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Health <b>News</b>: The Most Controversial Stories Of 2011

Karzai’s office said in a statement that the woman and her attacker have agreed to marry. That would reverse an earlier decision by the 19-year-old woman, who had previously refused a judge’s offer of freedom if she agreed to marry the rapist.

Her plight was highlighted in a documentary that the European Union blocked because it feared the women featured in the film would be in danger if it were shown.

More than 5,000 people recently signed a petition urging Karzai to release the woman. She had the man’s child while in prison and raised her daughter behind bars, which is common among women imprisoned in Afghanistan.

A statement released by Karzai’s office says that after hearing from judicial officials, the decision was made to forgive the rest of the sentence she received for having sex out of wedlock, a crime in Afghanistan. The presidential statement did not say when the woman was to be released or how much prison time had been pardoned.

The woman told The Associated Press in an interview last month that she had hoped that attention generated by the EU film might help her get released. With the film blocked, she said that she was losing hope and considering marrying her rapist as a way out. She said her attacker was pressuring her to stop giving interviews.

About half of the 300 to 400 women jailed in Afghanistan are imprisoned for so-called “moral crimes” such as sex outside marriage, or running away from their husbands, according to reports by the United Nations and research organizations. Fleeing husbands isn’t considered a crime in Afghanistan.

The EU welcomed the woman’s release.

“Her case has served to highlight the plight of Afghan women, who 10 years after the overthrow of the Taliban regime often continue to suffer in unimaginable conditions, deprived of even the most basic human rights,” the European Union’s Ambassador and Special Representative to Afghanistan, Vygaudas Usackas, said.

He said the EU hoped the same mercy would be extended to other women serving similar terms. Usackas said he planned to raise the issue of Afghan women’s rights at an international conference on Afghanistan Dec. 5 in Bonn, Germany.

Some of the most severe restrictions women faced under the Taliban, like a ban on attending schools and having to have a male escort to venture outside the home, were done away with when the radical Islamic movement was driven from power in 2001. But Afghanistan remains a deeply conservative and male-dominated society, meaning women are still sold to husbands and rights enshrined in law are often ignored in practice.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-01-AS-Afghan-Woman-Pardoned/id-7ab96ff518ba4a97a8cd9b57f68a4cde

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Two centuries later, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is tapping into that legacy at a two-day summit of the Americas starting Friday. Chavez describes the new regional bloc that excludes the U.S. as a tribute to his idol, saying the time has come to put an end to U.S. hegemony.

“This is the achievement after 200 years of battle,” Chavez said Thursday. “The Monroe Doctrine was imposed here: America for Americans, the Yankees. They imposed their will during 200 years, but that’s enough.”

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega echoed Chavez’s statements, saying it’s time for Latin American and Caribbean countries to ensure the policy of U.S. intervention to protect hemispheric nations, declared by President James Monroe in 1823, is never revived.

“We are sentencing the Monroe Doctrine to death,” said Ortega, speaking before joining fellow presidents for the summit’s opening ceremony on Friday.

Chavez also sees the nascent Community of Latin American and Caribbean States as a tool to strengthen regional integration.

“We must march toward what Bolivar called a great political body,” Chavez said.

The 33-nation bloc, known by its Spanish initials CELAC, includes every country in Latin America and the Caribbean. Unlike the Washington-based Organization of American States, or OAS, it will have Cuba as a full member and will exclude the U.S. and Canada.

Cuban President Raul Castro also supported Chavez’s stance as he arrived Friday, saying the creation of the new bloc is “the biggest event in 200 years.”

Many Latin American leaders, however, say they see CELAC as a forum to build closer economic and political relations across the region rather than a platform for challenging U.S. policies.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon said at the summit’s opening ceremony that it will be a group “to work in favor of unity and prosperity.” He hosted a summit last year at which leaders pledged to form the new bloc.

Chavez embraced leaders one by one as they walked to a stage at the ceremony.

Some of Chavez’s opponents, including small groups of university students, put up protest signs on Caracas overpasses. Denouncing the country’s high crime rate, some signs read: “Presidents, welcome to the crime capital.” Police swiftly removed the signs

Many leaders referred to Bolivar’s legacy, including Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who called Bolivar an inspiration, but did not cast Washington as the region’s unwelcome neighbor.

“Our countries are demonstrating this vocation for a common future,” Rousseff said at a meeting with Chavez on Thursday. “Two hundred years ago, Caracas stood out like a light for the independence struggle. … I believe in Bolivar’s dream.”

Plans for the new organization, which grew out of the 24-nation Rio Group, have been in the works since a 2008 summit hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Chavez’s closest allies share his hopes of a region increasingly free of U.S. influence.

“With the creation of CELAC, Chavez is realizing his Bolivarian vision and dream for the region. Other CELAC participants will recognize Chavez for that and give him due credit,” said Michael Shifter, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue. “There is a strong strain of regionalism throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Chavez has long sought inspiration in the legacy of Bolivar, who in the early 1800s served as president of Gran Colombia, a republic made up of much of northern South America and modern-day Panama until it broke up into individual states following years of dissent and political upheaval.

Chavez calls his political movement the Bolivarian Revolution and has changed the country’s name to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Last year, Chavez even oversaw the opening of Bolivar’s coffin to re-examine the cause of his death, and the Venezuelan government is building a new mausoleum to house Bolivar’s remains.

Bolivar was an admirer of the American Revolution, although he warned the unrivaled power of the United States could eventually pose a threat to the young nations of Latin America that had won independence from Spain.

Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa, hailed the CELAC as an alternative to the OAS.

“It’s time to have a forum that’s more our own, closer to our reality, without the bias in favor of North America,” Correa said.

Leaders of Mexico, Chile and other countries said the new bloc will complement, not replace the OAS.

The OAS, meanwhile, announced on Friday that it will hold its next general assembly in June in Bolivia, whose president, Evo Morales, is a close ally of Chavez.

___

Associated Press writers Ian James and Jorge Rueda in Caracas contributed to this report.

___

Christopher Toothaker on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ctoothaker

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_venezuela_summit

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Israel last month stopped the transfer of tax revenues and other funds it collects on behalf of the Palestinians, retaliation for the Palestinians’ successful bid for admission to the United Nations’ cultural agency UNESCO, which was part of a larger effort to gain admission as a state in the world body.

Israel says a Palestinian state should be established through negotiations, and it accuses the Palestinians of acting unilaterally to bypass peace talks.

The monthly transfers of about $100 million, along with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in foreign aid, are crucial for keeping the government of Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas afloat.

Abbas’ prime minister, Salam Fayyad, said Sunday that he won’t be able to pay upcoming salaries, which are due in the first week of December.

He said the continued suspension of the tax transfers “has both an immediate impact on the lives of all employees and their dependents, some 1 million people … (and) has a devastating indirect impact throughout the whole economy.”

The Palestinian Authority is the biggest employer in the Palestinian areas, with tens of thousands of civil servants and security forces.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Tony Blair, envoy of the Quartet of Mideast mediators have urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resume the transfers.

An Israeli official said Sunday that Israel suspended the transfers temporarily to express its concern over the conduct of Abbas and his government, mainly his quest for recognition of Palestine.

The Israeli official said Israeli might make decision to withhold the money permanent if Abbas sets up a unity government with Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue with reporters.

A reconciliation agreement between Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal calls for an interim unity government that would prepare for May elections, but it appears unlikely it will be formed because of disagreements over who should lead it. Hamas strongly opposes Abbas’ candidate for the job, the West Bank-based Fayyad, who is popular with Western donors.

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A senior Hamas figure said Abbas and Mashaal quietly agreed in a meeting last week to keep their separate governments in place until elections. Abbas told Mashaal that the two-government status quo was “convenient for both sides and any change might be costly,” according to the Hamas figure. who spoke on condition of anonymity because the leaders did not make their decision public.

Abbas envoy Azzam al-Ahmed denied there was a quiet agreement on shelving the interim unity government and insisted there is “no possibility of holding elections without a unity government.”

Keeping the existing governments in place would help Abbas avoid a Western backlash and continue the flow of international aid to his government. Western powers fear a unity government, even one composed of technocrats without clear political affiliations, would be heavily influenced by Hamas, which is not internationally recognized.

Top Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk said that it was at least possible to skip an interim government and head straight to elections. The Hamas statements suggested that a solution was being finessed to get around the disagreement over keeping Fayyad.

Also Sunday, Gaza farmers began the seasonal export of produce to Europe.

Israel has banned most exports from Gaza since Hamas seized the territory, but has permitted seasonal shipments of strawberries, cut flowers and other agricultural goods.

A truckload of strawberries left Gaza to launch the season, which is to run through May.

The number of exports is well above last year’s levels.

Before the Hamas takeover, 85 percent of Gaza’s outgoing goods were sold in Israel and the West Bank, according to Gisha, an Israeli human rights group that lobbies on behalf of easing Palestinian travel restrictions.

According to Gisha’s statistics, about 83 percent of Gaza’s factories are idle or operating at 50 percent or less capacity. Unemployment is officially listed at 28 percent.

___

Associated Press writer Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City contributed reporting.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45452772/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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In Ottawa, a local microbrew was paying homeless youth to deliver its beer to customers’ homes. Not so fast, said some entrenched brewer: it’s illegal to deliver beer or liquor to someone’s home in Ontario?unless said spirit is first bought at the Beer Store or LCBO. We won’t know who tattled unless Beau’s Beer, the microbrew in question, files an appeal.

In Montreal, one of the hot issues this week was anglophones who refuse to learn French, after Sherwin Tjia told CBC’s Daybreak that he had no interest in learning French despite living in Quebec. Like Toronto, Montreal’s Occupy protest was shut down this week, and OpenFile looked at whether electronics shops are deceiving their customers.

In Calgary, OpenFile is following the story of a local radio station whose contest prize is “upgrading your spouse”. With Occupy Calgary shut down as well, one reporter lamented that the argument around Occupy Calgary had descended to tents and poop instead of the city’s yawning gap between rich and poor.

Does Vancouver’s electoral system discourage voting? One OpenFile writer says yes. At issue is Vancouver’s ward-less politics, and the fact that UBC students aren’t considered voters. (Odd but true!) Also: is the internet making Vancouver feel lonely?

In Halifax, King’s College students debated gender-segregated bathrooms during the week the city also marked Transgender Day of Remembrance. They also had their first big snowfall, with predictable “snowpocalypse” fun, the kind of which probably won’t hit Toronto until January.

And speaking of our fair city, OpenFile Toronto had two good stories from reporter Jerry Langton this week about what it’s like to work in a soup kitchen, and what happens when the Canada Border Services Agency deports people. Denise Balkissoon also updated us on the Byron Sonne trial. On the blog, we had a bunch of Occupy Toronto coverage, but perhaps the most fun was the incessant yurt humour.

Here’s looking at yurts, kids.

Blog photo by the Travelling Bum via Flickr.

Source: http://toronto.openfile.ca/blog/curator-blog/curated-news/2011/week-openfile-occupy-across-canada-liquor-rules-and-yurts

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Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo Wheel for Xbox 360 review

Fanatec Porsche GT2 wheel and Clubsport pedals review

Forza Motorsport CSR and CSR Elite wheel and pedals hands-on

It’s amazing to realize that about two years ago Fanatec’s first Xbox 360 racing wheel, the Forza 3 Porsche 911 Turbo Wheel, hit the scene. Although it turned out to be a mixed bag, Fanatec pleasantly surprised us with its Porsche GT2 and Clubsport Pedals in January of this year — despite a roaring fan and shaky shifter mounts. Now, we’re saying hello to a new trio of racing sim-related goods from the company intended for Forza Motorsport 4 on Xbox 360: the $249.95 Forza Motorsport CSR Wheel, $59.95 shifter set, and $149.95 CSR Elite Pedals.

If you’ll recall, it was back in March that we checked some of this kit out, and now with Forza 4 here, we hooked this mashup of gear up with our Playseat Evolution for a massive amount of virtual spins. So, did this combination help speed past the checkerboard with a respectable feel? Shift past the break find out in our full review.

Continue reading Fanatec Forza Motorsport CSR Wheel and Elite Pedals review

Fanatec Forza Motorsport CSR Wheel and Elite Pedals review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Nov 2011 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/_jX3irJWrfo/

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FILE – In this Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011 file image from Egyptian state television, three American students are displayed to the camera by Egyptian authorities following their arrest during protests in Cairo, where an Egyptian official said they were throwing firebombs at security forces. A spokeswoman for the American University in Cairo identified the students as Luke Gates, a 21-year-old Indiana University student from Bloomington, Ind.; Derrik Sweeney, a 19-year-old Georgetown University student from Jefferson City, Mo.; and Gregory Porter, a 19 year-old Drexel University student from Glenside, Pa. An official says an Egyptian court has ordered release of 3 US students arrested during Cairo unrest.(AP Photo/ Egyptian TV, File)

CAIRO (AP) ? Two of three American students arrested during a protest in Cairo caught flights out of Egypt early Saturday, and the third was scheduled to leave later in the morning, according to an airport official and an attorney for one of the trio.

The three Americans were arrested on the roof of a university building near Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square last Sunday. Officials accused them of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters.

Luke Gates, 21, left Cairo early Saturday morning on a flight to Frankfurt, Germany, an airport official said in Cairo. Gregory Porter, 19, also left the country, his attorney said.

All three were expected to have departed on separate flights by later Saturday morning, the airport official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.

An Egyptian court ordered the release of Gates, Porter and 19-year-old Derrik Sweeney on Thursday. All were studying at the American University in Cairo.

Attorney Theodore Simon, who represents Porter, a student at Drexel University in Philadelphia, said police escorted the three students to the Cairo airport Friday. Simon later said his client was on a flight.

“I am pleased and thankful to report that Gregory Porter is in the air. He has departed Egyptian airspace and is on his way home,” Simon said, though he declined to say when Porter was expected back in the U.S.

Simon said he and Porter’s mother both spoke by phone with the student, who is from the Philadelphia suburb of Glenside.

“He clearly conveyed to me … that he was OK,” Simon told the AP.

Gates is a student at Indiana University. It wasn’t clear when he was expected back in the U.S.

Joy Sweeney told the AP her son, a 19-year-old Georgetown University student from Jefferson City, Missouri, would fly from Frankfurt to Washington, then on to St. Louis. She said family will meet him when he arrives late Saturday.

“I am ecstatic,” Sweeney said Friday. “I can’t wait for him to get home tomorrow night. I can’t believe he’s actually going to get on a plane. It is so wonderful.”

Sweeney said she had talked with her son Friday afternoon and “he seemed jubilant.”

“He thought he was going to be able to go back to his dorm room and get his stuff,” she said. “We said, ‘No, no, don’t get your stuff, we just want you here.’”

She said American University will ship his belongings home.

Sweeney had earlier said she did not prepare a Thanksgiving celebration this week because the idea seemed “absolutely irrelevant” while her son still was being held.

“I’m getting ready to head out and buy turkey and stuffing and all the good fixings so that we can make a good Thanksgiving dinner,” she said Friday.

___

Associated Press writers Sandy Kozel in Washington; Kathy Matheson and Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia; and Dana Fields in Kansas City, Mo., contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-11-26-Egypt-American%20Students/id-4453e17b99974919930c112bcb833ff3

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Rebecca Cook / Reuters

Cadillac is betting that it can regain its once-lofty standing with the launch of a series of new products that includes the big XTS sedan that made its debut earlier this month at the annual Los Angeles auto show.

By Paul A. Eisenstein

Once known as the ?standard of the world,? Cadillac has been anything but a benchmark for carmakers in recent years as imported brands such as Lexus, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have dominated the U.S. luxury market.

But now Cadillac is fighting back, betting that it can regain its once-lofty standing with the launch of a series of new products that includes the big XTS sedan that made its debut earlier this month at the annual Los Angeles auto show.

Cadillac will follow up next year with the addition of the compact ATS, and it has more new models on the drawing board.

A few years ago it might have seemed ?a stretch? for Cadillac to even imagine a comeback in the U.S., admits Don Butler, general marketing manager for the?General Motors division.

In the ?new (luxury) world old formulas don?t apply, so we had to start over? with the XTS, a premium luxury sedan that replaces two slow-selling Cadillac models, the STS and DTS, Butler said.

