New Jersey @ MindSay

A patriotic (kinda) memory

"the following EM (enlisted men) will be volunteers at the Pine Hill (NJ) Independence Day festivities. Report promptly at 0800 hrs to Mrs. Lindstrom (i think that was her name) at the parade marshaling area in Pine Hill. Uniform required is dress khakis..."

that memo waas signed by the battery commander and posted on the company bull. board. There were 6 names. mine was the first.

This meant that I, who was serving my country as a reluctant missleman for 3 years, was going to mark my country's Independence Day by donating my holiday off to marching in a parade to honor... you know where that's going. Keywords in that memo are, "will be volunteers."

For the record, the ladies of the Pine Hill, New Jersey patriotic committee were so nice and gracious and kind to us that the day was more fun than our captain ever intended for us to have. I visited there often after that until the Army decided I should learn to speak German. That was 1967, btw.

So Happy 4th, 2008 to anyone so bored that they are on their computers instead of out on the deck burning burgers. And as I did at that Pine Hill parade long ago, I'll muse a bit on our Independence.

We rebelled against a government of "taxation without representation." (That line is from my 4th grade history book.)

Now we have taxation with representation... There's a little food for thought while those burgers fry. Oh, and hold the tomatoes, please. At a safe (long) distance.

NJ and MD Parents Take Action on Vaccine Laws

Parents in New Jersey and Maryland are organizing to educate legislators about the need for informed consent and safety protections in state laws.


NEW JERSEY NEWS:

Sue Collins, co-founder of New Jersey Alliance for Informed Choice in Vaccination (NJAICV) reports that NJAICV is sponsoring an on-line petition to endorse support for the insertion of a conscientious belief exemption to vaccination in NJ vaccine laws. She encourages New Jersey residents to sign the petition, which lists the signer's name, town, state, comments and date signed. Go to http://www.gopetition.com/online/16754.html.

With the recent addition of 9 doses of 4 new vaccines (pneumococcal, influenza, meningococcal, Tdap) to daycare and school mandates, New Jersey became the state with the most vaccine requirements in the nation: 35 doses of 13 vaccines. The new vaccine mandates were rammed through by state health department employees last year under rule making authority and legislators did not vote on the new vaccine mandates. New Jersey has a religious and medical exemption but both exemptions are almost impossible to obtain due to opposition by state education and public health employees seeking a 100 percent vaccination rate among children.

I found the above exerpt on this blog late last night  http://vaccinesarebad.blogspot.com/ 

It's like an answer to my prayers - I'm going to write letters and get involved. I don't know if I will be attending meetings to argue with gov. officials - I'm terrified and I don't think I'm that good with words. I also get really emotional when I'm nervous and talking about something I feel strongly about - I'll be a blubbering mess and that won't help anyone.

 

If you live in New Jersey, please sign the petition. Even if you don't make the choice not to vaccinate for you or your family - please visit New Jersey Alliance for Informed Choice in Vaccination (NJAICV)  , read about what they have to say and support my right to informed consent.

 

Thank you!!!

 

BWC [Biological Weapons Convention] States Tackle National Implementation

“A Dec. 10-14 meeting of member states of the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) offered rhetorical support for stepping up national implementation measures to bring domestic laws, administrative procedures, and regulations into conformity with the bioweapons ban. But the meeting also showcased transatlantic differences that have stymied attempts for more binding measures since the beginning of the Bush administration. Following up on a meeting of experts last August, the final report from the meeting of states-parties agreed on the ‘fundamental importance’ of national measures to implement the BWC. Such measures include controls on transfers of biological agents, biosafety and biosecurity regulations, and penal legislation. However, the meeting did not agree on any joint standards or collective measures. The meeting’s chair, Pakistani Ambassador Masood Khan, pointed out in his opening statement that the task of the meeting was to ‘promote common understanding and effective action,’

not to negotiate binding agreements.” (Arms Control Today, January/February 2008, Oliver Meier) http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2008_01-02/bwc.asp

 

India claims to have destroyed 93 % of its chemical weapons

“India has claimed to destroy its 93 per cent of chemical weapon stockpile and the remaining weapons will be eliminated by April, 2009. Media reports quoting official sources here [in New Dehli] said India had assured the international community [that it will] complete the process of total destruction of chemical weapons by April next year.” (Associated Press of Pakistan, 20Jan08)

http://www.app.com.pk/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26753&Itemid=2

 

Deadly chemicals hidden in war cache

“For more than 60 years RAAF [Royal Australian Air Force] veterans Geoff Burn and Arthur Lewis kept silent about the terrible secret hidden in a disused railway tunnel at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Thousands of barrels filled with chemical weapons, including mustard gas, were stored in the tunnel at Glenbrook and other sites around Australia during the Second World War. The men were part of a secret unit formed to look after the deadly stockpile, kept for use against Japanese troops - a fact the Defence Department refused to admit until the late 1980s. And for decades successive governments refused to disclose that the Australian wartime command had conducted chemical warfare experiments on its own soldiers. […] Now, after decades of denials, the military is about to recognise the unit's contribution to the war effort. Next month the Defence Department will publish a book - Chemical Warfare In Australia - detailing the unit's story, including how they and army volunteers were used as guinea pigs by their own commanders.” (Sydney Morning Herald, 20Jan08, Frank Walker) http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/deadly-chemicals-hidden-in-war-cache/2008/01/19/1200620272396.html

