I don't know if we're in the minority with this issue, but when I was pregnant with Nova and even afterwards, it seems like we were bombarded with every possible way babies can die.  Choking, string, strangulation, drowning, improper sleeping, starving...it's just an incredibly lengthy list, and we were very very careful with everything.  But then there was SIDS, which we didn't have any control over...it "just happens" sometimes.  Well, doctors have finally found some plausible reasons for SIDS, which really is a huge breath of relief.  Now it is at least "less" of an ominous threat to newborns.  Good work doctors.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/10/31/sids.research.ap/index.html
(I'm only pasting some of the article, since it's pretty long)

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- In a small study with big implications, researchers found some of the strongest evidence yet that sudden infant death syndrome -- a medical and sometimes legal mystery once known as crib death -- may be caused by brain stem abnormalities.

The finding "takes the mystery away from SIDS," said Marian Willinger, a SIDS researcher at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, which funded the study. "It should take the guilt away from any parent who has lost a baby because they always wonder, `What did I do wrong?' Now, they need to really understand, `My baby had a disease."'

The brain stem abnormalities involve an imbalance in the way the brain uses the neurotransmitter serotonin. The brain chemical plays a role in regulating mood and is the target for many depression-fighting drugs. But it also influences breathing, body temperature and arousal from sleep.

These functions are thought to go haywire when susceptible babies are exposed to certain risks, such as sleeping on their bellies, which is a leading contributor to SIDS.

The researchers studied autopsied brain tissue from 31 SIDS babies and 10 infants who died of other causes. SIDS babies had about double the number of nerve cells displaying serotonin defects.

Right now, the defects cannot be detected until after death. The researchers hope their work leads to a diagnostic test that could identify infants at risk and allow parents to take precautions.

That will probably take at least 10 years, but the study results show the research appears to be headed in the right direction, said Dr. Hannah Kinney, a co-author and prominent SIDS researcher at Children's Hospital Boston.

The study was published in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

"This finding lends credence to the view that SIDS risk may greatly increase when an underlying predisposition combines with an environmental risk -- such as sleeping face down -- at a developmentally sensitive time in early life," said Dr. Duane Alexander, director of the government institute that backed the study.

Kinney said serotonin defects probably cause at least half of all SIDS cases.

Other theories for what causes SIDS include infections and mutations that cause heart rhythm abnormalities. But it is possible that serotonin defects are an underlying cause in SIDS cases attributed to some of those defects, said Dr. Debra Ellyn Weese-Mayer, a SIDS researcher at Chicago's Rush University Medical Center.

While the study involved only a small number of infants, it is a convincing argument for the brain stem theory, said Weese-Mayer, who was not involved in the research.

SIDS kills more than 2,000 U.S. infants each year and is the leading cause of death in U.S. babies after the newborn period. Rates are similar in other Western nations, but SIDS definitions vary elsewhere, so global rates are unclear, Kinney said.

Yale (my alma mater in a former life, I'm sure of it) has a professor who just published a book all about misquoted quotes.  It's really interesting, because these are very well known quotes that are permanently imprinted in our society; yet, they have either never been spoken by the correct person at the correct time, or taken very out of context. I'm just going to cut/paste the article I read (which I think is cheating in the blogosphere, but it's my blog..and I'm pasting):

"Showman P.T. Barnum never said "There's a sucker born every minute" although he wished he had. And Civil War Admiral David Farragut probably never said "Damn the Torpedoes! Full Speed Ahead" -- words that have inspired generations of fighting men.

To make things even more complicated, it is doubtful that Paul Revere warned that "The British are coming" when he would have at the time of the American Revolution thought himself British, although a revolting one. He probably would have said "The Redcoats are coming."

A new, meticulously researched book of quotations attempts to set the record straight on those beloved phrases that have crept into everyday use as signs of wisdom and wit, including Sigmund Freud's sage advice that "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." (He didn't quite say that, although his biographer thinks he would have approved of the idea.)

"The Yale Book of Quotations" has a simple thesis: famous quotes are often misquoted and misattributed. Sometimes they are never said at all but are, instead, little fictions that have forged their way into public consciousness.

Take, for example, "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead," a rallying cry supposedly uttered by Farragut during the American Civil War battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864.

According to Fred R. Shapiro, a Yale librarian and editor of "The Yale Book of Quotations," it was a comment either never said or at least never heard on the day of battle. The first appearance of a partial version of the phrase came in a book published in 1878 but reports from the day of the battle never mention the phrase.

