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Complications during an oral surgery injured Grace Rosewood's brain so much so that when she celebrated her second birthday, the young girl could barely walk or even lift her head.
"She was diagnosed with hypotonic cerebral palsy, so she's weak all over her body, but it's not from the muscles, it's from the brain," OIivia Rosewood said. "She had difficulty picking things up. She couldn't hold a pencil, and it was not just the coordination, it was the strength."
So when Olivia heard about a cutting edge procedure being pioneered at Duke University using infusions of umbilical cord blood, she signed Grace up.
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Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, a researcher at Duke University who was conducting a clinical trial, said the cells in cord blood may have the ability to repair damage in the body.
"We are taking cord blood that parents have banked when children were born, thawing them out and washing them, and infusing them directly into the child's blood," she said.
"The cells are smarter than we are. And they are attracted to areas of injuries by signals given off by the cells inside the child's body that are near the injury."
Grace received three infusions of her own cord blood this year, which was banked right after she was born.
"Some of the cells have properties that will allow them to decrease inflammation and prevent damage after an injury. Some of the cells have properties that allow them to give off signals to cells already in the body to repair damage in various organs, including the brain. Some of the cells are actual stem cells that can turn into cells of the nervous system and replace missing cells," Kurtzberg said.
The procedure is experimental and Kurtzberg is still waiting for the results of a larger double blind clinical trial.
"We are encouraged, and we have a lot of data in animals to make us enthusiastic about the fact that we expect these cells to make a difference. But until we have the results of the trial we can't be sure," she said.
Grace, now 5 years old, has shown big improvements, Olivia said.
"We've already seen these amazing changes in her. We've seen her for the first time be able to write her name. First to be able to hold a pencil," she said.
"She's already gotten so much strength. She's dancing. She's walking forward, backwards, sideways, in circle. That's the most beautiful thing, to see her light up."
Grace was dropped from her insurance when she was 2 because of her preexisting condition. Olivia is using crowdfunding to help pay for the procedure.
Kurtzberg is also working on an initiative that would make donor cord blood available to patients who didn't get their own cord blood banked at birth.


text: You need an internet connection for some of the functions when using GPS navigation. It's important to find out if you can access the internet by loading a website in the browser on your mobile phone. If you can't access the internet, you need to solve this problem. By solving this problem you'll most likely solve your problem with using GPS navigation.

