Lone Star

To start with, I doubt the boys wore those shirts to 'stir shit' due to the fact that the article clearly states that they've worn those shirts in the past with no repercussions. Whether it was a case of intentionally 'stirring shit' or not, there has to be a couple things remembered here: 1. This is the United States of America, not Mexico. If ANY flag is superior to any other flag, the American flag gets the 'top spot'. 2. While Cinco de Mayo may be an important date in Mexico's history, this ain't Mexico! Sure, celebrate the holidays of your native land; but remember this: The United States shouldn't be expected to give those holidays the same reverence that Mexico might! I for one am getting sick and tired of having to show 'respect' for other cultures holidays, rites and religions at the expense of my own! While the entire concept of "political correctness" may have been a noble one at it's inception, this is clearly another case of taking things to 'extremes', and having the rights and liberties of the American people trampled once again!

Yeah, I've already got lots of 'bite marks' and will probably end up looking like a 'chew toy' by the time it's done!

Priest: Religious Guidance. Other religions can 'sprout off' from the fundamental tennents. This has been done in the past, and can be done again. 16 year old blind pregnant girl: While blind, there's no statement on the etiology of her disability. In consideration, she's got more 'child bearing years' than the prostitute (if the prostitute is female) Police officer: To establish law and order. Military can be trained from the basic foundations of Law Enforcement History professor: As a society, if the past is forgotten; society is doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. 70yr old Doctor: To train/educate the medical student. As a medical student, there would be some sort of basis for medicine established already, (ie: pre-med) Lawyer: To help reestablish a justice system, and provide legal relief and criminal punishment Medical Student: To learn from the doctor, and reestablish the medical profession, which will help ensure the well being and expansion of the new society. While the farmer was cast out/killed, the historian would have an idea of farming techniques used by past societies, as well as how they gathered seeds, and began a 'farming system'. Furthermore, the 70 year old doctor would have come across plants (and what they look like) for drugs and which ones to stay away from (like poison ivy/sumac; etc) Each person would be responsible for assisting in establishing a 'communal farm' to raise food, the police officer would also be beneficial in helping hunt (if there are animals that have survived). Additionally, the only one that has been established by gender is the 16 year old, there's no guarantee that she's the only female within the group. Conversely, the society structure would have to be re-evaluated if the citizens are identified by gender. Furthermore, with the current group, there is at least five people within the group that has had some sort of 'higher education' (Criminal Justice, medicine, history). By keeping these people we have also established a higher 'educational system' for the new children that have yet to be born. Thus, we will establish a new society that is better educated. *edited to add contentand grammatical errors*

You said those pictures were for ME only! This is a shining example of why I' glad I don't do the 'social networking sites thing'! It seems there's been more 'trouble' from them (from hacking, stalkers to pedophiles to rape/murder) than they've actually been worth....

