Pieces of uncooked bacon were scattered at a New York field where Muslims gathered to celebrate the end of Ramadan ? an incident police are investigating it as a hate crime, authorities said Monday.
Organizers found the bacon on a section of the John D'Amato Field, in New Dorp, Staten Island,?where about 1,500 people gathered Sunday to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr, the Muslim holiday marking the end of dawn-to-sunset fasting during Ramadan.
Read the full story at NBC New York
The celebration was not marred by the crime because organizers did not inform those gathered until after the celebration had concluded, said Mohamed Sadeia, president of the Muslim American Society on Staten Island, which organized the gathering, according to the Staten Island Advance. Police investigated the crime before the Eid services began.
Hate crime? Iraqi woman's death in California has Muslims wondering
Three packages of uncooked bacon were left behind along with a note, which was signed by someone who used a code name and referenced a web site, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters Monday.? The web site mentioned in the note contained references to the raw bacon, Kelly said.
Observant Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset during the month of Ramadan, and are forbidden to eat pork.
More content from NBCNews.com:
Follow US News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
Posted by Kristina Law on Aug 22, 2012 in Main | 0 comments
Sometimes, when it comes to doing a bit of entertaining for your family members and friends, rather than?calling around the city to book a restaurant or club reservation, how about simply hosting a private event at?your home? Even if the inside of your house has limited space, if you have a nice-sized backyard, that can?work just as well.
Now, if your dilemma is that your backyard is more ?dog friendly? than urban sheik, there are some?landscaping things that you can do that are quick, easy and relatively inexpensive; ones that will have your?backyard suitable for the viewing public in basically no time!
Keep it well-manicured. One of the most important things that you can do is keep your yard well-?manicured. This doesn?t just include making sure that the lawn is cut and the trees and shrubs are trimmed,?but also that the greenery is properly hydrated (you may want to install a water sprinkler with a timer that?you can use 2-3 times per week).
Purchase some big tropical plants. Whether it?s for your back deck or to place in a corner of your?by a couple of chairs and a table, huge, potted tropical plants such as Alocasia, Philodendron and?Ti plants are an easy way to give your space texture and to make a smaller yard seem even larger than it?may actually be.
Create a ?centerpiece?. A centerpiece on a dining room table is created to be a beautiful focal point for?a place setting. When it comes to your backyard, you can implement one for a very similar reason: so that?when people enter into the backyard, there is a specific thing that draws them in more than anything else.?It could be a water fountain, a hand-painted stand that?s surrounded by a few planted flowers or a little?garden. The key here is to create something that can serve as a great conversation piece without being too?gaudy.
Design your own pergola. A pergola is basically a colonnade or arbor that is supported by columns or?posts. You can either purchase them at your local home improvement store or places like Sam?s Club online?or you can build your own (HGTV.com has a section that provides you with step-by-step instructions. Just?put ?build your own pergola? in the search engine of the website). Having one of these in a corner of your?backyard creates the illusion of you having tons of room. Plus, if you cover it with some wisteria and place?a few chairs, throw pillows and candles on the inside of it, it?s also nice little hideaway for a couple to steal?a few moments alone together during a party or event.
Make a path. A lot of people who spend time looking up resources for gardeners know about this little?trick. If you put some footstones out back, people seem to naturally use them. So, if you want to designate?different kinds of pathways towards different kinds of things, put some footstones down. One path can lead?to a table with food on it, another to your centerpiece and still another to an area that is filled with nothing?but flowers. It?s beautiful, it?s simple and it?s easy. Voila! An instant backyard paradise.
American Society of Plastic Surgeons launches campaign to educate women about their options
A new survey released today by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) shows that 89 percent of women want to see what breast reconstruction surgery results would look like before undergoing treatment for breast cancer,* prompting the world's largest group of board-certified plastic surgeons to launch a landmark show-and-tell event as part of Breast Reconstruction Awareness (BRA) Day USA, October 17, 2012 in New Orleans.
"We are going to provide information in a way that's never been done before on this level," said ASPS President Malcolm Z. Roth. "A group of breast reconstruction patients will show a group of breast cancer patients what their reconstruction choices look like. This is something that until now has been a taboo topic, and we want to give these women a forum to get the information they need."
Many breast cancer patient organizations report that a majority of women want to go beyond the usual routine of looking at before and after photos, to actually seeing the real results of various breast reconstruction procedures, in person, and having a chance to discuss those results with breast cancer survivors who've had the procedure.
"It is our job as doctors to fully inform our patients about breast reconstruction options," said Dr. Roth. "Women are telling us that they want to actually see what reconstruction results would look like beforehand, and as their physicians we need to do everything we can to honor their request."
The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, also found:
Less than a quarter (23%) of women know the wide range of breast reconstruction options available.
Only 22% of women are familiar with the quality of outcomes that can be expected.
Only 19% of women understand that the timing of their treatment for breast cancer and the timing of their decision to undergo reconstruction greatly impacts their options and results.
Not only are some women never shown breast reconstruction surgery results, but previous research shows 7 out of 10 women diagnosed with breast cancer are never even told about their breast reconstruction options.**
Kim Sport, who survived two battles with breast cancer, had a mastectomy and breast reconstruction at the same time and is passionate about educating other women who are facing breast cancer.
"I feel that it is very important to share my experience with other women because I don't want them to just have to look at a photo. I want to show them what reconstruction really looks like," said Sport, who has shared her reconstruction results with small groups of breast cancer patients and looks forward to raising awareness in a bigger way on BRA Day.
ASPS Member Surgeon Frank DellaCroce, MD, who performed Kim's reconstruction, believes that plastic surgeons should be a crucial part of any breast cancer patient's team of caregivers.
"I see a great number of patients who come in and say 'I wish I'd known about certain reconstruction options beforehand. I wish I could turn back the clock.' But the problem is, you can't turn back the clock," said Dr. DellaCroce, who founded the Center for Restorative Breast Surgery in New Orleans along with ASPS Member Surgeon Scott Sullivan, MD.
The ASPS and The Plastic Surgery Foundation are launching BRA Day USA to kick off a new campaign to raise awareness about breast reconstruction options. Singer/songwriter Jewel is the spokesperson for the campaign and has written the inspirational song "Flower" to raise funds for the breast reconstruction awareness efforts.
"When I was writing this song there were a lot of survivors that came to mind and I'm always continually amazed at how resilient women are, and how when faced with a difficult position they find the courage to say, 'I am going to fight on and I'm even going to be better.' And that's what made me want to write this song," said Jewel.
Beginning today, Jewel's song is available for download on the iTunes Store. Jewel will also perform a charitable concert on October 29, 2012 in New Orleans during Plastic Surgery The Meeting. Event proceeds will be donated to the Breast Reconstruction Awareness Fund of The Plastic Surgery Foundation and be used to support national and local breast reconstruction organizations.
###
B-ROLL, SOUND BITES, WEB ELEMENTS & STILL PHOTOS - Including broadcast quality video: http://bit.ly/M2S8bp
Site with multimedia elements is password protected until embargo lifts. News media, please contact shannon@mediasourcetv.com for password information before embargo lifts for early access.
Media Contacts: Shannon McCormick, 614-932-9950 (ext. 14) or 614-477-2719, shannon@mediasourcetv.com or ASPS: 847-228-9900 media@plasticsurgery.org
*Source: The survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of ASPS from July 26-30, 2012 among 1,204 adult women ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact the media representatives listed on this news release.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) is the world's largest organization of board-certified plastic surgeons. Representing more than 7,000 Member Surgeons, the Society is recognized as a leading authority and information source on aesthetic and reconstructive plastic surgery. ASPS comprises more than 94 percent of all board-certified plastic surgeons in the United States. Founded in 1931, the Society represents physicians certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery or The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. ASPS advances quality care to plastic surgery patients by encouraging high standards of training, ethics, physician practice and research in plastic surgery. You can learn more and visit the American Society of Plastic Surgeons at PlasticSurgery.org or Facebook.com/PlasticSurgeryASPS and Twitter.com/ASPS_News.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
New survey: Women want to SEE breast reconstruction results before cancer surgery Public release date: 21-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
American Society of Plastic Surgeons launches campaign to educate women about their options
A new survey released today by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) shows that 89 percent of women want to see what breast reconstruction surgery results would look like before undergoing treatment for breast cancer,* prompting the world's largest group of board-certified plastic surgeons to launch a landmark show-and-tell event as part of Breast Reconstruction Awareness (BRA) Day USA, October 17, 2012 in New Orleans.
"We are going to provide information in a way that's never been done before on this level," said ASPS President Malcolm Z. Roth. "A group of breast reconstruction patients will show a group of breast cancer patients what their reconstruction choices look like. This is something that until now has been a taboo topic, and we want to give these women a forum to get the information they need."
Many breast cancer patient organizations report that a majority of women want to go beyond the usual routine of looking at before and after photos, to actually seeing the real results of various breast reconstruction procedures, in person, and having a chance to discuss those results with breast cancer survivors who've had the procedure.
"It is our job as doctors to fully inform our patients about breast reconstruction options," said Dr. Roth. "Women are telling us that they want to actually see what reconstruction results would look like beforehand, and as their physicians we need to do everything we can to honor their request."
The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, also found:
Less than a quarter (23%) of women know the wide range of breast reconstruction options available.
Only 22% of women are familiar with the quality of outcomes that can be expected.
Only 19% of women understand that the timing of their treatment for breast cancer and the timing of their decision to undergo reconstruction greatly impacts their options and results.
Not only are some women never shown breast reconstruction surgery results, but previous research shows 7 out of 10 women diagnosed with breast cancer are never even told about their breast reconstruction options.**
Kim Sport, who survived two battles with breast cancer, had a mastectomy and breast reconstruction at the same time and is passionate about educating other women who are facing breast cancer.
"I feel that it is very important to share my experience with other women because I don't want them to just have to look at a photo. I want to show them what reconstruction really looks like," said Sport, who has shared her reconstruction results with small groups of breast cancer patients and looks forward to raising awareness in a bigger way on BRA Day.
ASPS Member Surgeon Frank DellaCroce, MD, who performed Kim's reconstruction, believes that plastic surgeons should be a crucial part of any breast cancer patient's team of caregivers.
"I see a great number of patients who come in and say 'I wish I'd known about certain reconstruction options beforehand. I wish I could turn back the clock.' But the problem is, you can't turn back the clock," said Dr. DellaCroce, who founded the Center for Restorative Breast Surgery in New Orleans along with ASPS Member Surgeon Scott Sullivan, MD.
The ASPS and The Plastic Surgery Foundation are launching BRA Day USA to kick off a new campaign to raise awareness about breast reconstruction options. Singer/songwriter Jewel is the spokesperson for the campaign and has written the inspirational song "Flower" to raise funds for the breast reconstruction awareness efforts.
"When I was writing this song there were a lot of survivors that came to mind and I'm always continually amazed at how resilient women are, and how when faced with a difficult position they find the courage to say, 'I am going to fight on and I'm even going to be better.' And that's what made me want to write this song," said Jewel.
Beginning today, Jewel's song is available for download on the iTunes Store. Jewel will also perform a charitable concert on October 29, 2012 in New Orleans during Plastic Surgery The Meeting. Event proceeds will be donated to the Breast Reconstruction Awareness Fund of The Plastic Surgery Foundation and be used to support national and local breast reconstruction organizations.
###
B-ROLL, SOUND BITES, WEB ELEMENTS & STILL PHOTOS - Including broadcast quality video: http://bit.ly/M2S8bp
Site with multimedia elements is password protected until embargo lifts. News media, please contact shannon@mediasourcetv.com for password information before embargo lifts for early access.
Media Contacts: Shannon McCormick, 614-932-9950 (ext. 14) or 614-477-2719, shannon@mediasourcetv.com or ASPS: 847-228-9900 media@plasticsurgery.org
*Source: The survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of ASPS from July 26-30, 2012 among 1,204 adult women ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact the media representatives listed on this news release.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) is the world's largest organization of board-certified plastic surgeons. Representing more than 7,000 Member Surgeons, the Society is recognized as a leading authority and information source on aesthetic and reconstructive plastic surgery. ASPS comprises more than 94 percent of all board-certified plastic surgeons in the United States. Founded in 1931, the Society represents physicians certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery or The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. ASPS advances quality care to plastic surgery patients by encouraging high standards of training, ethics, physician practice and research in plastic surgery. You can learn more and visit the American Society of Plastic Surgeons at PlasticSurgery.org or Facebook.com/PlasticSurgeryASPS and Twitter.com/ASPS_News.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
GUIGUE, Venezuela (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez's abuse of state resources for his re-election campaign and lack of personal contact with Venezuelans will cost him dearly at the October 7 vote, his opposition rival says.
In an interview on his campaign bus, Henrique Capriles contrasted Chavez's reliance on TV appearances with his own tireless crisscrossing of the country and said the president's use of public funds made it a David versus Goliath election clash.
The 40-year-old state governor, picked by Venezuela's opposition parties as their best hope for ending Chavez's nearly 14-year rule in South America's biggest oil exporter, said the socialist leader's support was ebbing away.
"I don't expect a photo finish. We're going to have a resounding victory," he told Reuters, hurtling between rallies in small towns around Lake Valencia, a region of sweltering agricultural plains rolling to jungle-clad mountains.
"I've never lost an election," the confident Capriles added, referring to his successful campaigns over the last 15 years to become Venezuela's youngest legislator, a mayor and then governor of Miranda state.
Opinion polls are hugely controversial in Venezuela and have given widely varying results throughout this campaign. But most of the best-known surveys give Chavez a solid double-digit lead, although one puts Capriles roughly level.
A couple of lesser-known pollsters give Capriles the lead.
The opposition believes many Venezuelans, intimidated by Chavez's authoritarian style and past reprisals in the job market against those who have voted against him, may be hiding their true intentions.
PRESENCE VS POSTERS
Sweating profusely and gulping water after a grueling walking tour of Guigue, a shabby settlement of bustling streets and small Chinese-run stores, Capriles said he had visited more than 150 towns and villages since the official campaign began.
"Physical presence beats posters," said Capriles, who hopes his youth and vigor will convey a message of change. "The government's candidate is only seen on billboards. I've been to more towns since July 1 than he probably has in 10 years."
The 58-year-old Chavez has looked more energetic in recent weeks than at any time in the past year, during which he underwent two rounds of surgery and lengthy periods of treatment in Cuba for an undisclosed form of pelvic cancer.
The president says he is completely cured and has returned both to his old jokey, talkative self, as well as a whirlwind schedule of near-daily TV appearances.
He has attended more than a dozen big rallies around the country, but he normally arrives riding on top of an open-top truck before speaking from a stage, unlike Capriles who plunges into homes and crowds wherever he goes.
Polls show most Venezuelans believe Chavez has overcome his illness, though doctors say that no one can declare themselves cancer-free until several years after the last recurrence.
Some skeptical opposition supporters think the president has manipulated the whole affair for sympathy, possibly on the advice of his friend and political mentor, Cuba's Fidel Castro.
"I don't want to join the speculation," Capriles said. "I hope it's been a complete recovery."
He did, however, joke that someone had called him a "great doctor" because as soon as he hit the streets after the formal campaign began, Chavez seemed to get better more quickly.
The opposition coalition, which groups about 30 parties and organizations from across the political spectrum, is angry at Chavez's use of lengthy TV addresses -- which all local channels must broadcast -- and what they allege is the plundering of state cash and equipment for his campaign.
