Trick or treat....It brings back memories of childhood and the world that I grew up in. When you didn't know a lot of the things that you do know now, about strangers and dangers. As we prepare to take our daughter trick or treating this year, I think back to how my friends and I use to hike all over town with our pillowcases, in order to optimism the amount of candy collected within the time allotted. Nowadays, I would not think of turning a child lose to roam the town unsupervised. In those days, parents around here didn't worry about their kids being abducted or killed while running the town. I remember urban legends of poisoned candy and razor blades in apples, but you solved that by having your parents inspect your bounty. Sadly the dangers assosiated with Halloween have just about killed the tradition, allowing churches harvest festivals to take over our one night of devilment and robbing our children of the fun that we ourselves enjoyed.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Hole Found in Plane That Took Off From Miami
American Airlines Flight 1640 had to make an emergency landing about thirty minutes into their flight from Miami to Boston. The Boeing 757 had a sudden loss of cabin pressure causing the deployment of oxygen masks, and prompting the immediate return to Miami. Upon inspection a hole was found in the fuselage, measuring one foot by two foot, the hole was located just behind a cabin door at the front of the plane. As of early Friday morning, there has been no response from either American Airlines, or the National Transportation Safety Board spokespeople.
Could this situation have been avoided? With the excessive rates charged by the major airline companies, a person purchasing their services should be entitled to a sense of security while traveling. If the airlines are not now required to have pre-flight inspection, this incident should inspire them to rewrite their policies, to require a through inspect of every aircraft, before every flight. While there was no loss of life because of this incident, future travelers might not be as lucky.
Beer Distributor’s Witch Label Brews Contempt Among Wiccans
A California beer distributor has the nation’s Wiccan community all stirred up. Port Brewing Company‘s series of Lost Abbey beer’s featuring Witch’s Wit, has been accused of propagating atrocities against witches. The label shows a witch being burnt at the stake; the Wiccan community has taken great offence to this imagery, angrily declaring it a hate inspiring act, equivalent to showing the use gas chambers upon the Jewish people or the hanging of an African-American. The brewery denies such claims, stating that the beer was in fact to honor the woman on the label, and that the back label expresses the guilt of the gathered crowd.
Within our society, there will always be a group feels persecuted. This preserved persecution can stem from the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, their religious beliefs, or their lack thereof. I know there are things within our society that irk us, each and every one of us, and to deny that would be just as asinine as to jump up and down stiff legged over every preserved offence. Once we accept that not everything is about us, we can begin to initiate changes that could be beneficial to all of our society, such as ending poverty, eliminating drug addiction, and educating our children.
Friday, October 22, 2010
‘Clinically Dead’ Women Wakes Up in French Hospital
Lydie Paillard, a sixty-year-old woman from France, collapsed while preparing for a session of chemotherapy. After being resuscitated by doctors she was placed on a ventilator, and Paillard was declared clinically dead. Upon learning of their mother’s condition, Paillard’s sons arranged to transfer her to another facility. Where a brain scan determined that she was not brain dead as previously believed. Paillard woke from the dead a mere fourteen hours after her sons refused to remove her life support. She has very little memory of the experience, though she remembers feeling unwell after having an injection of ant nausea medication.
If only everything in life had as happy of ending. I can understand the sons wanting a second opinion, and I wonder if they found the facility their mother was using lacking in the first place. The reason I question the facility is my own personal experience in dealing with my grandmother’s health care providers, whom I found extremely lacking in both skill and compassion. In a situation like this, I myself do not know if I could make the decision either way. I know that neither of my parents wish to live out their lives on machines, but I do not know if I could make the decision to “unplug” them if there was any hope in this world of their recovery. Sometimes there are things that cannot be explained by medical science, these are our everyday miracles and while we will never understand them we should value them for what they are miracles.
Man Eats Nothing but Potatoes for 2 Months
Executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission, Chris Voigt has pledged that for two months he will eat nothing but potatoes. Beginning October 1st, and continuing through November 29th, Voigt will consume twenty potatoes a day to sustain him calorically. Voigt believes this publicity stunt will help to educate the public about potatoes and their nutritional attributes, letting the public know that potatoes are an “inexpensive source of Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, potassium, magnesium, and dietary fiber”. The potato has been declared a decent famine food, because it possesses many different nutrients. The United Nations as a way to eliminate world hunger has promoted the potato.
