jcj

Agree - tapatalk is nice (when it works) but "one click" access to BODN from my iphone/ipad would be much nicer. I'd gladly pay a reasonable fee for the app, I'd pay even more (maybe even on a recurring basis) - to get away from the ads.

(sigh) another one - this time the Army's lead sexual assault prosecutor. http://www.stripes.com/army-s-top-sex-assault-prosecutor-suspended-after-assault-allegation-1.271461

Yeah, it looks like this sux - especially if you use a Mac & Safari. But really, we have more protected health information (PHI) breaches from people doing stupid shit like losing unencrypted laptops, thumb drives or removable disks. Or leaving paper patient lists in Starbucks. And we had one breach because someone thought that hiding columns in Excel deleted the data. We think that one only got e-mailed to someone we work with, but it was still a breach. Essentially all of the breaches I've seen have been from not following simple rules (use an encrypted thumb drive), stupidity or snooping. Not that hacking isn't a concern, I just haven't seen it very often for PHI.

I was an early crackberry user and it was awesome - but eventually I changed over to an iPhone once they were secure enough for confidential medical information (was not the case for the first generation iPhone). It's much more capable & it just works. I also think it's wise to be worried about the future of RIM as a going concern. http://www.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&chvs=maximized&chdeh=0&chfdeh=0&chdet=1393183863490&chddm=482494&chls=IntervalBasedLine&q=NASDAQ:BBRY&&fct=big&ei=ZkwKU7jGGoXLqQHopAE

Not a sexual assault accusation, but this won't be helpful. Note the special forces tab on his official photo. http://www.armytimes.com/article/20140203/CAREERS03/302030016/Fort-Carson-hospital-chief-accused-misconduct http://gazette.com/records-show-former-fort-carson-commander-made-inappropriate-comments-sexual-innuendos/article/1513760

I've had a couple 360 reviews of my own performance, and I've used results of 360 reviews (voluntarily provided to me by the person being reviewed) to mentor people who report to me. I'm a civilian of course but my work environment (Academic Surgery) has a fairly rigid, very hierarchical organizational structure with a broad range of authority (Chief of Surgery down through the ranks to the newest interns. I'm not the Chief of Surgery but I'm fairly high up on the totem pole). The 360 review is all about giving you feedback from those you work with who might not otherwise be able or willing to do so. If the 360 review program is administered effectively, it does a pretty good job of getting that feedback to the person being reviewed. In fact, I've made a couple of major changes in my leadership style (and several minor course corrections) based in large part on 360 review feedback. There are a couple of things that are really critical about doing it right: 1. The program must, without exception, ensure that the confidentiality of respondents is maintained, especially for subordinates. If there is any significant actual or perceived reprisal against respondents (especially junior ones) that word spreads like wildfire and you will no longer get honest feedback from subordinates. 2. The person being evaluated must be open to receiving the feedback. If the person being evaluated is "head down & locked" and is incapable of introspection or unwilling to seriously consider the (sometimes unflattering or humbling) feedback, then it's a waste of time. With that said there will be some feedback received that is devoid of value and should be ignored (i.e. "Maj. Doe sucks and he cusses too much"). But that's the exception - generally, the feedback from a 360 is helpful and should be carefully considered. In my world, the 360 feedback goes only to the person being evaluated. It does not go to the leadership chain, and it is not used for external evaluation (we use other tools for that) - the 360 feedback is information only for the person being reviewed and to use or ignore as he/she sees fit. We do have leadership development consultants who will consult with the person being reviewed based on 360 results if asked, but this is outside of the leadership chain. Perhaps other organizations provide the 360 feedback up the leadership chain as well. Ostensibly this would be to assist with mentoring, but it would be difficult to keep it out of summative evaluation with this model. I'm glad we do it the way we do - where the 360 feedback is solely for performance improvement and not summative evaluation. We have other tools for that. So if done right by the Air Force I'd see it as an opportunity to give officers additional valuable feedback on their leadership style and management practices. But it's also not a universal leadership style evaluation, it's but one tool - the results of which must be considered both in context and in comparison with other feedback tools. I think it's an absolutely valid concern that it will be a really complicated big deal to administer 360 reviews throughout the entire Air Force. But I hope they can get it right because I think it is a valuable tool in leadership development.

But doesn't the largest missile field also have the greatest dispersal of missiles, which you would want as a military objective? Maybe the military objective can be met with just FEW & Minot - of course that requires that the military objective be precisely defined. I guess this is another variant of the "how many ICBM's do we need and how many can we afford" discussion. If there are such morale problems in the ICBM force in the USAF, i wonder what the morale is like in the missile forces in other countries that have ICBM's.

Not giving an opinion if this is the right military punishment or not, but one additional thing to consider is that since he is a nurse he must hold a license from at least one U.S.state or territory Board of Nursing in order to practice. Because he's military he can be licensed in any state - not necessarily the one he practices in - but he must maintain a nursing license in at least one U.S. state or territory. The nature and severity of this conviction will definitely be noticed, in a bad way, by whatever nursing board(s) have licensed him, and he will likely lose those licenses - maybe permanently - or at least will have a suspension with a whole bunch of stuff to do before there's any consideration of re-licensing. And today, all of the professional boards talk to each other about stuff like this so if he has more than one license it will affect all of them. No longer can a licensed health professional do something like this on, for example, on the west coast and escape the consequences by "running away from the troubles" and relocating on the east coast. So then he's an Air Force nurse, but unable to hold an unencumbered (or any) nursing license. I'm guessing that will put him on a quick ride out of the Air Force. And he won't be able to practice nursing in the civilian world until he gets past whatever sanctions and re-education his Board of Nursing requires, or maybe even permanently if his license(s) are revoked. Assuming the facts are what he pled guilty to, he's really screwed up (or maybe even permanently thrown away) his ability to hold a nursing license and practice nursing anywhere. State Boards of Nursing exist to protect the public, and they'll have a real problem in this case because he assaulted someone while they were vulnerable (passed out drunk). While this event wasn't patient care related, they will still have a concern about how he will conduct himself in a similar situation with a vulnerable patient. The Major's being drunk won't be an excuse, but it will get him a requirement for evaluation (and if needed, treatment) for alcohol and/or drug.dependence - if the relevant Board doesn't just decide he's done and revokes his license outright. So he'll have professional consequences of his actions that will be a problem for him long after whatever the Air Force disposition of his case.

The landing was at about 1830 local time

yes.

Should be for BBG - it was during their tower operating hours. That should be who they were talking to, at least until they were so low that the radio signal would be blocked by terrain (the airports are about six miles apart). PLK, of course, is non-tower. I read elsewhere that BBG is not on the LiveATC web streaming, but I understand you can get copies of ATC recordings by FOIA if so inclined. Maybe someone will do that. There are a couple of news reports that have posted recordings of some of the (apparently several) "we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience" pax announcements. Those are interesting.

I've been to PLK in a 182. Wow. PLK runway is 12/30, BBG runway is 14/32 (7140 x 150) & has an ILS to 32. No non-RNAV IAP @ PLK (both airports have RNAV approaches to both ends). Beacon is in approx same relative position to the runway @ both airports. If they landed at 6:30 PM, it would have been dark. PLK runway was NOTAM'ed closed @ 6;38 PM local. Will be interesting to see them get it out of there. PLK used to be owned by College of the Ozarks - it was one of the places COTO students could work (COTO students pay no tuition, but all must work at an on-campus job as a part of their being a student there).

