Today's Teamster News 08.24.13

<a href="http://www.teamster.org/content/ups-teamsters-not-impacted-company-decision-eliminate-spousal-coverage" rel="nofollow">UPS Teamsters Not Impacted By Company Decision To Eliminate Spousal Coverage</a>  IBT   ...UPS announced a change in its health care coverage for spouses of nonunion employees. Going forward, UPS will not cover spouses of nonunion employees who are eligible for employer coverage at their workplace. This decision does not impact the health care coverage of Teamsters at UPS...<br /><a href="http://mtstandard.com/news/local/administrators-ratify-hike-in-contract/article_06d732e6-0baa-11e3-976a-001a4bcf887a.html" rel="nofollow">Teamster school administrators ratify 3.1% hike in contract</a>  The Montana Standard   ...The Butte school district’s 15 administrators, who are members of Teamsters Local 2, ratified a contract offer that provides a 3.1 percent wage hike in 2013-14, and a 1.5 percent increase in 2014-15...<br /><a href="http://www.teamster.org/sites/teamster.org/files/8613OfficeManagersTLA2013.pdf" rel="nofollow">Organizational Skills for Office Managers Scheduled for November 6-8</a>  IBT   ...The IBT Training and Development Department will conduct a TLA for Teamster office managers and key administrative staff, November 6-8, 2013, at the International Headquarters in Washington, D.C...<br /><a href="http://www.teamster.org/content/allied-bankruptcy-hearing-postponed-court-september-10" rel="nofollow">Allied Bankruptcy Hearing Postponed By the Court to September 10 </a>  IBT   ...A hearing before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Allied Systems’ bankruptcy case that was scheduled for Thursday, August 22, has been postponed by the court to noon Tuesday, September 10...<br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/24/us/march-on-washington/" rel="nofollow">March on Washington: Throngs to attend events, mark 'I Have a Dream' anniversary</a>  CNN   ...Saturday's event begins with speeches before a march past the King Memorial, where an image of the slain civil rights leader now stands immortalized in granite...<br /><a href="http://www.theglobaldispatch.com/massachusetts-senator-elizabeth-warren-targets-doj-settlements-with-banks-over-forged-documents-and-illegal-practices-83773/" rel="nofollow">Mass. Sen. Elizabeth Warren targets DOJ settlements with banks over forged documents and illegal practices</a>  Global Dispatch   ...Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) calls the latest deal “settling cheap” in her letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, questioning whether a major government settlement with the nation’s largest mortgage companies is a “timid enforcement strategy.”...<br /><a href="http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/walmarts-latest-scheme-replace-middle-class-underclass-forced-buy-its-shoddy-goods" rel="nofollow">Walmart's Latest Scheme to Replace the Middle Class With an Underclass Forced to Buy its Shoddy Goods</a>  AlterNet    ...Almost 30 years ago, as the U.S. was bleeding jobs, Walmart launched a "Buy America" program and started hanging "Made in America" signs in its 750 stores. It was a marketing success, cementing the retailer's popularity in the country's struggling, blue-collar heartland. A few years later, NBC's Dateline <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/24/business/wal-mart-disputes-report-on-labor.html" rel="nofollow">revealed the program to be a sham</a>...<br /><a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/175875/fired-walmart-workers-arrested-rally-announcing-labor-day-deadline#axzz2coqFj7Sx" rel="nofollow">Fired Walmart Workers Arrested at Rally Announcing Labor Day Deadline</a>  The Nation   ...Nine fired workers and a current employee were arrested around 2:30 pm Thursday after locking arms and sitting in front of the entrance to a Washington, D.C. Walmart office...<br /><a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-bank-layoffs-20130823,0,961124.story" rel="nofollow">Banks shed thousands of jobs as housing market improves</a>  Los Angeles Times   ...Six years after the mortgage meltdown, delinquencies and foreclosures are way down. That's great for borrowers and bank balance sheets, but bad for bank workers — who are now being laid off by the thousands...<br /><a href="http://wepartypatriots.com/wp/2013/08/23/boeings-wage-slashing-move-to-sc-backfires-as-company-cant-meet-787-production-demand/" rel="nofollow">Boeing’s Wage-Slashing Move to SC Backfires as Company Can’t Meet 787 Production Demand</a>  We Party Patriots   ...When Boeing left Washington for South Carolina in order to suppress the wages of its workers, it also left behind the quality work that had been provided by a highly skilled, union workforce. Now, that <a href="http://www.eoionline.org/blog/union-busting-doesnt-pay-off-for-boeing/">union-busting is backfiring</a> as productivity has dropped immensely and Boeing is unable to meet their 787 Dreamliner production goals...<br /><a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/175865/keeping-massive-trade-deal-out-fast-lane#" rel="nofollow">Keeping a Massive Trade Deal Out of the Fast Lane</a>  The Nation   ...Congress itself hasn’t heard much about the TPP; the negotiating process has been characterized by extreme secrecy and the Obama administration has denied repeated calls from legislators to make the process more transparent, while pressing to finalize the agreement this year...<br /><a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/news/crime/article/La-man-sentenced-in-Afghanistan-kickback-scheme-4752288.php" rel="nofollow">Louisiana businessman sentenced in Afghanistan kickback scheme</a>  Associated Press   ...<a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/news/crime/article/La-man-sentenced-in-Afghanistan-kickback-scheme-4752288.php" rel="nofollow">He kidnapped an Indian businessman in South Sudan</a>, but got off. Now he’s been found guilty of demanding $60,000 in kickbacks for approving a $3.2m award to an American company for construction in Afghanistan. His sentence? 10 months in the federal slammer...<br /><a href="http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/15498/fight_against_right_to_work_not_over_in_michigan/" rel="nofollow">Fight Against ‘Right-to-Work’ Not Over in Michigan</a>  In These Times   ...Last December, Gov. Rick Snyder outraged unions and progressives when he abruptly <a href="http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/14285/big_surprise_michigan_house_passes_right_to_work_bill/" rel="nofollow">signed two bills</a> into law making Michigan the 24th so-called "right-to-work" state. The laws allow workers to get union benefits without paying mandatory union membership dues. Organized labor has widely decried right-to-work laws as dangerous to unions and ultimately detrimental to all workers...<br /><a href="http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/steven_elbow/sen-jon-erpenbach-goes-to-bat-for-capitol-protesters/article_35e6eae1-c200-5a16-a304-2105b78281e5.html#ixzz2cjNkuo7O" rel="nofollow">Sen. Jon Erpenbach goes to bat for Capitol protesters</a>  The Cap Times   ..."I would suggest that you abandon the current permit policy, and stop the arrests of noon-time singers," Erpenbach writes. "Because if the goal was eliminating the singing — your policy is producing the direct opposite..."<br /><a href="http://progressillinois.com/news/content/2013/08/22/midway-privatization-deal-could-negatively-affect-workers-nearby-residents" rel="nofollow">Chicago Midway Airport Privatization Deal Could Negatively Affect Workers, residents</a>  Progress Illinois   ...Privatization plans for Chicago Midway Airport could negatively affect both nearby residents as well as airport workers, according to Alderman Michael Zalewski (23rd), who is concerned about allegations that one of the two contenders for the privatization contract has a history of "union busting and black-listing."...<br /><a href="http://qctimes.com/news/state-and-regional/illinois/quinn-looking-to-boost-minimum-wage/article_cce66e70-7bdf-53c3-9fb9-81dff464180b.html" rel="nofollow">Quinn looking to boost minimum wage</a>  Quad-City Times   ...Wednesday marked the 10th anniversary of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's signing of the first of a series of increases in Illinois' minimum wage. And now, his former running mate and successor, Gov. Pat Quinn, says he wants to push the state's $8.25 per hour minimum wage higher...<br /><a href="http://rockrivertimes.com/2013/08/22/illinois-receives-more-than-2-billion-in-relief-from-national-foreclosure-settlement/" rel="nofollow">Illinois receives more than $2 billion in relief from national foreclosure settlement</a>  Rock River Times   ...Illinois Attorney General Madigan (D) reported that Illinois homeowners and assistance organizations have received more than $2 billion in total relief under the national foreclosure settlement...<br /><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-rt-us-usa-voting-states-20130821,0,4055323.story" rel="nofollow">Arizona and Kansas sue U.S. over voter registration law</a>  Reuters   ...Kansas and Arizona filed a lawsuit against the U.S. federal government on Wednesday, seeking court approval for states to require proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote...<br /><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/08/21/3576943/maine-group-touts-new-plan-to.html" rel="nofollow">Maine group touts new plan to eliminate income tax</a>  Associated Press   ...A conservative think tank in Maine is rolling out a new proposal to gradually phase out the state's income tax, one of the top priorities for Gov. Paul LePage's administration...

Today's Teamster News 08.24.13

UPS Teamsters Not Impacted By Company Decision To Eliminate Spousal Coverage   IBT   ...UPS announced a change in its health care coverage ...

