One of the reasons such a brutal act as having a phlebotomist accessing a femoral artery can take place in Oklahoma is because there is no risk to the MD ordering it.

September 23, 2013

In what historians (click here) may refer to as the “Lazarus session,” Governor Mary Fallin called the Oklahoma legislature into special session to develop and pass legislation designed to reinstate the wide-ranging tort reforms rejected by the Oklahoma Supreme Court just three months ago (see blog post of June 4, 2013). The new legislation was passed in September by wide margins. All of the bills were signed into law by the Governor on September 10, 2013....

Fallin is a real piece of work. She has no respect for the law. She is an anarchist.

Phlebotomist

I was trying to find if Oklahoma phlebotomists were allowed to start intravenous access. It would be a matter of law if Oklahoma allows non-licensed personnel to start an IV. Intravenous access usually begins with a Registered Nurse in most states. Even Licensed Practical Nurses aren't necessarily permitted to perform intravenous puncture for the purpose of administering medications.

Phlebotomists are for blood draws. Withdrawing blood from a VEIN primarily to perform blood tests. 

Sometimes, in the south, anyone can perform a procedure if there is a MD present that orders them to perform that task. In other words, the MD is god. If a secretary is 'trained enough' to perform Intravenous access for the purpose of administering medications it is legal. I was just wondering if MDs were god in Oklahoma and a phlebotomist under the MD's license can obtain an IV access with a catheter to administer medications.

When a cardiologist and/or a PA access a femoral artery for cardiac catherization and/or stent placement it requires a sheath. 

The sheath is a tube to control any leakage from the artery. The removal of the sheath is a procedure all to itself simply because there is a hole in the artery. There has to be significant pressure placed on the artery at the groin to prevent bleeding and/or hematoma.

If a phlebotomist is accessing a femoral artery, they are doing so without the benefit of good practice. A sheath placement when  properly done would not explode or have that appearance at all. It would be interesting to find a phlebotomist that actually does sheath placements.

The Clayton Lockett mysterious death.

Femoral artery? A phlebotomist accessed a femoral artery? The reason that appeared 'exploded' is because the artery was bleeding into the local tissue and probably causing a hematoma.

I don't think it is legal for a phlebotomist to access a femoral artery. Cardiologists access the femoral artery when performing a procedure placing a coronary stent in the heart. Only the physicians and perhaps a PA (Physician Assistant) is qualified to access a femoral artery. It is a matter of expertise and license. 

I don't care if Mr. Lockett's autopsy occurs in Texas. But, I do care whom exactly is performing it. I would demand the FBI forensics to conduct it and they would have to come from another part of the country where there is no political conflict of interest. 

Reversing an execution requires 'Emergency Medical Services' to immediately establish an airway. They administered paralytics to stop the diaphragm. He would have to be vented on artificial breathing machine.

Reversing potassium overdose, of which execution drugs definitely are. That is why the requirement for emergency medicine. The execution as defined by Oklahoma is a drug overdose. So, the protocol would require support for body systems about to fail. Versed (midazolam) was being used as a sedative of which is it's licensed application. It probably wasn't an overdose of the Versed. Versed is very short acting. At the most 15 minutes, that is why he woke up. 

Okay. Let's see if I can weed through this. 

Let me first describe an overdoes of a sedative. It would cause LABORED breathing. Labored breathing of a sedative is evidence of an overdose. A sedative in an execution is not suppose to cause distress. So, if Versed is being used in these executions and what is resulting is labored breathing that is torture. 

Versed is used for minor and short medical procedures requiring CONSCIOUS sedation. Conscious sedation is a very low level sedative effect. There is no change in pupil size or any distress to breathing. It lowers the awareness of pain. Creates a tolerable pain level which once the patient wakes up completely they don't remember any pain, discomfort or the procedure either. It causes amnesia. It is a hypnotic. 

Reversing a potassium overdose is a bit more involved. It requires administration of insulin to move the potassium from the blood into cellular spaces. But, there has to be a glucose intravenous drip at the same time to prevent a hypoglycemic coma with the insulin intravenous administration. 

It is my estimation at this point that if the intravenous access was the femoral artery and it had an 'exploded' appearance it was due to migration of blood under pressure out of the artery into the local tissue causing a hematoma. If the drugs were administered through this intravenous access they would have migrated out of the artery along with the blood. Some would make it into the blood stream but not the entire dose. 

If this was the ONLY access to administration of drugs, something other than the execution protocol killed Mr. Lockett. The Versed caused some sedation, allowing him to wake up after it wore off, the paralytic would have caused some decrease in breathing potential if it made it into his blood stream at all in any significant amount and the potassium chloride would have stopped the heart. The potassium chloride probably migrated out of the artery as well contributing to an 'exploded' appearance.

Something killed the man and it wasn't the execution drugs.

One other thing, Oklahoma is performing these executions on the cheap. A nurse trained in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) could easily stand by and administer the emergency medicine in time to reverse any execution process. The prison would have to bring their emergency cart from the medical office to the execution room for such an emergency. 

I do assume the prisons have 'Crash Carts' by chance a prisoner actually experiences a medical emergency. I mean prison is never suppose to be a death sentence. That is left for the execution chamber.

This is one of the most amazing conversations I have heard between two Americans of different generations.

Frank Moore is Michael's father. He passed away recently. Michael shed tears for the loss of his Dad even at the age of 92 years old. I witnessed that. They sincerely loved each other as father and son.

But, listen to the conversation. Frank Moore could have been my father, but, my Dad worked for Union Carbide in New Jersey.

During this conversation Frank Moore not only misses his former employer, he moans for the world his son inherited. Frank Moore was well employed. He knew his retirement was insured. His health was well addressed. He also saw a son in need of his own path because any chance of working for GM was not possible for his son's generation. Not in the same way it happened for Frank's generation.

The quality of life for Frank Moore and his family was stable, offered upward movement for him, his spouse and children. His life had a great deal of hope within it. It was full of opportunity and a promising future. When GM left Flint, Michigan it took more than jobs with it, it removed quality of life for the generations of Americans that was yet to come. 

I remember when my Dad would come home from work, we always ran to greet him. My Mom was either in the kitchen or at the front door. Dad coming home from work was an event. We rejoiced in it. Different from Mrs. Frank Moore, my mother did not have her driver's license until I was about 13 years old. It was a major accomplishment for her. Our family had only one car, too. Mrs. Moore drove to the factory to pick up her husband in a very similar way parents drive their children to and from school today.

The difference in the quality of life of the generation of Frank Moore and my father is very different. Today, families own multiple cars and most women in the USA now work. Imagine having one car and having the status of 'well off' today. People would laugh. Imagine women not having their driver's license? It's preposterous today. But, in the life and times of Frank Moore life was good. 

"The best memory. I think it was the people." Frank said. The place of work that supported the family was important to every family touched by that income. Families would be provided with free company picnics every year. There was a strong sense of purpose by the company and the employees. But, the employees at places like GM and Union Carbide had a strong sense of self. They knew the company could not run without them. They also knew their income would provide comfort to their families. They banded together and decided their 'best interest' was forming a union to let the company know they were as valuable as the product they produced. 

It was a matter of respect. Employment and good pay with benefits was the way both the employees and company measured respect for each other. There was a lot of self-esteem for Frank in his peer group and in his capacity as an employee. 

It is a lost quality in the USA. Citizens aren't respected, they are threatened with their jobs in some states while they work for poverty wages. If one were to ask Frank or my Dad if poverty resulted in the face of working 40 or 60 or 70 hours week, they would look at the questioner as if he/she had two heads and six eyes. The entire idea an American was working full time, 40 hours, and not receiving a living wage and benefits to support the health of themselves and their families or never having a vacation was completely alien to Frank's generation.

Today, in the USA, Americans settle for what they can get and toe the line when they are told by their employees to jump. There is little to no respect for the common man or women and their definition of quality of life. There is absolutely no respect for the American Dream. 

The conversation between Frank and his son Michael carries incredible insight to what happened to the USA as a country and a people. I play this conversation time and again in order to anchor myself in remembering the way the USA was and how much FUN it was to be in my family.

Why is a minimum wage required in the USA?

Capitalism. It is the basis of the USA economy. The government is operated on taxes. If there is no income to the people of the USA what happens to the government? The minimum wage cannot be eliminated from the American Landscape. It would remove revenue from the USA Treasury. Anyone stating they want to end the minimum wage is committing treason.

Think about what is occurring now in the USA. Corporate welfare. Companies are using the food stamp and Medicaid laws to pad their profits. That is adding to the USA budget deficit and the national debt. That isn't hurting the country? 

I don't see these companies paying the interest on the national debt.The people of any democracy need to earn a living wage to keep them off the welfare subsidies. We have growing poverty in the USA. Increasing the minimum wage will elevate the incomes across the board. When the minimum wage goes up it drives other wages higher. When Americans have good incomes, the USA can pay down it's national debt. In order for the USA to pay off it's debt there needs to an increase to the revenues of the USA Treasury. How does that happen? Taxes. 

There is an obligation in any democracy that has capitalism as the base of their economy to maintain the quality of life of their citizens. That quality of life supports the government as outlined by the USA Constitution. Either we are country or not. Dissolving the tax base of the country is dissolving the very existence of this country.

Raise the minimum wage so Americans can pay their bills and the USA Treasury, too.

