News for today's 2018

SAUDI ARABIA and IRAN

6:01 AM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga9Jqu54rXucB7ymjitUQeA00DrjE3yHzS0W-mdrJpL70URB6EuqCFL7mxFmRjgOCygiAw_eZqiQWZ1I62SDb_nQ2mGDHyaocFsNxZ3E_k-SnUb4WQ_uHq_RlAA37tAiL6aH_4UHhH2q6D/s1600/sun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga9Jqu54rXucB7ymjitUQeA00DrjE3yHzS0W-mdrJpL70URB6EuqCFL7mxFmRjgOCygiAw_eZqiQWZ1I62SDb_nQ2mGDHyaocFsNxZ3E_k-SnUb4WQ_uHq_RlAA37tAiL6aH_4UHhH2q6D/s400/sun.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The sun sets over the holy city of Mecca as seen from the top of Mount  Noor, where Muslims believe Prophet Mohammad received the first words of  the Koran through Gabriel, during the annual haj pilgrimage October 21,  2012.</span>            <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Image by:</b> Amr Abdallah Dalsh  / REUTERS</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">MIDDLE EAST UNDER THREAT AS IRAN ENCOURAGES SHIITE UPRISING IN SAUDI ARABIA?</span></b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: small;">See <span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;">additional</span> </span>Background Information: </span> </span></b></span></span><br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/saudi-arabian-intelligence-headquarters.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/saudi-arabian-intelligence-headquarters.html</a></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SAUDI ARABIA'S anti-Shiite policies are leading the country closer to the worst clash of the Shiite and Sunni schools of thought in the history of the Kingdom, a clash which will branch throughout the rest of the Muslim world.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SAUDI ARABIA ACCUSED IRAN FOR SUPPORTING UNREST IN SHIITE DOMINATED PROVINCE </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Eastern Province (Ash-Sharq?yah), the largest province of SAUDI ARABIA, is dominated by a population of two million Shiites and is termed as a significant site of opposition against the SAUDI monarchy. Sources have revealed that SAUDI higher-ups have raised the prospect of a Shiite insurgency in the Eastern Province and accused IRAN for supporting the unrest. The SAUDI Government, including the King, recently held a meeting to lay out a strategy on diffusing the effects of any expected Shiite uprising in the Kingdom, as unrest has been fueled by IRAN in retaliation for the SAUDI support of the rebels against Bashir al-Assad’s regime in SYRIA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">HARDSHIP (APARTHEID) FOR SHIITES LIVING IN SAUDI ARABIA</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Shiites, as the minority sect at 17 percent of the total population of the country, face state-sanctioned discrimination fuelled by the Kingdom’s powerful Wahhabi clerics: Shiites are banned from practicing their rituals in public, as well as from holding high positions in government, state-owned companies, and the judiciary. They are very often turned away from the government employment, including police, army, and security services positions. Every year thousands of Shiites face unfair trials and are jailed for speaking against the monarchy. Shiites are closely watched and monitored by SAUDI intelligence agencies for routine activities.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The SAUDI government has even restricted certain activities in an attempt to discourage Shiites from showing their identity, including outlawing names specific to Shi'a Islam. Most appallingly, there is no cemetery for Shiites in SAUDI ARABIA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In 2011, in the wake of the Arab Spring, Human Rights Watch condemned SAUDI ARABIA'S policies towards its Shiites citizens and urged on SAUDI authorities to treat the Shiites’ minority as equal citizens. However, SAUDI ARABIA is a major U.S. ally, and the U.S. has refrained from publicly criticizing violations of human sights or the Kingdom’s role in putting down pro-democracy protests.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #990000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">WAR INSIDE IN ITS OWN TERRITORY</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxduIY7dH_ooKRc1U6XPjxzJoOtpWSm158D6OOfaLY5Pr98V8RTqq4EcAgGQPq2Sg5oRO9f32AR67SO-p9PM-2BhhURMABsOTyWEfFhh-COMDiMOA0SHTrpx0ivkimn6q9zAoy1juoONfP/s1600/Saudi_shia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="513" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxduIY7dH_ooKRc1U6XPjxzJoOtpWSm158D6OOfaLY5Pr98V8RTqq4EcAgGQPq2Sg5oRO9f32AR67SO-p9PM-2BhhURMABsOTyWEfFhh-COMDiMOA0SHTrpx0ivkimn6q9zAoy1juoONfP/s640/Saudi_shia.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By supporting the rebels against the Assad’s regime in SYRIA, attempting to make IRAN the world's only Shiite country, SAUDI ARABIA has unbolted a new war inside in its own territory that could unearth grave consequences for the sovereignty of the Kingdom.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The monarchy of SAUDI ARABIA is already deeply concerned, as the Eastern Province is‎ home to most of Kingdom’s Shiite population and 90 percent of SAUDI oil, not to mention it is just 30-minute drive across the causeway from BAHRAIN. The aim of the recent conference called by the SAUDI top officials was actually to gain support from Muslims countries, excluding IRAN. A SAUDI state news agency quoted Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal as saying that King Abdullah has called for "an extraordinary Islamic solidarity meeting to ensure... unity during this delicate time as the Muslim world faces dangers of fragmentation and sedition".</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Meanwhile as SYRIA (allegedly) heads towards the fall of Assad’s regime, retribution from IRAN is gradually increasing in the form of support for a Shiite uprising in SAUDI ARABIA, creating an increasingly dangerous situation for the stability of the Middle East as well as to the SAUDI monarchy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SAUDI ARABIA and IRAN have a long account of enmity, with centuries which have never witnessed good relations due to the SAUDI hold on Holy Kaaba. But now, both have geared up to blow the Middle East, which could lead towards a severe sectarian battle categorically injurious for the entire Muslim world.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">By Malik Ayub Sumbal via Oilprice </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div>

