My Lost Luggage is... WHERE?!?!?

We all know that the TSA is responsible for screening passengers, carry-on baggage, and checked baggage on airliners. It would make sense, therefore, to assume that TSA is also responsible for ensuring the security of luggage once it is entrusted to them, and that they take the appropriate steps to do so.

Nope. Once TSA screens the bags, they're the airlines' problem... except when the bags come off the planes and are in secured airport areas. Once the bags are back on the ground, they are again TSA's responsibility, in that TSA is responsible for the security of "back areas".

AP is reporting that 60-70 pieces of airline luggage were found in a Houston dumpster. The luggage belonged to passengers on flights on Continental, Lufthansa, British Airways and US Airways.

A Continental spokeswoman was quoted as saying she didn't know if the contents of the bags were stolen.

It would seem to me that if 60 or 70 pieces of luggage miraculously appeared in a Dumpster, with no indication of how they got there from the airport, it should be safe to assume they are, in fact, stolen.

So, once again, TSA appears to have dropped the ball. Unless, of course, the miscreants grabbed all 70 bags from the carousel, without the rightful owners noticing a damn thing. Somehow, I doubt that's the case.

This Date in Fire History - December 28

Yes, I'm paranoid about fire safety, I admit it. Many years ago, when I was a cop (and taking some college classes), I had to attend an autopsy as part of my classwork. With my usual (not-so-) incredible luck, I drew a fire victim. I have never seen, smelled, or experienced anything like it, and I never want to again.

America has seen some truly horrendous fires over the years, from the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire in 1911 that killed 146 factory workers, to the 1942 fire at Boston's Cocoanut Grove that killed 492, plus the more recent fires at the Beverly Hills Supper Club (165 dead), the MGM Grand Hotel (84 dead) and the Station Nightclub (100 dead).

Time after time, investigators found the same causes for fire fatalities: insufficient fire exits, locked or blocked exits, overcrowding, delayed reporting of the fire, and/or poorly-trained staff.

In an effort to reduce the likelihood of further needless fire deaths, I'm going to try -- with the help of the National Fire Protection Association -- to remind one and all of fire's potential, by posting significant fires (and significant developments in fire safety). NFPA, by the way, is not involved in this effort, other than by providing a list of significant dates in fire safety; I'm using that list as a starting point.

I will try to have daily "This Date in Fire History" posts, with discussion, commentary, and/or advice on fire safety. We may discuss the fires themselves; the social, legal, or psychological ramifications of major fires; how a particular fire may have been prevented (or, at least, how the loss of life may have been prevented); or some combination of the above.

My goal is not to gross you out, my readers; rather, it is to get you thinking, planning, to better allow you to survive a fire situation.

Of course, some of the most significant fires occurred so long ago that little or no information may be readily available. In those cases, we'll discuss what info there is, and how similar disasters may be prevented in the future.

Herewith, the first "This Date in Fire History":

On this date in 1966, an oil tanker truck collided with a train in Everett, MA. The resulting explosion and fire killed 13. The only references I was able to locate were NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) reports, which are not available on-line.

Judging solely on the basis of the report title, it appears there was a tanker-truck/train collision, probably at a grade crossing (based on my experiences in MA). Forty years ago, there may or may not have been gates or signals at such a crossing, especially if it were a spur line. On the other hand, train crews are usually very good about signalling their approach to a crossing (as anyone who has ever lived near a rail line can testify). It has been a Federal law for many years, however, that trucks carrying hazardous materials must stop at rail crossings and ensure the way is clear before proceeding.

Obviously, somehow, the tanker truck and the train tried to occupy the same space at the same time... with predictably tragic results. In this case, thirteen people died, almost certainly the truck driver, maybe the train engineer, and some innocent passers-by.

Time and again, motorists try to beat trains to the crossing, and time and again, the motorist loses.

Back when I was a kid, railroad crossings were marked "Stop, Look, Listen". Maybe we should go back to that.

TSA: More Not-So-Positive Press

Reason.org has an interesting trio of articles on TSA and airport security (the articles date from Jan 31, 2006 to Dec 10, 2006).

In the first (and most recent) article, writer "Adrianm" discusses what many perceive to be a conflict of interests within TSA's functions: regulatory agency and service provider:

But three recent events illustrate that the conflict is very real. One was the widely reported Red Team testing of screening at Newark*, in which the team beat the screeners 20 out of 22 times. A second, reported last week by Annie Jacobsen at National Review Online (Nov. 28th), concerned a four-foot sword (!) that a passenger managed to carry on board an American plane at Dallas-Fort Worth. And the third, also reported by Jacobsen, was an incident at Kona, Hawaii, in which a baggage screener accidentally dropped a binder of information designated SSI (Sensitive Security Information) into a passenger’s luggage while it was being screened. The passenger, Navy veteran Joe Langer, only discovered the binder when he unpacked the bag the next day.

As an aside, it should be noted that the "source" for two of the incidents is Annie Jacobson, whose claim to fame was the "Muslim wedding band" incident I've mentioned in the past, so I would take her with a grain of salt, more so now that she's affiliated with National review.

Adrianm points out that TSA's response to the Newark problem was to dispatch an investigative team... "not why the screening performance was so miserable but who leaked the report to the media."

Adrianm points out -- as have many others, including yours truly -- that the best cure is to restructure TSA solely as a regulatory agency, and spin off the operational aspects (at which they suck, so it would be no great loss).

Next, in an article dated Nov 28, Adrianm comments on how the Democratic-controlled Congress may affect travel security. Adrianm starts with this:

One of the fragile reeds that keeps the system from being worse is that the federalized airport security workforce is not allowed to unionize and bargain for hundreds of policies to benefit the workers and make things worse for the traveling public. No [sic] the least continuing the process of diverting more security dollars into screeners pockets rather than into real security measures.

I think that Adrian meant to say that being prohibited from unionizing would prevent "diverting more security dollars into screeners pockets." I would beg to differ on that point: a starting salary of $24,000 per year is hardly a livable wage. Perhaps in someplace like Duluth, one could survive on $500 a week, but in places like metro NY, DC, Boston, or LA, it's impossible. Coolie wages like these were what got the private screeners into trouble in the aftermath of 9-11, as I've pointed out. Adrianm again makes the point, however, that TSA needs to be overhauled, with which I fully agree.

In the third (and oldest -- Jan 31, 2006) article, Chris Mitchell refers to two Reason.org studies, both of which are quite interesting: "Airport Security: Time for a New Model", and "Reason's Airport Security Research and Commentary."

*Note that this is not the incident I reported on earlier, in which TSA officials conspired with private screeners at LAX to cheat on penetration tests. The Newark case is a completely separate screw-up by TSA.

Round-Up, Part I

My, oh my, what a long, strange week it's been...

First, at least in terms of priority, we lost three more greats: James Brown, President Gerald R. Ford, and former CBS executive Dr. Frank Stanton.

Then, of course, we had the usual Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukah/Festivus insanity, including the obligatory near-riots at several malls. Unfortunately, we also saw yet another fatal shooting rampage, also at a mall.

On the Homeland Insecurity front, a baby was sent through an X-ray machine at LAX. Fortunately, the TSA screener spotted the baby before he receieved an excessive dose of radioation. I suppose a baby's skeleton must look like a pair of toenail scissors in an X-ray.

Also on the TSA front, TSA has announced that airport workers will now be screened upon reporting for work. Mark Hatfield, the Federal Security Director at Newark Liberty Airport outside NYC, said, "it's not because we have suspicions about the employees, but we know they represent a body of people that terrorists can hide among." The screening, of course, will not apply to TSA staff, as they are -- apparently -- inherently trustworthy, despite the agency's record of hiring and retaining perverts, criminals and assorted losers (here and here, plus you can Google "TSA screeners arrested", which now yields 90,500 hits).

TSA's assumption of inherent honesty is tarnished somewhat by an incident in San Antonio, in which a man found a TSA screener's jacket for sale in a local thrift store. After TSA blew the guy off, he went to the local TV station with the story. Turns out, the TSA has at least 3719 missing uniforms and/or employee ID's.

Now bear with me on this...

