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Colbert officially withdraws Presidential bid; Obama supporters pressured South Carolina

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Two prominent South Carolina supporters of Barack Obama pressured the state Democratic council to keep Stephen Colbert off the primary ballot. The Council voted 13-3 last week against Colbert’s placement on the ballot.

According to an anonymous member of the council who felt pressured, one of those people was State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum, who admitted she had made the calls. “I think lobbying was too strong a word,” she said in an interview with CNN. “I called them to see what they were thinking, and if they had made up their mind. I am a volunteer in that campaign, and so I am not a staffer. And I thought it could have taken votes away from a lot of people.”

Another Obama supporter, state Representative Bakari Sellers, also admitted to making the calls. “I placed the calls as a concerned Democrat, realizing that we are a country in despair,” Sellers told CNN. “It is not a time for games or to make a mockery of the process.”

Yesterday Colbert officially withdrew from the race. “I am shocked and saddened by the South Carolina Democratic Executive Council’s 13-to-3 vote to keep me off their presidential primary ballot,” he said in the statement. “Although I lost by the slimmest margin in presidential election history — only 10 votes — I have chosen not to put the country through another agonizing Supreme Court battle. It is time for this nation to heal.”

According to Tenenbaum, the reason she did not want Colbert on the ballot was financial and not political. For every name the Democrats put on the ballot in South Carolina, they have to pay US$20,000 to the state election commission.

The Obama campaign denied any connection to the phone calls.

In related news, at a book signing at Borders Book Store in New York City last night, a protester posing as a member of the press disrupted the event, demanding Colbert make statements about 7 World Trade Center. Despite preliminary findings by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology that fire caused them, some conspiracy theorists believe the dramatic building collapses on September 11, including that of building seven, were the result of controlled demolition. NIST has “found no evidence of a blast or controlled demolition event”, though in its final report on building 7, they would “like to determine the magnitude of hypothetical blast scenarios that could have led to the structural failure of one or more critical elements.”

“What about World Trade Center Number 7, Stephen?” shouted the protester. “What are you going to say about that? Why don’t you give us a witty remark and make a joke about it? Keep smirking, Stephen!” The protester was removed by the book store’s security.

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Kentucky lawmaker in critical condition after fight in high school cafeteria

Saturday, April 16, 2011

One of Kentucky’s newest state lawmakers, who also serves as a high school teacher, sustained a critical head injury Tuesday morning while intervening to break up a fight between two students in the school’s cafeteria.

State Representative DeWayne Bunch (R), 49, was listed in “extremely critical” condition when he was taken to the Baptist Regional Medical Center in Corbin, Kentucky, immediately following the fight between two male teens.

Bunch was reported as being unconscious and bleeding from the ears when emergency responders arrived at Whitley County High School.

The fight, between a fifteen- and sixteen-year-old, was caught by a surveillance camera which showed Bunch being punched by the sixteen-year-old, according to the sheriff. It is not clear what started the fight, which took place in the school’s cafeteria during breakfast.

The teens have been charged with one count of first-degree assault and two counts of third-degree assault. They are both in custody at a juvenile detention center according to the sheriff.

Bunch was later transported to University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky. His family has requested no information be publicly released about his condition.

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Significance Of University Campus Tour In Higher Education

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Although a virtual university campus tour cannot simply replace the unprecedented benefits of having a physical interaction with a university or college, yet it can serve as a vital student recruitment tool, especially for international students who find it hard to manage time and resources to visit every campus before admission.

Owing to the rising popularity of the internet, an increasing number of prospective students are taking to the net to find out whether or not a university is worth applying to. A recent study conducted by Cappex showed that virtual tours are the most effective means to initially evaluate a university campus. In fact, 36 percent of the students said that they would “really like” to take a virtual tour of the campus whereas 30 percent called it a “must-have” feature of all university websites.

