Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Morning Edition - 10/10/06

Long Weekend; Adverse Effects
There’s never a time when I complain about a three-day weekend. With companies changing holiday policies, it was a pleasant surprise that mine still honored Columbus Day. I left the office on Friday evening thinking I was so excited about the opportunity to chill, clean my crib and reconnect with friends. Friday night was thankfully uneventful and Saturday proved to be a sleep-through-the-day kind-of experience. The problem with sleeping all day is that it throws off your body clock and sets you in a completely different mood. By the time I met my friends Saturday night I had a good buzz and a biting, confident aura about me that had even the most playa-playa brothas stuttering to keep up with my biting wit. I have to admit, I was beginning to frighten myself. So I took to the dance floor and sweated out my “tude” before joining my PR-pal Herbie for an early morning breakfast. Sunday was another day of the same… sleep, sleep, rise and primp for another night out on the town. By 6 a.m. I was sauntering back in the house to hit the sack again. Monday rolled around and I spent the bulk of my morning and early afternoon on a catch-up phone conversation with my bud Sean who seems to make me feel better even when the prospect of overdosing on Allegra D and Percocet seems appealing. So it’s back to the work-week and the feeling that maybe I would’ve felt a lot better if I had kept to my regular sleep schedule and didn’t give myself those two days off from the gym. Ugh…it’s times like these that I’m really not a good person… to others or myself. ::::and back to that warm fuzzy place:::::

Activate Shields!
So let me see if I can simply (or over simply) this issue for you. You’ve decided to build a fence around your property to keep your neighbors kids out. As it happens, your neighbors have no control over their children who continually trample into your property and force you to incur costs to replace and rebuild different areas of your property. To reality… Mexico’s Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez told reporters in Paris that the U.S. should not build a new 700-mile fence between the U.S. and Mexico. He mentioned that he was considering approaching the international community at the UN to address the issue. “What should be constructed is a bridge in relations between the two countries,” Derbez said. The U.S. Senate already approved the plans to build the fence last month and President Bush said he will sign it into law.

Please Read Our Return Policy
Helen Briggs, a long-time foster mom and adoptive parent in Virginia, is fighting the state to allow her to relinquish her adoption of her 15-year old son. Briggs says she adopted the boy when he was nine years old, but was never told that he had been in five foster homes since he was 16-months old or that he was physically abused by his biological parents. Briggs says all that she was told was that the boy was hyperactive. Now, the teen has sexually abused a 6-year old boy and a 2-year old girl. He is classified as a sexual predator and Briggs cannot take-in other children or allow her grandchildren to visit her home. Some lawmakers say that Briggs is just upset that she is required to pay child support while the 15-year old is again in foster care, but those close to the case say that Briggs has a proven track record of giving to foster children and that she would never have endangered the children in her home if she had been told of the young man’s past.

On Blast
Should Helen Briggs be allowed to “unadopt” her 15-year old son? If so, does this set a precedent that would allow parents (biological or adoptive) to relinquish all rights (and responsibilities) for their children if said kids are deemed a danger to the other children in their household? Is Briggs (like any other parent) forced to play the cards she was dealt?

Keep passin’ the open windows…

7 comments:

life said...

You took full advantage of your weekend. I worked...this weekend is mine to enjoy

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed the play-by-play for your weekend. I also found the description of the "biting, confident aura" quite interesting. I get like that sometimes, and it's not purposeful..it just happens.

Re: The fence idea is so American. I doesn't suprise me. It just seems so selfish and nasty to me. Wait till the kids have to sell clean their own offices...then we'll see how well the fence works.

Re: Helen Briggs. First, she's not like every other parent. She's taking care of other people's kids. If the system had been completely forthcoming about this child's history, she would've been able to make an informed decision...one that would've maybe kept those other children safe. I'm sure if she were aware that he might be cabable of sexual abuse and the like, she would've gave some thought to her capacity to manage that stuff. By not telling her, they never gave that choice. If it were her own child, she would have known he was a mess and been able to respond accordingly.

