| Tuesday, May 31, 2005 |
| IN STEP WITH YAO MING |
The towering 7 foot 6, basketball star, who recently finsihed his third regular NBA season, led his team to a fine 51-31 record and a slot in the playoffs. But the story of Yao is much more than just another yarn of the sports pages.
Yao story began in China, he was born Sept. 12,1980 in Shanghai, China and still single.
He was born 24 years ago and became an outstanding player on the national team. Both of his parents also played for China. But Yao flew to Houston in October 2002, and his American adventures began. Drafted by the Rockets, suddenly he was more than 7500 miles from home meeting a new coach, a new team and adapting to an alien culture. His mother came over from Shanghai first and checked things out so that, by the time her son arrived, a suitable house was ready. Since then, Yao has been voted to the NBA All Star Team all three years and competed head to head against the formidable Shaquille O'Neal.
During the off season, Yao return to China to play for the Chinese National Team.
"I still have the same girlfriend", Yao said, "She is the only woman I ever dated. The reason I don't talk about her very much is because I like to keep a little of my life private."
Yao's Career Highlights; includes playing for the Shanghai Sharks in the Chinese Basketball Association, 1997-2002; MVP of CBA 2000-01; on Chinese National Team FIBA World Championships; 2002; starting center for Western Conference in NBA All Star Game, 2003, 2004, 2005 (set record for most All Star votes, 2005) Carried flag for China at Olympics; made all Olympics Team, 2004.
(abstracted from the column of Brady's Bits by James Brady) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 1:56 PM |
|
|
|
| Monday, May 30, 2005 |
| YOUR MOST AMAZING QUESTIONS, NEED NO ANSWERS |
Marilyn vos Savant has a column in the Sunday Parade Magazine of the Chicago Tribune. Here are some reader questions need no answers!!
"When dogs bark for hours on end, why don't they ever get hoarse?"
-- M.E., New York, N.Y.
"Can sour cream go bad?If so, how can you tell? Please answer soon, because I have an unopened containier in the back of my refrigerator with an expiration date of April 1996".
-- E.B., Menomonie, Wis.
"Say you're at a baseball game at home, and the visiting team is up to bat. The batter hits a long line drive heading into the stands; a home run! Now say that everyone in the stands starts blowing in the air as hard as they can. Do you think this would produce enough force to blow the ball back onto the field?"
-- D.M. Charlotte, N.C.
"What is the purpose of earlobes besides hanging things on?"
-- Name and city unknown
"In the extreme Northern and Southern Hemispheres, where it is light for half the year and dark for the other half, does a rooster crow only once a year?"
-- J.A., Chula Vista, Calif.
"Why don't people snore when they are awake?"
-- V.P., Eugene, Ore.
"Why do wet dogs stink while dry ones smell fine?"
-- D.L., Hunstville, Ala.
"Don't you think-- anatomicaly speaking -- men would be more comfortable in skirts and women in pants?"
-- K.H., Camp Hill, Pa.
"When I am walking my dog-- considering that he has twice as many legs as I do -- is he getting twice as much exercise as I am or half as much?"
-- P.T., Edmonds, Wash.
"Has anyone discovered a use for banana skins?"
-- B.W., Albuquerque, N.M.
"If a new car cost much more than a new tuxedo, how come it costs more to rent a tuxedo?"
-- M.P. Bayside, N.Y.
"Why does'nt Mona Lisa has eyebrow?"
-- R.T., city unknown
"Is volcanic ash good to eat?"
-- C.R., Portland , Ore.
"When you pick something up so your hands are full, why does your nose or someplace else on your face start to itch"?
-- S.I., Merion Station, Pa.
"If a man jumped into the pool filled with gelatin, would he be able to escape without a ladder? Would it make a difference if the gelatin was in a bunch of little cubes instead of a solid block?"
-- J.C., Oak Brook, Ill.
" Do fish ever sneeze?"
-- V.S., Manhattan, Kansas
"Could leap year be switched from Feb 29 to June 31? It would give us an extra day for summer and one less day of winter."
-- A.K., Youngstown , Ohio
"Bat hang upside down all the time. So why don't they get gastric reflux?"
-- C.F., Richland, Wash.
" Why do people wants to pop bubble wrap so much"?
-- P.B., St. Louis, Mo.
"If the Earth were to suddenly stop revolving, what would happen to a 200 pound man standing in an open area? How far would he slide?"
-- P.G., Edmond, Okla.
(for more amazing questions, visit www.parade.com and click on "Ask Marilyn") |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 10:38 PM |
|
|
|
|
| FDA PROBES BLINDNESS UB IMPOTENCE DRUG USERS |
43 Cases sudden vision loss prompt talks with drug firms -
WASHINGTON - Federal health officials are probing reports of blindness among dozens of men who used Viagra and other impotence drugs -- but at the same time cautioning that the vision loss can be linked to the same illness that leads to impotence.
The Food and Drug Administration disclosed Friday that it was talking with the makers of Vigra, Cialis and Levitra about what the labels of the drugs should say about the rare cases of varying degress of vision loss, including blindness. The maker of Cialis already has voluntarily added a one line mention to its label.
At issue is sudden vision loss when blood flow to the optic nerve is blocked, a condition called non-arteric anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.
'We take this seriously'
The FDA has 43 reports of the condition among the impotence drug users; 38 for Viagra, four for Cialis, and one for Levitra, spokewoman Susan Cruzan said.
Vuagra has been used by 23 million men worldwide since its approval in 1998, maker Pfizer Inc. said.
Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy is considered one fo the most common cause of sudden vision loss in older Americans, and estimates suggest 1,000 to 6,000 cases occur a year. Risk factors include diabetes and heart disease, two of the leading causes of impotence.
Still, "we take this seriously," Cruzan said.
The questions come at a time when federal regulators and the drug industry are facing criticism about what they do to ensure the safety of drugs on the market. Pressure on the FDA to investigate reports of side effects has increased since Merck & Co., yanked its pain reliever Vioxx from the market last year because of potentially deadly heart trouble.
Big money is at stake. Pfizer Inc. said in its most recent quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that Viagra sales rose 5 percent -- to $438 million -- in the first quarter of the year, Pfizer shares decline Friday on the New York Stock Excahnge after news of the blindness cases.
In January, all of the sexual performance drug are slated to be part of the basic package of medicines Medicare will cover for senior citizens and disabled people who sign up for a new lolunatry prescription plans.
(Associated Press/ by: Lauran Neergaard) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 10:12 PM |
|
|
|
| Saturday, May 28, 2005 |
| TO MY AILING YOUNG BROTHER....REST EASY. |
De amicitia omnes ad unum idem sentiunt....
sine amecita vitam esse mellan,
si modo velint aliqua ex parte liberaliter vivere.
A subitanea et improvisa morte libera nos Domine.
Profiscere, Anima Christiana ad hoc mundo.
Sub venite, Sancti Dei, occunite,
Angeli Domini;
Suscipientes animam eius,
offerentes eam in conspecter altissimi.
In Paradisum deducant te Angeli.
Look upon my young brother, my Loving Creator, and let him not be suffering more. Give him the strength and let him understand that we are also ailing with him. His pain is our pain also and his tears are also our tears.
My brother is tired,Oh God. Give him rest, take away his pain and the pain and sorrow of his family. |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 2:27 PM |
|
|
|
| Friday, May 27, 2005 |
| NUMERICAL LISTS YOU NEVER KNEW OR ONCE KNEW AND PROBABLY FORGOT |
The Twenty Three Categories of the Academy Awards:
Oscars are awarded each year for the best in these categories:
1.. Film
2.. Foreign Language Film
3.. Director
4.. Actor
5.. Actress
6.. Supporting Actor
7.. Supporting Actress
8.. Original Screenplay
9.. Screenplay Adaptation
10. Cinematography
11. Editing
12. Original Score
13. Original Song
14. Art Direction
15. Costume Design
16. Sound
17. Sound Editing
18. Makeup
19. Visual Effects
20. Documentary Features
21. Dcoumentary, Short Subjects
22. Short Film, Animated
23. Short Film, Live
The Nine Muses in Greek Mythology.
Daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus, the Nine Muses each were responsible for a different art or science. They are:
1.. Calliope, Muse of epic poetry
2.. Clio, Muse of history
3.. Erato, Muse of erotic or love poetry
4.. Euterpe, Muse of lyric poetry
5.. Melpomene, Muse of tragedy
6.. Polyhymnia, Muse of sacred poetry
7.. Tersichore, Muse of dance
8.. Thalia, Muse of comedy
9.. Urania, Muse of astronomy
The Nine Worthies
The Nine Worthies are famous indiviuals whose importance make them comparable to the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. They are commonly grouped in threes, Gentiles, Jews and Christians. They are the following:
1.. Alexander
2.. Hector
3.. Julius Ceasar
4.. Joshua
5.. David
6.. Judas Maccabaeus
7.. King Arthur
8.. Charlemagne
9.. Godfrey de Bouillon
The Twelve Knights of the Round Table
In Arthurian legend there is no one definited list of the Twelve Knights of the Round Table. According to Dryden these are the twelve:
1.. Lancelot
2.. Tristan
3.. Lamoracke
4.. Tor
5.. Galahad
6.. Gawain
7.. Gareth
8.. Palomides
9.. Kay
10. Mark
11. Mordred
12. and another who may be named Ector de Maris, Ewain Gaheris, Lionel, Pelleas, Pervival, or one of several others.
