Scrapbooking for Home Decor: How to Create Frames, Boxes and Other Beautiful Items from Photographs and Family Memories (Design Originals) (Paperback) By Candice Windham
Review & Description
Scrapbooking is a wonderful past-time that has been used by countless families across America to preserve family history and memories. But what comes after you?ve created your scrapbook collection? Which book is put out on the coffee table, and which is stored away? With this book, you will never have to pick and choose between your favorite memories again. Award-winning author Candice Windham will show you how to turn your scrapbooking photos into beautiful pieces of home d?cor that can be proudly displayed throughout your home. Inside you?ll find 13 fabulous projects that will take your scrapbooking experience to a whole new level. Learn how to create a stationery box featuring pictures of your family or how to put together a recipe box covered with some of mom?s favorite sayings. Windham offers tips and tricks for working with materials like papers, adhesives, and paint techniques for stamping, shading, inking, and creating custom embellishments. Whether you?re new to scrapbooking or have been doing it for years, this book will provide you with a unique project that is creative, fun, and functional.
Posted September 28, 2012 ? 6:38 p.m. by Don Chareunsy
Eli Roth arrives on the VIP blood red carpet for his Goretorium on the Strip on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012.
Photo: David Tingey/DonoghuePhotography.com
By Don Chareunsy
Las Vegas VIPs and celebrities got into the Halloween spirit early as they attended the VIP and blood red carpet grand opening of director Eli Roth?s year-round scare fest Goretorium on Thursday night on the Strip. The evening kicked off with the ?Hostel? and ?Cabin Fever? director performing a chainsaw-cutting ceremony on the mezzanine level of Goretorium and then arrived on the actual black arrivals carpet with bloodied white carnations.
Black carpet guests included Dave Navarro (Guns ?n? Roses), Monte Carlo headliners the Jabbawockeez, Corey Miller (?L.A. Ink?), Zak Bagans (?Ghost Adventures?), Victoria Asher (Cobra Starship), DJ Paul (Three 6 Mafia), Omar Doom (?Inglorious Basterds?), DJ Ashba (Guns ?n? Roses), Antonio Bellatore (?The Antonio Bellatore Project?), 2012 Miss Nevada USA Jade Kelsall, 2005 Miss USA Shanna Moakler, boxer Zab Judah and actress Elina Madison.
After the arrivals carpet, Roth (b)led guests to the 1960s-inspired Baby Dolls lounge overlooking the Strip to watch a special moment featuring world-renowned illusionist Franz Harary. Roth entered a vintage ?exercise machine? and twisted his upper body 360 degrees while his legs stayed in one place. Guests gasped when he began coughing up blood while ?guts? were thrown into the crowd. The contraption sucked a guest inside the contraption while Roth exited back to normal. All in fun, people!
Eli Roth's Goretorium grand opening - from YouTube.com
As Goretorium characters partied in Baby Dolls, guests were treated to a specialty cocktail, Eli Roth?s Blood, as they listened to a mash-up of Top 40 songs. The 15,000-square-foot, $10 million Goretorium, located across from the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, with spine-tingling special effects, state-of-the-art scenery and a cast of nightmare-inducing characters opened to the public at 11 p.m.
Thanks to contributing photographer David Tingey of Tom Donoghue Photography for his photo gallery of the festive and frightful night and to Richard Corey for his video posted on YouTube.
Don Chareunsy is editor of VegasDeLuxe.com and senior editor, arts and entertainment, of LasVegasSun.com.
Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world?s premier platinum playground.
Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.
Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.
Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.
River Spirit geared up to bag fourth straight success
Taking a look on River Spirit?s profile, it seems as if he has achieved more than his age. Four podium finishes in five-race career is an awesome streak that has made him such as strong runner as he can make a big impact in any big racing event.
The Glackin trained brindle dog has proved his class in A3 and A1 formats so far. Now, he is keen to win his maiden open race entitled as Billy Mulvaney Senior Memorial Open 750. This is going to be his second Shelbourne Park trip----the previous experience
had been pleasant enough.
In tonight?s high-stakes open race, the two-year-old novice hound will break from the blue box to run over 750 yards with his eyes on the prize cheque worth ?500.
In his every start so far, River Spirit has done justice with the talent inherited from Westmead Hawk and River Melody.
The young and enthusiastic sprinter debuted on August 18, finishing 5th in his maiden race. He went on to get the runner-up spot in the next contest.
The brilliant sprinter stepped ahead to grab the 3?-length victory in his third A3 race. He impressed all the sport fans by winning a big race by the big margin of 6? lengths on September 8.
The dashing dog finally completed his hat-trick with the title of Find Us On Facebook A1 575. This excellent streak has tuned up his confidence and momentum well.
Now, River Spirit seems to be ready to make a big show, and tonight?s marathon is going to be an ideal chance for him to accomplish this end.
Despite all these factors, the skilled dog will have to be cautious of Momentinnewyork who elegantly earned an OR victory on June 24. That was The 2011 Gain Feeds Corn Cuchulainn 750 Round 1 Heat 4. The Olesen trained white and brindle bitch went on to win
the The 2011 Gain Feeds Corn Cuchulainn 750 Semi-final by a neck?s margin.
