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Resolved Question: Would the United States Military be able to help the women in Afghanistan?

Miss America is a junior at Portland State University, hoping to eventually get a Master's degree in Bioethics. Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from receiving any education at all, and cannot read or write. Miss America has worked as a lab assistant at both the Oregon Health Sciences University and the University of Puget Sound. Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from working. Miss America's father is an engineer. Her mother is a teacher. Miss Afghanistan's father was shot by a gang of Taliban militants. Her mother begs for bread scraps since she cannot work or remarry. Miss America wowed the judges by singing a Puccini aria, "O Mio Babbino Caro". Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from singing or even listening to music of any kind. Miss America will be traveling the nation nonstop during her reign. Miss Afghanistan cannot leave her house without a male family member, cannot drive, and cannot be out after dark. Miss America is an advocate for breast cancer research. Miss Afghanistan cannot be treated by a male doctor, and for all practical purposes has no access to medical treatment of any kind. Miss America can date, marry, or divorce anyone she chooses. Miss Afghanistan will be stoned to death if caught in the company of a male outside of her family. She is likely to be sold into an arranged marriage to a man who already has two wives. Miss America wears sunscreen on the beach to keep from burning. Miss Afghanistan cannot live in a house with windows unless they are painted black. Since she must wear a burqua outside, her pale translucent skin has not seen a ray of sunlight in years. Miss America could have been disqualified if her swimsuit did not meet pageant standards. Miss Afghanistan can be flogged if the holes in the mesh covering her face are too large. Miss America will decide how many children, if any, she wants to have. Miss Afghanistan will be pregnant 3-4 times more often than Miss America. Unfortunately, her babies are 25 times more likely to die in the first year. One out of four will not see their 5th birthday. Miss America is majoring in speech communications at PSU. Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from speaking in public. Miss America is 21. Since the U.S. life expectancy for women is 80, she's still a very young woman. Miss Afghanistan is also 21. But since the life expectancy for an Afghan woman is 43, next year she will be "over-the-hill". (Besides having a shockingly short life expectancy overall, Afghanistan is one of the only countries in the world in which women have a shorter life expectancy than men.) Miss America is a beautiful, intelligent woman and everyone knows it. Miss Afghanistan could be a beautiful, intelligent woman... but nobody will ever know it. more

Resolved Question: "Mexico day care fire kills 35 children"?

ERMOSILLO, Mexico – Sobbing relatives waited outside a morgue Saturday to claim the bodies of 35 children killed in a day care fire in northern Mexico despite desperate attempts to evacuate babies and toddlers through the building's only working exit. One father crashed his pickup truck through the wall to rescue his child. One family buried 2-year-old Maria Magdalena Millan, dropping white roses onto her tiny coffin and attaching a Dora the Explorer balloon to the cross marking her grave. "I love you and I don't want to leave you here!" her mother screamed. Delfina Ruelas, 60, said her grandchild German Leon died of his burns Saturday morning, three days after his fourth birthday. She and her husband saw television news reports that the ABC day care was on fire Friday and rushed over that evening. "I thought he wasn't that burned and that we would find him OK, but he was very burned," said Ruelas, dissolving into tears outside the morgue in the northern city of Hermosillo, where she waited along with 30 other relatives. "They operated on him yesterday, and he held on, but today he couldn't hold on." Firefighters carried injured children through the front door — the building's only working exit — and through large holes that a civilian knocked into the walls before rescue crews arrived, according to a fire department official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the fire. Noe Velasquez, an employee at a nearby auto parts store who helped pull out five toddlers, said the father of one of the children rammed his pickup truck through a wall. Velasquez did not know if the man's child survived. "I didn't sleep last night. I've never gone through anything like that in all my life," he said. The tragedy once again raised questions about building safety in Mexico: Officials cracked down on code violations following a deadly stampede at a nightclub last year and a fire at a disco nine years ago. A May 26 inspection found that the day care building — a converted warehouse with a few windows mounted high up — complied with safety standards, said Daniel Karam, the director of Mexico's Social Security Institute, which outsourced services to the privately run day care. Asked if the single functioning exit constituted a safety code violation, Karam only repeated that the building had passed the inspection, although he conceded that the security requirements might have to be re-evaluated. "We always have to be open to improvements, especially when we have a tragedy that has so moved us," Karam said. Guadalupe Arvizu, who was visiting her injured 2-year-old grandson at a hospital, said the building has an emergency exit but it could not be opened on the day of the fire. She did not know why. "The place is in bad condition. It's a warehouse. There are no windows in the classrooms," said Arvizu, whose daughter — the boy's mother — is a caretaker at the day care but was not injured in the fire. The death toll rose to 35 after several children died overnight. At least 41 children and six adults were hospitalized, Sonora state Gov. Eduardo Bours said. The adults included staffers at the day care and civilians who tried to help. Some of the children had third-degree burns, the Hermosillo fire department official said. There were an estimated 142 children in the day care at the time, with ages ranging from 6 months to 5 years, and six staffers to look after them, Bours said at a news conference Saturday. The ratio is in keeping with legal standards, Karam said. A 3-year-old girl with burns over 80 percent of her body was sent by military transport to be treated at Shriners Hospital for Children Northern California, said Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, Consul General for Mexico based in Sacramento. The girl's injuries could require months of treatment, which will be free of charge, Gonzalez Gutierrez said. One parent is traveling with the girl, and will be housed nearby. "It's going to be challenging. The survivability is about 50 percent. A lot of it is how deep the burn is and where it's located and how bad is the smoke inhalation," said Dr. Tina Palmieri, assistant chief of burns for Shriners'. Others were sent to a hospital in the western Mexico city of Guadalajara that has a special burn unit. Velasquez said he and several other people rushed to the day care when they saw smoke. Teachers already had lined up some of the children outside but the very smallest were trapped inside, some of them in their cribs. Velasquez said he pulled out limp toddlers without knowing if they were dead or alive. The fire started at an adjoining tire and car warehouse leased by the state government, Bours said. The blaze eventually spread to the roof of the day care, sending flames raining down on the children, according to the fire department official. Firefighters took two hours to control the blaze, the cause of which was still uwhat do you guys think of this? more

Resolved Question: CAN MY MOM DO THIS TO ME?

okay so my friend jessica aka jess said i ahould tell on my mom for doing this to me . I know like most teenagers what i did was a stupid mistake so my mom got mad and she hit me not like just a slap in the face i mean she didnt just slap me in the face , she came at me with her fist and started swinging and hitting me very hard as she was yelling at me, and the whole time i was saying to myself "it will be over in a minute just dont hit her back". So now everytime i do something wrong insted of her hitting me with the belt cus im 17 and im too old for that or talking to me calmly she said" your practicaly a women now so since you think your such a women then im gonna beat you like a women". So now for about the past 3 years now whenever i do something wrong she doesnt talk to me she just comes rnning at me with her fist. Last year she pushed me on the ground got on top of me and tried to go for my face , as she was hitting me my dad was standing right there just watching then he says" hon you need to close the windows and take her up stairs away from the little ones so they dont see this , cus the neighbors are staring over here ". She dragged me up stairs and started beating me all i could do was cover my face hoping to god that she wouldnt Knock my ass out . Then when she was done I heard my 12 year old brother yell at my dad saying " WHY ARE YOU LETTING MOM HIT ON HER LIKE THAT YOU SHOULD DO SOMETHING". Then my dad told him to watch his mouth. After she was done with me she sent me to my room, she gave me the silent treatment for like 2 weeks and she told my siblings not to talk to me , they gave me a hug and said that we should tell someone i told them no because mom would only get more mad and go more crazy. My friends use to invite me everywere now! they dont want to be seen with me anymore because they say my moms to crazy. So basically im wondering is this child abuse ? cus everytime she gets mad at what i did wrong or if i forget to clean the kitchen she starts hitting me like this. My dads even afraid of her and he's bigger then her. I know im gonna get hit like this again when she gets her phone bill cus i kind of made a mistake there , but this time when she hits me should i run or tell someone what should i do? I'm turning 18 in 7 months and I don't know if i can stay with her like this when shes hitting me. My grandmother doesnt even know she does this. I'm shaking as im writing this whole thing out ! please help me please i dont know how much more i can take of her hitting me and making up stories to my friends about how i got these browses. ps. My moms black and my dads white , i think thats why i go to my dad for everything cus hes more laid back and my moms kind of not. But what do i do? is it considered abbuse? more

Voting Question: living room window treatments help wanted!?

ok so i want to redo my window treatments. i will do my best to describe all my furniture so you can help me decide on colors and such. so first of we have a light tan couch suede fabric, matching recliner, and i got a chocolate brown chaise lounger also suede. carpeting is a light beige/tan color, slightly lighter than the couch and walls are snow white. we have 3 windows in the room, 2 behind couch and 1 on adjacent wall. the room is kind of small. no other furniture besides tv and stand. we live in military housing so i cannot do anything too drastic and unfortunately i cannot paint the walls. after our last move we got rid of end tables and coffee table because of lack of space, we also have 2 small children and a dog. any helpful ideas are greatly appreciated. as of now we have chocolate brown and mossy green throw pillows and blankets. willing to change that of course, little too camo for my tastes, lol. thank you again to anyone who responds. more

Voting Question: Modified: Should I allow my father in law to know his grand children?

I asked about this the other day but there was a lot of confusion about what I was asking. My father in law is a convicted sex offender over 20 years ago and is on parole for another two for molesting his adopted daughter from age 5-15. The parole board needed my signature granting special permission for supervised visitation with my children, but when the papers were signed I had not been spoken to about the situation. I knew that he had been physically violent to his oldest son, so I was under the assumption that was the reason why they needed my signature. They waited until after the papers were signed and turned in to tell me he was convicted on rape 1 charges. The only way that he is legally allowed to be around my children is under direct supervision by a designated supervisor and the child's parents. The problem I am facing is that the parole term is over in two years and will no longer be under supervision because he has passed all treatments, arousal tests and polygraph tests. They are thinking that the rules on the children go out the window with the state supervision. My husband is torn and defends them as the kids' grandparents, but sees my point as well, but I am going to have to make the decision and enforce it. What I am unsure of is if I should cut them off 100% or keep the same rules in motion as if he were still on parole? I have by the way he has treated me fairly recently that I cannot trust him if it's anyone else other than myself like my husband or his wife. Is it ethical to revoke permission that has already been granted for supervised visitation? more

Voting Question: My Freinds Son has got a Incredibly rare eye condition and needs to raise £50'000 in THREE WEEKS..Suggestions?

Are there any Trust funds available that can help? He is based in the UK and needs to travel to the USA in order for the Operation to take place. The Operations also needs to be completed in the next 5 weeks as there will be no treatment available after this time. This is because the child will be too old to have the surgery and it needs to be completed in this window of opportunityIn response to those who think this a scam. It is not! If you read it again I'm looking for a Funding organisation or trust and they would need to see proof. And lets just say a miracle happend and someone was to offer the cash they would be shown proof with all the details available for them to view.The operation can be done here using a different method to the one on offer in the US. Here they use retinal grafts but the success rate is only 40%; In the USA they use synthetic material as a substitute but have 100% success. The reason it is time sensitive is because if the part of the brain involving sight doesn't get stimulated by 8weeks it will become redundant and the technology is not available to reverse this. more

Resolved Question: How do I get my wife committed ?

I have been married for over 20 years to the same woman that was my high school sweetheart. Things started out great, and just got better until ........ Seven years ago, she was daignosed with BiPolar. We made it through that. Some suicide attempts, and lots of arguements. Then there are the supervisors and co-workers that thought I was making things up to get off from work. That didnt make the journey any easier. Six months ago she fell and hit her head, and now can not remember ANYthing. Our marriage, travel, children, friends, or family. She remembers nothing and no one !!!! She has been going to therapy and prescribed medications for the treatment of Disociative Fugue which is a stress induced amnesia. It is supposed to be temporary, and supposed to have gone away by now. Last week she was staying with a close family member (after MUCH email and telephone traffic). Thought this would be beneficial. Come to find out, she abuses her meds. She either takes too much, or none at all. She also took some of her family members Percocet, and sleeping pills (stole them). All in a two week period !!!! My kids are naturally upset, fed up, and growing to resent her. They feel she is faking, and have pointed out some episodes where my wife will make a comment, or say something that suggest she can remember more than she lets on. I have been VERY VERY patient with all of this mess. But I need to do something soon. She is not the same person that I married 20 years ago. She verbally abuses us, and threatend to call the police to take me away a few weeks ago after an arguement that we had. (Yes, she was loosing that arguement). We have endured multiple ER visits, ambulance calls, spoiled food, several messes, water left running, house being unlocked, windows open in the winter without turning down the furnace, abuse of meds, and stealing meds from family. She has lost two jobs in 3 months, and wrecked our family vehicle because her thyroid level was WAY too low (from NOT taking her meds) and she passed out. She gets upset with medical personnel, docs, Nurses, Therapist, Pharmacists, etc ...... when she doesnt get the demoral shot that she wants for her migraine headaches. She has NO patience, and is hardly the kind of person that you would want to talk to in public. After her fall, they did a CAT SCAN, MRI and EEG. The Neurologist told her that everything was normal, but the EEG showed some brain activity that resembles the same as someone with seizures. POOF !!! Now she has seizures. I am tired of this hypocondriac, hypothyroid, BiPolar addict that thinks I will be here forever to clean up her messes, and take care of her just because our wedding vows say "In sickness and in Health." I would like to hear some suggestions on HOW to get her committed so we can have a break. more

Resolved Question: Too tired to function/live life? I've tried everything. Ideas?

First of all, there are a couple of things to factor in... I have been battling depression ever since I can remember but it is not as bad as it used to be(I know this can make you tired). Also, I have moderate sleep apnea and have a c-pap machine but have not been able to use it successfully. I just can't get used to it. I've had it for over 5 years, tried every different mask, herbal sedatives and everything you can imagine. I know the fact that I get poor sleep is a major contributor. I've tried mouth devices and the surgery is not an option, obviously making me feel helpless to treating it. I've been evaluated by countless doctors. Blood tests and cat-scans show that I don't have a thyroid disorder. I have been given all kinds of herbal supplements that if taken regularly, prove to slightly improve my energy but not significantly. I've been on every wakefullness medication that hasn't worked, even abused medications that weren't meant for wakefullness like adderall, which makes me crazy and extremely irritable.They all make my body ache like a 90 year old(I'm 21). I have completely changed my diet, thinking that I might be allergic to gluten but that barely made a difference and I couldn't afford it(I'm a college student, barely able to manage 2 classes). I've tried quick fixes to get through the day like strong ginseng tea but everything that gives me enough energy to get through the day also causes me to crash so hard that I can't move for the next two days. Ironically, I think I'm allergic to caffeine(it causes throwing up and diarrhea). I practice every common thing that I know to improve energy-drinking a lot of water, vitamins known to improve vitality, exercise(when I can), even expensive shoes that provide special support, you name it. I had trouble sleeping and waking at the same time as the other kids in high school. I worked with disabilities to knock off my first hour class because I couldn't stay awake in class, or even drive to school without nodding off but I could still function, have friends, and get through most of the day. It's gotten worse since then. I'm in college and I can't even make it to once-a-week, nighttime classes. I certainly can't hold a job and extra things like hanging out with or even contacting friends is to physically exerting. I have a small window of time in each day of a couple hours where I am awake. It's hard to go out to do things like grocery shop. If I can't make it back in time, my mind slows down and I become incoherent. When this happens I have trouble making it home. For example, I'll wake up in another city, my groceries spoiled because I fell asleep and missed my stop. It's not just my body, it's my mind. I can't remember anything or organize my thoughts. Often I will miss things because I think I am in yesterday or tomorrow. My room and hands are covered in notes reminding me to do things like "take a shower, go to bank, eat dinner". Because I can't sustain myself, I am paying for college in all loans and my mom(who is strapped for money and has other children to raise) is paying for all of this out of pocket and we have no insurance. She is constantly coming up with new things it could be and looking into new treatments that she can't afford. I know that I have a duty to my mom and everyone pulling for me to keep trying but sometimes I wish that they would just stop. I am a passionate person and don't want to be part of something I can't participate in. Ideas? more

Voting Question: Are you ready to stop bank abuse?

We all hope that some bank CEO will find the bravery to reverse their abusive policies. I call on all celebrities, anyone who can, to join in a boycott and withdraw your money from American banks. The speculation of banks folding compared with wanton, unethical treatment of good, moral people is a no-brainer. Withdrawing from banks is the lesser of the two evils. Use Swiss banks, any banks that you can other than American banks. As one reporter said, the mattress is looking good right now. I do realize that many of you have already had to resort to that. History has shown that the social injustices that have been partially corrected were begrudgingly done so only because of societal pressure. Denying female citizens the right to vote, denying human dignity to black citizens, actually making it illegal to teach a slave, refusing to pay reparations to victims of factory toxins. Cops who beat their wives getting the protection of the police force because of their code of silence. So many victims of fraud. In our thirties and with two babies in tow, my husband I built onto our first home. We pick-axed the trench, poured concrete, hammered thousands of nails, lifted 2 by 4’s; nailed window headers, installed a full bath, lifted tar rolls and shingles to the new roof, spackled, painted. That two-year process was back-breaking work, but my children got rooms and we began to grow financially. I remember my children saving their Christmas and birthday money in Bank of America, $15 dollars at a time. I was teaching them the value of saving money. Each child got their accounts up to $85.00. Bank of America never told me that the accounts had to be at least $100. So, my children’s gift money from relatives was taken by Bank of America. So began my lessons with Bank of Amevil. Years of viciously tremendous MBNA interest fees never allowed us to decrease our debt with them. While MBNA made 100% profit for years on all of our payments, our balance just kept increasing. When we bought our final house, National City Mortgage held the loan. You can do all of the research you’d like in order to make an informed decision, but in the end, you will probably go with the advice of the “experts.” In 2007, my husband and I lost our home, all of our retirement, had to sell a car, moved three times within a year, sporadically go grocery shopping and usually have 10 or 2 items in the fridge, have ceased purchasing clothes even at the thrift shop, have canceled home phone, internet, my cell. Two bankruptcy attorneys told me that we could have easily qualified for full bankruptcy. My husband has been laid off. But for moral reasons, rather than make creditors eat all of the loans, we entered debt settlement. Now in our fifties, we have started new. No longer with Bank of Amevil, our new credit life with this bank has been honorable. When we opened the account, they offered overdraft protection, which we have used. We make heroic efforts to pay it back. We’d like for our banking history with this bank to based on our clean, timely payments. We constantly sweat the threat of overdrafts, just making it by pennies. This is a long, slow, painful, extremely stressful process, but we are trying and doing moral best. However, this new bank found out about our settlements with past creditors, which have nothing to do with the new history we have established, like paying large amounts at a time back for the use of the overdraft protection. With no warning, this bank lowered our overdraft protection and set into motion the likelihood of bounced checks, this time with the creditors with whom we have agreed to settle. Aside from the unethical dilemma in which this bank created for us, the new life of showing prompt payments and good faith, and now future creditors and those who check credit, potential employers, housing, it has been sorely damaged, again. This unethical treatment of banks preying on those of us who are trying to rebound from losing everything and reestablish our lives must stop immediately. When I got my undergraduate degree, I read of one theory as to why the ancient Roman Empire fell: their greed. Corporate greed has long been out of control. Corrupt CEO’s and lobbyists are not only not penalized, they are somehow tremendously rewarded. But morality is not. Morality does not enter into their business practice with customers, though many customers, such as ourselves, use morality to guide our dealings with others, even businesses. It is a shameful comment on our society that the business world has sentenced us to a legacy of immoral, abusive people. The greedy have made it clear that money is the only language to which they will respond. Withdrawing it is the only pressure that may force them to stop these perpetrators. Good heavens, Chase charges monthly fees to just check your balance. To those of you who, like us, have already lost everything, I wish you luck in your struggle to s more

Resolved Question: isn't it wonderful that the taliban has taken over swat valley?

women and girls under the taliban have the most wonderful life of all women of the world, because of sharia laws and the wonderful treatment of sharia laws. the taliban has said that if parents don't send girls to school they will be punished and killed then if they don't send girls to school and windows don't have to be painted over that have single girls and women and girls might be able to get jobs outside of the medical field.women and girls are now allowed outside of their homes without a male relative with them.men can't be killed for not wearing a beard, children can fly kites without being punished. men that don't wear their colths above their ankles can no longer be killed. are all muslims so happy for the women and girls that now live under sharia law and don't they all wish that on all girls and women could live under sharia law? more

Resolved Question: Is being an Atheist or a Christian a product of mental strength and health, or weakness and malignancy?

Do people chose Atheism or Religion because they worked to attain it, or because they couldn't do anything else? In Islamic countries, if you decide yourself Atheist or worse than multiple-axe murdering, [*Bleep!*] er of underaged eithergenders... a CHRISTIAN... daddy will prove to you that abortion is totally legal and retroactive to the age of ninety! You cannot get out of the state religion in some countries, except feet-first. When the state religion of the Soviet Union was Atheism, this guy applied to emigrate to the United States. people stopped him on the street: "Excuse me- but why would you want to leave the Soviet Union?" The fishmonger, wrapping fish, "But why do you want to leave the Soviet Union?" The news vendor, "Why do you want to- ?" 3am. Knock on the door. Postman, "But why do you want to leave the Soviet Union?" Guy answers: "Because in America, they do not deliver your mail at 3am.!" I was born into Christian religion in England. as a sign of independence that year, I was not baptized with an Oyinbo colonial name. Many of us got born into totally sucking religions, because there was no room at the inn. It is not an excuse. Being born in the wrong religion is a good excuse to die young. Being born in the right religion but the wrong sect is like buying a ticket to the Titanic, and being stuck with the group that doesn't get to go in a lifeboat. I was raised Orthodox Anglican (Episcopalian), that means that I was nineteen before I ever heard that JESUS IS ALIVE. Very *Duh!* If you asked me, "Did Jesus rise from the dead?" I would have said, "Yes. So?" If Jesus is ALIVE, we can access his Power! I was going to die at 20, because I was taught that his Healing Power was merely legendary, and if I was allergic to antimalarial drugs, and they had less and less effect on the disease, and more and more on ME, that was TOO BAD. I was just gonna have to DIE. Within two months after I was Born Again, I learned I could heal myself calling on Jesus' Name and trusting in God's Healing Promises. It was not until several years later that it occurred to me that what I did was completely impossible to nine out of ten Christians. I was to find myself wading through legions of... well, scum churchgoers, who had no business being in the same neighbourhood as a church, never mind being a member. These people did not know what they were talking about, nor what they were doing. At this time, as I write this my deputy-boss, a pastor, is regaling us with a Tale of Power, of a Christian who saved his life through the ESP application of the Holy Ghost, that warned him that armed robbers had sabotaged his generator, and were about to kill him when he stepped outside to fix it. He tried to move to open the door, and Something would not let him. He was guided to a window, where he saw one of them, with his gun in his hand, covering the door. At this time, his grandmother is on her possible deathbed, with oxygen. All HIS Faith is good for, is telling stories. I have seen him and others leave others to die, without even TRYING to use their faith to save their lives. when their children are sick, they have to bring them in for treatment, because they have no power to heal them. the other day, our boss and her husband- also Pentecostals, were in a panic because they thought their kid had been kidnapped. Actaully, her sister had brought her HERE to the Health centre, but neither of them *SENSED* that. They even called in Security. Yet she makes fun of my advanced teachings on development and control of Holy Ghost Powers. Yuppies like them, rejected Jesus while getting their degrees, and once they obtained the career and Partner of their choice say, "NOW, Jesus, I an READY to serve you with ALL MY HEART...!" Only- it DOESN'T work. God and Jesus do not accept "Sloppy Seconds" type of worship. These people will NEVER accept that all their elaborate services and rituals are IGNORED by God. REAL worship is a LOT of EFFORT, that cannot even be initiated without certain HEARTFELT beliefs, and HIGH INTELLECT. A hypocrite will say, "WHY should I MEMORIZE The Gospel of Jesus? WHy do I NEED to remember EXACTLY what Jesus said on ever occasion?" A REAL Christian has already answered these questions without hearing them. Many people try to boast: "I USED TO be a Christian, but I WAS TOO SMART for that RUBBISH-!" That statement gains a lot of sympathy with other Unbelievers, who will like to think of themselves as "too smart for Yahweh!" It is relatively RARE to find an Atheist who has memorized significant portions of The Bible. There are more of them than Christians like to think. But it is amazing that Christians have NO RESPECT for someone who can recite entire passages disproving their pet doctrines. If it was one of THEM, they'd say, "Yea, verily, GOD IS IN HIM!" But if it were someone who didn't believe as they did, it would be, "Well, THE DEVIL can quote scripture, too, you know!" As if they were sosomehow better than Satan, by being ignorant. Atheism from true intellectual superiority is rare. The truth is usually that the Unbeliever does not have the self-discipline to humble themselves to obey instructions from God relayed through people whom they consider their inferiors, and may never have even read The Bible with aview to obeying these instructions themselves. more

Resolved Question: How do I forgive the anger I feel towards blacks.?

I was in grade school during civil rights days. My siblings and I walked home from school and were beat up just for being white, I lived and still live in predominately black neighborhood. Once I asked my mom if it was too early to go to bed, and she said yes. Less than a minute later, two bricks were thrown through my window and landed on my pillow. I would have been seriously hurt. We went to a friends house to run from the beatings, and the blacks almost busted through the door. We had to call the police. My brother was in junior high, and for some reason aprox. 40 black people, men, woman, children, were at our door asking for him to be handed over to them. My mom held a double barrel shot gun to the screen and told them they had 30 seconds to get out of her yard before she started shooting. They ran. Adult blacks would slap my sister in high school because she was white. I feel we were mistreated and if whites for fighting for civil liberties, the blacks would have treated us worse. I have black friends whom I love, I actually told management when racist remarks were made by whites. My children have friends with black skin, and they are always in my house, They get along and none of the kids really have race issues. However, I cannot forget what happened to my family and me as child, pertaining to the treatment blacks imparted on us because we were white. How do I move pass this anger, and let it go? Is it the same as anger still harbored by black people today? Or just misunderstanding, unworked issues that can be treated with therapy ?and I can learn to forgive. Any suggestions more

Resolved Question: Can his abusive boss threaten to fire him for taking his lunch break or his bi-weekly day off?

My husband endures so much to support this family, but I'm worried about him. His boss constantly (daily)verbally assaults, abuses even makes racial, status remarks-like it's his right. He treats my husband along with a couple others, as if they're the mud on the bottom of his shoe. However, this past year it's gotten much worse. He takes full advantage of my husbands ability to take it all for the sake of his family.. Not only making fun of him&beltittling him in front of fellow workers, but has even cursed him in front of customers. Aside from the cursing He's called his salesmans degrading awful things like pu**ies, stupid idiots etc.. Fearful of losing their jobs, none of the salesman say anything. However one day my husband made the mistake of questioning him when nobody received a paycheck(long story this ones long enough) &it only marked the start of a very long abusive relationship.His boss does not like to be confronted. Now, due to the stress of the lack of car sales, his boss is crossing new lines. He's publicly harassed,humiliated&ridiculed Cemarrion for taking his bi-weekly day off, or going home for lunch (to save money-even tho they're forced to stay, there's no accomdations for eating there unless you can order take-out) or because he goes home t the end of his shift when the dealership was empty to be with his family. His boss has made them stay late on holidays while keeping their familys waiting for hours,when there was 0 customers all day, because he was avoiding his wife. Now he's made a habit of threatening my husbands job, should my husband choose to take his day off twice a month, or even leave to take his lunch break. Not only has this treatment& constant mental torture heightened my husbands anxiety levels but it's causing him to suffer depression now, which is rubbing off on me, making life for our 5 kids hard as well. Obviously he should quit, but how could we get by? With no commission the last several months (yes. He's working lots more hrs. for free!)and just barely keeping utilities on, to lose a whole week of pay, could result in us being unable to support our children! Now despite this man having taken away my husbands sunny disposition, &brought much stress&tears into our home- now he's taking my husbands lunch break&day off away too? My husband works hrd for his family& yet now he won;t even get to see them those 2 measly days off! Not to mention that since he goes to wk before most business's open, and gets off @8 when everythings closed, these 2 scheduled week days a month is his only window to handle appt.s etc.. Really he needs some psychological help now to handle all of this, but with his boss enslaving them he not only lacks any time, but we cannot afford it. &now I can't imagine going 10-12hrs. a day without food is going to my husbands health either, but not everyone can afford take-out eveyddday.PLEASE WE NEED ADVICE! We don't know if there's anywhere to turn, or if so where. This man has to be stopped! more

Resolved Question: book report .. need opions?

is this a book report or essay im pretty confused .. about them too well anyways it suppose to be a book report any opions Author: S.E. Hinton Character Analysis: Ponyboy Curtis - Ponyboy is a fourteen-year-old member of a gang called the Greasers. His parents died in a car accident, so he lives alone with his two older brothers, Darry and Soda. He is a good student and athlete, but most people at school consider him a vagrant like his Greaser friends. Sodapop Curtis - Soda is Pony's handsome, charming older brother. He dropped out of school to work at a gas station, and does not share his brothers' interest in studying and sports. Darrel Curtis - The oldest of the Curtis boys, Darry is also the acknowledged leader of the Greasers. Johnny Cade - Johnny is Pony's closest friend and the gang's pet. They are especially protective of him since he is smaller than the rest, his father beats him, and he is afraid to walk the streets alone after being attacked by a group of Socs. Cherry Valance - Cherry is from the richer part of town and associates mainly with the Socs, but she befriends Pony and the other Greasers and gives them information about the Socs. Bob Gardner - Bob is Cherry's boyfriend. Johnny murders Bob to stop him from killing Pony. Dallas Winston - A member of the Greasers, Dally has spent time in prison. He helps Johnny and Pony by telling them to go to Jay Mountain to hide out and by giving them money. Two-Bit Mathews - The Greasers' oldest member. He acts like a mentor or mascot to the Greasers. Steve Randle - Soda's best friend and another member of the Greasers. Summary: The Outsiders is a coming-of-age story about a group of boys engaged in a dangerous feud with the wealthier residents of their town. The narrator, Ponyboy Curtis, is a teenager who lives alone with his two brothers. He is interested in academics and sports, but does not receive the same respect and treatment granted to the wealthier kids, who belong to a different gang called the Socs. Pony has long hair, which he greases; he knows that people consider him a juvenile delinquent based on his appearance. Pony is not content with his situation; he worries that his brother does not want to take care of him and constantly fears attacks by the Socs. Things get much worse, however, when he and his friend Johnny go to a park late at night. The Socs attack them there and dunk Pony's head in a fountain, long enough to make him unconscious and almost drown him. When he wakes up, he realizes that one of the Socs is dead, and that Johnny killed him. The two boys run away with the help of their friend Dally, who tells them to go to an abandoned church on Jay Mountain. They hide out for a week, and then Dally comes to find them. Johnny wants to go back to turn himself in, but as they head back to the church they see that it has caught fire. A group of schoolchildren is there on a field trip, and a few of the children remain locked inside the burning church. Pony and Johnny break the window and rescue the children as the fire spreads. Pony is able to climb back out, but Johnny is hit with a piece of falling timber and burned severely. The boys are written up as heroes in the newspaper, even though they are still wanted for murder. Johnny is badly injured and will never walk again, if he lives. Meanwhile the Greasers are scheduled to fight the Socs. The Greasers win the fight, and Dally and Pony go to the hospital to tell Johnny the good news. He dies during their visit. Dally runs off heatedly, and later calls Pony's house to say that he has robbed a store and is being chased by the police. They go to meet him, but watch him pull a gun on the cops and fall back and die as they fire at him. Pony moves on with his life, after being acquitted in the Soc's murder case. He is never the same, however, and the memories of past events still haunt him. Finally, as an assignment for English class, he writes down the story of what happened. Final Analysis: The Outsiders is a story of rebellion, youth, and heroism. It focuses on an endless, senseless conflict between two groups of young people and the problems that result. Its main character, Ponyboy, watches his world slowly fall apart as the battle between the groups rages around him. The use of a first-person narrator gives the reader a sense of belonging to the greasers, encouraging sympathy for their struggle. Ponyboy is a strong, sensitive, intelligent young person who cares very deeply about his friends and brothers. He often faces danger, and what he wants most is a sense of security and stability. Instead, events spiral towards an inevitable tragedy, and Ponyboy must accept his own powerlessness. The Greasers are young men who refuse to accept the subordinate position that society has given them. The Socs mock the Greasers and the adults in town overlook them: rather than accept their status and live in peace with the wealthier citizens of town, the Greasers seek respect and rebellion. They more

Resolved Question: Can I call Child protective services on myself?

I have been a single mother most of my 16 year old's life. I started with nothing going to school and working hard having to take a bus early in the morning. I eventually got a good job and bought a house on my own. I got with his step father when he was four years old. My marriage was a disaster my husband was lazy and selfish in the end he stole from me and our kids for his drug habit. Even in the marriage I did everything for the kids myself. During my separation I broke my ankle which require two surgeries during this time my son and his Friends recked havoc on my garage and property in general all in fun. After the divorce I decided to allow my brother to take over payments on my house. The upkeep was getting to much for me and I wanted a fresh start, I moved back to the city and started over in a small apartment back in April 08. My son was very angry with me for leaving our small town and all his Friends. Ever since he has continued to fight me on everything. He doesn't go to school we just went to court for truancy. He got his girlfriend pregnant. He destroys the apartment we are in now and I have already recieved warnings if it continues they will evict me, he made a hole in the wall, he slammed my door off it hinges, he has broken windows, he slams my car door to try to break it or the window, he has pushed me down in an arguement, he threatens to runaway, he doesnt come home until he feels like it, he ruins the carpet and furniture with food and drinks. I cant leave him in the apartment when I leave for work because he wont go to school. I have to drive him every morning to insure he is there. So now I wake him up 2 hours before we have to leave and he still wont be ready causing me to be late for work to the point where I am being written up. This morning he did the same thing it was time to go and he was just wearing a t-shirt and boxers I told him to get in the car I dont care if he goes like that. It took him another 10-15 minutes to finally walk towards the front door then he turns around to go get something and I toss my sweater at him tell him no go out the door. He then slams the front door as hard as he can mind you he is very strong. Several of my neighbors were outside leaving. My blood just boiled over and I saw red I grabbed him by his hair and dragged him back to close it right. Once he got into the car he slams the car door. I get in the drivers seat and yell at him to stop he opens the door and slams it again so I slap him. He gets out of the car slams it the 3rd time and starts to walk away. I get out grab him by his back pack and tell him to get into the car my hand is twisted in his backpack at this time and he yerks and yerks on it. I explain to him he is hurting me to get into the car if he hurts my hand I will call his trauncy probation officer to file charges he gets into the car. The whole way to school he tells me he doesnt care if I lose my job, he breaks the car window or if we get thrown out. He will do what he wants to do whenever he wants. Now mind you growing up he rarely got spanked just in the last year he has turned into a completely different person. I have called several agencies to get us help and he has been in counseling for the last 6 months. He said several other things to me as we pulled into the school I slapped him again he raised his elbow to hit me with it and I punched him under his arm and hit his upper arm. He got out of the car slammed the door again. I have never hit him like that before this morning all I could think about was how ungratefull and selfish he has become. His girlfreind is supposed to be having an abortion in 3 days and he is acting like this. I have always been there for him and he has no respect for me. I have called several place like boystown and other homes for teens but they dont take private placements anymore only child protective service can place kids there. I have researched boot camps and residential treatment homes and all cost way to much on my single income (no child support). i think I cant control my anger with him anymore someone tell me what to do..please more

Voting Question: How can I get my husband to be honest about why he doesn't want to have a baby right now? ?

Before we got married we had a discussion and agreed we both wanted to have a large family. We had been together for five years before we got married two years ago. Earlier this year I found out I have endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, frequent large cysts, one I had to have surgery to take out and in Feb.had to be on depo lupron medication to reduce my pain. The doctor told me I would have a very hard time getting pregnant and if I wanted to have children I had to try after the six month treatment. That came as a shock to both dh and I but knew that my window to try would be small. My husband was upset because he said he did not plan for us to have children for at least another two years. I would love to wait but I don’t think it’s fair for me to pass the opportunity to have a child. This is something I have always wanted. He said it’s just not good timing and always seems to have another excuse if I come up with an answer as to why we should. Even though I have my health issues he doesn’t mind risking that if we wait I may not be able to have his child. He also has varicoceles of the testicles and refuses to get that fixed which may also decrease our chances of conceiving. I feel torn he assured me he wanted children and now seems to rather end our relationship than to try to make it work with our circumstances. I would appreciate any advice. I am 26 yrs old and dh is 27 yr old lawyer. more

Voting Question: my cat is sick can anyone help?

My whole life i have always wanted children. I have always had great parental skills. So i have pets to subliment the need for children. I have three cats. Belthazar(2) Dolce(10 months) and chelsea also 10 months. Dolce woke up friday not feeling well. By friday night i noticed, shes been sleeping almost all day. So when i woke her up, she wouldnt move much. She was walking really slow, wouldnt eat nor drink. So i took her temp. 104.2!! I freaked. Normal for cats is 100 to 102.5. So i got nervous, and began calling around to hospitals. I also began giving her water with a syringe without her enjoyment of course. Like typical ill children they fight the treatment. I gave her about 1/2 a cup of ice water. Saturday morning, i took her to the hospital and paid with my rent, but i had no choice. She needed it. The doctor said, she was dehydrated......? and she had a high fever. So the doc gave dolce a subcutaneous fluid iv, injection for pain(a replica of motrin) and a clavamox pill, which is sort of an antibiotic. So i again gave the receptionist my rent thats due in two weeks, and went home. Dolce seemed to be doing 70% better. The doc told me to take her temp in the morning and keep taking it every 6 hours. so i had. Her temp is back up but not as high. lastnight it was 103.7, so i again basicly drowned her in water, and opened the windows a little, and was tempted to shave her to help her heat escape her body. But i didnt. I have been letting her sleep in my room with me, and usually she just sleeps and doesnt move or make any noise. When i got up to get ready for school, to my amazement, she was scratching at the bedroom door to get out. So i let her out, and she was crying and following me around my home. So when i sat down to drink my coffee, and climbed on me and feel asleep on my lap. She's still semi-warm. I know her body can handle any human drugs. What can i do to reduce her high fever? i know shaving will help alot, but im afraid if she gets too cold from the winter outside, she may get sick again. I need help. Her doctor told me to just keep doing what im doing, it'll work. But im worried, i want her better. dont you hate seeing your loved ones ill? Any suggestions? more

Resolved Question: baby . p,, - the system, cafcass, and the law , a frightning thought..?

my heart and sumpothy gos to baby p, neglected and rejected let down by law,- Mine is a close story, a true one, and my view is these 'mistakes' as its called will by immoral vigilantes in our social care whom think there ‘god’ will in fact just carry on and on, until we the public give just cause and explain exactly what we want… A loyal, unbiast, monitered, protective trusting, power, but this involves every sector, whom is on the other hand- , sexist, unethical, and not wanting to do there job,say for a few, bogged down unable to make a difference, Why do I say these words so harshly, my facts are, the police are corrupt, they see a man and a woman with crocodile tears, blaming violence with no evidence pointing and screaming. … police go to woman’s story, even though I had bruising blood and wast hysterical, this happened on numerous occasions, again I get my nose broken, a collar bone, still the police say, 'don’t press charges' to me, your a grown man, threats to kill me and hired hit men... fall on the same, ...my ex bodly assults her own mum, abh on her step sister, little is done to her ,kicks ladders away from me when am at the toip of them i shatter my ankle, yet nothing, yet I have numerous false allegations made against me for anything, a wrongfull harrasment order by the police,i am told to find out why i need to break that order, all this to cover and, as they say, best form of defence is attack, ...to cover up of the truth, I make complaints about her treatment of my daughters step sisters of, there abuse.. Faces being punched, doors being hammered.. Threats of ‘am going to rip your face apart‘, .. Objects being thrown out windows, my daughter being slapped and gashes to her face, yet they (social) do nothing, the police, the services, even though a doctor calls , they do nothing, … I inform social services of repeat incidents, they see the mother, and ask nothing of me, a report detailing the woman’s side of false allegations about me is issued, between this paper report, - my daughter is abducted in a pre meditated incident to which these so called professionals are aware and collaborate together,, i have to use a search and find court orders, I go to court, am accused again of violence, for seven months I don’t see my daughter, as so called judges cannot see the web of lies, I search , - find witnesses past and present neighbours who tell me of other unseen incidents to me, over 30..!!.., the case collapses a judge states that my ex is an ‘unbelievable’ and has ‘exaggerated events,’ I say the case collapses as my ex gives up the ghost, my daughter is brought back to me, Six months later, a fresh appeal, the past is past,… can you believe that, I cannot use any of it, a cafcas officer from Poole, dorset asks me questions, of past violence, calls me a liar, that if I challenge her I will regret it…. My ex lies about incidences to them with no evidence, I do not given the right to explain nor give a side of truth, I have police records, tapes, witnesses, receipts of my doing the right thing, I believe none of this is read, the report is damming, sexist & bias again , contradicting every single word and police and video, after one brief spell in court I still have my daughter, but within a week another appeal and fresh allegations… the cafcass officer lies in court yes lies, to this as well she miss leads the judge, cafcas call it misreprented ? i and my legal call it lieing, deliberately , if i complain i will open a can of worms, according to my brief, as, the sytem is a sworn partie to the court, my soliciter, my barrister social and cafcass, .. outcome.- I lose my daughter, Within ten days my daughter is sexually abused and mentally traumatised my ex and her partner, , she is handed back to me, after a police investigation, my daughter describes events to her councils, the case collapses as my ex dost turn up again, so the truth cannot be heard, defended or proven and I can be forced back to court again by my ex, on any single allegation, this was a year ago now, (nov 07…. ) In the four years since having my daughter the child support agency has lost my progress, forgot me, re-departmentzed my case, further information excuses, and every time I call them on my progress am asked to call the region where my ex lives as this will be the office dealing with my case, as they assume, a mother has instant custody, and to date I have not received a single correspondence from them nor a penny, yet in my ten day loss of my daughter I get six letters, wanting details, a basic error, ?.. I think not, still in the middle ages with a narrow minded society given polices from head office from government who back women to be unseen to be sexist or racist??.. A society driven by sexist bent professionals with no god given right?.. Or all of the above, … this can happen it to you, to anyone, , experence of the above, inperticular dorset?... what can we do?, the system needs som more

Resolved Question: What does my dream mean?

