What piss-poor excuses for parents.

My point, made more eloquently.

even if they don't give a shit about their nanny, how can they not realize how this situation is hurting their special-needs kids???

I have some thoughts on that, but should probably restrain myself. I'll try to keep it clean:

But I will say that my understanding is that, generally speaking, the Russian perspective on disability does not tend towards the enlightened. My brother was very involved in the Special Olympics when he was over there and it was ...challenging.

Similarly, he was involved in establishing a corporate internship program for orphans, which was an *enormous* undertaking. Being an orphan carries such a social stigma that they're virtually unemployable. Seriously. You can imagine where severely disabled kids might fall in such a hierarchy. So my total speculation is that the guiding principle here is warehousing; they were looking for someone to make the kids Not Their Problem, full stop.

You know, there's really nothing like listening to a group of white male law firm partners talking about their banking practices as you're waiting for your TJs cheap lunch in a box to come out of the microwave.

At least not until they move onto real estate.

For shrift: Mary Jo Fernandez is now talking about Big Boy Tennis.

Debate... still... going... But my BP is fine, and the OP hasn't asked me to desist (I think I'll send her a PM, just in case), so I'm not backing down.

Perkins, that sounds like the *most* fun.

Really?

Ha! (in re: MJF)

Have they rerun the finale yet? Maybe I can watch the last 15 minutes or so.

Should be next week. It's pretty good. The last 15 minutes should be sufficient.

Mary Jo Fernandez is now talking about Big Boy Tennis.

Equality at last! I must go look!

Ha! (in re: MJF)

It's not a special feature like the "Big Babe Tennis" was. But she's talking about the Nadal semifinal. She also referred to it as a "red meat" match.

A collection of photos of Teabaggers with misspelled signs: [link]

(Although I can't figure out why the 4th photo is in there, unless it's because it has a really fat person in it.)

Beware of Velociraptor Attacks from Above

If you still have nightmares about the fleet-footed Velociraptors from Jurassic Park, here is yet another reason to fear them. Paleontologists now believe that the predatory dinosaurs climbed trees, where they would wait to pounce on their prey.

Phil Manning of the University of Manchester has been examining the biomechanics of raptors, with an especial focus on the dinosaurs' claws, which Manning previously found were sharp enough to puncture skin, but probably could not tear it open. Manning now believes that the claws were better suited to climbing trees than ripping open prey, with the Velociraptor waiting for prey to appear below them and then leaping down, hooking its claws into a hapless animal and delivering a killing blow with its powerful teeth.