Your average airport probably has at least 100 screeners (places like JFK, O'Hare, and LAX have more than 1000), who work various full- and part-time shifts. Because of TSA's treatment of the screeners, there is constant turn-over in the workforce, so it's entirely likely that not even the supervisors will recognize each and every person; therefore, they have to rely on uniforms and employee ID's. 3719 missing unforms and ID's means there's an excellent chance that some miscreant will get his/her/its hands on one and cause some trouble.

TSA's response? [Emphasis added]

"Yes I did," Martinez told News 4 during an on-camera interview. "When I first got the jacket, I looked in the phone book and I tried to contact somebody over at TSA. And I told them about the jacket, and they just told me it was a discarded uniform, and that was it. I didn't feel comfortable, but I didn't throw it away or give it away." Martinez said the TSA told him they didn't want it back.

Martinez is the man who found the jacket for sale.

Oh, and TSA lied to Congress about the problem: [Emphasis added]

Congressman Lamar Smith spoke with the Trouble Shooters about the problem during a recent visit to his office on the North Side of San Antonio. Smith sits on the Homeland Security Committee and did not know the problem was getting worse until we showed him the new information. That's because TSA sent him a letter in August claiming the numbers were much lower. In that letter, Assistant Secretary Kip Hawley told the Congressman that TSA did not have any idea of the number of missing uniforms and that only 1375 ID badges were reported missing. That's not true. TSA had the larger numbers in May, nearly four months before they sent the letter to Smith.

Yup, that's "inherent honesty" for you.

The Department of Homeland Security announced a couple of weeks ago that they were implementing new procedures to increase security in the shipping sector, which includes ports and railroads. In response, both the United States Department of Transportation and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey revealed their own plans, which of course provide much better security than DHS's offering.

Gotta love 'em.

The Golden Telephone

Back in the old days, I had a hobby photographing old churches. Not that I'm terribly religious, mind you, I just thought they looked good. Anyway, every church I visited had a gold phone in the foyer, with a card saying "Direct Line to Heaven - $10.00 per Call".

Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire... all had the same thing. Didn't matter what denomination the church was, either: Catholics, Baptists, Congregationalists, they all had the same phone.

So one day, I landed in front of the First Congregational Church of Kittery, Maine, and there was the usual gold phone.

But this one's sign said "Direct Line to Heaven - $.25 per Call". I tracked down the minister and asked why the phone in his church cost a quarter to call Heaven when every other church was ten bucks.

His answer?

"From heah, it's only a local call."

What brought this to mind was last night, thinking about how "the hardest-working man in show business" would finally be able to take a short vacation. I decided to call Heaven and see what James Brown was doing, so I wandered down the street to the local House O' Worship, which happened to be Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility, slid my ATM card into the slot and picked up the phone.

St. Peter picked up the phone, and I could hear a truly righteous party going on in the background.

Nope, James Brown wasn't taking it easy. He was partying up a storm, with Hendrix, Lennon, Harrison, Bobby Darin, Jim Morrison, both Joplins (Scott and Janis), and all the rest.

Christmas day, 2006

What a year.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, etc, to one and all.

I'm at work today (someone's gotta do it, right?), so more later.

"Godfather of Soul" James Brown died this morning. He was 73.

On this date in fire history, 15 people died in a gambling hall fire in Dresslerville, Nevada, in 1947.

So I guess being at work isn't all that bad, all things considered.

RFID Chips and Privacy

Security guru Bruce Schneier, whom I've often cited in the past, has a very interesting piece in his latest Crypto-Gram, about the new Nike - IPod Sport Kit, which allows a transmitter in your sneaker to upload information to your IPod. The trouble is, of course, a complete lack of security: the transmitter can be read up to 60 feet away, using about $250 worth of off-the-shelf components.

Schneier's conclusion? [Emphasis added]

To me, the real significance of this work is how easy it was. The people who designed the Nike+iPod system put zero thought into security and privacy issues. Unless we enact some sort of broad law requiring companies to add security into these sorts of systems, companies will continue to produce devices that erode our privacy through new technologies. Not on purpose, not because they're evil -- just because it's easier to ignore the externality than to worry about it.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: if you're concerned about safety, privacy, and security, you should read his newsletter regularly (it's free, too).

He also links to one of Rich Tennant's The Fifth Wave cartoons (if the name's not familiar, his work graced most of the "... For Dummies" books). The panel zings the TSA... go take a peek.

RIP: Peter Boyle

Peter Boyle, the unexpected comedic genius, has died at age 71, according to the wire services. I hadn't realized he originally was a monk, but what the hell. The church's loss was society's gain. Despite roles in such movies as "Taxi Driver", "Joe", and "The Candidate", I will remember him most for three of his comedic roles: the monster in Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein", the Godfather in Michael Keaton's "Johnny Dangerously", and of course as the father on TV's "Everybody Loves Raymond" (although I truly despised the rest of the cast). he also did the remake of the classic Alka-Seltzer commercial, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing".


On the other hand, this will re-unite Boyle with Marty Feldman (who died in 1982), who played Igor in "Young Frankenstein"... Jesus, what a pair they made.

Rest well, Peter.

Amen. 'Nuff Said.

Lifted from BlondeSense's Red State Blues: [Emphasis added]

Boo-Stinkin-Hoo

So House members have been told that they're gonna actually have to work for a living, with in-coming Majority Leader Steny Hoyer saying that the House will be in session Mondays thru Fridays when the new Congress convenes. That ain't goin' down too well with some of the Republican members, who seem to believe that actually having to work for their annual salary of $165,200 is, um, an assault on family values.

"Keeping us up here eats away at families," said Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), who typically flies home on Thursdays and returns to Washington on Tuesdays. "Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families -- that's what this says."

Tell that to the folks working for minimum wage (which you refuse to raise), Mr. Kingston. Tell that to the people working two jobs just to make ends meet or to pay for health care. How often do you think they get to see their families, Mr. Whiny-Butt Boy? Cry me a freaking river. This is the job you wanted, that you campaigned for, that you spent millions of other people's money to get. So, STFU and get to work.

Exactly.

Obviously, Kingston believes that a three-day work-week is cruel and unusual punishment.

These arrogant little prima donna assholes really need to get out of DC and see what the real world is like.

Mustang Bobby Nails It

Mustang Bobby posted a piece discussing Lizard-boy Gingrich's possible run for the Presidency. He also touches on how the george w. bush administration views the Constitution (that "Goddamned piece of paper"):

Sixty-five years ago today, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Habor and launched America into World War II (a war that we won in less time than the current conflict in Iraq has lasted), this nation responded, as could be expected, with cold fury. In some cases, the people and the government took it out on innocent victims (vide the internment of citizens of Japanese descent) and there were calls for restrictions on the Bill of Rights during wartime in order to protect ourselves. But it was clear then -- as it apparently isn't to the True Believers -- that if we did that, we would be no better than the tyrannies we were fighting. There are some things you just do not give up in order to win, and if we cannot win with our basic laws and ideas intact, then what right do we have to preach freedom and democracy to the world when we can't even guarantee it to ourselves?

If we do give them up, then we surely have become our own worst nightmare. We're getting awfully close to it if Newt Gingrich can seriously advocate "rethinking" the First Amendment and can seriously think about running for president, and people can still take him seriously at all.

"President Gingrich"... there's a scary thought.

Dr. Menlo's Take

Dr. Menlo has a piece up at American Samizdat that bears reading. Some excerpts:

And yet - the average American - known around the world for their idleness at election-time - came out in droves not only for an election, but for a midterm election. Victory for the democrats, my ass. If horses had ran [sic] against the Republicans in the last election, the horses might just have won.

The latinos, too - came out and came out against the Republicans. No longer maybe, as John Leguizamo once put it, will you have "roaches for Raid." (Same goes for loghouse Republicans, etc, etc.) Not for the Democrats, but against the Republicans. Don't just take my word for it - Nancy Pelosi put out the strategy to not say anything - the repubs were just screwing themselves, let 'em fall. You say something, they attack you, so say nothing. Give them nothing to attack while they fall all over themselves . . . and their naked boy teens, gay escorts, dirty money, whathaveyou.

