Six People Die from Brain-Eating Amoeba

Wow, this almost sounds like one of those spoof urban legends, but it is not. This is actually real. How can you tell a real article from a fake? The key things are that A) It is an actual article with a link on MSN and it is written by Associated Press, B) It is actually backed by the CDC (Center of Disease Control) and C) It doesn’t say ‘Forward this to everyone you know’ in the body of the story.

- Presario

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6 die from brain-eating amoeba
Rare organism that lives in lakes entered victims’ bodies through the nose

The Associated Press (Featured on MSN.com)
Updated: 1:36 p.m. CT Sept 28, 2007

PHOENIX - It sounds like science fiction but it’s true: A killer amoeba living in lakes enters the body through the nose and attacks the brain where it feeds until you die.

Even though encounters with the microscopic bug are extraordinarily rare, it’s killed six boys and young men this year. The spike in cases has health officials concerned, and they are predicting more cases in the future.

“This is definitely something we need to track,” said Michael Beach, a specialist in recreational waterborne illnesses for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“This is a heat-loving amoeba. As water temperatures go up, it does better,” Beach said. “In future decades, as temperatures rise, we’d expect to see more cases.”

According to the CDC, the amoeba called Naegleria fowleri (nuh-GLEER-ee-uh FOWL’-erh-eye) killed 23 people in the United States, from 1995 to 2004. This year health officials noticed a spike with six cases — three in Florida, two in Texas and one in Arizona. The CDC knows of only several hundred cases worldwide since its discovery in Australia in the 1960s.

See the full article on MSN at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21034344/from/ET/

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What is Stepping? How Do Iota's Step?

Anyone who knows me knows that I often talk about my fraternity - Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Inc. This is mainly because I was a charter member of the chapter at Stephen F. Austin State University - and worked hard with five other gentleman to bring the new organization onto campus.

When I wear my t-shirts and paraphernalia, there are two main questions I get from people:
A) People that have not pledged a historically black organization ask, "'What is stepping?" or "I just saw the movie 'Stomp the Yard', do you guys do that?"
B) Since Iota is the youngest (we were founded in 1963) organization in the National Pan-Hellenic Council of nine black greek organizations, the comment/question that I get from older members of these organizations is, "We didn't have Iotas on campus when I pledged. What does it look like when Iota's step?"

Well, hopefully this post will answer both questions at the same time. (If you can't see the rest of the post, click the 'Full Post' link below.)

To answer the first question, according to Wikipedia, "Stepping or step-dancing is a form of percussive dance in which the participant's entire body is used as an instrument to produce complex rhythms and sounds through a mixture of footsteps, spoken word, and hand claps. Though stepping may be performed by an individual, it is generally performed by groups of three or more, often in arrangements that resemble military formations." Popularized by National Pan-Hellenic Council member organizations, who perform at local and national competitions, stepping has been featured in films and shows such as School Daze (1988), Mac and Me (1988), Drumline (2002), Stomp the Yard (2007), and the following TV series: A Different World, Sister, Sister, Seinfeld, and Cheers. Stepping is also performed by groups in schools, churches, cheerleading squads and drill teams."

To technical for you? There are links to video clips of an Iota step team later in the post. A quick search on YouTube for 'Step Teams' or 'Step Shows' will also give you some examples from other organizations.

Now to answer the second question. Although each individual chapter of an organization steps different, most historically black greek organizations have their signature step. The 'Centaur Walk' is the signature step for Iota. With the 'new school' Iotas (brothers that have pledged in the 90's and 2000's) another move that is becoming a signature step for us is the 'Human Jump Rope.' It is better to show you than to tell you. Check out the links below from the 'Owtlaw Coalition', which is an All-Star step team that consists of members from different chapters and universities in Texas.

Owtlaw Coalition - http://www.youtube.com/user/IOTA63
Part Into - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blUm2ndcfFg
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDygWx0DU5s
Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ymiQoy6chU
Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNVJiZ5puJg
Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lLs1AszbSY
Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmrfvvl254E
Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EKn9YU4bg0

There are seven parts total including the intro, so be sure to click on each link to see the entire show. If you are at work or around kids - on part 6 you might want to stop it right after the stepping or watch your volume at the end, because there is a curse word in the chant from the crowd (after about 3 mins15 sec into the movie.)

By the way - for those of you wondering where the name Presario came from, it was my line name given to me when I crossed (finished pledging the organization.)

That is my greek education for the day. Enjoy!

Presario
Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Inc.
Duece - Delta Xi Chapter Charter Member - Spring 2000
Stephen F. Austin State University

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Don't Forget to Renew Your DoNotCall.org Listing!

Around five years ago the government launched a website called www.donotcall.gov, in which you could submit your telephone number to avoid being called by telemarketers. What people have forgotten is that the submission is only good for five years. Therefore if you submitted your number when the website first was created, it is time to resubmit your number. Otherwise, your number will be available to start receiving phone calls again this year.

Remember that telemarketers have 31 days from when you submit the number to stop calling you. Organizations engaged in charitable, political or survey work are exempt. Companies that have an established business relationship with a customer also may call for up to 18 months after the last purchase, payment or delivery.

According to Yahoo News, in the first week of the program back in June of 2003 people signed up 18 million numbers. The registry now has more than 149 million phone numbers.

Also according to Yahoo News, while polls have shown consumers reporting far fewer unwanted phone calls, some telemarketers continue to violate the law. Since the registry began, the government has filed cases against more than 30 companies, resulting in $8.8 million in civil penalties and $8.6 million in redress to consumers and forfeitures.

There has been an urban legend going around that cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketers, and that these numbers now need to be added to the list. This is not true - Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations prohibit telemarketers from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers. Automated dialers are standard in the industry, so most telemarketers are barred from calling consumers on their cell phones without their consent. For more information on this false email and its claims see the article, 'The Truth About Cell Phones and and the Do Not Call Registry."

To submit or resubmit your number, go to www.donotcall.gov. Make sure that you use a valid email address when you submit your number, and that you actually click on the link in the email they send you. Otherwise, your number will not be added to the list.

- Presario

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Megan Williams Raped and Tortured For One Week in a Hate Crime

While the media is sensationalizing the OJ hotel theft case, this has gone virtually unreported. I have heard about it from various people and found articles after searching on CNN - but it is not getting prime coverage.

Megan Williams was tortured and raped for a whole week by six white individuals - three males and three females between the ages of 20 and 49. CNN normally does not reveal sexual assault victims' names. However, Williams and her mother, Carmen Williams, wanted her identity revealed.

This event happened in West Virginia, USA very recently and as of Wednesday, September 12th 2007, Megan Williams was still being treated in the hospital.

Police said Bobby Brewster raped Williams, forced her to lick blood and drink from a toilet, and told his mother to kill Williams if she tried to escape. Authorities previously said Williams was also forced to eat rat and dog feces.

According to criminal complaints filed in the county, Williams was assaulted, stabbed in the left leg, choked with cords and beaten for at least a week. When she was found, big parts of her hair had also been torn off of her scalp. Williams says that Alisha Burton 22 cut her ankle with a knife while saying, "That's what we do to Niggers around here," police records show.

"I don't understand a human being doing another human being the way they did my daughter," Carmen Williams told The Associated Press on Tuesday from her daughter's hospital room. "I didn't know there were people like that out here."

Deputies received a tip and Saturday visited a home owned by Frankie Brewster in Big Creek, West Virginia. As the deputies spoke with a woman on the front porch, "a female inside the residence limped toward the door with her arms held out, saying 'Help me,' " according to a news release from the sheriff's department.
"It's something you'd expect to see in a horror movie, not in Logan County," Abraham said. "She was subjected to unendurable torture down there."

The six are charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and battery. If convicted of kidnapping, a suspect could face a sentence of up to life in prison. The penalty for first-degree sexual assault is 15 to 35 years.

Abraham said he is seeking the maximum sentence on the kidnapping charges. In addition to the Brewsters, the suspects are Danny J. Combs, 20, of Harts, West Virginia; and George A. Messer, 27, Karen Burton, 46, and her daughter, Alisha Burton, 23, all of Chapmanville, West Virginia.
"They all have previous records and have been arrested numerous times," Sheriff W.E. Hunter said Tuesday. "They are familiar to law enforcement."