The Four Etheric Formative Forces
Rudolf Steiner first detailed these forces in an optics course in 1921. Based on ancient concept of Ether, Steiner tried to explain them as forces streaming in from the cosmos that cannot be perceived by our senses but whose effects can be studied. These forces are embdied in each person and in all matter. The four are:
1.. Warm Ether, which causes hot or fiery conditions and appears in the color red.
2.. Light Ether,which causes gaseous and airy conditions and appears in yellow.
3.. Chemical Ether,which causes fluid or watery conditions and appears in blue.
4.. Life Ether,which causes solid or earthly conditions and appears in violet.
The Seven Types of Love according to Plato:
1.. Love of man and woman
2.. Love of parent and child
3.. Love of a friend
4.. Love of beauty
5.. Love of good
6.. Love of wisdom
7.. Love of God
The Six Categories of Dogs.
There are more than 100 breeds of dogs. They can be classified in six groups:
1.. Working Dogs, including collies,mstiffs,schnausers,sheepdogs and the Siberian husky.
2.. Sporting Dogs, including pointers, setters and retrievers.
3.. Hounds,including bassets, bloodhounds, dachunds,foxhounds and greyhounds.
4.. Terriers,including fox, Welsh, Scottish terriers and airedales.
5.. Nonsporting Dogs,including chow chows, poodles, dalmatians and bulldogs.
6.. Toy Dogs,including pekingese and chihuahuas.
The Seven Types of Cats:
1.. Great Cats,including lions, tigers, leopards, snow leoplards and jaguars.
2.. Lesser Cats,including ocelots, leopard cats, tabby cats, desert cats, plain cats, and marbled cats.
3.. Other Cats,including pumas, clouded leopards and golden cats.
4.. Lynxes,including jungle cats, caracals, northern lynxes, and bobcats.
5.. Servals
6.. Jaguarondis
7.. Cheetahs
(abstracted from the book of the same title of this blog by: John Boswell and Dan Starer) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 3:01 AM |
|
|
|
| Wednesday, May 25, 2005 |
| NUMBERS AND FACTS WORTH KNOWING |
The Nine Orders of Angels.
According to medieval theology, there are nine orders of spiritual beings. These orders correspond to the three circle of heaven. From the highest order to the lowest, the nine orders of angels are:
1. Seraphim
2. Cherubim
3. Thrones
4. Dominions
5. Virtues
6. Powers
7. Principalities
8. Archangels
9. Angels
The Seven Cannonical Hours.
In accordance with the scriptures, there are seven hours or offices of specialized prayer designated by cannonical law: "Seven times a day do I praise thee, because of thy righteous judgements" (Psalms 119:164) These seven hours are:
1. Matins and lauds
2. Prime
3. Tierce
4. Sext
5. Nones
6. Vespers
7. Compline
The Seven Deadly Sins.
Also known as the cardinal sins, the seven deadly sins are serious moral offenses that can cause death of the soul. They are:
1. Pride
2. Lust
3. Glutony
4. Anger
5. Envy
6. Sloth
7. Covetousness
The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism.
The Dharma, or doctrine , that the Buddha taught is summed up in these Four Noble Truths:
1. Life is filled with dissatisfaction and suffering.
2. Craving and ignorant desire is the origin of suffering.
3. The creation of suffering is possible through the creation of craving.
4. The way to cease suffering is through the Noble Eightfold.
The Four Perfect Women of Islam.
Acoording to Mohammed, there were four perfect women:
1. Asia, wife of Pharoah, who raised Moses.
2. Mary, daughter of Imram.
3. Khadijah, Mohammed's first wife.
4. Fatima, Mohammed's daughter.
The Five Duties of a Moslem.
These duties are required of every Moslem person:
1. Profession of faith (repeating the creed daily)
2. Prayer five times a day, at designated times. facing Mecca.
3. Alms giving to the poor.
4. Fasting from dawn to dusk each day during the month of Ramadan.
5. Pilgrimage to Mecca once in your lifetime.
The Seven Compartments of Hell accoring to Islam.
In the Islamic faith, there are seven compartments to Hell, each holding a particular group of sinners:
1. Moslems
2. Jews
3. Christians
4. Sabians
5. Magians
6. Idolaters
7. Hypocrites
The Seven Forbidden Names of God.
In some Jewish traditions there are seven biblical divine names used to designate God that are ineffable, that is, they may not be pronounced. These seven names are:
1. Adonai
2. El
3. Elohim
4. "I am that I am" (Exodus 3:14)
5. Shaddai
6. YHWH
7. Zeba'ot
The Tetragrammaton.
The tetragrammaton are the four Hebrew letters that form the name of God, translated as YHVH:
1. Yod
2. Hey
3. Vav
4. Hey
(abstracted from the book: "Numerical Lists You Never Knew or Once Knew and Probably forgot" by: John Boswell and Dan Starer) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 10:51 AM |
|
|
|
|
| COCA-COLA 101 |
John Styth Pemberton - is the Coke's invetnor. An Atlanta pharmacist, who in 1885 mixed up a pirated version of a popular drink of the time calle Vin Mariani. Vin Mariani was a wine spiked with coca leaves. It was both an aperitif and a stimulant -- something on the order of Dubonner, only with cocaine in it.
According to a promotional book, Ulysses S. Grant, Jules Verne, Emile Zola, Henrik Ibsen, the Russian Czar and Pope Leo XIII drank Vin Mariani.Pemberton calle dhis drink French Wine of Coca. Sales was disappointing.
The following year, Pemberton overhauled the formula. The wine was taken out. Still envisioning a stimulant product, he retained the cola leaf extract and added an extract of the African "hell seed" or kola nut.Kola nut contains caffeine, the ame stimulant in coffee or tea.
Both coca and kola extracts are bitter. So Pemberton added sugar and flavorings to kill the unpleasant taste. The result was a syrup, not a beverage. The name "Coca-Cola" was adopted when Pemberton's partner, Frank M. Robinson, decided that two Cs would work well in the Spencerian-script logo he was designing.
During its first year in Atlanta, Coca-Cola was sold at pharmacies as a syrup that could be taken as is or diluted with water. Nothing on the market today is a counterpart of the early Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola was promoted as a stimulant -- more the 1880's equivalent of No-Doz or Vivarin than just a drink. But No-doz and Vivarin are not seen as particularly healthful products; Coca-Cola was. Coke was a stimulant, health tonic and beverage.
Pemberton is known to have revealed the Coca-Cola formula to at least four persons. He told his partner/bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson. Apparently Pemberton told his son, Charles.(Later, at the behest of the Coca-Cola Company founder Asa G. Gandler, Charles signed a document denouncing his right to use the formula). And Pemberton told Willis E. Venable and George S. Lowndes, the two men who purchased the formula in July 1887.
A scarce five months later, Venable and Lowndes themselves sold out. They transmitted the formula and rights to Coca-Cola to Woolfolk Walker and Mrs. G.C. Dozier.Then in two separate transactions in 1888, Walker and Dozier sold their rights and the formula to Asa G. Gandler. The same year saw the death of John Pemberton and a new marketing angle mixing the syrup with carbonated water.
Candler was the first one to recognize the potential of Coke. He equally recognized the importance of keeping the formula a secret. Unfortunately, at least seven people knew the Coke formula by the time Candler got it. At least some of them no longer had any particular incentive to preserve the secret. In 1892, Candler, Robinson and three others incorporated their operations as the Coca-Cola Company.
Candler instituted the shroud of secrecy that has since enveloped the formula. Candler and Robinson formed the first pair of initiates. Not until 1903 was anyone else allowed to make the syrup. The syrup was prepared in a local laboratory, only Candler and Robinson having the combination to the door. Shipments of ingredients were promptly deposited in the laboratory.
As the company got larger, Candler no longer could prepare all the syrup himself. In 1894 the first branch syrup plant was started in Dallas. Rahter than relinquish the secret, Candler hit upon a scheme whereby people in other cities could prepare Coca-Cola syrup without knowing what wa in it.The ingredients were numbered 1 to 9, inclusive. Branch factory managers were told the relative proportions fo the ingredients and the missing procedure, but not the indentities of the numbered ingredients. If the Dallas plants was low on ingredient no. 6, it would order "merchandise no.6" from Atlanta headquarters. Further to defy ready analysts, some of the merchandises were themselves mistures of more basic ingredients.
To an extent, Candler was locking the barn after the horse had been stolen. It isn't clear who among the early initiates talked, but it seems someone must have.
For instance, there was Diva Brown, a woman who claimed that John Pemberton had sold her the Coca-Cola formula shortly before he died. True or not, Brown had somehow gleaned enough information about Coke's recipe to mix up passable imitations. She marketed Better Cola, Celery-Cola, Lime Cola, My-Coca, Vera-Cola, Vera Coca, and Yum-Yum in the southern states, claiming they were based on Pemberton's formula.
