Really?!
Study: High-Tech Interventions Deliver Huge Childbirth Bill
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Monday, September 08, 2008
D.C. Midwife Gets Some Awesome Media Attention
Cheers to Ruth Lubic and THANKS to CBS for a great story! May God richly bless this sweet lady and the work she is doing for Mommas and Babies!
(Hey Don Williamson! I hope you see this story!! Our infant mortality rate (10 per 1000) isn't quite as bad as D.C.'s 12 but it's certainly worse than the national average of 6.8!...and you think midwives would make it worse. Hmph.)
Click here to see video from CBSNews.
(CBS) Every time Ruth Lubic fusses over a healthy baby, the joy in her voice comes from eight long years of beating the odds. In Washington, D.C., where the infant mortality rate is almost double the national average, CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews reports.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of infant deaths per 1,000 births in the United States is 6.8 - but in Washington, it's 12.2.
Lubic and her team of midwives run a birthing clinic in one of the city's poorest areas. After 800 babies in eight years, they have never lost a child in childbirth, and has cut the rate of premature births - the biggest risk factor for infant mortality - in half.
"You are saving a lot of lives here," Andrews said.
Lubic replied: "Saving lives and increasing the quality of life."
Ruth built her clinic in Washington, D.C., on purpose. She figured if her ideas worked there, if she could tackle infant mortality in Washington, she'd set an example everywhere.
Her approach is simple. She believes low-income women, many on Medicaid, need the prenatal education that midwives provide. Everything from posture, to nutrition, to how the baby grows.
Anike Oliver, who just had a baby boy, Ukama, said she got more time with the midwives than she had with a doctor.
"They wanted to make sure I had as much information as they did," Oliver said.
"Do you think it boils down to just the time you spend with them," Andrews asked Lubic.
"I think so," she replied. "I'm convinced that's what it is. It's time, respect, its treating people with dignity."
And what's most remarkable is that Lubic still does it at 81 years old. She's runs the clinic during the week, then runs homeon the weekends to her husband in New York.
"You could be retired!" Andrews said.
"I'm not tired the first time! Much less retired," Lubic said.
Lubic's biggest fan is D.C. city councilman David Catania. He says because she keeps hundreds of babies out of prenatal care, she saves the city around a $1 million a year. That's why he supports her when Ruth hounds the city council for funding.
"While I tease her a lot about being a pit bull with a smile, I look at her sometimes with complete envy about how you can have such a burning drive at 81," Catania said. "And it's a great inspiration."
"I think I'm insufferable because of my … belief that what I'm doing is the right thing to do," Lubic said.
Lubic says infant mortality is a national disgrace - but a disgrace that midwives can help solve.
And this pit bull with a smile won't let go of that idea until it sinks in nationwide.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
(Hey Don Williamson! I hope you see this story!! Our infant mortality rate (10 per 1000) isn't quite as bad as D.C.'s 12 but it's certainly worse than the national average of 6.8!...and you think midwives would make it worse. Hmph.)
Click here to see video from CBSNews.
(CBS) Every time Ruth Lubic fusses over a healthy baby, the joy in her voice comes from eight long years of beating the odds. In Washington, D.C., where the infant mortality rate is almost double the national average, CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews reports.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of infant deaths per 1,000 births in the United States is 6.8 - but in Washington, it's 12.2.
Lubic and her team of midwives run a birthing clinic in one of the city's poorest areas. After 800 babies in eight years, they have never lost a child in childbirth, and has cut the rate of premature births - the biggest risk factor for infant mortality - in half.
"You are saving a lot of lives here," Andrews said.
Lubic replied: "Saving lives and increasing the quality of life."
Ruth built her clinic in Washington, D.C., on purpose. She figured if her ideas worked there, if she could tackle infant mortality in Washington, she'd set an example everywhere.
Her approach is simple. She believes low-income women, many on Medicaid, need the prenatal education that midwives provide. Everything from posture, to nutrition, to how the baby grows.
Anike Oliver, who just had a baby boy, Ukama, said she got more time with the midwives than she had with a doctor.
"They wanted to make sure I had as much information as they did," Oliver said.
"Do you think it boils down to just the time you spend with them," Andrews asked Lubic.
"I think so," she replied. "I'm convinced that's what it is. It's time, respect, its treating people with dignity."
And what's most remarkable is that Lubic still does it at 81 years old. She's runs the clinic during the week, then runs homeon the weekends to her husband in New York.
"You could be retired!" Andrews said.
"I'm not tired the first time! Much less retired," Lubic said.
Lubic's biggest fan is D.C. city councilman David Catania. He says because she keeps hundreds of babies out of prenatal care, she saves the city around a $1 million a year. That's why he supports her when Ruth hounds the city council for funding.
"While I tease her a lot about being a pit bull with a smile, I look at her sometimes with complete envy about how you can have such a burning drive at 81," Catania said. "And it's a great inspiration."
"I think I'm insufferable because of my … belief that what I'm doing is the right thing to do," Lubic said.
Lubic says infant mortality is a national disgrace - but a disgrace that midwives can help solve.
And this pit bull with a smile won't let go of that idea until it sinks in nationwide.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Rainy Day Became...
rained out ballgames.
Which became yummy, warm, home-cooked supper.
Which became relaxing dusk time on back porch.
Which became early kids' bedtimes (super-early for boys!)
Which became DVR'ed Earl, Grey's, Lost.
Which became a 2nd-day-in-a-row blog entry.
And all in 48 words.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
While We're Talking Reality Shows
First, I just have to jump in with the rest of the Christians and say a BIG WHOO HOO for the Shout To The Lord performances! PRAISE HIS NAME!
Second, how about my fave, Jason Castro? LOVE HIM! Yes, he's got a little goof factor to him (when I first saw him on AI I thought he was high!) but there's definitely something I love about him! Isn't he beautiful?
And while we're at it, let's watch this one again:
Second, how about my fave, Jason Castro? LOVE HIM! Yes, he's got a little goof factor to him (when I first saw him on AI I thought he was high!) but there's definitely something I love about him! Isn't he beautiful?
And while we're at it, let's watch this one again:
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Vote For Rog!
***EDITED*** See below...
You know he deserves it over that Yankee! :) And he deserves it over the 2 people who have already been eliminated from the show and come back AND he deserves it over the girl who should have been voted off the first week!
I'm SO happy for all the Biggest Loser contestants, though! What a blessing!
You can vote 100 times per email address! So get cracking!
Roger Schultz from Alabama
From the Biggest Loser website (look at his weight loss chart! He set a BL record for most weight lost on campus!): Roger is a fun-loving Southern guy who is very loud and very outgoing. When he walks into the room you can see his personality a mile away. He's very proud of being an ex-football player for Alabama. Seeing his pictures you could tell why, the guy was hot!! He's very passionate about getting back to his playing weight. Not only for his health but because he wants to match his twin brother who is 198lbs. Nowadays, he satisfies his college football cravings by hosting a live radio show: In The Trenches. It's lists him as one of Alabama's favorite "football son". With his down-to-earth good ol' boy charm, I can see why.
***ETA***
Dear friends,
As most of you know, Roger has lost over 144 pounds in the last few months on the NBC show "Biggest Loser:Couples". After going through this dramatic transformation over the last 5 months, Roger is still the most caring husband, loving father, and loyal friend that anyone could pray for in their lives.
I am asking you to vote for my best friend and better half Roger to be the third finalist on the show. Please go to the following link http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser_5/vote/register.shtml. If the link does not work, go to NBC.com and select Biggest Loser:Couples. The voting link will be at the top of the Biggest Loser page. Each email address can vote 100 times until 9pm Thursday night.
I have attached a picture that brings me great joy. You can see how happy Ivan is to have his Daddy home!
Please forward this to your friends and family and ask them to vote for Roger!
Thanks for your help!
