Wrong
.

Sometimes I wonder if there are so many wrongs being committed in America, that people just can't see them anymore. There are two bits of news that I'm going to rant about here... skip 'em if you wish.

1. Child welfare officials took a 12-year-old cancer patient from her parents' custody, accusing them of blocking her radiation treatment. They say their daughter's cancer is in remission and they object to the radiation following a round of chemotherapy. Katie was diagnosed with Hodgkins disease, a cancer of the lymph system, in January.
A Driscoll Children's Hospital pediatric oncologist quoted in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times said standard protocol for children in advanced stages is to complete chemotherapy and radiation therapy, with blood transfusions, and that halting such treatment increases the risk of death.
Authorities gained temporary custody of the girl after receiving an anonymous tip. Her father was arrested on charges of interfering with child custody and was released Monday after posting $50,000 bond. Their three sons were also taken from them and placed in a foster home.
The couple, members of the Church of God, have said they oppose blood transfusions unless they were from Katie's mother. But the couple's attorney, Daniel Horne, said religion wasn't at issue in the fight. Rather, they say doctors have not answered questions about radiation side effects. "This issue is about parental rights, not about religious rights," Horne said. "They just want to be informed of her treatment."
In a videotaped statement recorded by her parents, Katie said she's feeling better. "I don't need radiation treatment. And nobody asked me what I wanted. It's my body," she said.

The latest rounds of tests show the Hodgkins has returned (or never left)and the family has agreed to another round of chemo. They are still resistant to radiation treatments. My question is, when did it become ok to take away all your children because you choose to reject a potentially harmful treatment for one of them? My mom was given a choice about her radiation treatments for breast cancer. She was told that it could increase her survival rate by 5%. She chose the radiation. But it was her choice. The state didn't force her.

2. EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. A group of black contractors that had threatened to shut down part of Interstate 64 has reached a deal with the Illinois Department of Transportation.
The Metro East Black Contractors Organization had planned the protest because members contend minority subcontractors weren't getting a large enough slice of highway construction projects.
Illinois Transportation Secretary Tim Martin met twice with the group. And he says he's committed to spending two (M) million dollars on minority job training.
Martin says I-DOT also will draft a five-year plan for boosting minority participation in multi(M)million-dollar highway projects, with input from contractors and union leaders,
Members of the contractors group now say they have no plans to carry out their threat to close Interstate 64.

Maybe I'm missing something here... But the problem with minority contractors and subcontractors has always been on of training. Certain construction work requires special skills. White people, Asian people, Hispanic people, all have to pay for their training in those special skills -either through schooling or through crap pay as an apprentice. How come one group gets the training for free? I was a poor white kid and I never got so much as a free lunch; much less free training in a trade. If I want to learn a new skill, I pay for it. I buy my own tools (or inherit knitting needles from my grandma)I read books, watch other people do the work, ask questions, find teachers, and practice practice practice. When Chasmyn and I started a small business, we did it on our own. There were no free hand outs.
In all fairness, there may be some obstacle to training for this one minority group, that other minorities don't have. It could be there and I just don't see it because I'm not living it. There may be some special hardship that I don't see.