NO CIGAR

It can get "curiouser and curiouser," to quote something Lewis Carroll actually did write. Gen. William T. Sherman did not quite say "War is hell" but those were words uttered by Napoleon Bonaparte.

Sherman's version was a wee bit longer: "There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but boys it is all hell." Close, but no cigar, as Groucho Marx might have said on his quiz show when someone failed to guess the color of an orange correctly.

Showman Barnum admitted during his lifetime that he never said "There's a sucker born every minute," although he thought he may have said, "The people like to be humbugged," a less than ringing phrase.

According to research by Shapiro, the "sucker" phrase was probably uttered by a notorious con man named "Paper Collar Joe" and attributed to Barnum by a rival showman, who wanted to make him look bad.

To find out who said what and when they did it, Shapiro spent six years poring over hundreds and hundreds of databases, using advanced Internet searches as well as using the more old-fashioned methods of going through microfilms, dusty bookshelves and reading the 1,000 or so other quotation books that are out there to find out the truth.

For example, he went through all of Mae West's pre-1967 movies to find out when she delivered one of her great sexual double entendres -- "Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me." He said the line was not in any of her movies, including the one her fans swear it was in, "She Done Him Wrong."

Instead, according to Shapiro, West used it to greet a policeman assigned to escort her. As she once said of herself, "I used to be Snow White, but I drifted."

The result, after six years of research, is a 1,067-page quotations book with footnotes that are as fascinating to read as the quotes themselves.

Shapiro said he also had another goal: to represent popular culture in a quotations book, including advertising jingles and lines from popular songs and movies.

As a result, he is able to get in print a couple of famous quotes from Marion Barry, the former mayor of Washington D.C.: "outside of the killing (Washington, D.C.) has one of the lowest crime rates in the country" and "Bitch set me up," a comment he made when police arrested him for smoking crack cocaine.

Not quite the lofty Shakespeare-style of previous quotations books. But the Bard is in the Yale book as well with 455 citations, the most of any author."

                 Truck filled with gumballs hijacked Oct. 24, 2006.

"Three men have been arrested after a transport truck full of gumballs was hijacked in the city’s east end early Monday morning - almost a week before Halloween. Police were called to Oak Leaf Confectionary on Sinnot Rd. in the Eglinton Ave. E. and Warden Ave. area around 5:30 a.m. after thieves attacked a truck driver from behind and stole his truck full of candy valued at more than $40,000.

The driver was punched in the face and in the body and then was almost forced into the trunk of a car, police said. He made his escape by fighting off his attackers. The suspects fled in three separate vehicles, with one of them behind the wheel of the transport truck, police added. The truck driver was taken to hospital with a broken nose and was treated for cuts to his arms and legs, they said. Police were able to locate the transport truck on Brenda Cres. at Corvette Rd. in Scarborough around 2:30 p.m. after they witnessed two men and pursued two others who tried to flee in another vehicle but were arrested a short distance later, they said.

Bavanan Uthaanathan, 23; Jude Emmanuel, 25; and Ragivan Thirugnanasambanthar, 24, all of Toronto, face 25 charges relating to robbery, assault, kidnapping and theft charges."                                                                                   

Canada?  Do we need to go up there and have a talk with you?  Seriously....gumballs.  Wow.

Are you Velociraptor Prepared?

Velociraptor attack is the 3rd leading cause of death for men age 27-29. However, everyone must think about the implications of velociraptors: young and old, men, women and transgendered persons.

The American Society for Velociraptor Attack Prevention is a bi-partisan group of professionals, dedicated to the diffusion of knowledge concerning velociraptor attack prevention.

Velociraptor compared in size to a human. Courtesy: Wikipedia

Know the Enemy

The velociraptor is a bipedal carnivore with a long, stiffened tail and can be distinguished from other dromaeosaurids by its long and low skull, with an upturned snout. It bores a relatively large, sickle-shaped claw, typical of dromaeosaurid and troodontid dinosaurs. This enlarged claw, up to 67 millimeters (2.6 in) long around its outer edge, is a predatory device, used to tear into the prey, delivering a fatal blow.

