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Dowdy and Dr. Glenn Pait, of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences' Spine Clinic in Little Rock, aren't the first to describe the Kennedy family scion's back woes. But the new account woven from physicians' case notes, spinal imaging studies and other research may be the most detailed to date, Dowdy said.
"We ended up with, I think, a pretty good story to tell," he added.
Kennedy's quest for relief from low-back pain likely began as a result of a football injury sustained in 1937 during his collegiate years at Harvard.
A subsequent incident during World War II, when a patrol torpedo boat to which Kennedy was assigned was rammed by a Japanese destroyer, likely exacerbated the young midshipman's back problems, the authors noted.
He survived the collision. And then, "Kennedy towed a badly wounded crewman with the strap of his life jacket clenched between his teeth for a punishing 5-hour swim to a nearby island," the study authors wrote.
The year after his rescue, JFK underwent his first spinal surgery. But as Dowdy and Pait said, Kennedy's back problems haunted him throughout his years in Congress and the White House -- until the day of his assassination on Nov. 22, 1963.
Some medical experts believe the former president's use of a back brace contributed to his death on that fateful day in Dallas. It has been suggested that JFK's tightly bound body sprung back to an upward position after Lee Harvey Oswald's first shot, enabling the assassin to fire off a second fatal blow to the head.
Dowdy said it's impossible to know for sure but said the evidence suggested that, in fact, the brace may have played a role in Kennedy's death.
JFK had a total of four back surgeries -- two intended to fix his spine and two more to resolve surgical complications.
Along the way, he also tried a slew of nonsurgical treatments. These included trigger-point injections of local anesthetics, methamphetamine injections, exercise, massage and heat therapy.
Dr. Daniel Fassett, director of spinal surgery at OSF HealthCare's Illinois Neurological Institute in Peoria, advises patients to "try everything under the sun before surgery," including multiple types of injections, chiropractic care and acupuncture, for example.
"You can't turn back the clock," Fassett said. "Once you have that surgery, you permanently change the characteristics of the spine and set that patient up for the possibility of more surgeries down the road."
Kennedy's pain was likely due to multiple factors, leading to "an unfortunate pattern of treatment and outcomes that contemporary spine surgeons continue to struggle with at times in a small subset of patients," the authors concluded.
"Spine surgery even in the modern era is really difficult," Dowdy explained, because despite modern imaging technologies, it can be hard to pinpoint the cause of a person's back pain and sometimes surgery doesn't resolve the pain.
"It's still going to be as much of an art as it is a science," he said.
The report was published July 11 in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine.
We had a meeting with the AMPTP today, January 19, 2011. As a result, our goal of achieving adequate staffing on pilots will be addressed in this year’s Union Contract negotiations.
For this current pilot season, we urge Casting Directors to resume your individual negotiations with the Studios.
In the meantime, if you are approached to do a pilot, or were previously in negotiations, and you have any questions, please feel free to contact Ed Duffy, Steve Dayan or members of the Steering Committee.
Both sides have agreed not to speak to the press regarding this issue. We ask you to do the same.
HONOLULU — When the tectonic plates under the Pacific shifted last week, the event set off a now well-documented chain of events, ending in unprecedented disaster. But in the moments just after the quake, it was up to a small group of scientists to determine what the immediate impact would be, and to warn people around the world.
Those scientists, from the U.S. National Weather Service’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, are now caught up in a political debate that reaches from the halls of Congress to the battered shores of northern Japan.
Just moments after the earthquake struck, the warning center’s deep ocean sensor detected it and transmitted the information to the center’s headquarters in Hawaii. Director Chip McCreery lives just 50 feet from the monitoring station, and when he heard about the quake, he rushed over. Within an hour, all 12 members of the duty staff, including nine Ph.D. scientists, were there as well.
But even as the warning center continues to monitor the area for aftershocks and other seismic events, it finds itself at the center of a heated political debate thousands of miles away, in Washington, D.C.
