Curing chemophobia: Don’t buy the alternative medicine in “The Boy With a Thorn in His Joints.” - Slate Magazine

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">When I read Susannah Meadows' account in the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">New York Times Magazine</em> of her <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/magazine/the-boy-with-a-thorn-in-his-joints.html?pagewanted=all" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">desperate search for an effective treatment</a> for her son Shepherd's juvenile idiopathic arthritis, as a mother, I totally got it. I flashed back to a night 10 years ago, the sleet pinging on our minivan's roof as I careened down the street in the middle of an ice storm at 2 a.m., listening to my 8-year-old son struggle to breathe in the back and praying that the lights would all be green on the four-minute drive to the ER.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">We were frequent flyers at the ER that winter, as every respiratory virus that made the rounds settled in Mike's throat, swelling his vocal cords until they threatened to cut off his airway. I would lie awake at night after each episode, unable to sleep for fear I wouldn't hear him if the croup returned, as we were warned it might. His pediatricians were concerned and mystified; croup severe enough to land an otherwise healthy elementary schooler in the hospital is rare. My husband and I were distraught.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">We got a lot of advice, much of which I scribbled on a pad now stuffed into a worn manila folder full of articles from medical journals, old appointment cards, and notes from consultations with specialists that is still in my filing cabinet. Some of it was tough to take, literally: daily meds that tasted vile. No more mint chocolate-chip ice cream? Mike was bereft.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">I questioned every bit of it. I'm a scientist, which makes me a professionally annoying skeptic. Why? What's the evidence? How was it obtained? Is it plausible? And above all, what are the risks?—because there are always risks. I'm an equal-opportunity skeptic, as willing to ask these questions of specialists as I am of well-meaning friends of friends.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Meadows, on the other hand, suffers from a condition that makes it difficult to be an equal-opportunity skeptic and infinitely harder to make informed decisions about her son's treatment: chemophobia. An irrational fear of chemicals, which drives her to let a friend of a friend—a social worker and massage therapist—prescribe her son's drug treatment.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Meadows isn't alone in her molecular paranoia. We are a chemophobic culture. <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">Chemical</em> has become a synonym for something artificial, adulterated, hazardous, or toxic. Chemicals are bad—for you, for your children, for the environment. But whatever chemophobics would like to think, there is no avoiding chemicals, no way to create chemical-free zones. Absolutely everything is made of atoms and molecules; it's all chemistry.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">In some ways, chemophobia is more like color blindness than a true phobia, such as a fear of heights. Chemophobics are blind to the vast majority of chemicals they encounter. Every breath you take has almost as many molecules in it as there are stars in the universe, and each breath contains dozens of different chemicals, some of which, like oxygen, you can't do without. Some chemicals are superheroes—antibiotics and anesthetics come to mind—others are villains that prey on the unwary: Every year, an average of 450 people in the United States are killed by the carbon monoxide produced by their furnaces and generators. The vast majority of chemicals are like the vast majority of people, doing their jobs, day in and day out, without fuss or recognition: DNA, caffeine, water, oxygen.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">In "<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/magazine/the-boy-with-a-thorn-in-his-joints.html?ref=magazine&_r=0" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">The Boy With a Thorn in His Joints</a>," Meadows writes that Shepherd's arthritis spiraled out of control while he was taking the first-line drug, naproxen. His rheumatologist then prescribed methotrexate, an anti-cancer drug that at low doses can send juvenile arthritis into remission. Meadows' chemophobia immediately flared up. In a panic and "desperate to find a way to solve Shepherd's problems without the drugs," she called Char Walker, a friend of a friend whose son had also been diagnosed with juvenile arthritis. Walker recommended Montmorency cherry juice and four-marvels powder, a traditional Chinese medicine. The regimen sounds warm and friendly—like something a Disney princess would use—and above all, safe. In contrast, naproxen and methotrexate sound harsh and forbidding. There is nothing in either name that give any otherwise well-educated nonscientist a clue what the remedy is made from, other than a (presumably nasty) chemical. When it comes to naming our stuff, I admit, chemists tend to be more ponderous than poetic.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">The simple names favored by the alternative medicine community provide an illusion of safety and comprehensibility that the chemical names can't match. Another common chemical name for methotrexate is amethopterin, which comes from the roots <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">meth</em>, Greek for wine, which I might stretch to spirits, and <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">pterin</em>, Greek for feathers. And naproxen is a chemical analog of salicylic acid, which can be extracted from willow bark. I strongly suspect that if Shepherd's rheumatologist had called what he prescribed <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">spirits of feathers</em> and an <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">extract of willow</em>, rather than methotrexate and naproxen, Meadows would have been happier.</div></div><div class="pagebreak section" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "></div><a name="pagebreak_anchor_2" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; visibility: hidden; "></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; display: inline !important; float: none; "></span><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Let me point out that the active chemicals—yes, chemicals, the stuff everything is made from—in four-marvels powder include quercetin, berberine, and achyranthine, names that don't smell quite as sweet as Montmorency cherry juice. Meadows is not unique in being seduced into complacency by language. Psychologists call this "processing fluency" —we cope better and trust information more when the words it's couched in are easy to pronounce and familiar. Terms that don't roll easily off our tongues make us nervous. Given the choice, more people would rather take smooth-sounding Aleve than naproxen, though they are the precisely the same chemical.