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Strollerderby
Let me preface my comments by saying that I am absolutely NOT anti-gun ownership. In fact, I am often the only progressive in the room arguing against draconian gun ownership limits. If you go back and read anything I’ve ever written on the subject of guns and gun ownership, I think you will find that I have generally taken the position that responsible Americans have the right to own firearms.
Additionally, I have never been a Duggar-family-basher. I have written several times about my admiration for the Duggar family’s commitment to one another, and I have taken issue with criticisms of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s highly personal decision to have a (very) large family.
Now, with those things said, I am really bothered by this photo that was all over the Web yesterday. Continue reading »
MTV will air "No Easy Decision" tonight at 11:30.
The television landscape will change tonight at 11:30 pm, when MTV will air No Easy Decision, a one-hour special following Markai and James from the second season of the reality show 16 and Pregnant “as they wrestle with how to handle Markai’s second pregnancy less than a year after giving birth to daughter Za’karia,” according to Entertainment Weekly.
Markai and James decide to end their pregnancy at the six week mark, and the show follows their journey from their “heartwrenching discussions” about the abortion through “a post-procedure argument” during which Markai snaps at James, saying, “You will never feel my pain.” Entertainment Weekly says, “while pro-life critics will likely find fault with the show just for existing, no one can accuse the documentarians of making abortion look easy or fun.”
A handful of television characters have had abortions since the 70′s, most notably Maude in the eponymous sitcom spinoff of All in the Family. This summer, Becky decided to have an abortion on Texan football drama Friday Night Lights. But this is the first time a televised special will focus solely on a real-life teen terminating a pregnancy. Continue reading »
Do some shows make teenage girls want to look like this?
Shows like MTV’s “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” make me sick. There. I said it. In fact reality shows, as a whole, make me sick. For the vast majority of them turn morons into icons, thus littering our pop-culture sky with dim-witted stars who are void of substance, not to mention discernible talent. I blame OJ Simpson and the Bronco ride that the (allegedly) murderous clown took in 1994.
You know, the one that compelled every single American to drop whatever it was he or she was doing at the time in order to watch? It was during that surreal, low-speed pursuit when, I suspect, the light went off in some aspiring TV exec’s head.
Hmmm. Real-life situations are capable of delivering huge ratings. Continue reading »
Relive the golden days of after school specials.
Way back in the olden days, like 1984, parents expected kids to figure out life for themselves. It was pre-Oprah so nobody talked meaningfully about the pain and confusion of anything, much less growing up. Middle-class parents naively thought schools were safe and drugs and bullying and teen sex were problems only bad families faced.
It also was the era of latch-key children and endless hours in front of the TV, a one-two punch producers at ABC took full advantage of. And so, the much loved, groan-inducing ABC After School Specials were born.
Los Angeles-area radio host Madeleine Brand talked to TV writer Mark Jordan Legan about the weekly TV shows which, get this, won a ton of Emmy’s for afternoon television and ran into the 1990s. The 90s!
A 26-episode DVD box set is available on Amazon.com. Your hard-to-shop-for mid-30s to 40-something partner? She’ll love this. Look at the cute school bus box (and, yes!, that’s Melissa Sue Anderson in one of the windows). Continue reading »
Do you text with your kids?
It is really no secret that Sarah Palin is all over the news, as well as your television no matter how many people want her to drop off the face of the earth, or simply out of the media eye.
Recently the heat has been turned up incredibly with the release of her latest book, and her reality television show featured on TLC. As anyone with common sense knows, reality television shows do not always accurately depict a person, or what takes place in their everyday lives. But as such a high profile person, I am sure Palin had heavy involvement in the editing of her show.
That all being said, the Huffington post took some shots at her parenting skills this week. Essentially blaming the mama grizzly for the shortcomings of her children, especially daughter and nationally known teen mother Bristol.
Joan E. Dowling of the Huffington Post takes a couple digs at Palin’s parenting skills, or lack there of in her recent article called Assessing Palin’s Parenting Skills. The biggest issue that I could see after reading the article, as well as watching her reality television show was the methods of parenting and discipline, and the way her children react to her requests, and rules. Or should I say, don’t react at all. Continue reading »
Stacey Herald while carrying her third child.
Stacey Herald lives in Dry Ridge, KY with her husband, Will, and their three children Katira, Makaia and Malachi. No big deal, right? Exactly.
You see, Stacey Herald stands just a touch over twenty-eight inches tall. Which means according to the Guinness Book of World Records, she’s the smallest living woman to have children. Which also means that just one day after my Strollerderby cohort Paula Bernstein brought you news of the world’s largest toddler, I’m offering up a story on the planet’s smallest mom.
Bryan Masche arrested for threatening domestic violence
The dad from WE TV’s “Raising Sextuplets”, Bryan Masche has been arrested in Arizona for throwing a Daddy-sized temper tantrum.
Masche was booked on charges of resisting arrest, threatening domestic violence and and disorderly conduct. Someone called the police after he “allegedly lost his temper and began yelling obscenities and threatening his family”.
Woah. This dude is making Jon Gosselin look like a candidate for Dad of the Year.
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