"All the abuse, the use of public resources, the advantages he has, and the sense of 'I am the official candidate who believes himself above Venezuelans and sees himself equal to God,' I think that has a cost," Capriles said.
"And on October 7 we will see the cost of this abuse, in the defeat that the government has coming."
'FORBIDDEN CAP'
Chavez scoffs at those accusations, asking how he -- as president -- is supposed to hide his activities from the public.
The National Electoral Council has angered both sides, criticizing them for their use of the media and saying it would consider whether Capriles was breaking rules by frequently wearing a baseball cap featuring the Venezuelan flag.
Capriles said that was absurd, given that Chavez regularly appeared draped in the national colors. But it has prompted a mini-boom in sales of the "forbidden caps" by entrepreneurs.
"They sell between 600 and a thousand in an afternoon at our campaign headquarters!" Capriles laughed.
A law graduate from a wealthy family, Capriles wants to replace Chavez's statist policies with a "modern left" model of free markets with strong social policies, like in Brazil.
Capriles says he will maintain the best of Chavez's popular welfare programs, while only gradually dismantling controversial measures like price and currency controls and widespread nationalizations that have ranged from farms to oil refineries.
He also wants to steer Venezuela's international alliances away from Chavez's ideologically motivated friendships with the leaders of nations such as Iran, Belarus and Syria. For now, however, Capriles is only concerned with winning votes.
"I'm focusing my visits on the municipalities where the government won the last elections," he said as his bus left Guigue, where pockets of red-clad Chavez supporters had heckled his tour good-naturedly at several points along the route.
"Most of these towns have been made promises that were never fulfilled. There is a lot of disappointment."
Capriles' own promises include building 200,000 houses in his first year, creating 3 million jobs in six years and taming crime that almost all Venezuelans put as their number one worry.
(Additional reporting by Mario Naranjo; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Kieran Murray and Eric Beech)
Germany's Finance Ministry says the country's tax income was nearly 9 percent higher in July than a year earlier ? helped by recent wage increases and underlining the continuing strength of Europe's biggest economy.
Read More ?
High-profile NHS hospitals in England are to be encouraged by the government to set up profit-making branches abroad to help fund UK services.
Struggling US electronics chain Best Buy suspends its profit guidance for the year after a dramatic fall in earnings.
Congressman Todd Akin, who caused uproar by saying women's bodies could prevent pregnancy in cases of "legitimate rape", asks for forgiveness.
Veteran entertainer Dick Van Dyke will be honoured with a life achievement award at the the Screen Actor's Guild (SAG) Awards ceremony next January.
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine has suspended the extradition to Russia of a suspect in a foiled plot to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin, after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said it would review the case, the foreign ministry said on ...
Eight people were killed in a bombing in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, an official in the Interior Ministry said Monday.
The surface of Mars? Psh... been there. With the Curiosity stage well under way, our exploration of the Red Planet is about to take a dive beneath the dust. Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport -- InSight, for short -- was just confirmed as a new NASA mission, with the space agency set to launch in March of 2016. Based on the Phoenix lander, the craft is tasked with giving us a peek beneath the planet's surface, armed with tools that include a geodetic instrument from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which will be used to calculate Mars' rotation axis, a seismic wave sensor and a subsurface heat probe, to measure the planet's internal temperature. The program has a $425 million budget -- a bit shy of the $2.5 billion allocated for Curiosity -- not including the costly launch vehicle. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said that InSight will help pave the way for future human missions to Mars, and represents just one of the related projects to come. Hit up the source link below for a closer look at JPL's latest endeavor.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tTMz32iFRwOxBQmWER6tp01e-cxblzihG8R36DN-El-ndsWtX66E0widMbv3ttN3xS3ZWgeyBZI6FoGk4pthuZZdKb08OkyNnhV6nPyN4=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 21-Aug-2012
Share ] 
