FBI Releases 2007 Statistics on Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted
Officers Killed & Assaulted A New Set of Insights A total of 57 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty last year. Who's counting? We are...to help save lives. Story
Report: Coastal home prices dip slightly 3:34 PM EDT FridayFlorida ranks No. 3 for foreclosures
Disney unveils plans for Hawaii
Social Security benefits to jump $750 in 2009
CDC: Teens hurt or killed by 'car surfing'UPI Thu, 16 Oct 2008 1:40 PM PDTATLANTA, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. teens are being injured or killed by riding on the outside of a moving vehicle -- an activity known as car surfing, federal health officials said.
Our psychology helps politicians bend the truthNew Scientist Fri, 10 Oct 2008 6:29 AM PDTMental shortcuts that we use to make sense of the world may explain why we so often let politicians pull the wool over our eyes
Breast Cancer & CaffineWSPA Spartanburg Tue, 14 Oct 2008 9:46 AM PDTMost of us have at least one soft drink each day or what about a cup of coffee? Could all that caffeine increase our risk for breast cancer?
Disturbing Link: Oral Sex & Throat CancerABC News Wed, 15 Oct 2008 5:29 AM PDTOral sex could transmit the cancer-causing human papillomavirus.
Single brain cell can reactivate paralysed limbs: studyAFP via Yahoo! News Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:37 AM PDTOne tiny brain cell is all it takes to restore voluntary movement of paralysed muscles, scientists in the United States reported Wednesday.
Surfing: Hareb closing in on world tour spotThe New Zealand Herald Sun, 12 Oct 2008 3:54 PM PDTPaige Hareb is one wave closer to becoming the first New Zealander to qualify for the Association of Surfing Professionals' women's world tour.
Wright defeats world champ - Culburra’s Tyler Wright makes her mark on surfing’s Beachley ClassicSouth Coast Register Sun, 12 Oct 2008 4:13 PM PDTCULBURRA Beach surfer Tyler Wright stunned the surfing world on Saturday when she relegated women’s world champion Stephanie Gilmore to second place in the opening round of the Beachley Classic.
New Technique Activates Brain Neurons to Move Paralyzed LimbHealthDay via Yahoo! News Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:02 AM PDTWEDNESDAY, Oct. 15 (HealthDay News) -- In the latest effort to cause movement in paralyzed limbs, researchers have found a way to activate single neurons in the brain and use them to move a paralyzed wrist.
Brain Pressure More Likely to Cause Vision Loss in MenHealthDay via Yahoo! News Wed, 15 Oct 2008 1:02 PM PDTWEDNESDAY, Oct. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Men are more likely than women to suffer vision loss as a result of a condition that causes increased pressure in the brain, a U.S. study finds.
Fear Factor: This Is Your Brain in an Economic CrisisTime.com via Yahoo! News Wed, 15 Oct 2008 2:05 PM PDTUnpredictability stimulates part of the brain, and it's not always a bad thing
Brain Chemical Could Spur LovesicknessHealthDay via Yahoo! News Wed, 15 Oct 2008 9:03 AM PDTWEDNESDAY, Oct. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Pity the lovelorn prairie vole. A new study finds that when this monogamous rodent is separated from a mate, its brain starts a process that ends in lovesickness.
Study finds brain chemical linked to griefReuters via Yahoo! News Wed, 15 Oct 2008 8:36 AM PDTScientists have pinpointed a key brain chemical involved in dealing with the sudden loss or long-term separation of a partner, they said Wednesday.
San Jose Officials Oppose Police Report ProposalKRON 4 Bay Area Wed, 15 Oct 2008 1:51 PM PDTSAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - San Jose city and law enforcement officials are opposing a proposal that would make police reports public records. Mayor Chuck Reed Tuesday echoed the concerns of San Jose's police chief, saying the proposal would make crime victims and witnesses afraid to come forward.
National Protect Your Identity Week Is October 19th-25thMarketwire via Yahoo! Finance Wed, 15 Oct 2008 6:00 AM PDTLast year alone, 8.4 million Americans were victims of identity theft, making this the fastest growing crime in America. Every day, millions of Americans are putting themselves at risk just by writing a check, using a credit card or an ATM.
Denis Leary Statement on Autism CommentsMarketWatch - USAThe people who are criticizing the "Autism Schmautism" chapter in my new book "Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid" clearly ...See all stories on this topic
$5.3 Million In Grants Awarded To Crime Victims’ GroupsWYMT Mountain News Wed, 15 Oct 2008 7:07 AM PDTThe Justice and Public Safety Cabinet announced Wednesday they awarded more than $5.3 million in grants to provide crisis intervention, advocacy, counseling, shelter and other assistance to victims of crime.
THE HEALTH REPORT - Brain activity and insomnia Monday 20 October, 8.30am & 8.05pm RN Researchers in The Netherlands investigated differences in functional brain activation as a possible result of chronic insomnia. They then looked at the reversibility of these differences after non-medicated sleep therapy.http://abcmail.net.au/t/287046/685626/920/0/
MAY THE THOUGHT BE WITH YOU A new US Army grant aims to create email or voice mail and send it by thought alone. No need to type an email, dial a phone or even speak a word.http://abcmail.net.au/t/287046/685626/5583/0/
Positive Results For Aplindore In Restless Legs Syndrome And Parkinson's Disease - Neurogen CorporationMedical News Today Thu, 16 Oct 2008 4:08 AM PDTNeurogen Corporation (Nasdaq: NRGN) today announced positive top-line results from two Phase 2 clinical trials in restless legs syndrome (RLS) and Parkinson's disease with the Company's dopamine partial agonist, aplindore. These studies were the first in which aplindore has been evaluated in RLS and Parkinson's disease.
Sexual assault in relationships? It existsHarvard Independent - Cambridge,MA,USABy KAROLINA LEMPERT on behalf of the OSAPR STUDENT ALLIANCE 10/16/08 When students think of OSAPR (Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response), ...See all stories on this topic
ALL IN THE MIND - Working with the mind in dementia, not against it - Part 2 Saturday 18 October, 1.05pm & Monday 20 October, 1.05pm RN Dementia can produce challenging and erratic behaviours. The disease itself is one cause, but so is the world outside. What psychosocial interventions really make a difference? And, a tour through an orthodox nursing home for the most extreme cases.http://abcmail.net.au/t/287046/685626/903/0/
'De-venomised' snakes ruled dangerousThe Age Tue, 14 Oct 2008 6:03 PM PDT'Snakebuster' loses bid to allow people to handle reptiles amid safety worries.
Mobile phone users run high risk of brain tumourSify - Chennai,Tamil Nadu,IndiaThe shocking finding is the result of the biggest ever study by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organisation. ...See all stories on this topic
SLITHERY TENANTS: Middletown apartment crawling with rat snakesThe Daily Times Thu, 09 Oct 2008 7:10 PM PDTThe six-week nightmare for Gladys Dressner, who moved into a Middletown apartment on Sept. 1 that was infested with rat snakes, is finally over.
Brain signals less satisfaction for obese people, research showsEurekAlert! Thu, 16 Oct 2008 11:22 AM PDT( University of Texas at Austin ) Obese individuals may overeat because they experience less satisfaction from eating food due to a reduced response in their brains' reward circuitry, according to a new study by Eric Stice, psychology researcher at the University of Texas at Austin.
Baby brain myth debunkedABC Online - AustraliaResearch leader Professor Helen Christensen says women's perceptions of the brain function is not reflected in the tests. "I think emotional factors are ...See all stories on this topic
Pregnancy hurts schooling, not brainNEWS.com.au - AustraliaThe study, conducted by the Centre for Mental Health Research, looked at 223 women who became new mothers between 1999 and 2007. Although women and their ...See all stories on this topic
How to be happy: Research shows people have power to change emotionsThe Star-Ledger - NJ.com - Newark,NJ,USAJust looking for the bright side, it seems, can stimulate the brain and reset its circuitry to more easily find those silver linings. ...See all stories on this topic
Neuroscientist Finds Transplanted Hand-to-brain Mapping 35 Years ...Science Daily (press release) - USAResearch on animals has shown that neurons that had been devoted to receiving sensory inputs from the limb take on new duties. Exactly what happens is not ...See all stories on this topic
Orlando Health gets $2.25M grant to study brain injuriesBizjournals.com - Charlotte,NC,USADr. Linda Papa, director of academic clinical research and an emergency medicine physician at Orlando Regional Medical Center, is the grant recipient and ...See all stories on this topic
Risk and reward compete in brainEurekAlert (press release) - Washington,DC,USAIn his previous research, Bechara had used the same task to measure risk tolerance in brain-damaged patients. He and other researchers showed that the ...See all stories on this topic
Stabilizing Force For Good Communication Between Neurons And ...Science Daily (press release) - USAScienceDaily (Oct. 9, 2008) — You can't raise a finger without your brain directing muscle cells, and scientists have figured out another reason that ...See all stories on this topic
How Are Brains Structured?By Heather Wax(Heather Wax) How to understand the brain? I start with brain structure, and to do so, I return to my roots, the Brain Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, where more than 40 years ago I did my doctorate in brain research. ...Science & Religion Today - http://scienceandreligiontoday.blogspot.com/
Rewiring the racist brain?By Research, U of T If the theory of natural selection holds true fora host of human traits, even racism might die out as a nonadaptive trait in a global society. continued on pg 7 in PDF.Experience Research - http://www.research.utoronto.ca
Scientists adapt economics theory to trace brain's information flowScientists have used a technique originally developed for economic study to become the first to overcome a significant challenge in brain research: determining the flow of information from one part of the brain to another.Brightsurf Science News and Current... - http://www.brightsurf.com
Brain Rewires Itself After Hand TransplantBy timeinctemp 9 (HealthDay News) — Providing more evidence of the brain’s remarkable ability to transform itself in adulthood, new research reveals that neurons can rewire themselves to adjust to a hand transplant. Even though he had lost his hand 35 ...Health News - http://news.health.com
Risk and reward compete in brainImaging study reveals battle between lure of reward and fear of failure.Brain And Consciousness Research - http://www.brainmysteries
Blacks at Higher Risk for Brain Lesions Causing StrokeMedicineNet.com Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:28 PM PDTTitle: Blacks at Higher Risk for Brain Lesions Causing Stroke Category: Health News Created: 10/9/2008 2:00:00 AM Last Editorial Review: 10/9/2008
Mouse studies suggest daily dose of ginkgo may prevent brain cell damage after a strokeEurekAlert! Thu, 09 Oct 2008 1:29 PM PDT( Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions ) Working with genetically engineered mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that daily doses of a standardized extract from the leaves of the ginkgo tree can prevent or reduce brain damage after an induced stroke.
