Britain - Comedian Peter Kay's sex change challenge... [2008-04-20 Sunday Mirror]

http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/sunday/2008/04/20/kay-s-sex-change-challenge-98487-20388251/

Kay's sex change challenge

20/04/2008

Comedian Peter Kay is transforming himself into a transsexual in his new spoof show Britain's Got The Pop Factor.

The series will lampoon shows such as X Factor and Britain's Got Talent.

In it, Peter, 35, will portray a buxom TV talent search finalist called Geraldine King.

But big-voiced Geraldine is concealing a shocking secret - she used to be a bloke called Gerry King.

Last night, a Channel 4 insider said: "Viewers who don't think a masculine guy like Peter can be a convincing transsexual should think again.

"Some dressing-up and make-up has already been done, and he's going to be very convincing in an outlandish Pantomime Dame sort of way.

"He has got a tough task to carry the transformation through, but he is certainly up to it. It is very much his biggest challenge to date.

"Peter is a great character actor - just look at his portrayal of Brian Potter in Phoenix Nights."

The comic is also directing and is involved in casting before filming begins soon in Manchester.

END

US - F2M gender variant Thomas Beatie(nee Tracy Lagondino)'s pregnancy situation is strange and sad... [2008-04-20 Boston Globe]

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2008/04/20/situation_is_strange_and_sad/

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - BOSTON GLOBE

TRANSGENDER AND PREGNANCY

Situation is strange and sad

April 20, 2008

I WOULD like to remind the readership of the Globe that Jacoby is right to focus on the strangeness and sadness of this situation <http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/04/13/pregnant_yes___but_not_a_man/>, one that is harmful to the parents and their as-yet unborn child. Gender identity disorder is a condition that should be met with sympathy and counseling, not with accolades and appearances on "Oprah." The child of this "man" will struggle for normalcy and likely require years of therapy. It is for the protection of children that we have standards of decency and moral taboos, as Jacoby writes. We must ask ourselves why there is more tolerance for gender-bending absurdity than for conservative individuals whose values uphold the immutable truth of biology.

HECTOR L. SANTOS
Holyoke

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© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.

Bermuda - Bermuda a tiny island paradise... [2008-04-18 Edmonton Journal]

2008-04-18

<http://www.canada.com/topics/travel/story.html?id=103ace59-e3b5-4bbe-941f-fad1b4a66eec&k=85553>

Bermuda a tiny island paradise
Pink-sand beaches and world-class cuisine mix gracefully with old-world charm

Marcie Gauntlett ,  Freelance

Yes, it really is a paradise, but somehow you tend to not even think about that tiny island -- all 34 kilometres of it lying out there in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Known well to east-coasters as a "honeymoon island," Bermuda still retains its "veddy" British atmosphere and attitudes, but with just enough Caribbean flavour to make life really interesting.

My Bermudian grandfather would extol the virtues of this precious jewel to my brother and me many, many moons ago, saying that the bougainvillea was in bloom all the time. We, of course, would wink at each other and think, oh yeah, sure -- he must be joking -- nothing is blooming in the winter, as we sat shivering in the snowy bowels of New England.

But it is true. Not only the bougainvillea is blooming, but hibiscus and jasmine and frangipani all flourish in Bermuda during the winter. Not exactly beach weather for the locals, but many tourists enjoy the invigorating temperatures at the myriad emerald and turquoise bays and coves. And, definitely, the sand is pink -- from a tiny micro-organism that turns to coral and is then ground up into sand from the ever-crashing waves. This exquisite piece of volcanic rock and coral owes its sub-tropical climate to its location just 483 km southeast of the Gulf Stream and this turns the island into a tropical paradise for about 10 months out of the year. Only January and February can bring cold winds and rough seas, the one exception being an occasional fall hurricane which passes near or over the Island.

I dispel immediately the usual erroneous propaganda that it's "much too pricey" for the ordinary person, because we managed to stay for 10 days in a superb old Bermuda house called "Tranquility House" for a very normal B & B price. Our hostess was delightful and we almost had the run of the large house located majestically on Harbor Road.