Thus, the brilliant bitch will fight head-to-head with the dog. This will make the event interesting enough. Let us catch up the charged action.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and do not reflect Bettor.Com?s editorial policy.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) ? The Democratic Senate Campaign Committee is buying $410,000 worth of TV advertising in the U.S. Senate race in Maine, but it's not clear for whom.
Executive Director Guy Cecil suggested Friday that the money will be used to fight the Republican in the race, Charlie Summers, who's benefited from more than $1.7 million in TV ads sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and a GOP-led super PAC, Maine Freedom.
But there's a Democrat in the race, state Sen. Cynthia Dill. The frontrunner is former Democrat Angus King, an independent. Rob Jesmer of the National Republican Senatorial Committee said Democrats should make clear who they're supporting.
The University Wind Symphony and Symphonic Winds begin their 2012-2013 season. The concert is free and open to the public. We hope you will join us for this special day of music as we begin our new season.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hikers were being urged to steer clear of a popular New York state park for the weekend while police search for a man suspected of shooting his daughter-in-law and believed to be armed and hiding in the thickly wooded area.
Police have been searching for Eugene Palmer, 73, since Monday in connection with the killing of Tammy Palmer, his son's 39-year-old wife. They believe he is probably roaming the woods of Harriman State Park, some 30 miles north of Manhattan, after finding his deserted pickup truck near a park entrance.
New York's parks department has closed down the campsite at the 47,000-acre park and is urging people to stay away while the manhunt continues.
Palmer, who has a white beard, is known to go hunting in the park's woods, according to Martin Lund, a spokesman for the Haverstraw Police Department.
"We are urging (visitors) to use common sense," said Dan Keefe, a parks department spokesman, adding that fliers had been posted at the park's trailheads.
Police in bulletproof vests have been scouring the park this week with the help of search dogs and have flown a helicopter over the park with heat-tracking equipment in attempts to find Palmer.
Palmer and his daughter-in-law lived in neighboring homes in the town of Haverstraw. Palmer has not been seen since his daughter's body was found outside her home some time after her two children went to school on Monday.
LONDON (Reuters) - The AK-47, arguably the world's deadliest weapon, gets an extreme makeover in a new art project in London where rifles are ground into metal dust, be-decked with dazzling rhinestones or covered in silver-tinted thorns.
"AKA Peace" is the brainchild of former army reservist and Sunday Times photographer Bran Symondson, who, when serving in Afghanistan, noticed how policemen would decorate their guns.
He managed to attract some of the cream of British contemporary art, with Damien Hirst, Antony Gormley, Marc Quinn and the Chapman brothers contributing works to an exhibition followed by a charity auction to be held next week.
"We noticed they (Afghan police) would adorn their AK-47s with flowers, stickers, and I realised it was the only possession in their life really so it was a bit like a teenager would pimp up their car in the UK," Symondson said.
"A lot of people say 'am I scared of glorifying the AK-47?' But I think the AK-47 is already glorified. I think the strongest message here is to show it can be used for something else visually and mentally," he told Reuters at a preview.
More than 20 artists were involved, some more famous than others, and their works are on display until September 30 at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in central London.
They then travel to nearby auction house Phillips de Pury & Company where they will be sold on October 4, and the proceeds will go to the Peace One Day charity which promotes a global day of ceasefire and non-violence every September 21.
Hirst's contribution is instantly recognisable -- he has "spin painted" his gun in garish colours. Jake and Dinos Chapman have their guns held by two toddlers whose noses have been turned into phalluses.
CONGEALED BLOOD
One of the visitors' favourites was Nancy Fouts's "Dont' Touch", an AK-47 covered in silver-sprayed thorns which, from a distance, look soft and furry.
Palestinian artist Laila Shawa said she was no stranger to the seemingly ubiquitous assault rifle.
"I'm very familiar with AK-47s so for me it was not a very strange feeling to carry the gun, but my first question to Bran was 'how many people did this gun kill?'," she told Reuters, standing next to an AK-47 covered in rhinestones and butterflies and with the barrel sprayed gold.
"In the Middle East, with the turmoil that we have, and as a Palestinian in particular, you find yourself at some point in your life having to defend yourself and that's why I know about it," she added.
Some of the artists confessed to feeling uncomfortable working on weapons once used in battle.
"While cleaning the gun in order to start working on it I went into the barrel of the gun and I found congealed blood and that brought the reality home," said Shawa.
Antony Micallef, whose large black, white and grey canvas features two AK-47s protruding from the head of an undefinable creature like horns, explained that he wanted to try and capture "that primal instinct of violence."
"For me the gun was inherently aggressive so I wanted to amplify that. I could never get away from that feeling."
Because organisers only provided one rifle to each artist, he had to purchase a second which cost him 250 pounds ($405).
Charming Baker punctured his AK-47 with holes to reveal the inside as well as the outside of the weapon.
