I belong to the school of thought that children are a gift. I have twins who are now 4 years old -- a boy and a girl -- and I am so thankful these miracles came into my life. I think all parents feel that way about their kids even when they are throwing a tantrum in the middle of the supermarket. Okay, maybe right after when the calm returns. And because of this love we have for our kids when we become parents, I am questioning why a white lesbian mom is suing the sperm bank for giving her a black man's sperm.

Jennifer Cramblett gave birth to her daughter Payton two years ago. She's healthy. She's mixed race. Jennifer and her partner Amanda Zinkon say they have racist relatives, live in an all-white town in Chicago, and fear her daughter will not be accepted because she is half black.

I think they should move. Get themselves out of Uniontown, Illinois. And attempt to school their racist relatives. Make a change. Be the change. There is a beautiful little girl that Jennifer gave birth to thanks to the miracle of modern science. And while I understand that the couple had requested the sperm of a white man and that the Midwest Sperm Bank messed up, a flashy lawsuit with media attention will only do harm to that beautiful child later in life when she learns all about how her parents didn't want a mixed-race child. I understand the sperm bank failed at their job, but I just wish this case wasn't flashed all over the news. This has to come back to the well-being of the child. Her parents are essentially saying they don't like who their daughter is or what she is.

What's that saying? Be grateful for what you do have. This applies to so many areas in our lives. What they do have is a baby who is now a sweet 2-year-old. A healthy baby. There are so many couples who struggle to have a child.

Jennifer and her partner Amanda have already struggled with adversity since they are gay. They said that their family had a very hard time accepting them, but they came around. Just as they should accept a mixed-race child. Part of the lawsuit -- they are suing for breach of warranty and wrongful birth -- reads:

[Jennifer has a] limited cultural competency relative to African-Americans. Jennifer lives each day with fears, anxieties and uncertainty about her future and Payton's future. Payton has hair typical of an African American girl. To get a decent cut, Jennifer must travel to a black neighborhood, far from where she lives, where she is obviously different in appearance, and not overtly welcome. 

I can't help but just feel overwhelming sadness when reading about this case. There is a living, breathing child involved here. With feelings. She is the center of this case -- the reason for this case. And because this child is half African-American, the mother is suing. It's hard being a parent -- but I know, with love, she can figure this out no matter what race her child is. She can start with Payton, and teach love, and that homophobia and racism is wrong.

I really feel that if this family lives in a town that isn't accepting of other people, they should move. If this family has family members who make ignorant remarks, they should not associate with those family members anymore or work on ways to educate them. This is a life we are talking about. I wouldn't want to raise a child in a racist environment; and I don't think this family wants to either.

Of course Jennifer and Amanda say they love their daughter -- and I fully believe they do. I'm just sorry they are failing to celebrate who she is because she wouldn't be Payton, the little girl they love, if she wasn't half African American.

What do you think of this case? 

Image via Qi Wei Fong/Flickr

It's a sad day when a story about a teacher who allegedly sexually molested his young students fails to shock. There are simply too many educators in recent years who have landed on the front pages of newspapers because of the atrocious crimes they've committed against young people who trusted them.

With that said, this latest story about a Brooklyn math and physics teacher from a prestigious school, who faces 36 counts of kidnapping and illegal sex acts against students as young as 13, is easily the most appalling one we've heard yet.

Sean Shayank, 44, reportedly engaged in a four-month sexual relationship with a teen while working at Brooklyn Tech High School -- the same school attended by NYC Mayor de Blasio's son. His victims also say he took one girl to a nude beach, took another to a gay sex club, and sent thousands of sex requests via text messages, as well as nude photos of himself to other students.

Shaynak is reportedly divorced with a 9-year-old daughter and has been employed by the school since 2009. The reports of his alleged sex crimes with students stem back to 2012 and only reportedly ended this summer, when police discovered he allegedly sent a photo of his genitals to a 16-year-old student.

Ugh. So, where do I even begin with the horrendous accusations against this man?

A 15-year-old girl says Shaynak took her to a nude beach in New Jersey, where he provided her with vodka, tequila, and whiskey and then let her pass out at his home (are you also wondering where in the hell her parents thought she was?). He reportedly exchanged -- wait for it -- 10,000 text messages with the same girl, in which he asked her to participate in a threesome with another student.

Slimy, creepy, slimy.

Wish I could say that was the extent of his alleged lewd behavior, but no -- not by a long shot.

Another student claims she scored perfect grades in his class because she agreed to sleep with him, despite turning in tests that were totally blank. Shaynak was reportedly carrying on an actual four-month-long relationship -- or as much of one as you can have when you're old enough to be the girl's father -- with a totally different teen and he allegedly took that girl to an out-of-state gay club, where she watched him perform sex acts with other men.