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March on Washington: It's still about jobs

<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="color: black;">Next week is the 50^th<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Marchers, including Teamsters from across the country, gathered in Washington, D.C., to call attention to civil rights issues, especially the need for good jobs for all people. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>This series focuses on how well (or not) our society has met the 50-year-old demands of the marchers. So far, we’ve discussed<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/08/minimum-wage-lower-today.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the decline of the minimum wages</i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i><a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/08/port-drivers-regressed-since-1963.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the gaps in labor law protections</i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i></span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">In 1963, America was in the middle of an economic crisis. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Although the national unemployment rate was only 5.6 percent that summer,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/p60-214.pdf">almost one in five Americans lived in poverty</a>. For black Americans, the situation was much more dire. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/07/11/poverty-in-the-50-years-since-the-other-america-in-five-charts/">About half of African-Americans were in poverty</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>– and were unemployed at over twice the rate of white Americans – something still true today.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">None of the employment figures include people who had given up looking for a job or who work only a few hours a week while looking for a better job. Last month, the U6 unemployment rate -- the unemployed, the discouraged and the underemployed --<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/catch-22-hiring-2013-165856551.html" rel="nofollow">is 14 percent.</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/catch-22-hiring-2013-165856551.html" rel="nofollow">Organizers of the March on Washington believed that getting people good jobs was key to helping their communities.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Philip_Randolph" rel="nofollow">A. Philip Randolph,</a> president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and one of the main organizers,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/unfinished-march-overview/">said at the march</a>: <br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">We have no future in a society in which 6 million black and white people are unemployed and millions more live in poverty. Nor is the goal of our civil rights revolution merely the passage of civil rights legislation. Yes, we want all public accommodations open to all citizens, but those accommodations will mean little to those who cannot afford to use them. Yes, we want a Fair Employment Practice Act, but what good will it do if profit-geared automation destroys the jobs of millions of workers black and white?</blockquote>Today, Teamsters International Vice President Al Mixon echoed Randolph as he prepared to join tomorrow's <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/us/a-time-to-return-to-and-reflect-on-the-march-on-washington.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: inherit;">March on Washington 50 years later</a>.<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">I look at how far we've come and how far we have to go. It was about jobs then, it's about jobs now. </blockquote><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">Participants at the 1963 march demanded “a massive federal program to train and place all unemployed workers — Negro and white — on meaningful and dignified jobs at decent wages.”</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">At that point, the only active job training program, the Manpower Development and Training Act, had been around for less than a year. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Only 200,000 people enrolled in the program. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">Today,</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><a href="http://www.gao.gov/assets/320/314551.pdf" style="font-family: inherit;">47 different federal programs that focus on job training are run through seven different departments</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">. Most focus on a specific subset of the population: Farmworkers, Native Americans, veterans and youth all have multiple programs that offer basic employment help. Funding for all of the programs in 2009 totaled $18 billion, half of one percent of the total federal budget. </span> That represented a dramatic increase in funding over six years, and the current administration increased funding by a third since 2009.<br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Department of Labor estimates that about 26 million people have worked with their programs that offer job training in the past year.  In January of this year alone, 22.7 million people were classified as truly unemployed -</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><a href="http://www.rpc.senate.gov/policy-papers/january-2013-unemployment-report" style="font-family: inherit;">people who are unemployed (12.3 million), want work but have stopped searching for a job (2.4 million), or work part time because they can’t find full time employment (8.0 million)</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">Fifty years later, we still have plenty of marching to do.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span> </span></div>

job training Jobs March on Washington unemployment March on Washington: It's still about jobs

Next week is the 50 th   anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.    Marchers, including Teamsters from across the ...

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You're Going To Need A Bigger Boat

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/soh33oNvbis" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/8gciFoEbOA8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

You're Going To Need A Bigger Boat

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LA Times - Online doctor visits offer convenience and often lower costs

<div><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Victoria Barzilai opened her mouth wide so the doctor could look at her sore throat. Not exactly a remarkable event, except that Barzilai was at home and the doctor was hundreds of miles away.</span></p><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Feeling too sick to drag herself to the school health center, the third-year UC Davis student had opted for a cyber-doctor visit, the 21st century version of a house call.</span></p><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A number of websites offer face-to-face consultations of the virtual kind to anyone with a credit card and access to a webcam-equipped computer. The services are intended for patients with relatively minor problems that don't require hands-on diagnoses or treatments, not for people who need stitches, MRIs or casts on broken limbs.</span></p><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But an estimated 50 million times a year, patients go to their doctors for just the sorts of problems these sites are meant to handle, says Dr. Ateev Mehrotra, an associate professor at Harvard. "They're filling a niche."</span></p><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><strong style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Convenience</strong></p><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">One presumed strong suit of e-visits like these is convenience. That counted with Barzilai. And with Richard Simons of Los Feliz, when he had a case of the flu. "My doctor is at least an hour away," he says, "and besides, I didn't know when I could get in to see him."</span></p><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Barzilai and Simons both used <a href="http://MedCareLive.com">MedCareLive.com</a>, which offers California residents no-wait consultations with healthcare professionals from 9 a.m. to midnight every day. Other sites, such as Teladoc and MeMD, offer consultations 24/7.</span></p><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><strong style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Cost</strong></p><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Some e-visit sites charge per-consultation fees: <a href="http://MedCareLive.com">MedCareLive.com</a>, $45; MeMD, $44.95; Teladoc, $35. Others charge different rates for different services: At Online USA Doctors, single consults start at 99 cents. As for insurance, some plans cover e-visits at some sites, but not all.</span></p><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Although <a href="http://MedCareLive.com">MedCareLive.com</a> does not contract with any insurance companies, co-founders Dr. David Tashman and nurse practitioner Sigi Marmorstein set out to make their service a good deal — for people who have insurance and people who don't. "We set our price point at $45 for a reason," Tashman says. "Most co-pays run from $30 to $50."</span></p><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"We want to help people stay away from the ER and urgent care," Marmorstein adds. "We want to save people money."</span></p><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So far, hard data on e-visits are limited. Mehrotra and colleagues have looked at convenience and cost, though the e-visits they considered were not offered through public sites. Patients in their studies interacted with their own doctors or doctors in the same practice, and for the most part the interactions were not in real time and did not use webcams. Patients described their condition on a questionnaire, and a doctor responded about two hours later on average.</span></p><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In an article published in July in the journal Telemedicine and e-Health, the researchers found that the greater the convenience of e-visits compared with office visits, the more likely patients were to use them. Patients with urinary tract infections who lived farther than 10 miles away from their doctors were more than three times as likely to use the e-visit option as those who lived five miles or less away. And sinusitis sufferers who lived more than 10 miles away were more than six times as likely to use the e-option as those who lived five miles or less away.</span></p><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In another paper published in January in JAMA Internal Medicine, the same researchers found evidence that, on a per-visit basis, e-visits generally are cheaper than office visits, let alone trips to the ER. "For anyone with no insurance or with a high deductible, e-visits may be particularly attractive," Mehrotra says. In the big picture, though, the economics become more complicated. Because of the added convenience and lower price of e-visits, "people might use them who otherwise would have stayed at home and not gone for care at all." Such increased healthcare use could be a good thing, he observes, "but it could increase total costs."</span></p><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And how good is the care? Again, data are sparse. In its January study, Mehrota's team found welcome evidence that diagnosis and treatment were equally successful in e-visits and office visits for patients with sinusitis and urinary tract infections. On the other hand, doctors prescribed more antibiotics in e-visits, which could represent an unfortunate trend.</span></p><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In another potential drawback, Mehrotra says, primary care doctors are encouraged to offer preventive care — e.g., pap smears, cholesterol tests — to their patients at every visit. But in the January study, Mehrotra's team found that doctors were less likely to do so during e-visits than during office visits. .</span></p><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Overall, more research would seem to be in order, but the January study found that e-visitors are generally happy with the service. Simons and Barzilai are two enthusiastic examples.</span></p><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"I would definitely do it again," Simons says.</span></p><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In Barzilai's words, "It was really awesome."</span></p><p style="border: 0px solid rgb(196, 196, 196); margin: 0px 0px 1.3rem; padding: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-hyphens: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And e-usage is growing. "Patients are voting with their feet," Mehrotra says, "or make that their mouse pads."</span></p><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-edocs-20130824,0,2379647.story">http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-edocs-20130824,0,2379647.story</a></span><br><br><br></div>

LA Times - Online doctor visits offer convenience and often lower costs

Victoria Barzilai opened her mouth wide so the doctor could look at her sore throat. Not exactly a remarkable event, except that Barzilai wa...

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I Have To Agree

Grade A Choice.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1rgg7adx4RIh1NxqihDwvUo1odmOqs-K4-eboZx5Lm5Jxzol-M57TiG-B114Ux3YLJDlow9WghkjLowSW0XbUywK5qDjj7A90ZxuZcNvUFm169zwkX9ncHxmWnpbyvwQr9rxCSoYlPVD/s1600/11112.gif" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1rgg7adx4RIh1NxqihDwvUo1odmOqs-K4-eboZx5Lm5Jxzol-M57TiG-B114Ux3YLJDlow9WghkjLowSW0XbUywK5qDjj7A90ZxuZcNvUFm169zwkX9ncHxmWnpbyvwQr9rxCSoYlPVD/s400/11112.gif" /></a>

I Have To Agree

Grade A Choice.

