Sloan steps down as Jazz coach

Jerry Sloan and the Utah Jazz are 31-23 this season.
(AP Photo/Colin E Braley, File)

While Sloan expected to wake up refreshed knowing he was done game-planning and tussling with fiery superstars such as Deron Williams(notes), the rest of the basketball world was awakening to a new era.

Man it's gonna be crazy and weird seeing anyone besides Jerry Sloan walking the sidelines for the Utah Jazz! Miami Heat star LeBron James(notes) tweeted. Jerry Sloan is the Utah Jazz. Wow.

James wasnt exaggerating.

Since Sloan took over in Utah for Frank Layden, there have been 245 coaching changes leaguewide13 alone by the Los Angeles Clippers.

Five current NBA teams (Charlotte, Memphis, Toronto, Orlando and Minnesota) did not even exist when Sloan was hired by the Jazz.

As a colleague, we'll miss him, said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who along with Sloan and Pat Riley were the only coaches in NBA history to have 15-plus consecutive seasons with a winning record.

Sloan stepped down Thursday with 1,127 wins as Jazz coach and 1,221 overall (including his short stint in Chicago). The career total is the third-most in NBA history.

His decision came after an emotional loss to the Bulls on Wednesday night, a night that saw his former team and former players help hand the Jazz a 91-86 loss. It was their 10th loss in the last 14 games and third straight at home following a 15-5 start.

At halftime, Sloan and Williams clashed, reportedly over how a play was run. It wasnt the first time.

We had a disagreement, Williams told 1320-KFAN radio Thursday. I've seen him have worse ones with other players. Jerry's very fiery. I am, too. Sometimes we clash on things.

The All-Star point guard insisted there is no truth to the rumors that he forced the Hall of Fame coach out, and general manager Kevin OConnor also said it was false that Williams gave management a me or him ultimatum.

I would never force coach Sloan out of Utah, Williams said, deriding the media for twisting stories. He's meant more to this town, more to this organization than I have by far. I would have asked out of Utah first.

Sloan, who was choked up and wiped away tears during his farewell announcement Thursday, said there was no final straw. He simply said he didn't have the energy to coach any more, and that the losses were getting tougher and tougher to handle.

I could have done it last week, done it a week before that or waited another week, said Sloan, who has always thought it appropriate to conduct his pregame interviews next to a trash bin. When it's time for me to go, it's time for me to go.

The one thing that did surprise Sloan was that longtime assistant Phil Johnson joined him in retiring.

I came with him and I'll leave with him, the 69-year-old Johnson said Thursday.

Jazz CEO Greg Miller and other top team officials tried to talk Sloan out of retiring and insisted that no one forced either coach out. OConnor said he even begged both to stay. Team officials made a second pitch Thursday morning after telling Sloan to sleep on it.

He did, like a baby.

Best I've slept in six weeks, Sloan later quipped.

There'd be no changing his mind.

He is a little stubborn, I dont know if you noticed that about him, O'Connor said. But we're happy for him because when you can go out on your own call, that's pretty unique.

Jackson certainly saw the stubbornness.

You have to be as a coach, but he had a system and the system was effective, Jackson said. Its not easy to have a team in Utah. It's not the biggest draw in the country as far as for free agents to go there.  As a colleague, we'll miss him.

What will Sloan miss?

Being around players such as Karl Malone, whom he said competed hard every day.

Yet even with Malone and John Stockton, the Jazz never did win an NBA title.

Thats one regret for Johnson, who had offers to be a head coach elsewhere but never accepted.

Not Sloan.

Everybody would like to win a world championship, said Sloan, who for all his success also never won Coach of the Year. But to come and compete (and make the NBA Finals) after you lose the first one (in 1997)  that was one of the most rewarding thingseven though we didnt win it.

Sloan began working for the Jazz as a scout in 1983, became assistant to coach Frank Layden on Nov. 19, 1984, and was named the sixth coach in franchise history on Dec. 9, 1988, when Layden resigned.

He is the only coach in NBA history to win 1,000 games with one team, reaching the milestone Nov. 7, 2008, against Oklahoma City. Sloans other wins came with the Chicago Bulls from 1979 to 1982.

Few people have epitomized all the positives of team sports more than Jerry Sloan, NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement. A basketball lifer, Jerry was as relentless in his will to win on the sidelines for the Utah Jazz as he was as an All-Star guard for the Chicago Bulls. In over two decades as a coach, he taught his players that nothing was more important than the team.