The Koke Company claimed to have gotten hold of browne's formula upon her death in 1914 and thereby produced Koke, still another ersatz Coca-Cola. For a long time, Coca-Cola neglected to trademark "Coke" fearing the nickname would encourage substitution. So the Koke Company was able to call its product Koke until stopped by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1920.
Is There Cocaine in Coca-Cola?
Coca-Cola was not always alone in its use of coca. There were coca elixirs and beverages before there were colas. Until 1903, Coca-Cola contained the full cocaine content opf its coca extract. Since then, Coca-Cola has taken great pains to remove the cocaine from the coca leaves before they go into merchandise no.5. According to the source, thgere were sixty-nine imitations of Coca-Cola still containign measurable cocaine in 1909.
Even before 1903, the amount of cocaines in Coca-Cola was trifling. One analysis put the cocaine content of an ounce of Coca-Cola syrup -- in the pre-extraction days -- at 0.04 grains. That's not much. In small doeses, cocaine has roughly the stimulant effect of a dose of caffeine ten times larger.
In 1972 Dr. Norman Fansworth of the University of Illinois, Chicago, had graduated students test Coke and other colas for cocaine. A gas-chromatpgraphy "peak" near that expected for cocaine was found. To confirm the apparent finding, Fansworth's group added cocaine to a sample of Coca-Cola and retested. This time there were two peak. A scientific paper reporting the original inding was hastily shelved.
You can make a strong argument that there must be some concaine in Coca-Cola nonetheless. The decocanization process used on the coca leaves that go into Coke is similar to the decaffeination of coffee. A solvent is passed through the leaves repeatedly, leaching away a little more cocaine each time.
It is claimed that only two persons know the complete formula for Coca-Cola syrup. Company policy, forbids them from traveling in the same plane. When one dies, the other is to choose a successor and impart the secret to that person. So secret is Coca-Cola's formula that the indentity of the two initiates is itself a secret. The written recipe is in the safe-deposit vault at the Trust Company of Georgia. The vault, its claimed, can be opened only with the approval of Coca-Cola board of directors.Clearly, the syrup recipe is percieved as the heart and soul of the Coca-Cola organization.
(abstracted from the book: Big Secrets by: William Poundstom) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 12:40 AM |
|
|
|
| Tuesday, May 24, 2005 |
| PILIPINO JARGONS 101 |
Pinoy words loaded in meanings that will never find a direct translation in the English language:
1... Achuchu (A-choo-choo). This refers to the pointless insincerities being said during long involved conversations about nothing at all.
2... Ano(A-noh).The all -around, all-purpose word for everything.
.... 1). Pronoun in interrogation: Ano?(What?)
.... 2). Noun: Where is your Ano? (Where is your father/mother/dead uncle/second-cousin).
.... 3). Verb: Anuhin this.(Paint/Kill/Maim/Castrate this).
.... 4). Adjective: This is so Ano.(This is so pretty/big/astounding).
.... 5). Interjection: Ano!(What the hell!).
.... 6). Substitute for genitalia: Did you Ano your Ano?
The use of Ano is quite dangerous for the untrained ear. "Honey, the ano is too long, we have to cut it."
Must be accompanied by the proper understanding of the context as results maybe critical to a couple's future.
3... Booba(boo-bah). A female with larger than usual mammary glands,that can be used as weapons of mass destruction.
4... Checheboreche(che-che-boh-re-che). Same as achuchu. It is interesting to ponder on the reason why there are so many words in the Filipino language that beautifully describes meaningless chatter.
5... Epal(Eh-pal). An individual who think he is god.
6... Gigil(gee-gill).An uncontrollable desire to bite something.
7... Hipon (Hee-pohn). Literal meaning "Shrimp", whose body is eaten while its head is thrown away. This refers to a female whose body is to die for,but whose looks,like--- it belongs to the dead.
8... Kikay(Kee-khay) Refers to individual who carry a brush, hand wash, moisturizer, lip gloss and various other facial enhancements in a case (aptly called "kikay kit") inside her bag. Recent inspections of varioua backpacks of some males, have led to the conclusion it is not a purely female trait. This breed (male) cannot resist checking themselves out on mirrors, glass windows, bread knives, side walk puddles, and plastic covered note books.
9... Kaekehan (kah-ek-eh-khan)Same as Achuchu and chechebureche.
10.. Kilig(keel-lihg). A woman's rush of excitement due to the actions, presence or even mention of He -- whom a woman can see as the future father of her children.
11.. Laglag-brip(lahg-lahg-brip). The female counterpart of Laglag-panti.
12.. Laglag-panti(lahg-lahg-pan-tee). A man so incredibly hot, so heart-stopping, gorgeous and oozing with musculinity that female underwear (whether worn by males or females)falls to the ground without effort whatsoever.
13.. Indyanero(in-jan-neh-roh).An individual who fails to appear at an appointment without prior warning, not to be confused with individual who appears according to Filipino time, approximately 10 minutes before the meeting is to end.
14.. Japorms (Jah-porms)Describe an individual dressed differently from the usual (typically involves clothes that have been laundered and pant legs of roughly, the same length).
15.. Lagot(Lah-ghot).A prophecy of evil to come.
16.. Para(Pah-reh) a term that inform the driver of a public utility car-bus (jeepney) to stop and pause (usually in the middle of the road) as the individual speaking intends to leave the vehicle. Dangerous for individuals, as driver seems to believe having one foot in the air is all that is necessary to descent.
17.. Takusa(Tah-kuh-sah). Derived from "takot sa asawa" (afraid of wife). This is a term used to describe a silent (very silent) minority of male, married to the feminine reincarnation of Adolph Hitler.
18.. Torpe(Thor-peh)a gentleman who is desperately attracted to a female, yet by some strange compulsion, he is reduces to a frozen mound of stuttering male, whenever a female is near.
(sent by a friend from the Philippines) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 1:52 AM |
|
|
|
| Monday, May 23, 2005 |
| FROM THE FAMILY DOCTOR: FOR MEN ONLY...SWOLLEN TESTICLE MAY MEAN SURGERY FOR FLUID BUILDUP. |
HYDROCELE...This is a collection of fluid between two layers of tissue that surround a testicle. It causes a soft swelling around the testicles. Usually only one testicle is involved, but rarely both testes may have a hydrocele at the same time.
Someone who regularly examines his testicles for cancer may detect a hydrocele when it is quite small. Otherwise the testicle may reach twice the normal size before it is notice.
Other "celes" in the scrotal area include hematoceles(the fluid is bloody), spermatocele (fluid containing sperm) and varicocele (the swelling is made up of a group of veins.)
Varicoles can become quite large and, when uncovered during surgery may look like a can of worms. Surgery to remove a varicocele usually is very successful. But about 5 percent of people having this surgery will develope a hydrocele
Diagnosis of a hydrocele can be confirmed by ultrasound or transillumination. In transillumination, a high intensity light source is applied to one side of the scrotum, and the shadow that shows up on the opther side is examined.
A hydrocele may be present at birth or develope later in life. If the cause is known, then removal of that cause may eliminate the collection of fluid. If the cause is not known (idiopathic) the only treatment is removal of the fluid as it builds up by repeatedly sucking it out with a needle (aspiration) or surgery.
One common cause of hydrocele is an inguinal hernia. These hernias can sometimes be left alone for many years, but repairing the hernia is important in treating the hydrocele.
Aspiration is quite safe, efficient and cost effective. But it's not always successful. Acuumulation of fluid, after aspiration, occurs about three fifths of the time.
Surgical removal of the hydrocele (hydrocelectomy) is recommended when it becomes so large that it's an annoyance or when another lump is found on the testicle during examination. Approximately 10 percent of testicular tumors have an associated hydrocele. This surgical procedure has some risks, is relativel expensive and requires some inactivity after the procedure. There are several different techniques; using fiber optic instruments for surgery minimizes the risk and discomfort.
After a year ago, the respected medical journal Urology published research showing that a tube may be inserted and left in the hydrocele, draining into the scrotum. The method, according to the report, was easy, safe and effective. However, because the research was done in Turkey, itmay take a few yeas before it is either accessible or adopted in the States.
(Write to Allen Douma in case of Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave, Suite 114, Buffalo, NY 14207 or contact him at: DRFamily@aol.com.)
(abstracted from the Tribune Media Services by: Dr. Allen Douma, M.D.) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 12:51 PM |
|
|
|
|
| 200 YEARS AFTER DISCOVERY, MORPHINE STILL EASES PAIN |
In a tiny laboratory in Germany an obscure young pharmacist's apprentice managed to concentrate the power of poppies into crystals that could control coughs, ease pain and tease users into a pleasant slumber.
Friedrich Sertuerner, 22, published a paper announcing his discovery in 1806. He was ignored.
So he went back to his experiments, injecting dogs with the drug he had extracted from opium and doping himself and his buddies. A dozen years later he published again, this time naming his discovery after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams. And this time, the medical world took note.