With a ferry stop five minutes away by foot, the ferry crossing to Hamilton takes about 10 minutes. Our wing of this packed-to-the-gills-with-English-treasures house included a large bed- sitting room with a bath and kitchenette. Therefore, we bought local groceries and made our breakfast every morning. That is, unless we wanted to take the ferry over to Hamilton (the capital) and breakfast in one of the newest and best restaurants we found -- Monty's on Front Street. Reasonable and with great food, the service was superb and fast, and the place was obviously run by a competent, savvy group of local Bermudians.

We bravely (maybe crazily) rented two scooters after taking a trial run around a parking lot and getting a thumbs-up from the owners. You cannot rent a car in Bermuda, nor would you really want to as traffic has increased tremendously and there appears to be more cars on the road than ever, even though the government still only allows one car per family.

Luckily, we managed to stay upright, but at around 35 km/h you do not have time to check out the scenery. It does, however, get you from A to B. And so on Day 2 we headed for Flatts Village to take in the aquarium, which has been expanded into a fascinating zoo and museum with gorgeous flamingoes and golden Tamarin monkeys among other exotic creatures such as a sleeping tree kangaroo. Loaded with information about the island, the sea, the fish, and the reefs, it is an absolute must on one's itinerary.

That evening we took the ferry over to Hamilton to enjoy the Lobster Pot which has morphed from a fine-dining spot for lobster in the '60s into a trendy sports bar still run by the original owner's children.

While the service was lacklustre, the half spiny lobster was to sigh for -- pure sea water spurting into one's mouth with every juicy bite. We also chose the spiny lobster on our last night when the up-scale meeting place, The Pickled Onion, offered a special of three courses for $35. This spot is trendy and bustling, with young folks crowding the bar, and manager Chris Morley has the formula for making guests feel at home: friendly servers totally up on the kitchen and superb food coming out of it.

This was a major treat out of all the restaurants we tried. The Hog Penny Pub that fed us the night we arrived is also right up there as it always has been -- reasonable, friendly service, great pub food, and comfortable tables where you can hoist your Guinness or London ale in relative peace and quiet.

Our third day, dawning blue and sunny, saw us on the large ferry to Dockyard at the extreme western end of the island. It's a lovely ride cutting through the turquoise waters, past the beautiful pink Princess Hotel -- looking much the same as she did in the '60s when I worked briefly for the manager, past grand houses built almost right on top of the water, and other boats and ferries coming and going.

The Royal Naval Dockyard, barren in the '60s, has been reborn into a most wonderful and busy bevy of shops, cafes, restaurants, businesses, a craft market, and is as beautiful and charming as anything imaginable. As a direct result of the independence of the English American colonies in 1783, Bermuda was developed as a strategic mid-Atlantic British Naval base and dockyard.

The Maritime Museum located in the fortress keep of the old Royal Naval Dockyard features six acres of grounds, eight historic exhibit buildings, and the Commissioner's House. This structure, built in the 1820s, was the first cast-iron building ever built and its girders and floor paving stones were sent from England while British convicts quarried hard limestone for the walls of the dockyard area.

After a 20-year, award-winning restoration, the house now features a range of fascinating heritage exhibitions from slavery to the Azores connection. After covering all this, we opted for the Frog & Onion Pub for a beer and sat happily in their colourful outside courtyard complete with umbrellas and calypso music pouring out from inside the pub. Their fascinating gift shop offered a sale, so Frog & Onion green mugs and red T-shirts were scooped up for various children and grandchildren.

I wanted to refresh my memory of the "swinging" Elbow Beach Surf Club back in the '60s. We booked a table in the Seahorse Grille and chose the two-course dinner, after having a good look around at the hotel which, in 1955, was $15 a day including three meals.

Almost all of the current "in" foods were on the menu including foie gras and beef tartare for starters and entrees of Arctic char with truffled honey and rockfish (grouper) on a potato patty with a sweet topping of beet seedlings and shredded radish.

Although the college kids' spring-break rampages here ended years ago, the hotel still has a young, trendy feel to it. Used as a storage building during the Second World War, it wears its years well, and has obviously weathered all of the hurricanes that have passed over the island for the last 60-plus years. And, the famous rum swizzles are still to yearn for, still made with two jolting shots of various island rums.

