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By Jueseppi B.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) announced in a statement Tuesday that he has signed on as a cosponsor to the Violence Against Women Act re-authorization, which is on deck for a floor vote by early next week.
He took a direct shot at House Republicans, who have resisted expanding coverage to domestic abuse victims who are gay, illegal immigrants and Native Americans:
"The Violence Against Women Act is a critical bill that helps ensure support services are in place so that victims of domestic violence can protect themselves and their families. Last year, women were used as political pawns by House Republicans, and we can't let that happen again. The Senate should vote again to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act without delay and send a strong, unified message that this country does not tolerate brutality against anyone."
Violence Against Women Act
The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) was a United States federal law (Title IV, sec. 40001-40703 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, H.R. 3355) signed as Pub.L. 103–322 by President Bill Clinton on September 13, 1994. The Act provided $1.6 billion toward investigation and prosecution of violent crimes against women, imposed automatic and mandatory restitution on those convicted, and allowed civil redress in cases prosecutors chose to leave un-prosecuted. The Act also established the Office on Violence Against Women within the Department of Justice.
VAWA was drafted by the office of Senator Joe Biden (D–DE), with support from a broad coalition of advocacy groups. The Act passed through Congress with bipartisan support in 1994, clearing the House by a vote of 235–195 and the Senate by a vote of 61–38, although the following year House Republicans attempted to cut the Act's funding. In the 2000 Supreme Court case United States v. Morrison, a sharply divided Court struck down the VAWA provision allowing women the right to sue their attackers in federal court. By a 5–4 majority, the Court's conservative wing overturned the provision as an intrusion on states' rights.
VAWA was reauthorized by Congress in 2000, and again in December 2005. The Act's 2012 renewal was opposed by conservative Republicans, who objected to extending the Act's protections to same-sex couples and to provisions allowing battered illegal immigrants to claim temporary visas. In April 2012, the Senate voted to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, and the House subsequently passed its own measure (omitting provisions of the Senate bill that would protect gay men, lesbians, American Indians living in reservations, and illegal immigrants who were victims of domestic violence). Reconciliation of the two bills has been stymied by procedural measures, leaving the re-authorization in question.
On January 2, 2013, the Senate's 2012 re-authorization of VAWA was not brought up for a vote in the House; effectively ending the Bill after 18 years in effect.
The World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna in 1993, and the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women in the same year, concluded that civil society and governments have acknowledged that domestic violence is a public health policy and human rights concern.
The Violence Against Women Act was developed and passed as a result of extensive grassroots efforts in the late 80's and early 1990s, with advocates and professionals from the battered women's movement, sexual assault advocates, victim services field, law enforcement agencies, prosecutors' offices, the courts, and the private bar urging Congress to adopt significant legislation to address domestic and sexual violence. Since its original passage in 1994, VAWA's focus has expanded from domestic violence and sexual assault to also include dating violence and stalking. It funds services to protect adult and teen victims of these crimes, and supports training on these issues, to ensure consistent responses across the country.
One of the greatest successes of VAWA is its emphasis on a coordinated community response to domestic violence, sex dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; courts, law enforcement, prosecutors, victim services, and the private bar currently work together in a coordinated effort that had not heretofore existed on the state and local levels. VAWA also supports the work of community-based organizations that are engaged in work to end domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, particularly those groups that provide culturally and linguistically specific services. Additionally, VAWA provides specific support for work with tribes and tribal organizations to end domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking against Indian women.
Many grant programs authorized in VAWA have been funded by the U.S. Congress. The following grant programs, which are administered primarily through the Office on Violence Against Women in the U.S. Department of Justice have received appropriations from Congress:
STOP Grants (State Formula Grants); Transitional Housing Grants; Grants to Encourage Arrest and Enforce Protection Orders; Court Training and Improvement Grants; Research on Violence Against Indian Women; National Tribal Sex Offender Registry; Stalker Reduction Database; Federal Victim Assistants; Sexual Assault Services Program; Services for Rural Victims; Civil Legal Assistance for Victims; Elder Abuse Grant Program; Protections and Services for Disabled Victims; Combating Abuse in Public Housing; National Resource Center on Workplace Responses; Violence on College Campuses Grants; Safe Havens Project; Engaging Men and Youth in Prevention.
Debate and legal standing
The American Civil Liberties Union had originally expressed concerns about the Act, saying that the increased penalties were rash, the increased pretrial detention was "repugnant" to the US Constitution, the mandatory HIV testing of those only charged but not convicted is an infringement of a citizen's right to privacy and the edict for automatic payment of full restitution was non-judicious (see their paper: "Analysis of Major Civil Liberties Abuses in the Crime Bill Conference Report as Passed by the House and the Senate", dated September 29, 1994). However, the ACLU has supported re-authorization of VAWA on the condition that the "unconstitutional DNA provision" be removed.
The ACLU, in their July 27, 2005 'Letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee Regarding the Violence Against Women Act of 2005, S. 1197' stated that "VAWA is one of the most effective pieces of legislation enacted to end domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. It has dramatically improved the law enforcement response to violence against women and has provided critical services necessary to support women in their struggle to overcome abusive situations."
Some activists oppose the bill. A spokeswoman for Concerned Women for America called the Act a "boondoggle" which "creates an ideology that all men are guilty and all women are victims." Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly denounced VAWA as a tool to "fill feminist coffers" and argued that the Act promoted "divorce, breakup of marriage and hatred of men."
In 2000 the Supreme Court of the United States held part of VAWA unconstitutional in United States v. Morrison on federalism grounds. Only the civil rights remedy of VAWA was struck down. The provisions providing program funding were unaffected.
In 2012 the law was up for re-authorization in Congress. Different versions of the legislation have been passed along party lines in the Senate and House, with the Republican-sponsored House version favoring the reduction of services to illegal immigrants and LGBT individuals. Another area of contention is giving Native American tribal authorities jurisdiction over sex crimes involving non-native Americans on tribal lands.
This is considered to have constitutional implications as non-tribes people are under the jurisdiction of the United States federal government and granted the protections of the US Constitution, protections that tribal courts do not often have. The two bills were pending reconciliation, and a final bill did not reach the President's desk before the end of the year, ending the Act after 18 years as the 112th Congress ended and 113th started.
Programs and services
The Violence Against Women laws provide programs and services, including:
- Federal rape shield law.
- Community violence prevention programs
- Protections for female victims who are evicted from their homes because of events related to domestic violence or stalking
- Funding for female victim assistance services, like rape crisis centers and hotlines
- Programs to meet the needs of immigrant women and women of different races or ethnicities
- Programs and services for female victims with disabilities
- Legal aid for female survivors of violence
See also
The thing about this current stupidity from Congress is they wish to put their own caucasian womenfolk in danger and at risk to prevent Native American, Lesbian, Arab, and other cultures and nationalities of women from being included in The Violence Against Women Act.
Instead of passing legislation that prevents harm, danger and even death from happening to ALL women, Congress has decided to piss on ALL women in America to prove just how stupid, racist and sexist they are.
And YOU caucasian women voted them into office.
Good luck with that.


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Tagged:Be Live Turquesa
Historic Center of Camagüey
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Sierra de Escambray and the Topes de Collantes
The Escambray Mountain range domains the inland natural scenery between the San Luis de los Ingenios Valley and the city of Trinidad. Located in the Cuban…
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Looking for the perfect hotel in Varadero Beach? Be Live Turquesa is your answer. This amazing four stars beach hotel is located in a Playa Tainos' property, completely surrounded by palm trees and endemic tropical forest plants. The resort specializes in family holydays and romantic getaways. Enjoy the life outside with a great weather practicing sports in the different hotel facilities. The hotel counts with several restaurants and bars where the guests can taste local and international food. Come to Be Live Turquesa and discover the mythic Varadero.
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Varadero beach became famous in the 80's and since then remains as the image of the ideal Caribbean landscape. Located in the Peninsula de Hicacos, this city receives thousands of visitors every year. They all come to enjoy the landscape and the warm waters of Varadero beaches. Planning a visit to Varadero? We recommended you to stay in Be Live Las Morlas or Be Live Turquesa. This two 4-stars all-included resorts are design to create the perfect relaxing atmosphere for family or romantic vacations. Their location allow the visitors to enjoy Varadero the city and the beach, but also they are the perfect base camp for those interested in discover Cuba.
The best Caribbean Carnival
Like almost all the cultural tradition in the Caribbean, carnival, was brought by European colonists. Once in the new continent the old traditions started to be…


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The decision, handed up yesterday by the U.S. Court of Appeals, rejected a request by the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's office to rehear the case of Ronell Wilson.
Wilson, who was sentenced to die by lethal injection following his 2006 conviction in Brooklyn federal court of murdering undercover NYPD detectives James Nemorin and Rodney Andrews during a gun-buy sting in Tompkinsville in March 2003, had his death sentence tossed in June when an appellate panel ruled prosecutors denied Wilson's right to a fair trial.
The court ruled that prosecutors violated Wilson's constitutional rights by using his refusal to plead guilty or testify during the trial's penalty phase to attack his claims of remorse in an unsworn apology he read to the jury.
Yesterday's ruling puts the decision on how to proceed with the case back into the hands of the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's office.
It's up to U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch of the Eastern District of New York to decide whether to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court or put Wilson back on trial to retry the death penalty phase.
"Our office is considering its options," said Robert Nardoza, spokesman for the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's office, noting, "We have 90 days" to take the case to the Supreme Court.
Wilson's attorney, Beverly Van Ness, said retrying the death penalty phase would be "traumatic and costly," and could tie the courts up for a long time.
"We are hoping that the government will allow this difficult case to finally come to an end, with Ronell Wilson receiving a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of release," Ms. Van Ness said.
"The alternative is another sentencing trial that would be traumatic and costly, and which may achieve that very sentence," she said. "If not, and a death sentence was instead imposed by a new jury, the case would proceed through the courts for many years to come."
Wilson was convicted before Eastern District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis in 2006 on 10 counts, five of them capital: two counts each of murder in aid of racketeering and causing death through the use of a firearm, and a single count of carjacking with death resulting.
Dissenting judges in yesterday's decision called the facts of the case "heartbreaking," noting that Wilson executed Nemorin and Andrews from the backseat of the detectives' unmarked police car on Hannah Street as Nemorin pleaded for his life, then dumped the bodies in the street and drove away in their car.
"The cruel irony of the majority opinion, however, is that in elevating supposed imperfections to the level of reversible error, the majority breeds more confusion in already complex areas of law," dissenting Judges Debra Livingston, Jose Cabranes, Reena Raggi and Richard Wesley wrote.
Judge Livingston was the lone dissenting judge on the three-member appellant panel in June. Judge Roger Miner and Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs wrote the majority opinion to overturn Wilson's death sentence.


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The Birmingham City Council today is set to vote on a contract extension for a federal lobbyist, pushing the city's lobbying tab to $850,000 since 2008.
The contract with Handprint Bell Consulting, recommended by Mayor William Bell, gives the company $250,000 for lobbying services in fiscal 2011, which began July 1.
In addition, the contract has a provision for an extension in 2012 for an additional $300,000 -- a $25,000 monthly retainer.
Handprint Bell, co-owned by Stephan Bell and Ralph Cook Jr., son of one of Mayor Bell's transition team members, has lobbied for the city since 2008, collecting about $600,000.
Former State Supreme Court Justice Ralph Cook Sr. served on both Bell's and former Mayor Larry Langford's transition teams.
While the council has approved contracts with Handprint Bell, several members questioned whether the financially strapped city is getting its money's worth and said they want more details before approving another contract.
Handprint Bell late last week issued its most recent report detailing work over the past several months, including applications for $13 million in federal funding for projects such as recreation center improvements, replacement of the Grants Mill Road bridge and expansion of the police department's Shot Spotter program. The funding has yet to materialize.
Councilwoman Maxine Parker said Handprint Bell's work must be strong enough to justify the extra expense.
"The proof is in the pudding," Parker said. "That's where my problem is. Maybe the pudding is not finished yet."
Parker had done her own lobbying and assembled her own team to seek funding for projects in her district.
Councilman Steven Hoyt said he hasn't seen results from the lobbyist.
"My vote would be the same as it was before until I see some action," said Hoyt, who voted against the most recent contract extension. "We need a lobbyist, but it's going to have to be someone who's responsible. I want to know who they've met with, because they certainly haven't met with me."
Council President Roderick Royal defended the company for doing a "good, solid job."
"The meetings that they facilitated for us last March were very fruitful, but at the end of the day it is the individual senators and Congress members themselves that will make our wish list come true," Royal said. "Any and all lobbyists can only facilitate and exert a very limited amount of influence, especially with the downturn in the economy."
Councilwoman Carole Smitherman, who previously voted to employ the company, on Monday said the company appears not to have brought substantial cash into the city.
Questions arise
"I was hoping that we would see some definite project funding this go-around, but it appears as though we are under consideration, as we have been in the previous years," she said. "As tight as this budget is, I need concrete examples."
Questions arose last summer about Handprint Bell's accomplishments for the city after several errors were discovered in the company's previous report to the council.
One of the entries claimed responsibility for securing $10 million in federal money for clean drinking water. But that work was done under a separate contract with the Birmingham Water Works. Cook later said his company erred in listing the Water Works funding in the city's report.
Some officials also questioned the role the company played in securing $1.42 million to increase the public transit fleet.
Councilwoman Kim Rafferty said the city would be better served on a short-term contract.
"It's unfortunate to do a contract renewal at this time or question what they have or haven't done, because the funding isn't awarded till the fall," she said. "We should extend it on a monthly basis and see what happens then."
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


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"Dont'a Hightower's MRI confirmed that he has ligament damage in his knee that will require surgery," Saban said in a statement.
"Dont'a is a fine young man, has been an outstanding player for us, and we are confident he will make a full recovery."
It is presumed that Hightower will be out for the rest of the season,
as is the case for most ligament tears that require surgery.
The sophomore linebacker injured his knee late in the first quarter of Alabama's 35-7 victory over Arkansas. He was helped off the field and then carted to the locker room a few minutes later. After the game, Saban said the "prognosis is not good."
It isn't clear if Hightower tore an anterior cruciate ligament and/or a medial collateral ligament. The ACL is located in the center of the knee and typically is torn after direct hits. The MCL is located on the side of the knee.
More details will come at noon Monday when Saban holds his weekly news conference.
Courtney Upshaw took Hightower's place on the field as the Tide shuffled linebackers from one spot to another. Cory Reamer moved to Hightower's inside spot. Eryk Anders moved from the "Jack" (outside pass-rushing) spot to Reamer's position and Upshaw took Anders' outside spot.


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In order to answer your question one needs to ask you few questions:
Did you talk with a lender? what did they say?
How much of a house are you looking for?
Do you have money for down payment and initial costs?
How low is your credit score?
How good (or bad) is your record with utilities payments and renatal payments?
Under certain circumstances and with a lots, lots of luck some kind of lease purchase or seller carry back may work?
George Tucson Home Advisor LLC - Realtors


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Who: Atlanta Braves at Detroit Tigers.
Where: Joker Marchant Stadium at Lakeland, Fla.
First pitch: 1:05 p.m.
Television: None.
Radio: WXYT 1270 and the Detroit Tigers radio network.
Twitter: Follow James Schmehl and Chris Iott.
Tigers: Shawn Hill, Bruce Rondon, Octavio Dotel, Phil Coke.
Braves: Tim Hudson, Cory Gearrin, Jordan Walden and David Carpenter.
1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Torii Hunter, RF
3. Miguel Cabrera, 3B
4. Prince Fielder, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Don Kelly, LF
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
8. Brayan Pena, C
9. Ramon Santiago, 2B
1. Andrelton Simmons, SS
2. Jason Heyward, DH
3. Justin Upton, LF
4. Freddie Freeman, 1B
5. B.J. Upton, CF
6. Dan Uggla, 2B
7. Juan Francisco, 3B
8. Reed Johnson, RF
9. Gerald Laird, C
-- Shawn HIll will make his fifth appearance -- third start -- today -- for the Tigers. A non-roster invite, Hill is expected to be among those cut when the 25-man roster is finalized. Tigers manager Jim Leyland said he hoped to make those cuts Thursday.
-- Andy Dirks isn't in the lineup for the second straight day after returning Saturday from a right knee bruise. It's possible Dirks has suffered a minor setback, though Leyland said otherwise Monday when asked. He absence is particularly odd today with a right-handed pitcher slated to start for Atlanta.
-- Tigers late-inning relievers Joaquin Benoit, Phil Coke and Octavio Dotel all appeared in a minor-league game Monday against the Washington Nationals' Single-A affiliate. Benoit and Dotel each allowed one run on two hits with one strikeout. Coke pitched a scoreless inning.
-- Drew Smyly is set to start for Triple A-Toledo against the Atlanta Braves' Triple-A at 1 p.m. on Wednesday on the back fields of Lakeland.
-- As expected, the Tigers made roster cuts today, trimming four players off the major league roster, including right-hander Luke Putkonen. Putkonen, pitcher Jose Alvarez and catcher Brad Davis were optioned to Triple-A Toledo and non-roster invite Kevin Russo was assigned to minor-league camp.
-- The Tigers also placed outfielder Avisail Garcia on the 15-day disabled list with a right heel contusion. It's an injury that has sidelined him since last Saturday. The move is retroactive to March 22.
-- The Tigers announced 12 minor leaguers joined them for today's game: right-handers Justin Souza, left-handers Alex Burgos, Matt Crouse and Kenny Faulk, catchers Zach Maggard and Adolfo Reina, infielders Wade Gaynor, Marcus Lemon and Eugenio Suarez and outfielders Luis Castillo, Jason Krizan and Chad Wright.
-- Today's weather forecast calls for partly cloudy skies with temperatures rising towards the low 60s. Winds are gusting at 15 to 20 mph.
Tigers: Justin Verlander, Bruce Rondon, Luis Marte and Darin Downs.
Phillies: Cole Hamels, Chad Durbin and Antonio Bastardo.
Tigers: Anibal Sanchez, Joaquin Benoit and Al Alburquerque.
Astros: Philip Humber.
Tigers: Max Scherzer.
Rays: Jeremy Hellickson.
Tigers: Doug Fister.
Rays: Matt Moore, Jamey Wright, Kyle Farnsworth, Joel Peralta, Jake McGee and Fernando Rodney.
-- Follow Chris Iott and James Schmehl on Twitter.
-- Like MLive's Detroit Tigers Facebook page.


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A Belvidere man mistaken for a burglary suspect was arrested Tuesday after running from police and assaulting an officer, police said.
Robert Savary, 24, was spotted by Hackettstown police about 4:50 p.m. walking on Main Street near Grand Avenue, according to police reports. He matched the description of a burglary suspect, police said. When police asked him to stop, he ran away, according to police.
Police caught up with him, and after a "physical altercation," were able to place him under arrest, police report. An officer suffered minor injuries from the scuffle, police said.
Police said Savary had four small bags each of cocaine and heroin and a hypodermic needle. After the chase and assault, police determined Savary was not the burglary suspect, police said.
He faces charges of aggravated assault on police, obstruction, resisting arrest, possession of cocaine, possession of heroin and possession of a hypodermic needle. He is being held in the Warren County jail in lieu of $25,000 bail.


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This deal has ended.
This 100% Ring-Spun Cotton 6 Piece Towel Set, originally $49.95, is available for $22.99 at Groupon Goods through today. With free shipping, this is the lowest total price we could find by $9. This set includes two bath towels, to hand towels, and two wash towels, and is available in a variety of colors. Sales tax is charged in some states.No longer available


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MARSHALL - A new restaurant will soon be open for business along East College Drive in Marshall.
According to Yury "Judy" Leon, the new El Rancho Mexican Restaurant in Marshall is an expansion of the Montevideo-based restaurant with the same name.
Both establishments are expected to be family-operated.
"We wanted to expand because a lot of people from Marshall come here (to Montevideo) and eat," said Leon, who will co-manage the restaurant with her sister, Vanessa Leon. "We're pretty excited about it."
Having found the Tex-Mex niche to be successful in Montevideo, Leon said the El Rancho in Marshall will feature a very similar menu to that in Montevideo.
"We have about 200 items, so it's a pretty big menu," she said. "We do pretty good in Montevideo. A lot of our clients are used to our food and they like our food, so we aren't going to change."
Leon expects that margaritas and fajitas will be two of the new restaurant's specialties.
When searching for a site for the new restaurant, Leon said that the building, which was previously Naomi's Steakhouse, though many will remember as the former Chalet building, had a lot of appeal to it.
"It's a really good place," Leon said. "Structure-wise, it's pretty good. Location-wise, it's a pretty nice place to be."
While the layout is much different, Leon said the floor space is similar to the El Rancho in Montevideo.
"I think the main floor will fit up to 500 people, so it's big," she said. "There are also two bars that we can use."
The biggest challenge so far has been the massive cleanup within the building's interior.
"It was super dirty, so cleaning up has been the major part," Leon said. "The business has been sold for 10 years, so there was a lot of work to do."
As soon as the clean-up is completed in the near future, a fresh coat of paint is expected to find its way onto the walls.
"It'll have a new look," Leon said. "We'll also make sure everything is working fine, like the furnace, everything we need for a business to run. The health department wants everything right, so we're thinking we may be open in two months."
While family members will provide the bulk of the service, the El Rancho Mexican Restaurant is planning to hire additional waiters and waitresses from the Marshall area.
"It's a big town, so it shouldn't be a problem," Leon said.
Hours are likely to mirror the El Rancho in Montevideo, where the restaurant opens for lunch at 11 a.m. every day.
"Lunch runs till 3 p.m. and then dinner runs from 3-9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and on Sunday," Leon said. "On Friday and Saturday, we close at 10 p.m."
Leon also said that she was fairly certain the new restaurant would have extended weekend hours.
"We get a lot of people from Marshall," she said. "They're pretty excited that we're coming to Marshall."


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Trans-Siberian Orchestra reaches for new heights
At this point, Trans-Siberian Orchestra is more than just a holiday tradition: It's a well-oiled institution and a major moneymaking machine.
Introduced in 1996 with the progressive rock opera "Christmas Eve and Other Stories," the first chapter of what would become its blockbuster Christmas Trilogy, TSO began the first of its annual holiday tours in 1999. »Read Full Article
Soulstice mashes up movies in 'Completely Hollywood (abridged)'
A play that promises to send up nearly 200 movies in 90 minutes? Are you kidding me?
But there they all were, chastely listed in the program for Soulstice Theatre's spirited and funny production of "Completely Hollywood (abridged)," which opened over the weekend - just in time for the frenzied run-up to Oscar night. »Read Full Article


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On our future releases and you baking us a cake
Howdy fine friends and fellow adventures
Just to keep you updated on our future releases with regards to the music subscription service called Airborne and the availibility of our albums to-be.
We see the Airborne service as a way in which we are able to release tracks that will possibly not be included on any of our upcoming albums, or it may be versions of a track that is completly different to the final album version. Ultimately what this means for you as a fan/supporter/admirer/listener/champion of our music is that you will have access to our rare tracks, which no-one else will have except if they also subscribe to the service or if they do something nice for us like bake us a cake, and which might be worth millions one day (ok, maybe not millions but definitely thousands!).
So if you like our music and believe in what we do, and have a dollar to spare every month, then it would be most awesome if you would "carry" us on Airborne so that we can become rich use the money for even more creative and inspirational endeavours in, with and through our music.
As for our future albums we will still be releasing them for free on all the various websites such as Archive.org, Jamendo, Bandcamp, etc. Hooray for you!
- The X-Structure


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ALLEGAN COUNTY -- Police are looking for at least two people who reportedly robbed the Chemical Bank branch in Moline and escaped the area in a vehicle that may have been stolen.
The robbery happened about 9:30 a.m. at 4426 Division Avenue.
Witnesses told police the robbers wore ski masks, sunglasses and had long guns.
Later, police reported the suspects may have used a black sedan stolen out of Wyoming. The vehicle was a 2003 Saab with Ohio plates stolen from an area near 54th Street SW and Clyde Park Avenue.
E-mail John Tunison: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Oregon might not have been laid out like the Oregon we know without it.
Washington, too, for that matter.
And yet how many of us know much about the Willamette Stone, except it sounds like something we should remember from a history class?
Where: Skyline Boulevard, about four miles west of downtown Portland
What: Cleanup sponsored by Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon; volunteers encouraged to bring gloves and hand tools
When: 8 a.m. and noon May 2 as part of the state's 150th anniversary celebration
What: Three benches created by the Cement Masons Local 555 will be dedicated; treasure hunt
When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 30
If you own property in Oregon today, you'll see the words "Willamette Meridian" or the initials W.M. noted on the legal description of your land.
What's left of the stone, which wasn't actually a stone at first but a stake, sits about 3 1/2 miles from downtown Portland in the West Hills off Skyline Boulevard. The pullout is on the left-hand side of the road soon after you turn onto Skyline from Burnside. It's an Oregon heritage site and, at 1.6 acres, one of the smallest of the state's parks.
How much do you know about the stone? Take this short -- but hard -- quiz and find out.
1. When Oregon's first surveyor general, John B. Preston, directed the initial point be set in 1851, it was marked with a wooden post. By 1885, the stake had decayed and so a 4-feet-long, 8-inch-square limestone obelisk was set in its place with two feet above ground. This monument became known as the Willamette Stone.
Of what common Northwest wood was the post made?
a. palm tree
b. Japanese maple
c. cedar
2. The Willamette Stone is one of 37 principal meridians in the United States. The markers began in the east and moved west as the population spread. Which far-flung Western state, among the last to be developed, has five?
a. Oregon
b. Wyoming
c. Alaska
3. The federal government chose the site of the initial point and indicated it should be west of the "lake," which was Vancouver Lake, and south of what prominent river traveled by Lewis and Clark years earlier?
a. Willamette River
b. Columbia River
c. Snake River
4. The Willamette Meridian -- south of the Initial Point (Point of Beginning) -- is the dividing line between Multnomah County and which of its neighbors to the west? Hint: The western portion of Multnomah was created out of this county in 1854.
a. Harney County
b. Washington County
c. Tillamook County
5. The original Willamette Stone obelisk was vandalized in 1951, 1967 and 1987. In 1988, a stainless steel monument several inches thick and designed to prevent vandalism was drilled into the Initial Point. Several county and state dignitaries attended the "re-monumenting" ceremony. The guest speaker was this former Republican governor who had not been out of office long in 1988:
a. Mark Hatfield
b. Barbara Roberts
c. Vic Atiyeh
1. c: cedar
2. c: Alaska
3. b: Columbia
4. b: Washington
5. c: Vic Atiyeh
Sources: Sue Newstetter, Tim Kent and Gary Anderson of the Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon


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Skip to comments.Vatican 'backs ex-Kennedy wife'
Posted on 06/20/2007 11:25:56 PM PDT by wanderin
The Vatican has reversed the annulment of former US Congressman Joseph P Kennedy II's first marriage, his ex-wife Sheila Rauch says. They were divorced in 1991 and Mr Kennedy obtained the annulment in secret in 1993, before he married his secretary Anne Elizabeth Kelly.
Ms Rauch had alleged that the Kennedy family had used its influence in the church to obtain the annulment.
Mr Kennedy is the nephew of President John F Kennedy, assassinated in 1963.
His father, Robert Kennedy, was in turn murdered in 1968 as he campaigned for the Democratic Party's nomination for presidential candidate.
"The annulment decision totally overlooked the fact that I felt that we had a very strong marriage in the beginning, we had two wonderful children, and it lasted," said Ms Rauch.
The Vatican reached its decision in 2005 and informed her in May, Ms Rauch said.
She received the notification in Latin and had it translated by the archdiocese of Boston, the Boston Globe newspaper says.
Mr Kennedy has made no comment on the Vatican's decision.
An annulment declares a marriage invalid, allowing a person to marry again in the Roman Catholic Church and receive the sacraments.
Mr Kennedy served in the US House of Representatives from 1987 to 1999.
Good for her for fighting this.
Very shariah-like.
How courteous.
This marriage had 2 children involved.
Does an annulment make the children fall into the illegitimate category?
How so? The church is only saying that Kennedy is not entitled to communion or to remarry IN THE CHURCH. It would be sharia-like were the church's ruling to have the effect of law.
Don't see why you have a problem with a private organization saying who can and who cannot be members and have the privileges of membership (communion and marriage in the church). What you are really saying is that non-members, like you and me, ought to be able to tell the Catholic Church which of its membership policies are OK and which aren't. I would feel ridiculous telling an organization how it should run when I am not a member.
How so?
Because it is very capricious ... very like sharia law.
Then it's a good thing the annulment was reversed. Under Sharia law, she'd be stoned to death for having those kids out of wedlock.
I recently read Mrs. Kennedy's book about the annulment proceedings, "Shattered Faith." At the end of the book, the tribunal in Boston had granted the annulment, and Mrs. Kennedy had appealed to Rome. I wondered what the outcome was, and am pleased she got the annulment reversed.
Mrs. Kennedy=Ms. Rauch.
Viewed from your lofty perspective, I expect that every organization's membership rules would therefore appear capricious. Some folks are out. Some are in. Some behavior is out. Some is in. Any rule you disagree with appears to qualify as "capricious."
I have a hard time seeing how any slicing of the article gets you to any point where the comparison of the Catholic Church's actions to folks who bury women in the sand to their necks and throw stones at them is anything other than a gratuitous, nasty, and unfounded slur.
If your perspective gets lofty enough, you become unable to make even the most obvious distinctions.
Not that a Kennedy has ever pulled anything before that is low down and dirty. /s
I assume she knew she would.
So now he must become a Mormon since he has two wives??
The kennedy's do NOT need the vatican to sanction their marriages.....
they are the kennedys...dontcha know!!!!
No, an annulment only states that at least one of the parents of the children was an illegitimate participant in the Sacrament of Marriage.
Oh, wait, he's a Kennedy, and from Massachusetts? That makes him think illegality is something to be celebrated and that there is not Sacrament of Marriage.
Not really. Quite explicitly spelled out, actually. Just not consistantly adhered to by American clergy.
Sharia law varies in its severity in different cultures, but it has one thing in common wherever it is practiced, capriciousness.
Likewise, some of the dealings within other religions.
Granted, the Catholic Church has come a long way from where it once was ... but it still has arcane medieval elements. Sorry if that offends you ... but this ruling was a huge embarrassment for the Catholic Church ... and they well know it.
I rest my case.
My ex husband tried this after a 21 year marriage and 2 children. The Catholic Church looks to who is making donations. The cause for my annulment was "immaturity". Hey, I am the one that was responsible for 2 kids during the Vietnam war, etc, etc. The guys that try this are living in a dream world. :You can not change history and the damage that they do to their older children is disgusting. You would not believe the pressure from the Catholic Church that I received to agree with this nonsense. I never did give them one bit of satisfaction and so far as I know they dropped it.
It's really not the same. The guidelines are expressedly laid out, and if someone fails to adhere to it, it's the failing of the practitioner not the policy.
Your comparision would be like a law against murder and since people commit murder, the people who wrote and enforce the law are guilty of capriciousness.
It's quite clear, however that your attempt to compare the Catholic Church with repugnant radical Islam was more an attempt to make a personal statement than an dispassionate observation.
I'm sorry you have such prejudice against the Church, and hope whatever religion you choose to believe in would foster a little respect for others, since we are Ambassadors for our faith.
How courteous.
As does everyone else. Latin is the official language of the Church and every written document that the Vatican produces is in Latin, then it is translated into the vernacular.
Incorrect. This is an embarrassment to the Archdiocese of Boston, long known as a cesspool, not the Church. Sensible people realize that.
Hey, I thought the contemporary Catholic Church had been cleansed of this kind of corruption. No? I wonder if I could buy a few indulgences???
The initial ruling in 1963 was capricious....
The ruling by the Vatican set the record straight after a long and lengthy appeal process of reviewing cannon law...
This would be akin to the secular ruling of a lower courts decision being eventually overturned by the Supreme court.
The ruling by the church has no secular provisions and only reflects the members standing with the church....
No. The concept of children being "legitimate" is of a secular nature and is rooted in the rights of heirs to estates and the dispensation of property.
To the Church, there is no such thing as an illegitimate or legitimate child. There are just children.
The children do NOT retroactively become "illegitimate"!
This is not capricious, it is law, which I might add, happens to mirror our justice system very closely.
If a tribunal awards a decree of nullity, the respondent has the right under Church law to appeal the decision. They can appeal the decision to a regional tribunal OR appeal to Rome. Mrs. Kennedy chose to appeal to Rome, and Rome decided that the tribunal in Boston erred in it's decision.
This is not caprice, it's justice.
Don't bother answering. Your use of the word "sharia" to describe the ecclesiastical legal process of the Catholic Church tells me all I need to know about you--and all anyone needs to know about your views of the Catholic Church.
No need to split hairs of this. Since they are part of the Kennedy clan they are bastards not matter what their parent's marital state is/was.
She didn't even know about the ruling for several years because it was done in secret.
I happen to have a very high opinion of much about the Catholic Church and am a great admirer of John Paul II.
I do, however, call a spade a spade. And this annulment thing is medieval, capricious, hypocrital and sexist ... and very much like many arcane laws under sharia law which are meant to "bend the rules" for some and not for others. It harks back to the days of buying indulgences ... and should be done away with.
It's also a huge embarassment for the Catholic Church ... and they know it. That's why they tried to keep this Kennedy annulment thing quiet.
Exactly my point. Just as rogue Islamic clerics can mete out "sharia law" as they see fit, so also in other religious organizations. It's the nature of the beast.
Speaking of BS, that is a pile of it.
I happen to be a case sponsor for the Metropolitan Tribunal of Atlanta. You should not speak of which you do not know.
Rome would not have reversed the decision had the case not been appealed by the respondent. As Ms. Rauch is aware that the judgment from Rome was in her favor, I fail to see how this was "done in secret." All decrees issued from the Roman Rota are in Latin. It is not an attempt at secrecy, it is the language of the Church.
The article indicates that they were divorced in 1991 and she received her decision from Rome in 1993. You cannot seek an annulment from the Church until your divorce is final. This would have been a formal case, as opposed to an informal case as it was not based on impediments. Informal cases move much more quickly through the process. The resolution time for a formal case varies, but can take 6 mos to a year to receive a decision from the local tribunal. She then appealed to Rome, which would have taken another year. So, to have divorced in 1991 and received the decision from Rome in 1993 sounds just about right.
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We're getting older. When this happens, one wants to share one's knowledge with the younger set to save them the mistaken exits and entrances we've experienced and to show them we've still got it, baby. For that reason, a group of us are sharing today some tips for writing humorous pieces about Vashon, whether for the stage, the microphone or for the pages of The Beachcomber. There are others on-island who could do this, but they aren't as cute. So let's begin.
From Cindy Hoyt: Controversy bubbles beneath the surface of our (seemingly) tranquil island, and it's just waiting to be lampooned by YOU, Mr. or Ms. Humor Writer! Look for "three islanders in a room nets four opinions" at the park district, water district, school board, fire department, chamber of commerce, friends of the library, cemetery commission, Preserve Our Islands, health center, Granny's Attic, Community Scholarship Foundation, Audubon society, Friends of Mukai, Vashon Island Chorale, land trust, PTA, VYFS, VAA, VIPP, VARSA, PIE and Islanders for Peace. Note: Protective headgear is advised.
From Richard Rogers: Cindy's guideline notwithstanding, never make fun of institutions that islanders hold near and dear. So we would never suggest that VIPP is a front for a Puyallup puppy mill. That would get us into a LOT of trouble! Nor would we insinuate that the carwash kids are a cult that enjoys screaming "carwash!" at complete strangers. We would also never dare to write that Gallery Cruise artwork is mass-produced in offshore sweatshops. Those peeled-off "Made in Freedonia" labels found on First Saturday had to be a fluke. And would we imply that VAA's final piece is a takeover by the Franciscans? Wouldn't write that either.
From Harris Levinson: After art and animals, islanders support their schools. So when writing about education, one should never suggest that the new high school isn't perfect. Sure, the building's color scheme is that of two of our rival schools; the wood beams may be made of balsa, and students wet their clothing because the bathrooms offer no paper towels. The award-winning campus still features a laughable gym and a track the WIAA has deemed too dangerous for competition (wait, that's not funny), but it's got water bottle fountains that tell you how many seals you've saved. So we're happy.
From Jeff Hoyt: When running low on fodder for topical local humor (a vast resource, yet prone to depletion), stir the pot to a rolling boil with an incendiary letter to The Beachcomber that punches a selection of island hot buttons. Start off with something like: "As a non-vaccinated proponent of daily round-the-island hydro races at dawn and the open carrying of firearms on the front porch of the Roasterie, I believe that life begins at hand-holding and that all of America's military assets should be moved to the Ukrainian border." You'll be awash in material by the following Wednesday.
From Greg Wessel: Another source of hilarity is The Beachcomber's Sheriff's Report, where you might discover that Bigfoot caused someone to break into K2, or that two perps stole a case of bok choy and abandoned it when they decided it was not a member of the cabbage family. But be careful, because you should avoid insulting anyone personally. By that I mean anyone who deserves ridicule, or tar and feathers, but who also has access to lawyers who will do anything for money. Perhaps I'm being redundant. And never criticize a restaurant. We all know that some deserve fewer than three stars in the Michelin Guide, but so few people are willing to blow their retirement savings just to serve food to us for a year or two that we should be happy they try. That rumor about horses gone missing coincident with the promotion of Steak Night is probably not true.
From Jim Farrell: A funny thing to write about is my neighbor Ed. You could write about his stupid dog or the terrible sounds his lawnmower makes as he mows his rock-filled lawn. Or you could write about how he has THREE ROOSTERS, which is THREE MORE ROOSTERS THAN HE NEEDS! Still no eggs, Ed? TRY GETTING SOME HENS! WHY AM I SCREAMING? BECAUSE ED'S ROOSTERS ARE TRYING TO KILL EACH OTHER AND HE'S TRYING TO SQUEEZE EGGS OUT OF THEM! THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS, ED! His real name is Henry, but I changed it because he's a lawyer.
From Jeanne Dougherty: Never say anything nice about the ferries. The Tillikum is out of service, again. Your sailing is cancelled because the crew didn't show. The galley is closed, the elevator broken, and there's an hour wait because of "heavy traffic." But there was that time when our friends Kathryn and Lou were taking the last ferry to catch a plane for a once-in-a-lifetime trip, forgot their passports, and the captain made an unscheduled return to Vashon just so they could grab them from their neighbor. But hey, the galley is closed. What's up with that?
And lastly, you can always get a laugh by incorporating sex into your jokes. Sex is funny for people who get their share of it, but we find it oddly depressing. We can think of other things we like, including our close-knit community, Vashon's ability to pull together in any crisis that doesn't involve K2 and your tolerance of wacky writers, but those things don't make us laugh. They make us smile. That's probably better, isn't it?
— Jeanne Dougherty, Jim Farrell, Cindy Hoyt, Jeff Hoyt, Harris Levinson, Richard Rogers, and Greg Wessel are all local humorists.
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About Me
my name is tyree love to skate whoever tells me that i cant skate then fuck u...i think that everyone is good at their own speed even the up coming ones.me and my friends try new things and fight with each other like hell.i,love my family they made me who i am and not what they thought to be.
so if u are a hater then fine but dont fuck with ppl in the street
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DAYTON, Ohio (21 Alive) - Ohio State transfer Jordan Sibert hit a three pointer as time expired to push Dayton to an 81-80 win over IPFW Saturday in the men's basketball season opener for both teams.
The Dons trailed 44-35 at the half, but went on a big second half run and led by as many as seven in the half.
With seconds remaining and IPFW leading 80-78,, an inbound pass by IPFW's Pierre Bland was intercepted, and Dayton got the ball to Sibert for his big shot and the win.
Dyshawn Pierre led Dayton with 24 points, while Bland topped the Dons with 18.
What are your thoughts CLICK HERE to leave us a "QUESTION OF THE DAY" comment.
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The 22 year old UK producer emerges into the blogosphere with this gritty yet musically intricate remix to Discloser & London Grammar's collab. The electronic and dubstep fusion leaves this very open ended to the ears; I'm sure despite whatever genre you may prefer, you'll easily find a likable chunk in here.
Click to Download: Help Me Lose My Mind (Disco's Over Remix)


