- 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???.
Source: http://cynic-central.blogspot.com/2012/12/chinese-censorship-resistinf-flu-shots.html
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