A mother passing by her daughter's bedroom was astonished to see the bed was nicely made and everything was picked up. Then she saw an envelope propped up prominently on the center of the bed. It was addressed, "Mom." With the worst premonition, she opened the envelope and read the letter with trembling hands: Dear Mom: It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you. I had to elope with my new boyfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with Dad and you. I've been finding real passion with Ahmed and he is so nice-even with all his piercings, tattoos, beard, and his motorcycle clothes. But it's not only the passion Mom, I'm pregnant and Ahmed said that we will be very happy. He already owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter. He wants to have many more children with me and that's now one of my dreams too. Ahmed taught me that marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone and we'll be growing it for us and trading it with his friends for all the cocaine and ecstasy we want. In the meantime, we'll pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Ahmed can get better; he sure deserves it!! Don't worry Mom, I'm 15 years old now and I know how to take care of myself. Someday I'm sure we'll be back to visit so you can get to know your grand children. Your daughter, Judith... PS: Mom, none of the above is true. I'm over at the neighbor's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than my report card that's in my desk center drawer. I love you! Call when it is safe for me to come home
The language of Ayapaneco has been spoken in the land now known as Mexico for centuries.
There are just two people left who can speak it fluently – but they refuse to talk to each other.
It is not clear whether there is a long-buried argument behind their mutual avoidance, but people who know them say they have never really enjoyed each other's company.
Today is the birthday of English plumber Thomas Crapper, born in Yorkshire in 1836 and who, contrary to popular belief, did not invent the flush toilet, which had existed for centuries before his birth.
Crapper apprenticed as a plumber when he was a boy and as an adult started his own business, Thomas Crapper & Co. Ltd. He patented nine different innovative plumbing mechanisms, including the floating ball cock, which itself could have leant the English language a number of mildly offensive expletives, but instead it is his serendipitous or unfortunate last name, depending on how you look at it, for which we remember him best.
The name Crapper in fact has nothing to do with the familiar pejorative. Crapper is variation of the name Cropper, an occupational surname apparently related to agriculture. Crappe, according to Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary and numerous etymological sources, was one of a handful of words applied to discarded thing — the weeds growing among corn, the dregs at the bottom of a glass of beer, the waste products of rendering fat. In the 18th century, it was also the underworld slang for "money," but all these uses most likely derive from the much older Medieval Latin word crapinum, "chaff."
As historically amusing as it would be for Thomas Crapper to be the father of the flush toilet, he is not. That, however, has not stopped people from making childish jokes about his name, nor has it stopped the Westminster Abbey manhole covers that bear his name from being a minor tourist attraction.
Tajuana Banks, 31, of Des Moines, IA is seen in this mugshot from the Polk County Sheriff's Office. Banks is accused of assaulting 63-year-old Connie Jones with a bratwurst after a verbal argument.