Wait, not finished yet.

He has been accused of forcing himself on an 18-year-old girl who resisted his sexual advances, sending nude photos to four students, two of whom were under the age of consent, AND terrorizing the "girlfriend" who joined him at the sex club. He took her on a "terror ride" in his car that ended with her hiding out in the bushes and him threatening to tell her parents about their affair.

And, just for good measure, police say they uncovered TONS of porno videos on his computer. Which wouldn't ordinarily be surprising, only these vids reportedly featured humans having sex with goats, dogs, and horses.

Of course.

This teacher could get 25 years in prison for charges that include second-degree kidnapping, first- and third-degree criminal sexual act, and first-degree sexual abuse.

Why would an adult do something like this = the million-dollar question no one seems to be able to answer. Maybe all we can do as parents is be extremely vigilant about monitoring our kids' outings and phone correspondences.

The only good news here is that it sounds like this person will face the consequences he deserves if he is found guilty of these charges.

Shaynak has pleaded not guilty. His bail is set at $1 million.

What do you think would be a fair sentence if this educator is convicted of these crimes?

Image © iStock.com/JuliaMag

A Texas girl who was kidnapped 12 years ago has been found and will soon be reunited with her father. Sabrina Allen, who was 4 years old when her non-custodial mother reportedly fled with her to Mexico, was found thanks to an international secret rescue mission conducted by the Mexican Federal Authority, the FBI and US Marshals, as well as an investigative firm. Sabrina's mother had reportedly dyed the little girl's hair and both had been living under false names. Sabrina and her mother, Dara Llorens, were flown back to Houston on Tuesday night. Llorens has been taken into custody.

Twelve years ago, Llorens allegedly abducted the girl and moved to Mexico at the end of a six-month period of court-supervised visitation period. Since then, her father and family have been diligently searching for her.

Sabrina is now 17 years old. She is being evaluated at a hospital before she will be returned to her father. But she has been found to be in good physical health.

In 2003, the pair were found in Mexico City but managed to escape capture. This time, the pair were under observation by someone working for a private investigations firm for two weeks before authorities moved in. According to the firm, Klein Investigations & Consulting, there was a struggle between Llorens and an officer, but he is okay.

Her father, Greg Allen, told KVUE:

I am overjoyed that Sabrina has been found alive and is safe. We look forward to being reunited very soon.

Wow, this dad certainly did NOT give up. Imagine a private investigator on the case for 12 years!

Who knows why Llorens decided to go this route other than through justice system channels, but this girl has definitely been robbed of a childhood getting to know her father. She's now 17 and is going to have a lot to process and get used to. No doubt this will be an agonizing time for her.

Hopefully she can emotionally recover with the help of her family.

Image via Center for National Center for Exploited & Missing Children

A senior at Dr. Phillips High School dressed up for school spirit this week on Tuesday but was sadly called to the office and asked to remove his "inappropriate" costume. The theme was "character day," and 17-year-old Jack Englund dressed up as Trojan Man.

The Orlando teen donned a red cape and a blue poster board, which he had decorated to look like a condom wrapper. His teachers were not amused by his cheeky safe-sex message, and after being sent to the office by his first-period teacher, the dean of the school made him take it off.

Englund said that he didn't think it would be a big deal. "I don't see how my piece of cardboard and cape are any more distracting," he said, comparing it to costumes such as Mario, Luigi, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

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High school student was forced to remove condom wrapper costume on character day. Hear from him at 11:14 on #WFTV. pic.twitter.com/LD39ognbIk

— WFTV Eyewitness News (@WFTV) October 1, 2014

School officials are declining to comment on the dispute, but district spokeswoman Kathy Marsh said that they may ban any costumes that could "cause an undue disruption to the normal order of classroom business."

The one thing I could possibly see working in the school's favor is that fact that "sexual wording and graphics" are a no-no in the school's dress code.

But other than that -- why ban the Trojan Man costume? It's not like he dressed up as an actual condom. That would've been icky. Or maybe if he were passing condoms out, they'd have reason to ask him to stop. You have to go to the nurse's office to get those. At some schools at least. No word on if this is one of those schools.

More from The Stir: Condom Dispensers Could Be Coming to a High School Near You

But seriously, in a day when sex ed is all the rage, and teaching kids to prevent pregnancy and STDs when they decide to have sex is basically all any health classes seem to teach anymore, why not let him dress up as Trojan Man?

It seems pretty hypocritical to decline to teach abstinence only and then turn around and ban Trojan Man from the halls.

Jack's mom, Sandy Pfau Englund, sided with her son, and said the school's reaction was "over the top."

"These are high-school students going to college next year," Englund, who happens to be a lawyer, said. "Let's be realistic. They watch a lot of things on Netflix that are a lot more out there than the word 'Trojan' on a poster."

They're not planning to sue, even though they believe it to be a violation of Jack's right to free speech. "All I want is an apology," he said.

Do you think the school was right to ban the Trojan Man costume from Spirit Day?

Image via m kasahara/Flickr

A high school football player from Long Island, New York, died last night after he collided with an opponent during a football game. This tragedy marks the third time in just days that a high school football player has died after sustaining injuries on the field.

Tom Cutinella was a junior on the varsity team at Shoreham-Wading River High School. A school district spokeswoman says the guard/linebacker was rushed to the hospital, where he underwent surgery and was placed in intensive care, just hours after he reportedly collided with a player during the third quarter of a game against John Glenn High School. Sadly, he was unable to pull through.

Cutinella has been playing football since the ninth grade and was probably beyond excited to have made the varsity team this year. His family says he also played lacrosse and was a member of a peer mentoring program. In addition to being athletic, he took his studies seriously.

To call this a tragic loss is an understatement. I can't imagine how his family and friends feel at this time and our hearts go out to them.

A discussion about high school football and whether it is truly safe or needs to be modified in some way should not be necessary here. We should be able to simply focus on the heartbreaking death of this one teen. Unfortunately, his is the third death of this nature to take place in less than one week.

More from The Stir: High School Kid Dies During Football Game, But Moms Shouldn't Freak Out

On Sunday, cornerback Demario Harris Jr. of Charles Henderson High School in Alabama died after rupturing an aneurysm in his brain, according to doctors, and his family reportedly believe this was caused by getting hit and tackled during a game. And linebacker Isaiah Langston of Rolesville High School in North Carolina reportedly died after collapsing during a game last Friday. His death was related to a blood clot, according to his family.

Do you let your kids play high school football? Do these tragic deaths affect how you feel about the sport?

Image via matthewreid/Flickr

It's bad enough that a woman is accused of abusing her 7-year-old granddaughter. But along with the usual horrible claims of abuse -- malnourishment, burns, bruises -- there is one truly bizarre claim that rises this case to a level of truly sickening. Geneva Robinson, 49, of Oklahoma, is accused of not only beating her granddaughter -- butdressing up like a witch to do it!

Robinson brought her 7-year-old granddaughter to the hospital, claiming she was uncontrollable. But soon it was Robinson who was in trouble, as doctors noted burns, bruises, and cuts around the girl's ankles that had become infected and pointed toward the girl being bound.

After interviewing the girl, authorities heard some very disturbing allegations. The girl claimed that her grandmother would dress up like a witch with a green mask named "Nelda" to abuse her. "Nelda" would allegedly hang the victim in the garage with a dog leash and tell her that "creatures in the attic" were going to come get her.

Neighbors came forward to defend the woman, calling the allegations "laughable" and "not true." One man who actually lives in the house with the pair (as well as three other kids) says the girl is troubled and denies that the evil witch "Nelda" exists.

Indeed the allegations are very strange -- and you can understand why neighbors might think them the product of a girl's overheated imagination. But doctors can see malnourishment, infected cuts, bruises, and burns with their own eyes. So if those things exist, then there is more than an imagination going on here.

Additionally, police said they found evidence to back up the girl's story -- including whips, chains, and a witch's hat.

They also felt there was enough evidence to charge "Nelda" -- she was booked on child abuse charges. All four children were removed from the home.

If Robinson is guilty of the crime of being an evil witch, she seemed to hide it well.

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Image via KFOR

It's really hard for me to imagine being a teacher and having a sexual relationship with a student. I mean, it’s not like I try to imagine this very often, but every time one of these sordid stories makes the news, my brain just shears away from the idea of a grown woman getting in bed with a teenager. Not that it makes it any less terrible for a male teacher to assault a female student, mind you. I guess the fact that I’m a female makes me try and make some sort of sense of it — was he extremely mature for his age? Was she unusually young? — and it’s just impossible. So bizarre, so creepy, so flat-out wrong.

An affair between one teacher and one student is mind-boggling enough, but here’s a story that will really curl your hair: two female teachers at a Louisiana high school have been arrested after allegedly having sex with the same 16-year-old male student. You guys, they had a THREESOME.

Shelley Dufresne, 32, and Rachel Respess, 24, have each been charged with one count of carnal knowledge of a juvenile and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile. The incident reportedly happened on September 12 after a Destrehan High School football game, when the three of them drove to Respess' apartment where they had sex.

How did school officials get wind of this illegal hookup? I’ll give you three guesses and the first two don’t count. You there, in the back ... that’s right, the student began “bragging to other students.” COME ON OF COURSE HE DID. What on earth were these ladies thinking? Aside from the whole part where what they were doing was morally wrong and one hundred percent illegal, it was bound to come out.