Students Kicked Off Campus for Wearing American Flag Tees By George Kiriyama NBCBayArea.com On any other day at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, Daniel Galli and his four friends would not even be noticed for wearing T-shirts with the American flag. But Cinco de Mayo is not any typical day especially on a campus with a large Mexican American student population. Galli says he and his friends were sitting at a table during brunch break when the vice principal asked two of the boys to remove American flag bandannas that they wearing on their heads and for the others to turn their American flag T-shirts inside out. When they refused, the boys were ordered to go to the principal's office. "They said we could wear it on any other day," Daniel Galli said, "but today is sensitive to Mexican-Americans because it's supposed to be their holiday so we were not allowed to wear it today." The boys said the administrators called their T-shirts "incendiary" that would lead to fights on campus. "They said if we tried to go back to class with our shirts not taken off, they said it was defiance and we would get suspended," Dominic Maciel, Galli's friend, said. The boys really had no choice, and went home to avoid suspension. They say they're angry they were not allowed to express their American pride. Their parents are just as upset, calling what happened to their children, "total nonsense." "I think it's absolutely ridiculous," Julie Fagerstrom, Maciel's mom, said. "All they were doing was displaying their patriotic nature. They're expressing their individuality." But to many Mexican-American students at Live Oak, this was a big deal. They say they were offended by the five boys and others for wearing American colors on a Mexican holiday. "I think they should apologize cause it is a Mexican Heritage Day," Annicia Nunez, a Live Oak High student, said. "We don't deserve to be get disrespected like that. We wouldn't do that on Fourth of July." As for an apology, the boys and their families say, 'fat chance.' "I'm not going to apologize. I did nothing wrong," Galli said. "I went along with my normal day. I might have worn an American flag, but I'm an American and I'm proud to be an American." The five boys and their families met with a Morgan Hill Unified School District official Wednesday night. The district and the school dp not see eye-to-eye on the incident and released the following statement: The district does not concur with the Live Oak High School administration's interpretation of either board or district policy related to these actions. The boys will not be suspended and were allowed to return to school Thursday. We spotted one of them when he got to campus -- and, yes, he was sporting an American flag T-shirt. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ This is akin to celebrating July 4th in another country. While the holiday is significant to the American celebrating it, I doubt that a big deal would be made about it in say..Germany. I doubt that German citizens would be 'punished' for wearing a t-shirt that supports German patriotism. Just like on any other subject, there are many in this country that just have to carry things too far. Should we be watching out for everybody else's feelings so much that we have to sacrifice our own in the process? I think not! Maybe the kids did this to piss off people, but until you can prove this beyond a shadow of a doubt, you MUST give them the benefit of the doubt. To punish these kids is wrong and was nothing more than a 'politically correct reaction gone wrong'. There's a reason that Cinco de Mayo isn't a national holiday in this country...

Ruffles, Thanks for your concern, buddy; but I havent 'thrown a leg over' since that fateful night in November when someone decided to throw a minivan into my part of the roadway. No, I haven't gotten another bike.....I haven't even been able to get another vehicle. As it stands right now, I'm still trying to get to the point of remaining calm when traffic starts to close in. I can't imagine it being on a motorcycle and in this frame of mind! Will I ride again? Hard to say... the desire is there, but I don't know if I still have the guts .....that will come once I get over my 'paranoia' about the next driver that wants to run me over..... The 'unfair part' about it all is that I did nothing wrong. I wasn't speeding, wasn't showing off and wasn't seeing how fast I could get up to 'road speed' or pulling wheelies...I was only on my way to a study group for my EMT-I finals...instead, I spent the night in the E.R.; getting poked, prodded and probed.