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James works on the development of statistical post-processing techniques to improve forecast accuracy.
Forecasts from the Unified Model are spaced kilometres apart and many different types of terrain may exist between them; valleys, hills, towns and countryside for example. Forecasts for specific places will therefore be naturally different to that produced by the model due to their location. James' work involves the development and application of statistical techniques to understand these differences and to improve future forecasts by using past observations at these locations.
James has been a member of the Post-Processing team since he joined the Met Office in 2008. Prior to this, he completed a DPhil in Astrophysics at the University of Oxford and then worked as a postdoctoral researcher studying extragalactic radio jets at the University of Sydney, Australia.
Last updated: 8 April 2014


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I can't get no Satisfaction.
Or at least I couldn't during my inaugural trip to the High Horse in Amherst.
The above isn't a criticism, however. I was actually delighted by the beer and food I sampled while at the new Amherst brewpub. What I couldn't get was Satisfaction IPA, one of the venue's initial brews. Otherwise, my visit was much more than satisfying in every way.
The new business occupies the same space as Amherst Brewing Co. did before its move to University Drive last year. When I first heard a new brewpub would take over the building, I wondered if a small town (albeit one that burgeons quite a bit when college is in session) could support two brewpubs. I no longer am doubting that it can.
For one thing, it's owned and operated by Jason DiCaprio, who runs another Amherst beer hotspot, The Moan and Dove, and who certainly knows his beer. The High Horse also employs Head Brewer Matthew Steinberg, who is well-known for his former work with Mayflower Brewing, as well as his other current project, Blatant Brewing.
But rewinding a bit: When I first heard about the High Horse last year, I also heard it wouldn't be open for a few months because they were renovating it. This type of move always puzzles me, when a new business takes over a space formerly occupied by a similar business. The ABC's interior was fine. Why mess with it and incur extra costs?
I now also no longer question that decision, either. While the floor layout is the pretty much the same (the building used to be a bank, so it's two-foot thick concrete walls—sometimes with steel plates in the middle of them—are not easy demolition jobs) the interior ambiance is radically different from the ABC's former look. While the (former) environment of the ABC was charming and folksy, the High Horse has more of a artsy, speakeasy feel. The bar, formerly metal, remains in the same spot, but is now a dark wood.
The lack of Satisfaction IPA on my first trip there "forced" me to drink the High Horse's Beyond the Pale Ale, but it hardly was a sacrifice. The brew was perfectly balanced, with a great toasted malt undercurrent and plenty of hops in the mix. Fortunately, my was able to return a week later and lo and behold, not only was Satisfaction available, it was on cask. You can imagine my excitement when I heard that.
Of course, as I was taking a seat, readying myself for this great brew (a pine-needle hop-fest that is sticky and superb) Matthew, the head brewer, appeared at my elbow and with a grimace informed me that the cask had just kicked. He immediately told me he was joking, however, probably after seeing the resultant distressed look on my face. No one wants to see a grown man cry.
So although I often tell people (beer snobs) to get off their high horses, today I am suggesting that everyone get on (a barstool at) The High Horse. Satisfaction guaranteed.


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If not for some inspirational instructors back in his days at Florence State College, Will Stutts might never have embarked on a nearly 40-year theater career.
"They were the kind of instructors who endear themselves and instill such marvelous enthusiasm," Stutts says. "That was how I was introduced to the theater.
"It's rare that I go onstage that I don't think of some of those marvelous instructors that I came in contact with."
Now, Stutts is returning the favor.
Born in Florence, raised in Sheffield and now living in the Philadelphia area, the 58-year-old actor-director has come back home to lead a summer theater workshop at the University of North Alabama, as Florence State is now known.
As part of the program, he also will appear Saturday night in the one-person play "Mark Twain's America" at Norton Auditorium on the UNA campus.
"I actually did that the first time 40 years ago there in Florence," Stutts says. "This American lit professor who knew I was involved in theater said, 'Why don't you do Mark Twain for the class?'
"I did and I've been doing that show for 40 years."
Other productions in the UNA summer series are the Tammy Wynette musical "Stand by Your Man" on July 10-12 and "Vicki Lawrence and Mama: A Two-Woman Show" on July 31.
Stutts has known Lawrence since the early ¤'70s, when he met her while she was a regular on "The Carol Burnett Show."
After graduating from Florence State in 1970, Stutts went on to study theater at the Yale School of Drama.
He later appeared on Broadway in "Spoon River Anthology," "Night of the Iguana," "Richard II," "Present Laughter" and "Queen and the Rebels," and has appeared as Atticus Finch in 12 different productions of "To Kill a Mockingbird."
In addition to his Mark Twain one-man show, he also has written and starred in "Journey Through the Mind... Edgar Allan Poe," "Walt Whitman: Liberal and Lusty as Nature" and "Noel Coward at the Cafe de Paris."
"I have done like 16 one-person plays, so I've kind of carved out a niche in that genre over the years," he says. "I don't know why. It just sort of happened."
One Generation to Another
During the one-month UNA Summer Theatre Program, which begins Monday, Stutts and others also will lead students and other participants in a variety of acting workshops and seminars.
"I think theater is a craft, and it needs to be handed from one generation to another," he says. "If we don't do that, we are not only missing out on great opportunities but we are also jeopardizing the very future of the art form."
Stutts has another motivation for going back to teach at his alma mater, though.
"Part of it is because I'm Southern and I'm in theater, but you're just immersed in all of this nostalgia," he says. "And I think the beauty of going back to a campus like Florence is a lot has changed but so many things haven't.
"So there's the stability of what you remember from the past but there's also all of these rather extraordinary improvements and changes, and they seem to blend together very nicely."
Bob Carlton is a senior reporter for The Birmingham News. E-mail him at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Design suggestion : one board and rig for all
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25th August 2009, 04:47 AM
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 433
I actually agree with you more than it can be read from my post.
Standard class: I don't know what to think about it. Look how many windsurfing classes were Olympic from 1984. and there was always a cutthroat fight between companies who will get the next games. (mistral imco holding the throne the longest if I'm not wrong, and many think that the new rsx is worse performing than an imco) So that's why I say I can't see ws companies agreeing on standard.
On one hand you are right, the standard would simplify many things for amateur racers. Maybe it would also streamline/unify (in a lack of a better word) windsurfing as a sport in the eyes of general public and sports federations worldwide. I don't know.
But on the other hand, "chaotic" development and diversity of the sport brought immense advancements in many areas (user friendliness, but at the same time high performance "radical" gear, earlier planing, more control, etc etc) that would be maybe neglected if the sport took "standard class" direction. Do I enjoy these developments compared to say 15 years old gear? Yes I do, and I pay the price of rd.
Of course, the biggest question is can these two aspects of the sport coexist together? (I'm not familiar with dingies, but I suppose there are significant developments there, where I live I only see lasers and fins)
C249 where are you, join the discussion ;-)))))
Btw, I've never tried that Bic Jungle, but I know perfectly well that feeling from your island trip. Last time I've done that in about 1996. If (when) I go back to lightwind sailing, I'm pretty sure it won't be a Formula, rather something long with a daggerboard.
"I may also have my old Lechner reshaped new by a shaper equiped with a scanner for the same purposes."
Now you're talking! (that's div2 Lechner not the longboard right?) I planned to take a div2 Lechner on my next trip to a very beautiful mountain lake (where the average wind is 3-4 knots).
Fair winds
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Baffert brigade works; Careless Jewel drills bullet
Probable Juvenile (G1) favorite LOOKIN AT LUCKY (Smart Strike), unbeaten in four career starts, sped six furlongs in 1:12 2/5. He's captured the Norfolk S. (G1) and Del Mar Futurity (G1) in his last two outings.
Pacific Classic (G1) upsetter RICHARD'S KID (Lemon Drop Kid), beaten a length in third in the Goodwood S. (G1), worked three-quarters in 1:12 4/5 in advance of the Classic (G1) under exercise rider Joe Steiner.
"I could hardly pull him up," Steiner told Daily Racing Form.
Oak Leaf S. (G1) runner-up ALWAYS A PRINCESS (Leroidesanimaux [Brz]), a smart debut maiden scorer at Del Mar two starts back, completed a half-mile in 1:01 1/5. She'll be one of the top betting choices in the Juvenile Fillies (G1).
Ladies' Classic (G1) contender CARELESS JEWEL (Tapit), a convincing 3 1/2-length winner of the Cotillion S. (G2) at Philadelphia Park in her last outing, recorded her first work over the Pro-Ride when drilling six furlongs in a bullet 1:11 1/5 for trainer Josie Carroll. It was the fastest of seven moves at the distance.
"She looked comfortable," Carroll said. "This was good."
It was three-year-old filly's final serious work for the Ladies' Classic. An 11-length heroine of the Alabama S. (G1) two back, Careless Jewel figures to set the pace in the 1 1/8-mile event. The once-beaten lass has synthetic experience, winning two starts at Woodbine earlier this season, and the gray will bring a five-race winning streak into Breeders' Cup.
Multiple Grade 1 hero and likely Classic participant COLONEL JOHN (Tiznow), second by a neck in the Goodwood, breezed five furlongs in 1:02 for trainer Eoin Harty. Winner of the grassy Wickerr S. at Del Mar three starts back off a seven-month layoff, the four-year-old colt is also under consideration for the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1).
In other Breeders' Cup news:
Stronach Stable's EINSTEIN (Brz) (Spend a Buck) climbed aboard a van at Churchill Downs Tuesday morning for the short ride to Louisville International Airport, where he caught a flight to California for the Breeders' Cup. Winner of the Santa Anita H. (G1) in March, the seven-year-old horse will look to remain perfect over the Pro-Ride when he lines up for the 1 1/4-mile Classic.
The Helen Pitts-Blasi trainee exits a runner-up finish in the Pacific Classic.
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« New Events at San Francisco Cocktail Week September 21-27, 2010 |
| Many Mai Tais on the Menu at the reopening Trader Vic's in Emeryville »
My second piece on the FineCooking.com cocktail blog is up. It is a rather simple fresh lime Gimlet recipe. I know that the Rose's lime cordial Gimlet is historically accurate, but I mean seriously, yuck.
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The Blues' site's preview is indicative of most of the press that's out there this afternoon: not much. The preview rattles off statistics, such as the Blues running an 84% penalty kill of late though they've lost six in a row--with 8 of their last 10 games going into OT or a shootout--it notes that the Blues haven't won yet versus the Red Wings in the Savvis Center, and reminds fans that Tkachuk and Cajanek produce early and often vs. the Red Wings.
There's also an interesting story by Alan Adams about the popularity of hockey in Europe and the emergence of sledge hockey as an exciting sport, but that's about it from the Blues' site...
And The Post-Dispatch's Jeremy Rutherford mostly covers the injuries to Salvador (shoulder), Johnson (foot), Hoggan (collarbone), Orszagh (knee), and Bacashihua, who the game preview says has a shoulder injury. Hoggan and Johnson are the most likely to return "soon," but the Blues hope to get every player back "before the end of the season."
As the Blues were recently sold to former Madison Square Garden president Dave Checketts, there're several articles on the switchover, including a lambast of outgoing owner Bill Laurie by Jeff Gordon, who suggests that Laurie blew up a good team in 2001 by trying to spend, spend, spend, and there's an article about how Checketts sees himself as a hands-on owner who wants to build the team with a combination of draft picks and free agents.
That's all for today, folks.


