Study: U.S. Surgeons Still Leaving Things in Patients - Lindsay Abrams - The Atlantic

<base href="data:"><div style="color: black; text-align: left; "><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">PROBLEM: When something goes wrong during a surgery that can be chalked up to human error or a breakdown in the chain of command -- say, a surgical sponge getting left behind in someone's abdomen -- surgeons refer to it as a "never event." Because they should never happen. Unfortunately, they sometimes still do. Measuring how, when, where, and why they happen is a step toward making them literal neverevents.</font></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; 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; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">METHODOLOGY: Johns Hopkins researchers raided a federal trove of official medical malpractice claims to find instances where patients successfully sued -- meaning they needed to have had adequate proof to back up their claims -- over never events that nonetheless occurred. Specifically, they looked at incidents that occurred in the U.S. from 1990 to 2010.</font></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">RESULTS: "Never," according to their findings, occurs at least 4,082 times per year. Deaths attributable to these mistakes occurred in 6.6 percent of patients, 32.9 claimed permanent injury, and payments doled out totaled $1.3 billion.</font></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">Looked at another way, the researchers estimate that every week, 39 foreign objects are left behind in a patient's body, 20 procedures are performed on the wrong body site, and another 20 are the wrong procedure to begin with. And 12.4 percent of surgeons were repeat offenders.</font></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">CONCLUSION: Preventable errors, the researchers conclude, are exacting a serious toll on patients and the health care system.</font></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">IMPLICATIONS: Marty Makary, this study's lead author, is a huge proponent of increased transparency in health care; <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/09/how-transparency-can-empower-patients-and-fix-health-care/262531/" style="color: rgb(0, 89, 140); text-decoration: none; ">as he told The Atlantic in September</a>, "I think if all of that information is public, patients will not have to walk into a hospital blind. They'll know about the quality of care in their hospital, and the hospital, most importantly, will be accountable." In this case, simple measures that are already used in many medical centers -- like having procedures in place to count sponges and double-triple-quadruple-check patient information before and after surgeries -- can go a long way toward reducing these numbers. In order to drive their widespread implementation in hospitals, Makary argues now, we need to have more data like that revealed in this study to urge them along.</font></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; 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; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">The full study, "<a href="http://www.surgjournal.com/article/S0039-6060(12)00623-X/abstract" style="color: rgb(0, 89, 140); text-decoration: none; ">Surgical never events in the United States</a>," is published in the journal <a href="http://www.surgjournal.com/" style="color: rgb(0, 89, 140); text-decoration: none; ">Surgery</a> .</font></p></div><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/12/study-us-surgeons-still-leaving-things-in-patients/266489/"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/12/study-us-surgeons-still-leaving-things-in-patients/266489/</font></a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Study: U.S. Surgeons Still Leaving Things in Patients - Lindsay Abrams - The Atlantic

PROBLEM: When something goes wrong during a surgery that can be chalked up to human error or a breakdown in the chain of command -- say, a s...

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Another Good Reason to Quit Smoking in New Year: Less Back Pain - University of Rochester Medical Center