Love to you all,
Paige
You know he deserves it over that Yankee! :) And he deserves it over the 2 people who have already been eliminated from the show and come back AND he deserves it over the girl who should have been voted off the first week!
I'm SO happy for all the Biggest Loser contestants, though! What a blessing!
You can vote 100 times per email address! So get cracking!
Roger Schultz from AlabamaFrom the Biggest Loser website (look at his weight loss chart! He set a BL record for most weight lost on campus!): Roger is a fun-loving Southern guy who is very loud and very outgoing. When he walks into the room you can see his personality a mile away. He's very proud of being an ex-football player for Alabama. Seeing his pictures you could tell why, the guy was hot!! He's very passionate about getting back to his playing weight. Not only for his health but because he wants to match his twin brother who is 198lbs. Nowadays, he satisfies his college football cravings by hosting a live radio show: In The Trenches. It's lists him as one of Alabama's favorite "football son". With his down-to-earth good ol' boy charm, I can see why.
Dear friends,As most of you know, Roger has lost over 144 pounds in the last few months on the NBC show "Biggest Loser:Couples". After going through this dramatic transformation over the last 5 months, Roger is still the most caring husband, loving father, and loyal friend that anyone could pray for in their lives.
I am asking you to vote for my best friend and better half Roger to be the third finalist on the show. Please go to the following link http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser_5/vote/register.shtml. If the link does not work, go to NBC.com and select Biggest Loser:Couples. The voting link will be at the top of the Biggest Loser page. Each email address can vote 100 times until 9pm Thursday night.
I have attached a picture that brings me great joy. You can see how happy Ivan is to have his Daddy home!
Please forward this to your friends and family and ask them to vote for Roger!
Thanks for your help!
Love to you all,
Paige
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Cataloging Current Chaos & Contemplations
Alphabetically.
Alabama lawmakers. Ugh. I can think of another "C" word (notice the alliteration of the title?) that could describe a bunch of them. It's definition is "not straight; bent."
Ball season. It is SO upon us. Thank you, God for sending the much-needed rain that has allowed us a slower start than originally scheduled. We'll be ready for a full line-up soon but right now, having each of the 4 kids practicing only once a week instead of twice, has been really nice! Stay tuned for what I hope will be really great ball videos and pictures.
Birthday parties. If I had more time and money I could probably come up with a few incredibly cool ideas but with a tight budget and even tighter calendar, the planning required for the March 27, May 7, May 29, and June 22 events is a little cheated sometimes. Captain's 1st bday party was with very little fanfare, poor fella. I think the other 4 might get mutually themed events...all motivated by a certain mouse we'll be visiting in February 2009. We are now in countdown mode so I think the kids would enjoy some Diz-themed celebrations. But not just a Princess or Mickey thing! No, I'm thinking something specifically related to our favorite things on our previous DW trip. Hmmm...
Blogs. Adding lots to my reader lately. Watch the sidebar because most will probably make it there in the near future.
Houses. I have a folder of online bookmarks for 12 houses. These are the ones we are interested in seriously considering once ours sells. Unfortunately, one of these 12 became a "pending" status this week. I guess that's OK, though because it's a different one that actually has my heart-rate speeding a little when I think about it.
Kids. Mine are awesome and amazing. Sometimes, in between the rebellion and disobedience, the fussing and fighting, the name-calling and hitting, my kids will laugh and play with each other and obey simple commands. Sometimes they will do what they need to do without being told. Sometimes they are fall-out-of-my-chair funny! Sometimes I look at them when they don't know it, and I just stare and smile because I can't believe how gorgeous and wonderful they are.
Living with parents. It's still good but it's still not home.
"Preparing For Adolescence." - This is a class I am teaching to 6th grade girls at the church. It's one of those classes where parents have to sign a permission slip. It's one of those classes where I had to meet with parents before we started. It's one of those classes where students are allowed to write anonymous questions and put them in a box. Yeah.
Reality TV - We're too interested in too many of these silly shows. But they are SO much fun. Project Runway was great and I will miss watching it. The Biggest Loser is new to our schedule this year and was only added because of Bama's Roger Shultz. We are now REALLY loving it and hope Rog goes all the way! It makes me want to exercise, which is a good thing but I often find myself eating uce cream while I watch it! Survivor is still an old standby. We haven't let the kids watch it this year, though. I don't have a favorite yet. American Idol is great, of course. I had high hopes for David Arculetta (sp?) but tonight's bombing worries me. Jason Castro is gorgeous. I don't mean that in a lustful way but in a way that means I truly think he's beautiful. I like looking at him like I like looking at sunsets. The Apprentice is another new one we added to our viewing list. It almost didn't make it because we were unsure we'd like it but it's been very enjoyable. I don't know if we'll watch it when the Celebrity season is over. I don't know if we'd enjoy watching regular people. (as an aside - is anyone watching Breaking Bad?? It's not a reality show but... anyone see it? It's horribly, and I mean HORRIBLY as in a bad-way, fascinating.)
Ron Paul. I am sad he won't be our Prez and will miss his campaign (this girl ROCKS!!!).
Teething. 12 teeth in Captain's little mouth now. T W E L V E ! He's not even 13 months old (will be on the 13th, though! YIKES!) These four molars have been tough but we're nearing the end. Two nights ago was restless. Last night was better but not perfectly sound. Tonight is lots of drool but a happy mood.
TGM - As mentioned in the Birthday Parties entry, we're in the early but serious stages of officially planning our next Family Disney World vacation (with Henry's family.) Even though I stuck my nose in the accomodations-planning portion for a short period of time, I have since given all authority of that responsibility to Pa Trippe. I know he will do a fantastic job in that department and I'd much rather focus on the itinerary portion of the trip. Too soon? NO WAY! Farnsworth and I do a bang-up job of this and with the wisdom of Tour Guide Mike, we are certainly expecting another smooth, relaxed, fully-packed, but well-rested vacation.
Alabama lawmakers. Ugh. I can think of another "C" word (notice the alliteration of the title?) that could describe a bunch of them. It's definition is "not straight; bent."
Ball season. It is SO upon us. Thank you, God for sending the much-needed rain that has allowed us a slower start than originally scheduled. We'll be ready for a full line-up soon but right now, having each of the 4 kids practicing only once a week instead of twice, has been really nice! Stay tuned for what I hope will be really great ball videos and pictures.
Birthday parties. If I had more time and money I could probably come up with a few incredibly cool ideas but with a tight budget and even tighter calendar, the planning required for the March 27, May 7, May 29, and June 22 events is a little cheated sometimes. Captain's 1st bday party was with very little fanfare, poor fella. I think the other 4 might get mutually themed events...all motivated by a certain mouse we'll be visiting in February 2009. We are now in countdown mode so I think the kids would enjoy some Diz-themed celebrations. But not just a Princess or Mickey thing! No, I'm thinking something specifically related to our favorite things on our previous DW trip. Hmmm...
Blogs. Adding lots to my reader lately. Watch the sidebar because most will probably make it there in the near future.
Houses. I have a folder of online bookmarks for 12 houses. These are the ones we are interested in seriously considering once ours sells. Unfortunately, one of these 12 became a "pending" status this week. I guess that's OK, though because it's a different one that actually has my heart-rate speeding a little when I think about it.
Kids. Mine are awesome and amazing. Sometimes, in between the rebellion and disobedience, the fussing and fighting, the name-calling and hitting, my kids will laugh and play with each other and obey simple commands. Sometimes they will do what they need to do without being told. Sometimes they are fall-out-of-my-chair funny! Sometimes I look at them when they don't know it, and I just stare and smile because I can't believe how gorgeous and wonderful they are.
Living with parents. It's still good but it's still not home.
