TheMotherhood

Emily Tabloid Hack Attack on Royals, and Beyond

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/magazine/05hacking-t.html

IN NOVEMBER 2005, three senior aides to Britain’s royal family noticed odd things happening on their mobile phones. Messages they had never listened to were somehow appearing in their mailboxes as if heard and saved. Equally peculiar were stories that began appearing about Prince William in one of the country’s biggest tabloids, News of the World.

The stories were banal enough (Prince William pulled a tendon in his knee, one revealed). But the royal aides were puzzled as to how News of the World had gotten the information, which was known among only a small, discreet circle. They began to suspect that someone was eavesdropping on their private conversations.

By early January 2006, Scotland Yard had confirmed their suspicions. An unambiguous trail led to Clive Goodman, the News of the World reporter who covered the royal family, and to a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, who also worked for the paper. The two men had somehow obtained the PIN codes needed to access the voice mail of the royal aides.

Scotland Yard told the aides to continue operating as usual while it pursued the investigation, which included surveillance of the suspects’ phones. A few months later, the inquiry took a remarkable turn as the reporter and the private investigator chased a story about Prince William’s younger brother, Harry, visiting a strip club. Another tabloid, The Sun, had trumpeted its scoop on the episode with the immortal: “Harry Buried Face in Margo’s Mega-Boobs. Stripper Jiggled . . . Prince Giggled.”

As Scotland Yard tracked Goodman and Mulcaire, the two men hacked into Prince Harry’s mobile-phone messages. On April 9, 2006, Goodman produced a follow-up article in News of the World about the apparent distress of Prince Harry’s girlfriend over the matter. Headlined “Chelsy Tears Strip Off Harry!” the piece quoted, verbatim, a voice mail Prince Harry had received from his brother teasing him about his predicament.

The palace was in an uproar, especially when it suspected that the two men were also listening to the voice mail of Prince William, the second in line to the throne. The eavesdropping could not have gone higher inside the royal family, since Prince Charles and the queen were hardly regular mobile-phone users. But it seemingly went everywhere else in British society. Scotland Yard collected evidence indicating that reporters at News of the World might have hacked the phone messages of hundreds of celebrities, government officials, soccer stars — anyone whose personal secrets could be tabloid fodder. Only now, more than four years later, are most of them beginning to find out.

4 days ago - Comment

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Holland http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-vanderkam/the-notsooverscheduled-ch_b_700257.html

An interesting article - Are We Over-Scheduling Our Children
Every September, I like to scroll through the bios of a group of young people known as the Davidson Fellows. Chosen by the Davidson Institute for Talent Development (a Reno-based nonprofit I consult with), these teens are recognized for rather stunning original projects. Fourteen-year-old Meredith Lehmann, for instance, used trip data from thousands of U.S. counties to analyze how epidemics spread. Anna Kornfield Simpson, 17, developed a chemical detecting robot.

But even beyond these projects, no one could accuse these young people of coasting. Simpson, for instance, also plays flute and piano, and according to her bio, "One of Anna's main challenges for her project was finding time to research. Due to her schedule of AP and college classes, Youth Symphony and extracurricular activities, she often ended up working on the robot during school holidays and winter break."

Phew, right? Indeed, some folks reading this may be thinking overscheduled, a word that parents and educators like to stew about every fall. Kids feel so compelled to build a college-worthy resume, the story goes, that they're cramming their days (and their winter breaks!) too full.

But when I get to meet these young people at the annual award ceremony in Washington DC, they're hardly anxious bundles of stress. Indeed, many talk of being happiest when they're busy and challenged.

I think they're on to something this back-to-school season. Studies find that for all the angst about kids' schedules, most kids spend surprisingly little time on homework and organized activities. Indeed, many kids would be better off if they -- like the Davidson Fellows -- did more.

Let me explain myself. Ever since kids have stopped spending their days in factories, pundits have been mourning the alleged decline in children's leisure time. As far back as 1939, a report in Childhood Education complained about an increase in organized activities. Modern pundits write books lamenting "hothouse kids" or "overachievers" and making "the case against homework," to quote various titles.

Finish the article by going to the link above.

6 days ago - Comment

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juliepippert Some good news in the headlines for once!

Senator asks EPA to hold coal ash hearing in Tenn.

http://www.wasterecyclingnews.com/email.html?id=1283437756

Sept. 2 -- Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., has asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to hold one of the hearings scheduled on new rules proposed to handle coal ash in Kingston.
"The Kingston spill dumped 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash in Roane County and may cost TVA ratepayers as much as $1.2 billion in cleanup costs. Having hearings on coal ash without asking Tennesseans what they think would be like having hearings on Katrina without asking people in New Orleans what they think or on the oil spill without asking people who live on the Gulf what they think," said Alexander.

After a coal ash impoundment pond failed at the Tennessee Valley Authority´s Kingston Fossil Fuel plant in December 2008, the EPA began looking at storage and handling of coal ash at the nation´s coal-burning power plants. The agency is currently considering new regulations on the handling of coal ash as either non-hazardous or "special" waste for purposes of storage and recycling.

The Senator also asked the EPA to extend its public comment period beyond the Sept. 20 deadline.

7 days ago - Comment

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Emily Why Some People Are Most Likely to Succeed

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1126746,00.html

You don't get as successful as Gregg and Drew Shipp by accident. Shake hands with the 36-year-old fraternal twins who co-own the sprawling Hi Fi Personal Fitness club in Chicago, and it's clear you're in the presence of people who thrive on their drive. But that wasn't always the case. The twins' father founded the Jovan perfume company, a glamorous business that spun off the kinds of glamorous profits that made it possible for the Shipps to amble through high school, coast into college and never much worry about getting the rent paid or keeping the fridge filled. But before they graduated, their sense of drift began to trouble them. At about the same time, their father sold off the company, and with it went the cozy billets in adult life that had always served as an emotional backstop for the boys.

That did it. By the time they got out of school, both Shipps had entirely transformed themselves, changing from boys who might have grown up to live off the family's wealth to men consumed with going out and creating their own. "At this point," says Gregg, "I consider myself to be almost maniacally ambitious."

..... Why are some people born with a fire in the belly, while others — like the Shipps — need something to get their pilot light lit? And why do others never get the flame of ambition going? Is there a family anywhere that doesn't have its overachievers and underachievers — its Jimmy Carters and Billy Carters, its Jeb Bushes and Neil Bushes — and find itself wondering how they all could have come splashing out of exactly the same gene pool?

Of all the impulses in humanity's behavioral portfolio, ambition — that need to grab an ever bigger piece of the resource pie before someone else gets it — ought to be one of the most democratically distributed.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1126746,00.html#ixzz0yBU9Gxav

9 days ago - Comment

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Cooper Hard to believe it is five years now.

From Time: A Katrina photographer returns to New Orleans again and again and again. These images are stunning.

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2012341,00.html

10 days ago - Comment

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Cooper ‘Confidence in the Economy Is Driven by the Woman’

Economists trying to map the global economic recovery tend to focus on demography. The key players at the moment, says former Indonesian finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, are women, who may hold the most potential for jump-starting global growth. Indrawati, now managing director of the World Bank, sat down with NEWSWEEK’s Daniel Stone in Washington to talk about the role of women as key drivers of the recovery.

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/26/questions-for-indonesia-s-sri-mulyani-indrawati.html

13 days ago - Comment

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Deborah I've had enough of this garbage but Stewart makes a great find.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/23/stewart-fox-prince-alwaleed_n_692234.html

16 days ago - Comment

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Erin O Uplifting!

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/22/california.toddler.heroine/index.html?iref=NS1

Toddler walks two blocks to reach medical help for her father
By the CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) -- Alesaundra Tafoya's parents have been teaching their daughter about safety in their Northern California community, pointing out such safe havens as fire stations if she ever finds herself in trouble.

They weren't, however, expecting 3-year-old Alesaundra to call upon those lessons when one of them needed help -- but that's exactly what she did Friday when her father collapsed in their Manteca, California, home.

Frank Tafoya told CNN affiliate KOVR that he "took a mixture of medication I wasn't supposed to at the time -- a bed-time dose -- and I guess I collapsed."

Alesaundra did exactly what she was taught -- walking two blocks to reach Fire Station 243, a firehouse the family passes daily.

Once there, she told firefighters that her dad was "frozen" and wouldn't wake up, according to KOVR.

"I've been here over 20 years," Capt. Robert Villalovoz said. "It's the first time I've had a 3-year-old walk up to the fire station."

Alesaundra then escorted rescuers back to her house, where her father was "sitting in the living room, needing medical care," Villalovoz said.

Doctors told KOVR that without the prompt medical attention, Frank Tafoya would have died.

"She's been listening," her mother said Saturday. "What we've been teaching her she's been listening and that's good."

17 days ago - Comment

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juliepippert About a dozen years ago, when talking to a financial planner at my company about which funds to invest in, I told him my husband and I still rented our house, rather than owning it. He was appalled. "You really, really need to buy a home," he said, "At this stage of life and income, you absolutely need the tax write-off. It's a waste to rent."

I knew this was the typical belief of the time, and I also knew that people had expected my husband and I to buy a house as soon as we married, but...we didn't. We preferred renting. It provided mobility, which we wanted, and our careers often needed. It gave us the opportunity to try out a region before committing to it. It left us with a low stress lifestyle, because the landlord was required to maintain the property.

I understood everyone thought we were throwing money down the drain, but it felt fine to me.

My husband, though, began to internalize it and it started to be a real stress point. So we decided to buy. Now on our second owned house, we're really missing the renting. Yes, even though we're a double income two kid family. Even though we can "do anything we want" to our house.

And now, more than a decade after our happy-go-lucky renting days in which we were so very judged (badly) for renting rather than owning, experts are saying maybe we weren't crazy; maybe home ownership isn't always the best option for everyone.

Have a read through: "Post-Mortgage Meltdown, Where Do We Go Now?
As finance experts rethink federal housing policy, some say homeownership isn't what it used to be." http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129348144

and

"Couple's New American Dream: Rent, Don't Buy"
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129331482

18 days ago - Comment

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Emily Half a Billion Eggs Recalled

(CNN) -- The number of eggs recalled in a nationwide salmonella scare has grown to more than half a billion.

Iowa egg producer Hillandale Farms of Iowa is voluntarily recalling some 170.4 million eggs distributed to stores and companies that service, or are located in, 14 states, a spokeswoman at the Egg Safety Center said on Friday.

The Hillandale eggs were distributed under the Hillandale Farms, Sunny Farms, and Sunny Meadow brand names in six-egg cartons, dozen-egg cartons, 18-egg cartons, 30-egg packages, and five-dozen-egg cases, the website for the Egg Safety Center said.

Loose eggs, which could be repackaged by customers, were packaged under the Wholesome Farms and West Creek brands in 15- and 30-dozen tray packs, according to the Egg Safety Center.

The eggs affected by this recall either have plant number P1860 with date codes ranging from 099 to 230, or plant number P1663 and date codes ranging from 137 to 230, the website said.

The salmonella outbreak prompted Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa, which began recalling eggs last week, to increase its recall to 380 million eggs on Wednesday.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/08/20/eggs.recall.salmonella/index.html?hpt=T1

19 days ago - Comment

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Emily What Is It About 20-Somethings?

By ROBIN MARANTZ HENIG

Why are so many people in their 20s taking so long to grow up?

This question pops up everywhere, underlying concerns about “failure to launch” and “boomerang kids.” Two new sitcoms feature grown children moving back in with their parents — “$#*! My Dad Says,” starring William Shatner as a divorced curmudgeon whose 20-something son can’t make it on his own as a blogger, and “Big Lake,” in which a financial whiz kid loses his Wall Street job and moves back home to rural Pennsylvania. A cover of The New Yorker last spring picked up on the zeitgeist: a young man hangs up his new Ph.D. in his boyhood bedroom, the cardboard box at his feet signaling his plans to move back home now that he’s officially overqualified for a job. In the doorway stand his parents, their expressions a mix of resignation, worry, annoyance and perplexity: how exactly did this happen?

It’s happening all over, in all sorts of families, not just young people moving back home but also young people taking longer to reach adulthood overall. It’s a development that predates the current economic doldrums, and no one knows yet what the impact will be — on the prospects of the young men and women; on the parents on whom so many of them depend; on society, built on the expectation of an orderly progression in which kids finish school, grow up, start careers, make a family and eventually retire to live on pensions supported by the next crop of kids who finish school, grow up, start careers, make a family and on and on. The traditional cycle seems to have gone off course, as young people remain untethered to romantic partners or to permanent homes, going back to school for lack of better options, traveling, avoiding commitments, competing ferociously for unpaid internships or temporary (and often grueling) Teach for America jobs, forestalling the beginning of adult life.

The 20s are a black box, and there is a lot of churning in there. One-third of people in their 20s move to a new residence every year. Forty percent move back home with their parents at least once. They go through an average of seven jobs in their 20s, more job changes than in any other stretch. Two-thirds spend at least some time living with a romantic partner without being married. And marriage occurs later than ever. The median age at first marriage in the early 1970s, when the baby boomers were young, was 21 for women and 23 for men; by 2009 it had climbed to 26 for women and 28 for men, five years in a little more than a generation.

We’re in the thick of what one sociologist calls “the changing timetable for adulthood.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/magazine/22Adulthood-t.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general

21 days ago - Comment

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Emily Title IX ruling could help cheerleading attain NCAA recognition

By Nancy Hogshead Makar

Two weeks ago, a federal judge found Quinnipiac University engaged in numerous types of numbers-gaming that all worked to keep the number of sports for women artificially low. As a part of his ruling, the judge also held that, at this early stage of development at Quinnipiac, competitive cheerleading did not qualify as a sport for Title IX purposes.

Ebenezer Samuel's opinion column, "Recent Title IX ruling delivers a blow to emerging NCAA sport of competitive cheerleading," argues that the ruling (and by extension Title IX) hurt the sport of competitive cheerleading. Mr. Samuel is mistaken; the ruling is sure to have just the opposite effect.

The ruling has galvanized the cheer community, and administrators are eliminating the identified deficiencies. Further, the Quinnipiac decision will protect the soon-to-be-evolved sport and its athletes, ensuring that they will receive the same competitive opportunities schools provide to men. The Women's Sports Foundation will embrace the developed sport into the women's sports family, along with other aesthetic sports like diving, mogul skiing and gymnastics.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2010/08/14/2010-08-14_three_cheers_for_title_ix_ruling.html#ixzz0wpJSFVtr

23 days ago - Comment

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Emily Florida bear rescued after getting head stuck in jar

Really, you can't make this stuff up...

(CNN) -- It may seem like a story ripped from the pages of "Winnie the Pooh," but a little black bear is alive after Florida biologists removed a plastic bottle stuck on its head for at least 10 days.

The bear, his mother and two siblings regularly raided trash bins in Weirsdale, a small community in the vast Ocala National Forest.

But the situation turned into a jam when the little one, affectionately nicknamed Jarhead, was seen in late July wandering with his head trapped in a clear plastic container, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The 6-month-old cub couldn't eat or drink normally, and was days away from death when he was freed, biologists say.

It took 10 days for officials to track down the bear family using baited traps and following up frantic leads by concerned residents.

The wary mother avoided traps for over a week, and the hunters assumed Jarhead was dead.

But just as biologists were giving up, they caught a glimpse of the family and shot the protective female with a tranquilizer gun.

They scooped up the little cub, and after a brief tussle, they were able to grab the container off his head.

But the tough little bear lived up to his U.S. Marine moniker and did not give up without a fight, the biologist who uncorked the cub said in a statement.

After an overnight stay with his groggy mother, Jarhead and the whole family was moved to a less populated part of the forest for safety.

24 days ago - Comment

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Emily Tennis supermum Clijsters finds recipe for success

(CNN) -- Combining motherhood with a full-time job is a notoriously difficult task but try telling that to Kim Clijsters.

The Belgian tennis star became one of the most famous working mums on the planet last year when she came out of retirement and won the U.S. Open in only her third tournament back.

She was the first mother to win a grand slam title for 29 years and the pictures of Clijsters collecting the trophy with 18-month-old daughter Jada in her arms were beamed around the world.

One year on, Clijsters is about to complete her first full season back on the professional tour, with the defense of her U.S. Open title beginning on August 30.

And in an interview with CNN's Open Court program, the 27-year-old offered an insight into what life is like as a globe-trotting tennis player with a two-year-old in tow.
"It's definitely a lot more busy," she said. "In the past, whenever I was done with practicing or massage or treatment or working out, I had all the time to myself and now I'm sharing that with Jada.

"But it's a pleasure having her around and I wouldn't change it for the world."

Clijsters says she tends to get practice done early in the morning before settling down to breakfast with Jada. She employs a nanny who travels around with her on tour along with plenty of baby-related paraphernalia.

26 days ago - Comment

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Cooper OK, what do you all think? Steven Slater, the flight attendant who took two beers and jumped off the plane - flighty or folk hero?

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/12/jetblue-flight-attendant-steven-slater-profile/

28 days ago - Comment

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Emily Town Elbows Its Way Into Chelsea Clinton's Wedding

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/nyregion/01chelsea.html?hp

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE and CHRISTINE HAUGHNEY

RHINEBECK, N.Y. — Bill and Hillary Clinton have tried to shield their daughter, Chelsea, from the gaze of the public for most of her life.

But on her wedding day on Saturday, even as the Clintons sought to shroud the event in secrecy, residents and onlookers here decided they were going to celebrate along with them, invited or not.

So despite confidentiality agreements, anonymous hotel reservations and a no-fly zone established over the area, this moneyed and normally subdued town turned into a Chelsea theme park, with shop windows filled with tributes to her, including one with a live model in a wedding dress having her makeup done.

