Blog Topic

COULD UK SCHOOLS BE WORSE THAN OURS
Posted by: Darrell Castle
March 31, 2010

This column attempts to keep up with the state of American education especially the state of the American public school system.

Today we consider an article about the schools of our friends from Great Britain. The article comes from The Guardian and is entitled, "Teachers Reveal Toll of Violence Against Them in Schools."

"A quarter of school staff have suffered violence at the hands of a student and a third have been confronted by aggressive parents, a teaching union said today. Members of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) told of receiving death threats from families, being groped by students, and police having to be called as a parent rampaged around a school."

Teachers report that attacks against other students as well as attacks against teachers have become common in primary schools. Almost 40 percent of teachers said they have considered leaving the profession because of bad behavior.

Many proposals have been put forward to deal with the problem of student violence including requiring parents to attend parenting classes and cutting the benefits of parents. I suppose that cutting the benefits of parents means that in Great Britain parents are now paid by the government to allow their children to attend school and exhibit violent, aggressive behavior toward teachers and other students.

Here in the United States we have similar problems. Violent, aggressive behavior is on the rise and we have had several nationally known incidents of murder in the last few years.

What's causing all this violent behavior among our children? I'm sure there are many things involved but I would like to offer a few of my own. By the time our children reach the 5^th or 6^th grade, they have undoubtedly seen thousands of acts of violence including murder and rape on television. In addition many or most have actually committed many such acts by constantly playing violent video games. There is no doubt that such games desensitize us to violence because the military now uses them to desensitize new soldiers to violence and killing as a way of life.

Add to the televised violence and acted out violence in video games, the pornographic degradation of women that children grow up with on their computers, and you have a recipe for mayhem and disaster.

If that were all, it would be more than enough but there's more. Take all those things I have mentioned and mix them in a valueless, morally bankrupt culture and feed them to children and you will get today's school system.

If our schools can be saved the change must start with the valueless, morally bankrupt culture and right now that appears to be getting worse, not better.

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TARDIVE DYSKINESIA AND REGLAN
Posted by: Darrell Castle
March 23, 2010

Do you suffer from repetitive and involuntary movements of the face; excessive blinking and erratic eye movements; involuntary protrusions of the tongue; lip smacking; constant grimacing; difficulty moving the fingers? Has your illness been diagnosed as tardive dyskinesia?

If you have symptoms of tardive dyskinesia and have taken Reglan for a period of 12 weeks or more, your problems could be related to your use of Reglan. There is currently a high demand for medications to treat gastrointestinal disorders and one of those medications is Reglan. These drugs usually contain an ingredient called an antiemetic which is meant to control nausea or excessive vomiting. The antiemetic also increases the movement of stomach muscles to aid the emptying process. There is apparently a danger that this muscle movement can be transferred to other muscles and can be permanent.

The FDA has recently stated that the prolonged use of Reglan can have serious and often permanent side effects. A public health warning was issued by the FDA to patients and physicians in an attempt to avoid the symptoms of tardive dyskinesia. No treatment for this condition is currently available and the symptoms are often permanent.

If you or a loved one is currently experiencing the symptoms of tardive dyskinsea, you should seek help now. Call me immediately for a free case evaluation. There is no charge for the conversation.

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ANDREE PEEL (AGENT ROSE)
Posted by: Darrell Castle
March 17, 2010

I am going to depart for one day from my usual format of bankruptcy and personal injury information to report on one life well lived.

Born Andree Marthe Virot , she was running a beauty salon in the Breton Port of Brest, France when World War II broke out. After the German invasion of France she joined the French resistance and was eventfully appointed head of an under-section of the resistance. She was known as Agent Rose to Allied forces operating in France and Germany. It is reported that she saved the lives of 102 downed airmen by guiding them through France to the coast where they were picked up by submarine or boat for return to England so they could climb back in another bomber. She gave aid to over 20,000 other airmen who crashed in France.

Just imagine what terror one would feel when shot down over Nazi occupied France. You find yourself falling toward the earth in the pitch black French night only to be rescued by one brave woman. To do what she did, she risked death, torture, rape, and imprisonment every day for years.

She was finally arrested by the Gestapo in Paris just after the D-Day invasion in June, 1944. She was beaten and tortured for information, then sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp. Eventually she was transferred to Buchenwald where she was scheduled to be executed by firing squad but she was rescued by the American army when they liberated Buchenwald. She contracted meningitis in the camps and survived that as well.

Andree was awarded the French Legion of Honor, the Medal of Freedom by the United States, and the King's Commendation by Great Britain, along with many other medals. She also received a personal letter of appreciation from Winston Churchill.

Andree married John Peel, an English student, and they ran a restaurant and practiced non-medical healing techniques. Mr. Peel died in 2003 and they had no children. She published her autobiography in 1999 entitled "Miracles Do Happen."

Finally, complications from a broken hip accomplished what the German Army was unable to accomplish in five years of war and Andree Peel died March 5, 2010 at the age of 105. Her death was widely reported in French and British newspapers as well as the New York Times. I gathered much of this information from those sources.

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RUNAWAY PRIUS
Posted by: Darrell Castle
March 12, 2010

James Sikes got a 94 mph ride on a San Diego freeway thanks to a stuck accelerator on his Toyota Prius. A California Highway Patrol officer heard Mr. Sikes' 911 call then drove along beside him and directed him in a plan to stop the car.

Mr. Sikes said he accelerated to pass a car and the pedal went to the floor and stuck there. The brakes didn't work but he could smell them burning. The CHP officer told him over a loudspeaker to push the brake pedal to the floor and apply the emergency brake. The officer then directed him to a steep upgrade and they got it to slow enough for the patrol car to get in front of the Prius as a blocker. When the car slowed to less than 50 mph, Mr. Sikes was able to turn off the engine and coast to a stop.

Mr. Sikes reported that he had taken the car for service in response to the recall notice but Toyota refused to fix it. They would only tie down the floor mat with plastic ties. Toyota is very fortunate that no one was killed in this one.

One day later another Toyota Prius, this time in New York, took another driver on a wild ride. The driver stated that her 2005 Prius flew out of her driveway, crossed a busy street, and smashed into a stone wall. Police suspect a stuck accelerator is the cause of the crash.

Floor mats were not the problem because, once again, the floor mats were tied down with plastic ties. The investigating officer reported that the car hit the stone wall so hard that several "boulders" were hurled about 10 feet from the crash site.

The 56 year old woman suffered non-life threatening injuries in the crash. Once again, Toyota is fortunate that children weren't playing behind her and that she didn't kill someone.

If you or someone you know has been seriously injured in a crash such as these, call me and let's talk about it.

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VACCINE MAKERS ARE MORE PRECIOUS THAN CHILDREN
Posted by: Darrell Castle
March 11, 2010

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to consider the case of Hannah Bruesewitz, a little girl left developmentally impaired after receiving a diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccination. Two Pennsylvania courts have rejected her parent's efforts to seek compensation from pharmaceutical maker Wyeth. The lower courts' rejection was based upon a 1988 law granting vaccine makers immunity from "any damages arising from a vaccine-related injury or death associated with the administration of a vaccine."

The case before the Supreme Court is relying on a Georgia court ruling allowing parents to bring such claims. The Supreme Court quoted from the Georgia decision in agreeing to hear the case, "After exhausting administrative remedies in the vaccine program, children in Georgia who are injured by vaccines may bring design defect claims against vaccine manufactures when the use of safer alternative vaccines could have avoided their injuries."

So it is possible that this fall the Supreme Court may grant Hannah and many others like her the right to seek compensation for a lifetime of suffering inflicted upon her and her family by the various vaccine manufacturers of the nation. A decision in Hannah's favor will be of monumental importance to Tort or injury compensation law in the United States. There could be thousands of Hannah's out there suffering in silence.

My best guess is that if Hannah wins, Wyeth will seek settlement as quickly as possible to prevent discovery of all those skeletons in their closet. Skeletons might look something like Bill Gates' statement a few days ago when he announced that his foundation wanted to vaccinate every child on earth in the "developing world" and that would reduce the world's population by 10 to 17 percent. Bill apparently thinks that the deaths of hundreds of millions would be a good thing.

Well, I hope that Hannah and her parents get their victory for them and for all the Hannah's of the future.

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TOYOTA IS NUMBER ONE IN CRASH COMPLAINTS
Posted by: Darrell Castle
March 02, 2010

The New York Times recently reviewed 12,700 complaint records in the United States over the last decade and found that Toyota had more complaints involving crashes than any other carmaker. Many of the complaints against Toyota were about vehicles not involved in the recalls. For example, the 2002 Camry had about 175 speed control complaints with about half of those involving crashes.

According to The Times article, federal safety regulators said they had received complaints alleging that unintended acceleration in Toyotas caused 34 deaths.

"Of the 12,700 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration consumer complaints analyzed by The Times, the Ford Motor Company had the most, about 3,500." Toyota was second but those complaints were linked to far more crashes, about 1000 compared to Ford's 450.

"A separate examination by The Times of transport ministry records in Japan revealed a similar finding. In reports since 2001, Toyota vehicles have been cited with a greater frequency in complaints of sudden acceleration than those of other major carmakers."

Toyota's chief executive, Akio Toyoda, testified before Congress last week and said that he was "absolutely confident" there was no problem with Toyota's electronics. Transportation officials in the U.S. are reviewing whether to expand their investigation to Toyotas already cleared. If NATSA can find evidence of a defect trend with Toyota they will open a defect investigation.

The single largest source of complaints about speed control involved the 2007 Camry. That model, along with newer Camrys, has been recalled twice in connection with unintended acceleration. A high incidence of crashes linked to speed control occurred in earlier models.

"For the government to order a recall, it must have proof of a potentially dangerous defect, which is difficult to find without cooperation from the automaker."

If you have suffered a serious injury from a crash involving an auto defect, consider getting advice from an experienced professional such as the lawyers at Darrell Castle and Associates.

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