American Girl "Homeless" Doll Costs $95

Looking for the perfect gift for the little girl who has everything, from her own pet llama to dramatic ski and swim vacations? If the little girl happens to be Chrissa, a character in the American Girl doll series, a homeless friend may just be the perfect accessory. And if you're a real little girl, wouldn't you just love a homeless friend, too? Or, better yet, a homeless friend doll, for a mere $95?

---------------------------------------(Photo to the right is not the item in question)

Gwen, a limited-edition doll, is part of the backstory for Chrissa (what, you didn't know dolls had backstories?), who proves her worth by standing up for her "different" friends, including homeless Gwen and black Sonali.

Not surprisingly, homeless advocates have objected to the doll, and question the idea that including Gwen in the product line "kind of shows awareness to what's going on in the world," as one mother shopping in an American Girl boutique told a CBS correspondent.

There are between 7,000 and 10,000 homeless children in L.A. alone ... and it's doubtful many, if any, could afford Gwen's $95 price tag.

One homeless woman in a shelter ... said Gwen touched her heart when she saw the doll in its box. The women praised the doll ... until they learned Gwen isn't a fundraising device for the homeless. "I don't even see why you would make a homeless doll, anyway," one woman said ... unless it was being used to raise money to help charities aiding the homeless.

Advocates also worry that the "valuable lessons about life," which American Girl says are taught by the dolls, include the idea that it's okay to be homeless. Tanya Tull, president of Beyond Shelter, told CBS that she's "afraid that [girls are] going to pick up the idea that it's OK, that it's an accepted segment of society that some children are homeless and some children are not."

Of course, most children will probably miss the idea that Gwen is supposed to be homeless, given that she looks pretty much identical to every other American Girl doll, down to her "white eyelet lace dress with embroidered accents." But wait! It turns out Gwen can't even afford a full lineup of accessories; she has to make do with a "pink headband that doubles as a belt." Poor Gwen!

VIA
and http://www.wibw.com/nationalnews/headlines/62453542.html

American Girl web site: (I could not find the item mentioned on the site)
http://store.americangirl.com/agshop/static/home.jsf

It Was Sexy Then But Suicide Today

An ad from the seventies:

My goodness! I actually remember seeing that ad in magazines.

That would get you seriously injured these days for sure...on second thought probably back then too.

Hard Lesson

Ever Check The Bistro's Kitchen?

Soaking Up The Last Warmth Of Summer

Woman Spanks Stranger's Child

The other week there was a case of 61 year old male who slapped a stranger's 2 year old after warning her that if she did not shut him up he would. Now in an area of Cincinnati, Ohio a woman spanks a stranger's child. What's next?

A woman is due in court today, accused of spanking a stranger's child. 44 year old Gloria Ballard is charged with assault.

Court documents say she approached a woman at a Salvation Army story yesterday and told her how to discipline her two year old son. Then she allegedly turned the boy over her knee and spanked him three times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIbxP8qXakw

http://www.local12.com/news/local/story/Woman-Accused-of-Spanking-Strangers-Son/BesFZ50rvU6gocyYIW1auQ.cspx

Spanking a child in public usually won't cause too much of a ruckus...unless it's not your child.

Gloria Ballard is accused of swatting a toddler's behind at an Ohio store on Tuesday.

Court documents state that Ballard was at the Salvation Army store in Cincinnati when she confronted the toddler's mother, Dannay Jones.

Jones says that her son had talked back to her at the store.

Jones said that's when Ballard came over and told her to do something about it.

"She was basically telling me what to do with my son," said Jones.

Jones said she responded to Ballard by saying, "Lady, you don't know me. I handle my business. I'm doing right to take care of my son."

That's when Jones said Ballard grabbed her son, 2-year-old Sean Goode, from her.

"She took him (off) my lap, bent him over her legs and spanked him like three or four times. He started crying," said Jones.

Jones said she pushed Ballard away, though she admitted she wanted to do more to her.

