Bridget and Grace in the Snow

ABC News 20/20: The Candidate's Secret

8 Million people watched, but in case you missed our exclusive Andrew Young interview on 20/20 about the secrets behind John Edward's affair with Rielle Hunter watch it here:

Howie Mandel's Struggle with OCD

Watch an inspiring story as Howie Mandel discusses his lifelong battle with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
CLICK TO WATCH PART 1

CLICK TO WATCH PART 2




OTHER LINKS
Slideshow
Excerpt: "Here's the Deal: Don't Touch Me"
Our ABC News Article

20/20: Friday 10pm - Howie Mandel

This Friday on 20/20: A fascinating look at funny man Howie Mandel's real life struggle with mental health. You will be surprised by what you see. Set the DVR and make sure to watch live with the whole family Friday at 10pm on ABC

My Folks are TV Stars

My parents on Long Island TV:

Full OCD Program Online

You can now watch our full OCD Kids program online with limited advertisement interruption BY CLICKING HERE


Here is a list of some other online components from the show:
Overall Article: (With resources)

Living with OCD: Michelle’s Diary

Dr. Weg’s Guest Column

Hair Puller Article

SLIDE SHOW:
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/MindMoodNews/popup?id=8221920

VIDEO: Ian and Emily (Cut for the web)

VIDEO: Meet Bridget:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=8221508

VIDEO: Meet Rocco:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=8214435

VIDEO: Meet Michelle:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=8253918

Press Release of Show:
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=8214328&page=1

OCD Kids: Tonight - ABC - 10PM

INSIDE THE THERAPY ROOM: CHILDREN FIGHTING OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER ON “PRIMETIME: FAMILY SECRETS,” AIRING TUESDAY, AUGUST 4 on ABC 10pm

http://abcnews.go.com/primetime

I hope you will watch an hour program I have been working on for about a year. Children struggling with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I shot a lot of it myself. The families that gave us access were amazing.

Before Arranging Playdates, Ask About Guns

Read my article HERE about keeping your child safe before they visit a neighbor's house and watch 20/20 tonight (4/10/09) about gun safety.

"But after months of visits, it did come as a surprise to Stephen's mom, Carol, that Robbie's dad, Jan, kept handguns in his home for protection.

"Stephen's been going to Jan's house to play with Robbie, and I had no idea Jan even had guns," Carol admitted. "It just never came up as a conversation."(More...)

Watch ABC News Tuesday Night 10pm - Bounty Hunter - What Would You Do!

You’re at a fruit stand. A Bounty Hunter asks you to help him capture a fugitive… What Would You Do? Watch a story I helped produce tonight on ABC - 10pm.

Go here: http://alturl.com/uxk and make sure to comment. Watch a clip.

Twitter my reporter and tell him what a great job I did:
http://twitter.com/johnquinonesABC

Watch Tonight: What Would You Do? ABC TV @ 10PM

Tune in Tuesday night – 10pm – ABC News: What Would You Do?
I co-produced the final segment in the hour about going to the beach.

You’re at the Beach… A woman gets up leaving her iPod behind… It gets stolen… What Would You Do? What if she was annoying to you? What if she was flirting with your wife?

That's the scenario we put to the test and the results are part of tonight's show.

(I am the thief for the first part of the show and it’s my iPod that gets stolen :-)

Spread the word. Make a comment. Take a look at a promo here: http://tinyurl.com/cqre5m

Twitter my Correspondent John Quinones and let him know how well I did: JohnQuinonesABC

I'm sad to learn that a very nice woman I did a story on was in a car accident this week. My thoughts are with Lee Redmond in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Woman's record-length fingernails broken in crash
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Salt Lake City woman who was in the Guinness Book of World Records for her long fingernails has had them broken off in a car accident. Lee Redmond sustained serious but non-life threatening injuries in the Tuesday accident. Redmond was the current Guinness record holder, with nails that hadn't been cut since 1979. Her nails measured a total of more than 28 feet long in 2008, with the longest nail on her right thumb at 2 feet, 11 inches, according to the Guinness Web site. Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson said she was ejected from an SUV in the crash and taken to the hospital in serious condition.

ABC News 20/20: Guinness Record Holders: Smallest Waist and Longest Nails

SLIDE SHOW: 'How Do You Sleep?' and World's Smallest Waist and Nailing a World Record

Extreme Measures: The Smallest Waist and the Longest Fingernails

My dad is going to the Inauguration in case of emergency

ELTON STRAUSS, MD, has been selected by the Department of State as a member of an elite team of trauma specialists to care for any orthopaedic surgical emergencies during the inauguration of president-elect Obama, in Washington, DC, January 18 through 20

Dr. Strauss is Chief of Trauma and Reconstructive Surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City and has been a member of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) since it's inception six years ago. He looks forward to bringing his abilities to the nation’s Capitol.

“Because of the expected record-setting crowds, our team is being deployed from throughout the Northeast so we will be in position in case there is a need for emergency medical care,” explained Strauss.

“It will be exciting to witness this historic inauguration in person. We’ll be out there with the masses, in our government issued uniforms, in the cold, eating our MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat), and ready to help if called on.”

The population of Washington, DC is expected to swell by the addition of over 2 million visitors for the inauguration festivities; Dr. Strauss and the rest of a 40 member International Medical Surgical Response Team (IMSuRT) will be mobilized to provide a 60 bed field hospital in the event of a mass casualty event. The temporary hospital will be located on The National Mall.

The complexity of today’s mass casualty incidents has increased the need for specialists in disaster care. The NDMS responded to this need by creating rapidly deployable world-class medical/surgical teams for the treatment of disaster victims under the sponsorship of the US Government (Department of Health and Human Services).


Contact Information
Mount Sinai Newsroom
Telephone 212-241-9200
Email NewsMedia@mssm.edu

War on "Honica"

Occasionally as a Producer at ABC News Magazines I write to people in jail. I inquire about hearing their side of the story and sometimes request a meeting. Few prisons allow on camera interviews and many inmates see little benefit of speaking to the media. Most of my letters sent on ABC letterhead go unanswered.

So, I was initially surprised to learn that my requests live on well past our interest in the story. My attempts at printed persuasion are passed from inmate to inmate as reading material - year after year - along with my salutation and return address that was meant for another.

The newly inspired inmates send me respectfully worded ramblings. Some notes arrive hand-written and some typed, but they often follow the same rhyme and flow; declaring their innocence, inviting me to follow up with someone on the outside and often sending me blessings.

Today I received a note from such a stranger and at the end of the note - after the part about being innocent - I was wished "Merry Christmas or happy Honica. (SIC)"

I have some advice for future inmates writing to journalists. Because Hanuka /Hanukkah / Chanukah can be spelled multiple ways correctly (and incorrectly) and because sometimes the choice between Christmas or Chanukah can be answered many ways (ONE/NEITHER/BOTH) I suggest we all wish each other Happy Holidays and call it a day.

Parallels Tech Support Works

Computer tech support departments historically blame problems on the user, deny the problem is their fault (contact your computer maker) or re-direct the user to unhelpful online literature. That is why I would like to give a gold star to the team at Parallels for admitting to me my problem was real and having their developers fix it!

Parallels ($49.99 at Amazon) makes software that allows you to run Windows on your Mac. I had a friend who set up webcams at his house and the software that came with it (Nubix Eclipse Security) required an Active X component. Active X only runs in Internet Explorer and only on a PC. We set up Parallels in a flash, installed Windows XP, downloaded the Active X component, connected to the webcams three states away and .... Black screen. Parallels could not render the images even though they could be seen on a physical PC. (For the record VM Ware's Fusion could not render the images either.)

I wrote to technical support and expected to be dismissed. There were some standard suggestions about checking security settings and some other back and forth that might have been helpful to non-advanced computer users, but I knew this was a limitation of the software.

Imagine my surprise when I was told the issue was confirmed by the technicians and that the developers would work on the problem and repair it in the next free update. I waited a few weeks, and when I was notified I downloaded the free update and my problem was fixed. Operational Active X Nubix webcam software on an iMac running Windows XP with the help of Parallels 4. Thank you.

Perfect Gift - ConfettiCakes Cookbook For Kids

Buy my sister's new baking book. Great for a kid interested in baking or a parent who wants to bake with or for kids…

Confetti Cakes For Kids: Delightful Cookies, Cakes, and Cupcakes from New York City's Famed Bakery (Hardcover)
Elisa Strauss is the founder and head designer of Confetti Cakes in New York City. A former designer for Ralph Lauren, Strauss is famous for her imaginative and elaborate cakes. Her work has been featured in dozens of magazines, as well as on Good Morning America, the Today show, Martha: The Martha Stewart Show, The View, and the Food Network.

Special link at Amazon.com for 30% off ($19.79): http://tinyurl.com/cc4kids
Buy directly from Elisa and get an autographed copy and shipping ($24): http://confetticakes.com/books/books.html
Barnes & Noble or Dylan's Candies for $29

So, if I've ever fixed your computer, made you laugh on a gloomy day, or taught you how to shoot with a DV cam please support the Strauss family and buy Elisa's book.


From yesterday's Daily News:
Cost of a child's custom-made birthday cake: Hundreds of dollars. Cost of making it from scratch: Much less. Look on your child's face when she sees your creation: priceless. And Elisa Strauss , owner of an Upper West Side cake design café/bakery, leads you through every step of the mostly painless process in her new book, "Confetti Cakes for Kids" (Little Brown $29).

ABC News: iChat or You Drive

Chit, Chat or iChat
Video Chats Are Simple, Fun and Accessible
By ERIC M. STRAUSS
Nov. 27, 2008

It's holiday time and, for many of us, that means family visits. Over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we go -- unless the economy is in the tank, and grandma is an expensive plane ride away... (MORE)

Confetti Cakes on The Today Show

Watch my sister Elisa Strauss talk about her new book "Confetti Cakes for Kids"

Watch the video here.

Here is the recipe from The Today website.

ConfettiCakes has a newly designed website and Elisa has been blogging a lot recently HERE.

Elisa on the Rachael Ray Show

My sister was on the Rachael Ray Show today 10/3/08. She is super cool and awesome.

See The Video Here:
http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/show/segments/view/rach-rescue-hits-kansas-city/

Enter to win a copy of Elisa's upcoming book.
http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/club/giveaways/confetti-cakes-kids/

ABC News: Mac or PC, Incentives Abound for Students

By Eric M. Strauss

With just two weekends left before school starts Heintzman has modest plans of hanging out with friends, eating sushi and taking a drive with her father, Mark, to an Apple store to make that one last purchase.

She usually makes her electronics purchases at Best Buy, but this time a perfect storm of educational savings and promotions is too strong for her to ignore, including a rebate to cover an iPod Nano ($199) or a widescreen iPod Touch ($299) with the purchase of a Mac through Sept. 15, an educational discount and a tax-free weekend. (More...)

My Friends Are Heros

My friend from work Joan Lefosse donated her kidney to our friend Ani Mozian-Whitney. Read about it below.