Two hundred years later, physicans and academics from around the globe were to gather Saturday in Germany to toast the native son who discovered one of medicine's most important advances: MORPHINE.
Over two centuries, the pain killer and sedative has comforted soldiers, eased the pain of the dying, calmed babies and been feared as an addictive seducer.
Sertuerner's finding ranks on the short list of groundbreaking medical advances,along with the discovery of ether, X-rays and blood types, said Dr,. Jonathan Moss of University of Chicago's Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care.
Morphine,he said, remains the drug for post opeative pain against which all other painkiller are measured.
Opiates like Morphinework so well because they mesh with the brain's existing hard wiring and chemical processes. Morphine triggers the release of Dopamine, responsible for pleasurable sensations like the high an experienced runner feels during a workout.
It also works no matter how it enters the body, making it versatile for a host of ailing patients. They can swallow a tablet, allow it to dissolve under the tongue or have it injected into the bloodstream, muscle tissue or near the spine.
The drug's biggest drawback is constipation, along with nausea and vomiting, accoring to Dr. Moss. So University of Chicago researchers have developed a drug, now in advanced clinical trials, that is designed to block those side effects.
Morphine was a staple drug for civil war doctors in part because of that less than glamourous effect on the morning constitution.
Dysentery and other camp disease killed more soldiers than battlefield wounds, so the drug was more likely to be used to stave off diarrhea than to ease pain, according to Michael Flannery, a University of Alabama at Birmingham historian of 19th century pharmaceuticals.
Important dates in Morphine history:
Since its invetion 200 years ago, Morphine has been used in a variety of forms for several uses, including pain killing for theose suffering from cancer and AIDS.
** 1805: German pharmacy apprentice Friedrcih Sertuerner creates a painkiller from poppies. The medical world shows little interest.
** 1817: Sertuerner christens the drug Morphine after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams.
** 1860s: During the Civil War, morphine is used to treat soldier suffering from dysentery.
** Late 1800s: A slew of morphine-laced concoctions, such as Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup, are used to put teething youngsters to bed.
** 1906: The Pure Food and Drug Act requires morphine to appear on drug labels.
** 1914:Partially inspired by a backlash against opium dens, the federal Harrison Narcotics Tax Act regulates production, prescription and use of opiates such as morphine.
** 1940s: A morphine syrette allows World War II medics to carry the pain reliever into bottle.
** 1963: Chemists creare a synthetic version of morphine, but it is more expensive and fails in the market place.
(Source: Michael A. Flannery, Greg Higby, NIH/CHICTRIB by: Tonya Maxwell.) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 4:00 AM |
|
|
|
|
| THE LOVE SHERPA: Never Tell Women YES or NO; Tell Them MAYBE. |
A male friend of mine in his 30s has been on a roll, dating gorgeous 20ish women, I recently asked him how his young girlfriend was, and he replied, "Which one?".
Immediately I knew I could learn something so when we sat down, I braced myself for a series of life altering lessons on women and how he get dates.
Instead, what I learned from my savvy friend -- now my idol -- was a single word that soon may change the landscape of my dating, or lack of dates. Maybe.
That's the word, Maybe. He explained that by answering women's questions -- queries such as "Maybe", he has drastically improved the number and quality of his dates.
Criticizing me as "too accomodating" for telling women "yes" or "no", he confidently looked at me and with great conviction said, "Responding with a 'yes' is often worse than telling them 'no'. The correct answer to women's questions is always 'maybe'.
The simple"maybe" response tells the woman several important things. First, it's not a "no". Thus, leaving her with hope, like Jim Carrey's line in "Dumb and Dumber", "So, you're telling me I have a chance".
He explained that women like suspense and that "maybe" leaves them with uncertainty, thus something to look forward to and talk to their friends about.
Second, it demonstrates that you are a busy man with a demanding schedule. Women want someone who is busy and not waiting on the couch for a phone call.
Finally my friend uses "maybe" just in case a better offer comes up in the meantime. This was he will always be spending the evening with his "top choice".
Not being one for games, this new knowledge made me sick to my stomach. Could it be that easy? Does it really work? Will I change my answers to questions asked by women?
MAYBE!
(By: Terry R. Yormark II, Guy Page Research assistant) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 3:42 AM |
|
|
|
| Saturday, May 21, 2005 |
| SECRET OF SEXUALLY SATISFIED WOMEN |
11 Ways to Get More of What You Want!
*** 1). Put Love First.Call your husband by a pet name or another affectionate term. Address him as Honey, Sweetie or Darling. Corny as it may sound, using terms of endearment will assure him that you love him and make him more receptive to your requests.
*** 2). Praise What Pleases.Begin by offering positive feedback. Say, "I love you when you rub my back. You always do it exactly right". Avoid saying things like, "It bothers me when you touch me there". Make sure the praise you offer outweighs the criticism. If you husband feels sexually confident, he will be more open to your suggestions.
*** 3). Start Small.Begin with a simple request that is easy for your mate to grant. Maybe you'd like him to spend more time on foreplay or kiss you more when you make love. Starting with small, nonthreatening requests will put your partner at ease and set the stage for him to be willing to listen to other wishes.
*** 4). Be Kind. Express your needs and desires gently and lovingly, not with anger or contempt. Avoid insulting your partner in any way, and mever makle comments about his anatomy. Always consider his feelings.
*** 5). Never Compare.If a former partner sent shivers down your spine, keep it to yourself. Nothing pours cold water on a good sex life like talking about a past lover, especially if the comparison to your husband is not favorable.
*** 6). Write Him a Love Letter.If there is something new you would like to try but you're too shy to discuss it, try expressing your thoughts on paper. Sedning your husband a sexy note also give hik time to consider your suggestion and think about how he wants to respond.
*** 7). Be Playful.Turn sexual sharing into a game. Say to your husband, "I'll show you how and where I like to be kissed if you'll show me what you like."
*** 8). Show Him How.Touch yourself the way you want to be touched or guide his hand. Men want to be our sexual white knights, but sometimes they can be clueless. It's up to you to understand your body and direct your partner.
*** 9). Give It Time.It may take a while for your husband to feel comfortable with some of your requests. It may take several tries before he gets a new technique right. Be patient, encouraging and understanding.
*** 10).Be Receptive.Your partner probably has his own ideas about what's exciting and fun. Let him know you want to hear what he has to say. Keep an open mind and try not to be defensive. Remember, communication works both ways.
*** 11).Lure Him Home.If you know ahead of time that you want an evening to be romantic, slip a note into his jacket pocket or briefcase before he leaves for work or tip him off by phone or e-mail during the day to start his thoughts running along the same lines. Anticipation will ignite his desire and give it time to build, making the evening more exciting.
(Abstracted from the works of: Laura Berman, Ph.D. and Jennifer Berman, M.D. with Alice Burdick Schweiger) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 3:39 AM |
|
|
|
| Thursday, May 19, 2005 |
| BAD NEWS FOR WHORNY MEN...... |
WOMAN ISN'T LIABLE FOR INJURY DURING SEX
Man might appeal court's decision again in 1997 civil lawsuit.
BOSTON -- A woman isn't legally responsible for injuries her boyfriend suffered while they were having sex more than a decade ago, a state appeals court ruled Monday.
The man, identified only as John Doe in court papers, filed suit against the woman in 1997, claiming she was negligent when she suddenly changed positions,landed awkwardly on him and injured his penis.
The man underwent emergency surgery in September 1994, "endured a painful and lengthy recovery" and has suffered from sexual dysfunction that hasn't responded in medication or counseling, the appeals court said.
Although the woman may have exposed her boyfriend to "some risk of harm", the three-judge panel said her conduct during the sexual encounter was'nt "wanton or reckless" and can't support a lawsuit.
The man's lawsuit already has been thrown out by judges in Salem District Court and Essex Superior Court.
The appeals court upheld those rulings while noting that its ruling does'nt apply to cases where some partner with a sexually transmitted disease.
"There are no comprehensive legal rules to regulate consensual sexual behavior", Justice Joseph Trainor wrote. "In the absense of a consensus of community values or customs defining normal consensual conduct, a jury or judge cannot be expected to resolve a claim that is undertaken without reasonable care".
The man's attorney, John Greenwood, said he is likely to appeal Monday's ruling to the state's highest court.
"It's a case that has'nt been seen before in Massachussettes", he said.
Greenwood argued that consensual sex does'nt mean "anything goes...The fact that some behavior was agreed to by the parties does'nt mean all behavior was agreed to by the parties."
(abstracted from CHICSUNTIMES/Associated Press) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 3:39 AM |
|
|
|
| Wednesday, May 18, 2005 |
| FAST HEART RATE CAN MAKE YOU A WALKING TIME BOMB |
Simple stress test could help predict, prevent problems.
People whose hearts beat too fast during rest and too sluggishly during exercise have a greater risk than others of dropping dead suddenly from a heart attack, a study suggests.
The research, believed to be the first on sudden death in healthy people, relied on simple stress tests like the ones given to people with heart problems.
Experts said the findings don't mean healthy people should have routine stress tests. But when heart patients get the tests, doctors should study the heart rate pattern for signs of trouble and not just look for evidence of blocked arteries as most do now.
