Atkins For Chuang Chuang The Panda?

I'm sure I'm not the only person who knows someone who insists on treating their pets like humans in any and every way possible. Celebrating Bingo's birthday, dressing him up in cute little sweaters, the list goes on. We all know those people. However, this takes it to the next level. Poor Chuang Chuang has had us humans putting him on that low-carb Atkins-style diet, planning on showing him panda porn, and, get this- they even put together a traditional wedding for him and his hopeful mate, Lin Hui. All this, just to get the big guy in the mood. Poor guy.

Hear that folks? IF he did it- which, of course, he didn't!

Well, folks, there are just some cases that make so many of us wish that the double-jeopardy law didn't always have to apply... O.J. still swears he didn't do it, but in his book that (thankfully) got sent to the scrap heap, he went so far to explain how it could have happened- of course, that's IF he had done it. Which we all know he just couldn't have, right? Good Heavens. This article, from Reuters, discusses some parts of the book that were given, by an unnamed source, to Newsweek. The guy went so far as to describe driving to his ex-wife's house, how Ron reacted to him, who was with him, and plenty more, I'm sure. He manages to leave out the part where he does the deed, but I'm not sure why. Was he afraid to look guilty? In any case, there was quite a big ordeal about the publishing of this book, and so 400,000 copies were destroyed. It kind of makes me wonder, though; exactly how many trees were cut down to produce that crap in the first place?

Re: "Why (Most) Women Shouldn't Run"

Generalizations, anyone? This crap just astounds me. This guy has the physics aspects down okay, but women- even 'most' women, as the title specifies- is still quite general for the subject matter. Yes, women generally have wider hips than men, and, yes, wider hips can mean more potential problems, but, just like women, men's bodies vary as well. What about overweight men? Would it do no damage to them to run? Would it not have the same effect on men with wider hips? Low-impact exercises are simply less likely to cause knee injuries to anyone versus running, and other high-impact exercises, NOT just women. If you want to be general, you could try not to lean towards the sexist side of massive generalizations.

Ashley The Pillow Angel

I don't usually write commentaries on things outside of my own life, but this story is all over the news, all over blogs, and, for some reason, seems to be highly controversial.
There is a little girl named Ashley, and she is nine years old. She is well-loved and cared for, and generally described as happy. However happy she may be, or how much her parents and siblings love her, she is not like other little girls. Ashley has not mentally matured since she was roughly three months old, and there is, according to her parent's blog, zero chance of any change ever happening. Now, maybe we would all be unaware of this little girl's existence, had her parent's not cared so much for her and wanted to continue to care for her at home. They chose to have her uterus removed, as well as her breast buds, and to have her growth stunted by large amounts of estrogen. She will never have to go through the pain that reproductive organs can cause as they develop normally; no menstrual cramps, no periods, no chest pains from growing breasts. Nor will she ever have the chance of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and so many other problems that can develop. And she will continue to be a size and stature that is manageable for her parents to care for. She will most likely never have to be cared for in a nursing home by strangers, in a place she may feel uncomfortable or frightened in. As her parent's blog states, she is easily startled. None of this is what I find so interesting, though. There's a huge amount of coverage on this story; but most of it covers the 'controversial nature' of these procedures. We are not talking about a girl with downs syndrome, bipolar disorder, ADD, schizophrenia, or any number of other disorders/illnesses that so many people live with. This girl is unable to walk, talk, read, hold a toy, or in any way care for herself. She is fed through a tube. This girl will never have the intellectual ability to consider sexuality of any sort, much less reproduction. What, I ask you is so wrong with sparing this girl pain and separation from the people who have so lovingly and responsibly cared for her for the entirety of her life? Seriously, people, stop fighting the people that are doing what's best for their child and start being thankful for the fact that these parents care enough about their child to spare her pain in any way possible, with as little risk to her as possible. There are many people with children much healthier than Ashley, and some with totally healthy children that don't care for or love their babies nearly as much as these people do. To the parents of Ashley, whoever and wherever you might be, if you happen to read this; best of wishes to you and your three children. Know that there are people who support you.

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYBODY!

I had such an awesome New Year's Eve! Cris and I went out to a party last night at a friend's of his' house. It was awesome! Everyone was so nice. I got utterly toasted, of course. And, best of all, I finally got to kiss my husband at midnight! I have a feeling it's going to be an awesome year! I'm so happy! Cris's birthday is in 6 days, but he still won't tell me what he wants to do for it. He's so stubborn! My birthday is in 15 days and counting! Dad's birthday is in 11 days. January is such a crazy month. I hope everybody has a great 2007!!!