All I know is that kids can turn sane, brilliant adults into irrational, psychotic lunatics and I have proof.  Check this out:

DANGER:  Having kids can turn you into a MORON!

From The Huffington Post

The 9 Most Ridiculous Reasons Kids Have Been Arrested

Kids act out. They throw tantrums, have food fights, and occasionally, they open their Christmas presents a little early. Usually this type of behavior is met with a stern word from parents, detention, or even some Bart Simpson-esque chalkboard writing. But this was not the case for these kids, who were handcuffed and hauled away before they could say “It wasn’t me.” Check out the hardcore punishments incurred when kids drop cake on the floor, doodle on a desk, and yes, pass gas.

1 – 12 Year-Old Arrested For Opening Christmas Present Early  – A 12-year-old South Carolina boy was arrested after his mother phoned police to say he had opened one of his Christmas presents early. Police arrived and actually charged the boy with petty larceny for opening an $85 Game Boy against his family’s wishes. What a Christmas! We’re wondering if he at least got to keep the game boy?

2 -12-Year-Old Arrested For Doodling On Desk  – 12-year-old Queens resident Alexa Gonzalez was taken away in handcuffs after writing “Lex was here. 2/1/10″ and “I love my friends Abby and Faith” on her desk. The best part: She used an erasable marker. Even better: she also drew a smiley face.

3 – 15-Year-Olds Threatened With Charges For Semi-Nude Self-Portraits – Marissa Miller of Pennsylvania was shocked when investigators said she might be facing child pornography charges after a “provocative” photo of her and a friend (from the waist-up, wearing bras) was found on someone else’s cell phone. The girls were forced to take a 10-hour class about pornography or be faced with charges of sexual abuse of a minor (themselves?), which would include registering as sex offenders.

4 -  13-Year-Old Arrested For Farting -A 13 year old boy was arrested in Florida after passing gas in the classroom and turning off his classmate’s computers. He was charged with “Disruption of school function.” Haven’t these people ever heard of detention?

5 -  Chicago Middle Schoolers Arrested For Food Fight- Dozens of 11 to 15-year-olds were arrested in Chicago because of a food fight that broke out in the school cafeteria. Reports say “Someone tossed a piece of food, someone else threw an orange, someone yelled ‘Food fight!,’ and chaos ensued.” The students were held at the police station for over 5 hours before parents were notified. What we want to know is if 5 hours was long enough for the police to get the initial food-thrower to break.

6  – 10-Year-Old Arrested For Bringing Steak, Steak Knife To School – A  10-year-old Florida girl was arrested for bringing a steak knife to school. The girl used the knife to cut a steak that she had brought for lunch and did not use it in any other way, nor did she show it off. The principal suspended her for 10 days and she faces a felony charge for possession of a weapon on school property. If she had known better she would have just torn the steak apart with her hands and teeth, but we guess she had to be “cool.”

7  – 14-Year-Old Arrested For Texting In Class – Math class can be boring, so a 14-year-old Wisconsin girl thought she’d pass the time by texting. When asked to stop, she continued until security officers came and arrested her under the charge of disorderly conduct. The best part? When officers asked for the phone they had pleasure of removing it from her “buttocks area.”

8  – Autistic Girl Arrested For Wearing Cow Costume – This 8-year-old girl with Asperger’s Syndrome was arrested for battery after being told she couldn’t wear her cow-themed sweatshirt to an elementary school holiday party. She fought back teachers who forcefully restrained her and was taken away in handcuffs, asking “What are batteries?”

9  – Girl Arrested For Dropping Cake On Floor- As if they had never seen a cafeteria line before, California school security guards restrained and arrested a 16-year-old girl after she dropped a piece of cake on the floor while in line at the cafeteria. Apparently she refused to clean it up so naturally, they broke her arm. We’d hate to see what these guards would do in a food fight.

Read more from the Huffington Post

While watching the destruction in Haiti I can’t help but feel extreme sadness for everyone living in that area.  To help out, visit The Red Cross (make sure you don’t donate to just anyone!)

At the same time, I can’t help but question the hypocrisy of certain Governments who are jumping at the chance to send support, both financially and physically to this area destroyed by an extreme act of nature.  Why aren’t you showing the same level of care and support for the million civilians who have lost their lives since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.  Is it different when the destruction is caused by man?  In one corner of the world we’re running off to help those in need while in the other corner of the world we are the cause of those in need.  Why have I never turned the TV on and seen these numbers reported on the news?  Why are so many people being killed.  Can you imagine if over a million people were killed in the US or England because of something another country did?  Instead of pouring millions of dollars down the drain through incompetent financial industries, you should be sending it to the families in Iraq and Afghanistan in an attempt to begin making up to the them the complete destruction of their families and lives.

A study, published in prestigious medical journal The Lancet, estimated that over 600,000 Iraqis had been killed as a result of the invasion as of July 2006. Iraqis have continued to be killed since then.  The estimate that over a million Iraqis have died received independent confirmation from a prestigious British polling agency in September 2007. Opinion Research Business estimated that 1.2 million Iraqis have been killed violently since the US-led invasion.

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From UMMAH Forum

Most recent update: September 11, 2009.

About 251 times as many people have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq than in the ghastly attacks of September 11, 2001. More than 108 times as many people have been killed in these wars and occupations than in all terrorist attacks in the world from 1993-2004. The 2004 report showed terrorism at an all-time high, and after numerous experts suggested that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were fueling the increase, subsequent reports have remained classified.

Sources and methodology Notes about varying casualty counts cited elsewhere

# Casualties in Afghanistan:
Afghan troops killed [1] 11,152 Afghan troops seriously injured [2] 33,456
Afghan civilians killed [3] 7,589 Afghan civilians seriously injured [4] 13,660
U.S. troops killed [5] 746 U.S. troops seriously injured [6] 2,238
Other coalition troops killed [7] 551 Other coalition troops seriously injured [8] 1,653
Contractors killed [9] 75 Contractors seriously injured [10] 2,428
Journalists killed [11] 6 Journalists seriously injured [12] unknown
Total killed in Afghanistan: 20,119 Total injured in Afghanistan: 53,435

# Casualties in Iraq:
Iraqi troops killed [13] 30,000 Iraqi troops seriously injured [14] 90,000
Iraqi civilians killed [15] 697,523 Iraqi civilians seriously injured [16] 1,255,541
U.S. troops killed [17] 4,343 U.S. troops seriously injured [18] 31,156
Other coalition troops killed [19] 318 Other coalition troops seriously injured [20] 10,821
Contractors killed [21] 933 Contractors seriously injured [22] 10,569
Journalists killed [23] 163 Journalists seriously injured [24] unknown
Total killed in Iraq: 733,280 Total injured in Iraq: 1,398,087[/B]

# Sources and methodology:

U.S. and coalition authorities rarely provide any public estimates of Afghan or Iraqi troop or civilian casualties or injuries. In this absence of official data, we present the latest and lowest credible estimates we’ve found. Where a range is estimated (for example, 2,500-4,000), the lower figure is always cited.

[1] Afghan troops killed: Based on estimate and tracking by Mark Herold, Ph.D at the University of New Hampshire, as detailed at his website. For casualties since Dr. Herold’s last update in July 2004, we’ve made a crude guess based on the average of 45 monthly deaths Dr. Herold recorded among Afghan military during 2004′s first seven months. Dr. Herold’s count is 8,587, and our extrapolation adds another 2,565 deaths, from the end of Dr. Herold’s tally through the end of April 2009.

[2] Afghan troops seriously injured: Posted number reflects our estimate, using a conservative, historically-based ratio of 3:1 (serious injuries to fatalities) for troops during wartime.

[3] Afghan civilians killed: Based on estimate and tracking by Dr. Herold, as detailed at his website. For casualties since Dr. Herold’s last update in July 2004, we’ve made a crude guess based on the average of 72 monthly deaths Dr. Herold recorded among Afghan civilians (with deaths among Taliban and Taliban affiliates included in Afghan civilian casualties) during 2004′s first seven months. Dr. Herold’s count is 3,485, and our extrapolation adds another 4,104 deaths, from the end of Dr. Herold’s tally through the end of April 2009.

[4] Afghan civilians seriously injured: Posted number reflects our estimate, using a conservative, historically-based ratio of 1.8:1 (serious injuries to fatalities) for civilians during wartime.

[5] U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan: US military deaths in Afghanistan are announced by US Department of Defense and CENTCOM, and tallied at Wikipedia, which notes that “the American figure is for deaths ‘In and Around Afghanistan’ which, as defined by the U.S. Department of Defense, includes some deaths in Pakistan and Uzbekistan, the death of a DoD civilian employee, and the deaths of four CIA operatives.”

[6] U.S. troops seriously injured in Afghanistan: To the best of our knowledge, this data is not publicly tracked (if you know a reliable source for this information, please let us know). Posted number reflects our estimate, using a conservative, historically-based ratio of 3:1 (serious injuries to fatalities) for troops.

[7] Other coalition troops killed in Afghanistan: Coalition military deaths in Afghanistan are announced by US Department of Defense and CENTCOM, and tallied at Wikipedia.

[8] Other coalition troops seriously injured in Afghanistan: To the best of our knowledge, this data is not publicly tracked (if you know a reliable source for this information, please let us know). Posted number reflects our estimate, using a conservative, historically-based ratio of 3:1 (serious injuries to fatalities) for troops.

[9] Contractors killed in Afghanistan: Based on this July 2007 Reuters article, which cites US Department of Labor statistics obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. The article reports that 75 private contractors had been killed in Afghanistan from the beginning of hostilities in 2001 through July 2007.

[10] Contractors seriously injured in Afghanistan: Based on the same article, 2,428 private contractors had been seriously wounded in Afghanistan from the beginning of hostilities in 2001 through July 2007.

[11] Journalists killed in Afghanistan: Based on numbers tracked by Wikipedia.

[12] Journalists seriously injured in Afghanistan: To the best of our knowledge, this data is not publicly tracked (if you know a reliable source for this information, please let us know).

[13] Iraqi troops killed: Based on an estimate of 30,000 deaths, offered by US Gen. Tommy Franks, cited by the Washington Post on Oct. 23, 2003. No estimate has been made publicly since that time.

[14] Iraqi troops seriously injured: Posted number reflects our estimate, using a conservative, historically-based ratio of 3:1 (serious injuries to fatalities) for troops during wartime.

[15] Iraqi civilians killed: Based on this study [pdf], published in the British medical journal The Lancet in October 2006. The study concluded that at least 392,979 Iraqi civilians had been killed in the occupation, in addition to deaths expected from Iraq’s normal death rate, through July 2006. The study’s mid-point estimate was 654,965, and its high estimate was 942,636. U.S. authorities, including President Bush himself, have loudly complained that the study is based on “flawed methodology” and “pretty well discredited,” but as often happens when Bush speaks, that’s simply untrue. The study was conducted by Johns Hopkins University, and used standard, widely accepted, peer-reviewed scientific methodology. Explained very briefly, Iraqi respondants in numerous randomly selected locations were asked about recent deaths in their households, and family members were able to show a death certificate to document 80% of the deaths they described. Results from these interviews were extrapolated nationwide, the same way political opinion polls extrapolate a few hundred interviews to reflect nationwide opinions. It’s the same method used by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to estimate deaths from disease outbreak anywhere in the world, the same method routinely trusted by the U.S. and U.K. when counting deaths from warfare, civil unrest, or other situations anywhere in the world. From the study’s lowest estimate of 392,979 deaths occurring over the first 40 months of occupation, we have extended this rate of civilian deaths (9,824 deaths per month) over subsequent months of the occupation since the study was published.

[16] Iraqi civilians seriously injured: Posted number reflects our estimate, using a conservative, historically-based ratio of 1.8:1 (serious injuries to fatalities) for civilians during wartime.

[17] U.S. troops killed in Iraq: Based on numbers announced by US Department of Defense and CENTCOM, and tracked by the good folks at Iraq Coalition Casualty Count.

[18] U.S. troops seriously injured in Iraq: Based on numbers announced by US Department of Defense and CENTCOM, and tracked by the good folks at Iraq Coalition Casualty Count. (According to this article by Salon reporter Mark Benjamin, an additional 25,289 service members had been evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan for injuries or illnesses, but not included in the official numbers and not included in the numbers presented on this page.)

[19] Other coalition troops killed in Iraq: Based on numbers announced by US Department of Defense and CENTCOM, and tracked by the good folks at Iraq Coalition Casualty Count.

[20] Other coalition troops seriously injured in Iraq: To the best of our knowledge, this data is not publicly tracked (if you know a reliable source for this information, please let us know). Posted number reflects our estimate, assuming the same injury to death ratio suffered by American troops in the same battlefield.

[21] Contractors killed in Iraq: Based on this July 2007 Reuters article, which cites US Department of Labor statistics obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. The article reports that 933 private contractors had been killed in Iraq from the beginning of hostilities in 2001 through July 2007.

[22] Contractors seriously injured in Iraq: Based on the same article, 10,569 private contractors had been seriously wounded in Iraq from the beginning of hostilities in 2001 through July 2007.

[23] Journalists killed in Iraq: Deaths tracked by Iraq Coalition Casualty Count.

From The Virginian Pilot, By Matthew Bowers,  Michelle Washington

Pamela Brown, well-known for hula hooping almost every day on a grassy Granby Street median near Wards Corner, can talk about the 1977 car crash that injured her brain like it just happened.

But after her release from jail Tuesday, the 49-year-old woman said she was at a loss to recall her arrest Saturday morning by city police.

Police say what started as a noise complaint led them to Brown and that she was shocked repeatedly with a Taser. She spent the weekend in jail on charges of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and excessive noise before her release Tuesday on a $5,000 recognizance bond.

No police report was available Tuesday, and no further details were released.

Brown was 17 years old and six days from graduating from Deep Creek High School in Chesapeake when she was in the car crash in 1977. She spent weeks in a coma, and she had to relearn how to walk and speak.

She has struggled to establish an independent life since the injury, said her social worker, Marylin Copeland, who came to court with Brown. Brown has short-term memory loss and seizures.

She lives in the Cromwell House apartments for senior citizens and people with disabilities. Nearly every day, Brown hangs a radio in a plastic bag from a road sign on nearby Granby Street and hula hoops to “golden oldies.”

She used to hula hoop closer to her apartment, but her radio woke residents. She was charged last year with disturbing the peace, but the charge was withdrawn in Circuit Court after she appealed her conviction in District Court.

After her release Tuesday afternoon, Brown said she didn’t remember anything about Saturday’s arrest. Jail staff returned Brown’s possessions, including a medic-alert necklace reading: “Seizure disorder, metal rod in lower LT leg & pin LT shoulder, allergic to penicillin, aspirin.”

She’s due back in court on Nov. 3.

Brown’s lawyer is Howard Copeland, who is married to her social worker. The Copelands said Tuesday that they talked with police who patrol near Wards Corner after last year’s incident to warn them about Brown’s brain injury and the conduct it might cause.

“When she’s confronted, she has a negative reaction,” Marylin Copeland said. The injury makes Brown prone to passive seizures, during which she doesn’t react to her environment, Brown said.

“This is something most people don’t understand – especially cops,” Brown said.

It also makes her impulsive, Copeland said. Still, Brown doesn’t believe she assaulted police officers, given her physical limitations.

“No way,” Brown said. “And I was brought up by my parents to respect and obey police officers.”

She also said that if neighbors objected to her music, she would exercise farther away. Meanwhile, she was headed home.

“I’ll be glad to sleep in my own bed and not have to hear all that noise,” Brown said of the jail. “These ears can hear roaches running.”

I had forgotten all about this story until yesterday when I read that the Hula Hoop Lady settled with the City of Norfolk for $65,000 – they got off easy.

I got a letter from my sons school last week informing me that he needed to get a shot before heading into 6th grade.  There goes another $160.  Why?  Because I don’t have ANY health insurance.  You think that’s stupid?  I have 3 kids they could get sick or hurt at any time and then where would I be?  I think it’s pathetic.  Pathetic because there is no way I could afford the $800 a month it would cost me for health insurance.  Of course, I make to much money to get any help from the government.  My husband and I make pretty good money.  We own both our cars and our condo.  The only credit card we use is American Express (which gets paid off every month).  But, we also pay child support for one child from a previous marriage, $600 a month  and we pay my mother-in-laws rent, $465 a month – because she’s a pain in the ass.  Now I understand why there are so many people who stay on government aid.  You can bust your ass and make a good amount of money and STILL not have enough to meet the basic needs of a family.    I should divorce my husband and sign up for medicaid.   When will this country ever get it’s act together?!  Every rich corporate guy is up every other rich corporate guys ass – sending this country into the worst recession ever.  What’s next?  The only way these idiots are going to continue making money is to continue sucking it from the guys who don’t have any.  I guess then we’ll have to go back to indentured servents and slavery.  I have this teeny, tiny, sliver of a glimmer that Obama can bring about some positive changes.  PLEASE don’t let me down!

As I stare out my window at the church down the street and the staggering line of hungry homeless that gather their Sunday after Sunday I have to wonder, what the hell is wrong with our Government?  Time after time they dump millions of dollars on corporate assholes who turn around and spend it on 50 million dollar jets and thousands on the “hos” down the street while our economy gets worse and worse and the number of homeless is growing st a scary rate.

Here is the latest  of corporate misdeeds to be uncovered:

“Stimulus Package? Manhattan Madam Claims Wall Street Fat Cats Charged Girls on Corp Credit Cards“

“Some of these guys, I was invoicing on corporate credit cards. I was writing up monthly bills for computer consulting, construction expenses, all of these things, I was invoicing them monthly so they could get it by their accountants.”

OK, so I think everyone just assumes that these CEOs and corporate muckety mucks already abuse the money that has been given to them in order to help them get their companies back in working order so that  American Economy and people will slowly recover from this terriblce recession.  But OMG, they are so freaking blatant in their squandering of our tax dollars.  I think we need to come up with a whole new form of punishment for these self-centered, egomaniac, god-complex, spenders of our hard earned money for their pleasure, ASSWIPES.