Lets state the obvious: Food specials and happy hours are a great deal for diners, but what about the restaurateurs? Do discount nights actually do anything for their bottom line? According to a few food fixtures in town, the answer is yes, but you need to play the long game.

Normally, there isnt a ton of sales volume from 5 to 6, says Jay Bayer, co-owner of Saison. The Jackson Ward restaurant offers $2 off drafts, cocktails and small plates from 5 to 7 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. If you can generate any sort of revenue that didnt already exist through discounted pricing, it gets people in the door, and hopefully they can stay a little longer to buy some more food.

Kendra Feather adopted a date-night strategy at Garnetts Cafe in The Fan to gain traction. Garnetts is so tiny, it has always been a bit of a secret squirrel. And it took years for it to break even because so many people just blinked and missed it, she says. So the main reason we started doing Date Night was to attract customers in the evenings.

Often, discounted food and drink cuts into businesses overhead, with several restaurant workers saying off the record that charging pennies for a taco or selling buckets of beer for the lint in your pocket isnt exactly the most lucrative business strategy. In the end, they hope that patrons will stay for another round of drinks, order a full meal with the normal markups or simply return when specials arent running.

Ultimately, cheap-eats specials are at their best for both customers and proprietors when they dont reinvent the wheel. I like the idea of sharing a sandwich and some wine with a friend, says Feather. Going out doesnt always have to be so expensive. And wine doesnt have to be formal to be enjoyable.

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Cheap Eats: The Anatomy of a Happy Hour - Richmond magazine (blog)

The Grey's Anatomy Season 13 finale introduced us to the world of Jaggie. Apparently this had been teased for a while, but honestly I never saw it. For those who aren't quite sure about shipper names, Jaggie is Jackson and Maggie, who are step-siblings through their parents' (Catherine and Richard) marriage. It's been two weeks since the Grey's Anatomy season finale and fans are still discussing the idea, with the majority agreeing that this is the worst relationship Shonda Rhimes and her writers have ever come up with. I, for one, fully agree with these fans. Jaggie is the worst idea ever for Grey's. The Relationship Came out of Nowhere

I know a lot of fans discussed the idea of Jaggie happening weeks before the season finale. I remember soon after Maggie's mom died and fans said there were hints that they were getting together in those moments of the two together.

Now, fans do have a habit of seeing things that aren't always there. This is the beauty of TV. It's possible to pick up on sly looks or the way someone says a line but have completely different opinions about what the characters actually meant. That scene of Jackson sharing the photos he'd found of Diane with Maggie never looked like a hint of a relationship to me. It looked like a hint of friendship, something that both characters have needed for a very long time.

When April told Maggie that Jackson liked her in the season finale, it felt rushed and unnecessary. The whole idea of Jaggie came out of the blue -- even Maggie didn't realize Jackson had feelings for her.

Jackson and April Had Just Reconnected

Grey's Anatomy fans had been waiting for Japril to happen again for a long time. There have been hints for months that they would find their way back to each other, and then in Montana it finally happened. Jackson and April fans danced around with glee at the idea of this couple finally rekindling their romance.

It's clear that April still has feelings for her ex-husband and vice versa. April is still living with Jackson as they raise their baby together. Bringing Maggie into the mix just complicates matters.

Sure, this can mimic real life, but this just doesn't sit right. There was a big thing about April and Jackson rekindling their relationship and then the idea was just abandoned. April is brushed to one side, as if she never even meant anything to Jackson at all. There Are Too Many Characters to Develop This Relationship

Grey's Anatomy took a lot on in season 13. We saw the relationship between Meredith and Riggs develop (with the problem of Maggie liking Riggs.) Fans had to deal with the Minnick/Webber drama, while trying to support the idea of Arizona finding love with the unlikeable Minnick. On top of that we had the Alex court case problem, mixed with Stephanie being written out of the show.

There is something about Grey's Anatomyseason 13 that just didn't work. There were far too many storylines over the space of 24 episodes, leaving some unfulfilling moments, abandoned/forgotten storylines and difficult-to-follow moments.

Bringing in another couple just doesn't work. Season 14 is already going to have multiple storylines to run. Megan is back, causing all types of drama for Owen and Riggs. Amelia and Owen are still getting through their rough patch, and Bailey needs to reverse the mess she caused by hiring Minnick. There just isn't room for a new (out of the blue) relationship to be introduced.

To top this off, fans just don't want it. They want to see Jackson and April together. Fans want to see the two raise their daughter together.

Do you think Grey's Anatomy's Jaggie will work? What were your thoughts in the first moment you found out Jackson really does have feelings for Maggie? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Grey's Anatomyseason 14 returns in the fall on Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC. Don't forget to like our Grey's AnatomyFacebook page to get the latest updates and articles straight to your newsfeed.

(Image courtesy of ABC)

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Why 'Grey's Anatomy' Jaggie Is the Worst Idea Ever - BuddyTV (blog)

It wasnt as if he hadnt tried to warn them.

For weeks, House Speaker Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, had been telling anyone who would listen that the Republican majority in the House of Delegates would not go along with any state revenue or budget plan that included tax increases for the citizens of West Virginia.

Our families are struggling to make ends meet, and this is absolutely the wrong time to burden them with hundreds of millions of dollars in additional taxes Armstead said.

Apparently, neither Democratic Gov. Jim Justice nor Senate President Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, was listening. On Thursday, May 4, Justice called the Legislature into special session to consider revenue and tax reform measures aimed at passing a state budget. That revenue plan included raising the state sales tax from 6 to 7 percent, raising gasoline taxes and fees for services at the Division of Motor Vehicles and raising taxes on corporations and the very wealthy.

When the special session began at 11 a.m. May 4, the revenue bill was not ready. But by mid-afternoon, a copy of the legislation had been filed. When the House of Delegates reconvened shortly after 5 p.m. following an afternoon break, delegates took up the bill, read it a first time, then took an unexpected move they quickly rejected the proposal on its first reading by a vote of 59-36.

Three bills introduced in the Senate earlier in the day were still in play, however. Those measures would provide for a 2 percent teacher pay raise, raise gasoline taxes and DMV fees and allow for increasing tolls on the West Virginia Turnpike. But the House move to reject Justices tax reform and revenue bill effectively scuttled any attempt to reach a budget agreement on the first day of the special session. The House and Senate were set to reconvene Friday, but Armstead and others said there was little point in trying to continue business until another budget deal can be reached.

For now, I think its best we take a break and get everyone in a room and try to work out our differences, Armstead said on May 4. I encourage Gov. Justice to listen to the message the House sent tonight and work with our leadership team and our colleagues in the Senate to find a path forward that will truly work for the people of West Virginia.

Justices Plan

Justice vetoed the budget the Legislature passed in the waning hours of the regular legislative session. That bill would have made cuts to higher education and the state Department of Health and Human Resources and would have required taking about $90 million from the state rainy-day fund, a move that would have brought the balance in the fund below recommended levels and likely would have resulted in a lowering of the states bond ratings.The revenue proposals Justice presented for the special session call did not differ significantly in principle from the plan the governor presented before the regular session began in February. Justices plan included a 1 percent increase in the sales tax, temporary tax increases on the most wealthy West Virginians, a tiered severance tax system for the coal and natural gas industries that would allow company owners to pay less tax when times are bad but pay more when times are good, increasing corporate taxes and raising tolls, DMV fees and gasoline taxes to fund a massive road construction program Justice has said would create 48,000 jobs.But in a compromise negotiated between members of Justices administration and Republican leadership in the Senate, the proposal killed by the House of Delegates May 4 also included a statewide tax reform plan similar to one that had been studied in the Senate.That proposal would have allowed for lower personal income tax rates for state residents, with the possibility of eliminating personal income taxes completely. Carmichael said phasing out the personal income tax even with the hike in the sales tax would mean an aggregate $100 million tax cut for the citizens of the Mountain State.Its a win-win, Carmichael said.

Revenue projections prepared by the state Department of Revenue showed phasing out the income tax would end up costing the state more than $100 million a year in revenue following the first couple of years. Carmichael, however, is convinced doing away with personal income taxes would spur economic growth, give West Virginians an incentive to go back to work and more than make up for any short-term loss in revenue.

Opposition Builds

Armstead and other House Republicans were against the governors revenue and budget plans even before the special session was announced.On the final day of the regular session, Justice called a news conference to announce he had worked out a compromise deal with leaders in the Senate, two hours before the end of the session, to pass a budget bill containing most of the governors original proposals. A budget amendment sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Ryan Fern, R-Ohio, contained most of Justices revenue proposals except the tiered severance tax.The Ferns amendment was not the budget bill ultimately passed by the Legislature and vetoed by the governor, but served as the basis for the revenue and budget proposals planned for the special session.House of Delegates spokesman Jared Hunt said the budget negotiations between Justice and the Senate were made without the participation or knowledge of members of the House. Armstead criticized the governor several times for leaving House Republicans out of budget talks.Armstead also issued a series of statements warning Justice and the Senate that House Republicans would not go along with any tax increase. He was joined by other members of the House of Delegates.

Members of the Libertarian-leaning Liberty Caucus came out publicly against the governors revenue and budget proposals.

For years we have fought efforts to raise taxes and grow government, and the plan the governor and Senate are trying to push would do just that, said Delegate Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock. While we like the idea of lowering the income tax, the idea of offsetting it with even higher sales and business taxes will only hurt our economy particularly in border areas.

Republican delegates from many of the states border counties also opposed raising the sales tax, fearing it would hurt business.

Politicians in Charleston do not understand how easy it is for people in the panhandles to cross the border to shop, said Delegate Jill Upson, R-Jefferson. Pushing our sales tax significantly higher than our neighboring states will put our retailers at a disadvantage and drive more business out of our state.

Delegates from southern coal-producing counties also opposed the plan because of Justices severance tax proposals.

Just as President Donald Trump begins to fulfill his promise to put the miners back to work, our governor wants to shove through a tax plan thats going to put some coal mines and coal miners out of business, said Delegate Zack Maynard, R-Lincoln. The industry and our region are just now starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and Im going to fight any proposal that could halt that recovery and cost us coal jobs.

Some outside observers also thought Justices revenue and budget plans were a bad idea. Sean OLeary, a policy analyst for the left-of-center West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy, said the changes in income tax brackets under the revenue proposal would end up being a tax increase for 80 percent of state residents, while creating a tax cut for those in the upper 20 percent of wage-earners.