Unknown said...

As for the fence…build it. We need safer borders. We can revise our immigration policy to be fair – Cubans shouldn’t be afforded a different policy from Haitians, etc. In the end, we must protect the mainland… Not everyone comes to the US for opportunity.

Dear Ms. Briggs:
In light of the recent developments, we’re sorry we didn’t relay to you that “Ty” had issues arising from his horrific childhood. We realize that you may have thought that he was just slightly hyperactive, but hey, biological kids don’t always come with “warning labels” either, so it’s time you paid the piper.

Meet your granbabies in the park, take a break from taking-in any more foster kids and give this “needy” young man your attention for the next three years. You may help provide the corrective action needed to prevent an adult felon on society’s hands.

Oh… about that minor issue of paying child support to the state. I hope you realize we’re not supporting your child (adopted or biological) simply because you can’t have him live with you.

Sincerely,
The Voice of Reason…. LOL

Anonymous said...

Ay dios mio, que dilema...
I don't think I have the whole story, how old was the child when she adopted him? If he was over seven years old, she's stupida, cause she should have asked the questions? How could you put yourself in that predicament when you know this children come from broken families, some of the parents are drug addicts, drug dealers, etc. these children have been expose to things that we as adults wouldn't know how to handle.

Unknown said...

Anonymous…the child was 9 when he was adopted by Briggs. From reports, it appears she was an overall stellar foster/adoptive mom and had not encountered an issue like this before. Also, the state of VA is requiring she pay child support, since the teen is now back in foster care and is Briggs’ adopted son.

Cas, leave it to you to go there. Yes, foster parents get a load of loot, but they also take on a load of woes. Admittedly some do it for the money, but I can think of a few other ways to make extra cash than taking on a 24-7 job that doesn’t leave my home. Although I believe Briggs is now as responsible for the youngster as a biological parent, I do think that the state had every reason to make Briggs aware of the various deep-seated issues that came with the, then, child.

As for the border response… Cas, Cas… wassup ma?! I’m down with the build the fences comment and I’ll even concede to forcing immigrants to sign an agreement that they won’t bitch, moan and down our country once we let them in, but the AIDS comment was a bit harsh and irrelevant. As you know, there are plenty of countries who have no medical provisions in place for folks who get infected and our country may be the last resort for them to receive medical care and a new lease on life. I have been marching, dancing, walking and doing everything possible to always champion funds for AIDS research and treatment and since my community (the gay community) were the first affected by this, I cannot stand silent while folks die – American or otherwise. Until we kill the stigma that comes along with AIDS, the disease will continue to run rampant. I wonder if you would’ve said something like we should prevent Asian immigrants from entering the U.S. because of the threat of Avian Flu. Do me proud and come back with something light-hearted and intelligent to make up for the misstep. Don’t make me throw a brick through the Camry’s windshield. :)

Unknown said...

Okay… Cas… honey, now you’re confused.
I never said you were ignorant and since we’ve been family for 30-years I’d never accused you of being a racist.
Moving beyond those two, again irrelevant issues, it is you who need to gather some facts. Please refer to http://www.avert.org/aidsinafrica.htm It’s common knowledge that Africa is a hotbed for AIDS mainly because several facts, not the least being the lack of education, resources and treatment made available to the general population. In addition, there is the prevalence of rape by infected individuals who prey on innocent victims thereby infecting them. Condoms are not readily available and the discussion about protected sex is just now becoming widespread. All to say, Americans have a very different view and enormously different treatment options when they become infected with HIV. I understand your fears of having infected individuals enter our country and infecting the general population, but the benefit to those who don’t have any hope for survival, far outweighs the risk to those that have every reason to be safe, be tested and live long lives.

In the eternal words of an old queen I once was tight with… “You have been misinformed and ill-advised – in ebonics, bitch you’re trippin’!”

WiseYoungMan said...

Glad you had a great weekend, everyone should have something like that, every once and a while.