torsdag 17. mars 2011

Wrigley Field press box damaged by storm


CHICAGO Wrigley Field has been damaged by a severe storm that caused tiles to fall from the top of the press box at the 97-year-old ballpark.

Emergency Management spokesman Roderick Drew says high winds from the snowstorm battering Chicago on Tuesday night sent the tiles flying. Two streets near the Chicago Cubs' famous stadium were closed to cars and pedestrians.

Drew says Clark Street between Grace and Roscoe streets and Addison Street between Sheffield and Racine avenues were closed until further notice.

Drew says high winds were keeping maintenance crews from repairing the tiles. He says crews from the city's building department were also on the site monitoring the situation.

Barnes' 3 gives No. 13 UNC win at Florida State


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Freshman Harrison Barnes' 3-pointer from the top of the key with 3 seconds to play gave No. 13 North Carolina a 72-70 victory at Florida State on Wednesday night.


John Henson had 19 points and 12 rebounds and Barnes added 18 points for the Tar Heels (23-6, 13-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their sixth straight game overall and their fifth in a row on Florida State's court.


North Carolina took the lead midway through the second half and was up 67-60 on Kendall Marshall's 3-pointer with 3:59 left. Florida State rallied to take a 70-69 lead with 18 seconds left on two free throws by Derwin Kitchen, who led the Seminoles (20-9, 10-5) with 13 points.


Florida State turned the ball over before getting off a final shot after Barnes' game-winner.


The Tar Heels can clinch the top seed in next week's ACC tournament win a win over No. 4 Duke on Saturday.


Leslie McDonald added 10 points for North Carolina, including two 3-pointers 43 seconds apart that gave the Tar Heels a 49-44 lead with 14:18 left.


Michael Snaer added 11 points and Bernard James had 10 for the Seminoles, who were without top scorer Chris Singleton (broken right foot) for the fourth straight game.


Florida State led 38-37 after a first half that saw both teams shoot 16 of 31 from the field and had nine lead changes and nine ties.


Henson, a 6-foot-10 sophomore from Tampa, had a big first half with 12 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots while Florida State answered with strong play from its bench players, who outscored the Tar Heel reserves 20-5.


North Carolina shot 47.3 percent for the game and had a 39-28 rebound advantage.


One of those Seminole backups, freshman Ian Miller, nailed a 3-pointer from the corner midway through the first half that gave Florida State its largest lead of the game at 26-19.


Florida State was attempting to finish a perfect ACC season at home for the first time since coming into the conference for the 1991-92 season.


Barnes had 17 points and 10 rebounds in the Tar Heels' 89-69 home victory over Florida State 24 days ago.

Maryland pulls away to beat Florida State 78-62


COLLEGE PARK, Md. Freshman Terrell Stoglin scored 17 points, and Maryland used a strong second half to beat Florida State 78-62 Wednesday night and severely damage the Seminoles' pursuit of their first Atlantic Coast Conference title.

The Terrapins (18-10, 7-6) had five players score in double figures. Jordan Williams had 11 points and 11 rebounds, Dino Gregory scored 14, Adrian Bowie added 12 and Sean Mosley chipped in 10 in Maryland's eighth straight home win over Florida State.

It was the 21st double-double of the season for Williams, who became the seventh sophomore in ACC history to collect at least 600 rebounds in his career.

Derwin Kitchen scored 16 and Deividas Dulkys had 14 points for the Seminoles (19-8, 9-4). The loss dropped Florida State three games behind first-place Duke with three games to play.

onsdag 16. mars 2011

Smell of death in Ivory Coast, as bodies decompose


ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast A morgue in Ivory Coast no longer has place for the dead. So the more than 50 bodies that were delivered in the past five days are being stacked on the floor.


An Associated Press reporter saw the badly decomposed corpses from the conflict in the suburb of Abobo, laying head-to-toe on tiles slippery with blood.


Citizens began collecting the dead on Tuesday and a hearse brought in another five corpses as a reporter stood nearby on Wednesday.


The standoff between the two men claiming to be president of Ivory Coast already has claimed the lives of hundreds.


The conflict reached a new level last week when the army began using war-like weapons, including mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.

Is it Safe to Kiss Your Pet?







