A lot of thoughts went through my head as I read this, but getting to the end, Mr. Traister summed it up perfectly. He got to the place where he and other dads should be. I don't know that this deserves a special applause for the ah-hah moment, but I'll give him a high five.

The thing is, this whole thing about gender roles and the workforce and household? Well, just the fact that there's plenty of men who feel emasculated (or are called thus by others) by staying at home with their kids... how does this show how we value childcare and housework? And how does it show how we value women vs. men? It's good enough for a woman to do, but not good enough for a man? What is THAT about?

It's also not just about stay-at-home dads, but for millions of women it's also about both parents sharing all of the household chores when they both work. The grim reality is that most women go to work and put in a full day, and then come home to work the "second shift" around the house and with the kids and partner at night.

The other problem is stay at home moms and dads who don't get a break. It's a job just like any other job, and the partner who works outside of the home should remember that, and pitch in to give the stay at home spouse a break. Anybody who stayed at home to take care of the house and kids would soon realize that it's not all soap operas and bonbons. It's hard work.

Fortunately, times are still changing. And I hope it continues to change. I hope that the idea of stay-at-home dads becomes more commonplace, that childcare and housework are valued as real social and economic assets, and that there's no need for articles like this.

That parking lot is regularly patrolled by security guards and police. And yet, nobody was paying attention. There are so many people that could have made a call about that infant, but nobody bothered to really look at what was going on in the cars.

I know the people who first arrived and found the mother screaming, administered CPR to the baby and called the ambulance. They are completely shaken and torn up about it wishing they could have gotten there sooner, but say that the baby was probably already long gone by the time they got there. They've not been reported on by the media at all, but I imagine that's because the parents aren't talking. All of us who know them have wanted to spare them from the media. But it's just terrible.

It's just terribly tragic. Every parent's nightmare.

That it IS about the content of one's character rather than the color of one's skin. Because you know, if you grow up Puerto Rican and poor in the Bronx, and your school doesn't have a lot of money, but you work hard and are trying your damndest to succeed despite pressures to the contrary, your test scores might not be as high as the rich white kids who had every opportunity that you didn't. But your character, your determination to succeed and do your best regardless of your circumstances, is what matters and sometimes we have to look beyond test scores and look at, contextually, what kids in poor neighborhoods have done despite their circumstances. It's not about "let's pick some kids of color and kick out some white kids." It's about, let's look at the context of how kids are working to succeed, and take into account not only their test scores, but what they had to work past in order to get to this point.

Ah, Sean Hannity. Well at least he's educational in his ridiculous pomposity.

I have a friend who decided fairly early on that he didn't want to have children. Since he was 18 or so he's been trying to find a doctor who would perform a vasectomy, but he's now 38 and still hasn't found one. When he tells people he doesn't want to have children, he's typically called "selfish." And yet, like him, I don't understand how it's selfish. It's not like he's keeping it from his partner. She knows he doesn't want to have kids, and she doesn't, either.

I think it's totally connected to the abortion debate because, as this article says, it's really about controlling reproduction. And it's not just a women's issue, but a men's issue, as well.

It's not like comparing an African American to an ape is, you know, inherently racist or anything.