Using psychology to stop violenceRoslindale Transcript Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:09 AM PDTAlmost 100 social workers, community leaders, peace advocates and students came together at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology in West Roxbury for a two-day conference, “Healing Communities: Using Peace Psychology to Transform Violence.”
Home Based Care For The Elderly On The UpScoop.co.nz Thu, 09 Oct 2008 4:40 PM PDTConcerns over residential care for the elderly are being met by an increasing demand for home based care for older family members.
2009 U.S. Community Care Facilities for the Elderly Industry Report Contains Timely And Accurate Industry StatisticsBusiness Wire via Yahoo! Finance Thu, 09 Oct 2008 9:12 AM PDTDUBLIN, Ireland----Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "2009 U.S. Community Care Facilities for the Elderly Industry Report" to their offering.
Call for major aged care shakeupTVNZ Fri, 10 Oct 2008 0:49 AM PDTThere has been a call for a total overhaul of the aged care sector, and to address pay rates, training and staffing levels for carers. It comes as allegations surfaced about the care given to several elderly residents at a rest home in Taranaki.
Community urged to help the elderly, provide care for the sick and orphansIPP Media Fri, 10 Oct 2008 1:26 AM PDTHelp Age International Tanzania has called on the community to offer financial and moral support to older persons to enable them continue with their moral obligation of caring for the chronically sick and orphaned children with HIV/Aids.
Geriatricians Must Refine Their Focus On Frailest Elderly With Primary Care Physicians Caring For Healthier Elders ...Medical News Today Fri, 10 Oct 2008 4:06 AM PDTTwo converging trends - rapid growth in the population of older Americans and declining numbers of geriatricians practicing in the U.S. - are forcing the field of geriatrics to refine its scope, according to a series of articles on the future of the field in October's Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS).
Leadership Needed To Prevent Crisis In Aged CareScoop.co.nz Thu, 09 Oct 2008 2:23 PM PDTAll political parties must make firm commitments to the elderly and the aged care sector if cases of poor care for the elderly are to be avoided, such as those highlighted tonight by TVNZ .
Police: Man with power of attorney stole from woman, 95Lincoln Journal Star Fri, 10 Oct 2008 0:39 AM PDTPolice say an Omaha insurance agent entrusted with caring for an elderly Lincoln woman stole nearly $300,000 from her. David H. Andersen, 52, had power of attorney for the 95-year-old woman and was supposed to pay for her care, said Lincoln Police Officer Katie Flood.
New board will govern public safety radioSt. James Plaindealer Fri, 10 Oct 2008 3:04 AM PDTOklahoma City, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina - all events we remember and all events that required a coordinated, multi-discipline response from local, state, and federal officials.
U.S. Government Issues Declaration Covering Emergent BioSolutions' BioThrax(R) and Anthrax Immune Globulin under Prep ...Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance Thu, 09 Oct 2008 4:00 AM PDTROCKVILLE, Md.----Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced today that two medical countermeasures included in its anthrax franchise -- BioThrax® and Anthrax Immune Globulin -- have been included as covered countermeasures under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act pursuant to a declaration issued by the U.S.
Scientist to discuss anthrax caseRavalli Republic Wed, 08 Oct 2008 7:30 PM PDTIn the nervous weeks and months following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, a single mention to the East Coast news media about Paul Keim’s biological sleuthing on the anthrax letters case was all it took.
Study reveals finger lengths correlate to desire to exerciseThe Gateway Online Thu, 09 Oct 2008 1:02 AM PDTNew research coming out of the University of Alberta has shown that while the drive for exercise is largely attributed to motivation, genetics—and more specifically, your finger-length—plays a much larger role when it comes to a person’s interest in physical activity. Over the past year, Dr Peter Hurd, an associate professor of psychology and member of the Centre for Neuroscience at the U of ...
The brain still awake, even during deep sleepinnovations report (Pressemitteilung) - Schmitten,Hessen,Germany... the research team led by Dr Thanh Dang-Vu and Pr Pierre Maquet shows that brain activity during these sleep stages is actually profoundly influenced by ...See all stories on this topic
CogniFit Selected as Exclusive Provider of Brain Fitness Programs ...PR Web (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USABased on more than 30 years of neuro-scientific research, CogniFit's scientifically-validated brain fitness programs adjust to each user's skills and needs ...See all stories on this topic
Research breakthrough brings new surgeChicago Tribune - United StatesBoth presidential candidates have indicated they would lift President George W. Bush's restrictions on research funding, though Sen. ...See all stories on this topic
Acupuncture, yoga for US troops? PerhapsDetroit Free Press - United StatesLoree Sutton, head of the Defense Centers for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury. Her office issued a request for research proposals this year ...See all stories on this topic
Pentagon researches alternative treatmentsNavyTimes.com - Springfield,VA,USABy Gregg Zoroya - USA TODAY WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is seeking new ways to treat troops suffering from combat stress or brain damage by researching such ...See all stories on this topic
Autistic brains wired for picturesThe Australian - Sydney,AustraliaFor a child diagnosed at age one with autism, they are huge achievements. But his mother, Katherine Banks, knows that when Cameron starts primary school ...See all stories on this topic
Autism card should end police errorsPortsmouth News - Portsmouth,England,UKBy Rob Dabrowski POLICE are introducing a card which should put an end to autistic people being wrongly identified as criminals. The scheme is being rolled ...
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
REPOSTS From The Original ZBlog: Where It Began
Entry for August 29, 2006 Resume for Michael F. Zangari M.A.
I think I'm posting this for credibility, if nothing else. The story of my anthrax exposure is in the last posting, directly below this one. It's silliness really. If you are hit by a car are you more credible in your description of the accident if you are a lawyer than a homeless person?
*Note the Changing Font. That's the hackers at work.
Michael F. Zangari M.A.
michael_zangari@yahoo.com
Clinical and Management Experience
1999-2001 Ala Ka’i Na Keiki, Honolulu Hawaii: Independent contractor providing in school and at home outreach therapy for children and families in crisis.
1994-1997 The Waianae Coast Community Mental Health Center, Hale Na’au Pono, Wai’anae, Hawaii. Outreach therapy for children and families in crisis. Manager under Federal CASP grants for pilot programs in intensive crisis management and localized foster homes. Developed biofeedback program for anger and stress management.
1991-1994 Parents Anonymous of Hawaii (Now P.A.R.E.N.T.S), Kaneohe, Hawaii. Parenting Group Facilitator and Outreach Crisis Counseling island wide.
1991-19 1991-1994 The Wai’anae Coast Community Health Center, Wai’anae Hawaii. Counselor and group facilitator for survivors of sexual assault. Manager, Sex Offender Treatment Program. Pilot project under Hawaii Paroling Authority to develop community treatment for sex offenders. Group facilitator and counselor.
1990 222001 Denver Victim Service Center, Denver Colorado. Crisis counselor for crime victims. Pilot Project Manager under Federal Grant to set up groups for crime victims citywide.
1989- 1990- -2001 Boulder County Mental Health, Boulder Colorado. Rape Crisis Team. Certified Rape Crisis Counselor. Dispatcher. Facilitator, Male Survivor Group.
19198 1988-1989 Colorado State University, University Mental Health Clinic, Ft. Collins Colorado. Clinical internship. Counselor at the University Mental Health Clinic.
Other C Certifications:
Court C Court Certified Expert in Sex Abuse and Family Therapy. Deputized Federal Marshal. FEMA trained in critical incident debriefing and crisis management. Qualified for the highest reimbursement category for M.A. level therapists in Hawaii for state sponsored medical insurance. Certified Rape Crisis Counselor. Hawaii Paroleing Authority Trained For Sex Offender Treatment
This re This resume represents the time I have spent as a counseling psychologist. I am also a free lance journalist and novelist. I have worked for over thirty years in the broadcast and print medium. I do seminars on a variety of psychology and health care issues as well as performance art around my novels. I took a wild shot at stand up comedy. Newspaper and magazine articles are available on line at http://zangarijournalism.com Audio and video tapes are available on request.
How Did I get Here?
If you’ve been following this little tag match between the blog and the Web Site you know that I survived a 1998 attempt on my life. At least I think that’s what it was. I have theorized that who ever did it may have been trying to disable me. Why? So I’d be financially strapped and available for wild money making schemes of a nefarious nature. I’ve been detailing some of the events that led to that fateful moment when I slit the envelope open with my finger nail and peered into it. It was as heavy as a dirty diaper and shook like a maraca. The letter was post marked and stamped in Nigeria. In the folds of the letter was about a gram of white powder. I left most of it in the envelope as I eased the letter out.
I opened it and read the manual type writer written page.
It said that if I opened an account for an unnamed person with about $150,000 I could keep the interest on an interest baring account I was to set up. It would be a large sum of money and would provide enough income to live on.
I called the FBI.
The agent who answered the phone said that it was a scam letter that was making the rounds and not to worry.
The powder? Probably talcum powder included to obscure any finger prints.
I lived in a condo with a controlled environment. There were 20 floors of interconnected condos in the building. There was one central air conditioning unit for a sister building as well. At least 800 people lived in my building. My life, and probably theirs was saved by several high density negative ion generators I had running in my apartment. They had been going full blast for the seven years prior to the Nigerian letter. What protection did the postal workers have who processed and delivered the mail? And what of the transportation workers? These things haunt me.
Several years later as I lay gasping like a beached mackerel in the Holmes Regional Medical Center; it occurred to me that the FBI had been wrong. Dead wrong. The cardiologist had come into see me and before even introducing himself said in an exasperated voice “It’s broke.”
“What?” I asked.
