Do you think I’m sexy? Apnea aid raises doubts – Sleep- msnbc.com

Guess what I’m getting?

His wife, Christina, even nicknamed the device “Snuffalufagus,” he said.

Most CPAP users say they’re as matter-of-fact about the device as anyone who needs crutches, prosthetics or other aid for a serious medical condition — and that they expect romantic partners to be the same.

“I’ve never been self-conscious about it,” said Vicki Thon, a 50-year-old single mom who has balanced CPAP use and an active social life for 11 years. “I say, ‘This is what I need to be healthy.’”

Do you think I’m sexy? Apnea aid raises doubts – Sleep- msnbc.com

Common Sense and Good Beer Too

I’m a sucker for a good quote from the founding fathers and this one from Sam Adams was used in a short discussion about the best way to fight the ongoing cyberwar with China and others. The Air Force has been quick to stand up the cyber command or whatever it is but it seems a bit like they are more concerned to beat the other services to the punch than to implement comprehensive solutions.

As Samuel Adams said in 1768, “Even when there is a necessity of military power, within the land . . . a wise and prudent people will always have a watchful & jealous eye over it.â€Ã‚ Indeed, it is longstanding policy in this country that the military not be used to enforce the law on U.S. soil, except in major emergencies. This division between national security and civilian law enforcement activities is maintained in electronic surveillance as well. It colors the current FISA extension debate.

NextGov – Tech Insiders

For probably a lot of reasons, this is a subject that is not on the radar right now but I think it should be. The commands and experts that deal with this sort of thing are secretive and stay out of the limelight, but real leadership would grab this bull by the horns and get it all out in the open.  Then they’d figure out both the best and the most supported way to work towards a solution.  I am more than a bit afraid that those few working this portfolio now are picking a solution they like and then stacking all the evidence to support it.

Mystery Loophole Wouldn’t Require Reporting Fraud While Abroad – washingtonpost.com

What sort of document control is there in the Congress?  This isn’t the first time that language has changed in the middle of the night but you’d think that by now there would be a document control log or something.  On the small scale it looks a lot to me like the current veep altering rules about contractors when he was SecDef, then profiting from them later. Hmmmm…

"This sends the message that if you’re going to do waste, fraud and abuse, don’t do it at home, do it abroad," said Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who has asked House oversight leaders to investigate. "This was slipped in at the last minute. . . . It’s obviously something you can’t justify in any way, and there’s no answer to why you’d allow this to occur abroad any more than you’d allow it to occur domestically. There is a question as to how and why the change was made, and we don’t know the answer."

Mystery Loophole Wouldn’t Require Reporting Fraud While Abroad – washingtonpost.com

I Feel Safer Already

If one remembers back to ’01 or ’02 you might remember that one of the first people busted under the PATRIOT act was a Florida strip club owner that was accused of racketeering.  And who thought they were only after terrorists?

The FBI has increasingly used administrative orders to obtain the personal records of U.S. citizens rather than foreigners implicated in terrorism or counterintelligence investigations, and at least once it relied on such orders to obtain records that a special intelligence-gathering court had deemed protected by the First Amendment, according to two government audits released yesterday.

FBI Found to Misuse Security Letters – washingtonpost.com

Gettin’ It Together

DoD and VA, like some state and other service organizations, are leaning closer to these consolidated "portals" tying all sorts of previously disconnected services together. Mr. Bunce is correct though in that the portal is only as good as the information it serves. I would also note, that if it is as difficult to access as AKO is for some or as slow as the MyHealthEVet portal from the VA, it will limit traffic and people will look elsewhere. Still, I’d consider this a step in the right direction.

 http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20080314_9029.php

The Veterans Affairs Department has started inching toward deployment of an online comprehensive health care and benefits portal recommended by the President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors in an August 2007 report. VA expects to have a bare-bones site operating in the next few weeks on Army Knowledge On-Line (AKO), the Army’s enterprise Web portal.

Trade You a Dose of Hep C for that Painkiller

Nice – I wonder how deep a hole you can dig under the jail to throw this guy in:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5607775.html  Nurse accused of giving Army patients hepatitis C By ALICIA A. CALDWELL EL PASO — A former Army hospital employee is accused of infecting at least three patients with hepatitis C, federal authorities said Monday.

…

Jones, a civilian, is also accused of stealing the drug fentanyl, a powerful pain killer often used for anesthesia, from the three patients. Authorities are unsure of how or why he infected them. Prosecutors charged that Jones stole the fentanyl from three patients from August to October 2004 by getting keys from a subordinate to a locked container that held the drugs. He is accused of assaulting the three patients by infecting them with hepatitis C on the same days he is accused of stealing their medication.