APNewsBreak: Google exec chairman to visit NKorea

FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2012 file photo, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt arrives for a seminar at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. Schmidt is preparing to travel to one of the last frontiers of cyberspace: North Korea. He will be traveling to North Korea on a private trip led by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson that could take place as early as this month, sources told The Associated Press on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2012. The sources, two people familiar with the group's plans, asked not to be named because the visit had not been made public. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2012 file photo, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt arrives for a seminar at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. Schmidt is preparing to travel to one of the last frontiers of cyberspace: North Korea. He will be traveling to North Korea on a private trip led by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson that could take place as early as this month, sources told The Associated Press on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2012. The sources, two people familiar with the group's plans, asked not to be named because the visit had not been made public. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)

FILE - In this April 10, 2007 file photo, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, third left, and Anthony Principi, former U.S. veterans affairs secretary, third right, and top White House adviser on Korea, Victor Cha, second right, pose for a photo with Kim Yong Dae, vice-president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, center, in Pyongyang, North Korea. Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt will be traveling to North Korea on a private trip led by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson that could take place as early as this month, sources told The Associated Press on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. The sources, two people familiar with the group's plans, asked not to be named because the visit had not been made public. (AP Photo/Foster Klug, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2012 file photo, a North Korean woman sits in a computer room near portraits of the country's late leaders, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, at the Kim Chaek University of Technology in Pyongyang, North Korea. Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt is preparing to travel to one of the last frontiers of cyberspace: North Korea. Schmidt will be traveling to North Korea on a private trip led by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson that could take place as early as this month, sources told The Associated Press on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2012. The sources, two people familiar with the group's plans, asked not to be named because the visit had not been made public. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? Google's executive chairman is preparing to travel to one of the last frontiers of cyberspace: North Korea.

Eric Schmidt will be traveling to North Korea on a private, humanitarian mission led by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson that could take place as early as this month, according to two people familiar with the group's plans who asked not to be named because the visit had not been made public.

The trip would be the first by a top executive from U.S.-based Google, the world's largest Internet search provider, to a country considered to have the most restrictive Internet policies on the planet.

North Korea is in the midst of what leader Kim Jong Un called a modern-day "industrial revolution" in a New Year's Day speech to the nation Monday. He is pushing science and technology as a path to economic development for the impoverished country, aiming for computers in every school and digitized machinery in every factory.

However, giving citizens open access to the Internet has not been part of the North's strategy. While some North Koreans can access a domestic Intranet service, very few have clearance to freely surf the World Wide Web.

It's highly unlikely Google will push to launch a business venture in North Korea, said Victor Cha, a Korea expert who was a senior Asia specialist in the administration of President George W. Bush.

"Perhaps the most intriguing part of this trip is simply the idea of it," said Cha, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington. Kim Jong Un "clearly has a penchant for the modern accoutrements of life. If Google is the first small step in piercing the information bubble in Pyongyang, it could be a very interesting development."

It was not immediately clear who Schmidt and Richardson expect to meet in North Korea, a country that does not have diplomatic relations with the United States. North Korea has almost no business with companies in the U.S., which has banned the import of North Korean-made goods.

North Korea likely is more interested in Google products such as email, maps and other content, said Lim Eul-chul, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University in South Korea.

"North Korea has made a lot of investment in science and technology, not just for military purpose but also for the industry and practical reasons," Lim said, predicting that Pyongyang may ask Google to let their experts learn from the U.S. company about upgrading its software and content.

Schmidt has been a vocal advocate of providing people around the world with Internet access and technology.

As Google's chief executive for a decade until 2011, Schmidt oversaw Google's ascent from a small California startup focused on helping computer users search the Internet to a global technology giant making inroads into mobile phone markets as well as mapping.

Google now has offices in more than 40 countries, including all three of North Korea's neighbors: Russia, South Korea and China, another country criticized for systematic Internet censorship.

After being accused of complying with China's strict Internet regulations, known as "the Great Firewall of China," Google pulled its search business from the world's largest Internet market in 2010 by redirecting traffic from mainland China to Hong Kong. The company maintains other businesses in China, but a recent transparency report shows Google's services there sporadically are blocked.

Since stepping aside as CEO, Schmidt has served as Google's executive chairman, largely responsible for the company's external relationships with policymakers, business partners and governments around the world.

And in recent months, Schmidt had been working with Jared Cohen, a former U.S. State Department policy and planning adviser who heads Google's New York-based think tank, on a book about the Internet's role in shaping society. "The New Digital Age" is due to be published in April.

Schmidt's message: The Internet and mobile technology have the power to lift people out of poverty and political oppression.

"The spread of mobile phones and new forms of connectivity offer us the prospect of connecting everybody," he said in commencement speech at Boston University in May. "When that happens, connectivity can revolutionize every aspect of society: politically, socially, economically."

The Richardson-Schmidt trip comes at a delicate time politically. In December, North Korea defiantly shot a satellite into space on the back of a three-stage rocket last month, a launch Pyongyang has hailed as a major step in its quest for peaceful exploration of space.

Washington and others, however, decry it as a covert test of long-range ballistic missile technology designed to send a nuclear-tipped warhead as far as California. The U.N. Security Council quickly condemned the launch, and is deliberating whether to further punish Pyongyang for violating bans on developing its nuclear and missile programs.

The visit also follows North Korea's announcement that an American citizen of Korean descent has been jailed in Pyongyang on suspicion of committing "hostile" acts against the state. Conviction could draw a sentence of 10 years of hard labor under North Korea's penal code.

Kenneth Bae, identified in North Korean state media by his Korean name, Pae Jun Ho, is the fifth American detained in North Korea in the past four years. The exact circumstances of his arrest were not clear. The Korean Central News Agency said he was taken into custody in Rason, a special economic zone in the far north near China and Russia, while touring the area.

Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who often serves as an envoy to countries that do not have diplomatic relations with the United States, will try to meet with North Korean officials, and possibly Bae, to discuss the case, the sources said.

Richardson has been to North Korea at least a half-dozen times since 1994, including two trips to negotiate the release of Americans detained by North Korea. His last visit to Pyongyang was in 2010.

Also leading the trip is Kun "Tony" Namkung, an Asian affairs expert who has made numerous visits to North Korea over the past 25 years. Namkung also has been a consultant to the AP.

North Korea and the U.S. fought on opposite sides of a three-year war on the Korean Peninsula before signing a truce in 1953. The Korean Peninsula remains divided by a heavily fortified border, and the U.S. stations 28,000 troops in South Korea to protect the ally.

However, even before late leader Kim Jong Il's death a year ago, North Korea indicated interest in repairing relations with Washington.

Last year, a group of North Koreans even visited Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.

And government-affiliated agencies already use at least one Google product to get state propaganda out to the world: YouTube.

___

Associated Press technology writer Youkyung Lee contributed to this report. Follow AP's Korea bureau chief at www.twitter.com/newsjean and AP Seoul's technology writer at www.twitter.com/ykleeAP.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-03-NKorea-Google/id-af71eeafce904867a9126c05ea584993

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Twin mothers in Ohio give birth the same day

AKRON, Ohio (AP) ? Aiden and Donavyn didn't wait until New Year's Day to come screaming into the world, but the circumstances of their births are still pretty special: The babies were born about two hours apart to Ohio mothers who are identical twins.

The Akron Beacon Journal (http://bit.ly/YQpn3X ) reports that the 19-year-old mothers ? Aimee and Ashlee Nelson weren't raised to do things alike and did not plan the births to come at the same time. In fact, their due dates were about a week apart.

But Donavyn Scott Bratten was born just after noon on the last day of 2012. Aiden Lee Alan Dilts made his appearance at about 2 p.m.

They were delivered by the same doctor at Summa Akron City Hospital.

___

Information from: Akron Beacon Journal, http://www.ohio.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/twin-mothers-ohio-birth-same-day-143912056.html

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A surprisingly good vintage as market logs gains

NEW YORK (AP) ? If you'd told investors what was going to happen in 2012 ? U.S. economic growth at stall speed, an intensifying European debt crisis, a slowdown in China, fiscal deadlock in Washington, decelerating corporate earnings growth ? and asked how the stock market would perform, few would have predicted a good year.

But that's just what they got.

The Dow Jones industrial average, the Standard & Poor's 500 and the Nasdaq composite index all ended the year substantially higher, despite losing ground in the final days of year as concerns about the looming "fiscal cliff" mounted.

The Dow gained 7 percent for the year, its fourth consecutive annual advance, having started the year at 12,217. The S&P 500, which started the year at 1,257, is up 13 percent, beating the 7.8 percent average annual gain of the past 20 years. The Nasdaq also logged a better-than-average gain, 16 percent.

Including dividends, the total return on the S&P 500 index was even better: 16 percent.

Financial companies led the gains among S&P 500 stocks, advancing 26 percent, as banks continued their restructuring efforts after the recession. Bank of America more than doubled, gaining $6.05 to $11.61 and Citigroup advanced $13.25, or 50 percent, to $39.56. Utilities, the best-performing industry group last year, was the only sector of 10 industry groups in the index to decline, dropping 2.9 percent.

"There's been a lot thrown at this market, and it's proven to be very resilient," said Gary Flam, a portfolio manager at Bel Air Investment Advisors in California. "Here we are at the end of the year, and it's still relatively strong."

Stocks started the year on a tear, with optimism about an improving job market and a broader economic recovery providing the backdrop to the S&P 500's best first-quarter rally in 14 years.

The index advanced 12 percent by the end of March, closing the quarter at 1,408, its highest in almost four years, with financial companies and technology firms leading the charge. The Dow ended the first quarter at 13,212, logging an 8 percent gain.

Apple was one of the star performers of the first quarter and was probably the year's most talked-about company.

The popularity of the iPhone and iPad led to staggering sales growth that helped push its stock up 48 percent to almost $600 at the end of March. Apple also announced a dividend and overtook Exxon Mobil as the U.S.'s most valuable company.

At the start of the second quarter, the intensifying European debt crisis and concerns about the impact that it would have on global economic growth prompted a sell-off.

By the start of June, U.S. stocks had given up the year's gains. Borrowing costs for Spain surged and investors fretted over the outcome of Greek elections that had the potential to pull the euro currency bloc apart.

The outlook for growth in China, the world's second-largest economy, also began to weigh on investors' minds. Economic growth there slowed to 8.1 percent in the first quarter as export demand waned, and investors worried that it would keep falling.

The Dow fell as low as 12,101 June 4. The S&P dropped to 1,278 June 1.

The second quarter was also marred by Facebook's initial public offering.

The stock sale was one of the most keenly anticipated initial public offerings in years, but investors didn't "like" the $16 billion market debut. The social network priced its IPO at $38 per share, and the stock started to fall soon after the first day of trading on concern about the company's mobile strategy.

Facebook closed as low as $17.73 on Sept. 4 before recovering some of the ground it lost to close the year at $26.62.

Company earnings reports were also starting to make uncomfortable reading for investors. Earnings growth for S&P 500 companies fell as low as 0.8 percent in the second quarter, according to S&P Capital IQ data.

The stock market only recovered its poise after the European Union put together loans to bail out Spain's banks on June 10 and the head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, pledged to do "whatever it takes" to save the euro.

Speculation that the Federal Reserve was set to provide the economy with more stimulus to prevent it from slipping back into recession also bolstered stocks.

The rally even survived a blip when a software glitch at trading firm Knight Capital threw stock prices into chaos Aug. 1.

