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another reason Merica! is going to fall

4K views 32 replies 20 participants last post by  Christmas Cookie 
#1 ·
while tragic no doubt what jury in their right mind can expect a school to stop bugs from biting? Maybe before anyone is allowed to do anything, anywhere at any time they should be given a warning that anything could happen at anytime, proceed with care at your own risk

http://news.yahoo.com/woman-contrac...ded-41-7m-175705335--abc-news-topstories.html

A Connecticut jury has awarded $41.7 million to a New York woman left brain-damaged and unable to speak properly after contracting a tick-borne illness while on a school-supervised trip to China.

Cara Munn, now 20, of New York City, was a student at the prestigious Hotchkiss boarding school in Lakeville, Conn. She contracted encephalitis from tick bites while hiking in a rural area on a school-sponsored trip to China in the summer of 2007.

A federal jury in Bridgeport, Conn., agreed with Munn's attorneys, who argued the school failed to ensure that its traveling students take sufficient precautions against ticks.

"It's a horrible thing that could have been prevented very easily and they [Hotchkiss] didn't as far as I'm concerned," Cara's father Orson told ABC News. "It was a pattern of negligence that went on and on, and we are unhappy, we are furious."

Fellow students of Munn's on the trip became sick as well, though their reactions were less severe.

"Hotchkiss failed to take basic safety precautions to protect the minor children in its care," said Munn's attorney Antonio Ponvert III, according to the Associated Press. "I hope that this case will help alert all schools who sponsor overseas trips for minors that they need to check the CDC for disease risks in the areas where they will be travelling."

Encephalitis is an acute inflammation of the brain that can be caused by either a viral or bacterial infection. In serious cases of the disease, symptoms can include seizures, hallucinations, memory loss, and permanent neurological damage.

"These are nasty viruses that cause the inflammation of the brain substance itself," Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center told ABC News. "They are very rare in the United States fortunately, and those infections that do occur in the Far East tend to be more severe," he said.

The Hotchkiss School, which is appealing the jury award, disputes claims it was negligent and argued that Tick-Borne Encephalitis is so rare, it should not have been expected to warn Munn about protecting herself from it.

"As part of our due diligence prior to this 2007 trip to China, we thoroughly checked the CDC website for medical advice and asked parents to do the same," Hotchkiss told ABC News in an emailed statement. "There was never any indication that there was a potential risk of a disabling tick bite. In fact, this was the only reported such case of this disease (Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus) in all of China."

"We remain very saddened by this student's illness, and we continue to hope for improvements to her health," the statement concluded.

Munn says his daughter has difficulty making a fist, difficulty swallowing, issues with her gait, and most importantly, speaking. "She is saying words that are very difficult to understand for most people," he said.

Cara communicates using a text-to-speech program on her iPhone, but her father says she can type words out only slowly. "It's very difficult as teenagers because teenagers talk a mile a minute and it's very difficult to stay on the conversation if you type at 10 words a minute," he said.

Dr. Schaffner says there are several things you can do to protect yourself from tick bites, including wearing clothing that covers, using tick repellant, and inspecting yourself and your companions for ticks and removing them as quickly as possible.

Munn says his daughter continues to receive care every week, and that the family is researching alternative methods of treatment. "She is very humorous because her personality comes out in her writing," Mr. Munn said. "She has a great sense of humor, she has an incredible optimism about life."
 
#2 ·
I had encephalitis in 2005 in Michigan and I got really sick even before I caught the secondary infection that caused my heart damage. She must have been very ill. Why didn't she go see a doctor? Personal responsibility is a lost cause anymore. I should have sued the city of Lake since they had no signs saying they had evil dangerous mosquitos? I guess it could have been a tick but I always thought it was a mosquito bite.
 
#21 ·
What the fuck is wrong with these retards

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/24/b...nt-ban-the-use.html?partner=yahoofinance&_r=0


The Times Shifts on ‘Illegal Immigrant,’ but Doesn’t Ban the Use

As the debate over a new immigration bill preoccupies Washington, a quieter debate over the use of the term “illegal immigrant” has stirred up the country’s newsrooms.

This month, The Associated Press announced it would eliminate the use of “illegal immigrant” entirely. The news agency wrote, “Except in direct quotes essential to the story, use ‘illegal’ only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant.”

On Tuesday, The New York Times updated its policies on how it uses the phrase “illegal immigrant” in its coverage. The newspaper did not go as far as The Associated Press, and it will continue to allow the phrase to be used for “someone who enters, lives in or works in the United States without proper legal authorization.” But it encourages reporters and editors to “consider alternatives when appropriate to explain the specific circumstances of the person in question, or to focus on actions.”

Philip B. Corbett, the associate managing editor for standards, who oversees The Times’s style manual, made the announcement on Tuesday shortly after a group staged a protest in front of The New York Times headquarters and delivered more than 70,000 signatures to Jill Abramson, the executive editor of The Times, asking her to end the use of the phrase.

