From UPI: But the Douglases [Michael and Catherine] are people who occasionally do go to work, on movie sets, where they're likely to notice some minimum-wage production assistants bringing them coffee. They presumably have a state-of-the-art entertainment center that does receive CNN. I presume they've occasionally been sent a script that has actual working-class people in it. In other words, they must know, at some level, that "some people in this room" who think $1.6 million is more than a pittance represent approximately 99.9 percent of the people in the world.

To put that $1.6 million in perspective: If you placed that money in the lowliest passbook savings account, the kind the Douglases will never have because it's for people who only have $500 to start with, and you get the lowest interest rate paid anywhere in the world -- currently around 1.8 percent -- you earn $28,800 a year, enough for some families to survive on.

The idea that 1.8 percent of what they call a pittance is a living wage somewhere, and that they don't realize it, is a testament to just how divided by class we've become. (More also found at "The Daily Dish".)

posted at 03:56 AM | link--it | mail it | (4) shout it

What not to say to a couple following a miscarriage*:


1. "Well, nature takes care of her mistakes." The day before, oblivious to any problem they had been excitedly planning their baby's future. They loved it, anticipated it, were excited and thrilled. They imagined their baby, thought up names...looked forward to it. It was never a mistake to to them.
   
   
2. "At least you didn't get to know the baby." That baby was carried inside it's mothers body. How can any relationship be any stronger or more intimate?
   
   
3. "Now you have angel looking after you..." They didn't want an angel - they wanted their child.
   
   
4. "It's for the best." How exactly? Isn't the best a successful, healthy pregnancy?
   
   
5. "You are young you can have other children." This child was a person. It can not be replaced. You would not tell a grieving child, "Don't worry, your mom is young. She'll marry you a new dad." They don't want another baby. They wanted this baby. And you don't necessarily know for sure if they can have another child.
   
   
6. "I know how you feel." If you have never lost a child, you do not know how they feel. Everyone feels their grief uniquely. (Edited by Robyn: I just wanted to say again that I did not write this list. And if you've had a miscarriage, stillbirth, or lost a child yourself, it most certainly does not apply to you. You have our deepest sympathies.)
   
   
7. "You should be over it by now..." It doesn't matter how long it's been. You do not ever just get over it.
   
   
8. "You should be happy it didn't suffer." Of course they didn't want their child to suffer. They wanted a completely healthy and happy child.
   
   
9. "It's nature's way of getting rid of something that was deformed." The couple probably prefers to think of their child in memories as beautiful and perfect, not deformed. That perfect child is the one they are now grieving for in their hearts and minds.
   
   
10. "At least it didn't live a few hours and then die, that would have hurt worse." Maybe they would have loved to have had the opportunity to hear their baby's cry, to see the color of their eyes and hair, and to tell them how much that they loved and wanted them face-to-face.
    
    
11. "You're young, you'll get over it." What does age have to do with pain?
    
    
12. "Good luck to you." The couple is feeling anything but lucky at this moment.
    
    
13. "It could've been worse, it could've happened later." Things can ALWAYS be worse. And later term pregnancy losses are more traumatic in many instances. But this can make them feel as if the loss and sadness are totally dismissed. There's never a good or easy time to lose a child.
    
    
14. "Have you ever thought of not having children?" Yes, they probably have. They realize that they may never be parents now more than ever.
    
    
15. "It was Gods will...God wanted the child with him...God needed another flower in his garden...etc." Such comments can have the effect of making a parent very angry and bitter with God, which may block a possible source of comfort. Religion is very personal.
    
    
16. "God never gives you more than you can bear." Well this seems pretty unbearable at the moment.
    
    
17. "Count your blessings that you didn't have it." They may be finding it hard to find the blessings in anything right now.
    
    
18. "What is God trying to tell you with this?" This implies God killed their baby to teach them a lesson. The couple believes God loved their child as much as He loved them.
    
    
19. "You can try again soon." The furthest thing on most couple's minds right immediately after a miscarriage is the ability to try again. And trying again will not replace the child they lost.
    
    
20. "At least you know you can get pregnant." Well, yes -- this time. But what about in the future? Do you know she will be able to get pregnant again for sure? Her doctors might not.


* Not my own words. Complied via Google searches.

You do not know how I feel --
Please don't tell me that you do.

There's just one way to know --
Have you lost a child too?

"You'll have another child."
Must I hear this each day?

Can I get another mother, too,
If mine should pass a way?

Don't say it was "God's will" --
That is not the God I know.

Would God on purpose break my heart,
Then stand back and watch as my tears flow?

"You have an angel in Heaven --
A precious child above."
But, tell me, to whom here on earth
Shall I give this love?

"Aren't you better yet?"
Is that what I heard you say?
No! A part of my heart still aches --
And I'll always feel some pain.

You think silence is kind,
But it hurts me even more.
I want to talk about my child
Who has gone through death's door.

Don't say these things to me,
although you do mean well.
They don't take my pain away;
For I must go through the hell.

I will get better slow but sure
And it helps to have you near,
But a simple, "I'm sorry you lost your child."
Is all I need to hear.

-Author Unknown
posted at 06:46 PM | link--it | mail it | (75) shout it

Band Sausages -- where you take two or more bands and combine their names together to make a whole new band. Example: The Beastie Boyz II Men, The Crystal Methods Of Mayhem, Grateful Dead or Alive. Get it? There's no real hardcore rules. Be creative. Squeeze as many bands as you can in, like this person did the last time I played this game: Shakespear's Sisters of Mercyful Fate's Warning.

posted at 09:07 PM | link--it | mail it | (12) shout it

1. So what is it about Trista that sends all the booted bachelorette contestants straight to the local dealer?
   
2. Like a Virgin...arrested for the very first time. Man, she looks like hell lately!
   
3. What does it say about me that these headlines make me so incredibly happy? $2000 on flowers to make up? The boy needs help. But go Cris Judd!
   
4. PETA has released a "worst-dressed list". Like we're supposed to care...
   
5. Joe Millionaire is in talks to play "Superman"? Heaven help us...

posted at 08:40 PM | link--it | mail it | (8) shout it