NASA astronomers in pursuit of near-Earth asteroids have already made a discovery with the newly installed Quasar Equatorial Survey, or 'Quest,' camera mounted in mid-April on Palomar Mountain's 1.2-meter (48-inch) Oschin telescope.
"The Quest camera is still undergoing commissioning trials," said Dr. Steven Pravdo, project manager for the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking Project at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "But that doesn't mean we can't do some real science in the meantime. What we found was a near-Earth asteroid, estimated to be about 250 meters (820 feet) in size."
The detection of the near-Earth object, 2003 NL7, occurred on the evening of July 8. It has been confirmed by follow-up measurements from three other observatories and subsequently certified by the official clearinghouse of the solar system's smaller inhabitants, the Minor Planet Center. While 2003 NL7 has been labeled a near-Earth asteroid, it is considered non-hazardous, with a 2.97-year orbit of the Sun in which its closest approach to Earth's orbit is about 25.1 million kilometers (15.6 million miles).
The Quest camera is being developed as a multi-purpose instrument by Yale and Indiana universities with Dr. Charles Baltay, chairman of Yale's physics department, as the principal investigator. It is designed for use in detecting and characterizing quasars, near-Earth asteroids, trans-Neptunian objects, supernovas, and a large variety of other astrophysical phenomena, by scientists from Yale, JPL and the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The complex camera consists of 112 electronic chips known as charged coupled devices (CCDs) arranged over the Oschin telescope's focal plane. This gives the Quest camera 161-megapixel capability. By comparison, a good store-bought digital camera would probably be in the four-megapixel range.
"When Quest becomes operational, it will be a significant advancement for the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking team," said Dr. Raymond Bambery, the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking Project's principal investigator. "We expect the new camera to increase the efficiency of detection of near-Earth asteroids by some 3 to 4 times that of the camera it replaced. This will make a major contribution to NASA's goal of discovering more than 90 percent of near-Earth objects that are greater that 1 kilometer (.62 mile) in diameter by 2008."
The Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking System is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of Caltech. More information on the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking Program is available at http://neat.jpl.nasa.gov/ .


BLT has been one of our favorite steakhouses in San Juan for years. The service is impeccable and the food is on point. They are consistently on top of your steak's doneness and always ensure it is cooked to your liking. How many times have you ordered your steak medium-rare, it comes out medium-well and no one cares? Too many, that's how many!
This summer, BLT is offering a 3-course prix-fixe menu at just $55. Their BL3 Temptations Menu is available everyday of the week through October 31, from 6-8PM. Unlike many tasting menus that could cost as much as rent, BLT's summer menu is a steal. Apps include ceviche with lump crab, scallops, snapper and octopus as well as grilled double-cut bacon with blue cheese and honey. There's a wedge salad on the menu too. And its exactly the kind of salad we like – wonderfully seasoned with candied walnuts, blue cheese, bacon, onions, tomato and gorgonzola.
For the main, choose from the classic filet mignon, crispy skin snapper or chicken with lemon-rosemary stuffing. Sides include 3-way potatoes, truffle mac and cheese and asparagus. Skip the asparagus and go with the potatoes or mac & cheese. You can diet another day.
Desserts include coconut bread pudding drenched in local rum, seasonal ice cream & sorbet and our favorite – the peanut butter chocolate mouse, it's like eating a butterfinger!
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Lawmakers tensed with frustration, some clenching their jaws, while grilling a panel of pharmacy and pharmaceutical company executives about the soaring cost of insulin during a congressional hearing on Wednesday. The tension could be felt as some executives fidgeted in their chairs while answering lawmakers' questions.
The hearing, held by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee on Capitol Hill, was the second this month to examine how fast-rising insulin costs affect diabetes patients across the United States.
Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky vehemently said during the hearing that prices of insulin are "curiously close" between manufacturers and "way too high."
"I don't know how you people sleep at night," she told the panel of executives.
"We have the names of people who have died because they couldn't get their insulin," she said. "This is a commitment on the part of the Congress to get drug prices -- particularly life-saving life necessities -- to get those prices under control. ... Your days are numbered."
In response, several executives -- including Doug Langa of Novo Nordisk and Kathleen Tregoning of Sanofi -- pointed to how the health care system is "broken," and they all agreed it was unacceptable that some patients are struggling to afford medications.
Ahead of Wednesday's hearing, pharmaceutical company Sanofi announced plans to reduce the price of insulin for qualifying patients to $99 a month for up to 10 boxes of pens or 10-milliliter vials.
"It is unacceptable to Sanofi that some people living with diabetes are struggling to pay for their insulin, so we have moved to act creatively and aggressively to help address affordability and access needs," Michelle Carnahan, head of North America Primary Care at Sanofi, said in the announcement.
"By giving those who require both long-acting and/or mealtime insulins or use more than one box of pens or one vial per month access to their insulins for one flat price, we aim to help limit the burden on the individuals who have high out-of-pocket costs at the pharmacy counter," she said.
US Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who helped launch a bipartisan investigation into insulin prices in February, called the move "a step in the right direction" in a written statement Wednesday.
"But like Cigna's announcement on insulin prices last week, this raises a lot of questions. Why was Sanofi charging so much more before this announcement? What took them so long to offer the price reduction?" he added. "It shouldn't take months of bad press, persistent public outcry and increasing congressional scrutiny to get a company to charge a fair price. That's not how a functioning marketplace works."
Health insurer Cigna said last week that it's launching a program that will cap out-of-pocket expenses at $25 for a 30-day supply of insulin. Last year, patients paid an average of $41.50 a month out of pocket, including deductibles, copays or coinsurance, for the lifesaving diabetes drug, according to the company.
"In most cases, people who use insulin will see lower out-of-pocket costs without any increased cost to the plan," the company said.
"Access to affordable insulin can be a matter of life and death for Americans with diabetes. Insulin is a critical hormone that regulates sugar metabolism," Gottlieb said in the announcement.
"But access to this critical drug can be increasingly difficult for these Americans. Insulin list prices regularly increase by double digits annually," he said. "Driving down drug prices requires a comprehensive approach. But one impactful route is through competition. This is particularly true following the introductions of generics, especially when there are three or more generic competitors -- which has been shown to bring down prices more sharply than with only one or two generic competitors."
Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette, chairwoman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, said at Wednesday's hearing that Humalog cost only $35 a vial in 2001 and that the price increased even though the drug formulary remained the same.
"Let's not kid ourselves that the generic equivalent of this is really any cheaper," she said shortly before the hearing adjourned.


Driven by a team of computer scientists and electrical engineers from IIT Delhi and IIT Madras, Shipsy aims to create platforms for data-driven decision making with the vision of bringing visibility and operational efficiency to the Supply Chain industry.
Most of our paying clients are in the Supply Chain industry and we are enabling new business models, swifter operations using algorithms and machine learning. We are processing ~10 million transactions per month through our system.
We have a Dashboard along with a companion Android application. The Dashboard is used by Operations managers and the Central Strategy team. It encompasses functionalities such as real-time operations monitoring, customer care, operations management, booking and strategic data-driven decision making.
The data science team works in multiple areas such as geo-intelligence, machine learning, discrete optimisations & simulations.
This is a huge India specific challenge, primarily because of the unstandardized way of writing addresses and poor quality of road/pincode data in smaller towns/villages. We process a large amount of location data from our devices on the ground to learn locality boundaries, routes taken by ground staff, etc.
Machine Learning: We use a range of machine learning techniques to automate decision making at the ground level, e.g., identifying whether a shipment is safe to fly based on its product description, identifying which shipments have a high probability of being returned, etc.
Discrete Optimisation: We rely on a range of optimisation methods to ensure that our partners' networks are designed for cost efficiencies and scale, e.g., Vehicle Routing Problem to optimise the shipment collection process from clients, network optimisations to ensure that the hubs are suitably located, etc.
Simulation: The scale of the logistics networks often makes many problems intractable due to the existence of millions of variables and how they interact with each other over time. We run our simulator to measure the impact of changes put over time and ultimately propose optimal designs to the systems that can be "self-aware" ad "self-improving".
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text:
W. Joseph Campbell
Media Myth Alert
Posts Tagged ''Fake news''
'Fake news', 1968, Debunking, Distortion, Fact-checking, Getting It Wrong, History, Journalism, McCarthy, Media, Media-driven myths, Murrow, Research, Scandal, Vietnam War
CNN commentary incorporates a rare media-myth twofer
In Cronkite Moment, Debunking, Error, Media myths, Murrow-McCarthy myth, Quotes on July 17, 2017 at 12:05 pm
In an essay that mocks "conservative media" for clinging to an "'alternative reality' that fits President Trump's own narrative," a high-profile historian writing for CNN completed the unusual feat of working two prominent media myths into a single commentary.
The essay, posted yesterday, speculated that recent criticism by the likes of Charles Krauthammer and Ross Douthat, both of whom are syndicated columnists, may signal significant erosion in Trump's support among conservatives in the face of suspicions his presidential campaign last year improperly colluded with Russia's government.
Maybe. But one can argue whether those columnists project much agenda-setting authority. Especially Krauthammer, whose wariness of Trump has long been evident.
In any case, what particularly interests Media Myth Alert is the essay-writer's invoking persistent myths about Walter Cronkite's on-air assessment in 1968 that the U.S. war effort in Vietnam was "mired in stalemate" and about Edward R. Murrow's televised report on Senator Joseph R. McCarthy in 1954.
The writer, Julian Zelizer, set up references to those myths by writing:
"Historically, significant shifts among journalists in how they cover and analyze a story can have major political effects. The media has the power to sway public opinion."
Perhaps on occasion.
But as I discuss in my media-mythbusting book Getting It Wrong (an expanded second edition of which is out now), media power "tends to be modest, nuanced, diffused, and situational." Too often, I write, "the ubiquitous presence of the news media is mistaken for power and influence." (And I note that economist Robert Samuelson has offered similar observations.)
Zelizer, a professor at Princeton University, repeats the hoary claim that Cronkite's "mired in stalemate" statement, delivered at the close of an hour-long report about Vietnam, had a sudden and visceral influence on President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Zelizer writes:
LBJ wasn't watching Cronkite
"Watching on one of his television sets in the Oval Office, Johnson told his aides, 'If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America.'"
We know that Johnson did not see the Cronkite report when it aired on February 27, 1968, and there's no sure evidence when or if he saw the program later on videotape. (The power of this anecdote, I write in Getting It Wrong, "resides in the sudden, unexpected, and decisive effect [Cronkite's assessment] supposedly had on the president: such an effect would have been absent, or greatly diminished, had Johnson seen the program on videotape at some later date.")
Johnson was neither in front of television sets that night, nor was he at the Oval Office. He was in Austin, Texas, attending a black-tie birthday party for one of his long-time allies, Governor John Connally Jr.
About the time Cronkite was intoning his "mired in stalemate" assessment — a characterization hardly novel or unprecedented in early 1968 — Johnson was offering light-hearted banter about Connally, saying:
"Today you are 51, John. That is the magic number that every man of politics prays for — a simple majority."
The president left Austin shortly afterward and later that night boarded Air Force One to return to Washington.
After the 'Cronkite Moment,' LBJ doubled down on Viet policy
Zelizer's commentary invokes the Murrow broadcast of March 9, 1954, and says the program "exposed the contradictions and lies of rabid anti-Communist crusader Sen. Joseph McCarthy."
Exposed?
"It wasn't as if Americans in early 1954 were hoping for someone to step up and expose McCarthy, or waiting for a white knight like Murrow to tell them what a toxic threat the senator posed," I write in Getting It Wrong, adding that by March 1954, McCarthy and his red-baiting tactics "were well-known and he had become a target of withering ridicule — a sign of diminished capacity to inspire dread. …
"Long before the See It Now program, several prominent journalists — including the Washington-based syndicated columnist Drew Pearson — had become persistent and searching critics of McCarthy, his record, and his tactics."
Pearson was an energetic muckraker who openly challenged McCarthy beginning in 1950, shortly after the senator's speech in West Virginia in which he claimed more than 200 communists had infiltrated the U.S. State Department.
The columnist pointedly dismissed the allegations, writing that they seemed derived from an outdated and discredited list that Congress had examined three years before. Pearson also noted that he had covered the State Department for about 20 years, and during that time he had been "the career boys' severest critic. However, knowing something about State Department personnel, it is my opinion that Senator McCarthy is way off base."
Pearson pursued his critical reporting about McCarthy, so angering the senator that he physically assaulted the columnist in December 1950 following a dinner-dance at the exclusive Sulgrave Club in Washington. Not long after that, McCarthy took to the Senate floor to assail Pearson as the "diabolically" clever "voice of international communism," a "prostitute of journalism," and a "Moscow-directed character assassin."
Zelizer's commentary makes no mention of Pearson and his work to expose McCarthy's "contradictions and lies" but claims "Murrow's broadcast was an important moment in Sen. McCarthy's downfall."
More accurately, it was very belated in the media's exposés of McCarthy — as Murrow's friend and colleague, the CBS commentator Eric Sevareid, pointed out years later.
The See It Now program on McCarthy, Sevareid noted, "came very late in the day. The youngsters read back and they think only one person in broadcasting and the press stood up to McCarthy and this has made a lot of people feel very upset, including me, because that program came awfully late."
Also of note is that Murrow's producer and collaborator, Fred Friendly, pointed to another factor in ending McCarthy's communists-in-government witch hunt — the televised Army-McCarthy hearings in spring of 1954. The hearings centered around allegations that McCarthy's key associate, Roy Cohn, pressured the Army to grant special treatment to G. David Schine, a former McCarthy aide.
"What made the real difference" in toppling McCarthy, Friendly wrote in his 1967 memoir, "wasn't the Murrow program but the fact that ABC decided to run the Army-McCarthy hearings. People saw the evil right there on the tube. ABC helped put the mirror up to Joe McCarthy." (Emphasis added.)
Several weeks after the See It Now program on McCarthy, the New York Post's television critic, Jay Nelson Tuck, wrote that Murrow was feeling "almost a little shame faced at being saluted for his courage in the McCarthy matter. He said he had said nothing that … anyone might not have said without a raised eyebrow only a few years ago."
Deep in his essay, Zelizer acknowledges that it is "much too early to tell" whether anti-Trump commentary by some conservative pundits "will turn into something bigger and more sustained, or if the majority of the coverage on these [conservative] outlets remains pro-Trump." He takes a swipe at those news outlets, citing a New York Times commentary in stating that "most of the conservative media still clings to an 'alternative reality' that fits President Trump's own narrative."
"Alternative reality"? What are media myths if not expressions of "alternative reality"?
More from Media Myth Alert:
Every good historian a mythbuster
Embedded myths of journalism history
Recalling the mythical 'Cronkite Moment'
Obama's 'Cronkite Moment'? 'Salon' dials up a media myth
Public opinion, Vietnam, and Cronkite's 'untouchable aura of authority'
Maureen Dowd misremembers the 'Cronkite Moment'
Murrow 'risked his career to confront demagogic Joe McCarthy'? Hardly
That heroic Ed Murrow: The myth endures
60 years on: Joe McCarthy assaults Drew Pearson
Murrow: No white knight – and not above the political fray
Suspect Murrow quote pulled at Murrow school
Mistaking conspiracy for sloppy history in Hearst's 'vow' to 'furnish the war'
Media myths: Prominent cases of 'fake news' masquerading as fact
On media myths and hallowed moments of exaggerated importance
Where do they get this stuff?
Check out The 1995 Blog
'Persuasive and entertaining': WSJ reviews 'Getting It Wrong'
'Napalm Girl' photographer defies backlash risk and accepts award at White House; is assaulted following night
No, 'Forbes': It wasn't 'an American napalm attack'
'Scorched by American napalm': The media myth of 'Napalm Girl' endures
40 years on: The 'napalm girl' photo and its associated errors
The insidious media myth of the 'Napalm Girl' photo
NYTimes recalls 'Napalm Girl' (and other famous 'pictures of war'); overstates its impact
NYTimes ignores senior former AP journalists seeking correction on 'napalm girl' context
'Too early to say': Zhou was speaking about 1968, not 1789
Media myths: FAQs, Part One
'Forbes' essay invokes zombie-like Hearst 'quote': It never dies
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RIO DE JANEIRO, April 11 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - B razil's highest court has averted a "massacre" by blocking the eviction of 5,000 indigenous people from disputed land, one of their leaders said, in a ruling that boosted ancestral claims.
Guarani-Kaiowa Indians occupied the land in the southwestern Mato Grosso do Sul state in 2016, amid rising violence and tensions following Indian affairs agency FUNAI's pledge to return ancestral land - owned by farmers - to indigenous people.
"We were expecting a new Caarapo massacre," indigenous leader Kunumi Apyka'i Rory said, referring to a 2016 attack on indigenous activists by farmers in the same region.
"It would be a bloodshed but because of Nhanderu and our prayers we managed," he said in a statement by Conselho Indigenista Missionario (Cimi), a monitoring group linked to the Catholic Church.
South America's largest country is grappling with scores of deadly unresolved indigenous land issues, in one of the world's clearest examples of the conflict between preserving indigenous culture and promoting economic development.
Cimi says hundreds of indigenous people are killed each year in territorial conflicts with ranchers in Brazil, rich in land to be exploited and low on deeds and property records.
Brazil's highest court on Monday overturned a removal order issued in 2016 by a lower court, following a request from FUNAI, the government agency responsible for restoring indigenous people to land that they were evicted from decades ago.
The use of police force to comply with the earlier legal order could have "serious and unacceptable consequences" and "risk to order and public safety", Carmen Lucia, head of the supreme court, wrote in her decision.
"This scenario seems to show a risk of exacerbation between the parties in conflict and a consequent worsening situation of violence in the region," she said.
Brazil's 900,000 indigenous people - who are disproportionately impacted by poverty and other social problems - control about 13 percent of its territory, mostly in the remote Amazon rainforest.
Numerous court battles pit native people, who say they have been denied access to their ancestral land, against powerful business interests, often soy, beef and sugar farmers holding title deeds.
The process of demarcating land to indigenous people is controversial, despite safeguards in the constitution and United Nations guidelines that are supposed to enshrine rights for indigenous people.
FUNAI is in charge of allocating land to the country's some 300 indigenous tribes but progress has stalled amid budget cuts and proposals from powerful rural lawmakers to change the process, including opening up indigenous reserves to mining.
The Supreme Court decision paves the way for secure land demarcation for indigenous peoples throughout the country, said Rafael Modesto dos Santos, a lawyer with Cimi.
"It guarantees the indigenous people's lives and physical integrity," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.
Dos Santos said most land conflicts in Mato Grosso do Sul state derive from the illegal sale of indigenous land by the local government to ranchers, and the subsequent issuance of illegal titles over the last century.
A spokeswoman for the government of Mato Grosso do Sul, Beatricce Bruno, denied the accusations in emailed comments and said that it has always respected the law and court decisions.
Conflict over indigenous land in the state "is an old problem ... due to the lack of a secure legal framework", she said.
The supreme court's emergency decision to prevent the evictions will allow the Guarani-Kaiowa to remain on the land until the court issues a final decision on its ownership, which could take up to 10 years, dos Santos said.
Reporting by Karla Mendes; Editing by Katy Migiro; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience. Visit news.trust.org to see more stories.


text:
No Rest for the Weary?
Is there no break from cancer around here? Just as I hoped that all of my patients and their famlies were enjoying a uneventful holiday weekend, I come to work to learn that one of my favorites---a middle-aged man with inoperable throat cancer---was in ICU over the weekend after "bleeding out". Tumors actually grow their own veins and arteries, damn them, and some of those blood vessels can be rather friable (fragile). My patient developed severe hemoptysis (spitting up blood) and was rushed to the ER. He's now out of ICU and out of the woods---temporarily---but the spectre of further bleeds looms large, as does the fact that the inoperable tumor is beyond the practical benefit of further chemo or radiation. With a tracheostomy for breathing and a gastric tube for receiving nutrition, medications and liquids, the notions of quality of life, pain control, and the ability to remain comfortably at home come to the fore.
I just lost a beloved patient to cancer not three months after my other sweet guy succumed to it as well. Now patient #3 is showing signs of decline, all when the week of the fourth anniversary of my best friend's murder is upon us, the actual anniversary being this Friday, December 2nd.
Ah me, oh my: death, illness and Winter sure can pack a triple whammy. All of this, however, is assuaged by the warmth of home, the love of family and friends, the dawning of the Solstice in just over three weeks, and the turning of the year, as arbitary as that may seem. Bono may have once sang, "Nothing changes on New Year's Day", but everything can change if one views it through the proper lens. My friend was murdered---but we've grown, he's moved on, and we're the stronger for it. So my patients die---we all must follow suit, and it's a priviledge to see them through the process. So the Winter is long---Spring and Summer are just that much sweeter for it.
Is there rest for the weary? If they seek it, it's in the very breath they take.
Transissues
A friend of ours divulged to us the other night that he is undergoing a transformation from living as a biological man to living as a woman by choice. He is assuming a female name, dressing as a woman, and embracing a feminine identity that he has felt near and dear to his heart since he was very young. This incredible conversation sparked my desire to write about my work with transgendered clients, something I have yet to address here on DD.
My friend's private journey aside, I have had the pleasure to have a number of transgendered patients over the years and it's developed into one of my keen professional interests. Having always considered myself a gay/lesbian/bisexual ally, my close work with the transgendered has led me to embrace the role as transgender ally as well. In my current job, I have had one patient who was a female-to-male (FTM) transgendered individual, and I currently have two MTF patients with whom I am very close. Their experiences inform my current (limited) knowledge base.
Last November, at a conference of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC), my eyes were opened wider than ever by Sam Lurie, the speaker who delivered the Plenary Address on Transgendered Health Care. Sam's approach to trans healthcare entertains, educates, and advocates on a variety of levels, and since that conference my interest has been duly piqued.
When thinking about this issue, the average person makes assumptions, remembers the "trans-sexual" label which seemed to be so popular in the 70's, and images of trans stereotypes may cometo mind. I have vague memories of a famous football player who underwent gender reassignment surgery when I was a kid, and somehow that image became confused with another memory: Joe Namath, another football star, doing a commercial for men's panty hose. But I digress.
Thanks in large part, I think, to the success and political acumen of the women's rights, civil rights, gay rights, and AIDS rights movements, the transgendered community has gained political power, entered the mainstream consciousness, joined forces with the Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual communities, and forced society to gaze deeply at its definitions of gender. Now for some, this may be such a stretch as to snap the cognitive rubber-band, figuratively speaking, when taken in context with the current culture wars over the definition of marriage. But be that as it may, issues of gender and gender identity are and will continue to be part of the cultural zeitgeist and call for our (divided or undivided) attention.
That said, from the point of view of a healthcare provider who wants to be "trans-friendly", the germaine issues are many. First of all, one must become familiar with the nomenclature of the trans community in all its form and derivations: FTM, MTF, trans-man, trans-woman, op, non-op, and the list goes on, many terms being used within the trans community itself which I would not use in my own conversations. (This is similar to how the African-American and gay communities have re-adopted terms that were previously used as derogatory in the wider culture, breathing new life into those terms for the purpose of empowerment and self-definition.)
The health issues which a transgendered person faces are many. Contrary to popular opinion, there are many people who define themselves as trans who have not had---and will never have--- gender reassignment surgery. Perhaps there are economic barriers to such a radical transition, or perhaps the person is comfortable with their biological genitalia and simply prefers to "present" as the other gender. This is sometimes referred, as I have learned, to being "Op" or "Non-Op", and I have also seen the term "Pre-Op", meaning someone who is preparing for surgery, although that preparation may last a lifetime and never actually occur.
Surgery aside, many FTMs and MTFs will choose to undergo hormone therapy, a course which will cause physical, physiological, and even emotional changes for the individual. If a man takes "feminizing hormones", he will grow less facial and body hair, develop a softer voice, softer curves, and lose muscle tone, gaining fat in the hips and more of the familiar "hour-glass" shape of a female body. A woman taking testosterone will find her voice deepening, facial hair growing in, and muscular growth occuring. Both of these groups will find, aside from physical changes, documented alterations in thinking and communicating styles, lending credence to the theory that gender is widely dictated by hormone levels which can be altered and adjusted based on the way in which the individual wishes to present to the world and and be perceived by the world.
Hormone therapy presents challenges to the healthcare provider, both in its execution and monitoring. While there are protocols for such therapy available to the curious and conscientious provider, many doctors might feel uncomfortable with such "off-label" usage and decline to be involved. Not covered by any insurance, cost and availability become factors, and the quality of hormones obtained through the black market could be questionable, as well. Off-label or not, patients need expert guidance, compassionate care, professional oversight, and an unbiased advocate.
Picture this: you are a woman who has always felt that your true identity was male despite the genitalia with which you were born. You decide as a young adult to undergo hormone replacement therapy, knowing that it is most powerful and effective before a person is in their twenties. You grow facial hair, hair on your legs, arms and chest, your muscles develop, your voice deepens, and you are able to go out in the world and "pass" as a man.
There are several complicating factors in our scenario, however. Perhaps you would like gender reassignment surgery but it is an economic impossibility for you, or perhaps it is not even a question and you're happy with your current body vis-a-vis hormone replacement. Being biologically female, you must undergo a pelvic exam and PAP smear every year, an exercise which tests all of your abilities to advocate for yourself and educate others about your healthcare needs. When you enter the health center, you are seen as a man and there is no doubt as to your gender. However, when you get to the front desk, you need to communicate to the receptionist that you are there to see the gynecologist. How does she or he react? Do they ask why, as a man, you need to see the gyn? Do they verbally abuse you for being a freak? Do they "out" you in front of the other patients standing in line? When they realize you are trans, do they loudly ask, "SO, DID YOU HAVE 'THE OPERATION' YET?" (This would be akin to me walking up to a patient in the waiting room and asking if I could see their genitals!) How many of these trials and tribulations will you endure for the sake of your health? How will you decide which rest room to use? How many dirty looks can you entertain? How much of this stress is worth it?
Once you make it into the exam room, the next challenge is the medical assistant. Will you need to explain again that, yes, you look like a man, but yes, you have a vagina and need a PAP smear? Will you overhear the medical assistant giggling with her colleagues in the nurses' station? How will the gynecologist react when she walks in the room? Will she be understanding? Repulsed? Judgemental? Refuse to examine you? Maybe this will be your last pelvic exam for the next ten or fifteen years. Avoidance of such traumatic experiences might be understandable, but could have grave and perhaps fatal consequences.
As you can see, most of us would never even consider such scenarios, let alone think about how to assuage fears and change insitutional policies which discriminate against the transgendered community. As a healthcare provider in a world of fixed gender definitions and rigidly held beliefs and stereotypes, advocating for patients on this level can be an uphill battle on the institutional and cultural level. But having seen the pain and confusion which such experiences can cause, I am on the side of advocating, fighting, and pushing for equality and healthcare parity for a population whose needs are many, and who are, whether our culture accepts it or not, here to stay.
A Call, A Death, A Final Goodbye
The call just came at 5pm. Mary answered my cell-phone and received the news: "A" stopped breathing just moments ago. The hospice nurse is on her way to pronounce her dead ,and the family is gathered around her diminutive body which has ceased its earthly rhythms.
A votive candle is now lit in the lap of the Buddha statue on our dining room altar. In some cultures, candles are lit for the newly dead to light their way through the confusion of the first hours of death. It is said in the Tibetan Book of the Dead that the "Bardo" stage---the stage of transition following death---can be shocking and confusing for the unprepared soul, and there are specific meditations that can be practiced to usher a soul through the Bardo towards enlightenment.
"The Tibetan Book of the Dead (also called The Bardo Thotrol) from Tibetan Buddhism was traditionally read aloud to the dying to help them attain liberation. It guides a person to use the moment of death to recognize the nature of mind and attain liberation.
"It teaches that awareness, once freed from the body, creates its own reality like that of a dream. This dream projection unfolds in predictable ways both frightening and beautiful. Peaceful and wrathful visions appear, and these visions can be overwhelming. Since the awareness is still in shock of no longer being attached to and shielded by a body, it needs guidance and forewarning so that key decisions that lead to enlightenment are made. The Tibetan Book of the Dead teaches how one can attain heavenly realms by recognizing the enlightened realms as opposed to being drawn into the realms of seduction that pull incorporeal awareness into cyclic suffering."
I loved "A" more than any patient that I can remember. I can't quite put my finger on why that is. Maybe it was all of the cigarette-smoke-laden plantains that she gifted to me over the years in her inimitable way. Maybe it was the way she would react with genuine surprised delight when I would arrive at her home, even if we had just hours earlier agreed upon a time for my visit. Maybe it was how, even in her most sickly state, she would inquire after my son and wife and dogs, sending her blessings to them and all of my extended family. I realize that this past Friday was the only time she had not asked that ubiquitous question, her mind being too disengaged from her body to make such an effort, although I'm sure that the intention existed in her mind, even if the words were unsaid.
It's funny how I never tired of her questions, her inability to grasp some of the things I tried to teach her, her reluctance to make changes that we felt were necessary for her health. She was apparently knowingly infected with HIV by a man whom she had met during her fifth decade of life, but she embraced and rallied around that diagnosis with determination, and her steadfast adherence to the medications kept her virus completely at bay for many years, even at the time of her death. Was the cancer that grew in her chest related to HIV even though she had no detectable virus in her blood? Perhaps, but the data is still not there for us to draw any firm conclusions. Whatever the case may be, she smoked like a chimney and only stopped when 24-hour oxygen was absolutely required to sustain her.
Over the last five years, I would often use "A" as an example of the complicated nature of my patients: HIV, diabetes, hypthyroidism, anxiety disorder, major depression, psychosis, history of suicide attempts. But I would also use her as an example of the closeness and personal satisfaction that I gleaned from my work, emotional depth created in such bonds of professional therapeutic relationship and, yes, friendship. Granted, the friendship in its active form was somewhat conditional based upon a one-way relationship of my visits and attentions to her health, but the true spiritual friendship and bond was one born of a kinship that neither of us ever defined and only recently verbalized. Just a few weeks ago, while visiting her in the nursing home, A and I agreed that perhaps we had known one another in a past life, and that there was no way to fully understand why we felt so closely connected. She was quite lucid at the time of that visit, somewhat sad and thoughtful, but readily agreed that our kinship was special to her.
A was a gem, and I will miss her dearly. There was something magical about her that touched me deeply. I am blessed to have known her, and I send her my love and blessings as she leaves this earth, leaves her body, and leaves her family to carry on in her memory. Goodbye, dear friend.
Goodbye?
I left work early, determined to visit my dying patient and check in before the weekend. Being Friday evening, the traffic was snarly, but I braved the morass and made it there safely.
Asleep in bed, "A." was curled in the fetal position, turned towards the wall, the hum of the pneumatic mattress and oxygen tank providing ambient white noise. Her daughter sat with me on the adjacent bed and we talked of A's life, her history, their relationship, family. She showed me some photo albums and I beheld images of A's more distant past which had been mostly a mystery to me. I always know that a larger life and history exists behind and within every patient: childhood, adolescence, family, travel, work and career---but those stories do not always enter into the ongoing conversation, frequently lost in the shuffle of health problems and medical care. Nonetheless, these details always help to flesh out one's portrait of the individual and are infinitely enlightening.
After some time, "A" awoke, and it seemed to take her a few minutes to register who I was. The change from three days ago was striking. She seemed wasted, thin ("cachectic" in medical terminology), and disoriented. She sat on the edge of the bed with our help, and made efforts to stand, which she did with my assistance. When I inquired where she wanted to go, she had nothing to say, so I invited her to dance, and we stood there, almost motionless, my arms around her, her right hand hooked in my belt, her left hand holding my right hand. Her daughter stood by, saying "Baile, mama!", "Dance, momma!". The excitement over, we sat on the big bed which sits just adjacent to the hospital bed, and "A" leaned against me as I held her upright, my arm around her thin shoulders. I said "I love you" in Spanish, and then in heavily accented English (the way she would say it, the "v" in love more like two "F's", sounding more like "luff"). She said "I luff you too" in her gutteral and congested voice which now emanates from her tightened throat. It was a poignant moment, and then the energy began to shift as I prepared to leave for home.
A's daughter asked me about A's fluid intake, and I advised her to keep it as minimal as possible in order to keep her lungs from filling up with fluid. I explained how A's kidneys are shutting down, producing little, if any, urine, and her daughter confirmed that A's urine output in the last 24 hours had been scant, and quite concentrated, a sure sign that her bodily processes are waning. I suggested popsicles as a nice treat and source of fluid and fructose, and told her how she can make her own or buy some at the store. The weight of A's small frame was pressed against my side.
Taking my leave once again, I said goodbye, again not knowing if this was the final goodbye, or just another moment of letting go, preparing for the real thing. When A's daughter had been out of the room, I had told A that she was free to go when she felt the time was right, that there was nothing to fear, that she was loved and cared for, and that her family would be OK after her departure. I remembered the last time I had told a patient that several months ago, and he had died within thirty minutes. I think A may last through the weekend, but I wanted her to know that she could consider leaving her body when she felt it was apropriate and right, and I know that my word holds great sway for her. Her vacant stare could not convey the deeper comprehension that I know she was experiencing in that moment.
These goodbyes are not just that---they are also hellos to the next incarnation, the next permutation. We practice and practice all our lives, letting go of possessions, people, places, experiences, ideas, concepts, delusions, desires. "A" is about to let go of the greatest anchor to the physical world---her 69-year-old body---and she can do so with peace and equanimity. I wish her well these next few days as she continues her process of release, and if I do not see her again in this life, I can bless her on her journey with a clear conscience and knowledge that our souls shared a connection that is greater than the sum of our physical selves. Those connections are eternal and incorporeal, yet no less real than the shaking of hands, the warmth of fleshly contact. There is nothing more satisfying than true connection with another. Blessings on you, A, as this physical journey draws to its natural close. To paraphrase Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, we live until we say goodbye.
Posted by Keith "Nurse Keith" Carlson, RN, BSN, NC-BC at 11/18/2005 11:45:00 PM 1 comment:
A Sweet Visit
I finally made a visit to my dying patient's home, or rather her daughter's home. I say that she's dying, but aren't we all? There she was, laying on her side in a hospital bed with a special pneumatically-controlled mattress provided by the hospice nurses. These beds are now de rigeur when patients are bed-bound and dying at home---pressure points and needless skin ulcers are avoided. A very valuable tool that most people in the world lack as they lay on their death-bed. What relative luxury.
Now that she's home and really only on "comfort measures", she receives morphine gel by mouth as needed, Ativan and Haldol liquid for anxiety and agitation, oxygen around the clock, and other "as needed" meds for nausea and other symptoms. Due to the large mass in her chest, she is limited to very soft foods and small amounts of liquids. It's said that a human can live a month without food, but only a week without water. At her current intake, she is able to just sustain herself, so no one knows how long this process might last. If the cancer is not advancing, she could remain in this state for some time, though the risk of infection and other complications is always high.
With "comfort measures only", she is no longer taking her HIV meds, diabetes meds, thyroid hormone, etcetera. She is now on a bare-bones regimen geared towards comfort and freedom from pain and psychic distress. This is often very difficult for the unitiated to understand, but it is quite standard practice in these sorts of situations. Additionally, as someone's body begins to shut down and they remain more and more confined to bed, drinking excessive amounts of fluids can only serve to cause fluid accumulation in the lungs, leading to pneumonia, congestive heart failure, or at least the feeling of drowing in one's own fluids. Not pleasant, but also a difficult concept for many families of the dying to grasp and accept. It seems cruel to limit fluid intake, but it is enormously helpful to the lungs and kidneys as they begin their deneoument.
I sat with this woman for about thirty minutes. As always, she asked about my wife, son, and dogs, and looked very deeply into my eyes. Her pupils seemed enormous, and her eyes themselves appeared equally huge---dark pools of feeling and life. I could not get over her eyes and told her how large and profound they seemed.
When asked if she believes in reincarnation, she replied "yes" quite quickly. I inquired about what other lives she has led, and she said that she had been an animal that lived "in the mountains". Pressed for more details, she could not elucidate other than to say that she has been many different animals in her time and that this life is her first as a human. She did, however, state clearly that she and I had met before, but I forgot to ask in what form I had made her acquaintance.
As is frequently the case when I visit her over the last few months---whether in the hospital or at home---we spent a fair amount of time looking into each other's eyes, both with and without a smile as we did so. I encouraged her to close her eyes, and stroked her face and head as she rested on her arm, the small stuffed moose which I gave her in the nursing home cradled in the crook of her neck. In her broken English, she looked at the moose and said, "I love you, cookie", hugging its plush softness to her face.
Sitting in silence at the side of the bed, I wondered to myself what might be going on in her mind at this time, no anti-psychotics to control her long-standing mental illness and anxieties. That said, when asked about her fears and concerns, she readily replied that she had no fears and no concerns, and felt no fear of neither death nor suffering. She seemed at her most peaceful---more so than at any other time in our five-year acquaintance.
I took my leave reluctantly, needing to head back to the clinic. Since I am no longer her medical provider, I can come and go as a friend, assured that the hospice nurses are providing the best care and comfort to my beloved friend. I know the day of her departure is not far off, and feel fairly clear that it will happen before the year turns its unavoidable corner.
Death can be soft, clear, almost effortless, and this is truly my wish for my friend. May death visit her with the gentlest of caresses, and whisk her away in a rush of flower-scented breath. This is my request tonight. May it be granted. May she pass with ease. May her passage be one of joyful release and return to the source. May she return to whence she came, and know that she graced my heart as she passed through this harsh, troubled, and painfully beautiful world.
Occupational Hazards
Identifying as a caregiver in this world is a sword with at least two edges. Being a caregiver---"giving care" as part of one's daily work in the world---is in many minds a noble cause and profession. This may be true to some extent, yet it brings with it many hidden occupational hazards. As I have discussed before, "compassion fatigue" is always around the corner, along with many of the other so-called "negative" emotions. Direct care of other human beings is a tiring occupation yet offers numerous rewards of spiritual, if not monetary, value.
Teaching brings its own rewards, as I have discovered. Having been offered a position as a full-time teacher/program coordinator, the pull of education has had some influence in my world, yet my hesitation to enter that sphere full-time is quite strong. Being dedicated to caregiving, I understand that I would need to continue to work in a direct care setting even if I accepted a position as a teacher. How else can a nursing professor teach the art and science of nursing if not him- or herself still immersed in the world of patient care? So that career choice would still necessitate having multiple jobs and multiple professional roles. I was also just offered a position as a nursing supervisor/manager for a local office of a corporate nationwide visiting nurse agency. As a man in a predominantly female field, I would then join the ranks of men who have risen from the ranks of caregivers into that of management, adding to the perception that men rise more easily to management positions in nursing in large part due to their gender. True or not, this is a prevalent dynamic in the field and one which I am hesitant to become a statistical member of.
For all of its flaws and shortcomings, I still feel an emotional and professional allegiance to my current full-time position, providing care in a cutting-edge nurse-run organization which may eventually serve as a model of delivering medical care to underserved chronically ill populations around the country. Taking into consideration the stress, the tension, the huge caseload, the frustrations, it still feels like home, for now at least.
And teaching new nurses? Does it still hold my attention? Yes, yet the cognitive dissonance comes in the knowledge that continuing to work forty-plus hours each week in a full-time job on top of a committment to teaching a four hour class one night each week is wearing me down. The amount of my leisure time hours spent in preparation for teaching eats away at my overall peace of mind, a consistent feeling of having "more to do" hanging in the air of my home. As much as the act of teaching is enjoyable and satisfying, doing so in the context of so much other hard work is a definite source of stress and unrest. I am currently quite clear that I will finish out the academic year at the school, seeing my current group of 23 students through to graduation, and cease my teaching activities, simplifying my life both at work and at home. If one's health and happiness begins to suffer from one's professional choices in life, one must make changes that will ease the tension and dissonance that such choices can bring.
I realize that this missive is quite self-indulgent and introspective, but remind myself that it is "blogger's license" at its self-centered best. Where else can one ruminate in an unedited fashion on the vicissitudes of one's life and career? If you made it through this rather banal piece of writing, thanks for your indulgence.
Posted by Keith "Nurse Keith" Carlson, RN, BSN, NC-BC at 11/06/2005 09:51:00 AM 1 comment:
Another nursing home visit to my former patient today, a cuddly stuffed moose in hand as a gift of comfort. She is sliding down that slippery slope of rapid deterioration and escalating illness, further driving home the fact that her family could no longer handle her care at home.
While I perched on the edge of her bed, she informed me that the doctors will be putting a tube into her stomach through a hole in her abdomen through which she can receive fluids, medications and food, now that the mass in her chest precludes almost all swallowing. I explained the procedure and how this "g-tube" will work. We talked about her fears, joked a little, and she of course asked about my wife, son, and dogs. She was so happy to hear that my son is visiting us this weekend, as if she herself would be the recipient of that visit.
The love between us and our mutual admiration and appreciation was palpable to me today. This 70-year-old woman and I share a soul connection that reaches beyond the clinical into a place of utter humanity and connectedness. There is that place where souls meet and other boundaries melt away, and although it can be rare in a provider-patient relationship, the realization that one has even briefly touched that potential is enough to overwhelm one's heart with an incomparable feast of emotional sustenance.


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The Royal Opera House is offering the following productions which will be offered on demand, for free, on the Royal Opera House's Facebook and YouTube channels:Acis and Galatea, The Royal Opera, 2009 (3 April, 7pm)
Così fan tutte, The Royal Opera, 2010 (10 April, 7pm)
The Metamorphosis, The Royal Ballet, 2013 (17 April, 7pm)
#ourhousetoyourhouse https://www.facebook.com/royaloperahouse
Keep an eye on our FaceBook page www.facebook.com/chiddingfoldcinema and on the 'Latest News' section of our website for any other announcements.
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Free streaming of musicals
Calling all musical lovers! Starting this Friday 3rd April, Andrew Lloyd Webber will be releasing a full-length, smash-hit musical once a week for you to watch for free!
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat is streaming on 3rd April and will be available for 48 hours, so you can tune in whenever you like over the weekend.
https://www.youtube.com/theshowsmustgoon
National Theatre - Free live streaming of plays
The cinema might be temporarily closed, but we can enjoy some great British Theatre! Starting from 2nd April every Thursday at 7pm the National Theatre will be streaming some of the best British Theatre free to homes via Youtube! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJgBmjHpqgs6WHi1g0FW7Tdf3ejvWbcL0
Cinema system audio and control upgrade
We are delighted at the cinema with the feedback from our new AV audio and control upgrades now that all the tweaking is finished with the installation. The sound especially is amazing. Thanks goes to Richard at Complete Audio Visual Equipment (CAVE) Ltd, for his patience and good humour!
We just need to save up for a new projector and screen now!
Changes to credit / debit card payments
As of 10th September 2019 all credit card and debit card payments for the cinema will be made through the PayPal website.
You do not need to have a PayPal account, just select the PayPal option and you will be redirected to the following page
you can then select the bottom 'Pay with Debit or Credit Card' option below.
BREAKING NEWS - New sound and AV equipment
Breaking News - Rocketman!
123»End
Re-opening Cinema
Andrew Lloyd Webber & ROH
Copyright © 2014 the ITD


Kharkiv Metro team made with the idea of a subway, "the official corner of the visits." As a result appeared on the metro station "Sovetskaya".
At the exit of the subway near the cash registers, set the old street lights and lay a green lawn, passes Harkov.proUA.com.
Employees of the Kharkiv Metro are hoping that this place will become a landmark in the city, and there will be designated dates and appointments.


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Drivers for Australian Economic Rebuilding
Director, Equities Research Hina Chowdhary
Hina Chowdhary is the Director, Equity Research at Kalkine and has an extensive experience of about 15 years in the area of Research, which includes 5+ years in Equities Research particularly.She has earned a Master of Science degree from the renowne...
Australian economy has been severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic since past 3 months after being ravaged by drought and bushfires earlier. Australia is now bracing for reopening its economy after cases have been slowing down since the past month.
On 12 May, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg gave an economic update on COVID-19 in parliament. He delayed the Federal Budget 2020-21 delivery to October as it wants to figure out the full economic cost of coronavirus pandemic before delivering the budget.
Australia has reported about 7000 coronavirus cases with 97 deaths in total, which is significantly less than the US, UK and Europe. The Australian government and RBA have injected $320 billion into the economy to turn away a prolonged economic contraction.
Treasurer admits coronavirus damage
Australia is set to witness its GDP to fall by over 10%, the biggest fall on record and unemployment rate to reach around 10% in the June quarter. Treasury has forecasted that the economy will shrink by $50 billion which is comparable to total collective quarterly production of South Australia, the Northern Territory, Tasmania and ACT.
He asserted that lower incomes, increased uncertainty and social distancing measures had been profoundly affecting demand and reducing cash flow. Household consumption, business and dwelling investment are anticipated to decline sharply in the June quarter. However, savings are expected to rise due to restrictions imposed and cautious discretionary spending by households.
Surveys reflected that job ads had been reduced by 50% during April while activity in manufacturing, construction and services witnessed their most significant monthly decline ever. Motor vehicles sale was down by 48% throughout the year while domestic and international travel saw significant falls.
The number of jobs decreased by 7.5% with accommodation and food services experiencing most significant fall of 33.4% followed by arts and recreation at 27% while wages paid by businesses fell by 8.2%, between 14 March and 18 April.
The Treasurer stated that the overall economic data had been sobering.
Budget situation
The monthly financial report for March gives the most recent description of the budget situation. The underlying cash deficit stood at $22.4 billion during March-end, which was about $9.9 billion higher than the projection in the mid-year fiscal and economic outlook. However, the budget figures only consider early weeks of COVID-19. The figure is expected to deteriorate even more when the month of April is also taken into account.
The tax receipts have been $11.3 billion lesser while as of 8 May 2020, the total par value of Government Securities on the issue has surged by more than $50 billion to $618 billion since the mid-year fiscal and economic outlook.
With $320 billion of fiscal and monetary measures taken to stave off economic fallout from COVID-19, Treasurer stated that there would be a significant rise in government debt which can take many years to repay.
A further update on the economic and fiscal outlook will be released in June after the release of National accounts for the March quarter. The budget is due to be presented in October 2020.
Private sector to reboot the economy
On 8 May, National cabinet agreed to a 3-step framework to lift the restrictions by July and building a COVID-safe Australia. The Treasurer has called coronavirus a 1 in the 100-year event and cited it as a health and economic shock never seen before. Frydenberg stated that the economy would expand by $9.4 billion a month when restrictions are lifted gradually in stage 1,2 and 3. Below figure states the expected contributors to the GDP increase-
Treasurer further stated that the speed by which restrictions would ease may vary from state to state. About 8,50,000 people are expected to get back to work with more than half of the workers expected to come from accommodation and food services, art and recreation, transport and warehousing, construction and manufacturing.
However, he pleaded Australians to not disobey the restrictions in place as that might invite the need of a second lockdown which could cost the economy $4 billion a week.
During the past 2 months, Australian government worked aggressively to increase its healthcare capacity, lift aged-care sector and provide packages for households, businesses and employment while contributing additional funds to step-up research in the development of a vaccine.
ALSO READ: Economic Recovery - Australia's Action-Packed Plan for July
Labor Comments
Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers called on the Australian government to ease COVID-19 restrictions carefully following the advice of experts amid fears of second wave of COVID-19 that could impose a high cost on the economy. He also accused the Australian government not to have a roadmap to recovery and cited the financial statements to be just cut and paste work which the government had provided earlier, and Australians already knew about the same.
The labor asserted that JobKeeper and JobSeeker programs must continue helping Australian workers and jobseekers. But Frydenberg gave little indication on keeping it as he stated that there was no money tree and what is borrowed today must be repaid in future.
The private sector is expected to drive the economic rebound with businesses projected to contribute billions to national GDP. However, the economy needs to be ready to witness the largest-ever budget deficit and brace for slow recovery ahead.
australian economy Covid-19 Economic Recovery


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Fire Destroys Closed Restaurant in Rowland Heights
By City News Service Jul 22, 2020
ROWLAND HEIGHTS (CNS) - A fire that destroyed a restaurant in a strip mall in Rowland Heights burned for about three hours before being extinguished this morning.
The fire was first reported about 10:05 p.m. Tuesday in the area of Colima Road and Nogales Street, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
A second alarm was declared and at least 50 firefighters were on scene working to stop the spread of the fire and save nearby businesses, the department said.
Just after midnight the department reported good progress was being made and that "much of the heavy fire activity has diminished substantially.''
A knockdown was called about 1 a.m. and the department declared the restaurant a total loss, but reported 10 nearby businesses were saved. An adjacent business sustained minor damage.
No injuries were reported and firefighters were expected to remain on scene throughout the early morning hours, prompting streets in the immediate area to be closed, the department said.
The building housed the Thirsty Cow restaurant, NBC4 reported.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.


Slow Cooker Mexican Chorizo Egg Casserole is so quick and easy to put together and packed with big flavor! Hashbrowns, cheese, and eggs get loaded up with black beans, corn, and chorizo to make one delicious breakfast!
Have you made a breakfast in your slow cooker yet? If you haven't, the holidays are the perfect time to start! There is nothing better than a delicious breakfast for the holidays. And with guests over at your house this season, it is the perfect way to welcome them.
I was so incredibly excited when McCormick released their new line of Slow Cooker Breakfast Seasoning Mixes! If there is anyone that I love and trust to add awesome flavor to the dish I am creating, it is McCormick. I chose to use the Slow Cooker Mexican Egg Casserole Seasoning Mix for this recipe. We love Mexican flavors at our house and it was especially delicious topped with chopped tomato, avocado, and cilantro!
This recipe couldn't be easier to make. You start by browning the chorizo. Then, you throw in the potatoes, corn, and black beans, and chorizo into the slow cooker. Whisk some eggs, add the seasoning packet and cheese, pour in the slow cooker and you are good to go!
Can I add eggs to the slow cooker?
Yes, you definitely can! Just whisk the eggs and pour them on top of the hash brown mixture. Make sure they cook through and are set and spring back when touched.
This breakfast turned out incredible and is jam-packed with so many delicious breakfast foods and flavors. It is perfect for feeding a crowd and requires little effort to make! I don't know about you guys but with the holidays I am all about little effort. Throw some ingredients in a slow cooker and let it do its thang while I can try to enjoy the holidays with the people I love.
Top this off with your favorite toppings, avocado, sour cream, salsa, cilantro, and tomatoes and you have the perfect breakfast. This will become a new family favorite!
For more delicious breakfast recipe ideas like Mexican Breakfast Burrito, Slow Cooker Monkey Bread , Slow Cooker Breakfast Tot Casserole, visit McCormick.com!
In a medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat, add the chorizo sausage and cook until no longer pink in the center.
Spray a 4-quart slow cooker with cooking spray and add chorizo, hash browns, corn and black beans and mix.
In a medium-sized bowl add the whisk the eggs, milk and breakfast seasoning packet. Add in 1 cup of the cheese. Pour on top of hashbrowns in the slow cooker. Top with ½ cheese.
Cook 2½ hours on high or 4 to 4½ hours on low or until eggs are set. Top with additional toppings and enjoy!
But as for me, I am TOTALLY looking forward to trying this, although I'm not terribly keen on waking 4 hours early to prep this dish then go back to bed and try to get back to sleep then wake up again in time to eat. Although the idea of awaking to the smells of the melding aroma's of the chorizo and the other ingredients IS quite compelling.
And served with a warm flour tortilla or a couple of smaller warmed corn tortilla's is making my mouth water as I type this. YUM!!
Can this be made the night before, removed from the crock pot (hopefully intact like your picture shows!!), then heated in either the microwave (yuck!) or warmed in the oven (Best!) and served with the tortilla's?
It's just that I don't think I could rise at my "normal" time, make everything, toss them into the crock pot then suffer through 2.5 to 4 hours before being able to chow down on this!!
One does NOT invite a handful of (former) Army Guys over the night before to sit around a campfire on my property, reminiscing about the good old days and tossing down some brewski's till the wee hours and expect them to wait s couple of hours to chow down! HAH!
Most of us are used to standing in some Chow Hall line, stuffing who-knows-what on a stainless steel tray, then (if we are lucky) sit down with a BIG mug of STOUT, Black, Coffee, then shoveling the contents of our trays into our mouths and chewing it on our way out the door (and usually running off to some perceived "Crisis!!") or off to some grinding training or mundane equipment cleaning or repairs.
In short (?), can this be made ahead of time and easily re-heated for breakfast?
Sorry for the long post but THANK YOU for the GREAT cooking ideas!
can you double or triple this for a large group and have it come out the same?


Dogs are Animals. Don't Forget That.
Every morning, I let the brats out of their kennel, out the door, and on to their morning potty break. I have a mixture of snack hounds including a hound/lab mix (Beverly), a beagle/doxie mix (Mia), and doxies. All of them have some sort of prey drive but Mia is my athlete. She comes bolting out of that door ready for anything that comes her way. She doesn't run, she LITERALLY bounces to the fence-line and trees looking for something to chase. Luckily, she has only 1 confirmed catch of a squirrel. When the squirrel bit her, she was so confused, she dropped it and it scurried away. Phew. That wouldn't ended badly.
Mia Bonita is a character but she has always been a nature hunter. She has her nose to the ground, her eyes in the trees, and listens for anything she can chase. I love her but it doesn't help when you have small animals like gerbils in the home. We have since rehomed the gerbils but there were 2 incidents that were just heartbreaking.
The second and final straw was when the matriarch of the gerbil family got out. This gerbil was the MacGyver of rodents. She was intelligent and liked to figure her way out of any cage. Well, one night, we were watching a movie and we heard Mia get up and a loud commotion. We realized the gerbil mom got out again and ran to the kitchen. This time, we weren't fast enough. Mia did what her instincts told her and the gerbil died in my hands. It was just a matter of a few short minutes until she took her last breathe. Of course, I cried and was filled with tremendous guilt. As a trainer, I have to understand, dogs are animals. This article describes it as software they are programmed with. As sad as it was, it was my fault, not Mia's.
We tend to forget they are animals. They are not vicious killers but have the instinct to do so. If we understand it better, we can address it better. I learned that the hard way.