SAUDI ARABIA and IRAN

The sun sets over the holy city of Mecca as seen from the top of Mount Noor, where Muslims believe Prophet Mohammad received the first wor...

one room challenge - week 6

2:30 AM Anonymous 0

We have arrived at week 6 of the One Room Challenge (<a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/p/one-room-challenge.html" target="_blank">see week 1 - 5 here</a>) and I'm ready to put everything together. Mostly. I've only got a few things left to do and then there is that whole putting the room together thing. I'll be busy this weekend. That's for sure.<br /><br />But enough about what I <i>still</i> have to do, let's see what I got done. I warn you it's not much, but maybe if I talk about it in a really up beat way, it will seem like a bigger deal. Smoke and mirrors people.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9I0x1tiu5wtAMhcGYVwi-OHUg-1XxyA0cB-YAnRm0aYT-xDHDV9bhNpYNtoUxeumYau8j8-6fN_teiF1-r4bCYs8bSpUmzRlgFqXJ-qmoONB50r8fAZ7CrJhe2I8sTUs10bgy25iSxYBs/s1600/Navydresser.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9I0x1tiu5wtAMhcGYVwi-OHUg-1XxyA0cB-YAnRm0aYT-xDHDV9bhNpYNtoUxeumYau8j8-6fN_teiF1-r4bCYs8bSpUmzRlgFqXJ-qmoONB50r8fAZ7CrJhe2I8sTUs10bgy25iSxYBs/s400/Navydresser.jpg" width="341" /></a></div><br />The dresser is finally finished and he's been moved in to the room. He was a lesson in patience and has earned his own post. Soon enough dresser. You will get your day.<br /><br />I also finished the silhouettes to go above the girls' beds which was refreshingly easy. (that passive agressive comment is for you dresser) The hardest part was trying to get Eve to sit still long enough to take the picture. (bribery and a doughnut works wonders)<br /><br />To get as high contrast in the pictures I set the girls in front of a window and snapped away. Take a look at those yummy cheeks.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHIjmjW5B_5FGrwk2n-OXvlgL-9_D_mSTswDcP9k55l-2uzlcEykJM9-OkJVVIKP3PTmz0EkGTKGkQtl7GultF7uMgcNmLvql4Xms7iRJJg7wG0FG9PwTsCbCh33DkRTvIabsZGccX51zb/s1600/GirlsSilhouetteBefore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHIjmjW5B_5FGrwk2n-OXvlgL-9_D_mSTswDcP9k55l-2uzlcEykJM9-OkJVVIKP3PTmz0EkGTKGkQtl7GultF7uMgcNmLvql4Xms7iRJJg7wG0FG9PwTsCbCh33DkRTvIabsZGccX51zb/s400/GirlsSilhouetteBefore.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I printed them off in black and white, which again helps with the contrast, and then cut my child's sweet little head. Thanks to the contrast, it is very easy to follow the lines.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVNPdig3-O_6WVweRFMWUg6kkQR1g_VS0Ja9dTYaO27koEbrMMzw5c3CIQgsns3CmdualsVCa0JnaFLTPehdH7QOoDXzBbuAHnMOsqLZtYgxmy6CIyFx6qwdaqz1bTPBd76OPX3OBOSm3W/s1600/SilhouetteCutOut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVNPdig3-O_6WVweRFMWUg6kkQR1g_VS0Ja9dTYaO27koEbrMMzw5c3CIQgsns3CmdualsVCa0JnaFLTPehdH7QOoDXzBbuAHnMOsqLZtYgxmy6CIyFx6qwdaqz1bTPBd76OPX3OBOSm3W/s320/SilhouetteCutOut.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><br />Then I centered the black and white silhouette on top of the colored paper (pink for Eve and yellow for Amelia) and traced the black and white silhouette with my x-acto knife, leaving me with a simple and colorful silhouette. But when I pulled the finished silhouette away from the paper, I decided I liked the silhouette void even better than the silhouette itself. It acts like a mat and gives the silhouette a bit more presence. Voila. Happy silhouettes. (I'm going to call Guinness as soon as I'm done writing this post to see if I've broken the world record for number of times using 'silhouette' in a single paragraph. Fingers crossed)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9G-ZCN2ppOUQ8oW8s0sGo-IqbjsTD-7RSqATaB72P2ebrOS9CkRgL55FWtg_LFHxM3WuEEv-QswaiWoOjuuNtkoA8WYJ9NiUFmw9mXteRgDW0fAmnD0QOXWS_7x0IG6sarj6-TwC5g8e8/s1600/SilouhetteAfter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9G-ZCN2ppOUQ8oW8s0sGo-IqbjsTD-7RSqATaB72P2ebrOS9CkRgL55FWtg_LFHxM3WuEEv-QswaiWoOjuuNtkoA8WYJ9NiUFmw9mXteRgDW0fAmnD0QOXWS_7x0IG6sarj6-TwC5g8e8/s400/SilouhetteAfter.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />And finally, I picked up the cherry on top of two very happy beds.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7xXQZzHlx0J_hQtOdqqRhgtppn79I4T-jxdznUsaqOS3ZWJMGTMxOPSnqc1ffUP4z_u317LXwxprEcWMPgAYFiYVi2SRVEPYJYIlVUqvjxeAsDTtUtU97RCRKMj99frfKOOZNL5IV9G4a/s1600/monograms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7xXQZzHlx0J_hQtOdqqRhgtppn79I4T-jxdznUsaqOS3ZWJMGTMxOPSnqc1ffUP4z_u317LXwxprEcWMPgAYFiYVi2SRVEPYJYIlVUqvjxeAsDTtUtU97RCRKMj99frfKOOZNL5IV9G4a/s1600/monograms.jpg" /></a></div><br />Now to put it all together. I've only got three items left on the list and #5 has me stumped. Should I go with grosgrain, pom poms or some awesome new trim I don't even know about? What say you?<br /><br /><ol style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><strike><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Come up with functional floor plan</span></strike></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><strike><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Paint walls/ceiling/trim</span></strike></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><strike>Paint dresser (new hardware too)</strike> </span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><strike>Update vanity (maybe some fun color or hardware)</strike></span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Find curtains and add trim</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><strike>Add a rug and new bedding</strike> </span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hang art and create some personalized pieces <b>PROGRESS</b></span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><strike><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Find/Install new light fixture (buh bye ceiling fan)</span></strike></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><strike>Reupholster chair and possibly add comfy floor cushions</strike> </span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Find/Make lampshade(s) </span></li></ol><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.984375px;">I don't know about you, but I'm excited to see how this will turn out. Let's check and see if anyone else will be doing some last minute cramming.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><div style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://chattafabulous.blogspot.com/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">Chattafabulous</a> </span></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://chinoiseriechic.blogspot.com/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">Chinoiserie Chic</a> </span></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.classiccasualhome.com/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Classic Casual Home </span></a></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://laurenleonardinteriors.com/blog/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">the Cottage Mix</a> </span></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://cottageandvine.blogspot.com/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">Cottage & Vine</a> </span></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://designindulgence.blogspot.com/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">Design Indulgence</a> </span></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.designmanifest.com/blog/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Design Manifest </span></a></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://everythingleb.blogspot.com/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">Everything LEB</a> </span></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.markovadesign.com/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">Hodge Podge</a> </span></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://kimmacumberinteriors.blogspot.com/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">Kim Macumber Interiors</a> </span></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.mattersofstyleblog.com/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">Matters of Style</a> </span></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://mycraftyhomelife.blogspot.com/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">My Crafty Home Life</a> </span></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://scottdesigns.ca/blog/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">Nicole Scott Designs</a> </span></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://blog.pacificfamilyhomes.com/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">Pacific Family Homes</a> </span></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.pawleysislandposh.blogspot.com/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">Pawleys Island Posh</a> </span></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.thepeakoftreschic.com/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">the Peak of Tres Chic</a> </span></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://blog.thepinkpagoda.us/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">the Pink Pagoda</a> </span></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.powellbrower.com/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">Powell Brower Home</a> </span></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://simpledetailsblog.blogspot.com/" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">Simple Details</a> </span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"></div><div id="lws_0" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><div class="linkwithin_outer" style="border: 0px; clear: both; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="linkwithin_inner" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 358px;"></div></div></div>

one room challenge - week 6

We have arrived at week 6 of the One Room Challenge ( see week 1 - 5 here ) and I'm ready to put everything together. Mostly. I've o...

Pope Jayman I is Ready to Serve

9:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="MsoNormal">Hola y’all! Well, we’re anywhere from a few hours to several days away from having a new Pope. I’m 99% sure the next Pope is going to really fucking suck. But, if they want to avoid disaster, they should take advantage of little known Rule CXLVII Section: IV and elect someone who isn’t a Cardinal or even a member of the Catholic Church. I’m thinking...<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFyN6tJhpYbnKakuyGf7XkjqoBv-F7WCH-0SPClAi7aylEcpBRqWrQ-ZqZdyUe5s41IJvFwKrTG2Z9vLBArGb31r5R70ZQWFYT8lazz7s6fkIudrsq_S0cSYz5ndp4YKw9WiNbAHo6-g/s1600/Stalker+Pope.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFyN6tJhpYbnKakuyGf7XkjqoBv-F7WCH-0SPClAi7aylEcpBRqWrQ-ZqZdyUe5s41IJvFwKrTG2Z9vLBArGb31r5R70ZQWFYT8lazz7s6fkIudrsq_S0cSYz5ndp4YKw9WiNbAHo6-g/s320/Stalker+Pope.jpg" width="303" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Here’s just a small sampling of what I would do to make the Catholic Church far more acceptable and fun… <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>1. End that stupid vow of celibacy.</b> Sheesh! This is just about the stupidest idea the Church has ever had. There is no reason for it. Protestant preachers are perfectly capable of conveying all the great stuff about God and his boy Jesus AND still have sex with their wives, girlfriends and gay male hookers. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>2. Do away with daylight savings time.</b> It’s stupid and annoys me. I’m sure I could figure out a moral reason to do away with it. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>3. Stop allowing Priests to rape children!</b> Okay, some of ya’ll might think this should be Number One, but if we get rid of the moronic Vow of Celibacy, this whole raping of children thing might not be as big of a problem. Anyway, I would also then release all the documents detailing the child rape problem and the cover up. Then I would deliver all the people responsible for both of those outrages to the proper authorities so they can be prosecuted to the FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>4. No left turns without a protection light or turn lane.</b>The NEW Catholic Church will focus more on practical ideas to make life better for everyone. So well drop the birth control demands and instead force governments to make sure that we never have to sit behind someone who is willing to wait until hell freezes over to turn left. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>5. Stop the demonizing gays.</b> Some people are gay. Get over it. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>6. Wrap it up and experience the thrill of the pill!</b> Condoms save lives. The NEW Catholic Church will actually mean it when we say things like “all life is precious” and when we defend “the sanctity of life.” We’ll stop letting people die needlessly because of some stupid NO CONDOMS policy that we force governments to adhere to. Also, the pill is NOT an abortion. Family planning is a good thing. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>7. Make the I’m With Stupid internet radio show mandatory listening for every single Catholic and all other decent human beings every week.</b> Hey, what’s the point of even being Pope if you can’t use your position to increase the ratings on your podcast? <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>8. Access to decent healthcare, living wages and help to people who are starving and suffering from terrible poverty and addiction.</b>That’s right we’re going to bring the Moral Authority of the Church back bitches! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>9. End the “One-and-Done” rule for the NBA.</b> It’s stupid and it’s ruining college basketball. There is no legitimate reason to claim that kids can’t jump straight from high school to the NBA. The NBA is not like the NFL where there are legitimate reasons for there “Three Years Out of High School” rule. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>10. Dancing girls and boys and lap dances for everyone who attends Mass.</b> Gotta draw in some crowds somehow, right? <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I think I would be the most popular Pope EVAH! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:Jayman3768@gmail.com">Jayman3768@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/jayman_iws">@Jayman_IWS </a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div>

Pope Jayman I is Ready to Serve

Hola y’all! Well, we’re anywhere from a few hours to several days away from having a new Pope. I’m 99% sure the next Pope is going to really...

News Flash...

7:02 PM Tukiyooo 0

News Flash...

Kentucky is NOT on the bubble. No matter how much the media freaks out that the defending national champions won't make the NCAA Tournam...

Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock 03/12/2013

12:30 PM Tukiyooo 0

Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock 03/12/2013

math worksheets...and more Chris Smith is a dad who was making review worksheets for his child and s...