<base href="data:"><div style="color: black; text-align: left; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(60, 60, 60); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">A University of Rochester Medical Center analysis of more than 5,300 patients followed for eight months during treatment of spinal disorders showed that cigarette smokers reported far more pain than never-smokers or those who had quit.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(60, 60, 60); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">Smoking cessation either prior to treatment or during the course of care was related to significant improvements in pain – a result that underlines the need for structured stop-smoking programs among the legions of patients who experience back pain due to degenerative disease, deformity, or musculoskeletal problems, said <span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; ">Caleb Behrend, M.D</span>., chief resident in the <a href="http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/ortho/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(48, 115, 167); text-decoration: underline; ">Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation</a> at <a href="http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(48, 115, 167); text-decoration: underline; ">URMC</a>.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(60, 60, 60); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; ">Glenn R. Rechtine, M.D.</span>, a nationally recognized spinal surgeon and adjunct faculty at URMC, led the study, which was published in the <a href="http://jbjs.org/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(48, 115, 167); text-decoration: underline; "><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; ">Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery</span></a>.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(60, 60, 60); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">"We found that people who stopped smoking had meaningful benefit by reduction of their pain," said Behrend. "The pain improvement is in addition to all the other benefits you gain from quitting."</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(60, 60, 60); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">The relationship between pain and smoking is complex and full of contradictions. Nicotine has analgesic properties, for example, and yet clinical evidence shows that smokers are at higher risk for developing back pain and other chronic pain disorders, according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(60, 60, 60); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">Scientists already know that nicotine interacts with a family of proteins (nAChR), which have a key role in the central, and peripheral nervous system, and control anxiety and pain. Prolonged exposure to cigarettes upsets the function of these cells and eventually changes the way pain is processed, as well as impairing oxygen delivery to tissues, predisposing a person to bone and joint disorders such as osteoporosis, and inducing inflammation and depression. Smokers with spinal conditions also tend to have persistently more intense pain and more long-term disability.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(60, 60, 60); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">The URMC study noted a daunting fact: Nearly all people will experience back pain at some point in their lives and many will seek medical care. And because the socioeconomic impact of spinal disorders (cost of care and lost productivity for patients) is so great, researchers wanted to find out if improvements in pain could be achieved with a cost-effective intervention such as smoking cessation.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(60, 60, 60); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">Researchers reviewed a prospectively maintained database of 5,333 patients, who completed questionnaires about pain at the initial doctors' visit and at the time of discharge from care. Patients were treated with surgery, or with physical therapy, injections, over-the-counter medications, and home exercise programs. Physicians counseled all smokers to quit, and patients were referred to a smoking cessation hotline.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(60, 60, 60); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">Of the 5,333 people, those who had never smoked or had quit some time ago reported less pain than smokers or those who had just quit. By the end of the follow-up period, the people who had recently quit or who quit during treatment showed significant improvements in pain. People who continued to smoke during treatment had no improvement in pain on all scales.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(60, 60, 60); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">Behrend noted that younger people tended to comprise the group of current smokers and those who only decided to quit during treatment; this is consistent with other studies showing that smoking is associated with degenerative spine disease at a younger age. Older patients tended to comprise the group who had never smoked or quit long ago.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(60, 60, 60); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; 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; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">The rate of smoking cessation was 22 percent, and research shows that up to 36 percent of patients with painful spinal disorders are able to quit with help from a structured program. A grant from the Southwestern Medical Foundation was used to create and maintain the patient database.</font></p></div><a href="http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/index.cfm?id=3695"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/index.cfm?id=3695</font></a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Another Good Reason to Quit Smoking in New Year: Less Back Pain - University of Rochester Medical Center

A University of Rochester Medical Center analysis of more than 5,300 patients followed for eight months during treatment of spinal disorders...

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Senior Technical Writer (Austin, TX) ( RoboHelp | Frame Maker | Linux | Microsoft Office | SDLC) (# 108952)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Position:</b> Technical Writer<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Location:</b> Austin, TX<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Duration:</b> Full time<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Job Description:<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">KLA- Tencor is looking for a senior technical writer with experience in Adobe RoboHelp, Adobe FrameMaker and Microsoft Office. The candidate must have excellent writing skills with the ability to interview engineers and scientists and produce software product documentation with minimal additional review and editing. Requirements for the position include strong verbal and written communication skills, self-motivation and the ability to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines. Experience in the semiconductor industry is a plus. Writing samples will be requested for on-site interviews.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Responsibilities:<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1) Writing online help including product feature overviews, window descriptions, user procedures, and API documentation<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2) Indexing online help topics and user manuals<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3) Writing and editing release notes and installation manuals<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4) Creating troubleshooting topics<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Preferred Qualifications:<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1) BS/BA in engineering disciplines, journalism, English literature or similar field<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2) 5+ years of experience in technical writing<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3) Excellent writing and strong editing skills<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4) Experience with Microsoft Windows operating systems, experience with Linux a plus<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5) Strong skills in Microsoft Office products<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">6) Experience with Adobe RoboHelp and Adobe FrameMaker<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">7) Knowledge of software development life cycle<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">8) Experience in semiconductor industry a plus<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Basic Qualifications:<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bachelor's Level Degree with at least 3 years of experience.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">OR<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Master's Level Degree with at least 2 years of experience.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Kindly send your resume to </span><a href="mailto:raju.balaji@kla-tencor.com"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:TargetScreenSize>800x600</o:TargetScreenSize> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> 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</style><![endif]--></a><a href="mailto:raju.balaji@kla-tencor.com">raju.balaji@kla-tencor.com <span style="font-size: small;">/ </span>Sivaram.bose@kla-ten<span style="font-size: small;">cor.com</span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div>

Senior Technical Writer (Austin, TX) ( RoboHelp | Frame Maker | Linux | Microsoft Office | SDLC) (# 108952)

Position: Technical Writer Location: Austin, TX Duration: Full time Job Description: KLA- Tencor is looking for a senior technical writer...

