Over-education

Looseyfur posted an article on facebook that I just didn't get. I've read it clear though, including the first page of comments, twice and I still don't get it. Read it here for yourself and tell me how it goes together.

Basically, a professor took her kids and some friends (ages 12, 12, 8, 7, and 3) to the mall and dumped them. Awhile later, the police called her back to the mall and charged her with child endangerment. They threatened to arrest her when she showed up and tried to "explain her actions" (personally, there is no explanation except that she is a lazy, irresponsible parent). Then, she decided that she was being persecuted for being a highly educated woman because the court wouldn't offer her a plea, instead charging her with the crime she committed.

My take on this is that she got exactly what she deserved. She endangered those kids by leaving them alone at the mall, thus "child endangerment". I also have issues with the fact that not only did she endanger her kids but she was equally cavalier about the safety of SOMEONE ELSE'S child! Besides the child endangerment charge, I know a lot of malls have their own rules about how many children can be in an unsupervised group. I believe our local mall's policy is 3 people under the age of 18 but I couldn't swear to it since I don't hang out at the mall.

I feel that bias is, often, in the eye of the beholder. Too many people feel that being some minority, be it black, female, highly educated, low class, whatever, gives them the right to not only break rules and laws but to expect some type of special treatment because of their minority status when they do. RF is forever having people on the bus say to him "you didn't stop for me at that place that wasn't a stop because I'm such and such minority". In reality, the bus didn't stop because it wasn't a stop but that person felt that it was done on purpose.

In this case a highly educated woman did something stupid. Another highly educated woman (the prosecutor, as I can only imagine a lawyer would be classified as highly educated) chose to not allow her to use her money and education to get a slap on the wrist. Seems like that is exactly what should have happened. It isn't class war-fare or a hatred or fear of educated women. It is exactly how the justice system is supposed to work.

Breastfeeding

China’s Breastfeeding Hero

Chengdu, China - A Chinese policewoman is contributing to the country’s massive earthquake relief effort in a very personal way - by breastfeeding eight babies.

A newspaper in Chengdu, the capital of quake-hit Sichuan province, devoted a special page to the 29-year-old woman, calling her a “hero”.

The woman from the quake-ravaged town of Jiangyou has just had a child herself, the Western Urban Daily said.

She is nursing the children of three women who were left homeless by the quake and are too traumatised to give milk, as well as five orphans, the report said.

The babies who lost their parents have been put in an orphanage which does not have powdered milk, it said.


May I just say "Holy freaking cow!" Nursing 1 baby at a time wore me the hell out. I can not even imagine nursing 9 babies. How could she possibly have time to do anything else besides sit and nurse?

Are you white?

White people are under a lot of pressure to like cooking. Everything in their culture tells them that they need to have a nice kitchen and that they need to cook with organic, fresh ingredients to make delicious, complicated food.

Though any great chef can prepare fantastic meals with a knife and a few pots, white people believe that they need a full cadre of appliances and gadgets in their kitchen in order to live up to the pressure.


Kitchen Gadets

They also have one about tea (which I'm almost out of and need to order some more (David, are you in?), Apple products (not me, dh), irony, etc. Apparently, I am not as white as I thought I was because I'm not into most of the things they say white people like :)

ABC News: A Child Is Lost and Afraid: Would You Help?

Quoted from http://abcnews.go.com/2020/WhatWouldYouDo/story?id=4709538&page=1:

ABC News: A Child Is Lost and Afraid: Would You Help?

Imagine you're on a busy sidewalk rushing to work, running an errand or simply out for a stroll, when suddenly you notice a little boy standing all alone. Is he really lost? Do you stop to find out?

I think I would stop. Is that because I'm a parent and I would completely freak if it were one of my children and no one helped them? Unfortunately, as the commenters to the story on ABCnews pointed out, stopping to help a kid is often asking for trouble. Too many people too many bad things into a small innocent situation :(

I'm not completely sure if I would approach the child. I might simply call 911 and stay nearby to monitor the situation until the police showed. Even if the kid knows where their parent is, the parent still sucks for having left the child alone and deserves what they get.

Hey, where's my penis?

Quoted from Reuter's:

Penis theft panic hits city..

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft.

Reports of so-called penis snatching are not uncommon in West Africa, where belief in traditional religions and witchcraft remains widespread, and where ritual killings to obtain blood or body parts still occur.

Quakin' in my shoes

Did you feel the earthquake last night?

I felt it and thought I must have been dreaming since we were talking about the 80s earthquake a few days ago.

Girls like pink

I think not! It says in the article that they have found no exceptions. They obviously haven't studied me. I don't like pink or red or yellow and only tolorate orange because it is the color of the Illini. I dislike "warm" colors as a general rule, prefering blues and greens instead.

As for the picking red fruit against a green background, I don't think that is a fair test. Green fruits, are more likely to be underripe, thus not something you would pick. Besides, I may not like the color red, but there are plenty of red fruits that I love.

http://health.msn.com/womenshealth/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100168210>1=10316

WOO HOO

http://www.lungil.org/newsarticle.cfm?ArticleID=28

So much for mayor cancer and his "lets repeal something that already passed"

I said during the whole election "you know what would be funny? All these people spent all this time and money and energy to get elected on the smoking issue and now the whole state will go smokefree and it won't matter" And that is what happened.