It's election time. The two main candidates (one man, one woman) are fighting hard to get elected, but they are long time friends. My oldest brother knows one of them (the man) because he is a Chemist working in a hospital research lab, and the candidate is a doctor involved in neurological chemistry activity and diseases. They work in the same hospital. This doctor - candidate is very much respected by the medical community, and loved by his staff. He is a just and compassionate human being. The polls show this is going to be a very tight election. The woman candidate is also loved and respected. The woman candidate (I don't know her background or occupation, but it seems she is already a politician) is feeling tired, and a bit sick. I go with her to the hospital to see a doctor. We are not worried, really, we think it might just be the stress of the election. We are welcomed by the doctor-candidate's staff. The woman-candidate has been there before. She has received treatment for a minor condition While we wait to be seen, they show us around. They take us to the new wing, where new procedures are being developed. We see people inside glass incubators, with different kinds of materials attached to their heads or bodies. One of them even has something like leeches in the head!!! We are disgusted. Something happens in one of the incubators. Nurses and technicians rush into the room, and start working on the patient. We peek through the window. We ask what's going on. A nurse tells us it is the doctor-candidate's mother. She is having some kind of trouble. The female candidate looks to the patient, and gasps. She screams. She tells me it's HER mother in the incubator!!! Chaos starts. The doctor-candidate runs to escape the security guards. We (candidate and I) start looking at the incubators. There's people we know, they were not sick and now they are being tortured! We ask the nurses to help us take the devices out of the patients. We don't know what the damage is to these people. The mother tries to tell us something. It's hard to understand. It's like she's had a stroke. She says She was there for a cataract surgery. The doctor suggested some kind of alternative wave treatment, with no surgery involved. The things connected to her head are somehow interrupting her nervous system, and she couldn't speak. There are probes going inside her brain. This is some kind of lobotomy!!! The other patients have different story. They were sold an alternative treatment for sinus infections, depression, visual surgeries, etc. Some cannot react anymore. They are in vegetative state!. The candidate and I contact the CIA and the FBI (?). We go with them to the doctor's house. He has two kids. One of them is a mute teenager girl who seems to be in a constant state of terror. The other one is a crippled boy, about 12 years old. He cannot talk well, and it's like his legs are glued together. He has some kind of IV somewhere in his body. This boy points his eyes to the pool outside. We go out with armed officers and detectives. The doctor starts walking, saying something about him being the greatest researcher in history. He will soon come to an amazing discovery. The humanity will lack the answers because we are interrupting his research. They arrest him and take him out. We take the IV out of the boy. He suddenly starts to move his legs a bit. It's the doctor's son. The doctor has been experimenting on his own children!!! We go to my house. The woman candidate goes outside to get rid of a machine that the doctor had given her, which was supposed to do something for her stress. She says that while she was using it, she was seeing flashes of light. She throws the remaining rays of the machine to the sky. I wait in my house. My brother comes home, and I start telling him the news. I tell him he is going to be questioned by the authorities because he knew the doctor. He gets scared, because he thinks I am telling him that the FBI thinks he is involved. He says he didn't know anything, and that he really loved the doctor because he had given him a job when he didn't have one. He is like his mentor. He is so disappointed he starts to cry. He says he was not involved, that this is impossible, that he does not want to be question. That the doctor was good... he suddenly seems so depressed!!! I go to my car. From the outside I see my brother is taking a rope... I start to scream to my teenage boy who is inside the house; he does not understand what I am telling him. I say: "open the door, he's in danger. Get the rope out of his hands". I rush into the house. My son is very confused. He does not get what I am talking about. I hurry to my brother's room. I try to open the door, but there is something blocking it. I push hard and I peek inside. My brother hung himself. I shout "NOOOOO", but my voice almost does not come out. I wake up to my own weird mute-like scream: "NOOOOOOOOOOO". ---- I wake up an more

Resolved Question: What is YOUR opinion as to why this happens and what we can?

do to prevent it? 1945: Child 1 - Dennis O’Neil Dennis O’Neil died on January 9th 1945, aged 13. Dr A J Rhodes, the pathologist at the Royal Salop Infirmary, Shropshire, reported the boy was undernourished, thin, wasted and well below normal weight. He had septic ulcers on his feet and his legs were severely chapped. He had died from cardiac failure after being struck on the back with a stick, and struck violent blows on the chest. Photographs of his body showed he had been subjected to the most cruel and sadistic treatment. Dennis’s food, according to his younger brother, who survived, was usually three pieces of bread and butter, and tea. The brothers used to creep to the pantry to find food, but were usually discovered and then beaten unmercifully, getting as many as 100 “stripes” in a day. Dennis was so hungry he used to crawl to the nearby cattle and suck at their udders. There had hardly been a single night when they had not been thrashed in a long time. On the night before his death Dennis had been beaten for biting into a swede. He was lashed, naked, to a bench with a rope and beaten with a stick until his legs were all blue and swollen. He could not stand and was locked in a cubbyhole. That night he was banged on his chest with fists; he had cried out in pain “my back, my back”. His brother said he was pummelled yet again on the morning he died. 1956: Child 2 - Toddler Holdsworth Toddler Holdsworth was 2 when he died. For more than a year before his death his mother thrashed him with straps, and buckles on straps, causing wounds all over his head, neck, back and limbs, “because the child was dirty in his habits”. The judge described it as “systematic torture” and “one of the most shocking cases of its kind that I can remember” and his death as “a merciful release”. 1967: Child 3 - Michael Buckingham On January 16th 1967 18-month old Michael Buckingham was murdered by his father. Dr Alan Usher, the Home Office pathologist, said he found three areas of scalding on Michael, 17 burns and 47 bruises. He concluded the boy must have suffered appalling shock and pain before he died. In a statement the boy’s father said “I must have been in one of my moods. I punched him and burnt him with the poker. I poured some boiling water on a rag and cleaned him up with it. I do not think he is mine. I have knocked him about before to get back at the wife…. He never seemed to like me.” 1973: Child 4 - Maria Colwell Maria Colwell died on 6th January 1973, aged 7. Maria, removed from her mother’s care due to neglect, had been living happily with an aunt after her father’s death, but was returned to her mother at the mother’s request. Despite warnings of abuse, and 30 calls to social services from neighbours, she was left in a violent household. One neighbour reported the child being hit for being dirty, and saw her at a window with a blackened face “and one eye just a pool of blood.” The neighbour asked NSPCC and Social Services: “What protection does a child have against her parents? Does she have to be killed before they take her away?” In Maria’s case the answer was yes. Maria was taken to hospital in a pram, after being beaten by her stepfather the night before. She was found to be dead on arrival. She had 2 bruised eyes, bruising on neck, back, arms and legs, severe internal injuries and brain damage. Her stomach was empty. 1984: Child 5 - Jasmine Lorrington Jasmine Lorrington was 4 when she died in Brent on 5th July 1984. She was so badly beaten, burnt, starved and tortured that scarcely a single part of her body was without injury. Dr Iain West of Guy’s Forensic Medicine Department described her as looking like a Belsen victim. She had been kept a prisoner in a small bedroom with body-building weights tied to a broken leg to stop her moving. When she died she was emaciated and deformed, and weighed 1 stone 9 lb. She suffered “appalling cruelty”, with 20 separate areas of bone injury, before finally being battered to death by her stepfather, dying of punches to the head. The social worker responsible for visiting Jasmine said in evidence to the subsequent enquiry that “the family obviously loved the children”, though she admitted having seen Jasmine only once in 10 months, as she believed the family’s excuses for her non-availability. Jasmine’s mother and stepfather had met as children in a school for the educationally subnormal. 1991: Child 6 – Martin Nicoll 20-month old Martin Nicoll died when his stepfather threw him from the bathroom into the hall, hitting his head against the door surround. The blow resulted in a fractured skull, blood clot and massive swelling of the brain. Pathologists recorded a further 67 injuries including a fractured wrist, missing fingernail, twisted ankle and numerous bruises, cuts and abrasions. Martin had suffered a series of horrific and savage beatings. A family friend said he had on 4 or 5 occasions seen the baby hi more

Resolved Question: Does this story mean anything to you?

This is the to write love on her arm's story. And when I read it something just hit me. I support there cause 100%. by jamie tworkowski Pedro the Lion is loud in the speakers, and the city waits just outside our open windows. She sits and sings, legs crossed in the passenger seat, her pretty voice hiding in the volume. Music is a safe place and Pedro is her favorite. It hits me that she won't see this skyline for several weeks, and we will be without her. I lean forward, knowing this will be written, and I ask what she'd say if her story had an audience. She smiles. "Tell them to look up. Tell them to remember the stars." I would rather write her a song, because songs don't wait to resolve, and because songs mean so much to her. Stories wait for endings, but songs are brave things bold enough to sing when all they know is darkness. These words, like most words, will be written next to midnight, between hurricane and harbor, as both claim to save her. Renee is 19. When I meet her, cocaine is fresh in her system. She hasn't slept in 36 hours and she won't for another 24. It is a familiar blur of coke, pot, pills and alcohol. She has agreed to meet us, to listen and to let us pray. We ask Renee to come with us, to leave this broken night. She says she'll go to rehab tomorrow, but she isn't ready now. It is too great a change. We pray and say goodbye and it is hard to leave without her. She has known such great pain; haunted dreams as a child, the near-constant presence of evil ever since. She has felt the touch of awful naked men, battled depression and addiction, and attempted suicide. Her arms remember razor blades, fifty scars that speak of self-inflicted wounds. Six hours after I meet her, she is feeling trapped, two groups of "friends" offering opposite ideas. Everyone is asleep. The sun is rising. She drinks long from a bottle of liquor, takes a razor blade from the table and locks herself in the bathroom. She cuts herself, using the blade to write "FUCK UP" large across her left forearm. The nurse at the treatment center finds the wound several hours later. The center has no detox, names her too great a risk, and does not accept her. For the next five days, she is ours to love. We become her hospital and the possibility of healing fills our living room with life. It is unspoken and there are only a few of us, but we will be her church, the body of Christ coming alive to meet her needs, to write love on her arms. She is full of contrast, more alive and closer to death than anyone I've known, like a Johnny Cash song or some theatre star. She owns attitude and humor beyond her 19 years, and when she tells me her story, she is humble and quiet and kind, shaped by the pain of a hundred lifetimes. I sit privileged but breaking as she shares. Her life has been so dark yet there is some soft hope in her words, and on consecutive evenings, I watch the prettiest girls in the room tell her that she's beautiful. I think it's God reminding her. I've never walked this road, but I decide that if we're going to run a five-day rehab, it is going to be the coolest in the country. It is going to be rock and roll. We start with the basics; lots of fun, too much Starbucks and way too many cigarettes. Thursday night she is in the balcony for Band Marino, Orlando's finest. They are indie-folk-fabulous, a movement disguised as a circus. She loves them and she smiles when I point out the A&R man from Atlantic Europe, in town from London just to catch this show. She is in good seats when the Magic beat the Sonics the next night, screaming like a lifelong fan with every Dwight Howard dunk. On the way home, we stop for more coffee and books, Blue Like Jazz and (Anne Lamott's) Travelling Mercies. On Saturday, the Taste of Chaos tour is in town and I'm not even sure we can get in, but doors do open and minutes after parking, we are on stage for Thrice, one of her favorite bands. She stands ten feet from the drummer, smiling constantly. It is a bright moment there in the music, as light and rain collide above the stage. It feels like healing. It is certainly hope. Sunday night is church and many gather after the service to pray for Renee, this her last night before entering rehab. Some are strangers but all are friends tonight. The prayers move from broken to bold, all encouraging. We're talking to God but I think as much, we're talking to her, telling her she's loved, saying she does not go alone. One among us knows her best. Ryan sits in the corner strumming an acoustic guitar, singing songs she's inspired. After church our house fills with friends, there for a few more moments before goodbye. Everyone has some gift for her, some note or hug or piece of encouragement. She pulls me aside and tells me she would like to give me something. I smile surprised, wondering what it could be. We walk through the crowded living room, to the garage and her stuff. She hands me her last razor blad more

Resolved Question: How much of a 'high maintenance' wife are you? Can you beat the expenditure of this U.K. Banker's wife? ?

High maintenance annual outgoings of a typical U.K. banker's wife: Holidays - £100k Sports car - £70k Entertaining/dining out - £50k Household staff - £60k Nanny - £30k Private School Fees - £25k per child Clothes - £35k Personal Trainer - £13k Hair - £5k Spa treatment, therapies - £4.2k Facials - £1.8k I spend £130 per annum on my hair, my car cost £1,000 and we're going out for dinner tonight to celebrate my husband getting a job after being made redundant - there will be change out of £40. I wonder how many redundant bankers will still have their high maintenance, trophy wives after the money dries up? When income flies out the window, love usually leaves by the front door. Glad I'm a low maintenance type! What about you? Do you need to be married to a rich man to be happy? Would you still love him if the cash dried up? more

Resolved Question: joke! joke! joke!joke!?

A man and his young wife were in divorce court, but the custody of their children posed a problem. The mother leaped to her feet and protested to the judge that since she brought the children into this world, she should retain custody of them. The man also wanted custody of his children, so the judge asked for his justification. After a long silence, the man slowly rose from his chair and replied... "Your Honor, when I put a dollar in a vending machine and a Coke comes out, does the Coke belong to me or the machine?" Some people grow old gracefully, while others fight and scratch the whole way. Andy's wife, refusing to give in to the looks of growing old, goes out and buys a new line of expensive cosmetics guaranteed to make her look years younger. After a lengthy sitting before the mirror applying the "miracle" products, she asks her husband - "Darling, honestly, if you didn't know me, what age would you say I am?" Looking over her carefully, Andy replied,... "Judging from your skin, twenty; your hair, eighteen; and your figure, twenty five." "Oh, you flatterer!" she gushed. Just as she was about to tell Andy his reward, he stops her by saying... "WHOA, hold on there sweety!" Andy interrupted. "I haven't added them up yet!" Stan was seconds away from receiving a vasectomy when his brother and sister-in-law barged in the room holding their newborn baby. "Stop! You can't do this!" exclaimed the brother. "And why not?" asked Stan. "Don't you want to have a beautiful baby someday like my wife and I have here?" Stan said nothing. The brother grew impatient, "C'mon Stan, I want a nephew. Stan, make me an uncle." Stan couldn't take it anymore. He gave his sister-in-law an apologetic look and asked his brother, "You're SURE you want a nephew?" "Yes," the brother replied. "It would be an honor!" "Well congratulations, you're holding him!" A man walks into a pharmacy, buys a condom, then walks out of the store laughing hysterically. The pharmacist thinks this is weird, but, hey, there's no law preventing weird people from buying condoms. Maybe it's a good thing. The next day, the man comes back to the store, purchases another condom, and once again he leaves the store laughing wildly. This piques the interest of the pharmacist. What's so funny about buying a rubber, anyway? So he tells his clerk, "If this guy ever comes back, I want you to follow him to see where he goes." Sure enough, the next day the laugher is back. He buys the condom, starts cracking up, then leaves. The pharmacist tells his clerk to go follow the guy. About an hour later, the clerk comes back to the store. "Did you follow him? Where did he go?" asks the pharmacist. The clerk replies "Your house." A beautiful, voluptuous woman went to a gynecologist. The doctor took one look at this woman and all his professionalism went out the window. He immediately told her to undress. After she had disrobed the doctor began to stroke her thigh. Doing so, he asked her, "Do you know what I'm doing?" "Yes," she replied, "you're checking for any abrasions or dermatological abnormalities." "That is right," said the doctor. He then began to fondle her breasts. "Do you know what I'm doing now?" he asked. "Yes," the woman said, "you're checking for any lumps or breast cancer." "Correct," replied the shady doctor. Finally, he mounted his patient and started having sexual intercourse with her. He asked, "Do you know what I'm doing now?" "Yes," she said. "You're getting herpes; which is why I came here in the first place." A fellow was reading the paper one day lamenting the fact that his doctor has ordered him to lose 75 pounds. Next thing he sees is an advertisement for a guaranteed weight loss program. Guaranteed like heck, he thinks to himself. But lets see what they think they can do. He calls them on the phone and subscribes to the 3 day, 10 LB weight loss program. The next day there comes a knock at his door, and when he answers, there stands before him a voluptuous, athletic 19 year old babe dressed in nothing but a pair of Nikes and a sign hanging around her neck. She introduces herself as a representative of the weight loss company. The sign reads, If you can catch me, you can have me. Well, without a second thought he takes off after her (like who wouldn't). A few miles later, huffing and puffing, he finally catches her and has his way with her. After they are through he kisses the girl one last time and thinks to himself with a nod, I like the way this company does business. For the next two days, the same girl shows up and the same thing happens each time. On the fourth day, he weighs himself and, sure enough, he has lost 10 pounds. Deciding that he likes his somewhat more slender physique, not to mention the method of treatment, he calls the company back and subscribes to their 5 day, 20 LB weight loss program. He thinks that losing 20 poundn only 5 days seems like a lot, but he is intrigued by what their workout schedule might be like this time. As expected, the next day there comes a knock at his door. When he answers it there stands a 22 year old knockout dressed in nothing but a pair of Reeboks and a sign hanging around her neck. She is simply stunning, the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. She introduces herself as a representative of the weight loss company. The sign reads, If you can catch me, you can have me. He's out the door like a shot. This gal is in excellent shape and it takes a while to catch her. But when he does, it is worth every cramp and wheeze. She is wonderful, the best he has ever had. He is really looking forward to the next four days... For the next four days, the same girl shows upand the same thing happens each time, much to his delight. On the sixth day, he weighs himself and, unbelievably, he has lost another 20 pounds. I love this company, he thinks to himself, I never knew losing weight could be so easy and so much fun. Feeling much better about himself, he decides to go for broke and subscribe to the companies 7 day, 50 pound weight loss program. Are you sure, sir? asks the representative on the phone. This is our most rigorous program. Absolutely, says he, I love your program. haven't felt this good in years! The next day there comes a knock at his door and he enthusiastically answers it. There stands before him a 200 pound perfect specimen of a man dressed in nothing but racing spikes and a sign around his neck. He introduces himself as a representative of the weight loss company. The sign reads, If I can catch you, I can have you. more

Resolved Question: How can I have my wife released from a mental health facility if she and her rights are being violated?

I have a concern in reference to my wife. She is bipolar and pregnant which meant that her medication wasn't’t working as well as it should. Due to lack of concentration and focus, I admitted her to a mental health facility so that they may find a way to manage/change her meds. This was over 1 month ago. Since this time, my wholesome Christian wife has been exposed to vulgar language, has picked up profanity, has learned of prostitution and drugs. Worst yet, she has been violated (touched) on 3 occasions. This is absolutely not what I (we) signed up for. Most recently was last week when a patient touched the front of her genitalia. This is absolutely unacceptable! At this point, I decided to have her released. After all, she went in voluntarily. She made the request which meant that an MD had 4 hours to respond. Shouldn't be her decision to make? I arrived and the doctor began looking at me harshly through the window. He came out with a nurse and was instantly agitated stating that he is “tired of having to come up here”. First of all, it is his job. Secondly, he was on staff in the clinic. From what I have seen, much of the staff tends to stay in the office and drink coffee ignoring patients request. They hand them crayons and let them watch TV. This isn't’t therapeutic in my opinion. I fully understand that patients may become stir crazy and want out even if they feel that they are okay. However, I know my wife better than the doctors, better than staff, and better than her family. She is my very best friend. In addition to being my wife, we share everything together. Most importantly, I know her personality and changes in it and I see that she has improved. Back to this doctor. After explaining these concerns the nurse said that she was not violated…that she is lying. I explained that when I arrived that I walked into her room where she was crying to a CA and telling the story. The nurse said “no you didn’t…it never happened”. Now I was lying?? I then asked why that patient was placed on restriction and moved to a different floor unless there were complaints. At which the nurse said that he wasn’t. This patient was obviously very ill and I doubt that he was released. This again was the third time that she has been violated which is why I had her switched from the 3rd to the 2nd floor. The doctor then became combative though I was speaking calmly yet sternly due to the lying accusations. He told me that I had no authority and that he is going to get a court order. I again tried to explain my concerns. I stated that emotionally this has been difficult on her and she is not receiving the treatment that we anticipated. I told them that I know longer wanted her to continue with ECT due to my wife being pregnant. He said that was her decision and not mine. I told him that I would tell her (which she decided to have one more if it meant that she could be released). The MD said if she refused that he could court order that as well and that she is a danger to herself. Not once has my wife attempted suicide. She was depressed a year ago due to our separation and the loss of her father. We now have 2 beautiful little girls and a baby on the way. She would never take her life. And running an electrical current through her brain should be her decision to make. This is a medical clinic…not a prison after all. The doctor became so angry that he walked into the center room with the nurse. He began yelling and pointing to me, speaking to the nurse. Worst yet, he began being very obscene and using profanity about me. I heard him say: ‘F’ this guy, he has no ‘F-ing’ clue what he is talking about. And knocked on the door and said “you do realize this is glass and that I can hear you”. The nurse later said he was speaking to her. This for one wasn’t true. And secondly, by saying that she admitted that he was indeed cursing. This was unprofessional, childish, and disrespectful. What sort of ethics did he learn in med school?? I then mentioned getting an attorney. After that, they took my wife’s 'blue band'. After 30 days, she earned that and had only been outside twice. It was petty and spiteful. She earned that right after a month to once again be a part of the real world as opposed to the lack of reality she has endured. Staff has discussed her treatment with her family when there is no release of information signed by my wife. This is a direct violation of HIPAA. She has asked to speak to her doctor and the social worker said that she was not there…walked into a room…and there we saw her doctor sitting as the door closed. She lied to us yet we have been called liars. My wife has been violated and disrespected. She is easily intimidated so she goes along with much of this out of fear the staff will keep her longer. She and I now feel that she is a prisoner more than a patient. Someone to be a bed filler so the clinic can collect it’s money from the insurance. Her being admitted has even cost us our children. CPS now has them and we cannot get them back as long as she is in there. She can’t even see them now that her blue band was taken away. My wife has been violated and so have her rights. This is all unacceptable and has been a nightmare. I am so regretful for bringing her in and will never make this mistake again. My question is…what can I do to have her released. Do I need to begin contacting an attorney? Do I need to contact the Office for Civil Rights to report the HIPAA violation as well as the Advocacy for Mental Health? I will do whatever I need to in order to protect my wife and prevent anything further to happen to her or her well being. My once innocent and loving Christian wife is being returned to me and our children now somewhat tainted by her experience in this clinic. These memories will always be there and I will forever regret subjecting my wife to this treatment.  more

Resolved Question: Among them,who got the most and who got the least jail-term discount? Why?

Predators’ crimes and punishment Abused in a graveyard While the country was celebrating Christmas on Dec 25, 2006, tree cutter K. Kamalason, 47, raped a five-year-old child in a Chinese graveyard in Kuantan. He inflicted his young victim with extremely serious internal injuries to her uterus, intestines and private parts. Kamalason is married with two children ages two and six and was sentenced 20 years in jail and 20 strokes of the rotan. Her stepfather, her rapist As a stepfather, Zulkarnain Ramle, 40, of Kampung Sourabaya Hulu, Petra Jaya in Sarawak should have protected and cared for his stepchildren. Instead, Zulkarnain raped his 11-year-old stepdaughter three years ago when both her mother and elder sister were not at home. The child told her mother, who lodged a police report and her daughter taken for a medical examination. Zulkarnain was sentenced to 12 years in jail on Nov 3, 2003. On her way to work On Oct 7, 2000, computer engineer Noor Suzaily Mukhtar, 24, boarded a Metro bus from Kuala Lumpur to her workplace in Klang. It was like any other day during her two-week attachment at a medical centre in Port Klang. After the bus driver, Hanafi Mat Hassan, 38, dropped off the last remaining passenger at the Klang bus stand, he changed routes towards Banting and pulled over at the Bukit Tinggi project site. Noor Suzaily tried to escape but the doors were locked. The windows were heavily tinted so she could not draw attention. Hanafi raped her and used her headscarf to strangle her before tossing her naked body out of the bus. His wife had just given birth three days ago. Noor Suzaily was dressed in a long skirt and tudung. Yet police said the murderer claimed he tak tahan (unable to control his lust). Bomoh dupes teenage dropout She was 14, has dropped out of school, and living with her parents in Berenang, Kajang. When she started suffering from unexplainable pains in her legs in July 2000, her father, a retired soldier, took her to see a trusted family friend who was a bomoh. He told her she would die if she wasn’t cured of her elephantiasis disease. He convinced the girl’s father to set aside a room in their house to perform special prayers and treatments which could only be carried out after midnight to cure her. Over three years, the bomoh undressed the girl, raped and sodomised her while her parents slept. Before the “treatments”, the bomoh had forced the girl to spiritually marry him so they could have sex. She warned the girl not to inform her parents as the treatments must be kept a secret. In July 2003, the girl broke her silence and lodged a police report. The bomoh is learnt to have seven wives and was previously acquitted of a charge of conducting a marriage ceremony contrary to Islamic law at the Lower Syariah court in Malacca. Bomoh dupes high achiever student She was 16 and scored 9As in her PMR. Then she started losing interest in her studies in 2002. Her worried father, a businessman, brought her to a famous bomoh, as he believed his daughter has been put under a spell. The bomoh carried out his services in a hotel room. For several weeks, the businessman sent his daughter to the bomoh and waited in the lobby. By the time, he became suspicious, his daughter had been raped several times. The suspect reportedly has treatment centres in Pahang, Johor and other states. Police started a hunt for the bomoh who has since been on the run. Consensual sex or statutory rape? Thor Guan Aik asked the right question to his teenage girlfriend before having sex with her two years ago in Sungai Nibong, Penang, “How old are you?” She told him she was 16, which was old enough, so they had sex. She was actually 14 and the case went to court as statutory rape. On Oct 18, 2005, a Sessions Court freed Thor of the charge, ruling that the couple had consensual sex. The girl refused to testify in court. The judge also ruled her evidence as contradictory to the doctor and investigating officers’ testimonies. His release prompted women’s groups to call for an amendment of the Evidence Act to allow videotaped evidence to be allowed in cases. Raped after birthday bash In August 2004, lorry attendant Jailani Budin, 21, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to six charges of raping a Form Three girl after helping to celebrate her 15th birthday. Jailani, who had two previous convictions for break-ins, took the girl on his motorcycle to three locations at different times. Although there was no element of violence, DPP Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad, pressed for the maximum sentence because he said rape offences were on the rise. Jailani’s wife was pregnant at the time he committed the offence. The Nurul Huda Gani case Jailani being led away by police after he was sentenced at the Sessions Court in Shah Alam. With her home just 300m from the Tenaga Nasional Berhad sub-station in Kampung Pekajang, Tanjung Kupang in Galang Patah, Johor Baru, little Nurul Huda Gani had probably passed security guard Mohd Abbas Danus Baksan, 46, before, on her way to the nearby grocery shop. On Jan 17, 2004, Mohd Abbas was convicted of dragging Nurul Huda into the station, raping and then murdering her. When she didn’t return home, her worried brother and two sisters came looking for her. She was found in a squatting position inside a toilet at the station. On Aug 28, 2004, Mohd Abbas was sentenced 20 years’ jail and 24 strokes of the rotan for raping the child, and sentenced to death for murdering her. He maintained his innocence that another security guard had been the killer. The serial rapist In January 2006, Beh Soon Hock (pic left), 39, lost his appeal against a sentence of 60 years and 24 strokes of the rotan for five offences of rape, sodomy, robbery and theft. High Court Justice Abdull Hamid Embong, who rejected Beh’s appeal, said he agreed that the sentences imposed on him by a lower court were appropriate. Beh had raped a South Korean woman and sodomised an Irish woman and a 10-year-old Kuwaiti boy. The unemployed bachelor had 53 previous convictions mostly for theft, housebreaking and mischief committed between 1985 and 1996. The pensioner who raped In August this year, Mat Saad Md Isa, 61, was convicted of raping an eight-year-old in a house in Sentul in 2001. The judge ordered to serve his 19-and-a-half years’ sentence for rape and four-and-a-half years’ sentence for an indecent act. He used a condom A roti canai seller raped his daughter and paid her RM5 as a “reward” to keep quiet. Court of Appeal judges unanimously rejected the 49-year-old father’s appeal to reduce his jail term in June 2008, after the defendant’s lawyer said, in mitigation, that he used a condom each time he raped the child. The man was sentenced to 36 years and 20 strokes of the rotan by the Shah Alam Sessions Court on Aug 20, 2004 after he pleaded to four counts of raping his 11-year-old daughter at their house between May 2003 and Aug 9, 2004. Retrieved from http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2008/8/3/lifefocus/1710462&sec=lifefocus  more

Resolved Question: For Muslims ONLY Plz. I would just like to know how you feel about...?

...this article... "Do not follow anyone blindly in those matters of which you have no knowledge, surely the use of your ears and eyes and heart - all of these, shall be questioned on the Day of Judgement." By Yvonne Ridley The Muslim Observer LONDON–I used to look at veiled women as quiet, oppressed creatures–until I was captured in Afghanistan. In September 2001, just 15 days after the terrorist attacks on the United States, I snuck into Afghanistan, clad in a head-to-toe blue burqa, intending to write a newspaper account of life under the repressive regime. Instead, I was discovered, arrested and detained for 10 days. I spat and swore at my captors; they called me a "bad" woman but let me go after I promised to read the Koran and study Islam. (Frankly, I’m not sure who was happier when I was freed — they or I.) Back home in London, I kept my word about studying Islam — and was amazed by what I discovered. I’d been expecting Koran chapters on how to beat your wife and oppress your daughters; instead, I found passages promoting the liberation of women. Two-and-a-half years after my capture, I converted to Islam, provoking a mixture of astonishment, disappointment and encouragement among friends and relatives. Now, it is with disgust and dismay that I watch here in Britain as former foreign secretary Jack Straw describes the Muslim nikab — a face veil that reveals only the eyes — as an unwelcome barrier to integration, with Prime Minister Tony Blair, writer Salman Rushdie and even Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi leaping to his defense. Having been on both sides of the veil, I can tell you that most Western male politicians and journalists who lament the oppression of women in the Islamic world have no idea what they are talking about. They go on about veils, child brides, female circumcision, honor killings and forced marriages, and they wrongly blame Islam for all this — their arrogance surpassed only by their ignorance. These cultural issues and customs have nothing to do with Islam. A careful reading of the Koran shows that just about everything that Western feminists fought for in the 1970s was available to Muslim women 1,400 years ago. Women in Islam are considered equal to men in spirituality, education and worth, and a woman’s gift for childbirth and child-rearing is regarded as a positive attribute. When Islam offers women so much, why are Western men so obsessed with Muslim women’s attire? Even British ministers Gordon Brown and John Reid have made disparaging remarks about the nikab–and they hail from across the Scottish border, where men wear skirts. When I converted to Islam and began wearing a headscarf, the repercussions were enormous. All I did was cover my head and hair–but I instantly became a second-class citizen. I knew I’d hear from the odd Islamophobe, but I didn’t expect so much open hostility from strangers. Cabs passed me by at night, their "for hire" lights glowing. One cabbie, after dropping off a white passenger right in front of me, glared at me when I rapped on his window, then drove off. Another said, "Don’t leave a bomb in the back seat" and asked, "Where’s bin Laden hiding?" Yes, it is a religious obligation for Muslim women to dress modestly, but the majority of Muslim women I know like wearing the hijab, which leaves the face uncovered, though a few prefer the nikab. It is a personal statement: My dress tells you that I am a Muslim and that I expect to be treated respectfully, much as a Wall Street banker would say that a business suit defines him as an executive to be taken seriously. And, especially among converts to the faith like me, the attention of men who confront women with inappropriate, leering behavior is not tolerable. I was a Western feminist for many years, but I’ve discovered that Muslim feminists are more radical than their secular counterparts. We hate those ghastly beauty pageants, and tried to stop laughing in 2003 when judges of the Miss Earth competition hailed the emergence of a bikini-clad Miss Afghanistan, Vida Samadzai, as a giant leap for women’s liberation. They even gave Samadzai a special award for "representing the victory of women’s rights." Some young Muslim feminists consider the hijab and the nikab political symbols, too, a way of rejecting Western excesses such as binge drinking, casual sex and drug use. What is more liberating: being judged on the length of your skirt and the size of your surgically enhanced breasts, or being judged on your character and intelligence? In Islam, superiority is achieved through piety — not beauty, wealth, power, position or sex. I didn’t know whether to scream or laugh when Italy’s Prodi joined the debate last week by declaring that it is "common sense" not to wear the nikab because it makes social relations "more difficult." Nonsense. If this is the case, then why are cellphones, landlines, e-mail, text messaging and fax machines in daily use? And no one switches off the radio because they can’t see the presenter’s face. Under Islam, I am respected. It tells me that I have a right to an education and that it is my duty to seek out knowledge, regardless of whether I am single or married. Nowhere in the framework of Islam are we told that women must wash, clean or cook for men. As for how Muslim men are allowed to beat their wives — it’s simply not true. Critics of Islam will quote random Koranic verses or hadith, but usually out of context. If a man does raise a finger against his wife, he is not allowed to leave a mark on her body, which is the Koran’s way of saying, "Don’t beat your wife, stupid." It is not just Muslim men who must reevaluate the place and treatment of women. According to a recent National Domestic Violence Hotline survey, 4 million American women experience a serious assault by a partner during an average 12-month period. More than three women are killed by their husbands and boyfriends every day — that is nearly 5,500 since 9/11. Violent men don’t come from any particular religious or cultural category; one in three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime, according to the hotline survey. This is a global problem that transcends religion, wealth, class, race and culture. But it is also true that in the West, men still believe that they are superior to women, despite protests to the contrary. They still receive better pay for equal work — whether in the mailroom or the boardroom — and women are still treated as sexualized commodities whose power and influence flow directly from their appearance. And for those who are still trying to claim that Islam oppresses women, recall this 1992 statement from the Rev. Pat Robertson, offering his views on empowered women: Feminism is a "socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." Now you tell me who is civilized and who is not. © 2005- 2006 Muslim Media Network. (PPL)the reason why i sed 'muslims ONLY', is because i posted this question last time, and i was reported.. for what? i dont now. What hurts me is that people out there dont want the truth... more

Resolved Question: Why does my daughter have to suffer because my landlord does not want to do anything? Family life is in danger

Hello my name is Amira Boyd, I am a mother of a disabled child who, works full-time and goes to school. I have wrote my landlord over 100 complaint emails. Nothing is being done. The problems that are going on in the building are,The very first day I moved in to my apartment was illegally entered by a member from management having a key since then my apartment has been illegally entered twice by other members of management they took advantage of the faulty surveillance camera and the missing door chain which had not been installed prior to my moving in management new and has done nothing 2 After moving in I have lived for 2 weeks without hot water or a working mail box management new and has done nothing 3 I have lived without heat for one whole month management new and has done nothing 4 People have been shot and murdered in front of my daughters bedroom window on 3 occasions This is a high crime drug infested area, and the building security camera were never on and currently remain off. management new and has done nothing 5 The outside stair cases are old ,rusting, corroded and disfigured with a missing arm rail. my daughter uses this stair walk way management new and has done nothing 6 This is a high crime drug infested area and yet, a male drug addict illegally jammed leaving the emergency exit door open for over 2 years management and the illegal superintendent new and has done nothing 7 Drug addicts are loitering inside and outside of the building lobby & stair way management new and done nothing 8 A drug addict living within the building has made cash exchanged with a tenant from a small child was in the lobby at the time management new and has done nothing 9 An illegal immigrant lives and works as building superintendent at #1B and management new his alleged wife continuously harasses me using other tenants to sometimes assist her. management new and has done nothing 10 The super continuously worked outside my daughter bedroom window hammering after 9 pm management new and did nothing 11 My lease was signed by my self and spouse, I sent it off and hasn't yet been returned to me it is well over 60 days now management new and has done nothing 12 The illegal immigrant superintendent has tampered with my utilities on 2 occasions management new and has done nothing 14 After sending my first complain to management I was harassed by Jordan Zotts for several months management new and has done nothing 15 I phone the police concerning the supers involvement with door menacing in response Jordan Zotts offered comfort to the supers wife and literally ignored my family's concerns. following further harassment. 16 The supers name and phone number has never been posted in the building in accordance with multiple dwelling housing laws management new and has done nothing. 17 The supers alleged wife has been running illegal day care service within her apartment at #1B management new and has done nothing. 18 The supers alleged wife visits a tenant across the hall in #1C to hide from Con Ed and other agency's needing access to the basement utilities management new and has done nothing. 19 Jordan Zotts has been discussing private information to the supers alleged wife a letter concerning this management new and has done nothing. 20 I have demanded to now the first and last names -telephone number of the illegal immigrant /superintendent living next door to me. my request was denied management new and has done nothing. 21 There is absolutely no reason in which you need to speak with me to correct violations and safety issues which has long been in existence before and after I moved in to the building. 22 I am sick of walking pass loitering drug addicts within and around the building. And I am sick of playing games with management My daughter and I are constantly being woken up every night by the drug addicts yelling out side and in the lobby while visiting another drug addict who lives up stairs. My husband watches over me to make sure I am not being harassed by The super or the drug whom they associated with. Since the super have moved in my blood pressure has risen. and I receive medication while trying to focus on my health,family and school. Concerning Jordan Zotts . You have already expressed how you feel about my family's enjoyment and safety. You have loudly loitered in front of my apartment discussing annoying nonsense You continued to both privately and openly discussed my affairs with an illegal migrant after you were told to stop. You and the super have continuously slammed doors causing my daughter to shake and jump she suffers from autism and is sensitive to unnecessary loud noises. You retaliated against me on my way to work for sending a complaint urging that the supers wife stop menacing in my affairs. You've ignored me for months both before and after I phoned the police due to the supers wife menacing & harassing me. You then joked and made fun of the matter while openly disusing it in front of my apartment for me to here, you did this in the company of the supers wife, your self and a female tenant from across the hall from apartment #1D. To make matters worst you began appearing almost everyday at un reasonable hours from 6 and 9 pm Your arrival was noisy noticeable and annoying. the supers wife would yell out loud in constant lafter each time you arrived. Then on Sunday, March 02, 2008, at 11:24:54 PM you were video taped and photographed with the super moving objects in and out of there apartment in to a van. My daughter and I awakened from the constant loud noises. this was my husbands birth day and I had to wake up to this. that next morning I suffered from a bad head ache which was unfortunately because march 3 was my anniversary. The problems in the building are still going on and are getting worse. I have continuously have contacted the landlord about the problems but the landlord does nothing, but tell the super and the super tells the other teants. Now I am in fear for my daughter and my life. Two days ago, I was approached by two tenants who live in my building. Each of the tenants threatened my life. I called the police and they do nothing. I have been praying everyday and putting my faith in god, but my family is still being bothered.Yes, I am trying to move but money is not that easy for me right now. The main question is why can't the landlord stop the problems? Why can't the landlord and the other tenants stop harassing me? This is really hurting me because I done nothing wrong. My daughter who is 9 years old and disabled and has done nothing wrong. Why must my family be subjected to this kind of treatment? I am just trying to work and go to school and raise my daughter. I have been trying to keep my faith, but it just feels that my prays are not being answered. My daughter is innocent.Why must she have to suffer? I have went to the police continuously but they do nothing. I have even wrote the governor but he just refered me to another agency, that did nothing. I have even called 311. Where do I turn? more

Resolved Question: What type of window treatments would you recommend?

for the back windows of the first floor of my house? I have a long line of windows that extends from the dining room, which is a bay window, to the kitchen, and then to the family room. It's an open floor plan so you can see the windows from one room to the next, and the windows treatments need to work together. The house faces west so the morning sun shines directly into these windows, so I need something that blocks or filters light, yet, my young children play on the deck outside the kitchen so I can't obstruct the view. I am worried regular blinds will block the view from the kitchen too much. I need suggestions for blinds, shades or drapes. We have priced out plantation shutters and I'm not sure about them because of the cost and they may partially obstruct the view. more

Resolved Question: Is this short enough?