The other alternative is a communal country where everyone volunteers their services and in return there is housing, food and health care. That can create problems in the ability of the country to provide 'equitable' services to everyone. The entire idea of removing the minimum wage is not a viable idea.

The only way for government to mediate capitalism is through legislation and regulation. Those government activities are a requirement, not simply political dogma. Anyone unwilling to increase the minimum wage is not interested in the best interest of Americans or the country. 

If there was no minimum wage, the USA would immediately enter into a recession. Businesses would have no reason to even entertain the idea of making investments in the USA to achieve profits. There would be no 'base income' in the USA to support growth when the population increased. The economy would stagnate and recession would be compounded over time. 

Any politician stating they want to end the minimum wage is not serious. If they state they are serious then they don't care about the country and/or understand the basis of the USA economy. 

What would happen to the USA economy if it were completely automated and there was no work for citizens? What would happen if there were no more paychecks? No more taxes? What would happen? Would the USA maintain sovereignty? 

The entire idea of complete automation and neglecting the responsibility of providing wages to Americans is nonsense. It is complete nonsense.

Do Congressmen and Congresswomen want to keep their jobs? Because if they don't uphold quality of life and upward movement, including education, of citizens they won't have a job. There won't be income into the USA Treasury. The SURE WAY of bringing about a society that thrives on good wages is to end government borrowing. Why? Because government borrowing supports itself without realizing there needs to be a tax income from the country. The USA is of, by and for the people. That means the citizens have to support their government treasuries. Americans don't only need raises, but, so does the USA Treasury. 

To cut taxes when USA Treasury income can't supply the services of the government to the people is simply rhetoric. If the USA Treasury was supporting the government infrastructure while paying down the national debt, then and only then should tax cuts be a topic of political discourse. At this point, the government needs to close every loop hole possible and increase the income to the treasury. The best way to increase the income to the treasury while reducing American's reliance on government programs is to increase the minimum wage.

Americans have check books. What pays the bills? Money. Do Americans believe if they reduce their income they could continue to pay their bills and find upward movement to instill growth? Of course not. If an Americans income is reduced for whatever reason, spending loopholes would be closed in their budget, wouldn't it? Government is somewhat more complex because of it's size and scope, but, the dynamics aren't that different. 

The USA has revenues and it has expenditures. It has programs of national interest like the space program. Would Americans consider ending the space program because it is a national luxury? It would be foolish, wouldn't it? There is economic growth within a luxury called the space program. There is now opportunity for private industry. There are jobs.

Is a country's interest important to national pride in realizing who we are as Americans and the country we love? I could go on and on about the responsibilities and activities of government. Americans have to weed through the political rhetoric and hubris to best understand their government and who would serve their best interests in elections.

Private industry is allowed to exist in the USA and earn profits, but, the people are not allowed to suffer all their lives because profits are more important than economic growth and OPPORTUNITIES for Americans. We are a country of people, not private industry or virtual realities.

There is so much that is inconsistent in the reporting about the death of Clayton Lockett it is embarrassing.

It is my estimate there is only one intravenous site and the potassium chloride was the last drug administered. AND. IF. There was any extravasation caused it was the potassium chloride that caused it.

I mean the medical staff knew how to push drugs with a RUNNING IV of saline to maintain the patency of the vein to dilute the sclerosing effect on the vein of the high dose of drugs affiliated with this protocol , right? Doses are doses. It is the dose that is suppose to work WITH proper administration to insure it's delivery.

So, let me get this right. Seven minutes into the execution the sedation worked, however, previous to that the doctor observed the intravenous line and determined it had blown (extravasation). 

How many IVs was this man given? Two? The original that was blown but delivered enough sedation to be effective? And then another?

And the death, according to the Director went awry after seven minutes.  

So, I will assume at the point where the execution went awry there was a second intravenous line started and another dose of muscle relaxing drug was administered. Then the potassium chloride was injected. But, nearly an hour went by and Clayton Lockett was still conscious. The curtains were closed and he died unwitnessed by anyone other than the prison staff. 

Governor Fallin makes it completely clear she found it necessary to execute Clayton Lockett for the crimes he committed and that justice had to be served. To that end she honored a court ruling after the Oklahoma Supreme Court was intimidated by the Oklahoma legislature. 

There should be two and only two and no less than two intravenous sites on Mr. Lockett's arm(s), including the one site that is blown.

Regardless of the inhumanity exhibited in this execution and it is substantial; the fact of the matter is the drugs used, their dose and the outcome didn't work REGARDLESS of establishing a second intravenous site. 

Where did Mr. Lockett die? The clinic, his cell or in the execution room after the curtain was pulled? It went awry alright and everyone involved is guilty. Calling for an investigation does not exonerate the wrong doing. Fallin needs to resign for her role in all the inappropriate power plays within this torturous death called an execution. 

