More proof WE NEED GOD

Gunman dead, 5 injured at Ohio school










By JOE MILICIA, Associated Press Writer
12 minutes ago






CLEVELAND - A gunman opened fire in a downtown high school Wednesday
before killing himself, and five people were taken to a hospital,
authorities said.

After the shooting, shaken teens called their parents on cell phones, most to reassure but in at least one case with terrifying news: "Mom, I got shot."
Mayor Frank Jackson said three teens and two adults were hurt. He
said the children were in "stable, good condition," and the adults were
in "a little elevated condition."
Police said SuccessTech Academy had been secured and that the lone
suspect had fatally shot himself. Students said he was enrolled at the
alternative school but did not attend class Wednesday.
Student Doneisha LeVert, who hid in a closet with two other students
after she heard a "Code Blue" alert over the loudspeaker, said the
shooter had threatened students Friday.
"He's crazy. He threatened to blow up our school. He threatened to stab everybody," she said.
Ronnell Jackson, 15, said he saw a shooter running down a school hallway.
"He was about to shoot me, but I got out just in time," he said. "He was aiming at me I got out just in time."
Tammy Mundy, 38, who has a son and daughter at the school, told The
Plain Dealer that her daughter called when the shooting started.
"She said, 'Mom they're shooting in here, kids are running out, I'm hiding in the closet,'" Mundy told the newspaper.
Then she called her 18-year-old son, Darnell Rodgers, on his cell phone, and he told her he had been shot in the arm.
"He said, 'Mom, I got shot,'" Mundy told the newspaper.
The mayor said two boys, ages 14 and 17, were hurt, as were two men,
ages 42 and 57, and a 14-year-old girl he said fell and hurt her knee
while running out of the school.
The 57-year-old is a teacher and was in good condition, said Eileen
Korey, a spokeswoman for Metro Health Medical Center. She said the
older teenage student was in stable condition, and that conditions on
the other patients were not being released.
Students stood outside the building, many in tears, hugging each other and on cell phones.
Others shouted at reporters with TV cameras to leave them alone. Family
members also stood outside, anxiously waiting for their children to be
released.
"I'm scared. I'm hoping no more people got hurt," Ronnell Jackson said.
The shooting occurred across the street from the FBI office in downtown Cleveland, and students were being sent to the FBI site.
"There are a lot of emergency vehicles," said spokesman Scott Wilson. "They're just trying to sort things out right now."

Wilson said he had no information on the shooting.

SuccessTech Academy is an alternative high school in the Cleveland city
school district that emphasizes technology and entrepreneurship. It is
is housed on several floors of the district's downtown Cleveland
Lakeside Avenue administration building.
"It's a shining beacon for the Cleveland Metropolitan School
System," said John Zitzner, founder and president of E City Cleveland,
a nonprofit group aimed at teaching business skills to inner-city
teens. "It's orderly, it's disciplined, it's calm, it's focused."
The school has about 240 mainly black students with a small
number of white and Hispanic students. All the students are considered
poor under federal poverty guidelines.
The school, opened five years ago, ranks in the middle of the
state's ratings for student performance. Its graduation rate is 94
percent, well above the district's rate of 55 percent.

A bad relationship can cause heart attack?










By Michael Kahn
Tue Oct 9, 10:49 AM ET






LONDON (Reuters) -
It has been the stuff of great romantic
novels and blockbuster films. Doctors have long suspected it. A
study of 9,000 British civil servants has at last established
it is possible to die of a 'broken heart'.

The study, reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine,
found the stress and anxiety of hostile, angry relationships
can boost the risk of developing heart disease. Chances of a
heart attack or chest pain rose by 34 percent compared to
people on good terms with a spouse or partner.
"A person's heart condition seems to be influenced by
negative intimate relationships," researchers wrote. "We showed
that the negative aspects of close relationships...are
associated with coronary heart disease."
Other research has shown more social connections can mean a
healthier life -- the "protective effect" -- but few studies
have looked at how close friendships or marriages affect
health, said Roberto De Vogli, an epidemiologist at University
College London, who led the study.
The researchers studied civil servants who completed
questionnaires about negative aspects of their relationships --
which included a spouse or close friend -- between 1989 and
1990 or between 1985 and 1988.
BAD EXPERIENCES "REPLAYED"
The questions asked whether people had emotional support, a
chance to talk with someone about problems or whether they
could count on a partner or close friend for something as
simple as a ride to the grocery store, De Vogli said.
The team followed up over a 12-year period and found that
people who reported that arguments, criticism and other types
of conflict were common had a 34 percent greater risk of heart
attacks or chest pain.
When the researchers stripped out risk factors such as
obesity, smoking, drinking and family history, the chance of a
heart attack was still 23 percent higher, De Vogli said.
"If you have good people around it is good for your health,
he said in a telephone interview. "If you have negative people
around it is much worse for your health."
The study did not look at whether a bad relationship played
a role in the severity of a heart attack.
"It seems clear from this analysis that no matter if
positive aspects of social relationships are having a
significant protective effect, the negative impact seems far
stronger," De Vogli said.
"People continually replay negative experiences."

Can we say...SIGNS OF THE TIMES???? Hey Ho!

'Superbug' Deaths Could Surpass AIDS


Drug-resistant germs becoming more common, government report

finds


Associated Press


October 16, 2007


CHICAGO - More than 90,000 Americans get potentially deadly

infections each year from a drug-resistant staph "superbug,"

the government reported Tuesday in its first overall

estimate of invasive disease caused by the germ.


Deaths tied to these infections may exceed those caused by
AIDS, said one public health expert commenting on the new

study. The report shows just how far one form of the staph

germ has spread beyond its traditional hospital setting.


The overall incidence rate was about 32 invasive infections

per 100,000 people. That's an "astounding" figure, said an

editorial in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical

Association, which published the study.


Most drug-resistant staph cases are mild skin infections.

But this study focused on invasive infections - those that

enter the bloodstream or destroy flesh and can turn deadly.


Carried by healthy people


Researchers found that only about one-quarter involved

hospitalized patients. However, more than half were in the

health care system - people who had recently had surgery or

were on kidney dialysis, for example. Open wounds and

exposure to medical equipment are major ways the bug

spreads.


In recent years, the resistant germ has become more common

in hospitals and it has been spreading through prisons, gyms

and locker rooms, and in poor urban neighborhoods.


The new study offers the broadest look yet at the

pervasiveness of the most severe infections caused by the

bug, called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or

MRSA. These bacteria can be carried by healthy people,

living on their skin or in their noses.


An invasive form of the disease is being blamed for the

death Monday of a 17-year-old Virginia high school senior.

Doctors said the germ had spread to his kidneys, liver,

lungs and muscles around his heart.


The researchers' estimates are extrapolated from 2005

surveillance data from nine mostly urban regions considered

representative of the country. There were 5,287 invasive

infections reported that year in people living in those

regions, which would translate to an estimated 94,360 cases

nationally, the researchers said.


Most cases were life-threatening bloodstream infections.

However, about 10 percent involved so-called flesh-eating

disease, according to the study led by researchers at the

federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


There were 988 reported deaths among infected people in the

study, for a rate of 6.3 per 100,000. That would translate

to 18,650 deaths annually, although the researchers don't

know if MRSA was the cause in all cases.


Curb antibiotic use


If these deaths all were related to staph infections, the

total would exceed other better-known causes of death

including AIDS - which killed an estimated 17,011 Americans

in 2005 - said Dr. Elizabeth Bancroft of the Los Angeles

County Health Department, the editorial author.


The results underscore the need for better prevention




















measures. That includes curbing the overuse of antibiotics

and improving hand-washing and other hygiene procedures

among hospital workers, said the CDC's Dr. Scott Fridkin, a

study co-author.


Some hospitals have drastically cut infections by first

isolating new patients until they are screened for MRSA.


The bacteria don't respond to penicillin-related antibiotics

once commonly used to treat them, partly because of overuse.

They can be treated with other drugs but health officials

worry that their overuse could cause the germ to become

resistant to those, too.


A survey earlier this year suggested that MRSA infections,

including noninvasive mild forms, affect 46 out of every

1,000 U.S. hospital and nursing home patients - or as many

as 5 percent. These patients are vulnerable because of open

wounds and invasive medical equipment that can help the germ

spread.


Dr. Buddy Creech, an infectious disease specialist at
Vanderbilt University, said the JAMA study emphasizes the

broad scope of the drug-resistant staph "epidemic," and

highlights the need for a vaccine, which he called "the holy

grail of staphylococcal research."


The regions studied were: the Atlanta metropolitan area;
Baltimore, Connecticut; Davidson County, Tenn.; the Denver

metropolitan area; Monroe County, NY; the Portland, Ore.

metropolitan area; Ramsey County, Minn.; and the San

Francisco metropolitan area.


Preventing staph


Antibiotic-resistant staph infections, usually involving the

skin, are showing up more often among healthy people. Here

are some prevention tips:


- Wash hands thoroughly and often with soap and water.


- Keep cuts and abrasions clean and covered with a bandage

until healed.


- Avoid contact with other people's wounds or material

contaminated by wounds.


- Do not share items such as razors, soap, ointments and

balms, towels or wash cloths, clothing or uniforms.


- If participating in contact sports, cover cuts, scrapes

and other wounds with a bandage.


- Shower with soap immediately after each practice or game.

Wipe down all nonwashable equipment (mats, head protectors,

gymnastics equipment, etc.) with alcohol or antibiotic

solution after each person uses it.


- If caring for someone with an infection at home, wash

hands with soap after each physical contact and before going

outside. Only use towels for drying hands once. Change and

launder linens frequently, right away if they are soiled.


- When contact with body fluids is expected, wear disposable

gloves and wash hands after removing them.


- See a physician promptly if you have a suspicious skin

sore or boil.


Sources: Associated Press, Centers for Disease Control and



















Prevention, physician interviews.

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