Word: normalization
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Dates: during 2000-2000
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...Beck walked Ahmann through a litany of questions, trying to establish the relative delicacy of the ballot. Ahmann admitted that even normal handling can dent, dislodge or dimple parts of the ballot, let alone the vigorous handling inherent in repeated hand counts. You see, Beck seemed to be saying, if even the expert here believes there are marks on the ballots that are in absolutely no way related to voter intent, how can we ask non-experts to differentiate inadvertent marks from intended marks...
...direct went forward and Grossman told the court more than they'd ever wanted to know about the composition, strength and chemical qualities of the rubber t-strip that's placed under the ballot in a Votomatic machine, testifying firmly there was no way the normal use of a stylus (the tool used to punch chads) could affect the composition of the underlying rubber. This was an attempt to discredit Brace, who'd claimed that overuse can cause the rubber to harden and make it more difficult for voters to punch through chads correctly...
...surprised at this? In a culture where Ritalin is passed out like candy in grade-school, attention deficit disorder is equated with normal third-grade behavior and a statistically significant number of toddlers are going on antidepressants, why shouldn't dogs too should join in the pharmacological bonanza...
What is the next step in this constant social push of parents and pet owners to keep the behavior of those whom they control as close as possible to a continually narrowing socially constructed definition of "normal?" Will children and their pets soon be engineered from birth not to experience sadness and never chew on the carpeting? Will they be house-trained from birth? Will we suppress their libidos until they turn 21 (in their respective age-counting regimes)? Where does the right of a guardian stop...
...veteran of five transitions himself (including the tricky Nixon-Ford one), Cheney also bemoaned with a lip-curl the "admittedly unusual circumstances" that had wasted three weeks of the normal 10-week turnaround time. "A transition has a direct bearing on the quality of administration that follows it," he said. "Whatever the vice president's decision, that does not change our obligation...