"We know there are people who are walking time bombs", said Dr. Michael S. Lauer, a staff cardiologists at the Cleveland Clinic who was not involved in the study but who also researches stress tests and how patients fare over time. While there's no proof early intervention prevents premature deaths in such people, he said, "I would fix absolutely everything that can be fixed."
That would included putting patients on medicines such as aspririn and cholesterol, and starting them on an exercise program.
The study, in todays' New England Journal of Medicine, found the risk of sudden death was about four times higher than normal in men whose hearts beat fast while resting or did'nt speed up as much as they should during exercise.
Likewise,sudden death was twice as likely in men whose heart rates did'nt slow down enough in the minute after exercise ended, compared with men with normal shifts in their heart rate.
"It's the first time that particular heart rate patterns during exercise is associated with increased risk of sudden death" in healthy men, said lead reserachers Dr. Xavier Jouven, associate professor of cardiology and epidemiology at the European Georges Pompidou Hospital in Paris.
Sudden death occurs when a heart attack, or sometimes an abnormal rhythm, stops the heart. It strikes people as young as their 30s and is responsible for 5 percent to 10 percent of all U.S. deaths, or roughly 350,000 to 500,000 deaths a year.
The results probably also apply to women, Lauer said. Recent research shows healthy women whose hearts don't slow down prompty after exercise are more likely to die of heart problems.
(Abstracted from Associated Press by: Linda A. Johnson) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 1:35 PM |
|
|
|
|
| BOOZE AND DRINKING |
Three Drinking Danger Signals:
*** You get mad when your consumption is criticized.
*** You drink in the morning.
*** You black out when you imbibe.
Source: National Institute of Health.
Booze Myth Busters:
Test you alcohol IQ with this quiz.
1)...True____ False ____Bear before lifquor, never felt sicker. Liquor before beer and you're in the clear.
2)...True____ False ____The cheaper the liquor, the worse your hangover will be.
3)...True____ False ____For women, Alcohol affects you differently at various stages of your menstrual period.
4)...True____ False ____Sweet cocktails get you sloshed faster because the sugar makes the drink stronger.
5)...True____ False ____Coffe helps sober you up.
6)...True____ False ____The best hangover cure is a hair of the dog that bit you.
Answers:
1). False. It's the total amount of alcohol you consume, not the order in which you drink it.
2). TrueYou are less likely to be affected by additives or impurities, but you can still get a hangover.
3). False.There is no scientific evidence that will back this up.
4). False. The sweet stuff does not chemically alter alcohol's potency, although you might be tempted to drink more of the tastier intoxicants.
5). False.A cup or a pot of coffee will just make you awake-- but you will still be drunk.
6). False. Drinking bloody mary in the morning, may make you fell better for a bit, after drinking in the evening, but it will wear off and may make you feel worse again.
Source: Jeff Weise, MD.Associate Professor of Medicine at Tulane Unviersity Health Sciences Center. |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 3:04 AM |
|
|
|
| Tuesday, May 17, 2005 |
| MAN LOPS OFF HANDS OF WOMAN PROTESTING CHILD MARRIAGE IN INDIA |
NEW DELHI -- A man with a sword cut off the hands of a government social worker in central India for trying to stop child marriages, officials said Wednesday. The attack on the woman highlighted the difficulty of ending the centuries old practice in the region.
Shakuntala Verma, a supervisor with the Department of Women and Child Development in Madhya Pradesh sate was attacked Tuesday night in Bhangarh village, Superintendent of Police H.L. Borana was quoted as saying by Press Trust of India.
Festival sees hundreds paired off.
Wednesday marked a Hindu festival in which hundreds of minors are married off.
No arrests have been made in the attack in Bhangarh, 170 west of the state capital, Bhopal.
Child marriage is illegal in India, but the ancient practice is prevalent in some rural pockets of Madhya Pradesh.
However, the number of marriages was down this year as a result of tough measures taken by police, the New Delhi Television News channel reported.
Verma had been protesting child marriages in the area, officials said.
In New Delhi, Chief Minister Babulal Gaur, the state's administrator, said it was not possible to end the practice with legal measures.
"The (law) to prevent child marriage is so ancient. But even after so many decades of the law coming into being, child marriages continue to take place. We cannot stop it forefully. What is required is awareness'" he said.
(Abstracred ro CHICSUNTIMES/Associated Press) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 1:11 PM |
|
|
|
|
| HIGH TECH WILL MAKE YOU DUMBER THAN GETTING HIGH, RESEARCHERS SAY |
What's more harmful --- taking a hit on marijuana or keeping up with your e-mail and cell phone calls?
Surprisingly, it's latter, according to a study commissioned by Hewlett-Packard that found that excessive day-to-day use of technology -- whether it's sending e-mails or using cell phones -- can be more distracting and harmful to the IQ than smoking marijuana. Such distractions were found to temporarily lower the "average workers functioning IQ" by 10 points "when distracted by ringing telephones and incoming e-mails ...more than double the four-point drop seen following studies on the impact of smoking marijuana."
The study was conducted earlier this year for the technology company by the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of London. It involved 80 volunteers who took part in clinical trials and interviews with 1,100 subjects.
Believe it or Not!
The researchers warn of the "abuse of always-on technology" in which "workers are literally addicted to checking e-mail and text messages during meetings in the evening and weekends".
The label the phenomenon "Info-mania" and warns that, if unchecked, it "will damage [workers] performance by reducing their mental sharpness."
The research found that 62 percent of adults are addicted to checking e-mail and text messages. Half of the workers would "respond to an e-mail immediately or within 60 minutes". One in five reported being "happy to interrupt a business or social meeting to responmd to an e-mail or telephone messages."
The 10 point drop in IQ was the equivalent of missing a night's sleep, the company said.
Debra Meyerson, a professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, echoed the study's finding that "being accessible all the time is a source of stress".
"The boundaries between work and non-work are now constructed by people turining technology on and off", said Myerson, who is involved in a study on the impact of technology on everyday life.
(abstracted from: Scripps Howard News Service by: Benjamin Pimentel) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 12:43 PM |
|
|
|
|
| BLOGG: UNDERSTANDING THE NEW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY |
"The term BLOG is short for "Web log" -- an online site wuth time-dated postings, maintained by one ormore posters, that features links and commentary."
WHY DO BLOGGERS BLOG? AND WHY IT MATTERS TO YOU!
Two reasons: to persuade,and to leave a record having been there. Both are vain efforts in the long haul. Both efforts have never not been hallmarks of humanity.
What is new to blogsphere is that there are no barriers to entry to a world offering a nearly limitless audience. There is a vast audience of wisdom/entertainment seekers.
Many, many are the blogs that will go unread except for a college roommate or a brother-in-law. Some people will grow tired and abandon the effort. Others will muscle on despite low traffic. What you have to be concerned about are those folks who arrive out of nowhere and surge to tens fo thousands and then hundreds of thousands of daily visits.
That is the key number, btw. Page views are like Confederate currency: fun to have but worthless.
Blogging is just a new means of transmitting that writing, one that bypasses completely all editors. The public becomes the editor. And that is a very good thing unless you got paid or derived status from being an editor.
The Credibility of blogs depends on their timeliness and accuracy, but invariably, the qualifications of the bloggers matter as well.
Keep in mind that newcomers with talent find their sites are quickly mentioned and adopted, with staggering rises in traffic as a result.
Traffic is not the only thing to consider. Technorati is an extraordinary tool for tracking the rise of stories on the blogspheres as well as cross referencing posts.
"The Power of the Tail".
It is a counterintuitive idea, so it takes a couple of moments to get, but once again, it cannot be abandon once gotten, it cannot be abandoned without losing a glimpse of the extraordinary powers of the medium.
"The Tail" is simply the 95 to 99 percent of blogs that are not giant traffic getters. These are low or medium traffic generators, some getting ten visitors a day, some a hundred, some a few hundred. Their traffic is steady, but it isn't growing at a great rate, if at all.
It is called "The Tail" as such because on a graph of where traffic is located, the first few score blogs show huge numbers, but quickly the line plummets but goes on and on, out through the universe of millions and millions of blog -- the very long tail of the blogosphere.
"The power of the tail" is the aggregate number of visitors, not to any particular blog within the tail, but collectively to all blogs on the tail and the fact that these low or medium traffic blogs generally enjoy the trust of their visitors.
The low or moderate traffic blog fills a niche parallel to that PTA newsletter, the church bulletin and perhaps the local free weekly that covers high school sports. Once the technology develops to identify who is reading these blogs and where, watch for marketing gurus to figure out how to use blogs to penetrate a particular market.
There is one key to the tail: Build a high traffic blog and then offer links to other bloggers who cover what you would like covered. Other techniques will emerge, such as contests or awards, but the tail matters -- and whoever figures out ways to drive messages into that tail will have achieved an enormous advantage for his point of view or product.
FINDING A BLOGGER FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION'S BLOG.
