USPS Managers - Disloyal/Unethical?

The term "going Postal" came from violence committed by people who had been managed by folks who thought "whack a postal employee" was a great game.



Management signed contracts they now want to ignore/tear up. Management managed the USPS into a hole. Postal workers - letter carriers did not manage the business into the hole it is in.



1. Fire all the managers and put a committee of postal workers in charge of the system, or

2. Managers actually work with employees on how to save money and create more business.



My gut favors choice #1. My head says give #2 a try. Past experience tells me that the workers could actually save the system but managers are too stuck on being "bosses" rather than leaders who want their organization to succeed.



Be strong union and speak out for uncommon good sense!

Amplify’d from www.washingtonpost.com

USPS proposes cutting 120,000 jobs, pulling out of health-care plan

In an attempt to stem its financial hemorrhaging, the U.S. Postal Service is seeking to reduce its workforce by 20 percent, including through layoffs now prohibited by union contracts. USPS also wants to withdraw its employees from the health and retirement plans that cover federal staffers and create its own benefit programs for postal employees. Read more at www.washingtonpost.com

 

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Thoughtless Thursday - Bank of America

Bank of America is convinced it does not have to follow laws that require it to be a good neighbor and to just be accountable for its actions or inaction. And it does not believe that it needs to honor 1st Amendment, freedom of speech, laws against false imprisonment and... It gets the thoughtless and no heart award for this thursday!

Amplify’d from chicagoist.com

Woman Lists Bank of America's Vacant Property Violations; Bank of America Has Woman Arrested

Bank of America had a customer arrested yesterday after she tried to deliver complaints of code violations at properties the bank owns. Read more at chicagoist.com

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If you do not blog for peace; who will?

When good people say nothing, evil triumphs - speak up!

Amplify’d from www.youtube.com

BlogBlast4Peace 2011

For more information or to join this cause please visit founder and creator of Blog Blast For Peace, Mimi Lenox @ mimilenox.com Read more at www.youtube.com

 

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1. This is not a game - playing with our lives to gain an "edge" for your belief or political party has to stop.

2. Standard and Poor's has made so many bad calls over the past few years, that it is difficult to take seriously and I don't think people should take them seriously any longer - S&P you are downgraded for good!

3. Media and "pundits" - you are as much to blame as those attempting to gain a political edge. You are just spinning your own coverage to gain attention and gain your own edge. You time is nearly up as well.

4. We - the public - can all see that you are playing a "naked" game and while at times amusing - it has to end.



We need each other and need to work together - now! http://amplify.com/u/a1abxr

1946 Cold Case in Mojave

Murdered woman finally identified - never, never, never give up when seeking justice, mercy, or peace!

Amplify’d from laist.com

Woman Murdered in 1946 Identified

It's never too late to solve a murder mystery, and in the case of a woman who was killed 65 years ago and whose remains were left in a California desert, investigators have finally found answers. Read more at laist.com

 

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Salmonella - Deadly but illegal? Not so much

Is it against the law to ship out 35 MILLION pounds of ground turkey that can sicken thousands and kill some? Is someone considering classifying the company as a 2nd or 3rd degree terrorist? Raise you hand if you are willing to pay taxes to protect your children and yourselves from being killed or sickened for profit! Nothing you can do? Pay attention to state and federal safety laws and inspections - tell your legislators you want that first level of safety enforced!



Ask Representative Boehner how much turkey he is buying?

Amplify’d from www.wired.com

Resistant Salmonella: Deadly Yet Somehow Not Illegal

Maryn McKenna

confirmation, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that the Salmonella samples recovered from patients are resistant to several antibiotics — ampicillin, tetracycline and streptomycin — that are commonly used not only in human medicine, but in agriculture as well. (The strain still responds to Cipro, a fluoroquinolone; ceftriaxone, a cephalosporin; and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, a drug combination best known under the name Bactrim.)

But the biggest revelation may have been that, in strict legal terms, there may have been no wrongdoing in the  distribution via turkey of the drug-resistant strain that has killed one person and sickened 78 — because Salmonella, the organism in question, is not classified by the federal government as something that is illegal to distribute. Read more at www.wired.com

 

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Superbugs 2: Humans 0 Bottom of the 7th

Meaning that if fighting the spread of superbugs was a game like baseball, we are in big danger of losing soon, if we do not change our ways!

Amplify’d from www.wired.com

Highly Resistant Salmonella: Poultry, Antibiotics, Borders, Risk

Maryn McKenna

If you’re a strain of Salmonella, it’s a very good week. If you’re a human, not so much.

There are two stories occurring simultaneously that underline the rising danger of drug-resistant organisms in the food supply, and the porousness of networks for detecting the dangerous bugs in time.

Salmonella Heidelberg

“resistant to many commonly prescribed antibiotics,” according to the CDC

traveling on ground turkey

Salmonella Kentucky

has become resistant to fluoroquinolones such as Cipro, the drug usually used to treat Salmonella infections. Read more at www.wired.com

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Loyalty, Keeping Word; Still Golden?

Throw everyone under the bus - cause I make enough money and I will not have to suffer. I am really tired of pundits and politicians who think it is just fine for them to screw everyone else because they do not have to live with the result of their advice or opinion. Samuelson - do unto others as you would do to yourself!

Amplify’d from www.washingtonpost.com

Why are we in this debt fix? It’s the elderly, stupid.

It’s the elderly, stupid.

By now, it’s obvious that we need to rewrite the social contract that, over the past half-century, has transformed the federal government’s main task into transferring income from workers to retirees. In 1960, national defense was the government’s main job; it constituted 52 percent of federal outlays. In 2011 — even with two wars — it is 20 percent and falling. Meanwhile, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other retiree programs constitute roughly half of non-interest federal spending. Read more at www.washingtonpost.com

 

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Threat from self-delusion:

The monster of Norway, the Unabomber, the Oklahoma City Bomber, and the pilots of 9-11 airplanes all suffered from two extreme self-delusions:

a. That their actions would cause what they believed would be "positive global" effects,

b. That they were fulfilling a calling, a destiny for greatness, and would be admired/remembered for their actions.



Threat from rationality:

a. Our collective self-delusion that the world is or can be 100% rational - that the actions of madmen can be rationally explained and thus be somehow prevented in future.

b. No single person can carry out such madness, therefore there must be some secret group behind the horrendous act(s). http://amplify.com/u/a19n41

Can you hear me now? An Afghan poet's plea...

God help us make the right choices - we are already there for almost 10 years and still no peace for us or them.

Amplify’d from www.awwproject.org

I have come a very long way Give me a smile? I am tired of crying I miss happy times I miss my mother’s hug Talk to me … for just a second? I am new in your land Hold my hand Show me the way I have lots to learn I have lots to teach my people Let’s help each other Bring peace and smiles on faces I have come a long way To start my new life Please talk to me …

Talk to Me

See more at www.awwproject.org

 

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An Afgahn Poet's Do Fly Zone!

She wants the real good life! More power to her!

Amplify’d from www.awwproject.org

Desire

I want to fly where birds sing their nicest songs, where I can hear waterfowl, where it is green all the time, where flowers smile and butterflies speak.

I want to fly where I can write poems and sing songs, where dancing is not forbidden. Read more at www.awwproject.org

 

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I have Posterous checked to automatically get my Amplify posts but nothing has posted since March 21, 2011 - anyone had similar experience or explanation? Thanks. http://amplify.com/u/a17j47

Gonorrhea (Clap) SuperBug on Loose - Use Condoms!

What an awful Monday story but true. Gonorrhea once conquered is no on the hunt for victims with a vengence. Gonorrhea is a bacterial sexually transmitted infection and if left untreated can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and infertility in women.



It can cause epididymitis, a painful condition of the ducts attached to the testicles that may lead to infertility.



If it spreads to the blood or joints the condition can be life threatening.



Or overuse of drugs in food and people has fueled drug resistance like wildfire.

Amplify’d from www.dailymail.co.uk

Gonorrhea is now a superbug:  Antibiotic-resistant strain could turn STD into global public health threat, experts warn

A 'superbug' strain of gonorrhea that is resistant to all recommended antibiotics has been discovered.

Scientists warn it could transform a once easily treatable sexually-transmitted disease into a global public health threat. Read more at www.dailymail.co.uk

 

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Oops! Industrializing organics is bad too !

E. coli in Germany outbreak has "cooled" down but who knows where "infected" sprouts seeds were shipped to. Industrialization of the seed market sent bad seeds all over Europe and who knows where else where folks are cashing in on interests in "organic" food.