“The heart” he said. “It’s broke. You need a heart transplant.”
I was not a happy camper.
In fact I experienced a high level of anger run through my damaged central nervous system. This did great things for my heart rate. I was hospitalized twice more before I stabilized.
Later, my doctor who had been in on the original anthrax alert sent out by the government told me that most, if not all of the anthrax that was going around in 1998 had come from New England. The weapons grade anthrax from Africa was rare. It was a mystery why a foreign national would try to kill me specifically. I am an American that makes me target meat in a crowd. But signaled out for Nigerian Fairy Dust? Why?
There was no follow up from the FBI despite requests. To date the requests have not been answered and I have not been interviewed. In that same year a bomb went off in the FBI headquarters in Honolulu. I hope my file was not among those that were blown to confetti in the attack. I do have a credible second witness. I gave her the evidence. She's an investigative journalist and a popular media figure. There may be a second report.
Somewhere in there the terrorist attack known as 9/11 also happened. There are some mitigating circumstances that I want to discuss with the FBI in regards to that event. I felt that way at the time. And I still do.
By 2005 I had pulled off a miraculous recovery. I had good medication management and a good doctor. I had researched my condition myself and came up with an FDA approved drug that also repaired heart and other organ damage and protected against brain degeneration. It healed cardiomyopathy in rats, why not me? I ordered some from Europe, informed my doctor and provided research. I had a normal EKG for the first time in a decade. The drug was Selegiline. My lungs were clear. My heart was no longer enlarged. With medication, a heart mummer I was born with had calmed. My doctor prescribed the medication. I was on 100% disability for toxic exposure. But I was better. I felt the first twinges of wanting to work again. Prior to proper medication, I had attempted to work. I did five months at the Hometown News as a reporter for the beachside communities. If I had worked more I would have lost my disability. I was still tired. I wasn’t quite ready to do that. I was still post traumatic and angry. The Siligeline came several months later.
There are 20 known cases of anthrax exposure in the United State. Most of those people did not survive.
A couple of years later now, and I am again trying to reestablish my career. The federal government acknowledges that this is very hard after age forty. Harder still with my story line.
“What brings you here?”
“A bio-plague filled envelope.”
I’m about ten years past that challenge. I’m 50. Looking for work has been painful. Slow. Unproductive. What has happened in the last couple of years? I never had problems getting work. Every professional job in psychology I've ever had I got recruited to do. I've run four program and projects under federal and state grant.
As I struggle to put my feet back on the ground I have a new sense of purpose. I know that in order to do what I need to do for myself and community I need to stay visible and active. I know for myself that it is not only essential for my well being, but a good idea for my general health.
I am basically in the same situation I was in pre-anthrax in Hawaii. It started with heavy computer interference and intimidation. I threw up a cyber novel to try and talk about what was going on. That novel was called “Aloha’s End.” I tried to piece together events and document what had happened just before the attack. I initiated a federal lawsuit with the goal of documenting what had happed.
It all came crashing down in flames in the fall of nineteen hundred and ninety-eight.
It was not talcum powder (which would have been bad enough considering the impact it has on the body) in that African envelope. It was something else all together different. Something sinister. And nothing would ever be the same again.
Seven years later, I lost the law suit on a technicality. But the evidence was filed. I had accomplished my goal of documenting part of what happened. I was also exonerated from any wrong doing. I had been fired for not participating in a cover up, "but not for misconduct."
I'm back to pick up where I left off.
I think I'm posting this for credibility, if nothing else. The story of my anthrax exposure is in the last posting, directly below this one. It's silliness really. If you are hit by a car are you more credible in your description of the accident if you are a lawyer than a homeless person?
*Note the Changing Font. That's the hackers at work.
Michael F. Zangari M.A.
michael_zangari@yahoo.com
Clinical and Management Experience
1999-2001 Ala Ka’i Na Keiki, Honolulu Hawaii: Independent contractor providing in school and at home outreach therapy for children and families in crisis.
1994-1997 The Waianae Coast Community Mental Health Center, Hale Na’au Pono, Wai’anae, Hawaii. Outreach therapy for children and families in crisis. Manager under Federal CASP grants for pilot programs in intensive crisis management and localized foster homes. Developed biofeedback program for anger and stress management.
1991-1994 Parents Anonymous of Hawaii (Now P.A.R.E.N.T.S), Kaneohe, Hawaii. Parenting Group Facilitator and Outreach Crisis Counseling island wide.
1991-19 1991-1994 The Wai’anae Coast Community Health Center, Wai’anae Hawaii. Counselor and group facilitator for survivors of sexual assault. Manager, Sex Offender Treatment Program. Pilot project under Hawaii Paroling Authority to develop community treatment for sex offenders. Group facilitator and counselor.
1990 222001 Denver Victim Service Center, Denver Colorado. Crisis counselor for crime victims. Pilot Project Manager under Federal Grant to set up groups for crime victims citywide.
1989- 1990- -2001 Boulder County Mental Health, Boulder Colorado. Rape Crisis Team. Certified Rape Crisis Counselor. Dispatcher. Facilitator, Male Survivor Group.
19198 1988-1989 Colorado State University, University Mental Health Clinic, Ft. Collins Colorado. Clinical internship. Counselor at the University Mental Health Clinic.
Other C Certifications:
Court C Court Certified Expert in Sex Abuse and Family Therapy. Deputized Federal Marshal. FEMA trained in critical incident debriefing and crisis management. Qualified for the highest reimbursement category for M.A. level therapists in Hawaii for state sponsored medical insurance. Certified Rape Crisis Counselor. Hawaii Paroleing Authority Trained For Sex Offender Treatment
This re This resume represents the time I have spent as a counseling psychologist. I am also a free lance journalist and novelist. I have worked for over thirty years in the broadcast and print medium. I do seminars on a variety of psychology and health care issues as well as performance art around my novels. I took a wild shot at stand up comedy. Newspaper and magazine articles are available on line at http://zangarijournalism.com Audio and video tapes are available on request.
How Did I get Here?
If you’ve been following this little tag match between the blog and the Web Site you know that I survived a 1998 attempt on my life. At least I think that’s what it was. I have theorized that who ever did it may have been trying to disable me. Why? So I’d be financially strapped and available for wild money making schemes of a nefarious nature. I’ve been detailing some of the events that led to that fateful moment when I slit the envelope open with my finger nail and peered into it. It was as heavy as a dirty diaper and shook like a maraca. The letter was post marked and stamped in Nigeria. In the folds of the letter was about a gram of white powder. I left most of it in the envelope as I eased the letter out.
I opened it and read the manual type writer written page.
It said that if I opened an account for an unnamed person with about $150,000 I could keep the interest on an interest baring account I was to set up. It would be a large sum of money and would provide enough income to live on.
I called the FBI.
The agent who answered the phone said that it was a scam letter that was making the rounds and not to worry.
The powder? Probably talcum powder included to obscure any finger prints.
I lived in a condo with a controlled environment. There were 20 floors of interconnected condos in the building. There was one central air conditioning unit for a sister building as well. At least 800 people lived in my building. My life, and probably theirs was saved by several high density negative ion generators I had running in my apartment. They had been going full blast for the seven years prior to the Nigerian letter. What protection did the postal workers have who processed and delivered the mail? And what of the transportation workers? These things haunt me.
Several years later as I lay gasping like a beached mackerel in the Holmes Regional Medical Center; it occurred to me that the FBI had been wrong. Dead wrong. The cardiologist had come into see me and before even introducing himself said in an exasperated voice “It’s broke.”
“What?” I asked.
“The heart” he said. “It’s broke. You need a heart transplant.”
I was not a happy camper.
In fact I experienced a high level of anger run through my damaged central nervous system. This did great things for my heart rate. I was hospitalized twice more before I stabilized.
Later, my doctor who had been in on the original anthrax alert sent out by the government told me that most, if not all of the anthrax that was going around in 1998 had come from New England. The weapons grade anthrax from Africa was rare. It was a mystery why a foreign national would try to kill me specifically. I am an American that makes me target meat in a crowd. But signaled out for Nigerian Fairy Dust? Why?
There was no follow up from the FBI despite requests. To date the requests have not been answered and I have not been interviewed. In that same year a bomb went off in the FBI headquarters in Honolulu. I hope my file was not among those that were blown to confetti in the attack. I do have a credible second witness. I gave her the evidence. She's an investigative journalist and a popular media figure. There may be a second report.
Somewhere in there the terrorist attack known as 9/11 also happened. There are some mitigating circumstances that I want to discuss with the FBI in regards to that event. I felt that way at the time. And I still do.
By 2005 I had pulled off a miraculous recovery. I had good medication management and a good doctor. I had researched my condition myself and came up with an FDA approved drug that also repaired heart and other organ damage and protected against brain degeneration. It healed cardiomyopathy in rats, why not me? I ordered some from Europe, informed my doctor and provided research. I had a normal EKG for the first time in a decade. The drug was Selegiline. My lungs were clear. My heart was no longer enlarged. With medication, a heart mummer I was born with had calmed. My doctor prescribed the medication. I was on 100% disability for toxic exposure. But I was better. I felt the first twinges of wanting to work again. Prior to proper medication, I had attempted to work. I did five months at the Hometown News as a reporter for the beachside communities. If I had worked more I would have lost my disability. I was still tired. I wasn’t quite ready to do that. I was still post traumatic and angry. The Siligeline came several months later.
There are 20 known cases of anthrax exposure in the United State. Most of those people did not survive.
A couple of years later now, and I am again trying to reestablish my career. The federal government acknowledges that this is very hard after age forty. Harder still with my story line.
“What brings you here?”
“A bio-plague filled envelope.”
I’m about ten years past that challenge. I’m 50. Looking for work has been painful. Slow. Unproductive. What has happened in the last couple of years? I never had problems getting work. Every professional job in psychology I've ever had I got recruited to do. I've run four program and projects under federal and state grant.
As I struggle to put my feet back on the ground I have a new sense of purpose. I know that in order to do what I need to do for myself and community I need to stay visible and active. I know for myself that it is not only essential for my well being, but a good idea for my general health.
I am basically in the same situation I was in pre-anthrax in Hawaii. It started with heavy computer interference and intimidation. I threw up a cyber novel to try and talk about what was going on. That novel was called “Aloha’s End.” I tried to piece together events and document what had happened just before the attack. I initiated a federal lawsuit with the goal of documenting what had happed.
It all came crashing down in flames in the fall of nineteen hundred and ninety-eight.
It was not talcum powder (which would have been bad enough considering the impact it has on the body) in that African envelope. It was something else all together different. Something sinister. And nothing would ever be the same again.
Seven years later, I lost the law suit on a technicality. But the evidence was filed. I had accomplished my goal of documenting part of what happened. I was also exonerated from any wrong doing. I had been fired for not participating in a cover up, "but not for misconduct."
I'm back to pick up where I left off.
A Fizzled Grizarald
A Witness Lament
Obvioulsy things are popping here. I am having a hard time posting new blogs.
Around national elections I have noticed that harassment steps up considerably. It's as if to say "Wait until after the election..."
I get tired of waiting.
Obvioulsy things are popping here. I am having a hard time posting new blogs.
Around national elections I have noticed that harassment steps up considerably. It's as if to say "Wait until after the election..."
I get tired of waiting.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
What A Groove
Proudly Working Together to Benefit Our Community www.SpaceCoastJazzFestival.com
SPACE COAST JAZZ FESTIVAL "SMOOTH JAZZ CARES" BENEFIT FOR TROPICAL STORM FAY FLOOD RELIEF FUND
Featuring Over 20 National Recording Artists
ARTWALK
INTERNATIONAL FOOD
CHILDREN's BOUNCE HOUSES
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
321-722-4100
BUILDERS CARE
Builders Care is a 501c(3) Tax Exempt Public Charity
ABOUT BUILDERS CARE
www.BuildersCareBrevard.org BUILDERS CARE
Builders Care is a 501c(3) Tax Exempt Public Charity
A Community Outreach program called Builders Care was initiated, effective November 1, 2005, as a result of a commitment made by the Home Builders & Contractors Association of Brevard (HBCA) .
The purpose and goal of the HBCA of Brevard, Builders Care program is to help provide low-income, elderly, disabled and/or disadvantaged people in Brevard County with construction services and building materials not available or affordable to them by traditional means.
Builders Care was initially begun by working with and assisting the effort of the Brevard Long Term Recovery Coalition (BLTRC) with its hurricane relief efforts from the 2004 storms and most recently Hurricane Wilma. Our first project with them began in November of 2005. Recently we completed the renovation of a youth center building at Country Acresin Titusville. Currently we are assisting the Space Coast Early Intervention Center with their move to their new home on Dairy Road.
Since the programs beginning, Builders care has leveraged tens of thousands of dollars in building materials and volunteer labor. While not all situations fit within our parameters at least we assess the situation try and stabilize any damage to prevent further damage and point people in the right direction for additional support.
All this is accomplished with the help of the county, HBCA members, public donations and the Future Builders of America (FBA)
SPACE COAST JAZZ FESTIVALSaturday OCT. 25th & Sunday OCT. 26th 11:00AM to 9:00PM www.SpaceCoastJazzFestival.com 321-722-4100 GENERAL ADMISSION $25ENTIRE WEEKEND GENERAL ADMISSION $45 VIP TICKETS (ADVANCE ONLY) $75 Includes Lunch & Dinner, Private VIP tent, exclusive front stage lawn syle seating area (bring your chair or blanket), and other conveniences! SMOOTH JAZZ CARES
NAJEE With two platinum and four gold albums, Najee is one of the pioneers of what is commonly known as contemporary jazz. A combination of jazz improvisation and R&B, this genre forms a bridge from the jazz fusion of the late 70s to the jazz pop of the mid 80s. Performing Saturday Night October 25th.
WARREN HILL See Legendary Smooth Jazz Saxophonist Warren Hill live at the Space Coast Jazz Festival on Saturday October 25th. Hear his latest collection of music from his newest and 11th National CD - "La Dolce Vita". The title track is climbing the Smooth Jazz Charts and sure to be his next big hit.
KEN NAVARRO Top charting & award winning contemporary jazz guitarist and composer Ken Navarro is recognized as one of today's leading musicians. His impressive discography of 18 top charting albums showcase his appeal to a wide range of listeners with inspiring compositions and superb guitar performances.
Buy Ken Navarro's brand new CD The Grace of Summer Light at the Space Coast Jazz Festival and have him personally autograph it for you.
MICHAEL LINGTON With his debonair looks, charm, and charisma to burn, MICHAEL LINGTON defines the contemporary jazz experience. Since the late 90s, he has scored hit after Top Ten hit while seducing fans with passionate performances that turn sax into a celebration of love and life.
Hear Michael's first single "You and I", from his brand new CD "Heat" at the Space Coast Jazz Festival.
BRIAN SIMPSON
A longtime studio musician, musical director, and touring keyboardist to stars as diverse as Janet Jackson and Dave Koz, Brian Simpson's breakthrough as a solo artist with his Rendezvous Entertainment debut It's All Good was the genre's major story of 2006. Focusing once again on compelling acoustic piano melodies, bright jazz improvisations and spirited funk grooves, Simpson keeps the extraordinary momentum hopping--and, true to the moniker he chose for the new album, soaring--with Above The Clouds. Performing Saturday October 25th.
GREG ADAMS Former "Tower Of Power" member Greg Adams' career has included success as an arranger, composer, conductor, and performer and earned him both Grammy and Emmy nominations and an International Broadcasting Award from The Hollywood Radio and Television Society. It has been a musical travelogue that has spanned nearly four decades, taking him on worldwide tours and contributing to some of the most important recordings in pop culture. Performing Sunday October 26th.
JEFF KASHIWA One of the most diverse, in demand sax players in all of contemporary jazz, Jeff Kashiwa finds pure joy at the heart of his increasingly fast-paced touring schedule by reminding himself, every time he gets on stage, that he's there to do one thing: Play! Performing Sunday Afternoon October 26th.
BLAKE AARON Blake is a guitarist who is known best for his passionate musical style, his memorable compositions, his soul and technical expression on the instrument, and his ability to connect with an audience. His recent CD "Desire" has produced a #1 and Top 5 song...his new single "Shine" is sure to be his next big hit. Performing Sunday Afternoon October 26th.
DEE LUCAS 'Something To Ride 2' is the brand new CD from Atlanta born and based saxophonist Dee Lucas. This album is rich, tasty, classy, and I could just keep adding positives! This truly is a first-rate collection of soprano sax-driven music, and it should indeed be a breakout release.
JACKIEM JOYNER 26-year-old Jackiem Joyner is the latest saxophonist in contemporary jazz history to musically chronicle the experience of emerging from the ranks of extraordinarily busy sideman to center stage on his first recording.
Jackiem was the 2007 Smooth Jazz Debut Artist Of The Year.
MARION MEADOWS A tenor saxophonist, soprano saxophonist, composer, and smooth jazz recording artist of Native American, African American and Caucasian descent. Marion Meadows has released a total of 9 albums to date. He began playing the clarinet and studying classical music at the age of eight. Performing Sunday afternoon October 26th.
NICK COLIONNE With a jazz style that is both urban and contemporary, Nick Colionne has blazed a trail to the top of the ranks of today's stars. Nick takes the guitar to unexpected places every time he performs. He is one of a kind. His new CD "No Limits" is a true musical journey and a must to any CD collection. The title track is climbing up the charts, sure to be another #1 hit for Nick. Performing Saturday October 25th.
TIM BOWMAN The ninth of a dozen children, growing up his life revolved around the International Gospel Center Church in Ecorse, MI. "There was a guitarist at church who just blew me away," Bowman says of that day in 1970 when his eleven-year-old hands were first inspired to pick up a guitar. The release of Bowman's fifth album is sure to top the charts. This self-titled collection features the current #1 hit song "Sweet Sundays".
WILL DONATO Pure Southern California style, Will Donato is a natural showman and entertainer. His latest CD "Laws Of Attraction" continues to showcase why Will has loyal fans worldwide. What you see is what you get with Will Donato, a fun and warm personality with a natural gift to perform.
MATT MARSHAK The next big superstar of Smooth Jazz. With a sound and style of his own...Matt has the fusion of a Bruce Springsteen/Peter White mix. "Guitarist Matt Marshak's lively and very hip new CD "On the Rocks" just smokes. He has certainly paid dues, and this CD should establish him firmly among the format's best, once and for all"
DAVID WELLS One of the best known Fluglehorn Trupmet players in the industry. His first cross-over single "Strawberry Letter 23" was a Top 10 smash on the charts. Currently his new CD "Friday Afternoon" has produced several popular tunes. David has had several hit songs on the Contemporary Christian charts.
NILS His debut CD "Pacific Coast Highway" was the #1 CD of 2005 and had several #1 songs. The Title track "Pacific Coast Highway" hit became the number 1 song on radio in only 13 weeks. Stayed there all summer and became the most played smooth jazz song in the US and Canada for 2005. Nils worked as a session guitarist for acts like The Temptations, and George Benson, before his solo carreer took off. Performing on Sunday October 26th.
NELSON RANGELL One of the most exciting and diverse performers in the genre, equally adept at soprano, alto, and tenor saxophone, as well as being a genuine virtuoso on flute and piccolo. Nelson has now released 15 CDs nationally and internationally...and has a sting of hit songs. He is a must see concert. Performing Saturday October 25th.
TOM HUESTON BAND Home grown and extremely popular local talent from Melbourne, FL. Sure to be one of next big Smooth Jazz groups.
Friday, October 10, 2008
A big, ugly Ramon Noodle With Fangs
See This Photo in it's Original Context at uga.eduA Big, Ugly Ramon Noodle With Fangs
1.
The phone rang.
I was sleeping on the floor to avoid the numbing electrical current running from the base board to the head board. Evidently there was another surveillance device in the bedding in case I talked in my sleep or there was a variance in my night flatuli routine.
Things like that are evidently important in any investigation. Patterns beget pictures like little Light Bright screens. As a possible Federal witness in several cases, credibility also figures in.
On the second ring I startled to wakefulness.
