FLK was marked on his permanent record. FLK stands for Funny-Looking Kid.

The boy did look odd. His nose looked like it had been broken and not reset. When he talked, he sometimes made a honking sound, as if he was holding his nose. Some of the bones in his arms were fused, and he had webbing between his toes. When he stood with his arms at rest, they hung about 5-6" from his sides. He couldn’t move his elbows through the normal range, so when he walked, he took up twice the space that he should have. His arms frequently hit things or people when space was tight. He had trouble holding down a piece of paper and writing on it at the same time, because he couldn’t bring his hands together without discomfort. Minor physical anomalies, a school social worker had written a few years back, along with a note about likely retardation.

That wasn’t all. At 7, he was the biggest kid in his second grade class, and his school was worried. A call requesting his evaluation had said little about his unusual physical anomalies. His school didn’t know what to do with him. They were scared of him, the principal had said. I had to test him, and I was warned he’d be dangerous.

Dangerous? A 7-year-old?

Almost every day, I see another large red unit sitting in the city, a silent threat of encroaching danger and doom. They sneak in overnight, or during the day when many of the neighbors are off at work. No one every sees them come and go; the people that operate them must be invisible. Perhaps they are space aliens?

Now, even my "safe" neighborhood has been invaded, though it is filled with people who I expected to be on guard. Instead, neighbors are disappearing. I find out they are gone only when another red unit sits where my neighbors once were.

Follow me and learn more about the danger. . .

Marks, Mississippi. Marianna Arkansas. Memphis Tennessee. These are the first stops for John Edwards on a special journey that begins July 16 in New Orleans, goes up the Mississippi, across to the Rust Belt of the upper Ohio Valley states and ends in Appalachia. John Edwards is highlighting poverty in this country: The Road to One America Tour.

Part I of that tour, the Mississippi Delta, is where I was born. It is the flattest place in the U.S., maybe on earth. And two colors: Green and black, stretched around the meandering twists of the Mississippi River. If you have Mapquest or Google maps, look at the aerial view, and you’ll see what I mean. That black land is fertile.  

NY City’s drop is crime is being attributed to changes in environmental actions, not in Giuliani’s crime policies. Today’s Washington Post highlights the research of economist Rick Nevin, who has studied the effects of lead exposure on the rates of crime among adults who lived in high lead areas as children. In this country and in several places around the world, crime rates have risen 20 years or so following a rise in lead exposure, and fallen 20 years or so following a decrease in lead exposure.  It is this rise and fall, not policies of being "soft" or "hard" on crime, that has made the rates rise or fall.  

Posted here as a favor to Teach313 from Booman Tribune.

The passing of the Torture bill has led to justified expressions of anger, frustration, and bitter sadness in the progressive community. I join in those feelings. Much has been said about the bill and I cannot add anything new. I agree that this administration has continuously moved against the constitutional freedoms and liberties that Americans have fought to preserve and expand. We have fought in the streets, on battlefields, and in the courts to grasp the promise of our democracy, a promise that always seems to exceed our grasp. Each stage of the struggle has moved us closer to a more inclusive democracy and a more inclusive America. Until now.

    The Torture law is a clear step away from the promise of America. The Patriot Act was also. However, there is another threat to fulfilling the promise of America. It is a more subtle threat, but potentially more dangerous than the previous two. There is an increasingly virulent attack on the Federal Court system by the Right. The Judiciary is under attack.

more below the fold

Yesterday, a new Medicaid Commission was announced by Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt. This Commission, ostensibly "bipartisan", is given far-reaching orders. You can find the Medicaid Commission's Charter here.

Two diaries, one by nutmeg, the other by FleetAdmiralJ, have already focused on Sundquist, the former Tennessee Gov., Chair of this new committee, who was no friend of Medicaid. While they have covered his deficits very well, there is more to the story.

It should come as little surprise that the instructions to the committee are to recommend 10 Billion in cuts soon, and policy recommendations later. And with the time frame for cuts unbelievably short, it is inconceivable that the committee will have time for anything more than window dressing of Bush policies.

This announcement came to my attention through the fine work of FamiliesUSA - The Voice for HealthCare Consumers organization.

More below. .

In the past few days, a lot has been said about women, e.g. why more women responded to an ad on dKos than to posted comments about Larry Summers offensive statements about women's abilities. Rather than commenting further on the ad I suggested that women describe some of their experiences to help others understand why many of us found the tenor of the discussions unpleasant and unaccepting. So, making good on my own suggestion, here's my first real diary.