Origin of the biohazard symbol

Have you ever wondered how the bio-hazard symbol so prominent in today's society came into existence? Earlier today, a friend of mine - and retired firefighter - had posted a discussion on Facebook regarding holy books (Holy books: which are real?) and, included in the article he cited was a illustration of numerous holy images . . . one of which bore a striking resemblance to our modern bio-hazard symbol. Being the inquisitive type, he and I struck up a conversation about it and I told him I would search for the answer.

Turns out the bio-hazard symbol came from the mind of Charles Baldwin who, at the time he came up with the idea, worked at Dow Chemical (website: Dow Chemical) developing containment systems for the Cancer Institute at the National Institute of Health (website: National Cancer Institute) (Origin of the bio-hazard symbol, 2008). Explains he: "it became obvious to us that there were a lot of so-called warning symbols in the various laboratories that we visited, but there was no standardization." Driven by this lack of standardization, Mr. Baldwin and his colleagues began work on what he termed "something unique and striking enough to be remembered". In addition to being memorable, Baldwin decided it needed to be meaningless so they could educate the public in its meaning. Sample symbols were tested across the country utilizing survey groups who were polled on two separate occasions. The symbol that stood out most - and was the most remembered - was the bio-hazard symbol pictured above right. Baldwin explains the logic behind the color - blaze orange - and why the three-sided figure was chosen: "Blaze orange was chosen because it had been proven under artic exploration to be the most visible under the most conditions. The three-sided figure was chosen if it were on a box containing bio-hazardous material and the box was moved around, transported, it might end up in different positions."

Bio-hazard label on my wife's sharps box

Baldwin said the next challenge was presenting it to the scientific community. To accomplish this, he wrote a paper on the new label that was published in the American Journal of Science (Journal of Science). "The next thing was to get the authorization from the various people who would be using it," he explained. It was soon formally adopted by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the National Institute of Health (NIH). "That's pretty good acceptance," he said.

References

[Web log message]. (2008, October 31). Retrieved from http://markapocalypse.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/origin-of-the-biohazard-symbol/ Retrieved: August 28, 2013

Fetish-driven role-play?

                                                                        
By LARRY NEUMEISTER -- (c) 2013 Associated Press

The government has finished presenting evidence to a jury hearing the case against a New York City police officer accused of conspiring to kidnap, kill and eat women.

Prosecutors rested their case Monday after showing jurors Internet images of torture and abuse of women that a witness said was found on the computer of Officer Gilberto Valle (VAL'-ee). A judge sent the jury home a few minutes early after prosecutors announced they reached the end of their case.

Valle's lawyers have asked the judge to acquit their client before a Manhattan federal court jury gets the case.

Valle is accused of plotting on the Internet to kidnap and kill at least six women he knows, including his wife. Defense lawyers say Valle was merely engaging in fetish-driven Internet role-play.

 

 

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Due to starting back to school - and other life obligations - I haven't been able to blog as much as I would have liked of late, but I had to chime in on this article. What caught my eye was the last line of the article, "Valle was merely engaging in fetish-driven Internet role-play".  I could be wrong, but I would venture to say that you could go to the kinkiest fetish site on the web and not find any mention of cannibalism. Thoughts? Opinions?

(Oh, and just for the record, the comment about fetish-driven role-play was made by his defense team.)



 

Two miracles

If you've kept up with my blog(s) for any length of time, you have no doubt read me saying that I'm a miracle from God due to the fact that I was born with Hydrocephalus and have survived to be 48-years old. Well, after yesterday, I feel that He has touched my life with a miracle - actually two of them - yet again. I say that because, about six weeks ago, I started having trouble with atrial fibrillation where the top two chambers of my heart don't really beat efficiently, they basically just quivered. The result was I stayed weak, tired, and had to seriously curtail my activities -- even my writing which I dearly enjoy. What made it even worse was the fact that, even though my cardiologist had put me on medication, I was still having episodes and still finding my self having to go to the ER at Emory Midtown Hospital. Based on this, he said he wanted to do a heart cath, and that was done yesterday. Therein lies the first miracle: NO BLOCKAGES WERE FOUND! As soon as I found out that I needed a heart cath, I put a message up on Facebook asking my family and friends to be in prayer and their prayers were answered! He did find one thing . . . I have a enlarged aorta which he thinks was the result of my having hypertension since I was a teenager. Even that, however, wasn't causing a problem, but he said we would continue to monitor it.

The second miracle took place while I was waiting to be taken down for the cath. My dad and my step mom had come up to be with us during the procedure and my step mom and I had the opportunity to have a long, heart-to-heart talk . . . something we hadn't done since I was little. My biggest question was "can I call you mom". We both teared up and she said she had been waiting for the day I would ask her that because, even though she's my "step", I've always felt for her like she was my mom. So, what had been a day that filled me with fear and dread, ending up being one of the best days I've had in a long time! Thank you Jesus!

-- Walter

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

 -- James 5:16 (KJV)

Some people . . .

. . .

. . .are just so incredibly mean-spirited when it comes to persons with disabilities. For example, last night I was surfing around on YouTube when I came across this video of "Praise Him, Praise Him" by Fanny J. Crosby. For those who might not be familiar with Ms. Crosby, here is a link to her profile on Wikipedia: Fanny Crosby; she became blind during an infancy so, as many sightless people do, she wore dark glasses. Well, as I was enjoying the video, I was also reading the comments and came across one that said "they shouldn't post videos by people who don't have eyes". How could people be so dumb and mean-spirited? Granted you have to look due to the quality of the old sepia print, but you can make out the frames of her glasses.

I thought it ironic that I came across that comment now as September is Hydrocephalus Awareness Month -- another condition where it's sufferer's are made fun of because of our larger-than-normal heads. I use the term "our" because I am an adult survivor of Hydrocephalus. Most of my life - including the adults years - has been marked by people who made fun of my appearance or made ugly, rude comments. I remember as a junior in high school, I had a freshmen who wanted me to headbutt him just to see if it would cause my head to "bust open" (apparently he compared my head to a ripe water melon). I urge you, if you want to learn more about hydro, just ask me and I'll be glad to explain it. Also, you can check on Facebook as there are a number of Hydrocephalus Support groups on there. Just get educated . . . learn the facts!

Me as a child

Friends tweet before dying in Md. train derailment | ajc.com

Friends tweet before dying in Md. train derailment  | ajc.com

Headlines like those above are why pictures like this scare me to death:

Yes, the railroad track makes for a scenic backdrop, but if a train comes along - particularly on a curved track like in the picture - it's not going to be able to stop in time. I did a little research - just to make sure improvements  in technology hadn't decrease the time it takes for a locomotive running at full track speed to stop - and it's going to take that train one (1) mile to stop once brakes are fully applied. But, being hit by a train isn't the only hazard posed by being on the tracks. According to the article above, the two girls in Maryland where apparently knocked from the trestle by the impact of the accident, fell to the street below, and were then buried by coal falling from the hopper cars. Personally, I don't care to fall from that height and then have - approximately - 150 TONS land on top of me!

Don't get me wrong, I like the old-style trestles too, but I would never put myself at risk by sitting on one. Despite their large appearance, they are actually very narrow along the rail bed -- usually just wide enough for the train to clear.

-- Walter