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">When Meadows' husband has serious reservations about her desire to ditch the advice of not one, but two, pediatric rheumatologists, Meadows implies <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">he</em> was the poorly informed one: "I was nervous about keeping Shepherd on methotrexate, but Darin didn't share my squeamishness. He has always been more comfortable with pharmaceuticals, more trusting in general."</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">She seems blissfully unaware that the four-marvels powder that Walker's naturopath recommended is a recognized pharmaceutical, just one from a pharmacopeia that she is unfamiliar with, that of traditional Chinese medicine. Four-marvels powder, or <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">si miao san</em>, has long been prescribed by Chinese medicine practitioners for arthritis and other inflammatory disorders. My quibble is not that it is ineffective (although many traditional medicines are pure placebos, several recent peer-reviewed studies have shown that at least one of the active drugs in four-marvels powder, quercetin, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3533481" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">exhibits anti-inflammatory activity</a>). My concern is that four-marvels powder is not a chemical-free remedy but a drug, and one that Chinese medicine practitioners would hesitate to prescribe to pregnant women, which might give me pause before I started pouring it down my young child's throat. Apparently neither Meadows nor Walker is concerned that they are being too "trusting."</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">The reality is this. Meadows has been tricked by the language, maliciously or not, into considering switching her child from a carefully measured weekly dose of this molecule:</div></div><div class="parbase image slate_image section" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div class="sl-art-illo-cntr" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; text-align: center; width: 250px; display: block; "><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglf4Rcs3Cnu-eHQDixRKJ1yAUT_kgU01l5Og5xX6hsEMY4x5RrJHLWl67wdfrNUtnL2aOe86fMFz-EzXaTCHnSDIZbx2g3mJEySNq_McjPhyUNFA_v3-nxoSwWBEUrFyB5d0PwSqN8arw/s1600/130205_MEDEX_HERBALMED4.jpg.CROP.article250-medium-740439.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5842634882703681538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglf4Rcs3Cnu-eHQDixRKJ1yAUT_kgU01l5Og5xX6hsEMY4x5RrJHLWl67wdfrNUtnL2aOe86fMFz-EzXaTCHnSDIZbx2g3mJEySNq_McjPhyUNFA_v3-nxoSwWBEUrFyB5d0PwSqN8arw/s320/130205_MEDEX_HERBALMED4.jpg.CROP.article250-medium-740439.jpg" /></a></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">To four doses a day of an unknown amount of this chemical:</div></div><div class="parbase image slate_image section" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div class="sl-art-illo-cntr" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; text-align: center; width: 250px; display: block; "><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvcMoyyxRBYfi3mUPiXAI-C7IIQe8UfXhSf0M8PD2cp7GJhMa1jBk8ZOS4wTdXst-sD0knj_G3cH3aU89Akzo2cg2GauroSQ2TZQZTuQDPearL_dwiAkJ-Ihn0i6M5zgMaubzqwpJlGHU/s1600/130205_MEDEX_HERBALMED5.jpg.CROP.article250-medium-742187.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5842634893619168978" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvcMoyyxRBYfi3mUPiXAI-C7IIQe8UfXhSf0M8PD2cp7GJhMa1jBk8ZOS4wTdXst-sD0knj_G3cH3aU89Akzo2cg2GauroSQ2TZQZTuQDPearL_dwiAkJ-Ihn0i6M5zgMaubzqwpJlGHU/s320/130205_MEDEX_HERBALMED5.jpg.CROP.article250-medium-742187.jpg" /></a></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Really?</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">I want to be absolutely clear. Neither of these chemicals is benign or nontoxic. The LD-50 (the "lethal dose" amount that kills 50 percent of mice fed the chemical) is about the same for quercetin as it is for methotrexate, roughly 150 milligrams per kilogram of body weight.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Meadows admits to obsessing at night over the potential side effects of methotrexate, which are clearly—and frighteningly—detailed on the prescribing information. Nausea, dizziness, liver damage. What was she doing to her little boy?</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">But what does Meadows know about the risks of what she calls Walker's regimen? Four-marvels powder has no FDA-mandated, rigorously reviewed package insert. Berberine, one of the drugs found in four-marvels powder, has been documented to cause brain damage in infants. Hello? Exactly how much of this have you been giving your son? And that may be the most important question. Meadows has no idea that she is giving her son this drug, and she certainly has no idea how much he is taking. Appallingly, the FDA trusts manufacturers and marketers to decide for themselves <a href="http://www.fda.gov/food/dietarysupplements" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">if an herbal remedy</a> is safe, they will take action only if problems are reported later, essentially letting the <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2012/07/dietary_supplements_at_the_olympics_why_athletes_risk_false_drug_charges_.html" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">dietary supplement</a> and <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2012/11/herbal_supplement_dangers_fda_does_not_regulate_supplements_and_they_can.html" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">herbal remedy industry field-test their products</a> on the public, with no supervision.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Meadows' "better the molecule I don't know, than the molecule I do" stance may help her sleep better, but it is ignorance nonetheless. The chemicals are still there, even when you squint your eyes closed so you can't see them.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">As a chemist, a teacher, and a parent, I think (<a href="http://cultureofchemistry.fieldofscience.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; ">and blog</a>) a lot about how to immunize people against chemophobia. It's not because I want to keep chemical companies in business, but because I want to keep my students and friends from being duped into using chemicals that are unsafe, whatever their source. So here is my best advice to keep you from succumbing to the chemophobia pandemic: One, everything is a chemical. Two, don't take medical advice from a magazine writer, however impassioned and well-intentioned, however popular her story is on the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">New York Times</em>' "most read" list, who trusts a massage therapist over medical experts. And three, there are risks to all chemicals, even the ones with friendly names like Montmorency cherry juice and four-marvels powder. Next time, before you click "share" on an article, be annoyingly skeptical. We can stamp out chemophobia in our lifetimes.</div></div></div><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2013/02/curing_chemophobia_don_t_buy_the_alternative_medicine_in_the_boy_with_a.single.html">http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2013/02/curing_chemophobia_don_t_buy_the_alternative_medicine_in_the_boy_with_a.single.html</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Curing chemophobia: Don’t buy the alternative medicine in “The Boy With a Thorn in His Joints.” - Slate Magazine

