Sick Joke!

OK.  This botox-beauty-pageant-momma-that-wasn't story?  Give me a break!

Of course, by now, you will have heard that this woman coped to the fact that she made it all up, for a substantial fee form some British tabloid.  Again, Give me a break!  So this woman lied to everyone, and coerced her 8 year old daughter to lie right along with her.  To me, that still constitutes child abuse.  Definitely its neglectful--she is not teaching her daughter how to be a positive, upright citizen.  She is teaching her to be a lying, greedy, media-grubbing cheat.

It makes me sick, and more than a little sad.

In my own extended family, I have seen the beginnings of a similar incident.   A parent, in an attempt to hurt the opposite parent, coached the child to lie.  In our family's case, it was in a court of law.  There is no respect of the other parent being taught, no respect for the authority of police being taught and certainly no respect for the child's own sense of self.

In a world where people will flagrantly text while driving a car, and the San Francisco city council is trying to outlaw circumcision for anyone under the age of 18 for any reason, and if you want to be "rich and famous" you just have to do something outrageous on video--it makes me wonder what our society is really in for.  It can't be good.

Teaching kids to lie must just be part of the deviation society is accepting easier and easier.  Still, it makes me sick.

Great Expectations

Yesterday I received three separate high school graduation announcements.  These were from two neighborhood kids--one whom I was able to work with on our Stake Youth Committee last year.  The third was from a young woman who had asked me to write her a letter of recommendation in part of her application to the US Naval Academy.  (She was accepted, by the way.)

I love that I get to work with such terrific kids, like these three I heard from yesterday.  I am astounded by their innate goodness and their wishes to do good wherever they are.  They are motivated and conscientious.  They work hard and excel at the things they are doing.  And those things are as varied as the kids themselves.  I have seen seen them participate in athletic, music, academic, charity and dramatic endeavors.  In every case, they are achieving their goals and learning and growing as they do.

They make me want to be better too.

Our HS will hold its graduation on June 2nd.  I have so many young friends crossing into the adult rhelms of their life that day.  I am proud of each one of them.  And I count myself very blessed to know them and to have worked with them as they matured and developed their leadership skills and testimonies.  I wish them much luck as they begin their next chapter and move into that next phase.  There is so much ahead of them.  I can't wait to see the fantastic things they will pull off.

Awwww...

Yin and Yang...Hot and Cold...Black and White....Positive and Negative...Sunny and Rainy.  Wait.  It is rainy enough.  I am ready to get rid of the rain and just have the sun.  For crying out loud, It is MAY!  All this cold, wet weather makes me just want to curl up with a friend and take a nap.  Wish I had a pet.

Pent Up

I realize that I have not written much lately about anything of significance.  There is a reason for that.  I have had several current events issues that I have had strong feelings about but just couldn't bring myself to write about them as I worried the topics would bring me to the edge of reason and, truthfully, I thought I might just swear about them.  And really, that is not such a great "Young Women Leader-y" thing to do.

But let's think about some of the recent stories that have made the news:

1) The mother who gave her 8 year old beauty pageant daughter botox?!  http://abcnews.go.com/US/california-daughter-injected-botox-longer-custody-mom/story?id=13611279

WHAT, exactly can I say about this?!  I did hear on the radio yesterday that Child Protective Services has removed the child from her mother.  Go CPS!

2) The AP Psych teacher who gave his HS students a test laced with sexual innuendo?!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/14/frank-rozanski-sexual-quiz_n_835584.html

The Girl actually brought this one to my attention, as she heard it on the way to school in her carpool.  And it made her really uncomfortable.  Uh.  Yeah, it did.  Makes me uncomfortable too. 

3) The two car crash caused by the woman who was shaving her bikini area WHILE she was driving?
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20000176-504083.html

OK.  This one made me laugh, out loud.  But the funnier bit was the commentary written about it by Celia Riverbank in a southern daily newspaper.

Well, there are some things you just have to laugh about, and others you can get really angry over.  It doesn't really change anything.  But my blood pressure sure looks better after the laughing.

A LibriVox Recording Is Now In The NetFlix Que

I recently began a new audio book on my iPod.  I listen as I walk/jog or while I am stuck at home doing mundane chores in the house.  There are several free audiobook recordings--particularly the Librivox recordings of works in the public domain.  This new novel is one of those. 

I am listening to The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baronness Orczy in 1903 for the theater, and then as a novel in 1905.  It is like the Anti-Les Miserables.  The "reign of terror" but through the eyes of an aristocrat sympathizer.

I remember hearing friends talk about the film version starring Jane Seymour and thought they were crazy.  But I am beginning to enjoy the story so much, I will have to watch.  I'd better request it on NetFlix, since Hollywood Video and Blockbuster have gone the way of the dinosaurs.

But in the meantime, I am quite happy to listen to a few chapters at a time, for free.  Makes me anxious too to see what other undiscovered treasures I can find for my iPod.

Video Sunday