 

Guinea pig’ sailor set for pay-out after 50 years

“A former sailor from York [England] who claims he was used as a guinea pig in chemical warfare experiments finally looks set to receive compensation - half a century later. Sam Smith says he has suffered from chest problems and watering eyes ever since he took part in research in the 1950s at the Ministry of Defence's chemical research centre at Porton Down, Wiltshire, after being led to believe he was helping to find a cure for the common cold.” (York Press, 21Jan08, Richard harris) http://www.thisisyork.co.uk/display.var.1980827.0.guinea_pig_sailor_set_for_payout_after_50_years.php

 

Porton Down veteran awaits compensation

 “A war veteran who says he was duped into having chemical weapons tested on him is waiting with bated breath to see if he has been granted a slice of £3 million compensation. When former Royal Marine Jim Booth (63) agreed to take part in a two-week medical trial at Porton Down research centre in Wiltshire in the ’60s, he thought he would be trialling medication to treat the common cold. Instead, the Market Deeping man claims, he was subjected to mustard gas and was injected with unknown drugs before being made to take part in tests to assess his reactions.” (Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 18Jan08, Kirsty Nicolson) http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/Porton-Down-veteran-awaits-compensation.3686704.jp

 

Plan for chemical security is delayed

“Homeland Security officials have delayed a requirement that farmers register with the agency if they have certain amounts of certain chemicals. Farmers and ranchers had been facing a Tuesday deadline to come up with a security plan and register it. ‘Most producers knew nothing about either the requirements or the deadline; most state agriculture departments had not been told of them,’ said North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson, who is president of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. Homeland Security, in announcing the delay, said the agency is gathering more information on the issue to see if changes to the requirements are warranted, especially in light of a new law that gives the agency authority to regulate the sale and transfer of ammonium nitrate fertilizer. Johnson said anhydrous ammonia, another popular farm fertilizer in North Dakota, also is included in Homeland Security's list of chemicals. The association Johnson heads brought its worries to Homeland Security, and ‘It appears the problem is at least temporarily resolved,’ he said.” (The Bismark Tribune, 21Jan08, AP) http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2008/01/21/news/local/147054.txt

 

N.J. [New Jersey] security chief says state needs boost in federal funding

“New Jersey's mass transit system remains a potential target for a terrorist attack and needs additional federal funding to ensure safe passage for thousands of daily commuters, the state's top security official said yesterday. ‘Anything that happens here has implications for New York City,’ said Richard Cañas, director of the state Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. ‘Yet every year we feel like deadbeats asking for federal handouts to protect ourselves against what we all agree is a national threat.’ Cañas' remarks came during a visit from U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, which controls how funds are distributed to states. Thompson visited the State Police Regional Operations Intelligence Center in West Trenton before taking a helicopter tour of potential terror targets in North Jersey. Those sites included Newark Liberty International Airport, the Lincoln Tunnel, the chemical facilities and oil refineries along the New Jersey Turnpike and Port Newark.” (The Star-Ledger, 20Jan08, John Holl)

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1200807357158880.xml&coll=1

 

Students learn to be prepared for crises

“About 20 sophomores donned protective mesh vests, each with a piece of paper attached containing the title of an emergency worker. They gathered around a 20-by-6-foot table with a miniature city displayed on it and played roles. Their job was to evaluate a stream that reportedly had a contaminant in it. […] The students were answering […] questions during a homeland security and emergency preparedness class being piloted at Joppatowne High School [in Maryland] this school year. […] The students take the second part of the program during their junior year, when they select a specialty area of study from one of three topics: homeland security sciences, law enforcement and criminal justice, and information and communications technology. Depending on which area the students select, they study such topics as chemical and biological warfare, research methods, the justice system, law processes, first responders to emergency scenes, and evidence collection and analysis, and even learn how to use a geographic information system.” (Baltimore Sun, 20Jan08, Cassandra A. Fortin) http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/harford/bal-ha.homeland20jan20,0,703936.story

 

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Interesting how the tags "New Jersey" and "Crime" were used in consecutive postings to News, lol

tobefree alerts us to real-life news, straight out of the movie "The Shawshank Redemption," from a prison in Elizabeth, NJ:

"Two jail inmates used photos of bikini-clad women to hide holes they used to escape and left behind a thank-you note, signed with a smiley face, for a guard they claimed helped them ...

... Jose Espinosa, 20, and Otis Blunt, 32, squeezed through the openings sometime before dawn Saturday in a high-security unit of the Union County jail, jumped onto a rooftop below, and made it over a 25-foot-high fence topped with razor wire."

Unlike in the "The Shawshank Redemption," where Tim Robbins character spends 19 years building a tunnel to escape the prison, it took the New Jersey pair only a few weeks to make their escape.  As of the latest report, authorities are still searching for the fugitives.