When I was pregnant with my first child, I had a recurring dream. I was nursing a baby–in an icy parking lot, at a dinner party in the bedroom where the coats were piled on a bed, lost in the desert. I would nurse a baby at one breast, put her to the other, and there would be no milk. Sometimes the baby wailed with frustration and hunger, and sometimes the baby just looked at me with sad eyes. I always woke shaken. I must be worried, I thought, about being an adequate parent. But that wasn't it. My body was sending me a literal warning.

A group of Amish riding in a horse and buggy along a East Lampeter Township, Penn. road were robbed at gunpoint by a man in a mask. The robber apparently drove up to the horse and buggy in a white minivan, swerving into the buggy's lane to force it to stop, got out, and demanded the wallets of all three people inside.

A woman accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting two Amish girls last week with her boyfriend is now claiming that she only did it because of their "abusive and submissive" relationship.

An Amish family that fled their Ohio home to keep the state from sending their 11-year-old leukemia-sickened daughter to chemotherapy is now seeking an injunction against the government, saying the First Amendment protects the family's right to refuse her treatment.

Sad news out of East Lampeter Township in Pennsylvania: A horse pulling an Amish buggy was killed Monday night in a drive-by shooting.

Remember the rogue Amish group that forcibly cut the beards and hair off of rival Amish groups? Today, leader Samuel Mullet Sr. and fifteen of his followers were convicted on charges of federal conspiracy and hate crimes.

The Amish beard-theft ring whose crimes shocked the world last October is now in police custody after the FBI raided their Ohio compound and arrested seven men in connection with the attacks. Hate crime charges have been filed.

Ohio police have arrested at least three men suspected of participating in a string of break-ins in which the victims have also had their beards and hair cut off and stolen. Authorities believe the mastermind behind the attacks is "renegade bishop" Sam Mullet, who leads a tiny Amish sect called the Bergholz Clan.

In yet another dark chapter in organized-Amish-crime history, The Wheeling Intelligencer is reporting that members of the Amish community near Bergholz, Ohio, are under investigation by at least four sheriff's departments for a string of recent break-ins in Amish homes. Every time, the victims' hair and beards were cut off.

Doomed iPad newspaper The Daily offers a fascinating dispatch from the Mid Ohio Alternative Animal and Bird Sale, a seasonal auction that draws thousands to the tiny Amish town of Mount Hope:

Here we have the booking photos (click to enlarge) of eight men from the Swartzentruber Amish sect, all of whom were ordered arrested and jailed on Monday by a Kentucky judge. Their crimes?

You have to be pretty stupid, or pretty drunk, to lead the police on a car chase. You have to even drunker, and certainly more Amish, to lead the police on a car-vs.-horse-and-buggy chase.

A 21-year-old Amish man was arrested in Connersville, Indiana, for arranging a sexual encounter with a 12-year-old via text message. William Yoder is accused of sending hundreds of dirty texts to a young girl, including pictures of his penis and "lewd videos."

Take one horse and buggy, one rope, one pair of skis, and one incredibly eager Amish person, and what do you have? Amish skiing, y'all. Inside, see the most fun this guy's had, well, probably ever. Who needs electricity, anyway!

[An Amish girl rollerblades home with groceries in Ohio. I mean, I know, it seems weird, but rollerblades aren't powered by electricity or anything, are they? Pic via AP.]

The struggle between family and identity defined the lives of the three twentysomethings profiled on last night's True Life. All from disparate Amish communities, the three were united in their quest to balance antiquated upbringings and their "real world" dreams.

Think you're having a bad week? Give a little sympathy to Ernie Schreiber, who had to cancel his vacation because he works for the local paper in Lancaster, PA, where news broke in rather dramatic fashion yesterday. Editor & Publisher profiles the the New Era in a piece that throws up a variety of odd details. For example, stories are posted to the paper's website before they hit print, which we're sure is of great utility to the local Amish. But the most interesting quote comes at the end of the piece: