(TNS) The media, virtually on a daily basis, tells us of the plight of American war veterans, whether from the wars in Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan, and details the mistreatment at VA hospitals, pointing out the difficulty in navigating the red-tape maze to obtain necessary treatment while inevitably featuring the homeless veterans.

The good news, if there is such a thing in these tragic situations, is that there exist organizations, staffed by dedicated volunteers, offering much-needed help to veterans.

The Leatherneck Club of North Texas, established in 2012, with a mission to provide financial support and assistance to veterans, is just such an organization. It is a tax exempt non-profit corporation, which means that all donations are tax deductible.

Retired Marine Gunnery Sgt. Tom Stephens, and Melissa resident, is one of those dedicated volunteers. Gunny Stephens, as he is known in military parlance, is a Vietnam veteran who participated in combat operations at such memorable sites as Con Thien, The Rockpile, Dong Ha, Quang Tri, Cam Lo, in the DMZ along the Ben Hai River and moving south to Hill 10, Hill 44 outside Danang and on to Chu Lai and An Wah, completing his tour at Dai Loc Pass and Hai Von Pass. He retired after 22 years in the Marine Corps, having served in various capacities both stateside and overseas.

Stephens, a modest man, who is also the president of the Leatherneck Club, had one request for this article: Please focus the article on the Leatherneck Club and not on me. It is really about getting veterans the help they need. I have had my time in the spotlight. Were a small local non-profit with a goal to find the people that need help, said Stephens.

The Leatherneck Club supports the Veterans Resource Center (the old National Guard Armory) located just a few blocks south of the Veterans Hospital in Dallas. This is a one stop shop to triage veterans and direct them to the help they need.

We take those that need VA benefits to get them processed and we dont leave until it is done, said Stephens.

Another program that the Leatherneck Club supports is Wounded Warriors, in which volunteers drive wounded warriors to and from their appointments at the VA hospital. Wounded veterans who cannot transport themselves are provided transportation from their home to the hospital.

The Club also financially supports the Fisher House, which is similar to a Ronald McDonald house, providing severely wounded warriors families the ability to be close during treatment.

We provide financial assistance to those veterans in need. They may lose their car, now cant get to work and begin to slide, Stephens explained. We also focus on getting the homeless off the streets so that they can get the help they need.

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Retired Marine heads volunteer-staffed club that helps vets, avoids red tape

Junior club looks north forroster changes

By Mark Newman, News Staff

At six-foot three and 205 pounds Jordan Cartney is certainly a large presence between the pipes for the Hamilton Red Wings.

In town for about a week, the 20-year-old from Calgaryis now the junior hockey clubs number one puck-stopper and he says hes up to the task.

As a team I think we have the guys that can make a run for the playoffs and go for it, said Cartney, who played 21 games (8 wins, 11 losses) with the Pickering Panthers before being acquired by the Red Wings. Its a nice fresh start.

He toiled with the Fort Frances Lakers of the Superior International Junior Hockey League last season.

Cartney got his first win as a Red Wing on Monday night when he stopped 42 shots to help Hamilton beat the Orangeville Flyers 4-3.

The Red Wings were in dire need of a solid puck-stopper after veteran and last seasons team MVP Mark Sinclair and his brother and forward Luke were released on Monday.

Both have joined the Caledonia Corvairs of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League and Mark picked up a shutout inhis first start in goal as the Corvairs were 1-0 winners in Thorold on Wednesday night.

Hamilton head coach Scott Elliot said the brothers from Dundas asked for their release.

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Cartney now Red Wings number one goalie

By AMIR PATEL

With some excitement surrounding the Cornell mens basketball program again, the Red looks to extend its win streak to three on Saturday when it welcomes UMass Lowell (6-2) to Newman Arena. After dropping three games at the Charleston Classic, the Red rebounded with wins against Canisius and Binghamton to secure consecutive wins for the first time since February, 2013. The Red has put an emphasis on defense and utilizing its experience, both of which are major parts of the identity that the team is forming.

This gradual formation of a true identity has been a big plus for the squad. It is clear that the Red is heavily dependent on the backcourt for offensive production, with guards Galal Cancer, Robert Hatter and Devin Cherry combining to average 34.4 points per game, more than half of the teams overall average. However, the maturation of sophomore forward David Onuorah, along with the return of senior forward Shonn Miller, has given the Red an evenly balanced attack both offensively and defensively.

On the defensive end, the Red leads the Ivy League in opponents field goal percentage (37.3%) and defensive rebounds per game (27.6). While those numbers did take a hit against the top competition at the Charleston Classic, since its return, the Red has done well to play solid team defense. After allowing guards Sindarius Thornwell (South Carolina), D.J. Newbill (Penn State) and Damion Lee (Drexel) to pick apart the Red defense for a combined 68 points in Charleston, the squad has come back with a balanced defensive attack focused on playing suffocating defense for a full game, according to head coach Bill Courtney.

We didnt play a full 40 minutes of hard defense in Charleston, but we have been able to improve on that in these past couple games, Courtney said.

Another factor that has proven to be a significant advantage for the Red thus far is the versatility of its roster. With a guy like Miller who can stretch the floor with his shooting ability and battle inside, the Red has the ability to compete against a myriad of defenses. With three guards who can explode for 20 points a game on any given night in Cancer, Cherry and Hatter, along with the improvement of sophomore guard Darryl Smith, the Red has the unique ability to defer scoring to a variety of players throughout a game.

Our guys understand their roles and have been executing game plans well. We have been getting the ball into the right hands, and stepping up in the second half, Courtney said.

Being able to defer offensive production, coupled with some multi-faceted offensive players is a valuable asset for a Cornell team that will look to turn heads throughout the season, especially against top-notch squads like Syracuse, a team that plays the legendary and unique 2-3 defense. Teams who rely heavily on one player for offensive production often become exposed very early in the season. Courtney said that the work of the bench combined with some veteran leadership has made for an attack that can fire from all cylinders without relying on starpower. The Red currently has four players averaging double figures.

We have started slow in the first half a few times, but our bench and experienced guys have kept us going by stepping up as the game progresses, Courtney said. Looking at Saturdays matchup with UMass-Lowell, the Red has to contend with another guard heavy lineup. The top three scorers for the River Hawks are all guards, led by sophomore Jahad Thomas who is averaging just shy of 16 points per game. The Red holds a major size advantage, with seven players 67 or taller, while the Red Hawks only have one.

With the senior big man trio of Deion Giddens, Ned Tomic and Dave LaMore showing leadership and control in the past two games, they, along with Miller and Onuorah, should be heavily targeted. Regardless of their lack of size in the frontcourt, the River Hawks have managed to win six straight games since dropping their first two to start the season, and the Red has the opportunity to snap that streak.

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M. BASKETBALL | Red Looks to Extend Win Streak

French shoe designer Christian Louboutin poses for photographers as he opens his first-ever retrospective exhibition at the Design Museum in London April 30, 2012. AP Photo/Jonathan Short

From the catwalk to the sidewalk, the name Christian Louboutin has come to define glamorous footwear to women around the world. The iconic designer showed CBS News' Charlie D'Agata the passion and vision behind his shoe empire.

Louboutin has been getting into women's heads and their shoes for the past two decades.

His towering heels have embedded themselves in popular culture - from hip-hop divas in racy videos to strong female characters in TV series, such as "Sex and the City."

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Christian Louboutin, famous for designing heels with red soles, shares why he thinks there is a sense of "liberation" going on in the domain of s...

"I am sometimes exactly to the same place to the woman in front of the mirror, looking at herself, looking at her a--, and thinking: 'OK, this looks good, let's go for the shoes,'" said Louboutin.

But it all began very small. He opened his first boutique in Paris in 1991. Back then, he dreamed that just maybe, one day, he'd open another shop in New York.

Now, his empire of 93 shops sells almost a million pairs of shoes a year worldwide to women and men.

Growing up in the French capital, he became intoxicated by the glamour of the Moulin Rouge. And at just 16 years old, he went to work for the famed cabaret Folies Bergre, where he began by sewing sequins onto costumes before honing his skills as a cobbler under legendary French shoe designer Charles Jourdan.

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Christian Louboutin: The inspiration behind the red sole

The critical areas that could be affected by typhoon Ruby if it continues moving west. INQUIRER.net

MANILA, PhilippinesThe National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on Wednesday went on red alert status in preparation for Typhoon Hagupit (local name Ruby).

Yes. We have declared red alert today. It means we are [fully manning] our operations center wherein all member agencies have focal persons. We have representatives for full purposes of coordination, said Usec. Alexander Pama, NDRRMC Executive Director in a press briefing.

There are two scenarios for the typhoon: It would either make landfall in Eastern Visayas or recurve towards southern Japan. Based on current forecast models, there is a 75 percent chance of landfall and 25 percent of recurve according to the state weather bureau.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government has boosted its coordination with local government units.

Nagbigay ng kautusan na dapat andun ang local chief executives sa kanilang mga lugar at simulan na ang paghahanda ng disaster reduction machinery, said DILG Usec. Austere Panadero.

Pinag aabiso din sa mga mamamayan lalo na ang mga mangingisda na pumalaot na kung Sabado [ang landfall] starting tomorrow pa lamang huwag na pumalaot, he added.

Nais naming paalalahanan ang kababayan at local government na gumawa ng hakbang at ang mga pamilya na magkaroon ng sariling paghahanda. Wag kalimutan na dumadaan ang bagyo kahit nasa loob ng bahay, he also said.

One of the two scenarios for Hagupit is that it would slam Eastern Visayas, an area flattened by Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013, on Saturday.

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Red alert up as PH braces for Hagupit

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I Don #39;t Trust Red Heads! Akemi Tan part 2
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(SportsNetwork.com) - Only the Memphis Grizzlies (15-2) have a better record than the Golden State Warriors (14-2), who will try to stretch their season high winning streak to 10 games Tuesday versus the Orlando Magic.

The Grizzlies are idle Tuesday and the Warriors can match them with a win Tuesday night in the opener of a quick homestand at Oracle Arena. The Warriors, who will also entertain New Orleans on the stay, went 5-0 on a recent road trip.

Golden State made it nine wins in a row with Sunday's 104-93 victory over the Detroit Pistons and led by as many as 22 points in the third quarter. The Warriors outscored the Pistons, 32-16, in the second quarter and shot 46.8 percent from the floor.

Stephen Curry, the NBA's fifth leading scorer at 23.8 points per game, recorded 16 points and 10 assists in the win over Detroit, while Draymond Green made a career-best 5-of-8 3-pointers for 20 points. Klay Thompson scored 15 points for the Warriors, whose 14-2 start is the best in franchise history.

"It's showing the character of this team to keep winning games that are obviously tough considering the situation," Curry said. "We're happy to have done so well on the trip going home."

Curry is questionable Tuesday with a sprained left ankle.

The Warriors are 5-1 at home and have won three in a row there. They are first in the NBA in field goal percentage (48.7), third in the league with 107.1 ppg and 10-0 when holding opponents under 100 points.

Golden State won 11 consecutive games from Dec. 29-Jan. 22, 1971-72.

Meanwhile, the Magic ended a four-game slide with Sunday's 93-90 win at Phoenix and improved to 1-1 on a six-game road trip.

The Magic opened the junket with a loss in Indiana on Friday and played four solid quarters against the Suns. Tobias Harris and Nik Vucevic scored 21 and 18 points, respectively, and Evan Fournier ended with 15 points for Orlando, which shot 46.1 percent and survived despite 23 turnovers.

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Red-hot Warriors welcome Orlando to Oracle Arena

Small Change
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The errant pass from quarterback Joe Flacco on third down skidded across the ground late in the fourth quarter Sunday as the Ravens squandered another prime red-zone opportunity.

When kicker Justin Tucker connected on a 31-yard field goal to briefly boost the lead to six points, it repeated a costly pattern for the Ravens during their eventual 34-33 loss to the San Diego Chargers at M&T Bank Stadium.

The Ravens settled for field goals instead of the touchdowns they needed to keep pace with Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, who answered the field goal by manufacturing a game-winning touchdown drive. On Sunday, the Ravens went 3-for-7 in the red zone -- the area between the 20-yard line and the end zone.

Whether it was their inability to pound the football into the end zone, Flacco holding it too long in the pocket and receivers not getting open or the blockers not creating enough push, the Ravens' red-zone failures were a major reason why they lost a crucial AFC game that held major playoff implications.

"That was huge," wide receiver Torrey Smith said. "It was the difference in the game. We wouldn't have had to worry about them scoring at the end of the game. The defense wouldn't have been under pressure like they were, and we have to take responsibility for that."

The setback left the Ravens shaking their heads afterward and taking inventory of what happened. Entering Sunday, the Ravens ranked 15th in red-zone offense with 22 touchdowns on 41 red-zone scoring opportunities.

Their defensive line, they came off the ball very well and they made it very tough in the red zone and on the goal line for us to get a lot of push, Ravens fullback Kyle Juszczyk said. Those are things we stress and things we have to do better. I think it was a key factor, us not scoring touchdowns in the red zone.

I was talking to some of the guys and its a weird feeling because it felt like we were in control of the game the whole time. We were moving the ball. For us not to win this game at the end, its a weird feeling. For us to get better, we know what we have to do. We have to score more touchdowns.

That was a problem the Ravens never solved on a consistent basis. Despite facing a team that entered Sunday ranked 26th in red-zone defense, having allowed 20 touchdowns to opponents in 31 red-zone possessions, the Ravens' offense was stonewalled throughout the game.

The problems started in the first quarter when the Ravens failed to capitalize on an interception by middle linebacker Daryl Smith. The Ravens only came up with two yards on a completion to wide receiver Steve Smith on 3rd-and-3 at the Chargers' 12-yard line, ultimately settling for a field goal and a 10-0 lead.

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Red zone became a dead zone for Ravens in loss to Chargers

Dec. 1, 2014, 4 a.m.

BOB Handby will be spending Christmas sweating in the heat of west Africa helping combat the spread of Ebola instead of the cool Port Fairy sea breeze with his family.

BOB Handby will be spending Christmas sweating in the heat of west Africa helping combat the spread of Ebola instead of the cool Port Fairy sea breeze with his family.

Bob Handby: ready to help. 130729RG17 Picture: ROB GUNSTONE

The 64-year-old former Moyne Shire health manager left Australia yesterday for Red Cross headquarters in Geneva for intense briefing sessions before flying into Sierra Leone next week where he will help improve and maintain water quality, sanitation and body transport.

Hes no stranger to working in crisis zones having previously been on more than 50 foreign assignments to war and disease zones in several countries, his first being to Uganda 30 years ago.

Ive been away on my birthday several times, but never away at Christmas, he said.

To help my eight grandchildren cope with me being away, Ive promised to take them all for a holiday in March.

Im excited about going back to Africa, although it will be my first time in the west.

Hes undaunted by the hype around Ebola which has killed almost 5000 people this year, but is bracing himself for the challenges of wearing a full-protection body suit while working in the hot, humid climate.

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Port Fairy aid worker heads to west Africa to join Ebola fight

An all-Twitter 'box this week. Let's dig in with some possible Blue Jay envy:

That's a great question. Donaldson has been a tremendous player the past two seasons. He is an exceptional defensive third baseman and a legit middle-of-the-order bat. He's been second in WAR among position players (B-R version) in each of the past two seasons, trailing Mike Trout both times. And while he's going to start making some money via arbitration soon, he won't be a free agent until 2019. You could argue the Jays traded for the second-best player in the American League and got him on a cost-controlled deal and you wouldn't be wrong.

But ... Donaldson is older than you probably think. He'll be 29 in December, which is four years older than the third baseman who went to Oakland in the deal, Brett Lawrie. And Lawrie, for all of his injury and maturity issues, shows up as the No. 5 comp on Donaldson's list. Add in the two young arms the A's got as well as a 18-year-old lottery ticket Franklin Barreto, and the suspicions that Billy Beane sees something we don't start to percolate.

I love the Jays' pickup of Donaldson. With him, Jose Bautista, and Edwin Encarnacion in the same lineup, it becomes practically imperative for the Red Sox to add a legitimate righthanded starter to the top of the rotation.

It would have been fascinating to see what the Red Sox might have offered the A's for Donaldson. Beane loves buying low on one-time phenoms, Lawrie being the obvious example here. I bet he would have taken back Will Middlebrooks or Jackie Bradley Jr. as a third or fourth piece in a deal. Guess we'll never know.

I'm glad it worked out this way. I mean, you'd rather see Donaldson in another division, if not another league entirely. But given the choice between paying cash for Pablo Sandoval or trading a top prospect if not two for Donaldson, well, here's to the panda heads. I like having Sandoval and Mookie Betts, you know?

It's pretty remarkable, a tribute to the unyielding interest of sports fans in this market. The success of the teams is also a huge factor, obviously, and the talent of some of the hosts -- not all, but a majority, probably -- is also relevant in drawing and keeping an audience. I've mentioned it before, but perhaps not enough, so here's the reminder again. We get so caught up in the rivalry between The Sports Hub and WEEI and their battles in the ratings that it's easy to overlook that this region sustains two highly rated sports stations. That's kind of incredible, and one of the greatest tributes to fans' passion for their teams around here.

I'm not sure if there's one favorite aspect, Jason, because there has been so much that's fun and rewarding about this season already. Gronk's return to beast-man form is right up there ... but if that trumps the individual brilliance of Tom Brady and Darrelle Revis, or even the emergence of Dont'a Hightower, it doesn't trump these other feats by much.

And that brings us to Chris's question, which is another real satisfaction of this season so far: the emergence of unheralded players as important contributors, whether we're talking Alan Branch, Akeem Ayers, Tim Wright, Jonas Gray, and on and on. It's always a blast to watch Belichick bring in players whose skills fit a specific need, and then to watch him utilize them in a way that brings out their best.

To answer the question, though, it's probably Wright for me, because there was so much howling about the Logan Mankins trade, and suddenly for a number of reasons (money, Mankins's fading skills, Wright's good fit here) it's starting to look like a very savvy move.

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Sunday Mail: Should Red Sox Have Targeted Donaldson Instead of Panda?

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Thomas Knights has pulled together an exhibition focused entirely on hot red headed men, after suffering years of discrimination because of his own red hair. Photo: Peter Rae

You won't see their faces on the covers of magazines, splashed across billboards or at the top of the credit roll. Good luck finding them strutting downthe catwalk or gracing the silver screen.

Tacitus spotted them first in Scotland, the middle-ages cast them as vampires, the brothers Grimm threw them in with sorcery, and Gulliver found them "libidinous and mischievous," on his travels in 1726.

Fiery women and weak men, the historical fiction reiterates. After at least a thousand years of discrimination, Thomas Knights has had enough.

Thomas Knights Red Hot 100 exhibition at the Deutcscher and Hackett Gallery Photo: Supplied

"I want to reclaim the red and re-brand the stereotype," said the world-renowned photographer, who has grown tired of hearing reports of red-heads being ostracised and bullied.

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"We have been conditioned to think that ginger men are ugly and weak," he said.

"How did this happen? When did ginger men say that they are not aspirational, now it's so ingrained into our psyche that it's almost unimaginable to think of a red-haired super hero."

"I wanted to flip this on its head and present the redhead male as the ultimate alpha-male."

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Red hot red heads come to Sydney

The Revolution won Major League Soccers Eastern Conference Championship on Saturday after a 2-2 draw with the Red Bulls at Gillette Stadium gave them a 4-3 win on aggregate score.

The results of both games not only reflect how competitive the teams were over 180 minutes but also aptly describe the margin of the Revs superiority. It was that slight.

The Red Bulls end their season knowing they could have been as jubilant as the Revolution now are. They lost a hotly contested home leg last week on Jermaine Jones late goal and drew a game Saturday that they could have won handily. Instead, New England heads to the MLS Cup for the first time since 2007 and the fifth time in its 19-year history.

Charlie Davies, 28, twice pulled the Revolution from the brink of despair. The Revolution striker canceled out goals from New Yorks Tim Cahill and Peguy Luyindula with two of his own.Maybe its fitting that Davies impact was decisive in a series that was decided by a matter of inches. After all, Davies nearly lost his life and career in a 2009 car accident. The Manchester, N.H., natives biggest goals in five years powered his hometown team to within arms length of the most prestigious trophy U.S. soccer has to offer. It all could have been different had Davies positioned himself a few inches away on Saturday or in 2009.

The Red Bulls threatened the Revolution and controlled the game from the opening stages. Cahill scored a scrappy first goal in the 26th minute. New York could have added a second or third before the interval, as legendary forward Thierry Henry was at his scheming best.

But despite dominating for 45 minutes, the Red Bulls were deadlocked with the Revolution at halftime. Davies had headed the Revolution back to parity 15 minutes after Cahill put his teams collective nose in front.

The Red Bulls continued their charge in the second half, and Luyindula restored their lead eight minutes into the period. The visitors were firmly in control of the game after 65 minutes, but they lost the initiative and ultimately the series.

Cahill should have doubled the Red Bulls lead in the 67th minute, but the Australian forward unbelievably shot over the crossbar, instead of the open goal, from close range. Inches.

Three minutes later, Davies headed the ball past goalkeeper Luis Robles into New Yorks goal. Chris Tierney, a native of Wellesley, Mass., assisted both of Davies goal with pinpoint crosses from the left flank. The Revolution were level in the game and ahead in the series.

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Revolution Beat Red Bulls In Battle Of Inches To Reach 2014 MLS Cup

DAY 26 - Times Square 69 - 3 - I love Red Heads who Think they can #39;t dance, but can

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Discover Australia 2014
OSU College of Forestry faculty-led study abroad program to Queensland, Australia (June/July 2014) While in Australia, I also kept a daily blog: http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/cofaus2014/ ----------...

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S. Daemon, s. Leucosticta, red heads, altifrons
Geophagus earth eaters A relatively slow motion video. Love.it when they play with the earth around them. List: Satanoperca Leucosticta Satanoperca Daemon G...

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