I suspect the law should be changed (if it's meant for babies, it should be written for babies, if this is more than a one-time bump in the stats), but if I were king of Nebraska, I wouldn't change it without first figuring out why the children were being abandoned (lack of help, lack of money?)
In a significant number of cases, it seems like the kids being abandoned are being left by family members who assumed custody after something happened to the mother or father, and I wonder if the place to look isn't those laws.
The article made me feel frustrated and helpless when I first read it, and time hasn't improved that response. There are a number of different questions floating around in it -- IS Nebraska representative of other states? Is this a problem of insufficient mental health care, or respite services? Is it kinship care that that just can't manage?
It's nice to see the guy from Jim Casey Youth Opportunities quoted; all of their work that I'm familiar with has been good.
I thought it was only Nebraska that actually had it enshrined legally (people do put their children into foster care or up for adoption voluntarily, whatever the laws about baby-dumping, like that man in Omaha) and they're changing theirs as from January.
This dispute highlights the Moral Majority's lack of concern for post-born babies about as sharply as you could wish. Fetuses are protected, children aren't, and adults are damned sinners.
they're changing theirs as from January
Wow going from 18 yrs to 3 days. That is quite the jump.
I also wonder how much this has to do with policies that starve assistance programs while encouraging a culture that places both blame and shame on those who need that assistance. Repeatedly the story talks about people who don't know there's help to be had and people who were slow to get it once they knew about it (such as Ms. Lopez at the end) and I can't help but think that a lot of people drive themselves crazy because they think asking for help reduces them to being a burden.
What's with these essay question posts?
IIRC, NYC has the same three day rule for abandonment at fire stations and the like, yes? Now I'm curious what NC's laws are.
Couldn't there just be like free boxes in various places. Some people want to have kids without going through the sex and childbirth part, or the complicated adoption procedures either. Maybe Craigslist could help.
policies that starve assistance programs
Key. Saying that respite programs are available is nearly meaningless -- unless you do some digging, it's hard to know whether available means "If you have the right signed form from a doctor that hasn't expired, and your income is literally poverty level and not more, and you have a car to get your kid to the respite program and drop them off, and you didn't miss the enrollment period that comes after a full moon after the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November." Or whether it just means, "Yeah, sure, we have that, for kids under 18 with no means testing and no other eligibility requirements."
National Conference of State Legislatures says there are child-abandonment laws in almost every state, and as of 2001, 34 states had also enacted safe haven laws allowing parents to abandon children without penalty. The age of the child was generally 72 hours to 30 days old.
So these are laws about newborns, mostly. I wonder if Nebraska was the first state to write it so broadly.
A student I was advising last week told me that she and her twin sister had just been awarded custody of their 6-yr-old nephew. I was sort of staggered by the amount of responsibility placed on this 19 yr old sophomore.
What's with these Should Unfogged have more essay question posts? What sorts of topics would make for good essay question posts? Be specific and, of course, RTFA for examples.
I do the essay question posts a lot (to the extent that any posting I do counts as 'a lot', of course). I think of it as the international signal for "I haven't actually formed any conclusions about this, but that's no reason not to get a comments thread going."
How has the departure of ogged influenced the frequency and themes of essay question posts? Does the language of comments on EQPs differ from those you have studied in the archives? Why is this significant?
7: Please provide examples from the archives and from your personal experience. If you need additional space, there is a blank page at theback of the comment thread.
But if I use the additional space, the page will no longer be blank.
I've been pushing for "Holocausts: Not as Bad as All That?" for some time.
18: Candidates should on no account attempt to write on both sides of the paper at once. You may use dividers, but not on each other.
If you get charged with abandonment, do you get your kids back as a punishment?
There should be a special Federal program that shoots annoying kids into space. But the key is that not only parents should be making the decision on which kids to banish from the planet -- neighbors and teachers should have a role too. In fact, in some cases neighbors and others should be able to overrule parents.
It's nice to see the guy from Jim Casey Youth Opportunities quoted; all of their work that I'm familiar with has been good.
what do you do for a living, Witt? Do you run a foundation or something?
As for the NYT article, I predict that being quoted by name as a guardian of poster children for an abandonment law will make parenting more difficult.