"I don't feel like I have this naive idea that a gun is just a weapon of destruction," he said. "I'm sure there are guns here that have saved people's lives and their families have been pleased about it. That's the way you use any tool, isn't it?"
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
Effective HIV care benefited all HIV patients, regardless of demographics and behavioral riskPublic release date: 28-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jerica Pitts jpitts@pcipr.com 312-558-1770 Infectious Diseases Society of America
Treatment advances, comprehensive approach to care, Ryan White funding contributed to better clinical outcomes across the board, analysis finds
Improved treatment options, a multi-pronged treatment model, and federal funding from the Ryan White Program have helped an inner city Baltimore clinic improve outcomes for HIV patients across all groups, including those most often hardest hit by the disease. Published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, the results from the 15-year analysis of patients at a clinic serving a primarily poor, African-American patient population with high rates of injection drug use demonstrate what state-of-the-art HIV care can achieve, given appropriate support.
Current antiretroviral therapy is so effective that when such care is delivered by expert clinicians in a supportive environment, the prognosis for patients is measurably enhanced. "Contemporary HIV care can markedly improve the health of persons living with HIV regardless of their gender, race, risk group, or socioeconomic status," said study author Richard D. Moore, MD, MHS, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The study by Dr. Moore and colleagues Jeanne C. Keruly, MS, and John G. Bartlett, MD, which analyzed data collected from 1995 to 2010, is the first to directly compare outcomes for patient groups defined by these variables, often the groups affected most by health-care disparities.
The Baltimore clinic's care model has multiple levels to address HIV patients' complex needs: primary, specialty (substance abuse and mental health), and supportive care (case-management, nutrition, treatment adherence, emergency services, and transportation). Supported in part by the federally funded Ryan White Program, created in 1990, the clinic receives financial assistance to provide HIV care to low-income patients, who in the 2010 fiscal year made up 92 percent of the clinic's patients.
Health care stumbling blocks for patients with HIV include inadequate access to treatment, lack of retention in care, and poor adherence to current HIV treatment guidelines. The Ryan White Program allowed this urban clinic to provide care to patients who might otherwise have slipped through the cracks, the study authors noted. As a result of the "integrated multi-disciplinary program of care" the clinic was able to offer, and because of advances in antiretroviral drugs, HIV-infected patients at the clinic now have a life expectancy of 73 years. This longevity remained the same across all demographic and behavioral risk groups. Even adjustments made for patients' source of medical insurance did not affect the outcomes.
There is one important caveat: The study's results include only those patients who were sufficiently "engaged in care" to show up for lab testing and clinical follow-ups. "Getting people living with HIV engaged in care is critical to their well-being," Dr. Moore said. "As investigators as well as our patients' clinicians, we were gratified to find that, with the support of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, we have created a medical home that is able to deliver highly beneficial HIV medications and other therapy to all of our patients."
In a related editorial commentary, Michael S. Saag, MD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, noted the ongoing importance of the Ryan White Program, which is up for reauthorization by the U.S. Congress in 2013, in filling holes in the nation's primary care safety net for HIV patients. "The lesson learned from the remarkable outcomes within the HIV clinic at Johns Hopkins and other Ryan White supported clinics in the U.S. is that supplemental funding for primary care is needed to overcome health disparities widely evident in our current system," Dr. Saag wrote.
The study and editorial commentary are available online.
###
Clinical Infectious Diseases is a leading journal in the field of infectious disease with a broad international readership. The journal publishes articles on a variety of subjects of interest to practitioners and researchers. Topics range from clinical descriptions of infections, public health, microbiology, and immunology to the prevention of infection, the evaluation of current and novel treatments, and the promotion of optimal practices for diagnosis and treatment. The journal publishes original research, editorial commentaries, review articles, and practice guidelines and is among the most highly cited journals in the field of infectious diseases. Clinical Infectious Diseases is an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). Based in Arlington, Va., IDSA is a professional society representing nearly 10,000 physicians and scientists who specialize in infectious diseases. For more information, visit www.idsociety.org.
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?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Effective HIV care benefited all HIV patients, regardless of demographics and behavioral riskPublic release date: 28-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jerica Pitts jpitts@pcipr.com 312-558-1770 Infectious Diseases Society of America
Treatment advances, comprehensive approach to care, Ryan White funding contributed to better clinical outcomes across the board, analysis finds
Improved treatment options, a multi-pronged treatment model, and federal funding from the Ryan White Program have helped an inner city Baltimore clinic improve outcomes for HIV patients across all groups, including those most often hardest hit by the disease. Published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, the results from the 15-year analysis of patients at a clinic serving a primarily poor, African-American patient population with high rates of injection drug use demonstrate what state-of-the-art HIV care can achieve, given appropriate support.
Current antiretroviral therapy is so effective that when such care is delivered by expert clinicians in a supportive environment, the prognosis for patients is measurably enhanced. "Contemporary HIV care can markedly improve the health of persons living with HIV regardless of their gender, race, risk group, or socioeconomic status," said study author Richard D. Moore, MD, MHS, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The study by Dr. Moore and colleagues Jeanne C. Keruly, MS, and John G. Bartlett, MD, which analyzed data collected from 1995 to 2010, is the first to directly compare outcomes for patient groups defined by these variables, often the groups affected most by health-care disparities.
