Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Bloggers tell National Enquirer to quit speculating on whether the Jolie-Pitt twins have Down syndrome

From Newser:


Taking a break from the tawdry affairs of Democrats, the National Enquirer turns its, er, unique brand of investigative journalism to Down Syndrome and the important unanswerable question of whether two pint-size Jolie-Pitts, Knox (pictured) and Vivienne, have it.

The cover-worthy story, it seems, is that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are "tormented by speculation" in the blogosphere that the twins have physical traits—rounded face, flattened profiles and upward slanted eyes—typical of people with Down Syndrome, and therefore must have Down Syndrome.

Put a lid on it, Enquirer, writes a blogger on Babble. "Other than the fact these kids show no outward markers of the disease, they are fraternal twins who don’t share the same exact chromosomes or DNA. The chances of them both having DS is off-the-charts rare," she writes. About "a 0.000625% chance, " to be specific.