The student has told investigators that the encounter was consensual, and that the three of them had been involved in a relationship for some time. Reportedly, they documented some of their encounters on video.

I ... I just.

I’m sorry if I sound like I’m making light of the situation, it’s clearly awful and I cannot imagine what the parents must be going through. Also, there are other families who are impacted, because Dufresne is married with three children. She was in her 10th year at the high school, and Respess had been teaching at the school for two years.

They have both been suspended without pay, and according to the police chief leading the investigation,

Nothing surprises me anymore really, but I do believe it's lack of a better judgment. They should have known better.

Can you even believe this craziness?

Image via St. Charles’ Sheriff’s Office

It's almost impossible to imagine a world that is growing suddenly darker by the day, but that is just what is happening to 9-year-old Ben Thaden-Pierce of Denton, Texas. Born premature at just 23 weeks and a little over one pound, Ben was expected to suffer some vision loss over the years, but no one knew how severe the loss would be. The fact that he lived at all is a miracle.  

Once they realized how quickly Ben would lose his sight, his mom, Heidi, encouraged Ben to make a wish list of all the things he would like to see before his vision loss was complete.

Thanks to the efforts of an Alaska Airlines pilot, last week, Ben saw the Northern Lights in Fairbanks, Alaska, for the first time.  

“They were amazing, like watercolors painting the sky. It was really pretty,” Ben told TODAY.

Ben has had some amazing experiences since starting his list. While some of his wishes seem more commonplace, like seeing how ice cream is made or watching someone decorate cakes, they make perfect sense once coupled with the thought of never being able to see them.

While Heidi Thaden-Pierce says they are working to prepare Ben for the day when he will not be able to see at all, they are also trying hard to fill his head with images he can remember forever. When creating his list, Thaden-Pierce encouraged Ben to "shoot for the moon," knowing that some of the adventures might happen -- and some may not.  

"(We say) look, you can still have this incredible fantastic life full of adventures, you’re just going to read a little bit differently, since you’re learning Braille, and you’re going to navigate the world a little bit differently, but this doesn’t have to slow you down," Thaden-Pierce told TODAY.

From an Apple Store to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and NASA in Houston, Ben's family is making every effort to make sure Ben's visual memory is full as well as encouraging a zest for life I am sure he will have for years to come.

While it's hard to imagine going blind, it's harder to imagine watching your child go through the struggle. To work so hard at uplifting a child facing a world of darkness is beyond inspiring. I hope every family can take a page from the Thaden-Pierces' book and take the time to uplift a child whether struggling or not.

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What do you think of this of this family's response to their son's condition?

Written for The Stir by Michelle Kennedy Hogan

Image via Today

And now in parents behaving badly news ... a Utah woman has been accused of facilitating a drive-by shooting for her teenage son. According to police reports, Lisa Egersdorf picked up her 17-year-old son, Damian Garcia, from his Salt Lake City high school on September 22, and then drove him to a convenience store to shoot at some rival gang members.

Yes, apparently there are gangs in Salt Lake City. Who knew? According to a female juvenile witness, Egersdorf asked her son, "Did you get them?" after he fired several shots into an SUV filled with rival gang members.

The girl told police that Garcia had gotten into it with three men inside Granite Connection High School. After administrators broke up the fight, she left with him and two other minors and piled into Egersdorf's car, where Garcia allegedly told his mother, "Mom, they just jumped me."

The charges state that she then replied, "It's all right. We're going to get them."

That's when she drove to 7-Eleven, and witnesses say Garcia leaned out the window of the front passenger seat and fired shots into the victims' vehicle, a Chevy Tahoe. Although it was hit several times, no passengers were injured. Another unoccupied car was hit while the driver was in the store.

The teen was charged as an adult for six counts of discharging a firearm and three counts of aggravated assault. He was also charged with one count of reckless endangerment, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. Records show he has previously been committed to a secure facility.

Egersdorf was also charged with six counts of discharging a firearm and three counts of aggravated assault, along with one count of obstructing justice, and three counts of reckless endangerment. Previous court documents show that she pleaded guilty in 2013 to reduced charges of criminal mischief and attempted obstruction of justice, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

What a family. There is absolutely zero excuse for what this young man did, but it's not hard to see how he got where he is. As parents, we are our children's first example of how to live life and be a decent human being. They follow our example to a point, and it's our responsibility to be a good one. Not take them on a drive to shoot rival gang members.

Are you horrified by this mom's alleged actions?

Image via Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office

Parenting is never easy. And being the parent of a teen seems more challenging than scaling Mount McKinley. Short of beating your children to get them to behave, which is something I absolutely do not advocate doing, you do what you can when you can to ensure they make it to age 20 -- the finish line, as I think of it -- healthy and just a bit wiser.