The firm said the problem was triggered by new trading software it installed. Erroneous orders were sent to 140 stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange, causing sudden price swings and surging trading volume.

Apple launched the iPhone 5, the latest version of its smartphone, in September, and the company's stock climbed to a record close of $702.10 on Sept. 19. That gave Apple a market value of $658 billion, and many analysts predicted more gains lay ahead.

By the time Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke announced Sept. 13 that the U.S. central bank would start a third round of its bond-purchase program, which is intended to push longer term interest rates lower and encourage borrowing and investment, the S&P 500 had surged 14 percent from its June 1 low. A day later, the index peaked at five-year high of 1,466. The Dow Jones reached its peak for the year of 13,610, Oct. 5.

As is often the case on Wall Street, investors "bought the rumor and sold the fact," and quickly turned their attention to the challenges that lay ahead.

Analysts had also been cutting their outlook for growth in the final quarter of the year. At the start of the second quarter, estimated earnings growth for the period was 15.7 percent. That forecast had fallen to 3.4 percent by Dec. 27.

"One of the blessings that supported the stock market's moves in prior years was earnings growth," said Lawrence Creatura, a portfolio manager at Federated Investors. "That's true this year, but at a decelerating rate. It's not gone unnoticed that earnings growth is slowing, and many forecasts now include a full stall."

Apple's halo also began to slip in the final three months of the year. Its iPad Mini tablet, launched Nov. 2, met with lukewarm reviews, there were hints of unrest among its executive ranks. Investors began to fret that the intensifying competition in the smartphone market would crimp Apple's profits. The stock tumbled, and despite rallying in recent days is still down 27 percent from its September peak.

The year's final twist came in Washington.

Stocks wavered ahead of a presidential election that at times seemed too close to call, and while President Barack Obama ultimately reclaimed the White House by a comfortable margin, the Republicans retained control of the House.

The divided government set the stage for a tense end to the year as Democrats and Republicans sought to thrash out a budget plan that would avoid the U.S. falling off the "fiscal cliff," a series of tax hikes and government spending cuts that economists say would push the economy back into recession.

Initially, markets fell as much as 5 percent in the 10 days after the elections as investors worried that a divided government would not be able to agree on a budget plan to cut the U.S. deficit.

While the S&P 500 managed to recoup those losses by December on optimism that a deal would be reached, some investors are still urging caution. Any agreement will still be "ill-tasting medicine" to the economy, as it will almost certainly involve both spending cuts and tax hikes, says Joe Costigan, director of equity research at Bryn Mawr Trust Company.

"The question is, how much will the drag from the government be offset by business and personal spending," says Costigan. "The market has reasonable expectations for growth priced in, so I don't think we're going to see a big run-up."

___

Online:

http://hosted.ap.org/interactives/2012/markets/

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/surprisingly-good-vintage-market-logs-gains-203040985--finance.html

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Thoughts on Death and Dying (or Life Goes On) ? Ken's Take on the ...

Thoughts on Death and Dying (or Life Goes?On) January 2, 2013, 4:11 am
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AIDS, death, dying, grief, grieving, healthcare, healthcare worker, Hepatitis B, HIV, hope, infectious diseases, Kubler-Ross, Marines, Navy, research, research paper, surgical technology

Introduction

Each year, I have my new students write a paper on the topic of death and dying.? There are a couple of reasons for this.? First, the previous instructor of this introductory course to Surgical Technology had this as an assignment for her classes.? As I was new to teaching this course, it was easier not to change the syllabus up and so it remained.? Second, many of the students are relatively young, in their late-teens or early-20?s, a life stage, they learn is, referred to as early adulthood.? As a result of their relative youth and life experiences, many have not had an opportunity to witness dying or death very closely.? As these are folks, a number of whom are entering the healthcare professions for the first time, I believe it is important for them to have an understanding and to develop empathy for those facing critical challenges in their lives.? As these learners develop professionally, they will be tasked to interact with patients and family members coping with serious, life-altering, news regarding illness, traumatic injury, or other infirmity that may well lead to their death.? This will always be challenging.? Many of us may believe that it is easier to see someone die when they are elderly and have had a full life and find that it is extremely stressful and disheartening to witness the dying or the death of a young person.? It is important to remember that each of our patients is a unique individual with personal needs and desires and as healthcare professionals, we must strive, wherever possible, to meet these needs with compassion.

The original text assigned for this project was the book, ?On Death and Dying? by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross.? It was written in 1969 and served as the preeminent resource on the topic for a number of years.? The book, based on interviews with a number of patients facing a terminal illness, their family members, and healthcare workers caring for these people established a method by which individuals cope with a terminal diagnosis.? This became known as the grieving process and described steps that an individual went through when faced with a terminal diagnosis.? It was a five-step process that Kubler-Ross defined based on her experiences with the individuals she interviewed.? As my students have well described her observations, I will simply state that, according to Dr. Kubler-Ross, the grieving process begins with a stage of denial, progresses into anger, and through bargaining and a period of depression; the patient reaches a stage of acceptance.? I first read this book in the 1980?s and re-read it the first year this topic was assigned by me in 2003.? This second reading had particular relevance to me as I will discuss later.

It should be noted that I am not an English or literature professor and I inform my students each year that I am not looking for a book report or a critique of the literary merits of the book they select to use as a reference.? Rather, I instruct them that after they read the book they will take an event from their own lives, one that may have nothing to do with death and dying, per se, but one that caused them stress and emotional turmoil, and to describe how they experienced grief and loss during that time.

Over the past decade, I have read some other books and other references regarding dying and death, including Kubler-Ross? follow-up to ?On Death and Dying? titled, ?On Grief and Grieving? which followed family members and care givers who provided care for one who was dying, or who had died.? A newer book, ?Final Gifts? by Hospice Nurses, Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley introduces us to the concept of ?Nearing Death Awareness? and discusses how patients who may seem to be delirious or illogical are actually attempting to communicate with those around them things they are experiencing.? These references, and others, are now on the list of approved readings for students preparing to research material for this project.

