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A free floating commentary on culture, politics, economics, and religion based on a passionate commitment to the truth and a desire graciously to refute that which is contrary to it….
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--Titus 1:9, Revised Standard Version
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At Broadway Elementary School here, there is no more sitting around after lunch. No more goofing off with friends. No more doing nothing.
Instead there is Brandi Parker, a $14-an-hour recess coach with a whistle around her neck, corralling children behind bright orange cones to play organized games. There she was the other day, breaking up a renegade game of hopscotch and overruling stragglers’ lame excuses.
They were bored. They had tired feet. They were no good at running.
“I don’t like to play,” protested Esmeilyn Almendarez, 11.
“Why do I have to go through this every day with you?” replied Ms. Parker, waving her back in line. “There’s no choice.”
Broadway Elementary brought in Ms. Parker in January out of exasperation with students who, left to their own devices, used to run into one another, squabble over balls and jump-ropes or monopolize the blacktop while exiling their classmates to the sidelines. Since she started, disciplinary referrals at recess have dropped by three-quarters, to an average of three a week. And injuries are no longer a daily occurrence.
Read it all.
Instead there is Brandi Parker, a $14-an-hour recess coach with a whistle around her neck, corralling children behind bright orange cones to play organized games. There she was the other day, breaking up a renegade game of hopscotch and overruling stragglers’ lame excuses.
They were bored. They had tired feet. They were no good at running.
“I don’t like to play,” protested Esmeilyn Almendarez, 11.
“Why do I have to go through this every day with you?” replied Ms. Parker, waving her back in line. “There’s no choice.”
Broadway Elementary brought in Ms. Parker in January out of exasperation with students who, left to their own devices, used to run into one another, squabble over balls and jump-ropes or monopolize the blacktop while exiling their classmates to the sidelines. Since she started, disciplinary referrals at recess have dropped by three-quarters, to an average of three a week. And injuries are no longer a daily occurrence.
Read it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Education
Each Sunday morning, members of White Stone Church spread photos of the girls' grinning, impish faces across a folding table in the lobby, then prayed for the day they might join them.
When the churchgoers closed their eyes and bowed their heads, it no longer mattered that 1,400 miles separated them from the girls or that they lived in a Haitian village whose dirt floors and lack of running water were unthinkable in north Knoxville's quilt of neatly tended subdivisions and fast-food drive-thrus.
They are "Our Girls," the worshippers told one another.
Over six years, the girls of Coq Chante had come to feel like family. Now, after trips by dozens to Haiti, thousands of dollars raised and spent, and countless hours poring over adoption paperwork, the bond with 19 children from another world felt unbreakable.
Until a Tuesday night in January.
Read it all.
When the churchgoers closed their eyes and bowed their heads, it no longer mattered that 1,400 miles separated them from the girls or that they lived in a Haitian village whose dirt floors and lack of running water were unthinkable in north Knoxville's quilt of neatly tended subdivisions and fast-food drive-thrus.
They are "Our Girls," the worshippers told one another.
Over six years, the girls of Coq Chante had come to feel like family. Now, after trips by dozens to Haiti, thousands of dollars raised and spent, and countless hours poring over adoption paperwork, the bond with 19 children from another world felt unbreakable.
Until a Tuesday night in January.
Read it all.
Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Children • * International News & Commentary • Caribbean • Haiti • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches
OVER the past few years, a growing number of America’s parentless children have found homes. In 2008 there were 463,000 children in foster care, a system where the government places orphans and children with parents who are abusive or unable to take care of them in the care of guardians. That is 11% down since 2002, and great news. But experts worry the trend might now go into reverse.
Some welfare advocates fear that the bad economy may cause parents with frayed nerves to abuse and neglect their children, and even cause some to abandon them. Already, several hospitals across the country have reported an increase in the frequency and severity of injuries from child abuse.
The most recent national data on child welfare available dates from September 2008, before the recession was in full throttle; data from 2009 won’t be reported until later this year. But there is some question about whether the data, when reported, will even be accurate. Many states and counties, in an attempt to cope with their fiscal straits, are considering cutting down on child-welfare services, such as benefits for foster parents and the number of social workers they employ.
Read the whole article.
Some welfare advocates fear that the bad economy may cause parents with frayed nerves to abuse and neglect their children, and even cause some to abandon them. Already, several hospitals across the country have reported an increase in the frequency and severity of injuries from child abuse.
The most recent national data on child welfare available dates from September 2008, before the recession was in full throttle; data from 2009 won’t be reported until later this year. But there is some question about whether the data, when reported, will even be accurate. Many states and counties, in an attempt to cope with their fiscal straits, are considering cutting down on child-welfare services, such as benefits for foster parents and the number of social workers they employ.
Read the whole article.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • The U.S. Government • Politics in General • City Government • State Government • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.
A widening child sexual abuse inquiry in Europe has landed at the doorstep of Pope Benedict XVI, as a senior church official acknowledged Friday that a German archdiocese made “serious mistakes” in handling an abuse case while the pope served as its archbishop.
The archdiocese said that a priest accused of molesting boys was given therapy in 1980 and later allowed to resume pastoral duties, before committing further abuses and being prosecuted. Pope Benedict, who at the time headed the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, approved the priest’s transfer for therapy. A subordinate took full responsibility for allowing the priest to later resume pastoral work, the archdiocese said in a statement.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said he had no comment beyond the statement by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, which he said showed the “nonresponsibility” of the pope in the matter.
The expanding abuse inquiry had come ever closer to Benedict as new accusations in Germany surfaced almost daily since the first reports in January. On Friday the pope met with the chief bishop of Germany, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, the head of the German Bishops Conference, to discuss the church investigations and media reports.
Read it all.
The archdiocese said that a priest accused of molesting boys was given therapy in 1980 and later allowed to resume pastoral duties, before committing further abuses and being prosecuted. Pope Benedict, who at the time headed the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, approved the priest’s transfer for therapy. A subordinate took full responsibility for allowing the priest to later resume pastoral work, the archdiocese said in a statement.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said he had no comment beyond the statement by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, which he said showed the “nonresponsibility” of the pope in the matter.
