The worst part about this kind of abuse is that the scars aren't visible.

I'm going through my own separation now from a man who's emotionally abusive (though I still believe it's unintentional and it's just a sign of his own mental illness that he refuses treatment for. But anyway.)

I had a very similar experience to this when I was 19 with a guy named "Nick". I used to write a semi-popular online journal (from 1997-2001) and he was a fan whose emails really touched me, so we started chatting over ICQ.

Hey Jezzies:

Exactly this.

That's how I read it too: it reads, to me, as way more "His mom's a DRUNK SLUT! That's why she slept with a black guy! She was gang banged and fucked anything that'd move!" than "Black people are dogs/subhuman."

I could't giggle at the pretzel thing; too many people choke on food daily—and die from it—for me to find it funny. But that's just me.

That's one of those points that so many of my friends, regardless of political beliefs, do not understand.

Not being judgey, just being curious because it came up in discussion recently:

As I replied to a few people above, I have a first-person account of La-a. And, the reason why in her particular case was that her mother was a Crack addict who had her infant taken off of her by DYFS. In my experience, Crack addicts don't tend to register their children with SSN, but if you have access to a Birth…

Just replied below to @PonyOfAllTrades regarding my first person account of a child named La-a. Work for DYFS/CPS in a very urban area and a lot of so-called "urban legend" names will become a part of your caseload.

Actually, I used to work in the court system in Camden, NJ. Once, when pulling COP (certificate of parentage—signed by fathers when they're not married to the mother to certify that they are the biological father) I found that the baby whose name I'd spelled in the computer as "Ladasha" was actually spelled "La-a."

I know I do this on every article about Target, but fuck it, I'm doing it again:

I've had the Oral-B Vitality for quite some time and not had a problem, though I did switch back to a manual brush recently because I've woken up one too many mornings and found I've let the charge run out....

1. She wasn't actually vetted.

I hope she runs as a third party/"Tea Party" candidate. It'll divide the Evangelical and Neo-Con votes between her and whichever candidate (Frothy, Mittens, or Newt) actually runs enough to just slide Obama right into the White House again, easy peasy.

My aunt is a Republican. She's a religiously conservative Christian is anti-abortion, anti-GLBT rights, anti-premartial sex, and believes in a host of other Neo-Con virtues. Hell, she's a Rick Santorum supporter, for fuck's sake! She and I can't even sit together at Thanksgiving without one of us picking a fight with…

UTIs are no joke. Seriously, ladies, always pee after sex and keep yourself hydrated! UTIs are nothing to fuck around with. They can kill you.

31 and never had a yeast infection. Had a UTI once, when I was 20—ever since, I've been religious about peeing after sex and haven't had another since.

Also, "a stopped clock" and all of that.