But then you say something like “punished with a baby” and I want to hit you.

Don’t say stupid things like that anymore, ok?

Apparantly my bag got the wrong baggage claim ticket attached to it. Which is absolutely infuriating to me. Why? Because I handed the woman my ID and boarding and watched her compare them to the ticket before she attached it. But the one attached to my suitcase had someone else’s name on it.

Seriously.

And remember at Christmas when I made it to NC but my luggage didn’t?

Why can’t my luggage ever make it to the same place as me at the same time?

My heart hurts that people who use the name of my God could be so… evil.

It completely baffles me that adults would behave in this way. And it baffles me even more that there were other adults who were aware of it and did nothing. This girl was only thirteen years old. Thirteen! Those adults knew better. I hope that justice is actually served in this cast.

The Maine School Board has approved giving out contraception to Middle Schoolers. Now I’m all for giving it out in high school. But to 10 year olds? That’s just… I have no words for my feelings on the issue.

This article in Christianity today about “Red Letter Christians” makes me want to scream out loud. Stan Guthrie essentially says that because this group of Christians tends to have more Democratic views, then they aren’t quite as Christian as everyone else. At least, that’s the feeling I got from reading the article. Tony Campolo’s response, however, rocked!

Want to dress up as an eating disorder for Halloween?  Well now you can!

Skeleton Costume includes Knit Dress with Glitter Screenprint, Headband, Choker Neckband, Removable “Anna Rexia” Badge and Ribbon Tie Belt.

Both the choker and the belt look like tape measures.

This is sick.

Since when is an eating disorder sexy?

(HT: Feministing)

I can’t claim to be blame-free when it comes to gossip. Sometimes I do it because it just feels good to make yourself feel as if you’re better than someone else. It’s just as wrong as anyone else that I’m about to rant about here, and I acknowledge that.

Gossip serves no beneficial purpose. It hurts people. It tears people down. And in reality, it makes the person who is doing the gossip look worse.

I read this the other day, and it’s good:

In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, “Do you know what I just heard about your friend?”

“Hold on a minute,” Socrates replied. “Before telling me anything I’d like you to pass a little test. It”s called the Three Filters Test.”

“Three Filters?”

“That’s right,” Socrates continued. “Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. That’s why I call it the Three Filters Test.

The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?”

“No,” the man said, “actually I just heard about it and…”

“All right,” said Socrates. “So you don’t really know if it”s true or not. Now let”s try the second filter, the filter of goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?”

“No, on the contrary…”

“So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad about him, but you’re not certain it”s true. You may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter left: the filter of usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?”

“No, not really.”

“Well,” concluded Socrates, “if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?”

If everyone worked to apply the three filters to their speech, I wouldn’t have to walk up on two ladies shamelessly gossiping about a third (one whom I know is supposed to be good friends with them).

Respiratory therapist Wayne Albert Bleyle was in New York state on a wintry day when investigators called him about allegations he had molested patients too sick to defend themselves.

When they asked how many children he molested, investigators said, he looked out his window and asked, “How many snowflakes are there out there?”

On Wednesday, Bleyle didn’t turn to look as a succession of parents and family members of victims spoke at his sentencing hearing. Some wept; others shook with anger.

As part of a plea deal, Bleyle, 56, was sentenced to 45 years and eight months in prison for molesting five of his young, disabled patients and for taking pornographic photographs of others. Prosecutors said he targeted those who were comatose, brain-damaged or too disabled to talk.

Child molestors are evil. No one could do that to a child and have an intact soul. But this guy took it to a different level because he targeted utterly disabled children who were completely helpless. Ordinarily, I’d be all about the possibility of reform, but this guy just makes me sick.

I hope he dies in prison.

The lies started when my eldest son was less than ten months old.

Invitations to attend a child’s birthday party or, worse, a singalong session were met with the same refrain: ‘I would love to but I just can’t spare the time.’

The nanny was dispatched in my place, and almost always returned complaining that my son had been singled out for pitiful stares by the other mothers.

I confess that I was probably ogling the merchandise at Harvey Nichols or having my highlights done instead. Of course I love my children as much as any mother, but the truth is I found such events so boring that I made up any excuse.

Unfortunately, this woman is for real. Check out Freeman Hunt’s breakdown of the article.