Category Archives: safety

Why We Test for Drugs & Alcohol

Posted on by
Reply

Why We Test for Drugs & Alcohol.

This is the first study I’ve ever seen on IF these tests do ANYTHING. I think some of the premises are false. Such as: using the post accident rates to determine if any drugs or alcohol were involved in the accident.

Just like in the Exxon Valdez incident, these figures can be totally misleading. As found after that investigation, Captain Hazelwood had NOTHING to do with that accident, so even if he WAS totally wasted, the accident had NOTHING to do with it,( if he was or if he wasn’t drinking). The fact that he had a couple of drinks simply allowed Exxon to use him as a scapegoat and get away with the FACT that it was THEIR policies which REALLY caused that accident.

I REALLY hate the fact that we use the excuse that someone, somewhere might be doing (some) drugs, to strip away the rights of millions of innocent people. There is NO authority in the constitution for either the outlawing of (some) drugs OR any sort of random drug testing to be forced on us by the federal government!

Is it worth stripping the 4th amendment, the 5th amendment from the constitution to allow these tests? Is it worth forgetting about the 9th and 10th amendments to even allow the federal government to have ANY say-so about what we choose to put into OUR bodies?? I say NO, I say HELL NO!!!

It is NEVER worth it to give up our rights! Not for ANY reason. And the fact that they haven’t even tried to show any kind of proof that their stupid rules do ANY good at all up until this just shows that they could give a flying f*&k!

Why in the heck are they even in charge of licensing us in the first place? Who the hell gave the federal government the authority to tell me if I can go to work, who I can work for, what hoops I have to jump through in order to apply for a job??? I sure as hell can’t find anything about that in the constitution. It’s NOT there. So, in fact, every single licensing law is unconstitutional and void!

Lets get the companies and the sailors together on this and eliminate the government out of the mix! Now would be a great time since they are ‘shut down” (yeah, riiiight- I only wish they really were)!

Lets come up with a scheme that would actually be sensible and affordable to the people actually involved (instead of a bunch of clueless bureaucrats). Maybe we could stop all our ships from moving overseas and get some jobs back for American sailors if we did that.

Too bad now we have to deal with the IMO. Maybe ALL the sailors around the world should get together on this. I’m sure they realize there is no one in any governmental position anywhere worldwide that is actually on THEIR side. Its always all about the money and we (sailors) don’t have any. ;-(

Beating Swords into Solar Panels

Posted on by
Reply

Beating Swords into Solar Panels – Politics – Utne Reader.

Well, there’s a lot in this article I disagree with, but I sure as hell agree that we can and should start dismantling our military-industrial(-prison) complex. It has become so big and bloated, it’s corrupting our politicians and its lobbyists have convinced “our leaders” that we MUST continue to spend billions to imprison people for decades for possession of a plant(??!!), or to blow up people in foreign countries rather than take care of our own people here.

We do NOT need to keep spending those billions- no,trillions!- of dollars to keep our country safe! There is no other country in the world today that can even come close to our military capabilities. WHY do we keep on building more, more, more???

It’s simple, the defense (at home and abroad) industries make billions (trillions) of dollars off our FEAR and ignorance. They will keep on spending millions to convince “our leaders” that they need to keep on spending our tax dollars on the military-industrial-prison complex.

Those ‘leaders’ will not ever think to actually CUT military (or prison) spending. Oh, NO!! They might lose a few jobs in their district. Those people who would be affected by a military operation closing down will be screaming bloody murder.

Maybe they might actually be better off if we weren’t spending trillions on military crap! Or locking people up for trivial BS! Their taxes might go down so they could have a better standard of living if we stopped spending so much on the military.

If people actually followed the suggestion in the article and converted that military spending to spending on something useful (productive) instead, they might actually be SO much better off, they might enjoy making something that HELPS the world instead of destroying it. They might enjoy having more peace and prosperity around the planet. They might enjoy having more money to spend when (if) the US ever gets around to lowering taxes like they should as a byproduct of cutting military spending.

I can’t even imagine all the fantastic things the people who work now on military projects could come up with if they were turned loose into the commercial/civilian marketplace. Wow! Just think of all the cool things they would come up with. These are intelligent, determined, educated people we’re talking about! How about all the good that would come from allowing all those people we lock up for victimless ‘crimes’ (possession, gambling, prostitution, etc) just get on with their lives instead of locking them up and so ruining their (and their families) lives forever?

The article focuses on environmental projects, stopping global warming, etc. Sure, they might eventually be able to make a dent in that. There is just SO much they could be working on to help make things better instead of finding more ways to destroy everything.

Yeah, I’m sure the military people (law enforcement too) probably think they’re out there fighting to save the world. I know they get told that they’re ‘fighting for our freedom’ here. All I can say to that is… why the heck do they always enlist YOUNG people to do all the dirty work???

Probably because by the time they grow up a little and spend a little time learning the truth, they won’t go fight someone else’s battles for them anymore! They finally figure out they’re only being USED to make money for somebody in the background. Anyone who really believes ‘our’ military is fighting for our freedom is surely needing to do a bit more thinking about things.

I could say a LOT more about that, but I’ll leave off by saying this: if they’re fighting for OUR freedom, they’re doing a pretty shitty job of it! We’ve lost a HELL of a lot of OUR freedom since 9-11!!! All those stupid wars (including the drug war) we’ve got involved in since then haven’t saved one tiny iota of OUR freedom! So, maybe, just maybe, all you cops and military people ought to just rethink your basic assumptions.

Health Tip

Posted on by
Reply

CDC Reveals Scary Truth About Factory Farms and Superbugs

Posted on by
Reply

CDC Reveals Scary Truth About Factory Farms and Superbugs | Mother Jones.

Here’s a little update from the CDC on all those antibiotics they’ve been pumping into your food supply for years now. Turns out, they were wrong about how safe all that is. There actually IS a link between overdosing your factory farmed meat animals (cows, pigs, chickens, etc) to the escalation of antibiotic resistant bacteria (and resulting deaths) in humans.

OK, so now we know (for sure). What are they going to do about it??? Turns out, not much. Remember, here in the USA we rely on government to keep us ‘safe’. We could probably do much better if we would get rid of our government protection and create a system that really could and would do a proper job. Read the article, you’ll see what I mean. 🙁

Our Fossil-Fueled Future – Environment

Posted on by
Reply

Our Fossil-Fueled Future – Environment – Utne Reader.

Love the picture they start this off with. Right off the bat they make out Exxon as the cause of all the worlds suffering. Yeah, riiiighht…

OK, for the record, I do NOT think we need to stop using fossil fuels! I do NOT think we need to stop the rest of the world from developing up to first world standards. In fact, I think that will be one thing that could help solve everything.

OK, I bet some people are pretty skeptical…

First point: rising incomes = lower birth rate. Lower birth rate + rising incomes = more resources to give a shit about something other than bare survival. So, the first thing we should do if we want to ‘save the planet’ is to help everyone in the world move up the economic ladder asap.

Second point: all of this increase in productivity and rising incomes (time/effort/money spent on other things than energy) depends on CHEAP energy. At this point in time, alternative energy (sources other than fossils) are NOT cheap. They are not anywhere near as efficient and they are not practical (yet). (I DO agree with technology like solar ovens replacing wood burning stoves- that is a GREAT use of solar power in the developing world and a great example of how solar will be able to help)

Third point: they talk about how the entrenched energy companies (meaning fossil fuel companies) earn “staggering profits”, which makes them somehow evil and so they should be either nationalized (BAD idea) or have their ‘profits’ stolen “for the better good” (another really bad idea).

First of all, they don’t make anything like what I would call staggering profits. They only sound like that because of the way they are reported. Which is intentionally to make you feel like something is wrong with it. They are manipulating you to make you want to punish those ‘evil’ corporations. Please read this article to get a more balanced perspective… http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/10/20/big-oil-isnt-as-profitable-as-everyone-thinks/

And to end my review of this article, I would like to point out my personal favorite way to ‘save the world’ with the least pain and anguish for everyone (and everyTHING) on the planet… start using BIRTH CONTROL!!!

If you really think about it, almost every problem you can come up with is minimized if you cut down the amount of people running around the planet. Global warming for instance. If you say that global warming is caused by the actions of people, then it could easily be solved by reducing the amount of people acting. Right?

YES! So, wouldn’t it be better to just use some birth control rather than kill off the people that are already here (through starvation, disease, war, pollution)???

China has done the world a great service with their one child policy (the only problem is their use of force instead of persuasion). If everyone around the world would think about this and resolve to just have one child voluntarily, it would solve a LOT of our problems. War, hunger, pollution, would all be just about eliminated, or at least minimized to the greatest possible extent.

Yes, it would take a while. But in the same time period they’re talking about 2040, we could make a huge, lasting impact, especially if people really came to value the rest of the planet instead of only humanity.

Personally, I would LOVE to see the use of non-polluting alternative energy sources grow to overtake the use of fossil fuels. I DO value this beautiful earth and all the other creatures living here with us.

I would be happy to use wind, solar, ocean current, fuel cell, or anything else that can match fossil fuels in price and efficiency. I am hoping they will come up with new technology that will allow me to make that choice sometime soon. So far, that day has not come. I’m doing what I can see as feasible in the meantime. No, I’m not going to be a martyr.

 

“Privacy” Held Hostage By “Security” – Public Unimpressed

Posted on by
Reply

“Privacy” Held Hostage By “Security” – Public Unimpressed | Laissez-Faire Bookstore.

Another great article from Laissez-Faire. This one on the supposed conflict between privacy and security. I agree completely with Mr Leahy, the real issue is between control and liberty. I don’t know about you, but I will side with liberty EVERY time on EVERY issue!

“Coupon Constitution” Threatens Fundamental Freedom

Posted on by
1

“Coupon Constitution” Threatens Fundamental Freedom by Bob Barr.

I couldn’t have said it better. Everything he says is the truth. It’s so sad what we have allowed to happen, what we have done to ourselves. It wasn’t Al-Qaeda that destroyed America, it was US!

Through our FEAR, we allowed everything America stood for to be shot down along with our enemies. We allowed the government to run rampant, in complete contrast to our founders intentions of an extremely LIMITED government with only a few areas of authority.

I hope one day the American people will come to their senses and take back our country before its too late. 

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Benjamin Franklin

What TSA Really Stands For

Posted on by
Reply

What TSA Really Stands For | Laissez-Faire Bookstore.

Thousands Standing Around, Trampling Several Amendments, Too Stupid for Arby’s, Touch Sex Army, Teaching Submission to Americans, Touchin’ Squeezin’ Arrestin’, Theatrical Security Agents, Touchin’ Sensitive Areas, Taking Scissors Away, Tough Shit America!, Totalitarian Security Agents, Tremendously Stupendous Arrogance, Taxpayer Supported Assault, Trampling Stupid Americans…..

Take your pick. I could go on (and on). They are nothing but a bunch of well paid (from our tax dollars) government goons. They have somehow been brainwashed to think (if I can use that word in this instance) that by violating our rights daily, they are actually doing some good.  🙁

To anyone who seriously believes that, I have a bridge to sell you!

Its all I can do to keep my mouth shut when I have to go to the airport. I’m sure one of these days they’re going to put me on the no-fly list and then that will be it for me. I’ll be unable to work and that will be that.

People tell me to just refuse to fly if I’m so against the TSA “keeping us safe”. Yeah, riiiiiiggght. Please tell me how I am supposed to get to work over in Singapore when I live in Texas without flying??? Oh, and by the way, the TSA is now in train stations, bus stations, ROAD BLOCKS, MALLS, STADIUMS, and they were even at the last presidential nominating conventions. So how the hell can I escape them???

The fact that they are shredding the entire constitution in the idiotic (impossible) quest to make us all “safe”, is not an issue to 99% of the people I see at the airport. I think THAT fact bothers me even worse then the TSA itself. That AMERICANS who are supposed to be so supportive of freedom that we will go halfway around the world to fight other peoples battles for them will not only accept these NAZI tactics, but cheer on the thugs. I can only shake my head and grit my teeth. What the hell has happened to us?

Yeah, the linked article is a little tongue in cheek but it does make some good points. Seriously.

I recently applied for the ‘trusted traveler’ program the Customs & Border Patrol  (CBP) runs. Only so I can get through the lines faster. In hopes that will help me  keep my “privilege” to travel for a while longer. It’s still in process (probably to be denied after this rant). The officer actually told me that because I have a criminal record (30+ years ago, another one 5+- neither of which had anything remotely to do with security) I might not be approved. WOW! She actually told me that my RIGHT to travel freely was NOT a right but only a privilege!

Well, NO! It is NOT a privilege! It IS a RIGHT!!!!

Despite the fact that I already have a TWIC (Transportation Worker Identity Card) which is given out by the TSA after a background check and is SUPPOSED to be so we can have UNESCORTED access through a PORT (airPORT), and also (had) a security clearance for work which also gave me a pretty thorough background check, I had to pay another $100 for the CBP background check for this program.

I asked the agent why with this being the THIRD background check, she was not able to see that I had been arrested and had a criminal record? Of course, she was not allowed to tell me that! 🙁

By this point I was getting pretty upset. She insisted I would have to trace down my own records and FAX them in to her within 30 days. OK, so I managed to get the records and tried for hours to fax them in. No luck, phone always busy. With all that money the government gets, they can’t do paperwork any other way but by fax? they can only afford one phone??? WTF???

I called and reached another officer (mine was off) and they gave me a different number to fax. No luck on that one either. So, here I am at work (offshore), we don’t have a fax. I have no mail or email that I can send the papers to. I only get off to go home the day before my time runs out. They sure make it easy to do something to help yourself instead of them. Yeah, riiiiiight. 🙁

Some free country we have… yeah, riiiiighhht. Sure you don’t want to take a look at that bridge?

Looking For Food Freedom In New York

Posted on by
Reply

Looking For Food Freedom In New York : Personal Liberty™.

First it’s cigarettes, then it’s sodas, now its food 🙁 Mayor Bloomberg is a creepy wanna-be dictator! I can’t believe the New Yorkers are still putting up with this idiot!

Why in the world would anyone allow someone else to tell them what they can eat or drink??? Have they all somehow mutated into some kind of zombie? They only LOOK like adults, but on the inside they’re still just whiny little babies that only want to be told what to do. They actually pay attention and follow orders just because someone else tells them its for their own good?

I used to spend some time around NYC when I was growing up. I graduated from the Oceanics School which was based in NYC. I used to help out there and would walk from the school down to the train station every day. I would stop and talk to people along the way. No, they  were not all rude or dangerous. Most of them were friendly and really interesting to talk to. Very independent minded to say the least 😉 I can’t imagine how those people would react to this crap.

Have they all been somehow brainwashed? Maybe they all moved away due to the increasing infringements of their rights? I don’t know, but I would like see someone do a study on it. NY and CA seem to be the leaders of the rest of the country. I would HATE to see the rest of the states follow this leadership but I can already see it coming. Maybe if the study shows some kind of virus is eating up NYC residents brains, the rest of the country will quarantine that kind of ‘thinking’. I can only hope 🙁

The Project: Award Winning Documentary on Somali Pirates

Posted on by
Reply

http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/Emmywinning-Filmmaker-Screens-Documentary-on-Somalian-Pirate-Hunters-2013-09-11/

Here’s a new movie coming out that looks pretty interesting. Called ‘The Project’, and directed by Emmy-award winners Shawn Efran and Adam Ciralsky. Hopefully it will bring some attention to a serious issue the worlds seafarers have to deal with.

If you happen to live in the Hampton Roads area (VA), it’s going to be shown for FREE. At the Mariners Museum (www.marinersmuseum.org). Thursday, Sept 19, 7:00 pm, followed by a Q & A session.

If I was home, I would definitely like to go see this. Pirates are a serious issue to all mariners. We may or may not know where we’re going. We’re not allowed to have any sort of protection against these thugs. Our companies expect us to run and hide in a ‘citadel’ onboard til the pirates decide to just leave. Yeah, riiiight, that works SO well…

There are thousands of seafarers injured and traumatized for life because of this. It seems it’s only when an American vessel gets attacked that there is even any publicity.

Pirate attacks happen almost daily on both the East and West Coasts of Africa. There are also attacks in the Malacca Straits, in the South China Sea, all over India and Pakistan, and yes, they still have pirates in the Caribbean  🙁

Too bad they’re not really at all like Johnny Depp.

