Archive for the ‘Sleepless and Tired’ Category
Saturday, September 4th, 2010
MQ-8B
A renegade U.S. Navy MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Takeoff and Landing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) invade the restricted…and sleeping…airspace of Washington, D.C. last week. Most of us were unaware of the most recent incursion into the highly restricted airspace because most of the major media failed to cover the dangerous invasion. Where was the protection assigned to this critical airspace? Why are we flying drones over densely populated civilian airspace when the FAA has supposedly not yet approved their use? Was this drone able to evade the sleeping radar protecting our capitol’s skies? Where is our Department of Homeland Security? Was the department in bed with the FAA, sound asleep, as the drone approached? Many questions regarding this invasion need to be asked of both Homeland Security and the FAA.
The Navy’s Fire Scout MQ-8B is a Schweitzer 333 helicopter developed by Northrop Grumman-Ryan Aeronautical of San Diego. It is capable of traveling up to 110 nautical miles, remain airborne (up to 20,000 ft) for more than 5 hours, and can carry a payload of up to 270kg (594 lbs). It can take off and land on its own. The MQ-8B is radar and laser equipped and can be armed with two four-packs of 2.75in laser-guided rocket launchers. The UAV is not small enough to easily evade radar systems. It is 31.7 ft long and 9.8 ft tall and weighs 3,150 lbs loaded with fuel. A Rolls-Royce 250C20W heavy fuel turboshaft engine powers the aircraft. The UAV has already undergone extensive testing onboard the USS McInerney. How was an unmanned aerial vehicle of this size able to evade Department of Defense, Homeland Security, NSA, and FAA security measures long enough to get within 40 miles of the capitol?
The invasion of the renegade drone is not expected to delay further testing, development, and integration of the MQ-8B systems into littoral combat ships for operational use. The Navy awarded a $32.9 million dollar second year contract to Northrop Grumman-Ryan to build the systems. The renegade UAV incident was described as “learning experience” by Capt. Tim Dunigan, the Fire Scout’s program manager. The “software anomaly” which allowed the UAV to drift away from the control of its ground station has already been corrected. Rob Murphy, a team leader for the Scout program, said the incident helps people to understand the safeguards that are in place. “The operators did lose communication, but they were able to regain it. The system operated like it was supposed to,” he said. Flights of the MQ-8B, grounded for a couple of weeks, were expected to resume this month.
David Vos, senior director of unmanned aerial systems for Rockwell Collins and a member of AUVSI’s UAV Advocacy Committee, was quoted in DefenseNews.com saying, “I’m pretty confident that despite these little hiccups, that this decade is when unmanned aerial systems really begin to find their way into commercial airspace.” He said the industry needs “all the cultural elements and different groups involved to stop being fearful and start moving along” on the commercial airspace issue.
Our fears are apparently as misguided as are the systems controlling Mr. Vos’ UAV and as misguided as Homeland Security, the NSA, and the FAA in their security protection systems. We should just petition the FAA to approve the use of UAVs in civilian airspace? I have no doubt that President Obama is already on the verge of doing so since he is so enamored by UAVs that he suggested (in jest, of course, at a recent Washington Formal Prom) using them on the Jonas Brothers if they came after any of his daughters. Imagine our commercial civilian skies invaded by UAVs being operated by law enforcement agencies, by weather research agencies, by energy companies tracking pipelines, by businesses spying on their competitors. Randy Babbitt (FAA Administrator), who “brilliantly” stated recently that “landing is one of the most critical phases of flight,” will certainly succumb to the pressures of a President who loves his “predator drones.” His concerns for safe landings and take offs of civilian aircraft in cluttered air space will die in a crash with this President’s arrogance of power.
Civilian safety in the air, the stated mission of the FAA, pales in comparison to the threat of UAVs in the hands of terrorists. Less than two weeks ago, Iran President Ahmadinejad unveiled their first domestically built UAV bomber, the “Karrar,” which Iranian media claims to be capable of “long-range attacks up to 1,000 kilometers carrying a 200-kilogram bomb.” He called it “a symbol of death to Iran’s enemies.” His next words then described the drone as “a messenger of salvation and dignity for humanity.”
Drones over civilian skies in America are nothing more than a threat to our liberty. Jerome Whitehead, in “Drones Over America: Tyranny at Home,” reminds us of James Madison’s words:
“A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty. The means of defence against foreign danger, have always been the instruments of tyranny at home.”
We still have time to launch a defense against this attack on our liberty as well as our safety. Petition our legislators to deny the use of drones in civilian airspace. Do not allow our government another “instrument of tyranny” at home. Drones are not our “messengers of salvation and dignity,” as some would have them take that “role.” Remember our liberty in November.
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Click HERE for a video on the MQ-8B.
See additonal postings for drones:
“Insomniac Spies in the Sky – Friendly or Enemy Eyes Lurking?”
“Sleepless Drones Flying U.S. Skies Pose Threat to Public Safety”
Comments are encouraged below.
Tags: airspace, attack, Babbitt, drone, FAA, Fire Scout, Homeland Security, invasion, liberty, MQ-8B, Navy, NSA, predator drones, radar, renegade, renegade drone, restricted airspace, safety, security, sleeping, tyranny, UAV, Washington
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving, Frozen in Fear, Sleepless and Tired, Worried and Stressed | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
Bedbug
The headlines across the U.S. today are screaming the resurgence of bedbugs:
In January of this year I posted an article entitled “Mattress Outlet Poker: ‘Buy In’ is Cheap, but Stakes are High!” In it I discussed the risks involved with buying used mattresses which are often labeled by unscrupulous dealers as “manufacturer’s seconds.” The hitchhikers and stowaways hiding in used mattresses and in used furniture have launched a monumental troop surge attacking primarily the Midwestern and the Eastern fronts of the U.S.. Their victims are being left sleepless, tired, and scratching. Their victims are being displaced to living rooms, family rooms, and porches as their bedrooms are being besieged by the pesticide resistant strains of the attackers. Not only are the victims of these tiny pests being forced from their bedrooms, they are left sleep deprived and scratching 24 hours a day as they attempt to find a strategy to counterattack the bedroom terrorists. Victims are being subjected to the life endangering side effects of sleep deprivation.
Bedbug Bites
Bedbugs are a ruthless and resilient species. Their life cycle inspires fear in anyone who has ever experienced their bite. A good video on how to identify bedbug bites can be found HERE. A UC Davis article describes the bed bug lifecycle as follows:
“Female bed bugs lay 200 to 500 tiny, white eggs in batches of 10 to 50 on rough surfaces such as wood or paper. Glue-like material covers the eggs, which hatch in about 10 days. After hatching occurs, the eggshells frequently remain stuck in place. There are five progressively larger nymphal stages, each requiring a single blood meal before molting to the next stage. The entire life cycle from egg to adult requires anywhere from 5 weeks to 4 months, depending on temperature and availability of food (blood). When temperatures are in the range of 70° to 82°F, development occurs most rapidly.
Nymphs and adults generally feed at night and hide in crevices during the day. Common hiding places include seams in mattresses and box springs, cracks in bed frames, under loose wallpaper, behind picture frames, and inside furniture and upholstery. Occasionally people pick up bed bugs in theaters or on buses and trains. They also can bring them into their home on clothing, bedding, luggage, or firewood.
Bed bugs can go without feeding for 80 to 140 days. Older stages of nymphs can survive longer without feeding than younger ones, and adults have survived without food for as long as 550 days. A bed bug can take six times its weight in blood, and feeding can take 3 to 10 minutes. Adults live about 10 months, and there can be up to 3 to 4 generations of bed bugs per year.”
Further reading reveals that the most effective technique for eliminating bed bugs is to hire a professional heating service that can heat the room to very high temperatures. Heating the room for two hours at 140°F, or three hours at 130°F “will kill most bed bugs and eggs.” Other techniques involve insecticides, boric acid, diatomaceous earth, fumed silica, etc. Most of them need to be combined with frequent monitoring, as they are not totally effective. Meticulous laundering of bedding, high temperature drying, and thorough vacuuming are all necessary.
In early February I posted “Update on Bed Bugs” in which I described a dry ice trap designed by a Rutgers University duo: Changlu Wang and Vincenzo Avarello. Their inexpensive alternative to professional pest control services is described here:
The dry ice trap is constructed with a 64 ounce double bowl cat feeder, a 1/3 gallon insulated container, and bottle of talc powder. The jug is used to hold the dry ice. As the dry ice warms to room temperature it, it releases carbon dioxide gas which attracts the bed bugs. The 1/3 gallon container is capable of releasing the gas for 10 to 12 hours. The cat feeder dish needs to be wrapped very tightly with a white cloth to allow a surface for the bed bugs to easily crawl up. The inside bottom surfaces of the inverted cat feeder are then coated with a thin layer of talc. The powder will prevent the bed bugs from escaping the trap. The filled dry ice container is then placed on top of the dressed and treated inverted cat feeder with the lid of the container left slightly open. Some warm water should be barely cover the bottom of the trap to kill the bed bugs that become trapped.
The trap should now be placed in or around the suspected bed or sofa. Late afternoon is best for set-up as bed bug activity begins at night. Use one trap per room, and check the traps in the morning. One trap can catch as many as a thousand bugs per night, “depending on infestation levels.”
I have yet to receive any comments as to the effectiveness of this inexpensive alternative to the high costs of professional services. If anyone has tried this trap and found it to be effective, your comments would be welcomed by all who are plagued by these unwelcome attackers. A complete construction plan can be found in an article by Barb Ogg at the University of Nebraska, Lancaster.
The bedbug attacks have prompted at least five states to call in the Department of Defense to request money to combat the bloodsucking terrorists. Ohio petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow the use of the pesticide Propoxur to defeat the enemy, but the EPA denied the request based upon concern for its effect on children. The EPA set up a meeting with representatives of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Defense to discuss the attack which is “not yet a national security issue.”
Bedbugs, nearly eradicated from the U.S. in the 40s and 50s through the use of DDT, have developed a resistance to the weaker pesticides that replaced it. Pest control companies are limited by EPA regulations and their approved substitutes. While the EPA searches for newer, more potent chemicals to kill the bloodsucking terrorists, the victims continue to scratch their arms, their faces, their backs, their breasts, their buttocks, and their legs.
Hopes for a quick solution to this war on the bedroom terrorists appear dim in light of the other wars our government is currently battling. The costs to fight this battle will, no doubt, be borne by the victims of this war. As they “scratch” around for the money to pay the exterminators, the doctors, and the retailers to salve the itching, we hope they don’t fall victim to the often fatal ravages of sleep deprivation.
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Click HERE for an Emmy Award winning documentary on bedbugs.
For an interesting National Geographic video on bedbugs click HERE.
Comments are welcomed below.
Tags: attack, bedbugs, bedroom terrorists, bites, bloodsucking terrorists, Department of Defense, dry ice trap, EPA, hitchhikers, mattress, mattress outlet, Proxopur, side effects, sleep deprivation, sleep deprived, sleepless and tired, stowaways, troop surge, victims
Posted in Frozen in Fear, Sleep Deprived, Sleepless and Tired, Worried and Stressed | No Comments »
Sunday, August 29th, 2010
Awaken Your Sleeping Giant
It’s been almost a year now since I retired from the grinding schedule of retail sales. I’ll never miss the mandatory work on weekends and holidays. I’ll never miss the ten to twelve hour days during the week. The missed ball games, the missed school functions, and the missed quiet free time to just “be there” for my wife and for my three sons will always haunt me. The past week’s joyous celebration of my youngest son’s wedding, the time gifted to me in my retirement, and Glenn Beck’s inspirational “Restore the Honor” gathering in Washington, D.C. today have awakened my sleeping giant. I have, after sixty-two years, done an instant replay of my life. It’s the kind of review that people usually see when they have a near death experience. That sleeping giant, your inner true self, once found, releases an amazing inner calm. The inner calm empowers your mind to focus, to love life, to relax, and to sleep like a baby.