The Baltimore clinic's care model has multiple levels to address HIV patients' complex needs: primary, specialty (substance abuse and mental health), and supportive care (case-management, nutrition, treatment adherence, emergency services, and transportation). Supported in part by the federally funded Ryan White Program, created in 1990, the clinic receives financial assistance to provide HIV care to low-income patients, who in the 2010 fiscal year made up 92 percent of the clinic's patients.
Health care stumbling blocks for patients with HIV include inadequate access to treatment, lack of retention in care, and poor adherence to current HIV treatment guidelines. The Ryan White Program allowed this urban clinic to provide care to patients who might otherwise have slipped through the cracks, the study authors noted. As a result of the "integrated multi-disciplinary program of care" the clinic was able to offer, and because of advances in antiretroviral drugs, HIV-infected patients at the clinic now have a life expectancy of 73 years. This longevity remained the same across all demographic and behavioral risk groups. Even adjustments made for patients' source of medical insurance did not affect the outcomes.
There is one important caveat: The study's results include only those patients who were sufficiently "engaged in care" to show up for lab testing and clinical follow-ups. "Getting people living with HIV engaged in care is critical to their well-being," Dr. Moore said. "As investigators as well as our patients' clinicians, we were gratified to find that, with the support of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, we have created a medical home that is able to deliver highly beneficial HIV medications and other therapy to all of our patients."
In a related editorial commentary, Michael S. Saag, MD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, noted the ongoing importance of the Ryan White Program, which is up for reauthorization by the U.S. Congress in 2013, in filling holes in the nation's primary care safety net for HIV patients. "The lesson learned from the remarkable outcomes within the HIV clinic at Johns Hopkins and other Ryan White supported clinics in the U.S. is that supplemental funding for primary care is needed to overcome health disparities widely evident in our current system," Dr. Saag wrote.
The study and editorial commentary are available online.
###
Clinical Infectious Diseases is a leading journal in the field of infectious disease with a broad international readership. The journal publishes articles on a variety of subjects of interest to practitioners and researchers. Topics range from clinical descriptions of infections, public health, microbiology, and immunology to the prevention of infection, the evaluation of current and novel treatments, and the promotion of optimal practices for diagnosis and treatment. The journal publishes original research, editorial commentaries, review articles, and practice guidelines and is among the most highly cited journals in the field of infectious diseases. Clinical Infectious Diseases is an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). Based in Arlington, Va., IDSA is a professional society representing nearly 10,000 physicians and scientists who specialize in infectious diseases. For more information, visit www.idsociety.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Type the word ?superfood,? into a web browser and you?ll be overwhelmed: some websites even maintain that dark chocolate can have beneficial effects. But take a closer look at the science underpinning these claims, and you?ll discover just how sparse it is. So, when University of Calgary undergraduate Lee Fruson became curious about how dietary factors might affect memory, Ken Lukowiak was sceptical. ?I didn?t think any of this stuff would work?, Lukowiak recalls. Despite his misgivings, Lukowiak and Fruson decided to concentrate on a group of compounds ? the flavonoids ? found in a wide range of ?superfoods? including chocolate and green tea, focusing on one particular flavonoid, epicatechin (epi). However, figuring out how a single component of chocolate might improve human memory is almost impossible ? too many external factors influence memory formation ? so Lukowiak turned to his favourite animal, the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis, to find out whether the dark chocolate flavonoid could improve their memories. They publish their discovery that epi improves the length and strength of snail memories in The Journal of Experimental Biology at http://jeb.biologists.com.
According to Lukowiak, the molluscs can be trained to remember a simple activity: to keep their breathing tubes (pneumostomes) closed when immersed in deoxygenated water. He explains that pond snails usually breathe through their skins, but when oxygen levels fall, they extend the breathing tube above the surface to supplement the oxygen supply. However, the snails can be trained to remember to keep the breathing tube closed in deoxygenated water by gently tapping it when they try to open it, and the strength of the memory depends on the training regime.
First, Fruson identified an epi concentration ? 15 mg m1 pond water ? that didn?t affect the snails? behaviour; ?We have to be sure that we?re not looking at wired animals?, chuckles Lukowiak. Then, the duo tested the molluscs? memories. Explaining that a half-hour training session in deoxygenated water allows the snails to form intermediate-term memories (lasting less than 3 h) but not long-term memories (lasting 24 h or more), Fruson and Lukowiak wondered whether epi would improve the snail?s memories, allowing them to form long-term memories after shorter memory training. Amazingly, when Fruson plunged the molluscs into deoxygenated water to tested their memories a day later, they remembered to keep their breathing tubes closed. And when the duo provided the snails with two training sessions, the animals were able to remember to keep their breathing tubes shut more than 3 days later. Epi had boosted the molluscs? memories and extended the duration, but how strong were the epi-memories?
