Strollerderby : Ukraine

What Won't Men Do With a Diaper?

JeanneSager — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:31:00 GMT

I'm beginning to wonder if some men just have a diaper fetish.

First it was the guy stealing dirty diapers off porches in upstate New York. Now a Ukranian boxing champ is extolling the use of his son's wet diapers to reduce swelling in his fists.

"Baby wee is good because it's pure, doesn't contain toxins and doesn't smell," Vitali Klitschko told a German newspaper this week. "The nappies hold the liquid and the swelling stays down."

Apparently he's had one knock too many on the noggin.

Let me poke a little at his bubble. I'll do it carefully; I don't need to be "wee'd" on. See, babies are little humans. In other words, he's wrapping his hands in human waste. Doesn't sound quite as nice as baby wee, but what the hey.

Oh, and about those toxins. Apparently he doesn't keep up with the 'Derby. Because Amy gave us the lowdown months ago on all the toxic nasties that have been popping up in baby piss tests of late - think that unpronouncable hot parenting word, phthalates. Considering he got the idea from his Grandma, I guess we can excuse that part. Granny wasn't worrying about phthalates or BPA when she plopped her kids in their lead-painted crib.

Remind me not to shake hands with any boxers from the Ukraine.

Image: DiaperReview

Dirty Diaper Thief on the Loose in Upstate New York

Five-Year-Old Catches STD From Dad's Towel?

Part II: Why Parents of Boys Have It Better (And Why They Don't)

Do Your Kids Go to Camp Grandma As Much as You Did?

Three-Year-Old Romanian Girl Youngest Singer, and She's Cute As All Get Out

Mob Mol Who Smuggled Sperm Says Prison System Hates Her Child for Being Born

International Child Porn Ring Busted

Kelly Mills — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 19:01:00 GMT

Hold on to your faith in humanity, because it might get a little tested by the criminals in this one. European law enforcement agents have arrested 92 people in connection with a child pornography ring that supplied child abuse videos to 2,500 customers in many different countries. The 23 kids in the films were mostly Ukranian girls between the ages of nine and sixteen who were told they would get modeling careers. The investigation, called Operation Koala, took more than a year and was triggered when Australian police obtained a video of a Belgian man raping his nine- and eleven-year-old daughters.

The alleged mastermind of the ring, Italian Sergio Marzola, and the man-monster who raped his kids on film were arrested last year. The 92 folks picked up were mostly arrested in coordinated raids, and many have since been charged. The videos were sold online, and customers accessed them via password once they paid. Some customers "also sent requests for particular poses and even slips of paper bearing their names for 'models' in the videos to hold... Others sent underwear for them to wear and Marzola allegedly auctioned off the lingerie used in some of his shoots. Customers paid extra to be present while films were shot."

This is quite possibly the vilest thing I have heard in a long time.

International Adoptions Slowing Down Despite Jolie-Pitt Singlehanded Attempts to Adopt Every Orphan

Karen Murphy — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 12:08:00 GMT

It's bad news again for would-be adoptive parents looking to bring home a baby from overseas: the waits are getting longer with little relief in sight. Not surprisingly in the convoluted world of international adoption, this conflicts with the justification heard not long ago when China tightened restrictions on potential adoptive parents, claiming at the time that the new regulations would reduce the wait time. So far, it hasn't happened: in fact it's more than doubled.

In addition, several countries have shut down their foreign adoptions altogether: countries having done so or that are experiencing prohibitive delays include China, Guatemala, Ukraine, Nepal, Russia, and South Korea. International adoptions only represent about 25% of total American adoptions. The recent added wait times for international adoptions are making domestic adoption through the foster care system more appealing than it once was (there's still an enormous amount of bureaucracy to wade through no matter how you slice it). Unless your name is Angelina Jolie, in which case the Adoption Gods just seem to smile endlessly.

On the flip side, several countries are opening up adoptions a little more which may help ease things, and huge increases are being seen in African countries like Ethiopia and Liberia. And Malawi. I just hope that all the countries concerned are really attempting to ensure that the best possible families are found for their children who need homes, and that they just aren't preying on susceptible, desperate and hopeful parents.