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Police tried to pull over Michael E. Forward, 22, of the first block of Centennial Road, while he was driving an orange Kawaski Ninja motorcycle at about 5 p.m., court papers say.
Forward, who had a passenger with him on the motorcycle at the time, did not stop for officers and accelerated, court records say. Police indicated Forward was driving faster than 100 miles per hour at certain points in the chase.
Court records were not clear on how or why the chase ended, but police said Forward surrendered to police after the incident. He was charged with reckless endangerment, eluding police, reckless driving and various other traffic-related offenses.
Forward was arraigned Sunday night before District Judge Roy Manwaring in Bethlehem. He was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail with a 10 percent option, court records indicate.


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Install Instructions Click Colors
Note: These seatbelts do NOT have electrical wiring, so they cannot be electrically wired to alarms or airbags.
See Optional hardware kit that you can add to your order. Or see our Seat Belt Hardware Page.
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Compare the installation instructions to your car, truck or van to confirm that this seat belt is compatible with your automobile.
The retractor box is H: 3½" x W: 3" x D: 2½" and you want to make sure that you have sufficient space at the installation point area near or on the floor of your car to accommodate the retractor.
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Jackson Eaton is a democrat running for the Congress District 15 seat, which includes parts of Dauphin, Lebanon, Berks, Lehigh and Northampton counties. Republican Rep. Charlie Dent currently holds the seat.
We face serious challenges in this country: Nearly 13 million Americans are unemployed, a $15 trillion national debt and a sense that the next generation might be the first in American history not to reach their parents' standard of living. And yet during the last year, Congress has done nothing to address these problems.
The most significant issues facing us — the need to create jobs, reduce our national debt and improve our schools — are made that much more difficult by our dysfunctional Congress.
I will introduce legislation to create jobs by rebuilding Pennsylvania's crumbling infrastructure, to protect Medicare and Social Security programs and to guarantee a woman's right to choose. But none of that has any chance of success unless Congress ends its status of perpetual gridlock.
The universal disapproval of Congress is not because it adopted bad legislation, but because it hasn't adopted meaningful legislation. This has been characterized by a pattern of legislative brinksmanship, refusal to compromise and a fear of dealing with hard choices before the American public.
The Republican leadership has established a pattern of brinksmanship in refusing to deal with time-sensitive problems. Legislation to keep the government functioning cannot be repeatedly delayed until the last minute in a game of chicken.
Last year, Republicans threatened to shut down the government, raise payroll taxes and default on our national debt, all in the midst of an economic crisis. I will keep a spotlight on House leaders to demand that matters of critical importance are dealt with in a timely manner.
Tea party rigidity has become the call of Republican leadership. An unwillingness to seek reasonable compromise has condemned Congress to failure. Some think that gridlock is just what the Founding Fathers wanted. I disagree.
I believe our system was to allow government with good faith negotiations and principled compromise, not a choice between deadlock or winner-take-all legislation. I know that our country's record of historic legislation was not marked by passive politicians simply "splitting the difference" on all issues.
Great legislators fought hard for what they believed in but knew how to compromise for the good of the country. I will do that. It was sad last year when Congress, which was created in our Constitution as a public, deliberative body, abdicated its responsibility to solve the national debt crisis and placed a 10-year program, affecting practically all federal revenues and programs, in the hands of a secret committee of 12 out of 535 senators and representatives. That was because Congress was afraid to deal with issues of increased revenues or reduced programs before the American public. That was appalling, and it failed.
Congress must commit to talk about the tough choices we have to make — taxes and program cuts — in public despite the political consequences. As a captain in the Army, I knew soldiers who were willing to risk their lives to protect the nation. It's time we have a congressman who is willing to risk an election.


