Mumbai

I just wanted to dedicate a blog to all of those who have lost loved ones and have been affected by the recent Mumbai terrorist attacks.
A group declaring itself as, Deccan Mujahideen, has claimed responsibility in the attacks on seven well-known sites within the financial capital of India. These attacks have so far claimed the lives of 82 people and injured well over 200 people. The group has been thought to have targeted Americans and Britons within the city. The FBI has also issued a statement that there could be plot in NYC involving the subway system and people are being asked to remain alert and report anything suspicious to authorities immediately.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims claimed by his horrendous and cowardly action.

Obama's Personal LinkedIn

In our class we have often discussed the changes being made in modern journalism and the shift of print to the web. Well Barack Obama's campaign is a great example of this, he successfully used the web to reach a larger and younger public.

The NYTimes featured an article which discussed this in great detail, entitled, "Obama's Personal LinkedIn." In February of 2007, Barack Obama's online campaign began. He established who his audience was and what the best way to reach them would be, and the internet is the communication of the modern generation.

Barack Obama stood out as a politician who "got it", he was able to get young people to listen to him because he spoke in their language. He personally updates the site and sends out mass messages to his supporters on a mailing list.

We are moving in the direction of the web as a form of mass communication and as Andrew Rasiej, founder of the Personal Democracy Forum, puts it, "any politician who fails to recognize that we are in a post-party era with a new political ecology in which connecting with like minds and forming a movement is so much easier will not be around long."

This new political ecology revolves around the internet. Politicians-- take note.

Goodbye Seduction, Hello Coupons

Today in the Business section, there was an article which speaks about advertisers changing tactics. They are facing reductions in sales since the downward spiral of the economy and are therefore facing problems in how to approach advertising to increase sales. The answer has become coupons and their goal is to make coupons sexy.

Suddenly coupons are becoming a way of defining a product:
"So rather than pitch seduction, the perfume Tabu Forbidden is pitching a coupon for $5 off the purchasing price. The drugstore remedy Emergen-C is not only about staying 'healthy year-round,' it's about a $1 coupon. Reddi Whip is no longer about creamy indulgence, it's about saving 75 cents."

I feel this is extremely relevant and reflective of our times and the state of our nation. "We live in a very commercial, consumption-oriented world today, for good and bad, and I think it'll come back," but until then, all we can do is hop on the coupon train and enjoy it while it lasts.

City on the Mend, With Kerouac's Help

Today in the New York Times, I was drawn to an article about Lowell, MA. Not only because I am a New England girl, something according article, Betty Davis and I both share(d) a passion for, but also because I am a huge fan of Jack Kerouac.
The article speaks about some of the historic people who have been born, raised, and/or lived there, and how the city is now using these people to bring back spunk to the once-dying town. The city had been known for its lack of economy and "long-closed textile mills", but it is now trying to emphasize its "famous offspring".

The nut graf of this article is actually found in to paragraphs, the 2nd and 3rd. The nut peg however, is not found until the very end of the article, in the last sentence.
I found Kate Zezima (author of the article) to be very entertaining and able to catch her reader's attention using not only these technique, but also by throwing the name of a well known author into her title, drawing any reader in who is familiar with Jack Kerouac.

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.