Pansexuality

Pansexuality (also referred to as omnisexuality)^[1] is a sexual orientation,^{[citation needed]} characterized by the potential for aesthetic attraction,romantic love, or sexual desire towards people, regardless of their gender identity or biological sex. Some pansexuals suggest that they are gender-blind; that gender and sex are insignificant or irrelevant in determining whether they will be sexually attracted to others.^[2] For others, an individual’s sex, gender expression, or gender identity can be a key factor of attraction, despite the pansexual individual’s wide range of sex and gender attractions. As cited from the Oxford English Dictionary^[3] is as "That encompasses all kinds of sexuality; not limited or inhibited in sexual choice with regards to gender or practice."

[edit]Bisexual, Fluid, Pansexual and Queer-identified

Bisexuality is sometimes misunderstood^[4] as a sexual orientation characterized by attraction to only two genders, however just like the current definition of pansexuality, historically it has always been understood to include people who fall outside the gender binary. However, some people choose to use the words pansexual, fluid^[5] or queer-identified because they feel that in English they have a more welcoming feel.

Source: Wikipedia.org

Randy Moss

Randall Gene Moss^[1] (born February 13, 1977) is an American football wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the Vikings 21st overall in the 1998 NFL Draft. He played college football at Marshall University.

Moss played the first seven years of his career in Minnesota before a trade in 2005 brought him to the Oakland Raiders. On April 29, 2007, Moss was traded to the New England Patriots for a fourth-round draft pick. Moss holds the NFL single season touchdown reception record (23, set in 2007), and the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie (17, in 1998).

Early years

Moss grew up in Rand, West Virginia and attended high school at the now defunct DuPont High in Belle, West Virginia, where he lettered in football, basketball, baseball and track.^[2] On the football field, Moss led the DuPont Panthers to back-to-back state championships in 1992 and 1993. He was a star at wide receiver, but also played defensive back, returned kickoffs and punts, and was the teams kicker and punter. In 1994, he was honored as the West Virginia Football Player of the Year. Parade Magazine named him to their annual All-American high school football team^[3] and recently named him one of the 50 greatest high school football players of all time.^[4]

In addition to playing football at DuPont, Moss was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball (1993 & 1994), where he was a teammate of future NBA player Jason Williams.

As a sophomore in 1992, he ran for the track team and was the West Virginia state champion in the 100 and 200 meters. This was the only year he competed on the track team. He also played center field for the baseball team.

On March 23, 1995, Moss backed a friend in a hallway fight against a white student who had allegedly used racist comments towards Randy's friend.^[5] Moss was initially charged with a felony for kicking the student, but it was later reduced to a misdemeanor. On August 1, 1995, Moss plead guilty to two counts of misdemeanor battery and was sentenced to 30 days behind bars at the South Central Regional Jail in Charleston, West Virginia. He served 3 days in jail starting that night and would be required to serve the remaining 27 days within the following 18 months, after he completed his freshman year in college.^[6]

College career

Moss' dream was to play for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish^[7], but he also considered going to Ohio State, where his half-brother, Eric, had played offensive tackle. Former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz said "Randy Moss was the best high school football player I've ever seen."^[8] Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden said "He was as good as Deion Sanders. Deion's my measuring stick for athletic ability, and this kid was just a bigger Deion."^[5]

After originally signing a letter of intent to play college football with Notre Dame in 1995, Moss took part in a racially-charged fight at his high school that left one person hospitalized. Notre Dame subsequently denied his enrollment application, but this did not stop another high-profile college football program from giving him a chance. Notre Dame officials suggested he attend Florida State due to the reputation of its coach, Bobby Bowden, for handling troubled players.^[9] However, because of his signed letter of intent at Notre Dame, the NCAA considered him a transfer student, which made him ineligible to play for the Seminoles in the 1995 football season.

Freshman (redshirt) (1995)

He was red-shirted in his freshman season.^[9] While at Florida State, Moss ran a 4.25 40-yard dash,^[10] with only Deion Sanders being faster (4.23).

