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littlewolf
littlewolf's Journal
littlewolf's Journal
July 26, 2015
(CNN)Janitors everywhere are rejoicing.
San Francisco city officials are implementing a new "pee-proof" paint around the city to combat the persistent problem of public urination.
Public Works crews have painted 10 walls in the city with a special UV-coated, urine-repellent paint, according to CNN affiliate KPIX.
Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru was inspired by a project in Hamburg, Germany, where walls in a night club district were coated with the liquid-repellent paint.
If an offender tries to urinate on a wall coated with the super hydrophobic paint, the urine, instead of running down the wall, will spray back at the person relieving himself, potentially hitting his clothes or shoes.
Public urination has been a chronic issue in San Francisco for a long time. In 2002, the city passed legislation banning public urination and imposing a $50 to $100 fine for offenders, but the ban has had little to no impact on the problem.
Since the beginning of January, Public Works has had about 375 requests to steam clean urine from various areas in the city. The hope is that the new "pee-proof" paint will help quell some of the city's hottest urinating zones.
more at the link
has someone in SF been watching "naked gun" ? LOL
http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/25/us/san-francisco-pee-proof-paint/(CNN)Janitors everywhere are rejoicing.
San Francisco city officials are implementing a new "pee-proof" paint around the city to combat the persistent problem of public urination.
Public Works crews have painted 10 walls in the city with a special UV-coated, urine-repellent paint, according to CNN affiliate KPIX.
Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru was inspired by a project in Hamburg, Germany, where walls in a night club district were coated with the liquid-repellent paint.
If an offender tries to urinate on a wall coated with the super hydrophobic paint, the urine, instead of running down the wall, will spray back at the person relieving himself, potentially hitting his clothes or shoes.
Public urination has been a chronic issue in San Francisco for a long time. In 2002, the city passed legislation banning public urination and imposing a $50 to $100 fine for offenders, but the ban has had little to no impact on the problem.
Since the beginning of January, Public Works has had about 375 requests to steam clean urine from various areas in the city. The hope is that the new "pee-proof" paint will help quell some of the city's hottest urinating zones.
more at the link
July 26, 2015
Neal Falls, the Oregon man shot to death by a West Virginia prostitute as he tried to strangle her on Saturday, is being investigated in connection with unsolved cases in Nevada that may include the deaths and dismemberment of several women.
"We received information that caused a conversation to take place between us and law enforcement in Henderson, Nevada," Lt. Steve Cooper of the Charleston, West Virginia, police department, told The Huffington Post on Thursday.
Falls, 45, was killed on Saturday by a female escort he met through Backpage.com, an online classified ad portal often used by men seeking prostitutes. Falls went to the escort's Charleston apartment and attacked her, police said. As he tried to strangle her, she grabbed his pistol and shot him to death.
The escort, who has not been identified, was hospitalized with multiple injuries, including broken vertebrae. Authorities have declared the shooting justifiable homicide.
Inside Falls' vehicle, police said they discovered a machete, shovel, axes, knives, bulletproof vest and numerous sets of handcuffs. Police also found a large bottle of bleach and a list containing the names of escorts.
"He carried the big jug of bleach, we're assuming, to destroy evidence," Cooper said. "We've swabbed everything and sent the swabs to the state lab."
The items found in Falls' vehicle, along with statements Saturday's victim attributed to him, lead police to suspect it was not the first time he has attacked a woman. The woman on Wednesday recounted some of those statements to Charleston's WCHS-TV.
"I could tell that he had already done something, because he said he was going to prison for a long time and that's when I knew he was going to kill me," she said.
much more at the link.
huffington post- Neal Falls - las vegas dismemberment stopped by a hooker who got his gun.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/neal-falls-las-vegas-dismemberments_55b08bc4e4b0a9b94853b60cNeal Falls, the Oregon man shot to death by a West Virginia prostitute as he tried to strangle her on Saturday, is being investigated in connection with unsolved cases in Nevada that may include the deaths and dismemberment of several women.
"We received information that caused a conversation to take place between us and law enforcement in Henderson, Nevada," Lt. Steve Cooper of the Charleston, West Virginia, police department, told The Huffington Post on Thursday.
Falls, 45, was killed on Saturday by a female escort he met through Backpage.com, an online classified ad portal often used by men seeking prostitutes. Falls went to the escort's Charleston apartment and attacked her, police said. As he tried to strangle her, she grabbed his pistol and shot him to death.
The escort, who has not been identified, was hospitalized with multiple injuries, including broken vertebrae. Authorities have declared the shooting justifiable homicide.
Inside Falls' vehicle, police said they discovered a machete, shovel, axes, knives, bulletproof vest and numerous sets of handcuffs. Police also found a large bottle of bleach and a list containing the names of escorts.
"He carried the big jug of bleach, we're assuming, to destroy evidence," Cooper said. "We've swabbed everything and sent the swabs to the state lab."
The items found in Falls' vehicle, along with statements Saturday's victim attributed to him, lead police to suspect it was not the first time he has attacked a woman. The woman on Wednesday recounted some of those statements to Charleston's WCHS-TV.
"I could tell that he had already done something, because he said he was going to prison for a long time and that's when I knew he was going to kill me," she said.
much more at the link.
July 25, 2015
Federal regulators on Friday approved the first of a new class of drug that can sharply lower cholesterol levels, offering a new option for millions of Americans suffering from cardiovascular disease, the nation’s leading killer.
But the drug, Praluent, which analysts project will become a huge seller, is expected to become the next flashpoint in the growing controversy of escalating pharmaceutical prices, and health plans are expected to put in place strict measures to control which patients can use the drug and prevent it from becoming a budget buster.
The list price of Praluent is about $14,600 a year, substantially higher than the $7,000 to $12,000 that some health plan executives and Wall Street analysts had been expecting. Typically insurers and government health programs get discounts or rebates.
snip
“We came to a price that is reflective of value, not what the market will bear,” said Elias Zerhouni, head of research and development at Sanofi, who said his own brother had suffered three heart attacks and needed new options to control cholesterol.
In clinical trials, Praluent reduced levels of LDL cholesterol, the so-called bad cholesterol, by 40 percent or more, even among patients already taking statins, the mainstay pills like Lipitor for controlling blood lipids. Some cardiologists say Praluent and similar drugs in the pipeline represent significant advances.
snip
Praluent, also known as alirocumab, was endorsed last month by outside advisers to the Food and Drug Administration. So was Repatha, or evolocumab, a similar drug developed by Amgen that is expected to win F.D.A. approval by the end of August.
But there was considerable debate among the advisers as to how broadly the drugs should be used. In its decision on Friday, the F.D.A. approved Praluent for patients who have had heart attacks, strokes, chest pain or related conditions, or have a genetic condition that causes high cholesterol and who require additional lowering of LDL despite taking the highest dose of a statin that they can tolerate.
snip
Studies aimed at showing that the drugs prevent heart attacks and strokes are underway, but results are not expected until about 2017. Some doctors say they will use the drugs sparingly or not at all until then.
“This is treating a lab value,” said Dr. Rita Redberg, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, referring to lowering cholesterol for its own sake. “I don’t think we should rush into it.”
Health plans are worried that so many patients might use the drugs, which might be taken for life, that it would cost billions or even tens of billions of dollars a year.
The health care system is still smarting from the experience with Sovaldi, a rapidly adopted drug for hepatitis C from Gilead Sciences that cost $1,000 a pill. Gilead sold $12.4 billion worth of Sovaldi and a related drug in 2014, the first full year on the market, straining the budgets of insurance companies and Medicaid programs.
much more at the link.
NYT- FDA approves new drug that can sharply lower cholesterol - down side new drug very pricey
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/25/business/us-approves-drug-that-can-sharply-lower-cholesterol-levels.html?_r=1Federal regulators on Friday approved the first of a new class of drug that can sharply lower cholesterol levels, offering a new option for millions of Americans suffering from cardiovascular disease, the nation’s leading killer.
But the drug, Praluent, which analysts project will become a huge seller, is expected to become the next flashpoint in the growing controversy of escalating pharmaceutical prices, and health plans are expected to put in place strict measures to control which patients can use the drug and prevent it from becoming a budget buster.
The list price of Praluent is about $14,600 a year, substantially higher than the $7,000 to $12,000 that some health plan executives and Wall Street analysts had been expecting. Typically insurers and government health programs get discounts or rebates.
snip
“We came to a price that is reflective of value, not what the market will bear,” said Elias Zerhouni, head of research and development at Sanofi, who said his own brother had suffered three heart attacks and needed new options to control cholesterol.
In clinical trials, Praluent reduced levels of LDL cholesterol, the so-called bad cholesterol, by 40 percent or more, even among patients already taking statins, the mainstay pills like Lipitor for controlling blood lipids. Some cardiologists say Praluent and similar drugs in the pipeline represent significant advances.
snip
Praluent, also known as alirocumab, was endorsed last month by outside advisers to the Food and Drug Administration. So was Repatha, or evolocumab, a similar drug developed by Amgen that is expected to win F.D.A. approval by the end of August.
But there was considerable debate among the advisers as to how broadly the drugs should be used. In its decision on Friday, the F.D.A. approved Praluent for patients who have had heart attacks, strokes, chest pain or related conditions, or have a genetic condition that causes high cholesterol and who require additional lowering of LDL despite taking the highest dose of a statin that they can tolerate.
snip
Studies aimed at showing that the drugs prevent heart attacks and strokes are underway, but results are not expected until about 2017. Some doctors say they will use the drugs sparingly or not at all until then.
“This is treating a lab value,” said Dr. Rita Redberg, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, referring to lowering cholesterol for its own sake. “I don’t think we should rush into it.”
Health plans are worried that so many patients might use the drugs, which might be taken for life, that it would cost billions or even tens of billions of dollars a year.
The health care system is still smarting from the experience with Sovaldi, a rapidly adopted drug for hepatitis C from Gilead Sciences that cost $1,000 a pill. Gilead sold $12.4 billion worth of Sovaldi and a related drug in 2014, the first full year on the market, straining the budgets of insurance companies and Medicaid programs.
much more at the link.
July 22, 2015
ROCKVILLE, Md. (WJLA) - A Maryland lawmaker is accused of flashing her bare breasts during a clash with her ex-husband.
Continue reading
Montgomery County Police have charged Del. Ariana Kelly (D-Montgomery) with indecent exposure and trespassing, both misdemeanors.
Investigators say on June 27, Kelly drove to her ex-husband's home along the 5300 block of Alta Vista Road in Bethesda in order to drop-off her son and daughter, ages eleven and nine. However, as the trio approached the front door, Kelly noticed her ex-husband's new fiancé was inside the two story red brick house
Enraged, Kelly began to repeatedly ring the doorbell and bang on the home’s wooden front door. Moments later, the 38-year-old politician allegedly lifted-up her shirt and flashed her bare breasts. Appalled, Barak Sanford, a prominent investment banker, reportedly used a cell phone to record his ex-wife grab hold of her breasts and shake them up-and-down while standing on the front stoop.
"All-in-all, this is one of the strangest local events I've ever heard of, and it couldn't be more local, I'm only like 50-to-60 yards away," neighbor Geoffrey Marks remarked.
Sanford called 911 and asked that police be dispatched to his home. A responding officer politely asked Kelly to leave three separate times, at which point the elected official is said to have extended both of her wrists and state, "arrest me then." The officer complied with her wishes.
Simmons also made clear that he and his client aggressively dispute the charges. One legal question that could likely be addressed in court: Does exposing one's breasts to one's ex-husband in a semi-private place truly constitute indecent exposure...?
“And regardless of what someone thinks of the incident, [Sanford] called police on the mother of his own children,” Simmons asserted.
the green eyed monster strikes again …. whoa nellie ….
http://www.wjla.com/articles/2015/07/maryland-lawmaker-charged-with-indecent-exposure--115589.htmlROCKVILLE, Md. (WJLA) - A Maryland lawmaker is accused of flashing her bare breasts during a clash with her ex-husband.
Continue reading
Montgomery County Police have charged Del. Ariana Kelly (D-Montgomery) with indecent exposure and trespassing, both misdemeanors.
Investigators say on June 27, Kelly drove to her ex-husband's home along the 5300 block of Alta Vista Road in Bethesda in order to drop-off her son and daughter, ages eleven and nine. However, as the trio approached the front door, Kelly noticed her ex-husband's new fiancé was inside the two story red brick house
Enraged, Kelly began to repeatedly ring the doorbell and bang on the home’s wooden front door. Moments later, the 38-year-old politician allegedly lifted-up her shirt and flashed her bare breasts. Appalled, Barak Sanford, a prominent investment banker, reportedly used a cell phone to record his ex-wife grab hold of her breasts and shake them up-and-down while standing on the front stoop.
"All-in-all, this is one of the strangest local events I've ever heard of, and it couldn't be more local, I'm only like 50-to-60 yards away," neighbor Geoffrey Marks remarked.
Sanford called 911 and asked that police be dispatched to his home. A responding officer politely asked Kelly to leave three separate times, at which point the elected official is said to have extended both of her wrists and state, "arrest me then." The officer complied with her wishes.
Simmons also made clear that he and his client aggressively dispute the charges. One legal question that could likely be addressed in court: Does exposing one's breasts to one's ex-husband in a semi-private place truly constitute indecent exposure...?
“And regardless of what someone thinks of the incident, [Sanford] called police on the mother of his own children,” Simmons asserted.
July 10, 2015
A Canadian conservation officer has been suspended without pay after refusing to kill two bear cubs whose mother had been euthanized.
The older bear was reportedly shot and killed after it repeatedly raided a freezer in a mobile home located south of Port Hardy in British Columbia, according to the Huffington Post. After the conservation service was called, officers were forced to euthanize the bear, yet her cubs later returned to the property, climbing a tree and calling out for their mother.
Officer Bryce Casavant was able to tranquilize the bear cubs, a brother and sister estimated to be 8-weeks-old. Despite an order to kill the bear cubs from his superiors, Casavant transported them to a veterinarian, who found the animals to be healthy. The bears were then taken to a recovery center operated by the North Island Wildlife Recovery Association in Errington, according to the Independent.
Robin Campbell, who manages the center, asserted that Casavant did the right thing, despite his orders. Calling the directive to kill the bear cubs unusual, he pointed out that they could be reintroduced to the wild, as they have yet to become acclimated to human beings.
“In 30 years, this is the first time we’ve ever had an issue like this,” he observed. “There has to be some kind of misunderstanding… hopefully somebody will come to their senses. [The mother bear] was a problem, but these cubs did nothing.”
Casavant has since been suspended without pay for refusing to kill the bear cubs, pending a performance review. A Change.org petition has been started by his supporters, calling upon British Columbia’s environment minister, Mary Polak, to reinstate him. It has garnered 18,000 signatures in just its first 24 hours.
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/2236149/conservation-officer-refuses-to-kill-orphaned-bear-cubs-gets-suspended-without-pay/#t3MJ4JdkrgsDhKvZ.99
Canadian conservation officer refuses to kill orphaned cubs gets suspended w/o pay
A Canadian conservation officer has been suspended without pay after refusing to kill two bear cubs whose mother had been euthanized.
The older bear was reportedly shot and killed after it repeatedly raided a freezer in a mobile home located south of Port Hardy in British Columbia, according to the Huffington Post. After the conservation service was called, officers were forced to euthanize the bear, yet her cubs later returned to the property, climbing a tree and calling out for their mother.
Officer Bryce Casavant was able to tranquilize the bear cubs, a brother and sister estimated to be 8-weeks-old. Despite an order to kill the bear cubs from his superiors, Casavant transported them to a veterinarian, who found the animals to be healthy. The bears were then taken to a recovery center operated by the North Island Wildlife Recovery Association in Errington, according to the Independent.
Robin Campbell, who manages the center, asserted that Casavant did the right thing, despite his orders. Calling the directive to kill the bear cubs unusual, he pointed out that they could be reintroduced to the wild, as they have yet to become acclimated to human beings.
“In 30 years, this is the first time we’ve ever had an issue like this,” he observed. “There has to be some kind of misunderstanding… hopefully somebody will come to their senses. [The mother bear] was a problem, but these cubs did nothing.”
Casavant has since been suspended without pay for refusing to kill the bear cubs, pending a performance review. A Change.org petition has been started by his supporters, calling upon British Columbia’s environment minister, Mary Polak, to reinstate him. It has garnered 18,000 signatures in just its first 24 hours.
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/2236149/conservation-officer-refuses-to-kill-orphaned-bear-cubs-gets-suspended-without-pay/#t3MJ4JdkrgsDhKvZ.99
July 4, 2015
There's progress in the quest for an AIDS vaccine. An experimental vaccine protected half of a batch of monkeys against a virus similar to the AIDS virus, scientists reported Thursday.
The company helping develop the vaccine is already trying it in people, and vaccine experts say it takes a new approach to trying to protect against a virus that's proved almost impossible to stop.
"I think it is quite promising," said Mitchell Warren of the HIV vaccine and treatment advocacy group AVAC.
"In AVAC's 20-year history we have seen a bunch of products never get to efficacy trials. Those that have have mostly failed," said Warren, who was not involved in the latest studies.
The two studies reported in the journal Science show that a two-step vaccine not only protects half the monkeys, but that their bodies produce antibodies that can be measured and that show how well-protected the monkeys are.
We do not know for sure whether a vaccine that protects in monkeys will in fact protect in humans," said Dr. Dan Barouch of Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Ragon Institute at Harvard, MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital.
But Barouch, who led the study, says he thinks this one may. It's because the monkeys were first vaccinated and then repeatedly given large doses of an extremely virulent monkey version of HIV called SIV. And the immune response to the vaccine was strong.
lots more at the link.
new AIDS vaccine protects monkeys
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/new-aids-vaccine-protects-monkeys-n385751There's progress in the quest for an AIDS vaccine. An experimental vaccine protected half of a batch of monkeys against a virus similar to the AIDS virus, scientists reported Thursday.
The company helping develop the vaccine is already trying it in people, and vaccine experts say it takes a new approach to trying to protect against a virus that's proved almost impossible to stop.
"I think it is quite promising," said Mitchell Warren of the HIV vaccine and treatment advocacy group AVAC.
"In AVAC's 20-year history we have seen a bunch of products never get to efficacy trials. Those that have have mostly failed," said Warren, who was not involved in the latest studies.
The two studies reported in the journal Science show that a two-step vaccine not only protects half the monkeys, but that their bodies produce antibodies that can be measured and that show how well-protected the monkeys are.
We do not know for sure whether a vaccine that protects in monkeys will in fact protect in humans," said Dr. Dan Barouch of Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Ragon Institute at Harvard, MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital.
But Barouch, who led the study, says he thinks this one may. It's because the monkeys were first vaccinated and then repeatedly given large doses of an extremely virulent monkey version of HIV called SIV. And the immune response to the vaccine was strong.
lots more at the link.
July 2, 2015
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An ex-California state senator has pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge in an organized crime and public corruption case centered in San Francisco's Chinatown.
Leland Yee entered the plea on Wednesday and could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison when he is sentenced in October.
The FBI arrested Yee and 19 others in 2014 during a series of raids, one of which targeted a Chinese fraternal organization.
Yee was accused of soliciting and accepting bribes in exchange for providing help from Sacramento.
The FBI also alleged that the San Francisco Democrat, who was running for secretary of state at the time, conspired to connect an undercover agent with an international arms dealer in exchange for campaign contributions.
Yee previously pleaded not guilty to bribery, money laundering and other felony charges.
Read more: http://www.kfiam640.com/articles/local-news-465708/exstate-senator-pleads-guilty-to-racketeering-13728170/#ixzz3egwRkEjQ
Leland Yee pleads guilty to racketeering
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An ex-California state senator has pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge in an organized crime and public corruption case centered in San Francisco's Chinatown.
Leland Yee entered the plea on Wednesday and could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison when he is sentenced in October.
The FBI arrested Yee and 19 others in 2014 during a series of raids, one of which targeted a Chinese fraternal organization.
Yee was accused of soliciting and accepting bribes in exchange for providing help from Sacramento.
The FBI also alleged that the San Francisco Democrat, who was running for secretary of state at the time, conspired to connect an undercover agent with an international arms dealer in exchange for campaign contributions.
Yee previously pleaded not guilty to bribery, money laundering and other felony charges.
Read more: http://www.kfiam640.com/articles/local-news-465708/exstate-senator-pleads-guilty-to-racketeering-13728170/#ixzz3egwRkEjQ
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Member since: Sat Aug 28, 2010, 11:23 AMNumber of posts: 3,813