Velociraptors are commonly found on tropical islands, converted to millionarie amusement parks, but are commonly being sighted in the Pacific Northwest. Of the essential facts you should know about velociraptors:

• Velociraptors hunt in packs, and are known to form an equilateral triangle around its prey.
• Velociraptors can accelerate 4 m/s², with a top speed of 25 m/s on open terrain, 10 m/s while wounded, and 10 m/s in indoor labratories.
• Velociraptors can open doors, but are slowed by them. They can open an initial door in approximately 5 minutes, and will take half that time for each subsequent door.
• Velociraptors do not know fear.

New Home Buyer Tips

When buying a new home, there are a few things to look out for when assessing potential velociraptor attacks:

1. Check all doors and windows. Doors should be made of solid oak or steel. Windows should have steel bars with spacing smaller than the average raptor.
2. Make sure all entryways have adequate deadbolts. Quality deadbolts may be purchased at your local Home Depot.
3. Always keep a loaded big-game rifle under your bed, and tire irons near every door. Remember, you should never be farther than 20 feet away from a tire iron.

'Bindi The Jungle Girl'

Eight-year-old Bindi Irwin is following in the footsteps of her croc hunter dad, Steve. Producer John Stainton launches her career in a new show called "Bindi the Jungle Girl."

She's just about as charasmatic as her dad, Steve Irwin.  I say, way to go! 


There's nothing like doing something positive to help you get through tough situations.  Something I learned a few years ago was to list 3 blessings a day, especially on days when things seem to be falling apart.  And not big sweeping lists like, "I'm grateful for somewhere to sleep," because if you're reading this, you have a computer and somewhere to sleep, and that isn't really a huge deal.  Like, "I'm grateful I have water to drink," isn't really helping your purpose for finding happiness when you're at the end of your rope.  Something like, "I'm grateful for a husband who seriously helps with the laundry when it is the last thing I even want to think of," or "I am grateful my children have a safe and healthy social outlet," or " I am grateful that out of all of my garden that I can't get to really survive, I found a rose hidden beneath a load of plants after I thought my rose bushes died."  I'd encourage anyone to start these lists.  They're nice to look back upon as well.

I'm just going to be lazy and paste the article .  But it seems like these guys are really making an effort to help their fellow men, and I fullly endorse that.  Rock on fellas!

"NEW YORK -- A group of Marines and ex-Marines who fought in Iraq -- including two wounded there -- is featured in a beefcake calendar being sold to help wounded veterans."It's a stopgap effort to help people where government programs leave off," said Rudy Reyes, who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan and is on the calendar's cover. "This is a way for citizens to help citizens."

The "America's Heroes" calendar is being sold by Freedom is Not Free, a San Diego-based nonprofit group that helps injured service members and their families with such expenses as travel, mortgage and utility bills and special beds for burn victims. Reyes and the other men who appear in the glossy 2007 lineup served in Iraq in Marine reconnaissance units. Sgt. James Wright, 31, who lost his hands and part of his leg, appears on the back cover in full uniform, saluting with what's left of his right arm. Several members of the group, promoting the calendar on a cross-country tour, said Thursday they have medical conditions, ranging from combat stress-related symptoms to injuries to their feet, knees, hips and backs from carrying combat loads of more than 200 pounds. When service members come back, "many don't have the financial or emotional support to get back to daily life," said former Sgt. Michael Saucier, 24, of Prior Lake, Minn., who served two Iraq tours and is now a carpenter's apprentice in Lake Tahoe, Nev.

All but one of the men had to be coaxed to pose shirtless for the calendar. "I wasn't afraid to pose. This is the new-generation Marines," quipped Sean Mickle, 31, a Marine platoon sergeant at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The $14.99 calendar promises that "100 percent of proceeds aid wounded heroes and their families." Production expenses were covered by private donations to Freedom is Not Free, founded last year by entrepreneur David Dominguez.

"There is a need," he said. "Some Iraq veterans are so depressed when they get back they can't even fill out the papers required for benefits." The calendar is the brainchild of his client Jean Hamerslag, a California advertising executive who suggested that the organization's fundraising needed something that would grab the public's attention. "Sex," she said with a giggle."

• Web Site: Purchase Calendar
• Web Site: Photos From All 12 Months

 
                                                       

I'm just going to be lazy and paste the article .  But it seems like these guys are really making an effort to help their fellow men, and I fullly endorse that.  Rock on fellas!

"NEW YORK -- A group of Marines and ex-Marines who fought in Iraq -- including two wounded there -- is featured in a beefcake calendar being sold to help wounded veterans."It's a stopgap effort to help people where government programs leave off," said Rudy Reyes, who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan and is on the calendar's cover. "This is a way for citizens to help citizens."