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Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 08/24/2013

<ul class="diigo-linkroll"> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="https://support.google.com/plus/answer/2553119?hl=en">Get started with Hangouts On Air - Google+ Help</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">If you want to record your Google hangouts and post to your YouTube channel, you need to get started with "Hangouts on Air." HEre's the page to get you started. Note that Google plus isn't available for Apps for education so you'll need to use your personal or another gmail account with a Google plus profile if you want to record and share your class hangouts.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/google">google</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/youtube">youtube</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass">flatclass</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>

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 08/24/2013

Get started with Hangouts On Air - Google+ Help If you want to record your Google hangouts and post ...

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Nothing Has Changed

As old as this tune is now it doesn't surprise me one fucking bit that it's still relevant right this minute.<br /><br /> Holy Wars,The Punishment Due off the album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_in_Peace">Rust In Peace</a>,released in September of 1990.<br /><br />For those who may have never heard of it because you ain't into Heavy Metal, I am going to put the lyrics below the video so you can see exactly what I mean.<br />For those who have, crank this fucker to the point of distortion as it was meant to be.<br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9ZROqlpLgIE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br />MEGADETH<br /><br />Holy Wars lyrics<br /><br />Brother will kill brother spilling blood across the land<br />Killing for religion something I don't understand<br />And fools like me, who cross the sea and come to foreign lands<br />Ask the sheep, for their beliefs do you kill on God's command?<br /><br />A country that's divided surely will not stand<br />My past erased, no more disgrace foolish naive stand<br />The end is near, it's crystal clear part of the master plan<br />Don't look now to Israel it might be your homelands<br /><br />Holy wars<br /><br />Upon my podium, as the know it all scholar<br />Down in my seat of judgment Gavel's bang, uphold the law<br />Up on my soapbox, a leader out to change the world<br />Down in my pulpit as the holier than-thou-could-be-messenger of God<br /><br />Wage the war on organized crime<br />Sneak attacks, repel down the rocks behind the lines<br />Some people risk to employ me some people live to destroy me<br />Either way they die, they die<br /><br />They killed my wife and my baby, with hopes to enslave me<br />First mistake last mistake paid by the alliance, to slay all the giants<br />Next mistake no more mistakes<br /><br />Fill the cracks in, with judicial granite<br />Because I don't say it, don't mean I ain't thinkin' it<br />Next thing you know, they'll take my thoughts away<br />I know what I said, now I must scream of the overdose<br />And the lack of mercy killings, mercy killings, mercy killings<br />Killings killings killings<br />Next thing you know, they'll take my thoughts away, yeah<br /><br /><br />Lyrics from <a href="http://www.elyrics.net">eLyrics.net</a>

Nothing Has Changed

As old as this tune is now it doesn't surprise me one fucking bit that it's still relevant right this minute. Holy Wars,The Punis...

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Matt Said Jay Said 3

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqFBpaJ9YzSiBqRwgwrbAuDaJYDbM039Ysq0XpxVvU4E-Hv5lB3qjNfPmTxp_ADQcrTkQ4t-DfmtWxytUR7CkMvfELo8T2-x4ysAFtfsaLzOtjRQcC7szcalpbGwOVpF9YDz8IxC56ducj/s1600/Hot+Chick+Drinking+Champagne+Naked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqFBpaJ9YzSiBqRwgwrbAuDaJYDbM039Ysq0XpxVvU4E-Hv5lB3qjNfPmTxp_ADQcrTkQ4t-DfmtWxytUR7CkMvfELo8T2-x4ysAFtfsaLzOtjRQcC7szcalpbGwOVpF9YDz8IxC56ducj/s320/Hot+Chick+Drinking+Champagne+Naked.jpg" width="320" /></a>Matt pops a cork…Jay taps a keg…You celebrate with us.<br /><br />Matt:  Hiya Chuckles!!<br />Jay:  What’s up?<br />Matt:  I’m getting excited about our big <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2013/08/25/season-3-finale" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">3rd Year Anniversary Show</span></a> this Sunday from Noon-2 PM ET.<br />Jay:  IKR?  This show is gonna be bigger and hotter than the flames coming out of your ass after eating a can of Beefaroni!!<br /><br />Matt:  I just had a flashback thank you very much, but you’re right.<br />Jay:  Man, can you believe it?  Three years of non-stop laughs and top notch journalism.<br />Matt:  IKR?  It’s like we’re the FOX News of Blog Talk Radio, only we have top notch journalism.<br /><br />Jay:  True…They could learn a thing or two from us…like being<br />Matt:  Like what?  FOX News being fair and balanced?  That’s crazy talk!!<br />Jay:  A man can dream, can’t he?<br />Matt: I suppose, but let’s try to stay in a relative realm of reality.<br /><br />Jay:  Word.  So,<span style="color: blue;"> <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2013/08/25/season-3-finale" target="_blank">this anniversary show</a></span>…the accolades having been pouring into us from many celebs.<br />Matt:  Oh I know…I received one today from San Diego Mayor Bob Filner.<br />Jay:  Wow…I have already received congrats from Rick Perry, Roseanne, and Ted Cruz.<br />Matt:  Freaking awesome.  Dig this Jayman; John McCain sent us THREE statements of kind words!!<br />Jay:  That’s so cute, but guess what?<br />Matt:  What?<br /><br />Jay:  President Obama just now sent us one as well!!<br />Matt:  Get outta here.<br />Jay:  If I’m lyin’, I’m dyin’!!<br />Matt:  This is HUGE!!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9MGZrbHw-OS4id_EsZ0Eph5FI9FkxUth_PlAoNfATgClD1v61V4o86_jSHrgIk6meTwwSX_AVlHQzoRWH-xzKVpUMcDAwE3rxiFVOJIBUwcFtMq2ong8VBVSOcFlMV8LCzHcV1pDC4Wbc/s1600/IWS+Nuclear.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/AVvXsEg9MGZrbHw-OS4id_EsZ0Eph5FI9FkxUth_PlAoNfATgClD1v61V4o86_jSHrgIk6meTwwSX_AVlHQzoRWH-xzKVpUMcDAwE3rxiFVOJIBUwcFtMq2ong8VBVSOcFlMV8LCzHcV1pDC4Wbc/s320/IWS+Nuclear.jpg" width="320" /></a>Jay:  We need to play these and the warm words from others in power, for our loyal audience.<br />Matt:  We sure as hell will, along with playing our fave files and moments from Season 3.<br />Jay:  Nothing wrong with a Sunday stroll down Memory Lane.<br /><br />Matt:  I’m sure Guy Ahnyurdyck, Slyder Balzcock, and maybe even Kim Fragile will chime in.<br /><br />Jay:  And Joshua, Rev. Moneymaker, Bobby Kraft are probably mixing and mincing up some words.<br /><br />Matt:  And of course Jayman, you know who truly needs to be involved and celebrated…<br /><br />Jay:  Damn Right!!  The listeners…who without fail, make us the Number One Comedy show nearly every week.<br /><br />Matt:  We will have shout out and tributes galore to those fine folks<br />Jay:  As it should be, and we can touch on what is in store for Season Four.<br />Matt:  Poetically said Jayman.<br />Jay:  Rhyming is my Bitch.<br />Matt:  Word.<br /><br />Jay:  So let’s get ready to party tomorrow, Sunday August 25th on Blog Talk Radio…<br />Matt:  As IWS Radio presents its<span style="color: blue;"> <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2013/08/25/season-3-finale" target="_blank">Season 3 Finale</a></span> LIVE from Noon-2 PM ET.<br />Jay:  Listen LIVE, hit the Chat Room, and of course Matt-Man…<br /><br />Matt:  Call-In LIVE at 661.244.9852<br /><br />Jay:  How do they get to the party, my good man?<br />Matt:  They can get there by clicking <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2013/08/25/season-3-finale" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">HERE</span></a>.</span><br /><br />Jay and Matt:  Holaaaaaa and Cheeeeeers!!<br /><br /><div></div></div>

Matt Said Jay Said 3

Matt pops a cork…Jay taps a keg…You celebrate with us. Matt:  Hiya Chuckles!! Jay:  What’s up? Matt:  I’m getting excited about our big 3rd ...