Lukowiak explains that memories can be overwritten by another memory in a process called extinction. However, the original memory is not forgotten and if the additional memory is stored weakly, it can be lost and the original memory restored. So, Fruson and Lukowiak decided to find out how strong the epi-boosted memory was by trying to extinguish it. Having trained the snails, the duo then tried to replace it with a memory where the snails could open their breathing tubes. However, instead of learning the new memory, the epi-trained snails stubbornly kept their breathing tubes shut. The epi-memory was too strong to be extinguished.
The duo also found that instead of requiring a sensory organ to consolidate the snails? memories ? like their memories of predators triggered by smell ? epi directly affects the neurons that store the memory. So, Lukowiak is keen to look directly at the effect that epi has on memory neurons and adds that the cognitive effects of half a bar of dark chocolate could even help your grades: good news for chocoholics the world over.
###
IF REPORTING ON THIS STORY, PLEASE MENTION THE JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY AS THE SOURCE AND, IF REPORTING ONLINE, PLEASE CARRY A LINK TO: http://jeb.biologists.org/content/215/20/3566.abstract
REFERENCE: Fruson, L., Dalesman, S. and Lukowiak, K. (2012) A flavonol present in cocoa [(?)epicatechin] enhances snail memory. J. Exp. Biol. 215, 3566-3576.
This article is posted on this site to give advance access to other authorised media who may wish to report on this story. Full attribution is required, and if reporting online a link to jeb.biologists.com is also required. The story posted here is COPYRIGHTED. Therefore advance permission is required before any and every reproduction of each article in full. PLEASE CONTACT
THIS ARTICLE IS EMBARGOED UNTIL THURSDAY, 27 September 2012, 00.15 HRS EST (04:15 HRS GMT, 05:15BST)
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BEVERLY ? Nancy Peabody Hood has so much information about the Balch House that she?s not sure where it all comes from.
?Don?t ask me how I know this,? she?ll say, before launching into a story about how a teenage Joseph Balch was killed by Indians, or how the mischievous Obear boys burned down John Balch?s barn.
Hood?s knowledge of the history of the Balch House is so deep and intuitive because, for the last 42 years, she has literally lived it. Since 1970, she has not only given tours to generation of visitors but has lived in what is one of the country?s oldest houses.
On Saturday, the Beverly Historical Society will recognize the 88-year-old caretaker as a ?unique and irreplaceable treasure? during a reunion of Balch family members at the Balch House.
?She cares deeply about the house, and she cares deeply about the family history,? Beverly Historical Society Director Susan Goganian said. ?She does all this because she is really devoted.?
Hood grew up in Danvers and lived in the Cove section of Beverly for 20 years before she saw an ad in the paper looking for a caretaker for the Balch House, which is owned by the Beverly Historical Society.
Hood has always loved antiques and thought living in the 17th-century house would be a unique experience. When she heard there were 14 other applicants, she reminded the historical society director at the time how much she wanted the job by calling him every night at 6.
?I knew he went to bed at 7,? she said.
Hood, who raised four children as a single mother after her husband died when she was 36, moved into the Balch House with her mother and youngest son. Three years later, she learned through a family genealogy that she was a direct descendant of the house?s original owner, John Balch.
Because of Hood?s presence, the Balch House is open for tours (for $5) Tuesdays through Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. from June to October, no appointment necessary.
?We could not make this house available if she was not here,? Goganian said. ?Our staff is small, and it?s very unlikely we could find somebody who would be willing to do this.?
Hood lives in two rooms on the first floor of the ?new? section of the house, which has two bedrooms on the second floor. That section is heated, unlike the oldest part of the house. Hood said she once brought a bowl of water upstairs in the old section and it froze in an hour.
Hood recently gave a tour to a woman who had lived in the Balch House in 1940. The woman told her that the house?s only closet used to be an icehouse.
At 88, Hood gets around well enough to climb the steep stairs to the second floor. She shows the bedroom where David Balch reportedly saw three witches before he died.
In the other bedroom, she grabs a wooden ?key? and demonstrates how to tighten a bed made of ropes. When it?s time to clean the sheets, which date to around 1750, she takes them to the laundromat.
?I love it,? she said of her caretaker role. ?I like old houses, and I met a lot of people in 42 years.?
Saturday?s tribute to Hood is part of a weekend of activities by the Beverly Historical Society called the Old Planters Reunion and Balch Family Meeting. Descendants of the Balch family and Beverly?s other 17th-century families are invited. The weekend will include a trolley tour focusing on the witchcraft era, a walking tour of early Beverly, an exploration of North Beverly cemetery and tours of First Period homes.
Robin Balch Hodgkins, a Balch descendant from Scituate who plans to attend, said Hood?s commitment and dedication to the Balch House means a lot to members of the Balch family.
?You have to have somebody living there and taking care of it. It can?t be left empty,? Hodgkins said. ?She truly has presented our story and preserved the home and our heritage.?
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or pleighton@salemnews.com.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - The Oakland Athletics have set an American League record for striking out the most in a season.