Touring the south shore is a requisite; one gorgeous turquoise beach and bathing or photo op after another with good access in all cases. Stone Hole Bay in Warwick where we once swam and fished was blown apart by hurricane Fabian in 2003, but the beach and fabulous swimming still exist.

I expect they will simply have to rename the beach -- perhaps something like Shattered Stone Bay. The fishing right there in the surf with only bread balls for bait can bring you a full pan of pompano for breakfast if you wish.

We were treated to a dinner at The Reefs in Southampton by local relatives and this place has only increased in beauty, sitting as it does on rocks and fitted into outcroppings of rocks at various levels. A premier dining spot, the first- level outdoor dining terrace is just above the surf washing gently on the pink sand.

The balmy breezes that evening belied the November date, but this is Bermuda. We all went for the watercress, pear, and candied walnut salad and ummed and ahhed at the crunchiness of the delightful melody of flavours. My rack of lamb sat on a bed of plantains with a mango chutney sauce and Jan's rockfish was laced with a ginger sauce to remember. This lovely restaurant and hotel are especially recommended for those wishing a superlative living/dining or honeymoon experience.

For the U.K.-lover or anyone else, this small but beautiful island is the perfect getaway, and 10 days will be sufficient to really take it all in. Bermuda's motto, "Quo Fata Ferunt" -- whither the fates shall lead us -- is very apt. Let it lead you to the "Isle of Devils" -- so called because of the exotic birds which screamed and dove at those first, poor shipwrecked sailors.


IF YOU GO:

- Visitors from Canada must present either a valid Canadian passport, birth certificate or certified copy with photo ID.

- The Bermuda rental site -- www.bermudagetaway.com -- has several charming and wonderful accommodation possibilities.

Other good sites are: www.bermudarentals.com and www.bermudatourism.com.

My favourite place for a "real" Bermuda experience is the Grape Bay Beach Hotel which offers an off-season rate of $99 per night. Its beautiful private beach is one of the Island's little-known secrets.

- Frommers' Bermuda is a wonderful guide and always shares some of the best buys in accommodations, restaurants, and things to bring home. The website is also excellent: www.frommers.com/destinations/bermuda

--


© The Edmonton Journal 2008

Kuwait - Gender identity disorder has developed from merely a social problem to a rampant phenomenon... [2008-04-21 Kuwait Times]

http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=NDgzMzA3NDQ3

LOCAL NEWS

Candidates urged to give top priority to social security

April 21, 2008

KUWAIT: Candidates always seek to find solutions to political and economic problems, but, unfortunately, they shrug off a weighty issue of social security.

Some people may not be well aware of social security, putting in question that such an issue could be put on the lists of candidates' platforms and planks.

Dr Khalid al-Mohanadi, a psychiatrist, stressed the significance of such a question, calling on candidates to give it a top priority.

Social security is a concept that involves individuals, familial entity, values, morality, traditions and Kuwaiti identity, he said.

Al-Mohanadi, who was a psychological and social advisor to the former National Assembly Committee on Educational Affairs, listed several social security-bearing problems as changed habits and customs and outbreak of serious psychological and social diseases.

He urged the government to set up a center that could set annual blueprints for revamping social security.

In this context, he proposed that the Interior Ministry can carry out the tasks of the proposed center through a secret police involving men and women who can play a role in familial issues.

The Ministry of Justice is required to enact laws, especially familial ones, in this respect, he advised.

For its part, the Ministry of Social Affairs should set up a clinic for treating behavioral and psychological problems, including depression and matrimonial issues, he said.

The Ministry of Education should also play a significant role in such an issue through preventive programs for students' behavioral problems.

If put in place, the proposed psychological center will be awarded the task of carrying out researches aiming to solve problems facing future generations, which are pertinent to morality, values and negatives effects of Internet use, Al-Mohanadi said.

He also pointed to a growing problem related to gender identity disorder that has developed from being merely a social problem to a rampant phenomenon, quoting a relevant recent study he made for the National Assembly.

Gender identity disorder cases ought to be treated through religious, psychological and social perspectives, he said.

Concerning Satan worshippers, al-Mohanadi said they underwent "intellectual invasion" that resulted from spiritual, psychological and religious vacuum.

But, he reassured that those youths return to reasoning once they are put under appropriate religious and psychological guidance.

- KUNA

--

© Kuwait Times Newspaper 2006.

