Category: News

Proxy consent is a valid concept, in the proper context.

I’ll leave the libertarian angle of this story to others, Radley Balko among them because that’s where I found it first. I have a different analysis to make.

An armed law enforcement team broke down the door of a family home with a battering ram and took an 11-year-old to a hospital after authorities feared he was not getting proper medical care for what turned out to be a minor head injury.
…

Jon’s father, Tom Shiflett, 62, told paramedics he didn’t want them to treat Jon and asked them to leave. He told them he had served as a medic in Vietnam and he had the skill to treat his son.
…

Following the raid, a doctor recommended Jon be given fluids, Tylenol and ice to treat the bruises, according to a copy of the child’s patient aftercare instructions.

This is an example of where proxy consent for parents is appropriate. This is the determination of medical need, based on actual evidence to suggest that injury might exist. It is logical to determine whether or not intervention is necessary. Contrary to other decisions we incorrectly permit.

How should we define sexual violence?

I’m still organizing my thoughts on the political chaos in Kenya, so I don’t have much coherent to say on it right now. I’m not sure when or if I’ll write anything more specific to the topic of this entry, but there is a larger issue here that has been ignored for too long. The current situation makes it worth discussing, though. For now, this story will suffice:

Sexual violence has also been reported against men, with the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi on 2 January saying several men had been admitted after they were assaulted during the violence.

“There are several men admitted in various wards after they were subjected to forced circumcision,” a source at the hospital said.

[Challenger Raila] Odinga’s core supporters come from the Luo ethnic group that does not practise circumcision, while [incumbent President Mwai] Kibaki draws most of his following from the Kikuyu group, one of several tribes in which male circumcision is an essential rite of passage from adolescence to manhood.

Like I said, I’m still working on a macro-level analysis of what the current unrest means. I don’t have enough information right now, so I won’t speculate. But the micro-level question is undeniable. How is the forced circumcision of infant males any different from the forced circumcision of these adult males?

The answer offered will surely rest on intent. This is a valid discussion point in many instances, but intent can’t be relevant in unnecessary, forced circumcision. These adult men clearly have not sought circumcision before, and they didn’t seek it now. They are now the victims of (sexual) violence.

In contrast, the parents of infant males do not seek to impose violence on their son when they have him circumcised. That does not negate the imposition of violence that occurs when they have him circumcised. If left alone, he would not likely choose (or need) circumcision in his lifetime. Any decision to the contrary fails to meet any standard of reasonable. The mere presence of good intentions is a subjective attempt to validate what is at its core a violent, unnecessary intervention on the body of a healthy individual.

The answer will probably also include an incorrectly-nuanced nod to a difference in rights between children and adults. That can’t withstand scrutiny, either. The reason the violence inflicted upon these Kenyan men is problematic is because it is a human rights violation. Too often advocates of circumcision ignore human. Children are humans, too. Their rights do not magically appear at the age of majority. They exist from the child’s birth. Each child possesses the very same basic right that was violated in these Kenyan adult males.

Given that I don’t think I’ll find anyone to defend what was done to these men¹, I’m left to conclude that there are four categories of sexual violence, with one subtle difference.

  • Sexual violence against women is bad.
  • Sexual violence against men is bad.
  • Sexual violence against girls is bad.
  • Sexual violence against boys is usually bad.

No potential benefit or belief in good intentions or deference to parental rights superseding a child’s human rights can validate the inclusion of usually in the last category. Sexual violence is sexual violence, regardless of gender or age.

¹ I’m sure I can find someone who will say these men will now be better off, a subjective speculation. Pro-circumcision advocacy knows some very strange boundaries. I’ve seen strange boundaries among those opposed to infant circumcision, although I do not believe I appproach them. Yes, I know I’m insulated from a completely unbiased, critical analysis of my own thinking.

Switch the gender. Would we accept this journalism?

Via Kevin, M.D., a doctor snapped a picture of his patient’s penis during surgery:

A Mayo Clinic Hospital surgeon in training used a cellphone to photograph a patient’s genitals during surgery and now may face disciplinary action and a patient’s attorney.

The doctor took the picture while installing a catheter in preparation of gallbladder surgery on the patient because the patient has “Hot Rod” tattooed on his penis. Obviously this is unprofessional conduct by the doctor and, in my opinion, deserves termination. But that’s just more “people are stupid” fodder. I’m more annoyed by a lack of maturity in the “journalism” surrounding the story:

After Hansen showed the photo to other members of the surgical staff, one phoned a Republic reporter on Monday and left an anonymous message about the incident.

Compare that to this sentence, also from the article:

Hansen told Dubowik that when he attached a catheter to the patient’s member, he had shot a picture.

Is it so complicated to use the accurate anatomical name for the body part? Is that low standard of maturity really too much to expect from a journalist and/or editor? Yes, member is a common euphemism for penis, but journalism should be above stupidity better suited to making a schoolboy snicker. Otherwise, I might believe that “members of the surgical staff” is meant to be hilarious.

Steroids can’t make a pitch curve.

I don’t have much to say about the newly-released Mitchell Report. It’s an illegitimate waste of government time in pursuit of a political quest for ever-expanding power. Not interested. As I wrote when Rep. Tom Davis first brought this nonsense into the federal sphere:

When Rep. Davis called the inquiry into steroids in Major League Baseball, how was that not a conspiracy to seize power? It may have involved one sport industry, but Rep. Davis seemed to enjoy threatening MLB with greater congressional control if it didn’t implement a policy banning a drug that’s already illegal. I don’t think any major sport in America explicitly bans its players from money laundering, drunk driving, murder or income tax evasion, yet we never have hearings about those, even though players have been involved in all of those offenses.

My stance is unchanged. And my basic understanding of liberty requires that steroids be decriminalized.

As for the situation at hand, Major League Baseball would ban steroids in my ideal world. As a group of consenting individuals, it would be free to do so. It would level the playing field to talent alone, which is what I want to see as a fan.

Of course, it would be free to ignore my preference, too, which it clearly did throughout the latter part of the ’90s. John Cole expresses my sentiments on the shock at the report’s finding:

Imagine if, in ten years, the GOP and the media decide to get outraged about intelligence being finessed before the Iraq war, they launch an investigation, and then get shocked when they see what they find. That is the level of stupid this baseball steroid report is right now.

Naturally that doesn’t preclude politicians from going to the for the children defense of our collective outrage:

Recalling that he had raised the steroids issue in a State of the Union speech a couple of years ago, Bush said he did so “because I understand the impact that professional athletes can have on our nation’s youth.” He urged athletes “to understand that when they violate their bodies, they’re sending a terrible signal to America’s young.”

When we force our subjective opinions onto the actions of others, it sends a terrible signal to America’s young that it’s okay to be meddlesome moralists opposed to the liberty of the individual. For the mental development of our youth, I’d say what we’re teaching is far worse than what a handful of athletes are (allegedly) teaching.

Post Script: Russ Roberts sums up the best way to read the names on the list and how detrimental these allegations are (not) to my opinion of the players.

Thankfully, the Bread-O-Meter is on a different network.

I’ve never enjoyed local news because of its propensity for a brainless lack of questioning and reflexive embrace of feel-good sentimentality incompatible with common sense. Watching the local news last night only because someone wanted possible new indications of a snow day, I suffered through this story on new food allergies in children. The important bits:

Margaret has eosinophilic esophagitis, a severe food allergy in which white blood cells build up in the esophagus, causing swelling and narrowing, making it difficult to swallow….

To control the disease, Margaret must stick to a strict diet — a tough task because she can only eat very few foods. Staples include pork, potatoes, rice and most vegetables. She has to avoid most other foods, like those with wheat, gluten and dairy.

How does being able to eat most vegetables equate to being able to eat very few foods? Is it too hard to comprehend that something beyond macaroni-and-cheese will provide sustenance to a child?

“It’s hard to feed a 2-year-old, anyway, but take away Cheerios, take away cake, take away milk, take away cheese, take away so many foods that normal toddlers eat and it makes it more difficult,” Julia Schifflian said.

Possibly, it appears. This indicates a lack of imagination, which, to be fair, is widespread in America. I see no reason to believe that wouldn’t be rectified rather quickly as these parents seek what’s best for their daughter as they deal with her illness. But when cake is the second item mentioned as how this disease hampers your efforts to fill out your child’s diet, that’s an unreasonably low starting point.

P.S. Listening to the radio this morning, Howard Stern mentioned that he doesn’t eat meat, only chicken and fish. Okay.

Random Bits

First, courtesy of John Cole, Virginia Republicans have a novel idea:

The State Board of Elections on Monday approved a state Republican Party request to require all who apply for a GOP primary ballot first vow in writing that they’ll vote for the party’s presidential nominee next fall.

There’s no practical way to enforce the oath. Virginia doesn’t require voters to register by party, and for years the state’s Republicans have fretted that Democrats might meddle in their open primaries.

I’ve voted in both Democratic and Republican primaries in the past. I planned to vote in one or the other next year to vote for the least objectionable candidate, a stance I don’t expect to carry out next November. Now I’m certain I’ll vote in the Republican primary. If they’re not compelled to keep their promises or act ethically, why should I grant them as much in my vote?

Next, grow up:

The Democratic National Committee, finding itself in the middle of labor disputes between television writers and CBS, announced this evening that it was canceling the debate among Democratic presidential candidates that had been scheduled to be broadcast on some of the network’s stations on Dec. 10.

The last thing we need is another of these press conferences, but seriously, grow up. This is why Democrats are no better than Republicans and why, in the face of colossal mistakes by Republicans, Democrats haven’t dominated. Stop worrying about meaningless appearances and act like a leader. It’s tough and ugly to do so, but it’s all that’s effective in the end. And it’s the only thing that will ever earn my vote again.

Last, Quote of the Day:

There’s a disturbing tendency to think that every problem is the result of inadequate regulation.

The quote is from Megan McArdle regarding sub-prime lending and what some think Alan Greenspan should have done to prevent it, but that line is more than serviceable in so many areas.

Parents decide what is reality-based education.

Evesham Township in New Jersey is under fire for including a video in its third-grade classes – as part of the state-manadated curriculum – that shows a child with two dads.

The issue first arose in December after a class of third graders at the J. Harold Van Zant School here was shown “That’s a Family!,” a documentary created by an Academy Award-winning filmmaker intended to show students the different forms that families can take, as part of the curriculum required in New Jersey. But the district temporarily stopped showing the video after some parents complained that they should be able to decide whether their third-grade children should learn about same-sex couples in the classroom.

My stance is that the only valid discussion in this context is third-grade, as opposed to children. Of course it’s possible to cherry-pick whatever quote you need to make whatever point you want to make. The article has exactly what you’d expect, but I’m sure the sentiment is moderately common:

“I don’t think it was appropriate,” said Jennifer Monteleone, 35, who is a parent of two children at the Robert B. Jaggard Elementary School. “If it was maybe in fifth grade, but in third grade they’re a little too young.”

It’s reasonable to debate this, as I said. But it can’t stop there.

Yet Ms. Monteleone also questioned whether the video should be shown at all because of the presence of the same-sex couples.

“It’s something to be discussed within families,” she said. “I think it’s the parents’ responsibility to teach the kids about that stuff.”

I don’t have a problem with this statement. But prohibiting this discussion in school addresses the symptom. When government is in charge of education, you have considerably less freedom to limit facts, or even decide what should be facts. But education is provided by the government. As a blunt instrument it can work against any agenda as much as it can work for one. Don’t be surprised when it happens.

In this case, parents do not have a right to make up their own facts. Same-sex marriage civil (in-)equality is the law. In acknowledging same-sex relationships, the state of New Jersey is dealing strictly in fact. Again, question the third-grade aspect and the debate is useful. (I think third-grade is fine, but I won’t pretend to base that on anything other than my instinct.) But you don’t get to impose this on everyone:

Delores Stepnowski, a parent of another Jaggard student, said parents should have been given more notice that the video would be shown.

“Something that controversial should have been discussed,” Ms. Stepnowski said. The children “shouldn’t learn questionable things in school that they’re not ready for and don’t understand.”

The evaluation of fact is open to subjective opinion. The existence of fact is not. The word questionable has nothing to do with this.

California bans force. Mostly?

