Finally, a ruling that makes sense. I have never heard of a provision in a fee agreement that prevents an attorney from telling his clients that he is leaving his current firm for another and that penalizes that attorney for fees earned after he leaves the firm.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

Clipped from www.calattorneysfees.com<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div>

Attorney Lien “Penalty” Provision Also Invalidated.<\/font><\/b><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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<\/b>     As reported by both the American Bar Association Journal <\/i>and Buffalo News <\/i>in January 10, 2012 posts, New York Supreme Court Justice John A. Michalek<\/a> voided two provisions in a retainer agreement apparently designed to encourage clients from following an exiting attorney to another legal firm. The ruling came in a lawsuit by Cellino & Barnes<\/a> against departing attorney Paul B. Becker<\/a> by which the firm sought a determination he had violated the retainer agreement.<\/font><\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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     First, the justice found that a provision forbidding a departing lawyer from informing clients of his impending exit is unenforceable and violated governing attorney ethics rules.<\/font><\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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     Second, the justice also voided a contract provision saying that the old firm could put a 43.56% lien on future work done for a client by the exiting lawyer who went elsewhere, labeling the provision a penalty. He noted that the percentage reserved to cover case acquisition costs had not changed since 2005 such that the percentage was a penalty because it bore no relationship to actual damages or expenses of the firm. Also, “[t]o the extent that a departing lawyer ... must continue to pay the firm’s overhead in the amount of 43.56 percent of the fees that he earns if he represents a former firm client, that penalty serves as a strong disincentive for him to represent any client who wishes to follow him.”<\/font><\/p><\/div>Read more at www.calattorneysfees.com<\/a><\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/description>"},{"title":"Changes in the California State Bar","link":"http:\/\/lorijpaul.amplify.com\/2012\/01\/15\/changes-in-the-california-state-bar\/","clogauthor":"Lori Paul","authorimg":"http:\/\/avatars.amplify.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/8844\/files\/\/2009\/10\/fotoflexer_photo-avatar1.png","dateposted":"2012-01-15T12:44:45-05:00","dateago":"2w ","description":"
The feared State Bar, every attorneys nightmare. No one wants to be reported but if they are, I would think a quick resolution would be better than waiting for months for the shoe to drop.<\/p><\/div><\/div>
Clipped from www.law.com<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div>
Legislators in Sacramento were hounding the Bar about the backlog. State Bar Executive Director Joseph Dunn recruited Kim from the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles to get results on the long-standing problem.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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Former State Bar prosecutors who now represent lawyers in disciplinary matters doubted Dunn's zero backlog pledge could be achieved. After all, the backlog has dogged the Bar for a quarter century.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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Lawyers inside and out of the office say Kim, 42, has sparked a cultural shift at the Bar's Office of Chief Trial Counsel — one that could improve its reputation as a public law office.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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Former State Bar President James Towery quit his post as chief trial counsel in June. Less than a month later, Dunn fired four top managers in the Bar's Los Angeles office — veteran Bar prosecutors with decades of experience. Two of the managers were escorted from the office, sending a grim message that times were changing.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\"She doesn't care what people think of her, which I think is very important for this position,\" Fellmeth said.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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The Bar's been faulted in the past for lack of clarity in reporting its backlog numbers. In one recent report<\/a>, the Bureau of State Audits said the annual discipline reports needed to be more informative. The same report dinged the Bar for skewing results — because of a change in methodology, for example, the Bar reported that the time it takes to close investigations had decreased between 2004 and 2007, when in fact the average investigation time had increased by 34 days.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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When Kim took over, the office also had a sizable backlog of so-called \"notice open\" cases — cases that have been fully investigated but have but waiting more than six months for prosecutors to make a charging decision. The Bar says the number of backlogged notice open cases went from about 600 in July to 187 at year end, but the Bar hasn't said how many cases have been in the notice open category for less than six months.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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HOW SHE DID IT<\/h2><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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Kim started as a Bar prosecutor in 2003. That year, she prosecuted the Trevor Law Group cases — a group of Beverly Hills attorneys accused of using California's unfair competition law to shake down small businesses, in what was probably the Bar's highest-profile case.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
When Dunn approached her about the interim chief trial counsel job, Kim said she deliberated carefully before deciding to take it. \"I thought it was a very pivotal time at the State Bar, and I really thought I could do some good,\" she said.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\"Frankly, I've never seen it this busy,\" said Cydney Batchelor, a deputy trial counsel who's worked at the Bar since 1991. \"I think there definitely is a new level of professionalism and accountability, everything from a dress code to responsiveness and the work product.\"<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
Kim pulled people from other teams — including loan modification and major misappropriations teams that Towery had prioritized — to add manpower on backlog and notice-drafting teams. She also hired contract attorneys and temp investigators. And she authorized overtime for investigators and complaint analysts. People worked long hours.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
The Bar is a union shop, and Kim's pushing hasn't gone without notice. Daniel Passamaneck, the union president for the Northern California chapter of State Bar employees, said Kim has brought \"a firmer disciplinary hand\" to the office, with employees getting called in to discuss their performance.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\"They chopped off some heads,\" said discipline defense lawyer Jerome Fishkin, a partner at Walnut Creek's Fishkin & Slatter and a former Bar prosecutor. \"You've got a very fearful staff now. They're all scared to death of their jobs. That tends to erode independent evaluation of cases.\"<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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When she was first hired, Kim brought in James Fox, the retired San Mateo district attorney, to advise on management issues. Fox said he came in thinking it would take a lot longer than a few months to see real changes.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
\"Unfortunately, what had evolved was the better performers were given more and more work, and some of the people who were not performing were not driven to improve,\" he said. \"That adversely affects morale. I think we have made tremendous strides in changing the culture.\"<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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She is also planning to switch the office over to a vertical prosecution model, where a case will be assigned to one prosecutor rather than changing hands as it moves through different departments.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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DOING THE MATH<\/h2><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
Samuel Bellicini, an associate at Walnut Creek's Fishkin & Slatter, said he represented the lawyers in about 50 of the 1,500 backlogged cases — almost all of them loan-modification cases. Of those, he said, about four were closed with no action. The rest resolved with a range of outcomes from warning letters to a one-year actual suspension. He said that as the end of the year drew near, Bar prosecutors seemed less interested in settlement talks, which can take time, and instead put lawyers on notice that charges would be forthcoming.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
Kim, meanwhile, points out that settlement deals must be approved by the State Bar Court. \"There is a check and balance in place,\" she added. \"We believe the work will speak for itself.\"<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
But others say it remains to be seen what the Bar's single-minded focus on the numbers will actually achieve.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\"The concern going forward,\" said David Carr, an ethics lawyer and former Bar prosecutor who represents lawyers in discipline cases, \"is to what extent is the system going to be concerned with generating numbers, [as opposed to ] generating results, which are harder to quantify.\"<\/p><\/div>Read more at www.law.com<\/a><\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/description>"},{"title":"Kaspersky Son Freed from Kidnappers","link":"http:\/\/lorijpaul.amplify.com\/2011\/04\/24\/kaspersky-son-freed-from-kidnappers\/","clogauthor":"Lori Paul","authorimg":"http:\/\/avatars.amplify.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/8844\/files\/\/2009\/10\/fotoflexer_photo-avatar1.png","dateposted":"2011-04-24T22:36:46-04:00","dateago":"9mo ","description":"
It is great to hear a kidnapping story end well. All I can say is, don't mess with Kaspersky!<\/p><\/div><\/div>
Clipped from www.betanews.com<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div>
$\"Image$ Kaspersky Lab has issued a statement Sunday confirming earlier reports that Ivan Kaspersky, son of CEO and founder <\/a>Eugene Kaspersky<\/a>, had been kidnapped and subsequently freed<\/a>. Ivan Kaspersky was freed in an \"operation\" by the authorities and no ransom was paid.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
The statement in full follows: \"Kaspersky Lab confirms that an operation to free Ivan Kaspersky was carried out successfully by the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Criminal Investigation Department of the Moscow Police and Kaspersky Lab's own security personnel. Ivan is alive and well and is currently located at a safe location. No ransom was paid during the rescue operation. Eugene Kaspersky and Natalya Kaspersky are currently unavailable for comment.\"<\/p><\/div>Read more at www.betanews.com<\/a><\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/description>"},{"title":"African-American Justices Honored","link":"http:\/\/lorijpaul.amplify.com\/2011\/04\/24\/african-american-justices-honored\/","clogauthor":"Lori Paul","authorimg":"http:\/\/avatars.amplify.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/8844\/files\/\/2009\/10\/fotoflexer_photo-avatar1.png","dateposted":"2011-04-24T20:44:04-04:00","dateago":"9mo ","description":"
Californians are honoring several justices for 50 years of service. While the percentage of black justices in California seems low to me, (at only 5.9%), I am proud to be born in a state that recognizes people for who they are, what they have accomplished, rather than the color of their skin.
\n
\nI personally would like to thank each and every one of the honorees for their service to our state! Thank you all!<\/p><\/div><\/div>
Clipped from www.mercurynews.com<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div>
Fifty years ago, the first African-American justice on the California Court of Appeal was appointed by Gov. Edmund \"Pat\" Brown. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
The justice was Edwin Jefferson, a then-Los Angeles County Superior Court judge who had become the state's first black trial judge 20 years earlier. He took his seat on the Court of Appeal in Los Angeles on Oct. 1, 1961. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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Since then, 13 other African-American justices have been appointed to Courts of Appeal based in San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles and Riverside. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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Three have been appointed to the California Supreme Court, including two from Oakland: Wiley Manuel, who served on the high court from 1977 to 1981, and Allen Broussard, who was a Supreme Court justice from 1981 to 1991. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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On Monday, the California Legislature will celebrate the 50 years of service by African-American justices on the appeals courts and Supreme Court. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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The Senate and Assembly are expected to pass resolutions honoring the justices and both houses will hold ceremonies at noon. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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Manuel, the first African-American on the California Supreme Court, was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 1977, during Brown's first term as governor. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
He had previously served for 23 years in the state attorney general's office, rising to become the chief assistant attorney general, and also served one year as an Alameda County Superior Court judge. His term on the Supreme Court was cut short by his untimely death at age 53 in 1981. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
The Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse of Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland is named after him, as are the State Bar's Wiley W. Manuel Award for volunteer legal services and Wiley W. Manuel Bar Association of Sacramento County (formerly the Sacramento Association of Black Attorneys). <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
Broussard, also appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown, served on the high court for 10 years until his retirement in 1991. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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The third African-American on the California Supreme Court was Janice Rogers Brown, a former Court of Appeal justice in Sacramento and former legal affairs secretary to Gov. Pete Wilson. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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She was appointed by Wilson in 1996 and served until she left the court to become a federal appeals court judge in Washington, D.C., in 2005. Brown was appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
While Broussard became the state Supreme Court's leading liberal after Chief Justice Rose Bird and fellow liberal Justices Cruz Reynoso and Joseph Grodin were denied renewed terms by state voters in 1986, Brown was one of the court's most conservative justices. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
Four African-American justices have served on the Court of Appeal in San Francisco. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
Henry Needham, a former Alameda County Superior Court judge, and Martin Jenkins, a former federal judge, are currently on the court. Both are from Oakland and both were appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
Clinton White of Oakland served on the appeals court from 1978 to 1994 and former Assemblyman John Miller of Berkeley was on the appellate from 1978 to 1985. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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Miller, a former assembly minority leader, was the first Californian African-American justice who had been a member of the Legislature. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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The Legislature's celebrations on Monday will also commemorate the 70th anniversary of Jefferson's appointment as a Los Angeles County Municipal Court judge by Gov. Cuthbert Olson in 1941. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
Jefferson was not only California's first black trial judge but also the first west of the Mississippi River. He was elevated to Los Angeles Superior Court by Gov. Earl Warren in 1949. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
Representation of African-Americans has continued in the state's trial courts. (California's Municipal and Superior Court systems have now been consolidated and all trial judges are now Superior Court jurists.) <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
Ninety, or 5.7 percent, of the state's 1,588 Superior Court judges identified themselves as black or African-American in 2010, according to statistics collected by the state Administrative Office of the Courts. <\/p><\/div>Read more at www.mercurynews.com<\/a><\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/description>"},{"title":"Warning Signs Your Bones are Thinning","link":"http:\/\/lorijpaul.amplify.com\/2011\/03\/27\/warning-signs-your-bones-are-thinning\/","clogauthor":"Lori Paul","authorimg":"http:\/\/avatars.amplify.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/8844\/files\/\/2009\/10\/fotoflexer_photo-avatar1.png","dateposted":"2011-03-27T10:08:02-04:00","dateago":"10mo ","description":"
URL: http:\/\/www.caring.com\/articles\/10-warning-signs-thinnin...<\/a><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
As someone who has been told that I have small bones, this was an article of interest to me. While I have not had any problems with bones breaking and I have hit the 50 year mark, I do pay close attention to my bone health. I am particularly interested in the information about those of us who are taking thyroid hormones. According to this article, taking a thyroid hormone for low thyroid or taking antidepressants in the SSRI class is also linked to higher levels of bone loss, though experts aren't sure why yet.
\n
\nIf you are interested in the 10 warning signs, check out the article linked. You might be surprised by some of the information given.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/description>"},{"title":"Harps Stores Causing Outrage Over Elton John Cover","link":"http:\/\/lorijpaul.amplify.com\/2011\/01\/27\/harps-stores-causing-outrage-over-elton-john-cover\/","clogauthor":"Lori Paul","authorimg":"http:\/\/avatars.amplify.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/8844\/files\/\/2009\/10\/fotoflexer_photo-avatar1.png","dateposted":"2011-01-27T09:58:32-05:00","dateago":"1y ","description":"
This is the kind of behavior that just pisses me off to no end. Who decided that this was appropriate at Harps? Unbelievable! Words just fail me at the moment!!!!!<\/p><\/div><\/div>
Clipped from coverawards.com<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div>
$\"\"$ <\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
This is outrageous!<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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Harps – a grocery store chain in Arkansas – appears to have censored last week’s Us Weekly Magazine cover featuring Elton John and David Furnish’s new baby.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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I’ve made numerous calls to the chains PR rep – who so far refuses to comment on the chain’s ridiculous behavior.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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What I’ve been told is the company has received 50 calls this morning alone – and now the PR director is only accepting voice mails.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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I also spoke to an individual inside the actual Arkansas Harps’ store – who did confirm that the cover was at one point covered – which confirms the actual above picture is real.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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Want to express your outrage? Call 870-425-6556.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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$\"Us$ <\/div>See more at coverawards.com<\/a><\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/description>"},{"title":"That Marital Settlement Agreement is Outta Here!","link":"http:\/\/lorijpaul.amplify.com\/2011\/01\/12\/that-marital-settlement-agreement-is-outta-here\/","clogauthor":"Lori Paul","authorimg":"http:\/\/avatars.amplify.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/8844\/files\/\/2009\/10\/fotoflexer_photo-avatar1.png","dateposted":"2011-01-12T21:59:29-05:00","dateago":"1y ","description":"
I couldn't have said it better myself. Love the title, so I had to use it. For those of us in Family Law, this is one of the most important points to make with a client. Know what it means before you sign! Be sure the other side knows what they are signing too!<\/p><\/div><\/div>
Clipped from blog.ceb.com<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div>
$\"outtahere_AA031106\"$ <\/a>In the high-profile divorce of Frank and Jamie McCourt<\/a>, the ownership of the Dodger’s hangs in the balance. Frank put his faith in a marital property agreement that he believed would result in him keeping the team. After a judge’s ruling that the agreement was not valid and enforceable, it’s as if there was never any such agreement and the parties are like any other in California trying to characterize particular property in a divorce. This leaves questions about how this marital agreement failed and how attorneys can avoid their clients’ agreements suffering the same fate.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
A marital agreement is an interspousal agreement, executed during an intact marriage, that affects marital rights and obligations. The Family Code specifically permits spouses to alter the property rights of husband and wife prescribed by statute through the use of a marital property agreement. See Fam C §§1620 and 3580. Essentially, a marital agreement can change the character of property. This can be a very powerful tool. But, as with any other legal agreement, the marital agreement also must comply with general contract law, i.e., <\/em>it must be the product of the free, mutual consent of the parties, communicated by each to the other. CC §1550.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
The McCourt’s marital agreement was set aside for lack of mutual understanding on what it meant when it was signed. As NPR.org<\/a> reports,<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
both sides gave differing accounts of what their intentions were when they signed the agreement, but one aspect was clear — neither of them read the agreement closely enough.  <\/p><\/blockquote><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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Indeed, the Judge’s tentative ruling, as reported by the Huffington Post<\/a>, states that “[t]he parties had mistaken belief and no agreement as to the meaning of the agreement, the content of the agreement, and the effect of the (agreement) on their property and property rights.”<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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To confuse things further, there also seems to have been two conflicting versions of the agreement. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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The McCourt case illustrates the wrong thing <\/em>to do when preparing a marital agreement for a client. To get it right, always make sure your client reads and understands what he or she is agreeing to. Sounds obvious, but all the money involved in this situation didn’t buy some basic common sense.<\/p><\/div>Read more at blog.ceb.com<\/a><\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/description>"},{"title":"Swallowed Objects and Medical History","link":"http:\/\/lorijpaul.amplify.com\/2011\/01\/11\/swallowed-objects-and-medical-history\/","clogauthor":"Lori Paul","authorimg":"http:\/\/avatars.amplify.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/8844\/files\/\/2009\/10\/fotoflexer_photo-avatar1.png","dateposted":"2011-01-11T09:51:04-05:00","dateago":"1y ","description":"
I came across this interesting article today, not only about the objects that people have swallowed, but the interesting doctor who was a pioneer in endoscopy. As someone who has had her fair share of endoscopies due to medical issues, I am grateful for the eccentric doctors who have pioneered new procedures that have helped many, including me.<\/p><\/div><\/div>
Clipped from www.nytimes.com<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div>
$\"\"$ <\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/nyt_correction_top>\n
\nFrom brain tissue to gallstones<\/a>, doctors have long preserved specimens from their patients — sometimes as trophies, sometimes as teaching tools, sometimes as curiosities or even art. But Dr. Chevalier Jackson went much further than most. <\/p> \n<\/nyt_text><\/div><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\nA laryngologist who worked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he preserved more than 2,000 objects that people had swallowed or inhaled: nails and bolts, miniature binoculars, a radiator key, a child’s perfect-attendance pin, a medallion that says “Carry me for good luck.” <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
\nJackson retrieved these objects from people’s upper torsos, generally with little or no anesthesia<\/a>. He was so intent on assembling his collection that he once refused to return a swallowed quarter, even when its owner threatened his life. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
\n“He was a fetishist, no question,” said Mary Cappello, the author of “Swallow<\/a>” (New Press), a new book about Jackson and his bizarre collection. “But his obsession had the effect of saving lives. That’s kind of amazing, and lucky for us that his madness made possible forms of rescue.” <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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$\"\"$ <\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\nJackson was an artisan and a mechanical prodigy, a humanist and an ascetic whom colleagues sometimes described as aloof or cold. He spent hundreds of hours crushing peanuts with forceps to learn exactly how much pressure to exert. He experimented extensively on mannequins and dogs. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
\nIn those days surgery was associated with high mortality, and few physicians were willing or able to peer into the air and food passages, let alone remove objects like open safety pins. Yet Ms. Cappello writes that the survival rate among patients from whom he removed objects was better than 95 percent. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
\nJackson viewed the world as a precarious place. Small and bookish as a child, he endured intense torment and bullying; at one point other children blindfolded him and threw him into a coal pit, and he was rescued only after a dog happened to find him unconscious. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\nSo in a sense, Ms. Cappello said, when Jackson became a physician — first in Pittsburgh, then Philadelphia — he “was saving lives, yes, but he was also saving himself.” He grew to be a pioneer of the upper body, developing new endoscopic techniques for peering into dark recesses. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
\nHe attached a tiny light called a mignon lamp to the end of a rod that he inserted into his scopes. (Previously, physicians who used endoscopes had worked mainly with light held outside the body.) <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
\nIf it had been up to him, Ms. Cappello said, “parents who fed peanuts to children without molars would be drawn and quartered.” Chew everything thoroughly, he exhorted the public: “Chew your milk!” <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\nAnd he lobbied for passage of the Federal Caustic Poison Act of 1927, which required manufacturers to place warning labels on poisonous substances like lye, which burns the esophagus and causes severe scarring that can make it impossible to swallow. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
\nChildren often ingested lye because it was present in many households (where it was used to make soap) and because it looked like sugar. A 7-year-old girl who could not swallow even a drop of water was taken to Dr. Jackson, who fed an endoscope into her esophagus and removed a grayish mass — perhaps food, perhaps dead tissue — with a forceps. Afterward, one of his assistants gave the child a glass of water. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\n“She took a small sip expecting it to choke her and come back up,” Jackson recalled in his 1938 autobiography. “It went slowly down; she took another sip, and it went down. Then she gently moved aside the glass of water in the nurse’s hand, took hold of my hand and kissed it.” <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\nJackson also developed a technique for dilating the esophagus in children with scarring. He taught them to swallow a long tube and to do so regularly for an extended period. He suggested they might think of themselves as sword swallowers and imagine that the feat “inspires awe in other children.” This eventually helped many of them to eat and drink again normally. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\nTo remove objects like keys and coins and pins, Jackson would insert a long, rigid tube into his patients — usually children, and usually awake, though his assistants did help to hold them still. “He must have had an exquisite gentleness and ability to calm people,” Ms. Cappello said. He also treated many poor children without pay. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\nStill, his eccentricities marked him. “Some people might have painted him as a socially phobic, friendless loner,” she added. “He was not a warm and fuzzy doctor.” <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\nNor would he compromise when it came to his collection. In the case of that swallowed quarter, he told the patient’s infuriated father that “all foreign bodies removed from the air and food passages were put into a scientific collection where they would be available to physicians working on the problems of relieving little children.” <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\nThe father had beaten the boy as punishment, and when he didn’t get the coin back he apparently beat him again, so viciously he broke his son’s arm. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\nAt that point Jackson gave the family a half dollar. But he did not return the swallowed coin. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\nThe Jackson collection is now owned by the Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia<\/a>, which is refurbishing it for an exhibition that is to open Feb. 18. Ms. Cappello will help curate the exhibition; Anna Dhody, the museum’s curator, called her work a substantial contribution that “we’re very lucky to have.” <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\nDr. V. Alin Botoman, a gastroenterologist at the University of Miami<\/a> who has also done scholarly work on Jackson, called him “truly a renaissance man who made so many contributions to medicine and has been all but forgotten.” Until now. In October, Ms. Cappello gave a lecture on Jackson at the Observatory<\/a>, an art and events space in Brooklyn. She also presented black-and-white films from Jackson’s family that had never been seen in public. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\nIn a series of clips, Jackson is shown on a small boat, looking out at the sky. He is riding in the back of a pickup truck, writing intently. <\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\nHis granddaughter, then a toddler, wobbles across a lawn holding a stuffed animal and a flower. She looks at the camera, shakes the flower and puts it in her mouth. <\/p><\/div>Read more at www.nytimes.com<\/a><\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/description>"},{"title":"Fibromyalgia and Diet: 7 Foods to Avoid","link":"http:\/\/lorijpaul.amplify.com\/2010\/12\/08\/fibromyalgia-and-diet-7-foods-to-avoid\/","clogauthor":"Lori Paul","authorimg":"http:\/\/avatars.amplify.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/8844\/files\/\/2009\/10\/fotoflexer_photo-avatar1.png","dateposted":"2010-12-08T00:50:29-05:00","dateago":"1y ","description":"
1. Aspartame (NutraSweet);
\n2. Food additives including MSG (monosodium glutamate) and nitrates;
\n3. Sugar, fructose, and simple carbohydrates;
\n4. Caffeine -- including coffee, tea, colas, and chocolate;
\n5. Yeast and gluten;
\n6. Dairy; and
\n7. Nightshade Plants: Tomatoes, chili and bell peppers, potatoes, and eggplant.
\nOk, there is no way I am giving up 3, some of 4, 6 or some of 7!! There are some days that coffee is the only thing keeping me going. Chocolate? Really? Again, no way, not going to happen. Gotta have my dairy, without it really what is there left to eat? Potatoes? Yes, those too. Nothing like a nice baked potato. So, after reading this article what I came away with is, like everything to do with Fibro, it is all trial and error. I know what works for me, you will just have to figure out what works for you.<\/p><\/div><\/div>
Clipped from www.webmd.com<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div>
Find out what experts say really matters about the foods you eat -- and why staying away from certain foods might help your fibromyalgia symptoms.<\/div><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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Fibromyalgia affects up to 4% of the population -- mostly women. And there is still no known cause or recognized treatment that works for everyone. That's one reason, say experts, that so many people have turned to diet as a way to relieve some of the symptoms.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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Eat more whole grains. Don't eat any whole grains. All fruit is good. Some fruit is bad. Tomatoes are healthy. Tomatoes are harmful. Sugar is bad. Sugar has no impact. Avoid meat. Eat. . . .<\/i><\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
<\/div>
Confused? Don't be. Experts say diversity is another hallmark of fibromyalgia.<\/p><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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\"This is because fibromyalgia is not a specific illness,\" says Michael McNett, MD. McNett directs the Fibromyalgia Treatment Centers of America, headquartered in Chicago. \"Fibromyalgia is more like a symptom complex, and different people appear to have different reasons why they get this symptom complex,\" he says. \"So what works for one person very frequently does not work for another.\"<\/p><\/div>Read more at www.webmd.com<\/a><\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/description>"},{"title":"Video Games and The First Amendment","link":"http:\/\/lorijpaul.amplify.com\/2010\/11\/14\/video-games-and-the-first-amendment\/","clogauthor":"Lori Paul","authorimg":"http:\/\/avatars.amplify.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/8844\/files\/\/2009\/10\/fotoflexer_photo-avatar1.png","dateposted":"2010-11-14T13:22:59-05:00","dateago":"1y ","description":"
As a grandmother, I have witnessed some of the games mentioned in this article and agree that some of them are violent. Do I want to be the grandma run down in the street by the wild teenager in the car? Of course I don't. (You know what I am talking about if you have ever seen or played Grand Theft Auto). Do I want the government telling me what my grandchild can or can't rent or buy? No, I don't. I think as adults it is our duty to teach our children and grandchildren the difference between real life and video games. My grandson loves Grand Theft Auto, or at least he used to. He got bored with it pretty quickly. I also watched him play it and we talked about him running grandma over in the game and what would happen if he did that in real life. Grandma doesn't get back up and wait for the next car to come and run her over in real life, lol. I don't worry that my grandson will grow up to be a violent man because he played these games. I worry more about the gangs in his school and the violence he witnesses in real life more. How about you?<\/p><\/div><\/div>
Clipped from www.nytimes.com<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div>
If the Supreme Court renders justice in a case it heard this month, Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association, it will strike down a California law barring the sale or rental of violent video games to anyone under 18. That would end a violation of free expression — but not prevent the states from finding other ways to support parents who do not want their children to play violent games.<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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Restricting the content of games, however, would mean adding to the short list of expression excluded from the First Amendment’s protection. Just last April, the court said the Constitution does not permit the government to impose a restriction “simply on the basis that some speech is not worth it.”<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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But in an opinion from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturning the California law, Chief Judge Alex Kozinski said that the 1968 ruling dealt with “a sub-category of obscenity — obscenity as to minors.” It “did not create an entirely new category of expression excepted from First Amendment protection.”<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote>
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“We do not have a tradition in this country of telling children they should watch people actively hitting schoolgirls over the head with a shovel so they’ll beg for mercy,” he said. He concluded sternly, “We protect children from that.” <\/p>
\nHe is right, society can protect children from that. Narrowing the First Amendment is not the way.<\/p>Read more at www.nytimes.com<\/a><\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/blockquote><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/description>"}]});