Taking "Stupid Criminal" To A New Level

On New Year's Day in Murfreesboro (Tennessee), a car pulls up to a gas pump in a service station. An hour later, that car is still sitting by the gas pump and the station employee calls the police. It's a good thing that he did.

When the police arrive they find the driver, 31 year-old Nathan Beasley, passed out behind the steering wheel -- drunk as a skunk. In the back seat of the car, police found a meth lab. And that lab was active. It had a chemical process going on to further the production of methamphetamine.

Since some meth lab ingredients and processes can be explosive, the fire department was called. They shut off the gas pumps before moving the car and dismantling the meth lab. This drunk fool, by pulling up next to a gasoline pump with an active meth lab, could have caused a serious explosion that would have killed him and anyone else in the area.

Beasley has been charged with Driving Under The Influence, Driving With A Suspended License, Reckless Endangerment and Manufacturing of Methamphetamine. He is in jail with a $15,000 bond.

This nut has taken the term "stupid criminal" to a new level. I hope he gets some substantial jail time -- for the public's safety and his own.

Enemies

Political Cartoon is by John Cole in The Scranton Times.

Facts On Charitable Giving

As an atheist, I find the chart above kind of embarrassing. But when I started this blog, I promised myself to always tell the truth. That obligated me to print this chart, especially in light of the many slams I have given religious people over the last few years.

As the chart shows, a higher percentage of religious people give to causes in general and to secular causes in particular. A higher percentage of them also volunteer their time to both types of causes. Come on all you non-religious folks! We should be doing better than this, especially since we believe there is no god that is going to do it for us.

I also found it interesting, but not surprising, that the folks who make less than $20,000 a year give about twice as much of their income percentage-wise as those who make $100,000 a year. It looks like the folks who don't make much money understand how hard life is for the underprivileged just a little better than those who make a comfortable living.

NOTE -- The chart was found at the site of The Friendly Atheist.

New Threat Levels

Political Cartoon is by John Trever in The Albuquerque Journal.

Irony

Found at the great site of BartCop.

Controlling The Super-Bug (MRSA)

There is a very scary bacteria called Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). It is scary because the nasty Staph infection is resistant to virtually all the antibiotics that would be used to treat bacterial infections. Back in October of 2007, I wrote a post about MRSA being found here is Texas. In the slightly more than two years since that post, the incidence of MRSA has virtually exploded and is now found all over the world.

Whereas the percentage of Staph infections caused by MRSA used to be small (1% or 2%), it now makes up a majority of Staph infections in many countries. Here are some representative countries with the percentage of their Staph infections caused by the drug-resistant MRSA:

United States....................63%

United Kingdom....................45%

Greece....................38%

Israel....................44%

Japan....................80%

Norway....................1%

Please note the last country -- Norway. That figure of only 1% is for real, and is the lowest percentage of MRSA-caused Staph infections in any country. How have the Norwegians been able to control the spread of MRSA and keep it to such a tiny percentage (and that tiny percentage is mostly made up of cases imported from other countries).

Jan Hendrick-Binder, Oslo's MRSA medical advisor, says, "It's a very sad situation that in some places so many are dying from this, because we have shown here in Norway that Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can be controlled, and with not too much effort. But you have to take it seriously, you have to give it attention, and you must not give up."

How did they do it? Most notably by changing the way they use (or don't misuse) antibiotics. Here in the United States, if you get a sniffle you'll probably go to the doctor and ask for an antibiotic, and that doctor will most likely prescribe one for you. While it may help you get rid of that cold or minor infection, it also does a couple of other things. It will cause you to become resistant to that antibiotic eventually, and it will cause bacteria to mutate and become resistant to the antibiotic.

You won't be prescribed that antibiotic for a minor infection in Norway. A doctor will refuse to prescribe it. Instead, they will tell you to take some over-the-counter drugs like aspirin or tylenol, cough syrup or antihistamines. These will help you to be more comfortable while your body fights off the infection (as the body can and will do most of the time). The antibiotics are saved for only the most serious infections, and because of this they work better when they are needed.

This is the Norwegian way of dealing with MRSA (which is reaching epidemic proportions in most other countries):

Norway's model is surprisingly straightforward.

• Norwegian doctors prescribe fewer antibiotics than any other country, so people do not have a chance to develop resistance to them.
• Patients with MRSA are isolated and medical staff who test positive stay at home.
• Doctors track each case of MRSA by its individual strain, interviewing patients about where they've been and who they've been with, testing anyone who has been in contact with them.

