P.I.S.S.D. -- Personal Injury, Social Security Disability. Dallas Texas Lawyers

Link of the Day - PubMed Central

PubMed Central is a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and is a great resource of medical and science journals. Here are details from the site:

PubMed Central is a free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), developed and managed by NIH's National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) in the National Library of Medicine (NLM). With PubMed Central, NLM is taking the lead in preserving and maintaining unrestricted access to the electronic literature, just as it has done for decades with the printed biomedical literature.

The value of PubMed Central, in addition to its role as an archive, lies in what can be done when data from diverse sources is stored in a common format in a single repository. GenBank has proven the advantages of collecting DNA sequences in a central repository with a common format. You get more rapid searching, manipulation, and cross-linking of the complete collection, and all the benefits that derive from that. Similarly, with PubMed Central, one can quickly search the entire body of full-text articles and locate relevant material regardless of its source. It also makes it possible to integrate the literature with a variety of other information resources such as sequence databases and other factual databases that are available to scientists, clinicians and everyone else interested in the life sciences. The intentional and serendipitous discoveries that such links might foster excite us and stimulate us to move forward.

Many journals already have online publishing operations and there is a growing tendency to publish material online only, to the exclusion of print. This literature must be preserved in a form that ensures unrestricted access to it over the longer term. This is what NLM has undertaken to do. We invite all journals to join those that have already committed to creating this resource for people all over the world.

Link of the Day - Friday Fun

In honor of the Fourth of July holiday, here is a video of recent presidents "singing" the Star Spangled Banner:

Star Spangled Banner |Funny Jokes at JibJab

How Dumb Is The U.S. Congress?

OK, imagine you're a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, reading the polls and knowing that the approval rating of Congress is at a historical all-time low. What would you do? Why, of course -- you'd give yourself a raise!

That's just what the House did yesterday, voting themselves a raise of $4400 each per year, and raising each congressman's annual pay to about $170,000.

Just think how big a raise they might have given themselves if the American public actually approved of what they were doing!

Link of the Day - Big Pharmacy's Biggest Critic

Dr. Peter Rost is a New Jersey physician who who formerly worked in the marketing departments for big pharmacy companies. But since Pfizer fired Dr. Rost in 2005, he has become a very, very vocal critic of the marketing tactics of the pharmacy companies.

His soapbox is his blog called Question Authority. The blog is devastatingly critical of pharmaceutical companies, but is also quite entertaining. Check it out. Here is Dr. Rost's own description to the blog:

According to Fortune "Peter Rost has become the drug industry's most annoying - and effective - online scourge." Peter Rost, M.D., is also the author of "THE WHISTLEBLOWER, Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman" and "THE WOLFPACK." His blog is designed to be provocative, confrontational, irreverent, mocking, impertinent, flippant, impudent, bold, enlightening, naughty, mischievous, funny and tongue-in-cheek. If you have no humor or if you are a boring person you are not supposed to read this blog.

Link of the Day - Deaf Action Center Of Texas

The Deaf Action Center of Texas serves people who are deaf and hard of hearing with a comprehensive range of services. Details from their Web site:

People of all ages participate at different levels in a variety of programs that combine commitment, caring, competence and communication in a special blend, fostering success in personal, social and professional growth. Our mission is the elimination of barriers to persons who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Deaf Action Center was established upon the request of a group of Deaf citizens who saw and felt the need for an agency with a mission dedicated to the elimination of barriers affecting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. Deaf Action Center is a non-profit organization serving the needs of people who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing in North Texas and throughout the State. The Center was founded in the fall of 1975. DAC was first conceived with a vision to act as an advocate and service provider catering to the unique needs of people with hearing loss. The original founders discovered it was necessary to create an agency that would serve the Deaf Community directly while developing and cultivating other community resources. Today, Deaf Action Center is a specialized center for people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

In June 1977, Deaf Action Center moved to its present location, 3115 Crestview Drive, Dallas, Texas 75235.

Services include providing coping skills training for those losing their hearing, educating and assisting in the areas of advocacy, communication services for those who are deaf or hard of hearing, counseling, instruction in American Sign Language, providing a daily program and a noon meal for senior citizens with hearing loss, technology training, and a 40-unit apartment complex for households that have members who are deaf and/or hard of hearing. Through the education, socialization and assistance available at Deaf Action Center, individuals are empowered to lead a fulfilling and independent life.

