You'd be forgiven for thinking it's Halloween. In fact, Twilight madness is upon us once again, with the release of Breaking Dawn, the final installment of the adaptations of Stephenie Meyers vampire books.
Twihards, as they're known -- many of whom aren't tweens but moms -- are out in full force, travelling to the saga's settings and sucking up related merchandise. And no baby is safe. Onesies labeled "Team Jacob" and "Team Edward", complete with bloody lips and claw marks. How about hand-painted, fang-motif pacifiers.
Is the fanfare, reminiscent of the musical cult classic, Rocky Horror Picture Show, harmless fun, in the spirit of the movie, or just bad taste? Would you deck your babe out in Twi-gear?
For the record, this yummy is Team Edward.
So much blind faith goes into leaving your preschooler in someone else's care, even for a couple hours. It can't be that hard, you figure. Your child will have a snack, sing some songs, build a tower, maybe. Think again.
In recent months, tots have been drugged and managed to escape daycares. And what if you picked up your child, only to find they'd been altered? That's exactly what happened to Eloise Cardenas. When she picked up her five-year-old daughter, Mia, from Dallas-based Marquita KinderCare recently, her daughter was wearing earrings.
Incredulous, Cardenas discovered that another teacher at the school had pierced Mia's ears, which were red and sore, according to the Star-Telegram.
Although Mia had previously had her ears pierced, she'd stopped wearing earrings two years ago, leaving the holes to heal. Then it was some teacher's bright idea to re-pierce the child's ears.
When confronted, the teacher in question said the child had given her permission. Call me crazy, but since when does a five-year-old hold such decision-making power? Notwithstanding the fact that the needles probably weren't sterilized (or that the teacher had needles or piercing gun in her classroom in the first place!)
Needless to say, Cardenas has filed a report with Fort Worth police, while the KinderCare teacher has merely been "disciplined" -- code for written up.
How would you react if it was your child? I think I would start by pulling mine from the school. Or is it a case of a bad egg spoiling the bunch.
It would be funny if it wasn't so ridiculously sad. Not only will the women of Saudi Arabia need to cover up their bodies and faces when in public, women unfortunate enough to have "sexy eyes" will soon have to cover them up, too, lest they tempt Saudi men.
Saudi Arabia's Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Sheikh Motlab al Nabet hopes to pass a law that would force women with "sexy eyes" to conceal them in public.
Currently Saudi women must wear a long black robe called "abaya" which leaves only a slit-like space to enable them to see. Those who appear in public without the "abaya" are punishable with fines and public flogging.
As absurd as it sounds, according to the Daily Mail, a member of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice suggested the law after a "fell to the wiles of a woman with sexy eyes." His straying glance led to a fight in which he was stabbed in the hand by the woman's husband.
Founded in 1940, the Committee is essentially the morals "watchdog" of Saudi Arabian society, ensuring that it keeps to the strict morality of Koranic laws.
Not only is the Committee responsible for the women's driving ban, it refused to evacuate girls from a burning school fearing that the mere sight of the "immodestly" dressed girls in the holy month could cause men to sin. In the end, 15 girls died in the blaze while the Committee considered the best means to move them without tempting the men.
Apparently the Committee has the full backing of the state. In fact, King Abdullah recently gave an extra 200 million riyals ($53 million) to the Committee, to perform its duty of promoting virtue and preventing vice.
Feminism, what? I know dogs who get treated better than this. Even those with nice eyes...
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