Chris Carter's strikeout in the second inning Wednesday night at Texas was the team's third of the game and 1,325th this season, one more than the Tampa Bay Rays had in 2007. The A's quickly added to that total when Brandon Moss followed with an inning-ending K.
Oakland already had four strikeouts through two innings, but also had a 5-3 lead at that point against the AL West leaders.
The A's, who have seven games left after Wednesday night, already surpassed their previous strikeout total by more than 100. They had 1,226 in 2008.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Did you know that September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month?
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Medical professionals from the Wilmot Cancer Center will be standing by to take your questions -- please call 585-275-2838. The phones will be open at 5 p.m. Wednesday, September 26. We will also have live interviews during News10NBC at 5 and 6.
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A Czech Republic political candidate made headlines this week, not for his policy but for his face full of tattoos. There may not be anyone that extreme in Washington, but American politicians have been hiding their own ink under blazers and congressional pins for years. Congressional Representatives, members of the White House cabinet and even presidents have indulged in the painful practice of body art.
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. uses his arms as a form of expression, with tattoos to symbolize his family; his fraternity, Omega Psi Phi; and even Bruce Lee.
Rep. Dan Boren also has a fraternity tattoo. He joined Kappa Sigma.
Get more pure politics at ABCNews.com/Politics and a lighter take on the news at OTUSNews.com
Rep. Mary Bono Mack made a pit stop at a tattoo parlor shortly after 9/11. There she got a tattoo of a cross as a proclamation of her faith.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, a former Marine Corps officer, has tattoos on his arms to commemorate his three deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The late Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., the Republican Party's nominee for President in 1964, had four small stars and a half moon on the underside of his wrist. According to Roll Call the tattoo was intended to symbolize his "participation in the Smoki People, a group of largely white, Native American culture enthusiasts in the Southwest."
President Theodore Roosevelt had his family crest tattooed on his chest.
Just because politicians are typically buttoned up does not mean that they can't have a little fun with their artistic creations. Former Secretary of State George P. Shultz has a tiger, the mascot of his alma mater, Princeton, tattooed on the left side of his derriere. According to a Chicago Tribune piece published in 1987 , confirmation of Shultz's racy rear end came from his wife, Helena. She confirmed the rumors to reporters on the secretary's plane during a trip to China.
Other politicians, whether or not they got their own tattoos, have inspired others. The faces of John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama, Abraham Lincoln and Sarah Palin have all graced the bodies of supporters (or their opposition).
Even pop super star Miley Cyrus recently inked up her arm with a Theodore Roosevelt quote that reads, "So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
Fifty-five percent of small business owners and manufacturers would not have started their businesses in today?s economy, according to a new poll that also reports 69 percent say President Obama?s regulatory policies have hurt their businesses.
?There is far too much uncertainty, too many burdensome regulations and too few policymakers willing to put aside their egos and fulfill their responsibilities to the American people,??said Jay Thomas, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, which commissioned the poll along with the National Federation of Independent Businesses. ?To fix this problem, we need immediate action on pro-growth tax and regulatory policies that put manufacturers in the United States in a position to compete and succeed in an ever-more competitive global economy.?
The poll reports another ominous statistic for job creation: ?67 percent say there is too much uncertainty in the market today to expand, grow or hire new workers.? Why? Because ?President Obama?s Executive Branch and regulatory policies have hurt American small businesses and manufacturers,? according to 69 percent of the business owners surveyed.
U.S. federal support for invasive chimpanzee research continues to wane
By Meredith Wadman
Chimpanzees at the New Iberia Research Center in Louisiana will not be available for federally funded invasive research from 2013.Image: Flickr/ianduffy
By Meredith Wadman of Nature magazine
Early on 21 September, Francis Collins called Wayne Pacelle, the president of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) in Washington DC, with news that the animal activist had been waiting for. Collins, director of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), told Pacelle that the agency is to cease funding the troubled New Iberia Research Center (NIRC) in Louisiana, and will retire the 110 NIH-owned chimpanzees there.
The decision leaves just over 300 chimpanzees available for invasive research in two other NIH-supported research centers, and comes nine months after an NIH-solicited report from the US Institute of Medicine found that most invasive chimpanzee research was scientifically unnecessary.
In a statement, the NIH on 21 September said that the remaining population of chimpanzees can adequately serve current research needs, which include testing of monoclonal antibody therapies.
The NIH says that by August 2013, ten of the NIRC?s NIH-owned animals will be relocated to Chimp Haven, a federally funded sanctuary in Keithsville, Louisiana. The other 100 will move to the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio, where they will be off limits for invasive research but accessible for behavioral studies and research using information collected through routine veterinary care.
The San Antonio centre currently houses 141 chimpanzees. The only remaining centre for NIH-funded invasive chimp research is the Michale E. Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research in Bastrop, Texas, which has 167.
Safe haven Pacelle welcomed the NIH's decision, calling it a ?significant step forward in our goal toward ending invasive experiments on chimpanzees?. However, the HSUS ? which in 2009 released an undercover video investigation that exposed repeated episodes of animal mistreatment at the NIRC ? is pushing for more of the center?s animals to be sent to Chimp Haven.
