See I really hate to cry racism in a situation like this, because I truly DO NOT think a hispanic woman who choses to adopt a black child would have any level of racist tendencies, especially towards a baby. So explain to me how you can easily raise 5 latin children , but cannot handle a tiny black baby ? Was she not prepared for the cultural shock of raising a black child in a hispanic family? Maybe she isn’t strong enough to handle the stares and the double takes she may be getting from her community.. Or maybe she just realized she was in over her head..either way, I am very disgusted by her openly adding blame to the BABY for her issue with it!

What makes me even angrier is that there are many women (white of course) who “admire” her honesty and don’t think she is wrong to do this..I wonder if they would feel the same way if the baby was white, and after 18 months she gave the baby back and blamed it for not bonding with her. I think this is very suspect and maybe she just wanted to be like Angelina Jolie too much and figured out you can’t fake love for a black child. I can tell you Angelina loves her kids, you can see it on her face , but this woman is weak, and that child is better off without her sorry butt. Read the story and watch the video ….

The “Today” show on NBC did a shocking segment on Anita Tedaldi, “a woman who adopted a child and then gave him up 18 months later.” Tedaldi is a writer who originally told this story on The New York Times’ Motherlode blog.

She and her husband have five biological children and decided that they wanted more. After going through the approval process, she was able to adopt a baby who was found by the side of a road. Despite her pre-adoption belief that she would “be able to parent this little boy the same way I had done with my biological daughters,” she terminated the adoption after 18 months.

Because she couldn’t bond with him, she said.

Asked by Matt Lauer what this means, Tedaldi was somewhat vague and did manage to blame the baby. “It went both ways,” she said in the interview. “The child, D., wasn’t connecting with us.”

What on earth is she talking about? Without giving us particulars, we’re left to wonder what went on in that house for a year-and-a-half? Was Baby D. not a hugger? Did he not smile? What does it mean exactly that an infant is not bonding with his mother?

Lauer really missed the boat by not pressing this question. And Tedaldi, but averting a direct explanation, only adds to the frustration and creates more questions.

Writing about the story, “Today” correspondent Natalie Morales thinks that we shouldn’t be too quick to judge the woman. Many commenters on the “Today” show Web site agree.

But what no one is saying is that ultimately this story is about the one thing that it shouldn’t be about — Anita Tedaldi. One of the not-discussed-enough aspects of the mommy blogosphere is how often it becomes All About Mom. This story is a classic case of that.

Not only did Tedaldi give back a baby she had decided to adopt, she actually says that the baby shares some of the responsibility for this lack of bonding. Is it possible that it’s just damn hard to raise a baby when you already have a house full of children? And that Tedaldi didn’t realize this until the child arrived?

Explain it to us, lady. What happened?

Ironically, Tedaldi used to feel the same way we did, and wrote a column for Military.com called “We Can’t Trade In Our Children or Husbands” back in January 2008. (Military.com has pulled the piece, but the Adoption Talk blog has some of the text.) Now that she has had this experience, she feels differently

Hey, no harm no foul, right?

But there is harm. There is a baby involved here.

In the original Times blog, Tedaldi wrote that she “wasn’t connecting with [the baby] on the visceral level I experienced with my biological daughters.”

Perhaps that was part of the problem? She wanted to duplicate her parenting experience with her older kids frame-for-frame. We have no way of knowing unless we hear details.

Many are praising this mom for her honesty. We can’t help but wonder how much of the story she decided not to share with the world.

What do you think?

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In many ways, Lou Jing is a typical young woman from Shanghai. Pretty and confident, she speaks Mandarin heavily accented with the lilting tones of the Shanghai dialect and browses the malls of this huge city for the latest fashions.

But there is one thing that distinguishes this 20-year-old from her peers, something that has made her the unwitting focus of an intense public debate about what exactly it means to be Chinese: the color of her skin. Born to a Chinese mother and an African-American father whom she has never met, the theater student rocketed into the public consciousness last month when she took part in an American Idol–esque TV show, Go! Oriental Angel. (See pictures of modern Shanghai.)

The marketing gurus for the series could hardly have dreamed of a better promotional gimmick when they started to investigate the backgrounds of the dozens of pop-star wannabes to root out the competitors’ mushy stories of triumph over adversity that are a well-worn staple of the genre. Here was a tale guaranteed to attract eyeballs: a girl of mixed race, brought up by a single Chinese mother, struggling to gain acceptance in a deeply conservative, some would say racist, society.

