- Can an employer force a person to allow a needle to be
jammed into their arm, injecting them with a weakened strain of a virus in
order to inoculate them against stronger strains of the illness? In
Connecticut, the answer appears to be yes. This year, 19 of the 29 acute care hospitals
in the state require that all employees get flu vaccinations and many more state hospitals are following suit. Oddly
enough, as not all hospital employees are paranoid elderly people who believe
they will die unless they get their flu shot before flu season hits, some
employees are objecting to the mandate. There is a major problem at Waterbury
Hospital, where dozens of employees initially refused to get a flu shot. Sadly, when these dissenters were threatened
with unpaid suspension and possible dismissal, only two of them continued to
hold out. "There are a few hardcore people who are holding out, and that's
their prerogative," said Steven Aronin, chief of infectious diseases at
Waterbury Hospital. Aronin made it clear that if those employees get the shot,
"they can come back immediately." Statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention show that hospitals that require flu shots for employees had
95 percent compliance, while those that didn't had vaccination rates of 68
percent. Most hospitals allow religious and medical exemptions, but some
actually require a note from the person's spiritual leader, explaining
objections to the vaccines. The Connecticut Hospital Association isn't helping
employees by endorsing mandatory flu vaccination for hospital staff, even if
at-risk individuals who contract the flu could see it progress from influenza to
pneumonia. Waterbury hospital
actually dismissed five employees who refused to get a flu shot last year,
something hospital officials seem ready and willing to do again this year. Even
though Aronin admitted there has been a lot of "hysteria" about
health risks of the flu vaccine, the hospital is standing its ground because “all
of it is really hearsay and not substantiated in the literature." Whatever
you say, kook………..
- The New York Yankees are not what they once were. In
offseasons past, the Yankees would have already handed out multiple nine-figure
contracts by now, often to past-their-prime stars who are a shell of what they
once were. These days, the Bronx Bombers are one of the thrifty mass of teams
sniffing around the fringes of the free-agent pool, offering one-year deals and
seeing if they can strike it rich with a diamond in the rough. Their latest attempt
to find a prize on the free-agent scrap heap has taken them in the interesting
direction of pursuing a player who was the heart and soul of two championship
teams for their archrival. On the final day of baseball’s winter
meetings, the Yankees made a one-year, $12 million offer to third baseman Kevin
Youkilis, who was a member of the Boston Red Sox as recently as the second
month of last season. Youkilis made $12.25 million last season when he hit .235
with 19 home runs and 60 RBIs for Boston and the Chicago White Sox, who
acquired him in June, and he could be a suitable candidate to replace Alex
Rodriguez, who will undergo surgery on the labrum in his left hip in
mid-January and is expected to miss four to six months. That the Yankees
haven’t signed the biggest names on the market and thrown crazy money at them
is definitely different, but some agents have claimed that they simply haven't
been able to make any real progress in talks with Yankees general manager Brian
Cashman. In another bizarre twist, the Yankees are actually looking to dump
salary and fulfill a mandate to fall under a $189 million payroll by 2014. To
that end, they are listening to offers for center fielder Curtis Granderson and
starting pitchers Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova. These definitely are not George
Steinbrenner’s Yankees any longer………
- Ass-dialing unsuspecting friends and business associates will
no longer be the only link between accidents and cell phones in the years
ahead. By the middle of 2014, almost every wireless carrier in the United States
will offer customers the ability to send a text message to 911 during an
emergency. The nation's four largest wireless carriers — Verizon, AT&T,
Sprint, and T-Mobile — have all consented to begin text-to-911 services
nationwide by May 15, 2014, according to Federal Communications Commission
Chairman Julius Genachowski. Verizon has been out ahead on this issue for
months, as it became the first in the U.S. to finally offer the service to the
public over the summer. When that deadline arrives in 2014, more than 90
percent of the nation's wireless customers, including those with hearing and
speech disabilities, will be able to access emergency services by sending a
text message to 911, Genachowski said. Even with that capability at their
fingertips, the FCC still believes that those in need of 911 assistance should
always make a call rather than send a text message, if possible. In between now