House Republicans have proposed $454 million in budget cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the tsunami warning center’s parent agency, as part of a plan to reduce the federal budget. NOAA has also come under fire recently from some congressional Republicans who have expressed concern about its new emphasis on climate change research. The reductions aren’t aimed specifically at the warning center, but NOAA representatives say the center could feel the impact.
The issue remains unresolved. The Senate failed to adopt the cuts when it approved a temporary spending measure to keep the government running, which the president signed last week. But when that stopgap measure expires in early April, the debate is expected to continue.
Need to Know’s Abby Leonard was reporting from Japan and Hawaii while on a journalism fellowship with the East-West Center.
Peaceful and serene are the best ways to describe this lakefront summer cottage on the south side of High Lake. If you like the feel of wilderness and being outdoors, this may be your answer! Large lot that goes to 5' of the home to the west. The lake is surrounded by Merry Lea Conservation Group, which offers walking trails and lots of knowledge about the area. The lake itself is one of the best fishing lakes in Noble County with many different varieties of fish. Fish by day, grill or fry by night! Enjoy a fire by the lakeside or put out a hammock and listen to the quiet. The sellers have invested heavily into the upgrades but sadly need to move on. They have enjoyed it as a weekend property for many years during all seasons. Every season paints a different picture to enjoy from the many windows. The roof and siding are about 8 years old, the well is newer. Sold as is at this price. Fireplace is pellet stove, used for supplemental heating. CASH ONLY Note: property has no heating for winter residence; some foundation settling. Currently a spring/summer and fall cottage. Seller will consider all offers. Please bring us your CASH offer.
OTTAWA — Thomas J. Bata, who moved his family business to Canada ahead of the German invasion of Czechoslovakia and later became, as he put it, “shoemaker to the world,” died in Toronto on Monday. He was 93.
Mr. Bata died in a hospital, Leslie Tenenbaum, the general counsel for Bata, said. The family is not disclosing the cause of death, he said.
Mr. Bata’s footwear is not well known among fanciers of designer shoes from Manolo Blahnik or fans of the latest sneakers from Nike. But Mr. Bata made the company, which was founded by his father, so pervasive in the developing world that, according to Mr. Tenenbaum, Bata became a generic noun for shoe in some parts of it, particularly in Africa. It is, Mr. Tenenbaum added, a situation that somewhat dismays him in his role as the protector of the company’s trademarks.
Mr. Bata, who was born in Prague on Sept. 17, 1914, gradually assumed control of the family business after his father’s death in an airplane crash in 1932. Bata was already a substantial operation at that time. Based in Zlin, Czechoslovakia, the company was then making about 36 million pairs of shoes a year and exporting to the United States and Asia while also operating retail shops in several European countries.
With Europe apparently heading toward war in 1938, it was decided that Mr. Bata should establish a North American operation. In his autobiography “Bata, Shoemaker to the World,” written with Sonja Sinclair, Mr. Bata recalled that Canada was picked, at least in part, because of the “romantic tales about the Wild West and about northern explorers” his mother had read to him as a child. To Mr. Bata’s dismay, when he arrived in Canada in 1939 he found its countryside and cities to be rundown and dirty compared with Europe.
With Czechoslovakia’s future looking uncertain, the company decided that rather than establish a branch plant in Canada, it would make the new operation an alternative headquarters to Zlin. The plan did not meet an entirely warm reception in Canada, where unemployment was high and many domestic shoemakers were fighting for survival. Mr. Bata had to settle for importing 100 workers and managers from Zlin after the government turned down his request for 250.
To house the workers and the new plant, Mr. Bata established a company town southwest of Ottawa complete with a corporate ski hill. Called Batawa (an amalgam of Bata and Ottawa), it became the first of a series of Bata company towns around the world.
Mr. Bata fought in the Canadian Army during World War II. The war’s aftermath was devastating for the company. Many of its facilities had been destroyed, and many of those that survived, including Zlin, had been nationalized. A complex holding company structure, however, meant that the Bata family still controlled substantial assets.
While the company invested in developing the Canadian business as well as in rebuilding traditional markets in Western Europe, its greatest success came in regions where factory-made shoes had made few inroads.
