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| Soooooo.... TSA now wants to back off from having an independent study of the health effects of full-body scanners, using the flimsy excuse of the "Homeland Security" Inspector General's report claiming they are "not harmful"? ( http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/16/travel/tsa-body-scanners/index.html?hpt=hp_c2) When the only "safety studies" (complete with calculation errors, incomplete data and anomalies) ever conducted on these machines have been by the manufacturers (not exactly an impartial body with no vested interest in the outcome)? CANCER CONCERNS, TSA CANCER COVERUP (see related link below), & SCANNERS NOW BANNED IN EUROPE(from: http://www.geek.com/articles/news/airport-full-body-x-ray-scanners-banned-across-europe-as-unsafe-20111116/) In order to scan a person below their clothing the machines employ ionizing radiation. Even though this is known to be damaging to our DNA, it is argued that a single scan forms a very small dose, so is deemed as acceptable in the U.S. In Europe however, it has just been decided that the machines form a risk to passenger’s health and safety, and therefore cannot be used.
This will surely cause some concern among those who regularly use U.S. airports and the body scanners. If Europe has banned them for health and safety reasons, why are U.S. airports happy to allow millions of people to be exposed to this radiation before flying?
The TSA‘s response when asked about the decision in Europe was to point towards the rigorous testing the technology is subjected to, plus the fact 300+ “dangerous and illegal items” have been detected by employing the body scanners.
Such a response offers little reassurance when others have decided it causes a health risk. It also doesn’t help that the TSA was accused of covering up the fact significantly more TSA workers were developing cancer earlier this year from working around the scanners. (Link: http://www.infowars.com/cancer-surges-in-body-scanner-operators-tsa-launches-cover-up/) .....And some people still think I'm being silly when I ALWAYS "OPT OUT". | |
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| Saturday Oct 29! No donation too small! Featuring COSPLAYING RESCUE DOG!"PAWS" (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society) is the only non-kill animal shelter in Philly, & is where Mandy Mimimanjuku came from. ♥( NOTE: Mandy is our elder daughter's 4-year-old Rescue Dog (MinPin/Chihuahaua mix), adopted this past December. Apologies that I do not yet have an icon of her; this LJ icon is of MY Rescue Dog, Kaiya the Corgi. :) ) If anyone is interested in joining ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2) tea_egg and Mandy for the walk (note: I guess "anyone" in this case should probably be located on the East Coast near Philly), or donating any money (in THIS case "anyone" may be located "anywhere"! :D), she says it would be much appreciated!! (In case it's not clear, no I will not be in Philly myself.) Daughter & Mandy, however, live there. Mandy will be dressed as a Dragon for the Walkathon!! :D Link to Donate HERE: :D http://www.pawsmuttstrut.org/paws/teampage.asp?fundid=9085th Annual PAWS Mutt Strut: Where Saving Lives is a Walk in the Park! Dog walk/adoption festival, October 29 at Philly's FDR Park. Register today! - Mood:hopeful
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| Originally posted by digitalsidhe at Mississippi Personhood Amendment Close to PassageOriginally posted by gabrielleabelle at Mississippi Personhood Amendment: Okay, so I don't usually do this, but this is an issue near and dear to me and this is getting very little no attention in the mainstream media. Mississippi is voting on November 8th on whether to pass Amendment 26, the "Personhood Amendment". This amendment would grant fertilized eggs and fetuses personhood status. Putting aside the contentious issue of abortion, this would effectively outlaw birth control and criminalize women who have miscarriages. This is not a good thing. Jackson Women's Health Organization is the only place women can get abortions in the entire state, and they are trying to launch a grassroots movement against this amendment. This doesn't just apply to Mississippi, though, as Personhood USA, the group that introduced this amendment, is trying to introduce identical amendments in all 50 states. What's more, in Mississippi, this amendment is expected to pass. It even has Mississippi Democrats, including the Attorney General, Jim Hood, backing it. The reason I'm posting this here is because I made a meager donation to the Jackson Women's Health Organization this morning, and I received a personal email back hours later - on a Sunday - thanking me and noting that I'm one of the first "outside" people to contribute. So if you sometimes pass on political action because you figure that enough other people will do something to make a difference, make an exception on this one. My RSS reader is near silent on this amendment. I only found out about it through a feminist blog. The mainstream media is not reporting on it. If there is ever a time to donate or send a letter in protest, this would be it. What to do? - Read up on it. Wake Up, Mississippi is the home of the grassroots effort to fight this amendment. Daily Kos also has a thorough story on it.
- If you can afford it, you can donate at the site's link.
- You can contact the Democratic National Committee to see why more of our representatives aren't speaking out against this.
- Like this Facebook page to help spread awareness.
You know this entry was originally posted at http://digitalsidhe.dreamwidth.org/841573.html, right? You can comment there using OpenID, even if you have no Dreamwidth account (plus you'll get my niftier userpics!)... but commenting here is okay, too. | |
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| -- to all those devoted New York couples who are, as of 12:00AM EDT July 24 2011, finally able to get married!! ^^
May they hopefully live long and happy lives together, and may they also receive all the benefits that they should be entitled to which marriage offers.
Committing one's life to a partner and vowing to be there and care for them during life's crises, is a Big Deal. No one, and no government, should belittle or even deny this very serious commitment that people make to each other in love. | |
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| *Looks at clock, taps foot impatiently*
Poll #1743785
Oh, Rapture! --- Lo, Rupture! :p
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 22
"Rapture prophet" Harold Camping is:
View Answers
| Yet another self-aggrandizing patriarchal leader with sheeple followers |
   13 (17.1%) |
| A blithering idiot who has convinced even bigger idiots to follow his delusions |
| 12 (15.8%) |
| An attention whore |
| 9 (11.8%) |
| A huck$ter who is making out like a bandit even after all the money he spent on advertising |
| 10 (13.2%) |
| In trouble now! *chortle* |
| 6 (7.9%) |
| Going to claim "mathematical error" AGAIN |
| 10 (13.2%) |
| Going to claim that he "prayed to God to postpone the Rapture - and it worked!" |
| 10 (13.2%) |
| ...Who's that? |
| 2 (2.6%) |
| ...Who cares? *Yawn* |
| 4 (5.3%) |
Obviously, even if one follows a spiritual tradition that believes in "The Rapture", one needs to pay closer attention to one's religious guidebook that mentions about "no one knowing the day or the hour, not even the angels". So, Harold Camping thinks that: a) there even exists an embedded mathematical code to crack and b) he's smarter than presumably powerful supernatural demigod-like beings / angels? Those are some serious balls, dude. | |
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| I hope our friends the Nonakas (in Tsukuba city) are OK. I hope unlock is OK, she's stationed on base in Aomori. I hope most people on the Japanese coast got safely away from that horrible tsunami they keep showing on TV (we are worried about those two vans that got hit by that wall of water before they could make the turn to the side road). I hope everyone in the upcoming tsunami paths will be OK, including mochimonkey's family in Hawaii. :( | |
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| Originally posted by ladyqkat at Dear GOP - the collective you are an Idiot(Post originally seen in this post by ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=1) ramblin_phyl. I have been notified that it was originally posted by suricattus in her journal post. The story and words are hers, but I do believe that it needs to go viral and that as many people as possible need to get their stories out there. Only by making a noise about this can we make a change in our society.) There is a move afoot in the nation -driven by the GOP - to repeal the new health care laws, to protect corporate interests, to defend against fear-mongering (and stupid) cries of "socialism!", and to ensure that people are forced to choose between keeping a roof over their heads or getting necessary health care. This movement is killing people. Think I'm overstating the fact? Ask the friends and family of writer/reviewer Melissa Mia Hall, who died of a heart attack last week because she was so terrified of medical bills, she didn't go see a doctor who could have saved her life. From another writer friend: One person. Not the only one. That could have been me. Yeah, I have access to insurance -- I live in New York City, which is freelancer-friendly, and have access to freelancer advocacy groups. Through them, I can pay over $400/month ($5,760/year) as a single, healthy woman, so that if I go to the hospital I'm not driven to bankruptcy. But a doctor's appointment - a routine physical - can still cost me several hundred dollars each visit. So unless something's terribly wrong? I won't go. My husband worked for the government for 30 years. We have government employee (retired) insurance. It is the only thing of value he took away from that job. His pension is pitiful. He still works part time. My writing income has diminished drastically. Our combined income is now less than what it was before T retired fifteen years ago. Inflation has diminished it further. In the last 30 days I have racked up over $8000 in medical bills for tests and the beginning of treatment. Our co-pay is 20% after the deductible. And there is more to come. Our savings are already gone. I have the gold standard of insurance and I still can't pay all the medical bills. Another friend lost her insurance when her husband lost his job. She couldn't afford medication and ended up bed ridden for three months at the end of over a year of no job and therefore no insurance until he found work again. It's our responsibility. All of us, together. As a nation. EtA: Nobody is trying to put insurance companies out of business. They will always be able to offer a better plan for a premium. We simply want to ensure that every citizen - from infant to senior citizen - doesn't have to choose between medical care, and keeping a roof over their heads, or having enough to eat. We're trying to get this to go viral. Pass it along. I'm going to post my story as the first comment to this post if anyone would like to read it. If anyone wants to tell their story, please tell it on your own journal and post a link in the comments. Maybe, just maybe, TPTB will listen to the slaves peons who clean their toilets before they have to clean their own. [/repost] I think this could be a bit more clearly and effectively written, myself; and ought to include a few more of the MANY examples of WHY WE NEED THIS HEALTH CARE REFORM, but the point stands. Do not assume the uninsured live that way by choice. There are far too many people in this country who, while employed and paying their way, cannot get Medicaid, any health insurance through their job, and cannot afford the high rates of private insurance. The insurance companies dick with people's lives and don't give a shit when PEOPLE DIE due to "pre-existing conditions" they refuse to cover (hello, history of cancer or Type 1 diabetes?), "lifetime coverage caps" (hello, child with a brain tumor whose insurance coverage "caps out" before age 7), etc. How about canceling a guy's coverage when he's about to get a life-saving transplant due to a 2-cent payment error?? It is sick sick sick that paper pushers with no souls are happily operating real "death panels" right now and letting people die while they line their pockets to the max. Personally, I think private for-profit insurance is a gigantic scam, and those in the business have NO interest in the actual health and well-being of the nation's citizens - none whatsoever. All they care about is maximum profit, even though they aren't selling widgets - it's real people's real lives which are really at stake. - Mood:angry
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| The 10 Canine CommandmentsAuthor unknown - My life is likely to last ten to fifteen years. Any separation from
you will be painful for me. Remember that when you buy me.
- Give me time to understand what you want of me.
- Place your trust in me - it's crucial for my well-being.
- Don't be angry at me for long, and don't lock me up as punishment.
You have your work, your entertainment and your friends. I have
only you.
- Talk to me sometimes. Even if I don't understand your words, I
understand your voice when it's speaking to me.
- Be aware of however you treat me, I'll never forget it.
- Remember before you hit me that I have teeth that could easily
crush the bones in your hands, but that I choose not to bite you.
- Before you scold me for being uncooperative, obstinant or lazy,
ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I'm not
getting the right food, or I've been out in the sun or in the cold too
long, or my heart is getting old and weak.
- Take care of me when I get old. You too, will grow old.
- Go with me on difficult journeys. Never say: 'I can't bear to watch
it', 'let it happen in my absence' or 'I am tired of you'. Everything is
easier for me if you are there. Remember, I love you.
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| From: http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/17/in-brazil-flooding-loyalty-to-the-dea/?hpt=T2 As the death toll from devastating flooding in Brazil continues to rise, a single picture drives home the sense of loss.
Leao, a medium-sized brown mutt, lies next to the grave of her owner, Cristina Maria Cesario Santana, who died in the catastrophic landslides caused by heavy rain. This AFP/Getty picture was taken on Saturday, the second consecutive day that the dog refused to leave the woman's grave at the cemetery in Teresopolis, near Rio de Janiero. She (Portuguese sources say "he", and close-up photos indicate the dog is a "he") was loved, and loves still. I really hope someone takes care of this angel. ;_; ETA Translations from further stories on the Portuguese website "Adopta-nos"/ http://liveloveandcare.org/ (thank you, Google Translate): This image sums up how much the dogs that are abandoned by the hundreds every day, are faithful, loyal, caring, companions. We human animals have much to learn from the animals.
Working voluntarily in helping the animal victims of the floods that destroyed much of the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro, Fabiano Jacob (from Special Animal Protection of the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro) rescued dozens of dogs that roam the city without the owners.
Among them, Fabiano rescued dog named Leo, who stayed for three days beside the grave of his owner, killed in the tragedy.
According to information Fabiano Jacob, all rescued dogs are "wonderful, gentle and many of them poor.”. Indulged in exchange for a cuddle at the time of loss.. " | |
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