2011 Safety Issues

On November 21, 2011 an unemployed 27 year old New York Al-Qaeda sympathizer, Jose Pimentel, raised in the US was captured and being held without bail for planning to use a bomb made from household products to blow up government workers, elected officials and military returning from Iraq and Afghanistan; he was under surveillance in his mother’s apartment for more than a year (since 2009) and only one hour away from setting off his first bomb. On November 23 we heard that the Georgia terrorist plot (November 2) by 4 Georgia militia senior citizens (in their 60s and 70s who could hardly hear) were arrested for trying to buy chemicals to make the deadly poison Ricin that can cause kidney and liver failure. The FBI said they had plans to use the poison on federal agents, politicians and judges in Georgia and government officials in DC and Atlanta; they had taken steps to carry out their plans – guns with silencers, 2 large bombs to take down buildings and the poison. On the FBI audio tapes you hear “When it comes time to saving the Constitution that means some people got to die”, “Alright, so who’s willing to take a life?”, “I can shoot ATF and IRS all day long. All the judges in the DOJ and attorneys and prosecutors I can shoot”, “It’s a weapon of mass destruction; it is 70% effective.”  

December 2 Bank of America, Wells Fargo and other banks are being investigated for allegedly foreclosing on active military who qualify for relief. On this same date, the Census Bureau reported that 13% of the US population is over 65 and 6 million are still working. Per Boston College’s Sloan Center on Aging & Work, people 50+ have more job satisfaction than any other age group as they’ve mastered their profession and now enjoy it. December 9 it’s reported that the Secret Service has joined the investigation into the card scam where the cards are cloned without ever leaving your hands. A skimmer is attached to the card scanner and records all the same data being sent to the bank and a pinhole camera captures your pin number. In Europe every ATM card has a chip that makes it impossible to clone but the banks here in the US are fighting this easy fix because they’d have to retrofit all of the machines; check your statement to make sure all card use is yours and not the thief’s.

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) study found that nearly half the drivers age 21 – 24 are texting while behind the wheel even though there are laws against it and 1 out of 100 drivers are distracted. Car manufacturers are starting to put technology in cars to turn off the phone when the key is turned to start the car. December 13 per the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, distracted drivers are causing 600,000 crashes and there were 3,092 deaths last year. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) wants to ban the use of all personal electronic devices in cars except in the case of an emergency (no talking or texting) and for violators to pay a tough price. It’s said if your eyes leave the road for nearly 5 seconds and at 55 mph, you would drive the length of a football field. NTSB says it’s time to take the same tough stand as we have on drunk drivers. NHTSA said 90% of drivers approve of a texting ban and 60% of a phone ban and they admit they don’t practice what they preach. NTSB’s request for no phones is viewed as hands free talking being no different than talking with someone in the car and if their trying to get rid of distractions, kids would have to be banned; their request was denied. December 29 the NTSB’s video lab said that the videos captured by people’s cell phones can be a key in investigating crashes and help prevent future accidents.

December 7 an aide to the former Maryland Governor is convicted of conspiring to suppress black voter turnout; the Attorney General is reviewing new state voting laws as there are concerns that they may reduce minority participation in next year’s election (December 24 the Justice Department rejected South Carolina’s voter ID law). December 14 the FCC approved a rule that forces TV stations to maintain the same volume for shows and commercials beginning one year from now. Per the Census Bureau nearly half of Americans are classified as poor or low income with housing and child care costs consuming half of their income. For the first time since the BP spill, the feds auctioned off gas and oil leases in the Gulf. And, the US is investigating a possible link between Hezbollah and Mexican drug cartels. On December 28 the FBI’s data shows gun sales are up; December 23 and black Friday were the busiest days ever for buying guns.

2011 weather damages began on New Year’s Day with a tornado touching down in Cincinnati, Arkansas; it was among 1,600 tornadoes that crisscrossed the nation with the last being December 23 in Georgia. Twelve weather-related disasters accounted for $1 billion or more each in economic losses, a new record according to Chris Vaccaro, the National Weather Service spokesman. He said "so in terms of snow storms, hurricanes, floods and droughts, all of these events this year ranked in the top three or even the highest ever recorded.” The extreme weather affected millions, claimed 1,000 lives, resulted in 8,000 injuries and totaled more than $52 billion in economic losses. According to David Brown of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the most costly was the year-long drought in the southern plains states. “We’re looking at $6 to $8 billion in damage from agricultural losses, from fire in places like Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma.” Vaccaro says the 2011 weather extremes could be the “new normal” and the agency is taking steps to build a weather-ready nation, which calls on a growing network of partners in the public and private sector to work together to prepare for future disasters.