Although visiting a university campus in person is extremely beneficial yet the cost of travel prevents most of the students to limit their campus visits to just a few colleges. But for a student who is exploring close to 20 college websites, taking auniversity virtual tourcan help him shortlist only a few handful of colleges that he can physically visit. The cost of physical visits is indubitably higher for international students who are barely able to visit any college campus before making a final decision. Thus, virtual tours are especially advantageous for such students who can at least get a feel of the campus and see what it is like before getting enrolled.

Virtual tours are more like initial screening tests that are conducted by prospects before they begin with a more detailed investigation. Such tours can be conducted sitting in the comfort of your own home and can be repeated multiple times for students who seek a reminder about specific features. The virtual tours that are being created nowadays are often accentuated with information that further enhances the experience of the prospects and offers a deeper understanding of the place. These tours are the ideal way to lay focus on the best features of a university while demonstrating the essence of campus life.

If you are convinced, you must invest in creating a virtual university campus tour to attract more prospective students. Nowadays, a wide variety of video presentations, slideshows, and even PDFs have been labeled as virtual tours and floated into the market. It is important to understand that today’s youth is quite well-informed and thus, they will only be attracted by sophisticated, well-designed, informative and mobile-accessible virtual tours that give them a good sense of the place. After all, they will be spending their next two to four years of their lives on that campus. So, look for a reliable agency with considerable experience and talent to create a virtual tour.

HIV-positive man receives 35 years for spitting on Dallas police officer

Sunday, May 18, 2008

An HIV-positive man was sentenced to 35 years in prison Wednesday, one day after being convicted of harassment of a public servant for spitting into the eye and open mouth of a Dallas, Texas police officer in May 2006. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that no one has ever contracted HIV from saliva, and a gay-rights and AIDS advocacy group called the sentence excessive.

A Dallas County jury concluded that Willie Campbell’s act of spitting on policeman Dan Waller in 2006 constituted the use of his saliva as a deadly weapon. The incident occurred while Campbell, 42, was resisting arrest while being taken into custody for public intoxication.

“He turns and spits. He hits me in the eye and mouth. Then he told me he has AIDS. I immediately began looking for something to flush my eyes with,” said Waller to The Dallas Morning News.

Officer Waller responded after a bystander reported seeing an unconscious male lying outside a building. Dallas County prosecutors stated that Campbell attempted to fight paramedics and kicked the police officer who arrested him for public intoxication.

	It’s been 25 years since the virus was identified, but there are still lots of fears.

Prosecutors said that Campbell yelled that he was innocent during the trial, and claimed a police officer was lying. Campbell’s lawyer Russell Heinrichs said that because he had a history of convictions including similarly attacking two other police officers, biting inmates, and other offenses, he was indicted under a habitual offender statute. The statute increased his minimum sentence to 25 years in prison. Because the jury ruled that Campbell’s saliva was used as a deadly weapon, he will not be eligible for parole until completing at least half his sentence.

	If you look at the facts of this case, it was clear that the defendant intended to cause serious bodily injury.

The organization Lambda Legal (Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund), which advocates for individuals living with HIV, says that saliva should not be considered a deadly weapon. Bebe Anderson, the HIV projects director at Lambda Legal, spoke with The Dallas Morning News about the sentence. “It’s been 25 years since the virus was identified, but there are still lots of fears,” said Anderson.

The Dallas County prosecutor who handled the trial, Jenni Morse, said that the deadly weapon finding was justified. “No matter how minuscule, there is some risk. That means there is the possibility of causing serious bodily injury or death,” said Morse. Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins stated: “If you look at the facts of this case, it was clear that the defendant intended to cause serious bodily injury.”

	Contact with saliva, tears, or sweat has never been shown to result in transmission of HIV.

A page at the CDC’s website, HIV and Its Transmission, states: “HIV has been found in saliva and tears in very low quantities from some AIDS patients.” The subsection “Saliva, Tears, and Sweat” concludes that: “Contact with saliva, tears, or sweat has never been shown to result in transmission of HIV.” On Friday the Dallas County Health Department released a statement explaining that HIV is most commonly spread through sexual contact, sharing needles, or transfusion from an infected blood product.

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