The Vatican - Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo - contentious anti LGBT cardinal dead, 2008-04-19... [2008-04-21 NY Times]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/world/europe/21trujillo.html

Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, 72, Dies in Rome

By IAN FISHER

April 21, 2008

Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, the Vatican’s leading voice in defense of traditional family values and in opposition to abortion, contraception and gay marriage, died of cardiac arrest on Saturday in Rome, the Vatican said Sunday.

He was 72 and had been hospitalized in recent weeks for treatment for complications from diabetes.

Cardinal Trujillo, a Colombian, served as president of the Pontifical Council for the Family. He often expressed views on sexual issues that stirred contention, most notably in 2003 when he said that condoms did not prevent the spread of AIDS because the virus that causes it, H.I.V., can “easily pass through.” The World Health Organization quickly responded that condoms were 90 percent effective against transmission and that when they failed, it was usually because of improper use.

The cardinal’s statements were often contentious even within the church as it grappled with complicated issues, like whether condom use should be condoned in the case of sex within a marriage in which one partner is infected.

As the influential former head of the Latin American Bishops’ Council, Cardinal Trujillo was considered a possible papal candidate after Pope John Paul II died in 2005.

Alfonso López Trujillo was born on Nov. 8, 1935, in Villahermosa, Colombia, and grew up in Bogotá, the capital. He was ordained in 1960, after studies both in Colombia and in Rome, where he earned a doctorate in philosophy at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas.

In 1971, Pope Paul VI named him auxiliary bishop of Bogotá, as he became a rising conservative figure within the Latin American Bishops’ Council. Like Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, Cardinal Trujillo strongly opposed the growth of liberation theology, which emphasizes the role of Christianity in assisting the poor and which many conservatives view as influenced by Marxism.

In 1979, he was appointed archbishop of Medellín, and in 1983 he was selected as a cardinal. As a leader in the bishops’ council until 1990, he had wide authority throughout the church in Latin America. Then he was called back to Rome to serve as the Vatican’s chief official on family issues, important both to John Paul and Benedict in their strong opposition to abortion.

Last year, Cardinal Trujillo traveled to Mexico to head the church’s fight against the possible legalization of abortion there. Last April, the Legislative Assembly of Mexico City voted to allow abortion within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, though the law is now under judicial review.

Cardinal Trujillo often argued that “one cannot really speak of ‘safe sex,’ ” saying the idea created a false sense of security; instead, he emphasized abstinence before marriage, and monogamy. His statements on moral issues often brought applause within the church and anger among family planning groups and advocates of stem cell research.

In 2004, Cardinal Trujillo characterized a proposal in Spain to allow gay marriage as a “sad step,” and when it was enacted the next year he urged civil officials to refuse to perform such marriages, even at the cost of their jobs.

In 2006, he said that scientists who engaged in stem cell research should be subject to excommunication. “Destroying an embryo is equivalent to abortion,” he said. “Excommunication is valid for the women, the doctors and researchers who destroy embryos.”

Pope Benedict is expected to celebrate a funeral Mass for Cardinal Trujillo after his return on Monday from a visit to the United States.

--

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

US - Children with ADHD should get heart tests before treatment with stimulant drugs... [2008-04-21PhysOrg]

http://www.physorg.com/news128014965.html

April 21, 2008

Children with ADHD should get heart tests before treatment with stimulant drugs

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) should get careful cardiac evaluation and monitoring – including an electrocardiogram (ECG) – before treatment with stimulant drugs, a new American Heart Association statement recommends.

The scientific statement on Cardiovascular Monitoring of Children and Adolescents with Heart Disease Receiving Stimulant Drugs is published online in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

In 1999, concerns over potential cardiovascular effects of psychotropic drugs, especially tricyclic antidepressants, but including stimulants, prompted an American Heart Association Scientific Statement: Cardiovascular Monitoring of Children and Adolescents Receiving Psychotropic Drugs. However, no specific cardiovascular monitoring was recommended for the use of stimulant medications. Warnings from the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about stimulant medications and public concern for the safety of using them have prompted the current statement.

Studies have shown that stimulant medications like those used to treat ADHD can increase heart rate and blood pressure. These side effects are insignificant for most children with ADHD; however, they’re an important consideration for children who have a heart condition. Certain heart conditions increase the risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD), which occurs when the heart rhythm becomes erratic and doesn’t pump blood through the body.

Doctors usually use a physical exam and the patient and family history to detect the risk for or presence of health problems before beginning new treatments, including prescribing medication. But some of the cardiac conditions associated with SCD may not be noticed in a routine physical exam. Many of these conditions are subtle and do not result in symptoms or have symptoms that are vague such as palpitations, fainting or chest pain.

That’s why the statement writing group recommends adding an ECG to pre-treatment evaluations for children with ADHD. An ECG measures the heart’s electrical activity and can often identify heart rhythm abnormalities such as those that can lead to sudden cardiac death.

“After ADHD is diagnosed, but before therapy with a stimulant or other medication is begun, we suggest that an ECG be added to the pre-treatment evaluation to increase the likelihood of identifying cardiac conditions that may place the child at risk for sudden death,” said Victoria L. Vetter, M.D., head of the statement writing committee and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia.

Vetter also said doctors should evaluate children and adolescents already taking these medications if they were not evaluated when they started the treatment.

If heart problems are suspected after the evaluation, children should be referred to a pediatric cardiologist. Once stimulant treatment begins, children should have their heart health monitored periodically, with a blood pressure check within one to three months, then again at routine follow-ups every six to 12 months.

“Children can have undiagnosed heart conditions without showing symptoms,” Vetter said. “Furthermore, a child’s body changes constantly, with some conditions not appearing until adolescence.”

If the initial ECG was taken before age 12 years, it may be useful to do a repeat ECG after the child is over age 12 years, the statement says.

Widespread use of ECGs to detect heart abnormalities, including screenings for competitive athletes, is not routinely recommended by the American Heart Association. However, the writing group found using ECG screening in this specific population of children prescribed ADHD medication is medically indicated and reasonably priced. That said, however, lack of an ECG shouldn’t mean that kids who need ADHD treatment can’t get it.

“While we feel that an ECG is reasonable and helpful as a tool to identify children with cardiac conditions that can lead to SCD, if, in the view of their physician, a child requires immediate treatment with stimulant medications, this recommendation is not meant to keep them from getting that treatment,” said Vetter, who added that some children may not have access to a pediatric cardiologist who can evaluate an ECG or perform a cardiology consultation.

In 2003, an estimated 2.5 million children took medication for ADHD. Surveys indicate that ADHD affects an estimated 4 percent to 12 percent of all school-aged children in the United States, and it appears more common in children with heart conditions. Studies report that, depending on the specific cardiac condition, 33 percent to 42 percent of pediatric cardiac patients have ADHD, Vetter said. The number of undiagnosed children with heart conditions is unknown as routine heart screening is not performed, but Vetter said that a recent pilot study she presented at the American Heart Association’s 2007 Scientific Session indicated that up to 2 percent of healthy school aged children had potentially serious undiagnosed cardiac conditions identified by an ECG.

Data from the FDA showed that between 1999 and 2004, 19 children taking ADHD medications died suddenly and 26 children experienced cardiovascular events such as strokes, cardiac arrests and heart palpitations. Since February 2007, the FDA has required all manufacturers of drug products approved for ADHD treatment to develop Medication Guidelines to alert patients to possible cardiovascular risks.

Future studies are necessary to assess the true risk of SCD in association with stimulant drugs in children and adolescents with and without heart disease, Vetter said. However, studying SCD associated with drugs is difficult because the government’s reporting system is voluntary, which means local data on these types of deaths isn’t always reported nationally.

A registry of SCD events is necessary for further investigating this issue, the writing committee said. Such a registry would allow for a more accurate understanding of SCD, including the true incidence of it and the potential effectiveness of universal ECG testing and pre-participation screening questionnaires.

The statement writing committee said its recommendations are not intended to limit the appropriate use of stimulants in children with ADHD.

“Our intention is to provide the physician with some tools to help identify heart conditions in children with ADHD, and help them make decisions about the use of stimulant medications and the follow-up of children who take them,” Vetter said. “The goal is to allow treatment of ADHD, while attempting to lower the cardiac risk of these products in susceptible children.”

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Source: American Heart Association

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© PhysOrg.com 2003-2008