Drug-Resistant Fungus Spreading in U.S., Warns Physicians Group

Over the past several years, anew strain of yeast infection,Candida auris, has been emerging in the United States, primarily in hospitalized patients, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This strain, resistant to antifungal medications, apparently first arrived in the U.S. only a few years ago. It is related to strains fromSouth AsiaorSouth America.

The CDC press release was embargoed untilNov 4, the Friday before an election in which immigration is a major issue, notesElizabeth Lee Vliet, M.D., a specialist in preventive medicine and a former director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS). Nevertheless, CDC highlights the "need for urgent, coordinated federal, state, local, and international public health response."

Enhanced awareness is needed because "identifyingC. auris requires specialized laboratory methods," CDC continues. It can easily be misidentified as another type ofCandida infection, in which case patients may not receive appropriate treatment. In fact, most of the patient samples in the current report were initially misidentified.

"Mass migration, legal or illegal, inevitably carries infectious disease risks. That was the reason immigrants were previously quarantined and carefully examined onEllis Islandbefore being admitted to the U.S.," Dr. Vliet said.

"Why the delay of years in publicizing this new threat, and the need forurgentaction?" Dr. Vliet asks. "Are officials more interested in supporting this Administration's open-door immigration and rapid resettlement policy than in protecting Americans' health?"

TheAssociation of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)is a national organization representing physicians in virtually all specialties and every state. Founded in 1943, AAPS has the motto "omnia pro aegroto," which means "all for the patient."

Drug-Resistant Fungus Spreading in U.S., Warns Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)

'Tea and Sympathy,' classic drama about becoming a man, opens Friday at Corn Stock

There is a question posed in the next play offered at Corn Stock Theatre’s Winter Playhouse that is subtle, but no less relevant to life today as in yesteryear. It is the question of who decides what is normal.

In “Tea and Sympathy,” which opens Friday for a six-show run, the specific question goes to sexual norms, and director Rebekah Bourland said if nothing else the dialogue of the 1953 classic drama will causes audiences to think.

Bourland, in fact, cites dialogue from one character, Laura, who reaches the conclusion that it should be woman who decide what makes a man, not man. “Manliness is not all swagger and mountain climbing. It’s also tenderness,” Laura says to Tom.

Bourland said she hopes audiences will consider the dialogue carefully.

“When you look at the way things are, men decide what is masculine. If a man doesn’t like football, his wife is thrilled but his buddies think it makes him less manly. Shouldn’t it matter more what his wife thinks? But in most cases, it is the man who decides what makes a man and what makes a woman,” Bourland said.

“Tea and Sympathy” tells of the dilemma facing Tom, a student at a private all-male school who is accused of being a homosexual partly because he doesn’t participate in the same physical activities as the other boys and because of his sensitive nature. Other events only lead to more accusations and even to bullying by other students and the master of the house in which he lives.

To help Tom through the tough time the house master’s beautiful wife, Laura, befriends him and the affection they have for each other leads her to reach out to him in the only way she knows how.

Written by Robert Anderson, “Tea and Sympathy” was perhaps the first American play to look closely at the issue of homosexuality and how it is treated by others. But Bourland said it is not a particularly heavy play. “It is a play that makes you think and I like that. I hope audience will realize people do or like things that they like and we tend to put them into boxes, which isn’t fair,” she said.

Still, she noted, at the play’s end she wants the audience to wonder what Tom will become later in life.

Bourland said she submitted to direct “Tea and Sympathy” because she has always loved the way the play is written, in a “very conversational way that is easy to listen to. Like much of theatre from that era, it is a real story about real people and I have always enjoyed that kind of drama, the kind you can understand and feel.”

She said her cast, which is a mix of Corn Stock newcomers and community theatre veterans, understands the script well and bring her vision out the way she wanted.

Tom is portrayed by Nick Seaman, a freshman at Illinois Central College who is making his Winter Playhouse debut. That also is true of Amy Sanders, who portrays Laura, and Brian Haas, who portrays Tom’s best friend, Al. Courtney Arnett, who is Lilly, is making her Corn Stock debut after a successful portrayal of Babette in “Beauty and the Beast” at Peoria Players.

Jeramie Glass, last seen in “Of Mice and Men” last winter at Corn Stock, portrays the house master Bill, Jake Van Hoorn is Ralph, Richard Smith is Harris and Nathanial Anderson is Steve.

Doug Orear portrays Tom’ father, Herb, who struggles as much as the others to understand his son.

Show time is 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday of this week, 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 17, 18, and 19 and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 20. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students and can be reserved by calling 676-2196.

Classic drama 'Tea and Sympathy' opens Friday at Corn Stock

There is a question posed in the next play offered at Corn Stock Theatre’s Winter Playhouse that is subtle, but no less relevant to life today as in yesteryear. It is the question of who decides what is normal.