Mr. Staton, who gave up all but his oldest child, an 18-year-old girl, remains something of a mystery. His wife died in February 2007 after giving birth to the 10th child. Both parents had sporadic employment.
Somewhere in north Omaha, an 18-year-old girl with the family name of Staton has probably been having a very rough week at school since this article was published...
I guess we can just hope that this article merely disregards usual journalistic ethics, by changing the names of people quoted but not revealing it.
if I were king of Nebraska
when two of my brothers were 7 and 8 and in the middle of a screaming fight, one said to the other "You think you're SO great, why don't you just go be the GOVERNOR of IDAHO."
This is my favorite insult ever.
What's with these essay question posts?
I like this "cooperation is for losers" norm you've got going, Ben. Let's see if it wins out over the "no embarrassment here" norm.
26: That's excellent. Was Idaho a random choice or did you live in a neighboring state or something?
28- we were in Montana. But usually in Montana you make fun of North Dakota, so I don't really know where the Idaho hate came from.
All of this is really more of an argument for bicameral legislatures. If Nebraska had them some senators, someone could have pointed out that the law was too broadly written.
Or maybe people in Omaha are just stupid. That always has to be a consideration.
Or maybe people in Omaha are just stupid. That always has to be a consideration.
I dunno, they did have the sense to vote for Obama...
Apparently some of Palin's undie are being repossessed by the RNC. Republican factional fights can be brutal.
Hey, what happened to my comment? It's listed in the sidebar, but doesn't show up in the thread. This has happened several times recently.
I see it! You're right, though, something about thread refreshing has been fucked up lately.
33: They said the clothes were going to charity. Do charities take used underwear? I volunteered at a clothing donation place back in HS but I don't remember any ever coming in.
Palin's used underwear would be red hot on Ebay.
No soiled undergarments allowed on ebay.
Ruin my fun, Tweety. Ruin my fun. Be an asshole. You really hate me, don't you? You and McManus.
Where do you sell your dirty underwear? Sell.com seems to offer that service.
It's apparently a federal crime, however. Up to five years. Not that you should be worried.
I give my soiled underwear away. Toss it from the rooftops, in an act of supreme charity.
It seems to be a common way to finance college these days.
All of this is really more of an argument for bicameral legislatures. If Nebraska had them some senators
All of Nebraska's state legislators are senators.
(I've actually voted in the Nebraska legislature.)
Nebraska's system actually makes a lot more sense than the other states'. While there are some reasonable arguments for a bicameral national legislature, it makes no sense at all on the state level. The way they divide the electoral votes is cool too.
Every time a major league sports team threatened to leave Minneapolis, the newspaper threatened that if we allowed them to do so the city would be on its way to becoming "a cold Omaha." Google reveals atleast one instance of someone making the complementary "warm Minneapolis" joke.
(I've actually voted in the Nebraska legislature.)
You were a Nebraska state senator?
46: No, but when I was a kid my family was friends with one, and a couple of times he let me press the button at his desk in the Senate chamber to register his vote.
I don't think he ever let me do it on a crucial vote, though.
While there are some reasonable arguments for a bicameral national legislature, it makes no sense at all on the state level.
Why do you not think so?
I bet you voted for NR2-106, jerk. Transparency's a good thing!
No soiled undergarments allowed on ebay.
Palin is incompetent, Sifu. Not incontinent.
49: Because, given federalism, the US is divided into units (states) that arguably are important and autonomous enough to be given representation in their own right. Most if not all states, however, aren't further divided into equivalent units. Counties have much less authority and importance, which can be seen in the fact that they are not, at least in all the cases I'm aware of, equivalent to state senate districts. In all states except Nebraska, therefore, you have two legislatures, each made up of representatives from districts drawn more-or-less arbitrarily, with the only difference being the size of the districts. Not very democratic, and pointlessly slow and inefficient as well.
(All these criticisms could, of course, be leveled at the US Senate as well, and there would be a lot of truth to them there as well, but here I'm emphasizing the differences rather than the similarities between the state and federal levels.)
Iceland has a unicameral legislature, and look where it got them. The terrorists.