The "America's Heroes" calendar is being sold by Freedom is Not Free, a San Diego-based nonprofit group that helps injured service members and their families with such expenses as travel, mortgage and utility bills and special beds for burn victims. Reyes and the other men who appear in the glossy 2007 lineup served in Iraq in Marine reconnaissance units. Sgt. James Wright, 31, who lost his hands and part of his leg, appears on the back cover in full uniform, saluting with what's left of his right arm. Several members of the group, promoting the calendar on a cross-country tour, said Thursday they have medical conditions, ranging from combat stress-related symptoms to injuries to their feet, knees, hips and backs from carrying combat loads of more than 200 pounds. When service members come back, "many don't have the financial or emotional support to get back to daily life," said former Sgt. Michael Saucier, 24, of Prior Lake, Minn., who served two Iraq tours and is now a carpenter's apprentice in Lake Tahoe, Nev.

All but one of the men had to be coaxed to pose shirtless for the calendar. "I wasn't afraid to pose. This is the new-generation Marines," quipped Sean Mickle, 31, a Marine platoon sergeant at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The $14.99 calendar promises that "100 percent of proceeds aid wounded heroes and their families." Production expenses were covered by private donations to Freedom is Not Free, founded last year by entrepreneur David Dominguez.

"There is a need," he said. "Some Iraq veterans are so depressed when they get back they can't even fill out the papers required for benefits." The calendar is the brainchild of his client Jean Hamerslag, a California advertising executive who suggested that the organization's fundraising needed something that would grab the public's attention. "Sex," she said with a giggle."

• Web Site: Purchase Calendar
• Web Site: Photos From All 12 Months

 
                                                       

I'm just going to be lazy and paste the article .  But it seems like these guys are really making an effort to help their fellow men, and I fullly endorse that.  Rock on fellas!

"NEW YORK -- A group of Marines and ex-Marines who fought in Iraq -- including two wounded there -- is featured in a beefcake calendar being sold to help wounded veterans."It's a stopgap effort to help people where government programs leave off," said Rudy Reyes, who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan and is on the calendar's cover. "This is a way for citizens to help citizens."

The "America's Heroes" calendar is being sold by Freedom is Not Free, a San Diego-based nonprofit group that helps injured service members and their families with such expenses as travel, mortgage and utility bills and special beds for burn victims. Reyes and the other men who appear in the glossy 2007 lineup served in Iraq in Marine reconnaissance units. Sgt. James Wright, 31, who lost his hands and part of his leg, appears on the back cover in full uniform, saluting with what's left of his right arm. Several members of the group, promoting the calendar on a cross-country tour, said Thursday they have medical conditions, ranging from combat stress-related symptoms to injuries to their feet, knees, hips and backs from carrying combat loads of more than 200 pounds. When service members come back, "many don't have the financial or emotional support to get back to daily life," said former Sgt. Michael Saucier, 24, of Prior Lake, Minn., who served two Iraq tours and is now a carpenter's apprentice in Lake Tahoe, Nev.

All but one of the men had to be coaxed to pose shirtless for the calendar. "I wasn't afraid to pose. This is the new-generation Marines," quipped Sean Mickle, 31, a Marine platoon sergeant at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The $14.99 calendar promises that "100 percent of proceeds aid wounded heroes and their families." Production expenses were covered by private donations to Freedom is Not Free, founded last year by entrepreneur David Dominguez.

"There is a need," he said. "Some Iraq veterans are so depressed when they get back they can't even fill out the papers required for benefits." The calendar is the brainchild of his client Jean Hamerslag, a California advertising executive who suggested that the organization's fundraising needed something that would grab the public's attention. "Sex," she said with a giggle."

• Web Site: Purchase Calendar
• Web Site: Photos From All 12 Months

 
                                                       

I'm just going to be lazy and paste the article .  But it seems like these guys are really making an effort to help their fellow men, and I fullly endorse that.  Rock on fellas!

"NEW YORK -- A group of Marines and ex-Marines who fought in Iraq -- including two wounded there -- is featured in a beefcake calendar being sold to help wounded veterans."It's a stopgap effort to help people where government programs leave off," said Rudy Reyes, who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan and is on the calendar's cover. "This is a way for citizens to help citizens."

