Some Special-Needs News, for Those Not Glued to Michael Jackson's Funeral

As I write this, all eyes and TV cameras and Twitter feeds are aimed at the Michael Jackson funeral. It's hard to believe that this is a story that requires every major broadcast network and every news network to be providing live coverage. I guess this is the kind of overkill event that pundits and producers suit up for. Since that story is oh-so-well-covered, though, let's take a look here at some incidents that could use more public interest and outrage:

• An overzealous Marine recruiter encouraged an autistic 21-year-old in a group home to enlist, overlooking the fact that his grandmother, as legal conservator, would need to sign off, and that the young man would need support that Marine boot camp and infantry training are not exactly known for. The recruit has since been imprisoned and is facing court-martial for desertion and possession of child pornography.
  
  
• One defendant in the Fight Club case, in which workers at a state facility forced developmentally disabled adults to fight each other, has pleaded guilty, but another won a victory when a judge ruled cell-phone videos of the fights to be inadmissable.
  
  
• In the wake of the offensive use of the word "midget" on The Celebrity Apprentice, the organization Little People of America is calling on the FCC to ban the word from broadcast television.

While they're at it, can they ban the multi-channel obsession with celebrity milestones, too?

For more special-needs news, check the Today's News and Views folder throughout the day.

_{Photo by Tim Whitby}