Score one for the 'good guys'!! Times Square bomb suspect nabbed at airport Pakistani-born U.S. citizen was attempting to fly to Dubai from JFK NBC, msnbc.com and news services updated 1 hour, 48 minutes ago NEW YORK - Authorities arrested a U.S. citizen in connection with the failed bombing attempt in New York's Times Square as he tried to leave the country, Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday. Faisal Shahzad, 30, was arrested at 11:45 p.m. ET Monday night by Customs and Border Protection agents as he attempted to board an Emirates airlines flight to Dubai at New York's JFK airport, officials said. "It is clear that the intent behind this terrorist act was to kill Americans," Holder said. Shahzad, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Pakistan, was accused of driving a car bomb into Times Square, authorities said. He will appear in Manhattan Federal Court later Tuesday. A law enforcement official told news services Tuesday that Shahzad said he had no accomplices: "He's claimed to have acted alone, but these are things that have to be investigated." Holder said the investigation was ongoing and that law enforcement officials had gathered "significant additional evidence." He urged Americans to remain vigilant. "The American people should know that we are deploying every resource available and we will not rest until we have brought everyone responsible to justice," Holder said. Trip to Pakistan Earlier, officials told The Associated Press that the suspect recently returned from a trip to Pakistan, where he has a wife. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the case was at a sensitive stage. Shahzad will face charges "for allegedly driving a car bomb into Times Square on the evening of May 1," according to a statement by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, FBI agent George Venizelos and New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. Emirates said in a statement that one passenger was stopped at the gate and a further two passengers were removed from on board the plane. It was unclear what happened to the other two. "Full security procedures were activated including the deplaning of all passengers and a thorough screening of the aircraft, passengers and baggage," an Emirates spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement. Shahzad was being held in New York and couldn't be contacted. He has a Shelton, Conn., address and a phone number listed there wasn't in service. Investigators were searching his home. Law enforcement officials said Shahzad bought the SUV, a 1993 Nissan Pathfinder, that was parked in Times Square on Saturday from a person in Connecticut three weeks ago. NBC News reported he paid $1,300 in cash for the vehicle, which had been advertised on website Craigslist. NBC News earlier reported the suspect's name was on an e-mail that was sent to the car's seller last month. The website Politico, citing an unnamed senior official, reported that a number from disposable cell phone used by the buyer of the SUV had led to the suspect's arrest. “They were able to basically get one phone number and by running it through a number of databases, figure out who they thought the guy was,” the official told Politico. The suspect didn't still have the phone, the website reported, but agents were still able to locate the suspect. In Bridgeport, the seller refused to answer questions put by the Times. "You can't interview her," said an unidentified man at the woman’s white clapboard house. "She already talked to the FBI." A man in his 40s who was seen in a security camera video apparently walking away from the SUV was initially a focus of the investigation. But the New York police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, told the Times that while investigators still wanted to speak to that man, he might not be connected to the failed bombing. Paul J. Browne, a spokesman for the department, told the paper: "It may turn out that he was just somebody in the area, but not connected with the car bomb." A metal rifle cabinet placed in the SUV's cargo area was packed with fertilizer, but NYPD bomb experts believe it was not a type volatile enough to explode like the ammonium nitrate grade fertilizer used in previous terrorist bombings. However, police said it could have produced "a significant fireball" and sprayed shrapnel with enough force to kill pedestrians and knock out windows. 'Rube Goldberg contraption' James M. Cavanaugh, a former bomb expert with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who investigated car bombs and tracked the Unabomber, told The New York Times that the device and the way it was designed speak to a "grandiose purpose." "I call this a Rube Goldberg contraption," Cavanaugh told the newspaper. "It's the 'swing-the-arm-with-the-shoe-that-hits-the-ball-and-knocks-over-a-stick-that-knocks-something-off-a-shelf' and it is all supposed to work." He said that whoever made the bomb had "more desire than ability." The Times also reported that Kevin B. Barry, an official with the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators, said the attempted bomber had left many leads for detectives to follow. “He was trying to cover his tracks, but he left more clues than a guy walking into a bank to rob it without a mask. This guy left everything here but his wallet," Barry said. Chris Falkenberg, president of Insite Security, which works with Fortune 500 companies, said the device, as described by authorities, "doesn't differ much at all from 'The Anarchist Cookbook'" — the underground 1971 manual for homemade explosives. He said revelations that the fertilizer used could not have exploded suggested "this is amateur hour. My kids could build a better bomb than this." New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg early Tuesday thanked law enforcement officials, saying that their "focused and swift efforts led to this arrest after only 48 hours of around-the-clock investigation. I hope their impressive work serves as a lesson to anyone who would do us harm." A senior White House official said President Barack Obama was briefed six times yesterday about the investigation and was notified of Shahzad's arrest at 12:05 am Tuesday. The Taliban in Pakistan said Sunday it planted the bomb to avenge the killing in April of al-Qaida's two top leaders in Iraq as well as U.S. interference in Muslim countries. Some officials voiced skepticism about the claim. But former CIA analyst Bruce Riedel, who last year oversaw an Obama administration strategy review on Afghanistan and Pakistan, cautioned against dismissing a possible role by the Taliban. "They have said they want to attack inside the United States," he said before the arrest was announced, adding there was "a very serious possibility" the incident involved "some Pakistani-American who has never built a car bomb before in his life but who is being coached either by phone or internet." In Pakistan, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said authorities had not been formally asked for help in the probe. "When the request comes, we will cooperate with the U.S. government," he told the AP. The location of the bomb suggests a number of possible targets. The SUV was parked near offices of Viacom Inc., which owns Comedy Central. The network recently aired an episode of the animated show "South Park" that the group Revolution Muslim had complained insulted the Prophet Muhammad by depicting him in a bear costume. NBC News' Pete Williams, Savannah Guthrie and Carol Grisanti, msnbc.com staff, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. Some have suggested that even though he was in Pakistan for 5 months, if he was at one of the 'training camps', "he should have paid more attention in class".