We’vealldoneit,oratleastknowsomeonewhohas.Animalloverswhokisstheirpets—mouthtomouth.“Kisses”frommans’bestfriendorafelinecompanionmayseemlovingandirresistible,butisitsafe?



Therearemanymythssurroundingpetsmooches.Somebelieveadog’smouthiscleanerthanahumanmouth,othersthinktheirdogorcat’smouthisadisinfectantandhasnogermsatall—which,consideringhowpetscleanthemselves,canprobablybeconsidereduntruerightofftheback.



WeaskedDr.PaulMaza,co-directorofthehealthcenterattheCollegeofVeterinaryMedicineatCornellUniversity,howcloseistooclosewhenitcomestoyourpet?



“Manyofthedifferenttypesofbacteriaindogsandcatsarethesametypeofbacteriaasinhumans.Atanygivenpointintimetheyareprobablynotanydirtierthanours,”Mazasaid.

Infact,Mazasaidifownerspracticeoralhygieneontheirpets,likewithbrushingtheirteeth,apet’smouthcanactuallybeevencleanerthanahumanmouth.



“Becausemostofthebacteriaandvirusesinadog’smoutharethesameasinaperson’smouth,itissafetokissadog,justlikeaperson.Youcanprobablycatchmorefromkissingahumanthanadogorcat,”hesaid.



AccordingtotheHumaneSociety,thereareapproximately77.5millionowneddogsintheUnitedStatesand93.6millionownedcats.



Althoughveryunlikely,therearerareinstancesinwhichzoonoticdiseases,ordiseasesthataretransmittedbetweenanimalsandhumans,canoccur.



Mazasaiddiseasetransmissionisveryrareincatsandevenmorerareindogs.



“Catsmayhavebartonella,orcatscratchfever,thatcancausediseaseinpeople.Taxolpasmosis,orcertainparasitesthathaveeggsinfecalmatter—thetransmissionofparasitescancausediseaseinpeople.Butagain,itdoesn’thappenveryoften,itisunlikely,”hesaid.



Butwehadtoask—whataboutfecalmatterinapet’smouth?Thatistheirwayoftakingashower,afterall.



Mazasaidthatalthoughthegroomingtechniqueofpetscancausefecalbacteriainthemouth,itisoftenswallowedandoutofthemouthquickly.



“Fecalmattercouldbeconsideredcomparabletoanyothernormalbacteria,”hesaid.



Formanypeople,kissingadogorcatmaybelessofasafetyissueandmoreofamysophobiaissue,orfearofgerms.



“Adoglickingababyontheheadorhandisprobablysafe,butsomeliketoavoidgermsatallcosts.Otherssaytherearegermseverywhereanditistoohardtoavoidthemallthetime,”hesaid.



ThosewhoshouldthinkaboutavoidingakissfromFidoincludeanyonewithacompromisedimmunesystemlikethosewithHIVorotherdiseases,aswellastheelderly.



Therearedebatesthatakissfromadogorcatmaybebeneficialfortheimmunesystemofyoungchildren.



“Babiesthatareillshouldn’tbearoundtoomanygerms,butotherssayitisgoodforchildren—itstimulatestheimmunesystemandestablishesearlyimmunity,”Mazasaid.



Asfaraspreventinganypossibleillnessfromkissingapet,Mazarecommends“commonsensehygiene.”



“Manypeoplewilluseglovestocleanlitterboxesandpickupdogpoop,andyoucanevenwashhandsafterpetting.Ifyouwanttopreventbacteriaofthemouth,youcanbrushpetsmouthsanduserinsesjustlikepeopledo,”hesaid.“Don’tallowpetsonkitchencountersandifitcan’tbeavoidedthenwipethemofbeforepreparingfood.”



Overall,Mazasaidthementalhealthbenefitsofkissingyourpetfaroutweightherisksofgettingsick.



“Ikissmydogallthetime,“hesaid.

tirsdag 15. mars 2011

WA police arrest woman in newborn's decapitation


CENTRALIA, Wash. A 25-year-old woman has been arrested for investigation of first-degree murder in the death of a baby boy born prematurely and found decapitated, Centralia police say.