The strategy worked — perhaps too well. In August, Lou’s appearance on the show not only boosted viewer numbers but also sparked an intense nationwide debate about the essential meaning of being Chinese. Over the past month on Internet chat rooms, where modern China’s sensitive issues are thrashed out by netizens long before they reach the heavily censored mainstream media, Lou’s ethnicity has been the subject of a relentless barrage of criticism, some of it crudely racist. Many think she should not have been allowed to compete on a Chinese show, or at least not selected to represent Shanghai in the national competition. She doesn’t have fair skin, which is one of the most important factors for Chinese beauty. What’s more, her mother and her biological father were never married; morally, the argument goes, this kind of behavior shouldn’t be publicized, so she shouldn’t have been put on TV as a young “idol.”

As recently as the 1970s, foreigners were largely barred from living in China, let alone marrying a local. China does not easily accept mixed-race children as true-blooded Chinese: as soon as a child is born, the parents are required to register with the authorities as to which of the 56 government-approved ethnic groups their child belongs; there are no mixed-race categories. Lou feels she is very much Chinese. “When I meet somebody for the first time, they’d often ask me how I can speak Chinese so well, and I tell them, ‘Because I’m a Chinese — of course I can speak my mother tongue well,’ ” Lou says defiantly. “I don’t like to be treated differently.”

As China undergoes an astonishing demographic shift and more foreigners make their homes in the Middle Kingdom, Lou is by no means the only one being treated differently. Recent decades have seen a surge in the number of mixed-race couples. According to the data offered by Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau, from 1994 to 2008, each year there have been about 3,000 more mixed-race marriages in Shanghai. But as the children of that first generation of mixed-race marriages come of age, their moves to gain acceptance in society — like Lou’s participation in the TV show — have exposed a deep-running vein of xenophobia in Chinese society. Last year, Ding Hui, a young man of African-Chinese ethnicity, caused a stir when he was called up to the national volleyball team, prompting much soul-searching about whether the athlete should be allowed to represent China alongside pure-blooded Chinese competitors. Eventually, Ding Hui did go on to play for the national team.

“As China continues to open up, this kind of phenomenon will become ever more prevalent,” says David Zweig, a professor of humanities and social sciences at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. “This is part of the process of internationalization, but we can only hope that Chinese people, including netizens and the people whose views tend towards extremism, can come to accept that there are many mixed-race people, both in China and worldwide.”

As for Lou, she found the whole experience more than a little disturbing. She did well in the show, ranking in the top 30 contestants before she was eliminated. Now she’s back to her normal life as a college junior — with a little new insight into her home. “Through this competition, it’s really scary to find out how the color of my skin can cause such a big controversy.”

Aimee Louise Sword gave up a male child for adoption years ago, and now the media is reporting that Sword searched the internet for that now teenage son- and allegedly seduced him. But Aimee Louise Sword has many defenders standing with her saying “She could not do such a thing”…….The 35 year old Michigan woman is charged with third-degree criminal sexual misconduct…….. Remember- Innocent until proven guilty by a court of law. (Pic from CBS Link/My Space)

Note: Updated news reports are now saying that Ms.Sword “raped” the teen and that the teen may have been unaware that she was his biological mother .

 

Watch the video

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More than 60 campers from Northeast Philadelphia were turned away from a private swim club and left to wonder if their race was the reason. “I heard this lady, she was like, ‘Uh, what are all these black kids doing here?’ She’s like, ‘I’m scared they might do something to my child,’” said camper Dymire Baylor.

The Creative Steps Day Camp paid more than $1900 to The Valley Swim Club. The Valley Swim Club is a private club that advertises open membership. But the campers’ first visit to the pool suggested otherwise.

“When the minority children got in the pool all of the Caucasian children immediately exited the pool,” Horace Gibson, parent of a day camp child, wrote in an email. “The pool attendants came and told the black children that they did not allow minorities in the club and needed the children to leave immediately.” The next day the club told the camp director that the camp’s membership was being suspended and their money would be refunded. “I said, ‘The parents don’t want the refund. They want a place for their children to swim,’” camp director Aetha Wright said.

While Jackson died leaving millions of dollars in debt accrued in part by wild spending, he raised or donated enormous sums of money to charity during his long career. A full list of Jackson’s charitable activities was complied by JacksonAction, including millions donated to the Michael Jackson Burn Center for Children, $1.5 donated to the Michael Jackson UNCF Endowed Scholarship Fund and more.
The issue of race is next up for O’Reilly, who asks, “Why are Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton making this a racial deal? Jackson bleached his own skin. And then chose white men to provide existence for his in vitro children. Give me a break with all this.”

Guest analyst Marc Lamont Hill, PhD – an African American FOX commentator – responds, “You have me baffled in your analysis here, to say this isn’t a racial issue, when this man’s entire career has been marked by the tropes of race… Yes, the black community has embraced him, yes the black community has wrapped its arms around him more in death, but that’s because the media has assaulted him in ways they don’t do with white people of his stature.”