Gore Vidal said the last election was the last chance for this country to save itself before sliding into fascism. Gore Vidal said that. And against all odds - even stacked against the plethora of dirty tricks they pulled out - the people overwhelmed them. That, and they overestimated themselves. Their hubris brought them down. They totally had no idea how many people in this country fucking hated them. Fuck the Democrats, the last election was about hating the Republicans.

They didn't come out for the fucking Dems - they came out against the fascism. Even moderates and righties were spooked by having their phone tapped, and all that shit. Especially darkest before the election - plans to OK everyone leaving and entering the country, extended martial law powers for the retard in the puppet seat, and the ability to take any US citizen in the middle of the nite and not tell anyone about it, and later torture and kill that person, Pinochet-style.

This is another case of "Just go read the whole thing."

Disaster Prep: My Opinion

I'm still working my way through a vertitable TON of literature on disaster preparedness (Part I, Part II), and I keep coming back to a couple of inescapable facts:

• As it was established by President Carter, FEMA brought together disparate segments of the Federal government's emergency response program (the Federal Insurance Administration, the National Fire Prevention and Control Administration, the National Weather Service Community Preparedness Program, the Federal Preparedness Agency of the General Services Administration and the Federal Disaster Assistance Administration activities from HUD. Civil defense responsibilities were also transferred to the new agency from the Defense Department's Defense Civil Preparedness Agency [Source: FEMA History]). This centralized the government's resources and expertise and streamlined the process by reducing waste and duplication of effort.
  
• When President Clinton nominated James Lee Witt as Director in 1993, he chose a man who had had experience as a state emergency manager (the first FEMA director with such a background). He also elevated the FEMA Director to a Cabinet-level position, showing his (Clinton's) commitment to emergency preparedness.
• george w. bush, on the other hand, appointed Joe M. Allbaugh, a political crony with zero emergency management experience. After FEMA was absorbed into the Department of Homeland Security, Micheal D. Brown -- he of "heckuva job" fame -- was named Director.
• After the creation of DHS, much of FEMA's training and preparedness functions were eliminated, out-sourced (of course to bush cronies), or transferred to other DHS entities that did not have the expertise, resources, or even desire to perform them effectively. Katrina and Rita were a direct result of this cavalier approach to disaster management.
  

This leads me to the conclusion that bush viewed (and probably still does view) FEMA as nothing more than a sinecure for his sycophants. Brown, after all, was head of the Arabian Horse Association, a background which did not appear of much use in emergency management (although at least one wag pointed out that Brown did, in fact, "do a heckuva job", in that not one Arabian horse was lost in Katrina).

I would urge the new Congress and Senate to begin a comprehensive review of FEMA, and DHS as a whole, with the goal of re-creating FEMA as a separate Cabinet-level agency, designed to concentrate on emergency management and disaster response efforts, as it did under Carter and Clinton.

Certainly, terrorism is not going to go away as a concern for Americans, and some sort of DHS-like agency is still going to be required. I would posit, however, that a restructured DHS-2 (for lack of a better term) could function efficiently as a component of a reconstituted FEMA, with its terrorism expertise (such as it is) supporting the overall preparedness goals of FEMA.

DHS, as it was envisioned by the bush administration, had terrorism as its primary -- if not sole -- focus; all other department functions were subordinated to terrorism. In an address in February, 2004, Secretary Tom Ridge (another whose only claim to disaster expertise was supporting george w. bush), said:

Our mission is: "to lead the unified national effort to secure America," to "prevent and deter terrorist attacks and protect against and respond to threats and hazards to the nation." That, in fact, is our Department's Mission Statement. [Emphasis added]

Ridge made it abundantly clear that the department's main focus was to be the "sexy" issues, not the mundane. Yet, it is the mundane issues that killed people in Louisiana and Mississippi.

A critical component of disaster planning (or any planning, for that matter) is "thinking outside the box": what could happen? what can go wrong? and how can I prevent or lessen the impact of what does go wrong? This requires the ability to think creatively, to examine an issue for all possible contingencies, to rank those contingencies by likelihood and impact, to determine mitigation strategies, and to decide if the risks identified can be accepted, mitigated or transferred - in other words, it requires the ability to perform a full "risk assessment" on a contemplated project (or emergency). The lack of independent thought fostered by the bush administration, however, has resulted in DHS planning "for the last attack" (as Bruce Schneier puts it), instead of examining potential new attack modalities.

What should happen is this (and this is drawn from the recommendations of assorted experts):

• Re-establish FEMA as a separate, Cabinet-level agency, with its top management drawn from experienced emergency managers;
• Restructure TSA as a regulatory agency, eliminating its operational aspects (since they haven't worked out so well, as I and many others have pointed out in the past);
• Return TSA's operational duties to the private sector, with much greater oversight to prevent abuses;
  
• Remove the intelligence-gathering aspects from DHS and place them within the FBI, and beef up the FBI's existing Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR, their version of Internal Affairs) to prevent abuses similar to those we have already seen;
• Transfer DHS's existing planning and logistics functions to the reconstituted FEMA;
  
• Perhaps (and I'm not 100% sure of this) consider taking the enforcement operations of DHS -- Immigration, Customs, etc. -- and place them in a separate agency (this agency may want to retain the DHS name);
  
• Increase Congressional oversight of all revamped DHS/FEMA-type operations, and ensure that scarce resources are not being squandered; and (perhaps most important)
• Beg, plead, cajole, and if necessary, bribe James Lee Witt into returning and rebuilding the agency he took to the pinnacle of success before it was gutted by the bush administration.
  

What will happen, of course, is probably something vastly different.

At least, until the grownups are back in charge.

Schneier on Voting Irregularities

Bruce Schneier, whom I've cited before, has four consecutive articles on voting issues in the current issue of his newsletter Crypto-Gram. The first two discuss errors (and possibly, fraud) in tabulating votes. In the second article, he says:

I'm happy to see a Republican at the receiving end of the problems.

Actually, that's not true. I'm not happy to see anyone at the receiving end of voting problems. But I am sick and tired of this being perceived as a partisan issue, and I hope some high-profile Republican losses that might be attributed to electronic voting-machine malfunctions (or even fraud) will change that perception. This is a serious problem that affects everyone, and it is in everyone's interest to fix it.

I tend to agree with him, it's nice to see Republicans bitching about election fraud.

On the other hand, all four articles -- the first four in the issue -- paint a rather bleak picture of the accuracy of elections these days.

If you don't read Crypto-Gram on a regular basis, you should.

THAT'S A Possibility.....

Updated to add this:

WARNING: If you are offended by graphic, non-politically-correct language, or if you believe LordGodKing Dick'n'george and his minions are God's own saviors, DO NOT READ THIS PIECE! If the truth offends you, try here.

Here's one suggestion for "the ultimate solution", via FireStarter5:

Are You Sitting Comfortably?
The solution to America's problems is simple - ROUND UP EVERY MINDLESS, ABHORENT, HELL-BOUND, SATAN-SPAWN, DISEASE-RIDDEN, LOWLIFE, SCUM OF THE EARTH, PIECE-OF-SHIT, COCK-SUCKING, SHIT-EATING, PATHETICALLY STUPID, MORONIC, IDIOTIC, IGNORANT, BIGOTED, RACIST, MISOGYNISTIC, XENOPHOBIC, INCESTUOUS, COWARDLY, YELLOW-BELLIED, CONSERVATIVE, RIGHT-WING, NEO-FASCIST, NAZI-LOVING, PEDOPHILE PROTECTING, REPUGLIKKKUNT TROGLODYTE ASSHOLE SATANIST, TRY THEM, CONVICT THEM, MERCILESSLY TORTURE THEM SO THEY KNOW HOW IT FEELS, AND THEN SHOOT THEM IN THE HEAD - FOR TREASON. We can then bill their surviving relatives for the bullet. PROBLEMS SOLVED.

(Thanks to the Yahoo Message Boards)

....and you thought I had a mean streak!

Yeah, that would pretty much do it, I think.

Emergency Prep and Garage Doors

In re-reading two posts from earlier, I was struck by another useful piece of knowledge to have in an emergency:

If you have an electric garage door opener, make sure you know how to open it in a power outage... or if the Air Force seizes control of the zapper.

