I may have just offered my house to my friend for his post wedding party. Eek!

Invasion of the Baby-Snatchers

Our irrational fear of infant abduction could be causing real harm.

...

The movement to ward off kidnappings—to "harden the target," in hospital-security parlance—began in 1989, when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) published the first edition of its cautionary manual for healthcare professionals, Guidelines on Prevention of and Response to Infant Abductions. That book, now in its ninth edition, calls for installing alarms in maternity ward stairwells, locks on every door, and security cameras for the hallways. The NCMEC also recommends that each newborn be footprinted and photographed (in color) within two hours of its birth and "quad-banded"—tagged with a pair of ID bracelets matching those worn by its mother and father. The book further suggests that a sample of the baby's cord blood be stored (to allow for later DNA analysis), and that all medical staff be given appropriate security badges. Some hospitals change the color of those badges every day, like pins at the museum, and tell the mothers which colors to expect.

...

But there's something fishy about the newly fortified birthing centers. The truth is that no one is trying to steal your baby. It doesn't matter what kind of ID tags your hospital employs, or how many surveillance cameras are mounted in the hallway. The incidence of nonfamily infant abductions is so impossibly low—the actual crime so rare in practice—that it hardly matters at all. Yes, the attempt at Fort Hood points to the fact that a small handful of newborns are stolen every year. Yet our obsession with security has turned the figure of the baby-snatcher into a paranoid fantasy. The precautions that are now in place aren't merely unjustified. They're doing more harm than good.

Someone tell Lifetime.

What can I say, I'm a microfiber cloth evangelist. I love 'em!

I'm working on Bob's birthday gift right now. A picture of ME! Right now the only framed picture in his office is one left behind of the previous tenant and his family.

Can you wrap reality in microfiber and punch it too?

If Superboy can then I don't see why we can't.

Because of you people I had pumpernickel bread with pub cheese

I need to squeeze an overnight or two out of the budget so I can meet up with DCistas.

DC-istas are crazy hospitable. I can vouch.

I wouldn't use it for bacon, but for cleaning a grease mess, sure.

The problem with that is that in puts grease into the sewer system. That's one case in which paper towels in a landfill is a better choice.

Because of you people I had pumpernickel bread with pub cheese

Oh the humanity!

They make you say "WOW!" every time!

What a sham.

Beep.Purr.Ding.Clang.Zwert. I can't tell which computer is yelling at me and it is making me a bit mental.

Beep.Purr.Ding.Clang.Zwert.

Isn't this the beginning to Pink Floyd's "Money"?