Review of John Colapinto’s As Nature Made Him. One of two twin infants in Winnipeg loses his penis as a result of a surgical mishap during their circumcision. His parents follow the advice of a controversial sex researcher and, with the aid of surgical castration and “a rigid programme of social, mental and hormonal conditioning,” raise him as a girl, in what is called “the first infant sex reassignment to be reported on a developmentally normal child.” The case “made medical history and was lauded as completely successful.” It was anything but.

John Perry Barlow declares himself a rake. [Nerve]

The Decline and Fall: Baby Born With Bullet Wound

Second Big Iceberg Breaks Off From Antarctica “…new iceberg lies to the north and east of Roosevelt Island and is 80 miles by 12 miles. The larger

iceberg is 183 miles by 23 miles, roughly the size of Jamaica.

…The researchers said it was not yet clear if the icebergs would pose a threat to shipping.

Researchers say large chunks are breaking off of Antarctica for several reasons,

some due to global warming.”

Lottery Win Kidney Patient Bombarded by Donors

“A kidney dialysis patient who won $6.54 million in Britain’s national lottery has been bombarded with offers of

kidneys for transplant in return for some of his winnings.”

Why charismatic cults have such a foothold in East Africa by BBC East African analyst David Bamford.

More about the Ugandan cult murders. Police report briefly detaining cult leaders in 1998 for “promoting poverty.” It appears that the murders followed the anger of cult members (who had been persuaded to give their property to the cult) when they were refused refunds they demanded because the world had not ended on December 31 as cult leaders had prophesized.

The Madness of ‘King George’: “The most

damaging charge against Bush is that he seems to want a

coronation, not a campaign. It provides a single explanation

for so many of Bush’s perceived shortcomings: his

unpreparedness on issues, hence the need for scripting; his

lament in January—January!—about being tired and wanting

to sleep in his own bed; his preference for formal speeches

over town meetings; his inaccessibility to the media. The

coronation metaphor can even be expanded to his earlier life,

lending credibility to the criticism that everything he has

achieved has been the result of his name and connections:

getting into Yale, getting into the National Guard, the

sweetheart sale of his oil company, his participation in the

purchase of the Texas Rangers ball club, the governorship of

Texas, and, finally, the Republican nomination. Character

ought to be Bush’s strength. His personal qualities are beyond

reproach and so is his record of running the government

without a whiff of scandal or favoritism. He is the son of

parents we admire as people. And yet, just as his other

strengths—money, endorsements, family—have been turned

against him, so has character.”

Judith Shulevitz of Slate disses Barbara Ehrenreich for “lack of solidarity with workers”. After working cleaning houses for three weeks to research a piece for Harper’s, Ehrenreich had called for people not to hire maids.

Other buildings Worth “Kingdome”-ing [Slate] And video of the dome’s implosion [MSNBC]

Does a Short Index Finger Make You Gay? [Slate]