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Surgeon struggles to save boy's life in L.A.'s shooting season - latimes.com

<base href="data:">From the entry wound — the size of a nickel — Dr. Brant Putnam guesses that the bullet is a .45, but it's what he can't see that worries him most.<br><br>The boy, a teenager most likely, lies naked on Bed 2 in a trauma bay at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. His brown skin, slick with sweat, is ashen.<br><br>"What's your name?" a resident asks as half a dozen doctors and nurses circle him.<br><br>The boy can't answer.<br><br>"Ohhh," he moans.<br><br>"How old are you, sir?"<br><br>"Awww."<br><br>The boy's hipbones delicately protrude from his narrow waist. He has a woman's name tattooed down his right arm from elbow to wrist and the bullet hole is to the right of his navel.<br><br>Putnam, chief of trauma, stands back and watches and listens. He is puzzled that the wound is hardly bleeding.<br><br>"Sit up for me."<br><br>"Ohhh."<br><br>There is no sign of an exit wound.<br><br>"Hey. Wake up."<br><br>A resident slaps the boy. They need him conscious.<br><br>Putnam knows the surge of adrenaline that brought the boy this far is nearly spent. If his blood pressurecrashes, his heart will stop. Putnam wonders if it is too late.<br><br>"Let's go to the OR," he says, loud enough to get everyone's attention.<br><br><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNburRjpBg9hQ8o2wISAhBH7Ri_2NKCsi0kFiUz7cO3mdasOGgsqQwoINGclNLpn-2McyNPxDiVwnVrVoWowE3TvfFE7zY0KNc0AgJCppBftUSaIkEQl49Jqq5fuTuvNeGHMNz4z4MVhE/s1600/prettything-765577.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5915507704896073314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNburRjpBg9hQ8o2wISAhBH7Ri_2NKCsi0kFiUz7cO3mdasOGgsqQwoINGclNLpn-2McyNPxDiVwnVrVoWowE3TvfFE7zY0KNc0AgJCppBftUSaIkEQl49Jqq5fuTuvNeGHMNz4z4MVhE/s320/prettything-765577.png" /></a><br><br>The season of shootings has begun on time. Last year, from July through September, this Torrance hospital treated 107 gunshot victims, the highest number in the county.<br><br>This year, four GSWs — medical shorthand for gunshot wounds — arrived on the first day of summer. One was a suicide and three were assaults. Three died and one would probably be discharged in a few days.<br><br>Now, on June 23, two more have come in, both teenagers, both assaults. They walked through the front door at 2:25 a.m., no EMTs, no police. The hospital staff calls it the homeboy ambulance service: patients brought in with injuries often from gang shootings.<br><br>Putnam can see that one of the boys will be OK. He has a clean wound through the shoulder.<br>The boy with the nickel-sized bullet hole is far worse, and they know nothing about him. No name, no age, no family. For now, they call him Zinc, one of the pseudonyms the hospital uses for its John Does.<br><br>Emergency departments in hospitals throughout America have physicians like Putnam, doctors who specialize in saving the lives of shooting victims.<br><br>Other traumas, like concussions and automobile accidents, can be subtle and require imaging to see what's hidden. Gun injuries don't hide their tracks, but they are just as much a mystery, a puzzle put together by the surgeon as seconds race by.<br><br>No matter the clarity of the injury, the damage can extend like concentric rings beyond the trajectory of the bullet. There is the blast effect, the sometimes fatal bruising that can occur to organs in the vicinity of a wound. There is the so-called triad of death, the interplay between body temperature, blood acidity and coagulation.<br><br>There is ancillary debris — shards of glass, pieces of clothing, even upholstery if the bullet has passed through furniture — and there are always infections from bacteria carried into the wound.<br><br>Putnam, 44, estimates that he has treated about 5,000 GSWs and consulted on nearly 2,000 more over the last 20 years, 10 of them at Harbor-UCLA. The victims he remembers the most are the children and women, the bystanders hit by stray fire, the wounded who spoke to him in the ER but died in the operating room.<br><br>Whenever he loses a patient, he hears his mother asking him what he could have done differently. And whenever he saves a life, he knows that success is often just a matter of luck.<br><br>Medicine and technology have come far in recent years in balancing the odds, but when it comes to gun violence, the numbers are overwhelming.<br><br>"Why guns?" Putnam asks. "Why so many guns? It once was fistfights. It once was stabbings. Now it's a whole new world out there, and with guns, it's just too much."<br><br><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNburRjpBg9hQ8o2wISAhBH7Ri_2NKCsi0kFiUz7cO3mdasOGgsqQwoINGclNLpn-2McyNPxDiVwnVrVoWowE3TvfFE7zY0KNc0AgJCppBftUSaIkEQl49Jqq5fuTuvNeGHMNz4z4MVhE/s1600/prettything-765577.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5915507704896073314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNburRjpBg9hQ8o2wISAhBH7Ri_2NKCsi0kFiUz7cO3mdasOGgsqQwoINGclNLpn-2McyNPxDiVwnVrVoWowE3TvfFE7zY0KNc0AgJCppBftUSaIkEQl49Jqq5fuTuvNeGHMNz4z4MVhE/s320/prettything-765577.png" /></a><br><br>The emergency room team washes the boy with an antiseptic. He has been intubated and anesthetized. Blood transfusions have begun.<br><br>"Sticky blues," Putnam calls out. No time to wait for the antiseptic to dry. Nurses drape blue cloths around the boy until he disappears, with only a torso remaining.<br><br>Putnam, dressed in surgical scrubs, gloves, cap and headlamp, makes the initial incision from sternum to pubic bone, bowing around the navel.<br><br>Chief resident Carrie Luu follows the scalpel with a "Bovie," a pen-shaped tool that cauterizes the open blood vessels with electrical current. The air smells of singed flesh; tendrils of smoke rise into the lights.<br><br>Putnam sets a clock running in his mind. Two hours is optimum. Three is the limit. Anything longer compounds the trauma with a phenomena known as physiologic exhaustion, when the body has worn itself out trying to compensate for the injury.<br><br>Putnam and Luu begin by separating the small intestine and colon from their ligaments. They notice a few holes in the bowel, but those repairs can come later.<br><br>Lifting the intestine out of the torso, they find a pool of blood the size of a football flooding the back of the abdomen. This explains why the entry wound was dry. The boy is losing more blood than they can give him. Putnam wonders again if they are too late.<br><br>He orders more transfusions. A resident begins suctioning the abdomen.<br><br>"Minus 8," a nurse calls out. It's a measure of the blood's acidity, a reminder of the triad of death. A normal reading — zero — means blood clots can form naturally.<br><br>As patients lose blood, lactic acid accumulates in the cells, and the enzyme that helps coagulation doesn't function. The more acid, the more bleeding, and patients' temperatures drop until there's no stopping the loss.<br><br>Trauma teams try to interrupt this cycle. Transfusions and warming blankets help. The OR's thermostat is set as high as it will go: 85 degrees. The boy lies on a pad that's heated to 100 degrees, but still his temperature has fallen to 93.<br><br>Unable to see beyond the blood collecting in the abdomen, Putnam reaches in, and his fingers find the inferior vena cava — a vein nearly an inch in diameter — that channels blood from the lower half of the body back into the heart.<br><br>He pushes down on it, and the bleeding slows. When he eases up, he can hear a whoosh. The vena cava has been punctured.<br><br><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNburRjpBg9hQ8o2wISAhBH7Ri_2NKCsi0kFiUz7cO3mdasOGgsqQwoINGclNLpn-2McyNPxDiVwnVrVoWowE3TvfFE7zY0KNc0AgJCppBftUSaIkEQl49Jqq5fuTuvNeGHMNz4z4MVhE/s1600/prettything-765577.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5915507704896073314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNburRjpBg9hQ8o2wISAhBH7Ri_2NKCsi0kFiUz7cO3mdasOGgsqQwoINGclNLpn-2McyNPxDiVwnVrVoWowE3TvfFE7zY0KNc0AgJCppBftUSaIkEQl49Jqq5fuTuvNeGHMNz4z4MVhE/s320/prettything-765577.png" /></a><br><br>Fired from a handgun, a .45-caliber bullet averages 900 feet per second, and unless it hits a bone, it usually follows a straight line.<br><br>This bullet's journey passed through the skin and the colon, the intestine and then the vena cava. It stopped just behind the pancreas, with its point boring nearly two inches into the spine at an angle, just missing the spinal cord.<br><br>Putnam probes the vertebra. He feels sharp fragments of bone and a hole in the L-3 vertebra no larger than his little finger. If the bullet posed a risk for pain or infection, he would remove it, but experience tells him it is safe to leave behind.<br><br>With the blood drained, he can see the damage to the vena cava: two holes in the vein, most of the tissue shredded. There will be no repairing it. Each end will have to be tied off permanently, and the other veins will have to adjust by carrying blood back to the heart.<br><br>But ligating the vena cava is tricky. Unlike arteries with their thick muscular walls, veins are as fragile as tissue paper.<br><br>Putnam puts a clamp with long pincers on the vein, which swells like a garden hose. Even in the best of circumstances, fewer than half of patients with similar injuries survive.<br><br>The boy jerks, a sudden reflex.<br><br>"Can you paralyze him so he'll stop bucking?" Putnam asks. More paralytics are added to the cocktail of intravenous drugs.<br><br>Putnam guides Luu, the chief resident, as she starts to tie off the vein. The stitch reverses direction with each pass and looks like the threads on a baseball.<br><br>"Minus 11," a nurse calls out. They have been working for almost 90 minutes.<br><br>"Come on," Putnam says, encouraging Luu. "This is where all these things really matter."<br><br>She is having trouble. Sideways torque in the needle tears out the suture. Luu is still learning — and Harbor-UCLA is a teaching hospital — but now Putnam has to take over.<br><br>"Big pledgets," he calls out, asking for the felt-like material, nearly a inch in diameter, that will act like gaskets to support each suture against the tissue. "Hurry, please."<br><br>His hands rise and fall quickly, deftly, with the grace of a pianist. His stitches, though, aren't perfect. He learned long ago that there was no call for elegance in surgeries like this. A perfect stitch could mean a dead patient.<br><br>With a little more than 12 passes, the lower portion of the vein is closed. They are almost two hours in. Putnam is sweating and splattered with blood. The room is stifling.<br><br>"Watch your eyes," Putnam announces as he removes the clamps and tests the sutures. Given the pressure in the vein, blood could spray across the room if the sutures don't hold.<br><br>They hold.<br><br>"Still very oozy," he says. The body's normal coagulants haven't begun to stop the other sources of bleeding.<br><br>He and Luu staple the top portion of the vena cava and turn to the intestine. They draw the long, serpentine tube through their hands inch by inch, stapling and stitching any tear.<br><br>A cloth is tossed on the floor to mop the blood at Putnam's feet. By now, almost 80% of the boy's blood has been replaced.<br><br>Loosely positioning the intestine inside the abdomen, Putnam begins bandaging. He won't close the incision because he plans to open the boy again in two days to reassess the work and to see how the body is healing.<br><br>"OK, we're moving," the scrub tech announces as soon as Putnam steps back and begins to strip out of his surgical gown.<br><br><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNburRjpBg9hQ8o2wISAhBH7Ri_2NKCsi0kFiUz7cO3mdasOGgsqQwoINGclNLpn-2McyNPxDiVwnVrVoWowE3TvfFE7zY0KNc0AgJCppBftUSaIkEQl49Jqq5fuTuvNeGHMNz4z4MVhE/s1600/prettything-765577.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5915507704896073314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNburRjpBg9hQ8o2wISAhBH7Ri_2NKCsi0kFiUz7cO3mdasOGgsqQwoINGclNLpn-2McyNPxDiVwnVrVoWowE3TvfFE7zY0KNc0AgJCppBftUSaIkEQl49Jqq5fuTuvNeGHMNz4z4MVhE/s320/prettything-765577.png" /></a><br><br>Putnam remembers all the bad news he's ever delivered. He won't have to remember this one.<br><br>At 5:25 a.m., three hours after arrival, he pronounces the boy in critical condition, expected to live.<br><br>A little before 6 a.m., Putnam goes looking for the family. He still doesn't have any information about the boy.<br><br>Sleeping families fill the waiting rooms, and in the ER, Putnam speaks with the other victim, who says he doesn't know his friend's name.<br><br>Then a call comes in. A woman is asking if the hospital has seen a young man with the name Connie tattooed on the underside of his right arm.<br><br>Within an hour, Connie Greene and her husband meet Putnam in the ICU. She is the boy's mother, and his name is Leandrus Benton. He is 16.<br><br>"He's OK," Putnam tells the parents. "He lost a lot of blood, and we almost lost him."<br><br>Connie starts to cry. In the last five years, two of her nephews have been killed in street shootings.<br><br>Leandrus — or Lee, as he's known to his family and friends — had been walking home from a party in Wilmington that night. As he would later explain, he and his friend thought it would be safer to take the alley than the street. Lee had heard the gun but didn't see the shooter. The bullet, he said, burned through his gut.<br><br>Putnam walks the couple into the ICU, and as they wash their hands, he pulls out gowns, gloves and masks for them. He then takes them to Lee, waits a minute and draws the curtain around them so they can be alone with their son.<br><br><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-gunshot-surgeon-20130818-dto,0,1798386.htmlstory?">http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-gunshot-surgeon-20130818-dto,0,1798386.htmlstory?</a><br><br>

