XIAM007

Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World

Wednesday 13 April 2011

Biden Falls Asleep During Obama Budget Speech? -

Biden Falls Asleep During Obama Budget Speech? - 





Vice President Joe Biden appears asleep for a full 30 seconds during President Obama’s speech on the debt and deficit earlier today.

THIRD incident this year at one of the nation's airports involving a sleeping air traffic controller -

THIRD incident this year at one of the nation's airports involving a sleeping air traffic controller -


An air traffic controller in Nevada was asleep and out of communication for about 16 minutes while a medical plane was landing, federal officials said Wednesday.
No one was injured when the flight carrying at least three people landed at Reno-Tahoe International Airport during what was at least the third incident this year at one of the nation's airports involving a lapse by an traffic controller.
The controller in Reno has been suspended while the Federal Aviation Administration investigates his lack of response to repeated contacts from the plane and airport staff around 2 a.m. Wednesday.
"The flying public needs an assurance from the FAA that this situation will be addressed at all airports," airport chief Krys Bart said. "We must have adequate staffing."
Last month, two jetliners landed at Washington's Reagan National Airport without tower assistance after the lone air traffic supervisor fell asleep.

A follow-up investigation by the FAA uncovered a second incident of an air traffic controller sleeping on the job in February during the midnight shift at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tenn.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has ordered an examination of controller staffing at airports across the nation, and he directed that two controllers staff the midnight shift in Washington.
The National Transportation Safety Board has opened its own investigation, and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has added yet another investigation.
The Piper Cheyenne plane involved in the Nevada incident is a twin engine turboprop with seating for five.
Airport staff heard the pilot trying to contact the tower and then tried to contact the tower themselves, Bart said.
"The pilot evaluated the airfield. The weather was clear. The aircraft did land without incident," she said.
It was not immediately clear where the flight was coming from.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/13/air-controller-lapses-post-reno/#ixzz1JR4lbGbF

Another toddler served alcohol at restaurant in U.S. - two-year-old was given sangria instead of OJ @Olive Garden -

Another toddler served alcohol at restaurant in U.S. -  two-year-old was given sangria instead of OJ @Olive Garden - 




News has surfaced of another case of alcohol accidentally served to a toddler at a restaurant in the United States.
This time it was a two-year-old who was given sangria, which contained white wine, in Lakeland, Fla.
Jill Van Heest, the toddler’s mother, told a Florida ABC affiliate that she began to suspect something was wrong with her son when he began to act out. She told him to behave and to keep quiet, but her son didn’t listen to her.
Then the waiter and manager then told her that instead of orange juice, her son had been served the alcohol-infused drink. That’s when Van Heest realized her son wasn’t acting out, he was drunk. She immediately rushed her son to the hospital.
“How disorganized can your bar be that you serve something with alcohol to a child in a cup — with a lid nonetheless — and not recognize it for half an hour?” Van Heest, who owns a restaurant with her husband, asked.
The Olive Garden issued a statement, in which they took full responsibility for what happened. In part, the statement said:
“This was an extremely regrettable accident caused by the failure of an employee to follow our strict operating procedures. We take this situation very seriously, and we are especially grateful that the child involved was not seriously harmed.”
Van Heest plans to sue.
Meanwhile, Applebee’s has announced it is changing the way it serves juice after a toddler was mistakenly given a small amount of alcohol at a Detroit-area location last week.
The Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News reported Tuesday that Applebee's will pour juice for children from single-serve containers at the table starting this week.
Applebee's also plans to retrain workers.

Shocking video has surfaced from 2005 of U.S. troops firing on captive Iraqi detainees at Camp Bucca - even a grenade -

Shocking video has surfaced from 2005 of U.S. troops firing on captive Iraqi detainees at Camp Bucca - even a grenade - 





Shocking video has surfaced from 2005 of U.S. troops firing on captive Iraqi detainees at Camp Bucca following a riot. The soldiers seen in the video unload full force and even (what appears to be) a grenade round from behind barbed wire fences, while some laugh about direct hits.

Four detainees were killed and five others wounded. One soldier, seen in the video, comments that the prisoners are only throwing “dirt balls and a few rocks.” He was possibly trying to quell what appeared to be a near free-for-all shooting spree against captive targets. “Be decisive on what you f—— shoot,” he told the others.
According to Press TV, the “US military tried to cover up the bloodshed, saying the riot happened when the prisoners confronted a search for contraband in the prison.” Instead, the ACLU found that the riot was due to the “desecration of the Holy Qur’an by US troops.”
Read more - Shocking video has surfaced from 2005 of U.S. troops firing on captive Iraqi detainees at Camp Bucca following a riot. The soldiers seen in the video unload full force and even (what appears to be) a grenade round from behind barbed wire fences, while some laugh about direct hits.

Judge rules - Students can wear 'I Heart Boobies' bracelets -

Judge rules - Students can wear 'I Heart Boobies' bracelets - 




A federal judge has weighed in on a little rubber bracelet with a message about breast cancer awareness that stirred up a lot of controversy here in San Diego.
 “I Heart Boobies” bracelets are sold across the nation and have been banned in many U.S schools, including Oceanside High School, Valley Middle School in Carlsbad and Mountain Empire High School in East County.
U.S. District Judge Mary McLaughlin sided with students Tuesday in a free-speech test case filed in Pennsylvania by the American Civil Liberties Union. She issued a temporary injunction that bars the Easton Area School District from enforcing its ban.
School officials argue the slogan suggests a sexual double meaning and leads to in-school distractions.
McLaughlin agreed with students and said the bracelets are being worn to promote breast cancer awareness.


The creator of the bracelets says it's about speaking to young people in their own language.
"The word "boobies" is just a word that young people use, it's a word that moms say to babies,"said Kimmy McAtee of Keep A Breast Foundation, the organization that makes the bracelets. 
The bands retail for about $4. 100 percent of the funds raised go to breast cancer education, awareness and support programs.
A few weeks ago, a student at Mountain Empire High School wore a bracelet to school.  School administrators say the bracelet led to a "big" disruption in class and that's why it was banned.
"If it's creating a disruption in class, obviously we have to do something about that,"said superintendent Steve Van Zant.
Campo resident Marcus Nicholson graduated from Mountain Empire High last year and says he wore the bracelet all year without any incidents.
"I wear it because my mom had cancer and she survived and I wear it for everybody who has cancer and for research and all that,"Nicholson said.
His mother has been cancer free for ten years and says if the word "boobies" encourages kids to care about breast cancer awareness, then there is no harm in it.
"I'm for them wearing those bracelets, I have no problem with it at all,"said Leticia Nicholson.


Read more - http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/health/Fed-Judge-OKs-Boobies-Bracelet-in-School-119711509.html

Collinsville Teacher Ousted for Ordering Students to Remove Underwear - saw feces on the classroom floor -

Collinsville Teacher Ousted for Ordering Students to Remove Underwear - saw feces on the classroom floor - 




A southwestern Illinois special-education teacherhas been ousted after allegedly ordering students to remove their underwear to determine which child soiled his pants.
The Belleville News-Democrat reports that Collinsville’s school board voted Monday not to renew the contract of the unidentified Webster Elementary School teacher.
The newspaper reports a letter sent to parents this week indicated the teacher saw feces on the classroom floor March 30 and had each of the seven children go separately into a private bathroom stall and remove his or her underpants. The third and fourth graders then were told to put their clothes back on and exit the stall to show their underpants to the teacher.
The letter says the teacher was not ever present in the stall.