The revolutionary new non-drug treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury, neurofeedback, has once again proven highly effective. Local Tucson resident, Ken Willingham, is a new testimonial of the benefits of neurofeedback therapy.

Picture of human brain

On December 29, 2003, while on vacation, Ken rode his Ducati motorcycle into a K-Mart parking lot when suddenly a speeding automobile crashed into his motorcycle, crushing his helmet and knocking him unconscious before speeding off. The hit and run driver has never been found.  The accident happened about 12:30 p.m. that day.

Fortunately someone saw Mr. Willingham and the wreckage of his motorcycle and called an emergency ambulance rushing him to the University Medical Center to save his life. His wife did not find out about the accident until after 6:30 p.m. that evening. He was unconscious for a long period and when able to gain consciousness he could not remember anything about the accident. He was diagnosed with moderate to severe Traumatic Brain Injury. The top-of-the-line helmet he was wearing at the time of the accident was badly damaged.

At the hospital he had zero memory for several weeks and was eventually moved to Health South for rehabilitation. He was there for three weeks and eventually after 40 days gained some memory back.  His wife Barbara Stahura has written a journal on the entire experience as it happened. Besides the TBI he was diagnosed with a stable occipital condyle of the spine and was fitted with a neck brace.  He had to wear the brace for 5 ½ months. Mr. Willingham was retired from I. B.M. as a computer programmer and had taken a job at Raytheon as a programmer at the time of the accident.  He eventually was able to go back to work for about 2 hours a day and in time worked up to 4 hours. Unfortunately even though he could work a few hours a day he suffered working memory problems. Returning to his old occupation was extremely difficult.

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Tucson is under scrutiny by the national media, again. Or should I say, still?

Hours after the horrific shootings on Saturday, the media swooped down on Tucson. Our local media, on numerous occasions since then, has credited national newspapers for new information about the Tucson tragedy. The Tragedy in Tucson, so named by the media, has dominated national headlines for the last few days.

Endless speculation by the media has also dominated headlines regarding motives of the alleged shooter. Our so-called political climate has been scrutinized. Today, the headlines are asking if the “pep rally” atmosphere at the memorial service was “appropriate”. .

The Associated Press has chimed in with their perspective: “Some question pep rally atmosphere at Obama speech.”

May I point out the name of the event, according to this AP headline? “Obama speech”

CBS News headline: “Obama’s Tucson Speech: Pep Rally or Memorial Service”.

The media started calling it that, some variation of “Obama’s Speech”, soon after President Obama accepted the invitation to attend what was once billed as a memorial.

As a result, the event somehow morphed into something else. A theme for the event emerged, called: “Together We Thrive:Tucson and America.” The theme doesn’t include anything about it that evokes a memorial. There’s nothing about remembrance, either.

The theme sounds like, well, like a political rally.

The Washington Post released an article prior to the event, describing the atmosphere outside the McKale stadium, like people “camped out” prior to a rock concert. “Camped out” became a common phrase used by many members of the national media to describe those who arrived early to “hear Obama speak”.

Please read a snippet from that article from The Washington Post. (They refer to the Pima County Assessor’s Office as “Pima County tax accessor’s office” by the way.)

“At an entrance to the stadium, people waited in a packed crowd in the warm afternoon sun. Many had been camped out there since mid morning and said the mood was exciting and generous. Sandra Kimmelman, 53, said she took the day off from her job at the Pima County tax accessor’s office to come hear Obama. She said people in line had given her candy, water and shared their pizza with her.

“There’s a sense of community,” she said. “I came because I want to hear Obama say we as a nation are all mourning and that we need to fight violence with love and peace. We need to be unified. 9-11 was the most horrific thing that happened to our nation. This comes close.”

Nicole Siegel, a freshman at the University of Arizona who is from Columbia, Md., said she was excited to hear Obama speak.

“I am happy to see he’s taking this seriously and isn’t just staying in the White House,” she said, wearing a light blue T-shirt with a picture of Obama on it.”

Full article here

They came to hear Obama. Would a T-shirt with Obama on it be appropriate for a memorial service? Is that why The Washington Post pointed out what she was wearing? Is that why they pointed out the pizza and candy?

The “event” was advertised as “first-come, first-served”, by the way. Like a rock concert. The “event” that drew media coverage to be broadcast around the world, was covered extensively for “Obama’s speech”.

So, now the media speculates over “appropriateness”.

