Thursday, February 14, 2008

Another Advertisement For Dating While Parenting

Carolyn Thompson of the Associated Press tells us about a case in which woman spent 13 years in prison after being convicted of strangling her 13 year-old daughter, and the forensic evidence apparently now shows the girl died of a cocaine overdose.

But even as the district attorney announced that the death of Crystallynn Girard was not a homicide and could not be prosecuted, her now 44-year-old mother, Lynn DeJac, insisted that a former boyfriend was responsible.

"It's not going to stay like this. My daughter was not a drug user ... My daughter was murdered. There's no question my daughter was murdered," she said, adding she has not yet considered whether to sue anyone over her conviction.

Great. So her daughter was either a druggie or was killed by being subjected to her mom’s extremely poor choice to date a murderous guy. Either way, she can now sue and get rich for being a horrible mother.

She was released from prison and her second-degree murder conviction overturned in November after newly analyzed DNA evidence placed DeJac's former boyfriend, Dennis Donahue, in the bedroom of her daughter around the time the girl died.

This kind of thing is much more likely to happen to your child if you are dating.

Donahue remains in custody awaiting trial in the strangulation of a woman in
1993 and has been described as a person of interest in a 1975 strangling. He
couldn't have been prosecuted in Crystallynn's case anyway because he had
immunity for testifying against DeJac in 1993.

Sounds like a great guy.

DeJac, meanwhile, said she was trying to put her life back together, including spending time with her teenage twin sons, who were born soon after she went to prison.

And who and where is the father of those kids?!?

When asked whether she felt at all responsible for Crystallynn's death she said: "I feel 100 percent guilty for leaving her home alone."

"Back then it was things you did, there were latchkey kids all over the place," she said. "I've paid in my own mind for doing that."

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Some Real Men Play Video Games

Dr. Laura is right almost all of the time. I know some people hate her because she thinks dismembering babies and fornication are wrong. And I know some people hate her because she is very direct and blunt, which is almost required with commercial talk radio's time schedules. And I know some people can't believe she'll actually tell the women who call her when they are wrong or when they otherwise have the power to change something... apparently, they want her to blame men only, or to magically tell the man, who isn't on the phone, how he should change things.

None of those things about her show bother me.

One of the things that does bother me is her disdain for video games, saying that it isn't okay for grown married fathers to play them, and that playing them is immature. I haven't ever heard her cite the content of the games when she does this. What she's railing against is the technology. Strangely, she understand thats men need "guy time", but she refuses to understand that video games can be guy time, either in person or through a network.

She did this again on today's show.

The problem here is generational. When video games came home, Dr. Laura was already an adult, and like most new technology, young people adopted it first and had the most free time to enjoy it. So she associates it with children.

I fail to see why playing video games is any more immature than playing cards or board games, pitching horseshoes, watching television or a movie, or going to watch a bunch of gay men sing and dance (theatre). As long as a man is not neglecting his responsibilities, why shouldn't he be allowed to do what he wants with his free time, as long as it isn't "immoral, illegal, or fattening"? I wonder if Dr. Laura ever goes to casinos and plays the machines there? They are just video games that cost more money.

She really, really, needs to get over this one. And so does Kay S. Hymowitz. It is highly irritating, and I'm not even a gamer.

Update: Mrs. B. Roth was thinking the same thing.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Other Ways the Airlines Can Make Money

United Airlines is going to start charging $25 for a second checked bag, and other airlines are likely to follow.

With that in mind, and with apologies to David Letterman, here are the top ten other new charges airlines will try:

10. $20 Each Time an Attractive Flight Attendant Brushes up Against You.

9. $50 To Not Be Seated Next to a Fatty, Kid 4 Years Old or Under, or Someone With Treatment-Resistant Tuberculosis

8. $50 For Not Showing “Alive” as the In-Flight Movie

7. $75 For Not Showing “Gigli” or “Battlefield Earth” As the In-Flight Movie

6. $15 Access to Seatback Slot Machine5.

5. $30 For sharing germs for Immune System Testing

4. $20 Bladder Endurance Testing

3. $35 Thrill Ride Turbulence Simulation

2. $100 Disasterless Flight Surcharge

1. $300 To Get Their Swarthy Actor to Put Away His Koran and Stop Chanting “Allahu Ackbar”