See, if there is no second site then the first one was intact when all the drugs were administered. And if the primary site was blown, there is no way there would be significant absorption of the drugs to kill Mr. Lockett. Not only that but if the potassium chloride was administered through a blown intravenous site, it would cause a burn of the subcutaneous tissue (click here).

I don't care what the government and/or private investigations show, the reporting is inconsistent with any reality and the Governor is ultimately responsible for the torturous events of the death of Mr. Lockett.

Torture of any kind is not permitted in the USA prison systems, at the time of execution or otherwise. Experimentation with execution drugs is not permitted unless of course the attorneys for the condemned consent to it along with their client. This execution wasn't botched, it was an untested protocol the Governor consented to in the face of every reason to suspend any execution attempt. I find the actions of the Oklahoma legislature and the Governor more than indictable. End of discussion. 

As to those that administered the drugs, they are in violation of acceptable and legal practice. Their licenses should be pulled immediately. Executions are not a reason for experimentation, it is a time of PROVEN effectiveness. As Governor Fallin knows the execution is because of a killer after all. The person administering the drugs is guilty of malpractice and homicide by reason of that malpractice. 

11:56 PM CDT Apr 29, 2014

Clayton Lockett dies of heart attack after getting lethal drug combination (click here)

"There was some concern at that time the drugs were not having the effect so the doctor observed the line and determined the line had blown.

It was determined that he was sedated at 7 mins into the execution...

IT WAS THEN - THE PLANNED DEATH - WENT AWRY. DOCTORS GAVE A SECOND MUSCLE RELAXING DRUG. THEN INJECTED THE FATAL POTASSIUM CHLORIDE USED TO STOP THE HEART. ONLY LOCKETT'S KEPT BEATING... 

Ben Rhodes was wrong and especially at the time of the attacks.

I sincerely don't understand why this topic is chronically revisited, even for political hubris to deceive the electorate in attempts to discredit National Security Adviser Susan Rice and the Former Secretary of State. The statements and even the questions from the right wing press is extremely misguided. The information can't be disputed. The timeline alone is damning.

The hope of the right wing is that the electorate will actually be tainted by their lies. Only Former Secretary Clinton will set the record straight and even then there will be telltale deceptions.

Oren Dorell
USA TODAY 6:47 p.m. EDT 
April 30, 2014
 
The White House should "come clean" (click here) and release all of its e-mails related to the crafting of former U.N. ambassador Susan Rice's message on the Benghazi attack, including ones redacted for supposed national security purposes, says the GOP.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, a member of a House committee investigating the attack, made the demand a day after the release of an e-mail showing that White House aide Ben Rhodes (click here) wanted to blame the 2012 assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on a protest that never happened there.
Referring to Benghazi and Middle East unrest, he said that she should "underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and not a broader failure of policy."
Chaffetz told USA TODAY that the White House has turned over e-mails with much of the content blocked out....

If Former Secretary Clinton runs for President she will have to put this mess to rest once and for all, but, the reviews at all levels and from a majority of sources state the cause was the video and not the consulate. There was no involvement of al Qaeda. A flag hanging off a building does not an enemy make. It could be said and it clearly states in the most recent government review of the deaths in Benghazi, the response was slow. 

The US officers and the hired body guards were completely unprepared for what happened. It took nearly a half hour for the US outpost to arm itself sufficiently to respond. 30 minutes proved too long because Ambassador Stevens succumbed to smoke. He wasn't killed by anyone in particular, it was inhalation of the think black smoke that caused his death. Now, it can be called murder and the perpetrators secured to take to trial, if they are still alive. But, it happened very fast and the best of the best on the ground in Benghazi never anticipated it.
 
By Dugdale
A trailer for a film (click here) that depicts the prophet Muhammad as a philanderer is said to be the cause of the violent riots in Libya that claimed the lives of four embassy workers. J. Christopher Stevens, the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, was at his country's consulate in the city of Benghazi when it was stormed by protesters firing guns and RPGs....

From the Daily Kos:

December 28, 2013
Months of investigation by The New York Times, (click here) centered on extensive interviews with Libyans in Benghazi who had direct knowledge of the attack there and its context, turned up no evidence that Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault. The attack was led, instead, by fighters who had benefited directly from NATO’s extensive air power and logistics support during the uprising against Colonel Qaddafi. And contrary to claims by some members of Congress, it was fueled in large part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam....

The Republicans and their right wing media are beating a dead horse. It is character assassination.

I don't want to cause Ben Rhodes any career problems and I am sure he believed he was advising the President with the information he had, but, he was simply wrong. At least National Security Adviser Rice had the validation by the CIA in her statements. One has to go with what the intelligent agencies are stating. The facts can't be disregarded simply because someone in the inner circle has a different opinion.

