[Windswept]

Weird. How come no one has started a thread about this guy, huh?

He really seems good at talking his way out accepting any blame for what he did.

How do you guys feel about him?

Do you think he's an innocent lamb, who didn't get accurate information before traveling to Europe?

"Oh, if I had only *known* they didn't want me to travel!" ( )

Or do you think he just did whatever he felt like doing, and the rest of us be damned?

To me, his MAIN concern certainly seemed to be centered on what was best for HIM, when he left Italy and flew to *Canada* - to avoid going through US Customs.




Poll up soon.

(Shut up, chucker! )


Edit:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070531/...osis_infection

http://bluestarchronicles.com/2007/0...ndrew-speaker/

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/05/31/...w-speaker-not/

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,279912,00.html

[psmith2.0]

From what little I've read and kept up with this, it seems he knowingly did this and knew that he was engaging in some questionable stuff. So that makes him a shithead. A culpable shithead on the hook for anyone else on that flight who gets sick.

But that's just me. I tend to come down hard on the oblivitard set, as most here know.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by Windswept (Shut up, chucker! )

*munches on popcorn*

[Windswept]

Yeah, Paul, I thought *you* would have started this thread days and days ago.

But you were on vacation, right? So that explains that.


Oh, and chucker would be proud. I think I got that poll up in record time.

[chucker]

His behavior is socially unacceptable, and I wouldn't blame passengers for suing him.

[Windswept]

Originally Posted by chucker *munches on popcorn*

[Anonymous Coward]

I wasn't surprised at his actions after hearing he is a lawyer.

Sometimes people of that mindset, particularly people who aren't necessarily lawyers but think they should be, are more focused on, "What can I get away with, within my interpretation of the law" rather than "Is this right?" or "Is it in everyone's best interest".

[Windswept]

He and his dad are personal injury lawyers.

Does that seem a bit ironic to anyone else here?

[torifile]

Originally Posted by Windswept He and his dad are personal injury lawyers. Does that seem a bit ironic to anyone else here?

AND his father-in-law works at the CDC in the rare TB lab. How's that for irony?

I think he knew what he was doing; not necessarily the gravity of it, but that he was doing something he shouldn't be. The whole drive through Canada to get into the US thing takes the cake. But what about the customs person who let him through because he "didn't look sick". How's that for national security?

[turtle]

Yes, I keep my head in the ground and refuse to watch TV and read the newspapers; Would someone post a link please? I have no idea what you're talking about. Then again, how about a synopsis for those who wish to not be subjected to the media?

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by turtle2472 Yes, I keep my head in the ground and refuse to watch TV and read the newspapers; Would someone post a link please? I have no idea what you're talking about. Then again, how about a synopsis for those who wish to not be subjected to the media?

There's always Wikipedia.

[Windswept]

Originally Posted by torifile AND his father-in-law works at the CDC in the rare TB lab. How's that for irony?

Yeah, that's almost unbelievable, isn't it?

I think he knew what he was doing; not necessarily the gravity of it, but that he was doing something he shouldn't be. The whole drive through Canada to get into the US thing takes the cake.

Well, exactly. For any 'normal' person, that whole massive 'other-country' detour would be a little hard to justify and explain away. But for a lawyer...? Sheesh!

But what about the customs person who let him through because he "didn't look sick". How's that for national security?

You know, sometimes I *really* wonder whether the media cares that by plastering this story all over the headlines they're just giving new ideas to all those terrorist wannabees out there all over the globe.

[turtle]

Originally Posted by Ryan There's always Wikipedia.

Oh, thanks.

[Majost]

Originally Posted by torifile AND his father-in-law works at the CDC in the rare TB lab. How's that for irony? I think he knew what he was doing; not necessarily the gravity of it, but that he was doing something he shouldn't be. The whole drive through Canada to get into the US thing takes the cake. But what about the customs person who let him through because he "didn't look sick". How's that for national security?

Woah. That makes this entire thing all the more obscene. I've just been following the headlines; I haven't look into the heart of this... but did his wifey know? If she knew, you'd think she would have had some concept of the gravity of the whole thing.

That said, he didn't know it was *as* bad as it was until he was out of the country. Regardless, he knew that it was a resistant strain.

[Windswept]

I've added some links to my original post in this thread...

...after receiving negative rep points from someone for not having a link.




You know, I think a courteous, friendly way to address this might have been simply to *ask* for a link, rather than to give negative rep points.

In my original post, I just assumed that since the story had been all over the news for two weeks, a link wouldn't be necessary.

Obviously I was wrong.

[turtle]

Originally Posted by Windswept I've added some links to my original post in this thread... ...after receiving negative rep points from someone for not having a link. You know, I think a courteous, friendly way to address this might have been simply to *ask* for a link, rather than to give negative rep points. In my original post, I just assumed that since the story had been all over the news for two weeks, a link wouldn't be necessary. Obviously I was wrong.

