T H E 6 T H F L O O R

Life in 6 Land

Surgery Today!

Finally! And to think, it only too the medical establishment 2 months to make the correct diagnosis. I probably should have pushed for an MRI sooner, didn’t think the orthopedic would decide to take the easy way out, citing “arthritis” instead of trying to resolve my pain. Only the bright side, he did try to push Big Pharma on me, which I rejected.

I had a pre-operation appointment with the orthopedic surgeon yesterday and he quickly explained the 45 minute procedure to repair…well remove the torn part of the meniscus. Unlike the ACL replacement on my right knee 3 years ago, today’s procedure is “minor” in his words. I should not be couch bound for too long anyway. I am hoping to be back up and walking around later today or tomorrow. At any rate it’s back to work on Thursday, as I am not planning any time off from work.

There will be three arthroscopic incisions made around my knee. Unlike the previous surgery, which required a piece of my patellar tendon to replace the torn ACL, today’s procedure won’t both any of the ligaments, tendons or muscles or so I was told. Hopefully I will still have feeling in the left knee when the procedure is completed. So hopefully by tomorrow the inflammation, swelling and most importantly the pain will be gone and I will be to a pain free lifestyle.

Security Concerns

I read many of the comments before jumping in an reading the entire story from the UK Sun regarding the lack of security surrounding London’s Olympic Park. The story, which is quickly turning into a scandal has images and video footage of a construction working transporting a fake bomb through security checkpoints and inside Olympic Park. This security seems no better than what I experienced when I worked at the airlines.

I have written about security concerns at airports the past, how easy it was to bypass security checkpoints in LAX and SFO, when it was “mandatory” (yet not enforced) as an airline employee to go through a security checkpoint, adhering to the SAME rules and regulations as an air traveler. Now the Olympics are 82 days away and with the amount of money spent (£1billion) for security and precautions in place we see this major breach, including an 11-mile long electrified fence that cost £80million.

Fingers will most likely be pointed at the individuals in place providing security at checkpoints. Much like TSA agents, these people aren’t trained well enough to provide real security, especially to an event such as the Olympics, which will be a high profile event.

“An already-vetted worker could bring in materials for a deadly suicide bomb mission. The loophole exposed by us shows just how easily that could happen” (source). This same loophole existed at the airlines, even being gone for nearly 6 years I don’t believe it has been improved. Here is just one story I wrote in 2006 while it centers more around the vulnerability of air freight facilities and accepting material from “known shippers” I did elude to the fact I could enter the AOA (ramp) dressed in everyday clothes with a badge and not past through a security checkpoint.

The UK story says, “terror cells may use “clean skins” — people with no criminal or extremist links” when it comes to people operating knowingly or unknowingly when it comes to an operation. Never in 2 years at SFO and 9 years at LAX was I ever questioned while walking on the ramp. Who’s to say I didn’t have a device, much like the construction worker touring Olympic Park, just to prove a point that it can be done and concerns exist.

Facebook Censorship

It’s bad enough our freedoms are slowing dissolving in this once great land. I don’t have to look any further than the government continually trying to take away our right to bear arms or the TSA and their disregard for the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution as they conduct illegal search and seizure without probably cause. Guess the government considers many of terrorist, based purely on what we say.

That leads to this story about Facebook and their censorship for “irrelevant or inappropriate” comments. So much for freedom of speech and it was really only a matter of time before they started cracking down on a very touchy subject. Facebook claims they are “working to create a safe and clean environment on its corner of the web by shutting down abusive or harassing behavior, content such as pornography, or general spamming of the system” (source). Much like the article says, I don’t understand how pornography and spam on the same level of comments posted on Facebook.

What offends an individual on Facebook is going to be subjective. I have seen quite a bit of “questionable” pages that could easily fall under soft pornography. Yet none of those pages have been shut down to my knowledge. There are times I read, what could be construed as “abusive comments” but why censor them? This was one of the main reasons I didn’t want to get into the social networking. I don’t want Big Brother looking over my shoulder telling me what I can and cannot post. Facebook’s explanation was “To protect the millions of people who connect and share on Facebook every day.”