Freshman (1996)

In 1996, while serving his 30-day jail sentence in a work-release program from 1995, Moss tested positive for smoking marijuana, thus violating his probation, and was dismissed from Florida State. He served an additional 60 days in jail for the probation violation.^[9]

Ultimately, Moss transferred to Marshall University, about an hour's drive from his home. Because Marshall was then a Division I-AA school, NCAA rules allowed him to transfer there without losing any further eligibility. In 1996, he set the NCAA Division I-AA records for most games with a touchdown catch in a season (14), most consecutive games with a touchdown catch (13), most touchdown passes caught in a season (28 - tying Jerry Rice's 1984 record), and most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season (1709 on 78 catches), a record which still stands. Moss was also the leading kickoff returner in Division I-AA on the season, with 612 total yards and a 34.0 yard average. Marshall went undefeated and won the Division I-AA title in its last season before moving to Division I-A.

Sophomore (1997)

In the 1997 season, Marshall's first in Division I-A, Moss and current Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington were the centerpiece of an explosive offense that led the Thundering Herd to the Mid-American Conference title. Moss caught 25 touchdown passes that season, at the time a Division I-A record, and was a first-team All-American.^[10]

The first game of the season saw Moss pick up right where he left off in 1996. Facing Army, Moss caught 5 balls for 186 yards and two touchdowns.^[11] One touchdown went for 79 yards in which Pennington lobbed the ball down the left sideline. Moss leaped over an Army defender to snag the ball out of the air at the 40 yard line while the safety crashed into his teammate knocking both men down. Moss galloped the last 50 yards untouched for the score. The other touchdown reception was his career long of 90 yards that came on a short screen pass on third down. Moss caught the ball on the right side of the field at his own 8 yard line, ran past 3 defenders in the middle of the field at the 15 yard line, hurdled two defenders coming from both sides of the left hash marks at the 25 yard line, then raced past the last defender at the 50 yard line before finally seeing daylight down the left sideline.

A week later, Moss posted his third career 200+ yard receiving game against Kent State. Two weeks after that was his fourth and final 200+ yard game in college, recording 13 catches for 205 yards and a Marshall single-game record of 5 touchdown receptions against Ball State.^[11]

In the 1997 Ford Motor City Bowl against Ole Miss, Moss added his 26th touchdown of the season on Marshall's first offensive play from scrimmage. He streaked down the right sideline and caught an 80 yard touchdown pass from Pennington to the tie the score at 7–7.^[12] NCAA rules at the time did not allow for statistics from bowl games to be combined with regular season stats, so the touchdown did not officially increase his season touchdown record. The two teams traded the lead several times in the fourth quarter before Ole Miss running backDeuce McAllister scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with :31 seconds to play giving them a 34–31 lead. Trying to pull out a last-second win, Pennington connected with Moss on a 40 yard pass on the final play of the game, but he was stripped of the ball as time expired. Moss finished the game with 6 receptions for 173 yards.

Randy Moss finished his career at Marshall having scored at least one touchdown in all 28 games that he played.^[12] He won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation's leading wide receiver, and was a finalist for the 1997 Heisman Trophy (finishing fourth in the balloting, behind Ryan Leaf, Peyton Manning, and Charles Woodson, who won the award).

McDonald's Monopoly

The McDonald's Monopoly game is a sweepstakes advertising promotion of McDonald's and Hasbro which uses the theme of the very popular game Monopoly. The promotion has been offered in the United States, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Australia, Singapore, and Switzerland since 1987. In recent years, Best Buy has been involved in the U.S. version, and later in the Canadian one as well. It has also gone by various other names, including "Monopoly Best Chance Game" (2003-2005, the first three years of Best Buy's involvement) and "Monopoly/Millionaire Game", a version based on the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire TV show.

History

Like many merchants, McDonald's offered sweepstakes to draw customers into its restaurants. Laws generally forbid a company from administering its own contests, in order to prevent fraud and to ensure that all the offered prize money is paid out. McDonald's had a relationship with Simon Worldwide Inc., which was responsible for the distribution of the contest pieces, and the payment of major prizes.

McDonald's sweepstakes were almost always based on a "collection" basis, in which more than one piece had to be collected to win a prize (although some pieces were "instant winners"). Similar giveaways generally make one collection piece rare, printed in small quantities under secure conditions, and then mixed with more common pieces to ensure they are randomly distributed to the customers.