The NIH says that the forested 80-hectare sanctuary will be at or near full occupancy with the addition of the ten NIRC animals, but the HSUS argues that the NIH should pay for more infrastructure at Chimp Haven to allow it to house more chimpanzees.
The NIRC?s longstanding contract to support NIH-owned chimpanzees was worth US$1.2 million in 2011. The current contract will expire in August 2013 and will not be renewed. The program's principal investigator, Thomas Rowell, left the post of NIRC director in August.
But the NIH decision does not mean the end of the NIRC, which houses roughly 240 privately owned chimpanzees, and more than 6,000 macaques and other monkeys. The centre has a full roster of industry clients. ?We look forward to expanding services and capabilities to support federal and private research and continuing to work with the NIH,? says Aaron Martin, communications director for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, which owns the research centre.
The NIH is not the only US agency backing away from chimpanzee research. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a 10 September letter to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, an activist group based in Washington DC, that it no longer funds chimpanzee research. The CDC, which is based in Atlanta, Georgia, had as recently as 2010 been funding viral hepatitis studies in young female chimpanzees.
The Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act, a bill introduced into the US Congress in 2011, would phase out all federally supported invasive research on chimpanzees and retire the government-owned animals to sanctuaries.
This article is reproduced with permission from the magazine Nature. The article was first published on September 21, 2012.
Carmen Electra is reportedly dating Simon Cowell, who seemed mesmerized by the sexy star’s beauty. Carmen and Simon were spotted enjoying a romantic meal at [...]
NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico ? The brutal Zetas gang poses among the most daunting challenges to the development by Mexican and U.S. companies of Mexico's abundant shale gas reserves near the Texas border.
The Mexican gas fields extend from the booming Eagle Ford play of South Texas deep into the ranch and coal country stretching inland from this violent border city. This is Zetas country, among the most fearsome of the country's criminal badlands.
U.S. and Mexican energy companies long have been besieged by the gangsters here ? their workers assaulted, extorted or murdered ? despite the presence of thousands of soldiers, marines and federal police.
Northern Mexico's gas production has suffered for years as gangland threats or attacks have kept workers from servicing the well heads, pipelines and drilling rigs in the Burgos Basin, the territory between the Rio Grande and the city of Monterrey, which now provides up to 20 percent of Mexico's natural gas.
?Petroleos Mexicanos has problems with security issues, principally in Burgos,? Guillermo Dominuez, a senior member of the government's National Hydrocarbons Commission, has told the Mexico City newspaper Reforma.
In March, two men working for a Mexican company doing contract work for Houston-based Halliburton disappeared outside Piedras Negras, which is upriver from Laredo.
Halliburton declined to comment on the contractors' disappearance. But company spokeswoman Tara Mullee-Agard said ?employees receive security briefings and updates on a recurring basis to ensure they are informed about the current threat conditions.
?Halliburton's top priority is the safety and security of all its personnel across the globe,? she said. ?To that end, Halliburton has detailed, pragmatic and regionalized security and risk measures in place.?
At least eight Pemex and contract employees vanished in May 2010 near a gas facility a few miles from the border at Falcon Lake, territory under the Zetas' firm control.
?Many companies that were active in the areas have stopped until Pemex or the government can provide security,? said an employee of one of the Reynosa-based companies, speaking on condition of anonymity. ?In places where there have been incidents, we don't operate any more. There is no movement at night like there used to be. When darkness falls, we stop wherever we are.
?The situation has been controlled somewhat in Reynosa, but it's a real problem near Piedras Negras,? the employee said by phone. ?Those who have worked there report seeing groups of armed men.?
Coahuila state officials blame the Zetas for Monday's mass escape of 131 inmates from a prison in Piedras Negras, the city bordering Eagle Pass that's considered the gateway to Mexico's shale gas reserves.
The insecurity in Mexico's gas fields contrasts sharply with the drilling and production frenzy seizing the ranchlands just north of the border. Oil field pickups and semi-trailer fuel tankers choke U.S. 83, the once desolate ranch-country highway that cuts northwest from Laredo though the lower reaches of the Eagle Ford.
Some 6,000 drilling permits have been issued for the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas, and 550 wells are producing there. Pemex so far has drilled just five exploratory wells so far, but hopes to drill 170 more in the next four years. The company last week announced that it planned to spend $200 million on exploration in the short term.
The exploratory wells are being drilled to the south of Piedras Negras, ranch and coal country that has been relatively violence free in recent years. But that tranquility may owe to the dominance of the Zetas than to rule of law.
?Violence has gone down, but that doesn't mean the Zetas have gone away. They are in control,? said a U.S. official in Mexico knowledgeable of the situation. ?They are pretty much just doing their thing.?
The Zetas' spats with rivals have turned Coahuila's other large cities ? Torreon in the west, Monclova in the center and Saltillo in the east ? into some of Mexico's fiercest gangland battlegrounds.
But perhaps nowhere is the Zetas challenge clearer than in Nuevo Laredo, a crucial gateway for both legitimate and illicit trade.
Mexico's plague of hyper-violence began here in 2004 and has continued since.