I do love the old English Cottage. Mary stood at the front gate, which opened onto a crazy paved pathway leading to the front door of the little thatched cottage. She let her eyes follow the path and noticed the Periwinkle and Catnip growing in between the cracks of the paving. Both gave off a heady scent when trodden on, but Mary felt that the little plants never deserved such rough treatment just so that someone could smell their perfume. Even as a child she never ever trod on them but hop scotched her way to the front door. She let her eyes wonder over the cottage garden. "Spring seems to bring out the best in the flowers," she said to herself. "Even better that the summer months". Pansies, Holly Hock, Sweet Scented Stock and the blue of Cornflower plants were all out in profusion, giving the garden and cottage a picture book look. "It really is a pretty cottage" she thought "I shall miss it when I leave but John has to be in Africa ready to start his new job next month". John and Mary had lived in the cottage for six years after he came out of the army with a good pension, which had enabled them to buy the cottage. He had taken up his old job as an architect with a local firm in the town of Tadcaster. Previously they had been posted wherever the army had sent them. John had been a Major in the R.A.S.C over seeing the construction of new military buildings and bridges. Mary had been content with her life but was pleased when he retired and they had bought the cottage. John was the sort of man that got on with all he met and was soon accepted by the local villagers. It was different with Mary, she had always been a quiet person, much preferring to go out into the countryside and paint whatever scene took her fancy, but butterflies seemed to favour her desire to paint, and the cottage walls were festooned with her paintings of the delicate creatures. Mary walked up the pathway, unlocked the Dutch door, which some previous owner of the cottage had decided to put in, and walked into the familiar living room with its domesticity enfolding her. On impulse she went upstairs where she had her room in which she finished her paintings. She took a small easel and a case of sketching pencils and canvas from the table near the large north-facing window, made her way downstairs and out into the garden, along the path and out into the field that lay on the other side of the lane. Setting up her easel she looked at the cottage "How many times have I painted you" She said with affection. "One last time, just once more". She took out her sketching pencil and began to draw the fine lines on the canvas. It took Mary a week to finish the painting. John had concluded all of his work he was contracted to do, now he and Mary could spend some time together before they made the move to Africa. The cottage had been sold to a nice elderly couple who "Needed some fresh air in their lungs" the new owners has said. They were happy to let Mary and John stay on until it was time for them to leave. "How are you coming along with your painting?" as john one morning at breakfast. "It's finished," said Mary. "May I see it?" asked her husband. Mary took the painting from behind the chair where she had put it to show John later. He looked at it "Its beautiful, your best ever of the cottage, but you have left the For Sale Vacant Possession sign in the painting" "Not quite " she said "Look closer" he did and saw that the sign now read Butterfly Cottage. He smiled "Perfect" he said. more

Resolved Question: ¡¡Soy Española!! commotion in spain for a monster case of Josef Fitzl,?

" Conmocción desde España "The case of Josef Fitzl, the Austrian retired electrician who has kept locked in a basement for 24 years for her daughter and three children he had with her has shocked world public opinion. These are the 50 keys of what happened,'' August 1984. Josef Fritzlar, an electrician in Austria 50 years, holds her daughter Elisabeth, 18, in the basement of his home in Amstetten, Austria. 2. Amstetten. Locality Austrian located northeast of the country, in Lower Austria, with about 22,600 German-speaking inhabitants. Birthplace of Josef Fritzlar, 73 years ago. At a nearby gas station, on the motorway from Vienna to Salzburg, he worked Elisabeth in the early 80. 3. APRIL 2008. Kristen, a girl aged 19, was taken to hospital with symptoms of being seriously ill. It is one of the daughters Elisabeth, now 42 years. Kristen is unconscious, but it has a note in which his mother asks for help for the young. Doctors seeking unsuccessfully history of the patient. Notice to the Police and history come to light: Josef Fritzlar has remained closed to Elisabeth for 24 years and has had seven children with her. Three of them (the very Kerstin; Stephan, 18, and Felix, 5) have shared captivity with the mother, another died, and the remaining three (Lisa, 15 years; Monika, 14, and Alexander, 13) lived with Josef and his wife, Rosemarie (Elisabeth's mother), on top of one's own home. Rosemarie ensures that knew nothing. 4. Arrests. On April 27, police announced the arrest of Fritzlar, accused of unlawful restraint and sexual abuse. Shortly before, Josef had released her daughter and their children-grandchildren. The detainee confessed the whole. Then, decides to remain silent until the trial. 5. DNA. Two days later, police confirmed that DNA tests conducted to confirm that Fritzlar is the father of the children of Elisabeth. 6. Abuse. Elisabeth suffered the first sexual abuse of his father in 1977, when she was eleven years. Since then she was raped and beaten systematically. He spent the first nine years of his confinement in a single stay of the basement (not until 1993 his father organized other spaces). Children born at that time witnessed continuing violations. Fritzlar kept handcuffed the first two days of captivity, and during the six or nine months remained tied. Police ruled that Josef Fritzlar had abused their children. 7. Background. Fritzlar was jailed for 18 months in 1967 for sexually abusing a young woman in Linz (Austria). He was also subsequently arrested for attempted rape and exhibitionism. In addition, the Police is investigating its connection with the murder, still unsolved, a woman, Martina Posch, 22 years ago. B 8. Search. When Elisabeth was locked up in 1984 his mother reported his disappearance, but, being older, the police thought that he had left home on his own will and no longer look it up. In fact, Elisabeth was locked up by his father after returning to his home after an initial escape attempt. 9. Babies. The three children who lived with Josef and Rosemarie were left on the door of the house shortly after birth (in 1993, 1994 and 1997). They were legally adopted by his grandparents. C 10. Carter. Fritzlar forced his daughter to write letters to keep the secret safe, especially any suspicions of Rosemarie. In the first, 1984, Elisabeth said she was going home and who did not seek. The three children who were appearing at the door of the house later iban accompanied by letters from Elisabeth in which ensured that he could not take care of them. 11. Wedge. Christine R., sister-in-law of Fritzlar and sister Rosemarie, says he always humbled his sister and mistreated their children. It also noted that Josef fell to the basement every morning, "supposedly to draw maps of some machines that wanted to sell." "Sometimes spent all night there. Now you know why," he added. 12. Dungeon. The dungeon built in the basement of his home by Fritzlar has about 80 square meters, and stretched under the garden of the house. It is accessed through a sliding door concrete than 300 kilos of weight, hidden behind a bookcase. There was a staircase entrance, a laundry room, two bedrooms, 3 square metres and a small kitchen next to a bathroom. Some parts of zulo had no more than 1.70 meters high. Ventilation came from a tube. 13. Code. The door of the basement could only be opened using a secret code known only by Fritzlar. The code shareholders an engine electronically. Fritzlar had activated a mechanism so that the door is opened only if he disappeared. 14. Construction. Fritzlar planned and built the dungeon one year before locking her daughter there, and after seeking permission to reform the building. The plans were approved, but did not include rooms in the basement. 15. Food. Josef was responsible for supplying food and clothing to locked. When was travelling left them food reserve. 16. CIEN. Police intended to interrogate hundred people who went through the house during these 24 years (Fritzlar rented rooms at the top). The investigation could go on for at least two months. Researchers can only work in the zulo followed for half an hour due to lack of oxygen. 17. Damn. Fritzlar, in custody, faces a possible sentence of at least 15 years in prison if found guilty of the charge of rape, the most serious of his alleged crimes, according to Austrian law. 18. Complications. The evidence analyzed so far ruled that no family member acting as an accomplice. Although the police insisted that Fritzlar acted alone, the head of the investigation stated that "someone in the family should know something." In this regard, the German magazine Brigitte said that one of the children living in the upper house had a copy of the key that gave the basement. Dubanovsky Alfred, a man who was 12 years renting a room in the house of Fritzlar, said that he saw another man fell next to his home in the basement. He added that this man was a plumber, and it drew attention because he was trying to enter prohibited in that part of the house. D 19. Drugs. Fritzlar told police he had locked her daughter to "protect and keep away from drugs". 20. Damage. Encerrado without natural light and isolated from the world throughout his life, the children of Fritzlar have developed various phobias and fears. They feel panic before the blue tones of mobile phones, traffic in the city ... In addition, they speak with gruñidos (communicate among themselves with a language itself) and prefer to crawl. The small, five-year, is "joyful and vital", and was fascinated to sit for the first time in a car. The two biggest need at least eight years of therapy. Experts have advised that for the moment, live in a house without windows. The three, like her mother, have skin problems. Kristen has lost almost all their teeth. 21. Fainting. Kristen was transferred to hospital after suffering a fainting, a result of illness endured. According to some sources, his condition is typical of the evils that can lead to having children at an incestuous relationship. Other media point to an infection. E 22. Ageing. Elisabeth looks 20 years over which it has. It has very white hair and skin almost transparent due to lack of sunlight. F 23. Pictures. Despite that have been disclosed both photographs of Josef Fritzlar as Elisabeth, the Austrian authorities have warned that any media to publish pictures or intimate details of the victims could be fined up to 20,000 euros. The authorities are studying the possibility of changing the name to protect the victims. G 24. GAS. Police investigating whether Fritzlar built a device to the zulo be filled gas in the event that something will happen to him. Threats to the gas locked in the dungeon if they tried to break free, which could partly explain why Elisabeth would not have never tried to attack you. H 25. Daughter. Elisabeth took their seven children in the course of 14 years. The conditions under which took place deliveries are still being investigated. The first, Kristen, was born in 1988, and Stephan was born in 1990. Lisa and Monika 'appeared' on the door of the house when they were nine and ten months old. In 1996 twins were born. One of them died within three days and the other, Alexander, 'appeared' also 15 months later at the door of the home. The last, Felix, was born in 2003. According to police, Fritzlar chose the children who took on his health status and its "inclination to mourn." I 26. Incineration. According said Elisabeth, the sister of the dead body was cremated by Josef in the garden. 27. Social impact. The case of Josef Fritzlar has shocked both the town of Amstetten, besieged these days by hundreds of journalists, as the entire Austrian society, especially when it happened barely two years after it was known the case of Natascha Kampusch, the young man who was kidnapped near Vienna for eight years. Some local media also have questioned one type of society in which there may be cases like this one: "Everything should be ashamed Amstetten.'s Neighbors closed their eyes" (Österreich), "The entire community must ask itself what is happening" (Der Standard). Some 200 people gathered in the main square of Amstetten carrying candles to express their "anger" and "deep sorrow" for what happened. "Every day spent in front of the house; should have done something," said one of the assistants. 28. Ignorance. Elisabeth has exculpado his mother from captivity and abuse he suffered, making sure that she knew nothing. "He never had anything to do," he said. J 29. JUDGE. "All the procedures were tough, the pieces were consistent," said Josef Schluegl judge, who granted in their day-to Fritzlar custody of a child, not knowing that it was actually his son, after reading a letter in which Elisabeth asked their parents to take care of small and not try to look it up. "Impossible to imagine that he was kidnapped and forced him to write," he added. K 30. KAMPUSCH, Natascha. The young Austrian 20-year-old Natascha Kampusch, who reappeared in 2006 after spending eight years sequestered, announced the donation of 25,000 euros for victims of Fritzlar. He also made an international appeal to raise money for the family. L 31. Lynchings. Fritzlar has been isolated in prison Sankt Polten before the danger that other prisoners might lynched. "The murderers and rapists of minors are seen as the lowest scale and deplorable, so often suffer attacks extremes," said Günter Mörwald, director of the prison. M 32. Monster. Most of the Spanish press has dubbed Josef Fritzlar as "The Monster of Amstetten." The French daily Le Figaro spoke of "the father of darkness". 33. May, RUDOLPH. It's lawyer Fritzlar. Counsel famous in Austria, Der Spiegel assured that their work is "to show Josef Fritzlar as a human being" after being presented as "a horrible monster and a tyrant sex." "When I saw him for the first time I seemed like a patriarch with good and bad sides, broken, very emotionally affected," he said. N 34. Nazis. The clinic where he recovered Elisabeth and their children, in the town of Mauer, also has its own dark past. During World War II, hundreds of people died here victims of euthanasia practices carried out by the Nazis between 1941 and 1944. Or 35. Other cases. We discovered in Amstetten has brought to mind other similar events, apart from the mentioned Natascha Kampusch. Gouardo Lydia, a French 45 year said they had been raped and tortured for 28 years by his father, with whom she had six children between 1982 and 1993, has shown its desire to meet Elisabeth. Moreover, the Austrian police reopen the case of 64 missing children in the country, five of which are missing from their homes for more than 10 years. P 36. Posch, Martin. He was murdered 22 years ago, when he was 17. His body was found in Lake Mondsee and so far the case has not yet been resolved. Fritzlar's wife then had a restaurant on the banks of the lake, not far from Amstetten. 37. Properties. Fritzlar enjoyed a comfortable financial position. He was registered as sole owner of six real estate, spread over several localities of Lower Austria. The list includes the family home, three buildings with many apartments and commercial premises, another house and a plot, with an estimated value of about 2.2 million. In one of these solar acquired by Fritzlar just three years ago, had moved tens of cubic meters of earth. 38. Imprisonment. In prison Sankt Polten, Fritzlar occupies a cell with a small window by which natural light enters, overlooking a garden. It has radio and television and can go for a walk once a day. 39. Profile. Joseph Fritzlar, 74-year-old retired electrician, has been described by police as a "very intelligent". His neighbors considered him a figure respectable within the community. His sister-in-law, however, he now qualifies for "despot". His neighbours claim that always tried to appear tan, flirting with women and that drew attention for the way he had exaggerated care of your garden. Others noted that ruled his home "as a lieutenant general," and that it was very jealous of their privacy. A former co-worker noted that "was always well dressed, as a diplomat." It belonged to the club's fishing Amstetten. Q 40. Complaint. Some of the tenants of Fritzlar complained that often disappeared as the refrigerator of the house. One of them said not understand because Fritzlar "seemed to enjoy a good economic situation." R 41. Reunification. Each child of Elisabeth (except Kristen, who remained hospitalized) and her mother met for the first time last April 27, at the clinic where they are receiving treatment. The centre's director described as "astonishing" and "exciting" the "ease with which came together", both boys among themselves, as with his mother Elisabeth. Rosemarie told her daughter that it felt and that he had no "no idea". S 42. Suicide. In prison, Fritzlar remains under surveillance 24 hours to avoid dealing with kill himself. 43. Sect. Fritzlar maintained all these years version of her daughter Elisabeth had been picked up by a sect, which obliged him to get rid of their children. The Chief of Police of Lower Austria noted that "this man did not leave any place without tying in order to deceive his family, his wife, their relatives, children and the world around him." T 44. Thailand. The German tabloid newspaper Bild Zeitung reported in a video that appears Fritzlar during a holiday in Thailand. It was recorded by a German friend who traveled with the Asian country. In the video you can see how Fritzlar, swimwear, receives a massage from a woman on the beach. In another scene, is preparing to eat a piece of meat and it looks very good mood. 45. Tourism. The Austrian authorities have shown their concern about the effect of tourism in cases like that of Fritzlar or Kampusch. Franz Grossglockner, head of the department of Tourism of Austria, told the AP agency: "Who will want to visit this country? For every wonderful summit snowfall or every cathedral we also have begun a world war, or choose to admit as xenophobes rulers, rapists and incestuous psychopaths in the headlines ...". U 46. Usurpation of staff. In at least one occasion, Fritzlar was going through his daughter Elisabeth to announce by telephone that his wife had left one of the babies at the door of the house. V 47. Summer. Fritzlar had planned to end the confinement this summer, according to British newspaper Daily Mail. Apparently, "no longer endure" his daughter, and was "tired of his dual life" and therefore had decided to return to Elisabeth of the alleged sect which allegedly had ido 24 years ago. W 48. WEB. Internet is the medium that is giving more complete and updated case. In www.20minutos.es there is continuous renewal with photos and videos. X 49. X. The case of 'monster Amstetten "is full of questions and unknowns still to be resolved: How is it possible that no member of the family, especially his wife of Fritzlar, suspected nothing, nor neighbours and acquaintances of the couple? Who Caring for Fritzlar was locked when traveling? How were the births in that zulo what happened when one of the children, especially infants being, fell seriously ill How justified Fritzlar before his wife extra expenditure on food, clothing , Etc.? Z 50. Zul. The basements like the one used as Fritzlar zulo received grants from the Austrian government during the Cold War to be used as shelters before a possible nuclear attack Related articles A tenant who lived in the house of Fritzlar says he knew he raped his daughter (04/05/08) Fritzlar threatened their victims to die gas in the basement (01/05/08) Austria called to testify to the neighbors of Fritzlar (30/04/08) Josef Fritzlar built the dungeon for her daughter a year before encerrado (03/05/08) Elisabeth Fritzlar his acquittal mother of his captivity and abuse (03/05/08) Danger of lynching for the kidnapper and rapist of his daughter, Elizabeth Fritzlar (02/05/08) One witness says that he saw another person come in zulo Josef Fritzlar (02/05/08) -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Send to: Reddit Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Yahoo Fresqui Note: You must be registered in these services to record the contenidoAhora at home ... They begin the return of traffic jams in the Puente de Mayo Comments (7) Hacker Web 'SLQH' with photos without clothes Patricia Conde and Pilar Rubio Discuss the news Fines of 200 euros for this New law in Italy. Updated 29 minutes ago Discuss the noticiaAVANCE OF interview with the 'number two' waiting Aguirre Ignacio Gonzalez: "We do not know if Rajoy will be the candidate in the year 2012" Tomorrow, the entire interview in 20minutos and unabridged in 20minutos.es. Juan Carlos ESCUDIER Comments (53) Mobile phones are old gold mines Comments (7) Which was ... Gianluca Vialli "TVE 'bought' votes to win Eurovision Massiel. There was Tongo" Comments (95) He stays out of work "fat" Comments (18) More news on 20minutos.es Make 20minutos.es your homepage more

Resolved Question: I just found out I have a warrant for my arrest and am scared. What can I expect to happen?

I got a DUI in Feb. with both of my kids in the car. It is horrible I know, but I have since received treatment for my drinking problem. It is my first DUI and the only problem I have ever had with the law. I had a court date at the beginning of April & I went but there were no charges filed against me yet so the people at the check in window told me to wait and the DA should contact me by mail when charges were filed. At that time all that was on my ticket was the DUI. I have been so worried about taking care of this and wanted to see if I could find out more info so I went on my countys court web site and looked up my case and now along with the DUI I am being charged with willful harm to a child and it says a warrant was issued at the begining of this week. What do I do? Should I be terrified that they are going to come to my house and arrest me? I haven't even been notified of the charge, I found out online. I am so scared they are going to show up any time now. more

Resolved Question: fed up now?

I am so fed up at the minute. I am pregnant with my third child. I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old. My motivation has gone right out the window. My house is a constant mess, I feel like I dont have time to do anything, and I cant even be bothered to keep on top of beauty treatments. Whats going on? I am only 23 and should be full of life and energy! Anyone got any good tips to get back to being me again? thanks more

Resolved Question: We can't have more kids; ruining marriage!?

My husband and I had initially planned on a big family, but after our first baby was born with a genetic disability, we've been discouraged from having more children. What's worse is that the genetic condition comes from his side of the family, and he has guilt issues, so he's driving me insane with every "treatment", specialist, therapy and intervention that he can shove down my throat. We currently have about 7 different specialists/therapists coming into our home every day of the week. I hate this... I hate having people I don't know in my home, I hate that all our family plans are out the window, and I hate that I can never have another baby because of the man I married. He won't hear of adoption; doesn't want "other people's kids", and of course a sperm donor would be out of the question for him. I'm miserable. more

Resolved Question: Idea for inexpensive room-darkening treatment mounted outside the window frame?

Window is 76" W 64" H Child's room Already have blinds mounted inside the frame that don't block much light, but they have to stay. more

Resolved Question: what ya think of these jokes?

Today is International Disadvantaged People's Day. Please send an encouraging message to your weirdest friend, just as I have done. I don't care if you lick windows, interfere with animals, fart in company..... you hang in there sunshine, your f*cking special!! A flasher was heading off on holidays. Just as he was about to board the plane a pretty air hostess was checking tickets. He walked up to her, opened his coat and flashed her. Without blinking the air hostess says 'I'm sorry sir you've to show your ticket here, not your stub.' Martha lost her husband. She had him cremated, took his ashes home and poured them out on the patio table. Tracing her fingers through them. 'Bob, remember the dishwasher you promised me, I bought it with your insurance money. The car you promised me, bought that too. The diamond ring, bought that too. Bob remember that bl*w job I promised you,here it comes!!' This week we celebrate a special birthday. Monica Lewinsky turned 31. Can you believe it? It seems like only yesterdayshe was crawling around the White House on her hands and knees, putting eveything in her mouth. They grow up so fast, don't they? Abdul and Ali are making letter bombs. Abdul: Do you think I put enough explosive in? Ali: Open one up and have a look. Abdul: What if it blows up? Ali: Don't be stpid, it's not adressed to you! A dad on his way home wants to buy his daughter a Barbie. He stops at a toy syore and notices there is a Shopping Barbie, a Beach Barbieand a Disco Barbie priced at €19.95 but a Divorced Barbie is €265.95. 'Why is this one so much more?' asks the man. The shop assistant replies 'That's because Divorced Barbie comes with Ken's car, Ken's car, Ken's boat, Ken's computer, Ken's furniture and one of Ken's friends!!' Teacher asks science class 'What is relative humidity?'. Johnny the traveller answers 'It's the sweat you get on your b*llix when your riding your cousin.' A guy walks into a bar and buts a pint. Then he takes a photo from his top pocket, looks at it, then puts it back. He repeatedly does this every time he has a pint. After the eight pint the barman asks 'Why do you look at that photo every time you order a pint?'. He replies 'It's a picture of the wife and when she looks good enough to ride I'll go home!!' Chris Tarrant: 'For €32,000 what is the colour of the hair on your girlfriends v*gina? Is it: A: Brown B: Red C: Blonde D: Black' Kerry man: 'Can I phone a friend?' The latest Christmes toy has just hit the shops - a talking Muslim doll. Nobody knows what it says yet because no one has the b*lls to pull the cord!! Two newly weds turn up at a hotel and ask for the honetmoon suite. Receptionist asks 'Do you have reservations?' Bride replys 'I'm not sure about taking it up the a*se.' Wife packs case and says to husband 'I'm off to Amsterdam to be a whore getting €400 a ride instead of giving it to you for free'. Husband packs his and says 'I'm going with you. I want to see how your going to survive on €800 a year!' It goes in dry, it comes out wet. The longer you leave it in the stronger it gets. You can have it in bed just you and me. It's not what you think, it's a cup of tea. Man has €50 note totooed onto his c*ck. His wife asks 'Why have you done that?' He replies, 'For 1, I like to see my money grow. 2, I like to play with my money. 3, I like having money in my hand and last but not least, next time you want to blow fifty quis, you can stay at home to do it!' Paramedcs attend a nasty accident involving a sports car. When they see the driver screaming in pain they tell him to calm down as at least he was not flung out through the windscreen like his girlfriend. He screamed back 'Have you seen what's in her mouth?????' A man who was sunbathing on holidays fell asleepand badly burnt his legs. The pain was unbearable so he went to see the doctor for treatment. Doctor took a look at hi legs and said 'This is a small village surgery and I've nothing really to help you but give this a go' and handed the man a Viagra tablet. The man said 'But I've got acute sunburn. What's a Viagra tablet going to do for my sunburn?' 'Basically nothing' said the doctor @but it will help keep the sheets off your legs tonight!' Woman was helping husband set up their new computer. 'You now have to enter a password'. Husband is feeling randy and tries to hint and shock wife by typing P*NIS. Wife fell off her chair laughingwhen computer replied PASSWORD REJECTED - NOT LONG ENOUGH. Paddy flying Ryanair into Manchester. The plane is introuble so he calls the tower and says 'Help! Easter Sunday, Pancake Tuesday, Boxing Day!' A voice comes back and says 'Paddy the word you're looking for is f*cking Mayday!!' To men are at the opposite side of the world but are thinking the exact same thing. One is walking a tightrope between two skyscrapers, the other is having a bl*w job from an 85 yea old woman. What are they both thnking? Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down!! Alcohol doesn't make you fat, it makes you lean....... against tables, floors, chairs, walls,and ugly f*ckers. Pass this on to your alcoholic friends as I've done. Do you want a Nokia N95 including 1000 free any time, any netwok minutes a month? With it you get a fre 42" LCD HD TV, free Apple iPod Nano and free Stella Artois mini-fridge. It's a 6 month minimum contract at €12.50 per month. Simply log onto www.dreamonyoucunt.com An Essex blond gets a job as a teacher. She notices a boy on the field stood by himself while all the other childern are running around having fun. She takes pity on him and decides to speak o him. 'Are you ok?' she asks. 'Yes he says. 'You can play with the other children you know.' 'It's best I stay here' he says. 'Why?' asks the blonde. The boy says 'Because I'm the goalkeeper'. Three travellers were knocked down and killed in a Tesco car park today. Tesco. Every little helps. more

Resolved Question: My crazy neighbor...do you have one?

Okay YA Garden & Landscape friends...make me laugh with your crazy neighbor stories! I'm having a bad day because of the loser next door and I need a chuckle. Here's a few things about my crazy neighbor: He's a felon He has 2 broken down trucks He has mental issues and isn't seeking treatment (makes him really unstable) Sheriff was there in Dec, Jan and March He now drives him mom around because she got a DUI and lost her license He lives with mom even though he is 46 He stares at me whenever I go outside (like glaring through the window or sliding door, makes it a challenge to play outside) Plays loud music with LOTS of cussing (I have 2 small children to protect from this) He trespasses on my property, yet put up "No Trespassing" signs on his side, go figure He shot a slingshot at my house He built a dog house, added some dishes, yet has no dog I hope his lease isn't renewed in July! Come on cheer me up, I need your funny stories. We all need a good laugh. :) more

Resolved Question: So everyone can STOP asking!! You might be gay if...?

1. You regularly use the phrase "window treatment". 2. Your kitchen drawer contains a shrimp de-veiner, a mushroom brush, or a lemon reamer. 3. You're over thirty and thinner than you were in high school. 4. You know all the lyrics to any musical besides Jesus Christ Superstar. 5. Your Christmas decorations include dried roses or baby's breath. 6. You know the difference between a "soundtrack" and an "original cast album". 7. You tape Martha Stewart Living religiously. 8. The only professional sports you watch on TV are gymnastics, diving, and figure skating. 9. You know what a sconce is. 10. You have a pet named "Liza," "Gypsy," or "Talullah". 11. You have more ties than teeth. 12. You know how to spell Barbra's first name. 13. You've never felt the need to use Barbra's last name. 14. You know whether Rogers or Hammerstein wrote the music. 15. You've ever watched the Miss America pageant and said, "Where did she get that dress?!" 16. It took you a while to realize that International Male was a catalog. 17. You've ever canceled a date because it conflicted with the Tony Awards. 18. You know the difference between "seafoam" and "celadon". 19. Your video collection contains All About Eve, The Women, or Mommie Dearest. 20. You've ever been to a professional football game, spent the whole time watching the cheerleaders, and critiqued their performance. 21. You receive a floral arrangement and can name more than three flowers. 22. You've ever used the phrase "floral arrangement". 23. Your Christmas stocking as a child contained bronzer or a moisturizer. 24. You know where to find tulle really cheap. 25. You can tie a bow tie on someone else.26. You know whether Chita or Rita did the film version of West Side Story. 27. Your mother calls you for decorating tips. 28. The names Jeff Stryker, Ryan Idol or Casey Donovan mean anything to you at all. 29. You have "dress" sneakers. 30. You own more than two throw pillows, and they didn't come with the couch. 31. You've ever seriously considered purchasing a divan. 32. You chose your socks this morning to bring out your eyes. 33. You use a Crate and Barrel bag as a lunch box. 34. The only reason you learned how to use the record function on your VCR was because it was male-strippers day on Donahue. 35. You know exactly where you were the night that Judy, Ethel or Lucy died.36. Special K means something to you besides breakfast. 37. You own any article of clothing with the logo "2(x)ist". 38. You still mourn the premature demise of Conran's. 39. You've ever bought a Barbie doll for your niece's birthday but her party comes and goes and she never actually opens up a Barbie doll for a present. 40. You've ever walked down the street, had a dozen beautiful men say hello to you, and not been able to recall a single face or name. 41. You own a pair of kneepads yet play no organized sport. 42. You've ever uttered the phrases "Get her!," "She's a mess," or "What's her problem?" 43. You talk in italics. 44. You've ever needed a massage because you'd overworked your eyebrows. 45. You've ever even for a second wondered what size butt plug you'd take.46. You simply hate the color lavender because it makes you look sallow. 47. You know a guy who swears that his brother-in-law was the admitting doctor in the emergency room when Richard Gere came in with a gerbil up his butt. 48. You know for sure that Richard Gere isn't gay because you know a guy who slept with Gere's brother, who is gay and who swears that Richard isn't. 49. Someone says "How 'bout them Bulls?" and all you can think of are petite picadors in tight pants. 50. You see a sign for IKEA, Pottery Barn, or Hold Everything and your palms start to sweat. 51. You require two syllables to say "please,".52. Your pairs of shoes outnumber days of the week. 53. Your underwear drawer is filled with nothing but Calvin Klein, in assorted styles and colors. 54. You save the packaging materials from said Calvin Klein purchases. 55. At eighth grade dances you were the only boy who could stay on the beat. 56. You've ever, while walking down the street, executed an impromptu series of grande jetttes. 57. You still can't get over the fact that Sunday in the Park with George lost out to La Cage Aux Folles in nearly every category in the 1984 Tony's. 58. You've ever gone to a Mel Gibson movie, merely in the hope that he will repeat his butt-bearing performance in Lethal Weapon. 59. You've ever felt guilty at being attracted to someone as homophobic as Mel Gibson. 60. You know what Lyle Waggoner, Sam J. Jones, Christopher Atkins, Fabian, and Tommy Chong have in common.61. You display in any public form a reproduction of Michaelangelo's David. 62. You've ever trimmed your pubic hair to make "it" look bigger. 63. You've ever sighed with jealousy at the sight of a starlet in a feather boa. 64. You take a size-13 pump. 65. You own any chaps and they weren't designed by Ralph Lauren. 66. You've often had a "beard," but never had facial hair. 67. The last time you put on a floor-length organdy ball gown, you first had to shave your chest. 68. By the time the bus has arrived at your stop, you've given every other passenger a "fashion score". 69. You'd sooner skip a day at the gym than show up in a work-out ensemble that just didn't match. 70. You're the only male sibling in a family of ten and grandmother left you the Limoges.71. You can think of more than five uses for a doily. 72. Whenever you hear the name "Christina," you get the urge to shout "Bring me the axe!" 73. You're currently wearing a studded, leather ring approximately 3 inches in diameter, but no one can see it. 74. You know who Dorothy Gale is. 75. You've ever spontaneously quoted any of the lines from Auntie Mame. 76. You've ever run a red light because you were too busy thinking about what you were going to wear to the White Party. 77. You've ever bought a pair of jeans because they gave you a nice "basket". 78. You've bookmarked www.menonthenet.com. 79. You've ever turned when someone yelled "Hey, Mary!" and your name isn't Mary. 80. You worship Marky Mark, but own none of his CDs.81. You can tell on sight the difference between a salchow and a triple lutz. 82. You've sworn never ever again to get drunk and do your Bette Davis impersonation. 83. You're the only one in the class picture wearing spats and an ascot. 84. You used adverbs before the age of two. 85. You know exactly where to find those Brad Pitt photos on the Internet. 86. You can give directions to the nearest "glory hole". 87. You prefer Maria's 1958 Normas to her 1959 Normas. 88. The idea of a car-parts store with the name "Ellis the Rim Man" makes you giggle. 89. You have more friends named Richard, Steven, and Michael than Rich, Steve, and Mike. 90. You've ever coed so aggressively that you drew blood.91. The last time you danced at a wedding, you accidentally started to follow. 92. People admire your "six-pack," and you don't drink soda or beer. 93. You've ever introduced someone as your "partner," and you're not in business together. 94. You've ever sent anything in black latex as a gift. 95. You're known as someone who works "The Circuit," but you have no knowledge whatsoever of electronics. 96. In your last "divorce" you fought over who would get the Soloflex. 97. You've ever asked for a sweat towel at the gym, but accidentally said "cum towel" instead. 98. You've ever answered the phone at night to the sound of a husky male voice and asked "So, what're you into?' only to find the guy's from Citibank. 99. You regularly slap other men on the butt, but you don't coach a football team. 100. Your home decor encompasses more than one kind of Chippendale.101. Your dog is smaller than a bread box. 102. To you the antonym for "no" is "fabulous". 103. At the gym you spend more time in the shower than on the stairmaster. 104. You've ever entered a house and audibly admired the wainscoting. 105. You regularly "toss the salad," and it involves no greenery or vegetable of any kind.106. You've ever said "Look at the tits on her!" and there were no women anywhere in sight. 107. You've ever gone 5 blocks out of your way to walk through Times Square to check out the latest Antonio Sabato billboards. 108. You've been to "The Mineshaft" but you weren't digging for coal. more

Resolved Question: can someone summarize this 4 me?

here is the article: St. Jude researchers find key step in programmed cell death February 29, 2008 11:44 PMMolecular & Cell Biology Previous article: ASU researcher may have discovered key to life before its origin on Earth Next article: Computer simulations point to key molecular basis of cystic fibrosis Add your comment to this articleAdd Comment Mail this article to a friendMail to a Friend Link to this article on your blogLink to this article Print this articlePrint Article Investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have discovered a dance of proteins that protects certain cells from undergoing apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death. Understanding the fine points of apoptosis is important to researchers seeking ways to control this process. In a series of experiments, St. Jude researchers found that if any one of three molecules is missing, certain cells lose the ability to protect themselves from apoptosis. A report on this work appears in the advance online publication of “Nature.” “This is probably the first description of what is happening mechanistically that contributes to the ability of cells to delay apoptosis,” said James Ihle, Ph.D., the paper’s senior author and chair of the St. Jude Department of Biochemistry. “It provides incredible insights into how three proteins work and how they can control apoptosis.” The molecular interactions that St. Jude researchers describe in “Nature” play out in nerve cells and blood cells that develop from hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells. A research team elsewhere recently reported that Kostmann’s syndrome, a potentially fatal inherited deficiency of granulocytes in children, caused by excessive apoptosis of granulocytes, results from a deficiency in one of the three proteins, called Hax1. “This suggests that the protein is playing basically the same role in humans as we described in mice,” Ihle said. Apoptosis rids the body of faulty or unneeded cells. However, molecular malfunctions that trigger apoptosis may cause some diseases, including Parkinson’s disease. Understanding the biochemical interactions that control the extent of programmed cell death could lead to new treatments. St. Jude biochemists have long studied how cytokines—small proteins used by neurons and blood-borne cells to communicate messages—contribute to keeping cells alive. For example, they demonstrated earlier that most cytokines controlling hematopoietic cells require an enzyme called Jak2, or Jak3 in lymphocytes, at the receptors where cytokines attached to the cell. In screening for components that are regulated by the Jak enzymes, the St. Jude team found the Hax1 protein. “That was intriguing because several studies suggested that Hax1 was controlled by cytokine signaling,” Ihle said. “Also, studies have suggested that if you overexpressed Hax1 in cells, the cells were protected from undergoing apoptosis.” To pursue this lead, the researchers genetically engineered mice that lacked the gene for Hax1. The results showed that apoptosis in the animals’ brain caused extensive nerve cell degeneration that killed the mice within 10 to 12 weeks. Second, apoptosis in immune-system lymphocytes occurred in the altered mice eight hours sooner than in those with the Hax1 gene, when limited amounts of cytokines were available. “That additional window of survival is extremely important because in the body, cytokines are limiting.” Ihle said. “The key observation was that Hax1 was important in helping cells to survive. Importantly, what happened to the mice we generated was remarkably similar to what happens if you remove the mitochondrial enzymes called HtrA2 or Parl.” Exploring the similarities, the investigators found that Hax1 and Parl pair up in the inner membrane of the mitochondria—tiny chemical packets that serve as the main energy source for cells. HtrA2 is made in the cell’s cytoplasm and is transported into the mitochondria, where the enzyme must have a region removed for it to be active. This requires snipping away 133 amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. The St. Jude researchers demonstrated that it is the Hax1/Parl pair that positions HtrA2 to allow the precise snipping that is required. Without Hax1, the snipping does not occur and HtrA2 remains inert. In lymphocytes, members of the Bcl-2 family of proteins both protect and initiate apoptosis. For this reason, Ihle and the researchers explored this family of proteins to understand why lymphocytes needed an active HtrA2 mitochondrial enzyme. This led them to discover that if active HtrA2 were present, the incorporation of a protein called Bax into the mitochondrial outer membrane did not occur. This was significant since accumulation of Bax in the outer mitochondrial membrane allows the release of proteins that set off a chain of biochemical reactions, including the activation of enzymes that are responsible for cell death. Source : St. Jude Children's Research Hospital more

Resolved Question: please read and review (go easy im 14)?

its for a writing contest Dont steal it i worked hard on it. It just isn't fair! All I want is a friend. Someone who cares about me, and will tell me that everything is all right. It’s too bad a life like that is only good enough for people like my big sister, Nichole. She is everything to my parents. She's smart, pretty, athletic, and everything else a perfect daughter is. She is constantly being complimented on her long, silky blond hair and big, blue eyes. I can't stand it! She gets the royal treatment, and I get to be the little rat that lives in the cramped attic. I can barely fit a bed in my room! I don’t understand what’s wrong with the way I look. I think I’m just a normal girl, but apparently my parent’s opinion is slightly different. From the moment that I was born I have been told by other family members that my resemblance to my aunt, Rebecca, is remarkable. We both have shoulder length, auburn hair, and bright, green eyes. Unfortunately, my mother and father haven’t spoken to her for over 15 years. I suppose that is one of the reasons that they resent me so much. "Dana. Dana! Dana get down here right now!" I groaned inwardly. Why did my mother have to get me up at 4:00 A.M. every morning? I could do my chores when I got home. I mean, it's not like they let me be in any after school activities. "Dana!" my mother screamed again, "You get your butt down here right now or I'll send your father up there to teach you a lesson!" That got me up right away. The only person crueler than my mother was my father. Everything about me disgusted him. He thinks that everyone’s life would be easier if my mother would have gotten an abortion. "Alright, I'm coming" I hollered as I ran down the steps. "Well, it's about time you got down here!" She replied in a cold, cruel voice that could have made a grown man want to run for it. "Alright what are my chores today" I said with little interest. "Well, you can start out by doing everyone's laundry, making breakfast, making your sister’s lunch, fixing the heater in the basement, mopping the kitchen, sweeping the porch, vacuuming the rest of the house, and cleaning your sister’s room after she wakes up. I'll give you the rest of the list later. I'm going back to bed." I sighed and said, "Alright" "Excuse me?" she exclaimed as she looked at me expectantly. I sighed again, "Yes ma'am." As I walked up to my room to get my laundry I heard a faint rustling. I couldn't imagine what it could be. No one, besides my father, had set foot in my room since I had learned how to crawl. I was always expected to take care of myself. So, I figured the sound was just a mouse or something. I would have never guessed that it was actually the best thing that ever happened to me. When I got into my room everything seemed the same. Same cramped room, same low ceiling that leaked when it rained, and same raggedy bed that was almost worse than sleeping on the floor. It never occurred to me that someone else might be in the room. When I reached over my bed to get the little basket of dirty clothes I heard someone sneeze. I immediately froze. I stood there for what seemed like an eternity just waiting to hear another sound. Finally I got fed up with waiting. "I know someone's in here," I said in a panicked voice, "come out now or else." All of a sudden something grabbed my leg from under my bed. I screamed as loud as I could. I didn't care what my parents thought. I was scared to death! "Ssssshhhh…. Be quiet. Do you want to get in trouble?" a mysterious voice whispered from under my bed. "Wh…w...who are you?" I stammered as a boy with short brown hair, and chocolate brown eyes climbed out from under the bed. "Tyler Anderson's my name. I'm your new neighbor. Sorry about sneaking into your room, but when I heard that there was a kid the same age as me in the neighborhood I just had to check it out. What's your name?" "I'm Dana. Are you 13 years old, too?" "Yep, I sure am." "Cool…, but you should probably get out of here." "Why is that?" "If someone sees you talking to me the whole town will shun you." "So, what's your point?" "Don't you want to make friends?" "I want you to be my friend. I don’t care what anyone else thinks." "Ok, but we have to keep it a secret. By the way, how'd you get in here?" "Like this…," Tyler walked over to one of the walls and pressed on it. A small part of the wall lifted up and a small staircase was revealed. I was amazed. It was perfect for sneaking in and out of the house. Then Tyler turned to me and said, "You know what? You're pretty cool." Then he smiled and closed the secret staircase. My face turned beat red. "Uummm…thanks, you too." So we talked for a while. He told me all about himself. He had an older sister, too, but he said that they were treated as equals. How I wish I could live as Nichole's equal. "So what's your life like? How come you don't have any other friends?" I was glad he considered us friends. I told him about the day I was born, and about all of the horrible things I was forced to do in the past. He frowned the whole time. "You deserve better than that Dana. I promise that someday I'm going to get you out of here." It meant a lot to hear him say that. It had only been an hour or two since I met him, and yet it seemed like we had been friends for years. "Thanks Tyler," I whispered, "thanks for everything." He smiled and nodded as he silently entered the secret staircase. I closed the entrance behind him, grabbed my dirty laundry, and went to do my chores. Everyday after that, Tyler came back at 4:15 A.M. There were a few close calls where we had gotten a little too loud, and my father had threatened to come up to my room. One time Tyler asked what would happen if my father did come up there. It was a topic I didn't like to talk about, but I told him anyway. Usually my father yelled at me, backed me into a corner, and then walked away. There had been one time, however, when he had struck me, but my sister said that it had been my fault. Everyday when Tyler left he would whisper "Soon, Dana, I promise." I really hoped that it was true. On my 14th birthday, January 18, 2007, Tyler came into my room with a big grin on his face. "Happy Birthday Dana!" he almost shouted. I giggled slightly, "Thank you, Tyler." He was the only person in the world who could make me laugh. "Guess where I'm going to take you for your birthday." He asked anxiously. "Ok, where?" I responded obviously confused. "I'm taking you over to my house for breakfast!" He exclaimed. He sounded extremely exited. "To…your house?" I asked. I had always wanted to go to Tyler's house, but I was only allowed to leave the house for school, and to get groceries. It was my parents' biggest rule. I couldn't imagine what they would do if they found out I had broken it. "Oh Tyler I would love to but…" He cut me off saying, "But nothing. It's your birthday, and we're going to celebrate it whether your parents like it or not. It's a Saturday, Dana, we don't have school, so you have all day to do your chores. You can spare an hour or so." "Well…I don't know…isn't it kind of early to be eating breakfast? It's only 4:30." I responded. "That's why I'm going to come and get you later on. You said that the rest of your family goes out for breakfast on Saturdays around 8:00 A.M. I'll come and get you at 8:10, Ok?" "Tyler…" "Don't worry, Dana. It's going to be ok. I'll see you in a few hours," and with that he climbed into the secret staircase and went home. I closed the staircase behind him and sighed. "I hope you’re right, Tyler," I whispered to myself as I went downstairs to start my chores. I had just started doing the laundry when Nichole came and told me that our father wanted to talk to me. "Why? What does Father want with me?" Father never wanted to talk to me. The only times I even existed in his eyes was when I was doing something wrong, and then he just yelled up the stairs for me to stop. "I don't know," She replied with a smug smile on her face, "but it can't be good for you. Daddy better tell me what you did because if you did anything to any of my stuff you're going to be hearing from me, too." "Yeah, yeah I always do" I murmured quietly as I turned and walked to my father's office. He was a very successful lawyer. The only person he wasn't usually too busy for was Nichole. Even mother got pushed aside, sometimes. I knocked on the door of father's office and said, "Father, It's me, Dana. Nichole said that you would like to speak with me." "Hurry up and get in here. I want to get this over with as soon as possible." He said in a gruff, manly voice. I silently walked into the room and stood in front of his desk. Once when I was little I had sat down in one of the chairs, and he had started yelling at me. He said that those chairs were for clients only, and that I should know better. I don't even dare to touch the chairs now. "If you can't even do simple chores correctly, then I don't see the point of us housing and feeding you anymore!" he said abruptly. "I don't understand father" I whispered. "Yesterday you were told to make us lunches." "I did make the…" "Silence!" he yelled, "I know that you made the lunches. I'm not as stupid as you are. The problem is that you put peanut butter on my sandwich. I'm allergic to peanut butter!" "I…you…you never told me that," I stammered as he glared at me. "I shouldn't have to tell you things like that. You are responsible for figuring it out on your own. Now, if anything like this ever happens again you are going to wish that you were never born. Do I make myself clear?" "Yes, sir" I said mumbled quietly. "Now get out of my sight. I can't stand to look at you," he said with harsh voice. I walked out of the office quietly. I saw Nichole peek her head out of her room. She had a big grin on her face. I assumed that she was eavesdropping on the lecture I had just been given. I glanced at the large silver clock hanging in the hallway. It was 6:10. It would be another 2 hours before Tyler got here. I couldn't wait. It seemed like 8:10 would never come, but it finally did. Nichole, Mother, and Father all left the house for breakfast at 8:00 A.M. sharp. As always they told me that they would be back at 10:00, and that if they found anything damaged or missing when they got home I would be severely punished. As soon as they pulled out of the driveway, I ran up to my room to brush my hair and wait for Tyler. At last Tyler arrived. I was so happy to see him. I was still a little upset about my talk with Father. It seemed like he was always in a bad mood on my birthday, but he had never threatened me like that. "What's up, Dana? Are you ok? You look a bit shaken." Tyler asked after he had gotten out of the secret stair case. "It's nothing, Tyler. Don't worry about it." I replied. He had a doubtful look on his face, but he just nodded. "You ready to go?" he asked after a minute. "Are you sure this is a good idea Tyler?" "Come on Dana, what could possibly go wrong? As long as you're back before 10:00, your parents will never know that you left" "Ok, I guess you’re right. Let's get going," and with that we both entered the secret staircase. As I walked into Tyler's house, I noticed that it was very different from mine. While my house looked boring and stiff, his looked fun and energetic. The walls were all painted bright colors, and there were several interesting paintings hung around the house. "Did I ever tell you that my mom is an artist, Dana?" He asked as we walked through the living room. I simply shook my head no. "You must be Dana!" I heard someone say with excitement as I rounded the corner into the kitchen. I looked up to see a woman that appeared to be in her late thirties. She had brown eyes like Tyler, and black hair. I assumed that she was his mother. "Welcome to our home." She said as she smiled at me. "Uummm, you must be Tyler's mother. It's nice to meet you Mrs. Anderson." "You can call me Sherry, dear." She replied "Yes ma'am." I whispered. "Loosen up dear, I won't bite." Sherry said with an amused smile on her face. Tyler gave his mother a warning glance. I decided that it was time to change the subject. "You have a beautiful home Mrs. Ander….I mean, Sherry." "Thank you! Well, we should probably go get some food. You look starving." I smiled. I was quite hungry. On school days I ate right before I walked out the door, but on weekends I had to squeeze meals in when I was doing something like a load of laundry. There had been days when I didn't eat until that night after all my chores were done. As they all sat down at the table, Sherry asked, "So Dana, How has your birthday been so far?" I didn't know what to say. Had Tyler told her about where he went every morning? I was thankful when I heard Tyler say, "Uummm Mom, shouldn't you go wake sis up?" "Oh yes, Julie will want to meet you too. We can talk more in a little bit Dana," and with that she walked out of the kitchen. "Sorry about that," Tyler whispered. "It's no problem. I just didn't know if you had told your mom that you come over every morning." "She knows that we meet every morning, but she thinks that we go on a walk together before school. I haven't told her about how your family treats you because I didn't know if you would want her to know." "It's not that I don't want her to know. I'm just afraid that she will either say something to my parents, or she won't want you to come and see me anymore." I didn't want to have to say goodbye to my only friend. "My mom wouldn't tell us to stop hanging out. In fact she would probably try to encourage you to come over as much as you can, but for now well just keep it a secret." I nodded and smiled. Turning to my plate of food I began to eat hungrily. A few minutes later Tyler's sister came into the room along with Sherry. "How is your breakfast Dana? Do you need anything?" Sherry asked me with a smile. "It's delicious! Thank you for inviting me." I replied "Well when Tyler told me that you weren't going to celebrate your birthday I just had to do something." Sherry and Julie sat down at the table and began eating. Julie was a beautiful girl. She looked about 17 years old, the same age as my sister. She had beautiful shoulder length brown hair, and sapphire blue eyes. "So…why weren't your parents throwing you party?" Julie asked as she took a drink of orange juice. "Uummm…Well… I've never really celebrated my birthday." "Is it something with your religion dear? If it is we don't have to make this a birthday party. It can just be a normal breakfast," Sherry questioned with a look of concern on her face. "No it's not that. It's just…Until now I've never had any friends to invite to a party, so I never really saw the point of having one." "Well from now you will be celebrating holidays with us," Sherry said with a grin. I smiled back at her and glanced over at Tyler. He had a smile on his face too. For the first time in my life I felt at home. After breakfast, we all went into the living room. I was shocked when Julie placed a present in front of me. "What's this?" I asked as I picked up the small, rectangular box. "Open it and you'll find out" Tyler said excitedly. I slowly began to rip the pink rapping paper off. Under it was a velvet box. When I opened the box I gasped. Inside was a necklace. It was a very simple necklace, but I still thought it was gorgeous. The necklace was a golden heart with a small ruby diamond in the middle that hung from a golden chain. I was speechless. "Tyler picked it out himself," Sherry said with a smile on her face. "I had some help from Julie." Tyler said as he blushed crimson red. "Thank you so much everyone," I whispered, "This means a lot to me." We all talked for a while longer. Julie had seemed very quiet at first, but as we started talking I really began to like her. While Tyler was talking to Sherry I quietly asked Julie where her father was. A sad expression crossed her face. "Our Father died not too long before we moved here." She whispered. "Oh…I'm so sorry." I whispered back. The last thing I wanted to do was upset them. They had been so kind to me. "Don't worry about it," Julie said as a smile replaced the frown. I was about to ask her another question when I spotted the baby blue clock hanging above the doorway going into the kitchen. It was 9:56. I turned to Tyler, "Tyler I think its time for me to go." I say to him as I stood up. He nodded, but Sherry said, "There's no need to rush off, Dana, why don't you hang around a little longer. I'm sure your parents wont mind." "I would love to Sherry, but I have to be home by 10:00, so I better go." I said as I headed for the door. "I'll walk you home," Tyler said walking right behind me. I nodded, "Thank you for having me over," I say as I walk out the door. "You come back soon, dear. You are always welcome here." I heard Sherry say as Tyler closed the door behind us. As I turned around to head home, I looked down the street only to see my family driving down the road. I grabbed Tyler's arm and yanked him behind the bushes in front of his house. My heart was beating a mile a minute. We sat there silently until my Mother, Father, and Nichole entered the house. Then we sprinted across the street and over to the entrance of the secret staircase. "I can go the rest of the way by myself," I say breathlessly as I enter the secret staircase. "Good luck," I hear him whisper as he closes the entrance behind me. I scrambled up the staircase as I heard my father yelling for me to come downstairs or he was coming up. As I climbed out of the staircase and closed the entrance in my room, I heard my father start climbing the stairs to get to my room. I swung my bedroom door open right as he got to the top of the stairs. "I'm sorry for not responding father, I was just…" He cut me off by yelling, "How dare you disobey me! When I call for you, I expect you to come no matter what you're doing." "Please forgive me father I…," he held his hand up to silence me. "I am so close to just…," He stopped suddenly, "Never mind… you are nothing but a burden! Now go do your chores." "Yes sir," I whisper as I quickly walk down the stairs to begin dusting the house and scrubbing the floors. The next day Tyler hurried into my room. He looked incredibly relieved to see me. "You're wearing it!" He whispered with a smile. I followed his gaze to my neck. Around it was the necklace that he and his family had given me the day before. "Yep, I am, but I have to take it off when I'm not up here alone. If my parents see it they are going to know that I broke one of their rules." "Did you get caught, yesterday? He asked as a concerned looked appeared on his face. "They didn't find out that I left, but I did get a stern yelling from my father for not responding when he called me." "Next time we'll just have to make sure you leave my house at least 15 minutes before your parents get home. "Next time?" I asked obviously shocked. Did he really think that I was going to risk getting caught again? "Yeah my mom said that you can come over anytime you want to." He said as he grinned at me. "We'll see," I said. We talked for a while, and then he went home. After closing the entrance to the secret staircase I headed downstairs to see what mother wanted me to do. For the next couple months I went to Tyler's house every Saturday for breakfast. It was so much fun! We played games, and told each other stories. Once I got to help Julie pick the fabric that she was going to make a dress out of. She was going to a big party soon. I had never seen so many sublime fabrics. Sherry said that fabrics were like people. Each one was unique. She said that our personality and the choices we make determine what fabric we are. I wonder if that applies to me as well. "Ready to go, Dana?" Tyler asked me as he opened the secret staircase. I finished tying my right shoe as I said, "Yep, I'm all set. Let's go!" We walked across the street to Tyler's house just like we did every Saturday morning. As I entered his house, I was greeted by the sweet smell of pancakes and sausages just like always. Julie and Sherry came out of the kitchen to greet us as we walked into the living room. "You're right on time, Dana." Sherry said smiling, "We just put the food on the table." "It's your turn to pick the game that we play, Dana." Julie said happily. "I think I'll choose…"I froze instantly. This couldn't be happening. As I looked through the big window in the living room I saw the one thing I had feared over the past couple months. My parents' car was in the driveway and the lights in the house had been turned on. "This is bad," I whispered as to myself. Unfortunately Sherry heard me. "What's wrong, Dana?" She asked in a concerned voice. "I…I'm sorry…I have to go," I was petrified! Had father noticed that I wasn't there? What would happen if he did? This was bad, very bad! "Dana what's…Oh no!" Tyler said as he dashed into the living room and glanced through the window. "Ok what is going on?" Julie demanded. The whole situation was clearly confusing and worrying her. "Uummm…well…I…" I stammered. "Whatever it is dear, I'm sure it's not that bad. You can tell us," Sherry said soothingly. I hesitated but finally said, "My parents don't know that I've been coming here every Saturday. They take my sister out for breakfast every Saturday morning. They get home at 10:00 exactly. That's why I always have to be home by then, but…but…they came home early. Who knows what they'll do when they find out." I shuddered just thinking of all the possibilities. "Now, now I'm sure your parents will understand." Julie said coming over beside me. Tears stung my eyes as I hear Tyler say, "That's the problem. They won't understand. The only time Dana is allowed to leave the house is when she is going to school, or getting groceries." Tyler's eyes held the same fear and panic that I knew mine did. I looked up suddenly and said, "Maybe they haven't noticed that I'm missing yet. If I hurry I might make it in time." I doubted that was true, but I hoped that it would convince them. This was my problem. I am the one who decided to sneak out of the house. I could see no reason to get them involved. They all looked skeptical, but Sherry replied, "It's worth a shot." I nodded silently and with that I was off. I bolted across the street and up the secret staircase. While closing it I heard my father yelling downstairs. "Where is that incompetent brat? She has crossed the line this time." I quickly picked up some dirty laundry on the floor and scurried down the steps. "Mother, Father, is that you?" I called as I entered the living room. "You!" They both screamed in unison "How dare you leave this house! I warned you not to disobey us! Now you're going to be sorry," Father roared. "Wait Father I..," I tried to say, but the look on his face showed the cold, hard truth of the situation. There was no getting out of this. "I have fed you, given you a place to live, and even let you go to school! All I ever asked of you was for you to stay in the house, and do some simple chores. Instead you deliberately break all of my rules, and then try to get out of it with those little whimpering, whiney excuses of yours." Father spat out. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my mother scurrying out of the room. Nichole followed her with a smug look on her face. "Father, I'm begging you. Please for…" I suddenly felt myself being shoved against the wall. Father had one hand on each of my shoulders. His eyes were filled with such hatred, and disgust. The thing that I hated the most was the fact that all of that hatred was aimed directly at me. I shuddered as Father's grip on me tightened. In the next instant I felt myself being thrown to the ground. A sharp, throbbing pain engulfed my lower arm as I hit the hard, wooden floor. Struggling to my feet I tried to figure out what I should do. My mind was telling me to scream at the top of my lungs and pray that someone heard it, but my mouth wouldn't obey. The only thing I could do was slowly creep backwards as Father inched closer to me. "I knew you were trouble. I could feel it the moment you were conceived, and that feeling has done nothing but grown as you got older! You are no better than that disgusting aunt of yours." Father mumbled before lunging at me. I was tackled to the ground with such a great force that the wind was knocked out of me for a moment. Kicking and thrashing was all that I could do while Father tried to strangle me. My thoughts were slurred and mixed together. The only thought in my head that was clear was that this was the end. Father was finally going to do it. He was going to get rid of me once and for all. All of a sudden I heard footsteps on the stairs. Had mother or Nichole snuck up there to watch? I watched Father raise his hand to strike me when another pair of hands grasped onto his. I was dumbfounded! Who could it be? In the distance I heard police sirens. Could it be? Had someone heard the commotion, and decided to call the cops? Sitting up, I glanced at the face of my rescuer. I was shocked to find that the person holding my fathers arm back was Tyler! "You ok, Dana?" Tyler asked. I simply nodded. I was too tired and confused to speak. A moment later the police barged into the house. By then both Mother and Nichole had joined us in the living room. Both of them had ghostly white faces. Father had sunk down on the floor. The police had taken over by then, so Tyler was able to release Father’s hand. A look of shame and defeat had crept onto his face. The rest of the afternoon was mostly a blur. Apparently Tyler had decided to sneak into the house and make sure I was ok. When he heard the racket downstairs he had used his cell phone to call the police and Sherry. When he talked to Sherry, she had told him to stay put until the police arrived, but when he saw what Father was doing he couldn't just sit there. The police interviewed each of us and then they took Mother, Father, and Nichole downtown for further questioning. After a medic looked at me, and said I just had a sprained wrist from being shoved around so much, I went over to Tyler's house to spend the night. One of the officers, Officer Groundling, said that he would stop by with a full report tomorrow afternoon. Getting into the bed that had been prepared for me, I said goodnight to everyone. I thanked them all before they walked into their own bedrooms. Gently, I lie down, and let myself be consumed by sleep. "Dana, it's time to get up dear," Sherry whispered startling me out of a dreamless sleep. "Just let her sleep, Mom," I heard Tyler say in the background, "She had a rough day yesterday." "It's ok, I'm awake," I said groggily while sitting up. "I've got breakfast ready if you're hungry. Nothing is better than a good breakfast." Sherry said while walking towards the door. "Ok thanks!" I said. I stood up, stretched for a minute, got dressed, and went into the kitchen. The breakfast was marvelous! We had scrambled eggs, biscuits, toast, bacon, and apple juice. We all laughed and joked through the whole meal, but I couldn't get my family out of my head. What if there wasn't enough evidence? What if I had to go back and live with them? What would they do to me? "Dana, are you ok? Do you need anything?" Julie asked with a distressed look on her face. "No, I'm fine," I said with a smile. We finished our meal around 10:30, so we all gathered around in the living room to play monopoly. About 15 minutes later Officer Groundling knocked on the door. "Well, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is not only is your father, Mr. Collins going to jail for child abuse, but they are both losing custody of you. That means you don't have to live with them anymore," Officer Groundling announced. I know I had a huge grin on my face. "What's the bad news?" Tyler asked. "Since we don't have any foster homes in the area you are going to have to live in the orphanage about 2 hours from here until someone agrees to take care of you. It's not the prettiest place on the planet, but it's better than the attic that you were living in." I couldn't believe it. 2 hours away! Were they really going to take me away from Tyler, Sherry, and Julie? "We better get going," Officer Groundling said. In his eyes I could see that he didn't want to take me away from them either. It was clear that he had no choice. I went and got my things from both houses. Before I left I turned to the 3 people who had been so kind and friendly to me. They all had depressed looks on their faces. "Well, I guess this is goodbye," I said as I turned to leave. "Dana, wait," Tyler said as he grabbed my arm. "Tyler…" I began, but he cut me off. "This isn't goodbye. I'll see you again soon, I promise." I smiled at him, but said nothing. Quickly I turned and followed Officer Groundling out to his car. I didn't want Tyler, or the rest of his family, to see the tears that were about to fall from my eyes. It was a long 2 hour drive to the orphanage. When we got there, the first thing I noticed was how melancholic it looked. The grey, brick walls of the building looked as if they could collapse at any time. The hinges on the scratched up, wooden door looked rusted and ancient. A few children were sitting on the steps that led up to the door. They were wearing ragged clothes that looked like they had never been washed. Officer Groundling led the way into the run-down orphanage with a scowl on his face. "I really hate to leave you here, but I don't have much of a choice," Officer Groundling said when he was about to leave, "I can assure you that Ms. Summerland will take good care of you." I glanced over at the woman that he was gesturing to. She looked as old and run down as the building was, but her eyes held kindness and compassion. Maybe she was alright after all. I spent the rest of the afternoon learning the rules, being introduced to all the other children, and doing simple chores. I had to admit it wasn't nearly as bad as living with Mother and Father had been, but I still missed Tyler, Sherry, and Julie. The next day I was called to Ms. Summerland's office after breakfast. I wondered what I had done wrong. Memories of the day that Father had called me to his office flashed through my head. Had I done a chore wrong were they kicking me out on the street? "Ms. Summerland? It's Dana Collins. You asked to speak with me." I whispered after knocking on the door. I waited for her to yell at me and tell me to get my butt in there, but she simply said to please come in. "Uummm did I do something wrong ma'am?" I asked. I could feel my hands trembling. "Of course not, why would you think that? I just wanted to tell you that your new family will be here to pick you up in 1 hour." She responded with a gentle smile on her face. "What do you mean my new family? Officer Groundling said that they didn't have anyone for me to go and live with." "They didn't, but last night not long after your arrival we got a call from a family that said they would love to adopt you. You're going to have 1 brother that's about your age, a 17 year old sister, and a mother that's in her late thirties." I was so excited! I was going to have a real family. The best part of it was that they had called specifically for me! I instantly ran into the girl's quarters to pack up my belongings. About an hour later Ms. Summerland escorted me outside. I was about to meet my new family. The bright sunlight outside temporarily blinded me, but when I was able to see again I could scarcely believe my eyes. There standing in front of me was Sherry, Julie, and Tyler with big grins on their faces. "But how…," was all that I could say. "I told you that this wouldn't be the last time we see each other," Tyler said with a mischievous grin on his face. "It only took us about 15 seconds to realize that none of us wanted you to leave," Julie stated. "So we decided that the simplest solution was for you to join our family," Sherry finished as they all walked up to me. Tears stung my eyes as I hugged them all one by one. "Thank you," I whispered as we all got into the car and drove home. I became part of the family. I was given my own room, Sherry bought me a whole new wardrobe, and I lived at their house permanently. The thing that made me the happiest, though, was the fact that I wasn't Dana Maria Collins anymore. I was Dana Maria Anderson. I finally had a family. For the first in my life I knew I was where I belonged. more

Resolved Question: How many receipt-less voting machines are used nation-wide?

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Resolved Question: Story i wrote for a contest please read and tell me what you think (im 14 go easy on me.)?

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Resolved Question: Need help with decorating a small living?!?

There is one larger window on the east side, and that is where the front door is, plain wall across from window, closet on the south side and a brick hearth (it was for a wood burning stove that we don't have anymore, possible to take it down) opposite from the closet. I have tan colored couches and a blue lazy boy. We are going to be getting new wood pieces (entertainment center and book case) so that color is free to pick for. We are getting new carpet too, so any ideas on what to get would be great too. besides that I have no idea what to do for window treatment or color for the walls. I was thinking beach theme or something soothing. I am not into eccentric colors. My family is very laid back and we have 2 small children (4 and 9 months) so it has to be kid friendly. Any ideas? or any sites I can see pics with? Help? We have been in this house for almost 3 years and I have no idea what to do. I am interior decorating challeged...:) more

Resolved Question: Do you think these parents should go to jail and have their other children removed from their care?

Abusing Children in the Name of God By Shawn F. Peters A hemophilic boy in Pennsylvania bleeds to death over a period of two days from a small cut on his foot. An Indiana girl dies after a malignant tumor sprouts from her skull and grows so enormous that it’s nearly the size of her head. A boy in Massachusetts succumbs to a bowel obstruction. (His cries of pain are so loud that neighbors are forced to shut their windows to block out the sound.) None of these children benefit from the readily-available medical treatments that might save their lives, or at least mitigate their suffering. Because the tenets of their parents’ religious faiths mandate it, their ailments are treated by prayer rather than medical science. The results are tragic. It is difficult to determine precisely how many children in the United States lose their lives every year as the result of the phenomenon that has come to be known as religion-based medical neglect. A landmark study published in the journal Pediatrics uncovered more than 150 reported fatalities over a 10-year period – a tally that one of the study’s authors later said represented only “the tip of the iceberg” of a surprisingly pervasive problem. Assessing whether forms of religion-related child abuse pose a greater risk to children than more widely publicized threats, such as ritual satanic abuse, a wide-ranging study funded by the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect concluded that “there are more children actually being abused in the name of God than in the name of Satan.” Since the late nineteenth century, hundreds of such instances of abuse have resulted in tangled criminal litigation. The parents charged in these cases – many of them Christian Scientists or members of small Christian churches that ground their doctrines in narrowly literal interpretations of the Bible – often have argued that the First Amendment safeguards their decision to adhere to their faiths’ religious traditions and treat their ailing children solely by spiritual means. Prosecutors, meanwhile, have balked at the notion that constitutional protections for religious liberty provide an absolute bar to state regulation of religious conduct, particularly when that behavior puts the safety of children at risk. Their task often has been complicated, however, by murky state manslaughter and abuse statutes that appear to provide exemptions for religious healing practices. Arguing that they were “Christians first, citizens afterward,” a prominent Christian spiritual healer once urged his followers to disregard secular laws that might compel them to forsake their religious beliefs regarding healing. Such is the dilemma that confronts parents who choose to treat their sick or injured children with prayer instead of medicine. Not only must they safeguard the health of their sons and daughters; they also must try to reconcile their devotion to God with their duties as citizens in a society that boasts a long and sometimes checkered history of regulating uncommon religious conduct. Defining these obligations through the enforcement of secular laws – especially ones that are constitutionally fuzzy – can be a complicated business. Moreover, there is no guarantee that it will deter devout and stubborn parents from engaging in religious practices that endanger the health of their children. But the alternative – simply ignoring the suffering of the youngest and most vulnerable members of our nation’s churches – seems unconscionable. Shawn Francis Peters’ latest book, "When Prayer Fails: Faith Healing, Children, and the Law," was published in October by Oxford University Press. He teaches at the University of Wisconsin-MadisonWhite Tornado: Why are you making this personal? Yes, I am pro choice and rather flattered that you follow my posts. I don't see a relationship between pro chice and this question unless it is that pro life interest and protection ends at birth. more

Resolved Question: Should I report this as child abuse?

Okay, a while ago I posted a question saying that if it's okay if a parent tells their child that they are "bad people", and if it's abuse or not. Well, the child is me, and the parent is my father. Other than that, my father is overly critisizing, cold, wouldn't show me love/affection, and today i just got hurt and instead of helping me he called me stupid/retarded. There was another time where I was in the car with him and he drove, and he wanted me to talk to him but for some reason I didn't want to speak to him. He then turned the wheel like several time to swivel the car, I don't know if he wants me to hut my head against the window or what. He has done that two times. My mother scares me so much, because she yells alot. She calls me names and when I tell her how I feel, she'd repeat what I say in a very mean, mocking voice. For some reason, I seem to get this treatment only and not on my other younger siblings. They invalidate my feelings to the point of me going insane. Help me.Oh, and my mother made me cry by screaming at a picture of a pitbull, a breed of dog that I'm very fearful of right now. Would you do that to a person who got raped? Like, if a picture of somebody's penis showed up and they screamed next to the victim, do you think it's funny? It's not. I was traumatized when a pitbull bit me.I'm sorry if I sound whiny, but I can't take it anymore. I had to go through this kind of stuff for years and years, and I just can't do this anymore. more

Resolved Question: Just another day in paradise? No, occupied Palestine, Nov 22-28th 2007?

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF): -- killed 11 Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank; one victim was extra-judicially assassinated; two others were killed by banned flechette shells that propel metal fragments on detonation for maximum destructive effect against human targets; an Israeli Air Force raid killed another five Palestinians in Gaza early Saturday and wounded eight others as part of its regular terror-inflicting operations the IDF complements with savagery on the ground; -- wounded 28 Palestinians, including four children and an Israeli human rights defender; prevented ambulances from reaching victims to provide medical aid and transport to hospitals; one or more victims bled to death as a result; -- conducted 12 incursions into the West Bank and two into Gaza; targeted in the West Bank were al-Bireh and the neighboring al-Am'ari refugee camp; Ramallah; Jenin town and refugee camp; Azzoun village, east of Qalqilya; and Nablus and neighboring Balata and Ein Beit al-Maa refugee camps; Gaza targets included al-Shouka village, east of Rafah; in all cases, civilians were victimized; -- conducted air strikes at locations in Gaza including against the Palestinian naval police in Khan Yunis and Hamas' Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades military wing; -- arrested 30 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank plus 12 in Gaza making the total number of arrests this year 2476 in the West Bank; year to date Gaza arrests weren't reported but may be comparable in number to the West Bank; as many as 12,000 Palestinians are in Israeli prisons under deplorable conditions, most are uncharged under administrative detention, and Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem estimates 85% of them are subjected to torture or abuse; Israel continues making more unreported illegal arrests than the number of prisoners theatrically released; most are near the end of their unjustified sentences; -- destroyed one house and razed 7 donums (about 2 acres) of agricultural land in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza; -- destroyed buildings and factories in the Gaza Erez industrial zone that remained after others there were destroyed earlier; -- allowed one patient to die because she was denied access to treatment outside Gaza; -- continued construction of the illegal annexation wall in the West Bank on seized Palestinian land; -- used force to disperse peaceful demonstrations protesting the wall's construction in Bal'eom village, west of Ramallah, and al-Ma'sara, south of Bethlehem; -- continued illegal West Bank settlement activities; -- allowed Israeli settlers to continue attacking Palestinian civilians and their property; attacks also injured 13 Palestinian civilians traveling in a minibus; -- continued to violently beat Palestinians attempting to bypass checkpoints to enter Jerusalem; this happens mostly on Fridays when they wish to pray at the al-Aqsa Mosque; -- seized the homes of three Palestinian families for use as military sites; and -- Israeli settlers attacked a Hebron school causing damage; they broke windows, uprooted trees, demolished walls and tried to burn down the building; Settlers also attacked a private home; they set fires, broke windows and damaged a car and barnyard; in both instances, IDF forces were nearby but didn't intervene as they almost never do in situations like this so settlers can freely terrorize Palestinian civilians.To jamand, if there were any incursions w/commencing Nov 22 you would have heard about it ....?israeli nukes VS palestinians stones , i just want a level playing field...easy for some people to just forget a week...easy to forget the last 33 day war started NOT because a soldier was captured, but the butchering of palestinian family on the beach having lunch , interupted by an israeli missle from a ship off shore.....oh how easy it is to forgetAGAIN, i only want a level playing fieldTo Simon K this ISNT my blinkered view as you put it, these are the FACTS of one week in palestine, to ugly for, the truth ?the time does matter! thats a weeks events imagine the last 60 years!sorry jamand the kill ratio is for every palestinian an israeli kills 8......totally one sided sick occupation!!! more

Resolved Question: Another week in Palestine Nov 22 to Nov 28th 2007....?

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF): -- killed 11 Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank; one victim was extra-judicially assassinated; two others were killed by banned flechette shells that propel metal fragments on detonation for maximum destructive effect against human targets; an Israeli Air Force raid killed another five Palestinians in Gaza early Saturday and wounded eight others as part of its regular terror-inflicting operations the IDF complements with savagery on the ground; -- wounded 28 Palestinians, including four children and an Israeli human rights defender; prevented ambulances from reaching victims to provide medical aid and transport to hospitals; one or more victims bled to death as a result; -- conducted 12 incursions into the West Bank and two into Gaza; targeted in the West Bank were al-Bireh and the neighboring al-Am'ari refugee camp; Ramallah; Jenin town and refugee camp; Azzoun village, east of Qalqilya; and Nablus and neighboring Balata and Ein Beit al-Maa refugee camps; Gaza targets included al-Shouka village, east of Rafah; in all cases, civilians were victimized; -- conducted air strikes at locations in Gaza including against the Palestinian naval police in Khan Yunis and Hamas' Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades military wing; -- arrested 30 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank plus 12 in Gaza making the total number of arrests this year 2476 in the West Bank; year to date Gaza arrests weren't reported but may be comparable in number to the West Bank; as many as 12,000 Palestinians are in Israeli prisons under deplorable conditions, most are uncharged under administrative detention, and Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem estimates 85% of them are subjected to torture or abuse; Israel continues making more unreported illegal arrests than the number of prisoners theatrically released; most are near the end of their unjustified sentences; -- destroyed one house and razed 7 donums (about 2 acres) of agricultural land in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza; -- destroyed buildings and factories in the Gaza Erez industrial zone that remained after others there were destroyed earlier; -- allowed one patient to die because she was denied access to treatment outside Gaza; -- continued construction of the illegal annexation wall in the West Bank on seized Palestinian land; -- used force to disperse peaceful demonstrations protesting the wall's construction in Bal'eom village, west of Ramallah, and al-Ma'sara, south of Bethlehem; -- continued illegal West Bank settlement activities; -- allowed Israeli settlers to continue attacking Palestinian civilians and their property; attacks also injured 13 Palestinian civilians traveling in a minibus; -- continued to violently beat Palestinians attempting to bypass checkpoints to enter Jerusalem; this happens mostly on Fridays when they wish to pray at the al-Aqsa Mosque; -- seized the homes of three Palestinian families for use as military sites; and -- Israeli settlers attacked a Hebron school causing damage; they broke windows, uprooted trees, demolished walls and tried to burn down the building; Settlers also attacked a private home; they set fires, broke windows and damaged a car and barnyard; in both instances, IDF forces were nearby but didn't intervene as they almost never do in situations like this so settlers can freely terrorize Palestinian civilians.How many more years to the Palestinians have to suffer ?To unclear....sorry but the 33 day war recently wasnt because a soldier was captured, it started because an off shore israeli gunboat butchered a palestinian family on a beach having lunch, the gruesome clip is on youtube, a young girl running around like a headless chicken looking at her dead parents...you want to see it....get your facts straightTo paper bac...you said the palestinians are pretending to be dead? youve given me the biggest laugh of the day , how blind are you more

Resolved Question: Another week in the cradle of civilisation....Nov 22 to Nov 28....?

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF): -- killed 11 Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank; one victim was extra-judicially assassinated; two others were killed by banned flechette shells that propel metal fragments on detonation for maximum destructive effect against human targets; an Israeli Air Force raid killed another five Palestinians in Gaza early Saturday and wounded eight others as part of its regular terror-inflicting operations the IDF complements with savagery on the ground; -- wounded 28 Palestinians, including four children and an Israeli human rights defender; prevented ambulances from reaching victims to provide medical aid and transport to hospitals; one or more victims bled to death as a result; -- conducted 12 incursions into the West Bank and two into Gaza; targeted in the West Bank were al-Bireh and the neighboring al-Am'ari refugee camp; Ramallah; Jenin town and refugee camp; Azzoun village, east of Qalqilya; and Nablus and neighboring Balata and Ein Beit al-Maa refugee camps; Gaza targets included al-Shouka village, east of Rafah; in all cases, civilians were victimized; -- conducted air strikes at locations in Gaza including against the Palestinian naval police in Khan Yunis and Hamas' Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades military wing; -- arrested 30 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank plus 12 in Gaza making the total number of arrests this year 2476 in the West Bank; year to date Gaza arrests weren't reported but may be comparable in number to the West Bank; as many as 12,000 Palestinians are in Israeli prisons under deplorable conditions, most are uncharged under administrative detention, and Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem estimates 85% of them are subjected to torture or abuse; Israel continues making more unreported illegal arrests than the number of prisoners theatrically released; most are near the end of their unjustified sentences; -- destroyed one house and razed 7 donums (about 2 acres) of agricultural land in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza; -- destroyed buildings and factories in the Gaza Erez industrial zone that remained after others there were destroyed earlier; -- allowed one patient to die because she was denied access to treatment outside Gaza; -- continued construction of the illegal annexation wall in the West Bank on seized Palestinian land; -- used force to disperse peaceful demonstrations protesting the wall's construction in Bal'eom village, west of Ramallah, and al-Ma'sara, south of Bethlehem; -- continued illegal West Bank settlement activities; -- allowed Israeli settlers to continue attacking Palestinian civilians and their property; attacks also injured 13 Palestinian civilians traveling in a minibus; -- continued to violently beat Palestinians attempting to bypass checkpoints to enter Jerusalem; this happens mostly on Fridays when they wish to pray at the al-Aqsa Mosque; -- seized the homes of three Palestinian families for use as military sites; and -- Israeli settlers attacked a Hebron school causing damage; they broke windows, uprooted trees, demolished walls and tried to burn down the building; Settlers also attacked a private home; they set fires, broke windows and damaged a car and barnyard; in both instances, IDF forces were nearby but didn't intervene as they almost never do in situations like this so settlers can freely terrorize Palestinian civilians.Isnt it time the world stopped talking about future talks and do something about this problem ?To Charon, if a missile had landed week commencing Nov 22 you would have heard about it ..? more

Resolved Question: Are you offended by people who don't want kids and like to keep events adult-only? Why?

I personally don't invite children to events that I host anymore. While I like children, for some reason, its either normal or in fashion for parents to raise, foster and even cultivate very bad behavior in their children. But a lot of parents take exception to this, as if they don't notice their children's behavior NO, I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT NORMAL CHILD BEHAVIORS LIKE CRYING OR ACTING OUT FROM BEING SLEEPY...IM TALKING ABOUT BAD BEHAVIOR! (like purposefully being destructive, using foul language, being over 5 but snatching or hitting, exposing their private parts, kicking or hitting the elderly, tearing down window treatments, taking their diaper off and throwing it at people, etc.)...THIS HAPPENED 4 YEARS AGO at an event.And I am not holding a grudge...i am holding on to my job. If it happens again, i'm outta here! more

Resolved Question: has anyone heard of this group called dogs deserve better?

i looked it up online and it seems to be an ethical treatment of dogs group. they are about not chaining up dogs outside stating that they deserve better. I totally agree but what i wanted was a way to write into this organization and ask them why one of their members feels that it is inhumane to leave a dog outside on a run or chain but it was okay to leave a dog in a hot car in a parking lot with just a window opened just a little bit while you are in shopping. ( just a note someone did call the cops to take care of the situation) i just find that people should think about their actions. you wouldn't leave a child in a car with just a cracked window. hopefully. more

Resolved Question: Opponents of the death penalty, who is getting the unusual and unfair punishment?

Two thugs walk up to a car stopped at a stop sign and drag the women driver out. They throw her to the ground. In the back seat is the women’s 15-month-old son, she tries to get her son out. The car jackers pull out and she is tangled in the seat belt, to get her off, they sideswipe fences and poles until she is finally knocked loose. She dies. They see the child and the passenger releases the seat and drops the seat and child both out the window of the speeding car, the child is rescued by a passing motorist who sees this happen. Found guilty they each get 20 to life in a air conditioned prison, with their workout room, basketball facility, paid healthcare, and dental. The have cable, and three meals a day. A system is set up where they can have free higher education, and a free legal system to pay for appeal after appeal, Worst case they can try for parole after 15 years. The lady’s father moves to another state, stating, how can it be fair for me through my income tax to pay for these two butchers upkeep and care, after they murdered my daughter and tried to kill my grandson. Now who is receiving the unfair treatment? This actually did occur I knew the man and his family. more

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