AmyFOX

Some Middle Schoolers in Maine will be able to get birth control pills and patches at their student health center after the local school board approved the proposal Wednesday evening.

"The plan, offered by city health officials, makes King Middle School the first middle school in Maine to make a full range of contraception available to students in grades 6 through 8, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services."

>>For more coverage, click here.

We want to know what you think about this...

Are you for or against offering birth control to these students? As a parent, would you want your child to have access to this service?

Let's talk about it. 

Maybe it's just me...but as I was looking through the pictures of recalled Mattel toys (which include a bunch of Barbie accessories) ... the first thing I thought was - Hey! I didn't have cool Barbie stuff like that!

EXHIBIT A:

Ok, look at this picture to the left. My Barbie never had an aquarium! And she CERTAINLY didn't have a cool couch like that. (note: recalled item is circled purse)

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EXHIBIT B:

Again... my Barbies NEVER had a cool Ikea-like living room. How cool is that furniture?

EXHIBIT C:

And finally... we have the glorious Barbie bathtub. My Barbies were lucky if they got a bath in tupperware!

This is bringing back memories of the Barbie dreamhouse I never had.:(

From the Star Tribune out of Minneapolis:

Among the people who work day and night when a disaster unfolds are journalists. While their experience is nothing compared to that of rescuers, they're darn dedicated folks. On Saturday, the grunts in the Star Tribune newsroom opened a box from the Roanoke (Va.) Times. It was packed with treats, including pork rinds and moon pies.

Attached was a note: "A few days after the Virginia Tech shootings, a large box arrived in our newsroom. Inside was a note and lots of stress-relieving junk food. The note was from Joe Hight, managing editor of the Oklahoman of Oklahoma City. Hight wrote that similar boxes arrived in his newsroom after the McVeigh bombings.

He recalled what that gesture meant to his staff, which had been worn down to a nub covering the catastrophic community event. ... Please consider this a journalistic chain letter of sorts, one that you'll pass on when the next bulletin breaks in a newsroom somewhere in America."

Hope it's not soon.

This story from our sister station in Kansas City, Mo. is disturbing on so many levels.

The headline:  Teens planned to kidnap woman, steal unborn baby

Hello MyFox Milwaukee bloggers!

 This is just a quick message to let you know that some lock downs and mass moderation had to be put into effect on both the blogs and message boards here on MyFoxMilwaukee.com because of some problem users.

The web team is aware of the problem and is working hard to clean up the community pages.

Please be patient as this may take a few days.

Blogs and photo albums are still available, but with complete moderation. Message boards have been shut down until further notice.

Have you checked out our new Pet Page? Here's the link.

While you're there, don't forget to tell us about your pet (bird, hamster, dog, cat, gerbil, etc.) so we can add him or her to our pet pix photo gallery (link).

Here are my babies:

For the past couple years, I've been dealing with some jaw problems.

I currently use a night splint to keep me from grinding my teeth at night. It's really annoying but I've gotten used to it (pretty much). The pain and inflammation got much better with the use of the splint and ibuprofen (along with minimizing the use of gum and stopping the consumption of "chewy" foods.

Last fall, my problems got rapidly worse. The pain got worse on my left side (which was always the better side). It was so unbearable I finally had to go back to my TMJ specialist.

TheMRI scan of my jaw showed I have an anterior displacement of the left temporomandibular joint. That's doctor-speak for the disc on the left side of my jaw fell out of place (forward). Basically, it would be like your knee cap falling halfway down your leg.

Yes, it's quite painful.

Here were the options I was given (along with prescriptions for muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatory medications):

1. Arthroscopic surgery - they'd make a couple small incisions and try to "flush" the disc back into place.
2. Cut my face open (from forehead to chin) and force the disc back into place (My paraphrase)
3. Do nothing and hope for the best (again, my paraphrase).

Because the thought of cutting my face open both scared the bajeezes out of me and didn't sound like a long-lasting fix, I chose #3. My doc recommended this option as well, saying that what would happen is the cartilage would become a pseudo-disc. I will never have full movement of my jaw (being able to open it real wide) because of the displaced disc...but at least the pain would go away.

After a month of being doped up on the muscle relaxants and mega-doses of ibuprofen, I decided to stop taking the meds. I was having problems concentrating at work and was getting sick of the way the meds were making me feel. I was frequently icing my jaw to help with the swelling and inflammation.

Things eventually got better, but never went away.

Here's my dilemma... over the past 3-4 weeks, the pain has returned. It is almost as bad - if not worse - than it was before. I've been icing and taking ibuprofen but it doesn't seem to be doing the trick.

I'm afraid that if I go back to the specialist, he will refer me to someone else for surgery (he told me he hasn't done one of these surgeries in a few years and wouldn't feel comfortable doing so).

The pain is awful, but do I really want my face ripped open for a "cure" that might be anything but?

(cross-posted on the health message board)