The "America's Heroes" calendar is being sold by Freedom is Not Free, a San Diego-based nonprofit group that helps injured service members and their families with such expenses as travel, mortgage and utility bills and special beds for burn victims. Reyes and the other men who appear in the glossy 2007 lineup served in Iraq in Marine reconnaissance units. Sgt. James Wright, 31, who lost his hands and part of his leg, appears on the back cover in full uniform, saluting with what's left of his right arm. Several members of the group, promoting the calendar on a cross-country tour, said Thursday they have medical conditions, ranging from combat stress-related symptoms to injuries to their feet, knees, hips and backs from carrying combat loads of more than 200 pounds. When service members come back, "many don't have the financial or emotional support to get back to daily life," said former Sgt. Michael Saucier, 24, of Prior Lake, Minn., who served two Iraq tours and is now a carpenter's apprentice in Lake Tahoe, Nev.

All but one of the men had to be coaxed to pose shirtless for the calendar. "I wasn't afraid to pose. This is the new-generation Marines," quipped Sean Mickle, 31, a Marine platoon sergeant at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The $14.99 calendar promises that "100 percent of proceeds aid wounded heroes and their families." Production expenses were covered by private donations to Freedom is Not Free, founded last year by entrepreneur David Dominguez.

"There is a need," he said. "Some Iraq veterans are so depressed when they get back they can't even fill out the papers required for benefits." The calendar is the brainchild of his client Jean Hamerslag, a California advertising executive who suggested that the organization's fundraising needed something that would grab the public's attention. "Sex," she said with a giggle."

• Web Site: Purchase Calendar
• Web Site: Photos From All 12 Months

 
                                                       

I'm just going to be lazy and paste the article .  But it seems like these guys are really making an effort to help their fellow men, and I fullly endorse that.  Rock on fellas!

"NEW YORK -- A group of Marines and ex-Marines who fought in Iraq -- including two wounded there -- is featured in a beefcake calendar being sold to help wounded veterans."It's a stopgap effort to help people where government programs leave off," said Rudy Reyes, who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan and is on the calendar's cover. "This is a way for citizens to help citizens."

The "America's Heroes" calendar is being sold by Freedom is Not Free, a San Diego-based nonprofit group that helps injured service members and their families with such expenses as travel, mortgage and utility bills and special beds for burn victims. Reyes and the other men who appear in the glossy 2007 lineup served in Iraq in Marine reconnaissance units. Sgt. James Wright, 31, who lost his hands and part of his leg, appears on the back cover in full uniform, saluting with what's left of his right arm. Several members of the group, promoting the calendar on a cross-country tour, said Thursday they have medical conditions, ranging from combat stress-related symptoms to injuries to their feet, knees, hips and backs from carrying combat loads of more than 200 pounds. When service members come back, "many don't have the financial or emotional support to get back to daily life," said former Sgt. Michael Saucier, 24, of Prior Lake, Minn., who served two Iraq tours and is now a carpenter's apprentice in Lake Tahoe, Nev.

All but one of the men had to be coaxed to pose shirtless for the calendar. "I wasn't afraid to pose. This is the new-generation Marines," quipped Sean Mickle, 31, a Marine platoon sergeant at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The $14.99 calendar promises that "100 percent of proceeds aid wounded heroes and their families." Production expenses were covered by private donations to Freedom is Not Free, founded last year by entrepreneur David Dominguez.

"There is a need," he said. "Some Iraq veterans are so depressed when they get back they can't even fill out the papers required for benefits." The calendar is the brainchild of his client Jean Hamerslag, a California advertising executive who suggested that the organization's fundraising needed something that would grab the public's attention. "Sex," she said with a giggle."

• Web Site: Purchase Calendar
• Web Site: Photos From All 12 Months

 
                                                       

It's difficult to see the world, or even the small communities in our nation, as a happy or peaceful setting when this is on the front page of the news:

Every single thing on there is some horrendous atrocity.  Where are the good things in the world?  There are millions of good and worthy people out there, but what they do doesn't make it to the news.  A good example of this is during the Hurricane Katrina, when the media had every spare second blasting how many people were dying, were stranded, were starving...and what a horrible job the government and military were doing.  It was so infuriating because hundreds, if not thousands, of people devoted their time to going to La. to help and donate food, shelter, clothing, etc. 

Anyway, I could rant for hours on the horrors and misinformation the media spews.  So frustrating.  This is just an example.