The expanding abuse inquiry had come ever closer to Benedict as new accusations in Germany surfaced almost daily since the first reports in January. On Friday the pope met with the chief bishop of Germany, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, the head of the German Bishops Conference, to discuss the church investigations and media reports.
Read it all.
Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Ministry of the Ordained • * Culture-Watch • Children • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • Sexuality • * International News & Commentary • Europe • Germany • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • Pope Benedict XVI
As policymakers in Washington, D.C., debate overhauling health care, several evangelical Christian groups have found a way of getting around the high cost of health insurance. Instead of paying premiums, they simply agree to pay each other's medical bills.
The groups are not regulated because unlike insurance there's no guarantee an individual's bills will be paid. That's something members take on faith.
James Lansberry, the vice president of Samaritan Ministries, says the concept is simple. First there's a $170 annual fee to cover Samaritan's administrative costs. His nonprofit group then compiles members' health care bills and tells its 14,000 households where to send their monthly checks.
"The money doesn't get received at our central office — it goes directly from one family to another," Lansberry says. "So each month I send my monthly share of $285 directly to another family."
Read or listen it all.
The groups are not regulated because unlike insurance there's no guarantee an individual's bills will be paid. That's something members take on faith.
James Lansberry, the vice president of Samaritan Ministries, says the concept is simple. First there's a $170 annual fee to cover Samaritan's administrative costs. His nonprofit group then compiles members' health care bills and tells its 14,000 households where to send their monthly checks.
"The money doesn't get received at our central office — it goes directly from one family to another," Lansberry says. "So each month I send my monthly share of $285 directly to another family."
Read or listen it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Health & Medicine • Marriage & Family • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Personal Finance
When they heard I was going to report in Haiti after the massive earthquake, fifth-graders from Amylynn Robinson's class asked if I could deliver some messages to any children I'd meet. Their letters included drawings of flowers, hearts and rainbows. And they began simply:
"Hello Haiti, nice to meet you."
"Dear Buddy ... "
"Hi there, I'm a child as well."
"Dear friend, I am your friend. I wrote this letter to tell you I care about you."
The children wrote about their school, Balboa Magnet Elementary, a public school in Northridge, Calif., in Northern Los Angeles County, which was the epicenter of a magnitude 6.7 earthquake in 1994. Although these 10-year-olds were not alive then, many say they've heard stories about the damage in California. So they were sympathetic to kids coping with the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Haiti.....
This is just a fantastic piece that I caught on the morning run. You really need to do the audio as it is far superior when you hear the children's voices (about 7 1/3 minutes). And check out which song one of the Haitian children chose to send back to the children in California! Listen to it all--KSH.
"Hello Haiti, nice to meet you."
"Dear Buddy ... "
"Hi there, I'm a child as well."
"Dear friend, I am your friend. I wrote this letter to tell you I care about you."
The children wrote about their school, Balboa Magnet Elementary, a public school in Northridge, Calif., in Northern Los Angeles County, which was the epicenter of a magnitude 6.7 earthquake in 1994. Although these 10-year-olds were not alive then, many say they've heard stories about the damage in California. So they were sympathetic to kids coping with the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Haiti.....
This is just a fantastic piece that I caught on the morning run. You really need to do the audio as it is far superior when you hear the children's voices (about 7 1/3 minutes). And check out which song one of the Haitian children chose to send back to the children in California! Listen to it all--KSH.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Education • * International News & Commentary • Caribbean • Haiti
...any time the word "bomb" comes up at all — in a lesson on a war in history, in a novel in literature class — kids start laughing and pointing at ...[my nephew].
It's a problem that's affecting his slang.
"Everybody's favorite phrase is 'That's the bomb.' You know, like 'That video game's the bomb.' But I can't say that because kids will make fun of me."
What's a parent to do?
"Do the teachers know this is going on?" I asked.
"Sure, they see it and they hear it. But they'd rather not get involved. Mostly, they just pretend that it's not there."
"I've told him I can come to his school and talk to the principal, the teachers, the kids, whoever," said his father, an immigrant from India who works as an engineer and moved to this particular suburb for the good schools and seeming openness to diversity.
My nephew reacted like I would have when I was 14 — as if he'd rather be run over by a truck than have his father come to school to talk about what a great religion Islam is....
Read the whole thing.
It's a problem that's affecting his slang.
"Everybody's favorite phrase is 'That's the bomb.' You know, like 'That video game's the bomb.' But I can't say that because kids will make fun of me."
What's a parent to do?
"Do the teachers know this is going on?" I asked.
"Sure, they see it and they hear it. But they'd rather not get involved. Mostly, they just pretend that it's not there."
"I've told him I can come to his school and talk to the principal, the teachers, the kids, whoever," said his father, an immigrant from India who works as an engineer and moved to this particular suburb for the good schools and seeming openness to diversity.
My nephew reacted like I would have when I was 14 — as if he'd rather be run over by a truck than have his father come to school to talk about what a great religion Islam is....
Read the whole thing.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Education • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A. • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam
Imagine you are one half of a young couple expecting your first child in a fast-growing, poor country. You are part of the new middle class; your income is rising; you want a small family. But traditional mores hold sway around you, most important in the preference for sons over daughters. Perhaps hard physical labour is still needed for the family to make its living. Perhaps only sons may inherit land. Perhaps a daughter is deemed to join another family on marriage and you want someone to care for you when you are old. Perhaps she needs a dowry.
Now imagine that you have had an ultrasound scan; it costs $12, but you can afford that. The scan says the unborn child is a girl. You yourself would prefer a boy; the rest of your family clamours for one. You would never dream of killing a baby daughter, as they do out in the villages. But an abortion seems different. What do you do?
For millions of couples, the answer is: abort the daughter, try for a son. In China and northern India more than 120 boys are being born for every 100 girls. Nature dictates that slightly more males are born than females to offset boys’ greater susceptibility to infant disease. But nothing on this scale.
