As the World Turns.

Sex abuse in the schools isn't too rare, not even way back when.

Nowadays, it simply isn't tolerated. If you want to destroy your teaching career do one of two things: cheat on standardized tests or molest students.
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More commentary about the Hastings Center Report "perspective" justifying denying the civil rights of those who are profoundly disabled; in other words, the commentary about the "Ashley X" case, the treatment which was found illegal.

I can't for the life of me understand why liberals and progressives aren't more in favor of disability rights for ALL disabled people. It makes no sense.

Speaking of "Ashley X," I missed this good article from Salon which was published last February. Evidently the doctors were more troubled about the mutilation than was noted by the media.

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As the World Turns.

DNA pioneer James Watson is now up the crick.

Watson tried to defend or clarify what he said last weekend, but I think he made things worse:

But he restates his position that studying genes may help to understand variations in intelligence. In his interview with a Sunday newspaper, Dr Watson said he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really". He was quoted as saying his hope is that everyone is equal but that "people who have to deal with black employees find this is not true".

Dr Watson says in his article today that he has never been one to shy away from stating what he believes to be true, however unpalatable that may be.

"This has, at times, got me in hot water," he says. "Rarely more so than right now, where I find myself at the centre of a storm of criticism.

"I can understand much of this reaction. For if I said what I was quoted as saying, then I can only admit that I am bewildered by it. To those who have drawn the inference from my words that Africa, as a continent, is somehow genetically inferior, I can only apologise unreservedly. This is not what I meant. More importantly from my point of view, there is no scientific basis for such a belief."

However, Dr Watson goes on to suggest that genes may account for many behavioural traits, including intelligence and even criminality. "The thought that some people are innately wicked disturbs me," he says. "But science is not here to make us feel good."

Watson needs to shut up. So do those posting comments over here. It seems the Aryan Nations mob has been active on that site.
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Rush Limbaugh decided to exploit a controversy in order to benefit a charity.

The winner of the letter was a rich philanthropist, Betty Casey. Limbaugh pitched in an equal amount to charity.
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Jason Torres went through an experience he happened to forget--he was struck by lightning.
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I am coming to the conclusion the best place to embezzle money is from a church.
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It appears there's another Terri Schiavo out there who might wind up getting knocked off by rotten relatives.
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This critique of an offensive editorial (called "perspective") in the Hastings Center Report is accurate.

Too bad the Hastings article is available only if you have campus online access, which I have, and therefore is unlinkable. The article is in pdf format. The publishers probably did it so the article wouldn't get widespread notice.

Shit, old James Watson could have written that piece of crap.

As the World Turns.

If she wants to tote a gun around with her, she should find another line of work.

If kids cannot carry concealed weapons, why should she?

This is the most asinine thing I have ever heard in my life.
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Apparently Dr. Daniel Gunther suffered from bouts of depression, according to his relatives.

Gunther was one of the doctors involved in the hideous "Ashley treatment" case.
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Steve Fossett has become a modern-day Amelia Earhart.

I have read several theories, one of the most interesting being a poster at Democratic Underground proposing the theory Fossett died much the way golfer Payne Stewart and the other passengers and crew did in their plane crash in 1999, and Fossett's plane then veered way off-course to parts unknown until it crashed after running out of fuel.

Nobody has found any sign of the plane as of now.
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Is this a case of life imitating art or the other way around?

As the World Turns.

The union caves to Chrysler's demands, at least as I interpret the report.
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Floyd Landis simply won't give up.
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The doctor responsible for stunting the child known as "Ashley X" committed suicide.

Dr. Daniel F. Gunther died from toxic asphyxia from inhaling car exhaust, said Greg Hewett of the King County Medical Examiner's Office. His time of death was listed as 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 30. The 49-year-old was a pediatric endocrinologist at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle and an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington.

In 2004, Gunther and his colleague Dr. Douglas S. Diekema performed a hysterectomy, removed the breast tissue and started hormone treatment to permanently halt the growth of a 6-year-old disabled girl so her parents could continue to care for her at home. The doctors wrote about the procedure, which was performed at Children's Hospital, in the October 2006 issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

I can't say I feel that sorry for him. After all, what he did to that child was illegal to say nothing of unethical.
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Snowball, the celebrated Oregon doe, will spend the rest of her life in captivity, though she will not be living with the family who raised her for six years.

Her offspring, Bucky, was released into the wild.
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Luckily for the vulnerable, "assisted suicide" has failed to catch fire anyplace outside of Oregon.
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Seattle's Children's Hospital

has admitted it broke the law when it went ahead to sterilize profoundly disabled "Ashley X" as part of her so-called "treatment."

Note her parents still justify this shit. If it were a so-called "normal" child involved, the parents would be charged with child abuse.

The advocacy group, WPAS, a statewide nonprofit organization, says that without that court order, the surgery violated Ashley's constitutional and common-law rights.

Ashley's parents did not respond to interview requests, but they have written on their Web site that they believed the surgery was legal because Ashley will never be in a situation to choose to become pregnant. The sterilization was a side effect of the surgery, not the primary intent, they said.

These morons have no business having children, much less one disabled, if they are so fucking ignorant of the law.

More here.

You can read the investigative report here.

As the World Turns.

It appears a report is going to be announced regarding the hideous "Ashley Treatment," a "treatment" which clearly violated a profoundly disabled child's constitutional rights.

A snip from the blog post:

SEATTLE - An investigative report released today by the Washington Protection and Advocacy System* (WPAS) about the much-publicized "Ashley Treatment" finds that Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, as a result of a communication breakdown, violated Washington state law in performing the hysterectomy portion of the "Ashley Treatment" on a 6-year old with a developmental disability without a court order. This resulted in violation of
Ashley's constitutional and common law rights.

Children's Hospital has acknowledged that Washington law requires a court order for the sterilization of a child with a developmental disability and has entered into an agreement with the Washington Protection and Advocacy System (WPAS) to take corrective action to assure that the sterilization of a child with a development
disability does not happen again without a court order. Above and beyond the corrective action, Children's Hospital is taking additional steps to protect the rights of their patients with developmental disabilities.

The "treatment" was an outrage.
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As the World Turns.

While Velvet was the hero in the latest Mount Hood rescue, experts say dogs should be left at home.
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The nutroots needs to shut the fuck up about politicians who may not fit in with their notions of what is a "Democrat." We can't afford to purge people out of the party.
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Great news for disability rights activists, as the AMA has buckled under pressure and met with the groups regarding the vile "Ashley treatment."

After a protest outside the AMA building last month and repeated phone calls and faxes demanding that the AMA listen to their concerns, five activists from the grass-roots groups met Tuesday with Dr. Michael Maves, AMA's chief executive officer, and Dr. Cecil Wilson, chairman of the AMA's board of trustees.

While Maves and Wilson made no promises during the meeting at AMA headquarters, the groups said just getting the nation's largest group of doctors to hear their concerns was a victory.

"It was definitely a victory to at least have the dialogue that we had," said Donna Harnett of the Feminist Response group, who attended the meeting.