Amplify’d from www.wired.com

E. coli: A Risk for 3 More Years From Who Knows Where

Maryn McKenna

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reveals that, despite the epidemic curve’s trending down, the outbreak can’t be considered over. The ultimate source — the contaminated seeds from which salad sprouts were grown — has been so widely distributed that no one really knows where they have gone or for how long they might remain for sale. One prediction, based on the probable package labeling, is that they could remain on shelves for 3 more years. Read more at www.wired.com

 

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Fox News Owner Murdock Employees Hacking

Rupert Murdock is closing News of the World in England over anger with his employees hacking dead soldier's cell phones, as well as other people - including a girl who was murdered - all in name of getting "news." He owns Fox News, Wall Street Journal and London Times -  are they, or have they been hacking your phones, 9/11 first responders and victims cell phones, soldiers in Afghanistan? How far will Fox News owner go for profits and his interests over yours?

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How dumb can politics get? Outlaw energy efficient lightbulbs?

Joe Barton and 14 other US Representatives think phasing out old light bulbs and supporting newer energy efficient bulbs somehow threatens you freedom! Next of their list?

1. Bring back cars and trucks that have now pollution devices so we can be free to cover the land with killer smogs!

2. Stop cleaning and filtering water - so people will be free to have cholera and typhoid again.

3. Stop requiring vaccinations for polio, measles, etc, so people are free to endanger their children and the rest of us.

Amplify’d from www.govtrack.us

To repeal certain amendments to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act with respect to lighting energy efficiency, and for other purposes.

Rep. Joe Barton [R-TX6]show cosponsors (15) Read more at www.govtrack.us

 

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Family Farm; Gone! Family Fisherman: Going down quick!

They will pretend to be fishermen of past fame but they are just giant corporations ready to trade your future and the planet for a quick dollar while deluding themselves that they will be exempt from the harm they cause.



In the end, they will be waving dollars, yuan and euros trying to buy a future after they have - oops - killed it!

Amplify’d from www.foodandwaterwatch.org

Fish, Inc.

The Privatization of U.S. Fisheries Through Catch Share Programs

Smaller-scale traditional fishermen are pushed out of the fishery while larger companies, which often use fishing practices that stress ocean ecosystems, take over. Read more at www.foodandwaterwatch.org

 

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First bird flu, now chickens source of superbug effecting humans?

Chicken farmers used to be able to buy methamfetamine (speed) in 55 gallon drums to mix with chicken feed for egg layers. I wondered how much speed and other drugs got into us. Now, we are beginning to find out.



The key in safety seems to be not industrializing poultry and egg farming, as well as other meat production. When thousands of animals are housed together drugs are needed to keep them healthy but the long term result may kill us all - chickens and people.

Amplify’d from www.wired.com

Is Drug Resistance in Humans Coming From Chickens?

There is enough similarity between drug-resistance genes in  E. coli carried by chickens and  E. coli infecting humans that the chickens may be the source of it.

We conclude that the high rate of ESBL contamination of retail chicken meat in the Netherlands, which involves many of the same ESBL genes present in colonized and infected humans, is a plausible source of the recent increase of ESBL genes in the Netherlands. The similarity of E. coli strains and predominant drug resistance genes in meat and humans provides circumstantial evidence for an animal reservoir for a substantial part of ESBL genes found in humans. Read more at www.wired.com

 

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Hello? Anyone listening? Sitting out 2010 elections?

Pointless discussions like this abound when people do not want to think about the huge mistake too many many people made by not turning up to vote in city, county, state, and congressional elections late fall.



If same number of people who supported President Obama had turned out to vote last November, we would be talking about the new national plan to address climate change!

Amplify’d from takingnote.tcf.org

Was it a Political Mistake to Pursue Health Care Reform?

There’s a meme going around that health reform was a central strategic error of the early Obama presidency. On this view, it was a mistake to spend so long waging trench warfare to pass the Affordable Care Act. Read more at takingnote.tcf.org

 

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War keeps taking and taking and taking... we need to care for those who serve.

Before there was PTSD, there was just combat fatigue; men and women were just supposed to forget about it or suck it up.



Many men and women who served in all our wars suffered during their time in combat and many silently for years after their service in WW One and WW Two, Korea, Vietnam, and then Desert Shield. Finally they put a real name and some real treatment together for what had ruined all too many lives years after the combat was forgotten.



Don't forget, don't let them down. Think even longer and harder before sending them in harm's way - please.

Amplify’d from servicewomen.org

Is PTSD contagious?

While I always felt his PTSD was “justified” in a way, his wife’s behavior after he returned home always seemed bizarre to me.

When talking with her, she’d drone on and on about having “secondary PTSD;” she developed the same symptoms as her husband.

But, I now know that I was wrong

So, maybe it doesn’t have an official name, but spouses of those suffering with PTSD have to deal with a lot. The depression and anxiety can easily be transferred to the “caregiver” and can cause them to suffer through it as well. Read more at servicewomen.org

 

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