Seeing Death

I have worked in healthcare since I was 16 years old.? I was a student in the Nurses? Aide Co-op program while in high school.? At that point I was unfamiliar with the concept of death other than it was something old people endured.? The only family member I recall who had died up to this point was my great-grandfather, Big Dziadz, if you?re Polish, and I was quite young when he died.? One of the memories I have was of pushing him in an old wheelchair at the nursing home where he was at when my Mom and Grandma would visit him.? The floors were marble and there were wooden benches in the visiting area.? It reminded me of a church, cold and hushed.? Not very much like home at all.? As a Nurse?s Aide, or Orderly as males were sometimes called, I did not experience the death of any patient.? There were a couple of patients who were clearly dying and one of these was a sweet elderly lady whose face always brightened on the days that I was there.? Whatever her disease process was, I cannot recall, however it left her bones very fragile and she was on the orthopedic ward that I was assigned to.? She was very patient and did not complain.? Her family was always in attendance and she always gave me candy or baked goods that her family had brought in for her with a wink saying I was too skinny!!? One day she was no longer there when I came in and that was that.? Life went on.? For me.

At 17, I joined the US Navy to become a Hopsitalcorpsman.? As a kid, my dream was to become a firefighter/paramedic and this was a good way to get some of that training.? While in Hospitalcorps School, I learned about Surgical Technology and jumped at the opportunity.? I figured that you could not perform surgery on board a ship and I would be assigned to a land-based hospital and be able to attend college classes so when I left the Navy, I?d be able to land a firefighting job right away.? I quickly learned there are some ships that are large enough to provide a surgical platform and every guy in my class was assigned to one of these large ships!? I was assigned to the USS Saipan, a helicopter-amphibious assault ship.? On deployment in the Arctic Circle in August of 1986, one of our helicopters carrying 21 US Marines and crew, hit the side of our ship and landed in the frigid Arctic waters.? I ended up on the Search-and-Rescue crew in a 36? patrol boat that night as the only medic in our crew of six.? That night, I saw death, up close and personal.? The first victim brought out of the water was not breathing.? I cleared his airway, inserted an oropharyngeal tube and prepared to perform mouth-to-mouth, when he started coughing.? At this point the second crash victim had been brought aboard our boat and he, too, was not breathing.? I repeated the same process of clearing the airway and positioning the oropharyngeal airway.? As he began to weakly cough I pulled the tube out and noticed the first Marine had stopped breathing, I went back to him and got him breathing.? In the meantime the other, less seriously injured survivors were being brought aboard and being sheltered in the tiny cabin below-decks.? By this point the second Marine had also stopped breathing and I had to make the decision to focus on the first Marine to make sure he continued to breath.? It was a decision an 18 year-old should not have to make, but I do not regret the decision.? Life went on.

A week later, I was on the trauma team that received a medevac patient who had been run over by a large tracked (as opposed to wheeled) vehicle.? We brought him into our trauma room and even before we had cut all of his clothes off, we identified several fatal injuries and ceased our efforts.? I did not have another patient die in my care for several years.? Life went on.

A Wake-Up Call

By 2002, I had worked in the Operating Room for almost 18 years.? I had been teaching Surgical Technology for over three years.? Life was good.? Much had happened since that evening in the Arctic Ocean.? Most of it was good.? Some of it had provided me with challenges, and subsequently, the strength to face the future and become better for it.? About nine months after the helicopter rescue, I was discharged from the Navy for being gay following a witch-hunt aboard the ship.? While working in surgery one day in 1988, I was accidentally stabbed with an 11 blade and contracted Hepatitis B.? Ironically, I had just recently received the first dose of the vaccine, but that was apparently insufficient to prevent infection.

In January of 2002, I went in for a routine Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) test.? I had first tested negative in 1986 during the blast of testing that was mandated for all US service members once a reliable test became available.? I then tested annually until about 1995 and then tested every other year.? I should have had my routine test in 2001, but somehow, with my work and personal schedule, did not get it done.? While I had been feeling rundown and had had bronchitis late in the prior year, I was not overly concerned.? During the weeklong wait for the results I became ill and was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia.? My oxygen-saturation on admission was 87% with supplemental oxygen and dropped to 86%!? The doctors were interested in putting me on a ventilator and moving me into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).? I was not that interested in this option and elected a 12 hour wait-and-see approach.? Because I worked at the hospital, and because I was already awaiting test results, my Doctor did not order an HIV test.? Instead he ordered surrogate tests of the immune system.? One of the markers of immune function is the CD4 count.? Also referred to as T-helper cells, they muster immune responses to infection.? Normal values for CD4?s are 500 to 1,500 cells/mm.? I had 26!? By clinical definition, I had Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)!

Those who know me know that I enjoy research and reading and learning new things.? After discharge from the hospital I began to do research on HIV and AIDS.? I went to the testing center and received my official HIV test result.? I did not experience denial in the way a number of the people interviewed by Kubler-Ross did.? In fact, I don?t recall experiencing any of the stages described in her work.? Considering that I considered myself fairly knowledgeable about HIV and AIDS, I did think that my diagnosis was pretty much a terminal sentence with, perhaps, a life expectancy of a couple of years.? I immediately began to research treatment options and prepared for my meeting with the Infectious Disease (ID) specialist.? I learned that AIDS may not quite be the death sentence that I was anticipating, although I was starting the game down several runs in the eighth inning with two batters out.? While doing this, I prepared my Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, or Health Care Proxy.? Life went on!

