Category Archives: News

Methotrexate, a crucial medicine to treat childhood leukemia is in such short supply that hospitals across the country may exhaust their stores within the next two weeks, leaving hundreds and perhaps thousands of children at risk of dying from a largely curable disease, federal officials and cancer doctors say.

“This is dire,” said Valerie Jensen, associate director of the Food and Drug Administration’s drug shortages program.  “Supplies are just not meeting demand.”

Methotrexate treats acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL, which most often strikes children between 2 and 5 years of age.  It’s an unusually virulent cancer of white blood cells that are overproduced in bone marrow and invade other parts of the body.

To put this crisis in perspective, consider the U.S. spent $800 billion during the Iraq War.  What would Jesus do?

A man emerges from Lisi Lake in Tbilisi, Georgia.  Poor guy!  He went in as Igor and came out Anastasia.

The Southwest Indian Foundation is offering hand-carved art pieces for sale.  Proceeds will be directed towards Native American communities of the Southwestern U.S.

Etched Dreamcatcher pot

Young housewives and older moms are among nearly 2 dozen people who bought assault rifles from Texas gun dealers in an alleged weapons smuggling ring tied to Mexican drug cartels.  Federal agents announced February 8 they seized more than 200 weapons – including AK-47s and sniper rifles – and arrested 22 people.  That’s amazing – from soccer moms to sniper moms.  That’s quite a leap!  Then again, considering the out-of-control drug problem in the U.S., there may be some logic to it.  As usual, though, I’m sure the National Rifle Association (NRA) will say this is just an aberration.  To be fair, I’m a firm supporter of the U.S. Constitution’s 2^nd Amendment, as much as I am a supporter of the 1^st Amendment.  But, I don’t think our “Founding Fathers” had AK-47s in mind.

AP Photo/Eric Gay

In a true case of better late than never, more than 2 million Americans could benefit from a $25 billion deal federal and state authorities reached with some of the nation’s largest banks on February 9 to ease the home foreclosure crisis.  It is the largest settlement involving a single industry since a 1998 multistate tobacco agreement.  Five major banks – Ally Financial, Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo will reduce loans for nearly 1 million households.  They also will send checks to about 750,000 additional households that suffered improper foreclosures.  The banks have 3 years to fulfill the terms of the deal.  Over 1 million households had endured foreclosure as of the end of 2011.

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, second from right, and others, watch as Attorney General Eric Holder announces a settlement regarding mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuse, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012, at the Justice Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)