(sorry this is long but it's important. My qualifications - I am a board certified general surgeon). It would be inappropriate for me to give you my opinion re: whether or not you should do this (don't know you, your health, career goals, etc) Of course deaddebate is - no surprise - right on with the regulatory references. But I will give you some important suggestions if you choose to do it - In short, if you are going to do it; be smart about it. Of utmost importance, be sure you are being cared for by a properly qualified surgeon. Although many patients have liposuction safely every year, it is a significant operation with lots of potential complications. Of course there is no minor surgery if you are the one having the surgery, but liposuction (particularly of a big area like the abdomen to get your waist circumference down) is not a minor "nip & tuck". Unfortunately in some states there are (a few) physicians with "less than optimal" training who've hung out a shingle and do liposuction in their own office, without the appropriate procedural safeguards & medical emergency response plans/procedures. From time to time over the years, there have been a few cases with disastrous results. Some states are clamping down on this, but others are not - and since this is usually an outpatient procedure, the safety rules that apply to hospital inpatient care don't necessarily apply to a physician doing this work in his/her office. Here's how to avoid becoming one of those patients with a disastrous result: Your surgeon should be "board certified' by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and be current and participating in Maintenance of Certification (MOC). You can look up your surgeon & check that here: https://www.abplsurg.org/ModDefault.aspx?section=SurgeonSearch or here: http://www.abms.org. Beware that there are some "boards" that exist for various reasons that do not meet the appropriate quality standards, particularly in plastic surgery - again, the official board that meets the high standards of quality and safety you want for this is the American Board of Plastic Surgery (and no other). Ideally, your surgeon should also be a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS). You can check that at http://www.facs.org. Every year there are also a few recently trained plastic surgeons who are in the process of being certified. In this case, the http://abplsurg.org web page will probably say "in the examination process". It's OK if this is the situation with your surgeon, as the standards to enter the exam process are very demanding and it takes at least two years of practice to become board certified after completion of a plastic surgery residency. Otherwise, if your surgeon isn't board certified and participating in MOC, you should find out why before you agree to use that surgeon. Best thing to do is just ask the surgeon. I's also a good idea to figure out if your surgeon has admitting privileges at a local hospital. I explain more below that this operation doesn't necessarily have to be done in the hospital, but getting hospital privileges at a local hospital means your surgeon has agreed to have his/her work scrutinized by his/her peers to maintain quality standards. It also means that they'll be no issues with getting someone to admit you to the hospital in the unlikely event that there is a complication & need to come in the hospital for a little while. Also know that despite the name, SmartLipo is not just a little "nip & tuck", it's a significant operation. The risk of a serious, or even a life-threatening complication is pretty low - ***BUT IT IS NOT ZERO*** - your surgeon or a member of his/her team should explain this in detail when they obtain your consent for the surgery. These days almost all of these cases are done in outpatient surgery centers or specially equipped surgeon's offices - I think this is safe as long as they have the necessary emergency equipment to take care of you if there were to be an emergency. You should also ask your surgeon about this; no reputable surgeon will have a problem with you asking about that & discussing with you. In fact, no reputable surgeon will have any problem with answering any of these questions, discussing the surgical plan, alternatives, the surgeon's experience overall and with this operation and or any other question you have about the operation (although sometimes we are pressed for time or we have to look something up & get back with you). In fact, if you end up seeing a surgeon who is just unwilling to discuss these issues with you or answer your questions about the surgery, you should get up and ***RUN*** (not walk) out of that surgeon's office and find another one. Again, no opinion from me whether or not you should do this, but I wanted you to have good info if you decide to. Also, I don't at all mean to scare you away from the operation - it's done safely thousands of times a year by surgeons who are well qualified & make sure that patient safety is the top priority - but I just wanted to be sure that you (and others who might read this under similar circumstances) know what's important to be sure you have a safe experience if you choose to. If you'd like to ask me anything else, you're welcome to reply or PM me and I'll give it a try. If your question is too patient specific, I'll probably give you a general answer & refer you to your doc for specifics. All the best to you if you decide to give it a go.

My tax $ pays for that? (and I pay a lot of tax $ - which I really don't mind - it's my privilege to pay) - but for that?

  Also reported by NBC http://behindthewall.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/26/21627923-us-bombers-fly-over-disputed-island-chain-without-informing-china?chromedomain=worldnews

Several airports I fly from have an overwatch station with armed police officers (airport or local city police) behind the TSA checkpoint. I don't know if this would stop a determined cretin with a military weapon, but it seems like a reasonable approach (better than arming TSA agents).

Saw a report earlier today (I think from LA Times) quoting TSA spokesman that the subject is not and has never been a TSA agent, and has no official relationship with TSA (sorry don't have reference). Although it looks like he obviously had some kind of issue with them, I haven't seen anything specifically yet to explain why. I know most of us aren't crazy about the TSA, but no one should have to go through this on the job. Here's to the slain officer's family, the wounded and the crew/pax/LAX people who have their lives disrupted in one way or another by this jerk.

Or - no swimsuit restrictions but smartphones/cameras checked and all males blindfolded for the the entire duration of their presence in the facility. The hypocrisy of the policy as written is obvious. But if the intent of the policy is to gather up all photographs of attractive, scantily-clad women, I think these would be OK to stay.

ufb and where's the pic?

With 21 co-defendants one would imagine there is immense pressure for someone to make a deal to plead and testify against the others for a lighter sentence. Although there probably won't be more than a couple of those deals given, and they won't be worth as much because there's probably a huge paper trail of evidence. This could be really ugly before it's over.

Hey I think it's great that Charley Pride gets his own month.