National Security Adviser Rice, then Ambassador, had her own obligations to obtain 'the best truth.' She had her own 'capacity of authority' and didn't need to be mentored by anyone. Evidently, she acted autonomously. It shows her expertise and commitment to the truth and the 'best facts' at the time. And those facts have held up over the test of time. 

So, the Press Secretary wasn't as quick on his feet as he should have been. Fine.  

The Clean Air Act upheld. This is a frivilous lawsuit by southern states playing politics.

Where do these lawsuits ever get traction? The 'idea' regulation is harmful to the economy is hideous. Upholding laws like the Clear Air Act reduces costs unless of course health care is not important to legislators and attorney generals.

28 states filed a lawsuit based on political hubris. How much did this cost as far as salaries and time and government infrastructure that supports these lawsuits? Taking the cost of these lawsuits and realizing that is multiplied by 28 is enormous. These are political costs. 

The stupidity of these lawsuits is indescribable. How are states up and down wind from polluters going to end the pollution? Pollution as it crosses state border after state border ACCUMULATES so each state exposed to the pollution is greater than the state before. Unless there is a new law of physics I know nothing about this use of public funds can easily be proven as abuse of power used for political purposes.

The citizens of these states have every right to know...no...are obligated to be educated to the fact their state officials are using their state's treasury to support their political ambitions. 

Governors of these states do nothing to reign in this abuse of power by their Attorney Generals? Oh. 

To realize the complete cost and abuse of the taxpayer 'public trust' one has to also add the costs of the EPA to respond to these lawsuits. The costs are huge. 

Apr. 29, 2014

WASHINGTON - The question (click here) was who should pay for air pollution that crosses state lines. The answer, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, is blowing in the wind.

States in the Midwest and South whose polluted air flows north and east must comply with a federally imposed solution, a 6-2 majority of justices ruled.

The decision, written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and joined by two of the court's conservatives, was a boon for the Obama administration and its environmental regulators. They had required 28 upwind states to slash ozone and fine particle emissions from power plants because of their downwind effects.

Most of those states had rebelled against the solution, and a federal appeals court sided with them in 2012. But the justices reversed the lower court's ruling.

The case focuses on air currents miles overhead but has down-to-earth consequences. The Environmental Protection Agency blames exposure to ozone and fine particles in the air for one in 20 deaths in the United States, 90,000 hospital admissions, 200,000 non-fatal heart attacks and 2.5 million cases of aggravated asthma.

Given the depth of the problem, the court majority concluded that the EPA chose a sensible solution -- basing required reductions in pollutants that cause soot and smog on the least costly means available. That puts an added burden on states that have done less in the past to control their power plant pollution....

Lungs, like livers and kidneys are one way streets. A human being is born with the cells they will die with. There is some regeneration with livers, but, not kidneys or lungs. The regeneration of the liver happens over time, but, is not like healing from a skin injury.

What was that I said about Mayors and Councils from a previous entry about the safety of citizens?

The work of the American Lung Association is invaluable for those that actually value life's potential of longevity. 

American Lung Association gives Fort Collins an 'F' for high ozone, 'A' for low particle pollution (click here)

By Deb Stanley
April 30, 2014

DENVER - The American Lung Association has mixed news about the air in Fort Collins.
The group says Fort Collins has the 22nd most polluted air in the country, however, the group also named Fort Collins to its list of Cleanest U.S. Cities for Short-term Particle Pollution.
The listings are in the 15th annual State of the Air report.
Fort Collins got an 'F' for high ozone days, but an 'A' for particle pollution over a 24-hour period.
Particle pollution is "a pollutant recently found to cause lung cancer, poor air quality remains a significant public health concern and a changing climate threatens to make it harder to protect human health," according to the Lung Association....

It isn't like the USA doesn't have ground ozone regulations. It does and has.

40 CFR Parts 50 and 58 
National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone (click here)
Final Rule Federal Register
Vol. 73, No. 60
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Rules and Regulations [[Page 16436]]

Well, looky thar. HUMAN ACTIVITY. I'll be darn.

O3 even has the same shape of CO2. Interesting, isn't it? Actually CO2 is more straight than that. The bond angles on CO2 are 180 degrees, O3 is 120 degrees. H2O has 104.45 degrees.

See, the bond angles are created by the electron field of the atoms that comprise the molecules/compound. The angles CONTRIBUTE to the ability of compounds/molecules to INTERACT with other chemicals. Heat or in the case of sunlight, the 'agitation' of the molecules create 03 as a danger to lungs. People end up breathing the darn stuff.