The Zetas first rose to prominence in that early fighting as enforcers for the Gulf Cartel, also based in the cities bordering South Texas. But they broke violently with their former patrons in early 2010 and have expanded their reach since.
Gangland slaughter has surged anew here with scores of people killed this month, including entire families gunned down as they've fled firebombed homes and nine men dumped last week on a busy overpass.
?Zetas are pretty much in control, but they have been challenged,? the U.S. official said. ?You have all these groups fighting one another, shifting alliances and internal fights within the groups.
Farmington Hills Mercy's varsity golf team was back in true tournament form Wednesday.
The Marlins were hitting the ball better than any other girls team in Oakland County, and they're the 2012 Division 1 champions because of it.
Mercy won its first county tournament since 2001, ending a decade of dominance by Rochester High School and Rochester Stoney Creek.
The Marlins shot a 326 team score at Pontiac Country Club and were just three strokes off their season best. They were 17 ahead of runner-up South Lyon and 18 in front of Birmingham Seaholm.
Mercy hadn't played a tournament in more than three weeks until going to Grosse Ile for an 18-hole event the previous Saturday.
?We didn't play real well, but it was a tough course and we hadn't played a tournament since Aug 23,? coach Vicky Kowalski. ?I told the girls, ?We're in this to get your feet wet and get you back to playing 18 holes.' We looked at it as a tuneup (for the county) and a springboard to get us back to where we were.
?Almost everybody saw their scores go up a little bit (when school started and teams took a hiatus from tournament play), so I'm really glad to see us get back to the way we were playing at the beginning of the year.?
Mercy's best score remains the 323 it shot on the second day of the Traverse City tournament, and it also posted a 326 to win the Farmington Invitational on Aug. 23.
Mercy senior Brenna Hammond was tied for second place (77) in the county meet with North Farmington-Harrison junior Sophie Kollin, and senior Gillian Hickey shared fourth place (80) with three Rochester girls.
Senior Sarah Montone was part of a four-way tie for eighth place (81) that included Seaholm sophomore Rachel Wilson and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood junior Greer Clausen.
?I was so proud of our seniors today; we had such great leadership,? Kowalski said. ?That was Gillian's lowest score of her career. She's been working real hard to get down there.
?She was so mad because she really wanted that 79. That's where my seniors are right now; they think they should be breaking 80. Brenna was right on her game today. She only missed being the medalist by one stroke.?
That honor went to Milford junior Gabby Brackrog, who shot a 4-over-par 76.
Mercy had a balanced team effort with five girls under 90. Junior Jess Geer provided the fourth score (88), and the Marlins didn't count sophomore Erica Heath's 89. Kowalski added junior Katie Baird shot an 85 Monday in a tournament at Farmington Hills Golf Club.
?The other coaches wanted to know, ?How many kids do you have who can shoot under 90?'? she said. ??Well, about eight!' That's a nice little problem to have ? Which ones are you going to play?
?You have to have four scores to put up a solid team score, and we really got that today. We're always talking about team. If one person isn't having a good day, it's okay because her teammates will pick her up. I don't have to depend on the same four girls all the time.?
MERCY WINS DUAL: The Marlins braved a rainstorm and windy conditions Tuesday to defeat Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 181-216, and remain undefeated in the Catholic League.
?The rapid drop in temperature had the players wearing layers of clothes for the first time this season,? coach Vicky Kowalski said, ?but all six Mercy golfers still scored lower than Notre Dame Prep's best score.?
Sarah Montone was the match medalist with a 42; Brenna Hammond shot 45, and Jess Geer, Erica Heath and Gillian Hickey all had 47.
A recent warning against using one of the most common tests for prostate cancer has left many men questioning the effectiveness and safety of the popular test.
Last May, The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended against using the prostate specific antigen (PSA) saying it offers ?a very small potential benefit and significant potential harms.? The recommendation has sparked debate among health professionals.
According to the most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2008, nearly 215,000 men were diagnosed with the disease annually and more than 28,000 died from it. Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men.
With September being national Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, Raza Khan, MD, a urologist at Advocate Condell Medical Center, says it?s a good reminder for men to educate themselves on the issue so they can make the most informed decision possible regarding testing.
Dr. Khan says that patients need to consider a number of factors before having the screening.
?Men need to assess their individual risks including family history of cancer, whether or not they smoke, along with their age, race, and weight,? he said. ?This will help your doctor assess the risks and benefits of performing tests.?
While knowledge of your health history can be critical to understanding your risks, Dr. Khan says it?s also important for men to take control over their health habits.
?The best way to prevent prostate cancer is by minimizing exposure to excesses of toxic substances like alcohol and tobacco while also eating more whole foods,? Dr. Khan said. ?Adding regular physical activity and learning stress reduction techniques are essential too.?
Click here to watch a brief video of Dr. Raza Khan discussing what all men should know about prostate cancer and prostate health. You can also copy/paste this link into your web browser: http://youtu.be/zW5uHEa3o2k
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Public release date: 28-Sep-2012
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Did you know that September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month?