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Happy Holidays

<img alt="archidose-2012holidays.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/archidose-2012holidays.jpg" title="Happy Holidays" /><br /><br />Some year-end posts will happen in the next couple weeks, but that will be about it as I spend time with family during the holidays. Happy Holidays to everybody, and see you in 2013!

Happy Holidays

Some year-end posts will happen in the next couple weeks, but that will be about it as I spend time with family during the holidays. Happy H...

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Christmas Mourning and Yuletide Angels

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><i style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Some of you who are familiar with my previous blog, may know this story, but many may be unfamiliar with it.  I have published this story every Christmas Season since the fickle finger of fate gave birth to this this heart-warming, yet bittersweet story of a Christmas miracle. Enjoy!!</i><br /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4cpRDao14z74AUB_WhibXgvooePrBU99jizniifKVmm3AgpOXOOGbv3ZwEmm6l3m750-0hPk9CPJVX1LS8EW4h4bC4DBxMuYV6391fNBpdB1iwU5wfXrXxWZKAW9A6VM4hmk0ADx2D7Ry/s1600/Santa+Drunk+Creepy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; color: #2d00bb; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration: initial;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4cpRDao14z74AUB_WhibXgvooePrBU99jizniifKVmm3AgpOXOOGbv3ZwEmm6l3m750-0hPk9CPJVX1LS8EW4h4bC4DBxMuYV6391fNBpdB1iwU5wfXrXxWZKAW9A6VM4hmk0ADx2D7Ry/s320/Santa+Drunk+Creepy.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 1px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Words cannot express the sorrow that I feel at this moment. No amount of tears can purge my soul of the loss. Bagwine Kringle gave so much to so many and his passing will be felt the world 'round.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br /><strong></strong>It seems BK and a couple of his “elves” Tina and Dex, were busy wrapping presents for some of the less fortunate local kids.<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">While Tina and Dex selfishly ran next door to grab a sandwich, Kringle the workaholic that he is, ate what he had on hand and continued the Christmas assemblage.<br /><br />He was hurriedly gulping down some Salmon Fancy Feast cat food and evidently began to choke on a small bone, because when Tina and Dex returned, he was lying on the floor gasping for air.<br /><br />Dex called the paramedics while Tina tried to ply Kringle with some Wild Irish Rose to relax his throat muscles. </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">She quickly found out that that was not the best idea.<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">He spewed out a mixture of WIR and bile that resembled a poorly made marinara sauce with a stench reminiscent of bandicoot urine.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br /></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Although nearing death, he was with his two best friends.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">BK was with his dear friend Tina, whose street name is Bowling Ball. Tina is a 48 year old prostitute with large breasts, two prosthetic legs, and a glass eye.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI2s7UPoUf1JkjVwOHcdvM7PFczwZsuiKFvRoBxkJHYpU_WiKmpzudllXpAp-4uaCXHQG4E3A2ug5SfMqj50JLmWcO_qeu8PtTsT3QQz_SbcI-voAEXArvqFIr7-vYyG3NqMcU0fM-7ztP/s1600-h/drunk_santa.jpg" style="color: #660000; text-decoration: initial;"><span style="color: black;"></span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Her seductive wiles are legendary. Oh sure, some women can spread their legs really wide, but Tina can take hers completely off.<br /><br />She is also very accommodating. If a client is feeling extremely kinky, she will pop out her glass eye, and let him give her, shall we say...a facial.<br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Tina is one who gives and gives, and that is why she and Bagwine Kringle were pals.<br /><br />And then, there's good ol’ Dex Lexler, or Sarge, as BK called him. He was never in the military, but BK always kidded him that he looked like the dog from Beetle Bailey.