Ethic Soup

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?

Convicted Embezzler Shelia Dixon Agrees to Resign as Baltimore Mayor

  

This is a good riddance story.

The welcome departure cheers are for Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, who will finally be out of office come Feb 4th.

BALTIMORE'S SIGH OF RELIEF

The mayor has agreed to resign as part of a deal struck with prosecutors on her recent conviction on charges of embezzling gift cards intended for the needy and a future case on perjury charges.

Yes, she's the mayor who asked a developer for gift cards to be distributed to the poor children of Baltimore and then spent them on herself and her family.

And, yes again, Dixon is the mayor who had an affair with a major developer who sought and received millions in tax breaks from the city for which she voted. Dixon also sought and received bundles of cash that she then used to pay the American Express bill she racked up while shopping in Chicago.

PERJURY, THEFT, EMBEZZLEMENT

Almost a year ago, Ethic Soup reported on her indictment January 9, 2009 on twelve counts including perjury, theft and misconduct. See"America's Mayors Keep Getting Arrested: Hartford, Baltimore, Racine."

Dixon will have to make a $45,000 donation to charity and do some community service; but it's a sweet deal, considering all she's put the City of Baltimore through. It allows Dixon to keep her pension -- that's more than $80,000 a year -- and theoretically, she could run for office again. However, she's said that she won't seek office again. She won't have to see the inside of a jail cell, but will be on probation for a minimum of four years.

Hey Scaredy Cats: Next Year Turn the Damn Channel & Leave Dick Clark Alone

If I'm wrong let me know, but no one I know is growing younger. We're all getting older, closing in on the cemetery grave or the ovens of cremation.

And there's good ole Dick Clark refusing to give up, refusing to hide. What gall! I mean, how dare he? That's what numerous TV critics and columnists are saying -- particularly the young ones.

WE'RE SCARED OF AGING AND DEATH

I say that we in America fear death, and the illnesses and incapacities that often precede it. We don't want to think about it or talk about it. And sure-as-hell, we don't want to look at it, or see anything that shows us what is likely to come for us too. That's when we come up short on compassion. We're cowards, scaredy cats.

First comes the aging, when Dick Clark, "America's oldest teenager," doesn't look so young anymore. If the guy who seemed eternally young can get old, what does that mean for us?

WHY WE'RE MAD AT DICK CLARK

It's to the point now that when Dick Clark shows up each year to ring in the new one, more and more people are getting mad. We sit in front of our TV's waiting for Clark's countdown, waiting for the crystal ball to drop in New York's Times Square. Waiting for him to make a mistake. Remember the Colosseum in Rome? The madness of the mob, Romans with a taste for blood, deaths of Christian martyrs. I'm just saying...