For those who oppose abortion, this is mass murder. For those such as this newspaper, who think abortion should be “safe, legal and rare” (to use Bill Clinton’s phrase), a lot depends on the circumstances, but the cumulative consequence for societies of such individual actions is catastrophic....
Read it all.
Now imagine that you have had an ultrasound scan; it costs $12, but you can afford that. The scan says the unborn child is a girl. You yourself would prefer a boy; the rest of your family clamours for one. You would never dream of killing a baby daughter, as they do out in the villages. But an abortion seems different. What do you do?
For millions of couples, the answer is: abort the daughter, try for a son. In China and northern India more than 120 boys are being born for every 100 girls. Nature dictates that slightly more males are born than females to offset boys’ greater susceptibility to infant disease. But nothing on this scale.
For those who oppose abortion, this is mass murder. For those such as this newspaper, who think abortion should be “safe, legal and rare” (to use Bill Clinton’s phrase), a lot depends on the circumstances, but the cumulative consequence for societies of such individual actions is catastrophic....
Read it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Health & Medicine • Life Ethics • Marriage & Family • Science & Technology • Women • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology
The cuts are also being felt in economically depressed areas like Richmond, near San Francisco, where unemployment is 17.6 percent and violent crime and poverty are common.
“Kids come to school hungry; some are homeless,” said Mary Flanagan, 55, a third-grade teacher from Richmond. “How can we deal with problems like that with as many as 38, 40 kids in a class?”
Read it all.
“Kids come to school hungry; some are homeless,” said Mary Flanagan, 55, a third-grade teacher from Richmond. “How can we deal with problems like that with as many as 38, 40 kids in a class?”
Read it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Education • Young Adults • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • State Government
Caught this on the morning run--really heartwarming. Watch it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Health & Medicine • Marriage & Family • Poverty • Women
As an Anglican archbishop who spent decades working to defeat apartheid and is widely considered the moral conscience of South Africa, what do you make of your country’s current president, Jacob Zuma, who is in the headlines again for fathering a child out of wedlock?
I think we are at a bad place in South Africa, and especially when you contrast it with the Mandela era. Many of the things that we dreamt were possible seem to be getting more and more out of reach. We have the most unequal society in the world. We have far too many of our people living in a poverty that is debilitating, inhumane and unacceptable.
But why is Zuma still president? He sets such a poor example — a polygamist with three wives who just fathered a 20th child with yet another woman. Why is that tolerated?
It’s not. Two of the major churches have spoken out very strongly. The Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church have said that he’s undermining his own government’s campaign to deal with the H.I.V. pandemic. That campaign speaks about being loyal to one partner, practicing safe sex and generally using condoms, and he hasn’t done that.
Read it all.
I think we are at a bad place in South Africa, and especially when you contrast it with the Mandela era. Many of the things that we dreamt were possible seem to be getting more and more out of reach. We have the most unequal society in the world. We have far too many of our people living in a poverty that is debilitating, inhumane and unacceptable.
But why is Zuma still president? He sets such a poor example — a polygamist with three wives who just fathered a 20th child with yet another woman. Why is that tolerated?
It’s not. Two of the major churches have spoken out very strongly. The Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church have said that he’s undermining his own government’s campaign to deal with the H.I.V. pandemic. That campaign speaks about being loyal to one partner, practicing safe sex and generally using condoms, and he hasn’t done that.
Read it all.
Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of South Africa • * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • South Africa • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology
The above headline is from the print edition--KSH.
She was a gifted 14-year-old tennis player who idolized Steffi Graf and hoped to turn pro. He was a senior police official and president of the state lawn tennis club. He lured her to his office with a promise of special coaching that could make her tennis dreams come true, then groped her.
This encounter set in motion a saga that has taken almost 20 years to unfold. The family of the girl, Ruchika Girotra, threatened to press charges. Shambhu Pratap Singh Rathore, a senior officer in the Haryana State Police, then waged a campaign of harassment and intimidation against Ruchika so severe that she eventually committed suicide. Her brother, Ashu, was falsely accused of stealing cars, and said he had been beaten and tortured in custody.
All the while Mr. Rathore, a flamboyant, mustachioed presence with deep ties to many of the state’s top politicians, rose through the ranks, retiring in 2002 as a state police chief.
Ruchika Girotra’s ordeal is hardly unique. Girls are molested all the time in India; powerful officials often abuse their office to avoid criminal prosecution; sclerotic courts are painfully slow and often corrupt.
But the case is emblematic of the way India’s growing middle class, egged on by a lively news media hungry for sensational stories, is increasingly unwilling to accept these seemingly immutable truths and willing to fight back.
Read it all.
She was a gifted 14-year-old tennis player who idolized Steffi Graf and hoped to turn pro. He was a senior police official and president of the state lawn tennis club. He lured her to his office with a promise of special coaching that could make her tennis dreams come true, then groped her.
This encounter set in motion a saga that has taken almost 20 years to unfold. The family of the girl, Ruchika Girotra, threatened to press charges. Shambhu Pratap Singh Rathore, a senior officer in the Haryana State Police, then waged a campaign of harassment and intimidation against Ruchika so severe that she eventually committed suicide. Her brother, Ashu, was falsely accused of stealing cars, and said he had been beaten and tortured in custody.
All the while Mr. Rathore, a flamboyant, mustachioed presence with deep ties to many of the state’s top politicians, rose through the ranks, retiring in 2002 as a state police chief.
Ruchika Girotra’s ordeal is hardly unique. Girls are molested all the time in India; powerful officials often abuse their office to avoid criminal prosecution; sclerotic courts are painfully slow and often corrupt.
But the case is emblematic of the way India’s growing middle class, egged on by a lively news media hungry for sensational stories, is increasingly unwilling to accept these seemingly immutable truths and willing to fight back.
Read it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Law & Legal Issues • Sexuality • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Asia • India
Colbert Williams was just 16 when he became a father and then had to raise his son as a single dad. Now Colbert is 30, and his son, Nathan, is a teenager himself. Recently the pair talked about raising kids.
"What were you thinking when I was born?" Nathan, 15, asked.
"I guess as a 16-year-old who came from a situation where there wasn't a father, you know, my confidence level was probably as low as it possibly could get because I realized that I was going to be responsible for some person," Colbert said. "So I was scared."
Fear was what made Colbert reach out for help. He attended parenting groups, hoping to learn how to take care of Nathan. And even though he stuck out a bit, the sessions gave him confidence.
I just love the picture--read or listen to it all.
"What were you thinking when I was born?" Nathan, 15, asked.
"I guess as a 16-year-old who came from a situation where there wasn't a father, you know, my confidence level was probably as low as it possibly could get because I realized that I was going to be responsible for some person," Colbert said. "So I was scared."
Fear was what made Colbert reach out for help. He attended parenting groups, hoping to learn how to take care of Nathan. And even though he stuck out a bit, the sessions gave him confidence.
I just love the picture--read or listen to it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • Men • Teens / Youth
On a chilly afternoon in western Loudoun County, a group of children used tweezers to extract rodent bones from a regurgitated owl pellet. A boy built a Lego launcher. A girl practiced her penmanship. On the wall, placards read, "I fast in Ramadan," "I pay zakat" and "I will go on hajj."
Welcome to Priscilla Martinez's home -- and her children's school, where Martinez is teacher, principal and guidance counselor, and where the credo "Allah created everything" is taught alongside math, grammar and science.
Martinez and her six children, ages 2 to 12, are part of a growing number of Muslims who home-school. In the Washington area, Martinez says, she has seen the number of home-schoolers explode in the past five years.
Although three-quarters of the nation's estimated 2 million home-schoolers identify themselves as Christian, the number of Muslims is expanding "relatively quickly," compared with other groups, said Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute.
Read it all.
Welcome to Priscilla Martinez's home -- and her children's school, where Martinez is teacher, principal and guidance counselor, and where the credo "Allah created everything" is taught alongside math, grammar and science.
Martinez and her six children, ages 2 to 12, are part of a growing number of Muslims who home-school. In the Washington area, Martinez says, she has seen the number of home-schoolers explode in the past five years.
Although three-quarters of the nation's estimated 2 million home-schoolers identify themselves as Christian, the number of Muslims is expanding "relatively quickly," compared with other groups, said Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute.
Read it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • Religion & Culture • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam
A century ago, Herbert Croly published "The Promise of American Life," a book -- still in print -- that was prophetic about today's progressives. Contemplating with distaste America's "unregenerate citizens," he said that "the average American individual is morally and intellectually inadequate to a serious and consistent conception of his responsibilities." Therefore, Croly said, national life should be a "school" taught by the government: "The exigencies of such schooling frequently demand severe coercive measures, but what schooling does not?" Unregenerate Americans would be "saved many costly perversions" if "the official schoolmasters are wise, and the pupils neither truant nor insubordinate."
Subordination is dependency seen from above. Today, it is seen approvingly by progressives imposing, from above, their dependency agenda.
There is no school choice here; no voucher will enable Americans to escape from enveloping dependency on this "government as school." The dependency agenda is progressive education for children of all ages, meaning all ages treated as children.
Read the whole piece.
Subordination is dependency seen from above. Today, it is seen approvingly by progressives imposing, from above, their dependency agenda.
There is no school choice here; no voucher will enable Americans to escape from enveloping dependency on this "government as school." The dependency agenda is progressive education for children of all ages, meaning all ages treated as children.
Read the whole piece.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Education • Law & Legal Issues • Psychology • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The U.S. Government • Politics in General • House of Representatives • Office of the President • President Barack Obama • Senate
The Lower Merion School District in suburban Philadelphia last year issued an Apple laptop to each of its 1,800 high-school students. Superintendent Christopher McGinley told parents the goal was “to provide students with 21st-century learning environments both at home and in school”.
What he did not tell them was that each laptop was equipped with security software that allowed the school district to activate the computer’s webcam and view the students at any time, opening a virtual window into their lives.
This unnerving feature was revealed last week when a student and his parents filed a class action lawsuit against the school district, alleging its actions amount to “spying” and violate federal laws and the Fourth Amendment.
Read it all.
What he did not tell them was that each laptop was equipped with security software that allowed the school district to activate the computer’s webcam and view the students at any time, opening a virtual window into their lives.
This unnerving feature was revealed last week when a student and his parents filed a class action lawsuit against the school district, alleging its actions amount to “spying” and violate federal laws and the Fourth Amendment.
Read it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Blogging & the Internet • Children • Education • Law & Legal Issues • Science & Technology
Young children who are regularly looked after by their grandparents have an increased risk of being overweight, an extensive British study has suggested.
Analysis of 12,000 three-year olds suggested the risk was 34% higher if grandparents cared for them full time.
Children who went to nursery or had a childminder had no increased risk of weight problems, the International Journal of Obesity reported.
Nearly a quarter of preschool children in the UK are overweight or obese.
Read it all.
Analysis of 12,000 three-year olds suggested the risk was 34% higher if grandparents cared for them full time.
Children who went to nursery or had a childminder had no increased risk of weight problems, the International Journal of Obesity reported.
Nearly a quarter of preschool children in the UK are overweight or obese.
Read it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Aging / the Elderly • Children • Dieting/Food/Nutrition • Health & Medicine • Marriage & Family • * International News & Commentary • England / UK
Pope Benedict XVI has summoned more than two dozen Irish bishops to the Vatican for meetings to discuss Ireland's massive clerical sex abuse scandal. The meetings, Monday and Tuesday, could lead to a major shake-up in the Irish Church hierarchy.
Two months ago, an investigation known as the Murphy Commission Report into the Dublin diocese revealed that the Irish Church had been covering up crimes by dozens of pedophile priests against hundreds of young people for decades.