DHS Strikes Yet AGAIN!

Bob's Links and Rants has a good piece on DHS's latest "tool", the Automated Targeting System. This allows the DHS to assign every person entering or leaving the country -- even United States citizens -- a "threat assessment score" (similar to a credit score). These scores, of course, are confidential, and the methodology is double-super-top-secret. And like a credit score, there's no way for the "consumer" to correct an inaccurate report (and the ATS scores will be maintained for 40 years, not the seven years credit reports are held).

Go. Read. Now.

Another of george w. bush's "critical" efforts in the war on freedo-- err, terra.

Amazing how many yard signs I've seen in and around the Ann Arbor area that say "Impeach bush".

Disaster Prep: 2 Good Articles

One of the email groups to which I subscribe is aimed at emergency managers. Today's digest links to two articles from Hal Newman's fascinating website, BigMedicine.ca, both of which are well worth perusing.

The first article, The Fire, discusses Angela Devlen's response (and reaction) to a fire that destroyed her home earlier this year.

The second, Disaster Simulations: Getting Better, But Still No Panacea, examines the Zack Phillips article in Government Executive I cited a couple of days ago.

Both pieces are excellent, and the whole site is worth a read. That's why it's now on the blogroll (even though it isn't a blog, per se].

Disaster Preparedness: Cover Your Ass

Blue Girl in a Red State stopped by to read the posts on emergency preparedness, and posted a very good article at her blog about what sort of things one should have around the house for emergencies. I’d like to add a few suggestions.

First, the most important thing to have is knowledge. If you’re going to be on your own for three days to five days as FEMA suggests, here are some things you should know:

• First Aid and CPR: People are injured in disasters, that’s a given. A basic 9-hour First Aid/CPR class can enable you to save a life – your own or that of a loved one. Classes are available through the American Red Cross; click on the link to find your local chapter. The course costs approximately $65.00.
• Fire Extinguisher Use: Get at least one extinguisher per level of your house (including the cellar or basement). Make sure you get the kind with a metal valve assembly (they can be refilled; the ones with plastic assemblies cannot). KNOW HOW TO USE IT SAFELY. Instructions will be included with the extinguisher; read them. Your local fire department may offer training in the proper use of extinguishers. OSHA and the National Ag Safety Database also have information on their websites.
• Utilities Shut-Offs: Know where the main shut-offs are for gas, water, and electricity, and know how to turn them off. Most residential gas services can be turned off using an adjustable wrench, but there are special tools available to make it easier. Once you have shut off your gas service, ONLY a licensed gas technician may turn it back on. Being able to safely turn off a gas main is critical in trailer parks and densely-populated developments and subdivisions.
• CERT (Community Emergency Response Team): If you want to get some really good solid training in basic disaster response, Citizen Corps is coordinating CERT training (in cooperation with FEMA). Their website has more information.
• Additional Training: Yeah, I bitch about FEMA a lot, but their Emergency Management Institute offers free on-line training courses. Take a look at the full course list, but I’d recommend the following: IS-22, Are You Ready (with the caveats from Taylor’s article); IS-55, Hazardous Materials for Citizens; IS-111, Livestock in Disasters (if you’re a farmer); IS-317, Intro to CERT (this does not substitute for CERT training, but it will help you decide if you want to pursue it); and IS-394A, Protecting Your Home From Disaster. The Red Cross also has a number of training courses available through their Disaster Services unit. You can also check with your state or local emergency management agency for training and guidance.

Second, you need equipment and supplies.

• Food: As Blue Girl points out, “Tuna fish and soda crackers and granola bars can get really old really fast”, but there are lots of other options. Pretty much any canned food will work in an emergency (just ask the Boy Scouts): Spaghetti-O’s, chili, fruits and vegetables, even Spam (the meat product, not the email). Badtux ran a series of reviews a while back on MRE’s (Meals, Ready to Eat) and similar fare (you’ll have to search his archives). MRE’s are available through camping stores and mail/Internet order. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AN OLD-FASHIONED MANUAL CAN OPENER.
• Water: Figure at least 3-5 gallons per day, per person (and don’t forget pets and livestock) for drinking, food preparation and sanitation. Most grocery stores now have bottled water in the large 5-gallon jugs; those work fine.
• Medications, etc: Make sure you have additional supplies of prescription drugs or other medications that you use regularly (aspirin, etc). Your doctor may be willing to prescribe additional supplies for an emergency kit.
• Tools: You should have at least basic hand and rescue tools stored in your emergency shelter: hammer, regular and Phillips screwdrivers, pliers, prybars, hard hat, work gloves, safety goggles, bow or limb saw, etc. If you can get your hands on one of the old-fashioned bumper jacks (the kind with the cup that goes under the bumper, not into a slot on the bumper) that would be handy, too.
• Sanitation: As Dr. Taylor pointed out, FEMA’s recommendations for personal sanitation in disasters leaves much to be desired. A camping or chemical toilet is a much safer and much more effective solution. Camping stores and recreational vehicle (RV) dealers can provide equipment and supplies.
• First Aid Kit: You can buy prepared first aid kits everywhere from grocery and drug stores to Lowe’s and Home Depot, and, of course, at your local Red Cross chapter. A simple kit should cost less than $20.00, but you can spend lots more, depending on your individual needs. Make sure it includes non-latex gloves and a breathing barrier (for performing CPR).

You should have scaled-down emergency kits in each vehicle in the family. Remember to add blankets and reflective triangles or flares (fusees), and remember to check all fluid levels, tire pressure, and condition of your spare regularly.

Reducing Fraud and Waste = Terrorist

Want more proof that the george w. bush administration labels as "terrosists" anyone who doesn't agree with them?

Doan compared Miller and his staff to terrorists, according to a copy of the notes obtained by The Washington Post.

"There are two kinds of terrorism in the US: the external kind; and, internally, the IGs have terrorized the Regional Administrators," Doan said, according to the notes.

"Doan" is Lurita Alexis Doan, Administrator of the General Services Administration. GSA manages contracts, real estate and all sorts of other stuff for the Federal government. Brian Miller is the Inspector General of the GSA - he's the person responsible for reducing fraud and waste, and conducting audits and contract reviews.

Why is Doan saying Miller is a terrorist? Because he won't knuckle under to Doan's attempts to reduce his audit and inspection budget, nor is he willing to allow "shifting some responsibility for contract reviews to small, private audit contractors"... which, for the bushies, means no-bid contracts for Halliburton and Bechtel to investigate their own fraudulent and/or wasteful activities.

What are their respective backgrounds? Doan is a bush political appointee and former government contractor; Miller was a Federal prosecutor (he worked on the Moussaoui case).

Why is the Inspector-General concept so important (especially these days)?

Inspector general's offices were given by Congress a mandate to operate as independent watchdogs in the executive branch, working on behalf of taxpayers to guard against wasteful spending. The Inspector General Act of 1978 stated: "Neither the head of the establishment nor the officer next in rank below such head shall prevent or prohibit the Inspector General from initiating, carrying out, or completing any audit or investigation."

The GSA inspector general's office's audits have helped the agency recover billions of dollars in recent years from flawed or fraudulent contracts. Some vendors and government workers have complained that the audits have made contracting more cumbersome than necessary. [Emphasis added]

Yeah, I bet the OIG's have made contracting more cumbersome - you have to show results, not just pay a bribe.

Another brilliant point from Doan's complaining:

Since 2000, the number of employees in the inspector general's office has grown from 297 to 309, according to the office.

Yup, they've added twelve -- count 'em, TWELVE --employees in six years, as opposed to the much more modest growth in, say, the Department of Homeland Security: as of August, 2003 -- six months after it was established -- DHS had 160,000 employees - or 8% of ALL Federal employees. God only knows how many there are now... I tried Googling "total DHS staffing" and found everything but.

Here's the money quote, from John C. Lebo, a former GSA/OIG budget official:

"The Administrator's Office wants to change the IG's overall approach from independently rooting out crime, fraud and abuse, to one in which the OIG is a team player working with GSA."

Yup, that sounds like the bush administration, all right.

Only in America...

From the AP:

What do remote-control garage door openers have to do with national security? A secretive Air Force facility in Colorado Springs tested a radio frequency this past week that it would use to communicate with first responders in the event of a homeland security threat. But the frequency also controls an estimated 50 million garage door openers, and hundreds of residents in the area found that theirs had suddenly stopped working.

Technically, the Air Force has the right to the frequency, which it began using nearly three years ago at some bases. Signals have previously interfered with garage doors near bases in Florida, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

Unless things have changed even more drastically than I thought, garage door controllers were in a separate part of the radio spectrum from most voice channels. Obviously, the controllers themselves use a very low output power (much less than the toy walkie-talkies we played with as kids), and a tower atop Cheyenne Mountain would likely overpower the controllers, but still....

I can hear it now:

"We're opening your garage doors here so we won't have to do it there... when we ship you off to Gitmo as a Demoslamifascis---- errr, terrist. If you control your own garage door, the terrists have won. Heh, heh."

I heard somewhere -- and I don't know if it's true or not -- that the Cheyenne Mountain facility (or at least the national command post inside the mountain) is being mothballed. It was built in the late 50's or early 60's -- during the height of the Cold War -- to function in case of a nuclear attack on Washington. Subsequent "advancements" in weapons technology, however, have made the bunker just as vulnerable as anyplace else on earth.

Blue Girl on the Baker Commission

The ever-talented Blue Girl In A Red State had a piece up the other day on the Baker Commission report. In that she made the salient points much better than I would have, here is her take on it, reprinted with her permission:

Baker Commission Consensus

Well the report we have all been waiting for with bated breath is ready but they are holding it back for another week.

This week is important. That is all the time they have to shift ownership of this swamp to the Democrats. Step one: They are sending Lee Hamilton out as the advance man, and they are calling it the Baker-Hamilton Commission.

What a bunch of crap. I bang my head on my desk in frustration and anger. Why do we let these bastards get away with this garbage? We aren't going to anymore, right? We are going to hold the replacements accountable, right?

Here's the deal. The netroots needs to stick together. We need to be signed up for the emails from our senators and representatives whether they are our party or not. When they vote a way we disagree with, we need to let them know. When they do the right thing, we need to let them know that, too. Do not, for a second, let them forget just who the fuck it is they work for.

We need to embark on a new age of accountability on behalf of our public officials, from your city councilman to the President. Keep an eye on every one of the bastards and ride them like a rented pony.

People have said they were mad as hell and not going to take it anymore for years. Do you mean it yet? Now is your chance to prove it. When they catapult the propaganda, push back. Call it the Baker Commission. Remind the world that Jim Baker is the Bush family consigliere, the fixer. The guy Cheney shot in the face? Baker's brother-in-law.

This is Juniors fuck up and Daddy's friends are having to bail his punk ass out. This is not a bipartisan misadventure and don't let them repackage it as such.

Do not let the message get recast. Stay on top of it, damnit and keep the bastards honest. It's a hell of a job but when the founders gave us this republic they told us it was ours as long as we could keep it. They never said the retention process would be easy, but most things worth keeping aren't easy to hold on to.

As I say, she has nailed it completely.

Yeah. What Bobby Sez.

Mustang Bobby hits the nail on the head at Bark Bark Woof Woof:

This is the dictatorship mentality; the people must be led by an all-knowing, all-seeing ruler who is the only one who knows what is best for the nation; he is the only one who is in true touch with what God really wants for America and the world. All glory, laud and honor to our Dear Leader, George W. Bush. Everyone else is deluded, wrong, or weak, and now our enemies are rubbing their hands with glee because the American electorate chose the Democrats.

Exactly.

Emergency Preparedness - Part Two

[Update: Fixed some formatting and spelling errors, and deleted a duplicate post}

In Part One, we examined a very good article by Dr. Eric Taylor and his take on the FEMA emergency preparedness manual. In Dr. Taylor's view, the manual falls short in many critical areas. In this part, we'll take a look at what other emergency response professional think of our state of preparedness.

James M. Shannon, president of the National Fire Protection Association, writing in the current issue of the NFPA Journal, has this to say about preparedness as it affects the fire service:

Let me be blunt. Most American communities were not prepared to cope with a homeland security event when 9/11/2001 occurred. Most are not prepared now. And most will not be prepared in the future at the pace we are moving.

Shannon is reporting on a recent study completed by NFPA for the U.S. Fire Administration, which is part of FEMA. Here are some of the points he makes: [All emphasis added]

For instance, there was some improvement in planning by fire departments to coordinate the use of outside personnel and equipment in a homeland security response for a wildfire or terrorist attack. But the study found that most departments still do not have written plans for these kinds of incidents.

There has been some progress made in providing SCBA [Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus, or "Scott Packs"] and PASS [Personal Alert Safety System, which emits an ear-splitting tone of a firefighter does not move for a predetermined period of time - ie, if he's unconscious or trapped, - which assists other firefighters in finding their fallen comrade] devices. But even after all of the attention that has been paid to improving preparedness, 60 percent of departments do not have enough SCBAs and 48 percent do not have enough PASS devices to equip everyone on a shift.

The number of firefighters with insufficient training or certification has declined, but even for something as fundamental and near-universal as structural firefighting, more than half of departments still do not have all involved firefighters formally trained.

Overall, in area after area, the second needs assessment shows that there has been little or no progress, not because the grants program has been misdirected or ineffective but because the needs are so great relative to the size of the program.

How does this affect the preparedness efforts we as citizens must make? If the fire service -- for whatever reason -- is unable to respond in the event of a major emergency, we are on our own.

This is why it is so critical for all citizens to have at least a few fire extinguishers around the house, and the knowledge of how and when to use them... and more importantly, when not to use them and get the hell out instead. Your local fire department can supply a huge amount of useful information (and maybe even training) in home fire safety, as can NFPA and USFA.

GovExec.com reporter Zack Phillips wrote about emergency preparedness exercises, and how they may tend to provide artifically rosy results. Beginning with FEMA's now-infamous "Hurricane Pam" exercise in 2004, Phillips examines the strong and weak points of drills and exercises and cites Michael J. Hopmeier, who:

...points to the example in September of joy-riding teenagers driving past the guard posts at the Miami military base that houses U.S. Central Command, and a retired police officer using fake identification who entered Homeland Security Department headquarters in June. "When it wasn't a test, when it wasn't the [inspector general] going through, when it wasn't an assessment; when it was a real-world event, it turned out the security failed," he says. [Emphasis added]

Phillips also notes how the costs associated with exercises have skyrocketed: TOPOFF1 ("Top Officials", the granddaddy of all exercise programs), in 2000, cost $3 million, 2005's TOPOFF3 cost $12 million.

Phillips goes on to point out the effects of pre-planning in an exercise: the advance notice to participants may result in overly-prepared responses, rather than the spur-of-the-moment actions that actually occur:

"If you know there's going to be a test of everything, then you've already bought the answer, or you've excluded a lot of the problems," says William Bicknell, a professor at Boston University's School of Public Health and a former Massachusetts public health director.

Its similar to knowing there is going to be a fire drill at work at 9:30 AM on Thursday: you're going to keep your coat handy, you'll make sure you're not on the phone, and so on. Yet, in a real fire, smoke may obscure the path to an exit, especially if you're forced to use an exit other than your normal one. In some ways, a drill or other emergency exercise presents a "best-case" scenario, rather than the "worst-case" that always seems to develop in a legitimate emergency.

Phillips' conclusion appears to be that exercises do offer concrete opportunities for improvement, but there are some deficiencies that need to be rectified to achieve full value from the programs.

Emergency Preparedness - A Review of the Literature

[Update, 12-01: fixed a couple of formatting errors. I'll have to make my way through Drak Wraith's "HTML for Bloggers" course...]

Note: This is Part One of a multi-part series examining the state of emergency preparedness in the United States, especially as it affects ordinary citizens.

I’ve been bitching a lot recently about DHS (Department of Homeland Security), its subordinate agencies and directorates, and the generally poor state of emergency preparedness. It occurred to me, however, that I might have been alone in those estimations, so I decided to undertake what the academics refer to as “a review of the current literature”, to see what other practitioners had to say.