<br /><br />I know, the dog’s name was actually Otto, but BK was close. Those two shared so many of the same traits…compassion, generosity, and cirrhosis of the liver.<br /><br />They were of one mind inside of two bodies and now sadly, they are half the men they use to be…or som</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">ething like that.<br /><br />I guess when the paramedics arrived, BK was nearly expired. His lungs raled bilaterally, desperately gasping for air, but it was not to be.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"></span></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMSJMoFA2S5yvvWj2PL-RMXxApC3k5yeVMsNfH9wuON6EuHBCVqcjhLOT8l3YGfCw0SiXvAuG_xpvVn35Pxwa22VpxIyrn13Qx95WIAGn_8G317_8xeQRKMShWt9x60klvQhoiusOHCaVT/s1600-h/newspaper-generator.jpg" style="background-color: white; color: #660000; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: initial;"><span style="color: black;"></span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjre2y_TD5BAxVt47vszLv7UwB_5OGpjt3QnlSo_6JCGR-2eEr91jqj1-M1HIEvLvMjj9y9EaQKnLnVLePutD6PGWHO6BJ59upf9ZO327BlV3MqQR2ByxcnOGIbuY9IO2mXLMElpPCng_PA/s1600/newspaper+funny+headline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: right; color: #2d00bb; float: right; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration: initial;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjre2y_TD5BAxVt47vszLv7UwB_5OGpjt3QnlSo_6JCGR-2eEr91jqj1-M1HIEvLvMjj9y9EaQKnLnVLePutD6PGWHO6BJ59upf9ZO327BlV3MqQR2ByxcnOGIbuY9IO2mXLMElpPCng_PA/s320/newspaper+funny+headline.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 1px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Tina and Sarge looked down upon BK as they sobbed unrelentingly.</span></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">And then, as the medics placed him on the cart, Bagwine Kringle looked at his friends with that familiar twinkle in his good eye, and with his final breath said...</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><em>“Don’t cry for me Sarge and Tina.”</em><br /><br />I miss you Bagwine Kringle, here's a toast to you....<br /><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><em>Cheers!!</em></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><em>Matt-Man</em></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><em><a href="https://twitter.com/MattMan_IWS" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">@mattman_IWS</span></a> </em></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><em><br /></em></span> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, FreeSerif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">In other news....Yesterday, Jayman and I broadcast our 200th episode of I'm With Stupid on Blog Talk Radio. We laughed, cried, and talked cheese.  Boring, you say?  Not when one is talking putting cheese in places it doesn't normally go with a hot babe from Canada and a to die for Jersey girl.  And that's exactly what we did with the sultry duo of Jamie and Dianne....</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, FreeSerif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.adobe.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" height="105" id="143577" name="143577" width="210"><param name="movie" value="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/btrplayer.swf?file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2Fplaylist.aspx%3Fshow_id%3D4159067&autostart=false&bufferlength=5&volume=80&corner=rounded&callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/flashplayercallback.aspx" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="menu" value="false" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/btrplayer.swf" flashvars="file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2Fplaylist.aspx%3Fshow_id%3D4159067&autostart=false&shuffle=false&callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/FlashPlayerCallback.aspx&width=210&height=105&volume=80&corner=rounded" width="210" height="105" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" wmode="transparent" menu="false" name="143577" id="143577" allowScriptAccess="always"></embed></object></div><div style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center; width: 220px;"><br /></div></div>