I cannot imagine eating any type of food exclusively for any length of time. The thought of eating nothing but potatoes with no toppings, and no side dishes for two months makes me slightly nauseous. However, I must admit this is an awesome publicity stunt. Over the years, potatoes have come to be viewed in a negative light, due to their high glycemic index. Potatoes have been associated with such health issues as weight gain, and diabetes. The thing that most people do not consider however, is that the negative aspects of eating potatoes can be managed by maintaining portion control and in healthy preparation of the potatoes themselves, in other words lets watch the amount of butter, gravy and salt. Also limiting the amount of fried potatoes in your diet reduces the threat of cholesterol itself. Potatoes have always been considered a poor people food, because of their ability to make meals stretch and ensure that everyone at the table has an ample amount to eat. This makes it ironic to me that the United Nations has started promoting potatoes as a food to end world hungry, when the poor people of the world have utilized the potato for centuries.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Woman Suffering Asthma Attack Denied Inhaler at Pharmacy
Katherine O’Conner was denied an inhaler during an asthma attack, due to her inability to pay. O’Conner , and her boyfriend, Jack Brown was walking in their hometown of Garwood, New Jersey, when she experienced the asthma attack. O’Conner had left her rescue inhaler at home, so the couple stopped at a local CVS to get an emergency refill of her prescription. The couple lacked $1.99 of the purchase price. Brown attempted to barter for the remaining $1.99, offering his cell phone and wallet to the pharmacist, while O’Conner lay wheezing on the pharmacy floor. With the pharmacist still denying the inhaler, Brown called a friend who is a paramedic that showed up and treated O’Conner immediately.
This is ridiculous, if the pharmacist was that worried about the monetary aspect of the situation why did he not administer a single dose to her, just enough to stop the attack? Maybe the pharmacist was afraid of violating company policy, in some cases violating policy leads to termination, and in these trying economic times, nobody wants to rock the boat. It seem that the larger an organization gets the less the care about customer service. I am so thankful to have found a pharmacy that’s goal is to remain a hometown, mom and pop business, which focuses on the customers. The pharmacist could have offered to call Emergency Medical Services for O’Conner.
Ohio School Bans Future Dances After “Dirty Dancing” Photos Surface on Facebook
Bellevue Ohio, has banned school dances until further notice. This ban was in response to pictures of inappropriate dancing at a school dance, which was published this week on the school newspaper the Bellevue Gazette’s Facebook page. The photos have been removed at the request of the superintendant. Parents and students at the Ohio high school, feel that the superintendant, Kim Schubert is overreacting to the content of the pictures. According to Schubert, all school dances are suspended “until all parties have worked together to set clear expectations for student behavior”.
I understand the superintendant’s reaction to the inappropriate photographs and the fact that they were published in a public forum, but the students should not be the only ones held accountable. The repercussions should be felt by everyone involved in the scandal. The students should have shown more discretion and behaved in a manner that was appropriate at a school function, but the newspaper should not have published the incriminating photos, they should have known the inappropriateness of publishing anything that would show their school in a poor light. Where were the chaperones? In all my years of school dances, there were always plenty of chaperones. Parents and teachers, all of them moving amongst the crowds of irresponsible teenagers, providing them with a moral compass that many would leave at the door on their way to having a good time. To punish all the students for the actions of the ignorant few, seems to be a severe overreaction on the part of the superintendant. I know that inappropriate behavior has to be stopped, but to what extent, perhaps if more supervision had been provided the dancing situation would never have occurred.
Authorities Search “Every Piece” of Father’s Workplace for Remains of North Carolina Girl
Zahra Clara Baker of Hickory, North Carolina, is presumed dead by local authorities currently searching to find her remains. The authorities are currently searching the premises of the tree service company that employees the father of the missing child. The girl’s father and stepmother’s lack of co-operation have served to compromise the investigation. The girl’s father admitted in a television interview there is a possibility of his wife’s involvement in Zahra’s disappearance. The stepmother , is currently being held in jail, after confessing that she left the ransom note that was found on Adam Baker’s car. Several family members and friends suspect a history of abuse toward Zahra, by her stepmother.
I cannot understand why anyone would not do everything they could to find their child, unless they were somehow involved in the child’s disappearance. I cannot understand letting anyone beat on MY child. My child comes first in my life, before my husband, or anything else. The fact that the father is deliberately impeding the investigation into his daughter’s disappearance, makes him guilty whether he had any knowledge about her disappearance or not. The current wave of family and friends that are just now making the subject of abuse known disgust me, if they even though Zahra was being abused it was their civic duty to report the suspicions to the proper authorities.
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