| A Decline in Testosterone May Give Rise to Many Ills
My boyhood baseball hero Rich "Goose" Gossage made it into the baseball Hall of Fame last week. His 98-mph fastball and 22-year career as a fearsome relief pitcher were achieved without the use of steroids. His best years were back in the '70s and early '80s when men were men and made their own testosterone naturally. But even the most macho among us face a decline in the quintessential male hormone as we age. Recent evidence points to a decline in testosterone levels in the general population of men, regardless of age. A 20-year study of testosterone levels in men found that testosterone concentrations dropped about 1.2% per year, or about 17% overall, from 1987 to 2004. The downward trend was seen in both the population and in individuals over time. .
MRSA case confirmed; doctors say risk being overblown
Remain calm.That is the message from doctors and school officials following confirmed reports of a local case of drug-resistant staph infection."I think this is being blown all out of proportion," said Dr. Louis Schenfeld, a Johnstown-based infectious disease specialist.MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, has been around since 1963, Schenfeld said. It usually is confined to a boil that should be lanced by a doctor and then usually goes away on its own."Staph is the most common form of skin infection," he said. "MRSA is the most common type of staph infection."For years, MRSA was confined to hospitals. But it began appearing in the general population during the late 1990s and is being seen more outside hospitals and nursing homes.News of a confirmed infection in a Conemaugh Township High School student brought a deluge of phone calls to the district, Superintendent Joseph DiBartola said."We kind of fielded those (calls) to let parents know what had occurred and what we were doing," DiBartola said.
Local Pharmacies Who Do and Don't Carry Plan B
Plan B, the emergency contraception, is known as a back-up method for preventing pregnancy. It's been available at Planned Parenthood, but now you can get it without a prescription at pharmacies if they carry it. You have to be 18 or older to get it. But, we found out some pharmacies in Lufkin, do not even carry it. Michelle Green, with Planned Parenthood, said, "The FDA approved this emergency contraceptive to be available over the counter status for individuals. The whole purpose is that women could have access to this medication. If you don't carry it you have no access." The East Texas News spoke to Abeldt's Pharmacy, who says they won't carry it because of the controversy involved. Timberland Discount Pharmacy won't carry it for personal reasons.
Obama Wins South Carolina Primary
With 99% of precincts reporting, Obama had 55% of the vote, Clinton had 27% and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards had 18%, according to The New York Times. Obama is hoping to become the first black U.S. president, and the South Carolina primary was closely watched as a test of how African Americans in other states may cast their votes. According to the AP, which cited polling place interviews, about half of the South Carolina voters were black, and four out of five of them supported Obama. The AP also reported that black women turned out in large numbers. Obama, who throughout his campaign has presented himself as a unifier and consensus builder, downplayed racial and other divisions in a speech at a campaign rally. "The choice in this election is not about regions or religions or genders," Obama was quoted saying by the AP.
Official Version of Naval Incident Starts to Unravel
Israelis and their allies in the US administration do not tolerate obstacles - including patriotic US Naval officials who expose their hoaxes. There are a few clear heads remaining in the upper eschelons of the US Armed Forces which have managed to escape the earlier purges of the Rumsfeld-OSP-Wolfowitz-Feith cabal. Admiral Fallon and other like-minded American officers should have their drivers check their cars before starting the engines - the mafia that took us to war in Iraq and is pushing for war with Iran can get very rough. It is disgusting to have this played out again and again and again. They will never be satisfied until they have destroyed all independent nations in the Middle East using American manpower and treasure - and destroying the US economy and Bill of Rights in the process.
Another year of the obtuse, odd and obscure
Throughout 2007, Telescope has brought you the sort of news that, quite frankly, doesn't quite fit into most people's definition of news. Take, for instance, this newspaper correction gleaned from the pages of the New York Times -- proving definitively that not only does that august journal publish all the jokes that are fit to print, but it strives to get them right, too: "Because of an editing error, an obituary on Sunday about Sid Raymond, a comic actor, rendered one of his jokes incorrectly. It was about a son who sends a prostitute to his widowed father, still a self-proclaimed ladies' man in his 90s. The prostitute tells the father that she is his birthday present and promises to give him 'super sex'... . The father replies, 'I'll take the soup.' " There is plenty more where that came from.
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