The Decline and Fall of Western Civ for 3 Jan.

After reading: wash, rinse and repeat.

• On their first day Democrats are shouted down by war protesters. The Washington Business Journal reports House Democrats tried to unveil their lobbying reform package today, but their press conference was drowned out by chants from anti-war activists who want Congress to stop funding the Iraq war before taking on other issues.
  
  Led by Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a slain soldier, the protesters chanted "De-escalate, investigate, troops home now" as Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., began outlining the Democrats' plans to ban lobbyist-funded travel and institute other ethics reforms. The press conference was held in the Cannon House Office Building in an area open to the public.
  
  Fox News has a video of the event here.

• Her name is Ashley X, and she is the little girl who will never grow up.
  
  Until New Year’s Day, not even her first name was known. Ashley was a faceless case study, cited in a paper by two doctors at Seattle Children’s Hospital as they outlined a treatment so radical that it brought with it allegations of “eugenics”, of creating a 21st-century Frankenstein’s monster, of maiming a child for the sake of convenience, reports the Times Online.
  
  The reason for the controversy is this: three years ago, when Ashley began to display early signs of puberty, her parents instructed doctors to remove her uterus, appendix and still-forming breasts, then treat her with high doses of oestrogen to stunt her growth.
  
  In other words, Ashley was sterilised and frozen in time, for ever to remain a child. She was only 6.

• AP reports Crocuses are pushing out of the ground in New Jersey. Ice fishing tournaments in Minnesota are being canceled for lack of ice. And golfers are hitting the links in Chicago in January.
  
  However, the under reported story is the fact that Colorado began airlifting hay to marooned cattle and dropping food rations to people Tuesday after a weekend blizzard whipped snow into drifts up to 15 feet deep in the Plains, according to USA Today.

Tags: Decline and Fall of Western Civ, Open Thread, Wire, Headlines, United States
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