NBey6's Blog

"They can because they think they can."

                                                               - Vergil -

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) -- One month ago, 20-year-old beauty queen Mariana Bridi was living the dream of many young Brazilian women, trading her striking good looks for a modeling career that promised to lift her family out of poverty.

Then she contracted a seemingly ordinary urinary tract infection. The bacteria spread quickly and inexorably through her body, proving to be extremely drug resistant. In a desperate bid to save her life, doctors amputated her hands and feet. But by Saturday she was dead.

"God is comforting our hearts because he wanted her to be with him now," her father Agnaldo Costa told reporters outside the hospital where his daughter died. "I can't accept that my daughter left us so soon."

Bridi's Web site says she began modeling at age 14 with the hope of giving "a dignified life to her parents."

Her father is a taxi driver and her mother a house cleaner.

By the age of 18, she was well on her way: In 2007 and 2008, she was a finalist in the Brazilian stage of the Miss World pageant.

Her Web site said next month she was to participate in the second stage of a modeling competition held in Sao Paulo by Dilson Stein, the Brazilian model scout who discovered supermodel Gisele Bundchen.

Last year, she took fourth in the Face of the Universe competition in South Africa and she had won bikini competitions across the globe.

The Miss World Brazil organization said she was an example of someone "who knew how to intensely live her life."

Half a dozen memorial groups on Facebook had already sprung up just hours after her death. On Bridi's own page on Orkut — the most popular Web social networking site in Brazil — dozens of memorial messages were left.

The course of her illness was swift.

In late December, she fell ill and doctors in her native state of Espirito Santo — northeast of Rio de Janeiro — initially diagnosed as having kidney stones.

She returned to a hospital on Jan. 3 in septic shock — life-threatening low blood pressure — from the infection that would force doctors to amputate first her feet, then her hands. Doctors said there was little they could do but pump drugs into her and hope for the best.

It was a nightmare scenario for anyone with an infection: Her body did not react to the latest and most potent drugs while the bacteria in her veins spread from head to toe.

In Bridi's case, the culprit was the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is known to be drug resistant.

According to the January 2008 book "Pseudomonas: Genomics and Molecular Biology," edited by Pierre Cornelis, a researcher at the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology in Brussels, the bacteria has the "worrisome characteristic" of "low antibiotic susceptibility." It also easily mutates to develop resistance to new drugs.

Death from infections caused by the bacteria are relatively rare, but not unheard of: In late 2006, an outbreak of the bacteria at White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles sickened five infants — leading to the deaths of two of them.

The bacteria causes about 10 percent of the roughly two million hospital-acquired infections each year in the U.S., according to health officials.

A short statement from the Espirito Santo State Health Secretariat announced her death on Saturday "despite all the commitment of the hospital team."

Her aunt said the hundreds of messages left on her Web site had lifted Bridi's spirit in the past weeks.

"I believe that the serenity on her face came from this spiritual comfort," Oriendina Pereira Wasen said outside the hospital.

Bridi's funeral was planned for Saturday afternoon in the town of Marechal Floriano.

"Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen but understanding it for the first time."

- Albert Szent-Gyorgyi -

Ex-girlfriend of Knicks' Curry shot, killed

CHICAGO - A woman found shot to death in an apartment was a former girlfriend of New York Knicks player Eddy Curry and the mother of his 3-year-old son, Curry’s attorney said Sunday.

A relative found the bodies of Nova Henry, 24, and her 9-month-old daughter, Ava, in their apartment Saturday evening, Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond said. Both died from multiple gunshot wounds, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said Sunday.

Curry’s 3-year-old son was found unharmed at the scene. Curry is a former player for the Chicago Bulls.

No one had been charged as of Sunday afternoon, and results of autopsies were not yet available.

Curry’s attorney, Kelly Saindon, said the basketball player’s family was devastated by the news.

The Knicks issued a statement Sunday on Curry’s behalf asking the media to respect the privacy of the two families.

“The Curry family is deeply saddened by this tragic loss and will keep the Henry family in their prayers,” the statement said.

Police believe the killings near the city’s South Side were the result of a domestic dispute, Bond said. She would not elaborate.

 

Rob Bryant, who said he was Nova Henry’s uncle, told the Chicago Sun-Times that Henry had a restraining order against her boyfriend.

The city recently has seen several high-profile deaths blamed on domestic violence. A brother-in-law of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges he fatally shot Hudson’s mother, brother and nephew. Prosecutors allege William Balfour killed them in October 2008 because he was upset the actress’s sister had been dating another man.

Sunday 1-25-09

025, 536, 036, 047, 788, 180, 124, 111

700, 786, 107, 651, 713, 616, 801, 101

312, 000, 555, 333, 444, 999, 777, 6611

Friday 1-23-09

314, 895, 604, 283, 617, 203, 461, 869

800, 905, 127, 688, 608, 415, 605, 065

970, 170, 972, 172, 973, 173, 974, 174

975, 175, 8003, 0911, 1190, 5555, 7777

Well here we go again.....Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic seeded 6th and 5th respectively were ousted one day apart. Jelena Jankovic, Serena Williams, Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva are the leading favorites. My pick is Serena Williams to win the tournament!!!

Go Serena Go

 

The Virginia Tech Hokies have their number......................Wake Forest Deacons, that is. The Hokies downed the Deacons by a score of 78 - 71 tonight. The ACC currently has 3 teams in the top 5 of the NCAA Rankings and it took another ACC team to shake things up again. Just another day in the life of college hoops!!

   

Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Ex-Falcon Dronett, 38, dies at home
Associated Press

ATLANTA -- Shane Dronett, who played 10 years in the NFL and started every game for the Atlanta Falcons' 1998 Super Bowl team, was found dead at his home on Wednesday. He was 38.