OLeary also said eliminating personal income taxes would not lead to economic growth or put people back to work.

He said states that dont have an income tax make up for the lack of revenue in other areas, such as higher property taxes or sales taxes.

The idea that somehow West Virginia is going to be different from all these other states that have tried this and failed is not borne out by evidence, OLeary said.

House opposition to Justices revenue and
budget proposals ended in a scathing criticism of his handling of the special session.

The governor knew the votes were not there to pass his tax increases and that calling this special session today was premature, Armstead said May 4. Now were here in Charleston wasting $35,000 a day and dont even have the key bill we need to consider.

If theres one thing we know taxpayers hate, its seeing the Legislature sitting around wasting time in special session, agreed Majority Leader Daryl Cowles, R-Morgan. This governor campaigned on limiting the time we could spend in special session, and now were here in Charleston sitting on our hands because he hasnt even submitted the key bill were supposed to consider.

Strategic Miscalculation?

While it is not unusual for the governor to call a special legislative session to finish work on the budget, former state Revenue Secretary Bob Kiss also a former speaker of the House of Delegates said the governor typically has a basic agreement in place with the House and Senate before calling lawmakers into session. House Minority Leader Tim Miley, D-Harrison, who also spent time as House speaker, said last year was the first time in his memory the Legislature went into special session to work on the budget without an agreement already in place.Last year was also the first time in more than 80 years that West Virginia had a Democratic governor and a Republican-controlled Legislature. But given the massive budget deficits and financial problems the state faces, Kiss isnt sure the trouble reaching a budget agreement can be pinned solely on political differences.Up until 2006, some of the minutia of funding state agencies was taken care of in the state Budget Digest, worked out after the Legislature passed the budget. To some extent, that arrangement allowed lawmakers to make general appropriations for state agencies, but leave divvying up the money to the Budget Digest.But, as complicated as the Mountain States financial situation is today, neither Miley nor Kiss thinks the continued existence of the Budget Digest would have made passing a budget any easier.A number of observers in the state Capitol believe Justice may have miscalculated his strategy for passing a budget. While they support the governors proposals, some Democrats have quietly said Justice may have picked the wrong method to get his messages across.

Some Democrats wondered if Justice, used to getting his way, may have thought he could cut a budget deal with the Senate and either shame or bully the House of Delegates into going along with the plan.

Justice spokesman Grant Herring did not respond to a request for comment.

Justices management style apparently did not win him much support with House Republicans for this round.

This is what happens when you dont listen to people or consider all sides in a negotiation, said House Finance Committee Chairman Eric Nelson, R-Kanawha. Weve wanted to talk about these items over the last couple of weeks, but the governor shut the door in our faces. Now hes called us back into session, and we learn there are still issues to work out. This is a colossal waste of time and taxpayer money.

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Anatomy of a Budget Breakdown - The Exponent Telegram (press release) (registration)

Now Playing 9 Things You Didn't Know About Grey's Anatomy

It's been rumored for months that actress Jerrika Hinton might be taking leave of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital sometime this season, and the newest teaser for Grey's Anatomy's upcoming episode certainly paints a grim picture for her very near future on the show.

Hinton, who's played Dr. Stephanie Edwards since the series' ninth season, is the focus of this clip from TVLine, which shows the halls of the hospital swarming with police as Chief Bailey (Chandra Wilson) frantically searches for Edwards while Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) laments his decision to leave Edwards with the apparently dangerous patient she's shown wheeling around.

When it was first reported that Hinton might be leaving Grey's, the news was that she wouldn't return as a series regular, leaving open the possibility of her still coming in as a guest star. However, if this teaser is any indication, her departure might just be more final than anyone expected ... which wouldn't be too much of a surprise, given how murder-happy the Grey's writers have been with their medical staff over the years.

Hinton is expected to star in Wes Ball's new HBO dramedy series, Here, Now later this year.

Grey's Anatomy airs Thursday nights at 8/7c on ABC.

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This Grey's Anatomy Teaser Hints at [SPOILER]'s Exit - TV Guide (blog)

Decider

Today in TV History: 'Grey's Anatomy' Ended Its Second Season with a Dead Denny Decider WHY IT'S IMPORTANT: That Grey's Anatomy premiered on ABC in the same season that Lost and Desperate Housewives did sometimes gets lost, because Grey's premiered at mid-season. And late mid-season at that. Airing only 9 episodes before the end of ...

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Today in TV History: 'Grey's Anatomy' Ended Its Second Season with a Dead Denny - Decider

By: Omair Alavi

Pakistan may have won the first T20 against World Champions West Indies in Barbados but the victory was far from a convincing one; the team went out with a mixture of old and new players and sadly, it was the new ones who made the difference. Lets take a look at The Good, The Bad and The Ugly performers of the match and hope that either the bad ones get dropped or improve in the next outing.

The Good

Shadab Khan came, he bowled and conquered. The leg spinner made his T20 debut memorable by taking as many as 3 wickets for just 7 runs which is the most economical figures, ever for a newbie. He was rightly used as an attacking bowler by Sarfraz Ahmed who won his 5th consecutive match in charge. Due to Shadabs brilliant spell combined with excellent captaincy, Pakistan managed to restrict the hosts for just 111. It took a gutsy innings from Babar Azam to rescue Pakistan from a familiar collapse and his 29 off 30 proved to be one of the reasons the greenshirts came out victorious.

The Bad

Kamran Akmal once again proved that he is one of the worst fielders in the world with or without gloves. Yes, he did provide the explosive start but that doesnt mean that one can forget the blunder in the field. His opening partner Ahmed Shehzad also told the selectors that their confidence in his abilities was short-lived as he did what he always does nothing exceptional with the bat. He may be a wonderful fielder and for that, he might play as a 12th man, one who doesnt burden the team with his irresponsible batting at the top!

The Ugly

Once upon a time there was a fast bowler named Wahab Riaz who bowled a wonderful spell against Australia in the last World Cup, 2 years back. He has been playing in the side for that one performance and its about time that he should make way for young guns that actually fire and take wickets, not just donate runs. His 4 overs went for 35 runs and helped the West Indians more than the Pakistan side. Another player who proved to be useless in the final XI was former captain Mohammad Hafeez who bowled one over and scored 5 runs off 12 deliveries which is criminal if you do that in a T20. If he cant bowl, cant bat and cant field, then why is he in the team beats me. It is time that non-utility players like him are shown the door and young ones are included, because the young are the way forward for Pakistan, not the old ones!

Story first published: 27th March 2017

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Anatomy of a Victory - SAMAA TV

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Yamni Nigam is an associate professor of biomedical science; John Knight is a senior lecturer in biomedical science; both at the College of Human Health and Science, Swansea University.

Ageing can have drastic effects on the functions of the digestive system. One of these is reduced appetite due to changes in hormone production and analteration in smell and taste. Physiological changes in pharyngeal skills and oesophageal motility may lead to dysphagia and reflux. In the intestines, several factors contribute tochanges in the regular gut microbial fauna, making older people more prone to bloating, pain and bacterial infection. There is also a drastic age-associated rise in the incidence of several gut pathologies including cancer of the colon. This third article in our series on the anatomy and physiology of ageing explores the digestive system.

Nigam Y, Knight J (2017) Anatomy and physiology of ageing 3: the digestive system. Nursing Times [online]; 113: 4, 54-57.

The main role of the digestive system is to mechanically and chemically break down food into simple components that can be absorbed and assimilated by the body. The gut and accessory organs also play an important role in the elimination of indigestible food components, bile pigments, toxins and excess salts. The system performs a range of anatomically and physiologically distinct functions, each of which is affected differently by ageing (Fig 1).

2

Fig 1. Age-related changes to the gastrointestinal tract

Food intake diminishes with age due to a range of complex reasons that lead to reduced appetite. These include physiological changes and changes in psychosocial and pharmacological circumstances.

Appetite is controlled mainly by sensors in the gastrointestinal tract, which detect the physical presence of food and prompt the GI tract to produce a range of hormones. These are released before, during and after eating, and control eating behaviours, including the amount consumed. They include:

Table 1 highlights the changes that occur in the production of these hormones with advancing age; the overall result is reduced appetite.

ta

Table 1. Age-related changes in appetite hormones

We choose what we eat based on the smell and taste of food; however, the number of olfactory receptors decreases with age and the sense of smell diminishes. US research suggests that about half of people aged 65-80 and around three-quarters of those aged over 80years have a demonstrable loss of smell (Doty and Kamath, 2014).

This decreased sense of smell can have significant safety implications; for example, a disproportionately high number of older people die from accidental gas poisoning. It can also be an early sign of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinsons or Alzheimers disease (Httenbrink et al, 2013). Olfactory loss including loss of the ability to discriminate between smells may also be a consequence of age-related skull bone growth that results in a pinching of sensory nerve fibres.

Most older people experience regional taste deficits in the mouth. However, what is perceived as a taste defect (gustatory dysfunction) is often a primary defect in olfaction although some studies suggest that age-related changes in the taste cell membranes diminish the sense of taste (Seiberling and Conley, 2004).

The gradual reduction in smell and taste, and therefore in appetite, leads to diminished food intake, possibly resulting in weight loss and malnutrition, while the inability to taste and enjoy food can lead to anxiety. The ability to taste salt also diminishes (Mauk, 2010) and may lead to increased consumption of salt-rich meals, which can aggravate health conditions such as hypertension. Older people should be encouraged to use herbs or mild spices in their dishes, rather than salt, if they need to add flavour.

The lips, tongue, salivary glands and teeth all play a role in chewing, breaking down and swallowing food. Age-related shrinkage of the maxillary and mandibular bones and reduction in bone calcium content cause a slow erosion of the tooth sockets, leading to gum recession and an increased risk of root decay (Pradeep et al, 2012). People without teeth (edentulous) or who have poorly fitting dentures may find chewing difficult and, therefore, eat less and become malnourished. Alternatively, they may choose highly refined, easy-to-chew foods, thereby consuming less dietary fibre; this will affect their bowel function, and may cause problems such as constipation.