Frankie Brewster was charged with first-degree murder in 1994, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in the death of an 84-year-old woman. She was released in 2000 after serving five years in prison, according to court records cited by the AP. All of the six individuals that are involved in this case are accused of 108 different cases of crimes all combined. All six were being held in lieu of $100,000 bail, and all requested court-appointed attorneys, the AP reported. Investigators are still looking for two other people suspected of driving Williams to the home, according to the AP.

According to CNN, representatives of several black churches appealed to prosecutors Thursday to pursue hate-crime or civil-rights charges against six white people accused of torturing a black woman over several days.

Logan County prosecutors say they have not ruled out hate-crime charges but are focusing on the counts already filed, including kidnapping and sexual assault, which have tougher maximum sentences. Federal prosecutors, meanwhile, have not sought civil-rights charges.

"The family is aghast and totally devastated by the findings of the Logan prosecutor that this barbaric, heinous, despicable [crime] is not one of racial hatred," said the Rev. Emanuel Heyliger of the Ferguson Memorial Baptist Church in Dunbar.

Logan County Prosecutor Brian Abraham urged patience.

"We're still working the case, even today," he said. "I'll make that determination when the investigation is concluded, but I want to focus on the most serious crimes that carry the stiffest penalties."

Authorities also said the fact that Megan Williams knew one of her alleged attackers played a role in their decision not to pursue hate-crime or civil-rights charges at this time. Heyliger, speaking outside the Charleston hospital where Williams is being treated, rejected that explanation.

"Whether she was known by or known to any one of these perpetrators, that is no reason why this case should not be treated as it should, and that is as a hate crime," said Heyliger, who was joined by representatives of another Dunbar church and an association of black churches in Charleston.

Spread this article since the news stations are not trying to focus on this subject...

More information at the links below:
http://www.wvgazette.com/section/News/2007091022
http://www.tarpy.net/2007/US/09/12/woman.tortured/index.html
http://beta.cnn.com/2007/US/09/13/woman.tortured.ap/index.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296429,00.html

- Presario

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Top Jobs in 2012

MSN did an interesting article on the Top 10 future jobs (in the year 2012). They are:

•Organic food producers, retailers
•Computational biologists
•Parallel programmers
•Data technologists
•Simulation engineers
•Boomer companions, caretakers
•Genetic counseling
•Brain analysts
•Space tour guide
•Robot builders, tenders

For a full description of what each job is along with the estimated salary, read the full article at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20283894/?pg=1#biz_FOB_future_jobs

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Fake Email Alert - Target and Walmart Gang Initiation

Another one bites the dust...

So the latest in fake emails going around that I received is one about a Mexican gang called MG that is targeting females in Houston and Washington D.C. This is a variation of an email that has been going around since 2005, and has been classified as fake by Snopes.com. Below is a copy of the version of the email that I received (if yiu can't see the email below, click on the full post link at the bottom of this entry):

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TARGET AND WAL-MART ALERT!!!

ANYONE WHO SHOPS AT WAL-MART or TARGET!!!!!!

There is a new gang out called The MG. They are a Mexican gang. They go to Target and Wal-Mart to look for black females, young or old. They get into the gang by killing a black female. They are currently in Arundel County, Prince George & Washington D.C.

There is no telling when they will be in this area. Therefore, please be aware of your surroundings when going to these locations. Whenever possible take a male or another female with you. This gang is dangerous, they do not hold out, they will not hesitate to take your life or the life of your loved ones.

PASS THIS ON TO ALL BLACK FEMALES (AND MALES)

THIS IS NOT A GAME! PLEASE BE CAREFUL!

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According to Snopes.com, the rumor appeared to have begun in July of 2005 in Memphis, Tennessee when a woman says she overhead in a bathroom two 'gang members' talking about this initiation. The rumor was unsubstantiated - there was no guarantee that the woman who reported it actually did hear such a conversation or, even if she did, that the people she heard speaking weren't playing a practical joke on her. In addition, Major Pat Lovett of the Metro Gang Unit in Memphis, Tennessee, says that in her 25 years on the force in Memphis she had never know gang initiation to include murder. Initiations, she said, are more likely to include assault and battery or robbery. For the full story, visit http://www.snopes.com/crime/gangs/memphis.asp.

All females should be aware of their surroundings because of the country we live in, but this particular email seems to be a fake.

- Presario

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