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An Atlanta-area company recently harvested its first crop from a model farm it has developed in the African nation of Zambia.
In a college classroom in North Carolina a professor of Global Health Ethics puts a deceptively simple question to the class: "what causes disease?"
Atlanta is known as a center of global health activity. We are anchored in a state with a strong agricultural base, as well. What do these two things have in common?
Though pay scales and prestige do not suggest it, Atlanta's schools of public health are more valuable to global health than the highly-specialized physicians we tend to prize here in the U.S.
While we have been working to tackle the diseases of poverty, the diseases of wealthier countries have sneaked into the same populations we serve.
Where poverty exists, so do high rates of preventable disease. And where such disease exists, poor sanitation is often a root cause.
Did you send a greeting card to someone over the weekend to mark World Water Day? Probably not.
The big news recently is the $28.8 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the Task Force for Global Health targeting "Neglected Tropical Diseases" (NTDs).
Project to Include Community Painting Event By MARTA MARTA's public art program Artbound is calling for artists to design a mural that can be translated into stencils, so the community can assist with painting the design on concrete barriers at a new bus transit center in Clayton County. As part of phase one of transit improvements at the Clayton County Justice Center, MARTA will move bus stop operations from Post Way to within the center's northwest parking lot. The concrete barriers will serve as a temporary wall between buses and bus shelters and waiting areas until the permanent structure can be built. The transit hub will serve four bus routes with 800 daily riders and this project aims to bring vibrancy and color to the site. You can view a similar project here: NY DOT Barrier Beautification Successful applicants will be muralists and painters who show artistic merit demonstrated in a strong portfolio of work, as well as a willing spirit to work with the community. Required Submittals: Ten digital images of relevant previous work, labeled with title, dimensions and completion date Statement of Purpose describing your general approach and themes you will incorporate into the design Resume with current contact information and to include any community-centered project history Two references Applicants must submit these materials in a single PDF document (not to exceed 10 MB) to [email protected] by May 29 at 5 p.m. The selected artist will be notified by June 5 and must submit a final design for approval before completing commission. Designs may not represent violence or be profane or graphic in nature and may not contain overt political or religious messaging. Artbound will pay an artist's fee of $5,000 to cover design and creation of the stencils and will host the community painting day tentatively set for Saturday, June 27, with consideration given to current social distancing requirements. One percent of MARTA's annual budget is allocated to enhance the ridership experience through visual and performance art.
Attributed to Deisha Barnett, Chief Brand and Communications Officer, Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Metro Atlanta Chamber It's been a tough month. Watching what has happened in our own state, our own city and across the country has been painful. We firmly believe that in metro Atlanta, our differences are our strength. In Atlanta, we come together, we engage in tough conversations, we find solutions and we work together to make our community — and the world — better. We are proud to be called the 'Black Mecca' and an international community that welcomes everyone, regardless of race, origin, gender, sexual orientation, religion or creed. This is a legacy that we are committed to holding up and preserving.
By Jim Durrett – executive director, Buckhead Community Improvement District I tend to wake early. As I lie in bed, trying not to disturb my wife Pat and hoping that it is after 4 a.m. and (please!) closer to 5 o'clock, where once I reflected on my good fortune and opportunity, I now sometimes experience a twinge of anxiety as I consider the day ahead, how to navigate this sui generis moment and deliver on my promise to improve conditions in my orbit. In the world of community improvement districts, the time it takes to get from idea to implementation of a solution can take multiple years, if not decades. When the world suddenly changes, as it has in the past few months, you should ask yourself the question, "Is what we are working on right now the right thing to do given the uncertain future before us?" In other words, might future conditions in the public realm require some other response inconsistent with what you are about to do? My conclusion regarding our mission in Buckhead – to make meaningful improvements in the transportation network and public realm that connect people and places, and thereby create and maintain a safe, accessible and livable urban environment – is that what we are doing is still absolutely necessary in a COVID-19 world. So, what are we doing? A LOT! You can go to our website to learn about everything that we invest our tax dollars in to improve our 2.5 square miles. But I want to focus on seven capital improvement projects underway right now that you can see from Peachtree. East Paces Ferry, between Roxboro and Lenox roads, has long been known as a bumpy ride. When the City of Atlanta proposed repaving of the road using Renew Atlanta funding, the CID jumped at the opportunity to partner with the City and combine resources to repave the road from Roxboro to GA 400 and redesign it for people – not just cars. As of last week, it is now 100% complete, with final road striping just applied. Also included in the Renew Atlanta bond program was funding to address Americans with Disability Act (ADA) requirements throughout the city. Again, we jumped at the opportunity to partner and by mid-summer we will have finished repairing and upgrading sidewalks, ramps and street crossings on Maple Drive, Pharr Road, Piedmont Road, Roswell Road, Lenox Road, and Peachtree. We call the area bounded by West Paces Ferry, East Andrews Drive and Roswell Road the West Village. Sidewalks are in poor condition, if not absent, the streets have needed re-paving for a while, and the area has experienced severe flooding in recent years due to a lack of sufficient stormwater infrastructure. Construction is now underway to vastly improve the walkability of this area, improve the streetscapes and address flooding. Work should be substantially complete by November. The Buckhead CID's creation 20 years ago was spawned out of a desire to address the traffic sewer that Peachtree, Atlanta's "Main Street," had become. The CID was behind the transformation of Peachtree from Maple Drive, just west of Piedmont, up to Peachtree Dunwoody Road. This month, we will kick off the construction of the third phase of Peachtree's transformation from Maple Drive to Shadowlawn. This project should be complete by September of 2021. Travel a block north on Peachtree and you arrive at the intersection with Piedmont. We have almost finished redesigning the Piedmont corridor between Peachtree and Lenox roads to improve traffic flow while better accommodating people on foot and on bicycles. Construction of this project is projected to begin in the summer of 2021. I will be writing more about this project in a few weeks to give you a view into how complicated and complex a project of this magnitude can be. Lenox Road is a major artery into Buckhead from the south and from GA 400. We are in the process of redesigning Lenox Road, from the Lenox MARTA station, on East Paces Ferry Road, all the way up to and across Peachtree. I am very excited about this project because of a particular element that we are incorporating: a generous bicycle and pedestrian facility on the west side of Lenox Road right next to Lenox Square (see the rendering). In the coming years, we will carry the effort further north, but for now, the project's design is 60% complete with construction targeted for late 2021 or early 2022. Head toward Brookhaven on Peachtree, past Phipps Plaza, and you come to the Wieuca Road intersection. Turn left on Wieuca and you come to a confusing and unsafe intersection where Wieuca splits off to the right and Phipps Boulevard bends to the left. We are partnering with the City of Atlanta to design and build a multi-lane roundabout at this location. We spent nearly two years determining that a roundabout was the best alternative here and we are now close to completing the preliminary design. Construction could begin as early as the end of 2021. When all of these projects are completed in just a few more years, Buckhead will be more walkable, accessible and safe for people on foot, on bicycles and in vehicles. To deliver these seven vital projects, from initial studies through construction, we will have spent $52 million in local, state and federal tax and bond dollars with $32 million coming from the CID, resulting in a better built environment for the people of Atlanta and those who come to visit us here in Buckhead.
By ANDPI Just as a chorus of voices had begun to move the needle on new resources for affordable housing in our region, the COVID-19 pandemic has blunted our momentum. Unlike the housing and financial crisis that became the Great Recession, this situation unfolded very quickly. Will recovery come as quickly? How are housing credit markets reacting? What will this mean to developments underway and those seeking capital? What will the post-coronavirus environment look like for the affordable housing movement? Will there be an unexpected opportunity to establish policies designed to produce more equitable results for low-income households? At the next Atlanta Regional Housing Forum, moderator Bill Bolling will speak with several sector and industry leaders to understand the depths of the damage and to ask how we pivot quickly to recovery. We'll hear from experts on residential mortgage markets, government intervention, affordable housing development, vulnerable populations, and more. Join us online Wednesday, June 10 at 9:30 a.m. for the next Atlanta Regional Housing Forum. This virtual Forum will be live-streamed on the internet. The link to the live event will be emailed to registrants and posted at www.AtlantaRegionalHousingForum.org. REGISTER NOW
Featured Image: Parks are critical infrastructure that build the resilience of cities and people, especially in times of crisis. By Michael Halicki, Park Pride's Executive Director It's June: the unofficial beginning of summer. In a normal year, we'd be looking forward to this season with excitement, with kids enjoying a break from school, families planning reunions and vacations, and communities preparing for barbecues and block parties. Unfortunately, there has been almost nothing "normal" about 2020. What does summer look like when schools have been shut down since March, popular tourist destinations are closed, and people are encouraged to keep their distance from each another? For those of you asking this question, I encourage you to look no further than your local, neighborhood park. Where accessible, parks have been one of the few places to recreate and get a daily dose of nature safely and close to home. Parks and recreation centers have also served essential functions as distribution points for food banks and COVID-19 testing sites. I predict that through the summer, they will continue to serve both of these functions, providing much needed support to the communities of which they're a part. While many of us have perhaps never thought of parks and recreation centers as critical infrastructure, that is, in fact, the exact the purpose for which they were originally created. While the modern idea of parks has become associated with playgrounds, baseball fields, and park benches, parks in America actually began as an initiative to improve public health during past pandemics and increase urban resiliency. You only have to look around at some of Atlanta's most well-known parks to see that this is true. For example: Historic 4th Ward Park and the newly constructed Kathryn Johnston Memorial Park incorporate green infrastructure elements, absorbing millions of gallons stormwater that would otherwise flood surrounding communities. Linear parks, like Olmsted Linear Park and the Atlanta BeltLine, double as transit corridors, connecting communities and making alternate modes of transportation feasible. Cascade Springs Nature Preserve and Blue Heron Nature Preserve are urban oases of nature, serving as habitats for native plants and animals and contributing to the ecological health of urban areas (and the health of the people who live there) beyond the parks' boundaries. At Park Pride, this is what we refer to as the power of parks. These flexible public spaces have emerged as the cornerstones of our communities and contributed to the resiliency of our city and people during this COVID-19 crisis; we know that parks have played a critical role in sustaining Atlantans' mental and physical health… at least for those who had easy access to them. Now, our recovery as a city demands that we focus on achieving access to parks and recreation for all. While Atlanta has made considerable strides on this front (as illustrated by our climb in The Trust for Public Land's 2020 ParkScore), it's true that thousands of Atlanta's families still do not have a park or recreation facility within walking distance of their home. Park Pride believes that everyone deserves to have a great park nearby, and for over 30 years, we've worked alongside communities to increase access to quality parks, to elevate community voices in shaping their local greenspaces, and ensuring that parks meet the needs and reflect the culture of the communities they serve. Still today, though safety and necessity have dictated that we shift to a virtual model of engagement, we are working to bring great, community-centered parks to every neighborhood throughout the city. In 2019 we made enormous strides toward this goal, as shown in our newly released Impact Report. But the work isn't done and we need your help to get there, as well as that from government, businesses large and small, and other nonprofits. As we launch into a summer unlike any other in living memory, let's think about the critical infrastructure that parks provide and the foundation of societal support upon which they were built. Parks are not just fun and games, and a return to the status quo isn't an option. As much as each community needs schools, roads and sidewalks, and fresh food, so too do they need parks. "Great parks for all" is not just a want, it's a need. And when do we need them? If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it's that they're needed now.
By Operation HOPE For many Americans, navigating the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is overwhelming. We are proud to serve as a financial advocate and intermediary for these affected homeowners, renters, and small business owners in facilitating financial recovery. Since our HOPE Inside Disaster COVID-19 response began five weeks ago, we have provided over 14,500 virtual financial recovery services, including credit and money management coaching, small business counseling and loan application assistance, and mortgage and student loan deferment. Many thanks to our corporate and alliance partners for their ongoing support! Organizations that wish to provide financial or in-kind support to HOPE Inside Disaster may contact Mary Ehrsam, President of HOPE Partnerships, at [email protected] Last week, our response efforts were featured by several mainstream news outlets. On Wednesday, Chairman John Hope Bryant joined host Gayle King on "CBS This Morning" to discuss the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 on the financial health of minority communities. Click the video below to watch Chairman Bryant speak on the ongoing work of Operation HOPE and our response to the coronavirus pandemic. Find more resources at www.hopeinsidecovid19.org
Featured Image: Field epidemiologists conduct contact tracing in Uganda during the coronavirus pandemic. Photo courtesy of Aggrey Byaruhanga. By The Task Force for Global Health It has been more than two months since the World Health Organization's declaration of the coronavirus pandemic and, since the crisis began, more than 5.5 million people have contracted the virus, nearly 350,000 have died, and people worldwide are suffering from the economic impact. Despite the challenges of "pandemic fatigue" as people tire of isolation, uncertainty, and information overload, The Task Force for Global Health is encouraged by progress in a number of areas as we continue to leverage our global partnerships and capabilities and pivot existing programs for COVID-19 response. In a Q&A with our public health informatics expert, Vivian Singletary, JM, MBA, Director of The Task Force's Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII), Singletary shares about our work with the CDC Foundation, Google, Apple and other technology leaders on new and existing digital tools for contact tracing. Tell us about the partnership with the CDC Foundation to convene public health and technology organizations on digital contact tracing tools. Rapid contact tracing and notification of people exposed to infected persons is critically important to stop further spread of the disease. Several digital tools have been developed to support various parts of the contact tracing process, such as an exposure notification application program interface (API) – a cell phone application that can notify users if they have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 via text notifications – co-developed by Apple and Google. However, there has been no national-level opportunity for local and state health officials to jointly assess these digital tools and how they might best support contact tracing, so our partnership with the CDC Foundation seeks to create this opportunity by convening a series of virtual forums. What are the goals of these forums? The aim is to provide guidance to state and local public health officials to assist their understanding of the marketplace of digital tools in support of contact tracing and to provide guidance to technology companies to ensure that the technology meets the functional and privacy needs and standards required by state and local public health officials for contact tracing. As one of our first tasks, the group will consider the technology being developed by Google and Apple to support the development of cell phone notifications. With technologies like these, many worry about privacy implications. How do we ensure that this type of contact tracing is done ethically and does not infringe on privacy rights? Privacy is an important issue, and as part of this forum, we will explore those concerns as they relate to tools such as the Google/Apple API for contact tracing. Those discussions will help inform functional requirements that technology companies need to consider as they develop digital contact tracing tools to ensure they meet the needs of state and public health departments. We would also make sure to effectively communicate how the solutions being developed address those privacy concerns as well. Are tools like the Google/Apple API the only way we can do effective contact tracing? The Google/Apple API is an exposure notification tool, which is just one aspect of contact tracing. The technology can be used to identify individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 and alert those who may have been exposed as a result of any interaction, which can potentially help speed up and enhance contact tracing and slow the spread of disease. However, it does not replace the important role that public health practitioners play in obtaining details from a person who has tested positive for COVID-19, as well as the details associated with their contacts and addressing the concerns and questions of people affected. With or without digital contact tracing tools, a public health workforce will still be essential to filling this role. Related Could We Have Been More Prepared for the Coronavirus Pandemic? Improving Quality of Care at the Core of Health System Strengthening Also See Public Health Informatics Institute The Task Force for Global Health's COVID-19 Response
