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Love the Years, Erase the Lines

D-Lee — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:48:35 -0800

Dermatologists agree that retinoids are the best age erasers. Here, how to maximize their anti-aging benefits

What ingredients have decades of research proving they can turn around aging skin? Only retinoids, which have been shown in studies to do everything from smoothing fine lines and fading dark spots to making pores look smaller.

The downside: These vitamin A derivatives cause so much irritation that many women give up. That's where this complete guide comes in. Whether you're a retinoid rookie or a dropout, you'll learn to pick the best anti-aging product and use it right--so the only "side effect" you have is younger, more sensational-looking skin.

Choose the Right Product
Best for BeginnersIf you have sensitive skin or are trying retinoids for the first time, an over-the-counter retinol is a good choice. These products irritate skin less because the retinol is slowly converted to retinoic acid, the active ingredient in prescription creams. It may simply take more time (up to 12 weeks) to notice a difference in your skin than if you'd used a prescription (4 to 8 weeks).

Look for products formulated with at least 0.1% of retinol (the most effective retinoid in OTC versions) and packed in aluminum tubes (air and light can degrade the formula, reducing effectiveness), recommends Patricia Farris, MD, a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Tulane University. If you don't notice benefits after 3 months, consider trying a prescription-strength formula. Bonus: The OTC product will have helped your skin acclimate to the Rx retinoid, so you'll be less likely to suffer the side effects of a more powerful version.

For More Improvement
Although OTC products are gentler on your skin and often less expensive, nothing compares to the changes you'll see with an Rx formula. "I can tell from across the room if someone is using a prescription retinoid--they're that effective," says Leslie Baumann, MD, director of cosmetic dermatology at the University of Miami. "Skin is brighter, softer, smoother, and more evenly toned." That's because retinoic acid is 10 to 15 times as potent as its chemical cousin, OTC retinol.

The most commonly prescribed retinoids for rejuvenative purposes are Renova (its emollient base makes it especially suitable for those with very dry skin), Avage (the strongest retinoid, it's ideal for seriously sun-damaged skin), and Differin (easiest on sensitive skin). Your doctor will decide what formulation--gel or cream - and strength will work best for you and monitor your skin's response to retinoids over time.

Application Basics
Plan aheadIt takes about 4 to 6 months for your skin to become acclimated to a retinoid. Check your calendar for a "safe window" where you have no major events (your daughter's wedding, a high school reunion) on the horizon. Then, follow these other starter steps to get the best results for younger-looking skin.

Consider summer
Any retinoid is likely to dry out your skin to some extent, so summer--when there's more humidity in the air--is an ideal time to start using one, says Farris.

Clean out your cabinets
"I tell patients to bring in everything in their bathroom so I can look for potential irritants," says Ranella Hirsch, MD, president-elect of the American Society of Cosmetic Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery and a dermatologist in Cambridge, MA. Facial products likely to react with retinoids: scrubs and exfoliation products, alcohol-based toners and astringents, and medicated cleansers and makeup.

Wax ahead of time
Schedule one last facial-waxing appointment - dry skin is more prone to burning. Allow any irritation from retinoids to subside before resuming waxing.

Dab only a pea-size amount
Avoid sensitive areas such as lips and upper eyelids. Immediately afterward, pat a tissue on your skin; if it sticks, you've used too much. Next time, halve the amount.

Sleep on it
Apply retinoids before bedtime because sunlight can destabilize their effectiveness, advises Baumann. To keep dryness, flakiness, and redness to a minimum, cleanse skin about 20 minutes beforehand; damp skin increases risk of sensitivity. Then apply the retinoid and, in another 20 minutes, your moisturizer. This will avoid sealing the medication into your skin, which makes it stronger and more likely to irritate.

Be vigilant about sunscreen
Because retinoids slough dead surface cells, removing skin's natural protection against UV exposure, every morning be sure to apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15 (the higher the better); you can also use a topical antioxidant like a serum with green tea to reduce inflammation.

Go slowly
Most experts suggest applying a retinoid every third day, at least for the first 2 weeks. Use retinoids every other day for the next 2 weeks, and build up to daily use. For some people (especially those with fair complexions and light-colored eyes), the process might take longer (it took Hirsch a solid year to be able to use it nightly), and others may be satisfied with the results of using retinoids every other day. You'll have to keep up your routine for life to maintain the benefits.

www.prevention.com

Army Corps of Engineers Blamed for Katrina Flooding

amybdk — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:45:18 -0800

Corps' operation of MR-GO doomed homes in St. Bernard, Lower 9th Ward, judge rules

By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune

November 19, 2009, 6:00AM

Source

In a groundbreaking decision, a federal judge ruled late Wednesday that the Army Corps of Engineers' mismanagement of maintenance at the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet was directly responsible for flood damage in St. Bernard Parish and the Lower 9th Ward after Hurricane Katrina.

The failure of the Corps to recognize the destruction that the MRGO had caused and the potential hazard that it created is clearly negligent on the part of the Corps," said U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. in his ruling. "Furthermore, the Corps not only knew, but admitted by 1988, that the MRGO threatened human life ... and yet it did not act in time to prevent the catastrophic disaster that ensued with the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina."

"The Corps' lassitude and failure to fulfill its duties resulted in a catastrophic loss of human life and property in unprecedented proportions," Duval wrote. "The Corps' negligence resulted in the wasting of millions of dollars in flood protection measures and billions of dollars in Congressional outlays to help this region recover from such a catastrophe. Certainly, Congress would never have meant to protect this kind of nonfeasance on the part of the very agency that is tasked with the protection of life and property."

Duval's 156-page decision could result in the federal government paying $700,000 in damages to three people and a business in those areas, but also sets the stage for judgments worth billions of dollars against the government for damages suffered by as many as 100,000 other residents, businesses and local governments in those areas who filed claims with the corps after Katrina.

Duval ruled, however, that WDSU-TV anchor Norman Robinson and his wife were not entitled to damages because the corps' dredging of the MR-GO did not affect the levee system that protects eastern New Orleans from hurricane storm surge. That probably means eastern New Orleans residents would not be able to collect on claims they've filed against the corps, said attorneys representing plaintiffs in the case.

"The people of this city have been vindicated," said attorney Joseph Bruno, a leader of the large team of lawyers who represented the plaintiffs. "They didn't do anything wrong and it's time they be compensated."

"Judge Duval exposed 40 years of the Army Corps of Engineers' gross malfeasance with regard to the operation and maintenance of the MR-GO," said Pierce O'Donnell, a Los Angeles-based attorney and co-leader of the plaintiff's legal team. "His decision is an extreme condemnation of the lack of concern for the safety of New Orleans and St. Bernard residents."

Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller said late Wednesday that "The government will review the judge's ruling."

Indeed, the Justice Department is expected to appeal the decision to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and then to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary.

The corps has estimated that it received more than 490,000 claims forms in the aftermath of Katrina and Hurricane Rita in 2005, but those forms include many from areas not covered by this decision.

"Until such time as the litigation is completed, including the appellate process up to and through the U.S. Supreme Court, no activity is expected to be taken on any of these claims," corps spokesman Ken Holder said.

Bruno and O'Donnell said they expect to travel to Washington, D.C., as early as next week to persuade the Obama administration and members of Congress to consider revisiting requests for compensation by New Orleans area residents in both the areas covered by the decision and in other areas flooded by corps-related levee failures.

Duval had ruled last year that, while failures of flood-control structures might be the cause of damage in other areas, a 1928 federal law granted the corps immunity from damages. In that ruling, however, he said the immunity clause did not extend to the MR-GO, which was a navigation channel and not a flood-control structure.

"We're hoping the new administration and the new Congress will view this decision in a new light," O'Donnell said. "This decision should act as a catalyst to finally work out a settlement for all the people of New Orleans."

In his decision, Duval said his duty was to determine "whether the corps' activities with respect to the MRGO acted like that Navy vessel destroying the levee."

The answer was resoundingly yes, he concluded, the result of the failure of the corps to deal with the effects of the shipping shortcut to downtown New Orleans on an adjacent seven-mile stretch of hurricane protection levee between Bayou Dupre and Bayou Bienvenue.

The corps allowed the channel to attack the levees in three ways, Duval said, allowing the levees to slump under their own weight, failing to armor the channel's banks against ship wakes and allowing saltwater to exacerbate the loss of wetlands throughout the area.

Duval dismissed Justice Department lawyers' arguments that the corps' decisions were discretionary policy judgements of their professional staff and thus protected under federal law.

"Ignoring safety and poor engineering are not policy, and clearly the Corps engaged in such activities," he said.

"The loss of wetlands and widening of the channel brought about by the operation and maintenance of the MRGO clearly were a substantial cause of plaintiffs' injury," he said. "Had the Corps adequately reported under the (National Environmental Police Act) standards, their activities and the effect on the human environment would have had a full airing."

