Delegate's Lounge (below). I'm including this photo because it shows how many people turned out for the unveiling, and because of the view of the residential towers in Long Island City, Queens, thankfully filtered by some decorative hangings in front of the glass.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/8655850491/" title="UN Security Council Chamber by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="UN Security Council Chamber" height="466" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8126/8655850491_6ee29e4dd9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>

"The Most Important Room in the World"

The unveiling of the restored UN Security Council Chamber, what's called "the most important room in the world," happened earl...

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Crowd diagnosis could spot rare diseases doctors miss - New Scientist

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><p class="infuse" style="margin: 0px 20px 20px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 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; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Shortly after a backpacking trip in Michigan in 2009, 20-year-old Sarah Sheridan came down with what seemed to be a nasty case of the flu. Unlike the flu, however, her symptoms only got worse with time. Blood tests, MRI scans, spinal taps and other investigations came back normal or inconclusive.</p><p class="infuse" style="margin: 0px 20px 20px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 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; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Sheridan spent the next three years in and out of hospital, all to no avail. Her insurance claims swelled to over $100,000. It wasn't until a chance encounter with someone who'd had Lyme disease that she finally found relief.</p><p class="infuse" style="margin: 0px 20px 20px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 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; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">New web-based tools seek to spare others from a similar ordeal. CrowdMed, launched on 16 April at the TedMed conference in Washington DC, uses crowds to solve tough medical cases.</p><p class="infuse" style="margin: 0px 20px 20px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 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; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Anyone can join CrowdMed and analyse cases, regardless of their background or training. Participants are given points that they can then use to bet on the correct diagnosis from lists of suggestions. This creates a prediction market, with diagnoses falling and rising in value based on their popularity, like stocks in a stock market. Algorithms then calculate the probability that each diagnosis will be correct.</p><p class="infuse" style="margin: 0px 20px 20px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 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; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">In 20 initial test cases, around 700 participants identified each of the mystery diseases as one of their top three suggestions.</p><p class="infuse" style="margin: 0px 20px 20px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 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; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Among them was Sheridan's case, which was solved in a week – around 100 users proposed Lyme disease as the top ranking diagnosis. "To get an answer in just a week is exciting, astounding and incredibly frustrating," Sheridan says. "I keep thinking, 'Where were you three years ago?' It really would have changed the course of my life."</p><p class="infuse" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 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; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; ">The goal is to help people who come down with any of around 7000 "rare diseases" as defined by health agencies in Europe and the US. In Europe alone, 30 million people have a rare disease, 40 per cent of whom either go undiagnosed or are misdiagnosed at some point.</p><p class="infuse" style="margin: 0px 20px 20px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 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; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Once the crowd arrives at a consensus, CrowdMed gives patients a list of the top three, which they can then explore with their physician. Those whose diagnosis proves to be correct earn more points, which can be used to bet on future cases.</p><p class="infuse" style="margin: 0px 20px 20px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 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; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Frustrated patients and doctors can also turn to <a href="http://findzebra.compute.dtu.dk/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(52, 163, 209); ">FindZebra</a>, a recently launched search engine for rare diseases. It lets users search an index of rare disease databases looked after by a team of researchers. In initial trials, FindZebra returned more helpful results than Google on searches within this same dataset.</p><p class="infuse" style="margin: 0px 20px 20px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 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; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"Medical students and doctors can't learn about all of these thousands of diseases with very low prevalence," says Radu Dragusin, one of FindZebra's developers and a computer scientist at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. "It's very important to give clinicians an aid, be it FindZebra or CrowdMed, to help make these diagnoses." He adds, however, that he thinks CrowdMed would work best if most of its users had some medical expertise or research knowledge.</p><p class="infuse" style="margin: 0px 20px 20px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 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; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">IBM's Watson artificial intelligence system is <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21528796.400-watson-turns-medic-supercomputer-to-diagnose-disease.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(52, 163, 209); ">already being used to help doctors</a> wade through mountains of fast-changing medical research on cancer. Claudia Perlich, who helped develop Watson, imagines it teaming up with CrowdMed to work on tough diagnoses.</p><p class="infuse" style="margin: 0px 20px 20px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 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; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"If Watson could get hold of what people submit to CrowdMed, I would love it," she says. "I absolutely agree with the premise that the big problem of the medical system is that we don't have sufficient information sharing."</p><div class="artbx bxbg" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-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; position: static; z-index: auto; "><h3 id="bxdn23392B1" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 1.1em; ">Diagnoses without borders</h3><p style="margin: 0px 20px 20px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 1em; line-height: 18px; ">Early in Sarah Sheridan's quest to diagnose her mystery illness, her doctors often focused on a trip she took to East Africa, rather than a backpacking excursion, where she likely encountered a tick that gave her Lyme disease (see main story).</p><p style="margin: 0px 20px 20px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 1em; line-height: 18px; ">Diagnostic tools like CrowdMed, can also attract worldwide input that confuses the issue. When initial CrowdMed tests included users from outside the US, Sheridan's case was flagged as malaria, which is nearly nonexistent in North America, though it has similar symptoms.</p><p style="margin: 0px 20px 20px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 1em; line-height: 18px; ">To avoid this problem, CrowdMed's founder, Jared Heyman, has limited input on cases to users from North America for now, though he plans to expand to different regions soon.</p></div></div><a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23392-crowd-diagnosis-could-spot-rare-diseases-doctors-miss.html">http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23392-crowd-diagnosis-could-spot-rare-diseases-doctors-miss.html</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Crowd diagnosis could spot rare diseases doctors miss - New Scientist

