The FDA met with board of advisors recently to discuss whether or not the cancer treatment drug Avastin should remain approved for treating Breast Cancer.  This was a very emotional hearing, as there were two full days of testimonies from doctors, patients, and family members of those that have taken Avastin for Breast Cancer.  The FDA has not officially repealled Avastin’s Breast Cancer treatment status yet, but the board of advisors tallied in with a unanimous 6-0 against the drug.

 

What is strange is that the FDA usually follows the advice of their advisors, as evidence to the recent Four Loko craze.  The advisors vetoed the use of Avastin for Breast Cancerin 2008, but the FDA decided to approve it anyway.  Part of the reason why the FDA approved the use of Avastin for Breast Cancer was because of it’s good track record of helping treating lung, colon, and brain cancer.

Avastin will still be available for commercial use for other treatment methods, but many insurance companies will most likely not cover it for the use of Breast Cancer.  This means that an average year of treatment cou

 

ld cost about $100,000 which would make it virtually obtainable for most families.  The drug itself is supposed to prolong the advancement of the cancer for an average of 5.5 months, but in this instance, many patients that were on the drug experienced heart attacks, high blood pressure, and bleeding.

It is unfortunate that a drug that has helped so many people will not work for some.  I think that it is crazy that something that helps lung, colon, and brain cancer doesn’t work for something like breast cancer.  This seems discouraging that scientists are close to finding a cure to the disease that has claimed so many lives of people around the world.

http://www.latimes.com/health/sc-dc-0630-fda-avastin-20110630,0,5052968.story

Jackass and Viva La Bam  fans everywhere are in mourning at the loss of Ryan Dunn.  On June 20th at approximately 3 am his Porsche 911 lost control and struck a tree causing the car to burst into flames killing both Dunn and his passenger instantaneously.  It is unfortunate that such an accident has occurred but even more unfortunate is the response to his death.  A notoriously extremist Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas has downright refused to allow any kind of burial there.  The members of the congregation have gathered together to state things like “WBC will picket any public memorial/funeral held for Dunn, warning all not to make a mock of sin, & to fear & obey God” and “Ryan Dunn is in hell!”

While I agree that Dunn and his other Jackass friends were a bit unorthodox to say the least, I don’t think that they were trying to make light of organized religion.  For the members of the WBC church to accuse Dunn of making a mockery of God is absolutely ridiculous and shows their ignorance of current American culture.  I’m pretty sure that most people have moved on from the Johnathon Edwards “Sinners in the hands of an angry God” types of sermons, and we have moved on to love God, and he accepts our faults.

Dunn is among the first of the Jackass crew to pass away.  His best friend Bam Margera is having an incredibly difficult time with his passing.  It is unfortunate to see people struggling to fill the void that presents itself when a loved one dies.  However, regardless of what extremist fools may say, Dunn was loved by many.  He was often identified as a fun loving individual and one of the smartest and most talented of the notorious group of friends.  I know that I will miss seeing him on television making light of his own body for the sake of his viewers pleasure.  Article about Ryan Dunn\’s death

 

 

 

 

As anybody who has been following basketball the past season, you would know that the Dallas Mavericks have won their first NBA championship in the history of the franchise.  This has been a historic year for many reasons, but for many people involved with the Mavericks this has been the first.  For star players Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd, both veteran players of the league, this was the first time that they were able to hold the championship trophy.  It was an electrifying post season for the Mavericks as some of the highlights include a thorough thrashing of the Los Angeles Lakers in a 4-0 series that left the viewers of the NBA with a shocked realization.

Nobody gave the Mavericks the credit that they deserved.  When the playoffs started, many people believed that the Mavericks would not make it past the first round.  Many people credited this to the outlandish behavior of the team owner Mark Cuban.  Cuban has taken his role as team owner very seriously as he attends nearly every game, sitting right behind the team bench.  However, he has notoriously earned a reputation as an obnoxious know it all, and has been forced to pay “$1,665,000 for 13 incidents”.

