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4-28-98 On Tuesday, 4/28/98, Dennis Prager discussed a man in Arkansas who let his kids broil to death in the car. The two girls were strapped in to their seats, with the windows closed, in a black car on a hot day. Is this just a freakish occurrence unworthy of discussion? Then P wonders why he is mesmerized by the story?
Two Little Girls Suffocate in Car
By DAVID A. LIEB .c The Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - It was so hot inside the car, prosecutors say, that one of the two baby girls dying in a car seat pulled out her blond hair in ``clenched little fists.''
Sydney Pippin, who was 4 months old, and her cousin, Vicky Fraley, 16 months, died as they sat in the car for eight hours Saturday while the temperature climbed. The girls died of heat exhaustion and dehydration.
Ricky Leon Crisp, 23, Vicky's father, and Justin Griffith, 27, are charged with first-degree murder. Authorities said the girls died as the men looked for arrowheads and mushrooms 90 feet from the car.
Crisp and Griffith had been held on charges of manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child. But prosecutors upgraded the charges Monday, citing a state law that allows a first-degree murder charge for knowingly causing the death of a child 14 or younger.
The men had parked along a dirt road near the tiny northwestern Arkansas community of Little Flock to do their searching near a cave. The windows of the car were rolled up and the temperature outside rose to about 80 degrees, authorities said.
Luke:
P says that stupidity accounts for more evil than evil. Yet other times, P has said that most people have the intelligence they need. Now P says that stupidity is a great cause of evil than sadism or cruelty. P said to his wife recently that we pay more for our stupid mistakes than our evil mistakes. We do stupid things and pay for a long time. P wishes that news stories used the term "blood parent" or "blood father"… Because when a kid is adopted, it is always noted, says P. What bothered P was that not only did these girls die, but they died suffering. They suffered physically and mentally, realizing that daddy had locked them into this predicament. P wondered if the guy subconsciously wanted the girls dead or if he had been smoking. P would not even leave his dog in the car…certainly no window open. P quoted his dad: "You need a license to sell pretzels but any schmuck can have a child." So why does P refuse to read BELL CURVE which discusses the problem of idiots having kids. P wants to tear each of his hairs' out. P wants to start PETC - People For The Ethical Treatment of Children. P says the wife should leave this man for roasting her children. P says it's too bad that the single most pleasurable act produces children. A caller said Prager has gone overboard in condemning this man. He, the murderer, did not know what he was doing. P relayed the time he left his son David in the Post Office by mistake. Three minutes later, as Prager was walking down the block, he suddenly realized he had left a bundle behind. His son. Callers accused Prager of using emotional language such as "roasting and cooking." A caller asked Prager how can we be happy in such a world where things like this happen? P says he is most disturbed among all the reactions to his book, is the reaction to the chapter in his book about the suffering of others. P says most people do not usually think of others' suffering as a cause of unhappiness. P says the answer to the question is religious faith. Without it, there is little rational basis to be happy. P says that we have to focus our unhappiness on doing good. Use the hurt to motivate good actions. Ronit, an Iranian Jewish woman with traditional values, says she is appalled with the way many parents treat their kids. Every day she sees people mistreating their kids and Ronit feels horrified.
In his third hour, Prager laughed at an article in today's New York Times about ethnic smoking. P thought it represents two bad preoccupations - race and health (anti-smoking). P - Reason #46 that I hate the anti-smoking campaign. Is smoking one of the leading problems for blacks? Or is illegitimacy a bigger problem?
Report Warns of Rise in Ethnic Smoking
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
WASHINGTON -- In a report that afforded President Clinton the perfect opportunity to renew his call for comprehensive tobacco legislation, the surgeon general, Dr. David Satcher, warned Monday that increases in smoking by minorities, especially minority teen-agers, threaten to reverse significant declines in the incidence of cancer.
The study, the first surgeon general's report to examine the health risks that tobacco poses to minorities, found that American Indians and Alaska natives were the ethnic group most at risk. Forty percent of them smoked, compared with 25 percent of the general U.S. population. From 1990 to 1995, while lung cancer deaths declined among other minority groups, they rose among American Indians and Alaska natives, the study found.
Among teen-agers, cigarette use increased among all racial and ethnic groups in the 1990s. But it was rising most rapidly among blacks, reversing declines in that population in the 1970s and 1980s. If the pattern continues, Satcher estimated, 1.6 million black children will become regular smokers, and 500,000 will die as a result.
"These increases in tobacco use are a time bomb for our minority populations," the surgeon general said at a ceremony to present the report, on the South Lawn of the White House. He concluded: "Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in America. So let's get busy and prevent it." Luke: "This new report leaves no doubt that cigarette smoking impairs and kills people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds," Satcher said, 10 million of whom currently smoke. Tobacco, he said, is "holding hostage the hopes for a better life."
Prager thought this last paragraph was particularly idiotic. How does tobacco hold hostage the hope for a better life? Did it do so for Winston Churchill, Yitzhak Rabin, FDR and most every great writer of this century? P: We are so morally leaderless, it is scary. Our society is preoccupied with health rather than morality, have substituted psychology (terms like sick instead of evil) for morality. We can condemn cigarettes but not condemn having children outside of marriage. P opposes the channeling of our moral energies into fighting tobacco. Taking money from poor [stupid] people and giving it to lawyers and big government. A caller said P bashed the anti-smoking movement for reasons of ratings. P replied: "If you really believe that, then you're a whore for listening to my show." P says that after a lifetime in public life (since age 21), he has come to realize that persons who insult him personally have no arguments. He finds personal insults strengthening in his convictions. P says he does virtually nothing for ratings. Larry Elder: When people attack you personally, it means that they are out of ammo.
*** National Center for Policy Analysis POLICY DIGEST Tuesday, April 18, 1998
DEMONSTRATING THE VALUE OF INTELLIGENCE
Innate intelligence -- rather than environmental and social factors -- largely determines how much people will earn, claims Charles Murray in a new report from the American Enterprise Institute.
His findings, contained in the study "Income Inequality and IQ," are based on an analysis of 2,859 young adult sibling pairs. The pairs were raised in the same home and had the same parents, but their Intelligence Quotients (IQs) differed.
o "Very bright" siblings, with IQs above 120, earned a median of $33,500 a year -- $11,500 more than their "normal" siblings, whose IQs ranged between 90 and 109.
o "Normal" siblings earned a median of $9,750 more than their "very dull" siblings, whose IQs were less than 80 and who had median earnings of $7,500.
o Wondering what would happen to siblings if the very best social advantages were introduced, Murray set up a "utopian" sample -- siblings who spent 14 years in an intact family with median earnings of $50,000 a year.
o The "utopian" siblings' earnings remained stratified by IQ and were only slightly higher than their counterparts in the general study. The one exception was for "very dull" siblings. Those who grew up in ideal settings earned 47 percent more than those who did not. The top IQ group in the study earned almost five times as much as the bottom group. The study points out the nearly insurmountable difficulties involved in trying to eradicate income inequality. Murray was the coauthor of the 1994 book, "The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life," written with the late Richard Hernstein.
Source: Cheryl Wetzstein, "IQ, Not Environment, Strongest Income Factor," and Linda Seebach (Rocky Mountain News), "Roots of Economic Inequality," both in Washington Times, April 28, 1998.
For more on Economic Issues go to http://www.ncpa.org/pd/economy/ecoinc.html
Monday, April 27, 1998
Dennis started the show telling the listeners that he had a wonderful time yesterday at the Los Angeles Times book Festival. About 600 people turned out to hear him at the Barnes and Noble stage (there were about 100 authors at the festival) and about 300 stayed after his talk to meet him. He said that he really had such a nice time that he hopes to do it again. He went on to discuss the Edinboro, PA shooting. A 14-year-old boy went to an eighth grade graduation dance and began shooting. He ended up murdering one of the most popular teachers at school who was a husband and father. The boy had been telling friends recently that he planned on murdering 9 people. Dennis said that when kids claim, as this one did, that he is going to hurt or kill someone, you should take him seriously. Even if he doesnt follow through, the talk is so bizarre, he should be reported. Also, his parents should have been getting help for him as soon at they learned that their sons nickname is Satan. He urged his listeners to get help for their kids if their friends have given them the nickname of something related to evil. Lastly, Dennis discussed the towns reaction, specifically that of a pastor and a 17 year old Erie boy about how they already forgive the boy and that God needs to be with the person who needs him most right now, the 14 year-old boy. This stunned Dennis. The people who need God most are the loved ones of the murdered. Tuesday April 28, 1998
Dennis discussed the tragic story of a 23 year old Arkansas man who, while leaving his 16 month old daughter and her 4 month old cousin strapped in a car, left the girls and went looking for arrow heads with a friend for 8 hours. The girls ended up burning (the article said roasting) and suffocating to death. They were strapped in car seats without food and water and reports indicate that the temperature in the car reached well over 140(F. The 16-month-old was found purple with her blond hair clinched in her fisted hands. Apparently the pain was so great from the heat that she actually tore out her hair from the roots. Dennis was passionately disturbed over this story and said he felt like crying over the torture these babies experienced, including the emotional torture the toddler had knowing that it was her own father that did this to her. Dennis was stunned that several people called in to defend the father saying that parents often times make mistakes and that there is a lot of luck involved in whether or not your children get hurt. Dennis responded to these callers that it is one thing to make a mistake as all parents do and it is quite another thing as to this case. He recalled the time, as a new father 15 years ago, he accidentally left his infant son in his baby seat at a post office. He realized a couple of minutes after he left the post office "hey wasnt I carrying something when I walked in?" The story turned out well and Dennis said that of course parents make mistakes. But this is different. As Dennis put it, you dont leave babies in car seats for 8 hours even if they are in an air-conditioned house, watching their favorite videos with plenty of food and water with them. Leaving children strapped in anywhere for an extended length of time is child abuse. Leaving children alone for an extended length of time is child abuse. Leaving children in a hot car is child abuse. Leaving children without food or water is child abuse. Leaving babies strapped into seats in a hot car, without food or water, without an adult, for 8 hours is unbelievable torture. Still callers called in, some agreeing, but some disagreeing with placing too much blame on the father. In his third hour Dennis spoke about the White House conference on "ethnic smoking." There they showed that there is an increase in smoking among ethnic teens, especially males. The conference also showed how black teens are still smoking less overall than white teens. Dennis wanted to know why is this preoccupation with health and race continuing? Why doesnt the White House hold a conference on why so many black babies are being born out of wedlock? Dennis reiterated his stance that this White House is morally backwards.
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