Category Archives: Security

History, Poetry, Security

Martin Luther King Day

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Celebrating the man and his wisdom, through a restricted lens…

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

Complete text available here, although strangely it says the copyright status of his speech is…”restricted”.

The Free at Last spiritual can be found here…

History, Security

The Syndicate

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PBS has a brief but robust description of the history of The Syndicate in America. The story is mainly in regard to the establishment of Las Vegas casinos but it also touches on its role in influencing and working with law enforcement and intelligence agencies:

The Office of Strategic Services (later, the CIA) in fact employed the Syndicate in some covert operations. During World War II, the Syndicate helped with the invasion of Sicily and in protecting the Eastern waterfront against German sabotage. Some of the Syndicate’s major drug traffickers were used as informants and assassins in the Cold War. As one White House official described the government’s relationship with Lansky, “The government turned to him because hiring thugs was what government and business had been doing for a long time to control workers, and because it could conceive little other choice in the system at hand.”

Food, Security

Woman dies after winning water drinking contest

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A Sacramento TV station reports that a woman has died after a radio station (KDND 107.9) held a contest to see who could drink the most water without relieving themselves. The winner was supposed to get a Nintendo Wii ($249 MSRP).

Sadly, the woman who won the contest left and then called in sick to work after telling them “her head was hurting her real bad”. Only a few hours later she was found dead from water intoxication.

The radio station apparently had provided a warning, which was described by another contestant as “if you don’t feel like you can do this, don’t put your health at risk”. The TV station report also mentions a waiver of liability. It does not sound like anyone was given any serious health consultation or recommendation about balance of electrolytes to ensure they were making an informed decision. It’s also not clear if anyone at the station themselves understood the dangers of hyper-hydration.

Sacramento County Sheriff’s Sgt. Tim Curran confirmed Strange’s death Friday, but said there were no immediate grounds to begin an investigation.

According to contest participants, 17 to 20 contestants took part in the competition in a room at KDND’s Madison Avenue studios. The contest broadcast during The End’s Morning Rave program began around 6:15 a.m. as contestants were each handed eight-ounce bottles of water to drink every 15 minutes.

Fellow contestant James Ybarra of Woodland said he met Strange at the event and had no idea of the potential danger of water poisoning.

[…]

Ybarra said before the contest, he did not read a liability waiver form handed to him by station personnel before signing it. Ybarra said he was surprised by the physical toll he felt after the contest.

“I was kind of out of it yesterday. I was just drained. I was just going to the bathroom,” Ybarra said. “I wasn’t feeling well and I actually fell asleep. I woke up with a headache (Saturday) morning and then took a couple of aspirins.”

How is someone supposed to know if they are at a proper hydration level? It seems a popular recommendation is to look at the level of color in your urine, the exact measure of health that was forbidden in the contest.

Perhaps this will be filed under psychiatric conditions that lead to death? It certainly does not fit the other “at risk” categories listed by Wikipedia (Infants, Runners, Overexertion and heat stress, Unusual water losses in disease, Iatrogenic water intoxication).

And if you think this is bad, I hear the radio station’s next hot contest will be “Self-Immolation for a Playstation”…

Security

2007 Serbian Parliamentary Election

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Wikipedia has some fun facts to read about the upcoming parliamentary election in Serbia. What it does not mention is whether electronic voting machines will be used for the nearly 7 million eligible voters and, if so, how the machines will be certified. Unfortunately, IFES Election Guide does not help either. Thought it might be interesting to know if the various groups could agree on a electronic voting system, or if they chose not to use one.