By Kate Sweeney During the COVID-19 pandemic, many once-mundane tasks — like dropping by the grocery store or pharmacy — represent a newfound degree of difficulty, and even risk. This is especially true for folks 65 and up, who are more endangered than others by the highly contagious coronavirus. In these times, many service agencies have stepped up or completely transformed the way they do their work. Read on.
Faris Albakheet, left, of Busboys and Poets, and Robert Laster of Saval Foodservice, distribute free food to restaurant industry workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic at Fourteenth and V Streets Northwest in Washington, D.C., on April 17. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo) By AnnMaura Connolly and Eric Tanenblatt, Dentons Ed. note: This article was originally published in Roll Call on May 6, 2020. We can't spend our way out of our problems, but we can serve our way out of them together. The crises the United States knows best — fires and floods, hurricanes and tornadoes, school shootings and mass violence — have all been proximate to individual communities or states. Government and civil society are prepared for this backyard disaster paradigm because we've been called to respond to so many before. But the coronavirus pandemic is a uniquely national crisis affecting every nook and cranny of the country, and policymakers have struggled to develop a "whole of America" response. Predictably, the gut reaction in Washington has been to spend money — lots. But even as Congress writes trillion-dollar checks to stabilize the economy, the unprecedented strain on our health systems, schools and essential public services is so acute that stimulus alone won't be enough. America will need to tap a well far deeper than its treasury if it's going to pull itself out of this hole. We're not going to spend our way out of these problems, but we can serve our way out of them together. Even in isolation, Americans are united and hungry to serve and help their communities recover, but few know how. New legislation introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers would connect this profound desire to serve with concrete opportunities to get the country back to normal by increasing our investment in civilian national service. National service programs, which augment the enormous contributions of community and faith-based nonprofits by mobilizing Americans in sustained service, are among the least funded in the constellation of federal agencies even though they generate some of the highest returns on investment for government and society. AmeriCorps is already on the ground working in hard-hit communities, just as it's done in every local natural disaster for the last 25 years. All across the country, AmeriCorps members are supporting testing and contact tracing efforts at the direction of governors; assisting with intake at drive-thru COVID-19 testing centers to support the CDC; organizing blood drives; setting up temporary isolation sites; delivering emergency food and supplies to vulnerable populations; making support calls to elderly and medically fragile community members; and supporting students to mitigate the tremendous learning loss resulting from school closures. In schools, where students and teachers are making the bumpy transition to distance learning, AmeriCorps members' work will be felt for a generation as they address the twin challenges of prolonged classroom absences and historic state and local revenue shortfalls. The longer students are out of conventional classroom settings, the more likely they are to slip through the cracks as already stressed parents step into the void as unprepared educators. As if the distance learning paradigm wasn't challenging enough, research from the last recession showed that forced cuts in education spending tracked with poorer student performance and that downturns in families' personal economies negatively affected students. AmeriCorps members are addressing those challenges in real time by providing meaningful virtual and academic support as students navigate this "new normal." The limited funding currently available has allowed AmeriCorps to deploy 75,000 national service members to help address core weaknesses in education, the economy and public health exposed by this pandemic. But by leaning into the robust national service infrastructure that supports AmeriCorps, as Sen. Chris Coons and other House and Senate lawmakers have proposed, the country could deploy around a quarter of a million civilian national service members annually to help us respond to and recover from this pandemic. That's a quarter of a million service members helping to teach and tutor America's students, testing and treating our work force, and doing the hard work of pulling us out of this. The road to normal is a long and uncertain one, but one thing is clear: National service is delivering meaningful results in communities across the country, and Congress needs to support its vital response and recovery work. AnnMaura Connolly is the president of Voices for National Service and the chief strategy officer of City Year Inc., an education nonprofit funded partly by AmeriCorps and dedicated to helping public schools. Eric Tanenblatt is a former Republican board member of the Corporation for National & Community Service, the independent federal agency that administers AmeriCorps. He serves as the global public policy chair of the international law firm Dentons.
By Milton J. Little, Jr., CEO & President of United Way of Greater Atlanta I know I am not alone in finding myself deeply saddened by the senseless and unjust deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery – individuals who look like me, my sons and my grandchildren. Their deaths have reminded us that coronavirus is hardly the only disease we need to fear, fight and prevent. Nor is it the only disease for which we may be asymptomatic. Their deaths have brought into painful awareness the malignant economic, social, geographic and racial issues that divide our region. United Way of Greater Atlanta has long been aware of how these divisions and inequities undermine the well-being of our entire region. We can see the disruptive power of those inequities, and where they have destroyed opportunity and potential, in our Child Well-Being maps. There's only one way to overcome these divisions though, and that's by coming together in a united way, recognizing our shared, individual and regional aspirations. At United Way of Greater Atlanta, we operate at the intersection of civic, political, business, labor, religious and nonprofit communities. Our work touches the region's most urgent human service issues. Our donors and supporters are from every community, race, gender and age. Bringing together these diverse stakeholders, with insights from our Child Well-Being Index, gives us the muscle and vision needed to drive change. While there is no telling what else the future may bring, many of us share a vision of the future we want to build – a future where every community has the educational institutions and public health resources needed to care for its citizens. A future where every family has the financial security it needs to remain housed and fed, even during times of crisis. A future where every child can walk the streets, unafraid of unforeseen and undeserved tragedy. We offer our highly respected regional convening table for the healing work that must be done. Now more than ever, we must Live United.
By Dr. Victoria Seals, President – Atlanta Technical College In a moment of brilliance, famed NCAA Division I basketball coach Pat Summit once declared that "life is what it is, but it will be what you make it." In the weeks and months that we all have been dealing with the effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic, those words have resonated deeply with me as I consider what to say to our students; my colleagues in higher education and the high school graduating class of 2020. Indeed, there have been moments of personal and professional frustration for everyone. No one enjoys having their routine totally and irreparably disrupted, but as leaders, we are called to move, think and plan beyond the current situation so that we are positioned for success on the other side of this pandemic. To the Class of 2020, know that your perseverance has prepared each of you as leaders in your own right, and now is the time to move, think, and plan for your future. At Atlanta Technical College (ATC), I am fortunate to lead a campus that has been laser-focused on producing top-notch, career-ready professionals for a global workforce. Our graduates are thriving in some of the most competitive fields in our region, and are making a significant contribution to the metro Atlanta economy. We educate and train many of Atlanta's chefs, nurses, barbers, accountants, HVAC technicians, cybersecurity technicians, hoteliers, truck drivers, and our curriculum covers over 150 other academic concentrations. In this our 53rd year, we are proud of the thousands of lives we have impacted and the opportunities we have been able to create for so many individuals and families. And as we contend with the ramifications of the pandemic, I believe that ATC is uniquely positioned and prepared to have an even greater impact on our community and the economy by offering individuals a path toward being a productive and competitive force in tomorrow's job market. Again, success, from my scholastic perspective, represents the sum of academic preparation and the ambitious pursuit of opportunities. ATC is that place where those equations become reality as 99% our graduates land careers after graduation – ranging from our essential heroes keeping the nation moving during our current health crisis to successful entrepreneurs who have boldly blazed their own professional paths. What does life look like as we emerge from COVID-19? Undoubtedly, there will be a greater focus on competently trained service and technical workers. At ATC, we are embracing our role in training and retooling displaced workers as an integral step towards rebuilding the workforce and stabilizing the economy as businesses rebound from the pandemic. Higher education is a business, and while institutions of higher education have taken a major financial blow as a result of the pandemic, our community and technical colleges are in a strong position to lead the conversation about what's next and being instructive and prescriptive in providing recovery strategies for people and businesses alike. To the Class of 2020, I challenge you to think boldly as we emerge from this pandemic and pursue your goals with relentless zeal and unwavering persistence. In the words of LeBron James, recently shared during the nationally televised "Graduate Together" event, "After all this, you guys are prepared for anything." I could not agree more. At ATC, we understand that educating future leaders and an essential workforce is an all-encompassing, ever-changing journey. Our comprehensive technical training programs are an incomparable asset in strengthening the network of the workforce and economic ecosystems, not just in Georgia but across the nation. ATC is prepared to offer the high school graduating class of 2020 with a proven path towards career acceleration and economic stability – a path that rivals many 4-year degree programs for a fraction of the cost. The opportunities for success have never been greater for ATC or for individuals ready to flourish on the other side of this global pandemic and economic crisis. The door for your future is wide open and ATC is ready to receive you with open arms. -Dr. Victoria Seals, President – Atlanta Technical College ABOUT ATLANTA TECHNICAL COLLEGE Atlanta Technical College is a vibrant part of the Technical College System of Georgia and was named its College of the Year in 2012. Prior to that, the college was selected as America's Best Community College by Washington Monthly magazine. Most recently, Atlanta Technical College has been ranked as one of the best in the nation for online courses and programs. In 2017, Atlanta Technical College celebrated 50 years of serving the City of Atlanta along with Fulton and Clayton Counties. For more information on Atlanta Technical College and its 150 programs, visit www.atlantatech.edu. ABOUT DR. VICTORIA SEALS Dr. Victoria Seals is the sixth president of Atlanta Technical College and came to the College after serving several years as Vice President of Academic Affairs. Named among the Atlanta Business Chronicle's "Who's Who in Education" in May 2017, Dr. Seals serves as a board member with the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, Horizons Atlanta, and Work Source Atlanta. In addition to Board service with the Clayton Chamber of Commerce, she also chaired the Chamber's 2019 Economic Development Committee. Dr. Seals received a B. S. in mathematics from Spelman College. She continued her studies at the University of Georgia where she received an M.A. in mathematics, an Ed.S. in mathematics education, and an Ed.D. in educational leadership.
By Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students, (GEEARS) Imagine a scenario in which the state of Georgia decided that in order to balance the budget, several thousand students could no longer attend third grade. And what if this happened even though the state had a pool of funds ready to be tapped into to avoid these cuts in the first place? Sounds far-fetched, right? But that's exactly what our legislators might tell the parents of our state's rising Pre-K students as they consider unnecessary and short-sighted cuts to Pre-K. For nearly three decades, Georgia has built a nationally recognized, Lottery-funded Pre-K Program that has served 1.6 million children and annually employs around 8,000 teachers. This program prepares children with the critical skills and experiences necessary for success in school and has become a shining example of the power early education. However, in response to the dire budget situation caused by falling tax revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state's leadership has mandated across-the-board 14% budget cuts. This would directly impact the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL), the agency that manages the Pre-K program so efficiently and effectively. To meet this one-size-fits-all approach, DECAL would have to cut around $53 million from the Pre-K budget, leading to a reduction of instructional days from 180 to 167 and the cutting of 4,000 slots (approximately 180 classrooms) from the program. If implemented, these cuts would mean that Georgia's youngest children would miss out on gaining the critical skills that prepare them for success in kindergarten and beyond. A short-term reduction to Pre-K would have a long-term impact, and we cannot afford to keep our kids home at a time when brain development matters most. Many families also depend on the early education these programs provided, especially as more Georgians come out of lock-down and return to their workplaces. Perhaps most alarming, these cuts are unnecessary. Pre-K is funded through the Georgia Lottery revenues, which have remained steady. The Lottery also has a rainy-day reserve fund of more than $1 billion dollars, $700 million of which is available unrestricted. Supporting our children through tough times is exactly what we should be doing with these funds. When GEEARS started this Guardians of Atlanta's Future column with Sheltering Arms, the Junior League of Atlanta, and Communities in Schools, we by no means thought we were the only guardians out there. Quite the opposite—we know there were millions out there like you who are willing and able to join the fight to protect our youngest Georgians. And the time to act is now if we want to protect Georgia's Lottery-funded Pre-K Program. There are several things we can all do to help: Take Action: Join the more than 7,000 Georgians who have used our action alert on Pre-K to reach out to their legislators, and please share it with your friends and family! Complete Our Survey: If you are a Georgia parent/caregiver of a child 5 years of age or younger, we invite you to participate in this survey about your experiences with parenting and child care in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Share Your Early Education Story: We believe your stories will help maintain vital funding for child care programs, Georgia's Pre-K, and Head Start. We will share your experiences with change makers and stakeholders to strengthen our advocacy efforts as we work to improve outcomes for young children and families in our state. Click here to view suggested topics and submit your story. Together, we can protect and defend the future of Pre-K in Georgia, and the future of thousands of young children across the state.


