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Cystic Fibrosis Is Too White to Cure

Finding a cure for cystic fibrosis has been deemed politically incorrect, on the grounds that this awful disease tends to effect those who deserve to suffer — the source of all evil, male Caucasians:

Cystic fibrosis too 'white' for Ottawa fundraiser
Carleton University students drop support for debilitating disease


The Carleton University Students' Association has voted to drop a cystic fibrosis charity as the beneficiary of its annual Shinearama fundraiser, supporting a motion that argued the disease is not "inclusive" enough.

Cystic fibrosis "has been recently revealed to only affect white people, and primarily men" said the motion read Monday night to student councillors, who voted almost unanimously in favour of it. The decision caused heated reaction and left at least one member of council calling for a new vote.

Every year near the beginning of fall classes, during university orientation for new arrivals, students fan out across the city and seek donations from passersby. According to the motion, "all orientees and volunteers should feel like their fundraising efforts will serve their (sic) diverse communities."

Nick Bergamini, a third-year journalism student on the student council, said he was the only elected councillor present to vote against the motion. The decision is an example of campus political correctness gone too far, he said.

"They're not doctors. They're playing politics with this," said Bergamini. "I think they see this, in their own twisted way, as a win for diversity. I see it as a loss for people with cystic fibrosis."

The Shinearama fundraiser is carried out by students at about 65 colleges and universities across Canada. It has raised money for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for almost 50 years and Carleton has been participating for at least 25.

During orientation week this year, Carleton students, who have raised about $1 million over the years, raised about $20,000, said foundation chief executive Cathleen Morrison, who was surprised and dismayed by the student association decision.

The rationale for dropping cystic fibrosis as the beneficiary is not correct, she said. CF is diagnosed just as often among girls as boys, although the health of girls deteriorates more rapidly, she said. It is commonly considered an illness that affects Caucasians, but that includes people from the Middle East, South America, North Africa and the Indian subcontinent.

" 'Caucasian' as we understand it isn't just white people," said Morrison. "It includes people with a whole rainbow of skins."

One of the councillors who voted in favour of switching the charity said Monday night that the information provided to the panel prior to the vote was factually incorrect, and he will be seeking support from other members to hold an emergency meeting to reconsider their decision. "After seeing all the reaction today, I definitely think it should be revisited and reconsidered," said Michael Monks, who represents Carleton's business students for the student council.

Student association president Brittany Smyth said the motion came about because the association has been contemplating rotating the beneficiary of Shinearama to different charities each year instead of giving the money to a single charity.

"It's about people wanting to do something different," she said.

The motion was forwarded by Donnie Northrup, who represents science students. Northrup did not respond to a request for an interview.

The preamble to the motion is Northrup's explanation for why he supports the motion, based on what he learned as an orientation-week volunteer, said Smyth.

In making a decision, it was not the preamble but the declaration itself that matters, she said.

"The preliminary is the councillor's own motivations and ideas," she said. "Most discussion revolved around rotating the charity."

Bergamini said he doesn't believe the decision represents the opinion of most students.

"They're playing racial politics with something that is supposed to bring people together - a charity," he said.

Morrison, who hopes to get a chance to set the record straight with the student association, said students raise a healthy chunk of the approximately $16 million raised each year to support cystic fibrosis research.

The median life expectancy for a person with CF in Canada is just over 37 years, about twice what it was two decades ago. The money for research has helped produce a lot of international "firsts" including isolating the CF gene and carrying out the first double-lung transplant for a CF patient.

Meanwhile, public reaction to the student association decision has been swift, from those who denounced the decision as political correctness to those who facetiously mused about what would qualify as an "inclusive" disease. Others wondered if the student association decision would affect alumni donations to the university.

"The reasoning behind this is totally ridiculous. Eventually cystic fibrosis is a fatal disease. I wouldn't wish it on anyone," said Marie Lunney, a Carleton graduate who has worked as a foundation volunteer. "If I had a choice between donating to CF or Carleton, I'd donate to CF."

That would be like saying, "sickle cell anemia is to black to cure"!! I've lost a friend to "sickle cell anemia." :'(

Folks have lost their minds.

That's a fact!

Pop Stars Plea to US Military: Stop 'Torturing' Terrorists with Our Music...

The Britney bludgeon, a weapon of torture: Pop stars tell the U.S. military to stop using their songs to 'break' terror suspects

In the hands of a teenager with a powerful set of speakers it is a lethal weapon.

Popular music played at extreme decibel levels will already have been judged torture by many a parent.

But a phenomenon that did no more harm than widen the generation gap has suddenly taken on more sinister overtones with reports that ear-splittingly loud music has been used as a 'sonic bludgeon' by the U.S. military against prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.

Human rights groups are protesting that blasting tracks such as Britney Spears's Baby One More Time and Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. into cells at high volumes for hours on end can cause the inmates longterm psychiatric problems.

Now the musicians themselves have joined the fray, furious that their songs are being used to 'break' suspected terrorists.

Bristol-based band Massive Attack and Tom Morello, guitarist with U.S. group Rage Against The Machine have joined a campaign against the practice.

According to an FBI memo, one interrogator at Guantanamo bragged that he needed only four days to 'break' someone by alternating 16 hours of loud music with just four hours of silence.

The practice has been used often in the 'war on terror', with U.S. forces systematically playing loud music to hundreds of its detainees. Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez, the former U.S. military chief in Iraq, said the aim was 'to create fear, disorient . . . and prolong capture shock'.

Ruhal Ahmed, from Tipton in the West Midlands, underwent excruciating 'music torture' sessions at Guantanamo. He said his hands were tied to his feet, which were shackled to the floor, forcing him into a painful squat for periods of up to two days.

'You're in agony,' said 27-year-old Mr Ahmed, who was released without charge in 2004.

The pain was compounded when music was introduced, because 'before you could actually concentrate on something else, try to make yourself focus on some other things in your life that you did before and take that pain away'. But, he said, 'the music makes you feel like you are going mad'.

It is thought that inmates who grew up under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan - when music was banned - are particularly affected by exposure to loud music.

Ethiopian-born Londoner Binyam Mohammed, 30, now a prisoner at Guantanamo, said men held with him at the CIA's 'Dark Prison' in Afghanistan ended up screaming and smashing their heads against walls, unable to endure any more. 'Plenty lost their minds,' he added.

The new campaign is a joint venture between musicians and the human rights group Reprieve, which represents 30 inmates at Guantanamo. There are plans for minutes of silence during concerts and festivals to raise awareness of the issue.

One of the more unlikely protesters is Bob Singleton, whose song I Love You - sung by U.S. children's television character Barney the Dinosaur - has been used to 'torture' detainees.

He said he was horrified that 'a song designed to make little children feel safe and loved was somehow going to threaten the mental state of adults and drive them to the emotional breaking point'.

This is totally ridiculous. Unacceptable torture? If these people broke that easily from this it is because they had a strong mental problem to begin with which was evident from their actions before they were placed in Gitmo.

btw ... my kids and grandkids have been torturing me with Barney's I Love You song for many years.  :o :D

ROFL!!!   ;D

Oh that killed me....  The reason that many parents today are using things like Barney as baby sitters because if we had to sit and listen to that song while our kids did....we would slam our heads into a wall and then we would have orphans.

After 130 years of fundraising, Sally Army told to stop rattling collecting tins because it might 'offend other religions'

For 130 years they have been part of Christmas, filling the air in towns across the land with music and carols.

But one thing is missing from the repertoire of Salvation Army bands this year - the percussion of rattling tins.

Members have been forbidden to shake their charity tins - even if it's done in time to the music - in case it harasses or intimidates people. One said she had been told it might also offend other religions.

Guidelines for branches organising public collections say tinholders should simply keep the tin still.

It means that when the brass bands start up they can rock and roll all they want  -  but if they shake and rattle, it could put them in conflict with the law.

Councils and police can enforce the no-rattle rule and have powers to prosecute or ban offenders. The restriction was branded 'bonkers' yesterday both by donors and long-serving Salvation Army volunteers.

One collector told the Daily Mail: 'I've been doing this for more than 40 years and I fail to see how rattling a tin could cause offence. If I was shaking a tambourine I could do it all day  -  if I shake my tin, I could end up in court.'

The 'Silent Night' rattle ban manifested itself at the weekend in Uxbridge, West London, when musicians from two local branches performed outside a shopping mall.

(They were outside because traders complained last year they were too loud to play inside).

Tony Keywood, shopping with his wife Sheila, was among a crowd enjoying the carols and stepped forward to make a donation.

'I jokingly told them off for not shaking their tins,' said Mr Keywood, 78, a retired telecoms executive. 'They said they weren't allowed to do that in case it caused offence to other religions. They said they'd been told rattling a tin was considered to be intimidating.

'I don't know who makes up these rules but I suspect it will have something to do with human rights. I do feel Britain has lost its way on things like this.'

Laws on public collections are long-established, but until the recent proliferation of so-called 'charity muggers' were not widely utilised.

Fundraisers have to be licensed, usually by the local authority, police or landowner. Councils and police can decide whom to license and how the rules are enforced.

The Salvation Army relies heavily on public generosity and believes street collections help to foster good relations.

Guidance now, however, is that members should not shake their tins. A Salvation Army source said: 'We don't have a formal policy of "You Shall Not Rattle" but we always act within the law.

'Some authorities specifically ask us not to shake our tins. It is seen as harassment, or making people feel uncomfortable. I don't think it's to do with other religions. But it can make people feel we're putting them under pressure to give.'

A spokesman added: 'We want people to donate from the best of motives, so we advise collectors to avoid rattling their tins or asking people directly for money when stood on the high street.'