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Quackwatch Home Page
Many people believe that advertising claims for health products must be true or somehow would not be "allowed." Many assume that media outlets screen such ads carefully, and some even think that the Postal Service licenses mail-order advertisers. Each of these beliefs is wrong.
The total amount of money Americans waste on bogus mail-order health products is not known but probably ranges from $100 to $300 million a year. Most mail-order health schemes attempt to exploit people's fear of being unattractive. Smaller numbers involve products claimed to increase fitness or solve health problems. Misleading claims for mail-order products are made in magazine and newspaper ads, direct mail solicitations, network marketing, television commercials, telemarketing schemes, and email solicitations.
During the summer of 1977, I headed a Pennsylvania Medical Society Committee on Quackery project that screened more than 500 nationally circulated magazines. About 25% carried display ads for products marketed through the mail with claims that they were effective against disease or could affect the structure or function of the body. Classified advertising was not considered. Nor were ads for nonprescription drug products sold through pharmacies and supermarkets.
The products fell into two general groups: sex aids, and youth and beauty aids—with about 150 such products offered by 50 sellers. Products sold over-the-counter through drugstores and supermarkets were not included in the tabulations. Nor were cosmetics, pamphlets or books. "Health food," fitness and bodybuilding publications were not included in this survey. (We define "health-food magazines" as those whose articles promote vitamins and other supplement products with claims regarded as dubious by the scientific community.)
The sex-aid products included supposed aphrodisiacs, pleasure-enhancers, penis enlargers, and erection aids. The youth and beauty aids included supposed weight-reduction products, breast developers, blemish removers, hair-loss remedies, "spot-reducers," and products claimed to increase longevity. The weight-reduction schemes included promises that you would "melt off fat" while you sleep, "lose five pounds overnight," and lose more than a pound a day without hunger. The "spot-reducers," which included various sorts of belts and wraps, were claimed to trim arms, legs and abdomen without dieting. The medical society committee concluded that not a single product could live up to its advertised claims.
During the spring and summer of 1990, I obtained one copy each of 463 nationally circulated magazines, either from a local distributor or through direct subscription. The project was funded by a grant from the Dick Goldensohn Fund, a New York City-based foundation interested in promoting economic justice. This time, "health food," fitness and bodybuilding publications were included, but automobile and computer magazines, which never carry health ads, were not. Mail-order ads for dubious health products appeared in 56 out of 423 (13%) of the general audience magazines and 23 out of 40 (58%) of the health and fitness magazines. In the general magazines, about 50 companies advertised about 70 dubious products. In the health food publications, 15 companies advertised 24 dubious products. In the fitness/bodybuilding category, 26 companies advertised more than 60 products [1].
Fitness and bodybuilding magazines are loaded with ads for "ergogenic aids"-supplement concoctions that contain vitamins, minerals, amino acids and/or various other substances. These products are primarily sold through stores and fitness centers rather than by mail. They are claimed to increase stamina, endurance, muscle bulk and/or athletic performance. About a hundred companies are marketing them. Some ads make explicit claims, while others contain none but feature pictures and endorsements of bodybuilding champions and other athletes. All such products should be considered fakes.
Newspaper ads for health products are similar to those in general magazines in both scope and illegitimacy. In 1979, a reporter for the El Paso Times recruited volunteers to test 46 mail-order products whose ads-in newspapers and magazines-looked suspicious. Most were alleged health and beauty aids, and the rest were household aids.
Some bogus ads are submitted to hundreds of newspapers simultaneously with a request that they be accepted without payment in advance. Newspapers that grant credit in this manner often don't get paid. The American Newspaper Publishers Association credit bureau investigates prospective advertisers when asked to do so by its members.
The tabloid newspapers (Globe, National Examiner, Sun, National Enquirer, and Weekly World News) usually run several misleading health-related ads per issue. Macfadden Holdings, the parent company of the National Enquirer, Weekly World News, and 13 monthly romance magazines, appears to publish more dubious ads than any other company in the United States. Six of its magazines, True Story, True Confessions, Modern Romances, True Experience, True Romance, and True Love, accounted for 23% of the dubious ads in the 1990 magazine survey.
Some entrepreneurs advertise health products by direct mail, using subscriber lists from publications and other sources. Most of these ads are for weight-reduction schemes, anti-aging products, and beauty aids. The Iowa Attorney General has seen evidence that people who buy one bogus diet product often receive ads for others. One list broker sells names from a database of 280,000 "arthritis/rheumatism sufferers" who have purchased such items as a "sacred Aztec talisman" or a "Chinese miracle weight-loss program."
Some direct mail solicitations look like reproductions of newspaper articles or ads, although they probably have not been published. They are accompanied by a handwritten endorsement in the margin or on a Post-it, addressed to the recipient by name or first initial. "Dear Bill," the note might read, "This really works! Try it. J." One promoter of this type of mailing once told a journal editor that he employed a staff that sent out 200,000 mailings per week [2]. In addition to their fraudulent content, these types of messages have considerable potential for harm. People who think the note has been sent by someone they know may feel hurt that someone thinks they are too fat or may even fear that someone is stalking them!
Most dietary supplement ads appearing in health-food and health-related general-circulation magazines are designed to stimulate the sale of these products through health food stores. Such ads tend to contain few explicit claims that the products are effective against health problems. If they did, the products would be considered "drugs" and be subject to federal regulation. Instead, most manufacturers rely on magazines and books to boost the ingredients of the products. The manufacturers hope that readers will be stimulated to visit stores where retailers can talk to them privately with little or no risk of triggering government regulatory action.
Dietary supplement products also are sold through mail-order catalogs. Some companies market their own lines of products in this manner. Others include a few pages of supplement products in general merchandise catalogs. A few compete with health food stores by carrying the products of many manufacturers at discount prices.
The three largest discounters appear to be Swanson's Health Products, of Fargo, North Dakota, L&H Vitamins, of Long Island City, New York, and The Vitamin Shoppe, of West Bergen, New Jersey. All three offer the products of many manufacturers at discounts of 20% or more. Each has issued newspaper-style catalogs containing unsubstantiated claims for many products.
The largest company selling its own product line by mail is probably Nature's Bounty, of Bohemia, New York, doing business as Puritan's Pride. In 1989 the company purchased the mail-order division of General Nutrition Corporation (GNC and the right to use the GNC trademark for two years. In 1985, GNC had signed consent agreements with the Postal Service to stop making unsubstantiated claims for 14 products sold through the mail. In 1986, a Federal Trade Commission administrative law judge ruled that GNC ads for an alleged cancer preventive were deliberately misleading and concluded that the "unconscionable, false, and misleading advertising found in this case is not an isolated incident but part of a continuing pattern." Also in 1986, to settle criminal charges initiated by the FDA, the company pled guilty to four counts of misbranding a drug, and its former president and another officer pled guilty to one count. In 1988, the FTC complaint was settled by a consent agreement in which GNC agreed to donate $600,000 for nutrition research and was prohibited from making any claim for any company-produced product that cannot be substantiated by scientific evidence.
After acquiring GNC's mail-order division, Puritan's Pride gradually phased out the GNC label but continued to make illegal claims for some GNC products as well as many others under its own label. Its February 1990 catalog, for example, contained at least 42 product representations that were false, misleading, or unproven. In November 1990, postal officials filed a false representation complaint against Nature's Bounty, charging that at least 19 of its products were falsely advertised. The products included Cholesto-Flush, Fatbuster Diet Tea, Kidney Flush, Memory Booster, Prostex, and Stress B with 500 mg Vitamin C. In May 1991, the case was settled with a consent agreement under which Nature's Bounty admitted no wrongdoing but agreed to stop making the challenged claims.
Millions of Americans have signed up as distributors for multilevel companies that market vitamins, herbs, homeopathic remedies, weight-loss powders, or other health-related products. Often they have tried the products, concluded that they work, and become suppliers to support their habit. Products and distributorships most often are sold by direct contact in person or by telephone. However, some prospecting takes place by mail. The products tend to be overpriced, and many of them are promoted with illegal therapeutic claims.
The Federal Trade Commission warns consumers to be aware that some television programs that look like talk shows are actually program-length commercials. Some programs of this type have promoted dubious weight-loss plans [A, B], cellulite removers [C], exercise devices, hair-loss remedies [D], dietary supplements [E], and alleged memory-enhancement [D], and reading-improvement systems [D], One tipoff, says the FTC, is that the product promoted during "commercial breaks" is related to the program's content.
Telemarketing schemes are a serious problem. Typically, they involve notification by mail or phone that the recipient has won a "valuable" prize. To collect, the recipient must order a large supply of vitamins, a water purifier, or something else that costs hundreds of dollars. If delivery is made, the prize almost always is worthless, the product overpriced, and the "money-back guarantee" not honored. When the product has been ordered by credit card, the buyer can usually prevent loss by asking the credit card company to reverse the payment. But many buyers don't realize this or waste so much time trying to get a refund that the deadline for action through the credit card issuer expires. The National Alliance for Fraud in Telemarketing has predicted that telephone scams involving arthritis remedies, weight-loss plans, sexual aids, baldness cures, and other health and nutrition products will increase. The American Association of Retired Persons is seeking passage of laws that would require telemarketers to be registered and bonded. Telemarketing schemes use a wide variety of influence techniques, ranging from friendly conversation to outright demands or even threats, to persuade victims to part with their money. The United States Department of Justice and Crimes-of-Persuasion.com have posted extensive information about telemarketing frauds.
Many products are advertised through bulk e-mail solicitations. The health-related products are invariably marketed with false or exaggerated claims. Sometimes the solicitations include stories of people (including the sender) whom the product supposedly has helped. Internet Scambusters states that there is a high probability that products ordered from bulk e-mailers will not be delivered. The FTC and the U.S. Postal Service have notified more than 1,000 junk e-mailers that the agencies are monitoring unsolicited e-mail for fraudulent schemes and are keeping track of schemers. Junk e-mail solicitations should be forwarded for review to the FTC's e-mailbox. Chain-letter schemes urge e-mail recipients to send a small amount of money to a list of several people, remove one name, add their own and forward the e-mail in bulk to others. Supposedly, the participants will start to receive money as other, "downstream" recipients receive the e-mail and participate. However, most who participate will lose money. Some chain letters masquerade as legitimate businesses, in which participants receive "reports" or other worthless items in exchange for their money. These schemes are still illegal, and almost all participants lose money. Never answer a junk e-mail solicitation because, if you do, the spammer can tell that your e-mail address is "live" and either re-use it or sell it to others.
The Postal Service has jurisdiction over situations where money is sent through the mail for products or services. Title 39, Section 3005, of the United States Code can be used to block promoters of misleading schemes from receiving money through the mail. If sufficient health hazard or economic detriment exists, an immediate court order to impound mail may be sought under Section 3007 of the Code. However, the Postal Service cannot proceed unless the Justice Department approves such action or takes the case itself.
Title 18, Section 1341, provides for criminal prosecution but requires proof of intent to deceive. The maximum penalties are 5 years in prison and a fine for each instance proved. The 1984 Criminal Fines Enhancement Act allows fines of up to $100,000 (or $250,000 if death results) per offense for up to two offenses. However, criminal prosecution is rarely used in cases involving claims made for mail-order health products because: (1) administrative procedures are simpler and quicker; and (2) intent to deceive is difficult to prove when a perpetrator pretends to believe that the product works.
The Postal Inspection Service maintains 180 field offices in the United States and its territories, with about 2,200 inspectors available to investigate all types of violations. However, in recent years, mail fraud involving consumer products appears to have had a very low priority. Attorneys in the Postal Service's law department and postal inspectors with law degrees are available to prosecute cases. The case-selection process is decentralized, so that different types of cases are emphasized in different regions of the country.
Postal inspectors look for misleading advertisements in magazines and newspapers and on radio or television. They also receive complaints from the public and from other government agencies. When a mail fraud is detected, postal attorneys can file a complaint or seek an agreement with the perpetrator. When a complaint is contested, a hearing is held by an administrative law judge assigned to the Postal Service. If the evidence is sufficient, this judge will recommend that the Postal Service issue a False Representation Order (FRO) blocking money sent through the mail in response to the misleading ads. Although the order can be appealed to the courts, very few companies do this. Each voluntary agreement and FRO is accompanied by a cease-and-desist order that forbids both the challenged acts and similar acts. Under the Mail Order Consumer Protection Amendments of 1983, if this order is violated, the agency can seek a civil penalty in federal court of up to $10,000 per day for each violation.
The Postal Service does not have jurisdiction when companies solicit credit card orders by telephone and deliver through private carriers such as United Parcel Service. However, the Justice Department may seek an injunction under Section 1345, which allows federal district courts to enjoin acts of mail and wire fraud.
Criminal cases, consent agreements and false representation orders are noted in the Law Enforcement Report, which is issued four times a year, free of charge, to interested media and consumer protection agencies. The agency probably handles between 25 and 40 health-related cases per year, but exact figures are not available.
In most cases where health-related products are falsely advertised, the FDA and FTC also have jurisdiction. The FDA can regulate any product intended for use in the cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of any ailment, while the FTC has jurisdiction over advertising of all health-related products except prescription drugs. However, the FDA rarely becomes involved with mail-order sales, and the FTC handles relatively few.
In June 1989, a full-page ad for Cho Low Tea was published in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Forth Worth Star Telegram, Newark Star Ledger, Pittsburgh Press and 100 other newspapers. The ad claimed that this tea would reduce blood cholesterol levels while still allowing you to eat whatever you please. The tea was also claimed to add years to your life, make you look and feel better, aid digestion of fatty foods, reduce water retention, and have none of the possible side effects of cholesterol-lowering drugs. The ad contained testimonials from a prominent young television actor, endorsements from seven medical sources, and the logo of the Better Business Bureau.
Fortunately for consumers, James Ralph, vice president of the American Newspaper Publishers Association Credit Bureau, had received inquiries about the advertisers before the ad was published. Ralph, who conducts seminars on how to detect fraudulent ads, is probably the industry leader in trying to persuade newspapers not to publish such ads. On the first day the ad was published, he obtained a copy, concluded the promotion was a scam, and contacted the Council of Better Business Bureaus as well as state and federal law enforcement agencies.
It turned out that the endorsements were fabrications and the marketers did not belong to the Better Business Bureau. They were two Australians who had entered the United States in February, 1989. One of them had fled England while awaiting trial for a scheme involving the sale of almost $7 million worth of a Chinese tea that was falsely claimed to cause weight loss. It also turned out that no Cho Low Tea existed. The con men had planned to repackage another company's tea but had not yet done so! Three weeks after their ad appeared here, both were arrested and jailed in lieu of bail. Early in July, they pleaded "no contest" and received short sentences that will be followed by a three-year period of probation. Orders for the tea exceeded $250,000, but the authorities acted so swiftly that all of the money was returned to its senders.
For several years, Cal-Ban 3000 was falsely claimed to provide automatic weight loss without dieting or exercise. Cal-Ban contained guar gum-claimed by its marketers to decrease appetite and block the absorption of fat. When taken by mouth, guar gum forms a gel within the stomach that may contribute to a feeling of fullness and may block some nutrients so they are not absorbed. However, there is no proof that either of these things is enough to produce weight loss automatically or consistently. For one thing, many overweight people keep eating even when their stomach signals that it is full. For another, if food absorption is decreased, the individual may eat more to compensate. No long-term controlled test of guar gum as a weight-control agent has been reported in the scientific literature.
In 1987, after conducting an investigation, the Postal Service acted quickly to block the sale of Cal-Ban through the mail. However, its Florida-based manufacturer continued to solicit orders through a toll-free number, with payment by credit card or COD, and delivery by United Parcel Service. Cal-Ban was also marketed through pharmacies and health food stores. These channels are outside the Postal Service's jurisdiction.
In February 1990, Cal-Ban's marketers signed a consent agreement promising to stop selling it in Iowa and to pay $20,000 to cover the state's cost of taking action against them. The company did not admit wrongdoing, but agreed to notify its 1989 customers that the Iowa Attorney General believed its ads were misleading and that a refund would be sent if requested. The company also agreed to pay restitution for 1987 and 1988, using a formula based on the response to the refund offer. Up to $50,000 would be earmarked for the state's Consumer Education Fund, while any excess would be given to an appropriate nonprofit organization. Subsequently, 80% of the 1989 customers asked for a refund, triggering total restitution of $320,000. Iowa officials estimated that total U.S. sales of Cal-Ban had exceeded $20 million in 1989.
A few months later, spurred by evidence of danger, more regulatory actions were taken. Early in July, postal authorities, working with the U.S. Attorney in Tampa, Florida, obtained a temporary injunction prohibiting sales through the mail and by telephone and directing telephone companies to disconnect the company's toll-free lines. During the same week, the Hillsborough County (Florida) Sheriff filed charges of fraud against three company officials. In mid-July, the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services ordered Florida retailers to remove Cal-Ban from their shelves and to stop selling it immediately. The department said it had acted after reviewing complaints involving more than 100 people, at least 50 of whom needed some type of medical intervention. The complaints included esophageal obstruction, gastric obstruction, upper and lower intestinal obstruction, nausea and vomiting.
One week later, the FDA sent the company a regulatory letter stating that Cal-Ban was an unapproved new drug and was misbranded and asking that it be recalled immediately. The FDA also announced that it had collected reports of at least 17 cases of esophageal obstruction. Hospital stays were required by ten of these people, one of whom died. Shortly afterward, the California Department of Health Services warned consumers not to use Cal-Ban and warned retailers not to sell it. California authorities also embargoed more than 20 million tablets and capsules at a warehouse and manufacturing plant in Anaheim, California.
In August the Florida civil case was settled with payment of a $1.3 million penalty, and the criminal case was settled with a plea bargain in which the company pled guilty to one count of organized scheme to defraud, paid a $5,000 fine, and pledged never to sell guar gum or Cal-Ban again in the United States. The federal case was settled with a similar consent agreement plus a penalty of $25,000. In addition, if the three company officials ever promote another weight-loss aid, the promotional material must make it clear that any weight loss will result from increasing exercise and/or consuming fewer calories.
Since the weight-reduction claims made for Cal-Ban made it a drug under federal law, the FDA could have ordered the manufacturer to stop making these claims. A simple regulatory letter might well have stopped the company dead in its tracks during its first year of operation.
Advertising Standards
The Postal Service has a very active program to detect and stop the sale of bogus health products through the mails. Even so, many mail-order thieves operate long enough to make a profit-as do media outlets that collect money for running the ads. Each year buyers of these products lose small amounts of money individually but tens of millions of dollars collectively. At the same time, taxpayers have to pay for government enforcement actions that would be unnecessary if media outlets had uniformly higher standards.
When questioned about standards, advertising managers typically respond that it is impossible, too difficult, or even legally risky to check every ad that comes their way. Some also respond that it should not be their responsibility to judge health claims. At the same time, they feel entitled to complete freedom to decide for themselves which ones to print. The net result is that they profit from helping the public be cheated.
During 1984, the FDA and the Council of Better Business Bureaus sent information packets to the advertising managers of 9,500 newspapers and magazines as well as to 10,000 television and radio stations. The mailing included tips on checking ad copy as well as the marketer's credentials. Armed with this information, advertising departments could weed out the vast majority of fraudulent health ads with little effort-if they wanted to do so.
A few periodicals—most notably The New York Times, the St. Petersburg Times and Good Housekeeping—have published standards and do an effective job of following them. Many others rarely run ads for bogus mail-order health products but occasionally slip up. The major television networks screen ads fairly carefully, but rarely publicize the procedures they use. No large study has tabulated how media outlets screen their ads. James Ralph believes that almost all of them make an effort to detect frauds and do reject many that are submitted. But it is clear from the Cho Low Tea incident alone that something is radically wrong.
Stronger Laws are Needed
Protection against mail-order quackery would be substantially increased if the following ideas were implemented.
Portions of this report were developed with the help of Attorneys Geoffrey Drucker and Jennifer Angelo of the United States Postal Service Law Department and Michael Botts, former chief counsel for the National Council Against Health Fraud.


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that we hardly made a dent during our brief time there.
Next, we spent a great deal of time exploring
Aside from that they have so many other wonderful exhibits
was full of lots of hands-on fun
This looks like fun! I love that your girls were posing in lots of your pictures! Too cute!ReplyDelete
I want that diamond :)
Looks like a wonderful vacation!
Stopping by from the Friday Hops to say hello.
Have a great day!
Hi! New GFC follower from the Friday hop! Made a trip to DC many years ago and it was loads of fun! I would love for you to stop by http://aboutamom.com to say hi & return follow! :)ReplyDelete
Great pictures from Washington. I was just there a 2 months ago and we had os much fun. What a beautiful city! Wasn't the air and space muse awesome? we really enjoyed it!ReplyDelete
We live about two hours from D.C. so it is an easy day trip. I haven't been since Little Bit has been born. I am itching to take him. My favorite thing is the National Zoo. It's fantastic. Glad you enjoyed your trip!ReplyDelete
Thanks for taking the time to visit Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas! I hope you will stay awhile to explore all we have to offer!

subset: commoncrawl


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It is a fact that even though we try to live in clean environments, we
share these places with many micro-organisms. If you had the chance to
view the room you are currently sitting in with a microscope, you would
immediately see the millions of organisms you live with.
In this situation, the individual resembles a "besieged castle". Needless
to say, such a castle, which is surrounded by countless enemies, must
be protected in a very complete and organised manner. Human beings are
created along with this perfect protection they need, and are not, therefore,
entirely defenceless against these enemies. The "micro" guards in our
bodies never leave us alone and fight for us on many fronts.
Masses of influenza bacteria on the nasal epithelium.
Bacteria on a recently brushed tooth.
The invader cells that want to take control of the body first have to
fight their way through the front line of the body. Even though these
fronts have their weaknesses at times, the enemy is hardly ever allowed
to pass through them. The first front the enemy must penetrate is our
The Protective Armour Of Our Body: The Skin
The skin, which covers the entire body of a human being just like a sheath,
is full of amazing features. Its ability to repair and renew itself, its
non-permeability by water, despite the existence of tiny pores on its
surface as opposed to its function of discharging water through perspiration,
its extremely flexible structure, allowing free movement, as opposed to
its being thick enough to avoid easy rupture, its ability to protect the
body from the heat, the cold, and harmful sunrays are only a few of the
features of the skin that have been specially created for human beings.
Here, we will deal with a particular feature of this extraordinary wrapping
paper: its ability to protect the body from disease-causing micro-organisms.
If the body is considered a castle besieged by enemies, we can safely
refer to the skin as the strong walls of this castle.
The main protective function of the skin is realised via the dead cell
layers constituting the outer section of the skin. Each new cell produced
by cell division moves from the inner section of the skin towards the
surface. While doing this, the liquid element (cytoplasm) of the cell
interior transforms into a resistant protein known as keratin. During
the process, the cell dies. The newly formed keratin substance has a very
hard structure and is not therefore subject to decomposition by digestive
enzymes, which is a sign of its resistance. Thus, invaders such as bacteria
and fungi will be unable to find anything to rip off from the outer layer
of the skin.
Moreover, dead outer cells containing keratin are constantly shed from
the skin surface. The new cells that come from beneath to replace the
discarded ones form an impenetrable barrier in that area.
The organisms on the skin fulfill another protective function of the
skin. A group of harmless microbes live on the skin, which have adapted
to its acidic medium. Feeding on the leftovers stuck on the keratin of
the skin, these microbes attack all kinds of foreign bodies to protect
their feeding site. The skin, as the host of these microbes, is like a
supplementary force that provides external support to the army within
the human body.
In this picture,
you can see the macrophages located in the lung tissues. They eliminate
the dust particles in the air we inhale.
Protection In Respiration
One of the courses our enemies take to enter our body is the respiratory
tract. Hundreds of varied microbes, which are present in the air we inhale,
try to gain entry to the body through these passages. However, they are
unaware of the barrier set up against them in the nose.
A special secretion in the nasal mucous retains and sweeps out about
80-90% of the micro-organisms that gain entry to the respiratory system
directly or through dust particles or other substances.
In addition, the tiny hairlike structures (cilia) on the surface of the
cells of the respiratory tract beat upward, causing a current that carries
foreign particles to the throat where they are swallowed and disposed
of by acid in the stomach. The coughing reflex and sneezing facilitate
this function.
The microbes that are able to surmount these barriers and reach the alveoli
(lung, bronchus and gingiva) will be ingested by phagocytes. After this
phase, phagocytes become mobile and drift upwards with the microbes they
have ingested to be finally discharged from the body in different ways.
Each time you breathe, as you are doing now, a war is fought at the border
gates of your body of which you are completely unaware. The guards at
these border gates fight with the enemy to the death to protect your health.
Protection In The Digestive System
Another vehicle by which microbes gain entry to our body is our food.
However, the guards of our body, which are aware of this method used by
the microbes, await them in the region where the food finally ends up,
which is the stomach. They also have a surprise for the arriving microbes,
which is the gastric acid. This acid is quite an unpleasant surprise for
the microbes which have overcome all obstacles and reached the stomach.
The majority, if not all, of the microbes are defeated by this acid.
Some microbes may overcome this obstacle because they have not made enough
contact with the gastric acid, or they have showed resistance. However,
these microbes are again subjected to further conflicts with other guards
situated on their way. Now, another surprise is at hand for them: the
digestive enzymes produced in the small intestine. This time, they cannot
get away as easily.
As we have seen, the human body has specially created guards, which protect
the human body in every phase of the microbes' assaults.
There are now some important questions raised by this examination.
Who established that microbes living outside would try to penetrate our
body through foods, which route the food would follow, how microbes would
be destroyed in their final destination, where they would go if they overcame
this obstacle, and how in that case they should be exposed to stronger
measures? Is it the body cells, which have never been out of the body,
and therefore, have no chance of examining the chemical make-up of the
microbes outside, and which, moreover, have not received any training
in chemistry?
Definitely not. Only Allah, Who created both the external world, and
the food in this world, and the body that needs these foods, and the system
to digest these foods, is able to create such a defence system.
Another Method: Destroying The Enemy By Another Enemy
There are many other micro-organisms that live within the human body
which cause us no harm. What are these organisms that continue with their
own life without doing us any harm, and what is their purpose in living
within our body?
These groups of micro-organisms, which are gathered in certain parts
of the body, are called the normal microbial flora of the body. They do
no damage and even have some benefits for the human body.
These micro-organisms provide external support for the defence army against
microbes. They benefit the body by preventing foreign microbes from settling
in it, because the entry of any microbe into the body is a threat to their
own housing site. Since they do not want to be displaced by the invaders,
they fight a fierce battle against them. We can think of these micro-organisms
as "professional soldiers" fighting for the body. They try to protect
the site they live in for their own benefit. In so doing, they complement
the fully equipped army in our body.
How do these "professional soldiers" settle in our bodies?
The human embryo has met no enemy during the gestation period in the
mother's womb. Following the birth of the child, it makes contact with
the environment, and numerous microbes are introduced to the child through
the intake of food and by way of the respiratory tract. Some of these
microbes die right away, while others are discharged before having the
chance to settle down in the body. Some, however, settle in various parts
of the body such as the skin, skin ridges, mouth, nose, eyes, upper respiratory
tract, digestive tract, and genital organs. These microbes form permanent
colonies at these locations and constitute the microbial flora of the
human body.
Who Are Our Micro Enemies?
Our micro enemies, on the other hand, are micro-organisms, which are
not a part of our bodies, yet which have somehow penetrated our bodies,
eventually stimulating the defence army therein.
Every foreign cell that enters the body is not, however treated as an
enemy. Foreign matter constantly enters our bodies as we eat, drink water,
or take medicine. Yet our body does not initiate a war with it. In order
for the defence cells to perceive a foreign substance as an enemy, certain
conditions are taken into consideration such as the size of the molecule,
its rate of elimination from the body, and its way of entering the body.
Among our innumerable micro enemies, bacteria have an established reputation.
Bacteria, which enter the human body in multiple ways, instigate a fierce
war in the body. Sometimes ending up with quite serious illnesses, these
wars explicitly reveal the power and ability hidden in an organism the
size of a few microns (a micron is one thousandth of a millimeter). Recent
research has shown that bacteria have an extraordinary resistance even
to the most severe and harsh conditions. Particularly, the bacteria known
as spores are resistant to extremely high temperatures and drought for
extended periods. This is why it is difficult to destroy certain microbes.
The human body resembles a very valuable diamond stored in a safe, receiving
the most intensive care and protection. Some of the organisms that try
to invade the body act like experienced thieves. One of the best known
and most important of these thieves is the virus.
This organism, whose existence we became aware of with
the invention of the electron microscope, is too simple-structured and
small to be considered even as a cell. Viruses, which vary in sizes ranging
from 0.1 to 0.280 microns, are excluded from the world of living things
for this reason.2
Although categorised as being apart from the world of living beings,
viruses indisputably possess at least as exceptional abilities as all
other living beings do. A closer examination of the lives of viruses will
make this fact more apparent. Viruses are the compulsory parasites of
living beings. This means, they cannot survive if they do not settle into
a plant, animal, or human cell, and consume its food and energy. Viruses
do not have a system that would enable them to survive on their own. As
if they are aware of this, they deftly slip into a cell, and after invading
the cell, with the same deftness turn the cell into a "virus production
factory" that produces its own copies.
This plan developed by the virus to invade the cell is extremely sophisticated
and intelligent. In the first place, the virus must determine whether
the cell is appropriate for itself or not. It has to be very careful and
meticulous in this decision, for the smallest mistake may cause its death.
To avoid such an end, it uses its special receptors to check whether the
cell is appropriate for it or not. The next important thing it does is
to carefully locate itself within the cell.
The virus confuses the cell with the tactics it employs and avoids observation.
This is how the events develop: the cell transports the new DNA of the
virus into its nucleus. Thinking that it produces protein, the cell starts
to replicate this new DNA. The DNA of the virus hides itself so furtively
that the cell involuntarily becomes the production factory of its own
enemy and produces the very viruses that will eventually destroy it. It
is indeed very difficult for the cell to identify the hereditary make-up
of the virus as that of an invader.
The virus locates itself within the cell so well that it almost becomes
a part of it. After the multiplication process is over, the virus and
other new viruses depart from the cell to repeat the same process in other
cells. During the process, depending on the type of the virus and the
cell, the virus can kill the host cell, cause harm to it, modify it, or
simply do nothing.
The question of how the cell, which operates under a very strictly monitored
control mechanism, can be deceived into becoming a virus factory is still
unanswered. It is quite intriguing that viruses, which have a highly specialised
structure, but which are not even classified as living beings, could act
so intelligently, think up, and plan such effective strategies. The secret
of this phenomenon lies in the existence of a Creator, Who created these
organisms with the abilities they possess.
The features of the virus are perfectly designed to enable it to make
use of the system operating in the cell. It is obvious that the power
that created the virus is also well informed about the extremely complex
working principles of the cell. This power belongs to Allah, Who created
the virus and the cell into which it will settle, as He created the entire
The virus, which, with its miniscule structure, can inflict and sometimes
even cause the death of the human body, which is millions of times bigger
than itself in size, is a being Allah has specially created to remind
people of their weaknesses.
2. George Gamow, One Two Three... Infinity, Bantam Books, 1971,
p. 245.
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News & Notes: Game 68
Follow the Herd:
Listen to the Game Live: CLICK HERE!
Bisons Baseball Network: CLICK HERE!
Email the Broadcast Team: CLICK HERE!
Everything about the Herd: CLICK HERE!
Get to a Bisons Game: CLICK HERE!
TODAY'S GAME: This evening, the Buffalo Bisons take on the Gwinnett Braves in the first game of a four-game series from Gwinnett Stadium (7:00 p.m.). This is the first time the Herd will ever play the Braves in Gwinnett as the Atlanta Braves moved their Triple-A affiliate from Richmond, VA during the off-season. The Herd is coming off a four-game split against the Charlotte Knights. The Bisons will return home to Buffalo to face the Knights again at Coca-Cola Field, June 27-30.
vs. THE BRAVES: The Bisons and Braves split a four-game series at Coca-Cola Field from May 12-15. Prior to the Braves move to Gwinnett, Buffalo posted a 48-38 record against Richmond (.558 winning percentage). Dating back to last season, the Herd has now won five of their last seven games against the Atlanta Braves' Triple-A affiliate.
ON BROADWAY: RHP Lance Broadway is coming off his best outing with the Herd. On June 16, Broadway threw six innings and allowed only three hits and one run in a 5-4 win against Syracuse. Tonight's outing will be Broadway's fourth start and fifth game since coming over to the Mets organization in a trade with the Chicago White Sox for C Ramon Castro (May 31).
IN LIKE A LAMB: INF Mike Lamb extended his hit streak to nine games yesterday. Since June 8, Lamb has averaged .412 (14-34) with two doubles, a triple, five RBI and five runs scored. The stretch includes a perfect 4-4 performance on June 16 in Syracuse.
ROSTER MOVES: The Mets promoted a trio of Bisons before their game last night against St. Louis. OF Fernando Martinez, LHP Pat Misch and RHP Elmer Dessens all joined New York. To make roster room, the Mets optioned LHP Ken Takahashi back to Buffalo. Takahashi began the season with the Herd and posted a 0.77ERA in six appearances (11.2IP, 9K). The Mets also designated INF Wilson Valdez for assignment and released INF/OF Wily Mo Pena and INF Javier Valentin.