First, in the current issue of The Internet Journal of Rescue and Disaster Medicine, Eric R. Taylor, Ph.D. (University of Louisiana at Lafayette) examines the two versions of FEMA’s much ballyhooed citizen’s disaster manual, Are You Ready? Both editions – the original, and an updated “In-Depth” version – claim to provide definitive information for citizens in the event of technological or natural disasters. [All emphasis added]

I will follow Taylor’s headings in this article, just in case the reader wants to verify quotes, etc.

From the abstract to Dr. Taylor’s article:

The FEMA document for terrorism preparedness intended for use by the public does not offer useful information the public can use to actively take steps in their own defense and protection against weapons agents that may confront them in an active terrorist attack. The public remains unprepared to act on their own behalf, and by the time official notice of an attack in determined and announced, many people may suffer injury or die for lack of realistic preparation.

This, despite FEMA’s exhortation:

“... don't wait until disaster strikes before you tell the people what to do. Your motto should be the same as the scouts. You want the people to BE PREPARED!”

Introduction

Dr. Taylor asserts that the American populace has been conditioned to that the government can “care for them, defend them, assist them in virtually any phase of social and natural disasters and assaults that come their way”. He adds, however, “It should be painfully clear now that government cannot do so” and that “the primary document advanced by FEMA does a poor job of educating the public on terrorism related preparedness.”

U.S. Terrorism Preparation

Taylor initially discusses the overall terrorism preparedness posture, making the following points:

• “It is the public that is now in need of useful, do-able information for preparing and responding to a terrorist attack, especially WMCD [1]”
• “What is needed is a single source of information written in a form and at a level of technical depth designed for the general public in a single source document from a single federal agency.”

Taylor further cites the testimony of government officials before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearings in February, 2005. Vice Admiral Lowell E. Jacoby, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) addressed al Qaeda’s capability to employ and deliver unconventional weapons, saying, “Because they are easier to employ, we believe terrorists are more likely to use biological agents such as ricin or botulinum toxin or toxic industrial chemicals to cause casualties and attack the psyche of the targeted populations.” This is particularly disturbing in light of the repercussions of several recent haz-mat (hazardous materials) incidents recently, such as the Apex fire or the Graniteville train derailment, both of which resulted in fatalities, wide-spread evacuations, release of toxic chemicals into the atmosphere, and significant property loss.

Porter Goss, Director of the CIA, said, “al Qaeda is intent on finding ways to circumvent U.S. security enhancements to strike Americans and the Homeland [sic].” As I have pointed out (along with many others), the “security enhancements” to which Goss refers are virtually non-existent. Rail yards full of toxic chemicals are left wide open and unguarded, less than six percent of the freight containers entering the county from overseas are inspected [2], the food chain is virtually defenseless, the public water supply ditto. The screw-ups at TSA can catch nail clippers and shampoo, but manage to miss bombs (fake, thank God) in carry-on luggage.

Nature of the Threat

Taylor posits, however, that “nothing offers a greater long-term hazard and threat on a more likely level of occurrence than bioterrorism….”, adding, “If the technical know-how, or the actual agent samples fall into the wrong hands (such as rogue states and/or through them, terrorists), our safety is seriously compromised by these “artificial” and virulent agents for which no human has any natural resistance and no medical practitioner has the means to fight.”

Unfortunately, we may ourselves be supplying the technical know-how to those who wish us harm. Thousands of international students – many from Muslim countries – study at American universities. Obviously, the vast majority of these students are simply interested in learning and bettering the world as a whole. But there is a small percentage – certainly less than 1% overall – who want to use our knowledge against us (witness Atta and his cohorts taking flight lessons in American flight schools). And don’t think that immigration and border control authorities are doing anything to stem the flow. I used to work for a university police department, and I can tell you from experience, visa control and enforcement is a joke. The federal agencies have neither the manpower nor the budget to effectively track the thousands of alien students, while the universities turn a blind eye in the interests of tuition income.

FEMA’s Public Terrorism Education

In reviewing the first edition of Are You Ready?, Taylor highlights many problems:

• The initial guide “was fraught with brevity that bordered on uselessness for the technological material, especially the terrorism and WMCD It also overlooked more commonly useful items for implementation of its recommendations for action, and in some cases offered potentially hazardous information if carried out by the public.”
• “A comparison of the two different versions reveals the overall inadequacies of the approach FEMA took, and retained in the latest version available to the public.”
• “The Shelter section advised making an emergency toilet if necessary. It suggested sprinkling a household disinfectant such as household bleach into the container to reduce odor and germs. As anyone who has read the label of a bleach bottle (or an ammonia bottle) knows, the warning is quite specific and emphatic: DO NOT MIX BLEACH with AMMONIA. Human urine contains ammonia and will generate more on standing. The bleach added to ammonia- generating materials can produce any one or all of several poisonous chemicals (chlorine, nitrogen trichloride, or hydrazine) depending upon the proportions and concentrations of bleach and urine-based ammonia, mixture temperature and standing time. The recommendation served to replace the obnoxious with the noxious. These poisonous by-products are potent respiratory irritants. This problem is increased by many people utilizing the same receptacle repeatedly over time in a presumably confined, unventilated space. The fumes can build up very quickly.”

The last emphasized portion deserves repeating:

The recommendation served to replace the obnoxious with the noxious.

Back to Taylor’s review of the first edition:

• “The same section of the initial guide also notes that water can be purified by distillation. The means suggested– placing a cup under an inverted lid within a pot of boiling water– seems clumsy, probably hazardous to perform, but certainly inefficient, not to mention energy and time consuming for very meager returns. The last thing those in an emergency situation need is a second or third degree burn from distilling water. Distilling enough water this way for a few people to serve their minimum daily needs is doubtful. If you lose electricity or natural gas through the incident, you can't distill anyway.”

The In-Depth August 2004 Guide

Moving on to the second, “in-depth” 2004 edition, Taylor notes: [Citations omitted]

• “The Chemical Threat section of the In-Depth Guide does not even mention the four types of lethal chemical weapons. It does not indicate the relative rapidity of action of one class to another. It does offer a string of signs or symptoms of lethal chemical weapons employment in a terrorist attack. But the string of symptoms are generic, could be in some cases those of allergic responses, and suggests by its manner of presentation that they may all become present. There is no elaboration of any kind to offer agent class specificity. This in what is called an In-Depth guide. And the same cite makes the statement, while potentially lethal, chemical agents are difficult to deliver in lethal concentrations. This is an unjustified generalization that is disarmingly misleading and false. Both the original Guide and the In-Depth Guide state that chemical agents are difficult to produce. This is patently false. Chemical agents were originally made and used in WWI and they were made and used specifically because they were made from exiting industrial chemical precursors, cheap to make and within handling safety considerations, easy to make and use.”
• “The section [on biological threats] refers the reader to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website (www.cdc.gov) for specific information. . . . . Much of the available information is primarily for professionals rather than lay people and may be rather technical for them. The problem with referring readers of the In-Depth guide (hardcopy) to a website is that many people may not have web access.”
• “[E]xposure to levels of chemical agent that may be sublethal to adults may well be lethal to children and pets as lethal dose is body weight dependent (LD50). This of necessity brings into play the need and concern for personal residences decontamination and especially surfaces outside that are frequented by all, especially children and pets. FEMA's In-Depth guide offers no advise on how to deal with this likely problem, much less how to undertake necessary hasty decontamination of residential exterior surfaces and what to use for doing so.”
• “The current FEMA In-Depth guide does avoid the technically overwhelming feature. It also avoids the completeness, the thoroughness, the robustness required of a document purported to be In-Depth….”
• “Many people bought “gas” […] masks as respiratory protection during the anthrax-mail attacks. […] The typical American has no idea of how to assess the appropriateness or serviceability of the mask or the filter elements.”

Perhaps Dr. Taylor’s most telling comment is this:

“After tens of billions of dollars spent on terrorism preparedness, with hundreds of expert chemists, biologists, physicists, and physicians on the government payroll, FEMA's In-Depth Guide is the best the federal government can offer the public? The public may face serious trouble ahead.”