Christmas Mourning and Yuletide Angels

Some of you who are familiar with my previous blog, may know this story, but many may be unfamiliar with it.  I have published this story ev...

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Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 12/20/2012

<ul class="diigo-linkroll"> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://frontandcenterbso.tumblr.com/?utm_campaign=Front_%26_Center_with_the_BSO&utm_medium=Twitter&utm_source=SocialToaster#stv=49271304">Front & Center with the BSO</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">"Front & Center with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Photos, videos and stories from our artists. Interviews, articles and links from our staff. A new way to follow the music!" So many organizations are finding an audience on Tumblr and YouTube. Schools, arts, and more. The stage is no longer the only stage or the most important stage - and websites like tumblr can help struggling nonprofits attract more. In this series, the artists are talking about how they've created new artistry around the Nutcracker. Very cool.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/nonprofit">nonprofit</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/tumblr">tumblr</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/video">video</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/socialmedia">socialmedia</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://powazek.com/posts/3229">Derek Powazek - I’m Not The Product, But I Play One On The Internet</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">An excellent article about the recent INstagram outrage and comments that "you are the product." This is a great read and has excellent points refuting this over-used statement about the current business models on the Net. As for me, I'm scrutinizing the services I use and have been trying out app.net - I don't like what Twitter has done by closing down their api and think app.net has potential as a business model.  From the post: "We can and should support the companies we love with our money. Companies can and should have balanced streams of income so that they’re not solely dependent on just one. We all should consider the business models of the companies we trust with our data. But we should not assume that, just because we pay a company they’ll treat us better, or that if we’re not paying that the company is allowed to treat us like shit. Reality is just more complicated than that. What matters is how companies demonstrate their respect for their customers. We should hold their feet to the fire when they demonstrate a lack of respect. And we should all stop saying, “if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product,” because it doesn’t really mean anything, it excuses the behavior of bad companies, and it makes you sound kind of like a stoner looking at their hand for the first time."</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/instagram">instagram</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/business">business</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/privacy">privacy</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/tos">tos</a></p> </li> </ul><p class="diigo-ps">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>.</p>

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 12/20/2012

Front & Center with the BSO "Front & Center with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Phot...