Kaupthing
Where have you go-one
doot doot doobedoo
Kaupthing
You been gone so long
It's always about Iceland with you, isn't it, Sifu?
I wouldn't think of it as "soiled" underwear. I'd think of it as "personalized", sort of like it was autographed.
California needs a tetracameral legislature. That'd fix them Mormons, but good.
Sifu is a heretic. What we need is the ultimate of mysteries, to wit, one government which is simultaneously in three chambers.
But wait—don't we already have one government which is simultaneously three branches? Is America … God?!
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If you're planning to eat a persimmon, looking up how to do so on the internet is only going to make you feel stupid.
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Bicameral legislatures can store more fat longer than unicameral legislatures.
What if we had infinite, nested legislatures?
Even a unicameral legislature produces too much underwear to be very practical. Most of it is fat old man underwear, too. Legislatures were a bad idea from the get-go.
61: I know you love your iPhone, but you really don't need to make up reasons to use the browser on it.
Actually, the advice about what kind of persimmon to eat soft and what firm is useful. More than one person, I'm sure, has been undone for want of persimmon science.
Hmm. Apparently tetracameral legislatures were common in medieval Scandinavia. Tricameralism, meanwhile, was used in apartheid South Africa and was favored by Simón Bolívar.
65: eat bite-sized pieces, Josh, and swallow only when safe to do so.
This persimmon still has a slightly chalky aftertaste, but is otherwise pretty extravagantly tasty. I wonder if it'll go with beer?
According to Kenneth Rexroth, the key to successfully eating persimmons is to think of them as female genitalia.
Oh, fuck, I forgot to tell Josh to chew.
If the persimmon puckers up your mouth unbearably, it may be unripe and should probably not be eaten.
71: Luckily Magpie was around to perform the Heimlich Maneuver. YOU OWE HER.
If I had to do it all over again I wouldn't eat so much of the skin. Thanks for nothing, wikiHow!
We had a big persimmon tree when I was growing up. The really ripe ones are a fantastic receptacle for an M-80.
wikipedia says
'Unripened persimmons contain the soluble tannin shibuol, which, upon contact with a weak acid, polymerizes in the stomach and forms a gluey coagulum that can affix with other stomach matter.[9] The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy notes that consumption of persimmons has been known to cause bezoars that require surgery in over 90% of cases. More than 85% phytobezoars are caused by ingestion of unripened persimmons[10]. '
Do you have to chew? The persimmons I remember were almost liquid and you can just suck them out.
Well that's more like it:
Wait
until it's as squooshy
as the breast of a well-padded woman.
Pinch its bottom--
firm is good, soft is better.
Cup the fruit in your left hand
(lefties do the reverse),
pick up your spoon in the other.
A sterling silver teaspoon
deeply engraved or with elegant pattern
yields the most pleasure.
Touch the tip of the spoon
just below the nipple of the orange globe.
Push with intent. Break the skin.
Spoon the almost liquid flesh
into a small bowl. Using fingers,
rotate the fruit. Peel fragile petals,
scrape the custard from the skin.
Sever the stiff ribs, lay them
with the flesh. Dig the tip
of that silver spoon deep
into the base, twist out
the final scoops. Lay the emptied body
gently to rest. Wash your hands.
Carry the bowl as if it were made of gold
to your favorite chair. Lean back,
wave your spoon in a circle, sigh.
Lift the shimmering succulence to your lips,
roll it in your mouth, swallow
slowly. Do it again. Again.
Again.
Minus one million points for "shimmering succulence" and amateurish anaphora.
80: you have no respect for imagery. Can't you just feel the muumuu flowing about as you contemplate the overripe fruit?
In 1575, the surgeon Ambroise Paré described an experiment to test the properties of the Bezoar Stone. At the time, the Bezoar stone was deemed to be able to cure the effects of any poison, but Paré believed this was impossible. It happened that a cook at Paré's court was caught stealing fine silver cutlery. In his shame, the cook agreed to [[l]ift the shimmering succulence to [his] lips, roll it in [his] mouth, swallow slowly. Do it again. Again. Again.] He then used the Bezoar stone to no great avail as he died in agony seven hours later.[1] Paré had proved that the Bezoar stone could not cure all poisons as was commonly believed at the time.