In “Tea and Sympathy,” which opens Friday for a six-show run, the specific question goes to sexual norms, and director Rebekah Bourland said if nothing else the dialogue of the 1953 classic drama will causes audiences to think.

Bourland, in fact, cites dialogue from one character, Laura, who reaches the conclusion that it should be woman who decide what makes a man, not man. “Manliness is not all swagger and mountain climbing. It’s also tenderness,” Laura says to Tom.

Bourland said she hopes audiences will consider the dialogue carefully.

“When you look at the way things are, men decide what is masculine. If a man doesn’t like football, his wife is thrilled but his buddies think it makes him less manly. Shouldn’t it matter more what his wife thinks? But in most cases, it is the man who decides what makes a man and what makes a woman,” Bourland said.

“Tea and Sympathy” tells of the dilemma facing Tom, a student at a private all-male school who is accused of being a homosexual partly because he doesn’t participate in the same physical activities as the other boys and because of his sensitive nature. Other events only lead to more accusations and even to bullying by other students and the master of the house in which he lives.

To help Tom through the tough time the house master’s beautiful wife, Laura, befriends him and the affection they have for each other leads her to reach out to him in the only way she knows how.

Written by Robert Anderson, “Tea and Sympathy” was perhaps the first American play to look closely at the issue of homosexuality and how it is treated by others. But Bourland said it is not a particularly heavy play. “It is a play that makes you think and I like that. I hope audience will realize people do or like things that they like and we tend to put them into boxes, which isn’t fair,” she said.

Still, she noted, at the play’s end she wants the audience to wonder what Tom will become later in life.

Bourland said she submitted to direct “Tea and Sympathy” because she has always loved the way the play is written, in a “very conversational way that is easy to listen to. Like much of theatre from that era, it is a real story about real people and I have always enjoyed that kind of drama, the kind you can understand and feel.”

She said her cast, which is a mix of Corn Stock newcomers and community theatre veterans, understands the script well and bring her vision out the way she wanted.

Tom is portrayed by Nick Seaman, a freshman at Illinois Central College who is making his Winter Playhouse debut. That also is true of Amy Sanders, who portrays Laura, and Brian Haas, who portrays Tom’s best friend, Al. Courtney Arnett, who is Lilly, is making her Corn Stock debut after a successful portrayal of Babette in “Beauty and the Beast” at Peoria Players.

Jeramie Glass, last seen in “Of Mice and Men” last winter at Corn Stock, portrays the house master Bill, Jake Van Hoorn is Ralph, Richard Smith is Harris and Nathanial Anderson is Steve.

Doug Orear portrays Tom’ father, Herb, who struggles as much as the others to understand his son.

Show time is 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday of this week, 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 17, 18, and 19 and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 20. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students and can be reserved by calling 676-2196.

Presidential politics: The Wild Card in holiday forecasts

By Matthew Shay

President and CEO

National Retail Federation

At the National Retail Federation, we are very confident in our forecast that 2016 holiday season retail sales will increase 3.6 percent to $655.8 billion. The prediction is based on a careful analysis of data on job growth and income gains that have boosted consumer confidence, and is balanced against factors such as unseasonably warm weather and geopolitical uncertainty.

But there’s one factor we have tried to work into the forecast that is much more difficult to measure — this year’s presidential election. Elections are often too close to call, but the race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is more than that. It’s like no election we have ever seen.

Let me be absolutely clear: NRF does not endorse presidential candidates and does not support or oppose either Clinton or Trump. In fact, we are not particularly happy with either candidate on a number of issues, especially their opposition to free and open international trade.

Whoever wins, the outcome of the election could have a significant long-term impact on a broad array of issues affecting retailers and the economy, including taxes, labor, trade, transportation, immigration and more. There will be a change in leadership, and with change comes uncertainty — the sort of uncertainty that keeps business people up at night.

While the policies of the Obama administration have been far from ideal, at least there was some degree of consistency in what to expect. With one candidate there could be predictability that many of those policies will continue. The other promises change, but at a wild card level that comes at the expense of predictability.

In the short term, the concern is how the election will affect the holiday shopping season. Consumers are clearly paying close attention, and election rhetoric is dominating discussions. As Election Day approaches, one candidate portrays the economic policies of the past eight years as a success. If you believe the other, things are terrible.

The truth, of course, is somewhere in the middle. The fundamentals of our nation’s economy show that we are adding jobs, wages are rising and consumer confidence is up. The economy is not growing at breakneck speed, but we don’t see people falling off the side of the world and not spending either.

It’s hard to measure the psyche of the electorate and how their feelings about the election will translate into consumer sentiment. If they are unhappy about the current state of the American political system, does that mean they won’t go out and buy? We don’t think so.

Ultimately, this is a joyous, gift-giving time of year. And we think American consumers are able to make a distinction: They can say they want to throw the bums out and yet set aside their frustrations and go buy gifts for their loved ones.

There are many things that keep business people up at night. But the American consumer is not one of them.