The soul has greater need of the ideal than the real for it is by the real that we exist, it is by the ideal that we live

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Ignorance is not bliss

In yet another example of the rampant and destructive stupidity of Americans the Great Expressions Dental Center has harassed and terminated an employee who was diagnosed with HIV.

It would seem unconscionable in this day and age that someone, anyone, could be treated with such callous disregard except America is yet again celebrating their ignorance and hatred of everything they refuse to understand. Not to mention the egregious disregard for the law.


This simply cannot stand.  Too many people have been discriminated against, too many have been harassed, too many have died alone and rejected to allow this to continue.  The brainwashing that we endured for the past decade that living in fear and ignorance is good will take a very long time to reverse, if it ever can be. But we need to educate and that won't be easy given the state of education today.  It's not only our learning institutions that have failed, but out grassroots methods have failed as well.  We have to redesign and retool our educational methods in order to reach our new audience.  Being a member of academia I well understand how difficult, yet how important this will be to the future of our nation.

Tyrannical despots wielding too much power, grasping at straws to keep what they've got, and using their power to eliminate anyone who dares to stand up to them is the state of the current system, and it must be changed.  If tenure must be eliminated because of the many many abuses it has caused then so be it.

If saner minds must take control of grassroots teachings then so be it.

Because THIS must never be allowed to stand:

Detroit Dental Worker Pursued with Lysol, Banned from Touching Doorknobs, Fired from Job After HIV Diagnosis

A Change.org petition calling for the resignation of the regional director of Great Expressions Dental in Detroit for discriminatory tactics and hindrance of employment equal opportunity has been signed by more than 35,000 people following reports of the treatment of a former employee of the company after he was diagnosed with HIV:
GreatexpressionsAfter being diagnosed with HIV, James White was banned from touching doorknobs, was followed around by coworkers with bottles of Lysol, and subjected to sudden and abrupt schedule changes. After complying with the schedule changes, he was written up for "unexcused absences."

After seven months of enduring this vitriolic, unjustified discrimination, White fell ill and was hospitalized for a week. Great Expressions Dental called to terminate his employment the day before he was scheduled to return back to work.

White's lawyer, Nicole Thompson, has received the "right to sue" letter from the EEOC and is currently in the process of filing a lawsuit demanding compensatory and punitive damages of $140,000 and $45,000, respectively, and requiring the company to post notice of the agreement as well as providing training on HIV/AIDS and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

This extreme case of HIV discrimination and gross violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act is absolutely unacceptable. Every reputable medical establishment in the U.S., including the United States Centers for Disease Control, agrees that HIV/AIDS is not transmitted by casual contact.

And so it goes: