News & Current Events

[Rosewood]

A comment or two about the Caylee Anthony murder.

I think one of the reasons this crime shocks and revulses more than some
(besides the obvious mentioned by others, the media fascination with murdered
white girls and all), is that the mother is such a truly vile creature.
I mean, she's worthy of a whole Shakespearean essay, or two or three.
A play, maybe.

Here is a narcicisstic sociopathic creature on par with that Peterson guy out
in California who murdered his pregnant wife. It's the blankness of the stare
that intrigues and makes you want to take a shower. The very same stare
Peterson had.

There's also the very odd though very interesting behavior of the grandparents.
Another essay lurks there, I suspect.

This is the sort of thing that makes you think deep thoughts about the how
and the why of the human race.

Either that or you tune it out completely.
I mean, how to explain such a creature?

[graylockV]

Florida's first couple: Gov. Crist ties the knot


The vows were traditional. The kiss was tender and brief -- perhaps too brief; Rome put her hands on Crist's face and kissed him again. Afterward, the couple walked out of the church and addressed waiting reporters.


http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/v-print/story/811213.html

Interesting how this brief insinuation was slipped into the Miami Herald's coverage.

[BayCityJohn]

when oh when will they initiate a 24 hour busby berkley channel?

From your lips to God's ears, Jack.
My favorite besides 42nd STREET is the one with Warren Williams.
GOLDIGGERS OF something or other with Ginger Rogers singing 'We're in the
money..." at the height of the depression and a line of chorus girls holding onto 
huge coins if I remember correctly. I dislike Guy Kibbee intensely, but I bear
him in this film for WW who shows me a vulnerability he never would again.

And by the way, wasn't Dick Powell just the most awful of awful leading men?
He always made me cringe.
Still does.
Even as Philip Marlowe later on when they tried to make a man of him.

Gold Diggers of 1933

It also has one of my favorite BB numbers, the 'Shadow Waltz' with the neon violins.

But my all-time favorite is 'Lullaby of Broadway' from Gold Diggers of 1935.

Not sure how this is News or Current Events. just thinkin' out loud. 

[Ennis Del Mark]

According to Hollywood lore, while the neon violins sequence was being filmed, an earthquake occured in Hollywood and this caused some power glitches, and some of the violins short-circuited, shocking some of the chorus girls.

So see, John?  This is CURRENT events!   


Mark

[fritzkep]

          

Good one, Mark!

[jack]

those movies, those dances, those special effects put such a grin on my face it takes away the sting of current events, even if for too short a time.

and ginger rogers in her maribou feathered dress, lol.

(i always said every woman should have a ginger rogers dress at least once in her life) 

[michaelflanagansf]

A comment or two about the Caylee Anthony murder.

I think one of the reasons this crime shocks and revulses more than some
(besides the obvious mentioned by others, the media fascination with murdered
white girls and all), is that the mother is such a truly vile creature.{snip}

Either that or you tune it out completely.
I mean, how to explain such a creature?

I've been rather interested in sociopaths and psychopaths for years.  And, for me, Casey Anderson is not a very interesting one.

By comparison, take a look at some of the other recent mothers who have killed their children - you have Susan Smith - who did it because her boyfriend didn't want kids and then blamed a factitious black man:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Smith

There's also Andrea Yates - who has always seemed to me to be an emotionally battered woman suffering from severe postpartum depression:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Yates

Theresa Knorr killed two of her children and her ex-husband - and used her other children to cover up the murders of the children she killed:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresa_Knorr

And there's Waneta Hoyt who seems to have been the next step down the road from Munchausen syndrome by proxy - she killed her 5 children and blamed it off on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome - and wasted an incredible amount of time by doctors:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waneta_Hoyt

And if you want to talk about tragedy there's the case of Lashaun Harris, who threw her 3 children into San Francisco bay because the voices in her head told her to - falling through the cracks of the social services system:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/24/BAGSUJ15GF1.DTL&hw=lashaun+harris&sn=001&sc=1000

And if you want to extend the parameters to beyond women who kill their own children there's the case of Gertrude Baniszewski, who tortured (with the help of both her own children and other neighborhood children) a child put in her care:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Baniszewski

And, of course, there is the case of Joel Steinberg, who abused his wife and two children:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Steinberg

The thing is that when women kill, they often kill those closest to them - their children:

http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/0/3/2/6/3/p32633_index.html

As to why...well psychiatrists and alienists before them have been trying to figure out what is exactly 'missing' in sociopaths and psychopaths for years - all the way back to the 19th century when they called it 'moral insanity':

http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/36/10/21

Although there are theories about upbringing and affection in early childhood - or in actual brain differences - the jury seems to be out, from all I've heard.  So you don't really can't explain such creatures, R. - they are beyond the pale of normal human experience.

But though the death of Caylee Anthony is tragic, I still don't think that Casey Anthony rates much attention as a murderer.  But then again, I just read 'Devil in White City' about Dr. H. H. Holmes, who killed somewhere between 9 and 200 people, so that may have affected my perception:

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/history/holmes/index_1.html

Now who's up for more Busby Berkeley discussion?

[fritzkep]

Now who's up for more Busby Berkeley discussion?

[michaelflanagansf]

BTW, for those interested in a bit more about some of those cases referred to above there are two books I've read on them (besides 'Devil in White City') that I would recommend.  'Waverly Place' by Susan Brownmiller (a novelization of the Joel Steinberg/Hedda Nussbaum murder):

http://www.susanbrownmiller.com/susanbrownmiller/html/waverly_place.html

And 'The Basement' by Kate Millett (about Gertrude Baniszewski):

http://www.amazon.com/Basement-Kate-Millett/dp/0671247638

Fascinating analysis of the psychodynamics of power and violence by two of my favorite authors.

[michaelflanagansf]

It's interesting that at the same time that Caylee Anthony went missing that there was the spate of children up to their teens being turned loose in Nebraska.  I wonder how much the economic downturn is involved in this sort of disintegration of families and how much is just a change in how much responsibility parents feel for their children now.

[michaelflanagansf]

Here's an interesting suggestion from 'The Motley Fool' website:

Here's an idea. How about everyone send Bush a shoe as a token support for the Iraqi journalist?
Let's get a million shoes delivered to the White House.
Just throw it in a padded postal envelope and send to

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

http://boards.fool.com/Message.asp?mid=27271985&sort=postdate

[jack]

Here's an interesting suggestion from 'The Motley Fool' website:

Here's an idea. How about everyone send Bush a shoe as a token support for the Iraqi journalist?
Let's get a million shoes delivered to the White House.
Just throw it in a padded postal envelope and send to

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

http://boards.fool.com/Message.asp?mid=27271985&sort=postdate

i love it... even i can afford it, as it can be something as inexpensive as a flip-flop.  in fact, the greater variety of shoes, the more they represent the many different lives forever impacted or lost by bush's administration.

a fitting tribute to a failed president and a failed man.

[CellarDweller115]

It's interesting that at the same time that Caylee Anthony went missing that there was the spate of children up to their teens being turned loose in Nebraska.  I wonder how much the economic downturn is involved in this sort of disintegration of families and how much is just a change in how much responsibility parents feel for their children now.

This is a conversation we were having at lunch just last week.

How can someone just drop off their children like that?

[jack]

It's interesting that at the same time that Caylee Anthony went missing that there was the spate of children up to their teens being turned loose in Nebraska.  I wonder how much the economic downturn is involved in this sort of disintegration of families and how much is just a change in how much responsibility parents feel for their children now.

This is a conversation we were having at lunch just last week.

How can someone just drop off their children like that?

simple answer to a complex question.  one would have to "walk a mile in their moccasins" to ever know the answer.

[michaelflanagansf]

Bush Administration Proposal Would Extend 'Right Of Conscience' Rule To Cover More Workers, Treatments
Article Date: 03 Dec 2008 - 3:00 PST

The Bush administration is set to announce an expansion of the "right of conscience" rule that would allow all health care workers to refuse to participate in "objectionable procedures," such as abortion or birth control, the Los Angeles Times reports. Current law allows health care workers to decline to perform abortions, but the expanded rule would allow health care workers also to refuse to provide information or counseling about abortion or participate in other "objectionable procedures." A draft of the rule says it would cover even "an employee whose task it is to clean the instruments."

HHS officials say the expanded rule would apply to "any entity" receiving federal funding, meaning about 584,000 entities could be affected, including 4,800 hospitals, 234,000 physician offices and 58,000 pharmacies.

HHS said the rule is necessary because of "an attitude that health care professionals should be required to provide or assist in the provision of medicine or procedures to which they object, or else risk being subjected to discrimination." In a media briefing, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said the rule was focused on abortion, not contraception.

Supporters of the proposal said it will protect doctors who do not wish to perform abortions or provide birth control to unmarried women, or perform artificial insemination procedures. David Stevens, president of the Christian Medical Association, said, "The real battle line is the morning-after pill," adding, "Doctors should not be required to dispense a medication they have a moral objection to."

Critics of the rule say patients' health would be sacrificed to protect personal religious beliefs of providers. Judith Waxman, a lawyer for the National Women's Law Center, said, "This goes way beyond abortion," potentially affecting contraception, sperm donation and end-of-life care. She added, "This kind of rule could wreak havoc in a hospital if any employee can declare they are not willing to do certain parts of their job."

continues:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/131571.php