No, those are trichobezoars. You have a diospyrobezoar.
Humans who frequently consume hair sometimes require these to be removed. The Rapunzel syndrome, a very rare and extreme case, may require surgery.
try not to cough up on Blume's nice carpet. It pulls the room together.
84: Ah, for the days before Institutional Review Boards.
A bezoar in the large intestine is known as a FECALITH?
That's the greatest thing ever!
The bolus article is pretty great too.
Okay, I am totally not going to try that pastry from the Netherlands, now.
Thanks, read. Now I have to get checked for phytobezoars. You can see them if you put pond water under a microscope, right?
Man, wikipedia is on fire tonight.
Slow down, you move too fast, you've got to make the morning last Just kickin' down the cobble-stones, lookin' for fun and feelin' groovy
92: I discovered what I think is my new favorite Wikipedia page today.
Food boli (singular, bolus) imitate true bezoars and are composed of loose aggregates of food items such as seeds, fruit pith, or pits as well as other types of items such as shellac, bubble gum, soil, and concretions of some medications.
Who eats shellac? That's right up there with never huffing Scotch-gard.
Shellac is edible and it is used as a glazing agent on pills and candies. Because of its alkaline properties, shellac-coated pills may be used for a timed enteric or colonic release.[7] It is also used to replace the natural wax of the apple, which is removed during the cleaning process.[8] When used for this purpose, it has the food additive E number E904. This coating may not be considered as vegetarian as it may, and probably does, contain crushed insects. In the tablet manufacture trade, it is sometimes referred to as "beetlejuice" for this reason.
Holy shit!
"Colonic Release" sounds like the name of a Christian hardcore band.
It is also used to replace the natural wax of the apple
I got some Pink Pearls a month and a half or so ago that were super waxy. I never before knew that some apples do that naturally.
Ha! Vegetarians! Apples! Ha!
"May, and probably does". I like that expression.
Since the dawn of man, vegetarians have been unable to drink Campari.
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Trader Joe's Hofbrau Bock: not bad.
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I'm a vegetarian, and I'd consume bugs no problem. Especially in a delicious drink made with Campari.
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No more masturbating to Miriam Makeba, you insensitive racists.
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52 -- In the past, it was not uncommon for state senates to be based, in part at least, on counties. 'Sorry, no can do,' said the United States Supreme Court.
Check out part III sections (3) & (4) of Justice Frankfurter's dissent in Baker v. Carr.
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Delicious wonderfulness as a wackjob New Age religion tries to get their principles displayed on public property alongside those idiotic Ten Commandments monuments. Bonus wacky goodness: The founder of the religion, one "Summum Bonum Amun Ra" goes by the nickname "Corky."
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Extra Bonus wacky goodness: Their religion involves making liquor and mummifying cats.
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It's an actual religion, too. I thoughtat first that it would be a Flying Spaghetti Monster joke, but no.
Like the Mormon Church, its a Nineteenth Century American creation.
Mummified cat liquor sounds gross.
109 - 20th century, actually. They're one of the Johnny Come Lately wackjob cults, not one of the Old Enough To have Pretensions of Respectability wackjob cults.
They do seem pretty harmless, though. Not Branch Davidians or People's Temple types, or even Scientologists.
Hardly 19th century, the founder died earlier this year according to wiki. But you have to admire somebody who can come up with a sentence like "Nothing and Possibility come in and out of bond infinite times in a finite moment." AND remember it after the acid wears off.
He was building on the XIXc "New Thought" movement, according to Wiki. I did my Wiki research several links deep, motherfuckers.
112 -- It's what he thinks he remembers. Man, it made so much sense last night!
113 OK, fine going several links deep you can get to 19th century, and a couple more puts you in the first century AD, which is still well after the Bhagavad Gita, and therefore a wacky cult in my estimation.
95: The one on meatspace is even better. "Meatspace can also refer to any place with a high quantity of meat."
You people are so fucking shallow.
106: Oh good.
The Summum thing is fantastic. Talking about putting them on the horns of a dilemmum.
