Strollerderby : hilary clinton

Breaking News - New Jersey Dad Wins Brazilian Custody Case

Brett Singer — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:37:00 GMT

This is a strange story but the ending appears to be a happy one.

The details, from CNN:

- Sean's parents divorced and mom moved him to Brazil in 2004

- Mom died in childbirth in 2008, leaving Sean with stepfather

- Sean Goldman, 8, to be turned over to U.S. Consulate on Wednesday

Hilary Clinton even referred to the case yesterday, which is unusual. But so is the story itself.

If you want to get depressed before you get happy, read this letter that Sean's father, David Goldman, wrote at BringSeanHome.org. There's even ('natch) a Facebook group, with over 40,000 members. One more from the "get angry before you get happy" file: Sean's stepdad's lawyer compared the decision to allow Sean to return to the United States with being sent to a "Nazi concentration camp," according to a post in that Facebook group.

David Goldman is supposed to arrive in Rio de Janeiro this morning to pick up his son. Something tells me he won't be all that interested in sight-seeing.

Source: CNN

UPDATE: President Obama Issues Statement About Dr. George Tiller

Babble Talk Radio Live - Friday May 29 - Listen Here

Pimping Kids Is Just a Mother's Way

Kelly Mills — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 21:30:00 GMT

When the big controversy over David Shuster saying Hilary was "pimping" out Chelsea hit, I was actually kinda jealous. Yeah, it's probably an offensive way to describe Chelsea doing her part for the campaign, and aside from conjuring up images of Hilary wearing a hat with a feather in it and a shiny suit, it certainly implies that Ms. Clinton is just using her daughter for her own selfish interests without any consideration of the wellbeing of her girl. But my envy sprung from another source: How lucky for Hilary that her kid will actually do stuff to help her mom out. My kid has been resisting pimping efforts since the day she was born, refusing to demonstrate her language skills on command or do cute things for the relatives or seem at all obedient or gifted when I'd like her to show off for anyone. No tricks for her, and if I'm in danger of suspension, that pun is totally unintended.

On HuffPo, there's an amazingly funny bit by Linda Keenan on the myriad ways she pimps out her child. Not only did I cry laughing, but I got a few ideas on ways I might finally be able to successfully pimp the kid (the bad music one is a stroke of genius, as is the firefighter oogling.) And I have to tell you that since it's almost Valentine's Day, I'm completely in love with Linda Keenan, she's a surefire blast of funny and irreverent in the middle of far too many uptight, righteous, and earnest posts over there (not all are like that of course, but some, oh my lord...) Yep, I'd ho that woman's brilliant stuff out any day.

Should You "Party Train" Your Kids?

Kelly Mills — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:33:00 GMT

Two toddlers meet in the sandbox. One is wearing a "Bush is my man" t-shirt, while the other has on a "Mommy and me love Hilary" onesie. I think it's unlikely this will degenerate into a discussion about how we don't bite kids with different political beliefs than our own, because these kids are probably less aware they are advertising for political candidates. And it's an intertesting issue raised in this CNN article: Is there anything wrong with "party training" your kids? One therapist says, "It seems cute and benign. However, the more I think about it, the more it fails to pass my cringe test. It seems that we're bombarded enough by constant advertising, so why should children become the canvas for any ad?... Do we really want to see kids in this role?"

Parents defend the onesies and political slogan tees by saying they are passing on their values to their kids. But I'll be honest, even beyond political outfits at a certain level it makes me uncomfortable too. Something about children parroting political beliefs they don't even understand feels like mindless indoctrination to me. If you feel okay with this, imagine a young child espousing the opinions of the side you disagree with.

However, I'd hate to raise a child with no awareness of the issues of the day just because I was anxious about making her a propaganda billboard. In our house we do talk about issues we consider social justice--like gay marriage or racial discrimination--and we most certainly explain our beliefs on this to our child, that feels like passing on basic values to me. We try and avoid being dogmatic about political candidates, and most of the time we fail miserably.