Society today teaches us to disguise our inner selves. We are taught to hide our true feelings and to mask them with a hardened, defensive body armor. We are taught in our early childhood by our parents and our teachers that the world is a cruel place. The bullies are everywhere. They will make fun of our weaknesses and our mistakes. They will step on us in their efforts to promote themselves as more powerful, more intelligent, or more privileged. The more we expose our inner selves the more vulnerable we become. We are taught that “white lies” are okay as long as they are used to protect ourselves or our loved ones. Once the “white lies” begin, the telling of them becomes easy. The truth is stretched further and further until the “white lies” begin to darken. The magic of the “white lies” grows with the realization of their power. The power of the lie soon darkens its color. We realize quickly that the lie can be used to gain power, to defeat the competition, to hold others in our grasp. The lies told by others soon define us. Their criticism eventually defines us. We identify with and believe the negative feedback. Our true self, our inner soul, tunnels further and further beneath the surface of our increasingly hardened armor.
The cynicism displayed by the electorate today, the tea party movement, and the dissatisfaction with Congress and the President reflected in the polls today are all direct results of the lies we hear coming from their mouths. The electronic age has given us the recording tools we need to hold them accountable for what they have said vs. what they have done. We see now how they have gained their power. We hear them referring to us as the “regular” people or the “general public.” Some have even referred to us as the “little” people. The elite media has joined the people in power in Washington. They try to tell us how we should think. The politicians tell us that they know what is best for us and that they will do it regardless of what we think. Judges are increasingly joining their ranks in defying the referendums approved by the electorate, many of which have been repeatedly approved by the electorate. Our legislators, in Washington and in the states, have forgotten what inspired our Founders to declare our independence from Great Britain. The following phrases from our Declaration of Independence may be worth reading (a skill missing from most legislators today) and remembering:
- “HE (the King of England) has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:”
- “FOR suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.”
- “That to secure these Rights (Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness) Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…”
- “—And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
We have accepted the lies of our legislators for too long. We have accepted their lies for so long that finding the truth has taken way too much time. We are in the process of awakening the sleeping giant of truth. The hundreds of thousands who gathered at the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial reflected upon truth, honor, and the virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity. Medals of Honor were awarded to heroes who have exemplified those virtues. The Medal for Faith went to Houston Minister C.L. Jackson. The Medal for Hope went to Albert Pujols whose foundation is dedicated to the victims of Down’s syndrome. The Medal for Charity was given to Jon Huntsman, a billionaire philanthropist who has dedicated himself to the eradication of cancer, to the homeless, to the ill, and to the underprivileged. His lifetime contributions to his causes have well exceeded 1.2 billion. His book, “Winners Never Cheat: Everyday Values We Learned as Children (But May Have Forgotten)” and the second edition, entitled “Winners Never Cheat: Even in Difficult Times,” are both best sellers. Mr. Huntsman’s intention is “to die broke” as he has donated his fortune to cancer research.
Honor was also given by Sarah Palin to military heroes present at the rally. Marcus Luttrell, Navy Cross for Heroism awardee and author of “Lone Survivor” was there. He, along with his fellow Navy Seals decided to release a couple of Afghan goat herders despite fears of Taliban attacks on their observation post. Their “honor” resulted in the largest loss of life in Navy Seal history. Another hero lost his hands in Fallujah and still guided his men to safety. Another had endured five years of torture and imprisonment at the Hanoi Hilton prison.
The time has come for all of us to return to the truth and heroism of “thine own self.” As Shakespeare said in Hamlet:
“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
–Polonius’ last advice to his son, Laertes
In order to accept truth we need to become the masters of our thoughts. We need to recognize our weaknesses and appreciate our strengths. Yes, we will risk the exposure of our vulnerabilities, but truth will bring forth new life and forge new strengths. When we become honest with ourselves, we do not need the approval of others. Our emotions can free their bonds of suppression, releasing a freedom that exhilarates the soul; a freedom that allows us to walk in love, to relax in peace, and to sleep like a baby.
Once we find our own “sleeping giant” we can demand the truth from others. Only then can we restore the honor envisioned by our Founders for our Government.
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: "Restore the Honor", Congress, Declaration of Independence, defensive body armor, electorate, founders, Glenn Beck, government, heroism, inner calm, legislators, lies, Medal of Honor, President, sleep, sleeping, sleeping giant, tea party, true feelings, true self, truth, white lies
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving, Inspiration, Sleepless and Tired | No Comments »
Thursday, August 12th, 2010
- Sleeping (left) vs. awake (right) synaptic protein brain cell images of fruit fly. Credit: Courtesy of UW Health Public Affairs
The scientific world studying the relationship between sleep and the brain is wrapped in a cloud of controversy. The discussion and the experiments continue in the effort to clarify the exact roles played by REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep and non-REM sleep in the learning processes of the brain. One side of the argument asserts that REM sleep is the VCR that records and re-records the important details of the day’s waking hours. The other side argues that REM sleep is when the hippocampus and the pre-frontal cortex disconnect allowing for free association, new connections, creativity, and solutions to complex problems. It will probably be years before we know which theory is correct, but we do know that sleep deprivation inhibits the learning process. Ask a student whether he would stay up all night tonight studying for a final if he had another final to study for the following night. The answer would probably be something like, “Are you nuts? I’d be brain dead tomorrow. There’s no way!” Sleep is the synaptic protein burner. It is the critical catalyst to new learning. While science attempts to discover where and when the burning occurs, we can rest assured that “sleep allows the brain to regroup after a hard day of learning.”
Giorgio Gilestro, Giulio Tononi, and Chiara Cirelli have found in their research at The University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health that synaptic protein levels “drop by 30 to 40% during sleep.” “The brain uses up to 80% of its energy to sustain the synaptic activity” of the day’s ever-changing impressions. Their studies have shown that four pre-synaptic proteins and one post-synaptic protein in the brains of both fruit flies and rats rise during waking hours and fall after sleep. ScienceDaily.com reports that the researchers believe “sleep—by allowing synaptic downscaling—saves energy, space and material, and clears away unnecessary “noise” from the previous day.” The refreshed brain “is then ready to learn again in the morning.” Tononi hypothesizes that the weakening progresses throughout the cycling in and out of REM and non-REM sleep, leaving only the strongest connections.
Paul Shaw, PhD., and assistant professor of neurobiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, supported Gilestro, Tononi, and Cirelli’s findings in his study of fruit fly brain cells. He found, according to ScienceDaily.com that new brain synapses form during learning experiences. When the fruit flies slept the new synapses deceased. When sleep deprived, the fruit flies did not show the decrease in new synapses. Shaw explained that “there are a number of reasons why the brain can’t indefinitely add synapses, including the spatial constraints of the skull.” His theory gave ScienceDaily.com the title for their article: “Sleep May Help Clear Brain for New Learning.”
The contrarian view is supported by data compiled by Marcos Frank of the University of Pennsylvania. ScienceNews.org reports that his experiments with kittens show that “sleep strengthens connections between brain cells rather than weakening them.” Ripple activity during sleep appears to replay the synaptic firing in the same sequence as the actual daytime experience when the kitten was exploring his new maze.
Matt Wilson from MIT found that rats and mice experienced replay of the day’s events during slow-wave or non-REM sleep, “but the timing is compressed.” REM sleep replays events “in real time, and not always in the same order as the way they actually happened.” He attributes the difference in timing to the hippocampus/cortex connection.
Sciencenews.org reported in the same article a study by Robert Stickgold and Erin Wamsley at Harvard Medical School which found that humans who dreamt during a nap after playing with a virtual reality maze performed better than those who did not. More remarkable was the fact that those who thought of the maze as they were falling asleep or who dreamt of the maze before they awoke performed ten times better than other nappers. Stickgold postulates that REM sleep temporarily disconnects the hippocampus and the cortex. The interrupt frees the cortex for disparate associations and solutions. “What your brain is leaving you with in the morning is a memory which is less accurate, but more useful,” he says.
The arguments over strengthening connections and weakening connections during sleep and REM vs. non-REM sleep benefits will continue to be studied and debated for years. Gilestro, Tononi, Cerelli, and Shaw have proven that synaptic proteins decrease during sleep and increase while we’re awake. Sleep, we know, is an indispensable catalyst to learning. Our body needs to drink of its refreshment. Our brain needs to consume its food for survival. Dr. Shaw says, “Right now a lot of people are worried about their jobs and the economy, and some are no doubt losing sleep over these concerns. But these data suggest the best thing you can do to make sure you stay sharp and increase your chances of keeping your jobis to make getting enough sleep a top priority.”
Ready for a nap? Or, will you be going to bed early tonight?
May your dreams be “synaptic protein burners.” Shopping for Sleep? Please click HERE, or look for it at Amazon.com
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: brain, brain dead, brain synapses, catalyst, cortex, fruit flies, hippocampus, learning, memory, non-REM, REM, sleep, sleep deprivation, slow-wave sleep, survival, synaptic downscaling, synaptic protein
Posted in Dreams, Our Amazing Brain, Shop for Sleep, Sleep Deprived, Sleepless and Tired | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Antidepressants/SSRIs
The FAA announced in April ( see previous post) that its pilots could be permitted to fly while under the influence of certain antidepressants and SSRIs. The reversal of its own long established (70 year) ban against their use shocked pilots, passengers, and psychiatrists across the globe. As antidepressant/SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) use has decreased due to negative publicity, the manufacturers of Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, and Lexapro cheered the move by Randy Babbbitt (FAA Administrator). The FAA, despite an increasing flood of calls to reconsider its ruling, appears to be sleeping through the irritating clamor; tired of hearing about their fatigued, sleepless pilots.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International / Mental Health Watchdog recently reprinted an article by Evelyn Pringle who described the FAA’s reversal as a “marketing coup” by the drug manufacturers who are “desperate to find new customers.” Her well documented article details the growing concerns of many experts that the “SSRIs Render Unfriendly Skies.”
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights called on the FAA to rethink its policy based on a recent finding by the NTSB that the February 1, 2008 plane crash in North Carolina, killing all six aboard, was caused by “a crazy acting pilot on Zoloft.” The cockpit voice recorder recorded the pilot singing: “Save my life I’m going down for the last time.” He then told his passengers, “If anybody back there believes in the good Lord, I believe now would be a good time to hit your knees.” The pilot descended below the minimum descent altitude, stalled, and crashed while circling after an aborted landing. The pilot, according to the NTSB report, had been on Zoloft for over a year and had been treated previously by other antidepressants for “anxiety and depression” and a history of “impatience” and “compulsiveness.”
The NTSB also blamed a 2003 crash killing two in Kingsport, Tennessee on a flight instructor found with Zoloft in his blood and liver.
Dr. Peter Breggin, a psychiatrist and an SSRI expert, in a Huffington Post article on April 10, 2010 said, “The FAA should reverse its ruling before it’s too late and hundreds of lives are lost when a pilot becomes impulsive, suicidal, or violent – or just loses his sharpness – under the influence of antidepressant medication.”
Bob Fiddaman, author of the website and blog “Seroxat Sufferers,” requested the FAA provide information on its change in policy just after the change in April. In 58 pages of reply the FAA made no mention of any prominent SSRI expert testimony of contrary views. The FAA supported their own views with copies of documents from a variety of sources. One of them actually showed consideration of a 2003 study of aviation accidents where “SSRIs were found in 61 pilot fatalities between 1990 and 2001.” “Psychological condition and/or the drug use was determined to be the cause, or a factor in 16 of the accidents, or 31%.”
Dennis Canfield’s study “Pilot Medical History and Medications Found in Post Mortem Specimens for Aviation Accidents” was totally ignored by the FAA. His study was conducted in 2006 and was published in the “Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine” journal. 4,143 pilots involved in fatal accidents between 1993 and 2003 were toxicologically examined for medications. One hundred of the dead pilots were found “with SSRIs in their systems including forty with Prozac, twenty-six with Zoloft, twenty-one with Paxil, and thirteen with Celexa.”
Matt Thurber, after citing many examples of accidents involving antidepressant usage, suggests that “pilots who use antidepressants without telling their medical examiners are willing to take greater risks when flying.” The FAA believes that SSRIs help “restore the balance of serotonin.” The FAA believes that their approval for use will result in truthful admissions by pilots; more vigilant tracking; and safer use, with fewer side effects than previous generations of antidepressants. The labels on the prescription bottles argue otherwise with warnings of “anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, aggressiveness, impulsivity, and akathisia (psychomotor restlessness).
Dr. Breggin asks why pilots shouldn’t give up their airplanes since doctors are supposed to encourage their depressed patients to give away their guns. How can the FAA expect us to believe that we are safer in planes being piloted by depressed pilots on psychoactive drugs? They are dangerous enough when used alone. When combined with alcohol and benzodiazepines to counteract the insomnia side effects of the antidepressants, the elixir will inevitably cause a disaster.
Millions of innocent lives are at risk every day with sleepless and tired, or medicated and drowsy pilots at the stick. It is time for frequent drug testing of pilots. It is time once again to ground the pilots on antidepressants. A pre-flight test for alertness should also be mandatory. It is time for the FAA to turn off the “machine” and to answer the calls for repeal.
For related posts see:
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: airplanes, antidepressants, calls, Celexa, disaster, FAA, guns, insomnia, Lexapro, medications, NTSB, panic attacks, Prozac, psychoactive drugs, Randy Babbitt, ruling, serotonin, side effects, SSRIs, Zoloft
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving, Frozen in Fear, Sleepless and Tired, Worried and Stressed | No Comments »
Monday, August 2nd, 2010
Reaper Drone art, original source unknown
Though the FAA continues to fly cover for the administration, “holding back” on approvals for expanded use of spying drones in U.S. skies, the flack from public concern for safety continues to grow. The sleepless drones have been flying our skies since 2006 despite reports of “frequent system failures, computer glitches, and human error.” David Zucchino, in his recent article in the Los Angeles Times, reports that “Air Force investigators continue to cite pilot mistakes, coordination snafus, software failures, outdated technology and inadequate flight manuals” for the increasing numbers of crashes. Accident rates are down due to the exponential increase in the use of drones both overseas and at home. The flight time of U.S. drones overseas to provide intelligence and to protect our military’s lives has grown to over 20,000 hours a month according to retired Rear Admiral Thomas J. Cassidy Jr. The Air Force expects more than 300,000 hours to be flown this year, compared to 185,000 last year.
Insitu, Inc., a small Boeing subsidiary in Bingen, WA was granted a $43.7 million dollar contract to build “the military’s next generation of remote-controlled spy craft,” according to the AP in a Seattle PI article on July 31, 2010. The drone industry worldwide has already soared beyond the multi-billion dollar mark. Drones protecting our forces and interests overseas as well as those protecting our international borders are indispensable to our national security. The sleepless drones flying our civilian skies, however, pose a serious threat to public safety. The expanded use of drones, after the FAA’s almost certain “approval,” will endanger commercial pilots, civilian pilots, their passengers, and life on the ground.
The accident reports for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are alarming. In April of 2006 a Predator B, the size of a regional jet, crashed near homes thirty miles from Nogales, Arizona. The NTSB attributed the crash to the drone’s operator who “accidentally shut down the plane’s engine while attempting to deal with a locked up computer console.” The NTSB described the crash as “a wake-up call to hopefully everyone.” In August of 2006 an unmanned QF-4E crashed on take-off from Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. The QF-4E is a modified F-4 Phantom II capable of Mach 2 speed (1600 mph) and a range of 1300 miles. It can be flown totally by computer or can be controlled manually using a mobile control station. Holloman, in 2006 was operating 30 QF-4E drones at the time. Smoke from the crash of the large drone could be seen for miles. No one was injured, thankfully. In November of 2006 a UAV crashed in Negev on the Gaza border in close proximity to the populated community of Netiv HaAsarah. A second IDF drone crashed near the town of Beit Hanoun following a technical malfunction. Several hours later a Hamas website released photos of a masked gunman with an apparent IDF drone. In May, 2009 newsherald.com reported that a 20 foot BQM-167 drone washed ashore near Okaloosa Island condominiums. It had been launched by Tyndall AFB and was shot down nearly three months prior to its discovery on the beach. The same article documented two others washed ashore the prior spring. “In February of 2004 another drone crashed onto U.S. 98 near Tyndall.” Bepj.org.uk reported in September 2009 the crash of a UAV at Parc Aberporth Airport in West Wales. The airport is increasingly being used to test civilian and military UAVs while domestic flights continue to take off and land. Military.com reported on March 15, 2010 the crash of an MQ-1 Predator while taking off in southern Afghanistan. Afghanistan.blogs.cnn.com reported on July 28, 2010 the crash of a Luna UAV into the Taliban stronghold of Kunduz province. Because the aircraft went down in an area “littered with IEDs” there were no plans to try to recover it. NATO’s International Security Assistance Force claimed the small 7 foot long craft, weighing about 80 pounds, would have “no benefit to the enemy.” The Calgary Sun, on July 16, 2010, reported the crash of a Heron UAV being used for training exercises at Canadian Forces Base Suffield. It knocked out power in the surrounding area and traffic was shut down on a section of Hwy. 884 (250km southeast of Calgary), but no injuries were reported. These reports are a sampling of the crashes that are reported. Many more have gone unreported. It is inevitable that our future will bring reports of catastrophic loss of life caused by an errant, or an accurately aimed drone.
Two disturbing thoughts confront us as we watch for the FAA’s inevitable approval to expand drone use over civilian skies. The most obvious threat is the risk of interference with normal air traffic patterns and the possibility of communication interference or, even worse, mid-air collisions. The second, and most sinister threat, is the use of drone aircraft by our enemies here at home…or from remote locations abroad. How will we distinguish the friendly drone from the enemy drone? They’ll certainly be flying below our radar.
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: drones, FAA, public safety, sleepless, sleepless drones, spy craft, spying drones, threat, UAVs
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving, Frozen in Fear, Sleepless and Tired, Worried and Stressed | No Comments »
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Smoking Hole in Pakistan. Courtesy of AP.
Yet another deadly “smoking hole in the ground” adds to the continuing trail of death left by sleepless and tired pilots being stretched beyond their limits by schedules designed to maximize profits for their employers.
The worst air crash in Pakistan’s history of Airblue’s flight ED-202 from Karachi to Islamabad killing all 152 aboard may be attributed to pilot fatigue according to the President of Pakistan Air Lines Pilots Association (PALPA). Captain Sohail Baloch told a private news channel “The pilot may be suffering from accumulated fatigue because they are not given adequate leaves.” He added that the pilot was not in a no-fly zone and speculated that the plane was off course due to bad weather. The pilot had to ”resort to visual queues for landing” because communication with the control tower had been lost due to the weather.
The Hindu.com reports that the pilot , Pervez Iqbal Chaudhry, “had 35 years of experience and had logged over 25,000 flying hours.” Airblue official Raheel Ahmed was quoted in the same article explaining that the Airbus A321 was ten years old, had been used by them for the past four years, and was fully serviceable with no technical faults. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that the aircraft at 2600 feet was cleared to land when it rose up to 3000 feet for no apparent reason and then disappeared from the radar. “The (control) tower did not receive any SOS message or report of a technical problem before the crash,” Malik said.
Only nine weeks ago the world was mourning the loss of 158 people in an Air India crash in the Mangalore hills. That “smoking hole” left eight survivors. The experienced British pilot of that flight misjudged his landing so badly (2000 feet) that “senior pilots, including the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (IPCA) are already blaming pilot fatigue for being responsible for the major accident,” as reported in a China Post article. Two years before that “an Air India Express flight from Mumbai to Dubai overshot its destination by 350 miles after its pilots apparently fell asleep due to fatigue.” The ICPA in response to the Mangalore crash sent a letter to the Prime Minister complaining that “up to 78 percent of crashes were caused by fatigue-related human error.” Flight and Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) in India have not been changed since 1992 when they had no scientific basis for the regulations. Attempts were made in 2005 to change the FDTL but the rule changes were withdrawn under pressure from the “private operators.”
The flight and duty time restrictions worldwide reflect the lack of response from the FAA to the plethora of data now available regarding the effects of sleep deprivation upon mental and physical performance. Our rule changes were dropped in 1995 in response the airline industry’s complaints. Even the unions, strongly supported by then President Bill Clinton, wanted to drop the duty time hours from 16 to 14 hours. Andy Pasztor, in a Wall Street Journal article titled “Dispute Over Cost Delays Pilot Rules,” blames the delay in the rule changes on a dispute between the FAA and the White House Office of Management and Budget. Budget officials have told the FAA informally that “the proposal’s projected cost to airlines wasn’t justified by the anticipated safety benefits.” Since the FAA is controlled by former air line executives and Washington is still held in the firm grip of powerful airline lobbyists like Linda Daschle we cannot expect the “change” promised by our President in the flowered oratory of his campaign.
The European Cockpit Association, a group of pilots unions with over 38,000 members, accuses the European Union (EU) of “ “endangering air safety by failing to act on the recommendations of experts who say cuts in flying hours are needed to curb pilot fatigue.” The Air Canada Pilots Association, with over 7,000 members, has been asking for changes to Transport Canada’s regulations for years. Dave Ross, of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, representing pilot unions at six regional airlines, says, “It’s money. If you can’t fly as long as you do today, then that increases your cost.”
The world continues to scream the alarms to the FAA. The FAA’s mission statement is “to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world.” The FAA’s vision statement is “ to reach the next level of safety, efficiency, environmental responsibility and global leadership. We are accountable to the American public and our stakeholders.” The world waits, awake to the ever increasing danger of sleepless and tired pilots threatening our lives. The FAA, Congress, and the Administration continue to hit the snooze button while confined to the bedroom of the airline industry’s sleep inducing lobbyists.
The “smoking holes” of death and the smells of burning flesh are permeating the atmosphere of Obama’s flowery campaign rhetoric about cleaning up the halls of Washington. In 2007 newsmax.com reported on Mr. Obama’s lamenting the fact that “the disproportionate influence of lobbyists and special interest is a problem in Washington (and) in state capitals.” He admitted then that he was “swimming in the same muddy water” and that he knows the waters are muddy. He said “I want to clean it up.” The world is waiting for Mr. Obama, Mr. Babbitt (FAA Administrator), and Mr. LaHood (Transportation Secretary) to exit the bedroom of the airline industry’s sleep inducing lobbyists and go to work on new pilot fatigue regulations. The safety of millions flying the skies continue to see the smoke and to smell the burning flesh. The time has come for you to douse the flames.
