Red Cross @ MindSay 
katrina
There is a fire burning right now in north Cape Coral, FL that, so far, has burned over 2400 acres. It's several miles west of me across the river and started yesterday with lightening. It's burning in an area where there are no fire hydrants and not a lot of water available. They're bringing in tanker trucks with water and dropping water from planes and helicopters, trying to contain the fire. Now, there are storms in the area, with lightening, that is threatening to ground the aircraft. They can't safely fly during a storm. And there is the possibility that more fires will start from this lightening.
I just talked to sandyquill and she is several miles south of the fire which is moving west at the moment, so she's in no danger, either.
We are well into the rainy (hurricane) season and should not be this dry, but we've had very little rain to speak of. The drought index in the fire area is 550 which means there is 5 1/2 inches less water than their should be in the soil.
Please pray for rain for us and for the firefighters, police officers, Red Cross personnel and everyone involved dealing with this fire. There have also been a lot of people evacuated who don't know when they will be allowed back to their homes...probably a few days at least.
Here's a map of the general area (in red square) that's burning:
American Forces Press Service
June 20, 2007 – The Federal Trade Commission is warning consumers about an identity-theft scam targeting families of military members. A caller, claiming to work for the Red Cross, notifies an individual that their family member has been injured while on duty. To get immediate aid to the injured servicemember, the caller says, paperwork must be completed, and personal information must be verified.
The FTC, the nation's consumer protection agency, says this scheme is a variation of "phishing" - a technique identity thieves use to get personal or financial information from unwary consumers. The identity thief claims to represent a trusted source - a bank, a government agency, or in this case, the American Red Cross - to get someone to divulge their personal information.
American Red Cross representatives typically do not contact military members or dependents directly and almost always go through a commander or first sergeant. Officials urge military family members not to give out any personal information over the phone if contacted by unknown individuals, including confirmation that their spouse is deployed.
Red Cross representatives contact military members or dependents directly only in response to an emergency message initiated by a family member. The Red Cross does not report any type of casualty information to family members; the Defense Department will contact families directly about family members' injuries.
(Compiled from Federal Trade Commission and American Red Cross news releases.)
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Date Line June 13, 2007
A Most Harm to the Most People update from the Washington Post. A little item on how gays and straights are treated when it comes to the safety of our blood supply.
We are all aware that Christians are devoutly anti-gay; and this is the chief agenda of the Right-wing conservatives whop dominate the GOP.
Well, it seems, in keeping with their other agenda of ensuring the most long-term harm to the most people, and in keeping with a 24-year-old FDA policy (24 years ago, 1983, Gee, that was Ronald Reagan and his conservative agenda), our blood supply is in danger from straights with HIV.
The policy bars any men who have had sexual contact with another man from giving blood; from ever giving blood. There is no need to know that either male had, or was exposed to, HIV-AIDS; being gay, or with a transvestite, once in your life is sufficient.
There is no program against women; is there? Are women asked if they have ever been with a man or woman who had been exposed to, or contracted, HIV-AIDS?
However, and here is the beauty of their most harm policy, if a straight man had ever been exposed to HIV-AIDS, he is prohibited from donating blood for the year after that exposure.
Hum. Do you not love it? A Straight male, the kind who would infect both the blood supply and women, is a problem for only one year. It is of utmost importance to the Ring-wing, and their minions ensconced in positions of administrative policy authority, to ensure that HIV-AIDS contaminated, or potentially contaminated, individuals are back endangering the blood supply within the shortest possible time.
The doctrine of the most harm to the most people is systemic to these people. There is no need for a heterosexual, who has knowingly had contact with an HIV-AIDS positive individual, to be tested and show proof of that testing. It is assumed that a year-and-a-day after the act, they are clear of the infection.
How to kill as many Americans as possible are endangered; or is this blood marked and shipped to Red Cross units overseas? Maybe that is it. Maybe the government has secret agents who ship infected blood to the far corners of the earth? Given Iraq, would anyone doubt it?
The most harm to the most people. You can find evidence of it in every policy decision made by the Republicans. More important, you find it to be the basis for every policy decision associated with the Right-wing fundamentalists around the world; and with the Christian groups which underwrite their political activities.
Policies which hold the possibility of "The most harm to the most people." are the only way to go. Remember that, in 2008, when you go to the polls; how much harm will you bring on yourself in response to buzz-phrases of hatred and xenophobia?
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American Forces Press Service
May 31, 2007 – The American Red Cross is warning military spouses about a new identity-theft scam that targets family members of deployed troops. The Red Cross was alerted of the scam earlier this month, said Devorah Goldburg of the Red Cross.
The scam involves a person with an American accent calling a military spouse, identifying herself as a representative of the Red Cross, and telling the spouse that her husband was hurt in Iraq and was medically evacuated to Germany. The caller then says that doctors can't start treatment until paperwork is completed, and that to start the paperwork they need the spouse to verify her husband's social security number and date of birth.
It is hard to determine how many spouses have been targeted by this scam, Goldburg said, as there are many ways for spouses to report problems like this. However, one confirmed report was enough for the Red Cross to act, she said.
"We know that it happened to one person; it was probably going to happen to others, and we wanted to be prudent and alert people," she said.
American Red Cross representatives typically do not contact military members or dependents directly and almost always go through a commander or first sergeant, according to a Red Cross news release. Military family members are urged not to give out any personal information over the phone if contacted by unknown individuals, including confirmation that their spouse is deployed.
In addition, Red Cross representatives contact military members or dependents directly only in response to an emergency message initiated by a family member, the news release said. The Red Cross does not report any type of casualty information to family members; the Defense Department will contact families directly about family members' injuries.
It is a federal crime, punishable by up to five years in prison, for a person to fraudulently pretend to be a member of, or an agent for, the American Red Cross for the purpose of soliciting, collecting, or receiving money or material, according to the news release. Any military family member that receives such a call is urged to report it to their local family readiness group or military personnel flight.
Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership; and, police and military personnel who have authored books.
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