I find the Facebook ads offensive everyday I log on to their system. I hide the ad and list the reason as “offensive.” Why not? Like many sites I visit I don’t like their ads spamming my screen, yet Facebook won’t block any of those “ads” as they continue to data mine more information in order to tailor those ads to your likes and dislikes. Unfortunately their ads bring in revenue, so they will never go away.

As for the censoring of comments, Robert Scoble (the individual at the cent er of this) spoke to Facebook PR, “They say what actually happened is my comment was classified as spam. He further said that this was a “false positive” because my comment was one that Facebook doesn’t want to block.” Facebook can spin this however they want, but censorship is wrong. Here is another story from last April about Facebook’s censorship.

4 Years Later…

87 pages of complaints to the TSA! If that’s not bad enough, it has taken 4 years for these complaints to made public. In 2008 Michael Grabell filed an FOIA request for a list of complaints from travelers. Unfortunately the Government wasn’t in any hurry to get him a response (I am sure they will cite “security concerns”). An FOIA is a process that usually takes a month or so took a bit longer, 4 years longer, but the results are not all that surprising. This is the basis of TSA Reveals Passenger Complaints, an article on ProPublica.org.

The list compiled from the FOIA request is now 4 years old, but the complaints are the nothing new from air travelers. Many of the complaints deal with concern over a name on the no fly watch list, questions regarding valid identification, items removed or allegedly stolen and travelers subjected to abusive treatment by TSA employees. As I said, nothing we haven’t heard or read about in the mainstream media, some brought to the forefront thanks in part to video.

Is the TSA really that backlogged on complaints they could not respond quicker to this inquiry? It wouldn’t come as any surprise if they are as more and more travelers file some sort of complaint because of their travel experience, many of which happen at the security checkpoints. “Lorie Dankers provided a statement pointing out that the agency has received an average of more than 800 requests annually over the past four years. Then the TSA apologized” (source). Sorry doesn’t cut it. Answers do.

Regardless of what happens, the TSA has gained too much power to man security checkpoint since it’s inception. As I wrote a few days ago, this department needs to be disbanded and private companies should be put back in place. Regardless of what group is “providing security” and I use that term very loosely, it really won’t matter. Neither the government or private security provide any real deterrent when it comes to terrorist. In my opinion they are solely window dressing. The intrusive pat-downs are unnecessary and are a violation of our Fourth Amendment.

Burn & Quiver

What a difference! While I have just signed up the family for membership at the local gym, I am already feeling a difference when working out. If it all works out I will be at the gym 4 days a week working on different body parts and including cardio, starting with 30 minutes and working my way up to 60 minutes. Thankfully I have a co-worker, who was a body builder and he has been introducing me to difference exercises depending on the body part we concentrate on.

Take nothing away from the Bowflex Revolution, it was great to start working out with this machine but I don’t want to go back to it. If I miss a day due to plans or scheduling that’s fine, but hopefully I can work my way up to 4 times a week at the gym. I think the dividends will pay off sooner than expected. Tuesday we worked our chest, I missed Wednesday due to my son’s swimming lessons, he took Thursday off and we did arms today. As I sit here typing I can feel my triceps still quivering. I believe I will be sore in the morning.

I never really got sore with the Bowflex. It could have been I wasn’t using enough resistance when doing each exercise, but after just two days at the gym I feel different. In fact my arms felt HUGE today with as much as we worked on them. I leave the gym feeling very good, much like the feeling I got when I started using Tony Horton’s P90 program back in 2003. This time around I already have the diet under control, so I should see some faster results, not that I have any immediate goals set. I do believe working out with a friend at a gym will be more beneficial than going solo at home.

It will be interesting to see some of the pictures I have to see if the changes are apparent. Much like P90 taught me, take a before picture, 30, 60 and 90 day picture. Three months should provide enough time for the exercise to make some of those physical changes.