What's What, What's Hot and What's Not USA

There's no doubting the passion behind Morning Light, Roy Disney's cinematic love letter to one of his life's obsessions – sailing.
But as with so many passions, it's hard for an outsider to get on board, a feeling that floats to the surface repeatedly in the too-long saga of 15 young sailors who are chosen to go up against the pros in the 4,000-kilometre California-to-Hawaii Transpac ocean race.
It's a race Disney has done 16 times, starting in the 1970s, and the documentary opens with his quiet reminder to the group as they sit in a Honolulu condo that serves as their base camp, "If you fall overboard, consider it a death sentence."
Unfortunately, high drama on the high seas fails to materialize among these jaw-droppingly naive kids, most of whom have been sailing since they were in diapers.
How will we survive without Starbucks? without cheeseburgers? without pizza? they worriedly ask the camera, making it seem like they're headed off to solitary in Guantamamo for 10 years instead of only facing 10 days without a trip to the drive-thru.
As they train, run drills and learn navigation and safety rules (the highlight is when a hapless volunteer gets tossed overboard), Morning Light becomes as repetitive as an ocean swell: sail, barf, read aloud from their journals, sail some more. After watching scene after scene of Transpac prep, when the counter in the corner of the screen reads "188 days before race," the urge to jump off the side looms large.
Meanwhile, the group is preparing to elect a skipper from among their numbers, and the final group of sailors to make the race has to be winnowed down to 11. Even as a pilot for So You Want to Sail to Hawaii, it's mighty dull.
The sailing footage is thrilling and watching the sleek boat power through the waves is inspiring – the first few times.
With tighter editing and more drama, Morning Light could have done well as a made-for-TV doc, the kind of true-life adventure that the Disney studio built its empire upon back in the 1950s. As it is there's just not enough story or tension there to make it a worthy theatrical release.
For those who love sailing, Morning Light will confirm their passion and please them right down to their Top-Sider encased toes. For the rest of us, this sailors' tale just smacks of naval gazing.
barf


Eva Kollisch returns to Sarah Lawrence College to discuss her new book, The Ground Under My Feet, which explores the imprint Anti-Semitism and lack of belonging has on one’s emotional life, as well as the healing power of friendship. Eva's first book, Girl in Movement is set in the United States after a teenage girl has escaped Nazi Germany.
Eva Kollisch taught German, Comparative Literature, and Women’s Studies at Sarah Lawrence College for over 30 years. In 1939, as a 14-year-old Jewish refugee from Vienna, she was rescued by Kindertransport and brought to England. Some nine months later she, together with her two brothers, came to the United States, where they were reunited with their parents.
Eva Kollisch has been active in anti-was, feminist and human rights causes. A mother and grandmother, she lives in New York City with her long-time companion, the poet Naomi Replansky.
sarah lawrence college

It’s hard enough to make modern mathematics comprehensible in print, so I’m especially impressed to see anyone try to do it on television. Tonight, at 8 p.m. on PBS, Nova is presenting “Hunting the Hidden Dimension,” an hour-long documentary on what it calls a “compelling mathematical detective story,” the discovery of fractal geometry and its resulting applications. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that there are lots of beautiful examples of fractals the natural world — and the unnatural worlds of “Star Trek” and “Star Wars.”
The documentary, produced and directed by Michael Schwarz and Bill Jersey, tells how the mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot became obssessed with “roughness” because so much in nature was not explained by orderly classical shapes like cones and spheres. He developed equations to explain shapes ranging from clouds to broccoli, and the equations turned out to be useful in creating movies, building cell-phone antennas, developing stronger concrete and a myriad of other applications. For instance, as Mandelbrot explains in an interview with Nova:
People living along highways scream about noise, but the flat walls put in place to placate them were very ineffective, because the noise that hit them simply bounced off. Responding to some political pressure, a friend of mine had the brilliant idea that a wall having a fractal surface would be far better because it would absorb the noise. . . . . In raw nature, very few shapes are simple: the pupil, the iris, the moon—with two hands, you can count all the simple shapes of nature. Everything else is rough. But if you look around us, almost everything industrial is very smooth, round, flat, corrugated, and so on. Now that is changing. Engineers everywhere know how to use fractals.
You can create your own version of the Mandelbrot set, the most famous fractal of all. And you don’t even have to solve the equations.
fractal geometry