Ballard was arraigned Wednesday afternoon on assault charges.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/strange/news-article.aspx?storyid=145168&catid=82

Geriatric Bank Robbers Very Active In San Diego

A man described as being 70 to 80 years old is suspected of robbing the La Jolla branch of San Diego National Bank on Saturday, September 12.

Clad in a beige-and-black-checkered blazer and wearing a black-white-and-beige-checkered golf hat, the man walked into the Ivanhoe Avenue bank branch at approximately 10:10 a.m. He approached a teller station and handed the teller a note demanding money.

Upon receiving a sum of money, the man escaped on foot. The robber was wearing an oxygen tank in an over-the-shoulder bag and had an oxygen tube affixed to his nose. The suspect is white, 6’4” tall, medium build, with liver spots on his skin. He wore a light-colored shirt and slacks as well as prescription eyeglasses.

VIA

Oxygen supported bank robber on the left  - Red shirted robber supported by a cane on the right that escaped arrest at the back evading a dozen police cars

Meet the Geriatric Bandits: One has a cane, the other needs an oxygen mask. They're old enough to be your grandfather. This past week, they've both robbed banks. And one is still at large.

On Saturday, a man carrying an inhaler or an oxygen tank robbed the San Diego National Bank in La Jolla. The man, wearing a white beret, argyle sweater and sports coat, walked into the bank on Ivanhoe Avenue with a demand note. In the picture caught by surveillance cameras, he looks to be in his 70s. An oxygen tube appears to hang from his face.

Investigators don't know if he was armed, but they do know that he got away with some cash. Just look at him -- would you stop him?

Then, two days later, another bank robbery. This time, the target was the Bank of America on El Cajon Blvd in City Heights. A 70-year old man -- with cane, mind you -- walked into the bank with a note and demanded a large amount of cash.

The bank manager attempted to evacuate the bank and lock the suspect inside, but Geriatric Bandit No. 2 was too crafty. Despite dozens of police cars surrounding the bank, he hobbled out of the bank using a side door and tried to hide on the porch of a home a few blocks away.

Police found him lying on the porch and arrested him -- maybe his bright red hawaiian shirt gave him away.

VIA

Samurai Sword Wielding Student Kills Burglar

A Johns Hopkins University student armed with a samurai sword killed a man who broke into the garage of his off-campus residence early Tuesday, a Baltimore police spokesman said.

A resident of the 300 block of E. University Parkway called police about a suspicious person. An off-duty officer responded about 1:20 a.m. to the area with university security. They heard shouts and screams from a neighboring house and found the suspected burglar suffering from a nearly severed hand and lacerations to his upper body, he said.

The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.

The student told police that he heard a commotion in the house and went downstairs armed with a samurai sword. He saw the side door to the garage had been pried open and found a man inside, who lunged at the student.

Burglars had already stolen two laptops and a Sony PlayStation from the student's home Monday.

Tthe student who wielded the sword remained in custody while investigators worked to corroborate his story with evidence and witness statements. The city state's attorney's office will determine whether to press charges.

The suspected burglar, 49, whose name police did not release pending notification of next of kin, had 29 prior convictions for crimes such as breaking and entering. He had been released Saturday from the Baltimore County Detention Center after he was arrested by county police in August for stealing a car in Baltimore.
more details VIA

Talk Radio

STRESS - An Example of How It Feeds and How to Deal With It

Beginning with the endless attacks on President Clinton during his administration I now realize I was killing myself. That was the start of my paying attention to the intricate details of what we call politics in this country. It was as if someone had given me a taste of a gateway drug. I was on my way to endless hours of trying to keep up with it all.

I should have realized the error of my ways when I started receiving the flood of emails requests for donations/contributions from some character that wanted to take the Clintons to court for their drug dealing, assassinations and other cover up crimes against everything. According to a number of these kind of people the Clintons were the antithesis of the Devil reincarnate.

There I was spending hour upon hour reading anything I could dig up and searching every nook and cranny of the internet. I was hooked.

Then the Bush II administration was "injected into the vein of my left arm." WMD, Iraqi oil would pay for the war, Saddam was out to take over the world and he was gonna kill my daddy. Oh the horror!

The destruction of the twin towers turned into the manure to grow even bigger conspiracy theories that continue to destroy careers to this day.

Then a moose hunting, family values spouting female with a daughter preggers with an illegitimate child burst out of nowhere wanting to be my vice president. She was THE CHOICE because she was governor of a state with oil (drill baby drill) and experience governing a population smaller than the city of New York.

The end began to unravel for me with the election of the first black man to be president of this nation. The conspirators multiplied hitting me from every angle. He has the mark of the devil, the Bible has hidden messages that this is the one that will destroy the world, etc. And then there are The Birthers and those who see evil in his wife baring her arms.

All during this time the "drug pushers; supplier" FOX "news" grew feeding all fears of everything hidden in the shadows. They piped the tune the non-understanding public wanted to hear. I sincerely believe the Australian owner of the FOX empire is trying to see if he can bring about the destruction of civil government in our country.

I woke up to yank out the "needles in my arm" when I got into an almost heated discussion in a forum with a hardliner FOX 'news' junkie. A minor government official followed an old directive to remove a flag from something or other and the FOX believer claimed the person was following the directive of the yet-to-be-sworn-in president.

I smashed the "needles" and dumped the "powders" when parents pulled their children out of school because the evil man was going to urge their children to stay in school and become successful. Meanwhile in Texas one school system that banished the President's speech is busing all their students to the Dallas Cowboys stadium to hear a speech by Bush II (who failed as a sports team owner, failed in the oil business, has a yet to be explained absence from the NG during the Vietnam war and has a brother who was deeper than anybody into the savings and loan bank failure years ago. And in Ohio another school system is busing their students to participate in one of those Tea-baggy protests.

I'm done. I deleted all the 24/7 news channels from my TVs and read only the local news, comics and sports. No more participating in political discussion.

Friends do not discuss politics nor religion and remain friends

Now to fight STRESS.

This last part is from: http://health.msn.com/health-topics/mental-health/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100244527&page=2

Big little stressor No. 6: Morons

One guy summed up the problem in two words: "stupid people." Simply living your life means dealing with inconsiderate people, crappy service and the general cloggers of society's arteries. Remember, Miller says, you can't influence them: "You see that these people aren't making the best decisions and think you can do better. As a result, you feel less in control, and that's a serious hidden stressor."

Defuse it: Don't become embroiled in the morons' messes. "I experience their nonsense every single day," says business consultant Larry Winget, host of A&E's Big Spender and the author of People Are Idiots and I Can Prove It. "Two things tend to bring me comfort. First, knowing that sometimes I'm an idiot, too. I also remind myself of a quote I heard many years ago: 'When you give someone a piece of your mind, you've given up your peace of mind.' If you try to influence them, you give them control over you. I've driven myself crazy trying to fix people I know cannot be fixed, and don't want to be fixed. Now, I refuse to do that. It's more fun if I just find them entertaining."

One baby, two baby, oh baby!

Jesus’ ethnicity in question

There were 3 good arguments that Jesus was Black:
1. He called everyone brother
2. He liked Gospel
3. He didn’t get a fair trial

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Jewish:
1. He went into His Father’s business
2. He lived at home until he was 33
3. He was sure his Mother was a virgin and his Mother was sure He was God

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Italian:
1. He talked with His hands
2. He had wine with His meals
3. He used olive oil

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was a Californian:
1. He never cut His hair
2. He walked around barefoot all the time
3. He started a new religion

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was an American Indian: 1. He was at peace with nature
2. He ate a lot of fish
3. He talked about the Great Spirit

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Irish:
1. He never got married.
2. He was always telling stories.
3. He loved green pastures.

But the most compelling evidence of all : 3 proofs that Jesus was a woman:
1. He fed a crowd at a moment’s notice when there was virtually no food
2. He kept trying to get a message across to a bunch of men who just didn’t get it
3. And even when He was dead, He had to get up because there was still work to do

Can I get an AMEN!! ???

That should offend just about everyone. My work is done!

Traffic stop for crack

Obviously one should not leave it exposed for all to see