Now the team moves forward with 48-year-old Tyrone Corbin, a former Jazz player who has been an assistant to Sloan the past seven years.

I have no desire for you to fill Jerry Sloans shoes, Jazz owner Gail Miller said. I'd like you to stand on his shoulders and move forward in the same direction knowing we are there to help lift you and help you do your job.

Team officials made it clear that Corbin is not an interim coach.

After so many years on the bench, Sloan had only a few bits of advice for his successor.

Be yourself, Sloan said

And follow the advice Sloan was given: Don't get on the officials too much and dont overcoach.

Sloan quipped that he got it half-right.

At his age, he wasn't looking for another job.

My wife has a job for me when I get home, Sloan said.

He also wasn't going to root against the Jazz.

Im not walking away hoping they lose, I guarantee that, Sloan said. I hope Ty does well, the team does well and the Miller family does well.

He said the same for Williams.

Most had similar hopes for Sloan, who built his reputation as a tough, gritty player in 755 games over 11 NBA seasons with the Bulls but was regarded as a fair and honest man.

He was one of my favorite people in the world, former All-Star Charles Barkley said.

Barkley wondered if there was a disconnect between old school and new school, particularly with Williams.

Maybe there is a shelf life for a coach, Barkley added.

OConnor couldnt say.

We hope the transition is as seamless at is right now, O'Connor said. If we do about the same, in 2034 we'll have another one of these press conferences.

Corbin already began meeting with players and will coach his first game Friday night against the Phoenix Suns.

He promised a few changes in practice, and in film study, but hoped to continue with some of the lessons he learned under Sloan.

Corbin also said he'd look to Williams for advice.

It was great to sit down with him and let him know firsthand I would be replacing coach and giving him an opportunity to voice as one of the leaders on this team some of his concerns and then where he think this team is and how I can help him and help this team be better, Corbin said.

After going from 15-5 to 31-23, Corbin's biggest chore may be restoring the faith.

 

 

 

Thu Feb 10 10:50am EST

Byron Scott lashes into the Cavs after his team's 26th straight loss

Kelly Dwyer

Twenty-six losses in a row for the Cleveland Cavaliers, a continuing NBA record. The team is stuck at 8-45 on the season, and outside of the return of solid players like Mo Williams(notes) and Leon Powe(notes), the group doesn't really have much to look forward to. You can understand why this would leave a dispirited bunch to hit the floor in an otherwise-anonymous game against the also-lowly Detroit Pistons.

What wasn't excused was the team's effort. Temperament? Sadness? Frustration? Sure. Apathy? No way.

And after the Pistons downed the Cavs, Cleveland coach Byron Scott lost it.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Schmitt Boyer has the story:

The performance was so bad that coach Byron Scott threw a fit at halftime and another one after the game, when he kept the locker room closed for 30 minutes.

But, frankly, he is at a loss to explain what is happening.

"I'm mad as hell because ... I can deal with losing, especially when our guys play as hard as they have in the last couple weeks," he said. "But I find it very hard to deal with when guys don't come out ready to play."

Scott is right to go off on his crew because, while the team has clearly struggled since the start of December (winning just once in that term), at least the effort was there on most nights. Poor play on both ends? Sure. Less-than-cerebral hoopage? No doubt. Sick of me asking questions?

Byron is sick of being out of answers:

"I thought we took a gigantic step backwards and it was all because of lack of effort," the coach said. "We had no sense of urgency whatsoever, and that kind of amazes me. When we've lost as many in a row as we lost and when you've been as close as we've been in the last four or five games and to be at home and come out the way we came out -- that amazes me."

Well, it shouldn't amaze Scott. But he shouldn't let it slide, either. Especially on one of the rare nights where Cleveland, and this isn't a joke, was actually favored to win.

High-speed rail: Obama's gift that nobody wants

 

Examiner Editorial

02/10/11 8:05 PM

 

 Vice President Biden, right, and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, left, walk to a train at Union Station heading to Philadelphia.   AP Photo/Evan Vucci

President Obama sent his vice president, "Amtrak Joe" Biden, to Philadelphia's 30th Street rail station earlier this week to announce the administration's latest gift to the American people:   A six-year, $53 billion government subsidy for the mass transit industry in order to give "80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail within 25 years."   And therein lies the fundamental problem - Obama, Biden and liberal Democrats in general can't resist giving the rest of us things we don't want.   And they almost always use our money to pay for them, whether we like it or not.   Nothing better illustrates this phenomenon than their obsession with forcing Americans out of the private passenger vehicles that enable them to go where they choose and into government-run transit systems like Amtrak, San Francisco's BART and Washington, D.C.'s Metro subway that take them where and when politicians and bureaucrats think they should go.

