Man Detained After Stalking Malia Obama

A longtime stalker of President Barack Obama’s oldest daughter Malia has been arrested in New York after he showed up at her internship. Jair Nilton Cardoso, of Brooklyn, had already tried to get into the White House several times in the past. He recently showed up in the Tribeca building where Malia interns for moviemaker Harvey Weinstein, holding a sign outside an office window begging her to marry him. Secret Service agents asked him to leave her alone, but he didn’t get the message. Two days later he followed Malia when she exited a building in the West Village. After the agents interviewed him they concluded he clearly has mental issues and reported him to the police. No charges have been filed.

She’s only 18…not that it would make it better if she were older, but she’s a kid. Jesus. https://t.co/HPkhbHlakQ

— Yashar (@yashar) April 19, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post RantCrush Top 5: April 20, 2017 appeared first on Law Street.

Many people see shopping as a hobby or something to look forward to, but for people with autism, it is a hard task that often becomes overwhelming because of the crowds and noises. That is why some stores in the U.S. are now organizing days of “silent shopping” specifically for people on the autism spectrum and just in time for the holidays. Patti Erickson from the Greater Philadelphia Autism Society started the initiative and got her local Toys R Us store to catch on. On Saturday, the store hosted an event that attracted more than 30 families.

For silent shopping, the music normally playing in the store is turned off. “They’re processing it differently, and it could maybe even sound like nails scratching on a chalkboard to them,” said Erickson, who has a 26-year-old daughter with autism. Sensory stations with toys and kinetic sand were set up in the store to offer a distraction that the kids could focus all their attention on if they needed a break. “Different sensory things help them get acclimated to the store and grounds their body so they can really stay focused and can almost ignore anything else around them that would bother them,” according to Erickson.

For families of those on the autism spectrum, shopping can be difficult. Some stores are now offering quiet shopping https://t.co/ck8xndClAM pic.twitter.com/V7o2wXg4aj

— CNN (@CNN) December 9, 2016

Autism is defined by difficulties in social interaction and communication, and engaging in repetitive behaviors. Though some people on the autism spectrum excel at specific skills–like music, art, and mathematics–some cannot function on their own. People with autism often have trouble communicating verbally what they want or how they feel–about a third are nonverbal, but communicate through body or sign language instead. This makes it extra hard for parents who are holiday shopping and trying to determine what their kids want while avoiding situations that can be stressful for their children and people nearby.

We’ve teamed up with @ToysRUs in #Miami for #autism friendly quiet shopping hours on 12/10/2016. Learn more –> https://t.co/6o0CBX7AAx pic.twitter.com/8hegz72VWz

— American Autism Assn (@MyAutism) November 28, 2016

“When you have those parents who mutter under their breath and stare, you know, it hurts. A smile versus a stare makes such a difference,” Linda Moser, mother of 10-year-old Adam who was at the Pennsylvania store, told CNN. But at the same time, it can be good to practice difficult situations both for parents and children. “If we’re avoiding those situations, we’re not able to teach them how to navigate them,” said Candice Colón-Kwedor from the May Institute School for Autism and Developmental Disabilities. The ultimate goal for family members of children with autism is that they can go into stores or public places and enjoy it.

After the silent shopping success, more stores are following the lead this Saturday, like the Target in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and the Toys R Us in Miami. If more businesses join the cause, it could lead to a meaningful lesson in diversity. When more individuals with autism were seen out and about, the general public’s knowledge and acceptance of autism might increase. “When you have something like this, it makes it easier on everyone, and that can mean so much to a family,” Erickson said.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Stores Organize Silent Holiday Shopping for Kids with Autism appeared first on Law Street.

The Twittersphere was treated to a particularly strange dose of conspiracy theory nuttiness this week when rapper B.oB. went head-to-head with famed scientist Neil DeGrasse Tyson over whether or not the earth is flat. Fellow Law Streeter Alexis Evans published an excellent rundown of the bizarre feud on Tuesday, but it got me thinking: why do so many seemingly insane conspiracy theories exist? After all, we all know that the earth is round, and vaccines don’t cause autism, and that Elvis Presley is probably dead. But then, some conspiracy theories do kind of turn out to true–take, for example, the NSA spying on Americans. So, how do we separate the crazy from the not-so-crazy? Turns out University of Oxford postdoctoral research associate David Robert Grimes has figured out a way, by determining how long it would take conspiracy theories to be debunked.

