A Warning (Incoming!), a Blast, a Fight to Save an Afghan Life

The cover Story by C. J. Chivers in Saturday's New York Times was probably one of the few stories I have seen reflecting our troops overseas in a positive way. It spoke about a surprise attack from the Taliban which left Jamaludin, an Afghan base cook, severely injured with puncture wounds from a shrapnel mortar round.

This gruesome and intense story focuses on the fight of U.S. medics to save Jamaludin's life, mentioning that everything happened so fast that Sergeant Filip didn't even have time to put gloves on, their only mission during the 65 minute was for a medevac was "coaxing a grievously wounded man to live". They prepared for the mortar rounds which would become inevitable once the rescue copter landed, and when it did, they "bounded from bunker to bunker back to the aid station, where for a few minutes the medical team, now with nothing to do, circled and paced... Sergeant Filip stepped behind a screen and prayed".

Luckily for Jamaludin and tis rescue team their mission was successful, "an hour or so later the call came in. The helicopter had reached the next base. Jamaludin was in surgery. He was alive".

Treatment, Quickly Vetted, Is Offered to Breast Cancer Patients

There is a new treatment for breast cancer which is up for debate. The treatment is a new form of Interstitial Brachytherapy called Mammosite Brachytherapy. The former treatment would include rows of plastic catheters being inserted to the breast, and each would be connected to a small button which would release radioactive seeds to the tumor site twice a day for five days. However, the new treatment features a single balloon catheter temporarily inserted to the tumor site and inflated to fill the surgical site, and the catheter is left for five days also releasing radioactive seeds twice a day fr five days (Abelson).

Many people are questioning the FDA's approval of the new method since it has only been on the market for about 5 years and there is not as much data to support the method as there are for other treatment options. The FDA defends itself by saying that the new product proved itself to be "substantially equivalent" to other methods. For many patients this is simply not enough.

My Grandmother was a breast cancer survivor and she also tried a procedure that was considered fairly new at the time, and is now a common practice for breast cancer patients called, Accelerated Whole Breast Irradiation. This procedure was experimental and involves higher doses of radiation on the entire breast five times a week for three weeks in total. This was also thought by many patients to be harmful or ineffective, but it saved my Grandmother.

I feel that innovation is a part of science and there will always be new theories and new procedures to try when it comes to the medical field, and they should be embraced because that experimental new method might just be the treatment that saves your loved one.

Hand Signals

Photography is a passion of mine and today, the NYTimes featured pieces from Luis Mallo's Passenger Portfolio. The entire idea is based upon everyday riders of the subway and the way their hands reflect their "stress, boredom, activity or relaxation". This article also touches on how the MTA attempted to ban cameras within the subway in 2004, which would have made these pictures impossible.

Luis Mallo was born in Cuba and moved to Brooklyn at the age of 12. He went on to study advertising and graphic design at FIT, but was drawn to photography. You can find more of his work at www.luismallo.com, and I srongly reccommend the portfolio "In Camera", which focuses on being on the outside and looking in. My personal favorite from the collection was the 4th photo featuring the harsh distinction between the shrubbery and the construction beyond the fence.

Superficial

Ok, so I have been home for less than a week and my sister has made sure that I am up to date with everything from Paris Hilton: My new BFF to The Girls Next Door and honestly, I feel that programs like these say a lot about the society we are living in. So many people are obsessed with becoming a part of a world they will never know. While yes, being Paris Hilton's BFF may be the "opportunity of a lifetime" as one contestant put it, it will certainly not last forever.
I feel we live in a superficial world, where most young people, whether they like it or not, are being pushed into unhealthy directions. Many girls are becoming anorexic at younger and younger ages; obsessing over the idea of "perfection". I personally do not believe in perfection.
I have older sisters who have altered themselves to fit a notion that some PR or marketing campaign created and in my mind they are not any happier because of it. While yes, they feel better about themselves to some extent there is always something else.
Yes, there are some positive campaigns such as the Dove Beauty and Think Before You Speak campaign-- they are far and few.

Losing Trust

So, I am home in Maine this weekend and I have been following the NYT, but I have also been able to catch up on some local news and I figured I would share it with all of you.
I actually found an article in today's Kennebec Journal. It talks about the town of Richmond and how they are currently looking to divest the town's trust funds which are currently held by Wachovia. The town has lost over $43,000 in the past year and are now looking to put up a referendum proposing moving the funds to a more secure investor.
Overall, the town has more than $200,000 in the fund and uses them to assist residences with education and emergencies. Wachovia has sent the town a letter to assure the funds "are in good hands", but the town feels the loss they have suffered proves otherwise. Many towns have similar funds and Richmond is currently researching how these towns secure their funds and hoping to find a better way to do business.
Many residents want to ensure that the money they have invested is being used properly and are calling for more transparency.

Nashville Debate

I must say the Nashville debate was quite a disappointment for me from both parties when it came to economy. I got angry that the candidates were not more angry. We are facing a situation which many people are upset about and when both candidates spoke on economy, they seemed very much nonchalant about the ordeal.
They did not relate to many Americans feelings towards the economy. Many people are upset and angry that the situation got so out of hand. Especially with new reports about questionable spending on behalf of some of the companies, AIG in particular. At least Obama mentioned it, but McCain did not breathe a word of it.
Overall, I felt the debate really did not help McCain stand out like he needed to and I felt Obama mentioned Bush so many times that for a minute I thought Bush was running for a third term.
If the next 26 days are going to be as ineffective as the debate appeared to be, then we might as well vote tomorrow.

Emotion Vs. Logic

Today, in the New York Times, I read a very interesting article about the fear that is being created about the entire economic crisis. In reading this article, I recognized my own thoughts, which I had expressed in class last week. The article which appeared below the fold on the front page was titled, "Forget Logic; Fear Appears to Have Edge". The article discusses how many people are not thinking about the consequences of their reactions to this crisis. They are often "selling first, and asking questions later".
I liked how the author alluded to people pulling "an iron sheet over their heads because they think the sky is falling". I agree. I feel too many people are panicking over the issue, not that panic is abnormal to this situation. People have every right to panic, but what people must also realize is that by selling all of their stocks, they are only helping to create a crash. People want to blame the economy on legislation, which yes in some ways, it is very much to blame. However, we can not simply forget the fact that the big wigs from AIG celebrated bankruptcy by spending over $200,000 dollars on a spa trip.
The true problem is that logic is the answer and instead people are reacting based on the emotion of fear. For too long we let greedy people take our money and we did not ask questions about our investments because we trusted that "they" would take care of "us". Unfortunately that was not and is not the case.
History shows that if the investors can regain a sense of stability in the stock market and and "be persuaded that the economy and housing market will be recovering soon", that the market usually will have "recouped about a third" of their losses within "the first 40 days after the market hits bottom."
Therefore, while the stocks are cheap, now is the time to invest small amounts back into the market with hopes of getting it back onto its feet.