Here’s a link to a very sad slide show of crash site photos, courtesy of AP and thehindu.com: http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article538554.ece
Another link to a related article from thehindu.com: http://www.thehindu.com/news/article540335.ece
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: air crash, Air India, Airblue, Babbitt, FAA, fatigue, LaHood, lobbyists, Obama, paralysis, pilot fatigue, regulations, sleep deprivation, sleep deprived, sleepless and tired, smoking hole
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving, Dazed and Confused, Frozen in Fear, Sleep Deprived, Sleepless and Tired, Worried and Stressed | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Insomnia
Circadin® “not only improves the onset of sleep, but also improves the quality of sleep” says Nava Zisapel, company founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Neurim Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Zisapel, a Professor of Neurobiology at Tel Aviv University, reports that people who take the drug “have better daytime functioning and an improved quality of life.” The drug stimulates the body’s natural melatonin production. Her prolonged release formula of a mere 2mg dosage mimics the pineal gland’s production of the sleep inducing hormone. Melatonin production normally begins at dark, peaks at around 2am, and then gradually disappears at daylight. Dr. Zisapel began her work in 1992 and she received approval to market it in 2007. The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) at that time approved it for the short term (3 week) treatment of primary insomnia in patients over 55 years of age. The drug, unlike traditional sedatives, does not impair cognitive functions the following day, nor does it impair psychomotor skills. There are no abuse or dependency risks. Insomniacs, numbering nearly a third of the world’s population, will be cheered by the European Commission’s July, 2010 approval to expand the treatment duration from 3 weeks to 13 weeks. Circadin® is the first insomnia treatment approved for the extended length of time. It is currently marketed in Australia, Thailand, and Israel. US, Asian, and Latin American markets are in the registration process.
Insomnia, defined as the “difficulty to initiate or to maintain sleep,” affects almost all adults at one time or another. Transient (symptoms less than a week) insomnia and short term insomnia (one to three weeks) can occur as a result of jet lag, indigestion, shift work schedule changes, noisy sleep environments, stress, and recent medical situations. Long term (more than 3 weeks) or chronic insomnia is usually caused by psychological or medical conditions such as depression, pain, heart disease, acid reflux, asthma, sleep apnea, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, brain tumors and strokes. Delayed or untreated insomnia costs America $42 billion dollars a year in healthcare costs. The seriously sleep deprived insomniacs have been limited to prescription sleep aids with their risks of dependency and abuse, or to over the counter antihistamines with their residual drowsiness hazards. The FDA has consistently discouraged natural supplements since they have no jurisdiction over them. They have issued warnings against the use of the natural alternatives of valerian, melatonin, and kava.
Circadin® is now in use in over 33 countries. It is naturally preferable to prescription sleep aids and their over the counter competitors. It’s time for the FDA to approve it for the sleepless and tired insomniacs of the USA. Everyone deserves a good night’s rest!
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: Circadin, FDA, good night's rest, insomnia, Israel, melatonin, Mother Nature, Nava Zisapel, Nerium Pharmaceuticals, prescription, sleep, sleep apnea, sleep deprived, sleepless and tired, stress
Posted in Our Amazing Brain, Sleep Deprived, Sleepless and Tired | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
The bedtime cell phone calls
A recent survey found that 82% of Americans don’t leave home without their cell phones and 50% of Americans sleep with their phones nearby. 56% of Americans regularly use the alarm clock feature. Globally 67% use the alarm clock feature requiring them to have their cell phones in close proximity to their beds. Texting has become the focus of communication for teens today. 87% of the texting teens admitted to sleeping with, or next to, their phones. With a third of US teen cell phone owners texting more than a 100 texts a day, many of these are occurring at night while in bed. Cell phone use has been found to reduce sleep. Its use at bedtime, according to research detailed by Geoffrey Lean in The Independent, increases the time it takes to reach the deeper stages of sleep and decreases the time spent in those valuable stages of sleep. Deep sleep deprivation “can lead to mood and personality changes, ADHD-like symptoms, depression, lack of concentration and poor academic performance.”
The study, funded by the Mobile Manufacturer’s Forum, embarrassed themselves with the scientists’ findings that “components of sleep believed to be important for recovery from daily wear and tear are adversely affected by exposure to 884 MHz wireless signals.” The researchers believed that the radiation was activating the brain’s stress system making the subjects “more alert and more focused, and decreasing their ability to wind down and fall asleep.” Almost half of the people in the study also reported to be “electrosensitive” experiencing headaches and impaired cognitive functions.
A much larger study followed 1656 Belgian teenagers for a year. The research found that most of them used their phones after going to bed. Those that did so once a week were three times more likely to report feeling “very tired” than those who did not use them in bed. Those who used them in bed more than once were five times more likely to report feeling “very tired.” Dr. William Kohler of the Florida Sleep Institute said “Anything that disrupts the integrity of your sleep will potentially have adverse consequences in functioning during the day, such as grouchiness, difficulty concentrating, and in children hyperactivity and behavior problems.”
James Horne and his colleagues at the Loughborough University Sleep Research Center in England found that cell phone signals disrupted brain wave patterns “long after” the cell phones were turned off. The subjects in his study, as described by Douglas Field in Scientific American, also had difficulties falling asleep. They found that delta wave patterns characteristic of stage two sleep (50% of total sleep) were negatively affected for nearly an hour after the phone was shut off. His findings and those of others are stimulating additional research into electromagnetic radiation and its affect on mental behaviors. Sensitivity to such low level radiation raises concerns of mind control.
The cell phone, while exhibiting negative influences on deep sleep, is soon to become a critical tool to the sleep deprived. Dr. Phillip Low has found the way to link a single channel EEG to a SPEARS algorithm which is capable of mapping an entire night’s worth of brain activity. His company, NeuroVigil, uses an adhesive, wireless sensor or a head strap to monitor the brainwave activity. “NeuroVigil’s sleep monitoring solution streams and records the patient’s EEG data through their cell phone or smartphone.” Dr. Low, a 30-year-old neuroscientist is about to market his iBrain device (the size of two pennies) which, according to Daniel Heimpel of the Huffington Post, will “revolutionize the study of sleep, speed the diagnosis of disease, and tap into the multibillion dollar sleep and neurodiagnostics markets.” Until now, sleep tests have averaged more than $3,000. The cost has been prohibitive for the more than seventy million Americans suffering from sleep disorders. The sleep tests have previously required hook-ups to multiple electrode systems and overnight stays in uncomfortable strange laboratory environments not at all conducive to regular sleep patterns.