Hill continues, “Now he has passed away. A year or two ago, when Jerry Falwell died, you and I debated this very point. You said, ‘Give him three days to a week and let the people mourn him before you start talking about his racist politics.’ So why are we giving Jerry Falwell something that we won’t give Michael Jackson?”
The two went back and forth on whether Michael Jackson had served as a bridge between black and white Americans. The debate devolved into a shouting match, which reached its peaked with O’Reilly shouting, “If he’s such a black American icon, why did he have his kids with white men!?”
Hill answers, “That’s a personal matter. That doesn’t make him less black – there’s no blackness meter here. You don’t become less black if you have a white kid.”

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Fans of Jackson are mobilizing to raise money for an opponent — any opponent — to run against Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y., following the critical remarks the congressman made about the recently deceased pop icon.

Over the weekend, King said that the media had gone far over the top in glorifying Jackson, who he deemed a “low-life” pervert who “may have been a good singer” and “did some dancing.”

Now, an ActBlue fundraising site has been set up by “A fan of Michael Jackson” titled “Michael Jackson Fans AGAINST Peter King.”

Here is the offensive video

The site says……”Congressman Peter King is at again, this time defaming the late Michael Jackson, calling MJ a “pervert’, ‘low-life”, and a “pedophile”. As Rick Sanchez noted on CNN, Michael Jackson was acquitted of the charges against him. Peter King ought to let Jackson rest in peace, and focus on the needs of his constituents. As we mourn the loss of an American legend, political grandstanding is not what we need right now!”

“Peter King ought to let Jackson rest in peace, and focus on the needs of his constituents. As we mourn the loss of an American legend, political grandstanding is not what we need right now!” the page reads. “Fans of Michael Jackson and his legacy stand united against Peter King’s hateful words. Please donate here to show Peter King that true MJ fans won’t stand for the smearing of a pop sensation!”

The fund is being set up to benefit the Democratic nominee for New York’s third congressional district — a reliable Republican stronghold. The problem is that at this time, there is no Democratic nominee. And King has flirted with a run for New York’s governor’s chair in 2010. Still, it will be interesting to see the extent to which Michael Jackson devotees can mobilize politically. Who would have thought that the King of Pop’s legacy would become a partisan issue?

The jilted wife:Steve McNair married Mechelle Cartwright in Vicksburg, Miss., on June 21, 1997.

Man , I am feeling worse for Steve McNair’s poor wife than I do for him right now. What is it with these men who follow every predictable route that a woman assumes a man will take and end up cheating with a woman who is 16 years younger than him? Forget about the fact that this girl Sahel Kazemi is not black, to be honest I am shocked that Steve McNair’s wife is even black because a black athlete marrying an actual black woman is almost unheard of, no joke…it’s the CHEATING and planning to marry another woman half your age, going on exotic vacations with the 20 year old waitress you met from Dave & Busters while your wife and 4 kids are at home with no clue is what’s real shady. Now it’s looking like this is a murder suicide possibly by the hands of Kazemi?

Sahel Kazemi, 20, was found dead of gunshot wounds along with the former NFL quarterback on July 4.

This is a clear lesson in why you should keep your house in order at all times, and if you want to dump your loyal wife of 12 years for a 20 year old waitress, then be honest and tell the woman, and not let her find out in the newspapers. I still feel bad that the guy is dead, no one deserves to die, especially for cheating..but just imagine..Steve McNair would be alive today if he wasn’t cheating on his wife and kids. Oh well…here’s the story:

 

The wife of slain quarterback Steve McNair may have only learned about the gridiron star’s affair with a gorgeous young woman after the clandestine couple’s grisly deaths, sources close to the football player said Sunday.

“She’s blindsided by this,” one source said of Mechelle McNair, who was holed up in her family’s home just 6 miles from the condo her husband used to bed his mistress. “She’s crushed. Her whole world is shattered.”

Nashville cops confirmed that Steve McNair, 36, was killed by four bullets fired at close range, two of which hit him in the head, and ruled his death a homicide.

His lover, Sahel Kazemi, 20, died of a single gunshot from the same semiautomatic found on the floor under her body, police also said.

They stopped short of calling the slayings a murder-suicide carried out by Kazemi, but said they are not looking for any suspects.

Cops ruled McNair’s death a homicide and have not ruled on Kazemi’s death, citing the need for more tests.

Kazemi and McNair, a dad of four boys, were dating for several months, friends told cops; McNair apparently kept the affair a secret from his wife.

Photos obtained by TMZ.com show a smiling McNair parasailing on a recent tropical vacation with the curvy Kazemi, whom he met as she waitressed at a Dave & Buster’s sports bar.

“He started to talk to her a little,” Kazemi’s aunt Sepideh Salmani told The Tennessean newspaper. “They exchanged phone numbers, and started dating from there.”

Salmani said her beautiful, raven-haired niece believed that McNair was in the process of getting a divorce.

