Escaping captors after 10 years, Amanda Berry ?real hero? in kidnapping case, police say

Three women missing as long as 12 years are free today, and police are crediting the bravery of one of them?Amanda Berry, now 27?for escaping the captors and seeking help.

?The real hero here is Amanda,? assistant Cleveland police chief Ed Tomba told reporters at a news conference Wednesday morning. ?She got this rolling.?

Shortly before 6 p.m. ET Monday, Berry was able to break out of the home in Cleveland's west side neighborhood where she apparently had been held for the past 10 years. She was reported missing on April 21, 2003, Tomba said.

After she called 911, police responded to the home at 5:52 p.m. Two other women, Gina DeJesus, who had been missing since 2004, when she was 14, and Michelle Knight, who had been missing since 2002 when she was 20, were found inside.

When Berry escaped the house, she brought with her a 6-year-old daughter. Police would not say who the father of the child was, but confirmed the girl is Berry?s daughter.

Police have arrested three brothers in connection to the case: Ariel Castro, 52, the owner of the home, and brothers Pedro, 54, and Onil, 50. They have not been charged. Tomba said the men were taken into custody about 6:30 p.m. and will be charged within 36 hours.

The stories of Berry and DeJesus have captivated the city of Cleveland for a decade. They have been the subject of numerous vigils and city searches. Police have followed leads over the years, including digging up two backyards seeking their remains. On Monday, crowds gathered in the neighborhood where they were found and at the hospital where they were taken later.

?Our prayers have finally been answered?this nightmare is over,? said Stephen Anthony, special agent in charge of the Cleveland office of the FBI.

While much has been written about Berry and DeJesus, and the efforts to find them, not much has been written about Michelle Knight. "She has been the focus of very few tips," Tomba said. Knight was last seen on Aug. 22, 2002. She was 20 years old at the time, and went missing from the same neighborhood as Berry and DeJesus.

Police said all three women appeared healthy, other than needing a good meal. They were taken to a Cleveland hospital, where they were reunited with their families.

Police said that officers were called to the home of the alleged captor Ariel Castro twice, but nothing came of the calls.

In March 2000, Ariel Castro reported a fight in the street, and in January 2004, officials from Children and Family Services were went to the home to investigate an incident related to his employment as a bus driver. Castro, a former bus driver for the Cleveland schools, had gone to lunch after running his route, despite having one more child still on the bus.

Police say they investigated that incident, but felt there was no criminal wrong-doing and the matter was dropped.

?He was interviewed extensively due to that investigation,?Tomba said of the school bus incident.

Mayor Frank Jackson said housing and building records also have been reviewed and found no reports of violations.

Police declined to provide specific details about the home where the women were kept or its condition upon their arrival on Monday. They said the home is an active crime scene and detectives were processing it through the night.

Asked if they believe the kidnappings were part of a larger operation, police officials said they were looking into every possible angle. It appears that only Berry, DeJesus, and Knight were the only victims. Officials declined to say if they were sexually abused.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/escaped-cleveland-woman-amanda-berry-real-hero-kidnapping-141444873.html

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Sean Lowe: Virgin No More?!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/sean-lowe-virgin-no-more/

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Bashful? Buy the little blue pill online

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) ? Men who are bashful about needing help in the bedroom no longer have to go to the drugstore to buy that little blue pill.

In a first for the drug industry, Pfizer Inc. told The Associated Press that the drugmaker will begin selling its popular erectile dysfunction pill Viagra directly to patients on its website.

Men still will need a prescription to buy the blue, diamond-shaped pill on viagra.com, but they no longer have to face a pharmacist to get it filled. And for those who are bothered by Viagra's steep $25-a-pill price, Pfizer is offering three free pills with the first order and 30 percent off the second one.

Pfizer's bold move blows up the drug industry's distribution model. Drugmakers don't sell medicines directly to patients. Instead, they sell in bulk to wholesalers, who then distribute the drugs to pharmacies, hospitals and doctors' offices.

But the world's second-largest drugmaker is trying a new strategy to tackle a problem that plagues the industry. Unscrupulous online pharmacies increasingly offer patients counterfeit versions of Viagra and other brand-name drugs for up to 95 percent off with no prescription needed. Patients don't realize the drugs are fake or that legitimate pharmacies require a prescription.

Other major drugmakers likely will watch Pfizer's move closely. If it works, drugmakers could begin selling other medicines that are rampantly counterfeited and sold online, particularly treatments for non-urgent conditions seen as embarrassing. Think: diet drugs, medicines for baldness and birth control pills.

"If it works, everybody will hop on the train," says Les Funtleyder, a health care strategist at private equity fund Poliwogg who believes Pfizer's site will attract "fence-sitters" who are nervous about buying online.

The online Viagra sales are Pfizer's latest effort to combat a problem that has grown with the popularity of the Internet.

In recent years, Americans have become more comfortable with online shopping, with many even buying prescription drugs online. That's particularly true for those who don't have insurance, are bargain hunters or want to keep their medicine purchases private.

Few realize that the vast majority of online pharmacies don't follow the rules.

The Internet is filled with illegitimate websites that lure customers with spam emails and professional-looking websites that run 24-hour call centers. A January study by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, which accredits online pharmacies, found that only 257 of 10,275 online pharmacy sites it examined appeared legitimate.

Experts say the fake drugs such websites sell can be dangerous. That's because they don't include the right amount of the active ingredient, if any, or contain toxic substances such as heavy metals, lead paint and printer ink. They're generally made in filthy warehouses and garages in Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.

Online buyers are "playing Russian roulette," says Matthew Bassiur, vice president of global security at New York-based Pfizer.

"The factories are deplorable. I've seen photographs of these places," he says. "You wouldn't even want to walk in them, let alone ingest anything made in them."

Pfizer, which invented the term "erectile dysfunction," has long been aggressive in fighting counterfeiters. It conducts undercover investigations and works with authorities around the globe, with good reason.

Counterfeit versions of Viagra and dozens of other Pfizer medicines rob the company of billions in annual sales.

Viagra is one of its top drugs, with $2 billion in worldwide revenue last year. And it's the most counterfeited drug in the U.S., according to the company.

A 2011 study, in which Pfizer bought "Viagra" from 22 popular Internet pharmacies and tested the pills, found 77 percent were counterfeit. Most had half or less of the promised level of the active ingredient.

Viagra is appealing to counterfeiters because it carries a double whammy: It's expensive and it treats a condition with an "embarrassment" factor.

Crooks running the illegal online pharmacies brazenly explain their ultra-low Viagra prices ? often $1 to $3 a pill ? by claiming they sell generic Viagra.

Generics are copycat versions of brand-name prescription drugs. They can legally be made after a drugmaker's patent, or exclusive right to sell a drug, ends. Generic drugmakers don't have to spend $1 billion or so on testing to get a new drug approved, so their copycat versions often cost up to 90 percent less than the original drug.

But there is no such thing as generic Viagra. Pfizer has patents giving it the exclusive right to sell Viagra until 2020 in the U.S. and for many years in other countries.

Many patients are unaware of that.

Dr. David Dershewitz, an assistant urology professor at New Jersey Medical School who treats patients at Newark's University Hospital, says erectile dysfunction is common in men with enlarged prostates, diabetes and other conditions, but most men are too embarrassed to discuss it.

He says well over half of his patients who do broach the issue complain about Viagra's price. Some tell Dershewitz that they go online looking for bargains because they can't afford Viagra.

"The few that do admit to it have said that the results have been fairly dismal," but none has suffered serious harm, he says.

For Pfizer, that's a big problem. People who buy fake drugs online that don't work, or worse, harm them, may blame the company's product. That's because it's virtually impossible to distinguish fakes from real Viagra.

"The vast majority of patients do believe that they're getting Viagra," said Vic Cavelli, head of marketing for primary care medicines at Pfizer, which plans to have drugstore chain CVS Caremark Corp. fill the orders placed on viagra.com.

The sales lost to counterfeits threaten Pfizer at a time when Viagra's share of the $5 billion-a-year global market for legitimate erectile dysfunction drugs has slipped, falling from 46 percent in 2007 to 39 percent last year, according to health data firm IMS Health.

The reason? Competition from rival products, mainly Eli Lilly and Co.'s Cialis ? the pill touted in those ubiquitous commercials featuring couples in his-and-hers bathtubs in bizarre places.

Judson Clark, an Edward Jones analyst, forecasts that Viagra sales will decline even further, about 5 percent each year for the next five years, unusual "for a drug in its prime."

Clark says he thinks Pfizer's strategy will prevent sales from declining, but he's unsure how well it will work.

"It's a very interesting and novel approach," he says. "Whether it returns Viagra to growth is hard to say."

___

On the Net:

Link to accredited pharmacies: http://www.nabp.net/programs/accreditation/vipps/find-a-vipps-online-pharmacy

___

Linda A. Johnson at http://twitter.com/LindaJ_onPharma

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bashful-buy-little-blue-pill-online-070407742.html

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ISU may charge tobacco users more for insurance - Wish TV 8

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) - Indiana State University is considering changing its health insurance policies to reward employees who agree to health screenings and risk assessments and penalize those who use tobacco products.

ISU officials tell the Tribune-Star the moves are designed to help employees become healthier and curb increases in health insurance costs.

Vice President of Business Affairs Diann McKee says the recommendations are still being reviewed and would need approval from the board of trustees.

The proposals include surcharges of up to $100 per pay period for those who use tobacco products. ISU also would launch a tobacco cessation reimbursement program to help faculty and staff quit smoking.

McKee says ISU is the only one of the state's four major universities without a surcharge for tobacco users.

Source: http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/indiana/isu-may-charge-tobacco-users-more-for-insurance

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Pressure on Bangladesh, retailers to fix factories

A clothes tag lies in the rubble of a garments factory that collapsed in Savar near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, May 3, 2013. More than 500 bodies have been recovered from the debris of the building, even as the Bangladeshi government suspended Savar's mayor and arrested an engineer who had called for the building's evacuation last week, but was also accused of helping the owner add three illegal floors to the eight-story structure. (AP Photo/Ismail Ferdous)

A clothes tag lies in the rubble of a garments factory that collapsed in Savar near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, May 3, 2013. More than 500 bodies have been recovered from the debris of the building, even as the Bangladeshi government suspended Savar's mayor and arrested an engineer who had called for the building's evacuation last week, but was also accused of helping the owner add three illegal floors to the eight-story structure. (AP Photo/Ismail Ferdous)

A Bangladeshi woman looks at a wall filled with portraits of missing persons near the site of a garments factory that collapsed last week in Savar near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, May 3, 2013. Authorities suspended the mayor of the suburb of Savar, where the building was located, and arrested an engineer who called for the building?s evacuation last week but was also accused of helping the owner add three illegal floors to the eight-story structure. (AP Photo/Ashraful Alam Tito)

A woman lingers around the rubble holding a portrait of her missing daughter after a garment factory building collapsed last week in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, May 3, 2013 in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh. Authorities suspended the mayor of the suburb of Savar, where the building was located, and arrested an engineer who called for the building?s evacuation last week but was also accused of helping the owner add three illegal floors to the eight-story structure. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

A woman covers her nose to block out the smell of decomposing bodies at a makeshift morgue where victims of the collapse of the garment factory buildings are brought Friday, May 3, 2013 in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh. Authorities suspended the mayor of the suburb of Savar, where the building was located, and arrested an engineer who called for the building?s evacuation last week but was also accused of helping the owner add three illegal floors to the eight-story structure. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

Family members cry after identifying bodies of their relatives that were retrieved from a collapsed garment factory building on Friday, May 3, 2013 in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh. Authorities suspended the mayor of the suburb of Savar, where the building was located, and arrested an engineer who called for the building?s evacuation last week but was also accused of helping the owner add three illegal floors to the eight-story structure. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) ? In the aftermath of a building collapse that killed more than 530 people, Bangladesh's garment manufacturers may face a choice of reform or perish.

Home to five factories that supplied clothing to retailers in Europe and the United States, the shoddily constructed building's collapse has put a focus on the high human price paid when Bangladeshi government ineptitude, Western consumer apathy and global retailing's drive for the lowest cost of production intersect.

Officials said Saturday that more than 530 bodies have been pulled from the wreckage of the eight-story Rana Plaza building that collapsed nine days ago, sparking desperate rescue efforts, a national outpouring of grief and violent street protests.

The tragedy followed the deaths of 112 people five months ago in a blaze that swept through the Tazreen Fashions garment factory in Dhaka and the death of seven in a January blaze.

With three disasters in quick succession, the reputation of Bangladesh's $20 billion garment industry, already notorious for its low wages and dismal safety record, has plummeted. International clothing brands and retailers that said they could ensure worker safety in developing countries through self-regulation such as factory inspections have also suffered a blow to their credibility.

Now, Bangladesh's garment manufacturers fear that a backlash has been set in motion that threatens fortunes and livelihoods in a business that employs more than 3 million people and accounts for about 80 percent of the impoverished country's exports.

"It's a crucial time for us," said Atiqul Islam, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. "We are doing our best to improve the safety measures in the factories. We expect our buyers to bear with us and help us to overcome the current crisis. It's not the time to turn away from us. That will hurt the industry and many of the workers will lose jobs."

The most potent warning so far has come from the European Union, which said it could restrict Bangladesh's access to the crucial EU market if it fails to immediately take steps to ensure that basic labor standards are enforced.

Bangladesh is a member of Europe's "Everything But Arms" program for the world's poorest nations that exempts it from quotas and tariffs on all exports to the 27-nation EU except armaments. The EU is Bangladesh's single biggest market with exports of 8 billion euros in 2011, the bulk of which was garments shipped for European retailers.

"The sheer scale of this disaster and the alleged criminality around the building's construction is finally becoming clear to the world," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and trade commissioner Karel De Gucht said in an April 30 statement. They said they want any EU action to "incentivize" responsible management of the garment industry in Bangladesh.

The United States is reviewing Bangladesh's preferential trade status, a lengthy process that gained urgency after the killing last year of a Bangladeshi labor rights organizer who had campaigned for years to improve factory safety. Garments are not included in the American trade preferences for Bangladesh but loss of its special market access would further taint its reputation in the U.S., its second largest export market.

As a U.S. decision nears, the building collapse gives additional momentum to members of Congress who wrote to Bangladeshi Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina to protest a climate of fear created by the killing of Aminul Islam, the labor organizer, and lobbied then-U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk to speed up a review of Bangladesh's trade access following the Tazreen fire.

Signs of dissension are also emerging among clothing brands and retailers who as a group have usually sought to distance themselves from industry disasters.

The chief executive of Canada's Loblaw Inc., which owns the Joe Fresh clothing line that was being made in Rana Plaza, decried the response of "deafening silence" from what he said were more than two dozen other international retailers who used garment factories in the collapsed building.

Following the Tazreen fire where Walt Disney Co. branded clothing was found, the company in March added Bangladesh to a list of countries where it prohibits any of its clothing or merchandize from being produced.

The Bangladeshi garment association met earlier this week with representatives of 40 garment buyers including H&M, JC Penny, Gap, Nike, Li & Fung and Tesco. It said the companies have doubts about whether the industry can meet their production deadlines because of the disasters and political turmoil.

"The reality is that buyers are seriously thinking about their sourcing from Bangladesh," said Jenefa Jabbar, regional director of JC Penny, according to a garment association statement.

"Bangladesh government has laws, but there is no implementation of those laws. Buyers' community wants to see credible action," she was quoted as saying.

The retailers themselves are criticized by labor groups for allegedly shoveling blame and making token efforts to ensure worker safety.

A report by the AFL-CIO umbrella group of American unions published a day before the building collapse says retailers' intermittent factory inspections and corporate social responsibility reports have failed, and hold "eerie parallels" with the financial self-regulation that helped precipitate the global financial crisis.

The Bangladesh government, however, may be the least willing of all to accept any responsibility.

"I am not worried," Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said Friday. "These are individual cases of ... accidents. It happens everywhere."

___

Wright reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Rob Gillies in Toronto and Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-05-03-Bangladesh-Building%20Collapse-Pressure/id-f4e5faa7a2b946cfa9d9456c93aa5c3c

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Magnesium may be as important to kids' bone health as calcium

May 5, 2013 ? Parents are advised to make sure their children drink milk and eat other calcium-rich foods to build strong bones. Soon, they also may be urged to make sure their kids eat salmon, almonds and other foods high in magnesium -- another nutrient that may play an important role in bone health, according to a study to be presented Sunday, May 5, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Washington, DC.

"Lots of nutrients are key for children to have healthy bones. One of these appears to be magnesium," said lead author Steven A. Abrams MD, FAAP, professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. "Calcium is important, but, except for those children and adolescents with very low intakes, may not be more important than magnesium."

While it is known that magnesium is important for bone health in adults, few studies have looked at whether magnesium intake and absorption are related to bone mineral content in young children. This study aimed to fill that gap.

Researchers recruited 63 healthy children ages 4 to 8 years old who were not taking any multivitamins or minerals to participate in the study. Children were hospitalized overnight twice so their calcium and magnesium levels could be measured.

Participants filled out food diaries prior to hospitalization. All foods and beverages served during their hospital stay contained the same amount of calcium and magnesium they consumed in a typical day based on the diaries. Foods and beverages were weighed before and after each meal to determine how much calcium and magnesium the subjects actually consumed. In addition, parents were given scales to weigh their child's food for three days at home after the first inpatient stay and for three days at home prior to the second inpatient stay so that dietary intake of calcium and magnesium could be calculated accurately.

While hospitalized, children's levels of calcium and magnesium were measured using a technique that involved giving them non-radioactive forms of magnesium and calcium, called stable isotopes, intravenously and orally. Urine was collected for 72 hours. By measuring the stable isotopes in the urine, the researchers could determine how much calcium and magnesium were absorbed into the body. Bone mineral content and density were measured using total body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.

Results showed that the amounts of magnesium consumed and absorbed were key predictors of how much bone children had. Dietary calcium intake, however, was not significantly associated with total bone mineral content or density.

"We believe it is important for children to have a balanced, healthy diet with good sources of minerals, including both calcium and magnesium," Dr. Abrams concluded.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/AjtN52L8NHI/130505073731.htm

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Manbites Dog Theater Company's ?The Homosexuals? Is The Best ...

Meet Evan (Ryan Brock), the central character in ?The Homosexuals,? directed by Jeff Storer and playing now at Manbites Dog Theater Company. Evan is a fresh-out-of-the closet twenty year old kid who doesn?t know himself very well. Actually, that?s not quite right. See, Phillip Dawkins? cleverly constructed play first introduces Evan at the age of thirty and then moves backwards, showing glimpses of the relationships and friendships (aren?t they kind of the same thing?) that turn him into his current self.

The play?s first scene (of six) focuses on Evan?s relationship with Peter (Derrick Ivey), his fabulously flamboyant, theatre-obsessed partner whom he is about to break up with. The production then moves backward in two year increments, showing Evan?s relationships with British Mark (Thaddeus Edwards), sweet Michael (Jeffrey Moore), self-proclaimed ?fag hag? Tam (Amber Wood), dark and angry Mark (Gregor McElvogue), and weight-loss enthusiast Collin (Chris Burner).

The story, from beginning to end, is beautifully written and perfectly structured. Almost every line is weighted with meaning, yet the show does not feel heavy. In fact, it moves along quite briskly, and serious issues, such as Peter?s testicular cancer and British Mark?s HIV positive status, are handled subtly. Subtlety is one of Dawkins? strongest skills; realistic dialogue is yet another; and then there?s his ability to move deftly from comedy to sad poignancy. While this skill is brilliantly exhibited in several spots, it is particularly noticeable in the scene focused on Michael and Evan. Moore, as Michael, relates a comedic tale of his first attraction to another male and, just when the humor is at its crescendo, it fades to reveal a bitter recollection of Michael?s first shunning as a homosexual.

Storer?s intriguing staging choices serve as the perfect backdrop for Dawkins? flawlessly written story. The director chooses to leave the actors onstage, even when they are not directly involved in the scene. They sit, watch, and occassionally laugh or smile, serving as a reflection of the audience and as a reminder of the sometimes silent but always prevalent role these characters play in Evan?s life.

The story, at is heart, is about Evan?s search?and everyone?s search?for identity and about the people and the series of relationships that play a part in constructing that identity. It?s also about the families we create and what it means to be a friend. Though Evan?s relationship with each of the characters changes and evolves over time, closeness and genuine love remain, so that at the end, the audience has witnessed not just the construction and birth of a person but the realization of a family.

Obviously, a production such as this relies on a cast with strong chemistry, and this cast has it in droves. Another thing it has in droves is talent. There is not a weak spot in the line-up. In fact, there is no weak spot in the production as a whole; everything from the gentle lighting to the choice of music during scene transitions is perfect. Triangle audiences are incredibly lucky to have this show, in its North Carolina premiere and in only its second-ever production, available for viewing. Prepare to be laugh, to be moved and to find the friends you wish you had.

Source: http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/2013/05/manbites-dog-theater-companys-the-homosexuals-is-the-best-play-of-the-year-so-far/

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