When I read Susannah Meadows' account in the  New York Times Magazine  of her  desperate search for an effective treatment  for her son ...

Read more »

Severe Weather Advisory In Effect For NYC

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="2013_01_winterwarningsnow.jpg" src="http://gothamist.com/attachments/jen/2013_01_winterwarningsnow.jpg" /><br /><i style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Photograph of Mayor Bloomberg briefing reporters at a Department of Sanitation facility on the West Side of Manhattan by <a href="https://twitter.com/NYCSanitation/status/299612998148947968/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #666666; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Opens in a new window">DSNY</a></i><br />From:http://gothamist.com<br /><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">With the Nemo Blizzard Warning <a href="http://gothamist.com/2013/02/07/what_time_is_it_going_to_start_snow.php" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #666666; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">beginning at 6 a.m.</a> on Friday, preceded by cellphone carriers sending out<a href="http://gothamist.com/2013/02/07/emergency_alert_about_snow_blizzard.php" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #666666; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">emergency alerts to customers in New York</a>, New York city and state officials really are battening down the hatches <a href="http://gothamist.com/2013/02/07/major_winter_storm_expected_tomorro.php" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #666666; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">for the coming snow</a>. Mayor Bloomberg issued a "Severe Weather Advisory" earlier tonight: "At the direction of the Mayor, the public is hereby advised that significant snowfall has been forecast starting tomorrow afternoon through Saturday morning. The public is urged to avoid all unnecessary driving during the duration of the storm and, until further directed, to use public transportation wherever possible." (Public transportation has<a href="http://gothamist.com/2013/02/07/heres_how_the_mta_will_stare_this_b.php#photo-1" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #666666; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">snow-fighting machinery at the ready</a>!)</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Bloomberg also said, "As New Yorkers are making their commuting plans for tomorrow, they should be aware that driving conditions will be difficult. If you must drive, use extreme caution." His advisory continues:</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><blockquote style="background-repeat: no-repeat repeat; border-left-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 0px 1px; margin: 0px 0px 20px 30px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 10px; quotes: ''; vertical-align: baseline;">The MTA has advised of potential service disruptions, and information about any service changes to public transportation is available on the MTA website at http://www.mta.info/.<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />Any vehicle found to be blocking roadways or impeding the ability to plow streets shall be subject to towing at the owner’s expense.<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />Alternate side parking is suspended citywide through Sunday. Due to anticipated high winds the Staten Island Ferry will be operating on a modified schedule beginning tomorrow afternoon.<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />The Emergency Management, Fire, Police, Sanitation, and Transportation Commissioners will be taking all appropriate and necessary steps to preserve public safety and to render all required and available assistance to protect the security, well-being and health of the residents of the City.<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />City government and public schools are open tomorrow. Afterschool programs are subject to cancellation.<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />Due to potential power outages and transportation difficulties, New Yorkers are advised to stock up on potential supplies, including medicine.</blockquote>Earlier, the Mayor's office Tweeted, "We're ready for #Nemo: we have 250,000+ tons of salt on hand, 350 salt spreaders & plows ready to be put on 1,800 Sanitation trucks."<div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Governor Cuomo is also activating the NY State Emergency Operations Center Friday at noon to monitor the storm and response efforts. He said, "I urge New Yorkers to closely watch local news reports for weather updates and adjust their travel plans accordingly, including avoiding non-essential travel during and directly after the storm since roads will be icy with blizzard conditions in some places."</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Here's the Governor's press release:</div><blockquote style="background-repeat: no-repeat repeat; border-left-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 0px 1px; margin: 0px 0px 20px 30px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 10px; quotes: ''; vertical-align: baseline;">Beginning Friday morning and lasting through Saturday afternoon, significant snow and wind are forecasted to affect the metro-New York City and Long Island areas, as well the Hudson Valley. New Yorkers could see potentially significant and prolonged transportation disruptions, power outages and other impacts. The greatest concern for the Long Island area is the possibility for high winds. Gusts of up to 50 mph are expected, which could cause downed power lines, power outages, downed trees, beach erosion, battering waves, and coastal flooding. Minor widespread coastal flooding with local, moderate coastal flooding is also expected.<div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-top: 0.75em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-top: 0.75em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Representatives from state agencies will be present at the State EOC to coordinate storm response efforts, including Office of Emergency Management, Department of Environmental Conservation, Office of Fire Prevention and Control, Office of General Services, Department of Health, Division of Military and Naval Affairs, Public Service Commission, National Grid, Division of State Police, Thruway Authority, Department of Transportation and the American Red Cross.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-top: 0.75em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">New York City, and Nassau and Suffolk counties report that they will activate their respective Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) on Friday; counties in the Hudson Valley, Catskill, Capital District, and Northern New York regions continue to monitor the storm.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-top: 0.75em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Governor advises drivers to take extra caution and only travel when necessary during the storm. Some of the most important tips for safe winter driving include:<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Never follow a snowplow too closely or attempt to pass one. Remember that the highway ahead of the plow is usually snow-covered; <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Adjust speed for road conditions and maintain a safe distance from other vehicles; <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Schedule extra time for winter travel and be patient during ice and snow removal operations; <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Assume that bridge surfaces are slippery, as they freeze more quickly than road surfaces; <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Watch for black ice, which can be difficult to see but makes conditions slippery when pavement temperatures are below freezing; <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Have a cell phone handy, if possible, but do not text while driving; distracted driving is illegal and becomes even more dangerous during storm events; <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Never venture from your vehicle if snowbound; <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Equip your car with emergency supplies including sand, shovel, flares, booster cables, rope, ice scraper, portable radio, flashlight, blankets and extra warm clothes; <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Inform a responsible person of your destination, intended route, and estimated time of arrival; and <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Keep calm and do not panic in case of a vehicle breakdown, accident, or if you become snowbound.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-top: 0.75em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">The State has taken the following steps to ensure readiness:</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-top: 0.75em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Power:</strong><br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· National Grid: The Governor’s office has been communicating to National Grid that they need to be ready with advance preparations and response plans. Earlier today National Grid announced that it is taking a series of advance steps to prepare for an incoming storm and the outages it may cause on Long Island, including securing hundreds of extra work crews, adding Call Center personnel and arranging schedules to allow extended coverage, and preparing all restoration equipment and inventories and pre-stocking strategic locations across the Island with wires, transformers, and additional restoration equipment. <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Public Service Commission: PSC Chairman Garry Brown has contacted the CEOs of all the major utilities to confirm storm preparation efforts. National Grid's gas operations (Long Island and New York City) are preparing for potential coastal impacts.