That expansion sometimes brought Mr. Bata into negotiations with infamous political leaders, like Idi Amin in Uganda, and the policies of some countries created public relations and diplomatic headaches for Bata and the government of Canada. Under pressure from the Canadian government, Bata sold its South African operation because of apartheid. While he was opposed to the system, Mr. Bata said in his autobiography, he would have preferred to stay and continue providing employment, health care and educational services.
Mr. Bata also made it clear that the company’s move into less-developed markets was primarily motivated by business concerns.
“We expanded into Africa in order to sell shoes, not to spread sweetness and light,” he said.
His company now employs an estimated 40,000 workers in factories in 25 countries and sells about 300 million pairs of shoes a year.
Mr. Bata’s son, Thomas George Bata, became chairman and chief executive of the company in 2001, but the elder Mr. Bata remained active in its operations and carried business cards listing his title as “chief shoe salesman.” At his death, Mr. Bata was planning a tour of the company’s European operations.
In addition to his son, Mr. Bata is survived by his wife, Sonja, and three daughters, Christine Bata Schmidt, Monica Pignal and Rosemarie Bata.
In Canada, his public profile was somewhat overshadowed by that of his wife, who was the daughter of the Bata family’s corporate lawyer in prewar Europe. She is the founding chairwoman of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto.
The company is still family owned, but little of it remains in Canada. Its headquarters are now in Lausanne, Switzerland; the company’s Canadian retail chains have been sold or closed; and production stopped in Batawa about eight years ago. Mrs. Bata has bought the community from Bata and started a separate venture to redevelop it as a residential community. She recently donated about $1 million for a ski lift.
After the Velvet Revolution, Mr. Bata returned to Czechoslovakia in 1989 at the invitation of President Vaclav Havel. He was greeted by crowds at the airport of his birthplace and later re-established operations in the country that had once nationalized his company. Since then, Mr. Bata made several return trips and established a charitable foundation there.
Because of an editing error, an obituary on Sept. 3 about the shoe manufacturer Thomas J. Bata misidentified the name of his homeland upon his return to Prague in 1989. It was Czechoslovakia not the Czech Republic, which was not established until 1993.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Reebok founder Paul Fireman is suing his longtime accountant, claiming he stole $25 million from him and a charity.
The accountant, Arnold Mullen, has been charged with five counts of grand theft. A phone message was left Thursday by The Associated Press for Mullen and his attorney.
Mullen was released on his own recognizance, but has been placed on house arrest with a monitoring device.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said the 62-year-old Mullen stole money from the Reebok chairman and his charitable foundation for the homeless.
The Palm Beach Post reports that Fireman hired Mullen in 1985. Mullen was paid more than $800,000 a year — plus bonuses.
Fireman owns a home in Palm Beach County. There was no phone number listed for him.
Subject: 380 CRUSHED AMBIEN FOUND IN FILOMENA'S SAFE!!!!
According to court documents, a crime lab chemistry report shows that two Ziploc bags seized from the couple's home the night of Seth Tobias' death contained .28 grams of cocaine and 3.86 grams of crushed up Ambien. Lawyers said that, according to a drug handbook, 3.86 grams is the equivalent of at least 380 doses of Ambien.
Formed in 1980 in New Jersey, The Smithereens first found success in the latter half of the 1980s. Considered a pioneering band within the power-pop genre, The Smithereens inspired a lot of notable rock artists of the 1980s and 1990s, including Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, Fountains of Wayne, The Gin Blossoms, Fastball, Toad the Wet Sprocket, and Superdrag. The band’s first album, Especially for You, was recorded for Enigma and included the charting singles “Blood and Roses,” “Strangers When We Meet,” “Behind the Wall of Sleep,” and “In a Lonely Place.” “Blood and Roses” would go on to be named one of the “Singles of the Year” by The Village Voice, while “Behind the Wall of Sleep” was titled as one of “The 7,500 Most Important Songs of 1944-2000” by author Bruce Pollock in 2005.
