Happy Turkey Day!

In Reading, Massachusetts Limpy the turkey is inspiring residents
and his 4,500 Facebook followers. It is unclear when Limpy first
arrived in this town, but he has claimed the town as his own, since
he has no regard for personal property and traffic signals.

Limpy's right leg is doesn't work as it should. However, he maintains his pluck (pun intended). Limpy is known to stop traffic by wandering in the middle of roads during rush hour. Also, he chases vehicles, especially mail trucks. Even when the mail truck is parked he will peck the tires and jump on the roof. I wonder how the mail person handles Limpy's mischievousness?

Limpy's unique character has brought this town together. People have made shirts, magnets, and the local bakery makes Limpy cookies. Proceeds from the shirts and magnets have raised $1,400 for the local food bank. Limpy is such a beloved turkey in this town, and with winter coming resident are not sure if he will stay, but they hope that he will, or if he does leave that he will return once winter has passed. Limpy has brought joy and laughter to the town of Reading, and they hope that he will do the same for those who read this article from The Guardian.

Protests in Chile

    

Protests in Santiago, Chile have been happening for over a month now with no end in sight. Currently, authorities and human rights groups have counted 23 deaths, about 7,000 detentions, and 2,391 demonstrators plus 1,000 officers injured. The catalyst for this unrest was a hike in metro fees, but frustrations have been building in people for awhile  over the growing income inequality gap and rising costs of living.  As protests and some riots progress, the police response is becoming increasingly more violent. For example, according to this Reuters article, written by Dave Sherwood, over 1,000 lawsuits were filed against Chile's security force alleging abuses, like torture and sexual violence. Also, Chile's police chief has been forced to suspend the use of rubber bullets after a study by Universidad de Chile, commissioned by Santiago's Salvador Eye Hospital with support from Red Cross Chile, found that rubber bullets causing eye injuries are only 20% rubber, the rest is lead and other materials. When speaking to Aislinn Laing, another reporter from Reuters who wrote this article, Patricio Acosta, the president of Red Cross Chile," said more people had lost the use of an eye in the past three weeks than in 20 years," because of excessive and improper use of tear gas and rubber bullets. Although I am still unclear what protesters are specifically demanding from the government, hopefully they accomplish the goals that are being fighting for, so the violence can come to an end.

College Tuition Rates

Within the next five to ten years economists and data analysts predict that the sticker prices of universities, like The University of Chicago, will reach $100,000. According to Alia Wong, the sticker price is the total cost of attendance, including "tuition and fees, supplies,... and lodging." Although The University of Chicago is the primary example of rising tuition rates in the article, Wong notes that many colleges and universities across the nation are well on their way to having six-figure price tags. This increase in the sticker price is attributed to increasing operational costs, lower enrollment, and a competition for prestige because expensive colleges are viewed as good colleges. Also, one of the largest expenditures for schools are their presidents' and executives' salaries. In addition, despite increasing sticker prices, most students pay $10,000 less than the average sticker price, which is roughly $37,000 a year. The growing sticker-net gap is fueling both financial difficulties for schools and low enrollment, since potential students are deterred from even applying to schools because the sticker prices are so expensive. Nationally, a cycle is developing where higher education needs more students enrolled at their institutions to be financially stable, but cannot attract students who are intimidated by school costs.

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/11/some-colleges-could-soon-cost-100000-year/601648/       

The Expanded "Conscience" Rule Was Overturned

The Trump administration's "conscience" rule would have allowed the federal government to punish health care facilities, cities, and states more easily by taking away funds if  health care workers were unable to decline performing medical procedures on the basis of moral and/or religious grounds. This rule was announced in May and is a part of Trump's larger agenda to "protect the civil rights of health care workers," despite infringing on other individuals' civil rights. Among those individuals rights that a Manhattan judge found would be violated were a woman's right to access feminine health care services. Furthermore, in the 147 page opinion, the judge found that the Department of Health and Human Services did not have the authority to make elements of the rule and to base the creation of this rule on an increase in complaints was "factually untrue". Although this specific rule will not be implemented, the conscience and religious freedom division in the Office for Civil Rights within the Health and Human Services agency will most likely continue to roll out similar rules hoping that one will pass judicial muster.


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/06/upshot/trump-conscience-rule-overturned.html