Suffering

The story of a 24-year-old Georgia graduate student fighting a flesh-eating disease has prompted a microbiologist with the Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care System to speak out about the infection. Aimee Copeland lost most of her left leg after the flesh-eating bacteria necrotizing faciitis is believed to have entered a cut on her leg, according to the Associated Press, which reports she may also have to have her fingers amputated. The waterborne bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila is believed to have caused the infection.

Sewage backed up into multiple homes Wednesday night in Brooklyn, bringing city crews out to find the cause, according to Public Works spokesman Kurt Kocher. The problem is affecting four or five homes in the 3700 block of Brooklyn Ave., which likely means there is a problem on a city line, Kocher said. Kocher said the city responded within two hours of hearing of the problem, and that crews were still assessing the issue and trying to determine the cause late Wednesday. "We're looking at it to see if there's any kind of engineering issue," he said.

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman had successful surgery early Friday to cauterize what was termed "an arterial bleed in his septum," according to a statement from his spokesman, Kevin Enright. Dr. Domenick Coletti performed the surgery, and Enright said Ulman was "alert and talking." The executive was expected to be released Saturday from Howard County General Hospital. "The Ulmans truly appreciate the numerous calls, e-mails and well-wishes that have come their way during this time," Enright said.

A 6-year-old boy was flown to a nearby hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries Wednesday morning after being hit by an SUV in Odenton. Justin Mulcahy, public information officer for the Anne Arundel County Police Department, said police responded to a call at 7:43 at the intersection of Blue Water Boulevard and Roff Point Drive, according to preliminary information. The child had been hit by a Chevrolet Avalanche, Mulcahy said. ywenger@baltsun.com Twitter.com/yvonnewenger

WASHINGTON -- Balkan savagery is forcing Americans to think through a moral dilemma that brings to mind one of the great comic figures of English fiction -- Mrs. Jellyby in Charles Dickens' ''Bleak House.''She makes a brief but telling appearance in a brilliant essay soon to be published in The National Interest quarterly.The essay is ''Compassion and the Globalization of the Spectacle of Suffering,'' by Clifford Orwin of the University of Toronto.Mrs. Jellyby was the ditzy do-gooder who practiced ''telescopic philanthropy.

FEW CAUSES or crusades have such universal support as medicine's war against suffering. None of us wants to be sick or to be in pain. Most people do not want to die. Yet we rarely ask when enough is enough in waging that war.At the extreme, almost everyone deplores the end-of-life killings allegedly confessed to, though later denied, by a respiratory therapist at Glendale Adventist Medical Center in Glendale, Calif.Let us assume, kindly, that such killings occur when the killer cannot bear watching people die miserably.

While chatting with a young audience on MTV, President Clinton was asked about the deep sense of "emptiness" that so many youths feel in their lives.The president responded with an upbeat pep talk, urging young people to shun cynicism and look to a brighter future.It will take more than pep talks and inspirational slogans to cure the widespread emotional blahs that allegedly afflict millions of young Americans.Because of the seriousness of this problem, I recently discussed with Dr. I.M. Kookie, the world-renowned expert on lots of stuff.

A once-exiled South African political activist said she will use her own experiences with suffering to understand better the suffering of others, such as AIDS victims and substance abusers.Mankekolo Mahlangu-Ngcobo spoke Friday on what she called a "happy day" as she was ordained a deacon in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Ms. Mahlangu-Ngcobo fled South Africa in 1980 after she was exiled for taking part in political uprisings. She returned to South Africa for a visit last year.She is now assistant pastor at Bethel A.M.E.

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA- This Christmas, Argentine newspapers carried melancholy letters from children asking why their parents told them not to write a wish list. "Somebody stole my Christmas and somebody robbed me of my illusions of an extra dose of happiness," 14-year-old Ariel Minglanesio wrote to the newspaper La Prensa. "I want to know why my mother decided not to put up a Christmas tree this year. Tell me the names of those responsible so someone can punish them." In this moody city where the sounds of tango float into the street from waterfront bars, many Buenos Aires residents believe the thieves who stole Christmas were politicians in elegant Italian suits.

MARATHON, Fla. -- Loggerhead sea turtles in the Florida Keys are suffering -- and in some cases dying -- from a mysterious illness that has marine experts and scientists searching for answers before record numbers of the endangered animal are lost. In the past six weeks, 11 adult loggerhead turtles have been rescued after being found floating near death in waters off the Keys. Four loggerheads were recently found with similar symptoms along Florida's east and west coasts, and dozens of floating turtles have been spotted by local boaters but have gone unsaved.

Backup goaltender Mike Gabel put forth one of the finest performances of his seven-year professional career to anchor a strong defensive effort as the Rochester Rattlers knocked the Chesapeake Bayhawks from the unbeaten ranks with a 12-8 victory in front of an announced 7,853 on Saturday night at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Gabel, a backup appearing in just his fourth game for Rochester, recorded 27 saves to stymie a Chesapeake offense that scored 23 goals against the Ohio Machine the previous Saturday night.

Could pollution "trading" really shave billions of dollars from the costs of restoring the Chesapeake Bay?  Or would the long-running cleanup effort suffer at the hands of those looking to make a buck on it? A study presented Thursday to the Chesapeake Bay Commission suggests there could indeed be significant cost savings from letting polluters pay others to make less expensive reductions in bay-fouling nutrient pollution elsewhere.  RTI International, an economic consulting firm from Research Triangle Park NC, found that savings could range from 20 to 80 percent, depending on how trading is structured.

MayorStephanie Rawlings-Blake's office recently issued a press release applauding the restoration and preservation of the Baltimore Battle Monument honoring the sacrifices of Baltimore's citizens through the War of 1812. But overlooking the Inner Harbor there is another memorial, one dedicated to the Pride of Baltimore and to four adventuresome crew members lost at sea on May 14, 1986 - captain, engineer, carpenter and deck hand. Eight crew members were rescued after four days adrift in one life raft.

As a former student of the Howard County public school system, I find it grossly offensive that fields would be taken away from the high schools that they are at. For the four years I attended high school, I can not think of a day when there wasn't a school sports team practicing on the football field. The agreement (on installing new turf fields at the high schools) states schools will have priority until 5:45 p.m. on weekdays and will have to reserve evenings for football games.

Jeff Zrebiec, Ravens reporter: Terrell Suggs is visiting a specialist next week so we won't know the extent of the injury and whether he'll need season-ending surgery until then, but that's obviously the fear. And any sort of Achilles' injury is terrible news for a guy so reliant on his power and explosiveness. It obviously goes without saying that Suggs is one of the few players that the Ravens simply can't replace. He's a rare game-changer and playmaker on defense, a guy that teams account for, often with two players.

The Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team wasn't ready to cede its foothold in Baltimore just yet. Despite losing three of their last four games, the No. 13 Blue Jays maintained their lofty local status as they knocked off top-ranked Loyola, 10-9, in overtime Saturday at Ridley Athletic Complex. Sophomore midfielder Rob Guida's one-timer off a pass from junior attackman Zach Palmer with 2.3 seconds left in the extra session helped Johns Hopkins improve to 10-3 and tag the Greyhounds with their first loss in 13 games this season.

The public nature of Pope John Paul II's suffering - from the trembling of his hands brought on by Parkinson's disease to his final appearance at St. Peter's Square last week, when he tried tobut could not speak - was an extended lesson in the dignity and value of the lives of the most frail among us, theologians say. The pontiff did not hide his many ailments as he grew more infirm. Though his speech was slurred and his head often slumped to his chest because of the Parkinson's, he appeared in public frequently and rejected seclusion.

It all started when Veronica Matricardi spun in her wheelchair in the middle of the stage and yelled, "I'm back, I'm back!" It was June and she had just seen a show at the Colonial Players theater house in Annapolis. Other audience members were filing out, but not Matricardi. She longed to experience the joy of being onstage again. She didn't have to wait long. Joe Thompson, director of Colonial Players' Cabaret for Kids, was there and invited Matricardi to join the cast. "My dream has been to become an actor again," said Matricardi, who in 1979 as a teen-ager performed in a Colonial Players production of Rumpelstiltskin before suffering a stroke the next year.

After four nights at Saint Agnes Hospital, Orioles reliever Jim Johnson was finally released Friday morning after a severe case of food poisoning. Johnson, who has converted 15 straight save opportunities dating to last season, acknowledged the experience was frustrating and frightening. "A little of both, depending on the time," Johnson said. "It was pretty bad. " Doctors conducted various tests to rule out specific illnesses, and eventually, food poisoning - including when and where - was pinpointed.

Earlier this month, both houses of the Maryland General Assembly passed the state's fiscal 2013 operating budget, but both houses failed to pass tax legislation and a companion bill required to fund and implement the budget. As a result, our state faces two possibilities. Ideally, GovernorMartin O'Malleyand the legislative leadership will work out their differences, reconvene in a special session, and pass the legislation necessary for the FY 2013 budget to go into effect as lawmakers intended on July 1, 2012.