[edit]Fraud

In 2001, the US promotion was halted after fraud was uncovered. A subcontracting company called Simon Marketing (a then-subsidiary of Cyrk), which was hired by McDonald's to organize and promote the game, failed to recognize a flaw in its procedures, and the chief of security, Jerome P. Jacobson,^[1] was able to remove the "most expensive" game pieces, which he then passed to associates who would redeem them and share the proceeds. The associates "won" almost all of the top prizes over several years, including McDonald's giveaways that did not have the Monopoly theme. The associates "netted" over $24 million. The scheme was uncovered when one of the participants informed on its ringleaders to theFederal Bureau of Investigation. While the fraud was perpetrated without McDonald's knowledge, the McDonald's Corporation voluntarily attempted to rectify the situation by issuing payouts to new (legitimate) winners, awarding five $1 million annuity prizes, and 50 $100,000 prizes over a five-day period.^[1]

While the fraud appeared to have been perpetuated by only one key employee of the promotion company, and not by the company's management, eight people were originally arrested, leading to a total of 21 indicted individuals.^[2] The relationship between McDonald's and Simon Marketing broke down in a pair of lawsuits over breach of contract, eventually settled out of court, with McDonald's' claim being thrown out and Simon receiving $16.6 million.^[3] Although McDonald's was not involved in the fraud, it came under much criticism for what appeared to be lax oversight of the promotion company.^{[citation needed]}

In 1995, St. Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee received an anonymous letter postmarked Dallas, Texas, containing a $1 million winning game piece. Although game rules prohibited the transfer of prizes, McDonald's waived the rule and is making the $50,000 annual payments.^[4] Investigations later indicated, and Jacobson himself admitted, that he had sent the winning piece to the hospital.^[5]

[edit]Gameplay

The game mimics the game Monopoly. Originally, customers received a set of two tokens with every purchase, but now tokens come only with certain menu items. Tokens correspond to a property space on the Monopoly board (with the exception of the Golden Avenue/Arches Avenue "properties", which were added in the 2008 edition.) When combined into color-matched properties, the tokens may be redeemed for money. Historically, the grand prize ($1 million; annuity-only) has been the combination of the two most costly properties, Park Place and Boardwalk, but in a 2006 game the grand prize (in this case $5 million, with the traditional $1 million prize for Boardwalk/Park Place) was awarded for collecting the four railroads. There are also "instant win" tokens the recipient can redeem for McDonald's food (typically small menu items, such as a free small McFlurry or medium fries), money, or other prizes, including an Xbox 360.

[edit]Coupon pieces

Additionally, in the 2007 edition, certain foods always came with one coupon which could be used at either Best Buy, Toys R Us, or Foot Locker (including online stores). The value of each coupon was random, with Toys R Us coupons ranging from $1 to $5; up to $5 in coupons could be used in a single transaction. In 2008, these coupons were redeemed for up to 25% off any Foot Locker item(s). In 2009, the promotion did not feature any coupons.

Products with game pieces

In 2010, the following products feature game tokens:

• Big Mac
• Filet-o-Fish
• Large Fries
• Chicken McNuggets (20 pc. or 10 pc.)
• Medium Fountain Drinks
• Medium and Large McCafe Drinks (Hot and Iced)
• McGriddles
• Hash Browns

In 2009, the following products feature game tokens:

USA[6]	Canada[7]
Angus Burgers	Big Mac sandwich
Chicken McNuggets (20 pc. or 10 pc.)	Chicken McNuggets (20 pc. or 10 pc.)
Large Fries	Large Fries
Medium & Large Fountain Drinks	Medium or Large Cold Drink Cups
Large Hot McCafe Drinks	Angus Burger bacon and cheddar or Angus Burger
Hash Browns	McMuffin breakfast sandwiches (excluding Sausage McMuffin)
Large Sweet Tea	Medium or Large Hot Beverage
	Small Frutopia Beverage
	Classic Chicken or Southwest Chicken sandwich (Crispy or Grilled)

In 2008, the following products feature game tokens:

• Medium or Large Premium Roast Coffee
• McSkillet Burrito
• Southern Style Chicken Sandwich
• Big Mac
• Premium Chicken Sandwiches
• Large French Fries
• Medium & Large Fountain Drinks
• Hash Browns

In 2007, the following products feature game tokens:^[8]