Charlie Brown is still a good man -- so good he and his pals will be giving candy to youngsters who choose to spend Halloween night watching their story unfold.
The Northgate High School drama department will be presenting "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" on Friday and Saturday at the Centre for Performing and Visual Arts. Both performances will start at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $5 for students and $8 for adults. Tickets will be available at the arts center or can be reserved in advance via e-mail at melanie.bruner@cowetaschools.net or by phone at 770-463-5585, extension 224.
"You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" began as a record album, based on the "Peanuts" characters created by Charles M. Schulz. Clark Gesner created the story and 10 songs. The album was adapted for the stage and opened off Broadway in 1967 -- running for more than 1,500 performances.
The play was revived on Broadway in 1971 and again in 1999. Television productions of the story include a Hallmark Hall of Fame special in 1973 and an animated version that made its debut in 1985.
Northgate teacher Melanie Bruner is the sponsor for the drama group. She said members of the cast will be giving candy to children who attend the Friday night production. "This is a great place to take kids on Halloween," she said.
In the cast are Jordan Lunstead as Charlie Brown, Antonio Mathis as Linus, Rachel Snow as Snoopy, Nicholas Anderson as Schroeder, Keva Kreeger at Patti and Kelsi Adams as Lucy. Mathis and Snow are seniors. They -- and most of the younger members of the cast -- have been in numerous plays in the past.
The Charlie Brown comedy is a smaller, tighter drama in terms of cast -- compared to many previous Northgate productions, such as "The Wizard of Oz." "It's a lot easier," Mathis said.
He said that the smaller cast and the way the play is structured, however, means that all cast members have to be sure of the sequence and specific lines as the play unfolds.
"It's a lot of pressure, but it's so much fun. It's so much fun, you don't even realize the pressure," Lunstead said.
"I like it a lot," Kreeger said. "It's a lot of fun."
Anderson said Schroeder is a highstrung musical genius, who often shouts in frustration at the other characters. "It's hard on my voice. He gets very anxious because he's a genius," Anderson said.
"You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" will feature live music. Bruce Patterson, musical director for the show, said the musicians' preparation for the upcoming play is going well.
charlie brown characters


In the wake of a traffic throttling investigation that resulted in orders from the FCC to change its bandwidth management practice, Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) has begun updating customers on its progress toward the agency’s demands.
In a service notice, Comcast said that as part of its ongoing efforts to continuously improve the quality of it service, “We are switching to a new network congestion management technique by the end of the year.”
Comcast says the technique “is focused on managing network congestion only when and where it may occur. It will also replace the current technique and will help ensure that all of our customers receive their fair share of network resources.”
Cablecos have claimed that a relatively small number of power users are eating up a disproportionately large amount of their local network bandwidth. Comcast got caught throttling bandwidth demanding P2P traffic.
The FCC ordered Comcast to stop and swap in a new bandwidth management approach by yearend. Comcast then updated its Internet acceptable user policy, which took effect Oct. 1, to impose a 250 gigabyte monthly usage ceiling. Exceeding it twice in a series of months would result in Comcast cutting off service to the violator for a year.
That “punishment” wording seems to be missing in the updated policy, which reads: Comcast prefers to inform customers of inappropriate activities and give them a reasonable period of time in which to take corrective action. Comcast also prefers to have customers directly resolve any disputes or disagreements they may have with others, whether customers or not, without Comcast's intervention.”
However, Comcast adds, ”If the service is used in a way that Comcast or its suppliers, in their sole discretion, believe violates this Policy, Comcast or its suppliers may take any responsive actions they deem appropriate under the circumstances with or without notice. These actions include, but are not limited to, temporary or permanent removal of content, cancellation of newsgroup posts, filtering of Internet transmissions, and the immediate suspension or termination of all or any portion of the service.” The cable giant appears to be leaving its options open.
“These actions are not Comcast's exclusive remedies and Comcast may take any other legal or technical actions it deems appropriate with or without notice.”
Comcast said the change in network approach means “probably nothing” to its customers. “We ran five market trials of this technique over the summer and found that less than 1 percent of customers were affected.” The cableco didn’t specifically say if the affected parties were the bandwidth hogs or others.
“So,” Comcast, reasoned, “the vast majority of customers will not notice any change to their Internet experience as a result of this new technique.”
However, the cableco continued, “During the times of busiest network use (which could occur at any hour, depending on your neighborhood), those very few extraordinarily heavy users – who are doing things like conducting multiple and continuous large file transfers – may experience slightly longer response times for some online activities until the period of network congestion ends.”
Comcast says it has once again amended its acceptable use policy “as we transition to this new technique,” and posted it on its Comcast.net Web site.
comcast.net