Jerusalem, My Happy Home: Part 14

12:22 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">MARONITE CHURCH – We spent today in the Old City beginning at the Maronite Church. The Maronites are a little confusing. Their liturgy is Eastern Orthodox and has always been in Syriac; never Latin, but they are part of the Roman Catholic authority structure. Their origins could be said to go all the way back to the Church in Antioch in the Apostolic Era, but their name goes back to Maron, a 4<sup>th</sup> Century monk in the Desert Fathers tradition. After he died, his disciples built a monastery and the Maronite Church grew out of it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The Eastern and Western Church divided during the same general era as the Crusades. There were other theological issues, but when the Western Crusaders sacked Constantinople, that did not help church unity. The Maronites who had been living under Muslim rule, on the other hand, welcomed the Crusaders. So relations between Rome and the Maronites, who are mostly in Lebanon, have always been cordial. Hence, the formal connection to Rome despite the different language and ritual.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The Church was covered with icons. I have been in a lot of Orthodox Churches and am accustomed to lots of icons. But this place didn’t have a bare spot. Sitting in the Church was an experience of being totally immersed in the narrative the icons told. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER – From the image rich Maronite Church, we went to the Lutheran Church with elegant stone arches and bare wall, a study in simplicity. It was a different kind of holiness. But there was one icon and it was unusual. It was the moment of God’s Covenant with Noah, sealed by the rainbow. I had been praying the Loving Kindness Mediation – “May I be filled with Loving Kindness. May I be well. May I be peaceful and at ease. May I be happy” – then praying those prayers as intercessions for others. Somehow having that prayer rolling through my head while looking at the rainbow icon fit perfectly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">ST. HELENA’S CISTERN – Next stop: The Greek Orthodox Church, adjacent to – almost part of -- the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. There is such a network of caves and caverns under Jerusalem, I expect the whole place to sink someday. One such deep place is St. Helena’s Cistern, a pool of water in a deep underground cavern under the Church. We bent double to climb down the narrow twisting stone stairway to the pool of dark water. I kept expecting Golem to pop up form the black surface. This cistern was found in the same excavation that led to the discovery of the tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and was the water supply for the church.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">ST. MARK’S SYRIAN CHURCH – We were allowed inside St. Mark's thanks to our guide Bishara’s friendship with the holy old priest. St. Mark’s makes several bold claims: to be the site of the Last Supper, to be the oldest Christian Church, to be the home of Mary Magdalene and John Mark, to be the place the disciples waited and prayed while Peter was in jail. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Let’s start with the Last Supper. The Church building is not that old. It is Crusader era. But it is built over the ruins of older churches. There is stone basement where a meal could have been shared. “But wait,” you are thinking, “wasn’t the Last Supper in the ‘Upper’ Room?” Yes, but that may not mean it was upstairs. It may mean it was in the “upper” part of Jerusalem, which is where the first Christians are believed to have lived.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Tradition holds that Mary Magdalene and her son, John Mark (a protégé of Paul and possibly the author of the Gospel of Mark) lived in a house at this location. Feminist theologian Elizabeth Schuessler-Fiorenza makes a plausible argument that Mary Magdalene would have been one of the first Eucharistic celebrants and this is where she would have done it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I bought a card of the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic written by the white bearded old Syrian priest and received a blessing from him.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">ARMENIAN VESPERS – From the Syrian Church we went to the Armenian Church for Vespers sung by the Armenian Seminarians. Armenia became the first Christian nation when St. Gregory the Illuminator converted King Tiridates III in 301 C.E., several years before Constantine’s victory at the Milvian Bridge turned the tide for worldwide Christianity. But tradition holds that Christianity had a rockier start first century Armenia. St. Bartholomew is said to have been skinned alive and crucified upside down for his efforts to share the gospel there. But that’s legend. Gregory and Tiridates are history. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Following yesterday’s visit to the Holocaust Museum, it seemed fitting to be in an Armenian Church today. Beginning in 1915, the Ottoman Empire initiated the first modern genocide against the Armenians. Armenia, situated in modern Turkey, had been part of the Empire for centuries. Armenians as well as Greeks had been treated quite badly by the Turks. As the Ottoman Empire began to crumble with World War I dealing it the final blow, they blamed the Armenians and killed 1.5 million of them. I mention this because yesterday’s blog post told the story of genocide committed against Jews, and expressed concern over anti-Islamic prejudice in Europe and the United States. This is a case of a genocide committed against Christians by Muslims. The slaughter of Muslims by Christians in the Crusades was a study in barbarity. It is important to remember that the potential to be either a victim or a perpetrator is there for us all. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The Armenian Church was dark. Turkish carpets covered the floor. Hundreds of lamps hung from the ceilings. I was told that the lamps represented villages wiped out in the Armenian Holocaust. The priests wore long pointed black hoods. The seminarians wore black cassocks. Some of them were deacons and wore stoles hanging straight (not crossed diagonally) over their left shoulders, Mike Margerum style. (I am sure they got it from him.) As they chanted a skillful thurifer, swinging a thurible with bells, filled the church with smoke. It was all quite holy and mysterious. I kept thinking, "they sure didn’t do it this way back in Bowie County, Texas." I am a long way from home.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Now one more day: The Road to Emmaus, Closing Eucharist, farewell dinner, then rise and shine at 1:30 a.m. to catch a plane to Nevada! It’s been great, but I cannot wait to get home.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

Jerusalem, My Happy Home: Part 14

MARONITE CHURCH – We spent today in the Old City beginning at the Maronite Church. The Maronites are a little confusing. Their liturgy...

Advances in surgeries with robots reduce risks and trim recovery times - Houston Chronicle