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Community foundation asset, gift and grant amounts reached new highs in 2012 for the first time since the recession, according to a report released Tuesday by the Council on Foundations and CF Insights.
Researchers collected data from 276 organizations, including those representing more than 90% of total estimated community foundation assets.
The study found that the community foundation sector represents $58 billion in assets, $6.9 billion in gifts and $4.5 billion in grants. Seventy-nine percent of community foundations had 2012 asset levels that exceeded those of 2007.
Between 2011 and 2012, assets experienced average growth of 9%, gifts 15% and grants 6%.
Seventy-five percent of community foundations increased their operating budget in 2012.
According to the study, administrative fees still drive community foundation revenue, accounting for about 65% of total revenue on average. Although most community foundations surveyed had a diversified revenue base, this was particularly true for smaller entities.
Half of small community foundations' revenue came from administrative fee, compared with 70% for midsize ones and 76% for large groups.
In another significant finding, donor advisors increased assets held in community foundation donor-advised funds by 22% on average, faster growth than for assets overall.
Excluding supporting organizations, DAFs represented 69% of total gifts and 61% of total grants for community foundations.


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Having already fought for the "Right to keep" arms at SCOTUS in the DC vs Heller. Alan Gura is now beginning the fight for the "Right to bear" arms.
The new lawsuit challenges Washington D.C.'s policy of requiring a permit to carry but not providing any means for obtaining said permit.
More at Of Arms and the Law Blog
After the DC vs Heller win, I've felt the next step was to push for a SCOTUS case on the right to bear arms ; along with the push for incorporation of the 2nd Amendment. So I am rather excited about this case. That said, we're probably have to wait 5-10 years to see it's resolution.