The truth is that any country could do what the Norwegians have done. But they must first stop misusing antibiotics. Antibiotics are truly miracle drugs, but we are destroying their effectiveness by abusing them -- using them for infections that the body can easily fight off without their help.

Can we change the way we use antibiotics in the United States? I don't know. I'm afraid that too many patients (and doctors) are locked-in to the wasteful and ultimately hurtful way we use the gift of antibiotics. I'm afraid most people would be very resistant to change. And after viewing the reaction of many to reforming health care reform, I doubt that many would be receptive to legislation to fix the problem.

We can expect Big Pharma to fight this change tooth-and-nail, because they are making tons of money off the misuse of antibiotics (if you've paid for a prescription of antibiotics recently, then you know that). Don't think they will act in the best interest of patients. Like most huge corporations, their only concern is today's profits -- not the future problems this is going to cause for all of us.

We must begin a dialogue in this country -- with an eye to changing the public's (and the doctor's) perception of how antibiotics should be used. And this dialogue must happen now, because we are running out of time.

I do know one thing. If we don't change this soon, it won't be too far in the future before we'll wish that we had.

Judging Obama

Political Cartoon is by Tim Eagan at caglecartoons.com.

Case Dismissed Against Blackwater Murderers

In September of 2007, five private security officers working for Blackwater Security opened fire at a crowded intersection in Baghdad. They killed 17 Iraqis and wounded numerous others in Nisoor Square (pictured). Iraqi citizens had hoped these killers would be brought to justice, but now it looks like that is not going to happen.

The Bush administration screwed up the case from the very beginning. Right after the incident happened, the State Department questioned the security officers and promised them immunity from prosecution for their testimony. This was before the FBI arrived and tried to investigate. The officers refused to speak with the FBI, so all the FBI had to rely on was their statements to the State Department (which were tainted by the promise of immunity).

The officers, who were finally charged with manslaughter and firearms violations, have claimed they were responding to an attack. But the Iraqi witnesses and victims and the Iraqi government have always disputed that.

Last Thursday, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina threw out the case against the five security officers. He did not rule they were innocent, but that prosecutors had relied on the tainted State Department interviews to prepare their case. So it looks like these mass murderers will now go free because of the incompetent bungling of the Bush administration's State Department.

The Iraqi government says it will appeal the judge's ruling, but I doubt that will do any good. This case was screwed up back in 2007 and I don't think it can be fixed now. As one Iraqi policeman said, "This brings a bad reputation to the American government and people. The Iraqi government can't do anything. They are helpless."

One of the victims of the shooting said, "This negates Iraqi blood and life. If the Iraqis did this with the Americans, definitely the results would be different. Blackwater is connected to the U.S. Embassy and Secretary of State. If an Iraqi cut off the finger of an American, they would not be satisfied until they got half the riches of Iraq. This judicial ruling means Blackwater did nothing in Nisoor Square."

Another victim simply said, "This is typical of American justice."

I can understand how these people must feel. After the killing of 17 innocent people and the wounding of many others, the United States government is going to do absolutely nothing about it (and in fact, still employ private security officers in Iraq). This is clearly a miscarriage of justice.

The Muggers

Political Cartoon is by R.J. Matson in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Last Hacker Joke Of The Decade

I was interested in this story for a couple of reasons. First, I am a huge fan of Van Morrison (pictured). I don't just think he's a good singer, but one of the best singers in the world. Second, this may be the last hacker joke of the last decade (to be widely covered by news agencies). It all started with the following news blurb:

LOS ANGELES — A new Van Morrison has been born.

The Irish singer says on his Web site that he and his wife, GiGi, welcomed their son, George Ivan Morrison III, on Monday.

The couple says that "Little Van" is "the spitting image of his daddy." The baby is a dual citizen of the United States and United Kingdom.

No other information was available. Morrison's publicist, Phil Lobel, says the exact time and location of the birth is being kept private.

News agencies, including the Associated Press, picked up the story and soon it was big news that the 64 year-old singer was a new father. But there are a few things wrong with the story.

First, Morrison's wife is not named GiGi, but Michelle. His American agent is named GiGi. Second, neither has had a baby, and no one else has had a baby fathered by Van Morrison recently.

