Apparently, a 13-year old boy with an interest in law enforcement was trying to get a little head start on his career when he helped himself to a police cruiser and took it out on patrol. The Dillon, South Carolina boy did this not once, but twice, and has now been charged with larceny and second-degree burglary.

You may be asking yourself just how a kid (or anyone else for that matter) manages to steal a police car. In this case, the kid employed some sneaky, peaky spying and managed to learn the door code for the police department building. Armed with the combination, he simply let himself in the building, got the keys to the car and took off on his self-appointed rounds.

Police Sgt. Jason Turner says the jig was up when local residents saw the boy driving the police car. Interestingly, the police themselves were unaware that the car was missing. Sounds like maybe they could use a good man on the force.

Of course, the kid should have known better and hopefully will learn a lesson from all this. But I would say there is a good chance he won't. His mother, Patricia Gillespie, was aware that her son was helping himself to police cars and didn't see anything wrong with it. She was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and released on $5,000 bond.

Source

Every now and then, my husband sees a little pig-tailed cutie holding someone's hand and sighs and says, "You never gave me a daughter." He's kidding, of course, but wondering what raising a child of the opposite sex would be like is a fact of life for families blessed with kids of the same sex.

However, for 77 year-old Charan Singh Panwar of India, not having a son weighed on him so heavily, he mortgaged his land, sold his buffaloes, spent his life savings and took out a credit card loan to finance fertility treatments so his seventy-year-old wife could bear him a male heir.

Source

While I had my issues with WALL-E, I wouldn't have considered leftist brain-washing to be one of them (although, I suppose some might argue that I'm so far gone I wouldn't notice it in the first place). It seems, however, that some of the more conservative members of the audience did pick up on it and are visibly upset.

Think Progress (admittedly, it was voted "Best Liberal Blog" in 2006) has a round-up of some of the commentary coming out about the movie from the right side of the theatre. "From the first moment of the film," wrote Shannen Coffin, former general counsel to Vice President Cheney, "my kids were bombarded with leftist propaganda about the evils of mankind."

Another writer described the movie as "a 90-minute lecture on the dangers of over consumption, big corporations, and the destruction of the environment." He goes on to explain that he will be doing his part to save the world by "by boycotting any and all WALL-E merchandise" and calling for others to "join my crusade."

I'm sure that these reviewers do not speak for all conservatives, representing, instead, an extreme, but it is still amusing that they are getting so upset over a movie that they aren't being forced to see. I could get similarly incensed about the VeggieTales series -- or just not watch them.

Source

If you thought fake babies were a weird substitute for having actual children, what do you think about monkeys? As in primates? As in monkids? Apparently, adopting capuchin monkeys and treating them just like a human member of the family is all the rage among some folks. Empty-nesters and those who can't or don't want to have actual children are shelling out big bucks for monkeys who will take their place in the family as babies who never grow up.

Lori Johnson adopted her capuchin, Jessy, because she was lonely after her children grew up and left home. Depressed, she decided that what would cheer her up would be to rip a baby monkey from its mother and dress it up in baby clothes and treat it like her own child. When Jessy became a little aggressive, Lori had the monkey's teeth removed. That solved the problem and now they are a happy little family, sharing the dinner table and even the bed. "I couldn't imagine not having her," Lori says. "We do something all the time with her."

Not all monkid stories have a happily-ever-after. Kari Bagnall, who runs a sanctuary for monkeys whose human parents could no longer care for them, sees first-hand the dark side of adopting wild animals as pets or surrogate children. "I have monkeys here that the people have had for 20 years. Never had a problem," Bagnall says. "Twenty years later, the monkey attacks. So it's just something, it's going to happen. It's not a matter of, you know, if they're going to attack. It's when."

I don't doubt that Lori Johnson, and the estimated 15,000 like her in the United States, truly love their little monkey children. And I can even see the appeal in adopting a creature that will forever remain infantile and cute. But I think it is the height of selfishness to take an intelligent creature away from its natural mother and habitat because it makes you happy.

Source

One of the best things about Halloween is the assortment of candy bars the little goblins bring home. I consider it repayment for my costuming efforts as there is always WAY too many for tender tummies to handle, so I help reduce the inventory levels of chocolate covered goodness from the communal treat bowl. ( And, you know, to save the little scamps from cavities. I eat because I love!)

Because of this yearly crash course in chocolatery, I fancied myself somewhat of an expert on the various candy bar brands available until I took this quiz asking you to identify cross-sectioned chocolate bars. Even with multiple choice answers available, I scored a dismal 14 out of 20 which shocked me. Obviously, I need to do more research treat myself a little more often than just Halloween and build up a better understanding of chocolate and caramel and nougat!

Test your candy bar knowledge against your kids and see who is candy king in your house! It's trickier than you'd think!

Source

There's a lot to appreciate Maggie Gyllenhaal for--she's a great actor who tackles thoughtful roles. Perhaps the producers of her new movie appreciate her even more now that she's a mom. Gyllenhaal recently used her parenting skills on the set of the movie Farlanders to calm two of her co-stars.

Gyllenhaal is starring in the film, her first since becoming a parent in 2006, alongside eleven-month-old twins. At one point the babies were crying incessantly and unable to be stopped. Gyllenhaal slipped into mother mode and calmed them so filming could continue.

Maggie thanks her lucky stars she was a mother and had learned those skills. Says Gyllenhaal, "If I had not been a mom and known how to calm a baby, talk and hold the baby, the whole day would've been wasted." She also stated that she felt like a mom the whole day, not just at home but also on the set. Brings new meaning to the term 'working mother,' eh? good work, Maggie!

Source

If you are reading this, chances are you are least somewhat Internet savvy. I would also venture to guess that you are familiar with common Internet acronyms like LOL, IMHO, BRB, and the ever-popular WTF. If not, perhaps you work for the Division of Motor Vehicles in North Carolina. Those guys may be first in flight, but they are apparently the last to know that when you put the letters W, T and F together, they convey a rather inappropriate message for a license plate.

A few months after they began making WTF plates, someone finally clued them in., That someone was a 60-year-old teacher from Fayetteville who complained about her plate after her teenage grandchildren told her what it meant. Not only are there about 10,000 WTF'ers driving around the state, that letter combination was also used on the DMV's own Website as a sample personalized plate (it has since been removed).

Now that they know about it, state officials are happy to replace the plates free of charge for anyone who would rather not drive around displaying that particular acronym on their vehicles. For those who choose their keep the plates: LOL!

Source

How far would you go to help your child have a child? A Michigan mom recently showed the world exactly how far she would go when she gave birth to her daughter's twins.

Crystal Sirignano, 52, gave birth last week to two healthy children, a boy and a girl. Crystal's daughter, Kendra, and her husband Aaron Simpson, struggled with infertility for years before turning to surrogacy. Though they were both hesitant at first, Crystal ended up being a healthy and helpful candidate. She moved from her home in Goodrich, where she owns a fitness center, to Arizona to be near her daughter and struggled with all the usual pregnancy symptoms at an age when pregnancy is the last thing on many women's minds.

Source

You know how shops are now putting your photographs on birthday cakes? You bring in a photo and they scan it and use, basically, an inkjet printer to print it out only, instead of ink, they use food coloring and, instead of paper, a thin sheet of sugar. At my nephew's last birthday party, the cake featured a picture of him dressed as Teddy Roosevelt, a few other presidents, and Spongebob. So, pretty much anything goes.

Well, almost anything. One mum thought it would be cute to put a picture of her son when he was five-months-old on the cake for his twenty-first birthday. Cute and, perhaps, a wee bit embarrassing, since the picture showed the youngster with a bare bum. Unfortunately, the folks at the store didn't find it so cute; they said the picture violated their no-nudity policy. "It was a photo of my son at five-months-old," said Gail Jordan. "I could not believe it"

Sadly, this does not surprise me. I'm not sure what has happened over the last half century or so, but a naked child is no longer seen as cute -- it's considered pornographic. I think our children's childhood is suffering because of it. Not to mention our children's twenty-first birthday parties.

Source

A teen girl in Kansas has found herself in a waking nightmare, charged with rape of a thirteen-year-old boy. The girl, who wishes to remain anonymous, was fourteen at the time of the alleged crime and she claims she was the one violated, not the other way around.

She tells a local news channel that she and three friends were spending a Saturday night together, watching movies and just hanging out. When two of her friends left the room, she says the thirteen year old boy forced himself on her. About a month later, she visited her school counselor to talk about what happened. "I wanted help because it was my first time and I was scared," she says.

The counselor went to the police and here's where things get even more messed up: the cops charged the girl with rape and criminal sodomy. No, it wasn't a paperwork error. Under Kansas law, sex with anyone under the age of fourteen is considered rape, even if it is consensual. Obviously the boy consented to the sex, but because he was under fourteen and the girl was over fourteen, he was raped.

The girl is telling her story because she wants people to know what is happening to her. Her lawyer, Sean Shores, is so outraged that he is defending her free of charge. "She went to her counselor, she asked for help, reached out for help and the message they sent her was--she should have kept her mouth shut," says Shores.

The message I am getting here is that common sense is dead. And buried in a steel box in the center of the earth. Let's hope they can dig it up before this girl's trial begins next month.

Source

If you've ever seen television or been the recipient of junk mail, you are probably familiar with the lingerie chain Victoria's Secret. In addition to selling teddies and thongs, they sell apparel aimed at the college set. Their brand, Pink, has licenses with many colleges to sell hoodies, t-shirts, tote bags and that sort of thing.

Now, one college campus seeks to remove such gear. University of Minnesota has decided to remove themselves from the 33 other colleges who sell gear through the Pink Collegiate line. At this time, Victoria's Secret is still offering the merchandise. Instead of dealing with the colleges directly, VS made a deal with the Collegiate Licensing Bureau.

Although the site I sourced has an opinion on this, University of Minnesota hasn't explicitly said it feels the ads are too racy. The school was concerned about their reputation however. A representative quoted stated the school did not feel it was in their best interests to have Gopher gear sold through the apparel giant.

Pic by Sweet~Vanilla.

Source

A flaming coconut is being blamed for sending a newborn baby to the hospital in respiratory distress. The coconut in question was being used in a baby-naming ritual by a family in Woodbridge, New Jersey when things got out of control. The ritual involves stuffing a coconut with cotton, pouring vegetable oil inside and setting it alight like a candle. Unfortunately, instead of a candle, what resulted was more like a Molotov cocktail which quickly ignited the wood floor in the family's apartment.

The fire was extinguished before firefighters arrived, but not before heavy smoke filled the home. The five-day-old baby, Rayan Gandhi, was taken to the hospital, treated for smoke inhalation, and released the next day.

That is pretty much it for the story - no other apartments were damaged, the police are still investigating and the baby is apparently fine. But I am most intrigued by this coconut baby-naming ritual. Google is mum on the subject and I have been unsuccessful in my attempts to learn more about it. What is this coconut ritual all about? Who does this ? And how could the author of the original news item leave that part out?

Source

Like any good mom, Gail Jordan wanted to do something special for her son's 21st birthday. Her idea was to put a picture of her son, David, on a birthday cake. The kicker? David, who was five months old in the picture, was not wearing a diaper, so you could see his bum in the picture. The mom with a good sense of humor thought they'd have a laugh--boy was she wrong.

The Asda grocery where Gail requisitioned the cake flat out refused to produce the dessert, saying the nudie pic constituted child pornography. The powers that be (were?) at the Asda finally acquiesced and let Gail use the picture, but only after they put a Perez Hilton-like censor over the bare bum. Gail didn't have time to get another cake made up so she settled for the star-covered bum bake.

Gail said she understood the rules but that common sense should also play a part in the decision. As she points out, the world is full of ads featuring baby bottoms--namely, those for diapers and wipes. I can't imagine what Asda would make of the Coppertone ads from my childhood, where a little dog is pulling down the bikini bottom of a young blonde girl, who, by the way, wasn't even wearing a top!

Source

It isn't uncommon these days to hear stories about teachers behaving badly in the classroom. I am a big believer in consequences and I am often left mind-boggled when these rogue teachers suffer none. Fortunately, this isn't one of those stories. Oh, we've got the bad teacher alright, but at least this one is no longer in charge of children.

John Freshwater, a science teacher at Mount Vernon Middle School in central Ohio, is accused of not only preaching his Christian beliefs in the classroom, but also of branding his students with a cross. As in using a high-frequency generator to burn the skin on the arms of kids. Freshwater doesn't exactly deny the charge, but claims he was just demonstrating how the generator thing worked and that the image was actually an "X", not a cross. I don't care if the image was Mickey Mouse, you don't burn the flesh of your students.

School board members agree and last week voted 5-0 to fire him. He is entitled to challenge the dismissal and his attorney says he intends to do so. But I just don't see how he could succeed in getting his job back considering the fact that there are actual photos of a child's branded arm. Not only that, district administrators say they've been dealing with complaints against Freshwater for at least half of his 21 year teaching career.

Of course this story isn't entirely without a mind-boggling aspect. Before firing Freshwater for intentionally injuring his students, school administrators tried to find him another position in the school. Fortunately for the kids in that district, he's not qualified to do anything else.

Source

What was supposed to be a fun day of golf for a group of young kids turned in to what one might charitably call a 'teaching opportunity" for parents. Due to a scheduling snafu, the Gold Crown Junior Golf Association tournament at Eagle Trace Golf Course in Broomfield, Colorado overlapped with Shotgun Willie's Charity Golf Tournament. Competing in the Gold Crown tournament: kids ages 7 to 12. Participants in Shotgun Willie's tournament: 70 strip club dancers and their patrons.

Eagle Trace instructor Dustin Moser admits that the girls may have gotten a little frisky out on the course, but insists that nothing untoward happened in the presence of the children. "There was nothing inappropriate going on around the clubhouse when the kids were around," he said.

At least one parent begs to differ. "When I walked into the clubhouse to look for my girls, I saw a woman straddling a male at a dining table," said a mother who picked up her two kids at the club. She says the questions on the way home went something like this: "Mom, why is she only wearing underwear?' 'Mom, why are the girls wearing white and why do the men have water guns?'

The manager of the golf club says Gold Crown officials were aware that Shotgun Willie's tournament was scheduled immediately after theirs. Gold Crown coordinator Jim Hunt insists that he was not informed of the half-naked, exotic nature of the participants. Either way, I think this is a golf tournament these kids won't soon forget.

Source