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If you have been reading my blogs, you know I am always looking for the perfect wine to share with guests at our Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast. My need to assist my guests leads me to many a wine tasting to fulfill my duty, or so I often say. This weeks tasting at the Belfry was special and I was pleased that Jan had the opportunity to share it with me. We sat with our friends Ev and Anne and shared great wine and great food.
As the summer turned to fall and now winter, and as the tastings moved from the large outdoor patio into the more intimate Bistro, the number of attendees has lessened. From the peak July numbers of often over seventy, now the numbers are fewer. Although lower in volume, all these diehards are very serious about their wine and food experience. Chris, the owner, partnering with my friends at Cellar 55 Wine Merchants, has responded by rewarding the attendees with even higher quality wines and unique food pairings.
Peter Michael Chardonnays. Those of us who follow Wine Spectator Magazine and recently read its Top 100, The Most exciting Wines of 2010, recognize Peter Michael from the top of the list. His 2008 Sonoma County Ma Belle-Fille was the number three wine of the year and rated 97 points on Wine Spectator's 100 point scale. The winery's website says:
'In 1982 Sir Peter Michael established the Peter Michael winery on a square mile of rocky volcanic ridges that form the western face of Mount St. Helena in Sonoma County. From the beginning, the wine growing philosophy was modeled on the French tradition infused with a few modern influences: One, the vineyard terroir would be the single most important feature. Two, the wines would be elegant rather than overstated. Three, there would be a hundred-year commitment to the development of a great estate. Given this commitment to the product, only a limited quantity will ever be made.'
Although we did not sample the No. 3 wine, we had the unique pleasure of tasting two 90+ point wines from adjacent single vineyards from the same vintage. First we had the 2008 La Carrière Chardonnay pared with sashimi tuna, and then the 2008 Belle Côte Chardonnay pared with a salmon dish. The two Chardonnays were very different, reflecting the varying types of soil in which the grapes were grown. The La Carrière has a high mineral profile similar to French Burgundy and the Belle Côte has a broader fruit profile more like the best of California's 'big' Chardonnays. The wine dramatically enhanced both fish parings. All of Peter Michaels wines are of very limited production and it was a rare treat to try two in one night.
Whetstone Bella Vigna Pinot Noir from Whetstone Wine Cellars in Napa Valley. The grapes from the Bella Vigna Vineyard in Sonoma produced a ruby red wine with heavy berry aromas that was well pared with a beautiful serving of duck. I had the pleasure of meeting Jamey Whetstone last year at Cellar 55 and tasted some of his younger wines from the Russian River Valley. This 2006 shows that Whetstone's wines will age well and are something to look forward to.
Cakebread Cellars in Rutherford, CA. Jack Cakebread was one the early vintners that help put Napa Valley on the world wine map by consistently producing excellent wines. Early in my wine journey, I favored Napa Merlots and this wine reminded me of how good it can be. This big wine was pared with an unbelievable cheese pie. Although there was a 'bonus' wine served to finish the tasting, I do not remember it since I was still lost in the great Merlot and cheese pie combination.
What a night of great wines. All of these wines, except the little remembered bonus bottle, were rated 90+ points and some retail for almost $80.00 per bottle. Guests at our Sandwich Bed and Breakfast may not be seeing these wines out for general consumption every night, but I had a great time testing them just in case I win the lottery.
Happy wine-ing!
Charlie Preus, the Innkeeper's Assistant and Wine Steward at the 1750 Inn at Sandwich Center, Sandwich, Cape Cod, Massachusetts


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Bloomington Leaf Pickup Status MapsMap Gallery for maps on Bloomington leaf collection program
Potholes: Public Requests to Fill a PotholeOpen311 reports of potholes from uReport. This is a subset of the Open311 data that is available here: https://data.bloomington.in.gov/dataset/open311
Inaccessible ParkingReported issues with public parking for people with disabilities This is a subset of the complete Open311 data available at: https://data.bloomington.in.gov/dataset/open311
Animal Care and Control Adopted AnimalsIn early 2017, the Bloomington Animal Shelter migrated management software from AnimalShelterNet to Shelter Manager. We attempted to preserve as much information as possible...
Potholes RepairedPothole repair totals.
Leaf Collection MapsMap Gallery for the City of Bloomington leaf pickup program. Leaf collection runs from late fall to early spring. See the Leaf Collection web page for more information.
Disinfectant Byproducts (DBPs)Two disinfectant byproducts (DBPs), Total Trihalomethanes (TTHMs) and Haloacedic Acids (HAA5s) are regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act through the Stage 2 Disinfectant...
Blucher Poole Wastewater Treatment Plant Energy ConsumptionEnergy consumption data for the Blucher Poole Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Dillman Road Wastewater Treatment Plant Electricity Consumption and Influent ...Daily electricity consumption and influent volume at the Dillman Road Wastewater Treatment plant. Electricity consumption is show in kilowatt-hours (kWh) along with the daily...
Monroe Water Treatment Plant Energy ConsumptionElectricity and natural gas consumption at the Monroe Water Treatment Plant. These datasets also contain daily volumes of water treated and peak demand values.
Intake Tower Energy ConsumptionEnergy use at the CBU Intake Tower. This facility pumps water from Lake Monroe to the Monroe Water Treatment Plant.
CBU Service Building Energy and Water ConsumptionElectricity, natural gas, and water consumption data for the City of Bloomington Service Building.
Bloomington Sidewalk MapsMap Gallery for sidewalk maps. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact the Street Division at (812) 349-3448. Related Maps, Data, and Content Sidewalk Web...
Tree Trimming & Upkeep ActivityA summary of tree trimming and upkeep work orders that have been conducted by the Street Division on trees in the public right-of-way. Data goes back to when the City's current...
Alley Maintenance and RepairsRepairs and maintenance made to public alleys by the Street Division. These activities include resurfacing, hot patching, cold patching, laying stone and inspections.
Street Repairs and MaintenanceRepairs and maintenance to street segments that includes resurfacing, reconstruction, repairs, inspections, hot patch, cold patch, milling and street cuts that the Street...
Pavement Marking ActivitiesA summary of roadway pavement marking activities (by both date and location) that have been conducted by the Street Division.
Street SweepingA summary of street sweeping work orders requested, as conducted by the Street Division, by date and location.
Street LightsA summary of street light repairs and replacement work orders that have been conducted by the Public Works Department. Data goes back to when the City's current asset...
Traffic SignalsInformation regarding work orders by the Street Division for the installation, repair, replacement or inspection for the City of Bloomington's traffic signals.


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PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Timbers left no doubt Saturday night against Chivas USA, riding a classy goal from Diego Valeri in the game's opening moments and a decisive defensive performance to a 2-0 win at Providence Park.
Rodney Wallace nabbed Portland's other goal, also in the first half, as the Timbers rebounded from their 3-1 loss last weekend to the LA Galaxy for a third win in four games, moving them into a tie with the Colorado Rapids for fifth place in the Western Conference standings with 30 points from 23 games.
Chivas' precipitous drop off following their season-best four-game winning streak continues with a fourth straight loss to keep them in the West's basement.
Portland's nine shots to Chivas' one – a hopeful attempt by Erick Torres that missed by approximately 15 yards – told the story in the first half.
The Timbers - playing without injured attacker Darlington Nagbe for the second straight outing - struck first in the 10th minute when Valeri made a long run right up the spine, cut back at the edge of the box, leaving Chivas midfielder Nathan Sturgis spinning. The Argentine dynamo then unleashed a right-footed curler that whistled past a diving Dan Kennedy.
Portland nearly had another following a 25th-minute corner when the ball made its way out to Will Johnson, who teed up from distance. His rocket banged off the post right to new defender Liam Ridgewell, who tapped it cleanly into the back of the net for what would have opened his Timbers account. But he was ruled offside on the play before the hosts actually found the back of the net again in the 39th minute.
Valeri crossed to Fanendo Adi in the box on that play, and the forward shielded off a defender before flicking the ball to an awaiting Wallace. The Costa Rican then slotted easily past Kennedy to give Portland a 2-0 lead and Wallace his first goal of the year since dealing with an offseason knee surgery.
Chivas rarely tested the Portland defense on the night, and when they did, the Timbers were up to the task. Portland recorded their first clean sheet since May 28, which also came in a 2-0 win against Chivas, and just their second of the season.
The Goats did, however, show a bit more pluck in the second half – but not much.
Midfielder Mauro Rosales was set up with an open look at the top of the box in the 52nd minute, but his chip attempt was wide. The veteran midfielder also had a dangerous 75th-minute free kick from approximately 25 yards out, but that was also hit off the mark.
Chivas' best chance came in the 83rd minute when substitute Leandro Barrera got free at the top of the box and sent in a left-footed shot that Timbers goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts cleaned up with a diving stop.
Portland nearly added to their lead in the 62nd minute when Johnson tried his best Valeri impression, making a long run, cutting back on the defense at the edge of the box and firing off a right-footed missile. But this time Kennedy was equal to the task with a superb diving save.
In the end, Portland held Chivas to nine shots, only one of which was on target.
Portland hit the road for their next match Saturday against the New England Revolution, while Chivas play host to the Vancouver Whitecaps on the same day.
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com.
MLSsoccer.com Men of the Match
|What We Saw
|Diego Valeri
|Scored a well-taken goal and played a part in the insurance tally, helping to give Portland a much-needed three points.
|Rodney Wallace
|The author of the insurance tally, Wallace provided a wide threat against a Chivas USA attack that struggled to get into a rhythm.
|Donovan Ricketts
|Solid thoughout and never shied away from a challenge against a Goats side that was unable to avoid a shutout loss.


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Denmark: a dream world for diving… if you like icy cold water, underwater currents, and terrible visibility. All the more reason our #DiveWithMe photo contest winners Anna Starup and Theresa Torp are absolutely over the moon about their upcoming trip to the Philippines, where they'll be staying at the Atmosphere Resorts, and hoping to put over a dozen dives in the logbook. For Anna, it will be her first underwater experience, while for Theresa, it's the continuation of a passion that's directed her life over the last few years! We chatted with the girls to find out what's making them feel giddy about the upcoming trip.
Anna (left) and Theresa (right) are already in the Philippines getting ready for their dive adventure.
Real quick – give us a bio in a nutshell!
Anna Starup: My name is Anna and I spend my days in Copenhagen, Denmark, where I study anthropology. I live in a big house north of the city with some good friends and take advantage of the location right by the ocean. I go winter swimming and kayaking a lot and have recently made a try at windsurfing. It gives me great quality of life, daily, having the ocean basically in my front yard. I am absolutely ecstatic that I now get the opportunity to explore the ocean through diving, which has been a dream of mine for many years!
Theresa Torp: I'm a 24-year-old Occupational-therapy student, who lives in western Denmark in an apartment with my boyfriend. When I'm not studying, I work as a Social Media Manager for a travel agency, which I'm really passionate about as I love to travel, love to write and love photograhy! At the same time, it gives me a great opportunity to save money for scuba diving and explore the world whenever the school lets us off the hook.
Diving + Denmark? Huh? Why is it interesting for Danish people to scuba dive?
Theresa: To be honest, Denmark isn't really the ideal place for scuba diving. It's known for green water, bad visibility, underwater currents and icy cold temperatures. Those are some of the many reasons why we like to travel as often as possible! But that being said, there are a lot of awesome shipwrecks, and the rough conditions make a great place for practice between our travels. You get tough diving in Denmark!
Theresa, tell us your SCUBA story!
When I graduated from High School I decided to take a year off (pretty common in Denmark) to explore the world before continuing on to university. At my first destination, Brazil, I met the most amazing and inspiring people – a marine-biologist and a dive instructor, who was a part of a unique and really cool scuba diving community in Porto De Galinhas. I was extremely fascinated about their way of living, and even though I had already decided to do my PADI Open Water before I went overseas, I'm pretty sure that they're the reason that scuba diving has become such a big part of who I am today. Since then I've lived out numerous irreplaceable adventures underwater, and at the age of 22 I extended my certification to Advanced at Key Largo in southern Florida!
Anna – you don't even dive yet! What's in this for you?
Anna: I'm the sort of type that gets restless if I stay in the same place more than six months at a time. Because of this I tend to travel quite a lot during the year, and I have also lived outside of Denmark several times. But I think this trip is going to stand out – it's going to be a whole new adventure, both over and under the sea, and I get to share it with one of my very best friends.
"Atmosphere Resorts, here we come!"
Have either of you ever been to the Philippines before?
Anna: No, the closest is probably Indonesia – I lived and worked there for three months a few years back.
Theresa: Nope, it will be my first time exploring Asia – and I couldn't be more excited!
Anna, you don't dive, yet – but you've started studying your theory already.
Anna: Yep – I took an online course, PADI Open Water Touch e-learning package.
It's definitely a different way to learn! All the theory is about things and gear I have absolutely no experience with and never seen or touched before. On the other hand it has made me really eager to put all the things into practice!
Theresa – will it be nice to have a new dive partner back home?
Theresa: I'm sure that the cold water in Denmark will seem a bit more appealing when I can share it with Anna – who I'm sure is going to be one of the greatest and most fun dive buddies I've ever had!
Just curious – Suunto products do you plan to have on the trip?
Theresa: We're definitely going to bring the new Suunto Zoop Novo and Suunto D4i. Can't wait to get to use them! And to capture the trip both in and out of water we'll be using Olympus TG Tracker action cameras.
How many dives do you expect to do?
Theresa: I hope to do at least 15 dives. I've read about fifty or so awesome dive sites around Atmosphere Resorts, and it's going to be really hard to choose – but I trust that the Atmosphere crew is going to show us their absolute favourites! Besides scuba diving the resort is surrounded by beautiful nature, which we'll love to explore as well.
Be sure to follow #SuuntoDive on the Instagram and Facebook to enjoy the girls' adventure.


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When I was six or seven years old I started reading my father's books, all of which were paperback novels, and almost all of those Westerns and science fiction. I read every novel Louis L'Amour had written before I was ten, and nearly everything by Robert A. Heinlein (I'm not sure I made it through Stranger in a Strange Land). And then one day I started on Frank Herbert's Dune.
I was wandering through the house with the book tucked under my arm and saw on the kitchen counter a big bowl of strawberries macerating in sugar. Since strawberries were my favorite food, I decided those were for me. I took them back to my room and spooned sweet fruit into my mouth as I simultaneously devoured the first hundred pages or so of Dune.
But I ate too many of those strawberries. I became miserably sick and threw everything up. And then I discovered that the nausea returned if I so much as thought about . . . Dune. Yes, oddly, my mind linked profound queasiness not with the strawberries, which were at fault, but with Frank Herbert's novel. I guess I loved strawberries too much to be revolted by them, so Dune took the hit instead. Every time I picked it up my stomach lurched. I set it aside and never got back to it.
Until now. My son Wes read it not long ago, so his copy has been lying around the house. I looked at it — picked it up — experienced no nausea — and thought, what the hell, maybe it's time. Maybe I should make it up to old Frank for my inappropriately negative reaction to his book. So I started in, and . . .
It's terrible. The writing is unbearably stilted, every scene (so far) contrived and clichéd. I know it must get better, and in any case you don't read a book like this for its style but rather for its world-making — but good heavens, Herbert writes like a fifteen-year-old. I bet I would have adored it at age ten, but forty years later I don't know whether I'm going to be able to persist. Maybe I'll watch the movie instead.


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I hope this winter is finally done!!
Gonna get the Viper out on Saturday I'm thinkin. Take my 9 year old to a friends bday party and then home for an oil change.
Anyone do the rear diff on their own? What tools etc do I need to do it? If I use that royal purple with the friction modifier in it, do I not need to add the mopar stuff to it?


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Russell Martin proud of Canadian roots
Catcher grew up in Quebec, went to high school in Montreal
"I was really into sports as a kid. Still am now," said the Yankees' 29-year-old catcher. "The difference is that in Paris it's soccer. Back home it's hockey and baseball. We had the Expos then."
Baseball in Paris? It's not easy to find a game, much less a ball field. As Geraldine Baum wrote in The Los Angeles Times in 2008, " ... if you hand a French child a baseball, he'll immediately drop and try to kick it. (Of course, that's how the 1962 Mets played, and they won a World Series a few years later.)"
It was tough for Martin to make friends. He was "the kid from somewhere else. I was different. I didn't speak the same. I had an accent. The accent in Quebec is different from France, as English in England is different from American English.
"Kids, they see something different, and the first thing they try do is mess with you," Martin said. "I actually got in a few fights. I'm not the type of person that backs down and just takes it. After that was done, I kind of set the tone."
His parents divorced when he was 2, and for about eight years he split time between his father in Chelsea and his mother and stepfather in Paris. He went to high school in Montreal.
He attended Chipola Junior College in Marianna, Fla., and was offered a scholarship to North Carolina State, but signed instead with the Dodgers after they drafted him in the 17th round in 2002.
Martin was a third baseman and shortstop at the rookie-league level, "and then I got to the instructional league (in 2003)," he said. "That's when they converted me to catcher. It wasn't easy, kind of like taking a step backward to take two forward."
By the start of 2006, he was in Triple-A. After 23 games at Las Vegas and with Dodgers starting catcher Dionner Navarro out with a wrist injury, Martin made his Major League debut on May 5, which is why he has always worn No. 55.
One month later, on June 5, he and teammate Eric Gagne became the first French-Canadian battery in Major League history. And 20 days after that, the Dodgers named him their No. 1 catcher and traded Navarro to the Devil Rays.
In 2007, Martin won Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards, was an All-Star that season and the next, became a free-agent in 2011 and signed with the Yankees.
The name accompanying his picture on stadium scoreboards and baseball cards reads: Russell Martin. That's only part of the story. His full name is Russell Nathan Jeanson Coltrane Martin Jr.
"I think that's the correct order, but I can't say for sure, there's so many of them," Martin joked.
Breaking the name into its individual parts, Russell Sr. is his father, Nathan honors his great-grandfather, his mother is the former Susanne Jeanson, John Coltrane was the consummate jazz saxophonist, and Martin Jr. is self-evident.
Coltrane was among the most influential saxophonists ever.
"My father played sax," Martin said, not mentioning that he did it in the metro, Montreal's subway system, to raise money for his son's baseball training. "Big Coltrane fan. He just stuck Coltrane in there."
Martin learned to play sax, too, but never asked his father what he loved about Coltrane. He surmises it was because he was different, a free-spirited innovator, and liked his style.
"I'm not really a Coltrane fan," Martin said. "With my father, it was a jazz-only thing and that kind of bugged me, because I liked all types of music, and if Dad wouldn't listen to some of the stuff I liked, I wasn't going to listen to his stuff.
"Never got into jazz," Martin added. "But as I'm getting older, I'm beginning to appreciate it more."
Bruce Lowitt is a freelance writer based in Tampa, Fla.


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Developers Cordish Co. and Heritage Properties announced on Thursday the addition of four restaurants for the entertainment complex. Below are descriptions of the type of fare offered at each, as well as the names and fare of the three other restaruants announced prior. One more restaurant, as yet unamed, is planned for the complex.
• Bobby's Burger Palace (new to Baltimore County) — Chef Bobby Flay's fast casual burger concept, "BBP" features 10 signature burgers inspired by the award-winning chef's extensive travels throughout America.
• BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse (new to Maryland) — BJ's first Maryland restaurant features signature deep-dish pizza, award-winning handcrafted beer, and famous Pizookie® dessert.
• Bonefish Grill (also located in Owings Mills) — Bonefish Grill specializes in market-fresh fish and other wood-grilled specialties combined with a big-city bar that offers cocktails and an affordable wine list.
• Hanabi Japanese Restaurant (new to Baltimore region) — A traditional Japanese steakhouse featuring fresh ingredients prepared teppanyaki-style on the hibachi grill.
Restaurants previously announced are:
• La Tagliatella (new to Maryland) — With locations in Europe, featuring Northern Italian cuisine for the past two decades.
• On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina (new to Baltimore County) — Features mesquite grill and "border style" cuisine and handcrafted margaritas, swirls and mojitos in restaurant, bar and patio experience.
• Nando's Peri-Peri (new to Baltimore County) — offers flamed grilled peri-peri chicken. Nando's is the largest South African restaurant group to expand internationally.


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Gets you out of a tight spot
City centres and urban environments are becoming tougher places for trucks. Drivers should consider safety, timing and efficiency, as well as their own delivery requirements. At every turn, bend and fork in the road. Fortunately, the Volvo FL comes equipped with features that let you get through the urban maze without any drama.


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Shana Moulton and Nick Hallett's epic multimedia one-act opera Whispering Pines 10 will run at the New Museum on Saturday and Sunday, January 8 and 9, 2011. If you missed the performance of this piece at the Kitchen last Spring, now is your second chance to see the show! Read more about Whispering Pines 10 below, and be sure to pick up your tickets early through the New Museum site.
Note: We ran a short essay in Rhizome News by Brian Droitcour on Moulton's series Whispering Pines when the opera debuted, check it out.
Whispering Pines 10 is a one-act opera by artist Shana Moulton in collaboration with composer Nick Hallett, and featuring vocalist Daisy Press. It features a live performance by Moulton as her alter ego Cynthia, a hypochondriac agoraphobe prone to colorful hallucinations and absurd fantasies. While Cynthia seeks health and total happiness within her virtual environment—an interactive video set that utilizes real-time multimedia techniques its creators call "live animation"—she usually settles for fad cures and new-age kitsch, creating situations in turn comic, contemplative, and surreal.
Whispering Pines is the celebrated video serial created by Moulton in 2002 that has previously spawned nine episodes, along with related performances, videos, and gallery installations. Whispering Pines 10—the latest installment—is an innovative performance hybrid that incorporates elements of traditional opera into contemporary video and performance art. Its premise—a woman alone in her private environment, aided by technology—enables a flexible sensibility wherein popular and experimental forms can mingle. The original music and libretto composed by Hallett takes advantage of the narrative's dream logic to weave what is essentially a pop music vocabulary into an experimental idiom, enabling a virtuosic exploration of the human voice. As the protagonist does not effectively speak, the sounds ...


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RE: orphan photo op.
I realize there's a lot of pieces to that puzzle, and two sides to every story, but that photo op is out-and-out propaganda imo. That baby has no volition of its own, and both parents are gone. Some can act like making an issue of that is "fake news", and some attacks are certainly overboard, but I can't see that as anything other than taking advantage and using a baby for propaganda.
That being said, I don't think it really worked. Probably actually back-fired on him on balance.
Huh. We should talk at some point. Considering my age, I'm not sure if my options for changing industries are great, but always open to investigating options! I have a good 10-15 years left in me!
Well enough, thanks. Hopefully you and the fam are as well. And yes, that made me laugh. He's such an obsessive dweeb, and for the dumbest causes.
Thank you!
Your point was well taken. Post deleted.
FYI Watt's is not that nice in person. I loved what he did for Houston after the flood. He's a amazing player. But the person......ummm not so much unless there is a camera around. It really bummed me out, I was really looking forward to meeting him in Phoenix at that Super Bowl. Afterwards I went that was no fun and he was down right rude to several really nice people around me. But we can keep that between us....LOL
You know I love you bro.
To give you a little background as to why I feel this way and why I even brought it up. My wife used to work for a company that provided in home care for people with disabilities. I was over visiting her once while she was caring for a man who had downs syndrome. One of the sweetest people I've ever met. I was talking to her about something and I felt that was stupid and of course I blurted out "well that's retarded". You could see the poor guys demeanor instantly change. He went from happy to sad and quiet really quickly. My wife ripped my butt for it and I've avoided it ever since.
I get where you are coming from, it's a word, it only holds the meaning the context utilized assigns to it, however, me personally, I'd rather find a different word than risk causing that sort of hurt again unintentionally. Hopefully that adds some clarity to where I am coming from.
I'm not trying to give you a hard time, or attack you or anything of that nature. I like you man and I know you didn't mean it in a mean or offense manner. I understood the context you intended, but it isn't about context. That word, regardless of context causes a lot of hurt and pain to the individuals it is often directed towards. There are better words to use that convey the same meaning. I used to use the word a lot myself in my younger years, but I've phased it out of my vocabulary by seeing the way people with mental disabilities react to it's usage.
Yes, the context you used it in, was not the same as using it as an insult towards someone with a mental disability, it doesn't have to be to cause hurt for those individuals. They hear that word and remember the times it was directed at them. Again, I've got no issue with you, and I wasn't offended, more just trying to make you think about it. I didn't think about it personally and used it freely because I didn't recognize the harm it caused.
Like you said, in the context you used it in it meant foolish or stupid. Wouldn't it be easier to just say foolish or stupid rather than unintentionally causing someone pain? Just a thought, you be you and use it however you want. Just something to think about.
Gary's Dad became ill when we were driving WA at the end of Feb. We got home he left to TX and was there a week before he dad died. So he stayed in TX to help his Mom till the very end of May. It was rough, so many things went wrong at the house I did 12 shows out of state & went to TX for the funeral in that time and he took a leave of absence so no wages for that whole time. We are finally getting back to "normal" and back on our feet money wise.. So much better now and that's why no camp reports this year...still recovering and needed to be self fish and just get my football signed...LOL hugs.
Senior Member
All the Way! AIRBORNE!!!!
I love my wife.
Out to Sea!
Using powers for awesome
friendly 'hood colt


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text:
Bill Clinton: World With an AIDS-Free Generation 'Is Within Our Reach'
Decades ago HIV and AIDS were some of the most frightening medical conditions on the planet. However, in the last 10 years deaths from AIDS-related illnesses have been cut by nearly half. This may be partially why Bill Clinton told a large audience at an international conference on AIDS in Australia that we could be close to an AIDS-free generation.
In his address to the crowd, Clinton claimed, "An AIDS-free generation is within our reach."
The human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, is what causes AIDS. It can be transmitted through blood, breast milk and by semen during intercourse. After years of research, and trial and error, the virus can now be suppressed with cocktails of drugs known as antiretroviral therapy.
According to Clinton, to reach the goal of an AIDS-free generation, people with HIV have to be found and treated early, care must be delivered to rural and hard-to-reach places and impoverished countries need more support to help fight the disease.
One of the biggest challenges is reducing the spread of HIV through breast milk. "As many as 50 percent of all new pediatric infections occur during the breastfeeding period," Clinton said. "So, keeping these women in care until the end of breastfeeding is perhaps the single most important thing we can do to achieve an AIDS-free generation. It's our big remaining barrier."
However, Clinton urged, "We should no longer have any doubts, nor should anyone else, that we have the ability to see this effort through to the end."


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Joined: 11 Mar 2005
Posts: 696
Location: israel
Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 11:04 am
Post subject:
Hi Barbara, Jews have indeed a very developped sense of humour, and they know how have a good laugh about themselve too. It was part of a 2000+ years survival kit, which, unfortunately is actual today too, when nice leaders like the iranian President is as keen as Hitler to annihilate us. So humor is prevalent in Jewish culture, and the more the better.
On a diffeent level , I do think that we ( jews) are quite self assured about our religion/culture/tradition , and jokes , caricatures, insults , benign or vicious, about Jews or Judaism are not perceived as endangering our faith, and it won't bring us out in the streets to violent demonstrations, or killing /injuring/bombing/threatening the offenders or anyone who does not like us. We have better things to do. Maybe because Judaim is a very old religion, we don't feel that the approval or dissaproval of certain persons/people/nations of our beliefs and traditions are a real threat to Judaism itself- as opposed to real PHYSICAL threats that we, Israelis and jews , try to deal with- and not always in a peaceful manner. So the more jokes ( nice ones) are welcome ( I can supply you with a lot of them).
Returning to Gefilte fish, - it's not at all a religious thing. It's origins are in Poland and Russia, where more food had to be done from less ( you take one carp, add matzo meal, eggs etc atc- so you "strech" the fish and the proteins - and feed more people). It's a poor man's dish, which somehow, sometimes in the Middle ages became a traditional Passover tradition - but only for the Jews of Cental and eastern Europe. The Sephardic Jews ( originary from Arab countries) can't stand this dish, they laugh at us, and they have their own version of a very spicy fish dish for Pesach, which I personally, greatly prefer to the traditional gefilte fish of my grandma ( God bless her soul).
The story you put on the forum illustrates how modern Jewish housewifes'don't really like to do this dish anymore ( lot of working with the fish) so they buy ready made ones. It reminds me the joke abou a young chuld living in the great city who was asked to draw a chicken : so he drew a chicken wrapped in plastic, as he has seen them in the super.
Now I have to go and cook for my clients for Seder ( no gefilte fish) .
Happy Passover ,
No more war, I don't like Manischewitz's gefilte fish, I prefer smoked salmon!!!
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Joined: 23 Jan 2006
Posts: 1324
Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 4:20 pm
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Joined: 11 Mar 2005
Posts: 696
Location: israel
Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 1:13 am
Post subject:
Hi Suzy,
Now that the Seder is behind us, I'm curious to hear about your Gefilte fish. What was the recipe you finally used? Are you celebrating the second Seder too?
Happy Holidays,
No more war, let's replace cannon bullets by matzo balls !!
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Joined: 20 Mar 2005
Posts: 80
Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 1:54 pm
Post subject:
The gefilte fish project will be picked up next year! My mother ended up breaking her ankle (what else can go wrong with that woman's body?! Don't answer) and couldn't travel to my place for the holiday. When I learned she wouldn't be able to make it, I realized that she was my prime motivation for doing a seder this year. (I'm really busy at work right now and was worried about how I'd find the time to cook and entertain anyway.)
So, *blush* I didn't have a seder at all and went away for the weekend with my boyfriend instead. My friends and son were disappointed, but they'll be that much happier next year when I produce my matzoh balls and maybe even my own gefilte fish.
PS I got a really bad cold over the weekend.
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Joined: 21 Apr 2008
Posts: 16
Location: Binghamton, NY
Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 4:49 pm
Post subject:
I never even heard of the gefilte fish. So the overall consensus is that it is a great dish ehh?
Recent culinary graduate, with a chocolate and
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Joined: 11 Mar 2005
Posts: 696
Location: israel
Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 6:52 pm
Post subject:
Sorry to hear about your misfortunes , Suzy. So let it be " next year.... seder at my home" ( "next year in Jerusalem" is the most common wish/PRAYER of the Jewish people since they were scattered in the Diaspora 2000 years ago).
Rachel24, you have missed some good stuff!! Jsut go to a good delicattesen shop, and have one. But of course, I'm subjective, it might be an aquired taste!
No more war, more gefilte fish !( I believe I repeat myself with this one, but gefilte fish does deserve another mention)
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Joined: 16 Jan 2007
Posts: 35
Location: Oakland, CA, USA
Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 6:54 pm
Post subject:
rachael24 wrote:
I never even heard of the gefilte fish. So the overall consensus is that it is a great dish ehh?
I think it is rather like spam only made of fish. Or hot dogs, only made of fish.
I don't get the appeal at all. As mentioned above, it's a sort of leftovers of fish glommed into a cake - that's why it's better purchased, because unless you are a fishmonger, you don't have the leftovers, so you have to make them from scratch.
there are much better foods to focus on making from scratch, imho, than gefilte fish!
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Joined: 11 Mar 2005
Posts: 696
Location: israel
Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 11:02 pm
Post subject:
Well Ripley, I'm not going to get patriotic over gefilte fish, but no, they are not done from leftovers. Check your gefilte fish recipe sources. Anyhow, nobody has to love it, as I said, it is an aquired taste! Bon Appetit!
No more war
, and gefilte fish is not a fish hot dog!
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Joined: 13 Nov 2004
Posts: 899
Location: Gold Coast Australia
Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:15 am
Post subject:
Thanks for the reply Simona.
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Joined: 16 Jan 2007
Posts: 35
Location: Oakland, CA, USA
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 8:25 am
Post subject:
simona wrote:
Well Ripley, I'm not going to get patriotic over gefilte fish, but no, they are not done from leftovers. Check your gefilte fish recipe sources. Anyhow, nobody has to love it, as I said, it is an aquired taste! Bon Appetit!
No more war :evil: , and gefilte fish is not a fish hot dog! 8)
I bow to your authority on this one :wink:
but a bit of meat stretched with scraps and starch sounds like hot dogs to me!
I'm with you on preferring the sephardic style fish. I'm a fan of the sephardic dishes generally. I cooked a turkish eggplant tomato stew for seder.
and I just learned this year about Quinoa being ok for seder too!
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Joined: 31 Mar 2011
Posts: 2
Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 6:18 am
Post subject:
Add the egg, salt, pepper and matzo meal and process until smooth. Set fish mixture aside while preparing the broth. Place all broth ingredients into a deep pot or Dutch oven. Bring to boil over a high heat; then lower heat and simmer until bouillon cubes dissolve.
With wet hands, shape fish mixture into 1 1/2 inch diameter balls. Gently drop the balls into the simmering broth. Cover and simmer for about 1 hour, occasionally turning balls with a spoon.
Remove the pot from the heat and let the balls cool in the broth. Use a slotted spoon to remove the balls. Strain broth through cheesecloth and pour over fish.
Makes about 12 balls.
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Joined: 20 Mar 2005
Posts: 80
Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 12:12 pm
Post subject:
you left out the ingredients!
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Joined: 11 Nov 2007
Posts: 236
Location: Madison, WI
Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 9:06 pm
Post subject:
I went to a Seder at the Unitarian church where they served gefilte fish from a Maneschevitz (sp?) jar. I am not a huge fan of canned food even from bottles so I didn't eat it. Another goy made roast turkey with matzo stuffing-- pretty good given that she is vegetarian and only cooks meat for Passover-- especially since she is not Jewish and it is not a traditional dish in her house. I did a riff on tzimmes, hoping that I did not offend anyone's sensibilities by changing the traditional recipe and making it less bland. I am wondering if Joan Nathan's Quiches Kugels and Couscous has good Seder recipes including some sort of gefilte fish. I heard her interviewed on the radio, and the books sound really interesting and in a compatible theme with this blog-- French Jewish cooking. Amazon's preview of the book has tons of recipes for several holidays, but I think you would have to actually buy it to get a good idea of what is in it. I know it is long past Passover, but since we are talking about next year anyway........
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For Keira Knightley and Adam Levine, their movie "Begin Again" was an experience of firsts.
Knightley, an accomplished actress, sings in the movie, whereas Levine, frontman of the band Maroon 5, acts.
The two admitted that leaving their comfort zones made them uneasy but that they related to each other's nerves.
"I kept telling her she was great and she wouldn't believe me, and she told me that I wasn't bad at acting either but I didn't believe her, so it was perfect," Levine said as the film closed the Tribeca Film Festival.
"I was completely terrified," Knightley, 29, emphasized of her singing.
"I didn't anticipate being as frightened as I was. I said yes to doing it and I was, 'Oh, it's gonna be fine, it's gonna be fine,' and then suddenly I found myself in a studio with real people who did it for a living and I was like, 'I don't know what I'm doing. I'm pretending.'"
To walk a red carpet for his first acting role, Levine, 35, said he was "blown away."
Levine says he enjoyed the experience so much he might have caught the acting bug.
"My experience was so much fun," he said. "It made me kind of start to like it a little bit, but I don't know. I don't think you can really make those bold declarations, but we'll see."
So how did the two grade each other?
Knightley called Levine a "natural entertainer" who was "sensational in this film."
Levine, who serves as a judge and mentor on NBC's singing competition show "The Voice," said that if Knightley were to audition, he would want her on his team.
"Begin Again" is directed by John Carney, who was also behind the successful musical drama "Once." It also stars Mark Ruffalo, Hailee Steinfeld, and Catherine Keener. CeeLo Green also has a small role.
The movie opens in the U.S. in July.


text:
I didn't take vitamins growing up, so when I pass the supplements aisle at the grocery store and see bottle after gleaming bottle of children's vitamins — in their enticing chewable, candy-flavored and cartoon-shaped glory — I can't help but wonder: Is this really necessary? Do kids actually need supplements?
Many parents seem to think so. After all, about half of all young children (and 30 percent of teens) have taken dietary supplements, according to a 2004 study in Pediatric Annals. But scientists aren't so sure.
"In general, the data regarding the benefits of taking vitamins is weak," said biochemist Thomas Sherman, a neuroendocrinologist and an associate professor at Georgetown University School of Medicine. "And the data for children is pretty much nonexistent."
What researchers do know is that most kids can get the nutrients they need from a healthful diet alone. Thanks to fortified milks, cereals and other foods, even children with less-than-ideal diets will still be okay, said William "Biff" Rees, head of the Virginia chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
"I've been in practice a long time," said Rees, who has been seeing families in Fairfax County for 37 years, "and I can't remember seeing a vitamin-deficient child who didn't have some sort of illness underlying the deficiency. It's really hard to get vitamin-deficient — you almost have to work at it."
So if your child is healthy, the bottom line seems to be that you don't need to worry about a daily multivitamin or, for the most part, individual ones. Both Sherman and Rees recommend getting children the vitamins they need by focusing on food instead. Well-balanced meals with plenty of fruit and vegetables will provide kids with most of the vitamins and minerals they need for good health, along with great eating habits for the rest of their lives.
But there are a few exceptions where food alone won't do the trick. The big one is Vitamin D, which is critical for building strong bones and may protect against cancer and some other diseases. Very few foods naturally have high levels of Vitamin D. Our bodies produce most of the Vitamin D we need through exposure to sunlight — or at least they are supposed to.
Although researchers disagree over how much Vitamin D we need — the Institute of Medicine recommends 400 to 800 international units a day, but some experts call for as many as 5,000 IUs — they know that many of us don't get enough. That means kids, too: A 2008 study found about 40 percent of children have inadequate or less than optimal levels.
"We treat the sun like a death star, particularly when it comes to our kids," Sherman said. "We slather on the sunscreen, we put on hats and long sleeves and even put shades on strollers, so we're all chronically deficient in Vitamin D."
That's why many experts recommend Vitamin D supplements for kids of all ages, from babies to teens. Breast-fed babies especially should get that extra Vitamin D, because breast milk tends to have lower Vitamin D levels than fortified formulas do.
If your child has to follow a special diet or has special nutritional requirements, it may be worth considering other supplements. Kids who don't eat meat or dairy products, for example, can miss out on key nutrients. "Vegetarian kids you can raise without supplements if you're careful," said Rees. "Vegan is difficult but not impossible to do."
The risk with meat- or dairy-free diets is that your child may not be getting enough iron, calcium or B vitamins. Rees suggests working with your pediatrician to monitor your child's diet and vitamin and mineral intake, adding supplements if there are concerns.
Medical conditions (such as cystic fibrosis) that limit how well a person can absorb vitamins from food may also make supplements important. In all cases, parents should ask their pediatricians what's needed.
One supplement that's especially popular right now is omega-3 fatty acid. In a national study that used data from 2002 and 2007, 40 percent of adults who said they take supplements reported using omega-3 fatty acid — usually in the form of fish oil pills — in the past 30 days.
There's no question that omega-3s, which are found in salmon, sardines and other seafood, are important to health. They are thought to help protect heart and brain health as we age and to play a critical role in normal growth and brain development. Studies have linked omega-3s to a variety of things, including sharpened vision in infants and higher scores in reading and spelling in grade-schoolers.
So should your child take fish oil pills?
Here, again, experts recommend turning to food first. Eating fish twice a week will take care of your child's omega-3 needs, Sherman said, without need for the supplements, which even in the sweetened gummy version have a slight fishy taste and smell.
"It's cheaper to buy canned sardines or anchovies than to buy supplements, and you'll get rich, high-quality omega-3," he said. "Now, if your child doesn't eat fish or you're worried about mercury poisoning, then you can try to give your kids fish oil. But I have a hard time picturing them taking it."
For Sherman, the supplement question became the subject of discussion in his own household. In the end, he and his wife decided to give their three children Vitamin D supplements and let healthful meals do the rest. But he says he understands wanting to use supplements as insurance to make sure your kids don't miss anything they need.
"Whatever you decide, it's not a choice you should have a tremendous amount of angst about," Sherman said. "It isn't a life-or-death choice, and if it gives you one less thing to worry about, then go for it."
But he emphasized that it's important not to overdo vitamins. So whatever you decide, be sure to talk to your pediatrician before taking action.