Category Archives: Family

UPDATED: Media’s Rotating Mandarins (Name The Nepotists)

Like viral DNA, members of the media-military-congressional-industrial complex replicate themselves. Thus, what’s interesting in the Mediaite non-story about the tedious Juan Williams and his son, who’re “blasting liberals for their ‘Uncle Tom’ treatment of black conservatives”—perennial, impotent whining in such circles—is the fact that son has successfully followed father’s path. Williams senior has, no doubt, greased the skids for sonny-boy.

Protectionism.

Many are the examples of major pundits or newsmen who’ve helped their spawn into the family business. Tim Russert’s son, Luke, is an example. I recall reading that the father of chubby Katie Pavlich, who is ubiquitous in Republican media, was a mover and shaker in same circles, but all evidence of that had been expunged. There are many others.

And it’s a slow news week.

UPDATE (3/30): NAME THE NEPOTISTS. At the Fox News family, “Peter Doocy, son and possible clone of host Steve Doocy,” is another beneficiary of nepotism. As is Juliet Huddy‘s brother, John Huddy, Jr. It’s all in the family at Fox.

Viva corruption in cable.

Comments On ‘Higher Education Is A Hard Row To Ho’

Education, Family, Feminism, Gender, libertarianism, Military, Morality, Ron Paul, Sex

Boundaries protect kids. Passing judgment is a very good thing indeed.

Here are replies to comments on EPJ, where “Higher Education Is A Hard Row To Ho” has been posted:

WRITES Nick Badalamenti, March 14, 2014 at 12:41 PM

“That’s private. Only for you to see and touch. To do that, you have to go to your room and close the door.”

That validates that my response to my four young girls, which has been almost identical to yours when they get curious about their privates- Thank you!

ILANA:

Glad, Nick. The thought of exposing these little kids to the corruption of full-on sex-ed (rampant in all schools, private too) is frightening. Kids show a fleeting interest. It’s not a signal to bombard them with the proverbial condoms, HIV-ed, the glories of diverse sexuality, etc. Let them be babies. At this age, they need to understand what is private and what is proper social behavior. That response conveyed both respect for the child’s person and for society’s codes of conduct (you don’t want your kid touching self in front of your guests—or imperiling herself with what some perv might take as lewd conduct). Boundaries protect kids.

Anonymous March 14, 2014 at 1:49 PM

A few things came to mind when reading this:

1) Ron Paul was a military doctor.

2) “Indeed, daddy’s girl is an open book. We know what the 18-year-old does and that she does it for the love of it.” Regardless that she also happens to enjoy it, didn’t she say she’s doing this to raise money for tuition?

3) I feel like the 2 comments below are pretty judgmental on your part. Isn’t the idea of freedom of speech that people are free to comment on things that the average person disagrees with? As Ron Paul said (paraphrasing) “we don’t have freedom of speech to talk about the weather”

“As corrupt as Miriam’s morals are, better to have been a ho for sale than a mercenary for Uncle Sam.”

“Thankfully, this writer’s adult daughter has never delivered so imbecilic a soliloquy and has taken care to be discreet about her private life.”

-Kevin

Anonymous March 14, 2014 at 4:33 PM

1) Ron Paul was drafted
2) So you are against speech that is judgemental?

Anonymous March 14, 2014 at 4:47 PM

Just as I suspected – you had no comeback for my 2nd point!

As far as your point on Ron Paul being drafted – Fair enough, though I guess one could argue that Dr. Paul could’ve tried to be a “conscientious objector” (though maybe he did try?)

On your point “so you are against speech that is judgmental?” – Nope. To be honest, I only mentioned it because clearly the point of the article was to talk about the liberty aspects of this story rather than the author’s opinion of right and wrong. In other words, saying her morals are “corrupt” adds nothing to the main point.

-Kevin

ILANA:

Anon: I’m not quite sure who’s who in the comments above, but, yes, Ron Paul was drafted. However, even if his military service were voluntary, from the fact that Dr. Paul served Uncle Sam it doesn’t follow that it is right, or that we all must support such service. I thought libertarians were supposed to be skeptical of ALL politicians, even the good ones.
Point # 2 about judgment is spot on (whoever made it). Why reach for the smelling-salts when you encounter judgment, as liberals do? Judging means to discern; “the formation of an opinion after consideration or deliberation.” The human species would not have survived so far if not judgment.
As to the comment about, “the point of the article was to talk about the liberty aspects of this story rather than the author’s opinion of right and wrong.” The point of the article is to talk about the points in the article, not only what is legal or illegal in libertarian law. Why the queasiness about the moral judgment in the column?

March 14, 2014 at 6:45 PM

Higher Education Is A Hard Row To Ho

Education, Family, Left-Liberalism And Progressivisim, Military, Morality, Relatives, Religion, Sex, War

“Higher Education Is A Hard Row To Ho” is the current column, now on WND. An excerpt:

Who’s the bigger prostitute? Sex kitten “Belle Knox,” alias Miriam Weeks, a promising porn star who is studying at Duke University, or her father, Dr. Kevin Weeks, an army doctor who recently returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan?

“I would support porn over the adventures for the Empire, anytime” is the verdict of libertarian Robert Wenzel, editor at Economic Policy Journal.

Indeed, daddy’s girl is an open book. We know what the 18-year-old does and that she does it for the love of it.

But what does papa Weeks do? Here’s an attempt to sum up his vocation in this season of rhyming against the regime:

Humpty Dumpty was sent to war
Where Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the king’s horses and all king Hussein’s men
Asked Dr. Weeks to put Humpty Dumpty together again
And again. And again.

Papa Weeks is in the business of patching up the peons, so as to send them back to the killing fields where they fight for nothing.

At times, the “talents” of GI Joe and GI Ho come together in the theater of war—the Abu Ghraib porn theater starred some sadistic and slutty servicemen and women. However, the pornography of Miriam Weeks is soft core compared to the X-rated pornography of war, in which Dr. Weeks partakes. Furthermore, selling sex for money, in private or to audiences, is voluntary, consensual and violates no rights.

As corrupt as Miriam’s morals are, better to have been a ho for sale than a mercenary for Uncle Sam. …

… Read on. The complete column is “Higher Education Is A Hard Row To Ho” now on WND.

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Mitochondrial Disorder: Myth, Iatrogenesis, Or What?

Family, Healthcare, Relatives, Rights, Science, The State

My inclination is to say that Mitochondrial Disease, “a new and rapidly developing medical subspecialty,” is one of those made-up maladies Americans excel at conjuring and then milking for attention, attention-seeking activism, fund-raising, etc. There are rewards and reinforcements to be had in cultivating disease.

Mine is a hunch. However, so does the gamut of “Mitochondrial diseases” appear to be more conjecture than science—to say nothing of the circularity in the argument for their existence: A person lacks energy, therefore the Mitochondria, the locus of energy in the cells, is faulted.

I know nothing about the epidemiology of mitochondrial disorders, although the one study focuses on populations in the more affluent parts of the world: Northern England and Northern Finland.

Perhaps Africans are too preoccupied with survival to “develop” this malady?

The context: Fox-News host Megyn Kelly has been banging on non-stop about the mitochondrially impaired girl, Justina Pelletier. The 15-year-old girl was “taken into Massachusetts State Custody after her parents disagreed with doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital over her treatment plan.”

A guest summed up the travesty more succinctly than the host:

Boston Children’s Hospital and the Department of Children and Families, DCF, [took] this child away from these parents, who love this daughter and who want to care for this daughter, and who simply disagree with the recent diagnosis of a newly minted physician who only had been out of medical school for seven months, who disagreed with her actual treating physicians from Tufts..

Irrespective of whether this newly minted disease is mythical or authentic—there is absolutely no ambiguity in the following: The hospital staff involved in removing this girl from her loving parents, together with the personnel from the Department Which Ought To Be Dissolved; they all belong behind bars for their actions.