Shortly after a backpacking trip in Michigan in 2009, 20-year-old Sarah Sheridan came down with what seemed to be a nasty case of the flu. U...

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What It’s Like to Be in a Boston Emergency Room Today - The Daily Beast

As yesterday's statistics in Boston—three dead, more than 100 seriously injured—turn into specific, heartbreaking human stories, the role of the emergency rooms scattered throughout Boston will fade quickly into the background. This is as it should be; emergency health care is the job of the emergency room, after all. But the roles of hundreds of doctors, nurses, and other staff will be forever traumatized by what they witnessed, as described so vividly in December after the Newtown shootings. <br /><br><br /><br>I worked as an attending doctor in New York City ERs for four years, but I never had to deal with anything like what Boston's ERs handled yesterday. You just don't see these types of injuries in an urban American hospital. In fact, ERs are usually boring places to work. Yes, there are moments of TV-worthy drama and tension, but in general, serviceable health care is delivered as quickly as possible with a forced smile.<br /><br><br /><br>But then comes the momentous tragedy of April 15, and everyone's frame of reference is changed. I cannot imagine the sort of mayhem and fear, as well as nausea and tears, the ER staffs across Boston must have experienced. No one is ready for anything like this—the missing limbs, the bleeding, the shrapnel, the smell of burnt flesh, which once experienced remains forever present. Plus, there was an apparent concern that hospitals themselves might be targets of additional bombs, given the reports of SWAT teams in and around hospitals in the early aftermath.<br /><br><br /><br>The ordering of just what to do when so many people who are so sick roll in the front door requires a level of teamwork and triage that civilian hospitals simply cannot prepare for. Thankfully, the Boston blood supply was replenished quickly by volunteers, but victims of this tragedy have, by report, suffered an unusual number of detached limbs. This latter, chilling detail relates to the force of the bombexploded in a dense crowd. Though grizzly to consider, the main trauma of, for example, the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995 was the Murrah building collapsing onto those within. Though limbs might have been lost by the initial explosion from Timothy McVeigh's bomb, the people were subsequently crushed as the building fell apart. On this Boston afternoon, though, it was the incredible force of the bomb, as well as the broken glass, that caused most of the injuries.<br /><br><br /><br>As for the reattachment of missing limbs and fingers, unfortunately the chaos that ensued after the explosions makes this just about impossible. In the best situation, a single individual loses an extremity and so a quick search can be made for the limb while the patient is stabilized. The Copley Square descriptions, however, suggest there was flesh everywhere. Even the basic task of matching the correct limb to the patient was not assured. On arrival to the hospital many amputations then had to be done, not to smooth away a traumatically amputated limb but rather to remove a hopelessly mangled and dysfunctional extremity that would only serve as a source for infection and complication. The many people now without legs or arms eventually will be fitted with prostheses and will start the long, painful road of rehabilitation.<br /><br><br /><br>At terrible moments like this, ERs call on an unexpected resource: those people who are literal war veterans, people who were medics or physicians in Iraq or Afghanistan or Vietnam, who have learned to survive in the MASH-like unreality of medical crisis. They typically step forward to calm the nerves, ease the panic, and provide rapid decisiveness for those too stunned to react. Their readiness to step into the unimaginable is itself a bitter irony, given that each of them lost so much in the past to be able to help in the present. <br /><br><br /><br>By all accounts, the various ERs in Boston did a superlative job doing as much as they could for the many patients delivered to their doors. Hopefully, those critically ill at present will stabilize and the death toll will stay at three. That said, there is almost no silver lining to be found in the brutal event of yesterday except perhaps this: emergency rooms are strange living organisms with a long memory and a vast oral tradition of stories, some true, some less so, of what the staff there has seen and done. <br /><br><br /><br>For example, in my medical school an older surgeon would tell each successive group of bright-eyed, 23-year-old kids about his experience in the Parkland Hospital ER in Dallas that day in 1963 when JFK was brought in. He told us what he and his surgical colleagues had done to try to save the president. And I imagine that all of us remember not just the fact that this guy had touched JFK, but the importance, even when it's the president, of trying to establish an airway, trying to give intravenous fluids, of fighting to get a palpable blood pressure, of doing the routine doctor things even when—and especially when—your heart is broken and you can't much think.<br /><br><br /><br>Given the way ERs work, I suspect the many 2013 Boston ERs and surgical teams will carry all they saw and did—and all they were unable to do—for the rest of their careers. In the tradition of ERs, which have long stretches without much to do (have a visit at 3 a.m. some time to see what I mean), staff will sit around and talk, exchange their own stories, some horrible, some amusing. And it is likely that somewhere, many years hence, a young doctor will make a rapid smart decision on a patient not because of what he learned in a medical-school lecture, but from the stories he had once heard of the marathon massacre.<br /><br><br /><br><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/16/what-it-s-like-to-be-in-a-boston-emergency-room-today.html">http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/16/what-it-s-like-to-be-in-a-boston-emergency-room-today.html</a>?

What It’s Like to Be in a Boston Emergency Room Today - The Daily Beast

As yesterday's statistics in Boston—three dead, more than 100 seriously injured—turn into specific, heartbreaking human stories, the rol...

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Talented

My sister Amy is quite the photographer. Here's two nice shots she took this evening. It was a beautiful sunny evening and a gorgeous piece of sunlight came in the window as the sun was setting. <br /><br />It looks like I am posing but I am actually looking out for a neighbour that I needed to speak to as they arrived home. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpidpWKtEFwmJwU2KsdQQM7siQn08i8piJqv2dCgN-6QQNTdpy2l5chiuPeZxdBOfdCjioDDbxNMPG603UsOFP7F3756_cD-HMWMQ-8Sdnk38uewoZAKtbY51ljxQyyL96VhtYlWONl5fT/s640/blogger-image--1221246033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpidpWKtEFwmJwU2KsdQQM7siQn08i8piJqv2dCgN-6QQNTdpy2l5chiuPeZxdBOfdCjioDDbxNMPG603UsOFP7F3756_cD-HMWMQ-8Sdnk38uewoZAKtbY51ljxQyyL96VhtYlWONl5fT/s640/blogger-image--1221246033.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFEasPLGcEhnXIC6LpFw3zLE7Q1krJN_GbKkdxRJ9snkS0rRZyUGp3wDrs3Gdl5B345w6FukvFUrSzAEZi_X6RWh0MxV-oTnqZUnAv-s-SHixAScYNErY5s9aYRITrfaY4i2Hl4Vqyx-ef/s640/blogger-image--928203951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFEasPLGcEhnXIC6LpFw3zLE7Q1krJN_GbKkdxRJ9snkS0rRZyUGp3wDrs3Gdl5B345w6FukvFUrSzAEZi_X6RWh0MxV-oTnqZUnAv-s-SHixAScYNErY5s9aYRITrfaY4i2Hl4Vqyx-ef/s640/blogger-image--928203951.jpg" /></a></div>

Talented

My sister Amy is quite the photographer. Here's two nice shots she took this evening. It was a beautiful sunny evening and a gorgeous ...

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Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock 04/16/2013

<ul class="diigo-linkroll"> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2013/04/flipboard-magazines-make-curation-for.html">Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Flipboard Magazines make curation for your classes EASY. #ipadchat</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Flipboard Magazines make curation for your classes EASY. #ipadchat</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/IFTTT">IFTTT</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/Blogger">Blogger</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/technology">technology</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/innovation">innovation</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/coolcatteacher">coolcatteacher</a></p> </li> </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='https://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock 04/16/2013

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Flipboard Magazines make curation for your classes EASY. #ipadchat Flipboard ...

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Library Director - Durham Public Library

<strong>Library Director - </strong><strong><span style="color: #48286d;">Durham Public Library</span></strong>. The Board of Trustees of the Durham Public Library is seeking an enthusiastic, energetic, community oriented, and technically proficient Director who will continue to develop the Library’s role as the cornerstone of the community’s intellectual and cultural life, as well as provide strategic direction for the Library’s future. The Director is responsible to the Library Board of Trustees for administration of the library operation, including: the hiring and retention of staff; development and maintenance of collections of print and non-print materials and access to online resources; maintenance and improvement of physical plant, equipment, and grounds; planning for ongoing program development; budgeting and financial management; communication and working relationships with Town government, community organizations and media; cooperative liaison with other libraries and agencies relevant to the delivery of library services. Qualifications include: Masters Degree in Library Science (MLS) from an ALA accredited institution; minimum of six years of increasingly advanced public library administrative experience, including management of library support and professional staff; demonstrated experience in providing leadership. Competitive salary and benefits. Cover letter, resume and three references to <a _fcksavedurl="mailto:rjeriksen@aol.com" href="mailto:rjeriksen@aol.com">rjeriksen@aol.com</a> by <span style="color: red;">May 15, 2013</span>.<br />

Library Director - Durham Public Library

Library Director - Durham Public Library . The Board of Trustees of the Durham Public Library is seeking an enthusiastic, energetic, commu...

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Human gene patents at the Supreme Court: Slate readers tell their stories. - Slate Magazine

<div style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17.984375px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17.984375px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">As the Supreme Court hashed out the legality of human gene patenting this morning, Justices Antonin Scalia and Sonia Sotomayor got to the gist of the dispute. "Why would a company undertake massive investment if it cannot patent?" Scalia asked. That's why governments give out patents: to reward and encourage the investment required for new inventions.</font></div></div><div style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17.984375px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">Sotomayor, however, pointed to the specifics of today's case. The company in question, Myriad Genetics, secured its patents by locating and isolating the genes BRCA1and 2, which can mutate in ways that carry a high risk of breast and ovarian cancer. In doing so, said Sotomayor, the company had not actually invented anything new. The gene is "just nature sitting there," she said. Chief Justice John Roberts said the company's work on the gene was akin to merely "snipping" a string of molecules out of the body.</font></div></div><div style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17.984375px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">With its patents, Myriad controls all the testing for the BRCA genes. No one is allowed to develop an alternative test. The company's monopoly has earned it the enmity of some patient groups—and some of the <strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Slate</em></strong> readers I heard from when I <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2013/04/are_your_genes_patented_the_supreme_court_will_decide_if_they_can_be.html" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153);">asked for personal stories about gene patenting</a>. One concern about Myriad's monopoly is cost. Helen, who was diagnosed with breast cancer last February in California, says her genetic counselor suggested she should be tested, "to help with my decision making and to inform my sister, who if I tested positive would need to be watched carefully." She says, "I spoke to my insurance company (Blue Cross/ Anthem) and they stated that the test would not be covered and the cost would be between $3,000 and $4,000." Helen says she couldn't afford that. "It is a horrifying feeling to be told you have a deadly disease and yet, a helpful and informative test will not be covered by your insurance company," she writes. "I had to make a major health decision solely on financial reasons. Not a good feeling."</font></div></div><div style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17.984375px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">I emailed Ron Rogers of Myriad for a response, and he said that the BRCA tests are reimbursed by more than 95 percent of insurance plans, and that "patients on average pay less than $100 out of pocket." He also said that Myriad has offered more than 5,000 <a href="http://www.myriadpro.com/financial-assistance-programs/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153);">free tests to low-income women without insurance</a> in the last three years. Duke policy researcher Robert Cook-Deegan told me last week that Myriad's offer of free testing applies in just 0.4 percent of cases. Rogers said he didn't know what the percentage was.</font></div></div><div style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17.984375px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">Making it into the group of patients whose insurance covers Myriad's tests can be a project. Another reader, Steven, wrote to me about his efforts to get the test covered for his wife, who died of breast cancer related to the BRCA 1 gene in 2009. When she was diagnosed, her doctor recommended testing. As in Helen's case, this was for the benefit of family members as well as for her. To get the insurer to pay the $3,500 bill, Steven ended up on a telephone odyssey, getting passed from insurance reps to testing reps and back again. "From a patient/insured perspective, that process is a black box," he wrote. "The insurance companies will not let you speak directly and the claims people say that they cannot contact them. The claims people can only regurgitate what the payment people write." The calls took six weeks, "a pleasant diversion while one's wife is sick from chemo," Steven dryly remarked. He is a lawyer, and he wound up threatening to sue—and wondering how a patient without a law degree in the family would have fared. Here's his conclusion: "On the patient level, Myriad has monopoly pricing, and they refuse to license it to any other lab. Besides the outrageous price, it is an insurance nightmare for patients."</font></div></div><div style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17.984375px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">Mary, who was diagnosed with breast cancer last year at age 32, paid only $300 for her BRCA testing. Her insurance company picked up the rest without a problem. "The thing that was toughest for me about undergoing the test was how long it takes to get results," she wrote. With the version of the test she took, she waited a month. "I needed to know my BRCA status in order to make a decision between bilateral mastectomy or much more minor breast-conserving surgery. And it was a week from my initial cancer diagnosis before I could get an appointment to see a genetic counselor for the test. Those five weeks were some of the longest, most stressful weeks of my life. I don't know if there's a procedural reason why it takes Myriad so long to produce test results, but as long as they're the only lab that performs the test, there's no incentive to get faster." Rogers, of Myriad, said that patients receive their testing results in about a week. Apparently not all of them.</font></div></div><div style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17.984375px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">Mary concludes, "I have mixed feelings about the patent. On the one hand, I want companies to have financial incentives to develop these kinds of tests. On the other hand, I want as many scientists as possible to be able to participate in this important research."</font></div></div><div style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17.984375px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">Myriad says that plenty of research has been done alongside the patent, and points out that it has spent $500 million developing the BRCA tests. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/business/as-court-considers-gene-patents-case-may-overlook-relevant-issues.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153);">According to the</a><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/business/as-court-considers-gene-patents-case-may-overlook-relevant-issues.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153);"> New York Times</a></em>, the company made $405 million on testing just in its last fiscal year, "accounting for more than 80 percent of its revenue." The patents run for 20 years, and in fact have almost run their course—they expire in the next two years.</font></div></div><div style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17.984375px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">That makes the case seem slow-moving. And as the <em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">NYT</em> article discusses, some scientists say human gene patenting is generally waning in importance. As several <strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Slate</em></strong> readers pointed out to me over email, it will soon be cheaper to sequence someone's entire genome than to go for BRCA testing. One cancer researcher who emailed me, though, said the patents are still a stumbling block, because researchers are afraid of treading on patents when they work on therapeutic interventions. Maybe the court will block sweeping patents of human genes like Myriad's with a ruling that is clear but narrow, so it doesn't unsettle the biotechnology field all that much. As another reader suggested, the big question then will be this: Which kinds of inventions that are based on human genes—as opposed to the genes themselves—can you patent? That seems like the harder line to draw.<span></span><span></span></font></div></div></div></div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'"><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/supreme_court_dispatches/2013/04/human_gene_patents_at_the_supreme_court_slate_readers_tell_their_stories.html">http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/supreme_court_dispatches/2013/04/human_gene_patents_at_the_supreme_court_slate_readers_tell_their_stories.html</a> </font>

Human gene patents at the Supreme Court: Slate readers tell their stories. - Slate Magazine

As the Supreme Court hashed out the legality of human gene patenting this morning, Justices Antonin Scalia and Sonia Sotomayor got to the gi...

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