My parents, family and friends were all very supportive and continue to be very important to me today.? I have an independent streak and tend to look at things like this as challenges to overcome instead of reasons to whine and complain!!? My ID doctor is an incredible guy and when I had my first appointment with him about a month after getting out of the hospital was surprised I was not already on anti-retroviral therapy (ART).? After explaining that my primary care physician did not want to start something that he (my ID guy) may not have wanted, we agreed to begin a specific regimen that I suggested.? My HIV viral load dropped dramatically and my CD4?s bounced back to near-normal levels.? Life went on!

Side effects from the medication and occasional bouts of illness over the years have left me frustrated and I was able to change to a new regimen which greatly reduced the side effects.? For the next several years, my health was relatively stable.

Setbacks

In 2010, I developed sudden, terrible, headaches and neck pain that led me to contact my ID doctor.? He sent me to the ER and I was admitted after a lumbar puncture (LP) to determine if I had meningitis.? I did.? Cryptococcal meningitis to be specific.? The reader may recall that around this time a number of people were dying of a cryptococcal meningitis strain in the Pacific Northwest and even though it was a slightly different strain, my folks were quite worried and afraid of this development.? I had a percutaneous intravascular central-line catheter (PICC) placed and for the next two weeks had to go into the hospital each day to receive infusions of amphotericin B.? In addition, I had to take additional antifungal medications daily for a period of time yet to be determined.? The oral medication, fluconazole (Diflucan?) is generally pretty effective at treating this when used with amphotericin.

For several months, things were pretty good and in mid-February of 2012, the headaches returned with a vengeance along with neck pain and stiffness.? My friend, crypto, had returned.? Another round of LP, PICC insertion and amphotericin was in order.? About a month and a half after completing this round of treatment, the headaches began to return.? My third round of daily hospital visits in less than a year.? It was discovered on cultures of my spinal fluid (CSF) that this strain of organism was resistant to the fluconazole and I was switched over to another drug, voriconazole (Vfend?) which had a lower resistance profile. Because voriconazole interacts with one of my HIV meds, I had to change from my single-pill combination to a regimen that is two pills.? In addition, the amphotericin is very toxic to the kidneys and the liver and so I had to have blood drawn every other day, and in some cases every day, to check for renal and hepatic function.? I was placed on magnesium and potassium supplements as both of these were lowered.? My potassium actually dropped low enough that they considered admitting me to the coronary care unit.

My third round of treatment was extended to four weeks, then to six weeks and finally to eight weeks.? Each day I was on the unit receiving my infusions I saw many other patients, a majority of whom were receiving chemotherapy for various malignancies or blood transfusions to replace volume or cells.? I often times walked the halls, as I was there for eight to ten hours a day, and say ?Hello!? to them or ask how they were doing.? The nurses all laughed as when I would check in, they would send me into a room and I would get all the lines ready and sometimes have my vital signs done before they even got there!? They would say that I was taking their jobs away!? My last treatment was on August 4, 2011 and I have not had a relapse since then.? This is good, because, I am not certain I can tolerate another round of treatment like that.? My kidney function has returned to normal levels and although my liver function is currently normal, Hepatitis B has taken a toll on my liver.

A Cold Chill

In early December of 2011, I had a routine abdominal ultrasound (U/S) for evaluation of the liver.? We (my ID doctor and I) had not made sure we did this more frequently and it had been a few years since the last U/S showed no abnormalities.? I was not overly concerned with the results of this one as I lay on the stretcher while the technician squirted some warm conducting gel onto my abdomen and began the examination, pausing occasionally to capture images for the radiologist to review.? I reminded the technician that I needed the results sent to my doctor who was part of another health system from where I had the exam performed.? I had to have the exam performed at the facility approved by my employer in order for it to be covered by insurance.? The joys of our medical insurance industry.? I made sure she had the telephone and fax numbers for the doctor?s office and went on with my life.

I heard nothing from my doctor, which was not unusual because we never bother each other for routine issues, however, my Mom pressed me to contact his office to see what the results were.? When I contacted him in mid-January, he said he had not received the results yet.? I told him that I would personally obtain and deliver the results to his office.? Based on this timeline, you may sense that I tend to procrastinate and you would be correct.? About a week went by before I actually went to the radiology department and obtained a CD-ROM of the imaging study and a written report from the radiologist.

I read the report first as it was only one page and thought, ?Oh crap!?? The report identified numerous lesions on the liver that were, ?suspicious for metastatic disease.?? I looked at the disc with images and although U/S is not an imaging modality I have much experience interpreting, it was obvious what the report was referring to.? I shot an email off to my doctor explaining the findings and informing him I would be dropping the report and CD-ROM off at his office in the morning.? I did a search through the medical literature for diagnosis and treatments for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).? What I found was not promising.? Not promising at all.

The next day before lunchtime my doctor called to express his thoughts and he appeared as surprised as I did.? We had an appointment already set for a few days later and discussed some options.? That appointment stood out for me as it was the first time it was in his office instead of an examination room.? Even though this was a planned visit, he did not examine me that day.? He informed me that he had spoken with one of the liver transplant specialists who recommended Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of the entire abdomen to determine if this was a primary HCC or if it was metastasized from elsewhere.? I left the office that day thinking, ?Cancer staging.?? Wonderful.? I updated my Healthcare Proxy and drafted a Living Will.

I scheduled the MRI that day and they were able to slot me in for a couple of days later.? I now understand why some patients experience a sense of claustrophobia when having this type of exam.? It is also associated with annoying and loud noises.? The very next day I went to the radiology department to get a CD-ROM of the imaging and a copy of the report.? For some reason they said I had to go to medical records to get a copy of the report, but they printed me the disc of images.? I went to medical records and filled out the form to obtain a copy of the radiologist?s report which the clerk provided to me.? I went to the hallway and sat down on one of the benches to look at the report.? I mumbled to myself as I sat down that I should have brought some tissues.? I pulled the report out of the envelope and began to read: ??nodules appear to be cirrhotic in nature.? No evidence of primary malignancy in the abdomen or pelvis.?? Whew!!!