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Can you please provide us with a list of the words in the Quran where the Ra'a is saakin and regardless of the letter before it having a kasra
Assalamu aleykum.
First of all, thank you all for the great effort that you have spent in time and resources to provide us with this study material and may you all be rewarded.
1. Can you please provide us with a list of the words in the Quran where the Ra'a is saakin and regardless of the letter before it having a kasra, the Ra'a should be read with at-Tafkheem because of its root word (asli) it has a fatha. Please correct me of I misunderstood as well... I mean for example words like "irji3..." (27:37)
2. I have been given the advice that in order to distinguish from at-Tafkheem and at-Tarqeeq letters, I should be smiling when reciting the latter but circling the lips when reciting the mufakham letters. How effective is this from a professional point-of-view? Does it always work...
Jazakumullahu kheyran
Wa alaikum assalaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
Jazakum Allahu khairan.
1. Anytime the saakinah is preceded by a hamzah al-wasl, it is read with tafkheem. This is the general rule number 7 of the 8 cases in which the has tafkheem.
If the is saakinah and preceded by a presented kasrah ( this is in the hamzah wasl). The is pronounced with tafkheem when preceded by hamzah wasl, if we start on the hamzah wasl with a kasrah, or if continuing from the previous word. Examples:
There are many cases in the Qur'an, but if you see a saakinah precede by a hamzah wasl, then it has tafkheem. You do not need to analysis to see if its root has a fathah or not.
Please see: http://www.abouttajweed.com/tafkheem-and-tarqeeq/tafkheem-and-tarqeeq-part-3.html
2. Tafkheem should not be accompanied by a circling of the lips, unless of course the letter has a dhammah on it. The proper way of making tafkheem is by raising up the posterior portion of the tongue to the soft palate area and then focusing the sound of the letter up to the roof of the mouth (hard palate area) so that the mouth fills with an echo.
The proper way to read a letter with tarqeeq is by lowering the posterior portion of the tongue and not focusing the sound to the roof of the mouth. Smiling is not the correct way to read a letter with tarqeeq. The mouth should be accompanied by the proper jaw movement of the vowel it has, or in a neutral position if it is saakin.
Wa iyyaakum
Wa assalaam alaikum.
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Posts Tagged 'Andy Weir'
So Many Books, So Little Time
The best books I read in 2016? Both were fiction: The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress and Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War. These were both outstanding.
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KDE 2.1 Release Schedule
David Faure, the KDE release coordinator, has posted the KDE 2.1 release schedule. The summary: KDE 2.1beta2 is scheduled for release on January 29, and KDE 2.1 is scheduled for release on February 12, 2001. Read the post below.
From: David Faure <[email protected]>
Here is a proposal for the release schedule for the next two releases.
This schedule gives the 3 weeks of message freeze that the translators asked for,
An alternative schedule would be to add one week between the two releases,
Comments welcome.
KDE 2.1 Beta 2
Monday 22/01
Friday 26/01
Monday 29/01
KDE 2.1 final
Monday 05/02
Tuesday 06/02
The rest of the week is spent testing the tarballs, packaging and writing the
Friday 09/02
Monday 12/02
Re: KDE is incomplete, still...
The NOATUN project includes some wishes. It's a jukebox for playing different sound formats (like mp3 and others), creating sound files from CD-ROM to a mp3 archive with looking on CDDB for titel information and burns audio tracks on CD-R. Perhaps is NOATUN included in KDE 2.1.
By Stephan Böni at Fri, 2001/01/12 - 6:00am
Re: KDE is incomplete, still...
I don't think most of these things should be a part of KDE. They belong to the operating system. Remember that KDE is a *desktop*, not an operating environment. Throw all your Windows and Mac concepts in the trash. Keep the components separate.
By David Johnson at Fri, 2001/01/12 - 6:00am
Re: KDE is incomplete, still...
dont need to copy windows ! LEARN !!! (fauler sack)
By ch at Fri, 2001/01/12 - 6:00am
Re: KDE is incomplete, still...
> My point is "Why isn't KDE including the MOST FREQUENTLY REQUIRED applications and tools, and not creating which are missing ?"
GNOME, however, has a steering board which can, for what I have understand of it, can direct the effort of coders. KDE totally reject such a thing.
Remember that most people working on KDE apps are doing it for fun. If noone find a "XKonf" tool fun to do, noone will do it. And all you'll get will be a "If you need it, do it".
By GeZ at Fri, 2001/01/12 - 6:00am
Re: KDE is incomplete, still...
I still will not use it until it has "Full Geometry Control" as is the case with KDE1.1.2.
Its sad to keep on about this but I feel until someone wakes up to that fact I can't get my customers to want to use it as it is!
(-geometry x y ) is quite basic; dont you all think!
By James Alan Brown at Fri, 2001/01/12 - 6:00am
Re: KDE is incomplete, still...
I completely agree with what you have said. In my eyes, BeOS is the most visually well thought out desktop I have come across. The GUI developers for KDE c(sh)ould take their pointers from other OS's as far as creating utilities instead of relying on copying windows, for a start. Then, completing the missing applications is essential. I have one rant about Linux in general to make here: BeOS installed on my system from inside Windows in under 10 minutes, my system rebooted and I was faced with a completely installed system, right down to my internal 56k modem; The QNX demo disk (OS on a stiffy) picked up my modem and I was able to surf the web!! Linux has NEVER been able to pick up my modem. That is shocking. Now that I have that out of my system ... :)
Cheers for now
By Kde-Needs-Work at Mon, 2001/01/15 - 6:00am
CSS Issues??
I love the 2.1 releases that I've been running from Woody, it's as dramatic an improvement as teh move from 1.0 to 1.1x. Polish, simply fantastic.
Having said all of that, I'd like to point out that the CSS remdering has become somewhat broken between 2.01 and 2.1.
I have a nicely formatted page at:
it renedered perfectly in both Konqueror 2.0 and 2.01 (as well as IE, Netscape 4.x, 6.x and mozilla) but hasn't worked in any of the kde2.1 builds.
Can anyone suggest what might be the cause of this??
By Ben Hall at Fri, 2001/01/12 - 6:00am
Re: KDE 2.1 Release Schedule
By Manuel Román at Sat, 2001/01/13 - 6:00am
Re: KDE 2.1 Release Schedule
KDE shouldn't configure every aspect of the OS, its not KDE's job.
It is the job of the end user to configure the machine, tools ship with each and every Unix and Linux OS to configure it.
If you tried to let it configure each and every aspect of each unix os it compiles on it would become so bloated it would be unusable.
If you want a nice gui configuration for your os try windows, that is what it is for.
By Jason at Sat, 2001/01/13 - 6:00am
Re: KDE 2.1 Release Schedule
Why should KDE not configure every aspect?
I would have thought that the more that KDE2 can do the better and in turn more fed up Windows95/98/2000/NT users would want to use Linux!
It still seems to me that at the moment with KDE2: it is a little more important to copy/try to out do Gnome rather than to create a real alternative Desktop for Linux With the great name of KDE.
KDE1.1.2 with full Geometry control and with some very tidy well working programs has already got very close to that.
I am hoping that the KDE team will sort out the Geometry flag and become the best desktop alternative. Your have a very long way to go to bloat KDE2 like Microsoft have done with Windows 2000!
Certainly no one with half a brain using Linux wants to go back over to Microsoft's expensive (no source code OS) and silly long folder names like "Microsofts Temporary Internet Folder Grooving in a Cave With a Pict" do they?
Regards James
By James Alan Brown at Sun, 2001/01/14 - 6:00am
Re: Why should KDE not configure every aspect?
The problem, as I see it, is distributions. You've got Mandrake, Red Hat, Debian, Slackware, Caldera, and so on and so forth. Each one of these distros is configured in a different, proprietary way, with configuration scripts and files scattered all over. To write one tool that could handle all the formats of all the configuration files of all the distributions out there, and still have it be small and easy to use, is flat-out impossible.
And then, what if someone makes a new distro? Or changes an old one? Imagine if every time Red Hat came out with a new version, KDE developers would have to scramble to update their configuration tool to handle all the changes. That just wouldn't work.
What I think needs to be done is there needs to be a KDE-centered distro that includes only KDE and a few other apps, and has configuration tools that integrate with KDE (inside the Control Center). Of course, I'm not going to be the one to start such a project, at least not until I get a LOT more programming experience. Well, we can always hope :-)
By not me at Sun, 2001/01/14 - 6:00am
Re: Multi-head support
Will there be multi-head support in the final 2.1?
Right now (beta1), the situation is far from satisfactory. There doesn't seem to be a way to configure KDE for multiple physical screens and the documentation doesn't mention anything either.
By Knut at Wed, 2001/01/17 - 6:00am
Re: Multi-head support
Hi ,
By Sudhir mahale at Tue, 2003/03/04 - 6:00am


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For the past 11 years, Jeff Maurtizen has photographed some of the world's most unique and mesmerizing natural places. His work has appeared in numerous National Geographic publications, Lonely Planet guidebooks, The New York Times, BBC Travel and numerous other international publications.
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The Philosophy of Religion
Harper & Row, 1957 - Religion - 324 pages
The purpose of this book is to develop and to expound the essentials of a philosophy which enables men and women of this century to be both intellectually honest and sincerely devout.
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A. E. Taylor actually Alfred North Whitehead answer appear argument beauty belief body C. S. Lewis causal Christ Christian claim conception concerned conclusion consciousness contemporary conviction criticism dialectical dialectical materialism divine doctrine doubt effort ethical evidence existence explain external fact faith finite freedom Freud fundamental genuine Gifford Lectures God's human hypothesis idea important intellectual involves judgment kind knowledge limited living logical positivism Macmillan man's matter means merely method mind modern moral experience moral law never notion objective omnipotence pantheism Paul Tillich philosophy of religion physical positivist possible prayer problem of evil Professor propositions purpose question rational reality realize reason recognize reference Reinhold Niebuhr religious experience revelation scientific seems sense serious spiritual supposed theism theistic theory things thought Tillich tion true truth ultimate valid Whitehead wholly William Temple York


