Blog Posts by Lylah M. Alphonse, Senior Editor, Yahoo! Shine

Corey Stroud prays at a Caylee Anthony memorial in Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday. (AP Photo: Alan Diaz)When a Florida jury declared Casey Anthony not guilty of her daughter Caylee's murder yesterday, people across the country, especially horrified parents, reacted with shock-and anger.

"I walk away from this case with just dissatisfaction with every side," Anthony's former fiance, Jesse Grund, told Nancy Grace on Headline News. "I'm angry tonight with the defense and their lack of tact by having a champagne toast right across the street from the courthouse. ... [Caylee] is never coming back, and nobody sought out the truth in this. This was all about winning. This was never about the truth."

Florida's policy of allowing cameras in the courtroom turned the case into a very high-profile one, and made it easy for viewers to become emotionally invested in it. As the verdict was read yesterday, crowds outside were stunned. Some cried and screamed, "Oh my God!" Others chanted, "We want justice" and "Justice for Caylee!"

The outrage over the death of a little girl is understandable (to

Read More »from The Casey Anthony "not-guilty" verdict: Why it was right—even though it feels wrong

Defense attorney Jose Baez and his client, Casey Anthony, react after the jury acquitted her of murdering her daughter, Caylee. (AP Photo/Red Huber, Pool)Casey Anthony was acquitted of murder today in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, who disappeared three years ago.

Anthony, 26, was facing charges of first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter of a child, aggravating child abuse, and four counts of providing false information to law enforcement. The seven-woman, five-man Florida jury deliberated for almost 11 hours before finding Anthony not guilty of murder, manslaughter, or child abuse. She was found guilty of the four misdemeanor charges of lying to police.

"There are no winners in this case," her defense attorney, Jose Baez, told the media afterward. "Caylee has passed on far, far too soon."

"Casey did not murder Caylee," he added. "It's that simple. And today, our system of justice has not dishonored her memory by a false conviction."

Anthony began crying when the jury's verdict was read on Tuesday; according to the Associated Press, she hugged her attorney afterward, and a prosecutor shook his head in disbelief.

Read More »from Casey Anthony found not guilty of 2-year-old Caylee's murder. What do you think?

Octomum Nadya Suleman and her large family (plus helpers) launch her new milkshake in a West Hollywood store in November. (Photo: Toby Canham/Getty Images) Nadya Suleman admits that the Terrible Twos are tough. Even more so when you have eight tantrum-throwing 2-year-olds at once-plus six older children to think about. And she's at the end of her rope.

In an interview with Popeater's Rob Shuter, the 36-year-old known as Octomom said that she'd rather be "hung and crucified than have more kids," and she reportedly told InTouch Weekly magazine, "Obviously I love them, but I absolutely wish I had not had them."

That's the mild version. The single mom of 14-all younger than 10 years old, and all conceived via in-vitro fertilization using the same sperm donor-also told the gossip mag: "I hate the babies, they disgust me" and "My older six are animals, getting more and more out of control, because I have no time to properly discipline them."

In Touch hasn't posted the interview, but plenty of outlets have already picked up the story. A report in The Daily Mail reveals that Suleman says she's broke and no longer able to cope with her enormous

Read More »from Octomom Nadya Suleman seems to be having second thoughts about all those babies

The cast of the movie First, your BFF calls with the happy news: She's getting married! And she wants you to be in the wedding!

Then you have to buy an engagement gift. And help plan the bridal shower. Which, of course, you have to attend (don't forget the gift!). Next up: the bachelorette party, which you plan (and pay for) along with the other bridesmaids. Is it being held somewhere fun or exotic? Book your flight and hotel room early, and don't forget to arrange for a designated driver, which may mean hiring a limo.

Then there's the wedding itself. The bridesmaid dress (often picked to suit the bride's tastes, not necessarily your body type). The matching shoes. The jewelry and other accessories. The hair, nails, and make-up. The travel expenses. The gift.

It all adds up: According to Weddingchannel.com's calculations, many modern bridesmaids shell out $1,695 or more to cover the costs of being part of their best friend's big day.

"From the moment they announce the engagement, to the day your friend

Read More »from The real cost of being a bridesmaid: $1,700 per wedding

Photo: ThinkstockThink you're making a healthier choice when you reach for diet soda instead of a sugary soft drink? Think again.

Diet soft drinks may have minimal calories, but they can still have a major impact on your waistline, according to two studies presented at a meeting of the American Diabetes Association in San Diego.

Researchers at the Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio tracked 474 people, all 65 to 74 years old, for nearly a decade, measuring the subjects' height, weight, waist circumference, and diet soft drink intake every 3.6 years. The waists of those who drank diet soft drinks grew 70 percent more than those who avoided the artificially sweetened stuff; people who drank two or more servings a day had waist-circumference increases that were five times larger than non-diet-soda consumers.

The findings are in line with those of a 2005 study, also conducted by researchers at the Texas Health Science Center, in which the chance of becoming overweight or obese increased with

Read More »from Diet soda may be making you fat

By Lylah M. Alphonse, Shine Staff

Workers at LEGOLAND, California, are really good at making things out of those nubby plastic LEGO bricks. The Model Team recently decided to build their boss a new car:

This tech-savvy LEGO lover created something retro, fun, and functional: A printer that actually works. "I designed/built/coded it all from scratch including analog motor electronics, sensors and printer driver," the creator, who goes by "horseattack," writes. "The USB interface uses a 'wiring' board."

Amazing art. Made out of little plastic bricks. It would be a lot easier to tolerate stepping on those sharp-edged things in the dark if the kids were making things like this out of them:

Car aficionados know him as the wry guy from BBC's "Top Gear." LEGO lovers know him as the quirky cat who commissioned a life-size, two-story house made out of LEGO for his BBC show, "Toy Stories." One thousand volunteers helped to build it, and May actually spent the night in the structure, which

Read More »from Amazing things, all made out of... LEGO? (Video)

(Photo: Thinkstock)Jennifer Aniston just got her dog's name tattooed on her foot. Cats are so smart they can blame things on the dog. Even ugly animals are kind of cute. Pets can do amazing things.

And now, San Francisco wants to ban them.

The Los Angles Times reports that The Humane Pet Acquisition Proposal has been sent to the Board of Supervisors. The proposal was originally intended to protect just dogs and cats-the idea was to discourage puppy and kitten mills, breeding facilities that put profits before animal welfare-but it was shelved in 2010 after it was expanded to include anything with fur, scales, or feathers.

Yes, even the sale of goldfish and guppies would be prohibited under the proposal. The pet industry, which pulls in as much as $50 billion a year, is outraged, but activists say the law would end needless suffering and save money and animal lives.

"Why fish? Why not fish?" Philip Gerrie, the proposal's co-author and a member of the San Francisco's Commission of Animal Control and

Read More »from A ban on pets? San Francisco goes too far

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., waves to supporters before making her formal announcement to seek the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, Monday, June 27, 2011, in Waterloo, Iowa. (Photo: Charlie Neibergall/AP)This morning, Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann-one of the most visible and vocal members of the Tea Party movement-officially announced that she's seeking the Republican nomination for President in 2012.

"Through all of the rancor of the campaign, let us always remember that there is much more that unites us than divides us.," Bachmann, 55, said at her press conference in Waterloo, Iowa, where she was born. "Our problems don't have an identity of party, they are problems created by both parties."

"I am here in Waterloo, Iowa, to announce today: We can win in 2012 and we will," she continued. "Our voice has been growing louder and stronger. And it is made up of Americans from all walks of life like a three-legged stool. It's the peace through strength Republicans, and I'm one of them, it's fiscal conservatives, and I'm one of them, and it's social conservatives, and I'm one of them. It's the Tea Party movement and I'm one of them."

On Saturday, a poll conducted by the Des

Read More »from Michele Bachmann for President? Here's where she stands on the issues