Is it Safer to Work Offshore in 2013?

Posted on by
Reply

Is it Safer to Work Offshore in 2013?.

Well, I don’t really know. I would like to see some statistics on how it compares to back in say the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s. Personally, I think its probably a LITTLE better. The companies I’ve been working with are constantly harping on safety. They go on and on til its coming out our ears. But I still hear of people doing really stupid things. Like that fire on the platform back in November last year , due to improper welding operations (http://www.blackelkenergy.com/news/67-explosion-and-fire-on-gulf-platform-occurred-during-welding-contractors-failed-to-follow-standard-safety-practices.html) . I mean, jeeze…

What the hell is it going to take?? I get sick and tired of being treated like a moron when I go to work. The company has to tell me how to get dressed in the morning? REALLY???

I’ve only been working offshore (professionally) since 1977! Having to re-take classes like BST (Basic Safety Training) or Rigpass really gets old. I mean, who forgets how to put on a life jacket??? What’s new in shipboard fire fighting? We have the same classes of fires we’ve always had (except they now label a galley grease fire as “K” for kitchen I guess- trying to make it SEEM like there’s actually something new). We fight them the same way.

I think the way to make things safer offshore is to concentrate on creating a culture of personal responsibility!!! Get people to understand that they can do what they’re going to do but THEY are responsible for their actions. They’ll pay attention if they know THEY are going to pay the price if anything goes wrong.

The fact is that we have all sorts of programs out here that SEEM to encourage safety. Instead, they take the ability to THINK about and then CHOOSE their actions away from people. Take away options from people and you take with it their responsibility. You can only BLAME them then, since you’ve taken away any REAL choices.

It seems to me these companies love to send people to these classes so they can tell the world, “it’s not OUR fault those people got hurt. After all, we sent them to training. They should have known how to do the job properly without getting hurt.” Yeah, like a day long class is really going to teach someone ALL they need to know to work safely out here. I don’t think so!

I’m NOT saying we need to go to any more classes!!! What I AM saying is that once a person goes through those very basic classes, they have only the bare minimum of knowledge. We can and should use the time spent in our weekly drills and safety meetings to train people PAST that bare minimum!

Those of us out here with some experience need to take into consideration that SOME of the people we’re working with are almost totally ignorant! From my perspective, it seems like a lot of the incidents are happening with relatively new people. We need to concentrate our efforts on training THOSE people! We need to keep a good eye on them. We need to take the time to really MENTOR them. We need to be generous with our time and our knowledge and not keep it to ourselves in fear of losing our jobs to the newbies…

It would help a LOT if we were not constantly having the crew size cut and cut and cut some more! OK, this below is referring to shipping and not so much drilling since I don’t know too much about drilling yet (but its probably still relevant)…

A typical ship used to carry a crew of 45-50 men. Now they sail with half that (and LOTS more work to do)! Some COIs (Certificate Of Inspection) will allow only 17 man crew (or less). This is for a 1000 ft long tanker!!! ATBs (tug/barge combination) which can run up to 600-700+ feet long, can be run with less than 10!!!

Check out the REAL results of the investigation into the Exxon Valdez incident. You’ll find that it was actually caused by the fact that the entire crew was exhausted and had NOTHING to do with the Captain at all. He could have been totally sober or drunk as a skunk and it wouldn’t have made a damn bit of difference.

They passed the 12 hour rule after the Valdez spill to remedy that. There are work hour restrictions in US law and in the STCW. So it applies to pretty much ALL shipping worldwide. That does include all the larger oilfield support vessels. I don’t know how the drilling industry has escaped notice on this but I don’t know of anything similar that they have to abide by (I might just be uninformed on this point- any drillers to comment?).

Ask any sailor around the world how well they follow that rule. I can almost guarantee you they’re being ‘forced’ by their company policies to break it constantly. Of course, company will never admit it, will blame it on the crew if it ever comes up, and will deny they ever had any idea it was happening 🙁

Being tired is one of the leading causes of accidents. I would think that would be one very easy solution to vastly improve safety. But of course, it would cost some extra money to hire a few extra hands. Is that gonna happen any time soon???

Safety first??? I don’t think so 🙁