Had Obama not been in attendance, would it have been covered to such an extent, or just broadcast locally with some members of the press present?

I’m grateful that Obama did attend. I watched the coverage from home. The President’s speech is what we needed to hear.

As far as criticism from the media, I’d like to remind you that you have created a media circus atmosphere in Tucson since you arrived Saturday.

Who is being disrespectful? Tucsonans or members of the national media?

I’ll have to go with the national media.

Members of the Santa Rita Community Eagles show off their gardening bounty

Shayana was bound and determined she was not going to have any fun, besides how much fun could gardening be anyway? It’s boring, nothing grows very fast and there is always lots of raking. But that all changed for the Santa Rita High School freshman the moment she pulled the bright red radishes from the garden she helped plant a few months ago. Her smile and laughter along with other members of the Eagles’ class told the story – gardening is fun! 

St. Augustine Catholic High School is partnering with the Santa Rita High School’s Community Outreach Program by hosting the Going Green & Beautification Project. Five students are learning vital independent living skills every Thursday at St. Augustine through the implementation of a vegetable garden. In addition, they perform other tasks such as taking public transportation to St. Augustine, constructing garden beds and harvesting their vegetables. The Project began in September and will end in April 2011. 

The five students, known as the Santa Rita Community Eagles, enjoyed the first harvest of their collective efforts on Thursday with a bountiful supply of radishes and lettuce. The children were excited to make salads with their families, another skill they have learned while in the program. The Going Green & Beautification Project was conceived and developed by Emily Montgomery, one of three teachers at Santa Rita focusing on Community Based Instruction. Along with Robin Patze, she works with the 14 – 19 year olds each week on the SACHS campus on specific gardening projects. From maintaining a compost pile, to cultivating and harvesting various vegetables, Ms. Montgomery intends to provide the children with important skills as they transition to independent living. “It’s important they not only have those skills, but the confidence to do things for themselves that we are teaching in this program,” Ms. Montgomery said. 

Cal Montgomery, Facilities Director at St. Augustine Catholic H.S. gives an 'assist' to the student gardeners

Cal Montgomery, the Facilities Director at St. Augustine probably has as much fun as the kids during the sessions as evidenced by his ear-to-ear grin. Along with giving the children rides in the tractor, he enjoys sharing his gardening knowledge with the children while helping them gain vital skills. And even though he may be a St. Augustine Wolf, Mr. Montgomery could think of nothing better than helping these Eagles spread their wings and soar.

Last night, a friend of mine shared a link on Facebook called Fat Men Are Better in Bed on his Facebook wall. It was an interesting headline, so I clicked through to the post.

The post from Gawker stated that “researchers have found that men with higher body mass indices last seven minutes longer than their slender counterparts.” Therefore, the author decided that fat men were better in bed. The author did not state who performed the study. Instead, the post referenced another post from Salon, called: “Sex researchers: size does matter“, which also made an indication that fat men were better in bed.

I was curious about these assertions, so I investigated the sources for the Salon article. It listed two sources, neither of which made that assertion that fat men were better in bed.

One source that the Salon article referred to was a Courier Mail article, which  presented information on the yearlong study performed by Researchers at Erciyes University in Kayseri. This blurb was included in the Courier Mail article:

The survey’s results found fat men could last an average of 7.3 minutes during love making, while others only lasted 1.8 minutes.

So, when I clicked through to the second source used by Salon, it was an abstract of the study everyone was referring to, called: “Insight on pathogenesis of lifelong premature ejaculation: inverse relationship between lifelong premature ejaculation and obesity”.

Ah, so now we are getting somewhere, the study that Gawker refers to actually focused on 100 men who are no strangers to premature ejaculation. Reading the post, you might think that the study was indicative of ALL men in the general population.

So, fat men who ejaculate prematurely are indicated to last an average of  5 minutes longer than lean men who also ejaculate prematurely. I didn’t see that anywhere in the Gawker post

Additionally, I noted that Gawker gave seven additional minutes of sex to fat men. That’s not what the study said. The study said that fat men (who ejaculate prematurely) last an average 7.3 minutes versus the lean men (who also ejaculate prematurely) who last only 1.8 minutes on average. Gawker gave an extra two minutes to fat men, unless you take the post literally at seven minutes of more sex for fat men . Then, this would result in an entire nine minutes more of sex than lean men.

That’s very generous of the author of the Gawker post to give fat men so much more time in bed.

So, when I made these discoveries, I posted comments as I thought about them on my friend’s Facebook page. After all, he was sharing false information and it was my duty to debunk the misinformation. I went on with a one-sided rant and made four comments over the course of about an hour, while no one else weighed in on my comments.

Instead, my friend’s friends continued to “Like” the article and probably shared it with their friends, as well.

So, I left a comment on Gawker with my concerns, but instead received a reply from a fellow reader. He told me to disregard the information, consider the source, and “enjoy the ride” as far as Gawker posts are concerned.

What I soon realized is that no one cared about whether the post in question was factual or not as they continue to share it on Facebook. It asserted that fat men were better in bed and presented false information on top of it. Now, we’ve got fat men with inflated confidence, probably aiming to use the Gawker article as a pick up line at bars.

So, perhaps I can do some good and prepare some women out there, in the event that this does happen. I’m sure that they must care. Someone must care.

If you do care, try a little experiment for me. The next time you find an interesting article – sex study related or not, do some research. Click through to the article that the article was based on, and keep doing that on each article that comes up until you find the original source. Even then, if the article is based on scientific research, you may want to even try to access that source to get accurate information.

You will be very surprised how article information tends to become garbled during regurgitation of the same information as it is passed along from one author to another.

Consider the source.

Santa Cruz County, Arizona is a hot spot for birdwatchers to catch a glimpse of some of the most beautiful birds in the world. As a result, I couldn’t help but develop an interest in hummingbird watching.

My photography skills are also being developed at the same time while trying to capture images these lightning fast little guys. Some of these hummingbird photos are featured in a slideshow below. All photos were taken in the Patagonia Mountains.

I thought it would be nice to offer these photos to fellow hummingbird lovers to enjoy!

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Guy Fieri at an Oakland Raiders tailgate party in 2008./Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

Monday, I got a call from a producer for “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” a Food Network show starring Guy Fieri that has become a national foodie phenomenon.

She wanted to talk to a Citizen restaurant reviewer, which we don’t have any more, so I forwarded her to the Star. But before I did, I asked “Are you finally coming to Tucson?” And the producer gave a non-committal “We’re thinking about it.” (Or words to that effect).

I am a big fan of the show and my family likes to seek out restaurants featured on Triple D (as the fans call it) during our travels about the country. Fieri’s yet to be wrong. The show’s producers clearly do a lot of legwork before he shows up to feature a restaurant because we haven’t had a bad meal at any of his featured diners, nor have any of our family’s friends who are fans of the show.

Fieri has been to Arizona numerous times but never to Tucson. When you look at the list of places Triple D has been to, you have to wonder if Tucson’s an epicurean backwater or whether Fieri had a bad experience in Tucson once and was blackballing us.

Among the cities Triple D has visited are Boise, Idaho, Fairbanks, Alaska (Fairbanks!??) and Baker, Calif. (Baker!? If you don’t know where it is, don’t feel bad because it’s in the middle of freaking nowhere!).

Yet no Tucson. He even went to Flagstaff before coming here, for crying out loud.

Are Tucson’s family restaurants really that bad? Or do we not have enough restaurants to meet the show’s criteria? Triple D tends to focus on family-owned restaurants that have been around for awhile, often more than 20 years. And, of course, the food needs to be good with at least two or three unique dishes, or unique preparations to common dishes.

And they need to be paper napkin-type places, if the wine list has more than one wine on it, it’s probably not a Triple D restaurant.

No chains are ever featured.

So I got to thinking about which restaurants in Tucson are worthy of Triple D?

You can go to the Triple D site at Food Network and make suggestions via e-mail, DDDinfo@mac.com. I’ve done it about a dozen times.

Here’s my list of restaurants Triple D should visit. Some might not meet the criteria because they’re owned by a restaurant group, but I think they’re worth an exception.

Zin Burger (owned by Fox restuarants, but he’s a Tucson guy, so that makes it locally owned, right?)
Luke’s Italian Beef (the one on Alvernon, the others are owned by family members, so it should count)
El Charro (Oldest restaurant/business in Tucson, purported inventor of the Chimichanga)
Brooklyn Pizza
The Cup Cafe (In Hotel Congress)
Ghini’s French Caffe
Frog and Firkin
Brushfire

Other restaurants I gave consideration to, but had something I didn’t like there once or had a bad experience once or twice so I was on the fence about recommending them (even though I ate other stuff that was good to great):

Pat’s Drive-In
Bumsted’s
Omar’s Hi-way Chef
Mi Nidito
Beyond Bread

Which restaurants do you think he should visit? (Add comments below).

Arizona restaurants visited by Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives:”

Matt’s Big Breakfast
801 N. 1st Street
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Tel: (602) 254-1074
Website: www.mattsbigbreakfast.com

Roberto’s Mexican Food
675 W. Union Hills Dr.
Phoenix, AZ 85027
Tel: (602) 439-7279

Thee Pitt’s Again
5558 W. Bell Rd.
Glendale, AZ 85308
Tel: (602) 996-7488
Website: www.theepittsagain.com

Chino Bandido
15414 N 19th Ave Suite K
Phoenix, AZ 85023
Tel: (602) 375-3639
Website: www.chinobandido.com

Joe’s Farm Gril
3000 East Ray Road Buld.
Gilbert, AZ 85296

Aunt Lena’s Creamery
4040 S. Arizona Ave.
Chandler, AZ 85248
Tel: (480) 802-1100

Salsa Brava
2220 E Route 66
Flagstaff, AZ 86004
Tel: (928) 779-5293

Haus Murphey’s
5739 W Glendale Ave
Glendale, AZ 85301
Tel: (623) 939-2480

Brandy’s Restaurant & Bakery
1500 E Cedar Avenue #40
Flagstaff, AZ, 86004
(928) 779-2187
Website: www.brandysrestaurant.com

La Piazza Al Forno
5803 W Glendale Avenue
Glendale. AZ 85301
(623) 847-3301
Website: www.lapiazzaalforno.com

Giuseppe’s on 28th
2824 E Indian School Road
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Tel: (602) 381-1237
Website: www.giuseppeson28th.com

Los Taquitos
4747 East Elliot Road #17
Phoenix, AZ 85044
Tel: (480) 753-4370

Over Easy
4037 N 40th
Phoenix, AZ 85018-5204
(602) 468-3447
Website: www.eatatovereasy.com

Several hours ago, an AP article alerted the world that the weight of a bus caused the collapse of a road in a very curious spot in Nogales. The collapse in the road alerted law enforcement to a border tunnel directly under the Nogales, Arizona Port of Entry.

The AP article emphasized that drug tunnel discoveries were significantly down in Arizona. Specifically, 20 were discovered in 2009. Only five tunnels were discovered in the same period of time this year, in 2010.

Several days ago, NBC San Diego quoted the Department of Homeland Security as stating that the number of border tunnels has actually increased significantly, 63% in the last several years.

Additionally, they state that these tunnels are a growing threat to national security.

If these “numbers” are true from DHS, it doesn’t make sense that the tunnels would actually be down in Arizona. It would make more sense that the “discoveries” in Arizona would be down.

Wouldn’t it?

Several hours ago, the Associated Press released an article that confused me.

In fact, I read it a couple of times.

Read it and I’ll tell you my opinion after that.

Another tunnel discovery in Nogales

(AP) – 10 hours ago

TUCSON, Ariz. — Another border tunnel has been found on Arizona’s border with Mexico.

U.S. Border Patrol agents working in cooperation with local and federal law enforcement agencies found a tunnel Friday in Nogales, under the southbound lane at the DeConcini Port of Entry.

The weight of a passenger bus caused a collapse in the road.

Border Patrol agents, with assistance from Mexican law enforcement, discovered an unfinished tunnel originating in Mexico.

From Oct. 1, 2009, to July 31, 2010, five tunnels were identified within the Tucson Sector. During the same period last year, 20 tunnels were discovered.

Authorities say smugglers mostly use tunnels to move drugs to the U.S.

Okay, so two paragraphs in this article give credit to Border Patrol, local, state and Mexican authorities for finding this tunnel.

It was actually the weight of the bus that caused the road to give way. So, it was the bus that actually alerted law enforcement to the fact that something just wasn’t right with the road.

Just wanted to give credit where credit was due, since the media seems to have taken the focus off of the object that actually discovered the tunnel.

Border residents are grateful for that bus.

I also noticed that there is a focus on the discovery of tunnels in 2010 (5) AND 2009 (20). There is a significant decline between last year and this year, which gives credibility to those decreased numbers that everyone was talking about.

Should Arizona actually direct any border money toward heavy busses?