But, the CO2 issue is the fact it has a 180 degree bond angle. Not a darn thing can be done about it EXCEPT to trim production of it through limiting human activity. The 180 bond angle makes it nearly impossible to break it down outside of plant metabolism. Plant, VEGETATION, not industrial. The electronic field of CO2 is very stable when it is found in the air.

Yep. 

I don't make up the rules, god does.

...But the ozone that is a byproduct of certain human activities (click here) does become a problem at ground level and this is what we think of as 'bad' ozone. With increasing populations, more automobiles, and more industry, there's more ozone in the lower atmosphere. Since 1900 the amount of ozone near the earth's surface has more than doubled. Unlike most other air pollutants, ozone is not directly emitted from any one source. Tropospheric ozone is formed by the interaction of sunlight, particularly ultraviolet light, with hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides, which are emitted by automobiles, gasoline vapors, fossil fuel power plants, refineries, and certain other industries....

When is patent infringement not patent infringement?

This case seems more than a little silly to me and I too don't understand how it got all the way to the Supreme Court.

Limelight is a global platform for cloud content and otherwise. Akamai Technologies are 'creators' of internet content. They patent their inventions. Somehow Limelight believes as a platform, a third party to Akamai. Akamai's inventions would be purchased and/or leased by customers and may or may not storm them on Limelight. 

The problem here is Limelight. Limelight does not have a policy that protects patents and they are abusing the law. Limelight wants to state as a provider of a platform they have to be held harmless to their customer's content. Wrong. While the customers are liable for abuse of law, Limelight cannot be held harmless as a facilitator of abuse of law. Limelight provides the opportunity to infringe on patents, that is serious. Limelight looks the other way and profits from it. Both Limelight and Akamai are Wall Street companies.

By Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON, April 30 Wed Apr 30, 2014 1:45pm EDT
 

(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court onWednesday (click here) appeared unsure how to proceed in a dispute over whether Limelight Networks Inc infringed upon patented technology for managing Web images and video held by Akamai Technologies Inc.

The nine justices are weighing whether a company can be held liable for inducing patent infringement when the final step that leads to infringement is carried out by a third party.

But during much of a one-hour-long argument, the justices focused less on the legal issue and more on concerns about whether the high court should issue its ruling without first asking a lower court to take a second look at the case....

How do the most vulnerable end up at the mercy of authorities? How does corruption begin? Opportunity.

Citizens need to have SAFE homeless shelters that includes community involvement. There needs to be employment in all walks of life not just the 'jobs' that Wall Street defines as employment. Diversity in employment is best addressed by local economies.

By Kent Faulk | kfaulk@al.com
on April 30, 2014 at 4:48 PM
updated April 30, 2014 at 5:25 PM
 
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Anthony Weaver (click here) says he stayed Tuesday night in an abandoned house in western Birmingham, the same place where he has sheltered much of the past year. 

When he first started staying there, Weaver said, the electrical service was still connected. Now the only utility is running water, he said.

Being homeless and out of work most of the past decade - despite holding two college degrees - made him vulnerable to being coerced by a former Birmingham police officer into setting fire to seven to nine homes in the western part of the city in 2012, Weaver said. 

He said he was afraid. "I'm not Natalee Holloway," he said, making a reference to the Mountain Brook teen whose 2005 disappearance still garners headlines. "If I came up missing, who gives a damn?"

A judge today sentenced Weaver to five-years probation for his guilty plea to second-degree arson and two other charges. 

Former Birmingham police officer Jason Arnold is serving a six-month sentence in the case. Former Birmingham police officer Curtis Thornton is serving a 100-year sentence for his conviction for arson in Birmingham and Warrior fires in 2012....





...Claims of coercion were first made in a lawsuit Weaver filed in June of last year against Arnold, Thornton and other police officers. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Karon O. Bowdre dismissed the suit in January. The judge stated that Weaver had failed to respond to an order for him to explain why the case should not be dismissed after he had pleaded guilty to the arson charge....

Oh. One other thing.

If the oil spilled is Bakken Crude, we already know North Dakota is negligent.

Article by: JAMES MACPHERSON
Associated Press
Updated: April 29, 2014 - 4:40 PM

Bakken oil fields of North Dakota, Montana mark billionth barrel of crude oil production (click here)

BISMARCK, N.D. — Oil drillers targeting the rich Bakken shale formation in western North Dakota and eastern Montana have produced 1 billion barrels of crude, data from the two states show.
Drillers first targeted the Bakken in Montana in 2000 and moved into North Dakota about five years later using advanced horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques to recover oil trapped in a thin layer of dense rock nearly two miles beneath the surface.
North Dakota has generated 852 million barrels of Bakken crude, and Montana has produced about 151 million barrels through the first quarter of 2014, data show....

It would seem as though North Dakota has allowed massive drilling and extraction far beyond the transportation infrastructure completely disregarding the lives of Canadians and Americans alike.

