Monday, December 22, 2014

Are police cars outfitted with bullet proof glass? If not, why not? And if they are, why didn't it work?

February 6, 2014
By Marcos Ortiz

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 Utah) – A bullet proof (click here) windshield may have saved the life of Sgt. Cory Wride.

He was killed last week in Utah County. According to the sheriff, Wride was sitting in his vehicle confirming information of two people pulled over. Authorities say the shooter used a handgun and the bullet came through the windshield.

At Wednesday’s funeral, Wride's son called for bullet proof glass for law enforcement vehicles.

“The bullet proof glass idea, however we can make that possible,” Nathan Mohler told those at the service. “We won't stop until we make it a reality. Our dad didn't die for nothing. You guys won't either.”

The family has started a petition asking the President to make this happen. Anyone can sign the petition found at:
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/ and click “view petitions”....

In last week's deadly shooting, Deputy Greg Sherwood was wounded when a bullet penetrated the windshield.


A spokesman for the Utah County Sheriff's Office says bullet proof glass would have changed the outcome....


October 31, 2014
Kids all over (click here) are dressing up in their scariest, funniest and prettiest costumes to celebrate Halloween and collect lots of candy! But last week, it was man’s best friend’s turn to get all dolled up…and for a good cause.
Meet Dona, the newest member of Binghamton, New York’s K9 unit and the only one without a bulletproof vest. The K9s are “very active in many drug investigations, they find lost people, people who wander away, they are amazing, amazing partners.” Because they are exposed to dangerous situations on a regular basis, it is essential for each K9 dog to wear a bulletproof vest. However, the bulletproof vests cost $1,000 each, leaving many cities struggling to afford them....

This is a Kevlar panel that can be placed in any door, roof, trunk or hood in any car.

Kevlar Ballistic Panel NIJ II - Door Skin Needed (click here)

Asia has been fighting the avian flu because it has been hit with the largest number of outbreaks. I would expect South Korea to take this measure.

December 21, 2014
...South Korea (click here) has suspended imports of U.S. poultry and poultry products because of an outbreak of bird flu in the United States, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
The suspension, from Saturday, comes as South Korea is struggling to contain its own outbreak of bird flu in birds.
"This import suspension is a quarantine measure to prevent the HPAI virus from entering the country," the ministry statement said, referring to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus.
The ministry said 18 countries including South Korea had been hit by the HPAI virus this year. South Korea has had no human cases.
Avian flu is an infectious viral disease of birds. Most bird flu viruses do not infect humans, but some have caused serious infections in humans.
Two strains of avian influenza - H5N2 and H5N8 - have been confirmed in wild birds in Washington state, near the U.S. border with Canada, but there was no immediate cause for public health concerns, U.S. agriculture officials said on Wednesday.
Neither virus has been found in U.S. commercial poultry.
South Korea's imports from the United States in the first 11 months of the year included 63,245 tonnes of poultry meat and 264,000 chicks, according to ministry data.
The ministry said the import suspension would not cause a shortage as domestic poultry meat supply is projected to rise by 17.5 percent to 67,000 tonnes this month from a year earlier on top of 9,000 tonnes in inventory.

There is a chance the virus actually arrived to the USA and Canada with some of the large storms that have come across the Pacific from Asia. That is one potential source. If that is the cause, the virus won't stop infecting this wildlife until it is wiped out in Asia.

December 21, 2014
By Jane Deason

The avian flu virus (click here) infecting B.C. poultry farms is a North American first, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed.
The strain, a highly pathogenic form of H5N2, contains gene segments from the Eurasian H5N8 virus — which marks the first time this lineage has caused a bird flu outbreak in poultry in North America.
The finding is significant because of its ability to cause high mortality among infected birds, reports the CFIA. More than half of the B.C. birds hit with the virus have died, while the rest are humanely euthanized.
Despite quarantines and strict biosecurity protocols at infected sites, a 10th Fraser Valley farm was hit last week, bringing the total number of infected chickens and turkeys to nearly 250,000. The source of the virus and how it has spread between farms remain unknown.
Health officials report that transmission risk to humans remains extremely low if poultry products are cooked and handled properly.
The BC Turkey Farmers association says it’s importing birds from other provinces to meet demand for the Christmas season....

December 21, 2014
By Bloomberg News
The disease known (click here) as bird flu has been found in a “backyard” poultry flock in Oregon, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday, adding that there is no immediate public health concern.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza was detected in the flock of about 100 birds, comprised of guinea fowl and chickens, in Winston, Ore., a unit of the USDA said in a statement on its website.
“Birds from the affected backyard flock will not enter the food chain,” the USDA said. “All poultry, poultry products and wild birds are safe to eat as long as they are properly handled and cooked.”
The virus strain is H5N8 and has not been found in commercial poultry anywhere in the United States, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said. The agency also reported cases this week of virus strains of avian influenza in wild birds in Washington state....

Where would law enforcement find the largest Medicare fraud?

December 18, 2014
By the AP

NEW ORLEANS — The organizer (click here) of a $56 million Medicare fraud conspiracy and a doctor have entered guilty pleas to health care fraud charges in federal court in New Orleans.
The U.S. Department of Justice says 51-year-old Mark Morad, of Slidell, and 53-year-old Dr. Divini Luccioni, of Kenner, each pleaded guilty Wednesday before Chief U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance.
Morad and Luccioni pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Morad also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to falsify records in a federal investigation.
Sentencing for each is set for April 1....

Louisiana because they receive exorbitant amounts of federal dollars both in Medicare payments and Medicaid funding as well as some of the lowest paid workers and contractors in the country.

December 1, 2013
By Jordan Rau
This Kaiser Health Network story was produced in collaboration with The Washington Post

...Researchers (click here) have discovered huge discrepancies in how much is spent on these services in different areas around the country. In Connecticut, Medicare beneficiaries are more than twice as likely to end up in a nursing home as they are in Arizona. Medicare spends $8,800 on each Louisiana patient getting home health care, $5,000 more than it spends on the average New Jersey senior. In Chicago, one out of four Medicare beneficiaries receives additional services after leaving the hospital—three times the rate in Phoenix....




"Morning Papers"

The Rooster 

"Okeydoke"

You mean to tell me Texas has enough former inmates to actually create a support group?

Texas has paid over $65 million to 96 exonerees under the nation's highest paying compensation statute. (click here)

And Texas still has the death penalty with the highest number of executed in the country? Something has to be done with Texas and it's idea of law enforcement. To begin the people that actually committed the crime are still at large created risk for all of us.

"Good Night, Moon" on the Winter Solstice.

I think this is the best way to see a "New Moon." A sincere New Moon is nearly invisible for the lack of sunlight it reflects.

New Moon

0% Full / Lit

0 days old

December 21, 2014
By Joseph Stramberg

The article (click here) below said that, due to the rotation of the Earth gradually slowing down over time, this winter solstice would feature the longest night ever.
I got this wrong. The Earth's rotation is gradually slowing on an extremely long timescale, but on a shorter year-to-year basis, geologic factors can alter the speed as well.
Data indicates that the rotation speed has actually sped up slightly over the past forty years (likely due to melting of ice at the poles and the resulting redistribution of the Earth's mass), and before that, the trend was up-and-down for most of the 20th century — so, as far as we know, the longest night in Earth's history likely occurred in 1912. I apologize for the error. Thanks to Steve Allen and Ryan Hardy for pointing it out....