The Death of a Child - Media Coverage (or lack thereof)

I'm sure that, by now, you have all heard about the Casey Anthony case.

How could you not with all the media coverage devoted to it???

And with all due respect to the memory of sweet and innocent Caylee, I just wish the media would pay even HALF as much attention to other children who are dying too young.

Poverty.com has a tally of how many lives are lost each hour to poverty-related issues.

According to their website, hunger:

• kills about 25,000 people EVERY DAY
• this is one person every 3.5 seconds
• most of the victims are children

And as for AIDS: 

• it is second only to Black Death as the largest epidemic in ALL of history
• 1.5+ million people die from it each year
• this amounts to 1 death every 20 seconds 

Similarly, tuberculosis:

• is thought to have killed more people than any disease EVER
• one million people die from it each year

The website also details the deaths from other poverty-related diseases like malaria and measles. 

But we NEVER hear about them.


Each of those lives lost deserve as much attention as Caylee Anthony got.

Here is a way you can help out by writing a letter. While you're at it, send one to your local newspaper or television station to request their coverage on the issue.

Or support World Vision. Their tagline is "Poverty kills 24,000 children each day. Help one child."

I hope you'll do that - help (at least) one child.

An Unusual Bedtime Story... for adults

This is not Southern Belle.

And it is not Feminist.

BUT, it is funny.

And it has some foul language so this post is not PG. But that is to be expected with a title like this:

Go the F--- to Sleep

No. Lie. 

Described as "Honest, profane, and affectionate" and "Beautiful, subversive, and pants-wettingly funny" by OutisdetheBeltway.com it is a children's book... for adults. 

It is for anyone who has struggled to get a kid to go to sleep whether they were a parent, a baby-sitter, big sister or brother, grandparent, etc. I've been babysitting for 10 years now and I know I've certainly felt the frustrations this book captures.

Written by Adam Mansbach, below he does a dramatic reading from this morning's Today Show and as their website warns: 

"Watching this video may cause uncontrollable laughter. Please remove children from room before viewing, and arrange pillows on floor in case you literally fall off your chair laughing."  

ENJOY his story time here!!!

I'm sure many of us have done a little improv with expletives (at least in our head!) during story time in the wee hours of the morning but when this man finally put those words on paper in a real book, it took off! 

The Today Show reported that "Seemingly overnight, it shot up to No. 1 on the Amazon pre-order list, his publisher bumped up the release date to June 14 and the book has even been optioned for a movie! Apparently parents world-wide can relate to his simple, satirical tale."

And in case you did too, you can buy a copy here on Amazon ;) 

Now, because I have a very early day tomorrow, I must go so I can - you guessed it:

Go the f--- to sleep ;)

My Heart is Broken... Just like Our School Sysem

Everyone deserves an education.
But some aren't getting it.

Our nation has failure factories,
Rather than a road to success.

The only way into a good public school, for many,
Is a lottery.

Their number being pulled.

LUCK.

Not merit.
Not a test score.
Not motivation or desire.
Not even money.

Just a random number.
Just dumb LUCK.

Wake Up Everybody. 

 My heart is broken.
Just like our school system.

I saw Waiting for "Superman" tonight.

It made me cry.
Kids actually WANT to learn.
And. They. Can't.

Cause someone didn't pull their number in a raffle.

We have reduced children's dreams,

And their potential,
To a number.

Which more times that not,
Isn't called.

What does this mean?

 Our system is failing them.
They are failing.
And our country will be doing the same thing,
If we don't change things.

Please go see the movie. 

It's hard to say this,
But I hope your heart becomes broken too.

So you'll do something to fix it.
And our school system.

Let our children shine.

I'll be writing more soon...