I jumped up twisting my ankle, kicking my guitar off the stand.
The stand itself fell forward on the front of my foot.
I could hear the small bones of the arch crack off like iced celery does when you break it in half. The ligaments snapped like rubber bands.
The pain shot up my leg like a lead puck and binged a bell in my head.
Everything caboodled and went dark.
I went down again, out cold.
I woke sometime later hearing a knock on my door.
It was the X-ray woman I’ve been dating.
She wore black scrubs and looked like a ninja standing there as I crawled up to her moaning like a cat in heat.
She’s used to that.
I had just been in the emergency room a week before.
I evidently was going back.
2.
I come out of the sliding glass doors on crutches.
My foot was in a bright blue boot.
I dragged it where ever I went.
It was like parking a Volkswagen every time I sat down.
3.
“It takes a long time to heal” the Doctor said.
I spent the next week sleeping before pulling several more tendons getting up.
4.
I realized the terrible truth.
I was alone.
If something should happen to me, I’d have to handle it on my own.
I missed my recently diseased cat, Nadine.
I had gotten a bird and two cats to replace her.
The bird is good. She hangs upside down and spreads her grey and white wings out wide when she is happy.
I’m trying to teach her to recite The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe, the “never more” part.
I’m moody.
The kitten is a dark tiger stripe that cries all night long and runs from me when ever I show up. The other is a beautiful tortoise shell Siamese that practices invisibility.
I haven’t seen her since she moved in.
5.
Intimidation is a job that never ends.
As you may recall I got bit by a snake a couple of months back.
This followed several weeks of threats.
The threats have started up again, though they are more subtle.
“Remember the snake?”
The likely snake in this rainy season is probably a water moccasin.
They are big and ugly from my point of view. Not as big as the Burmese Pythons that have come up the river from the Everglades after the hurricanes, but nasty crackers just the same.
I take all threats seriously.
I have to.
As I go through my daily routine in terror, chasing cat and bird around the cage of my apartment saying “never more, never more ( the bird is the one I’m trying to get to talk to me, the cat I’m merely trying to calm)” I have time to think about things.
What if they really put a snake in my apartment?
It could happen.
It did happen.
What do I do?
So much of it is keeping cool and having the right tools.
What do you use?
Two giant chop sticks to grab it on either side of the head like a big ugly Ramen noodle with fangs?
I don’t know.
I’m doing research.
Today's Eye-Balled News
Our psychology helps politicians bend the truthNew Scientist Fri, 10 Oct 2008 6:29 AM PDTMental shortcuts that we use to make sense of the world may explain why we so often let politicians pull the wool over our eyes
UNL herpetologist to discuss snakes of Nebraska on Oct. 14Lincoln Journal Star Fri, 10 Oct 2008 0:36 AM PDTUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln herpetologist Dennis Ferraro promises to bust myths, introduce local snakes and instill appreciation for their role in the ecosystem at his talk, “Snakes on the Plains of Nebraska.”
SLITHERY TENANTS: Middletown apartment crawling with rat snakesThe Daily Times Thu, 09 Oct 2008 7:10 PM PDTThe six-week nightmare for Gladys Dressner, who moved into a Middletown apartment on Sept. 1 that was infested with rat snakes, is finally over.
Baby brain myth debunkedABC Online - AustraliaResearch leader Professor Helen Christensen says women's perceptions of the brain function is not reflected in the tests. "I think emotional factors are ...See all stories on this topic
Pregnancy hurts schooling, not brainNEWS.com.au - AustraliaThe study, conducted by the Centre for Mental Health Research, looked at 223 women who became new mothers between 1999 and 2007. Although women and their ...See all stories on this topic
How to be happy: Research shows people have power to change emotionsThe Star-Ledger - NJ.com - Newark,NJ,USAJust looking for the bright side, it seems, can stimulate the brain and reset its circuitry to more easily find those silver linings. ...See all stories on this topic
Neuroscientist Finds Transplanted Hand-to-brain Mapping 35 Years ...Science Daily (press release) - USAResearch on animals has shown that neurons that had been devoted to receiving sensory inputs from the limb take on new duties. Exactly what happens is not ...See all stories on this topic
Orlando Health gets $2.25M grant to study brain injuriesBizjournals.com - Charlotte,NC,USADr. Linda Papa, director of academic clinical research and an emergency medicine physician at Orlando Regional Medical Center, is the grant recipient and ...See all stories on this topic
Risk and reward compete in brainEurekAlert (press release) - Washington,DC,USAIn his previous research, Bechara had used the same task to measure risk tolerance in brain-damaged patients. He and other researchers showed that the ...See all stories on this topic
Stabilizing Force For Good Communication Between Neurons And ...Science Daily (press release) - USAScienceDaily (Oct. 9, 2008) — You can't raise a finger without your brain directing muscle cells, and scientists have figured out another reason that ...See all stories on this topic
How Are Brains Structured?By Heather Wax(Heather Wax) How to understand the brain? I start with brain structure, and to do so, I return to my roots, the Brain Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, where more than 40 years ago I did my doctorate in brain research. ...Science & Religion Today - http://scienceandreligiontoday.blogspot.com/
Rewiring the racist brain?By Research, U of T If the theory of natural selection holds true fora host of human traits, even racism might die out as a nonadaptive trait in a global society. continued on pg 7 in PDF.Experience Research - http://www.research.utoronto.ca
Scientists adapt economics theory to trace brain's information flowScientists have used a technique originally developed for economic study to become the first to overcome a significant challenge in brain research: determining the flow of information from one part of the brain to another.Brightsurf Science News and Current... - http://www.brightsurf.com
Brain Rewires Itself After Hand TransplantBy timeinctemp 9 (HealthDay News) — Providing more evidence of the brain’s remarkable ability to transform itself in adulthood, new research reveals that neurons can rewire themselves to adjust to a hand transplant. Even though he had lost his hand 35 ...Health News - http://news.health.com
Risk and reward compete in brainImaging study reveals battle between lure of reward and fear of failure.Brain And Consciousness Research - http://www.brainmysteries
Blacks at Higher Risk for Brain Lesions Causing StrokeMedicineNet.com Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:28 PM PDTTitle: Blacks at Higher Risk for Brain Lesions Causing Stroke Category: Health News Created: 10/9/2008 2:00:00 AM Last Editorial Review: 10/9/2008
Mouse studies suggest daily dose of ginkgo may prevent brain cell damage after a strokeEurekAlert! Thu, 09 Oct 2008 1:29 PM PDT( Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions ) Working with genetically engineered mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that daily doses of a standardized extract from the leaves of the ginkgo tree can prevent or reduce brain damage after an induced stroke.
Using psychology to stop violenceRoslindale Transcript Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:09 AM PDTAlmost 100 social workers, community leaders, peace advocates and students came together at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology in West Roxbury for a two-day conference, “Healing Communities: Using Peace Psychology to Transform Violence.”
Home Based Care For The Elderly On The UpScoop.co.nz Thu, 09 Oct 2008 4:40 PM PDTConcerns over residential care for the elderly are being met by an increasing demand for home based care for older family members.
2009 U.S. Community Care Facilities for the Elderly Industry Report Contains Timely And Accurate Industry StatisticsBusiness Wire via Yahoo! Finance Thu, 09 Oct 2008 9:12 AM PDTDUBLIN, Ireland----Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "2009 U.S. Community Care Facilities for the Elderly Industry Report" to their offering.
Call for major aged care shakeupTVNZ Fri, 10 Oct 2008 0:49 AM PDTThere has been a call for a total overhaul of the aged care sector, and to address pay rates, training and staffing levels for carers. It comes as allegations surfaced about the care given to several elderly residents at a rest home in Taranaki.
Community urged to help the elderly, provide care for the sick and orphansIPP Media Fri, 10 Oct 2008 1:26 AM PDTHelp Age International Tanzania has called on the community to offer financial and moral support to older persons to enable them continue with their moral obligation of caring for the chronically sick and orphaned children with HIV/Aids.
Geriatricians Must Refine Their Focus On Frailest Elderly With Primary Care Physicians Caring For Healthier Elders ...Medical News Today Fri, 10 Oct 2008 4:06 AM PDTTwo converging trends - rapid growth in the population of older Americans and declining numbers of geriatricians practicing in the U.S. - are forcing the field of geriatrics to refine its scope, according to a series of articles on the future of the field in October's Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS).
Leadership Needed To Prevent Crisis In Aged CareScoop.co.nz Thu, 09 Oct 2008 2:23 PM PDTAll political parties must make firm commitments to the elderly and the aged care sector if cases of poor care for the elderly are to be avoided, such as those highlighted tonight by TVNZ .
Police: Man with power of attorney stole from woman, 95Lincoln Journal Star Fri, 10 Oct 2008 0:39 AM PDTPolice say an Omaha insurance agent entrusted with caring for an elderly Lincoln woman stole nearly $300,000 from her. David H. Andersen, 52, had power of attorney for the 95-year-old woman and was supposed to pay for her care, said Lincoln Police Officer Katie Flood.
New board will govern public safety radioSt. James Plaindealer Fri, 10 Oct 2008 3:04 AM PDTOklahoma City, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina - all events we remember and all events that required a coordinated, multi-discipline response from local, state, and federal officials.
U.S. Government Issues Declaration Covering Emergent BioSolutions' BioThrax(R) and Anthrax Immune Globulin under Prep ...Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance Thu, 09 Oct 2008 4:00 AM PDTROCKVILLE, Md.----Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced today that two medical countermeasures included in its anthrax franchise -- BioThrax® and Anthrax Immune Globulin -- have been included as covered countermeasures under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act pursuant to a declaration issued by the U.S.
Scientist to discuss anthrax caseRavalli Republic Wed, 08 Oct 2008 7:30 PM PDTIn the nervous weeks and months following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, a single mention to the East Coast news media about Paul Keim’s biological sleuthing on the anthrax letters case was all it took.
Study reveals finger lengths correlate to desire to exerciseThe Gateway Online Thu, 09 Oct 2008 1:02 AM PDTNew research coming out of the University of Alberta has shown that while the drive for exercise is largely attributed to motivation, genetics—and more specifically, your finger-length—plays a much larger role when it comes to a person’s interest in physical activity. Over the past year, Dr Peter Hurd, an associate professor of psychology and member of the Centre for Neuroscience at the U of ...
The brain still awake, even during deep sleepinnovations report (Pressemitteilung) - Schmitten,Hessen,Germany... the research team led by Dr Thanh Dang-Vu and Pr Pierre Maquet shows that brain activity during these sleep stages is actually profoundly influenced by ...See all stories on this topic
CogniFit Selected as Exclusive Provider of Brain Fitness Programs ...PR Web (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USABased on more than 30 years of neuro-scientific research, CogniFit's scientifically-validated brain fitness programs adjust to each user's skills and needs ...See all stories on this topic
Research breakthrough brings new surgeChicago Tribune - United StatesBoth presidential candidates have indicated they would lift President George W. Bush's restrictions on research funding, though Sen. ...See all stories on this topic
Acupuncture, yoga for US troops? PerhapsDetroit Free Press - United StatesLoree Sutton, head of the Defense Centers for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury. Her office issued a request for research proposals this year ...See all stories on this topic
Pentagon researches alternative treatmentsNavyTimes.com - Springfield,VA,USABy Gregg Zoroya - USA TODAY WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is seeking new ways to treat troops suffering from combat stress or brain damage by researching such ...See all stories on this topic
Autistic brains wired for picturesThe Australian - Sydney,AustraliaFor a child diagnosed at age one with autism, they are huge achievements. But his mother, Katherine Banks, knows that when Cameron starts primary school ...See all stories on this topic
Autism card should end police errorsPortsmouth News - Portsmouth,England,UKBy Rob Dabrowski POLICE are introducing a card which should put an end to autistic people being wrongly identified as criminals. The scheme is being rolled ...See all stories on this topic
Studying body movements can give insights into autism, terrorismThaindian.com - Bangkok,Bangkok,ThailandWashington, October 9 (ANI): Researchers at Rutgers University in Newark are examining how people are able to identify the emotional state and intent of ...See all stories on this topic
WhatsOnStage.comAdam Godley On ... Portraying AutismWhatsOnStage.com - London,UKBut Raymond is at a new, fascinating level because his autism isn’t the fault of anybody and he’s not retarded – he just has this inborn wiring problem. ...See all stories on this topic
Early diagnosis paramountCalgary Herald - AB, CanadaAutism is one of the most common developmental disabilities, but for many, it's also one of the least understood. The Autism Society Canada says more than ...See all stories on this topic
10:45 — AG's office soliciting proposals for Crime Victims Assistance ProgramPacific Daily News Wed, 08 Oct 2008 5:45 PM PDT10:45 a.m. — The Office of the Attorney General has announced that it is soliciting proposals for Crime Victims Assistance Progtram from organizations that provide a direct service to victims of crime, according to a news release.
DNA fingerprinting could reveal your surnameReuters via Yahoo! News Thu, 09 Oct 2008 6:38 AM PDTPolice could one day predict the surname of male suspects or victims of crime from DNA alone, researchers said on Wednesday.
10:45 — AG's office soliciting proposals for Crime Victims Assistance ProgramPacific Daily News Wed, 08 Oct 2008 5:45 PM PDT10:45 a.m. — The Office of the Attorney General has announced that it is soliciting proposals for Crime Victims Assistance Progtram from organizations that provide a direct service to victims of crime, according to a news release.
Surfing: Why Kelly Slater is a perfect 20Guardian Unlimited Thu, 09 Oct 2008 3:20 AM PDTThe planet's greatest surfer deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Michael Schumacher, Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods
10:45 — AG's office soliciting proposals for Crime Victims Assistance ProgramPacific Daily News Wed, 08 Oct 2008 5:45 PM PDT10:45 a.m. — The Office of the Attorney General has announced that it is soliciting proposals for Crime Victims Assistance Progtram from organizations that provide a direct service to victims of crime, according to a news release.
Surfing: Why Kelly Slater is a perfect 20Guardian Unlimited Thu, 09 Oct 2008 3:20 AM PDTThe planet's greatest surfer deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Michael Schumacher, Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods
Very few waves for EPIC surfing contestBeaches Leader Thu, 09 Oct 2008 3:57 AM PDTComments ( No comments posted. ) Contestants were ready but the ocean didn’t exactly cooperate for last Saturday’s EPIC Surf Ministries contest just South of the Jacksonville Beach Pier.
Surfing tourney in La UnionYehey! Wed, 08 Oct 2008 3:05 PM PDTTHE Department of Tourism will host the third La Union Surf Break on October 24 to 26 at the Urbiztondo beach in the town of San Juan. The three-day competition will also feature Ultimate Frisbee, Beach Volleyball, Wall Climbing and beach parties.
Naval base opening surf contest to publicThe Malibu Times Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:09 AM PDTNaval Base Ventura County will host a surfing contest at Point Mugu on Oct. 25. It is open to the public to enter and watch. "Point Mugu is one of the best surfing spots in California so a lot of people want to come and surf on it," Kent Blankenship, NBVC athletics director said in a press release.
Layne chases final crownHerald Sun Thu, 09 Oct 2008 6:00 AM PDTAUSTRALIAN surfing legend Layne Beachley will pursue an eighth world championship before she retires at the end of the season.
Boater Knocked Unconscious By Leaping Dolphin
WFTV 9 Orlando - Oct 9 3:07 PM EDT
Atlantis, Cuba and the Mysteries of the CaribbeanBy Xaviant Haze(Xaviant Haze) In 1926 Edgar Cayce agreed to use his psychic talents to find buried treasure. Traveling to the island of Bimini, Cayce and his business associates tried in vein but came up empty handed. However, both during the psychic investigations ...The Murder of Meriwether Lewis - http://xavianthaze.blogspot.com/
(Gospel songs) Can You Be Helped With Remote Or Distant Healing ...By Admin Like noted psychic healer Edgar Cayce at the beginning of the century there are now many practioners of this particular esoteric art that claim to be proficient in sending spiritual energy to heal others often over great distances. ...Gospel Contact - http://www.gospelcontact.info
Web TV shows porn, without the sexReuters via Yahoo! News Thu, 09 Oct 2008 6:28 AM PDTIt started when three brothers joked about making pornography for fans of the genre who happen to be offended by on-screen sex. Out of that joke came an idea for a website, and they called it "PG Porn."
Britain to compensate Pitcairn sex abuse victimsAFP via Yahoo! News Thu, 09 Oct 2008 6:12 AM PDTVictims of sex offences committed on the remote Pacific island of Pitcairn would be eligible for compensation, Britain said on Thursday.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
DNA Forensics For Sexual Abuse
Entry for October 02, 2008 Eyes On Sexual Abuse
Eye-Balled News Reports Don’t Let the Source Name Throw You Spit-balls:
Eye-Balled News Reports Don’t Let the Source Name Throw You Spit-balls:
“EvilSlutClique” presents vital information on new Joe Biden et al Sponsored DNA Kits For Local Law Enforcement. A Must Read.
The Joe Biden Feminism WatchBy EvilSlutClique It is estimated that 40 percent of the unsolved rape cases could be solved by taking the DNA sample collected after a sexual assault and comparing it to the existing DNA databases of convicted felons and rapists. ...Community - http://community.feministing
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney - THE DEBBIE SMITH ACT WILL
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney authored "The Debbie Smith Act" in the 107th Congress, a version of the legislation introduced today, after having Ms. Smith ...- 20k - Cached - Similar pages
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney - Rep. Maloney, Original Author of ...
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Lifetimetv.com: My Lifetime Commitment - Stop Violence Against Women
A new piece of legislation, named after Debbie Smith, the Debbie Smith Act/DNA Sexual Assault Justice Act of 2003, seeks to remedy this sad state of affairs ...www.mylifetime.com/community/olc/violence/smith_feature.html - 11k - Cached - Similar pages
Evil Slutopia: Joe Biden Feminism Watch: The Debbie Smith Act
Sep 30, 2008 ... Last week, the Senate passed the Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act of 2008. The original law, authored by Senator Biden, was set to expire ...evilslutopia.com/2008/09/joe-biden-feminism-watch-debbie-smith.html - 93k - Cached - Similar pages
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney: Debbie Smith Act Reauthorization ...
Jul 15, 2008 ... WASHINGTON - July 15 - “The Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act of 2008” (H.R. 5057), legislation that would extend an important federal DNA ...www.commondreams.org/news2008/0715-03.htm - 17k - Cached - Similar pages
Secondhand Hope: A Life Interrupted: Lifetime TV Debbie Smith Act ...
At the conference and during the movie we were told that a rapist will act 7-8 times before being caught. The Debbie Smith Act, which was championed by ...hopeforhealingorg.blogspot.com/2007/04/life-interrupted-lifetime-tv-debb... - 102k - Cached - Similar pages
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Jun 21, 2007 ... On March 3, 1989 at 1p.m. Debbie Smith was kidnapped while her husband, a police officer, was asleep in their upstairs bedroom after working ...www.associatedcontent.com/article/281970/the_debbie_smith_act.html - 48k - Cached - Similar pages
Debbie Smith Act of 2003
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OpenCongress - H.R.5057 Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act of 2008
September 25, 2008 Debbie Smith Act Reauthorization Passes Senate ... The original Debbie Smith Act of 2004, introduced by Rep. ...www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h5057/show - 57k - Cached - Similar pages
H.R. 1046 [108th]: Debbie Smith Act of 2003 (GovTrack.us)
A bill in the US Congress: To assess the extent of the backlog in DNA analysis of rape kit samples, and to improve investigation and prosecution of sexual ...www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h108-1046 - 28k - Cached - Similar pages
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AutoBiography Below
How The Elephant Got In My Pajamas
RETRO ZBLOG
Editors Note: I'll be re-running autobiographical notes at this blog site. As a Journalist and Psychologist I try to stick to things that I can verify. In the case of things that I can not verify be advised that I am speculating. "Speculating" is another word for guessing. If I present something as fact, it is. If I am speculating you'll know it. If you have specific questions or comments please leave them. I present the following in context and as a discription of my life "at the time." My intention is personal history and fun, though some of the events are indeed crazy. These reprints are raw, unedited and hacked. I've had some problem with discrediting and hacking of my prose for palagerism and sport.
Entry for September 10, 2006 A Choice Of Poisons
Let’s keep it relevant.
In terms of fact there is nothing new here. Everything mentioned in these next few posts can be found in the text and content of Federal Lawsuit No. 03-15367, Lower Court No 00-99-0072 DAE-KSC. The information here was filed as evidence. The lawsuit was filed in Honolulu, Hawaii, in the 9th Circuit Court. It progressed to the Supreme Court of the 9th Circuit in San Francisco where I officially lost the case.
It was not a total loss. The decision reaffirmed that I was guilty of “no misconduct” in terms of how I left my position as a manager in a federally funded program. I was given unemployment insurance. The defendant admitted in summary judgment arguments there were toxins in the work environment and that there was a “possibility” of exposure. This was good. In terms of OSHA reporting that’s all that’s required for further action. I reported it.
During this time period the OSHA investigators were denied access to the property to conduct tests.
I had done what I set out to do. I had entered evidence into the public record for later investigation. I felt an obligation to my clients, my friends, my coworkers and my clients to do so.
Why did I lose?
In short, my lawyer failed to file on time. As a point of fact no evidence was heard. As I have mentioned, before, I had an admission from the clinic that there were toxins in the building. I had gotten this confirmation in mediation and in court by the opposition. I had a termination contract that was clearly illegal under the ADA. I had a mandate under executive order to report all crimes. I had financial discrepancies documented. Some of missing money came directly from my salary. That amounted to about $10,000 a year. The clinic had no insurance per se. They had a million dollar slush fund held in reserve in case of liability. Insurance had been denied.
Everything was in place.
As my financial resources dwindled, I could no longer justify borrowing money for a lawyer. After I lost the summary judgment I took on the case myself. I ended up representing myself. I felt more in control. Over all, the process was more satisfying. I learned a lot about the courts. I had motivation to do more investigation while the case dragged on. It was another year before I had exhausted lower court options.
As stated, my goal was simply to document what happened. I was very sick by this time. I remember the absolute low point as being after a consult with my lawyer in Honolulu. On the way back from the meeting I could not find my car in the parking structure. I was in a state of profound physical and mental exhaustion. The parking garage looked like a slaughterhouse, a long series of multi-leveled mazes with stalls. I wandered from floor to floor in confusion. It took me two and a half hours to find the car.
I was in tears by the time I found it. It was sitting right where I left it. My memory was shot. My cognition was weak. Breathing was very difficult. I looked terrible. I had to count pennies from my change bank to pay for parking and gas. It was a thirty mile drive back home in rush hour traffic. It was like going from one maze into another.
How the hell did I get there?
Clearly the end of my employment was death-knelled by a visitation of Federal Monitors in 1997. I worked under CASP grant at a mental health agency. I had excellent evaluations. I ran two pilot projects on the Leeward coast. One program was a therapeutic foster care program and the other provided in-home intensive therapy for families in crisis. I worked with kids. I was not prepared by management as to what to discuss at this meeting. I was not told what to say or not to say to the monitors. I was on my own. That’s the way it usually was. So I put together a culturally appropriate presentation and answered their questions. I brought clients and employees in to be available for the monitors.
One of my foster parents, a Native Hawaiian women chanted. The prayer was O’ he'emai. It was a prayer to “be heard,” for the federal monitors to "hear our cry.”
I viewed this as an opportunity to tweak Federal involvement. I thought that was what it was all about. The monitors wanted to know about problems. I told them that I had no access to budget information and little or no supervision. I pretty much ran the program on my own. I didn’t like the home intensive model. I felt it was culturally inappropriate and not as effective as a less intensive intervention. The monitors appreciated our candor.
I got a good mention and write up in the federal monitors report on the Leeward Coast of O’ahu in 1997. The report is available from the Health Department in Washington D.C.
It felt good. We felt good. I cared deeply about what I was doing as did the people who worked for me and the clients we served. I was committed to the community and to working in Hawaii. After all, I lived in the community I worked in.
Management, however, was livid.
I got my budget and supervision. A casual examination of the budget was enough to tell me that the figures did not crunch. I had rewritten the RFP for funding that year for the state. I spent about twenty hours nonstop editing the thing. I got very familiar with how things were set up. It wasn’t right. Things were getting increasingly uncomfortable at work. In the lawsuit I made the allegation that management used every trick in the book to get me to quit from that point on. Their tactics, according to my affidavit, involved racist jokes, attacks on my religion and violations of my disabilities contract with the agency.
There were other concrete legal issues.
We were working in a brand new building. It was built on ceded land granted to the agency by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The agency was responsible for the building. OHA retained control of the land. There were clear care taker issues as well.
In the previous year, the administrative staff had moved into the building. The clinical staff soon followed. I was placed in a small office in the Children’s section of the clinic. It was the room that was the least ventilated in the complex. I of course had my faithful negative ion generators going at full blast. I spent a lot of time on the carpet with the kids. I was newly in love and happy with my job.
I was usually the first person to arrive at management meetings on Monday mornings. On one particular morning, one of the administrators had already arrived and was setting up equipment. He had with him a safety report on the building. He told me I could read it. As he fiddled with his laptop and projector, I did. It stated that the carpet had been installed wrong and there were toxic fumes in the building. They had run short of the adhesive used to hold it in place and had mixed chemicals. The resulting fumes were extremely dangerous. It listed some of the results of exposure to the fumes as blindness, dementia, liver, kidney, brain, and lung and heart damage.
One of the administrators, the grant writer, had gone to her doctor to get details on what these chemicals did to the human body and forced the issue in the management meeting. She was very concerned. She left the agency shortly afterwards. Administrative staff talked about the impact on the carpet workers who glued the carpet in. They were temporary workers hired for the job, local people. They were very sick. In the meeting we were assured that everything was under control and the situation could be effectively dealt with by “leaving the windows open” over a couple of weekends, letting the place air out. They passed the report around.
We accept this information at face value. But it nagged at me. It still does.
Things had gone from good to bad overnight. When I was fired I filed a complaint with the EEOC. The agency did not cooperate with the EEOC investigators. They provided none of the requested documents. They did provide a copy of the termination agreement. The EEOC agent spotted the ADA problems immediately. We went into a federal mediation sponsored by the EEOC.
As we entered this phase of the negotiations, I was feeling increasingly sick. I wondered if my illness was connected to exposure to the toxins in the clinic. I had also received the anthrax filled letter from Nigeria. Things were going wrong with my body.
In mediation the management was prepared in advance to talk about toxins. They had a version of the safety report with them. It was used as a bargaining chip in negotiations. If I settled, I would get the medical information I needed to seek treatment. I was offered a small sum of money for settlement and references. I considered it. In a fit of consciousness, the mediator provided the names of the chemicals to me on the phone. He also provided the name of the company that did the safety report. He had a strong ethical base and a federal obligation under law to do so. It was enough information to keep me going.
I felt like I was being held hostage for medical information. I filed the lawsuit.
The EEOC signed off and promptly lost all records pertaining to the case. They were obligated to retain them until the legal process had completed. To date, the whereabouts of those files remains a mystery.
I was truly and completely on my own.