"Preparing For Adolescence." - This is a class I am teaching to 6th grade girls at the church. It's one of those classes where parents have to sign a permission slip. It's one of those classes where I had to meet with parents before we started. It's one of those classes where students are allowed to write anonymous questions and put them in a box. Yeah.
Reality TV - We're too interested in too many of these silly shows. But they are SO much fun. Project Runway was great and I will miss watching it. The Biggest Loser is new to our schedule this year and was only added because of Bama's Roger Shultz. We are now REALLY loving it and hope Rog goes all the way! It makes me want to exercise, which is a good thing but I often find myself eating uce cream while I watch it! Survivor is still an old standby. We haven't let the kids watch it this year, though. I don't have a favorite yet. American Idol is great, of course. I had high hopes for David Arculetta (sp?) but tonight's bombing worries me. Jason Castro is gorgeous. I don't mean that in a lustful way but in a way that means I truly think he's beautiful. I like looking at him like I like looking at sunsets. The Apprentice is another new one we added to our viewing list. It almost didn't make it because we were unsure we'd like it but it's been very enjoyable. I don't know if we'll watch it when the Celebrity season is over. I don't know if we'd enjoy watching regular people. (as an aside - is anyone watching Breaking Bad?? It's not a reality show but... anyone see it? It's horribly, and I mean HORRIBLY as in a bad-way, fascinating.)
Ron Paul. I am sad he won't be our Prez and will miss his campaign (this girl ROCKS!!!).
Teething. 12 teeth in Captain's little mouth now. T W E L V E ! He's not even 13 months old (will be on the 13th, though! YIKES!) These four molars have been tough but we're nearing the end. Two nights ago was restless. Last night was better but not perfectly sound. Tonight is lots of drool but a happy mood.
TGM - As mentioned in the Birthday Parties entry, we're in the early but serious stages of officially planning our next Family Disney World vacation (with Henry's family.) Even though I stuck my nose in the accomodations-planning portion for a short period of time, I have since given all authority of that responsibility to Pa Trippe. I know he will do a fantastic job in that department and I'd much rather focus on the itinerary portion of the trip. Too soon? NO WAY! Farnsworth and I do a bang-up job of this and with the wisdom of Tour Guide Mike, we are certainly expecting another smooth, relaxed, fully-packed, but well-rested vacation.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Painful Laughter
Did anyone else double over in painful, gut-splitting, throat-sore-ing, tear-rolling laughter Saturday night when watching this clip?
Thank goodness we could pause it during the pain!
ETA: embedded video
Thank goodness we could pause it during the pain!
ETA: embedded video
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
By The Way
Yes, today is the day I'll be in a whirlwind of activity at the State House & BoBB screening but, for some reason, I felt it necessary to update you guys on the latest from my Wheel of Fortune pursuits.
After not hearing from the producers about a call-back, I reluctantly googled for information about others who auditioned for the Alabama round of play. What I found saddened, but didn't surprise me.
Call-back auditions were held February 11th. And I wasn't invited.
Guess I'll be sticking to this retro, hand-held version (we really have one!) if I want to buy my own vowels.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Fox News Has Kinda Ticked Me Off
I haven't mentioned it much for several reasons but this article/blog gave me what I needed to stand behind a public mention of frustration.
Be sure to click on both videos.
Be sure to click on both videos.
Monday, December 17, 2007
One Video From The Local News
But not the post-audition video. I'm still looking for it.
This is from ABC 33/40 showing what they aired BEFORE the auditions.
This is from ABC 33/40 showing what they aired BEFORE the auditions.
LA Again? Sure Hope So!
How weird is it that ONE DAY after the 1-year anniversary of my Price Is Right Trip that I find out about Wheel Of Fortune coming to Birmingham THE NEXT DAY?
Do y'all remember after my failed attempts to be a contestant on TPIR that I said I wanted to try Wheel of Fortune next? After doing research on it, I soon realized that WOF wouldn't be NEARLY as easy as TPIR but I held onto hope. I signed up for the Wheel Watcher emails and assumed I would get an email about any WheelMobile stops in AL and possibly even neighborhing states.
Imagine my surprise when I clicked on Crystal's blog to do a little catch-up reading and finding THIS post! WHAT!? WM coming to Birmingham and I didn't know about it? Did I miss it? What's the date??? HURRY, little brain, FIND THE DATE! What is today's date? ACK! Panic, panic!
WHAT? It's TOMORROW?
Yep, Friday the 14th I saw Crystal's blog and was STUNNED that I hadn't gotten any emails about this and even MORE stunned to realize the WheelMobile was the NEXT DAY!
So the plans for our weekend started to change right away. (Sorry to those who were a part of our plans changing and THANKS FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT that we should do this!)
Saturday morning we got up early and Henry & I, along with all the kids, my parents, and my Uncle J went to Bham for the big auditions! It was SO dang crowded at the Galleria but we hoped it was because of Christmas shopping and not because of the WheelMobile. Turns out, our hopes were right and we were fine. We had plenty of time to eat lunch and then get in line approximately 1 hour before doors opened at the vacant anchor store where the auditions would be held. We stood in line, filled out applications, talked to some people around us, took a few pics, and kept a watch out for Crystal so I could tell her THANK YOU in person! Honestly, if it wasn't for her blog, I'd STILL be clueless about the WM! oohh....I shudder to think about how I would have felt finding out about this TOO LATE!
So we were 5 (18 & over) out of 500 (?) who made it into the first round of auditions. I won't re-type all of the process because you can find out all about that HERE but I will tell you that just being there was a step closer to being on the show but there are still tons of other steps that have to happen.
PRAISE GOD that my name was called SECOND! YES, that's #2!!! I was the second person called to the stage!! We were F R E A K I N G out! When I say "we" I know for a fact that me and my kids were freaking! I remember seeing Mom look back at me with a super-excited look and her eyes a little teary, kinda like mine were when I saw Bob Barker! Anyway, it was an AWESOME moment! When Marty (the travelling host) was reading the name he was handed out of the giant gold barrel that held all of our applications, time started to slow down. I heard my name in slow-mo and it was VERY surreal. It was the closest thing to "Come On Down" that I might ever hear!
So I handed Captain to Uncle J (and was so thankful I had already unhooked him from the Maya Tie because of the intense body heat we were producing in that CROWDED room!) I ran to the stage, had a Polaroid snapped and stapled to my application, and was hurried onto the stage. As we were REPEATEDLY told, THE AUDITION HAD BEGUN! (Ladies and gentlemen, your audition starts the second your name is called so make it count! This is YOUR CHANCE! Own the stage!")
Well, I don't know if I OWNED the stage or not but my game-show-prep studying I had done kinda started trickling through my adrenaline-flooded brain. Be happy (check) be enthusiastic (check), be a good sport and encouraging to others (hug fellow contestants -- check) have fun (check check!)
I looked down at the kids, who had made their way to the front of the crowd so they could see me better and they were TOTALLY flippin'! It was the coolest thing! Rocky was red-faced and smiling bigger than I've ever seen him smile. His hands were in the air and he was waving 'em like he just didn't care! Awesome.
The next few minutes were a blur. The 5 of us first contestants were called 1 at a time to the front of the stage to introduce & tell a little bit about ourselves. I was second in line so I was called forward almost immediately after gaining a bit of composure. I told my name and then it went something like this:
Marty : (standing on tip-toes -- ha ha - I'm tall.) "So what do you, Stacy?"
Me : "Well, I have 5 children and I homeschool them so we spend a lot of time together." (it just came out without much thought. the "homeschool" word seemed to get one cheer from one person in the back of the room!)
Marty : "Allright! 5 kids! So what do you like to do in your free time? Your STACY time?"
Me : (mustering courage to attempt humor) "You heard me say I have five children, right?"
LAUGHTER! WHOO HOO!
Me : "Well, I'm a little bit of an internet nerd and I like to blog."
Marty : "You're a blogger, huh? What do you blog about? Having 5 kids?"