Morrison does have an American publicist named Phil Lobel, and it was Lobel who released the story to the press. He said he saw the birth announcement on Morrison's web site and decided it needed some publicity. He verified the story to the media without checking with Morrison.

The reclusive Morrison was going to just ignore the story, but close friends talked him into releasing a statement correcting the erroneous story. In the statement, Morrison says he remains "very happily married" to his wife Michelle.

It went on to say, "Once the claims were brought to our attention, they were taken down from the site but not before news organizations repeated these falsehoods. The comments which appeared on my web site did not come from me. They are completely and utterly without foundation."

Spokesmen for the singer said the web site is being redesigned, since this is the second time it has been hacked since October.

Stupid Ideas - A GOP Speciality

Political Cartoon is by Pat Bagley in the Salt Lake Tribune.

Happy New Year !

jobsanger hopes it's wonderful readers and fellow bloggers have a safe and happy and very prosperous new year in 2010.

I've Chosen A Candidate For Governor

There are three candidates left in the Texas governor's race on the Democratic side. I'm not particularly thrilled by any of the three -- Farouk Shami (Houston businessman), Bill White (former mayor of Houston) and Felix Alvarado (educator). However, it's now 2010 and the primary is now less than three months away, so I've decided to climb on board the bandwagon of one of these candidates.

First of all, I simply cannot support hair care magnate Farouk Shami. He may be a very nice person -- I don't know. But I do know that I do not like the idea of a rich man trying to buy his way into an elected office, and Shami is a very rich man who's pledged to spend at least $10 million of his own money to get elected. Frankly, if you can't raise your campaign funds from voters, then you probably don't deserve their votes.

That leaves Bill White and Felix Alvarado (pictured). There are a couple of things about Bill White that I don't care for. First, is this belief that that all the other candidates should get out of the race and let him be the candidate. He's already ran the two best candidates out of the race (Hank Gilbert and Kinky Friedman). They both must accept responsibility for their own cowardice, but White and his supporters must accept the blame for asking or urging them to quit (or threatening).

Now it seems they are trying the same thing on Felix Alvarado. They seem to be concerned that although Alvarado has no name-recognition and virtually no campaign funds, he might get large numbers of South Texas votes just because he has a Hispanic name. This is a huge insult to Hispanic voters -- the idea that they would vote for one of their own rather than the person they thought would be best for Texas. If many of them do vote for Alvarado, it'll be because they think he's the best candidate (and that is their right).

I don't think any candidate, or his supporters, should ask another candidate to drop out of a political race. If you are truly a great candidate, you should be able to take on all comers and win. If you have to get others to drop out so you can win, then you probably shouldn't be running at all because you're not a good candidate.

The second reason I don't like Bill White is because he is an obvious "blue dog Democrat". After the fiasco the blue dogs caused over health care reform, there is no way I could vote for one of them -- regardless of what office they are running for. A lot of Texas progressive bloggers have jumped on the White bandwagon, but I have yet to hear a single one of them refer to White as a liberal or progressive.

No, the only reason they give for supporting this blue dog is that he's running on the Democratic ticket and they believe he has the best chance of winning. That's not good enough. What good will it do to elect a Democrat who will run the state like a business-oriented Republican. In fact, it may be worse than electing a Republican, because in four years we won't have the opportunity to elect a real progressive.

So that leaves me with Felix Alvarado as my candidate. I'm not sure he's a real progressive, but he couldn't be as big a blue dog as Bill White. I do like the fact that he's not rich, but is willing to take on the "big boys" (sort of a lovable Don Quixote). I also like the fact that he was not an officer in the Air Force, but retired as a Chief Master Sergeant. Then he went to a career in education (a field that's not known for making one rich). In other words, he's a working stiff like the rest of us.

That's why he says, "I am running because I know I can do better for the working-class, for our Seniors who labored throughout their lives, for our Texas Warriors who risked their lives in the combat fields and now feel abandoned by our government, having to travel several hundred miles to obtain the VA medical care which their service-related wounds and illnesses require."

At least he's talking about helping the right people -- the people who've been ignored by the conservatives who have ruled Texas for years. It's time to show conservatives to the door and kick them out (even the blue dogs), and the only chance I see of doing that is to elect Felix Alvarado.

That's why I will be marking my ballot for Felix Alvarado next March.

The First Underwear Bombers

Political Cartoon is by Daryl Cagle at MSNBC.com.