Acácio Cruz » usa

Middle America “Zero Tolerance” stupidity

Acácio — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 11:30:21 +0000

THE ZERO TOLERANCE MENTALITY, PART 4,260 IN A LONG SERIES: Adam
Hernandez, 15, a freshman at Shorewood (Wisc.) High School, was
arrested, handcuffed, and booked on a charge of theft after a friend
let him have his lunch. The friend was part of a free lunch program,
and Hernandez wasn’t, so eating the $2.60 chicken nugget meal was
“stealing,” school officials said, and they called police. But Police
Chief David Banaszynski finally decided to drop the charges just before
the boy went to trial; the school principal agreed with the decision.
“It shouldn’t have gone this far,” Banaszynski said. “There are other
means and methods to handle this kind of situation.” When asked whether
his officers should have made the arrest in the first place,
Banaszynski said the arrest was perhaps “a bit over the top,” but
“there’s more than one side of the story.” (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
…Right: there’s the ridiculous side, and then there’s the outrageous
side.

http://www.thisistrue.com

Let’s not rush

Acácio — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 23:00:53 +0000

From “This is True” (here: http://www.thisistrue.com/):

BUT HEY, LET’S NOT RUSH INTO ANYTHING: “Texas Will Soon Make Sure That Competent Lawyers Handle Death-Row Appeals” — Houston Chronicle headline

Mental Illness

Acácio — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 23:47:50 +0000

Mental Illness

Que mais dizer?! ;-)

Abuso de antibioticos

Acácio — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:36:50 +0000

MRSA

Um artigo interessante mas assustador sobre a forma como a industria agro-pecuária americana continua a abusar dos antibiótics na criação de animais (especialmente porcos) para consumo.
O resultado é a proliferação de organismos resistentes aos antibiótics, principalmente MRSA.

O que considero absurdo é a continuação de uma prática nos US quando existe um concenso (incl. nos US) que é uma prática perigosa. Apesar disso, os lobbies conseguem manter o status quo. Aqueles sacanas continuam a fazer merda de uma forma tão consistente que mete medo. Não há limite à ganância permitida (basta ver a crise económica actual…).

Article: Kristof: Pathogens in the pork

Reforma da segurança social americana

Acácio — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:36:00 +0000

Eu sempre me fascinei com a maneira completamente idiotica que os americanos lidam com o sistema de saúde (ou, mais precisamente, falta dele).

Um artigo no iht, examina o sistema em detalhe. Interessante é nota que os US têm o dobro da mortalidade infantil até aos 5 anos do que Portugal!

Artigo: http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/01/opinion/edkristof.php.

Obama notes

Acácio — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 00:26:26 +0000