11:56 AM Tukiyooo 0

<base href="data:"><div style="color: black; text-align: left; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; 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-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-color: initial; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">What if you could have a major surgery with only a short hospital stay, very little pain, low risk of infection, little blood loss, minimal scarring, and a fast recovery and return to normal daily activities?</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; 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-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-color: initial; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">Such a scenario is becoming increasingly possible thanks to the developing field of medical robotics and the increasing use of robots in surgical procedures. By using robots, surgeons can perform complex operations more easily and precisely, and in a less invasive way that improves results for patients.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; 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-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-color: initial; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">"Robotics is an extension of laparoscopic surgery," said Dr. <a href="http://www.chron.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news%2Fhealth&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Surena+Matin%22" 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-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; color: rgb(234, 74, 18); text-decoration: none; ">Surena Matin</a>, an associate professor in the department of urology at the <a href="http://www.chron.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news%2Fhealth&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22University+of+Texas+M.D.+Anderson+Cancer+Center%22" 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-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; color: rgb(234, 74, 18); text-decoration: none; ">University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center</a>. Matin also is medical director of MINTOS - the Minimally Invasive New Technology in Oncologic Surgery Collaborative Group at M.D. Anderson. "The improvement over laparoscopic techniques comes in terms of improving the surgeon's visibility and dexterity. Surgeons don't have to remove their eyes from the scene of surgery, and they have more range of motion through the wrists of the device than through scopes. (Laparoscopy) is like operating with chopsticks compared to the dexterity of the microwrists on the robotic system."</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; 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-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-color: initial; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">At least two of the most advanced surgical robotics systems are in use in the Houston area. Surgeons at<a href="http://www.chron.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news%2Fhealth&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Memorial+Hermann+Sugar+Land+Hospital%22" 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-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; color: rgb(234, 74, 18); text-decoration: none; ">Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital</a> recently began using the <a href="http://www.chron.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news%2Fhealth&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22da+Vinci+Si+Surgical+System%22" 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-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; color: rgb(234, 74, 18); text-decoration: none; ">da Vinci Si Surgical System</a> robot to perform procedures in urogynecology, gynecology, oncology and general surgery. St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital has added the same system to its suite of robotics technology to perform urological and gynecological procedures, and perhaps procedures for ear nose, throat and abdominal specialties in the future.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; 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-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-color: initial; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">Dr. <a href="http://www.chron.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news%2Fhealth&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Nina+Dereska%22" 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-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; color: rgb(234, 74, 18); text-decoration: none; ">Nina Dereska</a>, a surgeon at Memorial Hermann Sugar Land, has been using the <a href="http://www.chron.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news%2Fhealth&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22da+Vinci%22" 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-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; color: rgb(234, 74, 18); text-decoration: none; ">da Vinci</a> robotic systems for surgeries since 2009. The system allows for more surgical options with certain patients for whom traditional surgery presents a problem.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; 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-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-color: initial; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">"With robotic surgery, small mechanical arms are inserted into the patient through tiny incisions," she explained. "Surgeons will be able to control the robotic movements, or the arms, through special hand and foot controls at a console several feet away from the operating table." The robot translates the surgeon's hand, wrist and finger movements at the control console into corresponding micro movements of the instrument's tip.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; 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-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-color: initial; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">In other words, the robot can be set to scale down surgeon's movements so that a 1-inch movement on the surgeon's finger becomes a movement of only a fraction of an inch at the tip of the robotic instrument. Similar movements also control the camera to allow the surgeon to see inside the patient's body. The surgeon, sitting at the console, is able to continuously view the scene of surgery and perform highly precise surgical movements without nearly as much fatigue as in traditional surgical procedures, including "straight-stick" laparoscopy.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; 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-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-color: initial; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">"Straight-stick surgery is hard on the body - my elbows are up in the air, my shoulders are hunched; it's very fatiguing," Dereska said. "Robotics surgery is much easier on the surgeon, which translates to being better for the patient."</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; 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-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-color: initial; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">Surgeons at the <a href="http://www.chron.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news%2Fhealth&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Methodist+Hospital%22" 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-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; color: rgb(234, 74, 18); text-decoration: none; ">Methodist Hospital</a> recently became the first to use the <a href="http://www.chron.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news%2Fhealth&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Magellan+Robotic+System%22" 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-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; color: rgb(234, 74, 18); text-decoration: none; ">Magellan Robotic System</a> to treat patients with peripheral vascular disease. "This new intravascular robotic system represents a fundamental step forward in the transformation of vascular intervention," said Dr. <a href="http://www.chron.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news%2Fhealth&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Alan+Lumsden%22" 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-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; color: rgb(234, 74, 18); text-decoration: none; ">Alan Lumsden</a>, chair of the department of cardiovascular surgery and medical director of the Methodist Debakey Heart & <a href="http://www.chron.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news%2Fhealth&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Vascular+Center%22" 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-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; color: rgb(234, 74, 18); text-decoration: none; ">Vascular Center</a>. "It allows us to offer less invasive endovascular options to a broader group of patients suffering from complex vascular disease."</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; 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-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-color: initial; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">The system allows a surgeon to more precisely steer a catheter inside and around blood vessels. Lumsden said it can be used for any procedure involving complex catheterization and will be especially useful in lower-extremity arterial interventions and branched endografts. In addition, the technology will help reduce both the procedure time and radiation exposure.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; 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-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-color: initial; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">The chief drawback of robotics in surgery is the lack of haptic feedback - the ability surgeons have to visualize in their mind what they are feeling with their hands. "We don't have our fingerpads to feel and guide, so we have to learn with our eyes to see how the tissue reacts in order to get a 'feel' for it," Matin said. "This is more of an issue for late-stage cancers where the tactile feedback plays a heavier role in determining where to cut."</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; 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-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-color: initial; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">Increasingly, surgeons are being trained to use robotic systems in various specialty areas. <a href="http://www.chron.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news%2Fhealth&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Peter+Herrera%22" 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-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline-style: none; color: rgb(234, 74, 18); text-decoration: none; ">Peter Herrera</a> directs the Memorial Hermann Surgical Innovation and Robotics Institute in the Texas Medical Center. "The institute has trained numerous robotics surgical teams from around the country since we first opened in 2003," he said. "We are the largest training site for robotic surgery in the nation and the only one in the southwest USA."</font></p></div><a href="http://www.chron.com/news/health/article/Advances-in-surgeries-with-robots-reduce-risks-4293686.php"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">http://www.chron.com/news/health/article/Advances-in-surgeries-with-robots-reduce-risks-4293686.php</font></a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Advances in surgeries with robots reduce risks and trim recovery times - Houston Chronicle

What if you could have a major surgery with only a short hospital stay, very little pain, low risk of infection, little blood loss, minimal ...