The report came just seven months after another investigation revealed chronic beatings, rapes, near-starvation and humiliation of 30,000 children in state-run schools and orphanages all run by the Catholic Church.
Bishop Joseph Duffy, a spokesman for the Irish Bishops Conference, acknowledges that the meetings with the pope will have to lead to major changes in the Irish Church.
Read or listen to it all.
Two months ago, an investigation known as the Murphy Commission Report into the Dublin diocese revealed that the Irish Church had been covering up crimes by dozens of pedophile priests against hundreds of young people for decades.
The report came just seven months after another investigation revealed chronic beatings, rapes, near-starvation and humiliation of 30,000 children in state-run schools and orphanages all run by the Catholic Church.
Bishop Joseph Duffy, a spokesman for the Irish Bishops Conference, acknowledges that the meetings with the pope will have to lead to major changes in the Irish Church.
Read or listen to it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • England / UK • --Ireland • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • Pope Benedict XVI
In the State Dining Room at the White House, first lady Michelle Obama rolled out her national initiative to combat childhood obesity Tuesday afternoon with a show of force that included medical, business and government officials, grass-roots activists, celebrity public service announcements, cartoon nutrition experts as well as those most directly affected -- the kids themselves.
Dubbed "Let's Move," the project kicked off in the morning in the Oval Office, where President Obama signed a formal memorandum that established, for the first time, a national task force -- one that draws from the departments of the Interior, Health and Human Services, Agriculture and Education -- and is charged with turning the first lady's ambitious list of proposals into action.
At its core, the first lady's initiative centers on clearer nutrition information, increased physical activity, better access to healthy foods and, ultimately, personal responsibility. It has bipartisan support, as demonstrated by the presence of two mayors, one a Republican from Hernando, Miss., (population 10,000) and the other a Democrat from Somerville, Mass. (population 77,478). And it purposefully and adamantly steered clear of defining itself as a campaign in favor of foodie proselytizing and against french fries, burgers and cookies.
"This isn't about trying to turn the clock back to when we were kids, or preparing five-course meals from scratch every night. No one has time for that," the first lady said in her remarks. "And it's not about being 100 percent perfect, 100 percent of the time. Lord knows I'm not. There's a place for cookies and ice cream, burgers and fries -- that's part of the fun of childhood."
Read it all.
Dubbed "Let's Move," the project kicked off in the morning in the Oval Office, where President Obama signed a formal memorandum that established, for the first time, a national task force -- one that draws from the departments of the Interior, Health and Human Services, Agriculture and Education -- and is charged with turning the first lady's ambitious list of proposals into action.
At its core, the first lady's initiative centers on clearer nutrition information, increased physical activity, better access to healthy foods and, ultimately, personal responsibility. It has bipartisan support, as demonstrated by the presence of two mayors, one a Republican from Hernando, Miss., (population 10,000) and the other a Democrat from Somerville, Mass. (population 77,478). And it purposefully and adamantly steered clear of defining itself as a campaign in favor of foodie proselytizing and against french fries, burgers and cookies.
"This isn't about trying to turn the clock back to when we were kids, or preparing five-course meals from scratch every night. No one has time for that," the first lady said in her remarks. "And it's not about being 100 percent perfect, 100 percent of the time. Lord knows I'm not. There's a place for cookies and ice cream, burgers and fries -- that's part of the fun of childhood."
Read it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Dieting/Food/Nutrition • Health & Medicine
The tenderness and teaching of Jesus, who regarded children as a model to imitate to enter the Kingdom of God (cf. Matthew 18:1-6; 19:13-14), has always constituted a strong appeal to nourish profound respect and concern for them. Jesus' harsh words against those who scandalize one of these little ones (cf. Mark 9:42) commit all to never lower the level of this respect and love. That is why the Convention on the Rights of Children was also received favorably by the Holy See, in as much as it contains positive principles on adoption, health care, education, the protection of the disabled and of little ones against violence, abandonment and sexual and labor exploitation.
In the preamble, the convention indicates the family as "the natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members, especially children." Certainly, it is precisely the family, founded on marriage between a man and a woman, which is the greatest help that can be given to children. They want to be loved by a mother and a father who love one another, and they need to dwell, grow and live together with both parents, because the maternal and paternal figure are complementary in the education of children and in the construction of their personality and their identity. Hence, it is important that everything possible is done to make them grow in a united and stable family.
To this end, it is necessary to exhort the spouses never to lose sight of the profound reasons and sacredness of the conjugal pact and to reinforce it with listening to the Word of God, prayer, constant dialogue, mutual acceptance and mutual forgiveness. A family environment that is not serene, the division of the couple and, in particular, separation with divorce do not fail to have consequences for the children, whereas supporting the family and promoting its good, its rights, its unity and stability, is the best way of protecting the rights and the genuine needs of minors.
Read it all.
In the preamble, the convention indicates the family as "the natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members, especially children." Certainly, it is precisely the family, founded on marriage between a man and a woman, which is the greatest help that can be given to children. They want to be loved by a mother and a father who love one another, and they need to dwell, grow and live together with both parents, because the maternal and paternal figure are complementary in the education of children and in the construction of their personality and their identity. Hence, it is important that everything possible is done to make them grow in a united and stable family.
To this end, it is necessary to exhort the spouses never to lose sight of the profound reasons and sacredness of the conjugal pact and to reinforce it with listening to the Word of God, prayer, constant dialogue, mutual acceptance and mutual forgiveness. A family environment that is not serene, the division of the couple and, in particular, separation with divorce do not fail to have consequences for the children, whereas supporting the family and promoting its good, its rights, its unity and stability, is the best way of protecting the rights and the genuine needs of minors.
Read it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • Pope Benedict XVI • * Theology • Anthropology • Pastoral Theology
Sanford tells NPR's Renee Montagne that she did not attend her husband's news conference for two reasons.
"One, he didn't ask me," she said, "but if he had asked me, I would've said no. Two, we were separated. I don't know what I would have stood by him about...."
