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michael.lee
  • "Until the early 1990s, illness was used as grounds for seeking a residence permit in only exceptional cases. Ten years later, the health criterion had become one of the primary grounds for legalization, and one that was increasing most rapidly."
  • “The compassion protocol is thus a procedure of the last resort that derives from a form of sympathy evoked in the face of suffering. It demands the right to keep alive individuals who have nothing except their mere existence."
  • “Sometimes the foreigner, too, is no more than his body, but this body is no longer the same: useless to the political economy, it now finds its place in a new moral economy that values suffering over labor and compassion more than rights.”

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michael.lee
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Natural disasters are the first type of disaster that comes to mind when assessing FEMA's response efforts, but the organization is also concerned with response to acts of terrorism, acts of war by a foreign nation, and other manmade disasters. That being said, FEMA was heavily criticized for its response during and after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 

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michael.lee
  • "In a place of tremendous economic desperation, people competed for work in the zone of exclusion, where salaries were relatively high and steadily paid. Prospective workers engaged in a troubling cost benefit assessment that went something like this: if I work in the zone, I lose my health. But I can send my son to law school."
  • "Opinions about how the state should address the fate of these Chemobyl victims also serve as a kind of barometer of the country's changing moral fabric."
  • "At stake in the Chernobyl aftermath is a distinctive postsocialist field of power-in-the-making that is using science and scientific categories to establish the state's reach. Scientists and victims are also establishing their own modes of knowledge related to injury as a means of negotiating public accountability, political power, and further state protections in the form of financial compensation and medical care."

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michael.lee

Dr. Miriam Ticktin is an associate professor of anthropology at the New School for Social Research in New York City. She earned her doctorate degree in anthropology in 2002 from Stanford University. She focuses her research efforts on gender, humanitarianism, and human rights.

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michael.lee
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As part of the evidence in this article, the author cites Gerard R. and Hailey-Means who are two former inmates of Rikers' Island, Martin Horn who is a former NYC DOC commissioner, Mayor DeBlasio, John Boston of the Legal Aid Society, Kim Knowlton who is a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, Susi Vassallo who is an associate professor of emergency medicine at the NYU School of Medicine, and a number of additional individuals and organizations.

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michael.lee

The authors present the issues surrounding increasing violence against healthcare professionals, especially in regions where the geopolitical or socioeconomic conditions have created environments with lack of security. One major issue cited is the lack of ongoing research into these issues.

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michael.lee

The Burning of the US Capitol Building, 1814. From the very beginnings of its contruction, the US Capitol Building was plagued by conflict between the chief engineer Benjamin Henry Latrobe, who desired a durable and fireproof design, and Congress, which pushed for rapid completion of the building with limited expense. The result was a mixed contruction, with parts of the building constructed to withstand a major fire and others constructed with lumber. Following the fire, Latrobe conducted a relatively thorough investigation, revealing the various points of failure and recontructing the timeline of the disaster. However, as far as the public was concerned, the disaster was the result of diplomatic and military failures, rather than any engineering failures. 

The Hague Street Explosion, 1850. Steam power was widely used in the United States, but safety protocols and standards were not widespread nor maintained by any particular agency. The exact nature and cause of the boiler explosion at Hague Street was widely debated by various experts, engineers, and laypersons. The federal government scrambled to enact new laws regarding boiler inspection and safety with little effect in reducing boiler-related disasters, while city officials instead chose to remember the disaster through a fund-raising campaign for the victims' families. 

The Iroquois Theater Fire in Chicago, 1903. The disaster called into question the integrity of the building code system in the city of Chicago and caused widespread debate regarding who should be responsible for enforcing building codes. The disaster resulted in a rapid expansion of fire code and fire safety standards and the creation of a network of investigators, comprised of engineers, insurance agencies, testing labs, and fire officials. However, the pressure for such action and progress soon declined as the government, press, and public moved on from the disaster.