Transportation expert Ken Orski claims Obama's high-speed rail program is all but "dead-on-arrival" on Capitol Hill.   House Republicans will zero out the program as a wasteful subsidy of a 19th century transportation technology that cannot compete with 21st century commercial airlines for long-distance travel.   House Transportation Committee chairman Rep. John Mica, R-Fla.,  put it well in observing that "rather than focusing on the Northeast Corridor, the most congested corridor in the nation ... the administration continues to squander limited taxpayer dollars on marginal projects. This is like giving Bernie Madoff another chance at handling your investment portfolio."   The program's prospects are further dimmed by the fact that the new Republican governors of Wisconsin and Ohio don't want to participate in it, and Gov. Rick Scott, Florida's new chief executive, is also expected to decline the subsidies, even though his state has previously participated.

The fundamental problem facing Obama, Biden and others who favor big government subsidies for mass transit systems is that the vast majority of Americans prefer private cars and commercial airplanes over tax-supported trains, be they of the high-speed or light-rail variety.   Amtrak's chronic inability to make a profit reflects this reality, and it is even more evident in data comparing public mass transit and private passenger cars in daily commuting.   Contrary to the claims of high-speed rail and mass transit enthusiasts, the presence of such systems does not lure drivers out of their cars and into trains.   Between 1980 and 2009, for example, U.S. Census Bureau data cited by Wendell Cox in a recent Heritage Foundation study showed a 12.7 percent increase in the number of drivers in cars in three large metropolitan areas that are considered prime markets for mass transit - Baltimore, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.    The same data showed a 19.5 decrease in the number of people using mass transit rail and bus systems.  Transportation will improve in every respect when Washington stops trying to force people to do what they don't want to do.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/2011/02/high-speed-rail-obamas-gift-nobody-wants##ixzz1DdrGbulu

Police: Surgical Nurse Stole Patient's Meds

Staff claims Sarah May Casareto visibly drugged

Wednesday, 09 Feb 2011, 2:59 PM CST

Shelby Capacio / FOX 9 News

MINNEAPOLIS - Police said a nurse anesthetist at Abbott Northwestern Hospital deprived a surgery patient of pain medications so that she could take them herself.

According to the complaint, the Minneapolis Police Department was contacted by the victim on Dec. 4 and was alerted that a surgical procedure he underwent on Nov. 8 involved extraordinary pain.

Police later learned that one of the nurses charged with caring for the man, identified as Sarah May Casareto, 33, of Forest Lake, showed visible signs of intoxication during the procedure.

Police said that Casareto signed out 500mcg of Fentanyl, but could not account for 50mcg. Beyond that discrepancy, investigators said they believe that Casareto used the medication intended for her patient. A review of medication sheets indicated that she administered only 150mcg, and wasted about 300mcg.

The victim was prepped by hospital staff before beginning the surgery to remove kidney stones, and doctors told him that he would be provided with medication so that he would not have to feel pain; however, a complaint filed in Hennepin County states that Casareto told him, "you're going to have to man up here and take some of the pain, because we can't give you a lot of medication. You're going straight into surgery."

The man said that once the procedure began, he felt pain that nearly brought him off the table, and it was "enough just about to bring off the table." In fact, one of the surgical assistants had to hold him down during the procedure, and suggested restraining him.

Hospital staff said, as the anesthetic nurse, Casareto was supposed to be monitoring his pain and sedation levels; however, while the patient was "screaming and moaning" other medical staff said Casareto told the victim to, "Go to your beach. Go to your happy place."

Officers met with one of the surgical technicians who oversaw the procedure who reported that Casareto had complained about her eyes being red from swimming beforehand and asked the technician to flush them out with saline. When the technician refused, Casareto used a syringe to flush her eyes herself, police said.

The same technician also told officers that Casareto was using grand gestures during the surgery and was talking very loudly into the patient's ear. She also struggled to put EKG leads on the patient or apply a blood pressure cuff, police said.

The doctor, who told police he has performed hundreds of similar procedures, said this one was unusual because of the amount of pain. Coworkers said they were concerned about Casareto's behavior during the surgery, and described her as being distracted and disoriented, even knocking over medications, falling asleep and leaving the room mid-surgery to do paperwork.

The nurse manager was called when another technician noted that her behavior was unusual and that she was not tending to her patient, police said. Hospital staff said that Casareto had to be ordered to administer medication to the patient, but was sluggish and dropped the syringe in the process.

According to the complaint, Casareto was found with two syringes in her pocket after the procedure. Both had the labels peeled off, which is against hospital policy. When confronted by a colleague, the complaint alleges that Casareto emptied one syringe but threw it into the garbage instead of placing it in the proper disposal container.

Casaretto faces a charge of theft of a controlled substance.

A spokeswoman for Allina Hospitals & Clinics confirmed that Casareto no longer works at the hospital.

The year-old post circulated through the student body on Tuesday

 

Sarah Larson

Doylestown Patch 

February 9, 2011

CB East Teacher Removed After Blogging About Students

 

A Central Bucks East High School English teacher has been removed from the school after a controversial blog post from a year ago enraged her current and former students and parents on Tuesday.

Natalie Munroe, who has been at Central Bucks East since 2006, teaches English.

CB East principal Abram Lucabaugh said Wednesday morning that he and the district administrators found out about the post this morning.

We were made aware of the situation this morning, Lucabaugh said. I have removed the teacher from the school. The matter is currently under investigation.

Lucabaugh referred questions about policies for teachers and staff about online behavior to the school district.

Central Bucks School District spokeswoman Carol Counihan said Munroe has been suspended pending the investigation.

As to whether Central Bucks has a written or even verbal policy for staff and faculty on what they should or shouldn't say online, Counihan said that is part of the investigation.

"I'm sure that's part of what they'll be looking at as this unfolds," she said Wednesday.

Munroe is pregnant and had been set to go out for maternity leave, according to students and parents who know her.

What She Wrote

The debate centers over a post Munroe wrote on her blog just over a year ago. Entitled, If You Dont Have Anything Nice to Say it outlined the things she wished she could really say to parents about her students performance and personalities.

They include:

• A complete and utter jerk in all ways. Although academically ok, your child has no other redeeming qualities.
• One of the few students I can abide this semester!
• Has no business being in Academic.
• Lazy.
• Just as bad as his sibling. Dont you know how to raise kids?
• Weirdest kid Ive ever met.
• I hear the trash company is hiring
• Theres no other way to say this: I hate your kid.

It ends with, Thus, the old adageif you dont have anything nice to saysay 'cooperative in class.'"

For a year, the only response to the post was a These are effing awesome boost from someone, presumably a friend.

But the next response reveals the danger of the Internet, where everything ever written can be seen by all.

Jokes on you because this link is being cycled throughout the students of CB East via facebook. Have fun applying for unemployment. Sincerely, cooperative in class. was posted at 5:54 p.m. on Tuesday night.

From there, word of Munroes blog spread via Facebook and Twitter.

On the Internet, Nothing is Ever Gone

The blog had been taken down early Wednesday morning, but in the age of the Internet, nothing is truly gone.

Printouts of the blog as it read late Tuesday night document the exchange, as do screenshots of the blog post and the scathing responses from people who identified themselves as Munroes current or former students.

Here are some excerpts, unedited except to remove an unprintable word:

Well..good luck getting a job as a teacher anywhere else. If youre in a school district as prestigious as CB East, you should act like it and stop blubbering to people who couldnt care less about your life. Just because you hate your job, doesnt make it okay to whine about it on the internet.

You have cheated, screwed and under-cut every single one of your students this year. And I speak for everyone when I say you were a douche to all of your students in class and made no effort to help any of us achieve our academic goals. Maybe you should learn to teach and be compassionate with your students. Respect goes a long way, and the only way people will respect you is if you respect them (too late). Have a nice life. Good luck with the inner-city hole they call a school in philly.

Im not sure if you remember me, but you were by far the worst teacher Ive ever had because you were simply a (unprintable word)I also heard that this little stunt is getting your fired, and to all the students and parents that youve pissed off over the years, Im going to take this opportunity to say good riddance!

Real Classy Ms. Munroe. I just have to say that I am very disappointed by this. I originally didnt completely loath you like the rest of the junior class, but now my feelings have changed.Also, how could you not have even thought to delete this? The worst of the posts are from a year ago, why didnt you delete them? Its understandable to want to talk about your day at work, but the internet, seriously?

Im just glad I had Hendrickson and Rosini my first couple years at East, I couldnt stand the thought of someone like you secretly bashing me and my classmates. Shame on you.

Hit the screenshot button so many times, its borderline rape.