Caddy isn?t the only upscale domestic car brand that?s hoping to convince car show visitors in Los Angeles — the nation’s largest luxury car market — that it can become relevant again.

Slide show: Images from the 2011 Los Angeles auto show

At this year?s show, Ford?s Lincoln division showed off updates to two of its own products, the big MKS sedan and MKT crossover. The two 2013 models get revised fascias and grilles, new wheels and modest improvements in performance and fuel economy. They?re also getting the updated version of the MyLincolnTouch systems designed to address recent criticism of the brand?s infotainment technology.

?This is truly marking the beginning? of Lincoln?s design renaissance, said Max Wolff, the brand?s chief designer, although he also hinted that the big news for Lincoln won?t be revealed until January when Detroit plays host to the North American International Auto Show — generally thought to be the most important show in the auto show calendar.

There, the automaker plans to unveil a concept version of its next-generation Lincoln MKZ, the most popular sedan in its portfolio. The concept vehicle will introduce an all-new ?face? for the luxury brand that will abandon Lincoln?s time-tested ?waterfall grille? and move to a series of horizontal slats that are almost wing-like in appearance. The show car version will also feature an all-glass roof that will be able to open like a hard-top convertible.

The revised grille will reappear on a production version of the MKZ debuting at the New York auto show next April, although it?s not clear if the glass roof idea will be carried into production.

But the dramatic changes coming to Lincoln underscore the concerns Ford has for the Lincoln division, which has become little more than an also-ran in a market where it once vied with Cadillac for dominance.

Cadillac hasn?t stumbled quite so badly, but it has been struggling in recent years after what appeared to be a significant turnaround early in the new millennium. The maker scored big with the first generation of the compact CTS sedan, which introduced Caddy?s distinctively edgy ?art and science? design theme.

In a segment of the car market where manufacturers have traditionally opted for softer designs, the ?art and science? design ?language? was a bold standout. But after hitting a market home run with the CTS, Cadillac failed to score with the next run of offerings, like the STS, the DTS and the XLR sports coupe.

The products simply fell short of the competition in terms of interior refinement, ride and features, analysts contend.

Cadillac won?t make those mistakes again, insists Mark Reuss, president of GM?s North American operations. The goal, he insists, ?is to win in the intensely competitive luxury market, not just compete.?

Besides offering a striking exterior shape and a much more refined interior, the new XTS will introduce Cadillac?s new CUE — an infotainment system that can be programmed using normal speech rather than requiring users to learn a complex and often confusing series of rigid commands.

These high-tech features have become a critical differentiator in the luxury market, notes Derek Kuzak, Ford?s global product development czar.

Lincoln thought it had a leg up on the competition with the MyLincolnTouch infotainment system, but, underscoring the risks of relying on high technology, the Ford luxury brand was slammed for problems with the touch-sensitive system. Indeed, influential Consumer Reports magazine lifted its sought-after ?Recommended Buy? rating from several Lincoln products this year.

The carmaker hopes to win back that endorsement with the updated MyLincolnTouch, and then show that its styling and performance are also relevant with the product offensive it is kicking off in Los Angeles this month.

But both Lincoln and Cadillac won?t have an easy time of it. Even established luxury brands such as Lexus, BMW and Mercedes are ramping up their own efforts. Lexus, in particular, is expected to be especially aggressive in the months ahead, hoping to recover the momentum it lost due to product shortages caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan last March.

And second-tier players such as Audi, and also Nissan?s Infiniti brand, are hoping to gain ground with their own expanding line-ups.

Then there?s the Koreans, and Hyundai in particular.

It scored an unexpected coup a few years back when its first luxury offering, the Genesis sedan, was named North American Car of the Year. The even bigger and more lavish Equus has so far this year handily beaten the company?s sales expectations, and Hyundai?s own new offering at the Los Angeles show, the big Azera, will target entry-luxury buyers who might have gone for more traditional offerings like the Lexus ES350.

Based on initial reviews, Cadillac and Lincoln are gaining visibility and credibility. But whether they can win back luxury car buyers is another matter entirely.

{“contentId”:”8952609″,”totalVotes”:”4916″}

What is your favorite luxury nameplate?