In determining damages, Duval found that most of those involved in this first lawsuit had evacuated, and thus were not entitled to mental anguish compensation. And not all of the water that flooded the various areas came from the section of levee affected by the MR-GO.

In the case of the Robinsons, he found that the corps was not negligent in deciding against building a surge protection barrier across the funnel formed by the joining of theMR-GO, and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, which would have reduced flooding in eastern New Orleans. Such a barrier is now being built.

Duval found in favor of Anthony and Lucille Franz, who owned a home on St. Claude Avenue in the Lower 9th Ward, and awarded them $100,000 plus interest and court costs; Tanya Smith of Chalmette, awarding her $317,000 and interest and court costs; former Tulane University football player Kent Lattimore, who lost his St. Bernard trailer home, $134,665, interest and court costs; and his Lattimore and Associates real estate appraisal business, $168,033.25 with interest and court costs.

It dismissed the Robinsons' lawsuit and ordered them and the government to pay their own court costs.

Duval was appointed to the bench by former President Bill Clinton.

Brad Pitt & Bill Clinton Unite to Rebuild the Lower 9th Ward.

LuciLu — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 14:21:05 -0700

Bill Clinton meets Brad Pitt in storm-hit area
By STACEY PLAISANCE

NEW ORLEANS -
Former President Bill Clinton met with actor Brad Pitt and hundreds of volunteers in the Lower 9th Ward on Sunday at the site where a foundation headed by Pitt plans to begin building affordable homes for Hurricane Katrina victims.

"We hope to see a huge change here in the next six months," Pitt told a group of residents as he posed with them for pictures Sunday and signed autographs.

Pitt and Clinton walked a street as hundreds of volunteers on either side, wielding shovels and rakes, prepared the land for homes. For hours, they cleared overgrown grass and weeds that were covering street drains and sidewalks.

The Lower 9th Ward was one of the hardest-hit neighborhoods in New Orleans when Katrina struck on Aug. 29, 2005, causing the city's levee system to fail with devastating flooding.

"We're working to get the grounds ready so construction can begin," said Anne Bouthilette, a 20-year-old sophomore history major at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

Many media representatives were refused direct interviews with Clinton, who has been making public appearances around the country as Hillary Clinton seeks the Democratic presidential nomination.
A brass band played in the background as Clinton and Pitt shook hands and chatted with volunteers.

Bouthilette said this was her first visit to New Orleans, and she was enjoying the opportunity to help with the city's recovery.
"There's a pressing need for people to come down here and do work," she said. "There are still so many things that need to be done. Everybody can do something."

Bouthilette was one of about 600 college students in New Orleans for the Clinton Global Initiative University, a three-day program that began Friday and was designed to challenge college students and universities to tackle global problems with practical, innovative solutions.

The event wrapped Sunday with the volunteer effort in the Lower 9th Ward, at the site where Pitt and his Make It Right Foundation are building homes using environmentally friendly materials such as cisterns and solar panels for residents who lost their homes in the storm.

Before his stop in the 9th Ward, Clinton participated in a forum with student journalists to discuss issues important to America's college students. Students from the University of Southern California, Howard University and Tulane University were among those who to participated.

The event was taped and segments are scheduled to air on March 26 on mtvU, MTV's college network which broadcasts to more than 750 college campuses nationwide

Source

Brad Pitt and Bill Clinton Break Ground for “Make it Right” Project

justingirl1989 — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:54:41 -0700

Former President Bill Clinton and actor Brad Pitt broke ground for the Make it Right project in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans. The Make it Right Project is building 150 green homes for New Orleans residents affected by Hurricane Katrina, and Pitt states that it’s “not about a handout, but a hand up.”

Pitt has contributed $5 million dollars to the project along with real estate developer and film producer Steven Bing. Bill Clinton was there to represent the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, which has contributed $1 million. Former President George H.W. Bush was not able to attend the ceremony.

600 students from around the world were also on hand to volunteer and help clean up. They were there are part of the first meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative University. The meeting was held at Tulane University and hopes to gather student and university staff to help address the world’s problems.

Brad Pitt looked dashing in his trademark newsboy cap and a white dress shirt with jeans while President Clinton wore a red sleeveless polo and brown pants. Pitt vowed to stop wearing that hat for New Year’s but doesn’t seem to have been able to get rid of it. He was said to be selling the hat to benefit the charity, but currently the only hat available on the MakeItRightNola website is a baseball cap. You can’t blame Pitt for trying to hide that crew cut he got for his most recent part

source: celeb*tchy.com