You sure you don't want one of those white leotards and gym shoes like Cathy Rigby used to wear? I'm sure the idea of turning backflips and gymnastics is more appealing than tennis during 'that part of the month'..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFTlNGx4q_I (Starts at 2:23)

Now, now....there's no sense in getting 'bitchy' about it!

I've REALLY got to start looking at the dates on some of these threads! With the recent trend to 'resurect' dead threads, I really think that giving advice to someone a year or more later is pointless......

Happy Birthday, Richard! I brought the cake......

Talk about a 'bloated' thread! With all these puns running around, I'm surprized y'all didn't take up Richard B's challenge! We've filled out the first 10 pages for y'all..... http://www.emtcity.com/index.php/topic/17529-pundemonium/

Maybe we should look into 'four wall construction' so this doesn't leak out into other threads, ....er, strings.......uhhh, oh, never mind!!!

Good point! All the 'I want to do this for the rest of my life!' won't amount to a hill of beans if you can't pass the National Registry (or whatever state licensing test your state requires). While there is no set 'time frame' that employers and insurance companies check driving records for (some only go back 3 years and some go back as far as 10), the best thing you can do while you're waiting for it to 'fall off' your driving record, is to continue your education and get your degree. Doing this probably won't mitigate your DUI/DWI conviction, it MIGHT make you a little more 'marketable'. Remember, even those at the 'top of the class' have fallen victim to the state licensing testing. Check with your State Department of Health (or whoever regulates EMS licensing) to make sure you're even able to be licensed with this on your record. This too negates the whole "this is what I want to do with the rest of my life" statement. If your conviction was a 'felony level conviction', you may be looking at problems getting your NREMT card, not to mention your state license.

Without getting into the whole fire department bashing aspect of the original post, it's nice to see Dr. Tober being awarded for his innovation and active participation in the EMS system. If more systems in the U.S. were as carefully monitored as Dr. Tober's is, we would actually be taking a step forward in advancing this profession.

From what I've been able to find online, there's alot of factors to take into consideration; like density of the liquid. Since you're trying to convert from weight to volume, there is a small 'problem'. I've found that 'pure water' weighs 1g/ml. This would of course be affected by minerals and other impurities. By 'pure water', I'm presuming they're referring to sterile water. Since the blood is about 90% water, this should at least put you into the ballpark for an answer.

As someone who has been in EMS for more than 6 months to a year, I can say that I don't have any problem working with those younger than me, those that aren't trained to my level, or those that have more education than I do. What I find that really sets the teeth on edge and the jaw out of line are those that you can't teach because they 'know it all'. No one in EMS will ever 'know it all', and the moment you start harboring that attitude, you're selling yourself short and denying your patient the care that they deserve. Part of our job is patient advocacy, and that means helping them get the very best treatment that we can. I've seen too many that will deny the patient access to the ALS services that would definately improve their condition for no other reason than attitude and ego. Having spent more than a coule years at the BLS level, I've never hesitated to 'disturb the medics' when the patient needed more aggressive care than I was able to give. I've also seen providers that think they can handle anything that comes down the pike at the BLS level. My personal view on working with partners that have more experience, better education than I do, is to shut up, and learn from them. Most ILS/ALS providers I've come in contact with are more than happy to pass on knowledge; but you have to be willing to admit that you dont know it all, and never will. To do this though, requires that you swallow your foolish pride and actually be HONEST with yourself. By the same token, since I've been able to learn from those with more experience, better education....I have an obligation to help those that are less experienced or have less education than I do. I don't want to come off like I'm the that 'know it all', but if we don't share the education; how can we help ourselves by helping each other?

