Ari Ne'eman, 20, who has Asperger's syndrome, has formed the Autistic Self Advocacy Network to persuade public opinion that those diagnosed with autism are not ill or disabled but merely different in the way they process information, in that social interaction is very difficult for them. Those without autism, say the activists, are merely "neurotypical," and a progressive society must be "neurodiverse." Notwithstanding such articulate advocates as Ne'eman, most medical professionals continue to consider autism a potentially devastating affliction, according to a June report in New York magazine.
Justice Run Amok
Extreme Behavior
Officials in Chongqing, China, abruptly shut down the lifestyle magazine New Travel Weekly in May after it published a photo spread of sexy women in lingerie posing in the rubble at one of the country's recent earthquake sites. The editorial staff was fired and the company ordered into "rectification," which is apparently the process of self-examination of what in the world the company might have been thinking.
A bus service that shuttles gamblers from Colorado Springs to nearby mountain-town casinos has been awarded $382,000 in Homeland Security anti-terrorism grants, according to a May report by the Colorado Springs Gazette. Federal officials said the grants were part of the Infrastructure Protection Activities program, with the money used for "vehicle security," GPS systems and training drivers, which means, according to a bus company official, teaching them "to be aware of their surroundings, of what's unusual and the people on board."
Car dealer Walter Moore of Max Motors in Butler, Mo. (an hour south of Kansas City), announced in May a free premium to every car purchaser: either $250 worth of gasoline or a gift certificate for a handgun. He told KMBC-TV that 80 percent of customers choose the gun.
The Fates of Three Class of '08 Students in Durham, N.C.: Two men did not graduate from Duke University in May because they were two of the three lacrosse players accused of rape in March 2006 and were forced to suspend their academic pursuits in order to defend themselves against the charges that were later dismissed. Another '08 student did graduate in May in Durham, from North Carolina Central University: Crystal Mangum, the drug-abusing, part-time stripper who had relentlessly accused the three of raping her but whose story was later found to be completely unsupported. Mangum's degree is in police psychology.
Hardcore Ironies: (1) The prominent Texas personal injury attorney Brian Loncar, whose ubiquitous TV ads offer motorists a "strong arm" if they've been hurt by another driver's negligence, landed in critical condition after a Dallas accident caused, said police, when Loncar's 2008 Bentley failed to yield to an emergency vehicle and was struck by the speeding fire engine.
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Operation Repo
The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest
Inside American Jail
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