Link of the Day - Google Scholar

There seems to be no end to the search variations Google is giving us. If you're looking for "scholarly literature" only, you can save yourself having to weed through all the extraneous results by going to Google Scholar. Here is Google's explanation:

What is Google Scholar?
Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations. Google Scholar helps you identify the most relevant research across the world of scholarly research.

Link of the Day - Labor-Related Workplace Posters

The federal government requires employers, whether law firms or any other type of business, to post certain information notifying employees of their legal rights. There are plenty of companies that will sell you fancy versions of these mandatory posters, but you can get many of them free from the Department of Labor at their Office of Small Business Programs Web page. Here is some information from that page:

Some of the statutes and regulations enforced by agencies within the Department of Labor require that posters or notices be posted in the workplace. The Department provides electronic copies of the required posters and some of the posters are available in languages other than English.

Please note that posting requirements vary by statute; that is, not all employers are covered by each of the Department's statutes and thus may not be required to post a specific notice. For example, some small businesses may not be covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act and thus would not be subject to the Act's posting requirements. For information on coverage, visit the Employment Laws Assistance for Workers and Small Business (elaws) Poster Advisor. You may also contact the Office of Small Business Programs, for assistance with these notice requirements.

To obtain posters or for more information about poster requirements or other compliance assistance matters, you may contact the U.S. Department of Labor by telephone at 1-888-9-SBREFA, or by email at Contact-OSBP@dol.gov.

Link of the Day - Are Our Troops In Iraq Being Cheated?

Whatever your feelings about the war in Iraq, I'm sure none of us are in favor of our brave troops being cheated or put in greater danger by financial misconduct. The Follow The Money Project tracks the "privatization" of our wars, and the risks this poses to American troops. Their description:

The Follow the Money Project is investigating where the money appropriated for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is going -- especially money that should be going to the Troops.

Besides posting new developments in oversight and our investigative releases, check out our sections on current investigations, reports and other information resources.

Link of the Day - Driving, The New Commandments

My good friend, California personal injury lawyer Jonathan Stein, has posted a response to the Vatican's recent issuance of the "10 Commandments for Driving." Here's Jonathan's blog post:

The Vatican has now issued 10 commandments for driving. Some of them are interesting, some not so interesting.  I figure if they can take a shot at it, why can't I? I have probably seen more car crashes than everyone at the Vatican combined. So, here goes:

The California Personal Injury and Insurance Blog 10 Commandments of Driving:

1. Thou shall not speed;
2. Thou shall stop to assist broken down motorists or motorists involved in a car accident;
3. Thou shall keep thine vehicle in YOUR lane;
4. Thou shall obey all traffic signals and signs;
5. Thou shall not give anyone "the bird" or show other signs of aggression at other drivers;
6. Thou shall yield the right of way;
7. Thou shall keep thine eyes on the road;
8. Thou shall not read, put on make up or shave while driving;
9. Thou shall use turn signals;
10. THOU SHALL NOT DRINK AND DRIVE!!!!

10 simple rules that will keep you, and everyone around you, safer in the car.

The Vatican has now issued 10 commandments for driving. Some of them are interesting, some not so interesting.  I figure if they can take a shot at it, why can't I? I have probably seen more car crashes than everyone at the Vatican combined. So, here goes:

The California Personal Injury and Insurance Blog 10 Commandments of Driving:

1. Thou shall not speed;
2. Thou shall stop to assist broken down motorists or motorists involved in a car accident;
3. Thou shall keep thine vehicle in YOUR lane;
4. Thou shall obey all traffic signals and signs;
5. Thou shall not give anyone "the bird" or show other signs of aggression at other drivers;
6. Thou shall yield the right of way;
7. Thou shall keep thine eyes on the road;
8. Thou shall not read, put on make up or shave while driving;
9. Thou shall use turn signals;
10. THOU SHALL NOT DRINK AND DRIVE!!!!

10 simple rules that will keep you, and everyone around you, safer in the car.

Link of the Day - Friday Fun

Here's another classic computer game -- similar to the old Breakout.