In subsequent parts of this series, we’ll look at what others in the emergency response community have to say about the overall preparedness posture.

---

[1] Taylor prefers the term “weapons of mass casualty and destruction”, over the government’s preferred “WMD” or CBRNE, which stands for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive.

[2] Anderson, Teresa. “Cargo Security: Containing Cargo Risk” Security Management, Sept, 2005

Update: Lojack® and the NFL

I've been getting a lot of hits to two pieces I've posted, so I thought a little clarification might be in order.

First, in the piece entitled "Love Thy Brother", I mentioned the case of the St Louis Rams drafting a college player, Ryan Tucker, who was awaiting trial on some very serious assault charges. The piece generated about 50 hits from an NFL discussion group at Cleveland.com. While this may be considered apostasy, I know next to nothing about football. My point was that the Rams -- and the NFL in general -- need to stop rewarding such anti-social behavior (and that Texas Christian University should have thrown Tucker's ass out). Not that the NFL is the only sports organization with law-breakers in its ranks, of course: baseball has its share of troublemakers (Darryl Strawberry's drug problem, and Pete Rose's gambling), boxing has been infamous for years for its thuggery (Mike Tyson playing Hannibal Lecter on whats-his-name's ear a few years back), the basketball players accused of rape (although I wonder how much of that was racially motivated).

In a similar vein, the entertainment industry has to stop rewarding anti-social acts. Rappers involved in shootings should have their recording contracts voided, and actors who act out should also be punished. I'm not saying we should go back to the blacklistings of the 1950's (which were, after all, about Communism), but it's insane that people like Chris Noth and Robert Downey, Jr, continue to get high-paying, high-profile gigs for behavior that would leave the rest of us incarcerated.

And don't even get me started on the politicians who get in legal trouble...


Another piece, "Hojack, Lojack®, and SVU" also generated a ton of hits (at least, a ton by my modest standards), including a couple of visits from Lojack's corporate headquarters in Winchester, Mass.

I have mentioned that I was a police officer for many years on the East Coast. While I had no direct experience myself with Lojack, the anecdotal history within the law enforcement community was almost invariably positive. The system allows cops to track stolen vehicles using a radio transmitter concealed in the vehicle (even the owner doesn't know where it is, and I've been told Lojack installers are evil geniuses at hiding the things). The primary advantage is that the thief does not know he's being tracked, and hence is less likely to strip or torch the car, and is more likely to be caught in possession of the stolen vehicle.

Coincidentally, the same evening the SVU episode aired, I had also watched a rerun of "Cops" on CourtTV, in which the Jersy City, NJ, police picked up a Lojack signal and followed it to a construction company garage. The stolen vehicle in this case was one of those honking great air compressors -- the trailer-mounted ones -- used to power jackhammers, etc, so you can see the use of a Lojack is not restricted to cars and trucks.

Lojack's website also points out the possibility of a significant reduction in your auto insurance premiums if you install a Lojack. This is because it is much less likely the insurance company will have to pay out on a major loss (ie, the insurance company pays for the tow from the scene, instead of replacing your 2006 Expedition).

Since, as I've mentioned before, bloggers are held to very high disclosure requirements, I am not now, nor have I ever been affiliated with the Lojack Corporation. In fact, I've never had a vehicle worthy of being protected by Lojack. I did, however, pick up a Lojack baseball cap somewhere along the line (probably at a yard sale).

But, brother, if I ever do get a decent ride, I'm slapping a Lojack in that sucker so fast, it'll make your head spin.

Terrible's Terrible Post

Terrible has a post up over at Anntichrist's, which is richly deserving of a spanking.

"And after the spanking........"

Not from me, of course.

Mongo straight.

Hojack, Lojack®, and SVU

I was watching last night's "Law and Order: SVU" with the lovely yet talented Mrs 618. The episode featured the terminally unfunny Bob Saget as the murderer, the ever-luscious Katherine Bell as Saget's wife, and the incredibly-underrated Bernadette Peters as the defense attorney. The episode also marked the return of Mariska Hargitay, back from maternity leave.

At one point in the investigation, Stabler (Christopher Meloni) discovers Saget had implanted an RFID chip in his wife's shoulder (probably inspired by this story from earlier this year) to track her suspected infidelities.

Stabler comments, "He invented a Hojack."

We both fell out laughing.

For those who are fortunate enough not to have to know what a Lojack® is, it's a "stolen vehicle recovery system", in which a transmitter is concealed in a vehicle. If the vehicle is stolen, police can track the vehicle to its location, enabling much faster recovery. Lojack says, on its website, that 1.2 million vehicles were stolen last year, or about one every 25 seconds. Once the transmitter has been activated (remotely, of course), cops in specially-equipped cruisers can perform, in effect, radio-frequency tracking and locate the car. One can readily spot the equipped cruisers: those are the ones with the four 18" inch antennas in a square on the roof of the car.

I can tell you, the Lojack® system works every bit as well as the manufacturer says it does.

Blue Gal Opens the GIANT Can of Whup-Ass

Blue Gal has an amazing piece up at her blog, ripping into the mouth-breathers for their condemnation of a woman who will not allow military recruiters to talk to her son. [Original emphasis].

These same people attacking Ms. Feigenbaum for adequate parenting conveniently fail to acknowledge that a military enlistment is the only legally binding contract a minor can enter into. A seventeen year old can join the Army, but they can not legally join the Columbia Record and Tape Club. Think about that one for a minute before you fetch the petrol and torches to burn this woman at the stake. You can commit to die for your country, but you can’t commit to purchase three CD’s at regular club prices? And which decision has the greatest impact on your life?

[snip]

I am not a veteran, I did not serve during wartime and I was never active duty. But I fulfilled my obligation to the best of my physical ability, and I will say any damned thing I believe to be true and I will give no quarter. I earned the right to exercise my free speech. You have it too, because we paid for it for you. So do not ever try to deny me or anyone else that right to free speech, or the right to decline to serve. Not when me, and people like me, and people like my brother and sister and father and husband and nephew and cousins and uncles and aunts are why you enjoy the rights you enjoy as American citizens.

And do not dare question my patriotism or motivation for questioning this war and this president, I earned that right in a much more profound way than most of you can even comprehend, much less make honest claim to. I have put up, so yes, I will absolutely tell you to shut up when you are talking out your ass, and I will do so without apology. I earned that right, too. For me and for you.

Read the whole thing.

Without being familiar with her neighborhoods, I assume she referring to the typical rich, white, upper-class that thinks war is just hunky-dory... as long as someone else's kids do the fighting, and especially the dying.

By taking on the 101st Fighting Keyboarders (®TBogg), she has probably left herself open to all sorts of "Swift-Boat" vilification.

But I think we all owe her a debt of gratitude.

Bars and Bar Codes

Associated Press reported* last week that some bars in New Jersey (and probably other locales) are using a new bar-code scanner technology to capture information from driver's licenses. The captured information includes name and date of birth, of course, but also address, sex, height, weight, and eye color.

This has good and bad connotations.

From the bar's point of view, it is a way to have positive proof of the data on a license shown as proof of age. As a former cop, I can tell you many kids are geniuses (genii?) at changing the date of birth on the front of the license, but it's a lot harder (but by no means impossible) to change the information encoded in the barcode. If, for instance, 19-year-old Cindy Lou Who uses 21-year-old Mindy Sue Who's ID to get in, the bar has proof that she showed an allegedly-valid ID (why the doorman accepted the ID is another matter, if the two girls don't look all that similar).

From a police perspective, the program has some advantages, as well. In case of trouble at the bar, for instance, the police would be able to download the information and have at least a pretty good idea who was at the bar on a given night.

From a privacy point of view, however, this program is fraught with peril (God, don't I wax lyrical at times?).

First, whose business is it what bars a person goes to? If Joe Zlotnick visits a gay bar, would he want that info recorded someplace, especially if he's a homo-hatin', mouth-breathin', Bible-thumpin', hooker-humpin', sister-marryin', rifle-rack-in-the-pickmup neocon wingnut idjit? Would Father O'Leary want it recorded that he was at the KitKat Klub? Hell, would Sam Schlub want it on file he was at Tony's Roadhouse when he told his wife he was working late?

More to the point, would you want the local pub -- whether it's Archie Bunker's Place, the KitKat, or even Chez Pierre -- to have a permanent record of all your personal information? Remember, a driver's license has virtually all the information an identity thief needs to swipe your name and credit. It's nice to say bars are allowed to collect and store this information but they are not allowed to sell or share it. You really think the bar owner isn't going to share the info with someone, even if its just his beer wholesaler to get a better price on Heinekin? And how can we be sure the bartender (or even the system administrator) isn't s crook?

The worst-case scenario, of course, would be the gummint getting ahold of the info and using it for their own nefarious purposes. Can you imagine what the Rethuglicans would do if they could "prove" John Kerry -- even if it's not "the" John Kerry -- was in a strip joint? Or some mobster deciding to use your drinking habits for a little creative blackmail? (And yes, many bars still are affiliated with a certain Italian-American social group that makes decisions like who lives and who dies.)

Yes, I can see the advantages of a system like this. But I can also see the disadvantages.

And believe me, the bad outweighs the good.



*I can't find a functional link at present.

RECALL: HoneyBaked Ham and Turkey

HoneyBaked Foods Inc. is voluntarily recalling approximately 46,941 pounds of cooked ham and turkey products that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Friday, November 24. The ham and turkey products were produced between September 5 and November 13, and were sold at the company's retail stores and kiosks in the Toledo, OH, region, as well as through Internet and telephone catalogue sales nationwide.

Consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, an uncommon but potentially fatal disease. Healthy people rarely contract listeriosis.

However, listeriosis can cause high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea. Listeriosis can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths, as well as serious and sometimes fatal infections in those with weakened immune systems, such as infants, the elderly and persons with HIV infection or undergoing chemotherapy.

Source: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_033_2006_Release/index.asp

Okay, Yeah... I'm Gloating...

Courtesy of the Dark Wraith, who blogrolled me (doesn't that sound obscene?) at both his blog and Big Brass Blog, Anntichrist S. Coulter, Badtux, and Firestarter5, I've had 100 visitors in five days. This is for the same blog that went from February 4, 2005 all the way to October 6, 2006, to hit 1000 visitors.

At this rate, I should Kos' traffic in... oh,... 500 years.

Some of the highlights from Sitemeter:

• Visits from Germany, Ukraine, Yugoslavia, Singapore, Australia
• Lots of hits a while back from various Red Cross chapters
• Someone from the Library of Congress spent some time visiting
• Several visits from different military units (bless you folks!)

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. Hope you like what you see, and I hope you come back.

And please feel free to comment. But keep it semi-clean, okay?

Yeah, What Atrios Sez...

Simple Answers to Simple Questions

Hilzoy asks:

I just have to ask: is there anything this administration does competently?

No.

This has been another edition of simple answers to simple questions.



Okay, so Atrios has been around a while, and obviously has the kind of mind that can reduce complex word problems to simple math.

But, damn.....

His "simple answers to simple questions" belongs on TV.

Love Thy Brother. Riiiiiiight.

Via 42's blog Weapon of Mass Disturbance, I found this article on the NFL , the thugs the league employs, and a quote on just how "Christian" the Christianists really are:

The authors point out several examples of the NFL's acceptance of off-field violence. In April 1997, the St. Louis Rams selected Texas Christian University center Ryan Tucker in the fourth round of the NFL draft. At the time, Tucker was awaiting trial for an assault that left the victim paralyzed and brain-damaged. When asked about Tucker's legal difficulties, coach Dick Vermeil replied, "He can finish a fight. That's a positive."

Okay, Texas CHRISTIAN University, check. Assault that left the victim "paralyzed and brain-damaged", check. "He can finish a fight", check.

WTF???

A "Christian" university, and they didn't throw his ass out?

Give me a frickin' break.

Smirkmonkey To Congress: "Cheney You"

Today's New York Times has a story with some real money quotes about the george w bush administration. [All emphasis added]

“I expect real answers, or we’ll have testimony under oath until we get them,” Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, who will head the committee beginning in January, said in an interview this week. “We’re entitled to know these answers, and in many instances we don’t get them because people are hiding their mistakes. And that’s no excuse.”

Leahy describes the administration as having been "obsessively secretive", an obsession that John Dean, Nixon's counsel, describes as "worse than Watergate".

The article also quotes DoJ spokesdrone Brian Roehrkasse:

“The department will continue to work closely with the Congress as they exercise their oversight functions, and we will appropriately respond to all requests in the spirit of that longstanding relationship,” said a department spokesman, Brian Roehrkasse. “When making those decisions, it is vital to protect national security information, particularly when they relate to sensitive intelligence programs that are the subject of oversight by the Intelligence Committees. We also must give appropriate weight to the confidentiality of internal executive branch deliberations.”

In other words, f*ck you, Congress.

Thus far, the administration has "work[ed] closely" with Congress only when it was in the interests of the administration; otherwise, the bushies have told Congress to go Cheney themselves. And bush has already decided (remember, he's "the Decider") that he and only he has the "right" to determine what affects "national security." And as far as "the confidentiality of internal executive branch deliberations" goes... well, Cheney's energy policy, anyone?

I am constantly amazed that anyone in the bush administration can utter total lies like this without choking... or bursting into hysterical laughter. The bush cabal has carried "secrecy" to lengths that could only have been dreamt of in the old USSR.

"Yeh, we'll deal with Congress in a full spirit of cooperativity. Sure. We will. Yup. Heh, heh. Jes' the same way we dealt with Congress on Afghanistanistan and Eye-raq's nukular weapons. An' if they don't lahk it we'll ship their butts to Gitmo. Heh, heh."





And this website has a chilling comparison:

The guy on the right is serial killer Ted Bundy. A reader comments: "But you know what's even creepier? It's not even a physical resemblance. It's an aura, it's a glow, it's the creepy madman glowing out of the smirk."And here's a plug for the best ever article about Bush.

And if you want to read more about Bundy, try here.

Norovirus in Iowa

Nearly 1,000 Iowans have gotten ill in the last several weeks due to norovirus.

At least seven outbreaks have occurred in a wide variety of settings such as social receptions, long−term care facilities, a gaming facility, business functions, restaurants and schools. The outbreaks have no common links, but are spread by people failing to wash their hands after going to the bathroom and before preparing food, as well as working in food preparation while ill with vomiting and diarrhea. [Now there's a mental image I didn't need...]

While norovirus outbreaks can occur throughout the year, it is unusual to see this number of them in a short period of time, prompting concerns that more disease will spread as we go into the holiday season.

Live in WA State and Drink Eggnog? Read This.

Creamery recalls improperly pasteurized eggnog.

Golden Glen Creamery in Skagit County, WA, has agreed to a voluntary recall of its eggnog because of potential health problems related to improper pasteurization.

The Washington Department of Agriculture says the eggnog was bottled in quart−size glass containers and had a pull date of November 28 on the cap. The product was distributed at groceries in Bellingham, Issaquah, Seattle, Langley, Bellevue, Bremerton, Silverdale, Everett, Kent and Redmond.

Getting A Passport? Do It NOW.

In a variation on the "Friday Afternoon News Dump" -- where a press release is issued late in the day, hoping the importance of the story will be lost over the weekend -- our friends at the Department of Homeland Security announced the official requirement for citizens of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda to present a passport to enter the United States when arriving by air from any part of the Western Hemisphere beginning January 23, 2007.

If you've been thinking about getting a passport, now is the time to do it. Starting in (I believe) mid-2007, new passports will include an RFID chip (radio frequency identification), the same technology used to prevent theft of small-package, high-ticket retail items like CDs and DVDs. One of the security experts (probably Bruce Schneier) pointed that that the current RFID technology potentially allows these "tagged" passports to be read by unauthorized devices (leaving the holder open to really horrendous ID theft problems). Schneier (assuming it was he) recommended that passports be obtained now, before the RFID requirement kicks in, adding that by the time the passport needs to be renewed (ten years after issuance), the RFID technology -- and security of the data on the chip -- should have improved considerably.