Welcome to the City, Jason! As far as being in the right place for becoming a medic, Richard's right. The people here will either support you, or they'll whack you when you get the wrong answers! Acutally, the people here are VERY supportive of higher education, and there are some very strong arguments for getting your degree in Paramedicine. There's a wealth of information here, and lots of brains to 'pick' if you seek knowledge. Alot of the medics on this site are like bulldogs. If they see you having a problem with something, they won't let go of you until you 'get it'. I used to work in Detroit. Maybe we can chat. Lone Star

I would have to agree with the court's decision. He sat on death row for how long? One would think that all the time spent sitting on death row just waiting for the execution date to arrive, he would have had plenty of time to start paperwork about this alleged allergy. It's not like you forget you're allergic to something and just 'suddenly remember'.....

For that, you just got grounded!

Matt, Since you seem intent on picking apart my original post and analyzing it, let me do it for you, so that my meanings are clarified: Simply stated, I’ve seen children that respond simply to a tone of voice used by the parents to convey their displeasure with the child’s actions. I’ve also seen children who have had corporal punishment used for every ‘offense’, and not get the intended results. I wasn’t offering any advice either way. Simply stated, it opens a line of dialogue. This was included to show that I’ve been exposed to both concepts of child discipline. I’ve been exposed to the excessive use of it (to the point of being abusive), and where it was only used as a ‘last resort’, because other methods of discipline were used. Here, I have done nothing more than state a fact. Since I’ve been exposed to both corporal punishment and other forms of discipline; I cannot attribute this fact to either form of discipline. To say that one form or the other kept me from becoming a drug addict/alcoholic/convict would be advocating one form or the other. I believe that there are other forms of discipline, and I don’t need to ‘throw the book at them’ every time they break the rules. I also believe that corporal punishment isn’t the only effective form of discipline available to parents. The responsibility that I’m alluding to here is the responsibility to take care of the discipline of my child. It’s not the job of the school district or their employees to decide which form of discipline is appropriate for my child. The statement “My views on corporal punishment aside” simply means that whether or not I advocate its use is irrelevant in this statement. My point of the fact that it’s the responsibility of the parent, not the teachers/school staff to discipline the child was the main point of that paragraph. I’ve seen the effect of having a parent that knew where I was, what I was doing and who I was running with. I’ve seen far too many ‘parents’ that would rather just park their kid in front of the television/VCR/computer and just ‘let them be’. To explore this topic further requires a new thread. Just as a mechanic would have an assortment of different sized and types of wrenches and other tools in their tool box, as a parent, we cannot rely only on corporal punishment to keep our kids ‘in line’. When the mechanic retires from working on cars, the tool box will be passed onto the children, so that they may take those tools and be able to repair their vehicles properly. By the same token, when we limit the ‘parenting tools’, we’re actually limiting our children’s ability to be effective parents. If all we have in the ‘parenting toolbox’ is corporal punishment, then we have in fact been limited ourselves; by our parents. By not expanding the tools a parent uses, we perpetuate the cycle of ill prepared parents who only have limited means to discipline their children. While I was exposed to corporal punishment, I know that it’s not the ONLY way to discipline a child. Even though I was exposed to an abusive parent, I know that there are other ways to raise a child without having to abuse them, and thereby breaking the cycle of ill prepared parents referenced above. I didn't join this conversation to advocate corporal punishment, or to condemn those people that advocate it's use. My contribution was simply my observations and a statement of my views based on those observations. I'm not going to get into the whole 'judgement' scene, it's not my place to judge.

I think you've misunderstood the entire content and intent of my post. At no time did I advocate using corporal punishment to discipline children. As a matter of fact, my posting was purely observational, and I intentionally left my personal feelings out it. By doing so, I merely pointed out that there are other methods available to discipline children. Furthermore, by not getting emotionally caught up in the debate, I beliveve I've given creedence to my observations. I'm glad you think that we're making 'progress', but since I remained purely obeservational in the entire posting; how can you presume to know which side of the debate I'm advocating? It seems to me that you've already made up your mind that I advocate one method over the other, when in fact, I've remained entirely neutral.

I've seen kids that require no more 'discipline' than simply raising your voice to show displeasure, and I've seen kids that you can beat the hell out of, and it will change nothing. So which method is 'better'? I've been on both ends of the corporal punishment scene. I've had one parent who was abusive with it, and another that only used it when nothing else seemed to be effective. I can say this about the the total way I was raised. I don't use drugs, I've never been to prison, I'm not an alcoholic and I've actually attempted to make something of my life. Is this the direct result of corporal punishment, or because I had at least one parent that stuck their nose in my 'business' and made sure I was doing things the way they should be done? It's hard to say for sure. It might have been one or the other....or a combination of both. As far as disciplining MY children, I'm one of those people that try to make the punishment fit the 'crime'. Corporal punishment isn't the only 'tool' we have as parents. My views on coroporal punishment aside, I don't feel that it's a teacher/principal or other school official's job to discipline my child. As a parent, that is my RESPONSIBILITY. There's a quote attributed to George Carlin that goes something like this: "It doesn't take a whole village to raise a child. It DOES however, take parents to get off their lazy ass and actually give a damn!" As a mechanic, I fill my toolbox with all the proper tools to effectively repair and maintain my vehicle. As a parent, I must do the same thing to be able to effectively raise and guide my child. As the mechanic might pass the toolbox onto his/her children, we must do the same with our 'parenting toolbox'. For those that advocate corporal punishment for all offenses, this is all that the child will have in their 'parenting toolbox', and the cycle continues. I was strong enough to 'break the cycle' when it came to dealing with the kids in my life, (a former step daughter, and a son and daughter of my own). Sadly, there are parents out there that are only perpetuating this cycle.

I've never understood the 'membership' thing, especially when it involves municipal services. Since the municipality is providing those services, your tax dollars (property tax) is where their operational budget and funding comes from. In some areas, there's also Community Devlopment Block Grants (CDBG). These grants help defray operational costs for 'essential services', especially in the less affluent areas. If the municipality is providing 'essential services', then the 'memberships' are nothing more than that srvice 'double dipping' into the residents pockets. I do believe that is illegal. I would have thought that when a call for mutal aid goes out, the assisting agency would waive 'membership status'. Refusing to treat a 'non-member'; wouldn't that quaify or onstitute a breech of duty to act? For those of you that are part of a 'membership service', I have a question.... You have one truck available and two calls from two members...who has 'priority' (all things being equal, distance, severity of the call.... Secondly, do you bill your 'memebers' for services rendered? Is this in addition to the 'membership fees'?

Au Bon Pain (NYC) should be a neon example of what can occur when lunch breaks become mandatory. I've worked some realy 'gnarly' shifts (38 calls in 24 hours). Yes, most of them were IFT's, but the point still remains; we ran our humps off that day! I DO see the need for some 'down time' somewhere in the shift. It's unacceptable that one or two rigs are getting hammered while there's 10 rigs 'at quarters' wondering what's left in their picnic coolers that they were able to bring from home. What I find hard to understand is this: EMS in the United States is under the National Highway Traffic Administration, who is a subcategory of the Department of Transportation. The D.O.T. has seen fit to mandate 'down time' for truckers, cabbies, et al; but they seem to have 'forgotten' those of us in the trenches. Of course, our employers are loving this 'oversight' because that gives them the lattitude to create long shifts; thereby covering more hours with less and less people.