"Talk about another gut punch," Sanford tells Montagne. "I said, 'gee whiz. He saw me as an adviser and wanted me to give him political advice about how he was received.'"
Asked what she told her husband, Sanford recalls saying, "'Are you kidding? You cried for your lover and said very little of me or the boys."
Read or listen to it all.
"One, he didn't ask me," she said, "but if he had asked me, I would've said no. Two, we were separated. I don't know what I would have stood by him about...."
"Talk about another gut punch," Sanford tells Montagne. "I said, 'gee whiz. He saw me as an adviser and wanted me to give him political advice about how he was received.'"
Asked what she told her husband, Sanford recalls saying, "'Are you kidding? You cried for your lover and said very little of me or the boys."
Read or listen to it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government • * South Carolina • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology • Pastoral Theology
Here’s a rather predictable news flash: American mothers want the fathers of their children to stick around, help with the kids and go to church.
There’s something else that united the participants in “Mama Says,” a recent survey from the National Fatherhood Initiative: 93 percent of them believe America is suffering from what the researchers called a “father-absence crisis.” An earlier survey by the same nonpartisan group found that 91 percent of American fathers affirmed that stark judgment.
The survey didn’t include many religious questions, but the role of faith in American homes and marriages kept rising to the surface.
“What the religious questions revealed to us is that the mothers who were the most religious were consistently the mothers who were the most satisfied with the jobs that their men were doing as fathers,” said Vincent DiCaro of the National Fatherhood Initiative, which is based in the Maryland suburbs of Washington.
Read it all.
There’s something else that united the participants in “Mama Says,” a recent survey from the National Fatherhood Initiative: 93 percent of them believe America is suffering from what the researchers called a “father-absence crisis.” An earlier survey by the same nonpartisan group found that 91 percent of American fathers affirmed that stark judgment.
The survey didn’t include many religious questions, but the role of faith in American homes and marriages kept rising to the surface.
“What the religious questions revealed to us is that the mothers who were the most religious were consistently the mothers who were the most satisfied with the jobs that their men were doing as fathers,” said Vincent DiCaro of the National Fatherhood Initiative, which is based in the Maryland suburbs of Washington.
Read it all.
Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • Men • Women • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches
Here’s a sign of the times: when Jenny Sanford sat down to tell her young sons that their father, Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, was having an affair, one of them reacted in an unusually worldly way.
“Oh my gosh,” exclaimed 13-year-old Bolton Sanford. “This is going to be worse than Eliot Spitzer.”
--Janet Maslin in her book review in this past Thursday's NY Times
“Oh my gosh,” exclaimed 13-year-old Bolton Sanford. “This is going to be worse than Eliot Spitzer.”
--Janet Maslin in her book review in this past Thursday's NY Times
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * South Carolina • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology
When Amy was a little girl, her uncle made her famous in the worst way: as a star in the netherworld of child pornography. Photographs and videos known as “the Misty series” depicting her abuse have circulated on the Internet for more than 10 years, and often turn up in the collections of those arrested for possession of illegal images.
Now, with the help of an inventive lawyer, the young woman known as Amy — her real name has been withheld in court to prevent harassment — is fighting back.
She is demanding that everyone convicted of possessing even a single Misty image pay her damages until her total claim of $3.4 million has been met.
Read it all.
Now, with the help of an inventive lawyer, the young woman known as Amy — her real name has been withheld in court to prevent harassment — is fighting back.
She is demanding that everyone convicted of possessing even a single Misty image pay her damages until her total claim of $3.4 million has been met.
Read it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Law & Legal Issues • Pornography
Regardless, getting angry isn't the answer, said [Dr. Reed] Tuckson, who cautions against demonizing heavy people.
"Not only is getting angry mean-spirited and antithetical to the kind of society we want to live in, but it's also counterproductive," Tuckson said. "We need to convert our concern into positive action and find ways to support individuals to make better choices."
He believes that reducing the incidence of obesity and its related health costs will require changes on four levels:
"Not only is getting angry mean-spirited and antithetical to the kind of society we want to live in, but it's also counterproductive," Tuckson said. "We need to convert our concern into positive action and find ways to support individuals to make better choices."
He believes that reducing the incidence of obesity and its related health costs will require changes on four levels:
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Dieting/Food/Nutrition • Education • Health & Medicine • Marriage & Family • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Corporations/Corporate Life
The Archbishop said:
"The Church in Sudan is completely committed to peace and development and will work with all agencies, governmental and non-governmental, committed to the same goals. Its infrastructure is at the service of the community, the government and international agencies".
Earlier in the day the Archbishop met the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Ms Radhika Coomaraswamy. The rehabilitation of children who had become caught up in conflict was a key role for churches, so too was protecting children from the vortex of abuse and violence including trafficking and abduction.
"The nurture of children is the touchstone of our mature care of humanity" said Dr Williams.
Read it all and enjoy the picture.
"The Church in Sudan is completely committed to peace and development and will work with all agencies, governmental and non-governmental, committed to the same goals. Its infrastructure is at the service of the community, the government and international agencies".
Earlier in the day the Archbishop met the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Ms Radhika Coomaraswamy. The rehabilitation of children who had become caught up in conflict was a key role for churches, so too was protecting children from the vortex of abuse and violence including trafficking and abduction.
"The nurture of children is the touchstone of our mature care of humanity" said Dr Williams.
Read it all and enjoy the picture.
Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams • * Culture-Watch • Children • Globalization • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Sudan
A U.S. immigration judge has granted political asylum to a Christian family from Germany that wants to home-school its children.
The Home School Legal Defense Association, which defended the family, announced the Tuesday (Jan. 26) decision by Judge Lawrence Burman in Memphis, Tenn.
“This decision finally recognizes that German home-schoolers are a specific social group that is being persecuted by a Western democracy,” said Mike Donnelly, an attorney and director of international relations for the Purcellville, Va.-based association.
Read it all.
The Home School Legal Defense Association, which defended the family, announced the Tuesday (Jan. 26) decision by Judge Lawrence Burman in Memphis, Tenn.
“This decision finally recognizes that German home-schoolers are a specific social group that is being persecuted by a Western democracy,” said Mike Donnelly, an attorney and director of international relations for the Purcellville, Va.-based association.
Read it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Education • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Europe • Germany
Somewhere in the halls of Sahuarita Middle School in Tucson walks a boy who already is a deadbeat debtor.
He isn't old enough to qualify for credit. But at the house his family was evicted from recently, someone used his name and Social Security number to rack up a $950 unpaid bill with Tucson Electric Power.
The boy's mother -- a financially troubled woman with a string of criminal convictions -- says she doesn't know how the bill ended up in her son's name.
Ugh--read it all.
He isn't old enough to qualify for credit. But at the house his family was evicted from recently, someone used his name and Social Security number to rack up a $950 unpaid bill with Tucson Electric Power.
The boy's mother -- a financially troubled woman with a string of criminal convictions -- says she doesn't know how the bill ended up in her son's name.
Ugh--read it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • Science & Technology • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology
Watch it all--wonderful stuff.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Health & Medicine • * International News & Commentary • Caribbean • Haiti
Faced with continuing double-digit unemployment and public unease over his handling of the economy, Mr. Obama is expected to zero in on economic issues during Wednesday's State of the Union and ahead of November's midterm congressional elections. The proposals he unveiled Monday will be included in the administration's fiscal 2011 budget proposal, set for release in a week.
"Joe and I are going to keep on fighting for what matters to middle-class families," Mr. Obama said at the White House. "None of these steps alone will solve all the challenges facing the middle class... but hopefully some of these steps will reestablish some of the security that's slipped away in recent years."
Under its proposal, the White House says all eligible families making under $115,000 a year would see a bigger dependent-care-tax credit. Families could claim up to $3,000 in expenses for one child or $6,000 for two children. Families making less than $80,000 annually could claim a maximum credit of $2,100, up $900 from current law.
Read it all.
"Joe and I are going to keep on fighting for what matters to middle-class families," Mr. Obama said at the White House. "None of these steps alone will solve all the challenges facing the middle class... but hopefully some of these steps will reestablish some of the security that's slipped away in recent years."
Under its proposal, the White House says all eligible families making under $115,000 a year would see a bigger dependent-care-tax credit. Families could claim up to $3,000 in expenses for one child or $6,000 for two children. Families making less than $80,000 annually could claim a maximum credit of $2,100, up $900 from current law.
Read it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Personal Finance • Taxes • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • Office of the President • President Barack Obama
While churches in England have, for the most part, modernised their services in an attempt to attract bigger crowds — some of them becoming painfully evangelical and happy clappy — the Episcopal church in the US still uses the older, traditional liturgies, the ones that I remember nostalgically. It was these superficial trappings that appealed to us originally. My husband, who writes music for a living, is a sucker for a choir — but it is the values that we found there that has really kept us coming back.
At our church, it is not unusual to see children with two mums or two dads, sitting next to Koreans, African-Americans, Hispanics, as well as many white middle-class families. There are monied people from Beverly Hills, rubbing shoulders with artists from downtown. Gay people next to straight. It’s jolly, social and somehow has a relevance to everyone’s life. It reflects an acceptance of all, the kind of value I’d like my children to have. And it is a community. Spirituality, I believe, comes from acknowledging that we are part of something greater than just ourselves.
Read it all.
At our church, it is not unusual to see children with two mums or two dads, sitting next to Koreans, African-Americans, Hispanics, as well as many white middle-class families. There are monied people from Beverly Hills, rubbing shoulders with artists from downtown. Gay people next to straight. It’s jolly, social and somehow has a relevance to everyone’s life. It reflects an acceptance of all, the kind of value I’d like my children to have. And it is a community. Spirituality, I believe, comes from acknowledging that we are part of something greater than just ourselves.
Read it all.
Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • Episcopal Church (TEC) • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family
I went to the March for Life rally Friday on the Mall expecting to write about its irrelevance. Isn't it quaint, I thought, that these abortion protesters show up each year on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, even though the decision still stands after 37 years. What's more, with a Democrat in the White House likely to appoint justices who support abortion rights, surely the Supreme Court isn't going to overturn Roe in the foreseeable future.
How wrong I was. The antiabortion movement feels it's gaining strength, even if it's not yet ready to predict ultimate triumph, and Roe supporters (including me) are justifiably nervous.
Read it all.
How wrong I was. The antiabortion movement feels it's gaining strength, even if it's not yet ready to predict ultimate triumph, and Roe supporters (including me) are justifiably nervous.
Read it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Law & Legal Issues • Life Ethics • Marriage & Family • Science & Technology • Young Adults
Last week’s earthquake has devastated Haiti, and prompted a massive relief effort. In a smaller but almost equally intense way, the disaster has pervaded every part of the school day for the 510 students — 80 percent of them Haitian — at SS. Joachim and Anne, the Roman Catholic elementary school in Queens Village, Queens, a hub of New York’s Haitian community.
They pray. They scrounge up donations. The quake informs class discussions about politics, about helping the poor, about the afterlife. And when the children are not talking about it, their teachers suspect, they are thinking about it.
As classmates played with cubes on Wednesday, learning to add, Michael Constant, 6, squirmed in his seat. His mother had just left for Haiti that morning to bury his father.
As 250,000 Haitian-Americans in the New York area mourn, children bear their own burdens. Many feel as much at home in Haiti as in New York. They struggle to picture the houses where they spent summers now in rubble, grandparents and cousins dead, missing, homeless. For others, Haiti exists in tales parents tell — a place they long to visit and now wonder if they will ever see.
Read it all.
They pray. They scrounge up donations. The quake informs class discussions about politics, about helping the poor, about the afterlife. And when the children are not talking about it, their teachers suspect, they are thinking about it.
As classmates played with cubes on Wednesday, learning to add, Michael Constant, 6, squirmed in his seat. His mother had just left for Haiti that morning to bury his father.
As 250,000 Haitian-Americans in the New York area mourn, children bear their own burdens. Many feel as much at home in Haiti as in New York. They struggle to picture the houses where they spent summers now in rubble, grandparents and cousins dead, missing, homeless. For others, Haiti exists in tales parents tell — a place they long to visit and now wonder if they will ever see.
Read it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Education • * International News & Commentary • Caribbean • Haiti
Prior to becoming the devout, busybody next-door neighbor on the animated hit "The Simpsons," Ned Flanders was an out-of-control brat whose beatnik parents didn't believe in discipline. To reform Ned, a child psychologist enrolled him in the University of Minnesota Spankalogical Protocol, which included eight months of continuous spanking. It cured his rambunctiousness and set him on the path to becoming the cartoon world's most famously pious Christian.
Indeed, conservative Christian parenting is often unfairly presented as little more than "spare the rod, spoil the child," advice distilled from the Bible's book of Proverbs. Spanking—punishment delivered with an open hand, not a rod—used to be socially acceptable and frequently utilized by parents, even in public. But at some point in the past century, child-rearing books began discouraging spanking and encouraging such new proverbs as "let's all take a 'timeout' so that our anger might melt away, leading to fruitful conversation, peace and harmony in the home."
Some parents have taken the advice to such an extreme that they're hesitant to impose any consequences at all on their children....
Read the whole thing from today's Wall Street Journal.
Indeed, conservative Christian parenting is often unfairly presented as little more than "spare the rod, spoil the child," advice distilled from the Bible's book of Proverbs. Spanking—punishment delivered with an open hand, not a rod—used to be socially acceptable and frequently utilized by parents, even in public. But at some point in the past century, child-rearing books began discouraging spanking and encouraging such new proverbs as "let's all take a 'timeout' so that our anger might melt away, leading to fruitful conversation, peace and harmony in the home."
Some parents have taken the advice to such an extreme that they're hesitant to impose any consequences at all on their children....
Read the whole thing from today's Wall Street Journal.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • Religion & Culture • * Theology • Theology: Scripture
Read it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Blogging & the Internet • --Social Networking • Children • Science & Technology
A friend of mine, in her college days, had a bumper sticker that offered this peaceful counsel: Don’t Buy War Toys. Once, she and a companion were stuck in a traffic jam on the highway, next to several young men in a pickup on their way home from deer hunting. The traffic was creeping along, one lane inching forward and coming to a halt, the next lane overtaking it momentarily before stopping a few yards ahead. Every time my friend’s car had to stop, the men in the pickup pulled alongside, windows cranked down, and held up various examples of the deer-rifle genre. They also hollered in tones of good-natured hilarity that became more good-natured and hilarious the lower my friend’s passenger cringed in her seat, “Hey, ladies! Don’t buy war toys? Like this?”
As it happens, in my family, with boys in the house, we do buy war toys—not nuclear missiles, of course, just the normal assortment of blasters and cork shooters and swords of various kinds, including an actual antique Indian scimitar in a moth-eaten velvet scabbard, which was the one thing our eleven-year-old wanted for his birthday.
We don’t buy toys of any kind often, mind you, relying as much as we can on nature to provide materials for hours of imaginative play. And what nature provides a lot of are war toys....
Read it all.
As it happens, in my family, with boys in the house, we do buy war toys—not nuclear missiles, of course, just the normal assortment of blasters and cork shooters and swords of various kinds, including an actual antique Indian scimitar in a moth-eaten velvet scabbard, which was the one thing our eleven-year-old wanted for his birthday.
We don’t buy toys of any kind often, mind you, relying as much as we can on nature to provide materials for hours of imaginative play. And what nature provides a lot of are war toys....
Read it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Marriage & Family • Men • Women
Watch it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • * International News & Commentary • Caribbean • Haiti
“People two, three or four years apart are having completely different experiences with technology,” said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project. “College students scratch their heads at what their high school siblings are doing, and they scratch their heads at their younger siblings. It has sped up generational differences.”
One obvious result is that younger generations are going to have some very peculiar and unique expectations about the world. My friend’s 3-year-old, for example, has become so accustomed to her father’s multitouch iPhone screen that she approaches laptops by swiping her fingers across the screen, expecting a reaction.
And after my 4-year-old niece received the very hot Zhou-Zhou pet hamster for Christmas, I pointed out that the toy was essentially a robot, with some basic obstacle avoidance skills. She replied matter-of-factly: “It’s not a robot. It’s a pet.”
Read it all.
One obvious result is that younger generations are going to have some very peculiar and unique expectations about the world. My friend’s 3-year-old, for example, has become so accustomed to her father’s multitouch iPhone screen that she approaches laptops by swiping her fingers across the screen, expecting a reaction.
And after my 4-year-old niece received the very hot Zhou-Zhou pet hamster for Christmas, I pointed out that the toy was essentially a robot, with some basic obstacle avoidance skills. She replied matter-of-factly: “It’s not a robot. It’s a pet.”
Read it all.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Blogging & the Internet • Children • Science & Technology
The United States has more poor children now than it did a year ago.
As recession-hammered families increase, more are using food stamps to feed their kids, according to a study by the Brookings Institution and First Focus, a bipartisan child advocacy group.
"They are a really good barometer, a kind of economic-needs test," said Mark R. Rank, an expert on social welfare programs at Washington University in St. Louis. "If you're receiving food stamps and you're a child, by definition, you're in poverty."
Read the whole article.
As recession-hammered families increase, more are using food stamps to feed their kids, according to a study by the Brookings Institution and First Focus, a bipartisan child advocacy group.
"They are a really good barometer, a kind of economic-needs test," said Mark R. Rank, an expert on social welfare programs at Washington University in St. Louis. "If you're receiving food stamps and you're a child, by definition, you're in poverty."
Read the whole article.
Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Dieting/Food/Nutrition • Marriage & Family • Poverty
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