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Aspirin treatment hampers the use of plasma microRNA-126 as a biomarker for the progression of vascular disease
Aims MicroRNA-126 (miR-126) facilitates angiogenesis and regulates endothelial cell function. Recent data suggest that miR-126 can serve as a biomarker for vascular disease. Although endothelial cells are enriched for miR-126, platelets also contain miR-126. In this paper, we investigated the contribution of platelets to the pool of miR-126 in plasma of patients with type 2 diabetes (DM2) and how this is affected by aspirin.
Methods and results In vitro platelet activation resulted in the transfer of miR-126 from the platelet to the plasma compartment, which was prevented by aspirin. In vivo platelet activation, monitored in patients with DM2 by measuring soluble P-selectin, correlated directly with circulating levels of miR-126. The administration of aspirin resulted both in platelet inhibition and concomitantly reduced circulating levels of platelet-derived microRNAs including miR-126.
Conclusion Platelets are a major source of circulating miR-126. Consequently, in patho-physiological conditions associated with platelet activation, such as diabetes type 2, the administration of aspirin may lead to reduced levels of circulating miR-126. Thus, the use of platelet inhibitors should be taken into account when using plasma levels of miR-126 as a biomarker.
- miR-126
- platelets
- aspirin
- diabetes mellitus type 2
MicroRNAs (miRs) are short non-coding RNAs that function as post-transcriptional, negative regulators of gene expression. While native RNA molecules are rapidly degraded in plasma, miRs display exceptional stability in the circulation due to their association with argonaute protein,1 high-density lipoprotein,2 or their inclusion into exosomes or microparticles.3 Since many miRs are tissue specific and differentially expressed in patho-physiology, miR profiles in the circulation may serve as biomarkers for disease progression. Indeed, altered levels of selected miRs have been reported in various cardiovascular diseases, such as acute myocardial infarction,4 myocarditis,5 acute and chronic heart failure.6 miR-126, which has been shown to be enriched in endothelial cells,7 has received particular interest. Alterations in circulating miR-126 have been proposed as a marker for endothelial dysfunction in type 2 diabetes (DM2)8 and coronary artery disease (CAD).9 However, next to its endothelial origin, miR-126 also constitutes one of the most abundantly expressed miRs in platelets.10,11 Here, we investigated whether platelets are a possible source of circulating miR-126 and how aspirin treatment affects its level in the plasma of patients with DM2.
In vitro platelet activation
To establish a relationship between the activation of platelets and miR-126, sodium citrate-anticoagulated (3.8% Na-citrate containing vacuum tubes, Becton Dickinson) whole blood samples were obtained from four healthy, male volunteers. From these samples, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) was obtained by centrifugation (15 min at 150 g at room temperature, no brake) and divided into three samples (60 µL per sample). One sample served as non-stimulated control. The other two samples were incubated with arachidonic acid (AA, 1.5 mmol/L, Hart Biologicals, UK) in the absence or presence of aspirin (asp, 330 µmol/L, Sigma). This concentration of aspirin is equivalent to the amount that patients receive when they are treated with 300 mg/day of aspirin. We chose for AA, since this platelet activator is inhibited optimally by aspirin, whereas two other routinely used platelet-activators collagen or adenosine diphosphate are only inhibited by aspirin for ∼50%.12 After AA incubation (10 min at 37°C), 50 µL of the PRP was transferred to 450 µL of paraformaldehyde (1% w/v, PFA) to fixate the platelets. From the remaining sample, platelet-free plasma (PFP) and a platelet pellet was obtained by centrifugation (5 min at 2000 g). To check whether the PFP preparations were cell free, all samples were analysed with an automated cell counter (Sysmex®) and by FACS. To illustrate that the PRP did not contain any leukocytes, the forward (FSC)/side scatter (SSC) FACS-plots (logarithmic scales) are shown from one donor (Supplementary material online, Figure S1): non-incubated (tube A), incubated with arachidonic acid and aspirin (+AA/+asp; tube B) or AA alone (+AA, tube C), as indicated. Each tube contained a small portion of small particles (debris in grey), while the platelets (anthracite) are clearly distinguishable from the debris, not only on the FSC/SSC plot, but especially when the expression of P-selectin is measured (second row of dot plots) after activation with AA in the absence of aspirin (tube C). The number of events in the debris- and platelet gate accounted for 99.4% (tube A), 99.3% (tube B), and 99.4% (tube C) of the total number of events, of which 99% could be identified as P-selectin positive when incubated with arachidonic acid (histogram, tube C). This indicates that leukocytes were not detectable in these PRP samples, not by cell counter (not shown), nor by FACS, and also not in the PFP samples obtained from these PRP-samples at a later stage. Samples were stored at −80°C until further analysis. All in vitro experiments were performed in triplicate. Representative results are shown.
Surface-expression of P-selectin by platelets
To assess the expression of P-selectin by platelets as a measure of AA activation and to assess the inhibitory effect of aspirin treatment, PFA-fixed platelets were washed with FACS buffer (phosphate-buffered saline supplemented with 1% bovine serum albumin and 0.05% Na-azide), incubated with mouse IgG directed against human P-selectin or an isotype-matched control IgG (both 5 µg/mL, BD Biosciences), washed with FACS buffer, and incubated with goat-anti-mouse IgG conjugated with Alexa-488 (Molecular Probes). P-selectin expression was measured using the LSRII (Becton Dickinson). Platelets incubated with isotype-matched control IgG were gated (gate P2), which represents background staining. Gate P3 was set to detect the fluorescent signals above background and represents P-selectin-positive platelets. The mean fluorescent intensity (MFI) was measured from the platelets in P3.
Measurement of soluble P-selectin and von Willebrand factor
Soluble P-selectin (sP-sel) was measured in PFP using a commercially available ELISA kit, according to the instructions of the manufacturers (R&D Systems). Measurements were performed in duplicate and average values were used. Von Willebrand factor (vWF) was measured routinely at the Clinical Chemistry Laboratory of the Leiden University Medical Center according to standard procedures.
MiR-expression levels
Total RNA was isolated using Trizol reagent (Invitrogen, Breda, The Netherlands). To serve as a technical control 5 fmol synthetic, exogenous C. elegans miR-238 (Biolegio, Nijmegen, The Netherlands) was spiked into 200 μL plasma or platelet isolates. Subsequently, RNA was isolated and the expression levels of miR-126, miR-16, miR-223, miR-423 and miR-238 were validated in triplicate by quantitative RT-PCR (qPCR). Reverse transcription was performed using a 5-min incubation at 65°C of 2.0 µL (plasma samples) or 250 ng total RNA (platelet isolates) with specific Taqman® microRNA probes (miR-126, Applied Biosystems, Nieuwerkerk a/d IJssel, The Netherlands). cDNA was synthesized using an M-MLV First-Strand Synthesis system (Invitrogen). The results were normalized using Gene Expression Analysis for iCycler IQ® RT-PCR Detection System (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Veenendaal, The Netherlands). To compare the miR-levels, the concentration (fmol/mL) of miRs was calculated by correlating the mean miR-238 CT values with the spiked concentration of miR-238 added to the samples or miR-expression was shown as 'fold change', calculated with a standard ΔΔCT method.
Plasma samples of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients
Platelet-free plasma samples were obtained from patients diagnosed with DM2, who previously entered a prospective, randomized study with a placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover design of which details have been published previously.12,13 All patients gave written informed consent and the study was approved by the institutional medical ethics committee. The baseline characteristics of this patient cohort are shown in Supplementary material online, Table S1.
Subjects were excluded if they had any history of cardiovascular disease (defined as myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndrome, percutaneous coronary intervention, coronary artery bypass grafting, heart failure, severe cardiac arrhythmia, cerebrovascular accident, transient ischaemic attack, or peripheral vascular disease) or known contraindications to use of aspirin (defined as history of asthma, any bleeding disorder, gastrointestinal tract bleeding or known allergy to acetylsalicylic acid). Other exclusion criteria were the presence of uncontrolled hypertension, severe renal or hepatic dysfunction, pregnancy, concurrent participation in other research projects or blood donation and use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, anticoagulant medication, corticosteroids, or statins.
In summary, all subjects (n = 40) received one period placebo and the other period aspirin (100 or 300 mg/day). The first treatment period with aspirin or placebo for 6 weeks was followed by a washout period of 4 weeks. Thereafter, those assigned to placebo in the first period received aspirin for 6 weeks and those assigned to aspirin received placebo for additional 6 weeks. At each visit, EDTA-anticoagulated peripheral blood samples were drawn from antecubital veins. All plasma samples were stored at −80°C until further analysis. Based on our definition of aspirin-responders and non-responders (see main text), 19 patients were considered responders, 19 patients were non-responders and for 2 patients the aspirin-responsiveness could not be determined, since a sP-sel value was missing. These patients were excluded. For two patients insufficient amounts of plasma were present to determine the levels of miR-126, yielding 18 miR-126 values for both the 'responder' and the 'non-responder' groups.
Statistical analysis
All calculations were performed with Graphpad Prism software. Approximate normal distributions were determined by D'Agostino and Pearson normality test. To calculate significant differences (P < 0.05) for more than two variables (Figures 1 and 2) a repeated measures one-way ANOVA test was performed with Bonferroni multiple comparison test correction; for two variables a two-tailed Mann–Whitney test was performed since the values were not distributed normally (Supplementary material online, Table S1, Figure 4A, B and C). For correlation analysis, Spearman r correlation coefficients and P-values were determined, since these values were also not distributed normally (Figures 3, 5 and Supplementary material online, Figure S2).
In vitro platelet activation
To investigate the correlation between platelet activation and miR-126 concentration in plasma, peripheral blood was withdrawn from healthy volunteers. After obtaining PRP, platelet activation was induced with arachidonic acid (AA) in the absence or presence of aspirin. Of note, PRP samples did not contain contaminating leukocytes as was determined with an automated cell counter (data not shown) and by FACS (Supplementary material online, Figure S1).
Platelet activation was monitored by surface-expression of P-selectin or by shedding of the soluble form (sP-sel) into the plasma. Non-activated platelets did not express P-selectin (Figure 1B). AA induced P-selectin expression on all platelets (99%, Figure 1D) and in all donors (Figure 1A, left axis). Aspirin (+asp) inhibited the AA-induced expression of P-selectin significantly (P < 0.001), although this expression was not inhibited on all platelets (Figure 1C) and was not inhibited to non-stimulated levels (Figure 1A, P < 0.05). AA stimulation resulted in a significant increase in sP-sel in the plasma compartment (PFP) obtained from PRP (Figure 1A, right axes, P < 0.01). The addition of aspirin alone did not alter the expression of P-selectin on the platelets or sP-sel levels in the PFP (data not shown). When aspirin was added during AA stimulation, shedding of sP-sel was completely inhibited to basal levels in each donor (P < 0.01). Apparently, aspirin is able to prevent the shedding of sP-sel from the platelets, while membrane expression of P-selectin is not inhibited completely.
MiR-126 levels were measured in PFP or the platelet pellet, isolated from the same PRP sample and the relative distribution ratio (PFP/plts) was calculated. Non-activated PRP showed a distribution ratio of ∼1:9 (PFP/plts, 0.109 ± 0.036, Figure 2) and AA activation resulted in a significant transfer of miR-126 (P < 0.01) from the platelet to the plasma compartment, yielding a relative ratio of 1:4 (+AA, 0.259 ± 0.05). AA activation in the presence of aspirin prevented the transfer of miR-126 towards the plasma compartment (P < 0.01), which showed a similar ratio of 1:8 (0.121 ± 0.018) as non-activated PRP. As three other platelet-enriched miRs (miR-16, miR-223 and miR-423) were released from activated platelets in a similar fashion (Figure 2) our data imply that platelet activation leads to the shedding of P-selectin from the platelet membrane and the release of miRs from intracellular platelet stores.
In vivo platelet activation
To investigate the relationship between plasma levels of miR-126 and in vivo platelet activation, we studied patients with DM2, who exhibit a disease-mediated platelet activation.14 A description of the baseline characteristics of the patient cohort is available in the Supplementary material online, Table S1. These patients had participated in a randomized, placebo-controlled cross-over trial, in which 40 patients were assigned to a period of aspirin treatment (100 or 300 mg/day) or placebo.12 This resulted in a wide range of DM2-induced in vivo platelet activation, monitored by sP-sel,15 which is consistent with increased platelet aggregability in chronic vascular diseases, such as DM2.14
Figure 3A shows that in the total cohort of patients, a significant correlation was observed after placebo (P = 0.006, r = 0.446) between the extent of in vivo platelet activation, as measured by the absolute level of sP-sel (ng/mL) and the level of circulating miR-126 (fold change). Also after treatment with aspirin, regardless of the dose, a significant correlation was found (Figure 3B, asp-100 + 300, P = 0.003, r = 0.495). When discriminating for aspirin dose, only the higher dose of 300 mg/day showed a significant correlation (P = 0.015, r = 0.578), while the lower dose was not significant (P = 0.128, r = 0.373), which is most likely due to the large variation between the values, since the three fitted correlative lines practically overlapped.
Of note, aspirin inhibits the enzyme cyclo-oxygenase (COX), which is expressed in two isoforms, COX-1 and COX-2. Platelets predominantly express COX-1 which is more sensitive to inhibition by aspirin than COX-2, while endothelial cells mainly express COX-2.16 In vivo, the pool of circulating miR-126 may be derived from both the platelets and the endothelium, but aspirin treatment will have a dominant inhibitory effect on the release of the platelet-derived miR-126. To have insight into the platelet-mediated effects, changes in circulating sP-sel (delta sP-sel: sP-sel values at the time of aspirin treatment minus placebo values; asp-plac) and in circulating miR-126 (ratio miR-126: miR-126 values at the time of aspirin treatment divided by the placebo values; asp/plac) were calculated. Correlation analysis showed that delta sP-sel positively correlated with the ratio of miR-126 (Figure 3C, P < 0.0001, r = 0.675). When discriminating for aspirin dose, correlation analysis showed almost identical statistically significant values (Supplementary material online, Figure S2: aspirin 100 mg/day: P = 0.001, Spearman r = 0.682; aspirin 300 mg/day: P = 0.008, Spearman r = 0.640).
As shown previously,17 patients were considered aspirin responders, when their sP-sel level decreased upon aspirin treatment, while patients were defined as non-responders when their sP-sel was either not affected or was even increased. When discriminating for responders (resp) and non-responders (non-resp), the expected maximal difference for delta sP-sel (Figure 4A) coincided with a highly significant difference in the ratio of miR-126 (Figure 4B; P < 0.001).
Since in vivo, endothelial cell activation may contribute to the plasma pool of sP-sel, we also measured the established endothelial cell marker vWF in the plasma.18 When calculating delta vWF values (asp-plac), no difference was observed between the responder and non-responder groups (Figure 4C, P = 0.459) and correlation analysis for delta-vWF values and the ratio of miR-126 showed no significance (Figure 3D, P = 0.317, r = −0.177 and Supplementary material online, Figure S2B), indicating that sP-sel levels, and thus miR-126 levels, were not changed due to activation/damage of the endothelium. These data illustrate that platelets are an important cellular source of circulating miR-126 and that anti-platelet medication may be a confounder when studying patients with manifest vascular disease, such as DM2 (this paper), CAD,9 or myocardial infarction.19
Previous reports show that miRs in plasma display exceptional stability in the circulation due to their association with argonaute protein,1 high-density lipoprotein,2 or their inclusion into exosomes or microparticles.3 In fact, it has recently been shown that the main fraction of miRs in human plasma is localized in microparticles of which 41–45% originate from platelets.20 These miR-containing microparticles may actually play a role in cardiovascular diseases by transferring their miR content to target cells. For example, Zernecke et al.21 have shown that miR-126-containing apoptotic bodies were able to mediate athero-protective effects in mouse models of atherosclerosis and miR-126-containing microvesicles protected the kidney against ischaemia/reperfusion injury in mice.22 These functional properties and the notion that circulating miRs may be derived from cells in the vascular system has stirred current interest in the use of circulating miR profiles as diagnostic- and maybe even prognostic biomarkers for the progression of cardiovascular disease.4–6
The patho-physiological mechanisms involved in vascular diseases, such as DM2 and CAD, include EC dysfunction23 and ongoing vascular injury.24 Since miR-126 is enriched in endothelial cells,7 these vascular diseases would predict a release of endothelial-derived miR-126 into the circulation. However, in a recent study, a counter-intuitive decrease in miR-126 was observed in CAD patients in comparison with normal age- and gender-matched controls.9 Interestingly, we noticed that all CAD patients were treated with aspirin, while none of the healthy controls used aspirin. Our in vivo observations described in this paper show that aspirin administration to DM2 patients resulted in platelet inhibition and concomitant reduction of circulating levels of miR-126. As a consequence, aspirin use could explain the reported decrease in circulating miR-126 in the CAD patient cohort.9 Furthermore, an overall systemic inhibition of platelet activation would predict a decrease in other platelet-derived miRs as well. Indeed, our in vitro platelet activation assay showed that the transfer from the platelet to the plasma compartment of three other miRs that are abundantly present in platelets,11 miR-16, miR-223 and miR-423, were likewise inhibited in the presence of aspirin.
Consistent with our current findings, 22 of the 25 miRs that were reported to be downregulated to the highest extent (0.50–0.76 fold) in the aspirin-treated CAD patients,9 were located in the top highest-expressed platelet miRs10,11 of which miR-126 was ranked number 5. This is further illustrated in Figure 5, in which the platelet-miR profiles from two independent papers are combined10,11 displaying a very similar rank order with a highly significant regression for quantified signals of the miR arrays (P < 0.0001, r = 0.752). In contrast, of the 20 miRs reported to be upregulated to the highest extent in the aspirin-treated CAD patients,9 only 4 miRs are present in the list of platelet-associated miRs and these 4 miRs are even located in the lowest region of rank order.11
These data suggest that when in vivo platelet activation is inhibited, as was the case in our DM2 study17 and the CAD study,9 the release of platelet-derived miRs in general and miR-126 in particular, is inhibited accordingly. In fact, the CAD study showed an actual negative influence of aspirin on circulating miR-126 (P < 0.001, R = −0.469).9
In conclusion, aspirin use should be taken into account when using circulating miR-126 and probably other platelet-associated miRs, as diagnostic biomarker for cardiovascular diseases or when studying a possible role of these miRs as mediators of cardiovascular disease and/or in athero-protective effects.
Limitations of the study
In the current study, statin use was one of the criteria to exclude patients from entering the trial.13 From a clinical point of view, this may be a drawback since statins are a baseline treatment, thus rendering our patient cohort not fully representative for DM2 patients on standard treatment. Nevertheless, next to a negative effect of aspirin on the level of circulating miR-126 in the CAD patients, Fichtlscherer et al.9 also noticed a negative effect of statin use. Furthermore, Luzak et al.25 showed in vitro, that the inhibiting effect of aspirin on ADP-induced platelet activation and aggregation was potentiated in the presence of statins. These data would predict that for the prevention of cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes mellitus, treatment with a combination of aspirin and statin, as recommended by Udell et al.,26 may show an additive inhibitory effect on platelet activity and thus on the level of plasma miR-126.
Supplementary material
Supplementary material is available at European Heart Journal online.
This work was supported in part by grants from the Netherlands Heart Foundation (2006B145), the Dutch Kidney Foundation (C07.2227) and the Center for Translational Molecular Medicine (www.ctmm.nl; project CIRCULATING CELLS, grant 01C-102).
Conflict of interest: none declared.
- Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2013. For permissions please email: email@example.com