The companies involved in this drilling and extraction are liable in pushing the infrastructure to the point of breaking. Human beings have limits and the industry never bothered to measure it's ability to move it's product safely. Infrastructure and it's capacity is important to understand the limits of safety and how industry needs to address it's abuse. 

Public policy matters.

See, regardless of how public policy addresses infrastructure the greed of Wall Street will go beyond any capacity to contain it. So, if the USA and/or Canada built infrastructure after infrastructure after infrastructure with TAXPAYER DOLLARS, the capacity to abuse the limits of that infrastructure safety is always present. So, there can be pipelines and rail services and truck transportation built to accommodate, but, that causes huge debt problems and Wall Street is completely irreverent anyway. 

People need more than petroleum infrastructure, they need schools and hospitals and all sorts of things, too. 

Currently, North Dakota is swimming in oil. Literally. There is a pipeline leak that has caused extensive damage to farmland which will require a MINIMUM of two years to restore IF it can be completely restored at all.

The negligence by the state government to put public safety ahead of industry greed is enormous. North Dakota will eventually increase in cancer occurrences and death due to the dense petroleum pollution.

And there has yet to be established an industry wide fund to provide health care and disability income to citizens as there was with Black Lung.  

Pneumoconiosis (Black Lung Disease) (click here)

Pneumoconiosis is an occupational lung disease caused by inhaling coal dust. It is also known as Black Lung Disease. There are two types of pneumoconiosis— simple, known as coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) and complicated, known as progressive massive fibrosis (PMF). Pneumoconiosis is a type of interstitial lung disease. In this type of disease: the lung is damaged (in this case, by coal dust); the walls of the air sacs are inflamed; and the lung stiffens from scarring of the tissue between the air sacs. There is no known treatment for pneumoconiosis, but doctors treat the symptoms and complications of the disease.

26 U.S. Code § 9501 - Black Lung Disability Trust Fund (click here)

Currently, the USA Taxpayer is left holding the bag for these afflictions of it's citizens when it comes to the petroleum industry. We know where oil spills occur there is exposure to citizens of toxins within that exposure. There is also lack of public education regarding these dangers when they occur. There needs to be evacuation paid for by the industry and followed up by health care over at least the next 20 years following a petroleum incident, but, best at least 30 years.

It was only 50,000 gallons. I've commented on all this before. Railroads need updated infrastructure. I've already submitted recommendations to Congress.

UPDATE: 8:09 p.m.

Lynchburg, VA - Officials tell ABC 13 at least 50,000 gallons of crude oil (click here) is missing after the train derailment and fire in Lynchburg Wednesday afternoon.

Some of the crude oil likely burned in the fire, officials say. It is unknown exactly how much oil leaked into the James.

While Lynchburg's water supply will not be affected by the derailment, communities down stream are already taking precautions.

Residents are now allowed to return to their homes in the evacuated area of Commerce and Jefferson Streets. Anyone who left their vehicle on Jefferson Street, at Depot Grille or in the general evacuation area is asked to return to the area and retrieve their vehicle as soon as possible.  They must first check in with the Lynchburg Police Officer on duty at Ninth and Commerce Streets....

This is what happens when pipelines DERAIL.

2 January 2012

The pipeline Sabal Trail (click here) wants to connect to, Williams Transco in Alabama, blew up in 2011, flaming a hundred feet up, heard more than 30 miles away, left a crater more than 50 feet wide, destroyed 65 acres of trees, fried five acres of soil into pottery, and launched a 43-foot pipe section as a missile that landed 190 feet away. The cause was never announced. There was no construction going on, so could it be corrosion? Do we want another pipeline like that?...

This is an opportunity for unions to add an additional chapter.

Joseph Bonney, Senior Editor
Apr 28, 2014 4:22PM EDT 
 
A New Jersey state senator (click here) has introduced an industry-supported bill to clarify port drivers’ status as independent contractors. The bill is a counterpoint to Teamsters-backed legislation seeking to reclassify the drivers as company employees. 

There are many, many reasons for independent contractors to form a union of which health and pension benefits are only two. There is also consolidated purchase of fuel, etc.

Posted: 03/21/14, 2:18 PM PDT
Updated: on 03/21/2014
By Karen Robes Meeks
Long Beach Press Telegram

CARSON - Port truck drivers won (click here) a National Labor Relations Board settlement with a Carson-based company after allegations surfaced that drivers were threatened and interrogated over union organizing, officials announced Friday.

The settlement, which affects drivers who haul goods from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles for Pacific 9 Transportation Inc., applies to allegations involving the company’s conduct last fall, “including threats to employees to close the business and loss of their jobs if the International Brotherhood of Teamsters were to succeed in its organizational efforts; and interrogating employees about their union sympathies,” according to the agreement by the NLRB....