and May 2014, carriers will provide an automated bounce back text message to
notify a consumer if their attempt to reach 911 via text message failed because
the service isn't yet available in their area. That feature must be in place by
June 30. "This is good progress, but our work is not done,"
Genachowski said in a statement. "Next week the FCC will consider further
actions to advance text-to-911 for all consumers. We will also take additional
steps in this area next year, including closely monitoring carriers’ compliance
with the commitments they have made." While 911 texting is a step forward,
Genachowski said the agency is still pushing for other "next generation
911" services like the ability to transmit photos and videos to 911
centers………
- In a mismatch made in hell, Vince Vaughn and Glenn Beck are
teaming up for a new reality show. Vaughn, who seems like he wouldn’t want to
partner with a blowhard, conserva-Nazi ass hat who lives his life with his head
up his backside like no one else, has a production company called West
Productions. His company will team with Go Go Luckey, which is founded by Gary
and Julie Auerbauch, to produce "Pursuit of the Truth," a show that
will air on Beck's online network TheBlaze. In a vacuum, the concept of the
show is interesting. It will pit 20 aspiring filmmakers against one another for
the grand prize of financing and worldwide distribution for their
feature documentary film idea. Aside from Beck having anything to do with the
project, it actually sounds like it could be the rare reality series that isn’t
a soul-sucking waste of time that makes you dumber and a worse human being
simply by watching an episode. To ensure that these would-be Ken Burnses and
Michael Moores are evaluated properly, a team of experienced producers and
executives will sit on the judging panel and judge them based on the validity
of their idea for a documentary as well as their filmmaking abilities.
"Our goal is to create a powerful annual platform to help filmmakers
tell important and engaging stories," says Peter Billingsley of Wild West.
In a truly hilarious twist, the chief creative officer for that tool Beck’s
company had the kahones to say that the show’s value lies in the purpose of
documentaries to “seek the truth with no agenda” and preserve this important
art form. "The documentary film, particularly those that seek the truth
with no agenda, is an important art form that is struggling to survive in this
media environment,” Joel Cheatwood said. Uh huh, sure. Interested filmmakers
can submit their application online at www.pursuitofthetruth.com through Jan.
31………..
- Winning a Nobel Prize of any sort should be an occasion
to celebrate joyously. Well, unless a Chinese author is receiving the Nobel Prize
for Literature, because then it’s an occasion to bash another Chinese author
who happens to be a prominent anti-government voice. Mo Yan is this year’s
recipient and the reaction from state media to his selection has been
drastically different than it was two years ago when outspoken dissident Liu
Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize. While outsiders are questioning Mo’s
Communist Party membership, the Chinese government is flexing like it’s the
sh*t and then some. Activists have decried Mo’s suggestion and blasted his
unwillingness to speak up for freedom of speech on the mainland and his
apparent reluctance to speak out for his fellow laureate. “Giving the award to
a writer like this is an insult to humanity and to literature,” fumed noted
Chinese artist and activist, Ai Weiwei. Mo’s primary response to the heat he is
taking was a remark made he evening his Nobel victory was announced, when he
said he hoped Liu – who is currently serving an 11-year sentence for his work
on a direct call for political liberalization known as Charter 08 – could
“achieve his freedom as soon as possible.” Of course, he went in the opposite
direction during a recent interview in Stockholm when he defended China’s
suppression of free speech, saying that censorship should not prevent the
truth, but that rumors and defamation “should be censored.” Before anyone
becomes too angry about that idiocy, just know that he does “hope that
censorship, per se, should have the highest principle.” Yes, because there is
nothing higher than stifling the truth. Perhaps the most hilarious aspect of
Mo’s remarks was his attempt to liken censorship to the airport security he
passed through flying to Stockholm. "When I was taking my flight, going
through the customs ... they also wanted to check me even taking off my belt
and shoes," he said. "But I think these checks are necessary." Good
analogy, Mo. But did airport security at Arlanda International Airport ban you
from wearing certain types of shoes, take your belt from you and prohibit you
from visiting specific parts of Sweden or speaking to specific people? Didn’t
think so……….
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