Prometheus 6 - All respect and no restraint

You cannot escape mine baleful eye by switching newspapers

Prometheus 6 — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 11:43:36 -0500

Looks like they're wrapping up the Being a Black Man series at the Washington Post. We got an article posed like 9:30 last night, and four scheduled for Sunday...three of which are retrospectives.

Orlando is in the mix. He's kind of playing off the two non-retrospectives that sound kind of hopeful [P6: the previous word is subject to later editing], but all you really need to know about what he says is this:

Progress or Peril?
By Orlando Patterson
Sunday, January 7, 2007; B01
Personal responsibility, or victimization?
These two themes struck me as I read The Washington Post's "Being a Black Man" series.

Spare me. That's all that EVER strikes him. He walked through the door with his preconceptions.

Yeah, I got more. I might write it up, since I intend to get to the others. But he's not saying anything he hasn't always said.

This is SO hard

Prometheus 6 — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 10:56:24 -0500

I read some more. I don't know what I'd have done if my daughter had this illness. They didn't find out right away, so they were bonded to the child.

I would hope she died. I would wish the situation never came about. But I would never even have conceived of halting her physical development. And I really don't know what I would do.

The Pillow Angel Case--Three Bioethicists Weigh In
We asked three of the country's most esteemed bioethicists to give their professional opinion--was the "Ashley Treatment" a wise decision?
By Christopher Mims

On January 3 of this year the parents of a girl with static encephalopathy, a disorder that leaves her unable to move and with the cognitive capacity of an infant, announced on a blog that they had been using hormones to stunt the growth of their daughter for medical and quality-of-life reasons. [More details are available via the original news report of the story .] The resulting, and very public, debate--much of it carried out in the comment thread of the original blog --has ranged from support for the parents to accusations of eugenics and worse.

In order to cut through the noise, we asked three bioethicists--doctors not unlike those who, as members of a medical ethics board, authorized the treatment in the first place--to relate their professional opinion of the case.

To ask that question means you're grimy

Prometheus 6 — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 10:01:21 -0500

Coca-Cola asked the Supreme Court to consider whether an employer may be held liable for intentional discrimination if the person who fired an employee harbored no discriminatory bias.

Race Discrimination Case Added to Docket
Associated Press
Saturday, January 6, 2007; A03

The Supreme Court yesterday added seven cases to its docket, including a discrimination case in which a Coca-Cola bottling company fired a black employee.

The lawsuit involves allegations that a supervisor of employee Stephen Peters was motivated by racial bias and influenced a human resources manager to fire the worker. Coca-Cola fired Peters for insubordination after he refused a request to work on a weekend during his scheduled days off.

Seems they figured out a use for those unused in-vitro embryos

Prometheus 6 — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 09:31:56 -0500

Prospective parents have long been able to select egg or sperm donors based on ethnicity, education and other traits. Couples can also "adopt" embryos left over at fertility clinics, or have embryos created for them if they need both eggs and sperm. But the new service marks the first time anyone has started turning out embryos as off-the-shelf products.

'Embryo Bank' Stirs Ethics Fears
Firm Lets Clients Pick Among Fertilized Eggs
By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 6, 2007; A01

A Texas company has started producing batches of ready-made embryos that single women and infertile couples can order after reviewing detailed information about the race, education, appearance, personality and other characteristics of the egg and sperm donors.

And only Americans need die

Prometheus 6 — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 08:29:33 -0500

Because only Americans will be in the force that holds the ground.

Told you I'd get back to it...

Say my name!

Prometheus 6 — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 08:22:32 -0500

I hate terms of art. I hate the way this administration uses them to obscure the truth. So I hate this whole "surge" line of bullshit, I hate that the media promugates it and I hate that Democrats use the term when there's an honest word for the latest last chance to get it right.

This is deep in and of itself

Prometheus 6 — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 07:53:56 -0500

When I heard Sen. McCain say this, I immediately thought, "Superdome."

The things you see at the American Enterprise Institute

Prometheus 6 — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 07:43:25 -0500

The McCain/Lieberman campaign stopped off at the American Enterprise Institute this past Friday to discuss The Future of Iraq. Several interesting thing came out of that, and I think I have appropriately representative clips.

We'll start with his assessment of the situation.

"Of course we're concerned."

There's actually no reason to worry about the Iraqis holding up their end of this project...but I'll get back to that.

The USofA will be forced to pick a side in the Iraq civil war

Prometheus 6 — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 05:22:15 -0500

"Lately there has been a lot of criticism by the Shiites against [Khalilzad], saying he is pro-Sunni. A new face with this new strategy, possibly that would be more effective," said Mahmoud Othman, a senior Kurdish legislator who is regarded as independent.

Iraqi Politicians Divided Over U.S. Envoy
Khalilzad's Expected Departure Pleases Shiites, Worries Sunnis
By Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, January 6, 2007; A12

BAGHDAD, Jan. 5 -- The news of the expected departure of U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad split Iraqi politicians along sectarian lines, with members of the ruling Shiite alliance voicing eagerness for him to leave and minority Sunnis expressing concern at the loss of an ally.

My first imperitive

Prometheus 6 — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 21:50:55 -0500

I am not kidding. Go to PBS.org, look up a show named "Good to Great." It's almost over on Channel 13 but it comes on again Monday at 12 am...record it.

You must watch this show. Get comfortable, clear your mind and watch the show.

I'm serious.

[LATER]

There are several reasons you should watch it, not least of which is that it's talking about maximizing collective entities. And it really sums up mainstream common sense.