Kazemi’s sister told The Florida Times-Union of Jacksonville that Kazemi had expected to wed McNair.

“She said they were planning to get married,” Soheyla Kazemi told the paper.”

County records do not indicate that a divorce is pending, but the McNair family home is up for sale for $3 million.

Investigators said McNair had been drinking at a pair of Nashville bars – Blue Moon Lagoon Bar and Loser’s Bar – into the early-morning hours of Saturday and then returned to the downtown condo he shared with a pal.

Although neighbors have not reported hearing gunshots, cops believe McNair and Kazemi died about 2 a.m., nearly 12 hours before their bodies were found.

There was no sign of forced entry at the condo, and investigators are checking whether the couple had been having a “lovers’ quarrel,” cops said.

It was not immediately known whom the pistol belonged to, although McNair did have a permit to carry a gun, police said.

Kazemi, who was raised by an aunt in Florida after her parents were killed in Iran, moved to Nashville with her ex-boyfriend, Keith Norfleet.

Norfleet, whom investigators want to interview, had a “volatile” relationship with Kazemi but was trying to win her back from McNair, Norfleet’s stepmother said.

“They had a lot of jealousy in their relationship and they’d fight and break up a lot,” said Trudie Norfleet. “He loved her. … He’s awful torn up about it.”

The quarterback, renowned in Nashville for his extensive work in the community, rented the condo overlooking the Titans stadium with sporting goods dealer Wayne Neeley, who called McNair’s best friend after seeing the bodies sprawled on a couch.

“It’s a picture I’ll never get out of my head,” a weeping Robert Gaddy told the Daily News. “It’s the most terrible sight I’ve ever seen.”

“This was a great man, a man who’d do anything for you,” said Gaddy, who had been friends with the Heisman finalist since meeting him at Alcorn State University.

From the moment wife Tameka told him she was pregnant with 6-month-old Naviyd, the R&B singer was suspicious, reveals insiders. “The first thing Usher said was, ‘How did this happen?’ – because he was gone a lot, and their sex life was very, very limited,” revealed a friend of the star. Now pals are urging Usher to determine paternity with a DNA test, reveals a source. “People have been telling him that around the time the little boy was conceived, Tameka got together with another man.”

Usher loves both his sons and is going to fight for custody, divulged his friend. “But he’s determined to get truthful answers.” Meanwhile, Tameka is fighting back hard – charging that 30-year-old Usher has been playing around, revealed an insider.

“Tameka also insists that Usher is Naviyd’s father. She says that although they weren’t spending much time together, they did get together for one night of passion. And that’s when she got pregnant.”… By the time Naviyd was born this past December, the couple was reportedly already separated. “now the war is truly on,” said the insider.

[From the National Enquirer, print edition, July 6 2009]

From the way the friend phrases it, it almost sounds like Usher is going to fight for custody of both of his sons regardless of paternity results, which could be interesting. The Enquirer goes on to talk about how scared Tameka is that she’ll end up poor again, and as a result she’s going to fight tooth and nail for everything she has. There’s as much as $80 million at stake here, and everyone was calling Tameka a gold digger long before she and Usher tied the knot.

Neither of these two strike me as model spouses, and they’re being remarkably immature for grown adults. Their friends are passing information about the two like it’s eighth grade. Luckily their sons are too young to know what’s going on. But I’m sure the drama is just beginning.

Here’s Usher arrives for the Dior fashion show at Paris Fashion Week yesterday. Images thanks to WENN.com .

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Now we are hearing that these two have been seperated for a year?

Usher seems very immature at this moment, you can’t just play husband and daddy, you have to really make an effort, and unless Tameka is a complete nutcase, 2 years of marriage (especially with two small kids) is NOT long enough to say you tried to make it work.

It seems easy to make her look like the bad guy.

I guess the truth will come out soon.

July Hearing
Usher’s soon-to-be ex wife, Tameka Raymond, has been quiet for the most part since Usher filed divorce papers Friday, June 12. With two sons with Usher, sources say Tameka may likely remain silent due to hopes of landing a “windfall (divorce) settlement.” The two are due in court July 15 for their first hearing. “She’s trying her best to take the high road and not attack him,” her newly-hired attorney said.

Seperated for a year

According to the Associated Press, Usher and Tameka, who tied the knot in August 2007, have been living separately since July 2008. Although neither Tameka nor Usher have commented publicly on the matter, Tameka’s lawyer says they will respond to the divorce petition in a “timely manner” and they are “…hoping this case would be resolved privately, but since Usher filed it publicly we will have to respond.”

Chris Brown will face a Los Angeles-area judge on Monday, June 22. That’s when the singer will reportedly learn if a judge will dismiss or proceed with his case that includes felony assault and making criminal threats charges.

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