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Update: More details on the parade
The annual Santa Parade featured Clifford the Big Red Dog, Miss Michigan and of course, Santa himself, this morning along Ottawa Avenue in downtown Grand Rapids.
Mayor George Heartwell walked the route. And kids were thrilled at the police cars and fire trucks that led the parade.
The parade passed Calder Plaza and headed south to Fulton.
Next up for the holidays downtown: The Christmas tree lighting by the Grand Rapids Art Museum, and HollyJolly, a new store window decorating contest. That all happens on Dec. 2.


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Wood wrestlers rally to beat Sherando
James Wood's Logan Bauserman pins Sherando's Justin Angel in the second period of the 160-pound class during the Colonels' 39-33 Northwestern District dual match victory over Sherando at Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium Thursday night. (Photo by Jeff Taylor/The Winchester Star)
Sherando's Jordan Dalton (right) won by major decision 14-2 over James Wood's Ryan Funkhouser in Thursday night's Northwestern District dual match. The Colonels rallied to beat Sherando 39-33. (Photo by Jeff Taylor/The Winchester Star)
WINCHESTER — A couple of unexpected losses in early bouts against Sherando Thursday night raised some concerns for James Wood wrestling coach Greg Walker.
The Colonels suffered a close loss in the…
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Welcome to the Red Stick Rundown, where entertainment reporter Chelsea Brasted takes you through the best of what to do in Baton Rouge this weekend. Have your own idea for next week? Leave a comment below or tweet #RedStickRundown with the tip.
Check out our highlights of this weekend's events.
With your friends:
Tie on your running shoes to compete in the Yappy Halloween 5k and fun run benefiting Yelp! Baton Rouge. The races are at 1:15 p.m. and 1:45 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 6. Don't forget to dress up Fido in their Halloween costume!
Go see the Noel Rockmore exhibit at the Louisiana Art and Science Museum this weekend. Sunday is the final day to see a glimpse inside the mixed-up mind of one of America's most recent master artists, and see the full story here. Also, it' s free to enter the museum on Sunday.
With the kids: Celebrate Sugar Fest at the West Baton Rouge Museum on Sunday. The event includes live music, 19th century craft demonstrations and a sweet treat competition. Everything kicks off at 11 a.m. and wraps up by 4 p.m.
With a date: See Little Green Cars on their third American tour this year when they stop at Spanish Moon on Thursday, Sept. 10 for an early show.
Don't miss it:
Renowned pianist Roberto Fonseca heads up two shows at the Manship Theatre on Thursday. Tickets are $25 and $45.
If you were one of the lucky ones to snag a ticket to Arctic Monkeys, don't let go. The Saturday, Oct. 5, show sold-out in a manner of weeks, and it's bound to be one of the best performances at the Varsity Theatre this season.
Got a tip? Know a good story in Baton Rouge? Email Chelsea Brasted at email@example.com or call 225.460.1350. You can also keep up with all her local updates on Twitter (@cabrasted) and through NOLA.com Baton Rouge on Facebook.