Too True To Be Funny

Did you see this headline?  “Dental assistant fired for being ‘irresistible’ to boss
When I first heard it, I thought it must be from The Onion or some other satirical news outlet, because it just seemed to ridiculous. I didn’t actually hear the report until the evening on ABC News when I learned the incident had not only occurred, but the Iowa Supreme Court had upheld the right of the dentist to do so. Ryan Foley, reporting from Iowa city in an Associated Press article wrote:

December 24, 2012 (WPVI) — A dentist acted legally when he fired an assistant that he found attractive simply because he and his wife viewed the woman as a threat to their marriage, the all-male Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday.
The court ruled 7-0 that bosses can fire employees they see as an “irresistible attraction,” even if the employees have not engaged in flirtatious behavior or otherwise done anything wrong. Such firings may be unfair, but they are not unlawful discrimination under the Iowa Civil Rights Act because they are motivated by feelings and emotions, not gender, Justice Edward Mansfield wrote.
An attorney for Fort Dodge dentist James Knight said the decision, the first of its kind in Iowa, is a victory for family values because Knight fired Melissa Nelson in the interest of saving his marriage, not because she was a woman.

I don’t even know where to begin questioning the absurdity of the ruling.
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Gay Teens and Suicide

Tyler Clementi, Freshman, Rutgers University


Authorities have found the body of Tyler Clementi floating in the Hudson River. Clementi is the 18-year-old Rutgers University freshman who jumped of the George Washington Bridge after his roommate allegedly posted to the internet a video of him being intimate with another man. In the fall semester of his first year in college, a time that is supposed to be full of possibility, this young man felt humiliated to the point that he gave up hope. I wonder at the mentality of those who would play such a prank, but my mind is incapable to wrapping itself around the possibility such cruelty could have been deliberate. I can only believe that the two students who posted the video did not think through the consequences.
Also shocking, it has emerged that Clementi had once reported a similar incident. He

reportedly notified his resident adviser and other university officials about an incident earlier this month in which his roommate, Dharun Ravi, allegedly live streamed video of Clementi having a sexual encounter with a male classmate.

According to the ABC News report on that, his complaint was not ignored, but I’m not sure it was handled properly.  Had it been, perhaps the death could have been averted.
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End Discriminatory Health Insurance Practices – The Petition Site

A petition sponsored by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) call on Congress to reform insurance regulation so that older Americans can’t be charged more.  I see this as just one issue in the health care reform debate and am in favor of a more comprehensive reform that includes a public option.  But this is important.

It’s time for Congress to put a stop to health insurance companies discriminating Otherwise, it viagra in österreich might offer a different reaction in the entire body. It’s a shame, because their book commits the same mistake with Bonds that a German magazine named Der Spiegel made with Munzer. generic levitra deeprootsmag.org Apart from tadalafil cialis india nourishing and rejuvenating the reproductive organs, the capsule augments the potency that helps boost male potency and also the vitality. wholesale generic viagra One of the more exciting aspects of buying and paying for the medicines. based on age! Americans aged 50 to 64 are currently charged five times or more for health insurance than a younger person — just because of their age.It’s a practice called “age rating,” which insurance companies use to deliberately make health care more expensive for older Americans, driving up the ranks of the uninsured among them. And it must change.
via End Discriminatory Health Insurance Practices – The Petition Site.