This past fall, I met with a new liver specialist, down the hall from my ID doctor.? I am still trying to determine if I like him.? We had a nice conversation and he asked a number of questions but only performed a cursory physical exam.? He and I are in agreement that we need to perform imaging every six months.? I will also be making sure we have tumor markers checked every six months as well.? As it was near the six-month time frame, he ordered an abdominal U/S which he really wanted performed at that hospital instead of the one where I worked.? He seemed resigned to the fact that I needed to have it done at the hospital where I work.? I had the U/S performed and obtained the disc and report and hand delivered them to the liver doctor?s office.? I received a call a few days later that based on the results he wanted to order an MRI.? To my interpretation of the report, and imaging, no significant new findings are present.? He, through his staff, again wants the MRI performed at hospital A and I inform his staff that I will need to have it performed at hospital B because that is where I work.? I have the MRI done, obtain the report and the disc and deliver them to the liver doctor?s office.? That was on Thursday and he may be out of town for the holidays.? I have an appointment scheduled with him at the end of January.? The radiology report on the MRI recommends a liver biopsy as the MRI cannot rule out the presence of HCC.? And, life goes on.

Final Thoughts

As healthcare workers, we are in a unique position to provide comfort and specialized care of a patient who is facing death.? Even an Environmental Services employee or Dietary Aide can help improve the quality of life for a dying patient.? A simple smile or a warm ?Hello!? can make a difference in some patient?s day.? For those of us with specialized training, we may, too often, evaluate laboratory results and attempt to manage symptoms, always hoping for a cure.? In the majority of cases, there is a cure, or at least some therapy or procedure that may be performed to provide some quality of life for the patient and his or her loved ones.? In the end, regardless of our level of knowledge or our professional title, we are each human and in need of human contact and interaction.? Holding someone?s hand for a moment, pausing to really listen to the needs of our patient, speaking with the patient in a way that the patient can comprehend, and with honesty and empathy.? These are things that our patient?s need and deserve.? I have heard it reported that patient?s enter a healthcare facility with the expectation that all of the staff members are technically qualified and that the reason they come into a particular facility is not that the staff members are greater technical experts but, rather, that the caregivers at the particular place are compassionate and empathetic.? In ?Final Gifts,? Callanan and Kelley, make a strong case that those who are dying are very aware of their own impending death.? They need to be comforted but not pitied.? They need to be respected.? They seek to be understood.? As healthcare workers, we need to be attuned to the communications of our dying patient?s as they may share something that would otherwise be missed or dismissed as delusional rantings.

As a healthcare worker, who has been a patient, and likely will be a patient again, I have recognized that there are hundreds of little things that sometimes get missed by the trained professionals tasked with providing effective and efficient care.? One thing I must say is that all of the nurses and doctors and lab technicians and radiology technicians and ultrasound technicians and housekeepers and dietary staff that provided care for me have not missed one important thing when caring for me, and that is that I am an individual, and that I have greatly appreciated their empathy and compassion as much as their technical skill and expertise.

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Source: http://kenwcst.wordpress.com/2013/01/02/thoughts-on-death-and-dying-or-life-goes-on/

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The Most Effective Form of Birth Control | Family Health & Wellness ...

Would you guess that it?s the pill? The patch? Sorry, try again. Despite the popularity of the pill and its hormonal cousins the patch and the ring, a recent study found that those who relied on an intrauterine device, or IUD, as their birth control method were 20 times less likely to become pregnant. The primary reason is because the IUD leaves no room for user error; while the pill and the patch require perfect compliance in order to be effective. Women may forget to take the pill every day or neglect to put the patch on. With the IUD, patients don?t have to worry. IUDs are small, T-shaped pieces of plastic or copper inserted into the uterus and can prevent pregnancy for up to 10 years. It?s a bit more invasive than simply swallowing a pill?requiring a doctor to insert or remove it?but it?s almost foolproof.

Article by Corrie Pelc and Janet Scherr?? Family Health & Wellness Magazine published by?Style Media Group.

Article appears in the January/February 2013 Issue of Family Health & Wellness Magazine.

Subscribe to the Family Health & Wellness?Magazine Blog!

Source: http://familyhw.com/2013/01/the-most-effective-form-of-birth-control/

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Parents React To 'Les Mis?rables,' Can't Stop Crying (VIDEO)

What does it say about a movie when it makes you cry more than attending a family member's funeral? And, though this question may best be saved for a psychoanalyst, what does that say about your family?

There's no clear answer to either of those questions, but there is this: Blubbering away because of a movie can be hilarious.

Thanks to brothers Ryan and Kevin Ferguson, who accompanied their parents to watch the latest Hollywood remake of "Les Mis?rables," footage of such blubbering exists. And it's glorious.

Actual quote from Papa Ferguson, mid-sob: "We've been to funerals and been less upset... We've been to funerals of family members and cried less."

As an added bonus, it seems the weeping may have constituted a part of the couple's 28th wedding anniversary. Congratulations, you two! Way to keep your feelings alive!

[h/t: Digg]

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/31/parents-react-to-les-miserables_n_2388373.html

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Big Picture Thinkers And Silver | ZeroHedge

Recently I did a radio interview with longtime friend Al Korelin and blurted out that anyone who actively followed the gold/silver markets and did not appreciate how manipulated they are, was a moron. Not sure how that went over with Al?s listening audience, but I would like to parlay that comment here to deal with its significance.

You truly have to be mentally challenged if you follow the gold/silver market action and cannot appreciate something is very amiss, as per the confused Mitsui gold people, as brought to your attention the other day. There is NOTHING to be confused about. The more bullish the news for gold, the more reasons for the price to soar and the more The Gold Cartel deviants go into action to suppress both the gold and silver prices. How many times does the GATA camp have to point this out before the dingbats at Mitsui, and the rest of the mainstream gold world, will go there? The answer is infinity. These mainstream establishment gold pundits will NEVER tell their people the truth about what the gold market is all about. Hara-kiri
would be their first choice before telling the truth.

