Ethic Soup

N.Y. Girl, 12, Handcuffed and Arrested for Doodling on Desk

SCHOOL PRINCIPALS seemingly have lost all sense. The latest example involves a 12-year-old girl in Queens, who was carted out of school in handcuffs for doodling her name on a desk with a lime-green erasable marker.

Alexa Gonzalez,(pictured right) a student at Junior High School 190 in Forest Hills, was taken to the police precinct,where she was detained for several hours and then her principal suspended her from school.

IT WAS A MISTAKE?

What was her principal, Marilyn Grant thinking? " A spokesperson for the City Department of Education told the N.Y. Daily News "The principal made a mistake and has lifted the suspension."

City officials say Alexa's arrest shouldn't have happened.

A police spokesman told USA Today: "Even when we're asked to make an arrest, common sense should prevail, and discretion used in deciding whether an arrest or handcuffs are really necessary." Whose discretion? Do the police use their own common sense, or are they still obeying school principals?

'Bully' School Principal Threatens Suspension of Boy: Over 2-Inch LEGO Toy Gun

A NO-TOLERANCE POLICY is what I've got for school administrators who have no common sense and are bullies towards the children with whom they are entrusted to protect.

If there was a song for this melodrama, the melody would be from "Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," with the following lyrics about Principal Evelyn Mastroianni of Staten Island Public School 52:

 

She was afraid to come out of the grade school

She was nervous as she could be

She was afraid to come out of the grade school

She was afraid that somebody would see

Two, three, four, tell the people what's in her hand

 

It was an itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie, two-inch plastic Lego toy

OH NO -- A GUN !

Words 'Oral Sex' Cause Dictionary to be Banned in California Schoool District

Operator

Give me information

Information

Give me long distance

Long distance

Give me heaven...

 

Operator

Information

Give me Webster on the line

 

I CAN HEAR the Manhattan Transfer singers in my head, calling for Webster. Noah that is, the dictionary guy, the lexicographer. However, he may be busy -- turning over. 

It made headlines all over the world. Just about one week ago in California, the unthinkable happened. The Menifee Union School District decided that the   Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary was unfit for young eyes and it yanked all copies from the shelves of its elementary schools.

Some said a phrase in the dictionary found by an inquisitive student was nasty, racy. The school district called it "age-inappropriate."

LOOK IT UP 

The words were: "oral sex." The definition: "oral stimulation of the genitals." 

Minority and Special Needs Kids Tasered by Cop in Classroom 'Demos'

 
HEY KID -- Hold still now. ZZZZzzaaaap! ZZZZzzaaaap!

This time the public knows that it happened -- not once, not twice, but at least three different times.

A white cop used minority kids as subjects in what he called classroom 'demonstrations' of a Taser gun -- while the school principal and teachers looked on. Parents believe other children, suffering from traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and learning disabilities, were similarly Tasered.

TASERED OVER TWO YEARS?

Just so you'll understand the atmosphere -- the cop Tasered two boys and one girl, but not before he placed newspapers under one child, in case he defecated or urinated as a result of the shock. The kids were Tasered in March and October 2009 and in January of this year, however parents say its been ongoing since 2008.

It happened at Kankakee Junior High School, in Kankakee, Illinois, about 67 miles from Chicago. Kankakee police Officer Lonnie Netzel Tasered the children, while witnesses Principal Jason Worden and teachers Bradley Netzel and Kyle Flanigan watched.

TORTURE WITH RACIAL OVERTONES

While Officer Netzel called them 'demonstrations', parents of the children say it was torture with racial overtones and that their children were subjected to this abuse and pain without cause or justification. 

California Councilman's Hateful Rhetoric: "I'm a Proud Racist!"

Photo by John McCoy, Contra Costa Times.

A crowd of demonstrators shouted-out heated exchanges, pointing fingers and waving the American flag Tuesday, outside Santa Clarita City Hall in California.

They were incited by comments from Councilman Bob Kellar, who defined himself as a "proud racist," during an anti-illegal immigration rally two weeks ago.

WHAT RACISM? ME?

Kellar, pictured right, now insists his comments weren't intended to "express animosity towards non-whites."

In his heated speech at the rally, the Santa Clarita city councilman referred to a statement from President Theodore Roosevelt who said the United States only has room for one flag and one language, reported the Los Angeles Daily News.

You decide. Here's what he said:

"The only thing I heard back from a couple of people was 'Bob, you sound like a racist.' I said "That's good. If that's what you think I am because I happen to believe in America, then I'm a proud racist. You're darn right I am.' " 

Nuclear Racism: Black Employees Subjected to Excessive Radiation Exposure

THE DISCRIMINATION alleged in this case is unusually extreme -- because of the physical danger it created for African American employees.

"...It is deeply disturbing that this kind of race-based discrimination could be inflicted upon innocent workers."  

That's what Stuart J. Ishimaru says. He is the Acting Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

He's talking about a Tennessee company that processes nuclear waste, which has agreed to settle federal claims that black employees were subjected to much higher levels of radiation than white employees.

RACE DISCRIMINATION

The EEOC brought legal action against RACE,  Radiological Assistance, Consulting and Engineering, a company that processes radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, hospitals and laboratories. The company was purchased four years ago by Studsvik, a Swedish waste processor. Studsvik says that the alleged incidents happened prior to the sale. 

Whites-Only Basketball League: For Ignorant, Arrogant Racists-Only

I've been nauseous ever since hearing about formation of the All-American Basketball Alliance announced this week. Don "Moose" Lewis (Limburger-Man), a pro-wrestling promoter, is going to be the big-cheese league commissioner of this whites-only basketball league. Do you smell that pungent odor? The whole thing s-t-i-n-k-s!

CAUCASIANS ONLY

The brand new professional basketball league claims in a press release that it intends to start its first season in June, with the only eligible players being natural born United States citizens, with both parents of Caucasian race.

Yet, with more gall than most of us could cough up before chewing on Tums, "Moose" Lewis insists that he's not racist and just wants to get away from the "street-ball" played by "people of color" and go back to "fundamental basketball."

FUNDAMENTAL BASKETBALL

Once again we hear about fundamentalism. Now it must mean only the things white boys CAN do -- certainly not jump.

The AABA is initially targeting Southern cities, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, including Augusta, Georgia. However, The Augusta Chronicle, which maintains that although it sounds like a joke, none of this is a hoax.  And, Augusta ain't interested. The newspaper quotes Clint Bryant, athletic director at Augusta State University, as saying:

"It's so absurd, it's funny, but it gives you an idea of the sickness of our society. It shows you what lengths people will go to just to be mean-spirited."

Cindy McCain Supports Same-Sex Marriage, Helps Gay Rights Group

John McCain may still be opposed to gay marriage, but his wife, Cindy McCain is pro gay marriage and has posed for an ad endorsing pro-gay marriage forces in California.

The photo shows Mrs. McCain with "NOH8" painted on her cheek -- a gay rights group challenging Proposition 8, which was passed by California voters in 2008 banning same-sex marriage. 

California's gay marriage ban is the subject of a current court trial going on in San Francisco, in which two same-sex couples have sued to overturn it, challenging the constitutionality of the law.

Can't you just hear the far right conservatives of the Republican Party discussing this one? "My God, would she have acted this way had McCain won the presidential election and she was the First Lady?" And "Well, this proves it -- McCain can't control his woman." This does mess things up a bit more for the GOP.

Guess who has the real power in this relationship?  Or, perhaps it is actually shared. But, it certainly doesn't appear that this husband can tell his wife what to do.

Caffeine Gender Effect: Caffeine More Addictive For Boys Than Girls

CAFFEINE & TEENAGERS -- Caffeine is the world's most popular drug. Being "addicted" to caffeine is not abnormal. And, it's different for boys than for girls.

Today teenagers are consuming ever greater amounts of caffeine -- which is in everything, as reported in Ethic Soup's "Caffeine Is In Everything: How Much Is In You?"

However, there has not been much research on how caffeine specifically affects adolescents.

Is the strong appeal for caffeine the same for teenagers as for adults? How does high consumption, over the long term, affect teens' blood pressure, heart rate and hand tremor? Does consuming caffeine while a teen contribute to later use of legal or illicit drugs?

SHOULD CAFFEINE BE ILLEGAL FOR TEENS?

Whoa! If scientific research proves that caffeine damages the health of adolescents, and that teen caffeine consumption directly causes use of more drugs after adolescence, sounds like caffeine could become illegal for teen-use, like alcohol. If that happens, drink-makers of sodas and energy beverages could lose billions of dollars. It is the teenagers who are their major consumers and who are the targets to whom they market their heavily-caffeinated products.

The federal government, through the National Institutes of Health, is funding an $800,000 study, over four years, to answer the above questions.  Neurobiologist Jennifer L. Temple, assistant professor at the University at Buffalo and director of its Nutrition and Health Research Laboratory is leading the study.

Placebos Are As Good As Drugs For Mild to Moderate Depression

There are millions of Americans who suffer with horrible, debilitating depression and millions who take antidepressants daily.

Antidepressants have been available since the 1950s. Still, unbelievably, few studies have focused directly on how the pills affect people with milder symptoms.

"After all these years -- and all those prescriptions -- you'd think we'd know everything there is to know about how antidepressants affect the people who take them," writes Alix Spiegel on National Public Radio's blog. 

MOST DEPRESSION IS MILD TO MODERATE 

In fact, almost 70 percent of depressed people on medication have moderate to mild symptoms. Why haven't we studied these folks?

"Because drug companies fund the vast majority of clinical trials, and obviously drug companies are interested in having their clinical trials show the efficacy of their antidepressant medications," Brett Deacon, a psychologist at the University Wyoming told NPR's All Things Considered.

A recent study finds that, for people with mild to moderate depression, taking an antidepressant is no better than swallowing a placebo. Pharmaceuticals versus sugar pills and sugar wins. 

AN ETHICAL CONUNDRUM

This presents us with an ethical conundrum.

How about doing right by the patients involved in research, the ethical obligation toward those who are randomly assigned to get a placebo?

Will the pharmaceutical manufacturers admit to the public that their drugs are only helpful for severe depression? Don't bet on it.

Will physicians stop prescribing the drugs and increase prescribing placebos ?

Who makes all the profit from placebos? The pharmacies or manufacturers? Numerous other studies have found that patients believe a medicine's value is evidenced by its cost. A drug that is cheap doesn't work nearly as well as an expensive drug, most of us think. The same applies to placebos.

Do the pharmacies or manufacturers split the profits from sugar pills with the prescribing doctors?

And the big one -- Is lying to a patient ethical -- Telling her that you're prescribing a real drug and withholding the fact that it's really a placebo?

Will any of the above-mentioned tell us the truth?