Pure Delusion

If Mary Kay LeTourneau thinks for one minute she will ever teach students ever again, she needs to be locked up in a nuthouse.

She and the husband she sexually abused when he was only 13 years old and she was a former teacher of his are going on 20/20 to talk to Barbara Walters about how she and Vili Fualaau are so happy. Granted, their two daughters are nice looking and everything, but one wonders what they think about this whole mess.

More to the point, what do her ex-husband and her four children from THAT marriage think? After all, she destroyed their lives and upended Vili's family.

I will bet they weren't asked.

I plan to miss this show just like I will miss the upcoming Bruce Jenner interview.

My stomach can only take so much anymore.

The Marianne Theresa Johnson-Reddick Story--Background Information

The Reno Gazette-Journal, following the lead of television station KRNV, decided to do some digging into the background of Marianne Theresa Johnson-Reddick, who received posthumous notoriety thanks to her children's obituary celebrating her death because of her history of child abuse.

The family didn't expect the obit would be a worldwide sensation.

Katherine Reddick, 57, said she wrote the obituary about her mother, 78, who died on Aug. 30 at ManorCare Health Services, a Reno nursing home. Her mother had bladder cancer and had become a ward of the state when she became sick and was hospitalized in May. Her cause of death is unknown.

The two were not in contact.

Katherine Reddick, who today works in education in Texas, described a horrific childhood that she and her brothers and sisters endured. Moved from California to Las Vegas to eventually live in an orphanage in Carson City, she described being abused for years by her mother and in multiple foster homes. Reddick said she slept on the floors of places where her mother ran escort businesses.

She and her brother Patrick Reddick, 58, of Minden said they talked about writing the obituary after learning about their mother’s death. Both are graduates of Carson High School.

I hope they can finally heal from this horrific experience.

There is a whole lot more in this linked story.

While I had issues with my parents, thank God I never went anything remotely like what these people went through. In fact, when I think about my own parents' lives, it's amazing THEY turned out as well as they did given the absolute hardship they went through in their lives.

Hellbent for Leather

Last night or the night before on Psychobabble Central, also known as Dr. Drew, the good doc had a discussion about the case of a "tanorexic" mother who allegedly brought her young child with her to a tanning booth and the child alleged got burned. The kid was a redhead, the very WORST person to be exposed to UV rays. The mother was charged in the matter. What Dr. Drew was even more concerned about what the mom's obsession with getting a tan to the point she looked like she was trying to do an Al Jolson blackface imitation. He felt she had some kind of body dysmorphic disorder. He could be right.

Video report of the mother:

One of the all-time best comments following the video and article:

"PETA will probably become her best friend. She's obviously discovered how to make leather without harming animals."

The Education Wars

Two teacher's aides have been charged with abuse of special education students.

Thanks to our revolving door public education system, more and more of these mental misfits find jobs.

Fortunately, cases like this are still rare.

This comment hits it on the head (typos from original):

The teachers who wittnessed the acts of abuse and did not report them immediatly should be charged and fired. All school staff members are mandated child abuse reports in most states. This makes me sick. I don't think the aid who emailed the mother is much better. Why did she not go to a supervisor and get this to stop, why did she not call the department of human services. Sure she notified the mom, but she dropped the ball by not notifying the principal and police. I am a teacher and I have on more than one occassion in the last 15 years called others to task and reported the abuse to higher ups.

The Booming Economy

Domestic violence and child abuse are up thanks to economic stress.