I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
The HIV-as-terrorism case involving 44-year-old Daniel Allen of Clinton Township is now the subject of at least two cyber-protests.
Allen was charged with terrorism in Macomb County because he allegedly bit a neighbor during a fight in October. The prosecutor, upon learning Allen was HIV-positive, announced he would seek additional charges from the original assault charges filed against Allen in October. When Allen, and his attorney James Galen showed up in court in November for the preliminary hearing, they were notified of the terrorism charge.
Law makers have questioned the charges.
And that charge has spurred two cyber protests. The first came within days of Allen’s Circuit Court arraignment, and ran in conjunction wit the Michigan Positive Action Coalition’s call for people to turn themselves in as bio-terrorists. It is a Facebook group called “You are an HIV or Swine Flu Terrorist.” That group has 118 members.
The second protest comes from Change.org. There, Michael Jones writes:
That’s a charge that the Michigan legislature intended to direct toward terrorists bent on using biological weapons to attack Americans. But for Eric Smith, it’s a charge he wants to use to send a message that HIV-positive people themselves are terrorists.
Smith’s decision to prosecute Allen with bioterrorism charges is entirely ignorant of science. According to the Center for Disease Control, it is nearly impossible to transmit HIV through a human bite, and there’s no evidence that asserts that HIV can be spread through saliva.
On top of that, Smith’s decision sends a cold message that HIV-positive people are a danger to their community. It’s the type of decision that fosters ignorance and paranoia about HIV, and could lead to serious discrimination toward HIV-positive residents of Michigan.
While biting someone should never be tolerated, charging someone with bioterrorism for doing so is a gross misuse of justice, and a sorry effort to criminalize those with HIV. Demand that Prosecutor Eric Smith drop this HIV-as-terrorism charge.
That move has garnered 315 signatures and letters to Prosecutor Smith.
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