Most people naturally think the Mayans got it wrong about the world ending on December 21. Of course it is that way at first glance, but if what takes place in the economic/financial market arenas in the years ahead that I see coming, it might prove them correct in a way not commonly thought of (just a few years off and in a different articulation). Whatever is done with our fiscal cliff issue, it represents how incapable our politicians are of dealing with our mounting fiscal deficits and debt in America. It will not signify the end of the world, but could very well come to represent a moment when it becomes CLEAR our standard of living is going to significantly deteriorate ? and an end to a standard of living as we Americans have known it ... the end of that world. If the Mayans are correct in that regard, which I believe to be the case, the standard of living of most Americans, and others around the world, is going to change dramatically for the worse.

As this all kicks in, the realization of how broke the US is, along with many other nations, will take center stage. The understanding of the US money printing game will command the same attention on that stage. The dollar will begin its tapioca swan dive. Gold and silver will begin launches to doubling their prices for starters. The Gold Cartel will have to go into a retreat mode like we have not seen yet.

The Gold Cartel knows what is coming as presented above, which is why they have bombed gold and silver the past month+ when the fundamentals registered the most bullish factoids imaginable. PRICE ACTION MAKES MARKET COMMENTARY. The clueless (or disingenuous) out there in the mainstream gold world refuse to explain why the price of gold has behaved so counterintuitively ?, but the GATA camp will, and does, all the time.

Now, this is what I really want to get to ? in what I truly believe could be of meaningful support during this time of the investing public RUNNING AWAY FROM THE GOLD/SILVER/SHARE MARKETS, just when the focus should be on them the most! The bullish sentiment is really that bad.

To get right to the point, and to try and be of assistance, this is what I have done well at in the past ? getting into a major market move when few investors are paying attention to incredibly bullish fundamentals. That said, I am among THE WORLD?S WORST at dealing with market tops and taking profits. But, since we are dealing with major corrections in gold and silver, accompanied by dreadful bullish sentiment, that should not be of most concern at the moment.

SO, it is my opinion the prices of gold and silver are going to go into an EPIC move up stage, especially silver, next year. Silver will make all-time highs and be streaking for $100 an ounce. If there ever was a time to skew your investment portfolio towards silver, and pay extra attention, it is right now!

It is just human nature to NOT get it at market bottoms, or after significant corrections like we have just had, and to think out of the box. I was fortunate to have learned about all of this from three truly legendary financial market figures, and now there is a fourth. All of them understood true supply/demand numbers which were not appreciated by the investment world at the time. Each could spot a big picture trade and act on their knowledge way ahead of the pack. They were the smart ones, not me. I knew they knew what they were talking about with successful investment backgrounds to prove it. I listened to everything they had to say and learned from them what to spot and why, and then go with them.

I realize many veteran Caf? members know some of this and of those whom I am referring to, but it is worth repeating, right now, and focusing on just where we are after the recent Gold Cartel waterfall attacks. Each of these big picture thinkers could spot markets out of sync and knew how to take advantage of them and play for big money. They have been my mentors and are extraordinary individuals (what I cumulatively learned from them all those years I am hoping is indirectly passed on your way) ?.

*Daniel L. Ritchie

?

Daniel L. Ritchie became chairman and CEO of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, one of the nation?s largest cultural complexes, in January 2007. He is the immediate past chairman of the Daniels Fund board, and is president of the Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation, which focuses on early childhood education and development.

Dan was chairman of the board of the University of Denver from 2005 to 2007, where he served as the university's sixteenth chancellor from 1989 until 2005. During his tenure, the DU pioneered the teaching of ethics at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Chancellor Ritchie collaborated with Bill Daniels to incorporate ethics, values, and social responsibility throughout the business school curriculum. The business school was renamed Daniels College of Business in 1994 in honor of Bill Daniels.

In June 1994, Dan announced a personal gift to the university of $15 million, achieved through sale of some 19,600 acres of his Colorado ranch. Since then, he has given the university the remainder of the ranch, and its sale has netted more than $50 million for various projects?

?

?http://www.danielsfund.org/About-Us/Board-Bios/Daniel-Ritchie.asp

?

-END-

I met Dan at the New York Athletic Club in the mid 1970?s. We were in the gym lifting weights and he asked me about a pork belly quote, like in the Daily News, which was not there. What a nice man, I thought, and after taking a futures market class at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, I thought why not go after what this seemingly bright man told me. I called my Merrill Lynch broker and bought a pork belly contract with a $500 margin requirement at the time. The first day after my broker put on my trade, I lost half my money. What a mistake I thought. Pork bellies went LIMIT UP the next nine out of ten days! I was hooked to go into the commodity futures industry. I asked Dan what I should do after a $4500 gain on a $500 investment in two weeks. I will never forget what he said, "Bill, you have done pretty well for your first trade, take those profits," which I did in a nanosecond. If I only had done that for the rest of my investment career!

Dan was very tied into the astute Refco operation out of Memphis, and made a fortune trading the cattle, hog and pork belly markets, with some great soybean trades thrown in there too.

?

I will never forget talking to Dan over a dinner when he was pondering whether to resign from Westinghouse Broadcasting, after being the number two guy under Lew Wasserman at MCA pictures, to run D.K. Ludvig?s empire. Ludvig was the richest man in the world at the time. And I will never forget that we flipped a coin to determine who would pay for dinner that night.

***

*Ray Dalio

Net Worth

$10 B As of September 2012

?

• Founder & Co-Chief Investment Officer, Bridgewater Associates
• Age: 63
• Source of Wealth: hedge funds, self-made
• Residence: Greenwich, CT
• Country of Citizenship: United States
• Education: Master of Business Administration, Harvard University; Bachelor of Arts / Science, Long Island University
• Marital Status: Married
• Children: 4

***

?

