The crazy lady strikes again

Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie''s plot. (The movie review is being posted here if you want to rent Monster at your local video-rental place, or from a service such as Netflix.) Aileen Wuornos was lesbian and a prostitute who went on to achieve notoriety as that rare bird called a female serial killer. (Serial killers are stereotypically men.) Charlize Theron took on the thankless task of bringing Wuornos' actions to the big screen. Monster starts out by showing... Sign in to see full entry.

In February of 2004, I got a chance to see that favored statuette of the public, the Academy Award (alias Oscar). The actual Oscars being awarded that year were in Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, along with a miniature display telling fans how the Oscars are actually made. What you may not realize is that Oscar is made right here in the Chicago area. I doubt that Oscar's manufacturer had any idea of who would be getting which statuette; the ceremony was held February 29,2004, and the... Sign in to see full entry.

A former Blogit blogger (who shall remain anonymous because she let her membership lapse) made a very good case (in a blog she deleted) in favor of the thesis that our country simply doesn't value life enough to take murder seriously. The precise catalyst for her post was the link made by pro-lifers between abortion and murder. Pro-lifers feel that abortion really is murder, that there is no ethical difference between the murder of a day-old infant and the abortion of a freshly-fertilized human... Sign in to see full entry.

In this article on Snopes.com, the webmasters have found that there is some debate as to just what precipitated the fall which led to his death in 2003. It is well-known that Atkins weighed 258 pounds at the time of his death; however, there seems to be some feeling (at least on the part of the Snopes.com author) that much of that excess poundage was caused by fluid retention rather than fat. He was in a coma for a week, and they were apparently pumping him full of fluid despite the... Sign in to see full entry.

If I were to get US$1 million, on the condition I donate $250K of that (or 25% of US$1 million), which charity would be the lucky beneficiary of my $250K donation? This is simple - I'd take half that donation and give it to Habitat for Humanity, then I'd buy $125K worth of canned goods and paper products (paper napkins, paper towels, etc.) and donate those gifts in kind to my parish food pantry. They're always begging for things like diapers, pasta, beans, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter and... Sign in to see full entry.

The Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships is a book coauthored by Temple Grandin, PhD, and Sean Barron, both of whom are autistic. Grandin is a famed animal behaviorist (I don't know any better way to put it) who works with the meat-packing industry. (I won't go into detail about her job because she works with some fairly intense things that would upset the average reader of this blog.) Barron is a journalist. The title of the book summarizes its content well. Autistic people have a great deal... Sign in to see full entry.

Have you ever noticed that doctors speak a language unto themselves? I have had a passport to this unique foreign country - one you are likely to visit yourself in the future if you get sick - for the past 29 years. I would like to introduce you to a few aspects of its culture. First of all, there is a citizen named Gomer. No, this is not Gomer Pyle, but someone undesired by even the worst physician. His name is derived from the old saying "Get outta my ER," meaning that he is so ill that few... Sign in to see full entry.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the rabbi who wrote Kosher Adultery, has written this article on Beliefnet about why the straight American public is so fascinated with homosexuals (or gays). Frankly, he made many of the points I have made in my series of posts about male-bashing without realizing the connection between the two topics. In fact, he noticed something that I didn't even think about until I read his article. Those of you who watch Sex and the City with any regularity know how close the four... Sign in to see full entry.

Those of you who have been around Blogit for a while know that I am normally a prolific writer, when I write on this site at all. There have been times when I've been laid low by infection or some other cause - like all those hospitalizations earlier this year - but that's generally the only time I don't post like crazy around here. Well, guess what? I've got a massive case of writer's block. Specifically, I'm having trouble coming up with topics. I will be keeping an eye on this in order to see... Sign in to see full entry.

I read a story on AOL a few years ago about a man who was able to fool friends for decades by managing to maintain two families in long-term relationship to himself. He did this by using pseudonyms and creating the appearance of a philanthropic workaholic gone for hours most weekdays, taking what appeared to both families to be frequent business trips. He was only discovered when his original wife - whom he apparently married using his real name - passed away of apparent cardiac arrest in her... Sign in to see full entry.