A dry mouth (xerostomia) is common among older people; Smith et al (2013) showed that healthy subjects aged 70years and over produced less saliva than younger people. However, while the number of tongue acinar (saliva-producing) cells decreases with age, there is conflicting evidence as to whether the volume of saliva produced also decreases. Xerostomia can be an adverse effect of medication or can result from diseases such as diabetes. Although it is common among older people generally, it is more likely to occur in those who are taking more than four prescription drugs per day (Yellowitz and Schneiderman, 2014). Drug categories that may cause xerostomia include:

Having formed a bolus of food, the mouth prepares to swallow. The bolus reaches the posterior pharyngeal wall and the musculature contracts around it; swallowing occurs and food travels through the upper oesophageal sphincter into the oesophagus. With age, the muscular contractions that initiate swallowing slow down, increasing pharyngeal transit time (Nikhil et al, 2014). This may lead to swallowing difficulties (dysphagia), which can increase the risk of choking and the feeling that food is stuck in the throat. Up to 26.7% of people aged 76years and over experience dysphagia (Baijens et al, 2016).

In general, the motor function of the GI tract is relatively well preserved in healthy older people, but there are significant changes in oropharyngeal and oesophageal motility. In the very old, impaired oesophageal motility is common; oesophageal peristalsis weakens with age (Gutschow et al, 2011) and peristalsis may no longer be triggered by each swallow. Both upper and lower oesophageal sphincters lose tension; the lower one in particular undergoes a reduction in pressure, resulting in problems such as dysphagia, reflux and heartburn (Grassi et al, 2011). In addition, the gag reflex is absent in 43% of older people (Davies et al, 1995).

The stomach acts as a reservoir for food, allowing us to eat at regular intervals. With age, it cannot accommodate as much food, primarily because its wall loses elasticity.

As a normal part of digestion, the stomach secretes gastric juice containing hydrochloric acid and pepsin. Although, in general, older and younger people produce gastric acid at a similar rate (Merchant et al, 2016), acid hyposecretion occurs in 10-20% of older people versus <1% of younger subjects (Gidal, 2007). This can compromise the bioavailability of certain drugs, including vitamin B12, and lead to disorders such as chronic atrophic gastritis.

There is also an age-related reduction in mucus-producing goblet cells, which results in reduced secretion of protective mucus and therefore a weakened mucosal barrier. Consequently the stomachs lining becomes more prone to damage (Saber and Bayumi, 2016).

Gastric bicarbonate (HCO3-) and mucus normally provide an alkaline layer to defend the stomach lining against gastric juices; however, research suggests that advancing age is associated with a decline in HCO3- secretion (Saber and Bayumi, 2016). The protective prostaglandin content of mucus also decreases with age, making older people more prone to gastromucosal injury such as lesions and ulcers, especially after ingesting non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which are commonly taken by older people. However, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), which suppress acid production, are often prescrib
ed alongside NSAIDs (Fujimori, 2015).

Finally, gastric emptying slows down with age; this means food remains in the stomach for longer, prolonging satiation and reducing appetite (Nieuwenhuizen et al, 2010).

The main function of the small intestine is to digest and absorb food. It produces a range of digestive enzymes, supported by the pancreas and liver.

Absorption of nutrients occurs in the jejunum and ileum, the second and third regions of the small intestine. The lining of the small intestine is shaped into microscopic folds (villi), which increase the surface area available for absorption. Although an age-related reduction in villus height has been shown, the impact on nutrient uptake does not seem to be clinically significant (Drozdowski and Thomson, 2006).

There is evidence that the production of the enzyme lactase decreases with age, making older people more prone to lactose intolerance (Di Stefano et al, 2001); lactase is created following instruction fromthe LCT gene, which becomes less active over time.

Populations of certain bacteria that reside in the small intestine have been shown to increase as we age, leading to bloating, pain and decreased absorption of nutrients such as calcium, folic acid and iron. This can have a negative effect on health. In addition, PPIs have been shown to provoke bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine, which may exacerbate NSAID-induced small intestinal injury and foster the development of systemic conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes and autoimmune diseases (Fujimori, 2015).

Peyers patches small nodules of lymphatic tissue that form part of the guts immune defence system monitor populations of intestinal bacteria to prevent the growth of pathogens. However, there is a gradual reduction in the number of Peyers patches in the small intestine, accompanied by a gradual loss of lymphoid follicles (Merchant et al, 2016); this can result in an uncontrolled growth of resident micro-flora.

As already mentioned, oesophageal peristalsis slows with age, but research has recently shown that small intestinal transit time does not seem to be affected (Fischer and Fadda, 2016). In contrast, there is an age-related slowing down of colonic transit caused by a decline in propulsive activity of the colon, whichis associated with a reduction in neurotransmitters and neuroreceptors (Britton and McLaughlin, 2013). This causes a delay in colonic transit of waste, leading to constipation (Wiskur and Greenwood-Van Meerveld, 2010).

Peristalsis is also affected by the age-related atrophy of the mucosa and muscle layers of the colon. The walls of the colon sag, prompting the formation of pouches (diverticuli). Straining to eliminate faeces may put additional pressure on weakened blood vessel walls, giving rise to haemorrhoids.

The rate of cell division declines in the digestive epithelium, which cannot repair and replace itself as well as it needs to. There is also a drastic age-associated rise in the incidence of several gut pathologies including cancer of the colon in fact, age is the key risk factor for colorectal cancer. Recent studies indicate that ageing induces changes in the DNA of epithelial intestinal cells, particularly in the colon; this process known as DNA methylation is believed to play a significant part in the development of colorectal cancers (Masoro and Austad, 2010).

Changes in the populations of gut microbes lead to an increase in facultative anaerobes including streptococcus, staphylococcus, enterococcus and enterobacteriaceae which are able to thrive in inflamed conditions (Pdron and Sansonetti, 2008). The ageing process mimics the intestinal microbe profile that accompanies inflammatory bowel diseases and obesity (Neish, 2009).

The commensal microorganisms inhabiting the lumen of the colon are prevented from entering surrounding tissues by a single layer of epithelial cells that form an impermeable mucosal barrier. This barrier becomes leaky with age (Mabbott, 2015). As the barrier function of the mucosal immune system is impaired, the incidence of GI pathogen infections is higher and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in older people (Mabbott et al, 2015). This group is also at increased risk of infection with Clostridium difficile, which causes a potentially fatal dehydrating diarrhoea for which the two major risk factors are age of 65years and exposure to antimicrobials (Jump, 2013).

With age, the pancreas, which generates four major digestive enzymes, decreases in weight and some of its tissue undergoes fibrosis. Its exocrine function is impaired and the secretion of chymotrypsin and pancreatic lipase reduced (Laugier et al, 1991), adversely affecting the ability of the small intestine to digest food.

The liver undertakes more than 114 functions for the body; as it shrinks with age and blood flow to it decreases, its functional capacity also decreases (Drozdowski and Thomson, 2006). There is a decrease in the rate of protein synthesis and of metabolism, the livers ability to detoxify many substances, as well as the production and flow of bile (involved in fat emulsification). In addition, bile becomes thicker and its salt content diminishes, resulting in higher plasma concentrations of cholesterol, particularly in women (Frommherz et al, 2016). Drugs are no longer inactivated quickly by the liver and are therefore more likely to cause dose-related side-effects: dosages therefore need to be carefully checked when prescribing for older people.

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Davies AE et al (1995) Pharyngeal sensation and gag reflex in healthy subjects. Lancet; 345: 8948, 487-488.

de Boer A et al (2012) Physiological and psychosocial age-related changes associated with reduced food intake in older persons. Ageing Research Reviews; 12: 1, 316-328.

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Di Francesco V et al (2008) Effect of age on the dynamics of acylated ghrelin in fasting conditions and in response to a meal. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society; 56: 7, 1369-1370.

Di Stefano M et al (2001) Lactose malabsorption and intolerance in the elderly. Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology; 36: 12, 1274-1278.

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Fischer M, Fadda HM (2016) The effect of sex and age on small intestinal transit times in humans. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences; 105: 2, 682-686.

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Fujimori S (2015) What are the effects of proton pump inhibitors on the small intestine? World Journal of Gastroenterology; 21: 22, 6817-6819.

Gidal BE (2007) Antiepileptic drug formulation and treatment in the elderly: biopharmaceutical considerations. International Review of Neurobiology; 81: 299-311.

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Gutschow CA et al (2011) Effect of aging on esophageal motility in patients with and without GERD. German Medical Science; 9: doc 22.

Hickson M et al (2016) Increased peptide YY bl
ood concentrations, not decreased acyl-ghrelin, are associated with reduced hunger and food intake in healthy older women: preliminary evidence. Appetite; 105: 320-327.

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Laugier R et al (1991) Changes in pancreatic exocrine secretion with age: pancreatic exocrine secretion does decrease in the elderly. Digestion; 50: 3-4, 202-211.

Mabbott NA (2015) A breakdown in communication? Understanding the effects of aging on the human small intestine epithelium. Clinical Science; 129: 7, 529-531.

Mabbott NA et al (2015) Aging and the mucosal immune system in the intestine. Biogerontology; 16: 2, 133-145.

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See the original post here:
Anatomy and physiology of ageing 3: the digestive system - Nursing Times

Depending on who you ask, Xaviers win probability bottomed out at or slightly after the final media timeout. NumberFire puts the Musketeers down to their last 2.92% when Parker Jackson-Cartwright jarred the second of the two free throws he earned right before the break. KenPom doesnt label each play, but he had Xavier down to right around 3% when Kadeem Allen made a layup with 2:52 to play.

When Allens layup went through the strings, Xavier was down to its last breath in a shootout that had seen Arizona not be able to pull away despite averaging 1.29 points per possession in their 55 trips down the floor to that point. To get back on top before time ran out, Xavier would need to outscore Arizona by at least 8 in the remaining 2:52. With the tenor of the game to that point, scoring 8 was always going to be the easier part. Then the defense went to work.

Xavier was in a 2-3/1-1-3 here with JP and Q chasing all around the perimeter. That obviously left some gaps when the ball rotated quickly, and with 10 seconds left on the shot clock, Trier tried a long three that would have been a dagger. Instead it rimmed out, and JP dropped in from the wing to rake it out and go.

Back into the zone again. One of the few times I agreed with Chris Webbers analysis of the game was right here. Ten seconds into the possession, Trier dribbled into a 17-footer from the right elbow area for reasons best known only to himself. It was a hard brick, and a the ball caught a couple of hands before going out of bounds to Xavier.