California is addressing the possibility of forced RFID implantation:

California’s senate passed a bill last week that would protect people from having RFID tags forcibly implanted beneath their skin. All that’s left is for Governor Schwarzenegger to sign it, and then the state will become the third to pass such legislation (after Wisconsin and North Dakota).

The motivations for the bill were to prevent people from being forcibly tracked and to protect them from identity theft should someone electronically sniff data stored on the tag.

Kip already debunked the flaw in this plan:

It’s quite simple really: Only the government (or an armed thug) can “force” anyone to do anything. No employer can ever “force” an employee to accept any rule, policy or prerequisite.

I have nothing to add to that, but in light of what I wrote last week, there is another component. First, a word from the bill’s sponsor, Senator Joe Simitian:

“At the very least, we should be able to agree that the forced implanting of under-the-skin technology into human beings is just plain wrong,” he says.

I’ve read through the bill (pdf), and it clearly addresses what to do in the event a minor (or dependent adult) suffers a forced RFID chip implantation, but I can only find this for the possibility that it’s the parent forcing the child rather than an outside party:

This section shall not in any way modify existing statutory or case law regarding the rights of parents or guardians, the rights of children or minors, or the rights of dependent adults.

I’m not an attorney, so it’s possible, probable even, that I’m missing something in my analysis. But I doubt it. I have a strong suspicion that no one in the California legislature is much interested in the ethical issues posed by parents implanting an RFID chip into their children. Obviously it’s better to address a nearly impossible scenario with a new law, while leaving the entirely plausible scenario unprotected in order to guarantee parental “rights”.

Michael Vick and Justice

As everyone knows by now, a grand jury indicted Michael Vick on various charges stemming from an alleged dogfighting operation. This story is old news, although it will be hanging around for awhile. I’ve avoided it for several reasons, but not the obvious ones.

I make it abundantly clear that I’m a Hokie. I can’t imagine loving any other school the way I love Virginia Tech, or being so invested in the larger sense of community. Of course, in the last eight years, Michael Vick has been a huge part of that. His arrival on the football field in 1999 propelled us to our first national championship game. We lost that game, but our place in the national discussion of college football jumped infinitely as a result. The money poured in, the recruits got better, and the winning feels like tradition now. Where athletic success was a pleasant surprise when I arrived at Tech in 1991, there are now expectations. Thank you, Michael Vick.

That does not mean I’m willing to support and defend Michael Vick without reservation. Anyone who could commit the acts he is charged with is vile scum. If Vick is indeed guilty of the allegations against him, I hope he rots in a fiery pit filled with the rotting carcasses of every dog he and/or his friends executed. That would be too good, but it’s a start.

However, he is innocent until proven guilty. I’m not naive in understanding the allegations. I suspect he is guilty. But I believe in our justice system more. I will withhold judgment until such faith is no longer warranted. I refuse to embrace hysteria.

The wheels of injustice turn quickly in China.

Kip has a running series titled “China is Still a Dictatorship”. See if you think this news fits that:

Moving to address mounting concerns about the safety of its exports, China announced Tuesday that it had executed the former head of its food and drug safety agency for accepting bribes in exchange for approving substandard medicines.

At a news conference, State Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman Yan Jianyang said officials like Zheng Xiaoyu — who was sentenced to death in May after he was found guilty of accepting cash and gifts worth more than $800,000 — had brought “shame” to the agency and caused serious problems.

There are arguments here about the death penalty, as well as whether or not bribery should result in a death sentence. (The substandard medicines Zheng approved caused deaths, if I’m not mistaken, but I understand the charges to be bribery rather than something related to those deaths.) But Zheng was sentenced in May. Roughly two months from conviction to execution. I have a hard time believing that China is capable of quality appeals in two months.

I’m not confident China is capable – or interested – in quality appeals, which is ultimately the larger issue. Commenting on reforms to food safety standards, this:

The reforms show that “the Chinese government is a responsible government and has placed a great deal of importance on the quality and safety of its exports,” said Lin Wei, the deputy director general of the Import and Export Food Safety Bureau.

The Chinese government is not responsible. It is a dictatorship and it behaves like all dictatorships. Forgive me if I fail to admire it for its economic “miracle” and foray into what can not even loosely be defined as capitalism.