Mr. Corbett said in a statement that editors had spent months deliberating the updated style change. He said he shared these changes “with key reporters and editors over the last couple of weeks.” He said he recognized how sensitive this issue is for readers.

This nuanced approach to the term “illegal immigrant” was far from what the protesters who appeared outside of the Eighth Avenue entrance to The Times building had sought. Four protesters held signs that read “No Human Being is ‘Illegal’ Drop the I-Word.”

Fernando Chavez, son of the Mexican-American activist Cesar Chavez, flew in from Northern California for the protest to represent the views of his mother, Helen Fabela Chavez.

He said the widespread use of “illegal immigrant” represented one of the few times his mother had “displayed an opinion” about an issue. “It dehumanizes the individual and it’s counterproductive,” he said of the phrase.

Among the protesters was Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who emphasized that he wanted Tuesday’s protest to remain civil. He revealed that he was living undocumented in the United States in an article that ran in The New York Times Magazine in June 2011 after his former employer, The Washington Post, decided not to run the story. Since then, he has spoken publicly about being undocumented. He is producing a documentary on the topic.

“I have a lot of respect for The New York Times,” Mr. Vargas said. “The New York Times published my essay after that Washington Post rejected it.” But he said he felt that The Times needed to make some changes. “The New York Times needs to get with the times.”

Last fall, when Mr. Vargas spoke at a San Francisco conference held by the Online News Association, he started to challenge the use of the term illegal immigrant in the news media. Shortly afterward, he also exchanged e-mails with Margaret Sullivan, The Times’s public editor, about the phrase. She wrote in an Oct. 2, 2012 article, “I see no advantage for Times readers in a move away from the paper’s use of the phrase ‘illegal immigrant.’ ”

Since then, discussions have circulated throughout the news media about the use of the phrase. Julia Preston, The Times’s immigration reporter, said in a blog post written by Ms. Sullivan in September that the paper needed “a little more flexibility.” But she said “we should use the term at times — it is accurate.”

The changes announced by Mr. Corbett to the stylebook suggested caution when looking for alternatives to “illegal immigrant.”

" ‘Unauthorized’ is also an acceptable description, though it has a bureaucratic tone,” Mr. Corbett said. " ‘Undocumented’ is the term preferred by many immigrants and their advocates, but it has a flavor of euphemism and should be approached with caution outside quotations.” The stylebook also calls for special care to be taken with those who have a complicated or shifting status, like those brought to the United States as children.

“Advocates on one side of this political debate have called on news organizations to use only the terms they prefer,” Mr. Corbett said. “But we have to make those decisions for journalistic reasons alone, based on what we think best informs our readers on this important topic.” He added: “It’s not our job to take sides.”

Some of the protesters outside The New York Times represented people with complicated immigration statuses themselves. Mikhel A. Crichlow, the 27-year-old co-chairman of the International Youth Association, said he appeared on Tuesday because he was undocumented and could not work in the field he trained in, which is architecture. Mr. Crichlow said he moved to New York City 12 years ago when the city’s Department of Education recruited his mother from Trinidad and Tobago to work as a schoolteacher. While Mr. Crichlow’s mother is in the country legally and about to qualify for her green card, Mr. Crichlow has become too old to remain here legally.

“The ‘illegal’ word conjures up the wrong associations for people,” Mr. Crichlow said. “I’m not authorized to work because of my status.”

Mr. Vargas said he had mixed emotions about The New York Times’s updated policy.

“The New York Times can’t have it both ways,” he said. “But at the end of the day, the bottom line is I am for reporters, including reporters at The New York Times, to be as descriptive and contextual as possible.”
 
#27 ·
And another one!

http://news.yahoo.com/lower-tuition-immigrants-becomes-law-152911238.html

Lower tuition for immigrants becomes law in Colo.
Bill granting in-state tuition for students illegally in the US signed into law in Colo.

DENVER (AP) -- Immigrant students will pay significantly less in tuition at Colorado colleges under legislation signed by Gov. John Hickenlooper on Monday.
Hundreds cheered as the Democratic governor ratified legislation that was first proposed a decade ago but regularly rejected under less favorable circumstances for people in the U.S. illegally.
"Holy smokes, are you guys fired up?" he asked the loud, spirited crowd at the Metropolitan State University of Denver. "Yeah, I thought so."
Colorado becomes the fourteenth state to allow immigrants who graduate from state high schools to attend colleges at the tuition rate other in-state students pay, rather than a higher rate paid by out-of-state students.
This month, a similar proposal was signed into law in Oregon. Texas was the first pass such a measure in June 2001.
Among those in attendance at the signing ceremony was Val Vigil, a former lawmaker who first introduced the bill in 2003 when only a few states had passed it. At the time, only two people signed up to testify in favor of the bill in committee, he recalled, and more than 20 people showed up to oppose it.
When the plan was discussed in 2008, immigrant students who signed up to testify in favor had their names turned over to federal immigration authorities by opponents of the bill.
When the bill was heard in the House Education Committee in February, no opponents signed up to testify.
"It took 10 years of coalition building," Vigil said.
The new law grants in-state tuition for Colorado high school graduates regardless of their immigration status. To qualify, students must also sign an affidavit saying they are seeking, or will seek, legal status in the U.S.
The out-of-state rate immigrants in Colorado had been required to pay is sometimes more than three times higher than the in-state rate.
"Every kid matters," Hickenlooper said. "We need every child that we can get to be as educated as they are capable."
Other states that allow in-state tuition for immigrants in the country illegally include California, Utah and Connecticut.
Oscar Juarez, originally from Mexico City, has attended Metro State for two semesters. The 21-year-old moved to Colorado from Arizona after lawmakers there passed a strict immigration enforcement law a few years ago.
"And now having to pay less, it's a lot easier and a lot less stress for myself and my parents as well," he said.
Juarez said he's seen the opinions of the public and Colorado lawmakers change in recent years. He said he has seen "the hatred from people" decline.
People outside of the immigrant community are "actually comprehending on our problems" and realizing that immigrants such as himself are "just here to have a successful life and give to this country."
Democrats unanimously supported the bill and a handful of Republicans joined them. In years past there has been opposition from both sides.
The majority of Republican lawmakers still opposed the measure but said during debates they sympathized with immigrant students.
Republicans argued that the overall immigration system is flawed and needs to change. They said that because the students are not in the country legally they will be unable to find work after college and that the tuition change would only give them false hope.
Supporters repeatedly argued that wasn't the case.
"Today we're here to tell you," said state Sen. Mike Johnston, one of the sponsors of the bill, "in Colorado that the doors are open and the dream is alive."
___
Find Ivan Moreno on Twitter: http://twitter.com/IvanJourno
 
#32 ·
Really? Expelled, arrested and two felony accounts?
"Kiera Wilmot, a student at Bartow High School, is facing two felony charges including making or attempting to make a destructive device after she mixed toilet bowl cleaner and pieces of aluminum foil in a tiny water bottle."
"The experiment was conducted in a school yard away from the building and away from students. No one was injured in the incident"
http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarne...-project-lands-exemplary-student-in-jail.html
 
#33 ·
I can't even make this shit up if I tried

http://news.yahoo.com/allow-non-citizens-vote-205400099.html

Advocates say non-citizens pay the same taxes as citizens, and have the same concerns — about education, crime, and more
On Thursday, the New York City Council started debating a proposal that would give non-citizens the right to vote in municipal elections. If passed, all legal residents of New York City, regardless of citizenship, would be able to vote as long as they had lived in the city for at least six months and passed all the other standard voting requirements.
"This is extremely important, because it's based on the founding principle of this country and that was, 'No Taxation Without Representation,'" councilman Daniel Dromm, who co-authored the bill, told Talking Points Memo. "All of the people who would be included in this and would be allowed to vote are paying taxes, they've contributed to society."
SEE MORE: Major League Baseball's vexing instant replay problem
This is not just a pipe-dream either. Allan Wernick of the New York Daily News reports that the City Council has a veto-proof majority that supports the proposal. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has officially opposed the measure, telling TPM through his spokesperson that "you should have to go through the process of becoming a citizen and declaring allegiance to this country before being given that right."
Bloomberg also claims that it violates the state constitution. Some expert groups, like the New York County Bar Association and Brennan Center for Justice, say that as a charter city, New York can pass the bill without permission from the state, according to the Daily News.
SEE MORE: If Congress is so unpopular, why do lawmakers keep getting re-elected?
Another reason Bloomberg might oppose the bill? As Max Rivlin-Nadlerthis notes in Gothamist, "It would just drastically shift New York City's demographics towards a more progressive electorate." According to the latest Census data, more than 3 million New Yorkers are foreign-born, totaling nearly a third of the city's population (it should be noted that the Census doesn't include information on whether the foreign-born are U.S. citizens or foreign nationals.)
Wernick points out that non-citizens in New York City were previously allowed to vote in local school board elections before the city eliminated school boards. The reasoning behind that decision — that even non-citizen parents should have a say in how their children are educated — should apply to this larger bill, writes Wernick: "Now, permanent residents, who pay the same taxes as U.S. citizens, seek the same public safety, and serve and die for our country, want a say in electing those who run our city."
SEE MORE: Why Microsoft's Nook bid makes sense
What happens in New York City could affect campaigns to allow non-citizen voting in other cities like Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Portland, Maine. Several weeks ago, the California Assembly passed a bill allowing non-citizens to serve on juries. Its sponsor, assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, said it would help immigrants integrate into American society and make sure there were enough eligible people to serve on juries, according to The Los Angeles Times.
If approved, New York City's bill to expand voting rights to non-citizens could go into effect as early as November.
 
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