Librarian III, Adult Services Librarian - Welles-Turner Memorial Library, Glastonbury

9:12 AM Anonymous 0

<strong>Librarian III, Adult Services Librarian -</strong> <strong><span style="color: #48286d;">Welles-Turner Memorial Library</span></strong>,  Glastonbury. Full-time. Hours:  37.5 hrs/week. Salary Range:   $58,851-$73,593. This position is responsible for coordinating and  supervising the daily operations of major areas of the Library (Lending  & Reference); making professional level library decisions; planning,  coordinating and directing programs and personnel of a department(2)  within the Library. This position also assists the Library Director with  the interviewing, hiring and training of staff as required, addresses  patron’s reference inquiries and instructs patrons in the use of  reference materials, methods and tools, selects materials for addition  to the collection, inspects and recommends materials for repair, weeds  and/or replaces outdated or severely damaged materials, participates in  community relations and community outreach activities. Candidate must  possess a Master degree in library science from an accredited college or  university plus three years of progressively responsible library  administration experience including one year in a supervisory of lead  capacity. Must have a valid Driver’s License. Visit Town’s website at <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.glastonbury-ct.gov" href="http://www.glastonbury-ct.gov/" target="_blank">www.glastonbury-ct.gov</a> for detailed information, job description and application or Town Hall  Customer Service Center, 2155 Main Street, Glastonbury, CT 06033 or call  (860)652-7710. AA/EOE. Application closing date: 4 PM, March 29, 2013.

Librarian III, Adult Services Librarian - Welles-Turner Memorial Library, Glastonbury

Librarian III, Adult Services Librarian - Welles-Turner Memorial Library , Glastonbury. Full-time. Hours: 37.5 hrs/week. Salary Range: ...

Young Adult Librarian - New Britain Public Library

9:03 AM Anonymous 0

Young Adult Librarian - New Britain Public Library

Young Adult Librarian - New Britain Public Library . Full-time position. Seeking a dynamic and creative librarian to plan, organize and ...