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Teachers and students saw a simmering feud between Brandon McInerney and Larry King but said they were either ignored by administrators or did little or nothing to intervene. King’s mother said she pleaded with school officials to help tone down her son’s increasingly flamboyant behavior. One teacher encouraged King to explore his sexuality and gave him a dress.

Nearly four years after McInerney, then 14, shot King in the head before stunned classmates, plenty of questions remain about what went wrong and what can be learned to prevent future tragedies.

King’s death illustrates the difficulty schools have balancing a gay student’s civil rights with teaching tolerance to those who feel threatened by or uncomfortable about someone who’s different. It also highlighted the importance of setting clear policies to eliminate confusion among educators.

“Something was brewing and lots of people were uncomfortable and people didn’t know what to do and where to turn,” said Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. “It reflects a profound inability for the adults to provide them with support and intervene when problems are developing.”

McInerney, 17, pleaded guilty this week to second-degree murder and two other counts for killing King, which will send him to prison for 21 years. He’s scheduled to be sentenced next month.

McInerney had reached an emotional breaking point after King made repeated, unwanted sexual advances toward him and other boys, defense lawyers said. In the weeks leading up to the shooting, school administrators allowed King to wear heels and makeup because federal law provides the right of students to express their sexual orientation.

King’s mother, Dawn King, said she met with school officials four days before the February 2008 shooting hoping they would help tone down her son’s behavior. She said she was told King had a civil right to explore his sexual identity.

“I knew, gut instinct, that something serious was going to happen,” she told the Los Angeles Times on Monday. “They should have contained him, contained his behavior.”

Hueneme School District Superintendent Jerry Dannenberg told The Associated Press he was not aware of that meeting. He said an outside investigator hired after the shooting determined there was no wrongdoing by any of the teachers or staff.

“I believe the staff did what they were supposed to do,” Dannenberg said, calling it a horrific event. “If we could have changed it, we would have done it.”

One teacher said she gave King her daughter’s homecoming dress. Another said he did nothing when King paraded around in makeup and high heels in front of McInerney the day before the shooting because he assumed a school administrator who had watched what was going on would take care of the situation.

Some teachers also testified their concerns weren’t addressed by school officials when they tried to report escalating tensions between the two teens, something Dannenberg denied.

Some observers said school districts have focused too much on meeting academic standards.

“I think schools need to take two to three steps back and look how we get along with each other as part of what they teach,” said Ron Astor, a professor in social work at the University of Southern California. “It’s all about academics these days and the social aspect is pushed aside.”

Byard’s organization has created an anti-bullying policy and training to identify harassment. They hope school districts across the nation will employ those efforts.

Last week, the group released a guide for school districts to adopt or modify policies dealing with transgender and gender nonconforming students.

“The cost of not acting when bullying and harassment occurs is astronomical,” Byard said. “We lost two people because of the failure to act.”

Testimony during the trial centered on McInerney’s growing rage toward King. Prosecutors said at least six people heard McInerney make threats against King in the days before the shooting, including one who said the teen told him he planned to kill King.

Astor said schools need to do a better job informing students that they won’t get in trouble or be ignored if they report possible threats.

“Had students felt comfortable to let an adult know he said he was going to kill somebody, I think this child’s life could have been saved,” Astor said.

King’s family has settled a wrongful death lawsuit against the school district, McInerney, a gay rights organization, a shelter and others. The suit claimed that everyone from King’s teacher to his social worker failed to urge the effeminate teen to tone down flamboyant behavior.

Most details of the settlement were kept confidential. The Ventura County Star reported the majority of the settlement ? just over $200,000 ? was paid by a homeowner’s insurance policy held by McInerney’s grandfather. Dannenberg said the district’s payout amounted to “peanuts, really.”

Since the shooting, counselors at the junior high help students deal with their anger and offer group sessions.

A bill introduced by Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., is pending before the House Education and Workforce Committee that would prohibit discrimination in public schools against lesbian and gay students.

If passed, violating the Student Non-Discrimination Act could lead to districts losing federal funding. Polis said he had King and other teens like him in mind when he wrote the bill.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/24/larry-king-murder-gay-tee_n_1112241.html

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