 

According to a statement from the Gwinnett County police department, officers were called to Dronett's home near Atlanta on Wednesday morning in response to a possible suicide. Police spokesman Illana Spellman confirmed Dronett's body was found at the residence.

 

The medical examiner's office was examining the body to determine the cause of death.

 

Dronett played at the University of Texas and was a second-round pick by Dan Reeves and the Denver Broncos in 1992.

 

"As a coach, your players are your extended family, and anytime you lose someone it is like losing a loved one," said David McWilliams, who coached Dronett at Texas and is now director of the Longhorn Letter Winners Association. "I will always remember Shane's wry smile, his laughter, and the fact that he seemed so full of life. He was a great player, and was one of those rare guys who even liked practice.

 

"It is a shock and a tragedy to lose someone so young."

 

As Atlanta's coach, Reeves brought Dronett to the Falcons in 1996 and said Wednesday the 6-foot-6, 300-pound defensive tackle was a key player when the Falcons made a run to Super Bowl before losing 34-19 to Denver in Miami.

 

"He was an integral part of our football team," Reeves said. "He was really a good player. He gave us a lot of depth there. He was a happy go lucky guy. He was fun to be around, was always smiling and was the type of player you look for on a football team."

 

Dronett, from Orange, Texas, is survived by his wife, Chris, and two daughters.

 

"My prayers go out for Chris and her two daughters," Reeves said. "You hate to lose anybody at any time but when your kids are high school age or younger it makes it tough, and it's tough for Chris."

 

Dronett had 48 tackles and 6½ sacks in 1998 and again made 16 starts and recorded 6½ sacks in 1999.

 

Dronett made 86 starts and had 44 sacks in 139 career games. He had 38 tackles and 5½ sacks in 15 games in 2001, his last season as an active player. He remained on the team's roster before he was released following the 2002 season.

 

"The entire Atlanta Falcons family is saddened by the news of Shane Dronett's passing," owner Arthur Blank said. "Our deepest condolences are with his family during this difficult time."

 

Reeves said he most recently saw Dronett at a Falcons reunion this season. "He was there and looked great," Reeves said.

 

Reeves said he also recently tried to assist Dronett in a business venture.

Wednesday 1-21-09

245, 415, 543, 532, 525, 442, 246, 201

347, 348, 394, 247, 000, 333, 444, 555

999, 6616, 0074, 0056, 3008, 0911, 3260

"Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit."

                                                                           - Peter Ustinov (1921-2004) English Actor, Author, Director

Yesterday was a beautiful day for the world to see and it was filled with some exciting moments. The 44th President was inaugurated and some from around the world who stand for Love, Truth, Peace, Freedom and Justice wished Barack Obama and the United States well. If you were a supporter of Barack Obama's from the beginning, great, if you aren't, give the President a chance, until he proves you right. What would you want another human being to do for you, if you were president???

  

Saturday 1-17-09

664, 312, 344, 587, 457, 308, 713, 632, 543

777, 444, 111, 908, 436, 667, 627, 194, 394

594, 372, 835, 000, 555, 1100, 4256, 1288

 "Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it."

                                                                             - Ralph Waldo Emerson -

Nationwide salmonella outbreak has killed 6, sickened hundreds

WASHINGTON - Federal health authorities on Saturday urged consumers to avoid eating cookies, cakes, ice cream and other foods that contain peanut butter until authorities can learn more about a deadly outbreak of salmonella contamination.

"We urge consumers to postpone eating any products that may contain peanut butter until additional information becomes available," said Stephen Sundlof, head of the Food and Drug Administration's food safety center.

But most peanut butter sold in jars at supermarkets appears to be safe, Sundlof said.

"As of now, there is no indication that the major national name-brand jars of peanut butter sold in retails stores are linked to the recall," Sundlof told reporters in a conference call.

Officials are focusing on peanut paste, as well as peanut butter, produced at a Blakely, Ga., facility owned by Peanut Corp. of America. Its peanut butter is not sold directly to consumers but distributed to institutions and food companies. But the peanut paste, made from roasted peanuts, is an ingredient in cookies, cakes and other products that people buy in the supermarket.

"This is an excellent illustration of an ingredient-driven outbreak," said Dr. Robert Tauxe, who oversees foodborne illness investigations for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So far, more than 470 people have gotten sick in 43 states, and at least 90 had to be hospitalized. At least six deaths are being blamed on the outbreak. Salmonella is a bacteria and the most common source of food poisoning in the U.S., causing diarrhea, cramping and fever.

Officials said new illnesses are still being reported in the outbreak investigation.

The salmonella case has touched the Kellogg Co., which has recalled 16 products as federal officials confirm contamination at a Georgia facility that sent peanut products to 85 food companies

Kellogg had asked stores this week to pull some of its Keebler crackers from shelves as a precaution. But in a statement late Friday, the Battle Creek, Mich., company said voluntarily was recalling the crackers and other products.

“The actions we are taking today are in keeping with our more than 100-year commitment to providing consumers with safe, high-quality products,” said David Mackay, Kellogg’s president and chief executive.

The recall includes Austin and Keebler branded Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers, in addition to some snack-size packs of Famous Amos Peanut Butter Cookies and Keebler Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies.

 

Health officials in Minnesota and Virginia have linked two deaths each to the outbreak and Idaho has reported one. Four of those five were elderly people, and all had salmonella when they died, although their exact causes of death have not been determined. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the salmonella may have contributed.

An elderly North Carolina man died in November from the same strain of salmonella that’s causing the outbreak, officials in that state said Friday.

The CDC said the bacteria behind the outbreak — typhimurium — is common and not an unusually dangerous strain but that the elderly or those with weakened immune systems are more at risk. Salmonella is the nation’s leading cause of food poisoning; common symptoms include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps.