ShowMeBlog

I am never going outside again

  CNN has a story:   The 8 germiest places in the mall

 

“(Health.com) -- During the craziness of the holidays, the last thing you want is to get sidelined with a cold, flu, stomach bug -- or worse. But while you're checking items off your shopping list, you may be exposing yourself to germs -- like flu viruses, E. coli, and staph -- that can make you sick.

"Anywhere people gather is filled with bacteria and viruses, and a crowded shopping mall is a perfect example," says Philip Tierno, Ph.D., director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University Langone Medical Center.

With that in mind, we asked a panel of experts to rank the worst germ hot spots at your local shopping center. Check out the ewww-inducing results -- and tips for keeping yourself in the clear..”

Health.com: How to sick-proof your winter

 

  I hate stories like that and the news media love those stories.  Also local TV news media love to go out and do reports like this.
  I have decided that I am just not going to leave the house.  Or I will get me a biohazard suit and go out with it on. 

  I spent 11 years working at Research Belton Hospital.  I spent most of the time in the ER area.  I worked at night and all the doors were locked and everyone had to enter through the ER door. 
  Since I was in the ER and often they were busy I would often help the ER staff.  I made carts for them and even bagged a few patients and took blood pressures and vitas for them!  I took lab samples to the lab for them often.
  I used infection control practices, of course, all the time.  We had a lot of sick people come in with everything you can think of and some you can not think of.  Had some Grateful Dead fans come in one night.  I wish I had a biohazard suit that night.  I used a lot of alcohol wipes after that patient left.
  I worked at the hospital 11 years and I was almost never sick.  I think I had the flu one time. 
  We had an outbreak of Hepatitis C in Belton and it was so bad that everyone was getting shots and the health department sent a team to Belton to see what in the hell was going on.  A couple of people died from it and that is rare to die just from getting Hepatitis C. 
  
  So hand washing HAND WASHING and hand washing. 
  I used gloves, of course, when I made carts or took samples to the lab and still washed my hands. 
  If you go to the mall or an ATM you can not be using gloves and washing your hands all the time.
  I still think I will stay home.   

Implanted explosives

  Of course, now that I have an implanted device (pacemaker) security officials are worrying about implanted explosives. 

“Washington (CNN) -- Terrorists intent on striking commercial aircraft have shown renewed interest in surgically implanting explosives in humans to circumvent airport security, a U.S. security official tells CNN.

The idea of implanting bombs has been discussed in the past, but the United States has obtained fresh intelligence about the desire of terrorists to implant devices, according to the official.

Another U.S. official said Ibrahim Hasan al-Asiri, the top bomb maker for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), is suspected of being behind the latest efforts…” 

 

  I, of course, have a card issued that says that I have an implanted medical device.  But it is not a high security ID card.  I am sure terrorists could come up with fake cards.
  It is rare for me to fly so it is not a real problem for me.  I have a daughter that has to fly, for her job, all the time. 

  We need a high security national ID card.  A card that every American has to have but I do not see it happening.  The right wing nuts, and many others, would go crazy.  They do not even want to answer census questions.  They would say that are Communist President Obama was wanting us all with an ID card so they could track us and arrest us and put us in camps.  But a national ID card would help with so many problems but I do not see it happening.
  So I feel sorry for people that have to fly. 

The Texas TSA pat-down bill dies

“AUSTIN -- Legislation to ban invasive pat-downs by federal airport security screeners collapsed in the Texas House on Wednesday as the 82nd Legislature finished a protracted 170-day workathon, including 30 days in overtime…”

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/06/29/3189812/blame-game-ensues-after-tsa-pat.html#ixzz1QlCLAGkR

 

  I wish the fucking bill had passed.  Of course President Obama and the TSA, FAA and Justice Department would not have had the balls to fight it like they should have… They would have gone to court and of course the federal government would have won in court.
  But if I was President of the United States I would have had the TSA and FAA ban all International fights in and out of Texas after 9/11 of 2011.
  Texas would have gone to court right away to prevent it but at the same time they would have done away with the fucking law so fucking fast.

“…The bill, which had a die-hard fan base of largely conservative supporters, would have expanded the federal definition of "official oppression" to prohibit federal employees from improperly touching a person's private areas. Violations would constitute a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a maximum $4,000 fine…”

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/06/29/3189812/blame-game-ensues-after-tsa-pat.html#ixzz1QlDrEzSV

 

  The people that want the pat-down bill passed are so fucking stupid.  The law would not be legal and the courts would toss it out.  Also even if it became a law and went into effect no one would pay any attention to it.
  You would have stupid low IQ right wing nuts screaming in the airports from time to time but no real law enforcement officer would arrest a TSA security person for “improperly” touching someone during a security pat-down.  Police officers do pat-downs every fucking day.  

  I did a “pat-down” on the husband of an ER patient one time.  He was a pain in the ass all the time. He and his wife were coming to hospital ERs all the time to get drugs.  He owned a small business in the area with x number of employees.
  I had worked at another hospital for a year and he had shown up over there and made threats that he was going to kill the ER doctor and staff.  Then later I was back working at another hospital and he and his wife showed up and he was acting in his nutty way..Refusing to stay out of the exam room and then when he went in with his wife he would close the door and the staff asked him to keep the door open.
  I just fucking took him out of the room and did a pat down on him.  He got so pissed off that he left the hospital and as he was leaving he said is this such and such a hospital and it was not the hospital and I told him “yes” and he left.  Right away his wife was ready to be released and he was not there but they called him on his cell phone.  When he pulled into the ER garage I refused to let him get out of his fucking car.
  Now was that “improperly” touching someone?  I don’t think so.. I think when you got a guy saying he is going to kill a doctor and staff because they will not give him drugs that you would be a piss poor police/security person if you did not do a pat down.

  We have not heard the last of the pat down bill in Texas.  I am sure the right wing conservative government hating nuts will bring it up and keep bring it up until they get something passed.  I think anyone with an IQ higher than 40 knows it is not legal and is a stupid law.  So people will water it down until it is just a worthless scrip of paper and pass it just go get the nuts off their backs.  What they should do is tell them you are fucking stupid and get he hell out of my office you piece of shit.

Sopelana’s naturist race

“A naturist race, traditionally held every year in the Basque province of Biscay, will take place this Saturday 2nd July on the the Barinatxe beach (also known as La Salvaje), located between the towns of Sopelana and Getxo.

The 5000-metre (3.107 miles) race, which starts at 12:00 pm, is run on compact sand when the tide is out. Children's category participants start running at the same time as adults, though for a shorter distance.

The race, which this year reaches its thirteenth edition, is a pioneering sports event in the Iberian Peninsula, not only because of its distance or for the peculiar way or place where it is run, but because all race participants must run in the nude.

In 2003, the Basque Country Naturist Club (ENE) took over the race and renamed it the "Patxi Ros Trophy" with the aim and purpose of promoting the Naturist way of life and developing a healthy lifestyle along with Naturism and sports.

The Race was renamed in honour and recognition of its founder, who worked to develop it in an altruistic and remarkable way throughout all past editions of this Naturist sports event.”   Eitb.com

Star-Telegram: TX Law on Airport Pat-downs

  I am going to print this entire story so you can understand it.

“BY DAVE MONTGOMERY

dmontgomery@star-telegram.com

AUSTIN -- The Texas House on Monday gave preliminary approval to legislation that prohibits invasive pat-downs by federal airport security agents after incorporating changes that led House Speaker Joe Straus to drop his resistance to the bill.

The Senate passed its own watered-down version of the bill Monday night. The measure now goes back to the House for another vote today.

The substantially reworked measure, however, ignited a new wave of hostility from another direction as scores of former supporters staged a noisy protest inside the Capitol to denounce the changes. Austin radio talk show host Alex Jones, who led the rally, said the changes "completely gutted" the bill.

The controversial measure, which has drawn national attention, also faced another adversary: time.

Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, chief sponsor of the bill in the Senate, acknowledged that it will be a challenge to get the measure to Gov. Rick Perry's desk before the Legislature's special session ends Wednesday.

Despite all the obstacles that have arisen, the bill showed unexpected signs of life just days after Straus denounced it as a "publicity stunt" and vowed that it would not come to the House floor in its original form.

The reworked House bill emerged from talks between Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, and senior members of Straus' leadership team.

Straus said that "after substantial revisions to the bill," he was satisfied that the legislation "lets Texans travel safely, protects the privacy of citizens and enables law enforcement to do its job."

The bill would expand the federal definition of "official oppression" to ban federal employees from improperly touching a person's private areas. Violations would constitute a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a maximum $4,000 fine.

The Transportation Security Administration opposes the measure and has threatened legal action if it becomes law.

The revised bill has changes urged by the Texas attorney general's office to help counter possible constitutional hurdles. One key change allows agents to argue, as an element of defense, that they believed that they were acting within the scope of the Constitution.

Another major revision changes the proposed standard for conducting searches from "probable cause" to "reasonable suspicion" of wrongdoing. The Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas said a "probable cause" standard would unduly restrict law enforcement searches.

But, conversely, supporters of the original bill said permitting "reasonable suspicion" as a basis for airport screening allowed a more relaxed standard that would give TSA agents broad latitude to conduct pat-downs. The bill applies to searches involving people seeking access to public buildings or transportation.

At least 75 protesters led by Jones crowded outside the House and Senate and packed into the governor's reception room to assail the House bill.

Patrick and Simpson defended the changes as necessary to get the bill passed. They predicted that it would force the TSA to make policy changes to prevent abusive behavior.

Dave Montgomery is the Star-Telegram's Austin bureau chief. 512-476-4294”

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/06/27/3183731/texas-house-senate-approve-reworked.html#ixzz1QZvevVrK

 

  I have commented on this bill in the past.  I see they made some changes to it.  Those changes were made to make it constitutional.  Which it still will not pass the constitutional test.  Plus it looks like even if it passes it will not make it to Gov. Rick Perry in time to be signed.
  I think the legislature now knows that this is a crazy and stupid bill but they do not have the guts to tell the right wing nut cases that are supporting it to go to hell.
  I HOPE Texas passes it.  If I were the TSA/FAA I would just not allow any international flights in or out of Texas. 
  See how long it takes Texas to repeal that law then.

Craziest Gun Laws Award

  The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence issued its ranking of gun laws this month and four states “won” the award for having the “craziest” gun laws.
  I am thinking I know Texas has got to have “won.” 
  No the winners are Kansas, Virginia, Utah and Florida!
 

  If you want to see how your state ranks you can go to Sensible Gun Laws Work.

  I have friends that will want to check out that listing so they can see if they can move to some state that has no gun control laws or the weakest.
  I have known a couple of guys that when they travel only want to go to states that will let them carry their  handgun.  One guy I know came to visit a friend in Missouri but he could not carry his gun then in Missouri so he stayed in Kansas and had his friend visit him in KS!

 

Texas an all American state?

  Texas is the real America right? 
  Well it seems that the Republicans and Gov. Rick Perry are selling the streets and the roads to other nations.  Soon when you drive in Texas you will not be driving on an American road but a private road owned by some other nation. 

 

“AUSTIN -- Lawmakers expect to expand the state's authority to lease out highways to developers -- often foreign companies -- for up to 52 years, despite lingering opposition from some Texans.

A handful of bills on the subject could have huge implications for Dallas-Fort Worth, where some of the first such development deals in the U.S. were signed for projects like the $2.5 billion North Tarrant Express, which will overhaul Northeast Loop 820 and Texas 121/183 in Northeast Tarrant County. Now, Metroplex officials want to expand that project to include Interstate 35W in Fort Worth.

Developers have also been awarded the $2.7 billion project known as LBJ Express -- the construction of toll lanes under Interstate 635 in Dallas. It's a trend that worries residents who object to corporations controlling roads and keeping the tolls from them.

"Here in a session where we have a committee on state sovereignty talking about how we're going to throw off the federal government and exercise state rights, we're at the same time losing our sovereignty over public infrastructure, handing over highways to foreign contractors and handing Texas back to Spain," said Terri Hall, founder of Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom.

Hall's group rose to prominence several years ago as Texans rejected Gov. Rick Perry's plan to build a $178 billion toll road network known as the Trans Texas Corridor..”

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/04/22/3021037/texas-likely-to-expand-authority.html#ixzz1KMbm51uA

 

  You know it all comes down to dollars.  There is no love of the land.  Plus just think of the under the table back room deals being made.  That is the Republican way of doing business of course but it also the way they do the public’s business.  Back room deals.

  What have the Republicans done to the nation that now… We will not even own our own streets and roads.  Since they are non-American and private streets and roads they will have “police” that are hired and paid by non-Americans.  They may use private security people but they will work for some other nation. 

  Since the Bush and the Republicans broke our entire system something like this may be a good idea.  Having China, Spain and France build the roads and let them collect tolls until 2061! 
  My problem with it is that you know for sure that there are dirty deals being made and that we not only get screwed with the deals are made but we are going to get fucked when we drive on the roads and pay the tolls.
  Bend over America and take a good look at the for profit private “America.”  

ATC Sleeping Blame President Reagan

Falling asleep on the job? Drug tests? What is going on in those towers?

That's what the Federal Aviation Administration certainly wants to know. They've been conducting an investigation into the air traffic supervisor who reportedly fell asleep on the job at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, forcing two planes to land without assistance from the tower. FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt told the Associated Pressthat, "As a former airline pilot, I am personally outraged that this controller did not meet his responsibility to help land these two airplanes."

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/03/25/faa-suspends-sleeping-supervisor-is-air-traffic-control-out-of-control/#ixzz1HfT60k67

 

  Let me say first if you are an employee working the graveyard (midnight) shift and you fall asleep then you have no excuse.  It may not be your normal shift, you may be working over time, they may have called you in at the last minute or it could be anything.  You might have been up all day and not able to sleep because of a family emergency.  You company may have had to come in in the middle of the day for meeting at work and then expect you to work the midnight shift.  But if you fall asleep at work you have no excuse and you are guilty.
  I have never counted up how many years I worked the midnight shift.  I worked the midnight shift at a number of different hospitals.  I worked at one hospital for 11 years on the midnight shift.  I am an expert on working the graveyard shift.
  Working midnights is hard.  In fact it is a killer.  If you work midnights you have all sorts of medical conditions that you are may get.  You will be sicker more often and sicker when you are and you will have more family problems.  You can expect to die sooner.  The midnight shift is truly a killer.
  
  During my years as a hospital security officer I found a lot of employees asleep on the job.  We are talking ICU nurses, ER nurses and lots of other employees.
  I also have seen police officer sleeping on duty.  At one hospital and that was during the day shift two police officers fell asleep in their car in our parking lot.  They were “watching” a bank that they expected to be held up.  They were a special unit.  Their car ran out of gas while they were sleeping. 
  At one hospital, a Jewish hospital, we received a threat, phone call, and the hospital had security go on 12 hour shifts.  Plus they had the local police supply us with an off duty police officer for each shift as extra help.  The police officer that worked the midnight shift came to work with his own red pillow.  He took his car into the parking garage and parked up on a level that had no cars and he went to sleep and would sleep all night. 

  I also have worked security on the midnight shift at two different ATC control towers.

  Now I have said that the employee was at fault.  Who else is at fault and who is responsible for the ATC mess and problems like this one?
  Two Presidents of the United States;  President Ronald Reagan and President George W. Bush.  I have talked about them and the problems they have caused with our ATC system here in this blog.  Plus I just recently said that we would be having more problems because of the actions of those two. 
  I am not going to repeat it all here and now.  I am going today or tomorrow create a YouTube video on the subject and I will tell you what they did to cause this problem and other major problems that put you and your family and our nation at risk.

Gizmodo story: TSA’s New Body Scanners

  Gizmodo has a story about the new TSA body scanners. 

“Right now, you look something like this or this to the TSA's naked body scanners. But soon, you'll look more like a chalk outline, potential threats pinpointed on a generic sketch of a human form. No buns, just guns.

Starting today at Atlanta's Hartsfield, Las Vegas's McCarran and DC's Ronald Reagan airports, the TSA is testing new software for the body scanners that'll show a "generic outline" of the person being scanned—one that looks the same for every single passenger. If you're all kosher, a giant OK will appear on the monitor. If a "threat" is detected, it'll show up wherever it's located on the outline. Right now, the TSA is testing the new software on millimeter wave scanners, with plans to expand them to backscatter machines later. (Easy way to tell the difference: The hulking machines marked "Pro Vision" are millimeter wave scanners.)

While the TSA is pitching the new software as privacy-enhancing—no doubt, it no longer displays dongs—it's also more economical. Because the images no longer display passengers' individual naked bodies, there's no longer a separate screening room where a TSA agent evaluates the images. Which means they can put more people through the expedited scanning process. (I suspect this incentive is nearly as strong as the response to the public outcry about feeling exposed, since I've personally seen a TSA manager shut down a scanner line because it was taking too long to shove people through.)…”

 

  Above is what the new display will look like. 

  Above is what the most detailed scans looked like if they were being used. 
  I am not sure what the right wing Republicans will scream and cry about now but I am sure they will find something that they don’t like and make it into a big deal.

Remember the Dallas Pickup Truck Chase?

  Remember the Dallas truck chase back on August 19th (2010)?  I just happened to see it live on TV or the web.  The chase made the news across the United States because the guy crashed the gate at Love Field.
  When the chase was going on I knew the area because I had worked FAA control tower security at Love Field.

 

“The man who is accused of driving a pickup truck through a security gate and onto the Dallas Love Field infield during a police chase has been indicted by a federal grand jury with one count of interfering with security screening personnel, according to a release from U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas.

Michael Browne, 45, of Dallas, is accused of leading police on a lengthy pursuit throughout Dallas on Aug. 19, which ended when he busted through the Love Field gate, narrowly missing the security guard on duty there.

By narrowly missing the guard, the indictment said, Browne interfered with the guard's ability to perform her duties.

If convicted, Browne could face life in prison and a fine of $250,000, according to the release.”

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/11/03/2601475/crashing-gate-at-love-field-during.html#ixzz14HIs9koX

 

“A carjacking suspect was arrested beside a runway at Dallas Love Field this afternoon after an hourlong slow-speed chase that wound through Dallas streets.
The chase ended shortly after 3 p.m. when Dallas squad cars surrounded and rammed the stolen gray pickup.
As TV helicopters circled the airport, officers drew their guns before yanking the shirtless man from the vehicle and handcuffing him.
The chase began about 2 p.m. after a carjacking in North Dallas. Officers patiently followed the pickup as it snaked through the city.
But when the driver crashed through a fence and onto a Love Field runway, police quickly converged on him and ended the pursuit.
The airport stopped flights from landing after the man crashed through the gate.”