Surgeon struggles to save boy's life in L.A.'s shooting season - latimes.com

From the entry wound — the size of a nickel — Dr. Brant Putnam guesses that the bullet is a .45, but it's what he can't see that wor...

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The Spectacular Now: Dangerous Liaison

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><i>The Spectacular Now</i> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>(2013) • <a href="http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/thespectacularnow/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">View trailer</a></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b> </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>3.5 stars. Rating: R, for profanity, alcohol abuse and some sensuality, all involving teens</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>By <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/12885694730612878577" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">Derrick Bang</a> • </b></span>Originally published in <i><a href="http://www.davisenterprise.com/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">The Davis Enterprise</a></i>, 8.23.13</b></span></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <br /><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We must be our own best advocates.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s a difficult, often bitter lesson. Sometimes we get lucky, and somebody comes along who believes in us wholeheartedly, unreservedly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOTcWXGUEuy7s9xlRXhP_6Fasgh3q7m0XT0rwWXMp4BoGW60ysUCcQmegvQ_a5MXwZTXx2BJhC8m5IktQWf6htJVwSTr_bGn5ZMl4ccgSnQEDGyxdenEGu2BxbLr5PxrjxrioJnUvQsQU/s1600/Spectacular+Now+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOTcWXGUEuy7s9xlRXhP_6Fasgh3q7m0XT0rwWXMp4BoGW60ysUCcQmegvQ_a5MXwZTXx2BJhC8m5IktQWf6htJVwSTr_bGn5ZMl4ccgSnQEDGyxdenEGu2BxbLr5PxrjxrioJnUvQsQU/s400/Spectacular+Now+blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Aimee (Shailene Woodley), never having enjoyed the thrill of romance, falls heavily in<br />love with Sutter (Miles Teller), despite knowing full well that he's bad news. Indeed,<br />everybody in school knows about Sutter's self-destructive tendencies. The question,<br />then: When he goes down in flames, will he take her with him?</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes that isn’t enough.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At first blush, 18-year-old Sutter Keely (Miles Teller) seems the life of every party: vibrant, good-natured, aggressively spontaneous. He enjoys a relationship with Cassidy (Brie Larson), one of the most popular girls in their high school; they’ve obviously been intimate for awhile.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Sutter’s glad-handing exterior masks uncharted depths of pain and uncertainty that he has absolutely no desire to confront. He’s a smart kid who doesn’t bother to study, much to the dismay of a concerned math teacher (Andre Royo). Sutter is left on his own too much, because his single mother (Jennifer Jason Leigh, as Sara) often works double-shifts just to keep a roof over their heads.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And Sutter drinks. Far too much, far too often. He is, in fact, a teen alcoholic, rarely seen without the shiny hip flask that he regards as a badge of ultra-coolness. He’s cheerfully on the fast-track to nowhere, a road he has traveled for several years. Doesn’t bother him a bit: If confronted, he smiles broadly and extols the virtues of living solely for the moment, for the “spectacular now.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, who did such a marvelous job with 2009’s <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2009/08/500-days-of-summer-charming-idyll.html">(500) Days of Summer</a></i> — their own original script — have done some equally sensitive work with this adaptation of Tim Tharp’s 2008 novel. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Spectacular Now</i> stars off as a hip, flip teen saga, displaying the raunchy language and earthy behavior we’d expect from something shallow like the <i>American Pie</i> franchise ... but that similarity fades quickly. Sutter Keely is badly damaged goods, and Teller throws himself into the role with a reckless abandon that his character would recognize. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before we know it, director James Ponsoldt has taken us into dangerous waters; we realize that things can’t end well. The only question is how much collateral damage will be involved.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><a name='more'></a><br /><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With <i>(500) Days of Summer</i>, Neustadter and Weber demonstrated their skill with unconventional narrative hooks; no surprise, then, that this film opens with Sutter’s feeble attempt to compose an essay for what we assume is a college entrance application. He stalls when asked to discuss a personal hardship or life-changing event: uncharted territory he’d prefer to blow off. And so the subsequent film becomes the answer, as we eventually meet the catalyst who serves as Sutter’s possible life-preserver.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Assuming he’s willing to hold on.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Astute high school seniors recognize the need to plan for the future: to take that next step. Much as Cassidy loves Sutter and tingles in his presence, she recognizes that he’s holding her back. She desperately wants to flee their small Georgia town; Sutter sees no reason to change what he perceives is a winning formula.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so she dumps him. Sort of. More or less. Can’t quite let go of him completely, despite sliding gracefully into a fresh relationship with the far more serious and stable Marcus (Dayo Okeniyi).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sutter, nonetheless feeling abandoned, responds with a reckless night on the town. He wakes early the next morning, having passed out on somebody’s lawn, with no idea where he left his car. His timid rescuer is Aimee (Shailene Woodley), the sort of mousy, high school outcast who never gets dates, never attends school dances.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She knows who Sutter is, though; <i>everybody</i> at school knows Sutter. She’s therefore flattered when he expresses a desire to hang out with her, even more pleased when he asks if she’ll help tutor him in geometry. After all, “tutoring” invariably turns into an excuse for something much more, ah, recreational.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sutter’s one genuine friend, Ricky (Masam Holden), is appalled. Aimee is a nice girl, Ricky protests, knowing full well that his buddy is a self-centered jerk. She’s the kind of girl who falls unconditionally in love. The kind of girl who can be hurt.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Similarly, Aimee’s best friend — played by Kaitlyn Dever, well remembered from her striking work in TV’s <i>Justified</i> — views Sutter as totally bad news.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, at first, Sutter <i>is</i> a jerk, arrogantly assuming that Aimee is a “project”: an immature flower he can encourage to bloom. Aimee, no slouch when it comes to perception, recognizes this ... but tolerates it. She expects, with time, that the relationship can progress, become more of a sharing thing. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How many women have gone down in flames, hoping to change their men?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The resulting story is driven by these two young actors: most particularly Woodley, whose performance is breathtaking. Her Aimee is fragile yet foolishly impulsive: willing to embrace unwise behavior, even when she knows better. Woodley’s first scene sets the high bar for what is to follow, when Aimee finds Sutter passed out on that lawn. She giggles nervously, stumbles through inane chatter, too flustered to think straight: absolutely awed by the fact that Sutter Keely is willing to talk to <i>her</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And if the warning bells go off, well, Aimee ignores them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It must be mentioned that Woodley is far from mousy, withdrawn or unattractive, even though the filmmakers do their best to emphasize a “plain Jane” demeanor. It’s impossible to believe that any girl this adorable would be dateless. But the brilliance of Woodley’s performance includes the ability to carry herself in a manner that conceals her own beauty and charisma; she’s every inch a girl whose many attributes fade into the background, because she herself doesn’t believe they exist.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s an impeccably shaded performance: no surprise, coming from the young actress who held her own with George Clooney, and earned a Golden Globe nomination — not to mention a slew of other acting awards — for her work in 2011’s <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2011/12/descendants-doing-right-thing.html">The Descendants</a></i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Teller’s acting résumé isn’t as flashy, but his work here is equally subtle and sensitive, even though Sutter often behaves like a blunt instrument. His nakedly vulnerable scenes arrive unexpectedly: a brief chat with his older sister; a long-awaited heart-to-heart with his mother; an unexpected moment of candor with the patient proprietor who owns the men’s clothing store where Sutter has an after-school job. The latter scene is particularly heartbreaking.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In his own way — often with a stiffened reaction, as Sutter looks inside himself and winces at what he finds — Teller elicits our concern about this contemptible character. That’s an impressive feat, because Sutter constantly proves himself unworthy of anybody’s sympathy ... and yet we care, despite ourselves. If not because he deserves salvation, then at least because such self-destructive tendencies are so tragic, in one so young.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aimee, on the other hand, clearly deserves the apprehension that Woodley’s performance elicits: Our anxiety mounts by the minute, the tension building almost unbearably.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Such well-deserved praise notwithstanding, though, Neustadter and Weber’s script has some rather glaring problems. We never meet Aimee’s mother, also a single parent who remains an off-camera figure: apparently damaged in some way (mentally unstable?) that never is specified. This character’s absence becomes increasingly irritating, as the story progresses.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The narrative also glosses quite superficially over Aimee’s willing embrace of Sutter’s alcoholic tendencies, leading me to believe, early on, that we were in for a teen echo of 1962’s<i> Days of Wine and Roses</i>. But Neustadter and Weber never confront the implications of this plot point, except for a quick references to Aimee’s father having died from drug abuse, thereby suggesting a dangerous genetic predisposition, on her part.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Somehow, Aimee just doesn’t get as drunk as Sutter; somehow, she seems able to control her consumption, and it never becomes a problem for her ... despite the fact that we watch her getting loaded just as often as he does. That’s rubbish.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Worse still, however, is this film’s failure to honor the conclusion Tharp gives his novel. Longtime film fans who remember George Segal’s crisis of conscience in 1973’s <i>A Touch of Class</i> will recognize where this story is heading (and I’ll not share the pivotal quote here, because it’d be a major spoiler). Tharp’s book <i>demands</i> that conclusion, and so does this film ... but although Ponsoldt, Neustadter and Weber replicate the novel’s key final scene, that’s not quite the end of this movie. Which is a shame.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because it’s dishonest and false, and that comes as a jolt after so much of this story — thanks to its gifted performers — feels so authentic.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite these shortcomings, there’s much to admire in this big-screen handling of <i>The Spectacular Now</i>. Ponsoldt draws excellent performances from his young stars, and the supporting players are equally memorable. You’ll not soon forget Kyle Chandler’s brief turn as the estranged father Sutter eventually meets.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This summer has been marked by the failure of gazillion-dollar action franchises, and the much more satisfying success of “little films” with a fixation on coming-of-age storylines. We’ve seen three now — following <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-kings-of-summer-this-film-rules.html">The Kings of Summer</a></i> and <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-way-way-back-droll-little-gem.html">The Way, Way Back</a></i> — and they’re all a treat. And if this one doesn’t quite live up to the adjective in its title, it’s nonetheless quite memorable and well worth viewing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After all, most of us recall the agonies of star-crossed young love ... and Neustadter and Weber definitely nail <i>that</i> vibe.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><!--EndFragment-->