One mom in Wisconsin might be judged harshly for the way she handled matters when she found out her daughter was cutting school. Basically, she followed her around and publicly shamed her until she realized the one safe place she could hide from mom was at school. Judge if you must -- it worked.

Jeannie Crutchfield is a single mother of three. When she discovered her 14-year-old was ditching class, she pulled a move that ALL teens fear: she showed up at Rickilee's school and videotaped herself following her daughter around. In the clip, the 34-year-old mom says, "This is what happens when my daughter Rickilee Durrant can't act right at school."

Rickilee blushes. She asks when she was ditching. And mom has an answer waiting: "Every day this week. And I can show you."

Oh. Snap.

Crutchfield then insists that her little girl hold her hand as they go from class to class.

Oh, and when she got home, she showed her daughter she meant business by uploading the video to her Facebook page.

Was Rickilee embarrassed? You betcha. But her mom's actions actually led to her taking school more seriously. And just to prove how kids really crave boundaries and rules even though they'll swear the opposite is true, Rickilee even admits she knows her mom had to care a great deal about her to go out of her way to do something like that.

I wouldn't think twice about doing something that causes my child a few minutes, hours, or days of shame if it means she'll learn that school attendance is not negotiable. Sure, I'd much rather she go to class because she values her education and not because she fears me, but at age 14, few kids are going to make the right choices for rational reasons.

It's nice to hear of a mom who is not afraid of her child and who doesn't treat her like a peer. At the same time, no permanent damage has been inflicted on this teen, and she will grow up always remembering how much her mom cared about her.

Watch it here:

What do you think about what this mom did?

Image via Christopher Webb/Flickr

Social media sometimes gets a bad rap, what with all the anonymous trolls and online bullying, so it's always nice to be reminded that there's a very positive side to it too. Like when a local news team shared a picture of a sick little girl and her lost blanket on their Facebook page, hoping that someone might find it for her.

Hayley suffers from Stewart-Treves Syndrome, which results in severe seizures and "significant delay." She had her first seizure at 3 months old and was given a special pink blankie by one of the nurses in the PICU. Now 8 years old, she hasn't let go of it since, and it's a cherished lovie.

"Every catastrophic event where we've almost lost her or she's seizing, that thing is always there so when she comes out of a seizure, that's the first thing she asks for," shared Hayley's mom Tami King.

The blanket even has a name -- Kiki.

When Kiki went missing, they were obviously beside themselves. Every parent knows that moment of dreadful panic when they realize a lovie is missing, and I can only imagine that it was even worse for this mom given Hayley's special needs.

Hayley's aunt posted a photo of her and Kiki on Facebook, and someone from KKTV re-posted it on the station's page. Within hours, it had been shared almost 800 times.

"I posted one to KKTV and someone re-posted it from there and then I started getting all types of messages," said Nichole Montanez, Hayley's aunt.

One person recognized that blankie. An employee at Woodmen Valley Chapel had found the blankie near some boxes in the parking lot and, assuming it to be trash, threw it away. Pastor Kirby Neely was quick to search the dumpster, and he found the beloved Kiki just in the nick of time.

"We were afraid that since it was trash day, it was lost for good," said Neely.

Hayley's family had visited the church the previous Sunday and were happily reunited with the blankie after a hospital visit in Denver. Her mom said she "could give [Neely] 100 hugs," and "he has no idea what he's done for us."

I think he may have an inkling.

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Do you enjoy hearing stories like this about the positive side of social media?

Image via KKTV 11 News/Facebook

Teachers are supposed to look out for their students. It's unlikely that any parent would argue with that. So, of course when a Phoenix elementary school teacher noticed that a 9-year-old was being harassed by racist bullies, she jumped in. But shockingly, coming to his defense got her fired.

Pam Aister said that some students were calling an African American fourth grader the "n-word" and "monkey." She confronted the bullies, telling them, "He is not alone. When you pick on him, you pick on me. It is not five to one anymore. It is five to two." After the mother of one of these alleged hooligans complained, Aister said she lost her job. Administrators said she was too harsh and threatening.

Harsh? Really? Let's consider what these students said. According to reports, they would sling barbs like, "You belong in a zoo," "stupid monkey," and "crackhead." And never mind the torment was so bad that the little boy had to move schools. His mother, for one, thinks the decision to punish this teacher is outrageous. "That makes me beyond mad because why is she being fired for something she is supposed to do?" she fumed.

She's right. Teachers are there not only to teach, but to protect our kids -- even from each other. Standing up for a bullied student should earn her an award, not a place on the unemployment line. By doing this to her, the administration is enabling vicious bullying and racism. Aister's supporters have since launched a petition on Change.org to have her reinstated. Here's hoping it's successful.

Watch more on the story:

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Do you think this teacher did anything wrong?

Image © Hill Street Studios/Blend Images/Corbis

The family of a 13-year-old girl who was declared brain-dead after she suffered from complications resulting from a tonsillectomy has threatened to sue if the state does not agree to void her death certificate. They say Jahi McMath, who has been on life support for nearly one year, is still very much alive.

Jahi's family says the teen has been responding to her mother's voice. In an effort to plead their case, lawyers are planning to show video at a news conference of Jahi following her mother's requests to move her body.

You may remember there was a great deal of controversy surrounding Jahi's family's decision to keep her alive after doctors declared the eighth grader brain-dead on December 12. Instead of keeping the girl on life support for an unspecified length of time, the hospital reached a compromise with the teen's mom, Nailah Winkfield: she could remove her from the facility, as long as she took full responsibility for her care. Part of their agreement called for the release of a death certificate and for Winkfield to bring Jahi's body back to the hospital if her organs failed.

It's unclear where Jahi is receiving care, but according to her mom, she is moving and responding to her requests. A neurologist is expected to discuss at a news conference how Jahi's brain suffered damage but still registers activity. Evidence from her MRI and EEG tests will prove the girl is not brain-dead, according to the family's attorney.

More from The Stir: Parents of Girl 'Brain Dead' After Tonsil Surgery Fight Hospital to Keep Her Alive

Maybe the death certificate is just a piece of paper to the state. But to this family, it means everything. Having that certificate revoked will help restore their faith in this young girl's progress. Nobody knows her like her mom, who has stuck by her side for months and never gave up hope. If she noticed her daughter's condition improving -- and if doctors can back up her claims -- there is no reason not to throw out the death certificate.

Do you think the death certificate should be revoked or do you feel like this family should let go of the matter?

Image via kate hiscock/Flickr

A pregnant woman is the very last person you should ever deny the use of a bathroom -- especially if she's in her third trimester. But Ilana Scheinker of Phoenix, who is just two weeks away from her due date, says her local Starbucks wasn't just being ridiculously rigid about its "bathroom is for paying customers only" policy, a barista wouldn't grant her the coveted restroom access code, even after her husband offered to buy "anything" in the store just so his wife could get some relief.

Like pretty much all pregnant women, Scheinker says she really needed to go, so she stopped into a Starbucks, hoping to use its restroom. She asked the Starbucks employer for the access code. He reportedly told her she had to buy something. When she protested that she was pregnant and REALLY had to use the bathroom NOW, he reportedly stuck to his guns about her forking over $1 million for a teeny cup of coffee.

No worries, Scheinker and her husband had no problem complying with the rule, she says, and her hubby even pulled a desperate man move: he gave his credit card to the worker and reportedly told him, "Charge me for anything."

Nope, still no good, according to the barista. After a disgruntled woman in line said she was about to make a purchase and that she would give the bathroom access code to Scheinker, the worker reportedly reached the end of his rope and ordered the couple to get out before he called the police.

If you feel like something is missing from this story, I'm right there with you. But, for now, these are the details we have to go by -- plus, it's not unusual to hear of a person who has sacrificed common sense for the greater good of ... I don't know what, to be honest. But, sadly, it seems to be the norm these days.

Scheinker says she was ultimately able to use the restroom at a Subway restaurant.

In the coffee company's defense, it admitted in a statement sent to The Arizona Republic that it had "failed to meet this customer's expectations of us, and we have apologized and are working to make it right." We can't fault a company that employs hundreds of thousands of people if a few of them practice poor judgment. I'm sure this worker would defend himself by saying he was sticking to the rules and was never told he could bend one, even for a pregnant woman.

With that said, some people seem to be so afraid of getting in trouble for doing the "wrong thing," they are failing to use their own good heads to make the right calls. Pregnant women NEED to use the bathroom. Like, desperately. Like, every half hour. Give them a break and let them buy a bagel AFTER you provide the bathroom access code.

Do you think this worker did the right thing not letting this pregnant woman use the bathroom?

Image via Jerine Lay/Flickr

Ghosts -- there are the believers and the non-believers. I'm not sure how you cannot believe once you see ghosts caught on camera. Or feel their presence, like Bill Cox did. Bill is a retired police officer who used to work in the homicide division, so he admits that he has seen a lot. He's also a devout Catholic and realizes he isn't supposed to believe in ghosts. But he believes. He really believes.