It seems hard to take this guy seriously... I mean really

While his less than exceptional behavior on the hardwood court has helped to transform his persona from responsible billionaire, to nothing more than an entitled rich kid, riding off of the success of his parents.  Despite his normal tendencies to… voice his opinions to NBA officials, during the championship series he has been remarkably good.  Cuban has been reported to have been very much humbled by this experience, especially when he was surrounded by an amazing number of fans at the final game of the series in Miami.

It is interesting that Cuban would suddenly change his behavior now considering his truculent past.  However, as someone who has been wealthy since he was a college student, I think that he has finally found a way to step more gracefully into his role as a a successful NBA team owner.  I think that it is great that Cuban has finally started to calm down, which makes it much easier to enjoy him and all of his shenanigans, like racking up a $200,000 bar tab in celebrating the championship.

A reportedly $80,000 bottle of champagne, paid for by Cuban

 

New York representative Anthony Weiner strikes again.  After getting caught a couple of weeks ago ‘sexting’ pictures of himself to a number of women politicians everywhere have been demanding for his resignation from his office.  Weiner has refused to step down, and has continued to try to serve out the remainder of his term.  However, this morning TMZ released new photos that show Weiner in a number of sexually suggestive poses in the House of Representatives gym.

One of the more tame photos on TMZ, Weiner continues to flaunt his body for the world to see

Wiener seems to be one of many celebrities to be caught up in a wave of technology based sexual scandals that have become a trend as of late.  It is unfortunate that somebody that has been elected by their peers to succumb to this kind of sophomoric behavior.  By stooping to this unethical behavior, Weiner and any other politicians that become involved with sexual scandals degrade the very idea of holding public office.  It is behavior like this that contributes to the loss of faith that many Americans have revealed through polls.

One of the most disturbing things about this new batch of photos of Representative Weiner is that these pictures were taken after he had already been caught the first time.  It is as if Weiner has not taken any of the advice or the demands for his resignation from his fellow Representatives seriously.  This kind of behavior makes it seem as if he thinks that he is above the code of behavior that is expected from a leader.  While many may quote the first amendment to Weiner’s defense, when you hold a position of leadership among your peers, then a certain behavior is expected from you.  If you are supposed to be leading a specific group, or in this case representing, then it is imperative that you hold yourself to a higher standard than you would of those that you represent.

I am not naive enough to believe that political leaders are above the kinds of scandals that normal voters are subject to, but it is alarming that Weiner is almost trying to get caught.  When you post something to the Internet, there is no guarantee that it will stay private.  The whole purpose of the Internet is to spread information with both speed and ease, so why an individual would put the future of their career at the trust of a device that is engineered to spread information as quickly as possible is simply dumbfounding.  If you are going to do something that the general public would not approve of, then don’t flaunt it in their face by having evidence of your debauchery posted on TMZ.

Here are the rest of the photos: be warned some may be offensive

It is reported that Ilyas Kashmiri, one of Al-Queda’s top operatives has been terminated by a US drone attack.  Kashmiri has been rumored to have been in the running to replace Osama bin Laden as the leader of Al-Queda.  Unfortanately, the US government is not confirming his actual death, but it has been reported in an intercepted fax that Kashmiri has been officially ‘martyred’.  Kashmiri has a fearsome track record that qualifies his status as potential runner up to bin Laden including linkings to the 2008 siege of Mumbai, as well as responsible for many threats and planned attacks against a Dutch owned news paper in response to the cartoons that depicted the prophet Muhammad.  Ilyas Kashmiri was definitely a feared man, and the US government as well as the Pakistani government thought that he was a legitimate enough threat to be placed on their targeted lists.  Kashmiri has also been linked to the recent assault on a naval base in the past month, as well as the gruesome mastermind behind many raids on the Pakistani police.  Perhaps the most chilling milestone on Kashmiri’s fearsome track record was his involvement in the planning of the failed assassination attempt on the past Pakistani president, Pervezz Musharaff in 2003.  Such a dastardly individual that stands in the way of bringing peace to the middle east.  While American soldiers are sacrificing their lives to attempt to bring better fortunes and democratic ideals to these distant countries, sinister individuals like Kashmiri are responsible for inhibiting such progress.  Desperately trying to hold on to their tyrannical power, these men use fearful and murderous tactics to prevent peace from reaching the middle east.  It is heartening to know that such a powerful man, in such an evil organization has been brought to justice.  For more information on the death of Ilyas Kasmiri click this link

 

 

At the risk of being that dreaded individual that can only talk about his fraternity, I want to dedicate this post to my fraternity brothers who will be embarking on the 2011 Journey of Hope.