Grimes essentially set out to answer a simple question: how long would it take for the truth to come out about a conspiracy theory? In order to test the equation he developed, Grimes looked at three conspiracy theories that have turned out to be true, and compared them to four other long-standing theories, in an attempt to figure out how long it would have taken those theories to be debunked, whether intentionally or accidentally.

The three “true” conspiracy theories that Grimes looked at were:

• The NSA’s spying program, which whistle-blower Edward Snowden released information about in 2013.
• The Tuskegee syphilis experiment, a horrifying “clinical study” that involved researchers essentially experimenting on and withholding treatment from 600 African-American male participants.
• The FBI’s use of questionable techniques and pseudo-science in sworn testimony, particularly involving the FBI’s microscopic hair comparison unit, that led to hundreds of wrongful convictions.

According to Grimes, these conspiracy theories were exposed in six years, 25 years, and six years respectively. Grimes’ equation takes into account conditions like how many people would have to be involved in each coverup and the amount of effort the coverups would require. So he was able to mathematically calculate how long it should take a secret to be exposed–whether from a whistle-blower’s actions or accidentally.

Using that calculation, he was able to determine how long it would take four popular conspiracy theories to have been debunked:

• NASA faking the moon landing would have been uncovered in four years.
• Climate change, if only concealed by climate scientists, would have taken 27 years to be debunked. But, if you involved scientific bodies and agencies, the possible cover up time drops to under four years.
• The conspiracy theory that vaccines aren’t safe would take just over three years if drug companies were involved, but much longer (35 years) if it was limited to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.
• If pharmaceutical companies knew how to cure cancer but were withholding those cures from the public, we would have found out in a little over three years.

According to Think Progress’s Lauren C. Williams:

For a conspiracy to last five years, just over 2,500 people could actively know the truth before it’s revealed. Fewer than 1,000 people can know about it to keep the conspiracy alive for 10 years, and only 125 people could be involved to keep a conspiracy going for a century, the study found.

So, is the world flat? Well, we already know it’s not, but now here’s proof that if it is, it defies what science tells us in more ways than one.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post The Earth isn’t Flat: The Science of Waiting Out Conspiracy Theories appeared first on Law Street.

Rene Hoover, whose son Alex suffers from a terminal heart condition, refuses to allow her son to return to school in fear that school officials will not allow him to die naturally. She’s now locked in a battle with the school over how to proceed and best care for her son.

Fourteen-year-old Alex Hoover is autistic and suffers from aortic mitral valve stenosis, which occurs when the aortic valve narrows and restricts blood flow. Hoover has endured years of hospitalizations, four catheterization procedures, and continues to receive hospice care twice a week for his condition. Alex’s mother told the Decatur Daily that she does not want to put her son through another procedure. Although doctors may be able to help prolong Alex’s life if he were to go into cardiac arrest and be revived, his mother believes that his quality of life would be greatly diminished.

Rene explained:

That would be the rest of his life, surgeries and treatments. As a kid with autism, it is very hard on him mentally and physically because he doesn’t understand. Just typical doctors’ appointments are extremely hard on him. For my son, I choose quality, peace and happiness over that.

Alex’s autism has hindered his ability to speak, and because of that his mother obtained an advance directive to guarantee that medical professionals “do not resuscitate” if Alex were to go into cardiac arrest.

But the problem is that Limestone County school board officials have refused to honor the advance directive. Do not resuscitate orders only apply to individuals 19 or older in the state of Alabama. With the lack of a state of federal policy on how schools should handle a situation like the Hoover’s, the school administration has decided to follow standard medical procedure. Rene Hoover requested that she attend classes with Alex for a few hours each week to ensure that she can make medical decisions for him, but the school declined based on a policy about how much time parents can spend on campus. Rene said in response:

My child has a right to be there just like any other child in that school … For him to not be able to go to school and finish out the last days that he has, it breaks my heart.

From a policy standpoint, the school administration is put in a tough position here. However, the administration could be doing more to protect Alex and his mother’s wishes for him as members of the school community. Obviously the nature of Alex’s situation is unique and devastating, and there is no question that he deserves to spend the remainder of his life happy with his friends in school. The school has an opportunity here to set the standard for how schools around the country respond to the unique needs of students (and their families) with illnesses.

Kui Mwai

Kui Mwai is a junior at American University, studying Law and Literature. She is from Nairobi, Kenya. Contact Kui at Staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Alabama Mom Battles School Over Treatment of Terminally Ill Son appeared first on Law Street.