As a former student of yours, I am so happy to see you mess up this bad. I pray and hope you get fired for this. The reason that you encounter any of these problems is because you are simply the most hated teacher in the schoolI hope that you never return from maternity leave, things do not get better, and that you enjoy working for your local trash company.

Mixing Social Media and Work

Other area teachers - some in Central Bucks, some not - say they have been encouraged by their principals to avoid using social media altogether.

Some say they've been discouraged, though not actually forbidden, from creating their own personal Facebook pages. Part of the concern isn't just about what the teachers might say; it's also about whether their students would try to "friend" them online, and the fallout from that, they say.

Many educational professional development groups encourage teachers to use social media to interact with and encourage students, as well as to make the learning environment interesting.

But nearly all come with the advice to watch what you say and do online.

"As a teacher, you are viewed as a leader and role model for your students," advises a list of teacher dos and don'ts. " You need to be careful to keep your personal and professional life separate, not crossing the line that separates using social media inappropriately for student-learning purposes. 

"It is also extremely important to always make sure that the content posted will not lead to you or your students getting in trouble or casting a negative representation of your school establishment."

 

LINK TO ON-LINE POST AND PHOTO OF TEACHER:

http://doylestown.patch.com/articles/cb-east-teacher-removed-after-blogging-about-students

Curry spice turmeric could hold hope for stroke victims

 

DailyRecord.co.uk

Feb 10 2011

 

A DRUG derived from the popular spice turmeric could be used to treat stroke patients, researchers said today.

A compound found in turmeric, a staple ingredient in curries, has been found to help protect and regenerate brain cells after a stroke.

Scientists created a new molecule from curcumin, the crucial chemical in the spice, and used it in laboratory experiments, though it is yet to be tested on humans. They found it could repair damage at a molecular level and is linked to the survival of the brain cells' neurons.

Sharlin Ahmed, research liaison officer at the Stroke Association, said: "When a stroke strikes, the brain is starved of oxygen causing brain cells to die or be damaged.

"There is a great need for new treatments which can protect brain cells after a stroke and improve recovery.

"The spice turmeric is known to have many health benefits, yet this is the first significant research to show that it could be beneficial to stroke patients by encouraging new cells to grow and preventing cell death after a stroke.

"The results look promising, however it is still very early days and human trials need to be undertaken."

Paul Lapchak, director of translational research in the Department of Neurology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles, presented the findings at the American Heart Association International Stroke Conference being held in the city.

He said the benefits of using the new drug, called CNB-001, were that it "is quickly distributed in the brain and moderates several critical mechanisms involved in neuronal survival".

In the laboratory tests, it was found to reduce muscle and movement control problems when given up to an hour after a stroke.

Turmeric, a bright yellow spice used in many Indian, south-east Asian and Middle Eastern dishes, comes from a plant that is part of the ginger family and is already thought to have many health benefits.

Curcumin has been used for centuries in Ayurvedic medicine - practised on the Indian subcontinent - to treat a range of gastrointestinal disorders. Previous studies have also suggested it has anti-inflammatory properties and works as an antioxidant.

There is currently only one drug approved for use after an ischemic stroke, where a clot stops blood from flowing to the brain.

The Super Bowl flyover may have cost $450,000. Was it worth it?

Chris Chase

Shut Down Corner

Thu Feb 10 09:18am EST

The fans inside Cowboys Stadium for Super Bowl XLV had as good a view of the flyover by four F-18 fighter jets as those watching at home. With the roof closed on Jerry Jones' $1.2 billion stadium, people in attendance were forced to watch the flyover on the massive high-def screens inside.

A Dallas TV reporter estimated that the flyover cost the Navy a total of $450,000. His total includes gas, operational costs and air time for the four F-18s, which traveled from Virginia to Texas for the event. The Navy told CNBC that their official records only tallies the amount spent on gas, which came out to $109,000 for the Super Bowl flights.

Even if we call it somewhere in between, the Navy still spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money for a few seconds of camera time. It's like an old riddle: If four planes fly over a stadium and nobody insides sees, is it worth the cost?

Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post doesn't think so. In a column lambasting the excess of the Super Bowl, she wrote:

For absurdity, how about those four Navy F-18s flying over the stadium - with its retractable roof closed? Everybody inside could only see the planes on the stadium's video screens. It was strictly a two-second beauty shot.

She's right on one level; for the people inside the stadium, the flyover was a waste. But who says the flyover is about the fans at the game? All the Super Bowl extravagance is geared toward those watching on television, not in attendance. The anthem singers, the halftime shows and the blimp shots are for the viewer at home. 

Christina Aguilera isn't making a trip to Dallas to sing a two-minute song in front of 100,000 people. She's doing it for the 100 million watching at home. Game organizers don't get the Black Eyed Peas and the Rolling Stones and Janet Jackson and Prince to stage elaborate halftime shows because fans in section 538 crave them, they do them to  to entice the casual viewer watching Fox or CBS or NBC to stick around through the first half.

The justification for the flyover is similar. The Navy used the one on Sunday as a recruiting tool. Instead of spending $3 million on a 30-second commercial during the game, it spent $400,000 on a five-second advertisement that everybody watched. Why is it alright for Chrysler to get billions in bailout money and then buy a two-minute advertisement for around $10 million but not for the Navy to use a fraction of its budget to promote itself?

"These missions are included in the annual operating budget of all branches of the military and they are used as training," Mike Maus, deputy public affairs officer for the Naval Air Force's Atlantic division told CNBC. "There was no additional money provided to us, Congress did not cut us a special check to do this flyover. This is considered a training mission whether they were to fly over the Super Bowl or not."

Call it wasteful if you want, but there are far worse ways to spend taxpayer money than promotion of our nation's armed forces.

February 10, 2011 Thursday 12:03 IST

Egypt military officials: Mubarak expected to step down CIA chief says there is "strong likelihood" president will meet protester demands; hundreds and thousands gather in Cairo saying "the people want end of the regime" and "Allahu akbar." ASSOCIATED PRESS

CAIRO  Egypt's military announced on national television that it has stepped in to "safeguard the country" on Thursday and assured protesters that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will meet their demands in the strongest indication yet that Egypt's longtime leader has lost power. In Washington, the CIA chief said there was a "strong likelihood" Mubarak will step down Thursday. The dramatic announcement showed that the military was taking control after 17 days of protests demanding Mubarak's immediate ouster spiraled out of control. Gen. Hassan al-Roueini, military commander for the Cairo area, told thousands of protesters in central Tahrir Square, "All your demands will be met today." Some in the crowd held up their hands in V-for-victory signs, shouting "the people want the end of the regime" and "Allahu akbar," or "God is great," a victory cry used by secular and religious people alike. The military's supreme council was meeting Thursday, without the commander in chief Mubarak, and announced on state TV its "support of the legitimate demands of the people." A spokesman read a statement that the council was in permanent session to explore "what measures and arrangements could be made to safeguard the nation, its achievements and the ambitions of its great people." The statement was labeled "communique number 1," a phrasing that suggests a military coup. Footage on state TV showed Defense Minster Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi chairing the meeting of two dozen top stern-faced army officers, seated around a table. At Tantawi's right was military chief of staff Gen. Sami Anan. Not present was Mubarak, the commander in chief and a former air force chief, or his vice president, Omar Suleiman, a former army general and intelligence chief named to his post after the protests erupted Jan. 25.  The head of the ruling party, Hossam Badrawi, told The Associated Press that he expects that Mubarak will "address the people tonight to respond to protesters demands." Protests spiral out of control of authorities The moves came after protests Thursday increasingly spiraled out of the control of authorities trying to contain the crisis. Labor strikes erupted around the country in the past two days, state employees revolted against their directors and workers began joining the anti-Mubarak protesters centered for the past 17 days in Tahrir Square. On Thursday, hundreds of lawyers in black robes broke through a police cordon and marched on one of Mubarak's palaces ? the first time protesters had done so, even though the president was not in the building, Abdeen Palace, several blocks from Tahrir. Police lined up in front of the palace gates stepped aside for the marchers. Tens of thousands were massed in Tahrir itself, joined by striking doctors who marched in their white lab coats from a state hospital to the square and lawyers who broke with their pro-government union to join in.

Married NY Rep. Christopher Lee resigns after topless pic sent to Craigslist gal pal: report

 

 

Originally Published:Wednesday, February 9th 2011, 4:31 PM
Updated: Wednesday, February 9th 2011, 9:32 PM

GawkerChristopher Lee allegedly sent a topless photo to a woman he met on Craigslist.

A married upstate congressman abruptly quit Wednesday after he was busted sending a shirtless picture and flirty emails to a woman hunting for dates on craigslist.

Buffalo-area Republican Christopher Lee, 46, said he had made "profound mistakes" and apologized to his family, staff and constituents.

He resigned "effective immediately."

Lee sent the Washington woman a series of emails last month claiming he was a 39-year-old divorced lobbyist and a "classy guy."

The gossip blog Gawker reprinted the emails to the unidentified 34-year-old woman, who had posted last month on craigslist's "Women for Men" section asking for proof that not all men on the site "look like toads."

Lee, who has a young son with his wife, Michele, replied using his private Gmail account on Jan. 14.

"Hope I'm not a toad. :) i'm a very fit fun classy guy," he wrote. "6ft 190lbs blond/blue. 39. Lobbyist. I promise not to disappoint."

They sent a few brief emails back and forth, but the woman told Gawker she quit replying after she looked up Lee online and realized he was lying about his age and occupation.

Lee resigned less than four hours after Gawker posted the emails and photo.

His office first claimed his email account had been hacked - which didn't really explain the topless photo of himself flexing his biceps in a mirror.

About two hours later, Lee told Fox News he couldn't discuss the issue because "I have to work this out with my wife."

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Lee issued a brief statement saying he was resigning the seat he won in 2008. "I regret the harm that my actions have caused my family, my staff and my constituents," he said. "I deeply and sincerely apologize to them all. ... I promise to work as hard as I can to seek their forgiveness."

Gov. Cuomo will have to call a special election to find a new representative for the 26th District, which includes the suburbs of Buffalo and Rochester as well as a vast swath of rural western New York.

Lee, who ran his family's machine-tool firm, Enidine Inc., was elected in 2008 on a no-nonsense, business-first campaign platform devoted to "holding Washington accountable for every dollar it spends."

Lee's penny-pinching ways landed him on the wrong side of New York City lawmakers last year when he tried to block a vote on the Zadroga 9/11 health bill.

Rumors had been circulating about Lee in Washington for some time.

He was named in a Roll Call story last year about House GOP leader John Boehner dressing down some members for partying too much and "inappropriately hanging out with female lobbyists."

Lee is the second upstate congressman to go down in a sex scandal in as many years.

Democrat Eric Massa resigned last year amid accusations he groped male staffers.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2011/02/09/2011-02-09_gop_rep_christopher_lee_ny26_goes_topless_in_pic_sent_to_craigslist_gal_pal_repo.html#ixzz1DYdkMGQl

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2011/02/10/2011-02-10_miley_cyrus_on_bong_video_im_disappointed_in_myself_for_disappointing_my_fans.html

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/02/09/10-ways-to-say-i-love-you-the-most-ridiculous-valentines-day-gifts-on-the-market/

Tue, Feb. 8, 2011

Woman dead after buttocks-enhancement procedure

 

STEPHANIE FARR
Philadelphia Daily News

 

A British woman who came to Philadelphia to enhance her buttocks met an untimely end when the illegal injections she received at an airport hotel room this week caused complications that led to her death Tuesday, according to police.

Now, local and federal authorities are looking for the two young women who administered the injections at a room in the Hampton Inn on Bartram Avenue. Authorities don't yet know who they are, let alone if they were licensed, said Southwest Detectives Lt. John Walker.

Felmont Eaves III, president of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, said it's highly unlikely that they were.

"No physician that cared about being safe and providing care would do a procedure in a hotel room," he said. "That is just a huge red flag."

The victim, identified by a source as Claudia Adusei, traveled to America Saturday with three friends from England, all of whom are in their early 20s, Walker said.

Adusei and one of her friends received injections. The surviving woman, who has been medically cleared, received hip and buttocks injections, while the victim received only injections to her buttocks, according to police.

It's unclear when the injections were administered, but around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday medics responded to the hotel when the victim experienced chest pains and trouble breathing, Walker said.

She was taken to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, in Darby, where she was pronounced dead. As of last night, the Delaware County Medical Examiner's Office had not released an official cause of death.

It also will be up to the Medical Examiner's Office to determine what Adusei was injected with, police said. That will most likely be determined by toxicology reports, which can take anywhere from six to eight weeks.

Buttock-enhancement procedures typically involve silicone injections, but Eaves, who is based in Charlotte, N.C, said that he's heard horror stories in which unlicensed people who administered buttocks-enhancement injections have used substances like caulk. He said that the most likely cause of death could be if the injected substance got in to the blood stream and traveled to the heart or lungs.

Walker said that it's unknown how big of an industry underground body enhancements is in Philadelphia.

"It's the first one we've had, we're looking into it with other agencies  . . . to determine how big this problem actually is," he said.

A message board on an online forum is full of people seeking to get enhancements in Philadelphia, or who claim to have already done so.

"I'm so happy I finally got mine done Friday in philly," wrote Beautiful 2010 in a forum on Sept. 29. "I'm so happy with my results going back for more soon can't wait."

