Amtrak lets its employees profile passengers
by V.E. on February 25th, 2008
Grrrrrrreat. According to WABC online, Amtrak has changed its passenger policy to include random (yeah, right) checks “in a new security push that includes officers with automatic weapons and bomb-sniffing dogs patrolling platforms and trains.”
Basically, that means that employees will have the power to “temporarily detain” anyone they want for whatever length they like under the guise of “random checks.”
I thought I knew you, Amtrak. And here I find that you’re just like all the rest.
Clan Donnachaidh
by V.E. on February 25th, 2008
filed under favorite, personal, words
That is, the Scottish clan “sons of Duncan.” And yes, there actually was a king (Duncan I) who was murdered by his uncle, MacBeth. It’s pronounced roughly “DON-na-key”… with a Scottish accent, of course. ^_^ More about the clan’s history is here. Of all the informational websites I found, Clan Duncan Society was/is the most put together and organized, though I haven’t yet gone much further than the front page. According to donnachaidh.com, Clan Donnachaidh includes the following surnames:
The main clan name and that of the chiefs is Robertson, but many other names taken by those descending from the chiefs or belonging to the families who lived on clan estates and sought the chief’s protection can be considered septs of the clan.
The most prominent are Duncan and Reid but others that may be septs include:
Collier, MacDonachie, MacRobie, Colyear, MacInroy, MacWilliam, Connachie, MacIver, Reed, Donachie, MacIvor, Robb, Donnachie, MacLagan, Roberts, Duncanson, MacLaggan, Robson, Dunnachie , MacRob, Roy, Inches, MacRobb, Stark, MacConachie, MacRobbie, Tannoch, MacConnichie, MacRobert, Tannochy
While I disagree (of course) with the idea that “Robertson” is the clan’s main surname (it’s “sons of Duncan” not “sons of Robertson” ya’ know), I do know that somewhere along the line, the Duncans and Robertsons either merged or one of the founding Duncans had a son named Robert who ended up being an important part of the clan, or something like that. Still, you Robertsons, get your own clan! You don’t even have the right tartan. This is the modern Duncan tartan (drool but hurty in the pocketbook), and this is the modern Robertson one. Not even close, are they? Maybe I’m just biased, but the Robertson tartan is sorta hard to look at… the color contrast hurts my eyes.
On my mother’s side
paternal surname was Owens (Welsh); maternal surname was Sterling (Scottish).
On my father’s side
paternal surname was Duncan (Scottish); maternal surname is Pennington (English).
So, assuming I don’t go back any further than my own grandparents’ respective last names, I’m pretty much from the British Isles through and through (though I know there’s some German and probably some Irish in there somewhere). In this picture of most of Great Britain, the green part is England, the red/yellow part (to the left) is Wales, and the blue/white part (at the top) is Scottish. Obviously, my ancestors had a hard time getting off the island.
But somebody was eventually voted off, ’cause all of my most recent ancestors (that is, my immediate and extended family) are from Texas, not Britannia. More about Duncans in the United States can be found through the Duncan Surname Association and the DNA Project.
PS: If you’ve ever wanted to wear a kilt but never had the excuse, I present Kilt Day. Which, omigawd, is TODAY! Or, if today’s a little bit short notice, you can wear a kilt (with an excuse) on St. Patrick’s Day, or St. Andrew’s Day (November 30, “an annual celebration of Scottish heritage”), or Tartan Day, or No Pants Day. But, an excuse isn’t really needed. Not really. I mean, boys in kilts are hot.
And remember*
You don’t have to be a cowboy to wear blue jeans or a cowboy hat.
You don’t have to be an athlete to wear a tracksuit.
You don’t have to be a pilot to wear a bomber jacket.
You don’t have to be a baseball player to wear a ball cap.
You don’t have to be a hunter or a soldier to wear camouflage clothing.
You don’t have to be a man to wear trousers and…
You don’t have to be a Scot to wear a kilt.
* Shamelessly stolen from KiltDay.com.
Urge Congress to stop “drive-through” mastectomies
by V.E. on February 25th, 2008
(In case the embedded thing below isn’t working, go here and type in my “bra ID”—which is 228973—to see “me”)
I received the following email from a friend:
I’ll never forget the look in my patients eyes when I had to tell them they had to go home with the drains, new exercises and no breast. I remember begging the Doctors to keep these women in the hospital longer, only to hear that they would, but their hands were tied by the insurance companies.
So there I sat with my patients, giving them the instructions they needed to take care of themselves, knowing full well they didn’t grasp half of what I was saying, because the glazed, hopeless, frightened look spoke louder than the quiet ‘Thank You’ they muttered.
A mastectomy is when a woman’s breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards. Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let’s give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.
It takes 2 seconds to do this and is very important .. Please take the time and do it really quick! Please send this to everyone in your address book. If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times.
If you’re receiving this, it’s because I think you will take the 30 seconds to go to vote on this issue and send it on to others. You know who will do the same.
There’s a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require Insurance Companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It’s about eliminating the ‘drive-through mastectomy’ where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.
Lifetime Television has put this bill on their Web page with a petition drive to show your support. Last year over half the House signed on.
PLEASE!! Sign the petition by clicking on the Web site below. You need not give more than your name and zip code number.
http://www.lifetimetv.com/breastcancer/petition/signpetition.php
This takes about 2 seconds. PLEASE PASS THIS ON to your friends and family, and on behalf of all women, THANKS.
and decided that signing the petition (the text of which is below) would be a good idea. I suggest you all sign, too. (Note, though, that signing a petition isn’t actually voting on anything, as it implies in the above email.) Mastectomies are already scary enough without having to try to take care of yourself afterwards. People heal, yes, and those patients should go home eventually, but honestly… making mastectomies an out-patient procedure? No. Aaaaand, then I decided to do the little “My Bra” game just because I was feeling silly.
Text of Petition:
“Desperate Housewives” star Marcia Cross joined Lifetime, Senator Landrieu (D-LA) and Representatives DeLauro (D-CT) and Moran (R-KS), at a Capitol Hill press conference on Wednesday, January 23, to give voice to the 20 million signatures collected on myLifetime.com urging Congress to end the practice of “drive-through” mastectomies, when women are forced to leave the hospital following their physically and emotionally difficult breast cancer surgeries before they and their doctors may feel they are ready to go home. Senator Landrieu and Representatives DeLauro and Moran are championing the bipartisan Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2007 (S.459/H.R 758), which includes no mandates but allows a woman and her doctor to decide if she is best off going home or staying in the hospital for at least 48 hours after having a mastectomy.
PS: Just sign the thing. It really does take only about 30 seconds.