Ray is obviously a genius. Now famed CEO Sandy Weill didn?t think so when he fired Ray from his hedging director position at Shearson Hayden Stone in the mid 1970?s. Mr. Weill did not appreciate that, to make a hedging point, Ray brought in a girl with a fur coat on during a presentation of his in San Francisco. Her naked body was all that was left when Ray asked her to take off the coat.

So Ray started Bridgewater Associates. I had just joined Shearson and he needed someone to do a lot of grunt work for him. Many a night I took the subway from downtown Manhattan to midtown around 11:00. Ray got me going financially back then with his buy corn and feeder cattle futures and sell cattle futures when their margins were too fat. We did the reverse when they were too unprofitable. Made 100% on my money in days to weeks every time.

I know a number of you have seen this picture of Ray and me in Rio way back when, but it is too much fun to pass up here.

?

*Frank Veneroso

I was recruited to join the ill-fated Drexel Burnham on Park Avenue in 1980. That is where I met Frank as he was interested in buying bond futures when the interest rates were running up to 20%. He was early and took some hits, but then sold THE HIGH TICK after their first mega rally. I know, I did the trade. He made a killing.

Frank was known as a Wall Street Whiz Kid back then who was making money every year during the DOW dog days. He was then a consultant to a number of governments. One of my favorite financial stories ever is this one:

The Stock Market

Recollections of the Greatest Market Bubble Ever?

Memories of the Souk al Manakh

How large can a bubble grow before it bursts? Farther than you think. And there need not be a fatal pinprick that makes it burst. And when it bursts, the crash that ensues can be deeper and more discontinuous than you could ever imagine?

?

?http://www.lemetropolecafe.com/Pfv1.cfm?pfvID=454&SearchParam=Kuwait

?

-END-

Frank was commissioned by the World Bank to do a study on the copper market in 1986. Copper was nowhere back then, the price depressed to around 46 cents a pound. Frank was stunned to learn how bullish the fundamentals were because of the obvious demand which would be surfacing from Asia. FEW realized what was about to transpire, preferring to concentrate on the increasing importance of fiber optics. We muddled with the copper futures trade for a year. Then in May of 1987 there were no deliveries on the May contract. That was it I thought, the KEY to getting the trade right. I bought thousands of out of the money copper options. Copper went to $1.46 per pound by the end of the year, surviving the 1987 stock market crash in October of that year. I made $27 million on the trade and then found a way to blow a good deal of it. But, being Jackie Onassis?
neighbor in Bernardsville, N.J. for a couple of years is still a fond memory.

***

All of that brings me to where we are today and the reason I would like to make a commotion out of this commentary?

*Eric Sprott

Eric, who is one of GATA?s most ardent supporters, is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet and a true genius. As my good friend John Embry (brilliant in his own right) has told me for years, Eric is the best student of supply/demand dynamics he has ever come across. His presentation at the Dos Passos Table is just one example of what John is referring to.

Eric has been jumping up and down about the price of silver?s potential for many years now and was very visible at certain conferences not that long ago when the price was $14/16 an ounce. He has been all over the place this year talking to investors about what he thinks the price of silver is going to do and why. Eric has publicly stated silver is going to $100 per ounce and higher. He is my anchor when I pound the table about silver ? that same anchor of formidable insight I learned so long ago from the likes of Dan Ritchie, Ray Dalio, and Frank Veneroso. It is not me you need to pay attention to, but Eric!

I don?t need to be able to break down the supply/demand numbers like Eric has done; and like Dan, Ray and Frank have done for so many years. I know they know what they are talking about. What I can bring to the table is an appreciation of just how much gold and silver have been manipulated, and orchestrated down to artificially low prices, which will not stand in the years ahead. JP Morgan, and others suppressing the price, has to be close to being forced into backing off. Their use of derivatives to suppress the price in the face of an extremely tight physical market ought to be very close to having run its course. Knowing what we know in the GATA camp about what JP Morgan has done will prove to be invaluable in the months and years ahead. No one knows that more than Eric.

The investment opportunity of a lifetime is staring us in the face and not that many investors out there get it. Eric does and he has backed it up publicly with his investments: his ETF (PHYS) is an example. Fortunes will be made in silver over the years ahead for those willing to do their homework and take a plunge ? and that will be most true in the silver shares whose firms have the goods in the ground.

Investing in many of the junior/exploration stocks in the gold/silver sector has been a horror show these last years. While I have been so right about gold and silver for the past 12 years, my second biggest investment mistake ever was not to take profits around 2008 with my share selections when the legendary Bob Bishop told the attendees at GATA Goes To Washington conference in April of 2008 that the move up in the gold/silver shares was over for the time being. As you may know, Bob is going to let his latest thoughts known at GATA?s fundraiser in Vancouver on January 21 at the Pan Pacific Hotel following the Cambridge House conference.

BUT, as bad as the junior/exploration sector has been in recent years, it will be that good by double or triple, or much more, in the years ahead. Think NEWTON?S LAW!

Silver is on its way next year to $100 per ounce. You want to bet against Eric Sprott? And that is the reason for this special commentary. Ritchie, Dalio, and Veneroso are true legends in the futures trading arena, and in the making big money in the markets arena. So is Eric. Keep that in mind and spread the word.

While the standard of living in America and other places is likely to deteriorate significantly in the years ahead, those who have stayed with various gold/silver investments ought to be happy campers. Should that Mayan prediction be all about a drastic change in our standard of living as we have known it (the end of that world), owning silver and the silver shares in the years ahead will be a counter to some darker times on the horizon.

?

Bill Murphy

www.lemetropolecafe.com

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Source: http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-12-30/big-picture-thinkers-and-silver

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