While the British tourist's death here may be the first authorities can recall, deaths have occurred across the world from bad buttocks enhancements. The most notable was a former Miss Argentina, Solange Magnano, who died from complications of a procedure in Buenos Aires in 2009.

In January, a Bronx woman, who was not licensed, was charged with illegally injecting liquid silicone in women's breasts and buttocks in her home.

"It's just sad people get preyed upon," Eaves said. "Because done in the right way, the risk is incredibly small."

He said that there is no way of knowing just how many of these illegal and highly dangerous procedures go on in this country.

"Sadly enough, we only hear about this when a tragedy like this happens," he said.

 

LINK TO PHOTO AND UPDATED STORY:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1355080/British-woman-20-dies-flying-America-illegal-buttock-enhancement-surgery.htm

EDITORIAL: Obama proves Osama was right

When the chips are down, Barack abandons U.S. allies

The Washington Times 11:02 p.m., Monday, February 7, 2011

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, left, greets U.S. President Barack Obama upon his arrival at Qubba palace in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, June 4, 2009. President Obama is due to address the Muslim world in a speech during his visit to Egypt. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Osama bin Laden warned Arab regimes that the United States always abandons its friends when the going gets tough. President Obama is proving bin Laden was right. 

MSNBC's Chris Matthews admits he feels ?ashamed as an American? for the way Egypt?s President Hosni Mubarak is being treated. ?We?re not handling it the way Americans should handle matters like this,? he said Friday. ?I don?t feel right about it. And Barack Obama, as much I support him in many ways, there is a transactional quality to the guy that is chilling.? Mr. Matthews explained that in relationship politics, ?You treat your friends a certain way. You?re loyal to them. And when they?re wrong, you try to be with them, you try to stick with them.? 

On Saturday, former Vice President Dick Cheney reminded us that Mr. Mubarak is a reliable U.S. ally. His government received billions in U.S. aid over the last 30 years and consistently lived up to expectations. During the first Gulf War, Egypt helped us get boots on the ground in Saudi Arabia rapidly and contributed over 33,000 troops for the liberation of Kuwait. That was more than twice the number sent by France, our fair-weather friend that Mr. Obama somehow views as America?s strongest ally. Cairo assisted during the second Iraq war in less visible ways but paid a price. In 2005, members of al Qaeda in Iraq kidnapped and killed Egypt?s former ambassador to Baghdad, Ihab al-Sharif. 

Mr. Mubarak?s government has been stalwart in the war on terrorism. In the 1990s, Egypt was one of the front-line states combating the rising wave of Islamic radicalism. The emergency laws the Obama administration is pressuring Egypt to lift are tools the regime used to clamp down on groups like the al Qaeda-affiliated Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Cairo works closely with Washington rounding up terrorist suspects, and the mere threat of being turned over to the Egyptians was sometimes enough to get terrorist detainees to talk. 

One of the most dependable, pro-American members of the Mubarak regime is recently appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman, who since 1993 has been director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service. Mr. Suleiman has a long-standing relationship with the United States dating back to his training at the U.S. Special Warfare School at Fort Bragg and has worked closely with the CIA on critical issues such as the increasing radicalization of Hamas in Gaza and blunting Iranian influence operations in the region. He holds a dim view of Islamist parties ? particularly the Muslim Brotherhood ? and wants to keep his country on the path of Westernization and modernization. 

Mr. Suleiman is spearheading current talks with opposition groups in an attempt to forestall a complete political meltdown. The Obama administration has undermined his position through inept political signaling and obdurately insisting regime change in Egypt must happen as fast as possible. ?Now means now,? White House spokesman Robert Gibbs hectored last week. When special envoy and former ambassador to Egypt Frank Wisner suggested the United States should help Mr. Mubarak find a face-saving way out, the State Department quickly disowned his comments. If alacrity leads to destabilization and chaos, so be it. 

What if the hardline Muslim Brotherhood actually takes power? The State Department simply shrugs that the brotherhood is ?a fact of life in Egypt.? Unfortunately, no matter what government succeeds Mr. Mubarak?s administration, Egypt and the rest of America?s beleaguered allies will know one thing: They can?t trust Barack Obama.

http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-pregnant-woman-giving-wrong-meds-20110204,0,5536174.story

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gabriel-a-feldman/the-legal-issues-behind-t_b_820579.html

Judge must take twice-daily blood alcohol tests to stay on the bench

 

4:41 p.m. EST, February 7, 2011

Dan Rodricks

Baltimore Sun