<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· The New York Power Authority: NYPA’s statewide generation and transmission facilities are fully prepared for the forecast winter storm. All the required resources, including personnel, equipment and vehicles, have been put in place and are available to be called upon. NYPA will coordinate with state and local emergency management agencies, as necessary. Specific preparatory actions at the various NYPA facilities include:<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />o Extra personnel on shift during the storm<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />o Snow removal equipment fueled up, tested and ready to be utilized<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />o Emergency generators fueled and ready<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />o Supplies of diesel fuel and gasoline available at sites<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />o NYPA line crews are prepared for dispatch</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-top: 0.75em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Thruway Authority:</strong><br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· All equipment has been prepared for the storm including: 197 seven-ton snow plows, 142 medium-duty snow plows, 53 front end loaders, three large truck mounted snow blowers and one large front end loader mounted snow blower <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· 105,989 tons of salt on hand <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Approximately 600 maintenance staff dedicated to snow and ice operations <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· All 21 Highway Maintenance Sections will be fully staffed around the clock for the duration of the storm <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· The Authority will be providing staff to support the activation of the State Office of Emergency Management <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Thruway’s Emergency Operations Center is scheduled to be activated jointly with State Police Troop T on Friday afternoon <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Thruway’s Statewide Operations Center will have additional staff to handle increased call volume typical of significant weather events <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Troop T operated ATVs and snowmobiles are prepped <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Troop T will be adding additional patrols during the storm <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Due to colder temperatures and sufficient residual salt on the pavement from recent storms widespread pavement pretreatment is not required in upstate New York. Further south where temperatures are expected to be warmer, approximately 40 miles of critical ramps along with the Tappan Zee Bridge will be pre-treated.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-top: 0.75em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">State Bridge Authority</strong><br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· The Bridge Authority has the Bear Mountain, Newford Beacon, Mid-Hudson, Kingston-Rhinecliff, and Rip Van Winkle bridges staffed 24-7 until the storm is over.<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· They expect the bridges to be fully functional throughout the storm, weather permitting.<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· The Bridge Authority has staged 14 large plow vehicles, 16 small plow vehicles, and other loaders and vehicles necessary to maintain continuous operations.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-top: 0.75em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Metropolitan Transportation Authority</strong><br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· MTA New York City Transit's Department of Subways is mobilizing its fleet of snow and ice-busting equipment designed to keep outdoor tracks and the third rail clear of snow and ice during harsh winter weather. The fleet includes super-powered snow throwers, 10 jet-powered snow-blowers, and five specially-built de-icing cars, all designed to keep service moving. Diesel fleet trains are also being made available to clear snow from the right of way—while not carrying passengers. Forecasts of accumulating snow may also require NYC Transit to shift the storage locations of subway cars indoors. The outdoor steps at subway stations will shoveled and salted along with the platforms on the outdoor segments of lines.<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· The Department of Buses has and is deploying its own fleet of snow fighting equipment, including 28 salt-spreading trucks equipped with plows assigned to each depot to maintain the flow of buses. They work in cooperation with the Department of Sanitation to keep bus routes clear and passable. Buses will be equipped when necessary with weather-appropriate tire chains.<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road will deploy fleets of snow and ice-busting equipment to keep outdoor tracks, third rails and catenary wires clear of snow and ice during harsh winter weather. Track switches will be treated with antifreeze and switch heaters will be turned on to keep switches moving freely so trains can continue to be routed from one track to another. Outdoor steps at all commuter rail stations will be pretreated to prevent snow and ice build-up and shoveled as necessary. More than 3,000 staff will be on call, ready to operate equipment from snow blowers and chainsaws to heavy trucks and front-end loaders. Equipment includes jet engines mounted on rail cars to blow snow from tracks at high speeds. <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· MTA Bridges & Tunnels is fitting plows onto regular maintenance trucks and salt domes are being filled with tons of deicer. The fleet also includes 45 trucks that have special ground temperature sensors, which provide information about roadway conditions on entrance and exit ramps and other areas that are not covered by embedded roadway sensors. Above-ground atmospheric sensors are also used to help gather real-time information on wind velocity, wind direction, humidity and precipitation via wireless communication. In addition, the scheduled weekend-long closure at the Queens Midtown Tunnel for post-Sandy construction work has been cancelled due to the impending storm.<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />In addition, Bridges and Tunnels has on hand:<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />o Nearly 7,500 tons of deicer on hand;<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />o Fleet of 98 snow and ice-fighting vehicles;<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />o Fleet comprised of vehicles that do double-duty, serving as regular maintenance trucks during normal weather and snow plows and conveyors when in snow fighting mode;<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />o Some 45 vehicles equipped with ground temperature sensors that tell personnel if the roadway is in danger of freezing. The operator then spreads additional deicer where it is needed and;<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />o MTA crossings also have imbedded roadway sensors and above-ground atmospheric sensors that deliver real-time information on wind velocity, wind direction, humidity and precipitation. These sensors record data used to determine if speed restrictions are necessary to keep the nearly 800,000 vehicles that use the MTA’s 7 bridges and 2 tunnels daily. <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />o Some 175 additional staff on duty throughout the storm.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-top: 0.75em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Port Authority</strong><br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· The Port Authority is putting steps in place in preparation for the first major winter snowstorm of the year. The agency is deploying extra personnel at its facilities and assembling snow equipment in advance of the wintry conditions expected to hit the region on Friday and into Saturday morning.<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· The Port Authority will deploy additional staff at its airports, seaports, tunnels, bridges PATH system and bus terminals. Key personnel are already on notice to work overnight to monitor conditions at each of the agency’s facilities. <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Preparations for the approaching storm include fueling all vehicles, ensuring fully stocked salt supplies, and having snowplows, shovels and other snow equipment at the ready. The Port Authority’s winter weather arsenal includes:<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />o More than 200 snow and ice equipment at its airports, including melters that can liquefy up to 500 tons of snow an hour and plows that can clear snow at 40 mph;<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />o Approximately 60 pieces of snow equipment at the bridges and tunnels, including 28 trucks equipped with plows and spreaders at the George Washington Bridge, the world’s busiest vehicular crossing; <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />o More than 2,000 tons of salt and more than 1,500 tons of sand for airport roads and parking lots, plus more than 2,000 tons of salt for the bridges and tunnels, specifically 500 tons of salt at the George Washington Bridge and 200 tons at the Holland Tunnel;<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />o Approximately 300,000 gallons of liquid anti-icer chemicals at the airports, which prevent snow and ice from bonding to runways and taxiways, plus approximately 1,700 tons of solid de-icers, which break up snow and ice already on the ground;<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />o Plow-equipped trains, liquid snow-melting agent trains and a “jet engine” plow to remove snow from tracks, and snow blowers. Plows and spreaders to clear station entrances, roads that serve PATH’s 13 stations, and various support facilities; and<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />o Approximately 1,000 staff members and contractors with years of specialized training and professional experience in handling severe winter weather at transportation facilities.<br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· The Port Authority urges travelers to check with their carriers before going to the airport or bus terminals to confirm departure times. The agency also may impose speed restrictions on its crossings if weather conditions warrant.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-top: 0.75em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Department of Transportation:</strong><br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· NYSDOT has more than 1,270 plow trucks and 1,582 drivers standing by to pre-treat roadways with salt brine in advance of the storm and clear snow and ice once precipitation begins. <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· NYSDOT also has 366,500 tons of road salt on hand. <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· Travelers are encouraged to check conditions before venturing out by accessing NYSDOT’s free 511NY traffic and travel information system, which provides real-time travel information, by calling 511 or visiting www.511NY.org. The website features a winter travel advisory system, with real-time travel reports and a color-coded map indicating which state roads are snow covered, ice covered, wet, dry, or closed to help drivers determine if travel is advisable. The system provides real-time snow and ice conditions for interstates and other heavily traveled roads, as reported by snowplow operators.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-top: 0.75em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">State Police</strong><br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· The New York State Police have a full complement of troopers and supervisors assigned to all shifts in preparation of a winter storm approaching the region. Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit and Traffic Incident Management team members will be used to supplement normal patrol coverage. <br style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />· State Police are working closely and coordinating with local County Emergency Operations Centers across the state as needed and are prepared for the potential increase in service calls for evacuations and medical emergencies.</div></blockquote><br /></div>

NYC Severe Weather Advisory In Effect For NYC

Photograph of Mayor Bloomberg briefing reporters at a Department of Sanitation facility on the West Side of Manhattan by  DSNY From:http://g...

Read more »

6 ways hiring managers are spotting résumé lies

<b style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span id="cbArticle_lblByLine">Mary Lorenz, CareerBuilder Writer</span></b><br /><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span><br /></span></b><br /><div class="ArticleHeadline" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-top: -30px; text-align: left;"><div class="cbmsnArticleImage" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" src="http://emj.cbdr.com/artieimages/1b/ar5f062763cs7tw93l1b.gif?time=5/8/2012%203:32:14%20pm" /></div></div><div class="ArticleContent" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Thirty-eight percent of employees have embellished their job responsibilities at some point, and 18 percent have lied about their skills, according to a CareerBuilder survey<b>.</b> Other common lies surrounded information about employment start and end dates, academic degrees, previous employers and job titles.</div><div class="ArticleContent" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><br /><br />Here are six ways employers might be evaluating your résumé in today's <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/digital/" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none;">digital</a> world. These are not only good reminders that you shouldn't lie, but they'll also help you avoid mistakes that might make <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/hiring+manager/" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none;">hiring managers</a> question your honesty.<br /><br /><b>1. They're performing a standard </b><b>background check</b><b>.</b> Employers check on things such as work history, residences, dates of employment, etc. Managers look for discrepancies between what the candidate submitted and what the reports reveal.<br /><br /><b>2.</b> <b>They're checking for red flags.</b> Unexplained gaps in employment, a reluctance to explain the reason for leaving and unusual periods of self-employment can be a tip-off to false employment history. Since even references can be fake, employers might check the websites of previous employers and use the phone numbers found online for employment verification.<br /><br /><b>3. They're using social networking sites</b>. Social networking profiles contain public information that may help employers verify certain information such as a candidate's work history or education credentials. Both job seekers and employers should be aware of <a href="http://www.startribune.com/business/83725197.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUncacyi8cyaiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none;">the possible legal ramifications of using social media to screen applicants</a>.<br /><br /><b>4. They're testing your skills.</b> Knowing that employers use keyword searching to find and qualify their résumés, applicants may include keywords for all skills required for the job -- regardless of whether they have them or not. To confirm any embellishment, employers might ask specific technical questions about the candidate's stated skills or test the candidate's computer skills.<br /><br /><b>5. They're willing to hear an explanation.</b> Mistakes and misunderstandings do happen. If managers find a discrepancy, they might give the candidate an opportunity to explain. If this happens, have a good explanation for the error.<br /><br /><b>6. They're following their intuition. </b>When it comes to the difficult task of hiring a new employee, employers have to trust their intuition and experience. If something doesn't seem right, they'll probably follow up on it.<br /><i>Mary Lorenz writes for </i><a href="http://thehiringsite.careerbuilder.com/" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none;"><i>The Hiring Site</i></a><i>, CareerBuilder's community for hiring professionals and other curious-minded individuals to discuss the attraction, engagement and retention of their #1 asset -- their people.</i></div>

6 ways hiring managers are spotting résumé lies

Mary Lorenz, CareerBuilder Writer Thirty-eight percent of employees have embellished their job responsibilities at some point, and 18 percen...

Read more »

Dorner manhunt: Deputies investigating reported sighting in San Diego

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer" src="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef017c36b10c0d970b-640wi" /><br />From:http://latimesblogs.latimes.com<br /><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">San Diego sheriff's deputies continued to search near a Lakeside area home early Friday after a reported sighting of fugitive ex-police officer Christopher Dorner, and are now investigating whether the call was a hoax.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">A cell phone call about 10:20 p.m. Thursday prompted deputies to respond to a home near the Barona Indian Reservation, said sheriff's Lt. Jason Rothlein. Authorities were still at the scene about 3:30 a.m. Friday.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">The caller initially reported a suspicious person, Rothlein said, but later changed and embellished the story, claiming there were gang members in the area, then saying the suspicious person was the caller's brother. The caller then said the suspicious person was a man wanted for murder, was someone on the news, and finally claimed the reported person was Dorner.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Authorities have found no sign of the wanted man, Rothlein said.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">"The deputies that are on scene have no indication Dorner was, is or has even been at that residence," Rothlein said.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Still, deputies will continue to search the area "out of due diligence," he said.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">"There's a particular sensitivity here. Obviously it's not something we can go and overlook," Rothlein said. "Having a waste of resources over a hoax — if that is in fact what this is — is a horrible waste of our time."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Dorner, 33, is wanted in connection with a double homicide in Irvine on Sunday and the shooting of three police officers, one fatally, in Riverside County on Thursday. Authorities described him as "armed and extremely dangerous," and alerts about him were issued across the state and in Nevada as federal, state and local authorities intensified their search.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Authorities said they found a rambling manifesto published on what they believe is Dorner's Facebook page that threatened "unconventional and asymmetrical warfare" against police and named at least 40 officers and others.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Authorities spent much of Thursday scouring Big Bear after Dorner's pickup was found burning on a forest road. About 125 officers followed fresh tracks leading from the vehicle and conducted door-to-door searches in the mountain community, but lost Dorner's trail.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Dorner was also traced to the San Diego area in recent days. Authorities believe he is connected to anattempted boat theft at the Southwestern Yacht Club in Point Loma early Thursday morning, when he allegedly held an 81-year-old boat owner at gunpoint, tied him up and tried to steal the boat to flee to Mexico.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">When that attempt was thwarted by mechanical difficulties, he apparently drove north to Riverside County, where the police officers were attacked.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">At about 2 a.m. Thursday, a citizen reported finding property belonging to Dorner on a street near Lindbergh Field, not far from the scene of the attempted boat theft. The property included a briefcase and Dorner's LAPD badge.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Navy officials also confirmed that Dorner had checked into the motel at Naval Base Point Loma on Tuesday, using military identification. He did not check out, but Lt. Joseph Ramos said Dorner had not been seen in the area later Thursday despite reports that he was still at the motel.</div></div>

investigating La Times Dorner manhunt: Deputies investigating reported sighting in San Diego

From:http://latimesblogs.latimes.com San Diego sheriff's deputies continued to search near a Lakeside area home early Friday after a rep...

Read more »

Ambler parents take part in national hearing on school closures

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">By Eric Devlin</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><a href="mailto:edevlin@montgomerynews.com" style="background-color: white; color: #004fa3; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">edevlin@montgomerynews.com</a><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">The U.S. Secretary of Education held a national community hearing in Washington, D.C., to discuss a rising number of school closings across the country in low-income areas that contain a higher population of minority groups.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">Elizabeth Wahl-Kunzier and Amy Joyce, representing Mattison Avenue Elementary School and the Ambler community, attended the event.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">An anonymous source recently filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education regarding the Wissahickon School Board’s recent decision to close Mattison Avenue, citing the decision as discriminatory against the Hispanic population in Ambler. The complaint said the district discriminated against the Hispanic community because it failed to provide effective methods of communication to Hispanic parents at the school who are limited in English proficiency. The district denied such allegations.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">Wahl-Kunzier and Joyce attended the hearing and testified before Education Secretary Arne Duncan on behalf of their community after they were invited by a group known as Journey for Justice. Wahl-Kunzier said she and Joyce had worked all of last summer looking for ways to try to save Mattison Avenue and, through various connections, came in contact with Daniel DelPielago of the group known as Empower D.C., who invited them to attend the hearing with the rest of the members of Journey for Justice from across the country. She said it felt inappropriate to ask a number of people to come with them considering many of the members of Journey for Justice had been planning the trek to D.C. for months and they were asked to attend very late in the game.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">Approximately 500 students, parents and community representatives representing 18 cities across the country gathered at the Department of Education building in Washington to testify and hope to see some type of intervention at the federal level.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">Wahl-Kunzier and Joyce said they spoke with Assistant Secretary (Acting) Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of Civil Rights Seth Galanter, who gave them the contact information for director of the OCR Philadelphia Office, Wendella Fox. They were told she would look into the Ambler situation. They said they were told the DOE would continue to investigate the situation with the Wissahickon School District and ultimately it has final say on all school closures. They were further told the DOE “could provide a remedy to the situation [in Ambler],” but were not given specifics as to what that remedy might be. The DOE also did not provide a timeline as to when the investigation would end and when any potential help may take place.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">Regarding the Wissahickon complaint, Wahl-Kunzier and Joyce said they were hopeful to find a solution considering the information they received at the hearing.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">After the nearly two-hour hearing ended, they joined the crowd and marched to the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial where a candlelight vigil was held.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">Cities all across the country, including Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, Newark, Detroit and Oakland, have filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights citing the closing of schools and the criteria and methods for administering those actions as discriminatory toward low-income, minority communities.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">Facing 37 school closures throughout the city, the Philadelphia City Council voted 14-2 in favor of a nonbinding resolution put forward by the Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools, calling for a one-year moratorium on school closings </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">Wahl-Kunzier said she wondered “whether [Wissahickon] will stand by their children. They really do need to help beyond just parent volunteers. They do need help [with the minority population].” She said the district “can’t cut kids off because their parents don’t speak English.”</span><br /><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">Wahl-Kunzier said she was amazed as she listened to the complaints from the hundreds of different people in attendance for the hearing, because they were “the exact same thing, word for word,” as to what the defenders of Mattison Avenue had been arguing. Many of the schools were also very similar to Mattison Avenue, she said, noting they were small community-based schools and by closing these schools it was “like taking a second home from [those students].”</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">Wahl-Kunzier said they were given contact information of a number of different groups fighting to keep their schools open across the country.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">“This is a microcosm of a national issue,” she said.</span><br /></div>

school closings Ambler parents take part in national hearing on school closures

By Eric Devlin edevlin@montgomerynews.com The U.S. Secretary of Education held a national community hearing in Washington, D.C., to discuss ...

Read more »

Powerball Jackpot Winner In Virginia To Claim $217 Million Prize

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="Powerball Jackpot" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/979578/thumbs/r-POWERBALL-JACKPOT-large570.jpg?6" /><br />From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com<br /><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">The winner of Wednesday's <a href="http://www.abc27.com/story/21033835/record-cash-5-prize-split-powerball-winner-sold-in-va" style="border: none; color: #2b0073; cursor: pointer; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">Powerball jackpot</a> <a href="http://www.wric.com/story/21019675/217-million-powerball-ticket-sold-in-richmond-area" style="border: none; color: #2b0073; cursor: pointer; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">won $217 million</a>, according to ABC local affiliate WRIC.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">The sole <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20130207_Powerball_ticket_wins__217_million.html" style="border: none; color: #2b0073; cursor: pointer; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">ticket that hit</a> <a href="http://www.wric.com/story/21019675/217-million-powerball-ticket-sold-in-richmond-area" style="border: none; color: #2b0073; cursor: pointer; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">the Powerball jackpot</a>, matching all six numbers, was sold in Richmond, Va., NBC's WWBT in Richmond reports.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">The <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/06/powerball-numbers-february-6-2013_n_2633804.html" style="border: none; color: #2b0073; cursor: pointer; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">winning numbers in the Feb. 6 drawing</a> of the multi-state lottery were 5, 27, 36, 38, 41 and the red Powerball number was 12.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Wednesday's Powerball jackpot is the biggest single prize won since a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/07/arizona-powerball-winner-2012_n_2259696.html" style="border: none; color: #2b0073; cursor: pointer; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">record-breaking $588 million</a> award was split between two tickets in November 2012.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">The next Powerball drawing will be on Saturday, Feb. 9, for $40 million. Powerball is played in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.</div><br /><br /></div>

powerball Powerball Jackpot Winner In Virginia To Claim $217 Million Prize

From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com The winner of Wednesday's  Powerball jackpot   won $217 million , according to ABC local affiliate W...

Read more »

Light snow through noon, heavier snow arrives after 2 PM

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img src="http://www.boston.com/news/weather/weather_wisdom/Blizzard%20warning%20tonight.png" /><br />From: http://www.boston.com<br /><span id="byline" style="background-color: white; color: #464646; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 31px;">Posted by David Epstein</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">  </span><span id="dateline" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px;">February 8, 2013 10:40 AM</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">I feel like it's been weeks since we first predicted this storm, but in reality it has only been a few days. Now it is time to finish preparing for the storm and get ready to be inside for the day tomorrow. I think we have grown very averse to being inconvenienced because the reality is that there will only be about 24 hours when you can't get around. Power is the big concern for most of us, and if it does go out, hopefully it will return fairly quickly. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">There has </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">been so much warning with this storm that I imagine most of the area will be unusually today. I also suspect that since the storm is occurring overnight tonight and Saturday that crews will be able to clean up easier than if it was a mid-week storm.. If you have last minute things you do want to get done try to be home by 3 PM this afternoon. </span><em style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">As usual I will be updating the forecast on on Twitter </em><em style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"> at<a href="http://twitter.com/growingwisdom" style="color: #45569c; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">@growingwisdom</a> please follow me there.</em><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Now the waiting begins. Blizzard warnings, high wind warnings, coastal flood warnings, the table has been set for a historic storm for much of central and southern New England. Snow flurries have started in some places along the coast, but will only accumulate a few inches by 4PM. From about 9 PM tonight through mid-morning Saturday, our storm will be at its most intense. After that snow will continue much of Saturday afternoon, but I only expect an additional few inches during that time.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">High tide occurs around 9 PM tonight and again approximately 10 AM Saturday. Each of those tides has the potential for coastal flooding. Right now, we are not looking at major coastal damage, but the situation will need to be monitored closely. There are two maps below to help you see which part of the coastline is most vulnerable.<br /><a href="http://www.boston.com/news/weather/weather_wisdom/High%20Tide%20Friday%20Evening.png" style="color: #45569c; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="High Tide Friday Evening.png" class="mt-image-left" height="233" src="http://www.boston.com/news/weather/weather_wisdom/assets_c/2013/02/High%20Tide%20Friday%20Evening-thumb-300x233-94417.png" style="border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); float: left; margin: 0px 20px 20px 0px;" width="300" /></a><a href="http://www.boston.com/news/weather/weather_wisdom/High%20Tide%20Saturday%20Evening.png" style="color: #45569c; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="High Tide Saturday Evening.png" class="mt-image-left" height="236" src="http://www.boston.com/news/weather/weather_wisdom/assets_c/2013/02/High%20Tide%20Saturday%20Evening-thumb-300x236-94419.png" style="border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); float: left; margin: 0px 20px 20px 0px;" width="300" /></a><br /><strong>How much snow?</strong><br />Below is my map of snowfall accumulations. This is my thinking: We are going to get more than a foot of snow. I feel very confident about that part of the forecast. I even think that many areas will exceed 18 inches of snow. There will be bulls eye of accumulation that reaches 24 to perhaps 32 inches of snow from this storm. The favorite place for that spot is about 20 miles southwest of Boston.<a href="http://www.boston.com/news/weather/weather_wisdom/snow%20fall%20prediction%20Friday.png" style="color: #45569c; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="snow fall prediction Friday.png" class="mt-image-left" height="213" src="http://www.boston.com/news/weather/weather_wisdom/assets_c/2013/02/snow%20fall%20prediction%20Friday-thumb-300x213-94433.png" style="border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); float: left; margin: 0px 20px 20px 0px;" width="300" /></a>However, until the storm is underway, we won't know for sure if or where that will materialize. If you start experiencing thunder and lightning tonight, you can bet you will end up as one of the town on the higher end of snow totals.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><strong>Power</strong><br />One of the biggest issues from any large storm is the loss of power. While I can't say what will happen to you and your home, most of us should keep our power through the storm. That doesn't mean that the number of people who do lose power might not reach 10, 20 or 50 or 100 thousand for a while, but I don't expect this to be a storm which causes extensive power issues such as those during the October storm of 2010. There are several reason for my thinking. First, we have had some major wind storms the past 18 months and these storms have culled the "tree herd" of the weakest specimens. This means fewer trees remain to fall on power lines. Second, the snow will not be a heavy wet type that weighs down utilities. Finally, utility companies have put in place new plans because of other issue that should help restore power faster. That said, I recommend keeping your home a few degrees warmer tonight before you go to bed in case you do lose power. That way your house will take a bit longer to cool off if you have no heat.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><strong>The storm </strong><br />Right now there are two storms that are moving towards New England. These storms will eventually merge and form one big area of low pressure just off our south coast. <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/weather/weather_wisdom/merging%20storms.png" style="color: #45569c; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="merging storms.png" class="mt-image-left" height="279" src="http://www.boston.com/news/weather/weather_wisdom/assets_c/2013/02/merging%20storms-thumb-233x279-94423.png" style="border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); float: left; margin: 0px 20px 20px 0px;" width="233" /></a>This is a classic set-up for a major snowstorm in all of New England. This is not unprecedented by any means and actually there are many text books that explore the formation of these types of coastal storms.<br /><strong>Saturday night</strong><br />As the storm passes it will be time to clean up. The reality is that even if we break the all-time record for snow in Boston, most of us will still have just a lot of shoveling to do. Sunday will be a clean-up day and Monday folks will return to work and recount their weekend stuck inside during the blizzard. If we do indeed end up with 2 or more feet of snow in places, some schools might be closed Monday while sidewalks are cleared. More on that after the storm.<br /><strong>Gardening this week</strong><br />This week I wanted to share a video that shows a very unique water garden. This particular water garden contains many different varieties of fish. While you might not have the space for something this elaborate, you can mimic some of the elements on a smaller scale.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><br /></div></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jPesZG5UP-Q?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe></div>