Bill is the transportation and security coordinator for the district the Elizabeth V. Edwards Elementary School is in. Nestled in Barnegat, New Jersey, the Edwards school was opened in 1930, but closed in 2004. It's haunted. Bill says there is paranormal activity happening. "It's not normal," he admits. It's not only Bill who has had ghostly experiences. There are other stories, plus the open lockers, the sneakers in the hall, the "help me" written on at least two different windows ... have me convinced there are spirits there or at least one very busy ghost.

Bill suspects that it could be the ghost of Lizzy Edwards, the school's namesake and the first schoolmarm who was a prominent educator in the town. Edwards died in 1965. Bill says the ghost is a good one even though she is scaring people with her antics. A good ghost? Our favorite kind.

One night when at the school building next door, Bill noticed lights on at the Edwards school, but when he went in to shut them off, there were no light bulbs installed in the room. Creepy.

Maintenance worker Art Walshe admits that he saw a ghostly woman with her hair in a bun and wearing a floral print dress. There was also another woman he saw wearing khaki pants standing next to the apparition. He believes he saw the ghost of Lizzy. During one of his night shifts, Walshe was on a ladder fixing something in the building when the door to the room he was in began moving and creaking. He was so scared he ran out of the building. Once he calmed down, he went back in to find that his ladder had been moved. Terrifying. That made him tell his boss he would only work during the daytime. But the experiences didn't stop. One afternoon he heard a phone ringing and he followed the sound to a rotary phone lying in the middle of what was the principal's office unplugged. Chills!

More from The Stir: Ghost Captured on Police Station Camera Has Cops Shivering (VIDEO)

Assistant security officer Thomas Topoleski reminds us that there were issues with kids breaking into the school but knows the difference between what some local kids would do and what a ghost would do. He heard 1940s music playing downstairs and followed the sound to a flooded basement. Ghosts. It has to be!

To fund the restoration of the school, the Barnegat Township Educational Foundation is of course hosting a Halloween event on site. I want to go! It's called "Restore the Gore" and from 2 to 10 p.m. on October 11 and 12. And coming up on October 15, the show Ghost Hunters is featuring the school in an episode called "A Textbook Case" on the Syfy Channel at 9 and 11 p.m. 'Tis the season to get scared out of your mind.

Do you believe in ghosts? What do you think of this school haunting?

The scariest news of the week? Without a doubt it has to be that there is a confirmed case of Ebola in the United States. The idea that someone may have spread the disease to unknowing people -- children included -- is just frightening. Now patient zero, Thomas Eric Duncan, may be prosecuted for putting those lives in danger.

According to The Daily Mail, the Liberian government alleges that he lied on an airport questionnaire about this health so he could board the flight to the United States. As such, they plan to punish him for that.

At issue seems to be one incident in particular. One of the questions asked if he had cared for an Ebola patient or touched the body of someone infected. He answered, "No." And now there is a report that Duncan carried a pregnant woman suffering from Ebola to the hospital who died hours later from the horrendous virus.

"We expect people to do the honorable thing," says Binyah Kesselly, chairman of the board of directors of the Liberia Airport Authority. When they don't, it clearly becomes a life or death situation for an untold number of people. At present, Duncan has been quarantined at Texas Presbyterian hospital. His girlfriend, her son, and two nephews are also under quarantine. The hundreds of people he came into contact with before developing symptoms are being questioned. Not surprisingly, people are furious at the thought that he left the country knowing he had been exposed.

Over 4,000 people have died from Ebola in West Africa in the last year alone, and agencies across the globe are desperately seeking a cure. While the idea that this man, who is so gravely ill, could possibly go to prison for lying on his form seems harsh, it could be a deterrent to others considering being dishonest in order to travel.

Do you think people should be penalized if they travel after knowingly coming into contact with someone infected with Ebola?

Image © Pete Oxford/Minden Pictures/Corbis

Abercrombie & Fitch has faced a lot of criticism over the years, mainly because of their hot, half-naked models. So this latest controversy may not be a surprise to some people. The popular clothing company is accused of discriminating against a job applicant whose conservative clothing violated their "look policy."

Samantha Elauf said that she was refused a job at Abercrombie Kids in Tulsa because she wore a hijab and that was against their policy. So the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued on her behalf and won. However, the US circuit court of appeals reversed that decision, so the case will be heard by the Supreme Court, which will rule on whether the company discriminated against Elauf's religious beliefs.

From a layman's perspective, the answer seems to be a resounding "yes." It's not as though she is wearing the head scarf as a fashion statement or even to make some political point. It is a tenet of her religion and that should be respected by all employers in this country. 

From Abercrombie's point of view, they did nothing wrong. They claim that Elauf did not inform them that she needed to wear the scarf for religious reasons, and since they were not informed, they had every right to deny her employment.

However, this isn't the first EEOC discrimination lawsuit the company had faced. A judge determined the company fired a Muslim worker because she refused to remove her hijab during work. That's just not right, no matter how you spin it. 