Me : (something like) "Yes!"
Marty : "Are you ready to play the Wheel?"
Me : (something like) "Very much so!" (Did I raise my hand in the air??)
Marty : (his arm around me turned me back to my place) "Good job!....Next..."
I was shaking like a leaf! AGH! It was all happening so fast!
When I got back to my spot, I spoke again to Contestant number 1. Niceties. Then I looked for the producers/judges/whatever. Eye contact was made and the lady with the sparkly reading glasses nodded and smiled at me and then wrote some notes! I smiled ever so Southernly but didn't stare. I actually started making even more attempts at being cheerful for the other contestants. And then I noticed the puzzle was being put on the board. Hmmm....see if you can figure it out, Stace.- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Something and something.
BRICKS AND MORTAR? Could it be bricks and mortar? Why did that pop in my head? Where's the category? THINGS. Wow, it COULD be bricks and mortar!
Looked over at Miss Sparkly Glasses and wanted her to know "I know how to play this game. I am SERIOUS about playing this game. I am already playing this game."
She noticed me again and smiled AGAIN and made notes AGAIN! Even Heidi, the traveling "Vanna" noticed me already working on the puzzle and smiled at me. YAY FOR SMILES!
The game started. #1 guessed R. 1 R.
Not BRICKS AND MORTAR.
My turn. "S"
2 S's!
Think, think, think.
I know the middle word is AND -- or so I think it is but it's going so fast...and didn't somebody guess N? If they guessed N, it's not AND because there's no N up there. My brain was racing...where's that list of already-guessed letters? MY TURN AGAIN!
I guessed D because I wanted to see if it was AND but didn't want to accidentally say a letter that was already guessed.
2 D's!
Contestant #4 guessed O and there was 1 O and I figured it out! PLEASE don't get it...please don't get it...please let it get back to me...
Contestant #5 guessed something but it wasn't in the puzzle. Back to #1 and she guessed L! I knew there was no L so it was making it back to ME!!!
"H" I said loudly and clearly into the microphone. Heidi signaled for the H and wrote it in. When it came up I clearly said, "HOPES AND DREAMS!"
DING DING DING! I won! The crowd cheered! WHOO HOO!
It was daggum exciting!
Oh, I forgot that the prize wheel was spun before the round started and our prize was a fanny pack so as we walked off-stage, we received our bags with a keychain and blinky lapel pin inside!
And that was it! We stuck around to see if anyone else in the family's name was drawn but they weren't. The audition lasted about 1 hour and there about 50 people who went across the stage by the end of the "show."
As we left, the waiting room was CROWDED with another set of folks waiting for the 2nd audition. There were 3 total on Saturday and 3 more today. I'm sooooooo thankful I made it through on the first round and we didn't have to stick around for the others!
So now we wait to see if I am one of about 70 from these two days' worth of auditions that get called back for a final audition to be held in a couple of months. From blogs of others who have gone through similar procedures, I should know the answer to this within 1 month. Sigh...the waiting...
We are so pumped at the possibility! I can't believe I'm actually in the long-shot running of contestants! Think about it...there are only 3 contestants per night for maybe 150 shows per year? (note to self - read show FAQs for info like this.) If there were 500 people over 6 sets of auditions, that's me needing to be 70 out of 3000 people they saw this weekend! OK, so I at least made it to the stage for them to see me so I'm actually in the running of about 50 that went on stage per show so that's needing to be in the top 70 of 300. Maybe??
Will keep you posted! In the meantime, read the "About Video" portion of this guy's youtube video. It tells a pretty good synopsis of the process he went through.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Already Up Too Late
We've got another early morning tomorrow and I'm already up WAY too late but I have a SUPER-DUPER exciting post I want to make! I would like to put a handful of links in it (kinda like Steph does) so it's not a post I can just slap together real quick.
But since the suspense might be killing you, I will tell you the topic of my upcoming post.
Drumroll please...
I AUDITIONED FOR THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE SHOW AT THE WHEELMOBILE!!
It was a fantastic experience and I want to share some pictures and the story and what steps we're hoping will come next. But I absolutely CANNOT get it all together tonight. Hopefully tomorrow night.
So in the meantime, here's a hilarious video of He-Man enjoying the Christian metal band Thousand Foot Krutch. The song is "Rawk Fist" which isn't one of their "Christian" songs per se (some of them ARE) but it's a fun one!
But since the suspense might be killing you, I will tell you the topic of my upcoming post.
Drumroll please...
I AUDITIONED FOR THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE SHOW AT THE WHEELMOBILE!!
It was a fantastic experience and I want to share some pictures and the story and what steps we're hoping will come next. But I absolutely CANNOT get it all together tonight. Hopefully tomorrow night.
So in the meantime, here's a hilarious video of He-Man enjoying the Christian metal band Thousand Foot Krutch. The song is "Rawk Fist" which isn't one of their "Christian" songs per se (some of them ARE) but it's a fun one!
Friday, December 14, 2007
December 13th
I know y'all are missing my house posts so I thought I'd update you!
We took ourselves off of house-viewing restriction and started looking at a few more again. I'm beginning to see that God might be answering our prayers for wisdom about our next purchase by giving us PLENTY of time to shop. Seriously,we I have fallen "in love" with a handful of houses already but today is the first time we've actually given 2nd visits to any houses. We've also left numerous houses saying, "yeah...this could be the one" only to have our feelings change over the following days.
What if we had jumped on any of those houses early on because of a quick sale? I shudder...
Although I REALLY DID love that one house...
So today we saw 4 houses and 2 of them were 2nd visits. The first house of today was, by all recollections, the first house we saw in all of this journey. It has been the kids' favorite and it IS REALLY REALLY cool but after checking it out again, we're close to officially crossing it off the list. I'm going to do a quick google search about eliminating mold/mildew in basements to see if any technological advances have been made to remedy this problem in aging houses but am pretty sure that we don't want to tackle this potential health hazard. (But dang, we could probably get them to REALLY drop the price!) Our re-visit today caused almost all of us to have itchy/fuzzy tongues and watery eyes when we were in the basement and afterwards. We are a very sensitive family and feel pretty sure it was something we breathed in that musty basement that caused these problems.
House #2 was also a re-visit and it was one that Henry initially didn't like. He was turned off by the price the first time we looked at it and just didn't see it in a positive light because of it. But THIS time (since they dropped the price a little bit) it has catapaulted to the top of our LOVE list. It is H U G E and we are really leaning towards it. It's still too pricey, especially considering it will need some massive updating (not repair, just cosmetics as far as we can tell pre-inspection) but it has really great space for our family.
Houses #3 & 4 were around the corner from each other in a great neighborhood. Number three was crossed off almost immediately. No side door. Too formal. Bedrooms too small. It was probably the most BEAUTIFUL of all the houses we've seen this whole time but just not a good fit for us. I'm really quite surprised at the square footage it says it has because to us, it just seemed really small. A retired couple needs to get it.
Number 4 is the one I stood in the front of yesterday and prayed for God to take out of my heart if it wasn't meant to be. Today, he might have answered that prayer. The neighborhood is SUPER-awesome and desireable, but the house, not so much. GORGEOUS on the outside, but small-ish (for us) and too needy on the inside. Good enough, though, to be #2 on our list right now. It costs the same as our SUPER-SIZED fave but might have better potential at accepting a lower offer, though. We'd have to decide which is more important...location or size. And the location is good because of stability of neighborhood and closeness to parents and inlaws NOT location of church/work/ballfields. If those were our only criteria, Super-Size house would be tops.
Sigh...so much to think about.
Of course, we can't forget...OUR HOUSE MUST SELL!
******
HAPPY 84th BDAY BOB BARKER!
It was one year ago today that we were in the audience of The Price Is Right. I can't believe how time has flown!
Today is Captain's 10 month bday, too!
We took ourselves off of house-viewing restriction and started looking at a few more again. I'm beginning to see that God might be answering our prayers for wisdom about our next purchase by giving us PLENTY of time to shop. Seriously,
What if we had jumped on any of those houses early on because of a quick sale? I shudder...
Although I REALLY DID love that one house...
So today we saw 4 houses and 2 of them were 2nd visits. The first house of today was, by all recollections, the first house we saw in all of this journey. It has been the kids' favorite and it IS REALLY REALLY cool but after checking it out again, we're close to officially crossing it off the list. I'm going to do a quick google search about eliminating mold/mildew in basements to see if any technological advances have been made to remedy this problem in aging houses but am pretty sure that we don't want to tackle this potential health hazard. (But dang, we could probably get them to REALLY drop the price!) Our re-visit today caused almost all of us to have itchy/fuzzy tongues and watery eyes when we were in the basement and afterwards. We are a very sensitive family and feel pretty sure it was something we breathed in that musty basement that caused these problems.
House #2 was also a re-visit and it was one that Henry initially didn't like. He was turned off by the price the first time we looked at it and just didn't see it in a positive light because of it. But THIS time (since they dropped the price a little bit) it has catapaulted to the top of our LOVE list. It is H U G E and we are really leaning towards it. It's still too pricey, especially considering it will need some massive updating (not repair, just cosmetics as far as we can tell pre-inspection) but it has really great space for our family.
Houses #3 & 4 were around the corner from each other in a great neighborhood. Number three was crossed off almost immediately. No side door. Too formal. Bedrooms too small. It was probably the most BEAUTIFUL of all the houses we've seen this whole time but just not a good fit for us. I'm really quite surprised at the square footage it says it has because to us, it just seemed really small. A retired couple needs to get it.
Number 4 is the one I stood in the front of yesterday and prayed for God to take out of my heart if it wasn't meant to be. Today, he might have answered that prayer. The neighborhood is SUPER-awesome and desireable, but the house, not so much. GORGEOUS on the outside, but small-ish (for us) and too needy on the inside. Good enough, though, to be #2 on our list right now. It costs the same as our SUPER-SIZED fave but might have better potential at accepting a lower offer, though. We'd have to decide which is more important...location or size. And the location is good because of stability of neighborhood and closeness to parents and inlaws NOT location of church/work/ballfields. If those were our only criteria, Super-Size house would be tops.
Sigh...so much to think about.
Of course, we can't forget...OUR HOUSE MUST SELL!
HAPPY 84th BDAY BOB BARKER!
It was one year ago today that we were in the audience of The Price Is Right. I can't believe how time has flown!
Today is Captain's 10 month bday, too!
Friday, November 02, 2007
I'm Cheating - Not That There's Anything Wrong With That
I'm not going to enroll in the official NaBloPoMo thing but I will attempt to write a post every day this month.
But I'm not getting off to a very good start considering how it's already after midnight and therefore November 2. Since I'm still awake, can this count as a November 1 post? Yeah? You don't care? Thanks!
Shall I choose a theme for each of my posts to help motivate my writing?
This can be the Seinfeld post...
What is the deal with sweating at the park in November? I mean, who are the ad wizards who came up with a hot November day?
Ray added too much salt to the homemade tomato soup so......NO SOUP FOR YOU!
Captain's all drooly and slobbery again because he's finishing off the cutting of his 6th tooth! It won't be long and he'll be able to have a Junior Mint! Who's gonna turn down a Junior Mint? It's chocolate, it's peppermint, it's delicious.
Sabrina totally got ripped off by being booted from DWTS. I guess now she can pretend to be a marine biologist.
But I'm not getting off to a very good start considering how it's already after midnight and therefore November 2. Since I'm still awake, can this count as a November 1 post? Yeah? You don't care? Thanks!
Shall I choose a theme for each of my posts to help motivate my writing?
This can be the Seinfeld post...
What is the deal with sweating at the park in November? I mean, who are the ad wizards who came up with a hot November day?
Ray added too much salt to the homemade tomato soup so......NO SOUP FOR YOU!
Captain's all drooly and slobbery again because he's finishing off the cutting of his 6th tooth! It won't be long and he'll be able to have a Junior Mint! Who's gonna turn down a Junior Mint? It's chocolate, it's peppermint, it's delicious.
Sabrina totally got ripped off by being booted from DWTS. I guess now she can pretend to be a marine biologist.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Remember Angie?
Yeah, 20/20 said it wasn't working, remember?
Her blog says otherwise. Read older entries, too.
Yay God!!
Her blog says otherwise. Read older entries, too.
Yay God!!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
We Are Weird
**links have been corrected now so you can see all references**
A few weeks ago, I was watching SNL by myself. Henry was either in bed or on the computer in the office or something. Wherever he was, he missed the original airing of the Dear Sister sketch when Shia Lebeouf hosted. I laughed. It was funny. But I did not know that I was watching a new moment in pop culture youtube fads. In fact, it seemed so insignificant to me that I didn't even tell Henry anything about it.
A couple of days ago, Henry emailed me the youtube version of this sketch. In the email he said something like, "I laughed til I puked..." (not really, I just don't remember exactly what he said.) I replied back to him that he was disturbed.
While on the youtube site, something made me want to search for "Bugs Bunny, Bugs Bunny, Rah Rah Rah" and I stumbled across a "Duck Season, Wabbit Season" parody of the Dear Sister sketch. It made me laugh.
Last night, while hanging with my parents and sister & her family, we started talking about this SNL skit. Uma could not believe we thought this sketch was funny. And Uma, being as insightful as she always is, theorized that SURELY this was based on some TV show or movie but none of us knew what it was. So we started googling and looking on youtube for the answer. Turns out the SNL sketch was a parody of the Season 2 finale of The OC.
Well, THEN we started looking at other goofy parodies of this parody (SNL parodied OC and everybody else parodied SNL!) There are some hilarious ones out there. But Uma emailed the best to me tonight. I wanted to share it with you.
Are any of you as weird as we are and think these are funny?
A few weeks ago, I was watching SNL by myself. Henry was either in bed or on the computer in the office or something. Wherever he was, he missed the original airing of the Dear Sister sketch when Shia Lebeouf hosted. I laughed. It was funny. But I did not know that I was watching a new moment in pop culture youtube fads. In fact, it seemed so insignificant to me that I didn't even tell Henry anything about it.
A couple of days ago, Henry emailed me the youtube version of this sketch. In the email he said something like, "I laughed til I puked..." (not really, I just don't remember exactly what he said.) I replied back to him that he was disturbed.
While on the youtube site, something made me want to search for "Bugs Bunny, Bugs Bunny, Rah Rah Rah" and I stumbled across a "Duck Season, Wabbit Season" parody of the Dear Sister sketch. It made me laugh.
Last night, while hanging with my parents and sister & her family, we started talking about this SNL skit. Uma could not believe we thought this sketch was funny. And Uma, being as insightful as she always is, theorized that SURELY this was based on some TV show or movie but none of us knew what it was. So we started googling and looking on youtube for the answer. Turns out the SNL sketch was a parody of the Season 2 finale of The OC.
Well, THEN we started looking at other goofy parodies of this parody (SNL parodied OC and everybody else parodied SNL!) There are some hilarious ones out there. But Uma emailed the best to me tonight. I wanted to share it with you.
Are any of you as weird as we are and think these are funny?
Friday, June 15, 2007
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Long Entry About M And Response to 20/20
Gosh, this is long...
I've waited on further responding to the 20/20 broadcast because I knew that with time, OTHER people would end up doing a better job responding than I could anyway! So I've just been reading, "amen"-ing, and collecting the commentaries of others since that anti-M expose' aired.
Since I have gotten oodles of hits to my blog since posting about the sugar pill attack, I know there are people out there who are googling about this situation. And because this is true, I'd like to make sure some of these really pertinent points get out there for people to read.
Obviously, if M was a fly-by-night company that was truly guilty of anything sinnister, they'd be falling apart right now and those who have been duped would be running to hide their heads in shame. But since M actually IS a stand-up, scientifically sound wellness company that is truly making a difference in people's lives, many people are stepping forward to help set the record straight. It's a shame the entertainment/high ratings industry can cause such a scramble but it looks like good things are coming out in the end!
This post is very long but covers lots of great points. If you are one that thinks M is a joke, I strongly encourage you to read this before you share your un-educated opinions with anyone else. If you still think it's a joke after doing your homework, then so be it. But speaking without knowing everything is just foolish.
I hope this long entry will be of some encouragement to those who are open to the idea of doing something non-medical (alternative) for their health. I know the times are here where people are coming around to see that something needs to be done on a daily basis to help improve wellness. As the old adage teaches, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." For this to become such a popular saying, we know that it used to be common sense to include nutrients into the daily routine as a way of keeping healthy. Today, there's just been such a warp in teaching that people think they can eat the junky American diet and pop pills or have surgery when problems occur. One day it will become mainstream (again) to know that you can't have health without having nutrition. And when the food on the plate (or in the cardboard box or paper wrapping) doesn't provide that nutrition, people will reach for those supplements that scientifically prove they have what the foods are missing. And it won't come as such a surprise when people see positive changes when those nutrients are ingested. Those positive changes will no longer stir up such controversy because they will be so commonplace that people won't sound like liars when they tell their friends and loved ones about the improvements in their lives!
Now, to the words of others.
First, the truth about Angie Rhodes, the girl with cancer interviewed in the 20/20 story:
Next, excerpts from Mark Johnson of Georgia:
regarding Dr. Hudson Freeze (I always thought his name was spelled Frieze but no one else, including 20/20 spelled it that way) and his denial that g are of any value:
also:
Mark's comments about the other expert interviewed on 20/20 and about g in scientific literature:
Regarding 20/20's angle:
From Mark regarding other angles 20/20 could have taken:
Next is an excerpt from David Wilkins, MD
Dr. Wilkins words directly to ABC 20/20:
In response to all of this, M posted this video at youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-BZ3j6Q6GM
So ask yourself, "If M is truly a scam company, why are they spending so much time, energy, and money to keep their information clear and public? If they were really wanting to pull a fast one on the public, wouldn't they put less focus on science?"
This science stuff is a little heavy if you're not interested in knowing the truth but it's PERFECT for those who are doing their due diligence and researching whether or not this glyco stuff is really just the "placebo" effect or if these "sugar pills" actually make a true impact on health.
Lastly, I'll close with words from Kevin Robbins:
May God bless you and your health!
I've waited on further responding to the 20/20 broadcast because I knew that with time, OTHER people would end up doing a better job responding than I could anyway! So I've just been reading, "amen"-ing, and collecting the commentaries of others since that anti-M expose' aired.
Since I have gotten oodles of hits to my blog since posting about the sugar pill attack, I know there are people out there who are googling about this situation. And because this is true, I'd like to make sure some of these really pertinent points get out there for people to read.
Obviously, if M was a fly-by-night company that was truly guilty of anything sinnister, they'd be falling apart right now and those who have been duped would be running to hide their heads in shame. But since M actually IS a stand-up, scientifically sound wellness company that is truly making a difference in people's lives, many people are stepping forward to help set the record straight. It's a shame the entertainment/high ratings industry can cause such a scramble but it looks like good things are coming out in the end!
This post is very long but covers lots of great points. If you are one that thinks M is a joke, I strongly encourage you to read this before you share your un-educated opinions with anyone else. If you still think it's a joke after doing your homework, then so be it. But speaking without knowing everything is just foolish.
I hope this long entry will be of some encouragement to those who are open to the idea of doing something non-medical (alternative) for their health. I know the times are here where people are coming around to see that something needs to be done on a daily basis to help improve wellness. As the old adage teaches, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." For this to become such a popular saying, we know that it used to be common sense to include nutrients into the daily routine as a way of keeping healthy. Today, there's just been such a warp in teaching that people think they can eat the junky American diet and pop pills or have surgery when problems occur. One day it will become mainstream (again) to know that you can't have health without having nutrition. And when the food on the plate (or in the cardboard box or paper wrapping) doesn't provide that nutrition, people will reach for those supplements that scientifically prove they have what the foods are missing. And it won't come as such a surprise when people see positive changes when those nutrients are ingested. Those positive changes will no longer stir up such controversy because they will be so commonplace that people won't sound like liars when they tell their friends and loved ones about the improvements in their lives!
Now, to the words of others.
First, the truth about Angie Rhodes, the girl with cancer interviewed in the 20/20 story:
My name is Angie Law and I am a Presidential from Colorado. I can tell you the rest of that story...
Angie (Rhodes) came to a class we taught June 2nd in Warrensburg, Missouri, to set the story straight. She was very disappointed with the biased slant and misrepresentation of the whole truth that 20/20 portrayed! She detailed her
story explaining the fist sized tumor, the surgery that got most of it, the
two areas that were not removed because it would have left her with stroke
like symptoms, the fact that she was in a terminal situation, and the fact
that HER doctors, reviewing the scans, reported there was no tumor left
after 6 weeks of g therapy. Subsequently, the most recent scan
Mar. 12th when ABC was present, Angie’s oncologist opinion was, “I see
nothing there to be concerned about. Keep taking your g and I
will see you in 3 months for another scan.” Her surgeon’s response to the
recent scan was, “the scans look great! This is what we want and hope to
see but don’t always get!”
While they still recommend chemo and radiation they told her to continue
with what she's doing as it seems to be working! It was a great
disappointment for Angie that 20/20 producers, after contacting her doctor
on Thursday, did NOT include ANY of his comments. We can only speculate
why. Of course, she is continuing with g and believes whole
heartedly that g have saved her life BECAUSE they simply
provided the raw materials necessary for her body to function properly.
She was going to do the chemo and radiation IF she didn't see results with
the nutrients. She was NOT shutting that door completely. I encouraged her
to do what she felt was best for her, pursuing all options. She knew that
some choose to do chemo with the g and some choose to use
g without chemo. She chose the nutrients first without chemo
and radiation because she felt she had time to add the traditional therapy
later; if positive results were not achieved. Angie watched her dad suffer
with cancer receiving chemo and radiation for a brain tumor, but he died
anyway. She did not want to lose her hair and suffer with the side effects
of chemo and radiation IF it wasn't necessary. NO ONE TOLD HER TO NOT DO
THE CHEMO--it was her choice. AND, no one told her that g
could or would "CURE" her.
In the interview (what wasn't aired) she was bullied, baited and was so upset
when she realized that the interview was NOT just a follow up or a human
interest story. The local NBC news had followed her case because the
University she attended had raised money to pay for her surgery. She WAS
NOT expecting the big people from 20/20 to interview her for anything other
than what had been done already from the local network. So, in her
distress, not knowing whether or not she could trust Jim Avala, being
nervous, and MOST IMPORTANTLY being only 6 months on g, she
used the "cure" word (after HE used the cure word) not even realizing she
had said it until she saw the interview!
Those of us who have seen the interview know SHE was the ONLY wonderful part
about it! She was poised under pressure and handled herself beautifully.
It's just too bad they did not show the entire interview with Angie AND her
adoptive parents. She wants to get the truth known and is upset that they
have portrayed the program the way they did.
Angie Rhoads and her adoptive parents, Brian and Brenda Wilson, have
reviewed and approved this entire statement and are anxious for the truth to
be known. They asked that their names be listed so that the reader would
not think I put words in their mouth.
Also, read the attachments from Mark Johnson and Dr. Wilkins as they do a
great job in telling the “rest of the story.”
Sincerely,
Angie L
Angie Rhoads, Brian and Brenda Wilson of Lee’s Summit Missouri
Next, excerpts from Mark Johnson of Georgia:
regarding Dr. Hudson Freeze (I always thought his name was spelled Frieze but no one else, including 20/20 spelled it that way) and his denial that g are of any value:
In December 1998, Dr. Freeze and other scientists conducted a study on healthy humans who were given radioactively labeled galactose, mannose or glucose. To their amazement, galactose and mannose were directly absorbed and incorporated into glycoproteins without first being broken down into glucose. Dr. Freeze and the other scientists concluded: "that specific dietary sugars could represent a new class of nutrients."
also:
In a November 1998 review by Dr. Freeze and others, he concluded that disorders in glycosylation are much more common than originally thought and that there is emerging belief that Diabetes in children is just one such genetic disorder. The authors stated that "the finding that mannose, but not glucose, corrected glycosylation .... was surprising ... Mannose offers an attractive therapy because it should be easy to administer and non-toxic ... There is scant information on the availability of mannose in food, but dietary mannose is probably insufficient to supply all glycosylation." We all know that these "dietary sugars" are found in A. So why did Dr. Freeze respond as he did? We can only speculate.
Mark's comments about the other expert interviewed on 20/20 and about g in scientific literature:
The other person touted by ABC as a leading scientist in glycobiology named Ronald Schnaar, Ph.D. of John's Hopkins was asked the following question by the ABC reporter: "Is there any valid scientific evidence that this M product really works?" Dr. Schnaar responds by referencing the National Library of Medicine (www.PubMed.org) as the main repository of medical knowledge. Then with intentioned drama, he looks at the reporter and makes a circle with his right hand and says quite emphatically, "Zero." Well, he is absolutely correct, because "A" is a company brand name. The term "g" or "g-n" is the word that M coined as a new generic term for scientists to use in research papers.
G are found to be essential in the production of glycoproteins made in human cells (Harper's Biochemistry Textbook, 24th ed. and later). There are many listings on PubMed for "g." Basic common sense confirms that scientific journals, papers and research, all use terms like "g-n" "glycoprotein," "glycoconjugate," "glycoform," "mannose," ,"fucose," "xylose," etc... Journals report on the science, not on a particular company's name or
brand names. As an example, published papers focus on the results of clinical studies using "monosaccharides" and "oligosaccharides." Ol' Doc Ronnie is not demonstrating intellectual honesty with his answer to the question. Besides, there have been hundreds of published studies using M's g. Someone needs to show him how to find them.
As an example, two double blind, placebo-controlled studies conducted at the University of Arkansas, evaluated the effects of g supplementation upon the brain functioning of twenty healthy college students. It was found that g (1) enhanced brainwave frequencies known to be associated with attention or alertness, (2) increased reaction time and (3) enhanced concentration (Wang, Pivik and Dykman – University of Arkansas, presented April (2002) This study was done with M's g.
Contrary to the drama of Doc Ronnie, and the sensationalist, yellow journalistic reporting of ABC's "20/20 Entertainment Show," here are the counts for the number of published papers on some of the components of A as listed directly from the PubMed.org web site:
Mannose: 20,265 papers
Fucose: 7,983 papers
Galactose: 26,832 papers
Xylose: 7,493 papers
Glucose: 302,162 papers
N-Acetyl Galactosamine: 1,175 papers
N-Acetyl Glucosamine: 3,744 papers
N-Acetyl Neuraminic Acid: 3,766 papers
Arabinogalactan: 776 papers
Arabinose: 4,308 papers
It is obvious that ABC, partially funded by revenues from pharmaceutical company advertisers who know that our products are making a difference in the quality of life of thousands, has purposefully tried to damage M in the 20/20 piece.
Regarding 20/20's angle:
If ABC was interested in fair reporting, they would have taken a different approach. For starters, they would have interviewed the tens of thousands of people whose health has recovered as a result of using these products. That would be some good news, worthy of airing. If they were reporting honestly, the 20/20 story would have mentioned that M's g have been found to be necessary to be incorporated into special "quick response foods" by the World Health Organization and the United Nations, to help nourish distressed and starving people in crisis situations. Perhaps ABC could have mentioned about the ministry of MR and the global impact that M's g are having on children around the world like those with AIDS in Africa. Surely ABC could let people know about the up-coming 8th Wonder of the World Concert Series, where MR is a beneficiary and where billions of people are going to learn about MR and be exposed to the benefits of A for saving the lives of children.
From Mark regarding other angles 20/20 could have taken:
If ABC were so accurate in reporting, surely they wouldn't have missed the fact that rheumatologist, Dr. John Axford of the Royal Society of Medicine and a renowned author of several medical textbooks as well as a leading researcher on Rheumatoid Arthritis, joined the board of directors of M. Dr. Axford is helping with g research being conducted simultaneously both at Mannatech and at the Royal Society of Medicine.
Or what about the first place award given to M's Chief Science Officer, Dr. Rob Sinnott, for the poster presentation he recently showed. Dr. Sinnott's presentation explained how emerging science is showing that digestive bacteria play an important role in the chemical breakdown, assimilation and absorption of dietary sugars found in our product, A.
I guess ABC 20/20 video editors were in a hurry and "just forgot" to put the name and title underneath the short video clip of H. Reginald McDaniel, M.D. (Dr. Reg). Dr. Reg, who was one of the highest paid pathologists (doctor specializing in disease) in the Southwest, was shown speaking about glyconutrients to an audience. I guess ABC sort of wanted the gullible viewing public to think he was just some wacko renegade M Associate peddling a "sugar pill."
ABC failed to mention that Dr. McDaniel is one of the co-inventors listed on the M A patent, that he has been doing clinical research with hundreds of patients over the past quarter century, and that he is the founder of the Fisher Institute for Medical Research.
ABC should have known that Dr. McDaniel, as a professional witness, testified before Congress on Comprehensive Medical Care for Bioterrorism Exposure. At that historic event, Dr. McDaniel's exhibits and scientific data showed that "glyconutrients boost the level of innate body defenses by enhancing the synthesis of cytokines that are designed to protect the body from ALL infectious agents ." (http://www.fisherinstitute.org – complete syllabus available for
anyone).
The investigative ABC reporters seemed to have missed a chance of a newsworthy story
relevant to the current stem cell debate. Dr. McDaniel has published research based on accepted testing methods demonstrating that supplementation with glyconutrients greatly increases the production of adult stem cells in the human body. He has presented this incredible finding before state legislators in an attempt to inform them that fetal stem-cell research is no longer necessary since our own bodies can generate massive quantities of healing stem cells when given glyconutrients. In fact, he reveals that implanting stem cells from other people is actually very dangerous and even fatal (as studies in China have proved)!
Oh, and by the way, you'd think that ABC would have mentioned something about the American Medical Association (AMA) approved Continuing Medical Education (CME's) Category 1 Credits now available for Medical Doctors, Nurses, Dentists and other medical professionals on the benefits and applications of glyconutritionals. Medical professionals are required to accumulate CME's in order to maintain their medical licenses to practice in the various states where they work. Courses at various Glycomics Medical Conferences have addressed specific disease conditions that respond beneficially with the use of glyconutrients and other nutritional
components. Medical professionals are taught about the potential benefits of dietary
supplements and how to recognize quality, pharmaceutical grade supplements and nutritional technologies.
Dr. Gilbert Kaats, Ph.D., CEO of Integrated Health Technologies who has been independently testing the effects of nutritional supplements for nearly 30 years, has performed one of the countries largest longitudinal studies on nutritional supplements – specifically M's glyconutritionals. Testing blood work and bone density of nearly 7,000 people over the past 12 years, his findings are impressive. In his conclusions, 8 of 10 biomarkers associated with the disabilities of aging are actually reversed on A. Further, Dr. Kaats states that there is
no competition with M with regards to (1) efficacy, (2) safety and (3) consistency – the three things one desires in a nutritional supplement product.
I guess in the name of fairness, ABC just didn't have enough time to "squeeze it all in."
Next is an excerpt from David Wilkins, MD
I felt compelled to respond to the 20/20 report on A. I have included my bio so you will know my background.
I received my undergraduate degree at La Sierra College followed by my Doctor of Medicine Degree from Loma Linda University School of Medicine in 1970. In 1974 I completed a residency in Ophthalmology also at LLU School of Medicine. After thirteen years of private practice in Ophthalmology I joined the faculty ofLoma Linda University in 1987. Two years later I became the Dept chairman. I also ran the Ophthalmology residency program for nearly ten years. Since the year two thousand I have enjoyed refocusing my attention on glycobiology and the role glyconutrients, and phytochemicals play in wellness and disease.
I would like to add my voice to point out the mockery of the two experts you had on the program. They should know that you will never find a reference in the National Medical Library to a company brand name. When you search with the specific names of the structural sugars in Ambrotose there are several hundred thousands of peer reviewed pagers on these important sugars.
It has been clearly shown that there are active transport mechanisms for many of these sugars allowing them to be absorbed undigested and found in cell structure in less that 2 hours. World renown experts such as Dr. John Axford M.D. at the Royal Society of Medicine (world recognized expert in the field of research in rheumatoid disorders) was so impressed with M's scientific efforts with these sugars that he joined their board of directors to help direct further investigative efforts. His current ground breaking work with the specific formulation of Ambrotose is giving further validation to the importance of glyconutrient sugars in modulating dangerous inflammatory responses.
Dr. Wilkins words directly to ABC 20/20:
You and your experts failed to mention that you cannot do nutritional research in a drug paradigm environment. T. Collin Campbell in his recent book "The China Study" says that all kinds of unwarranted conclusions will be drawn if nutrition is studied the way drugs are. There is too much nutrient packaging, interplay and team work going on between food compounds to isolate a single ingredient, give it in major amounts, and look at a specific targeted effect as one would do with a drug. That is why the beta carotene, and vitamin E studies came to grossly wrong conclusions as did the "Women's Health Study" and the large "Nurses Health Study" This false approach to nutritional study is called by Dr. Campbell "Scientific Reductionism." You experts never mentioned this.
If your reporting was not biased you would have asked the public to read "The Truth About the Drug Companies" by Marcia Angell M.D. recent editor and chief of the New England Journal of Medicine. She has been a perfect position to know the truth that we have an economically customized evidenced based medicine system. Incestuous relationships between drug companies, reviewers of their submissions, the FDA, and NIH are simply obscene. The drug companies have no interest in finding of natural ways to improve the health equation. They will spend money shamelessly to discredit and slant the truth about technology such as A. The drugs properly used by the system are the 4th leading cause of death in this country (JAMA 2002). Optimizing cellular nutritional biochemistry has killed no one and has been a major benefit to so many. You failed to point this out.
If you were honest in your reporting you would have disclosed all the sources of funds making the 20 /20 broadcast possible. You would also have had your experts declare there relationships with any drug companies (financial or reviewing their work) including any drug company funded research they are doing. The last thing the system wants is for technology such as Ambrotose to be helpful regardless of cost to discredit it.
You refused to tell the public the difference between cell structure function science and the probability science of those in the white coats. You stated and left unchallenged the idea that the only way anything can be known is the drug paradigm. That is fine if you are going to give some form of therapy that can potentially help and harm people and they want to know the gamble they are taking. It is truth and not probability that comes from structure function science. Once truth is known there is no risk in acting on it. There is no significant downside as with all drugs.
We know that there is a requirement for glyconutrients. When we know that the body with its fail safe system to supply the required glyconutrients (when not consumed) can supply barely enough to keep a person going but not enough to optimize the bodies resources handle challenges it makes sense to supply it and see what the cellular community can do to improve quality and length of life. This is the support of cell and system design not the treatment of disease of disorder.
Your experts said that the body can make all the sugars and that is true. What they didn't tell you is that the system to do that is a slow, low output system prone to error and dysfunction because of exposure to toxins and other stresses.
You in your presentation kept trying to force the notion that this is about treating disease with Ambrotose. Repeatedly Sam Castor indicated that this was not about treating disease, but rather the optimizing of the bodies normal physiologic mechanisms. He repeatedly suggested that this approach should be used in conjunction with standard of care. You carefully edited out this emphasis by selecting only sound bites that would, out of context, support your agenda and put A in a negative light. I listened to the entire interview with Sam Castor and it is shamefully clear what you did not want the public to hear.
There is so much more that could be said but there is enough here to clearly expose your yellow journalism masquerading as investigative reporting. In fairness another program should be done to address the issues I have brought up and the content of Mark Johnson's important comments below.
I have personally studied and supported this technology for ten years and have seen so much benefit in very challenged people with regards to quality of life. I have staked my reputation on it and now give full time and effort to make this information available to health care providers in a continuing education Category I environment. Continuing education Information that can qualify them to keep their license.
Respectfully,
David Wilkins M.D.
In response to all of this, M posted this video at youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-BZ3j6Q6GM
So ask yourself, "If M is truly a scam company, why are they spending so much time, energy, and money to keep their information clear and public? If they were really wanting to pull a fast one on the public, wouldn't they put less focus on science?"
This science stuff is a little heavy if you're not interested in knowing the truth but it's PERFECT for those who are doing their due diligence and researching whether or not this glyco stuff is really just the "placebo" effect or if these "sugar pills" actually make a true impact on health.
Lastly, I'll close with words from Kevin Robbins:
First off, know that 20/20 is not in the news business. ABC is not "mad at us". They don't care. They are in the entertainment business. And… all they care about is viewers and ratings. And what drives ratings? People love to watch train wrecks. So, ABC set out to create a HUGE train wreck. They heard about us through an ABC affiliate who ran a story on Angie. I'm sure they Googled us, read the class action lawsuit, and probably figured we were a bunch of hillbillies from Texas who were scamming people. They made up their mind and went out to "prove" their hypothesis.
But if you watch the episode again, taking the emotion out…. What amount of real substance did they really come out with? Almost nothing! They had all the resources of ABC news, they had all the time they wanted, they had access to anyone and everyone who might have been opposed to us. Going undercover, they went to countless number of meetings. I'm sure they talked to as many people as they could TRYING to get someone to say something inflammatory that they could use in their expose. They couldn't even find anyone who had actually taken our products and claimed that they didn't work (and don't think ABC didn't try to find someone who would claim that our products actually HARMED them).
All of that… and what did they come up with? They stated numerous times that Mannatech does NOT claim our products cure anything. They recorded associates saying the same thing. They didn't catch ANYONE directly promoting our products as a cure for anything? I think that is AMAZING! All they got were associates implying that people with certain conditions would benefit from taking our products. OK GREAT! They would… as would all of us! All they got was a couple of PhDs (who have NEVER tested our products) claiming that our science doesn't stand up to the wonderful world of pharmaceuticals. All they got was Bill Merlo being silly doing an ice-breaker before a M asking everyone to go shake hands and say, "I want to be rich"! Of course right before that, Bill said to go shake hands and say, "I want to be healthy"! All they got was some very old news about Sam having a prior business that failed (which of course has been answered dozens of times). All they got was building this HUGE story around "poor" Angie… and then at the end having to admit "no change" in her condition (of course implying that meant BAD NEWS, when in fact that was possibly VERY GOOD news for her).
So, if I could make a baseball analogy….. I believe that ABC sent their best and strongest hitter up to the plate with the bases loaded. And after hitting some LONG, LOUD foul balls, in the end, I believe they STRUCK OUT!
May God bless you and your health!
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