More noteworthy singles continued for The Smithereens — then-comprised of vocalist/guitarist Pat DiNizio, bassist Mike Mesaros, guitarist Jim Babjak, and drummer Dennis Diken — with 1988’s Green Thoughts, which yielded the hits “Only a Memory,” “House We Used to Live in,” and “Drown in My Own Tears.” 1989’s 11 proved to be the biggest commercial album for The Smithereens, reaching #41 on the Billboard 200, and charting three more singles with “Blues Before and After,” “A Girl Like You” — as originally written for the movie Say Anything — and “Yesterday Girl.” More radio airplay came from songs on 1991’s Blow Up and 1994’s A Date with the Smithereens, although these would prove to be the quartet’s last major releases. The Smithereens remained active after leaving the majors, recording a new studio effort every few years and regularly touring.
Smithereens frontman Pat DiNizio also stayed active as a solo artist over the years, releasing his first solo album in 1997, Songs and Sounds; his last full-length was 2009’s Buddy Holly, as recorded for Koch Records. DiNizio had also written two books, 2003’s Removing the Horns and 2009’s Confessions of a Rock Star, in addition to trying his hand at acting. From November 2011 through June 2012, DiNizio performed a live adaptation of Confessions of a Rock Star as part of a residency at the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
A cause of death has not yet been announced. Social media condolences on the loss of Pat DiNizio have already come in from a variety of artists, including legendary songwriter Diane Warren, R.E.M. guitarist Mike Mills, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench III, The Bongos’ Richard Barone, and producer Linus Of Hollywood.
Oh no Pat DiNizio has passed away. Loved him. We did an amazing song together yrs ago.
Palm Springs police fatally shot an off-duty Marine who allegedly ran over an officer during a confrontation in a parking structure, authorities said Monday.
The incident began shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday when two officers on bike patrol saw the Marine driving a black Chrysler with another man in the passenger seat.
The two men allegedly began shouting derogatory remarks at the officers, according to the Palm Springs Police Department.
The department said an officer repeatedly asked the driver to stop the car but that he failed to do so. One of the officers climbed partially into the passenger side window to try to stop the vehicle, according to police.
"The suspect accelerated directly toward the second officer, striking him, and continued on with the initial officer suspended from the passenger side window," police said in a statement.
The vehicle crashed near an exit at the structure at 275 S. Indian Canyon Drive.
"Fearing for their safety and the safety of others," the statement said, "both officers discharged their weapons."
The Marine was pronounced dead at the scene. The Desert Sun identified him as Cpl. Allan DeVillena.
Relatives could not be reached Monday night for comment. But on a Facebook page, a woman who identified herself as an aunt said that DeVillena was 22 years old and had served in Afghanistan. He was in the vehicle with another Marine and was stationed at TwentyNine Palms, the woman said.
She wrote that DeVillena was shot for no apparent reason. "This is a senseless act that should have never happened," she wrote.
The Hollywood chief, 58, told director Antoine Fuqua “it is time” for the famous spy to be played by a black actor.
The 52-year-old chatted to Barbara about who will take over from Daniel Craig, 50, if he hangs up his gun after the next Bond film, due next year.
Idris, 45, is in the running to take on the coveted role.
Antoine revealed Barbara feels “it is time” for an ethnic minority actor to star as 007 and she is certain “it will happen eventually”.
He added, "As a director, I'm always thinking about ways to make the movie better. We go through painstaking details in editing and mixing to get the sound perfect for the audience, SoundFi confidently showcases to movie fans the sonic commitment and artistic intent we have as filmmaker. My kids grew up with headphones on.
It is part of our society now. Our society is ready for that and are ready for more choices. It is important that we all keep people coming to the movies and giving them an experience.
It is expensive to go to the movies for most people so why not make it fun and industry. Why not keep pushing the envelope, why would we not do it with sound. The visual and the picture are one."
Oh, excuse me. Since considering your problem, Auntie’s had this profoundly crap song on a 24-hour brain loop. But it’s a small sacrifice if she can find the answer for world peace. And like all the best ideas, from bio-degradeable bin liners to screw-top wine, the answer to your question is quite simple. In two words: Whitney Houston.
No, Auntie hasn’t been at the green stuff, she’s leaving that to ‘chronic pothead’ Osama Bin Laden, who’s nothing but a slushy puppy for songbird Whitney. And that’s where Auntie’s brilliant plan for world peace comes in.
But like all the great unfulfilled love stories from Lancelot and Guinevere to Casablanca, Brief Encounter and, er, Princess Fiona and Shrek, it just hasn’t got off the ground. You know how it is, ‘stuff’ just gets in the way. In Whitney’s case that’s stuff in her crack pipe, while Osama’s an obsessive careerist. Though in between the occasional Al Qaeda promo, he still managed to add clippings from Star magazine and Hello! to his Whitney scrapbook.
So, Whitney, the future of the world is in your hands. ‘Seize that one moment in time and make it shine’ – only you have the power to get Obama and Osama together, to smoke the [crack] pipe of peace.
The city of Detroit plans to file details of a proposed swaps settlement with UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch within three to four days.
An attorney representing the city in its bankruptcy told Judge Steven Rhodes today of Detroit's plans to file a third proposed settlement. Rhodes nixed the first settlement that would have paid the banks $230 million. A $165 million proposal also was shot down last month. Detroit had lined up a loan to pay for the settlements.
In 2009, Detroit pledged casino taxes as collateral to avoid defaulting on pension debt payments. The city locked itself into high interest rates on bonds. The deal became too costly when interest rates plunged.
The announcement about the settlement proposal was made at the start of a hearing about the treatment of general obligation bondholders; city attorneys argued that these bondholders should be treated as unsecured. Bruce Bennett, one of the attorneys leading Detroit's bankruptcy case, urged Rhodes today to reject a demand by bond insurers that the city segregate taxes collected to repay certain bonds.
The bond insurers have sued Detroit, claiming a proposal by the city's emergency manager to cut payments to general obligation bondholders is illegal. The insurers say that pledges the city made when the bonds were issued give bondholders certain rights over the taxes.
The dispute may require the judge to weigh in on a long-running debate among legal scholars about whether certain municipal bonds get priority over more traditional unsecured creditors, such as public employees or suppliers.
"There is not a lien, there is no property interest, and these creditors are just like all others," Bennett told Rhodes.
Bennett argued the city's pledges to bondholders are no different from those made to all unsecured creditors. Such general promises mean the municipal bonds in dispute are unsecured, he said. Detroit didn't set aside any property that could be used as collateral for the bonds or create a special lien on the taxes, according to Bennett.
Rhodes was scheduled to hear this afternoon from lawyers for the bond insurers, including National Public Finance Guarantee Corp. and Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp.
Also up for discussion in court today: the need for an unsecured creditors committee that was formed by the U.S. Trustee. City attorneys argued that the committee should be disbanded because it is not needed and would be costly; Rhodes said he would issue a written opinion on the matter.
Don’t forget about dad: Facebook announced a host of features for Father’s Day this Sunday.
The social network said in an email to Social Pro Daily that more than 185,000 new dads commemorated their first days of fatherhood on Facebook over the past year, adding that more than 830 million photos and videos were shared on Father’s Day last year (June 19, 2016).
For Father’s Day 2017, Facebook users can send personalized cards. The social network said users will see messages atop their News Feeds reminding them about the holiday, after which they can share cards featuring photos and other art, with mobile users having the ability to personalize those cards by adding photos.
Users who have father or child relationships listed on Facebook may see cards pre-populated with both profile pictures.
Facebook Camera will feature Father’s Day stickers and themed frames. Users can access the frames by swiping to the right of News Feed and opening the effects tray, and stickers can be added when photos are taken or uploaded.
Messenger Camera also features customized photos and videos with Father’s Day-themed frames.
And as announced earlier this week, Instagram also rolled out a set of Father’s Day stickers.
Washington, DC - The United States conveys our deepest condolences for the loss of life and destruction from the tsunami that struck West Java and southern Sumatra, Indonesia, on December 22.
We continue to monitor the situation closely and are in close communication with Indonesian authorities. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those in Indonesia affected by the natural disaster. We are currently not aware of any U.S. citizens directly affected, but stand ready to assist as needed.

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