• Big Mac
• McMuffin Sandwiches
• Large French Fries
• Hash Browns
• Medium and Large Fountain Drinks
• Premium Chicken sandwiches
• 3-piece and 5-piece Chicken Selects

Law requires that game pieces are available upon request, by mail.^[9]

Breast cancer (malignant breast neoplasm) is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas.
Prognosis and survival rate varies greatly depending on cancer type and staging.^[1] Computerized models are available to predict survival.^[2] With best treatment and dependent on staging, 10-year disease-free survival varies from 98% to 10%. Treatment includes surgery, drugs (hormonal therapy and chemotherapy), and radiation.
Worldwide, breast cancer comprises 10.4% of all cancer incidence among women, making it the most common type of non-skin cancer in women and the fifth most common cause of cancer death.^[3] In 2004, breast cancer caused 519,000 deaths worldwide (7% of cancer deaths; almost 1% of all deaths).^[4] Breast cancer is about 100 times more common in women than in men, although males tend to have poorer outcomes due to delays in diagnosis.^[5][6][7][8]
Some breast cancers are sensitive to hormones such as estrogen and/or progesterone which makes it possible to treat them by blocking the effects of this hormones in the target tissues. These have better prognosis and require less aggressive treatment than hormone negative cancers.
Breast cancers without hormone receptors, or which have spread to the lymph nodes in the armpits, or which express certain genetic characteristics, are higher-risk, and are treated more aggressively. One standard regimen, popular in the U.S., is cyclophosphamide plus doxorubicin (Adriamycin), known as CA; these drugs damage DNA in the cancer, but also in fast-growing normal cells where they cause serious side effects. Sometimes a taxane drug, such as docetaxel, is added, and the regime is then known as CAT; taxane attacks the microtubules in cancer cells. An equivalent treatment, popular in Europe, is cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil (CMF).^[9] Monoclonal antibodies, such as trastuzumab (Herceptin), are used for cancer cells that have the HER2 mutation. Radiation is usually added to the surgical bed to control cancer cells that were missed by the surgery, which usually extends survival, although radiation exposure to the heart may cause damage and heart failure in the following years.^{[10]
Sauce: wikipedia.org}

China Moon

China Moon is a 1994 neo-noir written by Roy Carlson, directed by John Bailey, and starring Ed Harris and Madeline Stowe.

RIP Tyler Clementi

NUEVA YORK — Un cuerpo hallado en el río Hudson fue identificado ayer como el de Tyler Clementi, un estudiante de 18 años que saltó del Puente George Washington la semana pasada después de que su compañero de cuarto en la universidad Rutgers mostrara un video en internet sosteniendo relaciones homosexuales.
El caso de Clementi es otra prueba más del poder destructivo que puede tener el hostigamiento entre adolescentes, particularmente cuando toca el tema de la sexualidad, según Pedro Julio Serrano, portavoz del National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. El portavoz dijo a EL DIARIO/LA PRENSA que "es alarmante el hostigamiento y la intolerancia a los que sometidas las personas gay, especialmente los jóvenes".
El suicidio de Clementi es el cuarto caso en dos semanas en que jóvenes que se han quitado la vida tras ser hostigados por el hecho de ser gay. El portavoz aseveró: "Como sociedad, tenemos que hacer algo, pero ya."
Clementi, quien estudiaba en Rutgers University, se lanzó del Puente George Washington el pasado 22 de septiembre, días después de que otro estudiante, Dharun Ravi, subiera un video de él y su pareja sosteniendo relaciones sexuales en el cuarto que compartían en un dormitorio en New Brunswick, Nueva Jersey.
Ravi anunció el video a través de la red social Twitter: "Compañero de piso pidió el cuarto hasta la medianoche. Me fui al cuarto de Molly y prendí mi cámara de internet [webcam]. Lo vi besándose con un hombre. Yay".
Dos días después, Ravi mandó otro mensaje parecido en Twitter.
Ravi y Molly Wei, ambos de 18 años, fueron detenidos bajo cargos de invasión de privacidad, que conllevan una sentencia de hasta 5 años de cárcel. Ravi salió libre bajo una fianza de $250.000 y Wei salió libre sin fianza.
Source:  http://www.impre.com/hoynyc/noticias/locales/2010/10/1/pesar-por-suicidio-de-estudian-213886-1.html#commentsBlock