Mother: Please Sleep With My Down Syndromed Son

Lucy Baxter and her son, Otto, 21

UK mother Lucy Baxter has begun a campaign to find a girlfriend for her 21-year-old son Otto, who has Down’s Syndrome, because she feels bad that he’s surrounded by other people his age having sex but himself remains a virgin. If that fails, she may pay a prostitute.

“If he doesn’t get a girlfriend, I will feel really bad, because I have sold him this thing that he is like everybody else. That’s why I’m working overtime to get this sorted for him.”

Interesting conflation of “having sex” and “getting a girlfriend” – two very different things. Which is it that she’s more concerned about?

Mom would also like Otto to have a non-retarded girlfriend, since he’s “like everybody else.” I’m all for empowerment here, folks, but there are certain facts we should perhaps address. (Plus, if Otto, and by extension other individuals with Down’s Syndrome, are “just like everybody else,”  why does his girlfriend need to be non-retarded?)

More: Sky News
P.S.: Yes, I do realize that “syndromed” is not a word and yes I still debated whether it would be hyphenated.

My Current Desktop

One of my favorites. Taken Labor Day Weekend after a morning walk on the breakwater (shown) to the beach (over the horizon) in Provincetown. Click pic to enlarge.

Fox News Edits Biden Comment To Reverse Meaning

Is anyone even surprised?

Think Progress did some reporting and discovered the clip that Fox News ran, which was presented as current, shows Biden saying, “The fundamentals of the economy are strong…”

…is actually a quote from September (i.e., the campaign) in which he is quoting (and disagreeing with) John McCain‘s assessment of the economy:

What a joke.

Please Defend The Sanctity Of Marriage

The Smoking Gun:

A Florida man wearing an “I ♥ My Marriage” t-shirt was arrested last night for allegedly choking his wife during an argument in their Tampa-area home. Bradley Gellert, a 32-year-old financial consultant, was busted by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputies and booked into jail on a felony domestic battery by strangulation charge. According to a police report, Gellert, pictured in the below mug shot, got into an argument with his wife and “screamed at the victim and threw numerous items.” He then allegedly “grabbed the victim’s neck and strangled her,” which “prevented the victim from breathing normally.” Gellert’s wife subsequently fled the couple’s Apollo Beach home and went to a nearby sheriff’s office to report the incident. Investigators noted that the woman had been “taken to the ground by the arrestee and suffered an abrasion to her knee and red marks on her neck.” The “I ♥ My Marriage” shirt was a promotional item tied to the 2008 movie “Fireproof,” a Christian-themed film starring Kirk Cameron. The movie, a hit in evangelical circles, centers on a fireman’s religious awakening and his simultaneous effort to save a failing marriage.

Via Slog.

New Music Tuesday

Buy: iTunes

As expected, The Decemberists’s fifth LP hit iTunes a week early today; I downloaded my copy this morning at 3:30 AM (don’t ask) and am really enjoying it so far!

If you’re going to go the piecemeal route, I recommend starting with tracks 8 (“The Wanting Comes In Waves / Repaid”) and 13 (“Annan Water”).

Previous posts: The Decemberists