James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is a two-time Academy Award-nominated, Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe-winning American film, stage and television actor. He is best known for starring in films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Ghosts of Mississippi, Salvador and Hercules.
Contents[hide]
1 Biography
1.1 Early life
1.2 Career
1.3 Politics
1.4 Personal life
1.5 Family Guy
2 Filmography
3 References
4 External links
//

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life
Woods was born in Vernal, Utah. His father, Gail Peyton Woods, was an army intelligence officer who died in 1960[1] following routine surgery, and his mother, Martha A. (née Smith), operated a pre-school after her husband's death[2] and re-married to Thomas E. Dixon. Woods grew up in Warwick, Rhode Island, where he attended Pilgrim High School. Woods, an army brat, had been accepted to attend the United States Air Force Academy with the intention of becoming a fighter pilot. Unfortunately, several weeks before he was to depart, Woods suffered an accident involving a plate glass window which injured his hand tendons severely enough to result in his acceptance being retracted.
Woods received a score of 1580 on the SAT, which included a perfect score of 800 on the verbal section of the test.[3] He chose to pursue his undergraduate studies at MIT, where he majored in political science (though he originally planned on a career as a surgeon). While at MIT, Woods pledged to Theta Delta Chi Fraternity. He was also an active member of the student theatre group "Dramashop" where he both acted in and directed a number of plays. However, he dropped out of MIT in 1969 just before his graduation in order to pursue a career in acting. Woods headed to New York City, calling his mother to tell her of his plans.
While his mother wasn't thrilled at the news, she gave him her blessing to pursue a career in acting. At the 2006 CBS UpFront James Woods stated that his mother told him that if he was going to switch careers to acting that he needed to be the best actor he could possibly be.

[edit] Career
Woods' career has been noted for the intense characters he has chosen, the earliest of which was his portrayal of a sadistic murderer in 1979's The Onion Field. He appeared in an episode of The Rockford Files, playing a son whose parents were murdered and wants James "Jim" Rockford to find the murderer. He was nominated for an Academy Award twice: the first in 1987 for Best Actor in Salvador and again in 1996 for Best Supporting Actor for his acclaimed performance as Byron De La Beckwith in Ghosts of Mississippi. He has also garnered critical praise for his voice work for Hades in Disney's Hercules. His personal favorite of all of his roles, however, is as the domineering gangster Max in Sergio Leone's gangster epic Once Upon A Time In America (1984).
Woods appeared in 1995 in Casino directed by Martin Scorsese and as H.R. Haldeman in Nixon, the biopic of Richard M. Nixon directed by Oliver Stone.
Woods also more recently appeared in the hit movie Surf's Up playing the otter who recruited surfers and competed them against each other.
He was briefly considered for the role of The Joker by Tim Burton and Sam Hamm for the Batman film in 1989. Hamm recalls that he and Burton thought, "James Woods would be good and wouldn't need any makeup, which would save a couple of hours' work every morning." The role ended up going to Jack Nicholson.[4] Quentin Tarantino wrote a part in Reservoir Dogs with Woods in mind, but his agent rejected the script without showing it to the actor. When Woods learned of this some time later, he fired the agent. Woods was also considered for the part of Donald Kimball in American Psycho, but he turned it down. The part was given to Willem Dafoe.
Woods appeared as himself in the episode of The Simpsons entitled "Homer and Apu" and in two episodes of Family Guy entitled "Peter's Got Woods" and "Back to the Woods". The high school in Family Guy is called James Woods High and a forest that is briefly mentioned in The Fat Guy Strangler called James Woods are named after him. In 2006, Woods starred opposite Cuba Gooding Jr. in the political thriller End Game. Also in 2006, Woods played himself in the premiere episode of Entourage's third season. He also starred in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as Mike Toreno and voiced the falcon in Stuart Little 2.
Woods also starred in CBS legal drama Shark, which ran for two seasons between 2006 and 2008. Woods played an infamous Los Angeles defense lawyer who, growing disillusioned, became a prosecutor.

[edit] Politics
Woods is a Republican, and he was a vocal supporter of U.S. President George W. Bush and former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani. Woods lobbied hard to play Giuliani in the biopic Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story, and considers the role one of the favorites of his career.[5]

[edit] Personal life
Woods has dated Dana Delany, Sean Young, Teri Hatcher, Heather Graham, Nicolette Sheridan, Lauren Holly, as well as other lesser-known actresses in Hollywood.[6]
He has twice divorced and has recently ended a 2-year long relationship with Ashley Madison, an up-an-coming actress 39-years his junior.[7]
Woods plays on the World Poker Tour in the Hollywood Home games for the American Stroke Association charity. In 2006, James finished in 24th place out of 692 at the L.A. Poker Classic for $40,000. Woods has shared an endorsement for the online poker website Hollywood Poker which is run in conjunction with Ongame Network, and "co hosted" with poker enthusiast Vince Van Patten. He can be found playing regularly at Hollywood Poker, and contributes content to the website.
During a press interview for Kingdom Hearts II, Woods noted that he is an avid video game player.[8]
His brother and fellow actor, Michael Jeffrey Woods, died of cardiac arrest on July 26, 2006. This occurred shortly after James Woods finished 24th at a World Poker Tour event.
Woods reportedly has an I.Q. of 180 or 184 (Stanford-Binet) and is a member of Mensa.[9][10][11][12]
He also volunteers as a Reserve Police Officer for the LAPD.

[edit] Family Guy
References to and appearances by James Woods in the animated comedy Family Guy has become something of a recurring motif, the most prominent of which is the local high school, which is named after him, as is the local forest which is simply named "James Woods".
Woods has also appeared in several episodes in which he is voiced by himself. In his first appearance, "Peter's Got Woods", he befriends Peter Griffin who had called him over to prevent the high school name from being changed. However, Woods becomes incredibly obsessed with Peter, who resorts to trapping him in a wooden box with candy as bait (à la E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) and having him shipped him away to a government warehouse under the pretense of being "studied by 'top men'" (à la Raiders of the Lost Ark). A disgruntled Woods returns in the episode "Back to the Woods" where he seeks revenge against Peter by stealing his identity, leading Peter to do the same for Woods; in the end, Woods suffers the exact same fate as before (Peter and Brian resolve to tempt Woods with candy right away next time should he return).

[edit] Filmography
The Way We Were (1973)
Kojak: Death Is Not A Passing Grade (1974)
Raid on Entebbe (1977)
Holocaust (TV mini-series) (1978)
The Onion Field (1979)
Fast-Walking (1982)
Videodrome (1983)
Against All Odds (1984)
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Cat's Eye (1985)
Joshua Then and Now (1985)
Salvador (1986)
Best Seller (1987)
Cop (1987)
The Boost (1988)
My Name is Bill W. (1989) (T.V. Movie) Best Actor Emmy Award
True Believer (1989)
The Hard Way (1991)
Straight Talk (1992)
Diggstown (1992)
Citizen Cohn (1992)
Chaplin (1992)
The Specialist (1994)
The Simpsons, episode "Homer and Apu" (TV series) (1994)
Casino (1995)
Nixon (1995)
Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)
Killer: A Journal of Murder (1996)
Contact (1997)
Another Day in Paradise (1997)
Hercules (voice) (1997)
John Carpenter's Vampires (1998)
True Crime (1999)
Any Given Sunday (1999)
The General's Daughter (1999)
The Virgin Suicides (1999)
Clerks (TV series) (2000)
Dirty Pictures (2000)
Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)
Recess: School's Out (voice of Dr. Philium Benedict) (2001)
Scary Movie 2 (2001)
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (voice) (2001)
Race to Space (2002)
Kingdom Hearts (video game) (2002)
Stuart Little 2 (voice of the falcon) (2002)
John Q (2002)
This Girl's Life (2003)
Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story (2003)
Northfork (2003)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (video game) as Mike Toreno (2004)
Be Cool (2005)
Family Guy: Peter's Got Woods (voice) (2005)
Kingdom Hearts II (video game) (2006)
Scarface: The World Is Yours (video game) (2006)
Shark (TV series) (2006-2008)
ER (2006)
Entourage (2006)
End Game (2006)
Surf's Up (voice) (2007)
Family Guy: Back to the Woods (voice) (2008)
Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories (video game) (2008)
An American Carol (2008)

[edit] References
^ Warwick Online: Michael Woods remembered for a smile, and a laugh
^ James Woods Biography (1947-)
^ Lycos Clever Celebs - Lycos Celebrity - The cleverest celebrities uncovered
^ http://www.batmanmovieonline.com/behindthescenes/articles/samhamm.htm]
^ Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story (2003) (TV)
^ "James Wood's Dating History". Who's Dated Who?. Retrieved on 2008-10-04.
^ "James Wood's Dating History". Who's Dated Who?. Retrieved on 2008-10-04.
^ [1]
^ PokerListings.com - James Woods
^ [2]
^ [3]
^ The Biography Channel - James Woods
james woods



One option for heart attack patients is primary angioplasty, which has a higher success rate than conventional treatment methods if performed in the critical window period of three to six hours after an attack. SUZANNA PILLAY writes.
IT is a daunting fact to absorb: the type of medical attention that heart attack patients receive within a critical window of three to six hours could determine their future quality of life.That is why many medical centres worldwide are now treating heart attack patients with the most effective and advanced procedure available — primary angioplasty.Performing a life-saving emergency procedure like primary angioplasty on patients immediately after they have heart attacks, reportedly, not only reduces the amount of time patients spend in hospital, but also possible complications and likelihood of another attack or stroke in the future.“The success rate of primary angioplasty is more than 95 per cent when performed in experienced hands. In comparison, the injection of thrombolytic agents/clot-busting drugs, the conventional immediate treatment for heart attack sufferers is only successful 60 to 70 per cent of the time,” said consultant interventional cardiologist Dr Devan Pillay, who is spearheading the routine use of this technique.“When a person has a heart attack, there is a sudden total occlusion (100 per cent blockage) of a pre-existing partial block which cuts off the blood supply to a portion of a heart muscle.“The time taken to restore blood flow to cardiac tissue becomes fundamental to outcome.“The affected portion may sustain permanent damage if the blockage in not removed within three to six hours from the onset of the heart attack,” said Dr Pillay.He said about 25 per cent of patients treated with clot-busting medication either die due to failed thrombolysis, or if they survive the attack, sustain permanent damage to a large portion of the heart muscle — resulting in a very much weakened heart.“People with weak hearts have their quality of life affected because they carry on to live with either heart failure, valve leaks, ruptures in the damaged portion of the heart or rhythm problems.”In primary angioplasty, blood flow to the heart is restored by first inserting and inflating a small balloon in the blocked artery to unblock it.Then to prevent recoil and reduce re-blockage at the ballooned site, a metal scaffolding called a stent is inserted to keep the artery open.It is the preferred treatment for a heart attack, according to the American College of Cardiology and European Society of Cardiology. So why are we not performing primary angioplasty in every hospital?Firstly, Dr Pillay cited the lack of public awareness about both heart attacks and the treatment options available.“Many people do not realise that we have trained personnel and the equipment to perform emergency primary angioplasty right away on our heart attack patients.Performing angioplasty in a critical patient with a heart attack in the critical window period of three to six hours is a challenge for any hospital.For effective treatment of patients, apart from cardiologists who are specially trained in interventional cardiology, a hospital also requires sufficient resources like a dedicated team of nurses and cardiac catheterisation lab technicians who can react quickly to an emergency call. "Patients experiencing symptoms of a heart attack are evaluated within minutes of arriving in the Emergency Department at the hospital." When the diagnosis of a heart attack is confirmed, most patients are transferred immediately to the catheterisation lab for Emergency Primary Angioplasty."Another reason is delayed presentation to the hospital, thereby falling out of the critical window period."This is again lack of awareness not only among lay people but also referring general practitioners."Furthermore, large distances to be covered before reaching the hospital, traffic congestion and poor ambulance response times also need to be addressed, he added.Traditionally, heart attacks were more common in patients in the 50-60 age group, but Dr Pillay said today doctors are even seeing it in patients in their late-30s and mid- to late-40s."It is a disease that reflects our modern, more affluent lifestyle. We overindulge in rich foods but do not exercise enough. Diabetes and obesity are fast becoming a problem as are smoking, hypertension and alcohol abuse. Apart from that, modern life has also become more stressful."When people are stressed, adrenaline is released into their blood. In small amounts this is harmless but in cases of persistent chronic stress, it can be harmful because it can cause constriction of the blood vessels. If you happen to have a pre-existing condition of narrowed blood vessels, adrenaline can cause further constriction in your blood vessels, cutting off blood flow and resulting in sudden death.Younger patients with congenital or hereditary problems like familial hypercholesterdemia are also predisposed to early coronary heart disease. A heart attack can strike unexpectedly, warned Dr Pillay."Be aware of the warning signs of a heart attack — chest pain with nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, profuse sweating, fainting or weakness. You may feel pain in your left arm and if you are a woman, you may feel pain in your stomach or jaws."To keep in the pink of health, avoid foods with a high glycaemic index (which increase sugar levels) and maintain a diet that is a healthy balance of protein and fibre-rich food that is low in saturated fats."Basic exercise also needs to be regular. The American Heart Association recommends 40 minutes to an hour of exercise that gets the heart-pumping, at least three times a week," he advised.Post-heart attack recoveryA HEART attack is a traumatic experience for both patient and spouse. Sometimes patients may suffer from depression which affects their home life, work and sex life."In most cases, it is temporary reactive depression and dissipates gradually, but in bad cases patients may need to seek medical help to treat their depression," said Dr Pillay."Recurrence rates are always a possibility if a patient does not take care of himself/herself. Continue to practise a healthy lifestyle: take the prescribed medication, continue to diet, exercise and learn to cope with stress by undertaking relaxation activities and exercises such as yoga."To remind yourself what you need to do to take care of your heart, visit your doctor every few months to stay on track in maintaining a healthier lifestyle."Most patients follow doctors attentively for the first six months after their surgery, then revert back to old bad habits."It would be also prudent to go for a treadmill exercise and stress test every year to check for potential problems.
sweating blood



Somewhere out in the fleet, there’s a Navy medical officer who earned the Navy Cross during vicious, hammering combat five years ago.
And he’s not authorized to wear the award — second only to the Medal of Honor.
That’s because the 2003 mission, during which the officer fought like a demon and put himself in the line of fire to save several wounded American and Afghan comrades from al-Qaida and Taliban forces, remains classified.
And so does his identity.
A spokeswoman for the Navy secretary confirmed the existence of the Navy Cross recipient after Navy Times forwarded her a copy of the officer’s citation, in which his name is redacted. So secret was the award that the Navy did not include it when queried as to the number of sailors who have earned the Navy Cross since Sept. 11, 2001. The Navy has now changed the number of recipients from six to seven, even though the seventh award was presented more than a year ago.
“The Department of the Navy has approved the awarding of seven Navy Crosses for Navy personnel,” Capt. Beci Brenton, spokeswoman for Navy Secretary Donald Winter, said Friday.
According to the citation, which is not classified, the unnamed lieutenant wasn’t caught in one brutal firefight but two. The citation does not identify the country but references Afghan personnel who were part of a “joint operational unit” on a mounted patrol with Americans.
Unclear whether night or day, the patrol was ambushed and pounded by “extremely heavy fire from rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire.” The lieutenant got out of his truck to return fire and pulled a wounded Afghan commander behind the engine block and away from the bullets.
Still under fire, he extricated a wounded American, the driver, who was “trapped behind the steering wheel” of a stricken vehicle.
While patching up that American, the lieutenant used his body as a shield, taking several bullets that only punched through his clothing and gear. He then made his way toward two wounded Afghans in the lead vehicles.
After tending to them, he found a squad of Afghan soldiers in “disarray,” rallied them and sent them forward to “break the ambush.”
The account of the first contact ends with the lieutenant treating and evacuating several wounded.
Later in the day, “while sweeping an area of earlier action, a U.S.-Afghan element was ambushed by a platoon-sized enemy force” near the lieutenant. It’s not clear whether the element was the same joint operating unit ambushed earlier.
After an American and an Afghan were “severely wounded,” the lieutenant had to run 200 meters “between opposing forces” and under “withering and continuous heavy machine gun and small arms fire.”
The lieutenant took shrapnel while tending to the two and protecting them from fire “now directed at him.”
An Apache gunship fired rockets while the lieutenant mustered the remaining Afghans, led a “fighting withdrawal” to safety, then moved out “overland back to base.” He finally treated his own wounds when he stopped moving.
In the citation signed by Winter, the lieutenant was noted for “heroic display of decisive and tenacious leadership, unyielding courage in the face of constant enemy fire, and utmost devotion to duty. ...”
‘Sensitive’ mission
Brenton said the information in the citation is unclassified but the officer’s identity remains undisclosed because “the mission was sensitive.”
He was awarded the Navy Cross in April 2007.
“His name has been redacted to protect the individual, as well as the individual’s family,” Brenton said.
She confirmed that he is alive, but it is unclear whether he is still in the Navy or if he has since been promoted.
While acknowledging seven recipients, the Navy has given names of only four of them: Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class (FMF) Luis Fonseca; Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Danny Dietz; Sonar Technician (Surface) 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew Axelson; and Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Marcus Luttrell.
“The other three were presented privately due to the sensitivity and classified nature of their missions,” Brenton said.
Besides the lieutenant, the other two, according to several Internet searches, are Master Chief Special Warfare Operator Britt Slabinski and Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Stephen Bass. Their citations are on the Legion of Valor’s Web site. The legion is a congressionally chartered organization of Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross and Air Force Cross recipients. Once a service member earns one of those awards, he becomes a member of the legion.
citation machine



Julianne Hough is taking some of that dancer's poise into the operating room with her.
"I’m not worried. I'm feeling good," she blogged Tuesday on Fancast about the laparoscopic (teeny incision through the belly button, no scar) appendectomy she was planning to undergo later in the day.
The two-time Dancing With the Stars winner revealed yesterday that she has been diagnosed with endometriosis. But before heading out to meet with her doctor, Hough took time out to explain what actually happened to her last week when she rushed to the hospital with severe stomach cramps.
"Actually what happened is last week was more than just a tummy ache. Obviously. It turned out I ruptured a cyst that was on my ovary. I didn’t know but I have endometriosis. I’ve apparently had it for a long time because I’ve had this pain for about the last five years. It hasn’t been as bad. Up till last week, I let it go and I was always too busy to get it checked out. But because it happened when I was on set, they made me go to the doctor."
And it was a good thing "they" finally did.
"They want to clean out the cysts and take out my appendix, too, because later on it can be affected by the cysts," Hough wrote.
"Endometriosis is a common thing for women. I was like 'thanks mom for giving me my great life—and endometriosis.' I said that jokingly. My sister who has five children is going in for the same surgery in a couple weeks."
Interestingly, the Hough ladies aren't the only ones who have to set aside time for hospital-mandated R&R.
Julianne's dad was playing father-son lacrosse Saturday when he apparently tripped and broke his collar bone and separated his shoulder, becoming the second Hough man (that we know of) to require a doctor's care over the last couple months.
"He was going to be with me for my surgery but he’s going in for his own today. I want to say thanks to a Fancast user named Nana who wrote in with good wishes for my dad," Hough also wrote Tuesday.
In the meantime, she's still hoping for a Hough vs. Hough final on DWTS. "That would be great fun. I hope it happens!" she wrote.
If brother Derek—the only Hough sibling "who doesn’t have to worry about having his ovaries checked"—can stay healthy, it just might.
julianne hough surgery



Valletta, Malta - There is a 20-per-cent chance of finding a commercially feasible oil and gas reserve off the coast of Malta, according to government estimates. The prospects of two new offshore sites have been described as "more exciting," due to the fact that their geological features are similar to the oil-rich area near Libya. Wells will be sunk between 2010 and 2011.
The Times of Malta reported Monday that international oil companies licensed to conduct oil exploration around the Mediterranean island have spoken about the possibility of striking huge reserves. The Oil Exploration Department of the Maltese Resources Ministry has referred to reserves of "giant" proportions.
London-based Leni Gas and Oil PLC said last week that one of the earmarked areas may contain some five billion barrels of oil, 1.4 billion of which is probably recoverable. If that were the case it would be a major field, similar to that of Bouri in Libya.
The Maltese Resources Ministry opted for a more cautious forecast, saying that, although the study quoted by Leni was realistic and credible, the estimates were rather high.
The contracts stipulate that if oil is struck, Malta, the smallest state in the European Union, will own between 50 and 60 per cent of the reserve.
The Maltese government is, however, considering its options carefully until it determines what stake, if any, Libya will try to claim.
The subject of oil delineation areas in the Mediterranean has been a historically thorny one between Malta and Libya. The matter reached fever pitch in the early 1980s, when the Libyan authorities dispatched a gunboat to stop an Italian oil rig commissioned by the Maltese government from drilling in the Medina Bank.
The oil issue was among the subjects discussed by Maltese President Eddie Fenech Adami and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli last July.
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