2013 Brie Larson drama Indie Drama Jennifer Jason Leigh Kyle Chandler Miles Teller Shailene Woodley The Spectacular Now: Dangerous Liaison

The Spectacular Now   (2013) •  View trailer   3.5 stars. Rating: R, for profanity, alcohol abuse and some sensuality, all involving teens B...

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Real Estate: Stick to the Long-Term Plan!

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggT0wd5LuZzzmdhyphenhyphenwv-RyIOHEK8M8tS64EoJWOquOWNyELxJuiYSgTEx0P20J3BF9aTZVw_vgywznYMa96vrn2Xf1oZsIHbnTfUdghJQbpKFIoj6ZxFhFkaMXEfy7OoZblf3SwrzLneN4/s1600/Home+Equity+vs.+Real+Estate+Assets.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggT0wd5LuZzzmdhyphenhyphenwv-RyIOHEK8M8tS64EoJWOquOWNyELxJuiYSgTEx0P20J3BF9aTZVw_vgywznYMa96vrn2Xf1oZsIHbnTfUdghJQbpKFIoj6ZxFhFkaMXEfy7OoZblf3SwrzLneN4/s320/Home+Equity+vs.+Real+Estate+Assets.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br />Reverse mortgages! Don't fail me now!<br /><br /><b>March 9, 2008</b><br /><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87994065">Some Seniors Victimized in Reverse Mortgage Boom</a><br /><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><i>The growth in these mortgages has skyrocketed in recent years. According to a 2007 report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the number of reverse mortgages grew from nearly 8,000 in 2001 to more than 107,000 last year. The average loan amount grew 80 percent to $138,700 during the same time period, a 2007 report from the AARP Public Policy Institute found.</i></div><br /><b>December 12, 2012</b><br /><a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/print-edition/2012/12/21/full-speed-ahead-reverse-mortgage.html?page=all">It’s full-speed ahead for reverse-mortgage industry</a><br /><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><i>Borrowers also are increasingly likely to use reverse mortgages for other purposes than daily living expenses. Many are paying off a traditional mortgage in order to retire early.</i></div><br />Fantastic!<br /><br /><b>Source Data:</b><br /><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=lK6">St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart</a>

Real Estate: Stick to the Long-Term Plan!

Click to enlarge. Reverse mortgages! Don't fail me now! March 9, 2008 Some Seniors Victimized in Reverse Mortgage Boom The growth in the...

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Georgia sanitation workers set to join Local 728

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4wO9mI2-uNeUKwXm2_Ei2V-KX7bFHPbVpFP7e99rhx35HMhxRvU1uSqALUOkkdwO6N9aYDZBexW3uDXSDFveJdMrCe1nvAS-eirFwVwMHbrohsHBMZKBb59LijAWL7P5f9UrZUPUf8vZj/s1600/8-23GAsanitationworkers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Their effort to join the Teamsters is on the cusp of being approved." border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4wO9mI2-uNeUKwXm2_Ei2V-KX7bFHPbVpFP7e99rhx35HMhxRvU1uSqALUOkkdwO6N9aYDZBexW3uDXSDFveJdMrCe1nvAS-eirFwVwMHbrohsHBMZKBb59LijAWL7P5f9UrZUPUf8vZj/s400/8-23GAsanitationworkers.jpg" title="DeKalb County, Ga. santiation workers rally before a recent county commission meeting." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Months of rallies look to have paid off for DeKalb County sanitation workers.</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some 450 Atlanta-area sanitation workers are on the brink of joining the Teamsters. The DeKalb County Commission is </span><a href="http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/union-likely-in-dekalb/nZM9Z/" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">slated to take a final vote next month</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> to officially recognize the workers as members of Local 728 after years of attempting to organize.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The looming decision to change local law so the union can be recognized comes after workers attended many county commission meetings in recent months to urge DeKalb officials to allow them to join the Teamsters. Ben Speight, an organizer with Local 728, said the move has already paid benefits as the country recently approved a three percent raise for the workers.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Dejuan McDaniel, a 13-year department employee who drives a front-end loader and is a member of the organizing committee, said 80 percent of employees backed the move to organize. He said the strong support for the union comes from the desire to have a say in the workplace:</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We have been without a serious voice for so long. We had safety issues that have been unheard. We had pay issues, mistreatment of employees. It was long overdue.<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Fellow front-end loader driver and organizing committee member Charleen Anthony, who’s been with the department for five years, said the union will improve the workplace:</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We really need the representation for when the guys go in to talk to their supervisors. If we had representation of the union, it would be a much better organization.<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> McDaniel said he was proud that he and his fellow workers are part of a long movement of sanitation workers fighting for better wages and conditions going back to when Memphis workers marched with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the eve of his assassination in April 1968:</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is a continuing saga. I look at it like we are picking up [the] torch.</span></blockquote></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We look forward to officially welcoming our new brothers and sisters to the Teamster family!</span></div>

DeKalb County georgia Local 728 sanitation workers Georgia sanitation workers set to join Local 728

Months of rallies look to have paid off for DeKalb County sanitation workers. Some 450 Atlanta-area sanitation workers are on the brink of j...