Do you think Abercrombie was wrong for denying this woman a job?

Image via Facebook

People are supposed to be able to tell the difference between fiction and reality, right? That's the hope, anyway. For instance, super popular murder-y shows like Dexter, the drama about a forensics investigator for Miami police who also happens to be a serial killer, should not "inspire" anyone to go out and be a murderer.

An English teenager has been sentenced to at least 25 years in jail after emulating the title character of that series, Dexter Morgan. Sixteen-year-old Steven Miles admitted to murdering his 17-year-old girlfriend Elizabeth Thomas in a case that the judge called "horrific" and the "features of which are rarely heard in any court."

Thomas was stabbed in the back of the head on January 24, and Miles reportedly used "tools and saws" to chop up her body in his bedroom. He then wrapped the parts in plastic wrap and placed them into trash bags.

The deranged teen was arrested the same day, after telling his sister that his alter ego made him do it about an hour after his girlfriend's death. "Ed made me do something bad," he allegedly said.

He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for at least 25 years.

"This is a case of the utmost gravity," said Judge Christopher Critchlow. "Nothing this court can say or do, no sentence this court can impose can alleviate the pain suffered by Elizabeth Thomas' family for death in such a terrible manner. There must be a life sentence."

The defense argued that Miles' affection for the show Dexter inspired the murder, but parents shouldn't be worried that TV shows are causing their teenagers to go berserk, because clearly there were some mental health issues going on. It's not normal for the voices in your head to "make" you murder someone.

It turns out that Miles had been diagnosed with autism, and his parents actually had him referred to mental health services when he began to hear voices and self harm in April 2012. By October 2013, he was judged as "having made good progress" and was discharged from the program. Three months later, Elizabeth Thomas was dead.

Absolutely heartbreaking that something like this happened, and to try to pin Miles' very troubled mental state on a TV show is totally unfair.

Do you think shows like Dexter can influence someone to murder another person?

Image via Surrey Police

A really mean man has been charged with disorderly conduct after a raucous fight with his wife in which he committed a cardinal sin: the creep allegedly called her "fat" TWO DAYS after she gave birth to their daughter.

And, according to the report, it's not like this guy just said a dumb thing in the heat of the moment and couldn't take it back and is usually a peach of a person. When you hear about how 31-year-old Joshua McCall of Georgia treated the new mom, it will make you either run and hug your husband or praise the Lord that you are single.

The Columbia County Sheriff's report states that after the couple's dog pooped in their house, McCall reportedly told his wife to clean it up and "quit being lazy and burn some calories." When she protested that she had just given birth two days before that, he reportedly told her he was going to leave her because she was fat.

And you can forget about this woman getting any help from her husband while he was on paternity leave. Apparently, he informed her that he only took days off so he could have a vacation.

How mean!

You can imagine how difficult it must have been for this woman -- who is still recuperating from child birth, for god's sake -- to up and leave with her newborn. But let's all give her a much-deserved round of applause because that's just what she did. Good for her!

However, when she called police and told them she needed to go back to their house to retrieve a few items and their dogs, McCall reportedly told cops he didn't know why his wife was so upset -- that she was "probably having female problems." When his wife explained to him that he didn't take care for their pets and that's why she wanted them, he allegedly told her in front of their neighbors to "go f*** yourself," at which point police arrested him.

And the jerk-of-the-week award goes to ...

What would you have done if you were this woman?

Image via Columbia County Sheriff's Office

A man was reportedly been killed because he "poked" a friend's girlfriend on Facebook. The man, Richard Rovetto, died after an argument in which his pal, Scott Humphrey, reportedly punched him several times during an argument over why he "poked" his friend's girlfriend. Rovetto, who was a father of one, apparently died after several punches, and the "death blow" occurred after he hit his head on the ground.

The argument over the "poke" occurred in Nottingham, England, and started after the pair were coming back from a stag party. Apparently they began going at it in a cab, but then the fight continued after they got out of the cab.

The court heard how Humphrey asked Rovetto, "If you're such a good friend why did you poke my missus?"

The prosecutor argued that Humphrey accused his pal in the cab of contacting his girlfriend in the past, and then more recently sending her a poke -- which he interpreted as being flirty. Rovetto denied he knew it was the man's girlfriend -- but obviously Humphrey wasn't buying that excuse.

Damn, people get so insane about Facebook. This isn't the first time we've heard of people getting into deadly arguments over a Facebook thing. Usually it's some kind of wall post or relationship status change. This is the first I've heard of a poke triggering someone's death. I didn't even know pokes were considered to be a flirtation. Occasionally I've gotten pokes and ignored them. Once I asked a man why he was "poking" me and what it meant. He replied, "I have no idea."