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Ottawa Tourism's Communications and Media relations team supports travel media and other journalists in their work. We can organize media visits, pitch story ideas, assist with fact-checking, coordinate interviews and provide a variety of communication tools for our media clients.
Coming to Ottawa? We can organize media visits, including helping with access to attractions and events, coordinating interviews, planning itineraries and assisting with transportation and accommodation. Various factors influence the level of assistance we can provide, including the theme or topic of your report, the outlet in which the coverage will appear, the amount of time we have to coordinate, and the target market of the report, among others.
If you are a travel journalist looking to visit Ottawa, contact Jantine Van Kregten, Ottawa Tourism's Director of Communications, at [email protected] or 613-237-5150, ext. 1116.
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On February 7, 1861, the following item appeared in the New York Herald under the title, "Progress of the Slave Population."
"The returns of the national census, upon which we commented yesterday, show a very material growth of the slave population during the last decade – a growth, indeed, which may surprise many who supposed that slavery was declining under the pressure of abolition propagandism, virulent denunciation and fanatical raids. In every Southern State, except Delaware, Maryland and Missouri, the increase of the slave population has been nearly in the same ratio as that of the free population, white and colored; and in the aggregate the growth of the slave population in the fifteen Southern States has kept pace with that of the whole population of the United States – that is to say it shows an increase of about thirty per cent in ten years. And very curiously even same ratio as that of the free population white and colored, and in the aggregate the growth of the slave population in the fifteen Southern States has kept pace with that of the whole population of the United States."
According to the 1860 Census, nearly 4 million slaves lived in the United States on the eve of the Civil War. The Herald article was quite correct that the slave population was growing. This natural increase made slavery in North America unique in the Americas, because elsewhere high mortality meant that slave population levels were maintained only through importing new slaves from Africa.
The natural growth in the U.S. slave population was not the result of some moral superiority of North American slaveholders. It stemmed largely from the fact that except for some planters in Louisiana, they did not grow sugar, unlike the Caribbean and Brazil, the other major centers of slavery in the Americas. Tobacco, rice, and cotton in North America were not as wildly profitable as sugar, a crop that for much of its history was so lucrative and required such back-breaking labor to grow that it actually made economic sense for sugar planters to work their slaves to death and replace them with fresh imports instead of easing conditions so that more slaves might live. North American planters did not have these incentives. While their crops returned a healthy profit, it did not make sense for them to work their slaves to death, but instead to encourage their slaves to procreate since their offspring increased the planter's wealth.
Yet the New York Herald article did not capture another important demographic reality for slaves in the decades before the Civil War. Not only was the slave population growing in these years, a significant portion of it was being shifted out of the old slave states of the Atlantic seaboard and into the interior cotton-growing states west of the Appalachian range. In some cases planters uprooted their slaves shifting them to new plantations in the West. But more often slaves moved into the newer slave states piecemeal through an internal slave trade that developed, especially after Congress banned American participation in the Atlantic slave trade in 1808. In process, hundreds of thousands of slaves were sold away from other family members, often never to see or hear from them again.
It was the prospect of being separated from family that does much to explain how slaves during the Civil War grasped desperately at any chance for freedom. Few aspects of American slavery put a lie to the paternalistic pretensions of slaveholders more than the inhumanity of the internal slave trade.


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Funny paper: Is the new Progress trying to be funny?
For at least a week before the Daily Progress unveiled its new design on January 20, full-page ads teased the change with the mysterious "What's next?" campaign.
On the big day, an eight-page instructional insert guided readers through the new look– complete with diagrams and arrows to explain how local news was moving to the first section.
Now that readers have had a few weeks to study the guide and digest the changes in the local daily, reviews are coming in.
"If you're trying to be a local paper, I think it's a good idea to put local news in the first section," says Eric Allen, publisher of More Monthly, the Fluvanna Review, and Scottsville Monthly. "I like the [news at a glance] column on the side. I'm one of those time-impoverished readers who like to be able to locate stories quickly."
His favorite change? "The little score boxes in the sports section."
On the other hand, says Allen, "I didn't need a special supplement to tell me how to read it."
"It's a cleaner, nicer, neater paper," says Bill Ramsey, a newspaper designer who's worked as art director for half dozen tabloids and dailies. "Anything's an improvement over what they had."
But for all the hoopla about the change, Ramsey questions whether a lot of thought went into the design.
"It appears to me they took a template from another Media General publication," he says. "I don't feel like there's any design guidance. It's still probably being laid out by a copy editor."
The reader's guide noted that the sans serif Myriad typeface on the front page indicates the biggest news of the day.
"Too jumbled," is cartoonist Don Berard's response to the multi-typefaces in the new Progress. "We were taught in graphic design school that more than two typefaces look bad, like a woman with too many accessories," he says.
And he's doesn't care for the "news at a glance" column, either. "They're knocking off USA Today with that panel on the left," complains Berard. "It doesn't do anything."
The redesign exhumes the Progress' emblem that first appeared in 1895. Originally stretching across the masthead, the emblem shows the Rotunda, Woolen Mills, Monticello, and an "agricultural vista." Unfortunately, squished into one column, this little gray smudge requires a magnifying glass to discern the elements.
Because the new Myriad headline now stretches over photographs that have nothing to do with the lead storyand because the column rules that separate unrelated elements are so fain– there are some odd juxtapositions.
For example, on January 30, the headline "Judge to dismiss eviction case" floats over a picture of Delegate Mitch Van Yahres and former Monticello High School principal Irving Jones, leading inattentive readers to wonder why such luminaries as Van Yahres and Jones are being evicted.
"I think it's an unintentional blunder to include a feature photo underneath the main headline," says Ramsey. "Someone should have noticed that right away before it becomes a daily embarrassment."
Some readers, however, enjoy incongruity, such as the banner "UVa scholar to lead 9-11 panel" over a photo of an elderly gentleman in overalls in a garage.
Subtle humor? Or, as Ramsey maintains, just bad design?
The special inaugural insert included a letter from managing editor Lou Hatter urging readers to let the Progress know what they think. Hatter didn't return The Hook's call.


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Wednesday, May 16, 2012
WA to get at least $450,000 in MetLife settlement
From a press release our office issued this morning:
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington stands to receive at least $450,000 as part of a multi-state settlement with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
The $40 million settlement, which was announced in April and now involves at least 28 states, is based on concerns raised by insurance regulators over the extent of MetLife's efforts to investigate and pay life insurance benefits. MetLife did not admit liability.
Under the terms of the settlement, MetLife agreed to regularly check the Social Security death master file or similar records to determine if its life insurance policyholders, annuity owners or retained asset account holders have died. The company will then make efforts to locate beneficiaries and pay claims.
"From what we've seen, I'm happy to report that there don't appear to be major or widespread problems in Washington state with paying life insurance benefits in a timely manner," said Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler. "But it's important to hold companies accountable when they fail to pay benefits when due."
Under Washington state law, insurers must pay interest on a life insurance policy from the date of death. Unclaimed policies are turned over to the state's unclaimed property fund, which holds the money for any future claims.
Washington's share of the settlement, to be determined in early July, depends on the number of states that sign on to the settlement. The money will go into the state's general fund.
Posted by Anonymous at 10:50 AM
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Emotional Support Dog Registration for Romeo Torres
Owner: Daniel A.
Breed: Miniature Rottweiler
Dog Training Status: My Dog Requires No Training (Emotional Support) *
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Ben Westwood, 33, had already robbed 16 different businesses across the U.K. by the time he led police on a 65-mile chase that reached speeds of up to 180 mph.
When the gang he led knocked over a gas station, Westwood took off in a stolen Audi RS5, outrunning the police helicopter at times as he sped along the M6 freeway.
The BBC reported that Westwood's high speed run in the modified $135,000 sports car may have secured his spot as the fastest driver ever caught in the U.K. But that, along with being the leader of a band of robbers, landed him in jail for nine years.
Following Chrysler's Breaking Bad initiative, Audi might consider using this bit of unintentional publicity to tout how great their cars are. "The RS5 is so fast, you can outrun a police helicopter!" Or something like that.
Only you shouldn't try to outrun a police chopper. Ever.
(Hat tip to Chris!)