The best bloggers have self-selected themselves already. Spend a week on the web, following your nose, zipping from site to site. Ignore the design. Ignore color. Find who can write and who is ridiculously productive. One of the resons old media hates new media so much is that new media is so much more productive that old media. Every day bloggers churn out postings by the hundreds of thousands, and some of us will post a dozen times a day, each one of wich is worth reading.
Find five bloggers you like, preferably with medium traffice scores -- not high, unless you have big bucks, and not so low as to fail a hurdle that must be passed every day.
Start three prototypes and run them internally for a month. Pick the best, or if they don't work start over. Get good confidentiality agreements at the startm and part company on good terms with any blogger who leaves. It isnt' hard to figure this out.
(abstracted from the book:"BLOG Understanding the Information Reformation that's Changing Your World" by: Hugh Hewitt (www.HughHewitt.com) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 3:05 AM |
|
|
|
| Monday, May 16, 2005 |
| A SOLEM PRAYER FOR MY KID BROTHER WITH SEVERE CANCER |
Yitgadal veyitkadash sh'mei raba
Amen.
B'alma diverra chirutei v'yamlich malchutei
b'chaiyei cho uvyomeichon
uv'chaiyei d'chol beit yisrael
baagala uvizman kariev
V'imru
Amen.
Y'shei shmei raba m'varch
l'alam ula'almei almaiya
Yitbarach v'yishtabach
v'yitpaar v'yitromam v'yitnasei
v'yitbadar v'yitaleh v'yithalal
sh'mei d'kud'sha
B'richhu
L'eilah min kol birchata v'shirata
tushb'chata v'nehchechmatu
daamiran b'alma
V'imru
Amen.
Y'hei shlama raba min sh'maya
V'chayyim aleinu
v'al kol yisrael
V'imru
Amen.
Oseh shalom bimramav hu yaaseh shalom
aleinu v'al kol yisrael
V'imru
Amen.
Exalted and hallowed be God's greatness
In this world of Your creation.
May Your will be filfilled
And your soverignty revealed
And the life of the whole house of Israel
Speedily and soon.
And say, Amen.
May you be blessed forever,
Even to all eternity.
May you, most Holy One, be blessed,
Praised and honored, extolled and glorified,
Adored and exalted above all else.
Blessed are You.
Beyond all blessings and hymns, priased and consolations
That may be uttered in this world,
In he days of our lifetime,
And say, Amen.
May peace abundant descend from heaven
With life for us and for all Israel,
And say, Amen.
May God, Who makes peace on high,
Bring peace toa ll and to all Israel,
And say, Amen. |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 7:07 PM |
|
|
|
| Wednesday, May 11, 2005 |
| MY DEPRESSION RUNS DEEP! |
HIGHLAND PARK, ILL.-- I did not work today. I said I will call in sick and will just stay at home and ride my depression. I am so depress and on the very edge of an anxiety attack and breakdown. I slept last nite at 5am and was not able to sleep properly. I kept on tossing and turning in the bed. I decided to sleep at the guest room so that I wont be disturbing my wife, who needs her rest also for work.
I woke up at around 1130AM and looked outside the bedroom window to see my apple trees are all blooming. I went out and sat underneath the trees with my dog Misty, trying to ride my depression and my anxiety attack. I wanted to call home and check on my kid brother, but my wife advised me just to calm down and wait for my eldest sister to just call. My wife thinks that if I call back home and found out the state of my kid brother, the more I will be depressed and will affect my Trigeminal Neuralgia, which will make me more depress and moody because of the pain.
The wind was blowing, the petals of the apple flowers are all falling on my face while I sat down in the lounge chair. I remember those times when we were young kids, at play at the big backyard of my grandmother, in our ancestral home. I was doing the clearing of the fence, where new vegetables plants has to be planted, while my younger brothers are both trying to catch some dragonfly and my youngest brother is following his elder brother. They were frolicking in the grass, and will start laughing when they have caught a big green dragonfly. they will put the dragonfly inside a jar, and I will tell them to cover it with holes to make the insect breathe. Then I go back to my chores in the veggie patch.
Then I will climb the Makopa tree and gather all the most red and plump looking Makopas. Then I will share it with my two younger brothers. Then the Mango tree and the Santol is the next to climb and to gather some fruits. It was very nice and so happy at Grandma's backyard. There is also the Tamarind tree and the coconut and the Chico and the Grapefruit tree. When I was growing up, and I look back at the old times, I always feel that--that was Eden for us when we were young then.
Then all of us has grown up, and all of us went on our separate ways.
My eldest sister, has her own company back home in the Phils. and both her and her husband is very successful in the shipping business. They have been in the business for more than 30 years now, having a big Japanese shipping company as their partner.
The second to the eledest sister, is running the restaurant and the cafeteria in the shipping complex and the training school for seamen and review centers for nurses.
The third elder sister, is busy with her house keeping. Taking care of her house and her three grown kids.My sister married to one of the three owners of Boysen paints in the Phils. She is one austere sister but not a stingy one, when it comes to spending money for her siblings and family.
And for myself, I decided to come to the states and settle down here with my wife and two boys, who both of them have already moved out of the house and settled on their own apartments. I work for a major airline and a cross cultural trainer for a corporate law firm. I have been in the States for 30 years now.
My other sister, younger than me, is in Canada and decided to stay there permanently, married to an electrical engineer and contractor, while she is working in hospice care institution, caring for mentally handicapped and physically ill senior citizen. She has been living in Calgary for more than 25 years now.
Then comes my younger brother, who is the 7th in the family. He is resideing in New Jersey and works as an Engineer for the Federal Reserve Bank of Pennsylvania, whose office is in Pennsylvania, PA. Married to an emergency room nurse and been in the States for more than 30 years now.
Comes now, the youngest among us three boys in the family of eight. Who works at the corporate office of my eldest sister, a trainer in the communication department teaching International Maritime Satellite system (INMARSAT) to the seamen of the company.
Comes now, the youngest sister, who is the secretary of my eldest sister at the shipping office and lives with my parents at the company's compound in Paranaque, where the corporate office of my eldest sister is located.
I was already smiling, trying to recall and reminiscing those times we were kids and having the grandest times of our lives, until this tragic thing has befallen my younger brother. I started to become depressed again and cannot accept the sufferings of my youngest brother. The pain that he is undergoing right now and the agony inside him, seeing his two kids, outgrowing him fast. One boy of 21 years of age and a girl of 19 years of age. I cannot close my eyes, because the only thing I can see is the features of my younger brother when I saw him last February of this year. He was still mobile that time, but now I was told that he is now bed ridden, with the cancer that has travelled to his spine and bones.
What a cruel thing to have --- what a challenge --- what a test of strength and faith.
I stood up from the lounge chair and took my dog and I drove towards the lake. I sat down in one of the benches at the lake, looking at the ripples and the waves of the great Lake Michigan.I kept on looking at the ripples and the waves over and over and over. In it I can see the young life of my kid brother -- slowly deteriorating, slowly being eaten up by the most dreadful disease called CANCER. Sometimes, one has to question one's faith on all these challenges in our lives that is happening,--- that is centering on the pain and hardships of my youngest brother.
Some of our friends said --- this is a test for me and my family.
And so out of deep frustration and anger, I asked:
"What kind of test, and why are we given this kind of test?
Is my family something that was given a stigma of suffering?
Is the religion that I have loved so much, full of test and hardhips and unfathomable questions that cannot be answered?
Have we been bad or been oppressors to other people to deserve such a test? "
WHAT TEST?... Isn't it a test -- when we call back home, our mother at times cannot understand what we are talking about and talking to her on the phone and when we come face to face with her -- she does have a clue at times where we came from and why she does not see us very often!! Mother is in the fist stage of her Alzeihmers. 84 years old.
WHAT TEST?... My father endured the brutality of the Japanese during his incarceration in Tarlac as a prisoner of war and tortured by the Japanese, loosing his ring finger to the horrid torture! My father is 84 years old, does he deserve this test also?
WHAT TEST?... When my youngest brother, dying of cancer -- also has two children who are both Autistic? What will happen to them when my brother pass away? Will they understand the disappearance of their father? It has not dawn to them that their father is ill!
WHAT TEST?... Do we have to etch in blood the answer in the suffering of my kid brother? -- do we have to face the pain and agony, everytime my brother will cry in pain and gets rushed on and off to the hospital and being given the dreadful CHEMO and RADIATION!!!
WHAT TEST???? I WANT TO KNOW WHAT TEST??? DO WE NEED A PASSING GRADE ON THIS TEST? WHAT IS THE TEST FOR??? WHY ARE WE GIVEN A TEST....I NEED TO KNOW!!!!! |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 12:34 AM |
|
|
|
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 |
| DO YOU SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE? |
Indicate whether these statements are TRUE or FALSE for you and your partnet.
*** I let my husband (partner) know when I feel like making love.
*** My husband (partner) let me know when he wants to have sex.
*** When we make love, I know how to communicate my desires.
*** My spouse (partner) is also able to communicate his desires.
*** I let my husband (partner) know what I like and when he pleases me.
*** He lets me know when I please him.
*** We are able to talk about ways to improve our sex life.
*** We share our sexual fantasies.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SCORING:
If six to eight are True, you and you husband (partner) are probably happy with your level of sexual communication. You're both able to discuss intimate matters and make your desires known.
If three to five statements are True, you can communicate about some things but not others and might benefit from building your skills in areas where they're weak.
If two statements or fewer are True, you probably both realize that you need to find ways to communicate more openly. Being able to share desires is essential to sexual happniess.
(abstracted from: Secrets of the Sexually Satisfied Women: Ten Keys to Unlocking Ultimate Pleasure by: Laura Berman, Ph.D., and Jennifer Berman, M.D.) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 12:25 PM |
|
|
|
|
| SO MANY THINGS TO DO, TOO SHORT OF TIME TO UNDERTAKE |
THE GREAT OUTLOOK IN LIFE:
I was driving this morning from work at around 0330hrs, and I took the longer route to the house. I have seen my neuro and we have talked for a long time regarding my illness. He told me that he got the MRI report and there was no TUMOR in my brain. He said that was the good part of the news regarding my medical status. But--- when he mentioned the word BUT-- I know I have to be scared. My doctor cautioned me and said, it is not too serious, as I am thinking about, when he said BUT.
My right TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA, is not that good. The Neuralgia is so fragile now and this will be giving me plenty of problems and pain. I was given a special medication to take care of the pain and problem that I am always encountering, especially at night. I have to take two orange capsules, three times a day. It is making me drowsy, but I have learn how to cope with it now--- because I have to work and even at work, I feel drowsy.And then a specail mouth guard has been ordered made for me, to ease the nerve pain from my jawbone at night so that I could at least go to sleep.
A GREAT OUTLOOK IN LIFE--- so said by my Neuro. He said, there are lots of things to look forward into, even if I have this rare illness that is affecting the nerve.
Do I have to be happy about it --- I really don't know. Because I will be in pain for the rest of my earthly life and it only eases a little bit, when I have taken the orange capsules. But when the effect of the medication is over, the pain strikes again.I was given pills, to make me fall asleep at night, but it does not do me any good--- the pain comes and when it comes, it is very painful.
MY PAIN IS NOTHING, COMPARED TO MY YOUNGER BROTHER'S PAIN.
I was in tears while I was driving home. Feeling sorry for my self, asking why do I have to have such pain in my life. I am now in the midyear of my life and then this suffering has come and I cannot take it.
But then it hit me-- my pain, compared to my youngest brother's pain who is back home, is nothing. His cancer had a remission and then it returned back, more worst that ever. It is now in his spine. Another CHEMO is being done. He is now bed ridden, and never whine and complain about his pain.
One of my cousin just returned back from the Phils. and have seen my younger brother, and he was telling me that my brother told him:
"I am just waiting for myself to die".
Very strong words, but very moving words. I wish I have the courage and the bravery of my younger brother on this pain that he is suffering. Mother can only at times see the pain of my younger brother when it hits her. But most of the time, she just looks into the abyss, said my younger sister who is with my parents. Mother is on her first stage of her Alzheimers. She has also her pain, but she is like a little child at times, becuase her pain is inside her, looking at the suffering of my younger brother and she always keep it to herself.
Father, always tells me when I call home, that he always pray that my younger brother survive his ordeal and his illness. My father has strong convictions and very religious. I cannot blame him, nor will I ever let him think otherwise. He survived his ordeals during the war, I am sure he knows how it is to survive on the brink of death.
I get scared when the phone rings late night or very early morning. I always dread bad news will come from home, telling me about my brother. I hope I am prepared when it comes.
Then I realized, while I was driving, that I was crying and it was blinding me while I am driving, so I have to stop on the side of the road.
SO MANY THINGS TO DO .... TOO SHORT OF TIME TO UNDERTAKE. |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 1:31 AM |
|
|
|
|
| HOROSCOPES, PALM READINGS -- AND IN JAPAN, BLOOD TYPES |
IT'S IN THE BLOOD More than 90 percent of Japanese citizens polled said they were familiar with typical traits for each blood type.
Blood Type Traits.
Supported characteristics of types:
*** Type A : Perfectionist, cautious, a conservative loner, suited for clerical or accounting work.
*** Type O : Curious and active, performs well in management,counseling and finance.
*** Type B : Obnoxious, stubborn yet sociable, good in design, service sector, and mass media.
*** Type AB: Complex, mysterious and creative, often excels in research and the arts.
(SOURCES: American Red Cross; Yomiuri Shimbun) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 1:19 AM |
|
|
|
| Sunday, May 08, 2005 |
| SUNDAY 8TH MAY...MOMMY DAY OF MUMMY DAY?? |
MOST BEAUTIFUL MUMMY EVER FOUND.
Archeologists uncover 2,300-year-old prize buried in sand.
SAQQARA, Egypt -- A superbly preserved 2,300-year-old mummy bearing a golden mask and covered in brilliantly colored images of gods was unveiled Tuesday at Egypt's Saqqara Pyramids.
The unidentified mummy, from the 30th pharaonic dynasty, was enclosed in a wooden sarcophagus and buried in sand at the bottom of a 20 foot shaft, where it was discovered recently by an Egyptian led archeological team.
"We have revealed what maybe the most beautiful mummy ever found in Egypt", said Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Hawass said experts will use CT scan to reveal details about the ancient Egypian's identity and how he lived and died. The mummy will be displayed at Saqqara's museum of Imhotep, the famed architect who designed the Stepped Pyramid -- Egypt's oldest.
The mummy, found two months ago, was covered from head to toe in burial cloth painted in colors that depicted a range of scenes, including the goddess Maat of balance and truth shown with outstretched arms in the shape of feathered wings.
'Stunning colors'
Also shown were the four children of the falcon headed god Horus and the rituals and processes to mummify the person, who Hawass believes must have been wealthy, considering his burial location and the fine gold used for the mummy's mask.
"The artists who made the mummy more than 2,000 years ago demonstrated the brilliance of the ancient Egyptians by using stunning colors and depicting his face so graphically," Hawass said.
The mummy was buried within the necroplis of King Teti, a funerary chambers, false doors that ancinet Egyptians said the souls of the dead would use to leave their tombs, and temples.
The necropolis lies alongside the collapsed pyramid of Teti, who ruled during ancient Egypt's 6th dynasty, more than 4,300 years ago.
(from the Associated Press by: Paul Garwood) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 12:55 PM |
|
|
|
| Friday, May 06, 2005 |
| HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY THIS SUNDAY 8TH MAY |
ANCIENT GREEK CELEBRATION GAVE BIRTH TO MOTHER'S DAY
MOTHER'S DAY is a holiday that is celebrated across the country and around the world. However, have you ever thought about the tradition behind the day?
The earliest Mother's Day celebration can be traced to the spring celebration of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the mother of the gods. During the 1600s, England celebrated a day called "Mothering Sunday" on the fourth Sunday of Lent (the 40-day period leading up to Easter) Mothering Sunday honored the mothers of England.
During this time, many of England's poor worked as servants for the wealthy. As most jobs were located far from their houses, the servants lived at the houses of their employers. On Mothering Sunday, servants had the day off and were encouraged to return home to spend the day with their mothers. A special cake, called the mothering cake, was often brought along to provide a festive touch.
As Christianity spread throughout Europe, the celebration changed to honor the "Mother Church", the spiritual power that gave Christians life and protected them from harm. Over time the church festival blended with the Mothering Sunday celebration. People began honoring their mothers as well as the church.
In the United States, Mother's Day was first suggested in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe (who wrote the words to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic") as a day dedicated to peace. Howe organized Mother's Day meeting in Boston every year.
In 1907, Anna Jarvis, of Philadelphia, campainged to establish a national Mother's Day. Jarvis persuaded her mother's church in Grafton, W. Va. to celebrate Mother's Day on the second anniversary of her mother's death, the second Sunday of May. By the next year, Mother's day was also celebrated in Philadelphia.
Jarvis and her supporters wrote to ministers, businessmen and politicians to their quest to establish a national Mother's Day. It was successful, and by 1911 Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson made the official announcement proclaiming Mother's Day as a national holiday that was to be held each year on the second Sunday of May.
While many countries celebrate their own Mother's Days at different times throughout the year, some countries such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia and Belgium, also celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May
(abstracted from Metro Creative Graphics Report) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 3:33 AM |
|
|
|
|
| US$96.6 MILLION IN REBUILDING CASH FOR IRAQ CAN'T BE FOUND |
WASHINGTON -- Nearly $100 million in Iraqi reconstruction cash which was supposed to be handed out by U.S. workers in shrink wrapped bricks of new hundred dollar bills, can't be accounted for, federal auditors reported Wednesday.
A criminal investigation into possible fraud in a handful of cases is under way to determine what happened to some of the $96.6 million that was earmarked to rebuild south central Iraq, according to a new report by the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.
The money came from Iraqi oil sales and other local revenues, not from U.S. taxpayers and it was supposed to be distributed by the main financial office of the U.S. rebuilding office, which was first part of the now defunct Coalition Provisional Authorithy and now run by Joint Area Support Group Central, hired a cadre of U.S. workers who pay cash to Iraqis and contractors to repair Iraq.
But U.S. officials did'nt watch where the cash went, the inspector general found.
An examination of financial records between June 2003 and October 2004 showed poor bookkeeping and investigators "found indicators of potential fraud", the report said.
(From CHICTRIB/by: Knight Ridder) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 3:24 AM |
|
|
|
|
| WOMAN DOUSED BABY WITH PEPPER SPRAY |
PONDERAY, Idaho ---A woman doused a 2-month old girl with pepper spray while feuding with the infant's family in a Wal-Mart store, police said.
Lorlie M. Gentenbein, 36, of Sagle, was charged Tuesday with felony injury to a child. She was released on $5,000 bail.
The 2 month old was recovering at home while being sprayed Monday Police said.
Gantenbein on Wednesday denied using the spray. She said her 16 year old daughter used the spray but did so in self defense.
She said she bought the spray for her daughter as tensions rose between the families. The Gantenbeins had rented property to the baby's family, then evicted them. She said the feud escalated when her daughter began dating the baby's father.
Gantenbein said the baby's aunt grabbed her daugher, prompting the daugher to use the spray.
"The grandmother ran through the fog with the baby," she said. "It did'nt get hit in the face".
However, the baby's mother Cristina Clayburn, told KHQ TV that Gentenbein, "was yelling". 'Get the baby! Get the baby!'.
"We're taking statements from both sides and evaluating it from ther", Hunter said.
(Associated Press) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 3:14 AM |
|
|
|
| Thursday, May 05, 2005 |
| HEY!! FINGER CUSTARD WASN'T ON THE MENU |
RALEIGH, N.C.-- This time, no one is doubting the claim: A customer really did find part of a finger in a pint of a frozen chocolate custard purchased at a shop in North Carolina.
The piece of index finger, which an employee had severed at the first knuckle, was found Sunday by Clarence Stowers in a pint of frozen dessert he purchased from Kohl's Frozen Custard in the coastal town of Wilmington.
Kohl's owner, Craig Thomas, said employee Brandon Fizer, 23, tried to catch a bucket of custard he had dropped and accidentally put his finger into a machine that beats the custard mix. As shop workers tried to help Fizer, a drive through window attendant unknowingly scooped frozen custard from the bucket containing the finger and served it to Stowers.
The state is investigating whether Kohl's was in compliance with workplace safety rules.
Stowers did not return repeated calls Tuesday. He reportedly has hired a lawyer.
The North Carolina discovery came not long after Anna Ayala made headlines a fingertip in a bowl of chili at a Wendy's restaurant in San Jose, Calif.
For Kohl's, it was the scond time in less than a year that a worker lost a finger on the same frozen custard machine. The worker, William Franklin, was found by investigastors to have been negligent in the July 2004 incident.
Franklin, however, contends he was only in his thrid day on the job and had been given no safety training. He is suing Kohl's, which he said fired him.
Franklin said his severed fingers did'nt end up in any food. Doctors were not able to attach it.
(Associard Press) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 3:10 PM |
|
|
|
|
| BRAIN DAMAGED FIREMAN WAKES UP AFTER 9 YEARS |
ORCHARD PARK , N.Y. -- Nearly 9 1/2 years after a firefighter was left brain damaged and mostly mute during a 1995 roof collapse, he did something that shocked his doctors. He asked for his wife.
Staffers at the nursing home where Donald Herbert has lived for more than seven years raced to get Linda Herbert on the telephone.
It was the first of many conversations the patient had with his wife and four sons Saturday during a 14 hour stretch, Herbert's uncle Simon Manka said.
"How long have I been away?" Herbert asked "We told him almost 10 years", the Uncle said,"He thought it was only three months."
"He stayed up 'til early morning talking to his boys and catching up on what they've been doing over the last several years", firefighter Anthony Lineratore said.
Dr. Rose Lynn Sherr of New York University said such a recovery is "almost unheard of after 10 years."
(Associated Press) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 3:47 AM |
|
|
|
|
| U.S. SAYS EARLY MARIJUANA USE LINKED TO MENTAL DISORDERS |
WASHINGTON -- Youngsters who use marijuana are more likely to develop serious mental health problems, the government said Tuesday. A private group said law enforecement increasingly is trageting people who smoke and deal the drug.
Government officials say recent research makes a stronger case that smoking marijuana is a causal agent in psychiatric symptoms, particularly schizophrenia.
"A growing body of evidence now demonstrates that smoking marijuana can increase the risk of serious mental problems," said John P. Walters, director of the White House office of Drug Control Policy.
Administration officials pointed to a handful of studies to make their case. One, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Serives Administration, found adult marijuana smokers who first began using the drug before age 12 were twice as likely to have suffered a serious mental illness in the past year as those who began smoking after 18.
Enforcement policy questioned
Those who first started as teens also were at significantly higher risk.
Also Tuesday, the Sentencing Project released a report that found the government's "war on drugs" has become the "war on drug" as police agencies increasingly target marijuana.
Of some 700,000 marijuana arrests in 2002, 88 percent were for possession, it said. And only one of every 18 of those arrests ended in a felony conviction.
(Associated Press/ Pauline Jelinek) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 3:35 AM |
|
|
|
| Tuesday, May 03, 2005 |
| NUMBERS IN U.S. DOLLARS |
*** US$ 81 Billion. Amount U.S. congress approved to fund military efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, in its fifth such emergency spending bill since Sept. 11.
*** US$ 300 Billion. Estimated total, including last weeks cash infusion, U.S. Congress has allocated fro combat and reconstruction in these two countries.
*** US$ 252,000 Amount of the winning bid for Judy Garland's blue gingham dress from "The Wizard of Oz", sold at auction last week.
*** US$ 7 Billion. Estimated amount of Social Security taxes paid each year by illegal immigrants, even though they will not receive benefits.
*** US$ 1.5 Billion. Estimated amount illegal immigrants pay each year in taxes for Medicare, for which they are also ineligible.
*** US$ 43,656. Average salary of college-educated Asian-American women in 2003.
*** US$ 41,066. Average salary of college-educated black American women in 2003.
*** US$ 37,761. Average salary of college-educated white American women in 2003.
*** US$ 51.6 Million Total compensation John Antioco, CEO if the Blockbuster video rental chain, received in 2004.
*** US$ 1.25 Billion Amount Blockbuster lost last year; the company saw its stock fall 47% in 2004 and just announced plans to lay off 300 workers.
*** US$ 2.06 Record nationwide average of price of a gallon of gas in the U.S. first week of March.
*** US$ 2.44 Average price in Hawaii, the state with the most expensive gas.
*** US$ 6.48 Average price of a gallon of gas in the Netherlands, two weeks ago.
*** US$ 0 Amount of money former Playboy centerfold Anna Nicole Smith will get from her husband's estate, after a California couts last week struck down an earlier ruling awarding her US$88.5 million.
(Abstracted from TIME/Numbers) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 12:23 PM |
|
|
|
| Monday, May 02, 2005 |
| VATICAN PRIEST ACCUSED OF HELPING SECRET POLICE |
Hejmo denies being collaborator in Poland's communist era.
WARSAW, POland - A polish priest at the Vatican was accused Wednesday of collaborating with the communist era secret police when Pope John Paul II was inspiring his countrymen to resist the Soviet backed regime.
The Rev. Konrad Stanislaw Hejmo, a Dominican priest, acknowledged late Wednesday he had shared reports that he wrote for Polish Church officicials with an acquaintance, a Pole who live in Germany, but said he did not suspect the man might have been a spy.
The accusation originated with Leon Kieres, head of the National Remembrance Institute that guards communist era police files. At a news conference Wednesday, he said Hejmo "was a secret collaborator of the Polish secret service under the names Hejnal and Dominik."
Hejmo, 69, was an ever present figure at John Paul's public events, leading Polish pilgrims around and taking groups up to see the pope.
He had extensive contacts with Poles who visited Rome, and had arranged housing for Polish refugees who had fled the communist regime.
Hejmo told reporters outside his villa in Rome that he had been making written reports on church matters for Polish cnhurch officials and shared the reports with an acquaintance introuced to him by other priests as someone interested in church affairs.
'Convincing and shocking'
"I have never been a secrect collaborator", Hejmo said. "I can blame myself for being naive. This man came, we helped and on top of it I took his family around Rome ... I partly feel a victim of this situation now".
Hejmo said he had only just learned the man, whom he did not name, might have been an intelligence agent, Hejmo said the man has since died.
Hejmo's Dominican superior, the Rev. Maciej Zieba, told reporters at the news confernce he had seen the files, which he called 'convincing and shocking'.
(Associated Press/ Monika Scislowska) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 9:03 PM |
|
|
|
|
| About Me |
|
Name: infraternam meam
Home: Chicago, United States
About Me: I am now at the prime of my life
and have been married for the past 25 years.
Sickly at times, but wants to see the elixir vita,
so that I will be able to see my grandchildren from my two boys.
See my complete profile
|
| Previous Post |
|
| Archives |
|
|
| Links |
|
|
| Powered by |
|
|