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“MISSILE FACE- OFF ” IN SYRIA ?

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mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style><![endif]--> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpwnzhLD_rZ073opo5CzQ-axcvcx1L0Fe7qY1_uXgOVQCW8ECgmU1AnIVtdmAFhfLqnfDYgImS52y1PMEc7Wxi3dWamAs3BPu1e30NeTCiExSofcQ5-d7efvTp0FelQZ-akOFgu9H-YAbI/s1600/1PatriotPac3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpwnzhLD_rZ073opo5CzQ-axcvcx1L0Fe7qY1_uXgOVQCW8ECgmU1AnIVtdmAFhfLqnfDYgImS52y1PMEc7Wxi3dWamAs3BPu1e30NeTCiExSofcQ5-d7efvTp0FelQZ-akOFgu9H-YAbI/s320/1PatriotPac3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">  </span></b></span></span></span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">RUSSIA’S ANSWER TO NATO PATRIOT MISSILE DEPLOYMENT ALONG<span style="font-size: x-large;"> TURK<span style="font-size: x-large;">ISH</span></span> - <span style="font-size: x-large;">SYRIAN BORDER   </span><span>  </span></span></b></span></span></span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7njUVeWor0-6jTsXR6b5HK2p7UhTd5wtzh_sJrqaue-JG7OQP3Hvn3UtC0kiQQsqEyTMaF8x98ez0MtpbaE-QlB_rc02tEGjlOMuUqV5aR-jk_nXqvbPQQeTck9c9KqzwKaOc8XzhWYzP/s1600/Iskander_iskander-M_SS-26_Stone_tactical_missile_system_Russia_Russian_army_014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7njUVeWor0-6jTsXR6b5HK2p7UhTd5wtzh_sJrqaue-JG7OQP3Hvn3UtC0kiQQsqEyTMaF8x98ez0MtpbaE-QlB_rc02tEGjlOMuUqV5aR-jk_nXqvbPQQeTck9c9KqzwKaOc8XzhWYzP/s320/Iskander_iskander-M_SS-26_Stone_tactical_missile_system_Russia_Russian_army_014.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span> </span></span></b></span></span> </span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“ISKANDER 9K720” CRUISE MISSILE SYSTEM (</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">NATO CODENAMED SS-26 STONE) DEPLOYMENT<span style="font-size: x-large;"> IN SYRIA</span></span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Via DEBKA<i>file</i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i> </i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">On Dec. 5, the first AMERICAN, DUTCH and GERMAN Patriot missiles landed in TURKEY. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Within hours, three RUSSIAN warships had put into SYRIA’S Tartus port – the <i>Novocherkassk </i>and <i>Saratov </i>landing craft and the MB-304 supply vessel. Aboard were 300 marines. And not only fighting men. They also delivered a fearsome weapon for Assad’s army and a game changer in the SYRIAN conflict: 24 Iskander 9K720 (NATO codenamed SS-26 Stone) cruise missile systems, designed for theater level conflicts.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br />While NATO unpacked the Patriots in TURKEY, a dozen mobile batteries, each carrying a pair of Iskander missiles, were fixed into position opposite TURKEY, and another dozen, opposite JORDAN and ISRAEL.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">At all their stations, the RUSSIAN missiles allegedly pointed at US military targets.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">THE WEST AND ISRAEL HAVE NO ANSWER FOR THE ISKANDER’S HYPERSONIC SPEED OF MORE THAN 1.3 MILES PER SECOND WITH A 280 MILE-RANGE</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLf0pej2I3c2FAHqHSoZR8Ux7Yh8BJGCJkqFolbEuEPN-bq9ncJKkTiO3sW7rEA9L2NZAVq_-nRg7sOYbTXYqVmNWw0hBQ3oFReyei2Ca4Yi7s1bLjDIz8ILx9L8x4nmiPXxFmEjm71AUm/s1600/pg39.gif" 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/AVvXsEhLf0pej2I3c2FAHqHSoZR8Ux7Yh8BJGCJkqFolbEuEPN-bq9ncJKkTiO3sW7rEA9L2NZAVq_-nRg7sOYbTXYqVmNWw0hBQ3oFReyei2Ca4Yi7s1bLjDIz8ILx9L8x4nmiPXxFmEjm71AUm/s320/pg39.gif" width="290" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">So while the WEST was gripped with alarm over Assad’s poison sarin gas shells and bombs and gearing up for missile attacks on TURKEY, the RUSSIANS were injecting into the SYRIAN war field the most sophisticated weapon of death thus far.<br />The WEST and ISRAEL have no answer for the Iskander’s hypersonic speed of more than 1.3 miles per second with a 280 mile-range and a 1,500-pound warhead which destroys targets with pinpoint accuracy. It is also nuclear-capable.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Russian President Vladimir Putin promised two US presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, not to let the Iskander reach the hands of SYRIA or IRAN.<br />Moscow has no illusions that once in SYRIA, the lethal cruise missile will pretty soon reach IRAN.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">MISSILE <span style="font-size: large;">FACE-OFF</span></span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </span></b></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Saturday, Dec. 15, IRAN’S chief of staff Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi warned that the Patriot missiles in TURKEY portended world war. He was referring to the missile-versus-missile face-off in SYRIA.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">By giving Assad the Iskanders, Moscow has plumped itself squarely in the Tehran-Damascus-Hizballah camp, whereas President Obama is carefully holding back from an unreserved commitment to the SYRIAN insurgency. </span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="articlebody"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Some Western circles see RUSSIA’S military intervention in the SYRIAN conflict as presaging Bashar Assad’s early downfall.  <span style="background-color: yellow;">The reality, according to </span></span></span><span style="background-color: yellow;"><span class="debka"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">debka</span></span><span class="file"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">file</span></span><span class="articlebody"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">’s sources, is that before he falls, the SYRIA ruler is getting ready for desperate measures – first by unleashing chemical warfare and, after that, using the deadly Iskanders for a last throw against his enemies.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: yellow;"><span class="articlebody"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="articlebody"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Inn regards to highlighted paragraph, GEOPOLITICAL ANALYSIS AND MONITORING</span></b></span><span class="articlebody"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> stated <span style="background-color: yellow;"><u>March 08^th 2012</u></span> that: </span></b></span><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Contrary to the weapons of mass destruction hoax fabricated by the USA in order to justify the IRAQ invasion, <span style="color: red;">SYRIA really posses such lethal arsenal and </span></span></i></b><b><span><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: red;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">probably will not hesitate to use them when cornered. </span></span></span></i></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: red;"><span style="background-color: yellow;"><br /></span></span></span></i></b></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">See full article: <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/03/given-fact-syria-does-possess-chemical.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/03/given-fact-syria-does-possess-chemical.html</a>and</span></i></b><b><span> </span></b><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">SYRIA WILL NOT HESITATE TO ATTACK TURKEY</span></b></span><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/03/syrian-missiles-will-pre-empt-any.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/03/syrian-missiles-will-pre-empt-any.html</a></span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></b></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

“MISSILE FACE- OFF ” IN SYRIA ?

  RUSSIA’S ANSWER TO NATO PATRIOT MISSILE DEPLOYMENT ALONG TURK ISH - SYRIAN BORDER        “ISKANDER 9K720” CRUISE MISSILE SYSTEM ( NAT...

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Flu vaccine safety: Tamiflu and vaccines save lives and show public health science in action. - Slate Magazine

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; 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 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-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Here's a common complaint about the annual flu vaccine: "The last time I got the shot, I ended up getting the flu anyway!" Epidemiological data seem to back up such anecdotes. According to an <a href="http://www.lung.org/finding-cures/our-research/trend-reports/pi-trend-report.pdf" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">American Lung Association report</a> from 2010, there was no sustained decline in influenza-associated deaths over the past decades. Among those older than 65, according to a <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMcp0807498" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; "><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">New England Journal of Medicine</em> review</a>, flu hospitalization rates rose steadily between 1979 and 2001, despite an increase in vaccination rates among seniors from 32 percent in 1989 to 67 percent in 1997.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; 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 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-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Such data make the vaccine seem useless. As a result, skepticism has lately moved beyond the usual anti-vaccine, tinfoil-hat crowd. In 2009, the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">Atlantic</em> published a <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/11/does-the-vaccine-matter/307723/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">breathless piece</a>accusing drug makers and doctors of foisting bad science on an unsuspecting public and asked, "But what if everything we think about fighting influenza is wrong? What if flu vaccine does not protect people from dying—particularly the elderly?" Last month, the <a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/05/reassessing-flu-shots-as-the-season-draws-near/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; "><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">New York Times</em>called</a> the flu vaccine a "bonanza" for vaccine manufacturers and gave largely uncritical coverage to a University of Minnesota researcher who claimed the vaccine "does not protect as promoted. It's all a sales job." Similarly provocative articles have run in <a href="http://harpers.org/archive/2006/03/viral-marketing/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; "><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">Harper's</em></a> ("Viral Marketing"), the <a href="http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/blog/inpractice/2012/11/flu_shots_are_safebut_do_they.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; "><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">Boston Globe</em></a> ("Flu Shots Are Safe, But Do They Work?"), and the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303362404575580494166396722.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; "><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">Wall Street Journal</em></a> ("They Shoot Flu-Shot Skeptics, Don't They?").</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; 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 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-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Critics of flu-control efforts got a boost recently when the <a href="http://www.bmj.com/tamiflu" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; "><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">British Medical Journal </em>accused</a>Roche, which makes the anti-viral drug Tamiflu, of hiding data about the drug's supposed impotence against the flu. In anticipation of a possible pandemic in 2009, the U.S. government stockpiled $1.5 billion worth of Tamiflu and other anti-flu drugs. Now the editor of the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">British Medical Journal</em> is concerned those pills were oversold. Among the conspiracy-minded, flu-control efforts now have less to do with public health and more to do with corporate profits. The true threat to us all, proclaimed Helen Epstein in the <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/may/12/flu-warning-beware-drug-companies/?pagination=false" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; "><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">New York Review of Books</em></a>, isn't the virus at all, but the drug companies.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; 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 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-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Informed debate over public health is, well, healthy. But it's wrong to portray the global medical community as a stooge of greedy drug makers. The flu vaccine isn't useless and neither is Tamiflu. It's just that they, like all infection-control measures, are not perfect. There is no question that the vaccine does enhance one's immune response to flu—and it certainly does not <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">give</em> people the flu. It's likely the shot hasn't led yet to a dramatic population-wide decrease in flu deaths. But the proper response isn't for us to finger-point at drug companies and public health officials and call for repealing vaccine efforts.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; 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 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-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">What critics of flu-control policies don't get is that any global effort to stop an infection always goes through a process in which doctors learn more over successive battles and refine their strategies. That is exactly what is now happening in the battle against flu. We are not witnessing the work of industry puppet-masters. This is the scientific process in action.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; 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 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-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">It's easy to demonize Big Pharma and just call for more and more studies before taking decisive action. But sometimes we have to move. Consider the chicken-pox vaccine, which was first licensed in the United States in 1995. Preliminary data suggested the vaccine could stop the disease, but the studies <a href="http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/v/varivax/varivax_pi.pdf" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">included only a few thousand children</a>. Arguments against universal chicken pox vaccination <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/18/us/after-long-debate-vaccine-for-chicken-pox-is-approved.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">sounded similar</a> to those against flu shots—the illness is harmless, the vaccine doesn't reliably produce immunity, drug companies are running the show, and so on—but authorities persisted and endorsed universal vaccination. Within a few years, we realized that children needed two separate shots, not one, to get stronger immunity, and national policies were changed. Before vaccines, chicken pox killed 100 children and led to 10,000 hospitalizations annually, <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200304033481419" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">according</a> to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In school-age children, attack rates <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6132a2.htm?s_cid=mm6132a2_w" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">fell by almost 80 percent</a> after vaccination began, and deaths<a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2011/07/21/peds.2010-3385" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">were nearly eliminated</a>.</div></div><div class="pagebreak section" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; 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><a name="pagebreak_anchor_2" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; 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; visibility: hidden; "></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; 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; display: inline !important; float: none; "></span><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; 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 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-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Another example of unfolding science: RotaShield, a vaccine against the leading cause of infant diarrhea, was approved in 1998. When <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200102223440804" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">a very rare side effect emerged</a>, the vaccine was pulled in 1999. Two new vaccines were developed and licensed in 2006 (Rotarix and RotaTeq), and those formulations <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe0912141" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">may save hundreds of thousands of lives</a> annually worldwide. Again, more tweaks may be needed over time. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics vaccine schedule is <a href="http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/AAP-2012-Childhood-and-Adolescent-Immunization-Schedule.aspx" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">constantly changing</a> in small ways—ask any pediatrician who has to keep up—as data filters back about new vaccines against HPV and meningococcus, among others.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; 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 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-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Back to flu, which <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/us_flu-related_deaths.htm" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">is far more complicated</a> than, say, chicken pox. To begin with, most people who die of the flu aren't actually tested for it; hospitals and clinics aren't required to report flu cases to anyone (unless they involve young children); and most severe consequences of the flu are secondary problems like bacterial pneumonia or heart failure, which end up being listed as the cause of death. Thus, the flu's toll can be estimated only by using complex statistical models. Further, the virus mutates yearly, so the flu's impact varies hugely year by year and makes longitudinal comparisons impossible. Over the past 30 years, the annual American death toll wandered almost randomly between 3,000 and 50,000.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; 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 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-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Now add the following: Vaccine makers have to guess what strains of the flu will predominate, so the vaccine <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMcp0807498" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">may prevent anywhere</a> from 0 to 50 percent of the flu in a bad-guess year and 70 to 90 percent in a good-guess year. The vaccine works best in school-age children and young adults, and unfortunately it works worst in babies and seniors, who sadly are the ones who get sickest. (In 2003, the CDC began requiring state health department to report child flu deaths and found <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa051721" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">153 children died of the flu that season</a>, which is more than any other vaccine-preventable illness.) Even more complicated: The nasal mist vaccine <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=NCT00138294" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">works best</a> in children, but the shot <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0808652" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">is better</a> for adults.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; 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 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-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">What about Tamiflu? In the event that a virulent flu pandemic occurred and no vaccine was available, antiviral drugs might be critical. In a key 2009 study during the H1N1 outbreak, stockpiled Tamiflu was given to large groups of contacts of newly-infected Singaporeans and <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0908482#t=abstract" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">cut the transmission rate by 95 percent</a>. Tamiflu also appears to <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMopv0910738" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">cut the risk of death</a> in hospitalized flu patients. Critics of Tamiflu allege Roche obscured evidence unfavorable to the drug, but the debate is deep and fascinating. (Roche's <a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/339/bmj.b5374" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">response</a> to them, in my opinion, seemed reasonable.)</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; 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 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-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Most importantly, what have we learned about flu control? We found that vaccinating the elderly failed to cut hospitalizations; therefore, doctors hypothesized that children are responsible for spreading most flu to older people. In 2010, a <a href="http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/202/11/1626.full.pdf" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">large study of elementary-school-based flu vaccine</a> in Bell County, Texas achieved 50 percent vaccination rates of students and protected people of all ages from the flu (the so-called "herd immunity" effect). Similar findings were seen in <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20215608" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">a Canadian study</a>. Incorporating this information, the <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/2010/r100224.htm" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">CDC recommended in 2010</a>that all people over 6 months old should be vaccinated. (To guard infants, we now know that<a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0708630" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">vaccinating pregnant women produces immunity</a> in their newborns.) As in chicken pox control, these new flu policies show public health in evolution. In a few years, we will see if this works. In the meantime, the FDA earlier this year <a href="http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm294057.htm" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">approved a new vaccine</a> that includes four flu strains, instead of three, which may bolster effectiveness. It's another example of science in action.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; 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 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-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">In the meantime, Americans should learn from the death toll of flu-vaccine skepticism in Japan. It was the only industrialized country to have mandatory universal flu vaccine of children, which helped produce herd immunity, The program fell victim to skeptics and was repealed in 1994. The result? The <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">New England Journal of Medicine</em> <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200103223441204#t=abstract" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">reported that flu deaths rose by 40,000 per year</a>—almost as many people as died immediately from the atomic bomb in Hiroshima.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; 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 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-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">In the end, it's easy to ascribe sinister motives to flu control efforts, especially if you're unwilling to tolerate uncertainty. With a slight shift in perspective, however, one can see our evolving flu control programs as a triumph of public health.</div></div></div><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/pandemics/2012/12/flu_vaccine_safety_tamiflu_and_vaccines_save_lives_and_show_public_health.single.html">http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/pandemics/2012/12/flu_vaccine_safety_tamiflu_and_vaccines_save_lives_and_show_public_health.single.html</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Flu vaccine safety: Tamiflu and vaccines save lives and show public health science in action. - Slate Magazine

Here's a common complaint about the annual flu vaccine: "The last time I got the shot, I ended up getting the flu anyway!" Epi...

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