US Congress may lift HIV travel restriction

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Here’s something I didn’t know: Since 1993, the US is one of only a few countries that has heavily restricted foreign visitors who are HIV-positive, forcing them to obtain approval from the Department of Homeland Security before entering the country.

Several lawmakers want that seemingly outmoded rule changed, however, and a bill is being introduced to do just that. From the AP:

“Now language in a bill extending the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief would delete the restriction. The bill, which directs billions to AIDS programs worldwide and is enthusiastically supported by President Bush, is set for a vote Thursday in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.”

The Bush Administration has expressed that they too are troubled by the HIV-positive travel ban, but many are worried that the proposed solution might be worse than the problem. Under the new scheme, HIV-positive travelers would likely need approval from the US consulate in their home country before visiting the US. In addition, they would need to agree not to apply for an extended stay or permanent residency in the US.

It’s unclear how many HIV-positive travelers are denied entry to the US every year, especially since US officials have no way to know the medical history of every person who enters the country. But international AIDS conferences and summits have frequently had to be held outside the US because of the HIV restriction.

For more, read The Atlantic’s Andrew Sullivan on why he thinks the policy is “anachronistic and stigmatizing.”

Obesity in Australia now requires larger ambulances

by Grant Martin on

Any health professional will tell you about the epidemic of obesity that is sweeping the country. With over thirty percent of the populous in this category, health care costs are skyrocketing, diabetes is becoming more common and the situation is spiraling out of control.

Apparently we’re not the only country with these problems. The crisis in Australia has gotten so out of hand that they had to start ordering “mega-lift” ambulances to accommodate patients. Apparently, the occurrence of passengers too large to fit inside of the vehicles became so common that they had no choice but to get larger units. Each mega-lift ambulance is fitted with reinforced stretchers, special wheelchairs and wider cabins, all at three times the cost of a regular vehicle.

Looking through the statistical data on obesity around the world, I was surprised at the percentages of Australians in this category. This year, over half of the adult population in the country is classified as obese, a staggering 7.4 million individuals.

I wonder when the airlines will catch on and start making wider seats?

Lancaster, Pennsylvania hotel must stop operating under Days Inn brand

by Jeffrey White on

As the Clinton and Obama campaigns crisscross Pennsylvania in advance of next month’s key primary there, we all can be reasonably assured that one place aids and campaign vols won’t be staying is the Days Inn Lancaster.

Why? Two reasons, really. For one, it’s the dirtiest hotel in Pennsylvania. And for another, it technically doesn’t exist anymore.

Days Inn Lancaster ranks ninth in TripAdvisor’s annual who’s who survey of the dirtiest hotels in the U.S. Now it seems that the Wyndham Hotel Group, which owns the Days Inn chain, is doing something about it. The company has handed the Days Inn Lancaster a cease and desist order from operating under the Days Inn brand.

The hotel had been independently owned and operated in a franchise arrangement. Wyndham spokesman Rich Roberts tells the Washington Post that the move was a result of the hotel “failing to meet quality standards.”

Ah, but this doesn’t mean that this sleazy place is shutting down entirely. The Post called the hotel, which confirmed that it would continue to operate, just without Days Inn signs, logos, etc.

My recommendation if you find yourself in Lancaster, hard up for a place to stay: Sleep in your car.

Airport security: TSA endangers sick teen’s life

by Jeffrey White on

An ill Orlando teenager was thwarted in the screening line of Orlando International Airport a few weeks ago, when security workers for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) insisted on inspecting a back-up feeding tube he carries with him in a sealed, clear sterilized plastic bag.

James Hoyne, 14, has a feeding tube in his stomach and always has a second one in reserve, if he needs it. Orlando television station WFTV reports that a TSA officer opened the back-up tube to inspect it, over the teen’s objections, thus contaminating the feeding tube that Hoyne said he turned out to later need.

Hoyne recounted his conversation with the screener for WFTV: “I said, ‘Please don’t open it’ and she said, ‘I have to open it whether you like it or not. If I can’t open it, I can’t let you on the plane’.”

The television station reports that the TSA has apologized to the boy and is opening an investigation as to what could have been done to avoid the incident.

The gut answer, of course: use common sense. But in reality, the screener, no matter how nonsensical, was doing her job.

Still, it would seem that even if the screener had the most rudimentary understanding of the TSA’s list of prohibited items, it would have been easy for her to conclude that the boy’s spare feeding tube — sans liquid, mind you — certainly qualified for acceptance under the TSA’s allowed “special needs devices,” or, as the administration says, “Items used to augment the body for medical or cosmetic reasons.”

But security officers are, if nothing else, a very literal lot. Theirs is not the business of judgment calls. I’m guessing the TSA will now need to go in and specifically put ‘feeding tubes’ on the approved list to prevent such an incident from happening again.

Have you had any run-ins with the TSA lately? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Even more TSA fun:

What strange things have been found on planes?


Click the image to read the bizarre story…

Update on miracle baby who took a train toilet tumble

by Jamie Rhein on

A week has passed since I posted about the baby who was born prematurely while her mother was using the toilet on a train in India. As with many global stories, unless there’s some big breaking news, we rarely hear what happened next. It’s like traveling on a highway, seeing a big wreck on the other side of the meridian, but never really finding out what happened. We think about the wreck for a few miles or so, perhaps tell someone what we saw after we arrive at our destination, if we remember, but often our attention has already turned to the latest thing to pass in front of us.

After doing a quick Web search to look for information about the baby’s well-being and ending up with my own post, I headed toThe Times of India for news. The latest update I found is from March 1. The baby–a girl, either to be named Jodhaa or Karishma, had just begun to drink her mother’s breast milk through a tube. She’s also on extensive antibiotics in order to combat any infection from the umbilical cord being ripped off (and I expect spending the first seconds of life in a toilet). The umbilical cord was found by her where she lay at the side of the tracks. The doctors think that she must have not been born head first but landed on her hip since there is some internal injury there, but it doesn’t seem serious. Wow!

The hospital is not charging for the baby’s care since the family doesn’t have any money and the station master who found her spent his day off from work going to Ahmedabad to see her. (see article)

These are the details that make me start singing Louis Armstrong’s tune, “I see trees of green, red roses too….and I think to myself, what a wonderful world.” There is a line about babies. (Click here for the song)