"N.C. is urged to compensate those it made sterile; Each should get $50,000, task force says" by Martha Waggoner | Associated Press, January 11, 2012
RALEIGH, N.C. - As many as 2,000 people forcibly sterilized decades ago in North Carolina should get $50,000 each, a task force said yesterday, marking the first time a state has moved to compensate victims of eugenics programs that weeded out those it deemed “feeble-minded’’ or otherwise undesirable....
Of course, those are all gone, right?
While dozens of states had programs in the 20th century that allowed people to be sterilized against their will in the name of improving the human race, no other state has offered anything more than apologies....
From 1929 to 1974, more than 7,600 people in North Carolina were surgically rendered unable to reproduce under state laws and practices that singled out epileptics and others considered mentally defective. Many were poor, black women deemed unfit to be parents.
A task force report last year said 1,500 to 2,000 of the victims were still alive, though the state has verified only 72....
While taking away someone’s ability to have children sounds barbaric today, eugenics programs gained popularity in the United States and other countries in the early 1900s, promoted as a means of raising the health and intellectual level of the human race....
Most states abandoned those efforts after World War II, when such practices became closely associated with Nazi Germany’s attempts to achieve racial purity, though North Carolina stood out because it ramped up its program after the war....
So that is where the U.S brought the Nazis they got out of Europe after the war.
Never really see a whole lot about that over here though.
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That was THEN(?), THIS is NOW:
"Disabled patients’ wishes ignored; Advocates find disturbing trend" by Peter Schworm | Globe Staff, January 22, 2012
The wishes of individuals declared mentally incompetent often go unheeded in family court, lawyers and social workers say, costing them control over the most personal decisions.
In light of this month’s stunning family court ruling that a woman diagnosed with schizophrenia should undergo an abortion and be sterilized, mental health specialists say the case, while an extreme example, casts light on an often unsettling reality for those deemed unable to make decisions for themselves.
In Massachusetts? Good little liberal Democrat Massachusetts?
Even when individuals voice opposition to a course of treatment, from antipsychotic medication to hospitalization, the courts often rule otherwise, lawyers say....
Those who work in the family court system generally praise Massachusetts for its progressive attitudes toward incapacitated individuals, saying their voices typically are allowed greater force here than in other states.
Yet many worry that the recent ruling, which only came to light when it was reversed on appeal, suggests there could be a broader problem at play....
No figures are kept on the number of court-ordered abortions and sterilizations in Massachusetts, but specialists say they are likely more common than typically assumed.
The case, which gained national attention last week, also opened a window on the wrenching decisions relatives and courts are forced to make on behalf of people suffering from mental illness, and the difficulty in determining their will, or what their will would be if they were of sound mind....
In the case, Norfolk Judge Christina Harms ordered the woman to undergo an abortion, stating she could be “coaxed, bribed, or even enticed’’ into the hospital for the procedure. She further directed the woman be sterilized “to avoid this painful situation’’ from happening again.
The woman’s parents, who have custody of her son, were seeking guardianship, and according to court records, believe that terminating the pregnancy is in their daughter’s best interests....
The woman, identified in court records by the pseudonym Mary Moe, has a long history of mental illness. She denies she is pregnant and has refused obstetric testing and care. When discussing a previous abortion, she becomes “agitated and emotional,’’ the appeals ruling stated.
Citing “substantial delusional beliefs,’’ Harms ruled that the woman was not competent to make a decision about an abortion, but if she were, she would choose to terminate her pregnancy.
That line of reasoning, known as “substituted judgment,’’ is required under Massachusetts law in guardianship cases involving “extraordinary treatment,’’ such as abortion, removing life support, and administering antipsychotic medication. It applies to people who are deemed incapacitated for reasons that include mental illness, developmental disabilities, and dementia.
The standard took hold in Massachusetts after a landmark case in the late 1970s involving a profoundly mentally retarded man who was diagnosed with leukemia. The state Supreme Court ruled that incompetent patients have the right to refuse treatment, and that the court must act as a surrogate to determine what the patient would choose.
Massachusetts remains one of a minority of states to follow the substituted judgment standard, said Robert Fleischner, an attorney at the Center for Public Representation in Northampton who specializes in mental health and disability law. Advocates for the mentally ill say the standard is crucial to protecting their welfare and rights....
In practice, however, many courts wind up basing decisions on what they believe would be in the person’s best interests, lawyers said. In a common scenario, patients who resist medication are often ordered to take it.
“It’s a hard row to hoe,’’ Fleischner said. “Once the patient is found to be incompetent, it’s tough to overcome that hurdle. In most cases, there’s no real evidence to what the client would have done, so it’s assumed they would want to take medication.’’
$omeone mu$t benefit from that.
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Back to North Carolina:
"Study’s race claims rile Duke students; Asserts that black students switch to easier majors" by Martha Waggoner | Associated Press, January 20, 2012
RALEIGH, N.C. - An unpublished Duke University study that says black students are more likely to switch to less difficult majors has upset some students, who say the research is emblematic of entrenched racial problems.
The study, which opponents of affirmative action are using in a case they want the US Supreme Court to consider, concludes black students match the grade point averages of whites over time partially because they switch to majors that require less study and have less stringent grading standards.
About three dozen students held a silent protest Sunday outside a speech by black political strategist Donna Brazile that was part of the school’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance. And members of the Black Student Alliance have met with the provost to express their unhappiness with the study.
The reaction surprised one of the researchers, who said he wanted to show the need to find ways to keep minorities in difficult majors such as the sciences, economics, and engineering.
Peter Arcidiacono, an economics professor, wrote the paper in May with a graduate student and Ken Spenner, a sociology professor. Spenner and Arcidiacono are white. The paper has been under review since June at the Journal of Public Economics.
The statistics would probably reflect trends at other schools, Arcidiacono said. The study notes that national science organizations have spent millions to increase the ranks of black science students.
“It’s not just a Duke issue. It’s a national issue,’’ he said.
The researchers analyzed data from surveys of more than 1,500 Duke students before college and during the first, second, and fourth college years. Blacks and whites initially expressed a similar interest in tougher fields but 68 percent of blacks ultimately choose humanities and social science majors, compared with less than 55 percent of whites.
Oh, no, no, no. Take it from the stupid old white man, don't go into those worthless fields.
The study’s claim that majors such as natural sciences required more study time was based on students’ responses to survey questions about how many hours they spent each week on studying and homework. The study found that those fields required 50 percent more study time than social sciences and humanities courses.
It's because of basketball and football practice, right?
Affirmative action opponents cite the study in briefs involving a challenge of the undergraduate admissions policy at the University of Texas at Austin.
“What kind of image does this present not only of the academic undertakings of black students at Duke, but also of the merit and legitimacy of our degrees?’’ Asante asked. “And then, of course, it’s calling into question . . . the legitimacy of how we even got to Duke in the first place.’’
Duke, a private university, has about 6,500 undergraduates, about 47 percent of them white and 10 percent black. The largest minority group is Asian-American, at 21 percent. Duke has no formula for admitting students, spokesman Mike Schoenfeld said. Instead, the admissions process takes into account many factors, including race and ethnicity. The school selects about 1,700 students each year from more than 31,000 applicants.
The study is the latest issue to trouble black students at Duke, Asante said. She said administrators have not responded to questions about plans to renovate the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture and have not given support for the black student group’s recruitment weekend.
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Also see: The Boston Globe Promotes Book of Lies
Duke Lacrosse Stripper Caught in Dragnet
What about the rival university?
"Man who killed UNC student gets life term" December 21, 2011
HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. - A Durham man was convicted yesterday and sentenced to life without parole in the slaying of a student body president at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The jury found Laurence Lovette Jr. guilty of first-degree murder in the March 2008 slaying of Eve Carson. He was also convicted of first-degree kidnapping and robbery.
Lovette, 20, was not eligible for the death penalty because he was a minor when the crime was committed.
For the kidnapping and robbery charges, Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour tacked on an additional 20 years to the end of Lovette’s life sentence.
“Mr. Lovette will spend the rest of his life in prison,’’ Baddour said from the bench. “This act has no place in our society. It is not activity that we can allow to occur in our society. The life that Ms. Carson led was too short, but I know that she continues to be an inspiration, not only for her family, but for thousands across this country.’’
Prosecutors say Lovette, who was 17 at the time, had driven to nearby Chapel Hill with another man, Demario Atwater, to find someone to rob.
In the early-morning darkness, they happened upon Carson, a busy Morehead scholar and much-liked student leader from Athens, Ga., who friends said regularly stayed up all night to do her schoolwork.
The pair shot her five times, prosecutors said, for her ATM card and because she had seen their faces.
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"Disgruntled worker kills 3, wounds one" Associated Press, January 14, 2012
STAR, N.C. - A gunman who opened fire at a North Carolina lumber company targeted four of his co-workers with a shotgun yesterday, killing three and critically injuring the other, police said.
Ronald Dean Davis went home after the rampage at the warehouse and shot himself in the head, leaving him critically wounded, Montgomery County Sheriff Dempsey Owens said. Davis, 50, was described as disgruntled, but the sheriff did not say exactly what he was upset about.
“He knew who he was after; he knew who he was going to see,’’ Owens said.
They entered and found him breathing, but with a single gunshot wound to his head, Owens said. A handgun and a six-page note were found nearby. Police did not release what the note said.
“It goes into some details about some things, but really it rambles on,’’ Owens said....
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I know who is to blame:
"Both men apologized to their fellow Americans for failing to break free of their domineering father and his radical Muslim views."
Yeah, those Islamic guys are responsible for every ill these days.
"Tornado strikes western N. Carolina" Associated Press, January 13, 2012
ELLENBORO, N.C. - Weather officials confirm there was a tornado in the storm system that swept through parts of western North Carolina this week, flinging mobile homes into valleys, damaging dozens of buildings, and injuring nearly 20 people.
The storm system struck Rutherford and Burke counties on Wednesday, as a cold front moved through the western Carolinas....
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Going to need some homes built:
"N.C. city tries to revive HUD projects; Demand is high in Charlotte for affordable units" December 18, 2011|By Debbie Cenziper, Washington Post
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Homeless shelters in Charlotte, the South’s second-largest city, are packed and housing officials say thousands of affordable rental units are needed just to meet current demand.
To help build homes for the poor, the city turned to the federal government, drawing $3.5 million for four projects that promised 202 units. Years later, all the money from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOME fund has been spent, but 83 houses have not been delivered. One project failed to produce a single home....
Charlotte is a case study of a city facing the fallout of delayed affordable housing projects promised to neighborhoods badly in need of new homes. Dozens of cities are in similar straits, trying to right troubled construction deals that failed to produce housing despite millions in HUD funding....
Why is all your tax loot being stolen, American?
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Any coincidence that is where the Democratic Convention will be held this year (in an anti-union, right-to-work state)?