No death penalty for child rapists.

I'm disappointed. Can we brand their crime on their foreheads, then? And castrate them?

Is this a Juno Effect?

Mayor denies pregers pact. Principal 'foggy in his memory'. Doesn't really seem to matter if there was an actual 'pact' - however that might be defined - but it definitely sounds like at least some of the girls were trying to get pregnant. I hope this isn't in some way related to Juno, which I thought was a fabulous movie. I watched it with my kids, and was a little uncomfortable with my girls watching it. I don't think it really glamorized teen pregnancy, but Juno is such a compelling character that she might make it seem a bit more attractive.

Speechless and sad

This kind of think really tears me up. I have two daughters and they're all I can think about when I read about this horrible act. I want to send them to self-defense classes and then lock them in their rooms.
I think we've become over-protective of our children in recent years. I have to consciously try to make myself let them do things that we never thought twice about when I was a kid - like walk to a friend's house a block away. I want them to develop a sense of independence and self-reliance, but stories like this - few as they are - make it harder for me to not smother them with "no, you can't do that".
Happiness will be a long time away from those families.

Forget Carbon Dioxide

we need to figure out how to turn down the sun.