Go see theater.
Laid low by a summer cold this week. But I wouldn't want to leave with an
excuse. Go see theater.
Disney’s High School Musical, «««« June 24 Through July 18, Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, Emerson Park,
Auburn, 255-1785
Damn Yankees, «««µ Through July 18, Cortland Repertory Theatre, Dwyer Park, Little York, 800-427-6160
November, July 8 through 18, Hangar Theatre, Cass Park, Ithaca, 607-273-8588
The Unexpected Guest, Through July 19, Bristol Valley Playhouse, 151 S. Main Street, Naples, 585-374-6318
She Loves Me, Through July 12, Geneva Theatre Guild, Vandevort Room, Scandling Center at Hobart and William
Smith Colleges, Geneva, www.gtglive.org.
West Side Story, Through August 9, The Talent Company, The NewTimes Theatre, Art & Home Centre, NYS
Fairgrounds, Syracuse, 479-SHOW
Gettysburg The Musical, Through July18, Irondequoit Theatre Guild, West Irondequoit High School, 260 Cooper Rd,
in Irondequoit, 585-234-4349
Betrayal, July 22 through August 1, Hangar Theatre, Cass Park, Ithaca, 607-273-8588
No, No, Nanette, July 22 through August 13, Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, Emerson Park, Auburn, 255-1785
Unnecessary Farce, July 22 through August 1, Cortland Repertory Theatre, Dwyer Park, Little York, 800-427-6160
Evita, July 23 through August 2, Bristol Valley Playhouse, 151 S. Main Street, Naples, 585-374-6318
Grease, July 24 through 26, Geneva Theatre Guild Youth Theatre, Smith Opera House, Geneva, www.gtglive.org.
Also
High School Male Actors Needed. The Hangar Theatre’s summer training program for high school aged actors
is looking for motivated young men for its College Prep Program. Only three slots are available. This program takes place
between July 26 and August 15 and involves dynamic classes taught by industry professionals and a performance
opportunity in a new adaptation of the classic drama Spring Awakening at the Hangar Theatre. Teachers include: Hangar
associate artistic director, Wendy Dann; Ithaca College professor, Norm Johnson; Broadway and film casting director,
Stephanie Yankwitt; and star of Broadway’s In The Heights, Andrea Burns. Spring Awakening is being written and
directed by Hangar associate artist Jesse Bush (director of Once On This Island). Those interested in auditioning should
contact Jesse Bush at (607)273-8588 x 410 or e-mail jesse@hangartheatre.org. Auditions will be held on Wednesday,
July 22 between 3:45 and 5 p.m. at the Hangar Theatre Business offices in the Clinton House at 116 N. Cayuga St. in
Ithaca .
Play nice
Tom
Disney’s High School Musical, «««« June 24 Through July 18, Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, Emerson Park,
Auburn, 255-1785
Damn Yankees, «««µ Through July 18, Cortland Repertory Theatre, Dwyer Park, Little York, 800-427-6160
November, July 8 through 18, Hangar Theatre, Cass Park, Ithaca, 607-273-8588
The Unexpected Guest, Through July 19, Bristol Valley Playhouse, 151 S. Main Street, Naples, 585-374-6318
She Loves Me, Through July 12, Geneva Theatre Guild, Vandevort Room, Scandling Center at Hobart and William
Smith Colleges, Geneva, www.gtglive.org.
West Side Story, Through August 9, The Talent Company, The NewTimes Theatre, Art & Home Centre, NYS
Fairgrounds, Syracuse, 479-SHOW
Gettysburg The Musical, Through July18, Irondequoit Theatre Guild, West Irondequoit High School, 260 Cooper Rd,
in Irondequoit, 585-234-4349
Betrayal, July 22 through August 1, Hangar Theatre, Cass Park, Ithaca, 607-273-8588
No, No, Nanette, July 22 through August 13, Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, Emerson Park, Auburn, 255-1785
Unnecessary Farce, July 22 through August 1, Cortland Repertory Theatre, Dwyer Park, Little York, 800-427-6160
Evita, July 23 through August 2, Bristol Valley Playhouse, 151 S. Main Street, Naples, 585-374-6318
Grease, July 24 through 26, Geneva Theatre Guild Youth Theatre, Smith Opera House, Geneva, www.gtglive.org.
Also
High School Male Actors Needed. The Hangar Theatre’s summer training program for high school aged actors
is looking for motivated young men for its College Prep Program. Only three slots are available. This program takes place
between July 26 and August 15 and involves dynamic classes taught by industry professionals and a performance
opportunity in a new adaptation of the classic drama Spring Awakening at the Hangar Theatre. Teachers include: Hangar
associate artistic director, Wendy Dann; Ithaca College professor, Norm Johnson; Broadway and film casting director,
Stephanie Yankwitt; and star of Broadway’s In The Heights, Andrea Burns. Spring Awakening is being written and
directed by Hangar associate artist Jesse Bush (director of Once On This Island). Those interested in auditioning should
contact Jesse Bush at (607)273-8588 x 410 or e-mail jesse@hangartheatre.org. Auditions will be held on Wednesday,
July 22 between 3:45 and 5 p.m. at the Hangar Theatre Business offices in the Clinton House at 116 N. Cayuga St. in
Ithaca .
Play nice
Tom
AuburnPub.com - Kathryn Lopez: Fame's fun house mirror can be quite frightening
AuburnPub.com - Kathryn Lopez: Fame's fun house mirror can be quite frightening.
Michael Jackson's circus of a memorial was heartbreaking. Not because Usher broke down while singing. Not for most of the reasons given by the overwrought international press corps. When a 12-year-old former contestant on “Britain's Got Talent” sang, (just a few years older than Jackson when he was first inducted into the media spotlight), it suggested that no one's learned anything.
AuburnPub.com- Auburn Doubledays Baseball - Throwing off
AuburnPub.com- Auburn Doubledays Baseball - Throwing off.
Zach Outman's windup may seem like it takes minutes to go through, but in reality it lasts only seconds until he fires the ball.
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'Deacon of Death' loses appeal in murders of Tampa prostitutes
'Deacon of Death' loses appeal in murders of Tampa prostitutes.
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PLANT CITY - A former Baptist deacon has lost an appeal of his death sentences for the sensational 1996 murders of two Tampa prostitutes. The Florida Supreme Court refused to overturn lower court rulings to vacate the convictions of 56-year-old Samuel L. Smithers, who was condemned for the brutal killings of Christy Elizabeth Cowan and Denise Elaine Roach. The women, both mothers, were picked up in a seedy area of East Tampa and killed at a Plant City home where Smithers was the caretaker. Smithers was a deacon and groundskeeper at First Baptist Church of Plant City. The sensational killings and trial inspired a book, "Deacon of Death," by former New York Times columnist Fred Rosen. The high court denied that Smithers' appeals warranted overturning his first-degree murder convictions. Among other things, he complained that his trial lawyer was ineffective for not challenging a portion of his confession that he beat Roach more severely because she was black. He also claimed his lawyer erred in not adequately investigating claims that he was mentally ill and failed to call an independent medical examiner to refute the possibility that Cowan may have been conscious during much of her horrific attack. Smithers, an electrician's helper, was convicted in December 1998 of two counts of first-degree murder. In June 1999, Circuit Judge William Fuente accepted the jury's recommendation and sentenced Smithers to death. Fuente said the murders were "extremely torturous" to the victims. When he was arrested, Smithers confessed to the murders, saying he fought with the women over money. He told Hillsborough County sheriff's detectives he beat Cowan in the head with an ax and hoe, then threw her, still breathing, into a pond where he had earlier dumped Roach's body. The pond was on property owned by Marian Whitehurst, an elementary school teacher. Whitehurst alerted law enforcement officers to the crimes. She said that on a visit to the property she came upon a puddle of blood and saw Smithers washing off a long-handled ax. She was skeptical of Smithers' story that the blood might have come from a squirrel and called deputies, who found the bodies. Smithers changed his story at trial, testifying he was paid to let a mysterious bearded man use the property for drug-related activities. He said he watched as the women were murdered, and was ordered to drag their bodies into the pond. Smithers told the jury he lied to investigators to protect his then-wife of 23 years and college-age son, whose lives had been threatened by the drug dealer. Friends and family portrayed Smithers as a deeply religious man who lived quietly in the Walden Lake subdivision. But prosecutors said there was a dark side to Smithers. They said he drove his pickup truck to a Hillsborough Avenue motel, picked up 24-year-old Roach and took her to Whitehurst's unoccupied property near Plant City. There, he smashed her in the face, choked her and stabbed her repeatedly in the skull with a sharp weapon. Within two weeks, he murdered again. This time, his victim was Cowan, 31. Connecticut-born Cowan and Jamaica-born Roach each had two children. Rosen's book on the Smither's case came a few years after he wrote his best-selling true-crime book, "Lobster Boy." The story is set in Gibsonton, the winter home of many carnival performers. That book delved into the murder-for-hire of a sideshow performer whose hands and feet were so deformed they looked like lobster claws.
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TweetZ: Twitter Sidebar Gadget for Windows 7/Vista
Image via CrunchBase
Wanns add Twitter as the Sidebar Gadget in your windows 7 and Windows Vista PC. Than you have to try the new App Tweetz. Like other sidebar gadgets, Tweetz docks comfortably in the sidebar. TweetZ works much like other Twitter clients. You can tweet and reply as expected. Click on the “What are you doing” button and the editing window pops up. TweetZ: Twitter Sidebar Gadget for Windows 7/Vista You can shorten links easily. Simply compose your tweet, complete with the long versions of your links and then click “shorten”. Tweetz will convert links that it finds into their short versions using the services of http://is.gd. Download TweetZ Sidebar Gadget here
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Local Ride Company has new rides
Playland Amusements of Auburn, New York has acquired three kiddie rides for the 2009 season. They are an Eli Kiddie Scrambler, an Eli Wheel and an Eyerly Ladybug. Playland recently played the Barnard Firemen’s Carnival in the Rochester suburb of Greece, N.Y. for the first time, that was previously played by the Reithoffer Green Unit, Arbroo Shows and Carol Stream Amusements. The show fielded 19 rides at the 4-day event from June 24 – 27.
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AuburnPub.com - All-Stars earn dramatic win over Geneva black
AuburnPub.com - All-Stars earn dramatic win over Geneva black.
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The Auburn American 9 to 10- year-old All-Stars advanced to the quarterfinals with a dramatic 10-9 victory over Geneva Black. Ryan Scott hit a game-winning double in the bottom of the sixth to pull off the victory. Leading Auburn offensively were Matt Hesse, Dan Nolan and Richard McConnell, who each tallied two hits, Mike Jakaub smacked a double and Ben Pinchak, Spenser Lincoln, Kaiden Tubbert and T.J. Reilly each contributed hits. Pinchak put in the effort on the mound in relief of Lincoln while Bridget Moore earned the win after throwing a key strikeout to a save a bases-loaded situation. Auburn will continue its efforts 6 p.m. today in Seneca Falls. BABE RUTH Byrn's Trophy 7, Auburn Police Department 4 Justin Fasce threw nine strikeouts on the mound for Byrn's while Connor Kilmer led at the plate smacking two hits including a double and scoring two runs. Also leading offensively for Byrn's Trophy were Fasce with a double, three RBIs and one run, Jordan Serling contributed one hit and one RBI while Joe DeAngelis added one hit and one run. SANDLOT Children's Health Specialists 14, Butler Services 6 Leading Children's Health Specialists were Amber Pidlypchak, Noah Lewis, Daniel Lovell and Matthew Ward, who each tallied three hits while Kendra Deville and Cassie Nolte played well defensively. Butler Services were paced at the plate by Lauren Marinelli, who posted four hits while Caleb Dymock and Dylan Lee both finished with three hits. BOYS AND GIRLS The Printery Pirates 24, Vision Care Associates Athletics 18 Leading the Pirates were Jake Hansen and Andrew Bishuk who each had three hits, Clayton Shernesky posted two hits while Nick Schattinger and Zach Galbally both played well defensively. Pacing the Athletics were Paul Sofenski with four hits, Mason Rivett and Devin Smith who both smacked three hits while defensively performing well were Luke Kurowski and C.J. Stevens. Children's Health Specialists Marlins 20, Tim's Powerwashing Inc. Indians 14 The Marlins were led by Sam Carbonaro who recorded four hits including two doubles, Alyssa Cook contributed four hits and Logan Murphy added three hits while leading defensively were Ryan Fedigan, Kaiya Reilley and Jack Carbonaro. At the plate for the Indians were Josh Kowaleski who hit two doubles, Allie Wilmont drove three runs in and Nathan Nedza smacked a triple while Andrew Boglione played well defensively. NYSCOBA Brewers 14, Byrne Dairy Mets 13 Olivia Maassen led a balanced attack with three hits including a double for the Brewers, also smacking three hits were Zach Dennis, Jacob Sanders, Jakob Borza and Max Bergan while Gracie Morgan, Conor Maassen, AJ Williams and Tyler Cook each finished with two hits. Gracie Morgan also managed a steal that electrified the crowd while Olivia Morgan had a key hit in the fourth to drive in the winning run. Leading the Brewers defensively were Aaron Kowal and Tyler Cook behind the plate while Bergan, Morgan Cook and Jake Sanders made outstanding plays. Pacing the Mets were Patrick Willis, Kellen Fedigan and Ethan Moore who each earned two hits while Tehya Kloster, Landon Perkins and Austin Black anchored the defense.
AuburnPub.com - Sidewalk law could change
AuburnPub.com - Sidewalk law could change.
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The Auburn City Council is considering a proposal to put a hold on a law that makes it mandatory for all city properties to have a sidewalk adjacent to them.
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Jackson did not want to perform 50 gigs.
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Michael Jackson's father said the King of Pop was not ready to perform 50 shows in London, in a TV interview that aired the day the singer was scheduled to start his long-awaited comeback. Joe Jackson told ABC News that his son told him that he only agreed to perform 10 shows in London, but that the concert promoter booked more shows to bring the total to 50.
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South St., Auburn, NY
A last stop for some.
AuburnPub.com - Owasco Lake a home for a variety of creatures
AuburnPub.com - Owasco Lake a home for a variety of creatures.
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Owasco Lake a home for a variety of creatures By Chet Crosby Sunday, July 12, 2009 11:33 PM EDT Owasco Lake is about 10.5 miles long and has a maximum depth of approximately 175 feet and a mean depth of the lake of about 94 feet. Due to these features, Owasco has a good warm/cool water fishery as well as a cold water fishery. Species such as largemouth and smallmouth bass, northern pike, walleye, perch, bullhead, sunfish, rock bass and a few other species inhabit the littoral zone of the lake that extends out from the shore to about 50 feet of depth, although I have caught bass and perch as deep as 70 feet. Most warm/cool water species and their forage spawn successfully in the lake, however walleyes are the exception. Walleye stocking in Owasco Lake does not exist at this time and there are no plans to do so in the future. For the most part cold water species such as lake trout, brown trout and rainbow trout inhabit the deeper portions of the lake. The forage base for these species include alewives, smelt, lake minnows, and various insects such as midge flies and other invertebrates. Alewives are an invasive species that was introduced into the lake during the 1970s. Northern pike were also stocked into the lake during this time. Neither fish species were stocked by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. No species should be stocked by individuals since new introductions could have a serious negative impact on the lakes ecosystem. Each year, the DEC stocks Owasco Lake with 16,000 yearling lake trout, 11,000 brown trout - although 2,500 of these fish are stocked in the Owasco Inlet - and 25,000 rainbow trout. All of the rainbow trout are stocked in the Owasco Inlet, which acts as a nursery for one to two years at which time the survivors migrate to the lake. Most cold water species have minimal success at spawning time due to the degradation of spawning areas. Excessive run-off consisting of silt and sediment may cover the clean gravel beds or smother the eggs after storm events. Also, exotic species often eat the eggs and young fry to such a degree that success is limited, thus the need for stocking the many trout species. Recent exotic species found in Owasco Lake include zebra mussels, which are about the size of your thumbnail and consume plankton, which serves as the main food source for young fish. Loss of plankton causes the water in the lake to be very clear and thus encourages weed growth to greater depths in the lake. Spiny water fleas are also new exotics. Many exotic species were discharged into Lake Ontario by ocean going vessels and eventually have made their way to inland lakes and streams. Some of these exotic species have caused serious negative impacts to existing fresh water ecosystems. Landowners can help the fishery by not throwing lawn clippings, leaves, etc., into the lake or into streams leading to the lake. Also, the elimination of herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers containing phosphorus for usage on lawns around the lake should be promoted. For additional information on Owasco Lake and its watershed, go online to www.owla.org.
AuburnPub.com - Cayuga Nation offers to pay counties' legal bills
AuburnPub.com - Cayuga Nation offers to pay counties' legal bills.
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The Cayuga Indian Nation of New York has offered a settlement to Cayuga and Seneca counties asking them to drop an ongoing cigarette tax evasion case in exchange for the tribe picking up counties' legal tab and dropping a potential multimillion dollar lawsuit. The offer comes three days after a state appeals court ruled that the tribe could continue selling untaxed cigarettes from its Lake Side Trading convenience stores in Union Springs and Seneca Falls. The ruling overturned a lower court decision that had said the counties' criminal investigation, including a November raid on the tribes' stores to seize unstamped cigarettes, was legal. Cayuga County District Attorney Jon Budelmann said on Friday that he planned to file a notice of appeal against that decision to preserve the counties' rights while it reviews the matter. Dan French, an attorney representing the Cayugas, said Monday that he was confident that continuing the legal battle would only result in another loss for the counties and additional legal fees. The counties have already been charged $180,000 in legal fees, French said, and could be sued for millions more by the tribe for the loss of property, which consists mainly of seized cigarettes, and the loss of business. "(The Nation) is concerned the counties will continue to fight, and if they lose, then the residents will be on the hook for thousands of dollars in legal fees and millions in damages," French said. "We wanted to give the counties a graceful way out." Budelmann was not immediately available for comment.
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Google uses twitter...a lot.
Google's Twitter Accounts
twitter.com/Google - our central account
twitter.com/Blogger - for Blogger fans
twitter.com/GoogleCalendar - user tips & updates
twitter.com/GoogleImages - news, tips, tricks on our visual image search
twitter.com/GoogleNews - latest headlines via Google News
twitter.com/GoogleReader - from our feed reader team
twitter.com/iGoogle - news & notes from Google's personalized homepage
twitter.com/GoogleStudents - news of interest to students using Google
twitter.com/YouTube - for YouTube fans
twitter.com/YouTubeES - en Espanol
twitter.com/GoogleAtWork - solutions for IT and workplace productivity
Geo-related
twitter.com/SketchUp - Google SketchUp news
twitter.com/3DWH - SketchUp's 3D Warehouse
twitter.com/Modelyourtown - 3D modeling to build your favorite places
twitter.com/EarthOutreach - Earth & Maps tools for nonprofits & orgs
twitter.com/GoogleMaps - uses, tips, mashups
twitter.com/GoogleSkyMap -Android app for the night sky
Ads-related
twitter.com/AdSense - for online publishers
twitter.com/AdWordsHelper - looking out for AdWords questions and tech issues
twitter.com/AdWordsProSarah - Google Guide for AdWords Help Forum
twitter.com/GoogleAnalytics - insights for website effectiveness
twitter.com/GoogleAdBuilder - re building display ads
twitter.com/GoogleRetail - for retail advertisers
twitter.com/TechnologyUK - for U.K. tech advertisers
twitter.com/InsideAdWordsDE - for German AdWords customers
twitter.com/GoogleAgencyDE - for German ad agencies
twitter.com/AdSensePT - info for Portuguese-language publishers
twitter.com/AdWordsRussia - AdWords news & tips in Russian
twitter.com/DentroDeAdWords - Spanish updates from the Inside AdWords blog
twitter.com/AdWordsAPI - AdWords API tips
Developer & technical
twitter.com/GoogleResearch - from our research scientists
twitter.com/GoogleWMC - Google Webmaster Central
twitter.com/GoogleCode - latest updates for Google developer products
twitter.com/GoogleData - Data APIs provide a standard protocol for reading and writing web data
twitter.com/app_engine - web apps run on Google infrastructure
twitter.com/DataLiberation - our initiative for complete import/export of all data
twitter.com/GoogleMapsAPI - about using Google Maps embedded in websites
twitter.com/GoogleIO - Google's largest annual developer event
Culture, People
twitter.com/googletalks - notes from our @Google speaker series
twitter.com/googlejobs - the voice of Google recruiters
Country or Region
twitter.com/googlearabia - news from the Google Arabia Blog*
twitter.com/googledownunder - Google activities in Australia & New Zealand
twitter.com/GoogleDE - Google in Germany
twitter.com/GoogleLatAm - Latin America (en Espanol)
twitter.com/GooglePolicyIt - Notes on Google policy issues in Italy
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Latest Cayuga County news, photos and video- syracuse.com
Latest Cayuga County news, photos and video- syracuse.com.
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This just in from Jim Trezise of the New York Wine and Grape Foundation: Watkins Glen, NY -- The Finger Lakes Wine Festival is next weekend, starting with the infamous "Toga Party" on Friday night and followed by two days of wine sampling and sales by over 85 wineries. Held at Watkins Glen International race track and presented by Yancey's Fancy New York's Artisan Cheese, the wonderful wine weekend also features many other products from food to jewelry and pottery. New this year is a Vintner's Riesling Room, hosted by Finger Lakes Wine Country Tourism Marketing Association, where tasters may learn all about Riesling and why the Finger Lakes is such a great region for producing it. As usual, there will be seminars including Wine & Chocolate, Wine & Cheese, Riesling, Ask the Winemaker and presentations by regional wine trails. This festival draws thousands of people from around the country, boosts the local economy and spreads the word about fine New York wine. For more information go to www.flwinefest.com
AuburnPub.com - Rain fills reservoirs; home plants may suffer
Image by Aziez Ahmed via Flickr
Had enough rain? I wake some mornings expecting Noah's boat to be parked on my back lawn and the bearded old gentleman gathering two specimens of each plant in my garden. I can't ever remember this much in the recent past. And, of course, there is a lot of good and some bad. The reservoirs are filling up and farm crops are not being parched. On the other side, some home plantings are suffering. All this water is leaching the fertilizers and nutrients from our gardens and flower pots. Farmers are used to this and they regularly feed. Have you done so? It is important. It is time to add fertilizers to keep those plants growing. But, do it right. Follow the instructions on the container. Over-fertilizing will burn the roots and the plant won't be able to take up water properly. Under-fertilize and you'll starve that plant to death. Take your pick, liquid feed or solid. Just do it. Along the same lines, with all this moisture in the ground, and days that are not too sunny, insects that harm your plants are going to have a field day. Yes, you sprayed last week and the week before, but the rain has certainly washed that away. As soon as you get a bright day, get out there and spray everything. You might want to go after the mosquitoes, too. This is their weather. As with fertilizer, know what types you are trying to knock down and apply the proper sprays in the proper amounts. Another caveat is to be sure that, if you are spraying your vegetable gardens as they begin to mature, that you select chemicals that are not harmful to humans. As mentioned in a previous column, there is a series out there called Safer. They are safe controls. Back to watering for a moment. If you have flower pots at the local cemeteries, they will need water, regularly. Those concrete and granite urns will start heating the moment that sun comes out and the roots will begin to bake. It's always good, while you are there, to pick off the dead blossoms so that the plants will throw off more blooms and flourish. A number of folks have asked about getting to the Plantations, the Cornell garden that I wrote about last week. It is easy. But, if you want, I have printed directions from Auburn to the garden from MapQuest. Just call me at 253-5316 and I will mail you a copy. You can also learn more if you have a computer. Just go to www.CornellPlantations.com. Remember, too, we have a couple of magnificent garden areas right here in Auburn. A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting the gardens at Seward House. Magnificent. It doesn't get much better. They're really worth the visit. Spend an hour there and you'll really appreciate the magnificent job being done by the staff and volunteers under Mr. Wisby's guidance. How about Hoopes Park? When did you last visit it? No, it is not the magnificent rose garden we remember from 40 or 50 years ago. Roses just love sunlight and the trees planted so many years ago now keep the sun from reaching the plants. Be happy, the city has done a fine job of planting things that will grow in the shade. Take a few minutes this afternoon and stroll through the Hoopes Park gardens. The fountains are very relaxing. Did you know that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that area was the city land fill? Carmen Cosentino operates Cosentino's Florist with his wife, Anne Marie, and daughter, Jessica. He was elected to the National Floriculture Hall of Fame in 1998, and in 2008, received the Tommy Bright award for lifetime achievements in floral education . He can be reached at cosenti@aol.com
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Debunking spam emails
Is it true that persons older than 59 can't get heart surgery in England?
The e-mail also falsely claims that it took eight hours to drive actress Natasha Richardson to a hospital in Canada in March after she fell and hit her head while skiing. "If Canada had our healthcare she might be alive today," the e-mail speculates, saying that the U.S. has fast-moving medical helicopters and implying that Canada doesn't.
That's not true; in fact, the province of Ontario has an air ambulance system that the Toronto Star called "the envy of North America" and "the largest and most sophisticated of its kind on the continent." However, it is true that the province of Quebec, where Richardson was skiing, is the only province in the country that doesn't have an air ambulance system, according to the Star. And her death raised questions about whether a helicopter could have made a difference in the tragedy.
Mont Tremblant Ski Resort, where Richardson was taking a lesson on a beginner's slope on March 16, is about 25 miles from Centre Hospitalier Laurentien in Ste-Agathe, where Richardson was first taken. Ambulance records obtained by the New York Times show that the ambulance arrived nine minutes after a call was made for it, and it took 38 minutes to get to Centre Hospitalier Laurentien. Richardson was later moved to Montreal's Sacre-Coeur Hospital, which has a trauma center and a team of neurosurgeons that the smaller Ste-Agathe hospital lacks.
The ambulance that took her to Ste-Agathe was the second to arrive for her; the first was turned away when the actress said she was fine. As the Times, and many others, reported, the first ambulance arrived at 1 p.m. but was turned away. At 3 p.m., when Richardson said she wasn't feeling well, the second ambulance was summoned. Paramedics attended to her and then made the 38-minute trip to the hospital in Ste-Agathe, arriving at 4:20 p.m.
After making false and disparaging claims about health care in those two countries, the e-mail says that "Obama wants to have our healthcare like Canada's and England's." Actually, the president has said repeatedly that he doesn't want a single-payer system like England and Canada have, one in which everyone has insurance through the government. We've written about this several times, as conservative groups, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and then-presidential candidate John McCain have all made similar claims and implications.
Obama has said that the United States should build on the system it has now. His stance has irritated some single payer advocates and prompted several questions about why he's against such a system. On July 1 at a town hall meeting in Annandale, Va., Obama was asked again why the U.S. shouldn't have a single payer system. The president responded:
Finally, the e-mail claims that the stimulus bill "includes provisions for extensive rationing of health care for senior citizens." No, it doesn't.
Some conservatives have said that a council overseeing the government's funding of comparative effectiveness research (research into which medicines and procedures work best and are most cost-effective) will "ration" health care. But the council created by the stimulus legislation (now public law) doesn't have any power to do that. In fact, the legislation stipulates that "[n]one of the reports submitted under this section or recommendations made by the Council shall be construed as mandates or clinical guidelines for payment, coverage, or treatment."
The e-mail speculates that former Sen. Tom Daschle, once Obama's nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, was the author of this part of the bill. And it falsely says that Bloomberg News quoted Daschle as saying: "Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them." Daschle didn't say that.
Instead, those are the words of the former Republican lieutenant governor of New York, Betsy McCaughey, who wrote an opinion piece for Bloomberg News and offered her reading of comments in Daschle's book. Back in February, we dissected McCaughey's column, pieces of which have popped up in chain e-mails, and found it to be full of errors. McCaughey also passes off opinion as fact, and in the case of Daschle, she paraphrases him, which is clear from the lack of quote marks in the column.
What Daschle did say is a far cry from "seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them." Instead, he wrote (without mentioning age) in his book "Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis": "The use and overuse of new technologies and treatments is grounded in American culture. ... More so than people in other countries, [Americans] just aren't inclined to fatalistically accept a hopeless diagnosis or forgo experimental interventions if there is even the slightest chance of success."
He also quoted Rutgers University health care policy expert David Mechanic, who wrote: "more and more of what were once seen as social, behaviorial, or normative aspects of everyday life, or as normal processes of aging, are now framed in a medical context. ... Whether wrinkles, breasts, or buttocks, impotence or social anxieties, or inattention in school, they all have become grist for the medical mill."
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This
widely forwarded e-mail, targeted to senior citizens and claiming that
health care legislation could constitute "senior death warrants," is
riddled with false claims.
The anonymous e-mail claims that "[i]n England anyone over 59 cannot receive heart repairs or stents or bypass because it is not covered as being too expensive and not needed." That's false.
We called the United Kingdom's Department of Health and a spokesman told us: "It is not true that anyone aged over 59 years cannot receive heart repairs, stents or bypass surgery on the basis of their age."
He also said that medical procedures in the U.K. are not routinely denied for older people. The National Health Service, the U.K.'s public health care service, has a constitution which prohibits discrimination on the basis of age and other factors. "The NHS Constitution states that the NHS provides a 'comprehensive service, available to all irrespective of gender, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief,' " the spokesman said.
We also contacted a nonprofit group, England’s Age Concern and Help the Aged, which works to stop age discrimination in various facets of life, including employment and health care. Age Concern's press office had never heard of any kind of prohibition on heart surgery for those 60 and older.
The group’s handbook on health care says that a national organization was created 10 years ago to improve health care for older people. One of the standards for the organization is “rooting out age discrimination.”
Age Concern does receive complaints from older citizens, and its Web site says that ageism in health care does occur. It says, for example, that a doctor could refuse to refer an older patient to a consultant, medical professionals may make inappropriate comments about the patient, or a patient "might even be pushed into a care home you don’t want or be refused specific social services because of your age." The site then tells older people what they can do if they feel they've been mistreated.
The site mentions one age limit – those over the age of 70 won't get regular invitations every three years to breast cancer screenings. But those older folks get a screening if they request one.
The anonymous e-mail claims that "[i]n England anyone over 59 cannot receive heart repairs or stents or bypass because it is not covered as being too expensive and not needed." That's false.
We called the United Kingdom's Department of Health and a spokesman told us: "It is not true that anyone aged over 59 years cannot receive heart repairs, stents or bypass surgery on the basis of their age."
He also said that medical procedures in the U.K. are not routinely denied for older people. The National Health Service, the U.K.'s public health care service, has a constitution which prohibits discrimination on the basis of age and other factors. "The NHS Constitution states that the NHS provides a 'comprehensive service, available to all irrespective of gender, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief,' " the spokesman said.
We also contacted a nonprofit group, England’s Age Concern and Help the Aged, which works to stop age discrimination in various facets of life, including employment and health care. Age Concern's press office had never heard of any kind of prohibition on heart surgery for those 60 and older.
The group’s handbook on health care says that a national organization was created 10 years ago to improve health care for older people. One of the standards for the organization is “rooting out age discrimination.”
Age Concern does receive complaints from older citizens, and its Web site says that ageism in health care does occur. It says, for example, that a doctor could refuse to refer an older patient to a consultant, medical professionals may make inappropriate comments about the patient, or a patient "might even be pushed into a care home you don’t want or be refused specific social services because of your age." The site then tells older people what they can do if they feel they've been mistreated.
The site mentions one age limit – those over the age of 70 won't get regular invitations every three years to breast cancer screenings. But those older folks get a screening if they request one.
Canadian Choppers
The e-mail also falsely claims that it took eight hours to drive actress Natasha Richardson to a hospital in Canada in March after she fell and hit her head while skiing. "If Canada had our healthcare she might be alive today," the e-mail speculates, saying that the U.S. has fast-moving medical helicopters and implying that Canada doesn't.
That's not true; in fact, the province of Ontario has an air ambulance system that the Toronto Star called "the envy of North America" and "the largest and most sophisticated of its kind on the continent." However, it is true that the province of Quebec, where Richardson was skiing, is the only province in the country that doesn't have an air ambulance system, according to the Star. And her death raised questions about whether a helicopter could have made a difference in the tragedy.
Mont Tremblant Ski Resort, where Richardson was taking a lesson on a beginner's slope on March 16, is about 25 miles from Centre Hospitalier Laurentien in Ste-Agathe, where Richardson was first taken. Ambulance records obtained by the New York Times show that the ambulance arrived nine minutes after a call was made for it, and it took 38 minutes to get to Centre Hospitalier Laurentien. Richardson was later moved to Montreal's Sacre-Coeur Hospital, which has a trauma center and a team of neurosurgeons that the smaller Ste-Agathe hospital lacks.
The ambulance that took her to Ste-Agathe was the second to arrive for her; the first was turned away when the actress said she was fine. As the Times, and many others, reported, the first ambulance arrived at 1 p.m. but was turned away. At 3 p.m., when Richardson said she wasn't feeling well, the second ambulance was summoned. Paramedics attended to her and then made the 38-minute trip to the hospital in Ste-Agathe, arriving at 4:20 p.m.
At about 6 p.m., she was transported to the Montreal hospital. The time line of events has prompted
many questions as to whether Richardson could have been successfully
treated had the ambulance taken her straight to the Montreal hospital
rather than Ste-Agathe, or if she had gone to the hospital in the first
ambulance, or if she had been transported sooner from the Ste-Agathe
hospital to the facility in Montreal. Or if a helicopter could have
taken her from Ste-Agathe to Montreal, a drive of about 45 minutes, or
if a helicopter could have been called by the resort.
The Toronto Star reported that “Quebec is the only province that doesn't have a network of helicopter air ambulances in place,” a situation the Quebec government had been studying. The Star said that the head of the trauma center at Montreal’s McGill University Health Centre had voiced concerns about this at a conference before Richardson’s death. Dr. Tarek Razek warned that skiers needed to wear helmets, saying "I cannot get you to my centre fast enough to have those reductions in mortality. I just can't.” Razek told conference participants that Quebec was "the only region that I've ever been able to find in the Western world" without an air ambulance system.
In a letter to Canada's National Post, Razek said that Canada's health care system wasn't at fault, putting the blame squarely on Quebec.
The Toronto Star reported that “Quebec is the only province that doesn't have a network of helicopter air ambulances in place,” a situation the Quebec government had been studying. The Star said that the head of the trauma center at Montreal’s McGill University Health Centre had voiced concerns about this at a conference before Richardson’s death. Dr. Tarek Razek warned that skiers needed to wear helmets, saying "I cannot get you to my centre fast enough to have those reductions in mortality. I just can't.” Razek told conference participants that Quebec was "the only region that I've ever been able to find in the Western world" without an air ambulance system.
In a letter to Canada's National Post, Razek said that Canada's health care system wasn't at fault, putting the blame squarely on Quebec.
Razek, letter to National Post, published April 11:
Our failure to ensure public safety to a minimum standard is indeed
shameful, but it is not a failure of Canadian health care, as this
service exists in most of Canada. Rather, it is a failure of Quebec
health care.
Another Canadian newspaper, Montreal's Gazette,
quoted the director of Quebec's pre-hospital care as saying that the
lack of helicopters was a matter of cost. Daniel LeFrançois told the
Gazette that it was a case of "the biggest gain for the biggest need,"
saying "[i]t costs $6,000 for one hour of flight." LeFrançois noted
that Quebec's accident death rate was slightly lower than Canada's
average.
So would Richardson have had a better chance of survival had she been skiing in a different Canadian province, or in the United States? We can't possibly say. It's worth noting that not every state in the U.S. has medical evacuation helicopters – Vermont and Rhode Island, small states to be sure, do not, according to the Atlas & Database of Air Medical Services, which is funded by the Federal Highway Administration. As shown on this map, some areas of the country have many more air medical services than others: In North Dakota and Wyoming, for instance, it could take well over 30 minutes for an evacuation helicopter to get the scene of an accident, depending on the location.
So would Richardson have had a better chance of survival had she been skiing in a different Canadian province, or in the United States? We can't possibly say. It's worth noting that not every state in the U.S. has medical evacuation helicopters – Vermont and Rhode Island, small states to be sure, do not, according to the Atlas & Database of Air Medical Services, which is funded by the Federal Highway Administration. As shown on this map, some areas of the country have many more air medical services than others: In North Dakota and Wyoming, for instance, it could take well over 30 minutes for an evacuation helicopter to get the scene of an accident, depending on the location.
What Obama Wants
After making false and disparaging claims about health care in those two countries, the e-mail says that "Obama wants to have our healthcare like Canada's and England's." Actually, the president has said repeatedly that he doesn't want a single-payer system like England and Canada have, one in which everyone has insurance through the government. We've written about this several times, as conservative groups, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and then-presidential candidate John McCain have all made similar claims and implications.
Obama has said that the United States should build on the system it has now. His stance has irritated some single payer advocates and prompted several questions about why he's against such a system. On July 1 at a town hall meeting in Annandale, Va., Obama was asked again why the U.S. shouldn't have a single payer system. The president responded:
Obama, July 1:
... the way our health care system evolved in the United States, it
evolved based on employers providing health insurance to their
employees through private insurers. And so that's still the way that
the vast majority of you get your insurance. And for us to transition
completely from an employer-based system of private insurance to a
single-payer system could be hugely disruptive. And my attitude has
been that we should be able to find a way to create a uniquely American
solution to this problem that controls costs but preserves the
innovation that is introduced in part with a free market system. ...
But I recognize that there are lot of people who are passionate – they look at France or some of these other systems and they say, well, why can't we just do that? Well, the answer is, is that this is one-sixth of our economy, and we're not suddenly just going to completely upend the system. We want to build on what works about the system and fix what's broken about the system. And that's what I think Congress is committed to doing, and I'm committed to working with them to make it happen.
But I recognize that there are lot of people who are passionate – they look at France or some of these other systems and they say, well, why can't we just do that? Well, the answer is, is that this is one-sixth of our economy, and we're not suddenly just going to completely upend the system. We want to build on what works about the system and fix what's broken about the system. And that's what I think Congress is committed to doing, and I'm committed to working with them to make it happen.
Daschle Didn't Say That
Finally, the e-mail claims that the stimulus bill "includes provisions for extensive rationing of health care for senior citizens." No, it doesn't.
Some conservatives have said that a council overseeing the government's funding of comparative effectiveness research (research into which medicines and procedures work best and are most cost-effective) will "ration" health care. But the council created by the stimulus legislation (now public law) doesn't have any power to do that. In fact, the legislation stipulates that "[n]one of the reports submitted under this section or recommendations made by the Council shall be construed as mandates or clinical guidelines for payment, coverage, or treatment."
The e-mail speculates that former Sen. Tom Daschle, once Obama's nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, was the author of this part of the bill. And it falsely says that Bloomberg News quoted Daschle as saying: "Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them." Daschle didn't say that.
Instead, those are the words of the former Republican lieutenant governor of New York, Betsy McCaughey, who wrote an opinion piece for Bloomberg News and offered her reading of comments in Daschle's book. Back in February, we dissected McCaughey's column, pieces of which have popped up in chain e-mails, and found it to be full of errors. McCaughey also passes off opinion as fact, and in the case of Daschle, she paraphrases him, which is clear from the lack of quote marks in the column.
What Daschle did say is a far cry from "seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them." Instead, he wrote (without mentioning age) in his book "Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis": "The use and overuse of new technologies and treatments is grounded in American culture. ... More so than people in other countries, [Americans] just aren't inclined to fatalistically accept a hopeless diagnosis or forgo experimental interventions if there is even the slightest chance of success."
He also quoted Rutgers University health care policy expert David Mechanic, who wrote: "more and more of what were once seen as social, behaviorial, or normative aspects of everyday life, or as normal processes of aging, are now framed in a medical context. ... Whether wrinkles, breasts, or buttocks, impotence or social anxieties, or inattention in school, they all have become grist for the medical mill."
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