Scientists mapped the human genome to help the human race. Now parents can map Johnny’s genome to help him win his own race—or football and soccer games—by searching for a gene that supposedly predicts exceptional abilities in sports. Mouth swab to identify gene: $149. Identification of future sports-great while still in diapers: priceless? Read full article
Three year old Adolph Hitler Campbell’s birthday was December 14. When his parents—who gave the child his legal name—tried to order a birthday cake from a nearby ShopRite grocery store, employees there refused to write “Adolph Hitler” on the frosting. Did the employees do the right thing? Read full article
In the short film Be Good, Joe is the ultimate slacker, hung over and screwed up.
But during a rare sober moment as he turns 30, Joe decides it’s suddenly time to become a responsible person. Lurching hilariously toward that goal, he’s more shocked than anyone at the surprise ending that finally gives meaning to his life.
Be Good was directed by Barney Cokeliss. Read full article
For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, in…cyberspace? Does the age-old marriage vow of fidelity need to be updated to make husbands and wives responsible for their behavior online? In what is said to be the first case of its kind, a woman is now divorcing her husband after catching the animated character he created online having a fictional affair in a computer role-playing game. Read full article
Consider the apology: Is saying “I’m sorry” out of fashion? A lost art? A species so endangered we need a law to protect it? “The Apology Act” is a piece of legislation up for debate in Canada and aimed at allowing people to say “I’m sorry” without assuming legal responsibility for their actions. Read full article
Should an employer try to control employees’ after-hours lives to make them act more responsibly? The image-conscious National Football League is cracking down on players’ off-field behavior with a new “personal conduct” policy that has NFL teams hiring former FBI agents and police officers to spy on players. Read full article
The 50-inch plasma TV cost $798. The 10 megapixel camera cost $69. And the Black Friday shoppers determined to get those door-buster bargains cost a Wal-Mart employee his life. The ugly scene that shocked America during the Thanksgiving holiday raises numerous questions of responsibility. Read full article
You can have your cake and eat it too in California, but if you do so at a school bake sale, you might be breaking the law. Cookies and cupcakes are crumbling under tough new dietary standards that outlaw their presence in public schools. Have bake sales become nutritionally irresponsible? Read full article
Thanksgiving marks the start of the traditional holiday gift-buying season. Some say it’s madness. Some say it’s fondness for everyone we want—or feel compelled—to remember with a present. And some say it’s time to rethink a more responsible approach to holiday giving, especially in this year’s brutal economy. Read full article
Every state in America has a so-called “safe haven” law, under which a troubled parent can safely surrender a newborn baby, usually at a hospital or fire station, no questions asked. But Nebraska’s safe haven law is different. Intended to protect only infants, it was written with the word “child” left undefined and without an age limit, opening a gaping legal loophole for an unprecedented human bailout. Read full article