It is more than tornadoes. Government has to be prepared for evacuation due to infrastructure failure.

This is extreme failure. But, I remember many an environmental assessment I prepared or participated in preparing whereby is stated not to develop an area of land. It wasn't because I hated people or loved the natural world more, it was because there was going to be infrastructure failure that could cost lives and at the very least loss of property and hardship. Of course, I was called an extremist and all sorts of names and labels. It is something that a sincerely concerned person ignores after a while as ignorance. But, rarely when I opposed development of land for people who would make millions did I ever regret my opposition. I have yet to be wrong. 

This type of failure of land is being seen everywhere in the USA and it is occurring because of the very small size of the soil deposits. The picture to the right is an example of The Citronella Formation which is viewed in the picture below. 

When the spaces between the grains fill with water the stability of the land is lost. It isn't just coastal erosion anymore. It isn't just hurricanes. It is water saturation of land that was never expected to be this wet.

The Citronelle Formation (click here) consists of gray to orange, often mottled, unconsolidated to poorly consolidated, very fine to very coarse, poorly sorted, clean to clayey sands.

I strongly recommend mayors and their councils of any city understand the land their municipality is built on and how that will hold up to severe weather. USGS will have their hands full to answer all the questions, but, county meetings throughout a region can help describe how a county and state can react as a community when the worst is expected. Taking responsibility of a city or town or community of people just ain't about politics anymore. Officials should know and understand their importance during these expected events.

In this image provided by Brantly S. Keiek shows several vehicles that collapsed together with a portion of the Scenic Highway in Pensacola, Fla., Thursday, April 30, 2014. Heavy rains and flooding have left people stranded in houses and cars in the Florida Panhandle and along the Alabama coast. According to the National Weather Service, an estimated 15-20 inches of rain has fallen in Pensacola in the past 24 hours. Photo: Brantly S. Keiek, AP 

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — Valencia Norton (click here) awoke to a neighbor pounding on the windows of the mobile home she shared with a friend. Water had washed away her steps and part of the porch. She grabbed a small bag of clothes and waited.

"I was freaking," said Norton, tears streaming down her face as she recalled the scene. "I don't know how to swim."

A short time later, a firefighter came by and carried her to dry land. It was one of many rescue stories from the single rainiest day ever recorded in Pensacola, and another tale of survival after days of relentless storms across the U.S., beginning with deadly and destructive tornadoes Sunday in the Midwest.
On Monday, the violent winds wrecked parts of Tennessee and Mississippi, but by the time the storm system arrived in the Panhandle, the devastation was all water....

When New Orleans was abandoned by government funding to prepare for the "Big One," former Mayor Ray Nagin told the people of the Ninth Ward to put axes in their attics to cut through the roofs to escape drowning. As crude a recommendation that was, it did save lives. Many still perished, but, many more did not.

Gas lines and unstable subsoil don't mix.

I understand there are now two dead from this gas explosion.

By Eric M. Johnson

Thu May 1, 2014 5:34am EDT
 

(Reuters) - More than 100 inmates and guards (click here) were injured in an apparent gas explosion at a jail in northern Florida late on Wednesday, a county official said.
The blast partly leveled the four-story Escambia County Jail's central booking facility, which held roughly 600 inmates, at about 11 p.m., county spokeswoman Kathleen Castro. No deaths or escapees were reported.
"The building is partially collapsed," Castro told Reuters, describing the incident as an "apparent gas explosion".
She said the blast may have been related to severe storms that have hit the southern United States....

What do I say when my predictions come true as cited in an environmental assessment? You've got to be joking. I use every opportunity to state, "I told you so."  And then I point to the written record for the people experiencing the loss of property and sometimes lives due to hubris and greed. It is called justice.

Oh, one other thing. When evacuation is called for it isn't up to citizens to decide where, but, the responsibility of government to state WHERE to evacuate to. It is called information that actually saves lives. 

If people of a city takes their safety seriously they would not be content with a mayor addicted to drugs or in need of alcoholic rehab. Get for real, please. "Real TV" is not the focus of elections.

By Terrence McCoy
May 1, 2014

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, (click here) the Chris Farley lookalike who admitted last year to smoking crack cocaine during a “drunken stupor,” is in trouble again.
On Wednesday night, a video emerged that appears to show Ford smoking something, allegedly shot by a self-professed drug dealer who says it was crack cocaine. Shortly after reporters from the Globe and Mail confronted Ford, who’s currently running for reelection, he said he was going to take a break from campaigning.
“I have a problem with alcohol, and the choices I have made while under the influence,” he said in a midnight statement on Facebook, adding that he’ll “take a leave” from his mayoral responsibilities and the campaign. ”I have struggled with this for some time.”