Things really started to tighten up here for Arizona. The freedom with which they had been playing for most of the game was all but gone as it became clear momentum was on Xaviers side. After a lot of dribbling around, Trier got himself caught in a blind alley on the left side of the lane. Trier gave up the ball - which was smart - but he did so to Tre, which was of debatable strategic value to Arizona.

Maybe my favorite possession of the game. With the season in the balance, Xavier was back in a man look and Arizona tried to iso Ristic on the block against Tyrique Jones. Ristic banged hard twice against Jones to drive him under the bucket; he gained exactly no ground. Stuck ten feet out along the right baseline, he turned and tried a half hook shot from a really narrow angle. It never really had a chance. Twenty hands battled for the rebound, but a monitor review showed that the last one it touched belonged to a Wildcat.

A break here to stop talking about defense for a minute. While the refs looked at the monitor, Coach Dale scanned the Hickory High huddle and decided to run Jimmy Chitwood off of a screen as a decoy Coach Mack called Corner Rip High-Low Counter. This wasnt a one-off play that Mack drew up in the huddle. It wasnt - as Chris Webber suggested on the telecast - just a case of Sean OMara happening to seal his man after Xavier called Trevon Bluietts number. It was an action Xavier has run over and over in the Mack Era, one that any coach could find in some back issue of the newsletter that the Xavier basketball program produces. It was also the perfect call to put Xavier on top.

Back to the zipping up.

Two and a half minutes ago, Arizona had this thing done and dusted. Now they needed a clutch shot to tie the game up and give themselves a chance. They didnt get it. Allen got free in the paint for a shot that wasnt horrible, but he wasnt able to convert and Xavier continued its second half trend by not allowing the Wildcats a second look at the rim.

One possession for the whole thing. With Xavier in a 2-3, Parker Jackson-Cartwright set a screen on Quentin Goodin to try to free Trier at the top of the key. Goodin - the strongest guard on the Xavier roster - fought over the screen in time to close out hard on Trier. Arizonas leading scorer jabbed stepped, used a dribble to create space, and lifted from deep. Q challenged high and hard, but - like Remy Abell a year ago - pulled his hands back to avoid contact. This time it rimmed out, Mal grabbed the board, and Xavier celebrated.

I cant find exactly where, but earlier this year I questioned if the Zip Em Up era was over at Xavier. Myles Davis represented a strong link to that time, but hes gone. Instead of burying games in the second half, X was fading out of them. It was all going to seed there in February.

Then something flipped a switch. Im sure part of it was Malcom Bernard, part of it was Coach Mack, and part of it was just each guy deciding what he wanted to be. Whatever it was, it all came together last night. In the six biggest defensive possessions of the year, Xavier held a top 20 offense to 0-5/0-2/0-0 shooting, forced a turnover, and gave up zero offensive rebounds. It was man, it was zone, it was a total team effort. It was everything we needed it to be.

White sheets. Yellow tape. Closed case.

More:
Anatomy of a zipping up - Banners On The Parkway

Truth About It is a blog that primarily focuses on all things Washington Wizards. We have media credentials and that access allows for up-close coverage of games, practices, and other activities, irreverent and otherwise. But occasionally we use that access to explore whats going on with the opposing team. We call this segment, From The Other Side,and in todays installment,@rashad20focuses on the visiting Brooklyn Nets.

On Thursday night, while the Washington Wizards rested, the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Phoenix Suns, 126-98.That win allowed the Nets to achieve three significantseason milestones: Their largest win (28 points), their first win streak (two), and the first time in franchise history they had six bench players score in double figures.

Brooklyntrailed Phoenixby 10 points after the first quarter, then head coach Kenny Atkinson called timeout to yell, scream and throw a clipboard to emphatically implore his team to play with passion and a bit more effort. The Nets responded by outscoring the Suns 104 to 66 the remainder of the game. Message received.

After the game, Atkinson had a choice: Do we travel south to Washington, D.C., arrive late, have a shootaround in the morning, and takethe traditional path NBA teams follow when they have back-to-back games; or do we sleep in our own beds, wake up early, and travel to D.C. on the day of the game? He chose the latter.

Six minutes into their tilt against the Wizards, Atkinsons travel decision appeared to be a stroke of genius. The Nets led 11-4 on the road, mainly thanksto five quick points by Jeremy Lin and careless decisions by John Wall (who, battling the effects of a migraine headache, was questionable to play entering the game) and Markieff Morris. But just as Atkinson had called timeout the previous night to stop his teams substandard effort on both ends of the floor, Wizards coach Scott Brooks did the same thing in an effort to reel in his team in and it worked. The Wizards went on a 27-11 run, and they led 31-22 once the first quarter ended. The Nets never got closerthan nine points the remainder of the game.

Washington outscored Brooklyn32-20 in the second quarter to extend their lead to 21 points. The Nets came out of halftime playing inspired ball and cut the lead to 14 points with 5:23 left in the third quarter, but the Wizards, as theyve been doing intermittently the past month or so, pulled out just enough offensive magic to keep a comfortable lead throughout the third quarter. The Nets ended up losing by 21 points to the Wizards, who clinched a playoff berth.

Prior to his postgame presser, Atkinson had plenty of excuses at his disposal as to why his team lost so badly to the Wizards. He could have blamed the timing of his travel between cities, the difficulties of playing the second night of a back-to-back, the talent disparity between his team and the opponent, or he could simply look inward and blame the loss on the substandard job of the coaching staff. He chose all of the above.

First, he highlightedthe ability of the Wizards bigs (Marcin Gortat, Jason Smith, Markieff Morris, and Ian Mahinmi) to guard their perimeter defenders, then the lack of energy of his team on the second night of a back-to-back, and finally the paltry performance of his bench (57 points), which was far short of the 81 points they scoredthe prior night against Phoenix.

Next, Coach Atkinson decided to contrast the performance of hisbench with the suddenly prolific Wizards bench, as well as criticizing the timid play of his offense. Washingtonsbench, which was justifiably criticized early in the season, has been injected with an energy boost of sorts, thanks toformer Brooklyn Net Bojan Bogdanovic and former New York Knick Brandon Jennings. The Wizards bench accounted for 70 of their129 points, and Bogdanovic and Jennings accrued 35 of those bench points. Jennings, who had nine assists to go with his 18 points his highest total as a Wizard played a sizable role his teams success by pushing the pace John Wall initially set and making the Nets uncomfortable. Coach Atkinson had no problems discussing how flummoxed this made his team.

Amember of the Nets media asked Atkinson point blank if the decision to travel on the same day was a justifiable scapegoat for such a lopsided loss. Based on the laws of coachspeak, it would have been perfectly understandable for Atkinson to roll out the thats no excuse, all NBA teams put their pants on one leg at a time platitudes. When Nets forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was asked about the same day travel, he said that it didnt matter and all NBA teams face adversity. Coach Atkinson was a bit more reflective with his comments:

We will evaluate how it went, what we can do better, but that is a good point. We definitely will look at that. How did the guys react? How did the coaches react to it? Obviously, the result is not very good. If we are just going on the result, it was not a smart move by the coach but then again, I do not regret it. It is part of finding out, being more efficient in what we do.

Jeremy Lin, who had not played in the previous two Wizards-Nets matchups due to injury, finished Friday nights game with 14 points and three assists in 20 minutes. He scored five of the Nets first seven points, he blocked a Markieff Morris shot early in the first quarter, and by halftime he had 10 points. His team was not playing well, but it looked as Lin was fully engaged and prepared to give Wall and Jennings fits in the second half. But after scoring the opening basket of the second half to cut Washingtonslead to 19 points, Lin was virtually a no-show the remainder of the game. He had two fouls and a turnover in the 7:04 he played in the third quarter, and as the Wizards began to make the game a laugher, he did not re-enter.

Afterward, Lin had both his knees and feet ensconced in ice and he slowly shook his head and stared at the box score. When the media came to him, Lin reluctantly spoke but was eventually quite candid with his comments and his role in his teamsblowout loss. Lin blamed himself for Brooklynspoor performance, and he specifically blamed his inability to get the team meaningful possessions and shots every time down the floor. He also took full responsibility for Brook Lopezs quiet night. Lopezentered the game averaging 20.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, and five 3-point attempts and nearly two makes per game. He finished with just six points, seven rebounds and no 3-pointers made in just two attempts. Lin took responsibility for that, too. I just look at the box score and think that I need to get Brook a lot more involved. I feel like he had a relatively quiet night. I have to be able to get him more touches.

Lin also cited the spacing and scoring brilliance of both Wall and Beal.

From a distance, Washingtonsblowout win looks like the latestin a series of malaise-causing events for a 15-57 Brooklyn team. But the Nets came into D.C. looking for their first three-game win streak of the season and their first win on the second night of a back-to-back. They are a team which has takenpride in their ability to play hard every night despite the dearth of talent something Scott Brooks made his business to praise the Nets forduring his pregame presser. They really havent had too much to look forward to this season, but a potential victory over the Wizards would have surely given them a sliver of joy in late March.

But the cold reality is that the Washington Wizards, even with their inconsistent play and their fleeting effort on the defensive end of the floor, are the third-best team in the Eastern Conference and one of the top ten teams in the NBA. Brooklyn gave a valiant effort in the first few minutes of the game and again in the third quarter when they scored 39 points to Washingtons34. But all that added up to a 21-point loss, a fourth quarter featuring borderline taunting and laughter by the Wizards, depressing explanations with long faces, and forced optimism about the possibilities of positivity that the ne
xt game might bring.

Rashad has been covering the NBA and the Washington Wizards since 2008his first two years were spent at Hoops Addict before moving to Truth About It. Rashad has appeared on ESPN and college radio, SportsTalk on NewsChannel 8 in Washington D.C., and his articles have appeared on ESPN TrueHoop, USAToday.com, Complex Magazine, and the DCist. He considers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar a hero and he had the pleasure of interviewing him back in 2009.

Read the original post:
From The Other Side: The Anatomy of Brooklyn's Blowout Loss in Washington - Truth About It - Washington Wizards Blog (blog)

Jerrika Hinton as Stephanie. Photo: Richard Cartwright/ABC

Till I Hear It From You Season 13 Episode 17

Editor's Rating 4 stars

Just when you thought youd met all the Greys Anatomy power couples, in walk Hal Holbrook and June Squibb as a couple of retired elite surgeons who had an accident hiking in the woods. It took two minutes for me to want a spinoff about Lewis and Elsie when they were young surgeons falling in love. Or just them going on hikes as 95-year-olds. Really, anything that provides me with more Lewis-and-Elsie content.

You know something terrible is going to happen to this lovely couple. Theyve been married 60 years! Theres no way theyre surviving Grey Sloan Memorial. Amelia discovers a bleed in Elsies brain, and although she could perform surgery, she wouldnt recommend it for someone Elsies age. Lewis is totally against it, but Elsie wants to fight for more time with her husband. Sixty years isnt enough. My heart is in your hands, June Squibb. Be kind to it.

Shes not. She opts for the surgery. Afterward, Elsies out long enough for Lewis to have a heart-to-heart with Owen. They talk about the secret to a long marriage there isnt one. He wouldnt have had the life he did without her. You know, the general things that would make one tear up.

After getting through the night, Amelia comes to check on Elsie, but shes already gone. Lewis is sitting there, holding his dead wifes hand and tells Amelia, 16:22. He made sure to get the time of death for the doctors. 16:22. And now hes alone and wont let Owen hail him a cab because these are the things he has to do for himself now. HOLD ME, JUNE SQUIBB.

Its a beautiful little story that, of course, applies to Lewis and Elsies doctors, Owen and Amelia. After more tense staring and Owen pleading with his wife to come home, Amelia blows up. In the hallway! In front of Lewis and Elsie! HAVE YOU NO DECENCY? She tells Owen that hes bullying her and suffocating her and then she invokes the name of Cristina Yang. Even Bailey, who is standing nearby, thinks that crosses a line.

In a stairwell, Amelia continues to make Owen think that hes the crazy one. Why do you even want a kid? she yells, as if it is totally out of this world for a person to want a child. When Owen points that out to her, she goes on about how they are always playing by his normal rules and thats not life. What he wants is a dream and when you have a child, you dont get to pick what you want. It doesnt always end the way you hoped. Listen, I get that Amelia is a broken person. Anyone would be after what she went through, but literally all Owen wants is to have an honest conversation with the woman he married.

Owen is a decent guy, and if Amelia is worried about him being able to handle the for worse, um, the guy is a war vet and head of trauma at the scariest hospital imaginable. Owen basically lives in for worse. Hes had his moments, but hes still here living that sweet, ginger life.

Its infuriating to watch. The whole thing is very repetitive and also is giving me a headache. So much yelling! Does anyone remember why these two fell in love with each other anyway? Can Owen just run back into the arms of that very nice Emma woman from season ten who wanted kids and could cook a full Thanksgiving dinner? CAN WE ALL JUST MOVE ON?

I am thankful to report that the Elsie and Lewis love story is not totally wasted, though. There is an adorable Bailey and Ben scene, the memory of which will warm my heart anytime it becomes iced over with recollections of the Amelia and Owen debacle. They hold hands in the surgery gallery and talk about lasting 60 years together. Ben thinks Bailey will be bossy (duh?). Bailey imagines Ben as the old man who repeats stories including the C-section-on-a-table story, a real hoot! but it ends with them talking about foot rubs and smooching. There, my icy heart is warmed.

The real stunner of a story line in Till I Hear It From You is Maggie finally finding out about her moms breast cancer. Of course, the reveal doesnt come until after some particularly harsh words from daughter to mother. Maggie picks Diane up at the airport and from that point on is just relentlessly shaming her mother for wanting to get a boob job. (Diane still hasnt told her shes actually getting a mastectomy.) Its tough to watch, obviously because we all know that Diane is sick and that once Maggie inevitably finds out, shes going to feel terrible. But also, if Diane were actually getting a breast enlargement post-divorce, Maggie still should not be saying the things that she is currently blasting through the entire hospital. Things like, I hope youll enjoy being a nice, self-involved lonely person with an incredible rack. That is a bridge too far, Margaret.

Jackson does his best to tell Maggie to ease up on her mother without disobeying Dianes wishes about staying mum until after the surgery, but Maggie is an unstoppable force. She cant understand how her prudish mother could ever want huge knockers. She needs a reason. Meredith and Amelia attempt to clue her in on that reason: sex, obviously. Then, for one brief moment, Amelia actually makes some sense. Okay, so Amelia is definitely talking about herself, but still she tells Maggie that her mother doesnt owe her a reason for this and shes right. Give her your support and let the woman live.

Meanwhile, Jackson refuses to proceed with the surgery until Diane loops Maggie in. Diane needs a support system, it would be unsafe to go along with this otherwise. Also, Maggies strong, and she would want to fight this with her mother. So, the next time Maggie pops by, Diane tells her what shes really doing at Grey Sloan. The hurt, anger, and sadness that fill Maggies face as she looks over Dianes scans is remarkable. She looks from her mother to her friend Jackson, and she cant even speak. She has to walk away. Kelly McCreary is a champ in this episode.

As Jackson scrubs in for Dianes surgery, Maggie arrives. She doesnt want to be locked out of her mothers files anymore. Also, how could he, her supposed friend, let her talk to her mother that way? Jackson explains, very slowly, that he may be Maggies friend, but hes also a doctor. Maggies like, Oh, right, doctor rules, and then tells Jackson to fix her mother. No pressure.

Jackson works on Diane as Maggie paces out in the hallway. Its all very gripping. Before long, Jacksons face clues us in: Somethings not right. After leaving the OR, he finds Meredith and sends her to Maggie. Meredith finds her sister staring at Dianes scans, crying. My mom is really sick.

Oh, friends. We are really in for next week, arent we?

Bros before potential love interests. Bailey would never use that word to describe a woman and Bailey is our queen, therefore, this is the new saying henceforth.

Arizona and Webbers unlikely friendship continues to be a delight, even when theyre fighting. Webber lashes out at her, but takes it back. He just needs time to process the Minnick hookup. Thats real buddy stuff!

You know what made me actually laugh out loud? Stephanie pouring her broken heart out to DeLuca, which he chooses as the perfect time to say, I think Im in love with Jo. Read the room, dude.

Riggs is such a dork when trying to tell Mer how he feels about her, but it is charming. He finally asks her on a real date. Will Meredith eat soup out of his dimples? ONLY TIME WILL TELL.

You should be picky about sex, youre hot. Alex is MIA for the majority of this episode, but boy does he make the most of his time with us.

Speaking of, Alex not being able to look away from Dianes boobs is perfect.

Between Lewis saying, I have to figure things out for myself now, and Maggie well, everything after Maggie finds out her mom is sick, the Sob Scale ticked upward throughout the entire episode. I fear for next week. The Sob Scale might explode.

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Melissa McCarthy Says Her Sean Spicer Impression Boils Down to One Special Anatomical Thing

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Bad news for fans of original films.

More Life, no problems.

The two were briefly engaged for a period of time.

Are you saying that women and minorities have a more difficult time getting their stuff read than white men?

Best of luck to Gus and Mickey. Theyre going to need it.

Not so clever this time, fans.

Good group.

Mickeys addiction reels her back toward bad decisions.

Classic Ezra.

Im Asian. Im an actor. If anyone understands the conversation, its me.

Javier Bardem knows how to hold a grudge.

One way or another, Frances McDormand gets her message across.

The Empire star had some thoughts to share.

Thank God for Elsbeth Tascioni.

Hes legit teasing us at this point.

Gareth Scarif. Pretty close.

Link:
Grey's Anatomy Recap: For 60 Years - Vulture

Just one week ago, on the evening of Saturday 19 March, a generally quiet north London neighbourhood, Finsbury Park, was rocked by a terrible crime, when two toddlers were found with critical injuries. Aman, said to be the birth father, has been arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder. Three of the more restrained headlines in response to these attacks read, depending on which newspaper one read: Man arrested over murder of one-year-old boy as his twin sister fights for life after alleged hammer attack (Daily Mirror); Man arrested on suspicion of murder after mother heard screaming for help as one-year-old boy is killed and sister is fighting for life, (The Daily Telegraph); and Distraught mother ran into street screaming my kids, my kids after finding her son beaten to death with a hammer (MailOnline).

The case has been set for a plea hearing in June, with a provisional trial date in September. The arrested man has yet to enter a plea and we must not second-guess the facts in this tragic case. However, this was the third distressing instance of multiple family victimsnationally in just three weeks. And those only the ones known to any audience beyond the local newssheet.

Less than two weeks before the Finsbury Park incident, police in Stowmarket found 65-year old carpenter and decorator Richard Pitkin dead. Also dead in the extended family home that used to boast a tea room was Sarah Pitkin, 58. The Pitkins, by report, were well-liked and respected. Police were not looking for anyone else in connection with their inquiries.

White House Farm in Essex, scene of the Bambermurders. The court decided Jeremy had placed the gun in his dead sisters hands to make it look like murder-suicide (Rex)

Stowmarket is a fairly small Suffolk town. Wolverhampton, by contrast, is a city of 250,000 inhabitants. But, just three days after news of the Stowmarket tragedy, the people of Wolverhampton were nonetheless alarmed to read in their copies of the Birmingham Mail: Man killed sister and knifed mum before killing himself.Had citizens and neighbours in that part of the Black Country turned to The Sun, even less would have been left to their imaginations: Maniac knifeman stabbed his sister to death and injured his mum before turning blade on himself in bloodbath at flat.

***

So in cases where there is family annihilation, what is it and why and why does it happen?

One of the most infamous family annihilations evertook place in sprawling White House Farm, Essex, on 7 August 1985. Sheila Bamber, her parents Neville and June Bamber, and her sons Nicholas and Daniel, were all killed that fateful day. Worse, Sheilas brother Jeremy Bamber, then aged 24, apparently staged everyones murder as if Sheila herself were the culprit. Homicide/suicide, surely? Police who initially attended the scene ironically in response to a panicked-sounding telephone call from Jeremy seemed content to accept that interpretation.

For weeks lasting into months, that narrative amazingly stayed unchallenged; and it is fair to say the incarcerated Bamber still maintains his absolute innocence three decades after his belated conviction. Five years ago this spring, his lawyers failed in their most recent attempt to gain his acquittal, or at least his release, this time before the European Court of Human Rights.

Conventional instances of homicide/suicide where the perpetrator cannot go to jail because he it is statistically far more likely to be a he is already dead, either at the scene of horror or perhaps at some secluded beauty spot nearby tend to have 10 common features.

The historical cases show is that in murder-suicides, first, the killer is, as said, likely to be a man: where familial, a son, brother or father rather than daughter, sister or mother. Second, isolation is frequently a factor, if not the deciding factor: geographical isolation, psychological or psychiatric isolation, perceived isolation within the family bullying, deprivation, marginalisation, or isolated status, disgrace.

Newspapers offer lurid headlines on the act, but rarely shed light on motive

Third, often the perpetrator is consumed with hatred: sometimes hatred is fuelled by resentment. And, fourth, one influence persuading someone to attack his own family so viciously is frequently a grudge: expulsion from the home, threatened separation, refusal of money, not being mentioned in a will, unfair accusations, a partners alleged infidelity or even something as trivial as youre forever nagging.

Fifth, the instrument of death is more often than not extremely violent: gun, sword, knife or hammer are preferred over suffocation or gassing. However, in recent years, fire appears to have been used more, perhaps because perpetrators are more aware of the importance of destroying DNA evidence, and with the terrible bonus that it is the fire or the smoke or both doing the killing, not the instigator.

Sixth, typically escape routes are blocked, and a time chosen when the family are near-at-hand, sleeping or watching TV. Keys are hidden. Those who rush upstairs are pursued. And those who rush downstairs are trapped. Elaborate precautions are taken that a getaway car is not to hand except for the killers use. Also, that killer needs to be faster down the street were one of his intended victims to achieve temporary freedom.

Seventh, it is likely that there have been lesser preparatory and experimental attacks before the final showdown. For example, survivors of domestic violence typically endure between 20 and 200 assaults before sounding the alarm and calling on neighbours, trusted siblings, or the police. Perhaps the family car is in an inexplicable crash. Or prowlers, maybe suspected of mere rogue-trading or peeping Tom-ery, are been seen near the later site of execution.

In the 1977 Pottery Cottage murders, Billy Hughes (inset) butchered a family in Eastmoor, near Baslow in Derbyshire (Derby Telegraph)

Eighth, pleas for mercy are routinely and callously ignored. Ninth, the perpetrator usually neither expects nor tolerates retaliation. He likely relies on past romance or deep-seated trust placed in him as one of us to deter any last-minute fracas.

Womens aid, womens assertiveness, women survivors, and womens self-defence groups place emphasis on attempting realistic self-protection. Naturally it is a truism that fighting back is risky, statistically abortive, sometimes provocative prior to an even worse fate, or very occasionally peremptory: a false alarm. Nobody should expect doomed family members always to have a heavy chair or flower-pot to hand but advice is sensibly given that if you are going to die in any case, you might as well attempt some resistance. And there is rare forensic evidence that the escaping man, whether or not he later self-harms or takes his own life, bears scratches, bruises, cuts or organ-damage that must have been inflicted by one, more, or even all, his targets.

Finally and disturbingly, tenth, if the killer dies during or following his act of family annihilation, could well be set to be rather than blamed: Poor soul ; Must have borne terrible suffering in the Army, at work, as a child....; Moment of madness ; Wonderful dad ; Not round to put the record straight, whatever. And this (probably undeserved) taking into account of past misfortune has possibly been orchestrated by the killer long before the act. Maybe letters have been written, certificates displayed, thousands of pounds raised for charity, compensation successfully awarded... anything to perpetuate a story of awful injustice, noble self-abnegation, valid self-sacrifice.Because the killers unbelievable yet curiously tenable accomplishment is to write the first version of history.

History he has himself fulfilled. History he has himself shaped. Maybe history could supply us with detailed statistics for (a) homicide/suicides; and (b) whole- family killings not attributed to an integral, or past, members of those threatened families?No
such fortune. Whereas homicides (murders) appear in one table of figures, Suicides (sometimes attempted suicides) appear in other lists. Even then, statistic-gathering is chaotic, partly due to coroners hesitant to issue suicide verdicts.

Do other countries perhaps keep better records? No. What we do know is that family annihilation is occasionally cultural; also imitative. South Africa is blighted with two kindred phenomena: isolated Boer and/or white men, on the margins, killing their entire families then themselves; alternatively, a son: not impossibly a black or mixed-race son, killing his parents, maybe his siblings as well, with appropriation of assets an attributed motive.

As for the US, comparisons with UK family-killings are ever more fraught with difficulty. Guns and harmful weapons far more available than in Britain, and spree-killings of all types are hard to separate out from targeted killings of a culprits relatives, say with one or two bystanders also killed or injured. Home invasions in the States are certainly frequent but as few as 100 people each year die as a direct consequence of burglary or attempted burglary within the broken-into home; compared with at least 18,000 US suicides labelled suicides each year.

The Laitner familly at Suzannes (centre) 1983 wedding in Sheffield. Basil (left) along with Richard and Avril (right) were murdered hours later

Is alcohol an important component, giving the instigator more courage? Or are perpetrators drug-dependent? The jury is still out over mitigation. Who knows whether a killer with little or no regard to his own safety, his own discovery, his own lifespan, would have been more restrained with more inhibitions. Harmful substances certainly dont seem to reduce instances of family annihilation or their intensity.

***

So where do my 10 common factors leading to family annihilation leave we who survive; we the relations and friends who are not subject to our own familys annihilation or someone elses; we who read about it from the comfort of our armchairs; we who are safe, secure, cherished and uplifted at home? A difficult quandary. Arguably, more difficult in the aftermath of family annihilation than in the wake of almost any other crime, any other catastrophe, even any other unforeseeable disaster.

Nor do the police, the courts, psychiatrists, or social workers those whose daily employment is to help those in distress, but not this degree of distress give the rest of an easy lead; give us reasons, perhaps in reply to that familiar plea: give us a clue! Society buries family annihilation (undertakers, literally) because the subject is too painful; it is seemingly too far beyond comprehension. Maybe falsely, family annihilation is considered a flash-in-a-pan; perhaps it is put down far too quickly to the mental illness of which it is so obviously a manifestation; and crucially there is rarely a survivor, less so an attendant survivor, to enlighten either the authorities or the public.

Police, press, parliament, the Church, social services, the NHS, everyone most likely to be listened to, can usefully move on to more pressing issues because there is there is nobody to prosecute, and/or nobody who can be subject of a child protection conference, and/or nobody who can be reassessed as a risk; or else the intentional killer who is an accidental or purposeful survivor makes a full confession. In which case there are only three available disposals: long-termimprisonment, enduring committalto hospital, or leeway enough, without intention, for the prisoner to finally take his own life (far more likely, statistically, if he lived through an initial attempt so to do).

Ironically, societys certainty thatits all over and done with militates against prevention, mitigation, avoidance, of family annihilation in the future. So onlookers and professionals alike are tempted to close the chapter, to let bygones be bygones. Instead, it is beholden on everyone to take account of warning signs: buildups of spite and resentment; previous domestic violence; acrimonious divorce and separation; bankruptcy; custody and access sessions denied or giving rise to concern; threats.

Because threats are not always empty. What everyone takes to be bragging, bad-mouthing, intimidation or hyperbole might actually be a signpost to future family annihilation. So statutory reviews must in future be held before the event, not after.

***

Which brings me to my own commitment to find out more concerning family annihilation. That prompt came from four instances a little too near where I lived for comfort.

2017 marks 40 years after escaped prisoner Billy Hughes, now deceased, took a family hostage at a cottage in Eastmoor, near Baslow in Derbyshire, butchering Grandma, Grandad, the couples son-in-law and their granddaughter. Only Mum survived the Pottery Cottage Murders, even she within seconds of her own shooting or knifing. And Eastmoor is just four miles up the road from where for more than three decades we made our home.

The Shropshire estate at which in 2008 a millionaire with business problems murdered his wife and daughter before shooting dead their dogs and horses, setting fire to the house, and finally killing himself (PA)

Six years later came the Dore Wedding Day Massacre. A talented pupil taught by my wife crouched in her bedroom, in an affluent suburb of Sheffield, towards the end of the family celebrations that crowned her elder sisters marriage ceremony just hours earlier, and listened, listened, as every single member of her cherished family to hand solicitor father, doctor mother, older brother faced arbitrary execution at the other side of her hasty barricade. Grim. With worse for this young woman still to come. And all at the hands of a robber not a relative.

Came the day 10 years after that: at the time a I was a local government officer charged with supervising three childrens access to their mother at a voluntary-funded contact centre. I was returning from the centre when I heard that, in a lay-by just a few miles down the same road I was driving along, a jealous father, also a centre user, had had set light to himself and his two sons by a woman he had acrimoniously split from within the exactly parked care he had used for access to the children. Three bodies discovered within. No lads able to survive their ordeal, survive their access, and see their mother again; nor chance that mother should encounter, look after, love, her boys again. Total immolation. Total elimination.

One final coincidence: from 2011 to 2014, when I needed my car in the evening, I chose to park it at the other end of the alley opposite where Id moved to. And one enchanting summer afternoon, the cul-de-sac was full of police cars, sentries, men in white suits. I had not consciously registered the house before. It was semi-detached, privately owned, on the outer edge of a large post-war municipal estate. In succeeding days, I soon learnt Stepdad had murdered the widowed shopkeeper he had recently married, then laid on the same bed and stabbed himself to death. All because she had told him she had had enough.

In the face of such terrible calumny, in the light of such unimaginable discoveries, most observers, most survivors, most people holding Twitter or Facebook accounts, most readers of newspapers, will remain baffled as to why anyone, anywhere, would want to take them (those the murderer has known or loved) all with me thus releasing them from agony. Is this really the freedom from oppression a crazed killer yearns for? Or is this too speedy an escape from lifes trials and tribulations; too convincing a hope of a Better World than that into which we were all born?

Purportedly, family annihilation, family extinction, is absolute love absolute hatred? expressed absolutely. And whatever the reasoning behind it, this is an act committed so suddenly, so ruthlessly, so wilfully, it permits no second thoughts. No opportunity for reverse. No retrieval.

1) Christopher, aged 50, s
hot dead his wife, 49, and daughter, 15, before gunning down their horses and dogs and then setting alight his 1.2m Shropshire home in 2008. The former mattress and pizza-box salesman had made himself into a millionaire, but his business interests collapsed, leaving him in 4m of debt. Some say he killed his family in a crazed attempt to protect them from poverty they were about to face. The killer was caught on CCTV on the night of the blaze walking his mansion's grounds carrying a bucket, a rifle and lighter fluid for setting the fire.

2) The bodies of a mother, 44, her son, 13, anddaughter, nine, were found in February 2011. The mothers husband was working abroad. Police broke into the familys detached house, in the Midlands, after they were contacted by a concerned relation. The children were found in their bedrooms with stab wounds to their neck and chest. Their mother, a devout Roman Catholic, was in the bathroom with multiple knife wounds to her arms. An inquest heard that the womans mother called police after she was unable to contact her daughter. Police investigated the tragedy as a suspected double homicide-suicide.

3) A report into the care of a North-east of England ex-soldier, who shot dead four members of his family in 2006, found failings in the mental health care he received. David, 41, killed his aunt and uncle, both 70, and their sons Davids cousins aged 41 and 44. He was sentenced to a minimum term of 15 years after admitting manslaughter. There was a lack of communication between agencies.

Link:
The anatomy of family murder - the patterns and warning signs | The ... - The Independent

Greys Anatomy on ABC was the most-watched series Thursday night, but the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament put CBS on top for the night.

Greys averaged 7.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings released Friday afternoon. The viewing levels fell off for the ABC dramas that followed: Scandal with 5.4 million and The Catch with 3.4 million.

CBS aired Oregons close win over Michigan (7.1 million viewers) and Kansas blowout victory over Purdue (6.6 million). Cables TBS aired the other Sweet 16 games Thursday. The games across CBS and TBS averaged 11.2 million viewers Thursday up 17 percent from last year. It was the third most-watched coverage for the day in 24 years.

NBCs standouts were Superstore (4.1 million) and Blacklist: Redemption (4 million). Foxs best was MasterChef Junior with 3.8 million.

The prime-time averages for the broadcast networks: CBS with 6.9 million, ABC with 5.6 million, NBC with 4 million, Fox with 2.9 million and The CW with 850,000 for Supernatural reruns. But CBS easily won the 18-to-49 age group with the NCAA.

In Orlando, the top telecast was Greys Anatomy with 139,489 viewers, according to Nielsen ratings supplied to the Sentinel. Other favorites were Fox News Tucker Carlson Tonight with 89,072, Scandal with 82,631, Fox News Hannity with 80,753 and Fox News The OReilly Factor with 75,486.

With the local 18-to-49 age group, Greys and Scandal were the favorites. They were followed by Bobs Burgers on Adult Swim, Telemundos El Chema and the Kansas-Purdue game.

hboedeker@orlandosentinel.com

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'Grey's Anatomy,' NCAA: Ratings leaders - Orlando Sentinel - Orlando Sentinel

New York Times

Sarah Dunn on the Anatomy of an Open Marriage New York Times It's every married couple's fantasy, at least in theory: You get to have sex with anyone you want, no questions asked. I'm saying let's both do it, and let's swear to keep our mouths shut about it for the rest of our lives, says the wife in Sarah ...

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Sarah Dunn on the Anatomy of an Open Marriage - New York Times

You wont find a Best TV Dialogue category on tonights broadcast of the Oscars (how rude!), but you will find the winners right here, in our latest Quotes of the Week gallery. (We couldnt choose just one victor, though, so its a 21-way tie. Rules, schmules.)

Unfortunately, our awards dont have a red carpet or shiny trophies. But theydo include some of the most memorable TV moments from the past seven days, hailing from dramas, comedies and unscripted series.

This time around, weve got Larrys controversial eating habits onCurb Your Enthusiasm, aBold Type nickname that any self-respecting 12-year-old would laugh at, Josies (slightly worrying) shout-out to her former stomping ground on Katy Keene and a perfectly timed political joke onLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Also featured in this weeks roundup: double doses ofGreys Anatomy, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Bachelor andThe Flash, plus sound bites from The Masked Singer, Legends of Tomorrow, Station 19 and more.

Check out the attached gallery or click here for direct access then hit the comments and tell us if we missed any of your faves!

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'Grey's Anatomy': I Killed Him With My Gayness Best TV Quotes - TVLine

When it comes to questions of anatomy, one would think thatWolverinewould be far more on the normal side as far as superheroes go. Whereas Superman is an alien from a whole other planet, or Spider-Man has arachnid characteristics, Wolverine is basically just a clawed Canadian who heals really well.

However, things aren't as simple as they seem. Once you start teasing out the logic behind Wolverine's anatomy there are some pretty disturbing (and gross) implications. Let's look at the five strangest aspects of Wolverine's anatomy that put the "ick" in "snikt."

RELATED:Wolverine: Logan's Old Alter Ego Will Face a New X-Men Threat

Naturally, any question about Wolverine's anatomy is going to address his metal bones. Laced with unbreakable adamantium by an experimental government procedure only possible with someone of Wolverine's immense regenerative capabilities, the adamantium skeleton may seem pretty straightforward at first. It makes Wolverine heavier than normal, protects him from greater damage than he otherwise could and all in all, proves a pretty handy tool time and again.

Since Wolverine can heal from almost any wound, his adamantium skeleton is on the front lines of keeping him in a fight so that the mutant can minimize the time it takes for him to recuperate. Bullets that would scramble his brains just bounce off his skull, and it takes far less time to heal the flesh on his head than the brain matter inside it. The value the metal adds to his claws is incalculable as well, allowing him to cut most anything while also preventing them from opponents crushing them. His skeleton may be sturdy and his claws naturally sharp all on their own, but there's just no competing with adamantium.

RELATED:New Mutants Just Set Up the X-Mens Identity Crisis

Wolverine is one of the hairiest mainstream superheroes to appear in films and comics. Whereas most heroes' physiques tend toward the lean and the hairless over time, something about Wolverine's animalistic connection allowed him to maintain a shaggy mane not many other heroes share. What many people might not realize is that the signature look comes part and parcel with his powers.

While Wolverine doesn't have the Rapunzel problem of perpetually growing infinite amounts of hair, his follicles do tend to regenerate to roughly the same length even after they are burned or torn off. Wolverine has walked away from third-degree burns across his entire body, and as the skin comes back the hair comes with it, always at roughly the same length.

RELATED:5 Things We Want From The New Wolverine Series (& 5 Things We Don't Want)

Part of the reason for the healing factor's application to his hair could come from its bestial origins -- in one comic it is explained that Wolverine is actually ahomo lupine rather than ahomo superior, putting his ancestral relatives closer to wolves than humans. Many other mutants with healing factors, like Sabretooth, grow a pretty thick mane themselves and this could be the common factor linking them.

While it's not normally easy to compete with the mainstream Wolverine when it comes to feats of sheer survival, the Ultimate iteration of the character from Marvel's 1610 universe gives Logan a run for his money. Ultimate Wolverine once survived a fight with the Hulk and S.H.I.E.L.D. detonating a nuclear weapon in the middle of their fray only to wake up in a lab where the organization was keeping his body parts separate. Nick Fury spoke with Wolverine's decapitated head and explained that they just couldn't kill it.

When S.H.I.E.L.D. separated Ultimate Wolverine's head from his body he simply started breathing oxygen through his skin, realizing that when they put it in an airless vacuum the skin started making its own air. A survivor through and through, Logan's sheer refusal to die may have been the reason Nick Fury just resigned to letting Wolverine go about his business.

RELATED:X-Men: Kitty Pryde Demonstrates a New Ability - and It's Intoxicating

A natural thing to wonder about Wolverine's healing factor is whether or not he can extend it to others. There's obviously a great amount of suffering in the world, and if the gritty hero with wanted to atone for his past sins,is it possible for him toliterally cure the world of its ills through blood transfusion?

Well, the situation has come up, but it's an insanely hard thing to pull off. InPowers of X, Wolverine was able to save Moira Mactaggart with blood transfusions, but the recentWolverine #1 provided an infographic that explained howLogan'shealing factor becomes inert within his blood once it leaves his body. Getting it to successful transmit to another body is an incredibly difficult task.

RELATED:Wolverine: A Deadly X-Men Villain Returns With a Dark New Mission

That's not to say it hasn't been done before. Most famously, Deadpool was a member of the same Weapon X program that produced Wolverine. Using Wolverine's blood, Weapon X was capable of reproducing his healing factor within Deadpool, but at a terrible cost. Deadpool's own lethal cancer fights a constant war against his healing factor, and the end result is that his skin became scabby and scarred. He may have a good sense of humor about it, but there's definitely a curse attached to that gift.

This is where things get a little sappy because we're not talking about his actual heart. Instead, it's worth explaining the toll Wolverine's healing factor has had on his mental and emotional health over the years. Since his senescence is so much slower than a normal human's, Wolverine has spent the past century watching many of the people around him die or get older while he has largely remained the same.

And that's to say nothing of the psychological horror of enduring the countless physical tortures inflicted upon him. Even just the process to coat Wolverine's skeleton in adamantium was described as immensely painful, and it's a process he has had to undergo multiple times. At one point Magneto even ripped the metal straight off his bones, no anesthetic or preparation at all. The process nearly killed him, and in fact, burned out his healing factor so that for a brief period he was mortal.

But underneath it all Wolverine has an indomitable will that never allows such constant suffering to get the best of him. While he certainly has his fair share of mental problems, part of what makes Wolverine such a hero is that he is able to undergo such severe physical and emotional pain over time without it ever truly changing who he is. As interesting as the anatomy of the X-Man is, at the center of it all is the heart of a truly great character.

KEEP READING: Deadpool And The X-Men Just Joined The MCU Avengers

Leviathan's New Enemy Is MUCH Worse Than Superman & Lex Luthor

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X-Men Anatomy: The 5 Weirdest Things About Wolverine's Body, Explained - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Can any character dare to have a happy-ever-after in 'Grey's Anatomy?' If you're happy for more than an episode, you're either sent to jail or killed off in a car crash, or framed for something you didn't do.

And so, in the case of Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone), her love story with Link (Chris Carmack) might just take a whack, as it turns out that the father of Amelia's baby could be Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) and not Link. Uh oh. Amelia's worked hard for this paradise and it seems like it all just might collapse.

However, fans are determined to let this not happen. Amelia deserves to be happy with Link, and not get sucked back into the Owen mess again, they feel. So, fans took the liberty of speculating wildly about how this could happen.

A fan on Reddit proposed that Owen should die for Amelia and Link to be together. "Just a theory. Amelia's baby is Owens and Amelia tells Owen and Link about it," the fan wrote.

"Owen was at home with Teddy then and was rushing to Amelia at the hospital but he gets into a terrible car crash on his way. Meredith and Bailey and all relevant surgeons try to save Owen but he was too far gone and eventually, they had to pull the plug."

"Link steps up to father Amelia's baby, making Amelia and Link endgame with Owen out of the way. Heartbroken Teddy moves back to Germany with Leo and Allison," the fan added.

Fans were rather torn with this theory. "I definitely wouldnt be opposed to Owen dying," a Reddit user wrote. "He's involved enough that his death would be a big deal and could prompt some interesting developments for everyone else."

However, let's not forget there are two children (potentially three), who stand to lose. "Yes, lets leave two (potentially 3) children without their father and put Teddy through [losing] another significant other. I'm going with a big NO," another fan wrote.

'Grey's Anatomy' will return from a hiatus on January 23, 2020, and will air on ABC.

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'Grey's Anatomy' Season 16: Wild theory that Owen will die for Amelia and Link to be happy divides fans - MEAWW

The wobble

After Jenningss goal Watford were rattled, with the 2,700 Tranmere fans behind the goal cranking up the noise levels even louder.

They pressed us higher up the pitch. We were forced just to kick it, sometimes, admitted Dele-Bashiru, the other half to Chalobahs Swag Brothers, as the pair are known on the training pitch.

The hosts looked lost and Tranmere knew they were in with a chance.

When we scored the first, I turned to a fellow sub and said: If we score again its going to a replay. I thought 100 per cent we would do it, said Mullin.

But time was running out, and a good save from Jennings by Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann looked like it might be crucial. But the Austrian flapped at a free-kick and defender Manny Monthe pirouetted to fire in the visitors second. The comeback was well and truly on.

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Anatomy of a classic FA Cup fightback: How Tranmere Rovers did it at Watford - The Telegraph

ABCs third-season premiere of Station 19 in its new 8 PM slot in a two-hour crossover with its flagship Greys Anatomy gave thee network the two most watched and top-rated shows in primetime Thursday.

With Greys showrunner Krista Vernoff now in charge of both shows and three more crossovers in the works this season under Vernoffs unified command, Station 19 (1.2 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic, 6.98 million viewers), now at 8 PM, returned as the nights most-watched program, gaining four-tenths in the demo from its Season 2 finale in May.

It was followed by Greys (1.4, 6.65M), settling nicely into its new slot. Its demo number was even with Greys fall finale back on November 21.

In an interview with Deadline in November, Vernoff said the two shows will interconnect every few episodes. We dont want to do it every week, we dont want to create a mold, we dont want to fall into any kind of pattern, we dont want people to ever know what to expect, she said.

Related StoryNetflix Calls 'The Witcher' Biggest New Show, Reveals Viewership Stats For 'You' & '6 Underground' As It Explains Ratings Methods

Also on Thursday, Fox premiered its Jason Biggs-Maggie Lawson multi-camera family comedy Outmatched (0.7, 3.23M), which rode the strong lead-in of Last Man Standing (0.8, 4.40M), the latter up a tenth compared with last week.

NBCs comedy lineup Superstore (0.7, 2.73M), the penultimate episode of The Good Place (0.6, 2.11M) and Will & Grace (0.5, 2.30M) all saw one-tenth bumps, leading into the season finale of Perfect Harmony (0.3, 1.42M), which was even in the demo and saw a slight viewer uptick. With its 13-episode first season now finished, the 20th Century Fox TV-produced series starring Bradley Whitford awaits a renewal decision which likely wont come til closer to the May upfronts.

The CWs night included Supernatural (0.2, 1.02M), down a tenth as it continues its final-season run, and Legacies (0.2, 720,000), which was even with last week.

CBS comedy lineup was in repeats, with the networks night capped by The Gayle King Grammy Special (0.3, 2.63M) ahead of Sundays Grammy Awards telecast.

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Station 19 Season Premiere With Greys Anatomy Crossover Tops Thursday; Outmatched Solid In Debut - Deadline

Phil Williams and Jim OHara, The Tennessean Published 10:00 p.m. CT Oct. 22, 2019 | Updated 10:00 a.m. CT Oct. 23, 2019

A joint federal and state investigation, formally known as Operation Rocky Top, lasted more than three years, and netted nearly 80 people. Ayrika L Whitney, The Tennessean

This story from the Tennessean archives was originally publishedSunday, Dec. 3, 1989, under the headline "BINGO: Anatomy of a news story."

The Senate Judiciary Committee, meeting Tuesday afternoons, often drones on way too long to the dismay of many in the audience.

Bored lobbyists want to begin their evening socializing. Weary reporters want to begin writing their stories for the next edition.

One Tuesday afternoon in April of 1987, a housekeeping bill pushed by bingo interests was being debated.

In the Tennessee General Assembly, housekeeping an otherwise innocent word makes dozing reporters snap awake and sends previously uninterested lobbyists scurrying to give microscopic examination to the bills text.

Since that April day, more than 2 years of investigative reporting has been aimed at answering the question that arose during that committee meeting: Who was trying to do what?

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An initial answer had come quickly. Honest, the bingo lobbyists said, it was just a simple matter. There were these games: pull tabs. Bingo players like them, and all the bingo halls used them. The bill just clarified pull tabs in the law; and, yeah, there was also a matter of making sure that the prize limit for pull tabs was separate from the prize limit for bingo.

Pull tabs? Sounded innocent enough, but then reporters saw them. They were paper slot machines.

Pull back the tabs and if b-i-n-g-o was spelled out, the player won; or if gold bars, diamonds or fruit were displayed, all in a row, the player won.

Shortly after that committee meeting, state Attorney General W.J. Michael Cody issued an opinion that said bingo was probably unconstitutional. More to the point, his research of bingo games expense reports indicated that little money was going to charity.

Bingo lobbyist W.D. "Donnie" Walker looks down from the Senate gallery during debate of a massive charity bingo reform package in 1988. The bill passed 23-8 despite a strong lobbying effort against it.(Photo: Rick Musacchio / The Tennessean)

Reporters and editors at The Tennessean had more questions than answers. We decided it was time to go into the bingo halls.

It was an education. Bingo had been a game we played at birthday parties when we were kids. Gambling halls we had seen in Reno or Las Vegas. There was supposed to be a big difference between bingo games and gambling halls.

But, from cinder-block storefront operations to gaudily-advertised halls, we found big-time gambling being enjoyed by ordinary folks. Every major city in Tennessee and a score of small, rural towns boasted an array of games that would befuddle a Reno blackjack player.

We returned to the newspaper office numbed by Friday and Saturday nights in bingo halls. Grandmothers across the table had helped us mark our nine bingo cards while they kept up with 27 cards. And, oh, the ways to BINGO. Postage stamp. Speed-ball. Hatpin. Large picture frame. Inside picture frame.

The action never stopped. During the breaks from bingo, we felt like pikers as we bought $10 worth of pull tabs, while the fellow at the end of the table bought $50 worth and peeled them back, tossing the losers into a wastebasket with practiced nonchalance.

There were funny times: Sitting at the end of a table near the door and looking up to see the lawyer representing bingo operators walking in (an extended trip to the bathroom seemed to be proper response for us).

Or the time we yelled BINGO! one number too soon.

But most of all, we became disturbed and angry.

Laborious poring over the bingo games financial records proved how very, very little of the proceeds was going to charity.

Even cursory examinations of state records showed outright fraud as professional operators filed bogus documents to take over bingo across Tennessee.

An illiterate Memphis woman, whose church had been taken over by professional bingo gamblers, fled out the back door of her home, convinced that a reporter was a hit man.

Why wasnt this being policed? Why was this sham house of bingo cards and pull tabs standing?

Each story that we wrote brought tips leading to other stories. A lot of the tips seemed unbelievable at first. But we quickly found that they were true. For example:

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Operation Rocky Top: Anatomy of a news story - Tennessean

Greys Anatomy fans know they should never get attached to a relationship because they pretty much all end in heartbreak (sorry, but these are the facts). In fact, it can be difficult to predict who will even be together an episode from now, not to mention a whole season from now!

But, while some relationships are a little rocky like Catherine and Richards and others are pretty complicated like Amelia and Links we have a good feeling about who will still be together next season.

Scroll down to see the four couples we think will still be committed to one another come Season 17.

We will sue if these two ever break up! Now that McDreamy and Meredith are no longer together (because, you know, hes dead), Jo and Alex have taken their place as the one stable relationship on Greys.

Despite the difficulties theyve been through throughout their relationship and marriage, theres a good chance these two will make it work at least into next season. Plus, fans have been waiting for years for Alex to become a dad!

Meredith has been fighting her feelings for DeLuca for a long time, but shes recently come to the realization that she loves him. Though hes not a father, hes still young, and hes sadly not McDreamy, he is quite special.

These two have a lot to work through in order to truly make it work, but its clear they make one another very happy. We never thought wed be able to see Meredith marry someone again after Dereks passing, but DeLuca may be that guy.

It took Teddy and Owen years before they finally admitted their true feelings for one another and committed to being in a relationship, so they have no choice but to stay together for awhile. Plus, they just had a baby!ope he doesnt end up wanting her back and stays with Teddy. We cant handle anymore of this Amelia-Owen-Teddy love triangle stuff.ope he doesnt end up wanting her back and stays with Teddy. We cant handle anymore of this Amelia-Owen-Teddy love triangle stuff.

While Owen had a suspicious reaction to Amelias pregnancy news, we hope he doesnt end up wanting her back and stays with Teddy. We cant handle anymore of this Amelia-Owen-Teddy love triangle stuff.

(ABC/Mitch Haaseth)

These two went through a bit of a rough patch last season, but they are now on the right track. Not to mention, Mirandas pregnant! Though she was hesitant to tell Ben for fear hed freak out and run, hes been nothing but supportive about their growing family.

These two are going to make their relationship work for the sake of their new baby, and we hope they live happily ever after because we honestly cant take a Miranda-Ben breakup!

Greys Anatomy, Thursdays, 8/7c, ABC

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Predicting Which 'Grey's Anatomy' Couples Will Make It Through Season 16 - TVInsider