Laura Lynn Hickey was arrested Wednesday after a weeklong investigation, which included a post-mortem examination of the baby by a forensic pathologist.

The pathologist concluded the 21-week baby was alive at birth but "suffered fatal injuries by decapitation," Officer John Panco said Wednesday night.

Police said the body was found March 2 under the kitchen sink in Hickey's trailer home.

Hickey was scheduled to appear Thursday afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court. Panco said he expected she would be formally charged with first-degree murder.

The Lewis County prosecutor's office joined Centralia police in a statement announcing the arrest.

Panco said he did not know whether Hickey was represented by a lawyer.

Paramedics responded to the woman's home just before 1 a.m. on March 2 after neighbors heard her call for help, the statement said. Taken to Centralia Providence Hospital, the woman reportedly told doctors she was having a miscarriage but police said an exam showed she had given birth. Police said the woman then told emergency room staff that the baby was under her kitchen sink.

Officers found the decapitated body.

Panco said he can't say whether the baby would have survived but he was alive at the time of birth.

The woman has three other children but they do not live with her, Panco said, adding Child Protective Services removed them from her care about a year ago.

Police have located the baby's father but Hickey was alone when she gave birth, the officer said.

"Our investigations have determined she is the only one involved," Panco said. In police interviews, "there hasn't been any solid reason from her why this happened."

Hickey said she had picked out baby names and had chosen "Caleb Jacob Hickey" for a boy, Panco said.

Asked about the weeklong delay until the arrest, the officer said, "We had to have the pathologist determine whether the baby was alive at birth or not. That's a big part of what we can charge."

Centralia is about 70 miles south of Seattle.

lørdag 26. februar 2011

Three recommended 'must-read' social business books


I’m going to admit something taboo — I don’t love to read. I know we’re all supposed to say that we do because it makes us appear more worldly and intelligent, but the truth is if I am not working the last thing I usually want to do is spend more time processing content. And when I do read it’s generally vapid “chick lit” or even the “Twilight” series I consumed in four days the week of Thanksgiving. Escapism stuff.

With the introduction of three social business books into my life, my mind has started to change. I find myself having read or reading two of these as voraciously as I read vampire romance. I also find myself anticipating the arrival of a third as excitedly as I would anticipate a Jennifer Crusie novel. But let’s face it, it’s hard to swing a stick without hitting someone who has written a social media book these days. However, I would recommend the three below-mentioned books for your own personal education or for marketing or public relations agencies who want to provide valuable holiday gifts to their clients.

Consumed

“Twitter Means Business” by Julio Ojeda-Zapata. This is a special one for me since Julio kindly asked me to write the foreword (in which I explain, geekily enough, how Twitter changed my life). Before you say, “Of course you’ll recommend that one, you wrote the foreword!” Stop. I wrote the foreward after being given a chance to review the copy and I found myself fully engrossed and receiving great education. Ojeda-Zapata does a nice job of explaining the value of using Twitter, the perils of ignoring Twitter, and helps companies determine whether or not they are ready for microblogging. The most valuable offering in the book? Case studies with measured results.

Mid-Consumption

“SocialCorp - Social Media Goes Corporate” by Joel Postman. Funny enough to admit, I actually got a copy of this book as a prize when I co-won a karaoke contest last week at a Silicon Valley tweet-up event. My horrible singing aside, the book is well worth the humiliation– and I likely would’ve purchased it anyway. I’m about three-quarters of the way through the book and I am having trouble putting it down. Postman sees social media for what it is — a complementing strategy for companies to help them achieve their already established business objectives. He writes about specific considerations that both private and public companies should make before introducing social media programs. And he understands the risks. He also included one of the most comprehensive social media glossaries I’ve ever seen. I can’t wait to finish it.

Hungry for Consumption

“Personality Not Included” by Rohit Bhargava. I haven’t read this one yet, at least not in its entirety. I actually ordered it from Amazon.com this morning but only after what seemed like the 100th person I know recommended it. I did some poking around and read a few excerpts, all of which were impressive. I can’t say too much yet not having read it myself, however I love Bhargava’s approach. He’s cutting through the social media “tools” noise and focusing on the most important aspect for companies — authenticity. There’s a bang-up foreword from Guy Kawasaki, to boot.

Who is on your social business reading list?