LAS VEGAS -- A Valley father allegedly chained his daughter to her bed. Police said Robert Blue shackled his daughter because he felt she was overweight.
Blue was in custody Tuesday night at the Clark County Detention Center.
On and off for two days, Blue's 15-year-old daughter was chained to her bed. She was found beaten and in tears -- all because Blue thought she was overweight, according to a police report.
Blue, 53, was also arrested for beating his daughter with a wooden stick and kicking her, police said.
In the arrest report, Blue told police his daughter was chained to her bed to keep her out of the kitchen and from over-eating.
Neighbor Alicaer Fletes said he feels badly for the teenager. He said he didn't know about the alleged abuse.
Blue said he was upset because his daughter weighs around 165 pounds, and Blue wanted her to weigh between 140 and 145 pounds, explaining that was her fighting weight in mixed martial arts.
"They'd have to be pretty sick, demented, mean and horrible," said neighbor Kimberly Bissell.
Police said Blue had been chaining his daughter to the bed with a padlock and chain since Jan. 12, when he said he found pea and corn containers in her room. He said she had found a way around the chains on the pantry and refrigerator over the past month.
Blue also stated he didn't think he had committed a crime and that he was acting in his daughter's best interest.
Police said a counselor at the 15-year-old's school claimed the girl was chained up.
Blue was charged with false imprisonment, child endangerment and child abuse.
There has been no word yet on whether or not Blue's wife knew what was going. He does have other children who were placed in protective custody.
There has been no word on the 15-year-old’s condition. She was rushed to University Medical Center.
Blue told police he used to hit his children with a stick as a training tool, and he does have a prior history of child abuse.
Actually. I don't think this is as fucked up as it seems. he definitely went too far with the chains, but hitting someone with a stick for training is not as odd as it sounds. I know a martial arts instructor on the Island, here who specializes in body conditioning. He hits his son and daughter (and all of his advanced students) with 2x4's. The result is that his son fended off several attackers in a parking lot by blocking tire-irons with his bare forearms and his daughter managed to hospitalize a would-be rapist.
I'm still all for the good old fashioned spanking with hands. Maybe a wooden spoon, but 2x4's? I dunno... Plus, a teenage girl should be the one most worried about her weight, not her dad. Completely messed up.
Many pregnant women who smoke do not approach doctors for help to quit because they think they will be "judged", a poll for the NHS suggests.
Of 224 pregnant smokers questioned, 25% said they had not sought help because of worries about being criticised.
Some 40% said they had not admitted their habit to midwives or doctors.
The NHS is launching a new campaign to try to encourage the 17% of pregnant women in England who smoke to ask for help to give up their habit.
The Royal College of Midwives welcomed the initiative but warned women should not be stigmatised for smoking when pregnant.
Smoking in pregnancy can reduce the amount of oxygen available to the developing foetus, and babies of smokers are more likely to be born with a lower birthweight.
The government has made a concerted effort to tackle smoking in pregnancy, spending £6m in 2002 to create specialists to advise women on the risks and help them to quit.
However, the survey, commissioned by the NHS Smokefree team, reveals that many women never even seek help in the first place.
Their concern is supported by other polls, which have found more than half of those surveyed are critical of pregnant smokers.
Group support
Dr Miriam Stoppard, who is leading the new campaign, said: "Pregnant women who smoke do not automatically find it easy to stop smoking as soon as they become pregnant.
"Pregnancy can be a particularly difficult time to stop smoking - and rather than stigmatising these women, we should be guiding them to their local NHS Stop Smoking Service for expert advice and support."
Lisa Fendall, one of the NHS specialist smoking in pregnancy advisors who covers the Rotherham area in Yorkshire, said: "We see lots of pregnant women who are worried about trying to stop smoking and feel they don't have the support or anyone to talk to about it."
She said that everything from group sessions to smoking helplines was available in her area.
A spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said: "Healthy women have healthy babies who grow into healthy children.
"We are delighted to see such strong messages in an NHS public health campaign. These help remove some of the stigma identified by women as being barriers to change.
"However, we must go further. Apart from those already pregnant, we must also encourage and support women who are trying to conceive and those who have given birth to stop smoking."
Royal College of Midwives General Secretary Cathy Warwick, said: "Any steps to reduce smoking among pregnant women are to be applauded."
But she said: "In working to reduce smoking though, we must not point an accusing finger and stigmatize women who smoke during pregnancy.
"The focus should be on encouraging pregnant women to discuss the issue with their midwife who will offer help, support and guidance.
"Midwives and women can then work together to help the women stop, so that they and their babies can have a healthier future."
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- A 13-year-old Chinese girl tried to commit suicide because she wanted her family to donate her liver to her cancer-stricken father, state media reported Thursday.
The girl, Chen Jin, swallowed more than 200 sleeping pills after she discovered a medical note in her mother's purse that said her father was dying of liver cancer and had three months left to live, the news agency Xinhua said.
Jin's mother returned home after visiting her husband in the hospital to find the front door locked. The mother climbed in through a back window and found two empty bottles of sleeping pills.
"Mom, I'm sorry I couldn't stay with you any longer," read a note that the teen had left next to her. "Please give my liver to dad and save him after my death."
The incident occurred January 24 in Jiangsu province in east China. The teen was taken to the same hospital as her father, where she remains in intensive care, drifting in and out of consciousness, Xinhua said.
Doctors say that even if she pulls through, she will need surgery for burns she suffered from an electric blanket on her bed when she lost consciousness, the China Daily newspaper said.
According to Chinese media reports, the family -- whose monthly income is about 1,000 yuan ($146) -- has already spent nearly 100,000 yuan ($14,600) in medical expenses since the father was diagnosed with cancer more than a month ago. The mother, who is also in poor health, retired early more than eight years ago.
The woman told China Daily she is now trying to keep her husband from learning of their daughter's desperate act of love.
I saw this on House the other day, except it was the other way around. A father wanted to kill himself in order to give a vital organ to his son. That storyline made sense. This one does not.
I believe so. But I also think it's somewhere around 2/3 or 3/4 of a liver will regrow the rest, you don't just take it out, and split it, and put it back in.
Feb 5th 2009
From Economist.com
How people in various countries view the theory of evolution
IT IS 150 years since the publication of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, which suggested that all living things are related and that everything is ultimately descended from a single common ancestor. This has troubled many, including Darwin himself, as it subverted ideas of divine intervention. It is not surprising that the countries least accepting of evolution today tend to be the most devout. In the most recent international survey available, only Turkey is less accepting of the theory than America. Iceland and Denmark are Darwin's most ardent adherents. Indeed America has become only slightly more accepting of Darwin's theory in recent years. In 2008 14% of people polled by Gallup agreed that “man evolved over millions of years”, up from 9% in 1982.
That's my neice's birthday. I'm her godfather or some such thing. I'd totally wish her a happy Darwin Day, but she'll be something like 4, so I don't think she'd appreciate it. She'd just think her uncle was wierd(er).
I've seen those rankings before and I'm always annoyed that Canada never shows up on them. I mean, I'm sure it'll just turn out to be yet another thing that we kick the Americans' asses at, but I'd like to know by how much.
That's a bit disappointing, actually. Sure, we're better than the USA in terms of accepting evolution, but being better than the USA at most things isn't really a great accomplishment. We're still pretty far down on that list.
She's a single mother who has had 6 other children with the same sperm donor as the new 8, total 14. He is not (yet) involved or responsible in any way. She has been off work on disability for the past 6-7 years, with a back injury that does not agree with pregnancy. Apparently suffers depression/suicidal as well.
Comments
EDIT: Now back to our regularly scheduled fucked up news, already in progress.
Father Chains Girl To Bed To Stop Her Eating
Teen attempts suicide to give liver to dying father
Remember everyone, the 12th is Darwin's 200th birthday. Be sure to wish everyone a happy Darwin Day.
According to this article, Canada ranks like Switzerland. Same yellow, larger green, smaller red.
She's a single mother who has had 6 other children with the same sperm donor as the new 8, total 14. He is not (yet) involved or responsible in any way. She has been off work on disability for the past 6-7 years, with a back injury that does not agree with pregnancy. Apparently suffers depression/suicidal as well.
Is it effed up, or simply good news?