Entry for September 09, 2006 A Slight Digression
I went to high school in Bellevue Nebraska. In the summer I did Ag work one year. I detasseled corn in 110 degree weather. Not for very long though. I came home exhausted and wrung out. One day I got separated from the rest of the crew I was working with. Up ahead as far as I could see was the muddy row and the corn towering above and arcing over my head. In back of me the same infinite tunnel of corn. I broke into a blind panic and began to run. I tripped, and tumbled face down into the mud, regaining my senses. It was a satori of sorts, an awakening of something deep inside of me. A nameless dread. The next summer I worked as a janitor for the school system. I worked at a little elementary school with an elderly man who seldom spoke to me. He listened to easy listening radio station KFOR. I remember the haunting, ascending electric piano of Stevie Wonder on "You are the sunshine of my life" all summer long, the chills that tingled up my spine when the piano hit G# and twinged the central nervous system. I was lost in a dream, pushing my mop bucket down the long empty hallways. The next year I started selling records and stereos at the Brandies department store. That's where by chance I met radio announcer Jimmy O'Neill. Jimmy O'Neill was working at WOW in Omaha. He was famous. He had been the host of the ground breaking 1960s show Shindig on TV. I use to watch him in Spanish when I lived in Puerto Rico. I watched him work intensely on the phone doing a remote for the store. He gestured fanatically as he delivered the commercial. He enunciated every word. Boxed with the consonants. He literally shook when he talked he was so intense. He was as kinetic as hell even planted in the corner of the record shop. Between stop sets I asked him how to get into radio. I wanted to do what he did. I was already shaking. He told me I should go to the Columbia School of Broadcasting in Kansas City. I almost went. I got the catalog. I got some broadcast training in a special program in high school. I had decided that I wanted to be on the radio. That much I knew. I played guitar in the church choir. I played in a USO band. I played in a basement band called Queen Anne's Revenge which morphed into Grunt. I spent all my time playing guitar and piano. Don Fawn, a friend and guitar player in all those incarnation contacted me recently. He has a tape of us playing Carl Perkins’s "Honey Don't." I didn’t. We played the state prison once. We got paid in cake. Another job one night promised real cash. It was at a church dance somewhere out in the country. We climbed into the van and did the dance. When it came time to be paid, the minister scratched his head and shrugged his shoulders. He mumbled bible words. We didn't get cash. We got a carton of hot dogs and a case of Orange Crush. We drove the van to the local drive in and watched "Fritz the Cat" from the back of the open van. All night we gorged ourselves on the best hot dogs and orange soda I ever had. We had it made. That is my work experience, summed up in three stories. I was still playing guitar and singing in a weak voice when I went to college. It was a big part of my self image and identity. The Italian blues kid. I sought out opportunities to play. At the Centennial education program, Jeff Table let me sit in with his bands, Crumbhunger and the Permanent Waves. Ric Marsh, my advisor and friend tolerated my lack of focus, timing and pitch and jammed with me. At the University one night I went solo. I played did a night in a little coffee house in the student union. It was big time. And truly awful. I decided that night that I would never be a great performer. Music went from 100% of my life to zero overnight. I decided to write instead. I got hired by the Daily Nebraskan in 1975.Vince Boucher was the editor at that time. I could write music and art pretty well. I was groomed to replace the star writer of that time, Dave Wood. My parents moved to Florida that year, leaving me at school in Lincoln. I started off at the University of Nebraska majoring in Journalism and Political Science. I was in the School of Broadcasting where I was told by the head of the department that there was something wrong with my voice. I didn't sound like anybody else there. I didn't have the pipes. My instructor sent me off to a doctor to get the vocal nodes sliced off my vocal chords like deli baloney. After the doctor stuck a mirror down my throat and noodled around for awhile, I passed on the operation. Despite the alleged grunge in my throat I carried on. I did OK in broadcast news and photography. I did good interviews and framed things well. I learned my base radio skills on the air at KRNU, the University of Nebraska radio station. A friend of my brothers, Dennis Dorgherty, who was the resident manager at my dorm, knew Doug Agnew, the station manager at KFMQ. He was the son of Steve Agnew, the owner of the progressive rock station. Dennis got me an interview. He knew they were desperate for an overnight personality. They had just lost their night announcer. Doug was going down to the station with a case of beer and a couple of friends to keep the station on the air. He usually shut it down by 3 a.m. They hired me for the midnight shift. I didn't have the pipes, but I was the first one in my class to get a radio job. Steve Agnew, the extraordinary air personality and engineer hired me. They told me not to talk. Maybe it was the uncut baloney on my vocal cords, I don't know. I do know I ended up talking anyway. They let me. I played good sets and segued records really well. Roger Agnew, who had the best radio voice I ever heard, got me up to speed. He said they had hired someone from California to come and take over, but after he got to the station I could do weekends. He told me to have a good time. I was sad, but exhilarated to be on the air at all. I was working seven days a week, midnight to six in the morning. The guy from California finally arrived. He got off a bus in the middle of the night and came down to the station. It was over just like that. Or so I thought. It turned out that he had a few problems. He was at the station 24 hours a day telling people how to cut commercials, how to run the station, and what music to play and how to be on the air. He had all the signs of someone with a strong PTSD. He drank all the time. He didn't sleep. He couldn't stand to be alone. He was locked into his anger. He was a control freak. They fired him and hired me. I continued to work seven days a week. I'd sleep two hours in the morning and get up and go write and edit for the Daily Nebraskan. The fired guy called me a couple times a night. I could not get him off the phone. He said he didn't want me to get fired like he did. He’d tell me how to survive. He started off friendly and got increasingly hostile. He broke into the station one night drunk. And stole records. He threatened to castrate me. I was getting to the point where I was carrying empty coke bottles into the parking lot in case I needed something to defend myself. As Senator Dave Landis said, "a coke bottle, now there's the weapon of choice." Dave did a jazz show on the weekends. David Kappy, Captain Classics, the guy who did the weekend classical show agreed. I finally told the program director and the station called the police. It turns out he had just gotten out of prison for assault and did not want to go back. That was my introduction to radio. KFMQ was a one hundred and fifty watt station, one of the last in the country. The big ones were usually a hundred thousand watts. What you would call a stick station. We covered a tri-state area, and sometime were heard as far away as Canada and Wyoming. I was there for ten years. That is my fourth and final telling work tale.
I left ten years later to the day I was hired.
That was my work experience going into grad school. I worked in a library, built a bridge, washed dishes, managed a gift shop, and was a file clerk and a telephone operator.
I worked as an audio tech for work study. I sold what I wrote.
That’s what I learned from work.
Nothing could prepare me for the year 1997.
Entry for September 08, 2006 How the elephant got into my pajamasDespite a somewhat notorious civil rights history in the 1960s, the condos attracted a variety of people. It is filled with retirees and newlyweds. Built on a spot sacred to the Hawaiian Royalty. It is said that the buildings are haunted and cursed by the amakua of those kapuna who came before. The condos have survived mudslides and shifting real estate prices and still captivate the mind and spirit. It is a holy spot. Despite the curses. The view is killer. The condos are surrounded on three sides by Volcanic Mountains that crumble like German chocolate. About three hundred wild goats live up there. There are waterfalls that cascade behind the condos in the winter. They are generally followed by mud. Peacocks parade the idyllic. Down the valley two miles is the ocean.
The cable lanes that ties the condos together is a subject of some speculation. Exactly how private are these condos? What kind of intrigues fills this place? The famous have stood at the railing and looked down the valley at the rising moon. Are there spies lurking about? Did the population of the two entire buildings narrowly escape eradication in 1998 by an anthrax attack from a foreign power? Its' a wild tale indeed. "A ripping good tale" as Earnest Hemmingway wrote. But let’s start here. 1998.
Prelude
Let me review what I know to be true.
In the late summer or early fall of 1998 I received a letter from Nigeria.
The letter was a type-written document. The body of the letter was an attempt to recruit me to set up a bank account. It offered a base fund of $150,000. I was not to touch the money in the account but could have the interest accrued on an interest baring account.
In the folds of the letter was a little more than a gram of white powder.
I called the FBI immediately. In a phone interview with the FBI agent (who did not identify himself) the agent said that the letter was of a type that he was receiving reports on. The letter was similar to letters received by others. It was regarded as a scam. The unidentified white powder was most likely talcum powder. Talcum powder, he explained, was used to obscure finger prints.
In the previous decade, the first cases of anthrax exposure in 50 years had been reported in the United States. There had been fatalities. The anthrax was of a weapons grade, stolen from a secure government facility. The accused perpetrator was an employee of the facility, who evidently smuggled the anthrax out of the facility. The first cases were apparently random mailings. One of the victims, an elderly woman, is perplexing. The victims in Vero Beach, employees of the Globe Newspaper in Vero Beach, are evidently more explainable. The Globe is a Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper which does investigative reporting. I believe it also does stories on tea parties with aliens. It is what my mother would call a “scandal sheet.” The current issue has the following headlines:
HILLARY ATTACKS BILL’S SECRET LOVER. HE FORCES HILLARY INTO SEX THERAPY.
JACKO WAS FRAMED
BRAD AND ANGELINA MOVING IN TOGETHER
KENNY CHESNEY’S OTHER WOMAN REVEALED
The magazine describes itself as publishing “true life stories and fun.”
Their Web Site is http://www.globemagazine.com/
It is clear that these individuals were highly traumatized by their experience and have researched what happened extensively.
The incident itself is more explainable. No one likes journalists.
According to my cardiologist, who was informed on the initial attack, the weapons grade anthrax was lethal within a couple of seconds.
In short, a typical knowledge of such exposure would indicate that this powder was not of the same variety of anthrax in those initial attacks. It came from outside the country. All known cases of anthrax exposure originated in the United States, with stolen United States government-issue anthrax as a likely source of contamination.
According to the 70 year old Berkley study on negative ions, as well as standard operational procedures for medical and research facilities, negative ions contain or kill anthrax. The following site is by no means definitive, but it is simplified to a degree that you can quickly absorb the information. It will give you enough grounding to do further research. http://www.superforce.com/
I lived in a high-density, negative ion infused environment. I had two high density negative ion generators going full blast for seven years prior to the getting the letter. I lived in a controlled, air conditioned environment. The floors space was of a studio type.
It consisted of a single room condo, a hall way, and a two chambered bath and dressing room. It was inter-connected to nineteen or twenty floors of other occupied condos.
The FBI agent had me fax a copy of the letter and the envelope to him. I had to remove the white powder from the envelope in order to do this. No sample of the white powder was collected.
So what happened to the letter?
I was working at radio station KCCN AM at the time. A newswoman, Mandy Armstrong, was interested in what had happened. She later became the News Director on the FM side of the band. I gave the letter to her. I don’t remember if there was powder in the envelope or not. We can assume that there was some residue in the envelope. I’ll attempt to call Mandy today to find out if there is additional information.
I got progressively sicker, culminating in a congestive heart failure. I almost died. Organ damage was such that a heart transplant was recommended for my survival. I am currently on 100% disability for toxic exposure and well.
That’s another story.
Is there another explanation for the illness? That’s next.
Alternative speculation as to the nature of the crime:
It is a frequent organized crime and espionage tactic to create the appearance of a pattern crime with many victims. It is used to mask specific crimes. In this way the whys of the crime can be covered up. Attacks appear to be part of a random splattering of violence or criminal aggression. It’s explainable by a wider pattern of events.
If so, why was I targeted? To what end?
Was I meant to be disabled by a lower quality anthrax exposure?
Was the offer based on truth?
Is there a link to a financial network, or “battle funds” set up for unnamed parties to pull on while remaining anonymous?
I was out of work. I was engaged in a Federal Lawsuit against my former employer.
I was economically vulnerable. That vulnerability was increased by an increasing inability to work and isolation.
The plot, as it is unfolded like the letter from Nigeria.
In the folds of the letter is the unknown white powder of whys, whose and whereas. Contained in it is the spore of events that set the next seven years in motion.
These are the known facts of these events as I know them. I do for swear it.
Addendum:
What is anthrax? Anthrax, named after the Greek word for coal because of the dark skin lesions it causes, is a caused by the Bacillus anthracis bacterium. Spores can exist in the soil for years and, herbivores such as cattle, sheep and goats are most likely to become infected while grazing. Human cases are rare.
How dangerous is it?
The bug can infect humans through a cut on the skin, more rarely by inhalation of spores or, even more rarely, by eating infected meat. Inhaling spores in sufficient numbers is likely to lead to death, although early antibiotics can reduce the risk. Ingested anthrax is similarly deadly, but more than 80 per cent of those with a skin infection survive.
What are the symptoms?
Generally feeling unwell with a flu-like illness and breathing difficulties are the early signs of inhaled anthrax. Skin infections cause an itchy, inflamed pimple that turns into a blister with extensive swelling. Several days later this turns into an ulcer with the classic black marks.
Can it spread between humans?
Anthrax does not spread person-to-person, although there have been extremely rare reports of skin infections apparently transferring from one person to another.
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