Ovarian Cancer Study Finds Widespread Flaws in Treatment - NYTimes.com

4:48 AM Tukiyooo 0

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><nyt_text style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div id="articleBody"><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Most women with <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/ovarian-cancer/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Ovarian Cancer." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">ovarian cancer</a> receive inadequate care and miss out on treatments that could add a year or more to their lives, a new study has found.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The results highlight what many experts say is a neglected problem: widespread, persistent flaws in the care of women with this disease, which kills 15,000 a year in the United States. About 22,000 new cases are diagnosed annually, most of them discovered at an advanced stage and needing aggressive treatment. Worldwide, there are about 200,000 new cases a year.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; "><a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/cancer/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Cancer." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Cancer</a> specialists around the country say the main reason for the poor care is that most women are treated by doctors and hospitals that see few cases of the disease and lack expertise in the complex surgery and <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/chemotherapy/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival health news about chemotherapy." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">chemotherapy</a> that can prolong life.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"If we could just make sure that women get to the people who are trained to take care of them, the impact would be much greater than that of any new chemotherapy drug or biological agent," said Dr. Robert E. Bristow, the director of gynecologic oncology at the University of California, Irvine, and lead author of the new study presented on Monday <a href="https://www.sgo.org/education/annual-meeting-on-womens-cancer/" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">at a meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology</a> in Los Angeles.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The study found that only a little more than a third of patients received the best possible care, confirming a troubling pattern that other studies have also documented.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Karen Mason, 61, from Pitman, N.J., had been a nurse for 28 years when she was found to have ovarian cancer in 2001. She scheduled surgery with her gynecologist, who was not a cancer surgeon.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">But her sisters would not allow it. They had gone on the Internet, and became convinced — rightly, according to experts — that she should go to a major cancer center.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"They took the reins out of my hands," Ms. Mason said.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">She wound up having a long, complicated and successful operation performed by a gynecologic oncologist, which she does not believe her gynecologist could have done.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Dr. Barbara A. Goff, a professor of gynecologic oncology at the University of Washington, in Seattle, who was not part of Dr. Bristow's study, said the problem with ovarian cancer care was clear: "We're not making the most use of things that we know work well."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">What works best is meticulous, extensive surgery and aggressive chemotherapy. Ovarian cancer spreads inside the abdomen, and studies have shown that survival improves if women have surgery called debulking, to remove all visible traces of the disease. Taking out as much cancer as possible gives the drugs a better chance of killing whatever is left. The surgery may involve removing the spleen, parts of the intestine, stomach and other organs, as well as the reproductive system.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The operations should be done by gynecologic oncologists, said Dr. Deborah Armstrong of Johns Hopkins University, who is not a surgeon. But many women, she said, are operated on by general surgeons and gynecologists.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Some women prefer the obstetricians who delivered their children. Many are desperate to start treatment and think there is no time to find a specialist. Some do not know that gynecologic oncologists exist. Some inexperienced doctors may find the cancer unexpectedly during surgery and try to remove it, but not do a thorough job.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"If this was <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/breast-cancer/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Breast cancer." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">breast cancer</a>, and two-thirds of women were not getting guideline care that improves survival, you know what kind of hue and cry there would be," said Dr. Armstrong, who was not involved in the study. But in ovarian cancer, she said: "There's not as big an advocacy community. The women are a little older, sicker and less prone to be activists."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">One patient advocacy group, the <a href="http://www.ovariancancer.org/report-card/" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Ovarian Cancer National Alliance</a>, ranks the availability of a gynecologic oncologist as one of its criteria in comparing the quality of care among states.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Surgeons who lack expertise in ovarian cancer should refer women to specialists if the women are suspected to have the disease, but often do not, Dr. Goff said.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Dr. Bristow's research, which has been submitted to a medical journal but not yet published, was based on the medical records of 13,321 women with ovarian cancer diagnosed from 1999 to 2006 in California. They had the most common type, called epithelial. Only 37 percent received treatment that adhered to <a href="http://www.nccn.com/files/cancer-guidelines/ovarian/index.html#/1/zoomed" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">guidelines</a> set by the <a href="http://www.nccn.com/" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">National Comprehensive Cancer Network</a>, an alliance of 21 major cancer centers with expert panels that analyze research and recommend treatments. The guidelines for ovarian cancer specify surgical procedures and chemotherapy, depending on the stage of the disease.