A baseball team sent its mascot, dressed up as a raccoon, parading through town with a sign asking Ms. Clinton to marry him. Teenage boys chased after former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, seeking autographs. Young women passed out slices of pizza with “I do” written in pepperoni.

about 1 month ago - Comment

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juliepippert EXTRA! EXTRA! Read All About It!

It's our friend and TheMotherhood neighbor Emily's birthday!

Happy Birthday Emily! May your day be as wonderful and special as you are!

about 1 month ago - Comment

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Emily The Only Child: Debunking the Myths

From Time Magazine:

It's a conversation I have most weeks — if not most days. This time, it happens when my 2-year-old daughter and I are buying milk at the supermarket. The cashiers fawn over her pink cheeks and applaud when she twirls for them, and then I endure the usual dialogue.

"Your first?"

"Yup."

"Another one coming soon?"

"Nope — it might be just this one."

"You'll have more. You'll see."

"At the moment, I'm not planning on it."

"You wouldn't do that to your child. You'll see."

I offer no retort, but if I did, I'd start by asking these young minimum-wage earners to consider the following: the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that the average child in the U.S. costs his or her parents about $286,050 — before college. Those costs have actually risen during the recession. The milk I'm buying adds up to $50 a month, and we're pushing toilet training just to drop the cost of diapers — about $100 a month — from our monthly budget. It's a marvel to me these days that anyone can manage a second kid — forget about a third.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2002382,00.html#ixzz0umyQntQ0

about 1 month ago - Comment

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JillSimpson The Beauty Advantage

Interesting articles in Newsweek:

In today’s economy, looking good is no longer something we can dismiss as frivolous or vain. How beauty can affect your job, your career, your life.

Most of us have heard the story of Debrahlee Lorenzana, the 33-year-old Queens, N.Y., woman who sued Citibank last month, claiming that, in pencil skirts, turtlenecks, and peep-toe stilettos, she was fired from her desk job for being “too hot.” We’ve also watched Lorenzana’s credibility come into question, as vintage clips of her appearance on a reality-TV show about plastic surgery portray a rambling, attention-obsessed twit, stuffed to the brim with implants and collagen. (“I love plastic surgery,” she coos. “I think it’s the best thing that ever happened.”) Creepy, yes. But for all the talk about this woman’s motives—and whether or not she was indeed fired for her looks—there’s one question nobody seems to want to ask: isn’t it possible Lorenzana’s looks got her the job in the first place?

Not all employers are that shallow—but it’s no secret we are a culture consumed by image. Economists have long recognized what’s been dubbed the “beauty premium”—the idea that pretty people, whatever their aspirations, tend to do better in, well, almost everything. Handsome men earn, on average, 5 percent more than their less-attractive counterparts (good-looking women earn 4 percent more); pretty people get more attention from teachers, bosses, and mentors; even babies stare longer at good-looking faces (and we stare longer at good-looking babies). . .
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/19/the-beauty-advantage.html

And, What if Men Had to Conform to Female Beauty Standards?
this is great!

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/19/man-up.html

about 1 month ago - Comment

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juliepippert Shirley Sherrod - A Modern Day 'Mockingbird'?

http://womensissues.about.com/b/2010/07/21/shirley-sherrod-a-modern-day-mockingbird.htm

I've often said that in society and in politics, women get thrown under the bus. If we were to do a demographic study of those women most frequently sacrificed, it would be African American women hands down. No question about it.

No doubt this post will enrage some readers. But it's sadly ironic that just days after this nation celebrated the 50th anniversary of the publication of the moving and powerful novel To Kill a Mockingbird, a real-life story about truth, lies, integrity, and unbridled evil makes headlines. In many ways, it's a modern day Mockingbird with the gender roles reversed. Instead of an honest black man slandered and destroyed by the lies of a white woman, it's an honest black woman who's the target of a white man who twisted the facts to frame her for something she'd never done.

I'm talking about the humiliation of Shirley Sherrod, who was forced to resign from the US Department of Agriculture by the Obama administration because of the deliberate hatchet job conservative internet publisher Andrew Breitbart did on her. Sherrod was made to appear racist in a video Breitbart blasted across the internet which lifted statements made by her 24 years ago and played them out of context.

If you're unfamiliar with the story, others tell it better at Huffington Post, Salon, and the Washington Post. But ultimately, an innocent woman was intentionally vilified by an unscrupulous man to "settle a score" he had with the NAACP.

Read the rest: http://womensissues.about.com/b/2010/07/21/shirley-sherrod-a-modern-day-mockingbird.htm

about 1 month ago - Comment

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