The data from the iBrain may unlock keys to cures and/or medications for sleep apnea, insomnia, and other sleep disorders. It will assist in the pre-market testing of pharmaceuticals of the future. The pharmaceutical companies, the Defense Departments, and the transportation industries are all knocking on Dr. Low’s door. They would all like a piece of Dr. Low’s brain as well as his company but he has decided to run his company on his own terms.
Dr. Low’s brain, the iBrain, and your cell phone may provide the keys to the gateway of your brain…and the solution to your sleep problems. A dream comes true?
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: brain, cell phones, deep sleep, depression, electromagnetic radiation, iBrain, medications, mind control, sleep, sleep apnea, sleep deprivation, sleep deprived, sleep disorders, sleep problems, sleepless and tired
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving, Our Amazing Brain, Sleep Deprived, Sleepless and Tired | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
Sleepy, stressed nurse
The pandemic of sleep deprivation is costing the national economy more than 56 billion dollars a year. These costs have been well documented and proven in many studies. The costs to the health of our doctors and nurses are only beginning to be disclosed. The costs to patients’ health and lives will probably remain clothed by the disinfected, sterile sheets used to cover our helpless and totally dependent bodies. The white code of silence in the health industry is more pervasive than the blue code of silence practiced by our law enforcement agencies. Legal consequences of sleep deprivation’s gangrenous effects in the health industry will keep the facts locked in the icy drawers of the basement morgue.
A recent study of 80 registered nurses conducted by the University of Maryland found that serious sleep deprivation was infecting the industry. The “common practice” of successive 12 hour shifts is increasing the risk of health problems and is increasing the odds of “making patient errors.” 12 hour shifts have been a trend since the nursing shortages began in the 70s and 80s. Jeanne Geiger-Brown, PhD, RN, and associate professor with the school of nursing at UMD, says that nurses often prefer the long shifts and the extra time off to normal 8 hour shifts. The problem with successive 12 hour shifts is that over 50% of those shifts last longer than 12.5 hours. When commute times and responsibilities at home are added to the long workday, there is very little time for sleep. Nurses reported an average sleep time of 5.5 hours between shifts and an even lower average of 5.2 hours for night shift nurses. They reported “extremely fragmented“ sleep. Fragmented sleep is not restorative and the resulting sleep deprivation takes its toll.
A study reported by Reuters in London found that people who work 10 or 11 hours a day have a 60% greater chance of an adverse heart event than those who work an 8 hour shift. One or two hours of overtime did not show an increased risk. Workplace stress by itself “may be as hazardous to your health as smoking, high cholesterol and other conventional risk factors for cardiovascular disease” according to a Wall Street Journal report on Canadian research. It is difficult to imagine a more highly stressed working environment than a hospital emergency room.
The negative effects of sleep deprivation are: a lack of focus and attention; slowed thinking and reactions (similar effects to drinking); apathy; weight gain; high blood pressure and heart disease; a weakened immune system; and depression. These effects can then lead to self-prescribed sleep aids at night and stimulants for work-time wakefulness. That combination can be deadly in the hands of those entrusted with our healthcare. The death of the infected healthcare providers will take time. The effects of weight gain, high blood pressure, heart disease, weakened immune systems, and depression take time to wreak their havoc on the human body. Nurses and doctors in a sleep deprived state have the immediate potential to accidentally take the lives of the patients entrusted to their care.
Intern work hours were reduced in 2003 from 100 hours a week to no more than 80 hours a week. They are also “limited” to no more than 30 hours in a shift. Those shifts can be repeated every third day. Harvard researchers found that 84 percent of the more than 4000 interns surveyed reported (despite risk of career ending repercussions) work hours in violation of the standards. Their fatigue and lack of concentration is resulting in driving while drowsy car accidents, needlesticks, and scalpel accidents. They risk blood borne illnesses to themselves and associates, errors in prescription recommendations, early burnout from the stresses of the profession, and depression.
Researchers from the UCSD School of Medicine, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), found that the parietal lobes of the brain (responsible for arithmetic performance) are much less active following sleep deprivation. Gregory G. Brown, PhD., associate professor of psychiatry at UCSD, said “…there is not a brain system to come on line to compensate for the negative effects of sleep deprivation.” Arithmetic calculations are used countless times a day by doctors and nurses computing doses of medications and in the planning and execution of operational procedures. The following photos from the December 1999 issue of NeuroReport illustrate the findings.
Photos from the December 1999 Issue of NeuroReport
Sleep deprived brain activity, as shown on the bottom, compared to well rested brain activity shown on the top, certainly endangers the life of the patient. The red areas show least intense activity and yellow areas show most intense activity. The calculations might easily result in deadly mistakes. Jeanne Geiger-Brown cited a study of 393 nurses on 5,317 shifts that found “the odds of making errors by those who reported working more than 12 hours in shifts was three times greater than nurses who reported working 8.5 hour shifts.” She was co-author of an article called “Is it Time to Pull the Plug on 12-Hour Shifts?”
Those 12-hour shifts are not likely to end soon. The shortage of doctors and nurses is worsening once again. It is bound to get even worse as we get closer to the salary constraints of a government administered healthcare system. The white code of silence in the health industry will then be cloaked by a second layer of government cover-up of the life-threatening shortage of sleep deprived healthcare providers. Will there be enough drawers in the icy basement morgues for our future healthcare recipients?
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: brain, cardiovascular disease, depression, fatigue, health industry, healthcare, heart attack, medications, nursing, pandemic, shifts, sleep, sleep deprivation, stress, victims
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving, Sleep Deprived, Sleepless and Tired, Worried and Stressed | 2 Comments »