Ian Kowalski, Michael Flemming, Wes Clarkson, and Nicholas Laing-Meason… this is for you.  The Journey of Hope is one of the most important fundraising event that Push America sponsors.  Push America is the national philanthropy for the fraternity Pi Kappa Phi.  It is the only philanthropy to be run and managed by a fraternity.

Push America, a truly inspirational organization

Push America is dedicated to promoting knowledge about children with disabilities, as well as raising money to help aid those affected by their disabilities.  The Journey of Hope is a bicycle ride across the entire country.  The ride is roughly 4,000 miles and it begins next week.  There will be three teams riding the North, South, and Trans America routes.  These teams will start from both Seattle, WA and San Francisco, CA and will ultimately meet in Washington D.C. on August 12th.  The men who have decided to devote their entire summer to this wonderful cause are all college undergraduates (or seniors who just graduate) that are members of the fraternity.  The cyclists are required to raise at least $5,000 dollars and the crew members are required to raise $2,500 dollars.  All of the money that is raised from this trip is put right back into the organization to help fund it’s activities for the next year, as well as donate to various charities and organizations.  The cyclists will ride an averaged 80 miles a day, and if that wasn’t enough, at the end of a long day’s ride they visit local charities or clinics to complete what is called a ‘friendship visit’.  On these friendship visits, the members of the JOH team dance, sing, play sports, swim, build arts and crafts, and just hang out with children that are afflicted with disabilities.  The main goal of the trip is not to inspire sympathy, but to encourage empathy for these children.  It is simply fascinating to witness first hand the pure excitement and enthusiasm that these children bring to every aspect of their lives, and it is downright inspirational.  If you want more information on the trip, or the scheduled itinerary then click here, here, or here.

Eric Galdo and Joey Haynes, two brothers who have recently completed the Journey of Hope

While Basketball fans everywhere might be enjoying the Mavericks Heat championship series, many fans are either mourning or celebrating the announcement of the retirement of legendary big man Shaquille O’Neal.  Shaq has been an active player in the NBA for 19 long seasons, and is one of the most decorated players to ever play the game.  Finishing his career with 19 completed seasons, 28,596 points, 13,099 rebounds, 15 all star selections, 4 NBA championship rings, and 3 championship MVP awards, Shaq has without a doubt cemented his legitimacy for his qualification to be inducted into the hall of fame. Shaq was a notorious jester, often picking up fines for his sense of humor.  One such incident occurred when interviewing reporters asked ‘Big Daddy’ about the new Chinese center Yao Ming, and Shaquille claimed that he had nothing to fear.  One of the more pressing matters is the relationship between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.  Having won three consecutive championships together, Shaq’s trade to the Miami Heat was the spark to the inferno of bad blood between the two for years to follow.  Reportedly leading a New York City night club in a rap diss against Kobe, Shaq jokingly played the situation off.  Despite his tenacious play on the court, Shaquille lead a very scholarly and philanthropic lifestyle.  He completed his college degree in 2000, and followed up with a completed MBA in 2005.  Shaq often donated hundreds of toys to children in need around the Christmas time, loading his oversized pickup truck to the brim with new toys.  Even better was that he delivered these toys anonymously, doing it out of the goodness of his heart, not for the publicity.  From a public relations perspective, Shaq is a gold mine.  Constantly in the headlines, any public relations professional lucky enough to represent him would have countless opportunities to show off Shaq’s generosity, truthfulness, and his great sense of humor.  Shaq has never been involved with any real scandals other than the feud with Kobe Bryant, and even that was fueled by journalists eager to sell more papers.

Super Dunk!