Some guys I know check CNN every three or four minutes to get the latest updates on the election, or hurricanes devastating Florida, or how a kitten in Tennessee got trapped in a well, or whatever else CNN posts in their top headlines. I rarely check it, but when I do I am always impressed by the completely bizarre things they chose to list. For instance, when I checked it yesterday, among the top headlines were “Town bans ‘SeXXXercise’ pole dancing” and ‘Porn mode’ allows secret Web surfing” (a headline that included video). I am sure, in the entire country, these are probably the most newsworthy things going on, but it still sometimes seems like CNN does favor the porn/pole dancing news. Anyway, the headline that caught my eye the other day was unrelated to strippers, kittens, or pole dancing, but did have the word “murder” in it (always good). It read “Police Say Heart Transplant Teen Plotted Murder.” I will paste the article link below, but basically, some teenager in Minnesota (a state that seems (to me) to produce more than their fair share of serial killers) who 4 years ago got a heart transplant is now being investigated for plotting to murder his neighbor. There are quite a few interesting elements to this story, among them the debate about whether or not it’s all of the crazy meds the teen is on that are causing him to act nuts, the fact that the neighbors seem to have all turned their houses into Home Alone style traps to stop attempts on their life (including one neighbor that has “10-foot-long 2 by 4 barricades” in front of his door”) and the boy’s lawyer’s quote “This is a very unique case, and frankly, I don’t know the ramifications of anything yet”(which seems to me just sloppy lawyering). Anyway, I read the story, found it interesting, felt slightly dirty for being interested in the suffering of some random people in Minnesota. Then, I scrolled too far. Apparently, CNN.com now has a section where readers can post comments. With a story like this, you would think there would not really be that many comments to make. It’s not politically charged and it sucks for everyone involved… what further is there to say about it? Anyway, this assumption was wrong. Apparently people across the country have opinions about this story. They have opinions and they want them heard. RosieCee for instance, observed that:
“It would be important to know which medication the doctor thought was necessary to discontinue with this 18 year old.
The article states that he was on antidepressants. According to the Physicians Desk Reference, antidepressants can cause mania, psychosis, hostility, agitation, etc.”
I don’t have my own copy of the Physicians Desk Reference, so I found this very informative. I suppose I could go to WebMd and figure out similar things, but I’m too lazy, so this comment pretty much covered it for me. Then Legal Eagle weighed in with the stirring and chilling thought:
“What happens a few years down the road when he actually pulls it off?”
I had to stop and think about that one. But the best comment of all came from Russ who just may have solved the case. He posted this gem:
“Doesn’t this bring to mind the theory that organ transplant patients sometimes take on the latent traits of the donor? Who was the donor and what was their background? It’s just a theory, but transplant patients have often discussed feeling ‘different’ after an organ transplant, having different urges or cravings.
It would be interesting to find out who the donor heart came from…”
Now while I have heard the term “cellular memory” before (mainly in low budget horror movies), I am pretty sure there is no actual evidence that backs this claim up. Russ probably just saw Jessica Alba’s The Eye and thinks he’s on to something. “Wait a sec, he said,” reading this article, “this seems an awful lot like that movie with that hot chick from Fantastic Four I just saw. That heart probably came from a serial killer! I think I’ve figured out what the problem is over there in Minnesota… now the only problem is, how do I tell the authorities?” Russ then decided to go on CNN and post his idea, hoping that maybe one of the investigators of the case would see it and look into the theory that the boy got some sort of serial killer heart. Mainly, I like the way Russ posts his comment. You can tell he thought long and hard and felt he was possible going out on a limb with the whole thing “It’s just a theory…” he says in case we get confused and think he is going to put real, factual solution to this problem on the page. “It would be interesting to find out who the donor heart came from…” he concludes with ellipses that bring to mind a detective sitting there with a pipe and single eyebrow raised. “Very interesting…” I can see him concluding while giving everyone in the room a knowing look.
Anyway, I found the whole thing fairly ridiculous, but I guess there is a chance Russ could be right. If so, we really should stop giving people serial killer hearts.
Story from CNN.com.
Tags: cellular memory, cnn, Jessica Alba