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M*A*S*H* 33701 Staff
The roster of the Tampa Bay Rays is beginning to represent a television episode of M*A*S*H* 4077th right now. The recent flurry of injuries, both serious and treated with kindness have made this roster change shape in recent weeks. But behind the scenes, the sight in the Rays training room right now might not be as bloody or surgically fixated as the television show, but the drama and the extent of the injuries have made their medical staff one of the true treasures right now in the Rays organization.
Most fans have never heard the names Ron Porterfield, Paul Harker or Kevin Barr before during most of the Rays telecasts. They are a group of guys who try and stay beyond the cameras and beyond the eye sight of most people in the stands before, during and after most of the Rays games. But their contribution to the Tampa Bay Rays will now have a huge significance on what is going to happen on the field. You see, this trio is the conglomerate that is responsible for the well being and health of the players on our roster. Each one of them is considered the best in their field, and have served the Rays for several season in their respective positions.
With their state-of-the-art training complex and new and proven methods being employed daily, the medical staff is beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Let's take Rays reliever Brian Shouse's injury first. After his first MRI, it was concluded that he might have a slight tear in his left flexor muscle right off the elbow. This would put the reliever essentially out for some time. But under further diagnosis and further testing, it was ruled that Shouse might have just a slight strain to the region and not need surgery at all. That diligence in finding the correct diagnosis might have cost the Rays the use of Shouse later in the season. Now after rehab and some carefully watched exercise and throwing sessions, he might again be back with the club a lot soon than originally expected. And that is huge as the Rays try and regain their core and take on the task of repeating their AL East title.
As we speak several players are also trying to get off the training tables and rehab assignments to bring some help to the slumping Rays. Designated Hitter Pat Burrell has missed 15 games now due to his neck stiffness. The team has been able to tread water to a 8-7 record since he went down, but his bat is needed to protect Carlos Pena in the lineup. Yesterday in Cleveland, Burrell was suppose to take some special individualized batting practice to see just how far he has progressed in his fight to get his neck situation under control. The session was canceled after he was experiencing more neck stiffness. The team is tentatively expecting another try at Burrell going to the plate on Friday when they return to Tropicana field for their latest home stand. Hopefully on that day the Rays will have some good news on their ailing DH.
But then you have guys like Rays reliever Chad Bradford, who is right now on loan to the Rays Class-A squad, the Charlotte Stone Crabs for a rehab assignment. So far the prognosis is great for Bradford, and with the Bullpen right now a bit tired and weathered, he just might be ready soon to give some relief to his Bullpen mates. His last appearance was on May 24th, and he went 1-inning and only gave up 1-hit in the appearance. The Stone Crabs have been victimized lately by weather as their last two game have been canceled due to the elements. But this week they are in Clearwater to play the Threshers, and the medical staff left behind on this road trip will be keeping a close eye on Bradford if he gets into any of these contests.
Another guy who is suffering from bad timing is Shawn Riggans. Earlier on in the season, Riggans went down with a bout of shoulder tendinitis and was set down for a few weeks before he was again allowed to participate in a throwing program. He went through the throwing program set up by Barr and was ready to again try and hit a rehab assignment with the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits. Riggans went on up to Alabama and joined the team, but was quickly taken back off the roster after a sudden pain in his shoulder after throwing a pick-off attempt to first base during a game. He was sent to renowned doctor James Andrews in neighboring Birmingham, Alabama. After son consultation and recommendations from Andrews, Riggans was on his way back to St. Petersburg, Florida to again try all over again with the rest and relaxation program for a while. He is hoping to again be ready for a throwing program by the first week of June.
Ron Porterfield probably had one of his worst days recently during Sunday's Florida Marlins versus the Rays game. In the ninth inning of that contest, the Marlins Chris Coghlan came into second base to break up a double play opportunity and struck Akinora Iwamura in the left leg while it was still planted firmly on the infield clay. The result of the moving Coghlan into the rigid Iwamura made for one force taking damage on the other. Iwamura instantly went down and was in obvious pain on the infield. Porterfield rushed out their immediately and tried to ease the pain of Iwamura. The hardest part of this job might be the instant recognition of a bad situation and remaining cool and calm during this time is extremely difficult.
You could see on the replays during the injury time-out that Porterfield was not trying to stretch the area out or even attempt to have Iwamura stand based on the visual extent of the injury. He immediately asked for the crash cart to be brought out onto the turf and Iwamura was transported off the field to the rear of the Visitor's Clubhouse area. At this time it is Porterfield's job to ease the suffering and pain of Iwamura and give reassurance. You have to guess he already had a opinion on the extent of the injury and was doing everything he could to mask the emotions and the conversation more towards positive elements.
Iwamura was on crutches by the end of the game putting no pressure or force on his left knee region. He was then put in a car en route to St. Petersburg where a MRI was to be conducted this past Monday morning. He was not there when the results came in from the MRI in St. Petersburg as he was with the team in Cleveland for their four game series there before finally coming back to Tropicana Field. The results of Iwamura's MRI showed that surgery will be needed to repair the ACL and a slight bit of damage to his MCL ligaments.
This will put him out for the rest of the 2008 season, and some speculate it might be his last time to put on a Rays uniform. But a planned surgery in the next two weeks after the swelling goes down and it is optimal to operate, Iwamura will get fixed up locally by Dr. Koko Eaton.
Later in that same ballgame, they again got called back onto the field after Dan
Uggla's stolen base attempt. On that play, the Rays starting shortstop Jason Bartlett put his left leg in front of the base to attempt to make Uggla go to the outside of the base. Instead, Ugglas came in spikes first and clipped Bartlett on the top of the ankle, which resulted in him going down fast to the clay surface. Again the medical staff went out there and performed some quick aid to relieve Bartlett of his obvious pain at the time. Bartlett did refuse to come out of the game and finished the contest and was getting more treatment as the team was packing up for their plane ride to Cleveland for the next series.
In Cleveland, it was decided because of the conversation with the medical staff that Bartlett should rest the ankle for a few days. Some say he could have played through the pain, but considering that Bartlett is a key element of the team again playing for that divisional title, precautionary measures were decided by Rays Manager Joe Maddon and the medical staff. Bartlett sat out the Monday game against the Indians and was set to have an MRI to check for further damage in the region.
Because the MRI revealed a sprain, it was advised by the medical staff that rest and staying off the ankle would further the healing process. We all know that Bartlett would want to play, and might just do a good job even with a gimpy ankle. But the consideration of his total health was in order. A healthy Bartlett could help the team pick up the needed wins to regain some places within the division. If he re-injured it, or made the injury more severe, his participation might be hindered significantly the rest of the season.
Then you have people like Barr, who have designed the rehab programs for players like Fernando Perez while he is on the DL to increase his mobility and keep him in shape while he waits for further word on when he can begin a throwing program of his own designed by Barr. With his baby blue cast off his wrist you would think that the injury might be over and he can again take full baseball activities. But the wrist area is a delicate region that can be injured again quickly if the injury is not fully healed before a top workout begins. Perez was recently transferred to the 60-day DL, and it is thought he might not be on either a rehab assignment or playing before August 2009.
The training/medical staff of the Rays is considered one of the best in baseball. So who are these guys, and why should we be glad we have them on the Rays. Well, let me see if I can give you some insight to why we are lucky to have this trio in Tampa Bay.
First let's start with the team's Strength and conditioning Coach, Kevin Barr. In 2009, Barr will be presented with the Nolan Ryan Award, sponsored by Life Fitness. The award named after the Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan, honors an outstanding strength and conditioning coach in professional baseball. The Nolan Ryan Award recognizes the coach whose accomplishments, in the opinion of fellow members of the Professional Baseball Strength and Conditioning Coaches Society (PBSCCS), reflects an exemplary dedication to strength training and conditioning. The award also recognizes the recipient's professional and personal accomplishments as well as his integrity as a strength and conditioning coach.
You might recognize him more for his time spent out on the field during Batting Practice in the right field corner with the pitchers' helping them both do stretching exercises and running drills. He also can be seen on the first baseline just before the game when the players come out to stretch before Rays games. He is one of the only people out there at that time not in a Rays uniform, and can be easy to spot. He is a key element to the consistent health and rebuilding of the Rays roster after an injury has been sustained by a player.
Most people confuse Paul Harker with a player since he is tall and built like a player. But it is his duty to assist Porterfield in any needs before after and during the game to prepare the Rays field players and pitchers for that days game. Harker joined the major league staff after serving for three seasons as the Rays Minor League head trainer. He first joined the organization in November 1996 as the trainer for the Class- A St. Petersburg Devil Rays before serving as Triple-A Durham's trainer from 1998-2002. Prior to joining the Rays organization, Harker worked in the Seattle Mariners organization for six seasons. He is a graduate of Florida State University and is certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association.
But the guy most people know by his smile and his personality is Ron Portfield, the head honcho in the Rays medical corps. Porterfield is afraid to put a glove on and catch a bit with rehabbing players, or to just be a sounding board for a player trying out a new pitch or delivery. He is on one of the busiest people before the game for the Rays, and his training table area is also a hot spot for conversation and group conversations before the Rays games. Porterfield, spent his time as the team's Major League assistant trainer before finally getting the top spot in December 2005. He joined the Rays organization in 1997, serving as the Minor League medical and rehabilitation coordinator for six years. Porterfield originally came to the Rays from the Houston Astros, an organization he joined in 1987 after he graduated from New Mexico State University.
In 2004, Porterfield was a member of the medical staff that received the Dick Martin Medical Staff of the Year Award from Baseball Prospectus. Porterfield's intense computer research and commitment to helping Rocco Baldelli in 2008 get back to the field last August helped earn Porterfield the 2008 American Sports Medicine Institute Career Service Award.
So as you can see, the Rays have a well educated and knowledgeable staff to prevent and treat any aliments that might come up during the Rays contests. With new technologies and treatment systems being discovered daily, it is also their job to wade through the published treatment paperwork and computer postings to find the best injury solutions for the Rays players. The commitment and the stamina displayed by these three guys should be commended.
They are the first line of defense to keeping these players on the field, and the last ones to insure they are ready again to play for the Rays. It is a tough job, and one that doesn't always get the credit it deserves, but it is what they love, and what they are extremely good at doing. And we are lucky to have them here in Tampa Bay.
10 Comments
Tough break with all the injuries. The Rays have kind of slipped down and out of the race for the top of the AL East. With the Rays out of the race at this point, you'd think it was back between the Red Sox and Yankees. But the Jays have been what I am calling "the Rays of 09."
That many injuries will hurt any team's chances. It doesn't matter who you are.Russhttp://wight4256.mlblogs.com
Not to still call this a four horse race even with some injuries is a bit premature right now.
The same thing can happen to the Red Sox or the Yankees in the next week and the Rays and Jays are right there again.
Until the first week in October, when we play the Yankees at home, I am going to have a vigil of hope and promise.
After that day I can either sign or cheer.
Maybe even both!
Rays Renegade
Right now I see the Rays as a fighter who has gotten his first standing eight count.
They are staggering a bit and bewildered, but not out if it yet.
With that in mind, it is a time for the old and new team mates to rally around the pennant and get some win in Cleveland before we leave early tomorrow night.
But then again, home cooking and sleeping in your own bed can get a losing streak over fast too.
Rays Renegade
What a really tough break for the Rays. They have to be feeling a lot like Job right now. It's really a shame, too, because it looked like the team was starting to come together. Of course, it's still too early to count the Rays out just yet, but it's going to be that much more difficult to come back.-Erinhttp://plunking-gomez.mlblogs.com
I know your team is licking their chops right now, but it is a dangerous time to be playing the Rays.
A hurt animal usually fights twice as hard to get back to safety and some sense of normal.
I think this weekend series is going to be as tight as a vice, and will be some great baseball to watch on television and in person.
Also, after that Sat game we have a 3 doors down concert.
Rockin' the Trop again.
Rays Renegade
Rays – your team is having a terrible run of bad luck! Thank goodness you have such a great staff of trainers and medical people. I hope they are all well soon – no one wants to win games because of injuries.
Those three guys definitely are the core of all the action in the Clubhouse.
Besides being very personable guys, they are the best in their business.
The fact that Ron Porterfield is always seeking and learning new techniques and procedures to eliminate or speed up injuries is a test to his commitment to the Rays.
A rash of injuries can bring out the best in some staff, while others wallow in the mire.
These guys always seem on top of it all and ready for the next test.
Rays Renegade
I feel so bad about all the injuries – especially Iwamura, who's been such a stalwart for the Rays. I really hope he can come back from surgery. I guess the division will go to the team with the healthiest players. A M*A*S*H unit is right!
Think of the players they have helped in the last year. Rocco Baldelli was a personal project for Ron Porterfield.
B J Upton and his shoulder was a constant reminder of how fast things can go from good to bad.
Carlos Pena had a eye situation in the ALDS that Porterfield had saline ready for his eyes.
The guys have been ready at the call for anything.
Aki should be great for 2010, but will the Rays exercise his option?
That could be the whole trick to this injury.
Rays Renegade