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Back road vistas in Nelson County

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zwhQT3ynD-e2HzlBnLhNUnTZF_2zYG8d9CEUY8lgrPxXSP0meT9WehDhbENjUhADAbGCVEAjYJwZU2KKcVfl1THu1TLArZE-LALWWgZD2xT328FOnocwDeDuAWqMEobljR3Hjc7QhFOX/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zwhQT3ynD-e2HzlBnLhNUnTZF_2zYG8d9CEUY8lgrPxXSP0meT9WehDhbENjUhADAbGCVEAjYJwZU2KKcVfl1THu1TLArZE-LALWWgZD2xT328FOnocwDeDuAWqMEobljR3Hjc7QhFOX/s400/6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> We looked across the field and my sister noted that the fog-topped mountain looked like a volcano.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX4db2Bcj69JdTH2pbwEda-vvgtCllIkUSbBpdTTFkWO-SN6yFxHQkkoYS9dgTWbfflZeHP6O96BejKtVpX8Hlp87gGnUgvy1JXlmAWcSj8wKeqX-LkB3EA726fU8CU32cisH2ug_hKJ_G/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX4db2Bcj69JdTH2pbwEda-vvgtCllIkUSbBpdTTFkWO-SN6yFxHQkkoYS9dgTWbfflZeHP6O96BejKtVpX8Hlp87gGnUgvy1JXlmAWcSj8wKeqX-LkB3EA726fU8CU32cisH2ug_hKJ_G/s400/7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Apple trees from Seaman orchards were loaded with a variety of apples ready to pick.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHdrhQ4jYQ2sIj_VUrCXdxAf-0i133mXSghmdYJgm4pwPTcTNDWfbfcGNYQfrgdso-453aO8567bW6rBuW0BjG0vwrSVqXm4d-0aSvt8G8RzK3uH9wl5jNql8Jpyv89doYKsQlf0cgcC5l/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHdrhQ4jYQ2sIj_VUrCXdxAf-0i133mXSghmdYJgm4pwPTcTNDWfbfcGNYQfrgdso-453aO8567bW6rBuW0BjG0vwrSVqXm4d-0aSvt8G8RzK3uH9wl5jNql8Jpyv89doYKsQlf0cgcC5l/s400/8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwAhkG13LT8JWWCMREpIau8MOr4IFjEEBMEdjOb9xQ1sGPZXGRO1CC4acb_iqvq_wieMNHslPzxrucE6hBxpGFrwf4ckZkM0OxCKRVkXegfOMV45RVM3pEFYhw-kyko3OaqVmqvuTSyQh/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwAhkG13LT8JWWCMREpIau8MOr4IFjEEBMEdjOb9xQ1sGPZXGRO1CC4acb_iqvq_wieMNHslPzxrucE6hBxpGFrwf4ckZkM0OxCKRVkXegfOMV45RVM3pEFYhw-kyko3OaqVmqvuTSyQh/s400/9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS9fa4LbgaZKRPY-iVD34jUtf53RwwTctG9FzUH1eCGeh5bQUpC8SzC8DRJ6f-qOOLkRtUXcSCchvhvWLU0k_6q05Rv3qsN2P757XKNeNy7cGbO1D0kwBXFW0odAJxY1OzjYvS5RX8mFEV/s1600/10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS9fa4LbgaZKRPY-iVD34jUtf53RwwTctG9FzUH1eCGeh5bQUpC8SzC8DRJ6f-qOOLkRtUXcSCchvhvWLU0k_6q05Rv3qsN2P757XKNeNy7cGbO1D0kwBXFW0odAJxY1OzjYvS5RX8mFEV/s400/10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp4L2QftoEnp1RzrBM3Cn709F1fwyGQIpvKmy1rDUWbo03iVR-5Qav1KMEbKwQclU9PNBZVcyiw75_OJBUF3Gsx5i2SveyHxFI_SW9MkdpKGLCHN2lQfewYtd9nojKvlEw0pAEYmY_Dfpc/s1600/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp4L2QftoEnp1RzrBM3Cn709F1fwyGQIpvKmy1rDUWbo03iVR-5Qav1KMEbKwQclU9PNBZVcyiw75_OJBUF3Gsx5i2SveyHxFI_SW9MkdpKGLCHN2lQfewYtd9nojKvlEw0pAEYmY_Dfpc/s400/11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZhJ0dSg3cYnye3VjddVyRB8EIs-6_zni9CIb6QBvGVvxXuH4Q7IslwWpfuwFMYRsvShOLwpvRKkzForacXmC_Mi7DlltUBp8fkBqHV-b4OVyepZipdXjoMrp2DNuCJz5UZXdOX8UNpcWt/s1600/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZhJ0dSg3cYnye3VjddVyRB8EIs-6_zni9CIb6QBvGVvxXuH4Q7IslwWpfuwFMYRsvShOLwpvRKkzForacXmC_Mi7DlltUBp8fkBqHV-b4OVyepZipdXjoMrp2DNuCJz5UZXdOX8UNpcWt/s400/13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2fk3JVjCMcLWntmYCcNTBpQKXx0Jq1wMok6hi_nylOFdTcWy7PQ7CvRc2gL2eHiMd1je28xAS-Amq1GuyIRY8-O3aWDBG2bx8Uns1XmKxL3hCIxMiBoAe3I17vcU275pFif8W08tdpCbs/s1600/14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2fk3JVjCMcLWntmYCcNTBpQKXx0Jq1wMok6hi_nylOFdTcWy7PQ7CvRc2gL2eHiMd1je28xAS-Amq1GuyIRY8-O3aWDBG2bx8Uns1XmKxL3hCIxMiBoAe3I17vcU275pFif8W08tdpCbs/s400/14.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr1d8r9XyR_O3YXbJZ_TcKT7KloG-E6dP-sNy1uWczHOePLCXQ1LIUrqZaCd8CRN5GiHFMDkD2zjF16X8IpzKVTEi8LRiQqsiyzDuyLl2z7of7G-4RyOa3QB5byFSV0Ip2O_R5K9ZiBaCp/s1600/Saunders+Brothers,+Thai+place+026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr1d8r9XyR_O3YXbJZ_TcKT7KloG-E6dP-sNy1uWczHOePLCXQ1LIUrqZaCd8CRN5GiHFMDkD2zjF16X8IpzKVTEi8LRiQqsiyzDuyLl2z7of7G-4RyOa3QB5byFSV0Ip2O_R5K9ZiBaCp/s400/Saunders+Brothers,+Thai+place+026.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell<br />August 21, 2013

back roads Blue Ridge Mountains Nelson County rural Virginia tourism Virginia Is For Lovers Back road vistas in Nelson County

 We looked across the field and my sister noted that the fog-topped mountain looked like a volcano.  Apple trees from Seaman orchards were l...

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WTF?!!

Jeeze Louise, this is FUBAR. I am waiting for this to be turned into a SitCom.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-7cJAw5ADKnmppCvUZaUCU95aQPvXqbRIRyGHbTXRsmFJDrbWQs6bXTeNRGkyWM3uwvwGhfnDb69olLFBdwJ53pLXFo816rXSg69rm4uAstr-WNzZKiyXh9YCPnlGZU7yDJ2V2_nVHZxz/s1600/22.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-7cJAw5ADKnmppCvUZaUCU95aQPvXqbRIRyGHbTXRsmFJDrbWQs6bXTeNRGkyWM3uwvwGhfnDb69olLFBdwJ53pLXFo816rXSg69rm4uAstr-WNzZKiyXh9YCPnlGZU7yDJ2V2_nVHZxz/s640/22.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Are you fucking<i> KIDDING ME?!</i><br /><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2013/08/bradley_manning_sentenced_to_35_years_the_private_s_prosecution_has_nothing.html"><br />From the article</a>;<br /><br /><br /><br /><blockquote>Of course, applying for clemency or parole doesn’t ensure getting it. But there is another card up Manning’s sleeve. According to Section 3-2.a(4), the Army Clemency and Parole Board may consider, among other criteria, the prisoner’s “psychological profile” and “medical condition,” including “the prisoner’s need for specialized treatment.” (Italics added.)<br /><br />In a statement released Thursday, Manning—who has a long and well-documented history of confused gender identity—came out as female, asked to be addressed as Chelsea instead of Bradley, and requested hormone treatments while in the Army prison at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan. Army spokesmen have said they are under no obligation to supply such treatments.<br /><br />If the wardens at Ft. Leavenworth take the same position, a case could be made that incarceration would violate “the prisoner’s need for specialized treatment” and that, therefore, Manning should immediately be granted clemency. (Recall: Under Army regulations, Manning is eligible to apply for clemency now.)</blockquote><br />All I can say to Brad or Chelsea or whatever the fuck it wants to be called is to get ready for a long wait.<br /><br />Truth is indeed stranger than fiction in this instance, no one could have come up with this story line except maybe that freak Quenton Tarantino.<br />

WTF?!!

Jeeze Louise, this is FUBAR. I am waiting for this to be turned into a SitCom. Are you fucking KIDDING ME?! From the article ; Of course, a...

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Annual New One Family Home Sales per 25 to 34 Year Old Employed

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdUMPR6hIWt3wfu78w8AJO_bwv5v9Ji39-mz7dFh9d_9mhDo-OAl7E-3FwvsGRUth3sMxJFo2HG9Ius36VrtBEzXh_tcuTxw0QaH8Ss4KQNwByLkxhrsUR1BTCT1PAGFc-ZK90anoRLA/s1600/Annual+New+One+Family+Home+Sales.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdUMPR6hIWt3wfu78w8AJO_bwv5v9Ji39-mz7dFh9d_9mhDo-OAl7E-3FwvsGRUth3sMxJFo2HG9Ius36VrtBEzXh_tcuTxw0QaH8Ss4KQNwByLkxhrsUR1BTCT1PAGFc-ZK90anoRLA/s320/Annual+New+One+Family+Home+Sales.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br /><b>August 23, 2013</b><br /><a href="http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2013/08/comments-on-new-home-sales.html">Calculated Risk: Comments on New Home Sales</a><br /><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><i>And even though there has been a large increase in the sales rate, sales are just above the lows for previous recessions. This suggests significant upside over the next few years. Based on estimates of household formation and demographics, <span style="color: red;">I expect sales to increase to 750 to 800 thousand over the next several years - substantially higher than the current sales rate.</span></i></div><br />For what it is worth, I shall take the under.<br /><br /><b>Source Data:</b><br /><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=lJB">St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart</a>

Annual New One Family Home Sales per 25 to 34 Year Old Employed

Click to enlarge. August 23, 2013 Calculated Risk: Comments on New Home Sales And even though there has been a large increase in the sales r...

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BELVIQ ROCKS!

I hope everyone is doing great.  NO WEIGH IN today - sorry - I woke up late and had to run to the office.  I PROMISE NEXT Week.  I do think I lost at least 1 pound judging from my scale at home (which is about 3 pounds off from the scale at my doctors off).  If that is the case, I AM ESTATIC because of all I had to endure over the last 2 weeks.  It was awful!  I am honestly shocked that I did not GAIN any weight.  BELVIQ ROCKS!!!!!<br /><br />I got a lot of responses on natural alternatives to water retention issues I am having due to Liver issues.  One of the suggestions was Dandelion Root Tea.  I bought some and had my first glass today.  I have to say, I actually really liked it better than standard tea.  I am sold!!!  I also got an herbal supplement that should help in that area as well.  I am now taking 7 differnt supplements and vitamins.  I am hoping this will kick my issues and I cam move on with my life.  <br /><br />I want to thank you all for being patient with me over these last 2 weeks. I have missed some posting days.  I will try to do better this week.  I won't be posting over the weekend.  I need to get my but to the gym again! HA!<br /><br />I did some grocery shopping yesterday.  I can finally get back to eating my roughage (ha) and get away from the blands.  That alone makes me really really happy.  I feel like this next week, I am going to have some results so lets keep on the look out.<br /><br />Right now as it stands, I am 25 pounds, possibly 26 pounds down.  Next week will tell the tale!!  Fingers crossed and prayers appreciated.<br /><br />UPDATE on adsense.  I was denied appeal.  So I am looking at other options (That one of the things I am doing this weekend).  GOOGLE SUCKS.  They supposedly have this high tech stuff in place to reject those repetitive clicks.  So, why not just do that vs. penalizing me because I can't control what they do.  At the end of the day, they were SUPPOSED to pay me $185.00 for July FINALIZED earnings (which it would have been more but they supposedly found those clicks) but because they suspended the account BEFORE payment, it's forfieted.  THAT HURT.  I was counting on that for October Belviq.  Thanks to donations, I have September coverd.  Stupid GOOGLE.  It's ok, I will FIND a way - trust me.  My weight loss is far more important to me especially with this recent health scare!!!<br /><br />Thanks so much for all of your words of encouragement.  I read all of them and try to respond to all!!!<br /><br />XOXOX<br />Ellie

BELVIQ ROCKS!

I hope everyone is doing great.  NO WEIGH IN today - sorry - I woke up late and had to run to the office.  I PROMISE NEXT Week.  I do think ...

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Nelson County: A trip to Saunders Brothers for Virginia apples and peaches and garden veggies

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivl9CPGv43NMhRf15FznHxxXJUxMmY2WDrLgp-iuJ2WJL2W6Kf7F11WLKewc2Ga9gIArYFD48enyoxlGv520i0t0oHqd6RcqSl5WzBE7wQcnQOZ4Oy1mAYIyUpxIyP5l4z1IADC5XrzjZi/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivl9CPGv43NMhRf15FznHxxXJUxMmY2WDrLgp-iuJ2WJL2W6Kf7F11WLKewc2Ga9gIArYFD48enyoxlGv520i0t0oHqd6RcqSl5WzBE7wQcnQOZ4Oy1mAYIyUpxIyP5l4z1IADC5XrzjZi/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> One of the best things about summer in Virginia is the fresh produce available from local growers. My Richmond sister and I met up in Charlottesville Wednesday and headed down Rt. 29 to <a href="http://www.saundersbrothers.com/">Saunders Brothers Produce</a> in southern Nelson County. The ride was gorgeous through the rolling countryside with vistas of the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains. We passed through Lovingston and on to Rt. 56 where we turned toward the mountains. Just a couple of miles up the road on the right was Saunders Brothers.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi00LJTXqfktnSJpzh7QX0ILTeI0c3gexghv5yjHcG8UlkHg18QOz5WmnucJozTHpaq6GC0Pw40z2wxdY1-gSAdOkA3SaT7OAQLbFen3lcxmJGZtfYFoCn-ESj1-wkVVTMAD4VtNZbjt50o/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi00LJTXqfktnSJpzh7QX0ILTeI0c3gexghv5yjHcG8UlkHg18QOz5WmnucJozTHpaq6GC0Pw40z2wxdY1-gSAdOkA3SaT7OAQLbFen3lcxmJGZtfYFoCn-ESj1-wkVVTMAD4VtNZbjt50o/s400/2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> What a treat to find Gala apples available as well as late summer peaches -- white and yellow -- and a variety of other fruits and vegetables. We loaded up on Galas, peaches, watermelon, cantaloupe, corn on the cob, and yellow squash. Who needs meat for dinner with all those veggies?</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcyw4XJdh3axdPG3BTq7KK4oUnSnLKI-NixcwSUitBnDAJc1Tzt06QbTezmfWWWUAuNoJVDcbNWG1zcY3qSIttEImYNWZjiUPRmDJc8VvKkiy9qhuEA0d0bSzvwKB1oeCNDFz_o_9n3a83/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcyw4XJdh3axdPG3BTq7KK4oUnSnLKI-NixcwSUitBnDAJc1Tzt06QbTezmfWWWUAuNoJVDcbNWG1zcY3qSIttEImYNWZjiUPRmDJc8VvKkiy9qhuEA0d0bSzvwKB1oeCNDFz_o_9n3a83/s400/3.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> So for lunch and dinner I've been cooking squash and onions and corn on the cob, and adding them to the tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers out of our garden. Oh man ... that's good stuff. I'm trying to enjoy as much of this as possible because it's getting late in the summer growing season which means the fresh goodies will begin to play out. My kitchen smells like ripe peaches as I wait for them to get to <i>just the right ripeness</i> to peel and cut up for the freezer. That will extend summer for a little longer.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHIEAbhdwDrCl8epLCpfSJr5s0BXecdrKScEwUWKkOUVe-7H7JJNR_N7oK87Mgsmki7GVESRs59M57nYEjwz4y7SfOiXvg8leS18eepbcomzb5vB0-QMptxf8hDiK_IYxORrMASXzPpfs2/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="377" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHIEAbhdwDrCl8epLCpfSJr5s0BXecdrKScEwUWKkOUVe-7H7JJNR_N7oK87Mgsmki7GVESRs59M57nYEjwz4y7SfOiXvg8leS18eepbcomzb5vB0-QMptxf8hDiK_IYxORrMASXzPpfs2/s400/4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Saunders has lots of fall apples that will be coming in through October plus whatever other produce will be available. This was our third trip this summer ... we'll be back before too long.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFS-7tBhD_ZN3Fz9lkWz84yiZ5hDuOoz0vZ8IM_noyMNyTo3MpuuYojZxjLUXYnqNauZOuT0_k55FBLxogjuiyVKsgrQ_JGolhZKLzYFQktEI-NozM9gaWu_fp0zUsHhK9WQW7-gJbYO-h/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFS-7tBhD_ZN3Fz9lkWz84yiZ5hDuOoz0vZ8IM_noyMNyTo3MpuuYojZxjLUXYnqNauZOuT0_k55FBLxogjuiyVKsgrQ_JGolhZKLzYFQktEI-NozM9gaWu_fp0zUsHhK9WQW7-gJbYO-h/s400/5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Saunders Brothers is a family business that started in 1915. Through trials and tribulations, they have made it to the point where they are today. Virginians supporting Virginia businesses....<br /><br />Cross-posted at <a href="http://vapolitics.us/2013/08/nelson-county-a-trip-to-saunders-brothers-for-virginia-apples-peaches-and-garden-veggies/">Bearing Drift</a><br /><br />Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell<br />August 21, 2013

apples Blue Ridge Mountains Charlottesville family businesses fresh produce Nelson County peaches Saunders Brothers Virginia business Nelson County: A trip to Saunders Brothers for Virginia apples and peaches and garden veggies

 One of the best things about summer in Virginia is the fresh produce available from local growers. My Richmond sister and I met up in Charl...

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