No that is sad. Please tell us who it was so we can return the favor?

At least I asked for a link.

[Windowsrookie]

*cough*

*sniffle sniffle*

*coughcoughcoughcoughsneeeeezecough*

*blows nose*

[Windswept]

Originally Posted by Windowsrookie *cough* *sniffle sniffle* *coughcoughcoughcoughsneeeeezecough* *blows nose*

Do I detect a note of sarcasm?

Anymore of that, WR, and I'm gonna have to sic your dog on you.

[Windowsrookie]

This is the first time I heard about this though.

[julesstoop]

Strange. One of my friends is named "Andrew Spieker", which is pronounced exactly like "Speaker" in Dutch.

[Naderfan]

If he's telling the truth that his doctors originally told him he wasn't easily contagious and that they only advised him not to fly, rather than outright forbidding it, I can understand why he flew. I can also understand freaking out being in a foreign country, finding out you have a potentially lethal disease and becoming hell-bent on getting home, no matter what.

Does that make it right? No way. And I can't imagine the guilt if someone did end up getting sick from him and his stupid move. But again, it's understandable, at least to me.

As for the media giving ideas to terrorists, let's give the terrorists a little credit and assume that they probably already thought of that type of stunt already. You'd only have to visit the U.S./Canada to realize how poorly guarded that border is. I think Americans were the only ones caught off-guard by how easy it is to slip through, even when people know to stop you.

[Windswept]

Well, the lawsuits against Andrew Speaker, the TB guy, have started!

http://blogs.abcnews.com/scienceands...w-the-law.html

And Now, the Lawsuits July 12, 2007 6:14 PM You knew this would happen. Andrew Speaker, the TB patient who flew to Europe and back after being told he was ill, is being sued in Canadian court for $1.3 million by eight passengers who were on the same flight with him from Prague to Montreal in May. There's been plenty of discussion, including HERE on this blog (thanks to all who wrote), about whether Speaker was reckless in traveling with the disease. His argument, as you'll recall, is that he wasn't told he was a threat to others. From today's hearing, AP quotes Nassim Tabri, a graduate student from Montreal, who sat one row ahead of Speaker: "At the very first moment that I found out, I was obviously very stressed, very shocked," said Tabri, who slept through most of the flight. "I'm still very stressed out about it. He deliberately got on this plane, endangered our lives and this is very selfish and reckless behavior that deserves to be punished." The plaintiffs' lawyer, Anlat Nguyen: "They do not have tuberculosis, but nobody can say that they won't have tuberculosis either," he said. "And that will not be known, not now, not next year, but for many years in the future, so the pain and suffering that the people have gone through are real. They continue to suffer now because of the uncertainty." On the other hand, there's this comment from Health Canada: "At this point there is no evidence that any one on the flight contracted TB from Andrew Speaker." And there is an additional plaintiff in the case who wasn't on the plane--the brother of a passenger. "We will admit we are testing the water with that case," said attorney Nguyen. You'll recall that National Jewish Medical Center in Denver, where Speaker is being treated, has downgraded his case. There are drugs that should work against the strain of TB with which he's been diagnosed. So who's more right? The passengers, for the risk and doubt they've faced? Or Speaker, who insists he never knew he was putting anyone at risk? Thoughts welcome, as always.

The way I remember it, the CDC urged him not to fly. (He denies this, btw, saying he wasn't told he was contagious.) But when they contacted him in Rome, and *told* him not to fly, he did what he wanted and flew anyway, so he could get back to the states for treatment.

In my opinion, it's at *that* point - when he made the clear decision to go on a long-haul flight after he had *specifically* been told 'not' to - that he put his own welfare above that of anyone else, and is thereby liable for endangering the health and welfare of the other passengers.

I hope they put this guy through the wringer, and that he spends the next two years sweating bullets and not sleeping well at night.

I think it's the infuriatingly smug, smart-alecky, condescending expression on his face that makes him come across as so self-righteous and arrogant.

He's completely using the strategy of blaming everyone else, casting himself as the innocent lamb victim, and has even been demanding apologies.

God, I'd like to watch someone slap him in the face for a good 20 or 30 minutes, to take that insufferable smugness down a notch.

[zsummers]

I think there may be a special room in hell for this guy and the judge who sued the Korean dry cleaners. Least, I hope there is.

Such inconsiderate asses, the both of them.

[Banana]

Originally Posted by zsummers Such inconsiderate asses, the both of them.

OMG! Someone should match them up for a blind date!

[Windswept]

Apparently, one of the suing passengers has indeed tested positive for TB.

[turbulentfurball]

My Dad had TB about 5 years ago. He's fine, as are the rest of the family. We all got shipped off to the hospital for tests though.