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Surgeons who operated on 10 or more women a year for ovarian cancer, and hospitals that treated 20 or more a year, were more likely to stick to the guidelines, the study found. And their patients lived longer. Among women with advanced disease — the stage at which ovarian cancer is usually first found — 35 percent survived at least five years if their care met the guidelines, compared with 25 percent of those whose care fell short.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">But most of the women in the study, more than 80 percent, were treated by what the researchers called "low-volume" providers — surgeons with 10 or fewer cases a year, and hospitals with 20 or fewer.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Dr. Bristow said women should ask surgeons how often they operate on women with ovarian cancer and how often they achieve complete debulking. But he also acknowledged that many patients hesitate to ask for fear of offending the doctor who may operate on them.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Ovarian cancer has unusual traits that make it more treatable than some other cancers. It is less likely to spread through the bloodstream and lymph system to distant organs like the lungs and brain. The tumors do spread, but usually within the abdomen and pelvis, where they tend to coat other organs but not eat into them and destroy them, said Dr. Matthew A. Powell, a gynecologic oncologist and associate professor at <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/w/washington_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about Washington University" class="meta-org" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Washington University</a> School of Medicine in St. Louis.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">And most ovarian cancers are extremely sensitive to chemotherapy, experts said.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">In 2006, a study was published that many doctors thought would change the field forever. It compared standard intravenous chemotherapy with a regimen that pumped the drugs directly into the abdomen. The test regimen was highly toxic, and not all patients could tolerate it. But median survival on it was 65.6 months, compared with 49.7 months on the standard treatment — a survival difference of 15.9 months.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The gain was huge, almost unheard of. New cancer drugs are often approved if they buy patients just a few months. The test treatment — called intraperitoneal, or IP therapy — did not even use new drugs. It just gave the old ones in a different way. Several previous studies had had similar findings for IP therapy, but the 2006 study, led by Dr. Armstrong, had the most definitive results.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/national_cancer_institute/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about National Cancer Institute" class="meta-org" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">National Cancer Institute</a> took a rare step, one it reserves for major advances. It issued a "clinical announcement" to encourage doctors to use the IP treatment, and to urge patients to ask about it. Cancer specialists predicted that the announcement would lead to widespread changes in treatment. Expert guidelines said it should be offered to every patient considered strong enough to endure it.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Seven years later, Dr. Armstrong and other physicians said, IP therapy still has not caught on.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Part of the reason may involve money, Dr. Armstrong said. With IP chemotherapy, patients also need a lot of intravenous fluids, which means unusually long treatment sessions. Oncologists are paid for treatments, not for time, so for those in private practice, long sessions can eat away at income.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"You don't make a lot of money with somebody in the chair getting IV fluids," Dr. Armstrong said. "Chair time is money. I'm being a cynic here, but I think that is part of the issue."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Dr. Goff said: "Where I live, in the Pacific Northwest, IP chemotherapy is pretty much only being done in the major medical centers, and by very few private-practice oncologists. Many say it's too difficult, and they don't even offer it to patients, which I think is unethical."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Ms. Mason had six hours of surgery at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, with a gynecologic oncologist. The cancer had spread to lymph nodes, and was Stage 3. The surgeon removed her ovaries, fallopian tubes, various lymph nodes, uterus, cervix and omentum (part of the tissue that lines the inside of the abdomen).</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"Ovarian cancer looks like Rice Krispies all over the place," Ms. Mason said. "She spent most of the time picking out each little visible Rice Krispy, and left nothing behind that she could see with her naked eye."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Then, Ms. Mason had chemotherapy (not IP, because it was not being done at the time). The disease has not recurred. Had she stuck with the first doctor, she believes, "I would be gone."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"I feel so strongly about letting women know that you need to get to a center of excellence," Ms. Mason said. "It's shocking to think it's still not happening."</p><nyt_correction_bottom><div class="articleCorrection" style="margin-bottom: 2.8em; "></div></nyt_correction_bottom><nyt_update_bottom></nyt_update_bottom></div></nyt_text><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline !important; float: none; "></span></div><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/12/health/ovarian-cancer-study-finds-widespread-flaws-in-treatment.html?&pagewanted=print">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/12/health/ovarian-cancer-study-finds-widespread-flaws-in-treatment.html?&pagewanted=print</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Ovarian Cancer Study Finds Widespread Flaws in Treatment - NYTimes.com

Most women with ovarian cancer receive inadequate care and miss out on treatments that could add a year or more to their lives, a new stud...