weather Light snow through noon, heavier snow arrives after 2 PM

From: http://www.boston.com Posted by David Epstein    February 8, 2013 10:40 AM I feel like it's been weeks since we first predicted th...

Read more »

What Are Words For?

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Cheers Bitches!!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin-mOvDzcX_2rXUWTpWrLjZnPI-D9FVrqi-sY_OW8kiR-Ki7kFKCaUeAotwiRvBCYSs69zZbJ4B9dVU1wVxiEQckQ3la3LNUA4NEvJ94teJIUxfVi7AjZzqOiclAoH08jcZtQh6rj65Sw/s1600/Dale+Bozzio+Hot+Missing+Persons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin-mOvDzcX_2rXUWTpWrLjZnPI-D9FVrqi-sY_OW8kiR-Ki7kFKCaUeAotwiRvBCYSs69zZbJ4B9dVU1wVxiEQckQ3la3LNUA4NEvJ94teJIUxfVi7AjZzqOiclAoH08jcZtQh6rj65Sw/s400/Dale+Bozzio+Hot+Missing+Persons.jpg" width="400" /></a>Y’know?  Yesterday during the celebration of my 48th birthday, I learned a number of things.<br /><br />First off, I learned that I am old. Secondly, I learned that I, in spite of myself, have a lot of friends, and tertiarily, I learned that 19 year old chicks don’t dig 48 year old men.<br /><br />Ha…Kidding…I really don’t have a lot of friends, but anyhoo…<br /><br />Being the international internet radio star that I am, several thousand people wished me a Happy Birthday on my Facebook page yesterday.<br /><br />To the eighty percent of my Facebook friends that I don’t actually know, I gave a “like.”  To the twenty percent of my friends that I actually do know, I left a comment.<br /><br />But…Here’s the thing penultimate (yeah, I love that word, so?) thing that happened yesterday.  I didn’t just grow older yesterday; I grew wiser, and more importantly, more humble.<br /><br />Aside from the public displays of Facebook affection yesterday, which are great mind you, and I truly loved them, I had several phone calls and private messages that were a bit more profound.<br /><br />My 18 year old son gave me a dose of his brillant sarcasm that sounded word for word like something I would have said if I was in position.<br /><br />My brother Marty called me from his Austin, TX., hotel room  at 7 AM and wished me a Happy Birthday and he said, <i>“It is always good to talk to you.”</i><br /><br />For thirty minutes, I talked to my brother Vince who is experiencing a world of difficulties.  In spite of his difficulties, we laughed all the while, because as he says, <i>“You can cry, or you can laugh;  And either way, it’s nice to laugh and talk to you, my brutha.”</i><br /><br />I sent Schmoop an e-mail asking if I could have our last frozen pizza for lunch.  She didn’t answer, she ignored it.  She later claimed that it was a Yahoo mail problem.  I claimed shenanigans…Turned out…It <i>was</i> a Yahoo problem.  And we laughed.<br /><br />Yesterday, I chatted on Facebook with a woman with whom I went to school, and I told her that she and I should have gotten married back in the day, but the timing never worked out.<br /><br />Oddly enough IWS readers, are you sitting down?  She agreed, and the conversation continued over a variety of other topics.<br /><br />A couple of years ago, I was told by a woman that that I am “iconic”, and like it or not,<i> “your words matter to people.”</i><br /><br />Two years ago, I shrugged that comment off and filed it under, comments from crazy people.  You see…<br /><br />While I have always considered myself to be a good writer and when I put my mind to it and work at it, a damn good writer, I have never considered myself to be a person of any influence whatsoever.<br /><br />And while Schmoop may say something to the effect that I am chronically charming and for whatever reason, people like to listen to me, I have always thought…Yeah…so?<br /><br />But…Yesterday, I became the recipient of an attitudinal shift.<br /><br />In addition to the aforementioned examples of people who hang on my words, I received a birthday wish that stated I was Bagwine, Ohio’s best in comic relief.  Ha…I never realized that the woman who sent that even read my FB comments, IWS posts, or my smart ass remarks. <br /><br />Here’s the thing…In this nanosecond by nanosecond world of texts, Tweets, e-mails, and blog posts, I am going to pay closer attention to what I am “putting out there.”<br /><br />Not because I care, but evidently some people do, and well, that’s really not all that bad, it’s a compliment, and I don’t want to betray that good will.<br /><br />Cheers!!<br /><br />Matt-Man<br /><a href="mailto:mattmaniws@ymail.com">mattmaniws@ymail.com</a><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/MattMan_IWS" target="_blank">@MattMan_IWS</a></div>

What Are Words For?

Cheers Bitches!! Y’know?  Yesterday during the celebration of my 48th birthday, I learned a number of things. First off, I learned that I am...

Read more »