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Rescue crews end search for diver's body
There will be no more attempts to find the body of the diver who disappeared at Beaver Lake, Carroll County Sheriff Bob Grudek announced Friday afternoon.
The final dive team was called away before they could get in the water Friday morning, said Grudek. The teams altogether made nearly 100 dives since Saturday, July 27.
Grudek hoped divers would have been able to find missing diver Michael Burton so the 28-year-old's family will have closure.
"We know how important this was to the family," Grudek said. "This was a difficult decision to make."
Divers went 40 to 60 feet underwater, in areas with "zero visibility."
"You'd almost have to swim right on top of him if you're going to find him," said Grudek. "It's so dark, you won't see him if you're right next to him."
The dive team looking for a missing body found "something" in the water at 5:30 Thursday morning with their sonar equipment, according to Grudek.
The equipment is not advanced enough to tell if that something was a body or a tree limb, according to the sheriff. The hit was close to the area where cadaver dogs picked up a scent.
"Not only do you have all the dead trees down there that are still standing, you still have debris on the bottom and all the fishing lines and hooks," said Grudek.
The Carroll County sheriff said there was so much underwater debris that it was dangerous for divers.


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Shortly after the tragic news of a fatal car crash that killed Fast & Furious actor Paul Walker and the car's driver, the celebrity news hounds at Westboro Baptist Church tweeted they would be present at a funeral that hasn't even been announced yet.
I don't follow the WBC on Twitter but their account seems to be more about following the exploits of Drake and Kanye West and less of the "God hates fags!" platform I thought they were standing on. So it's no surprise that they're planning on exploiting Walker's death to somehow recapture their diminishing relevance as they've done in the past.
Oh, and they put up this horrifying Vine, too:
To our knowledge, Walker's loved ones haven't announced any sort of memorial service, but here's hoping a private ceremony is in order.
[Photo via AP]


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America's Pop Music Hall of Fame in Canonsburg to induct first class
Announcement to be held at McDonald's; induction ceremony scheduled for July
The brand new America's Pop Music Hall of Fame in Canonsburg will announce its first inductees on Friday.
Johnny Tillotson, a 1960s-era singer, will announce the inductees at McDonald's on Bobby Vinton Boulevard. A formal induction ceremony will be held July 3 at the Hilton Garden Inn.
To be eligible, a nominee had to have a national hit song before 1970. Nominees include The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Bobby Vinton, The Beach Boys, Tony Bennett, the Carpenters, Chubby Checker, Bobby Darin, Neil Diamond and Simon and Garfunkel.
America's Pop Music Hall of Fame is temporarily housed on Pike Street. It's expected to open in the fall.
Canonsburg calls itself the country's "small town music capital" with native sons including Como, Vinton and the Four Coins.
The McDonald's restaurant where Friday's announcement will be made features a collection of Vinton and Como memorabilia.


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In separate bowls soak the dried tofu, shiitake and dried lotus in 1 cup warm water each for 10 minutes. Squeeze out liquid from tofu and discard soaking water. Rinse slices under cold water and squeeze again. Slice tofu into thin strips. Reserve the soaking water from the shiitake and dried lotus root to use as part or all of the cooking liquid in this recipe. Chop the lotus root. Remove the stems from the shiitake, discard stems and slice caps thin. Heat oils in a skillet and sauté onion and shiitake for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the lotus, carrots, dried tofu and water. Cover skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce flame to medium-low and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Add shoyu, cover and simmer 5 minutes. Remove cover and add the snow peas. Cover and simmer 1 minute. Remove the cover, pour the ginger juice over and sauté, stirring constantly, for another 2 to 3 minutes before serving.
Per serving - 159 calories, 7 g fat (24% calories from fat), 15 g protein, 33 g carbohydrate, 15 g fiber, 0 mg cholesterol, 362 mg sodium


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The North American P-51 Mustang
WWII P-51 Mustang Aces
The above list of aces is in no means a list of only "good" pilots. Many great pilots did not get their "5" aerial kills (victories) to become aces. Depending on where they were stationed, some did not have the opportunity to mixed it up with the enemy often. Also keep in mind that this list only has P-51 Mustang aces - all victories came at the controls of a P-51. Many "a good pilot" are not on this list because they were flying something different during the war. There are web sites that will list all the aces of World War II, check out links section if you are interested.
We at MustangsMustangs.com would like to thank all pilots of WWII who fought for our freedom. Just because a pilot's name is not on this list does not mean that he was not vital to the success of the USAAF. Keeping the enemy away from the bombers helped win the war - no doubt.
Many acts of bravery and heroism were performed by mustang pilots. Some include landing in enemy territory (in a field) and picking up a downed pilot, putting him on the pilot's lap and somehow, flying home! Maj. Pierce W. McKennon made it home this way once. Two men in a one man cockpit was no easy act to perform. This was done more than a few times too.
In some theatres of operation, the mustang pilots did not have the opportunity to engage a large number of enemy aircraft as they did in Europe. Although later in the ETO when the Luftwaffe would not come out to play so easily, mustang pilots had to be very aggressive to confront the enemy pilots. The best way to try and understand what these brave young men went through is to read some of their books. You will find that most consider themselves ordinary guys asked to perform extra-ordinary tasks ... ... and they did!