A brief story over on the Huffington Post discusses a news story of a woman who delivered, and abandoned her newborn in a portable toilet used by construction workers.  There is a very unnecessary video which films the inside of a port-o-potty included, in case you have never seen one.  Apparently the 44 year old Cambridge woman delivered the infant, left it in the toilet, and went outside to smoke a cigarette.  Bystanders noticed the woman covered in blood, and called 911 to investigate.  Both mom and infant were brought to the hospital.  The infant has been stabilized and appears to be full term, weighing close to 6 pounds.

This story is horrible and tragic.  The court of public opinion that is the internet has already hung this mom as a murderer.  She could have delivered anywhere and dropped the baby off at an ER, fire station, etc without persecution under Safe Haven laws.  So many people are looking to adopt newborns, why didn’t she put the baby up for adoption?  Who would let a newborn drowned and freeze to death in a toilet?

I can tell you from years of experience what I think happened in this case.  The mom is most likely mentally ill, or a drug abuser, or both.  She appeared to be disconnected from the reality of what was happening.  This will happen with both mental illness and drug abuse.  What is sad to me is that she was able to get pregnant.  What is her history? Did she have any access to healthcare or birth control?  Where are her other children? Who is the father?  Was she selling herself for money or drugs?  Nothing is black and white, as the commenters on the internet believe.

I am not in anyway justifying what happened to this newborn as OK.  It is not.  I just believe there is more to the story than meets the eye.  Not that anyone cares what that story is.

RR

A driver was surprised Saturday when he found the newborn in a QVC cardboard box, along with a blanket, an article of clothing and a diaper, at the side of the road in Ocala, FLA.

Police on Monday said the baby girl, who is about 3 to 7 days old, appeared to be in good health, although she did suffer some ant bites. They believe the newborn may have been abandoned the night before being found.

Westly Pringle found the infant when he noticed fingers poking out of the box on the side of the road.

“That’s the roughest start you could ever have; for your mom and dad to just abandon you on the side of the road,” he said.

“It’s terrible that someone would do that. I would rather them drop (the baby) on my doorstep than to do that. Take (the child) somewhere safe. They say ants had got on (the infant),” said Lois Dowdy, who lives near the location where the child was found.

“It’s very sad. It’s very dangerous. There are snakes out here,” said Florastine Lee, who also lives nearby. “A lot of dangerous animals come out at night that could have eaten up that child, and that child did not ask to come into the world.”

Police are now looking for a woman driving a gray pickup with a white topper who was seen in the area on Friday at about 7:30 p.m.

Many people have come forward offering to adopt the newborn, but authorities are looking for a family member who is willing to take care of her before putting her up for adoption. Regardless, it will take months before she is put up for adoption.

*Florida State law allows for an unwanted newborn to be left at a hospital, fire station or other emergency medical service station without it being considered child neglect.*

Related Articles:

• Baby Survives 12 Hours Alone Outside In Woods
  
• Baby Abandoned After Being Delivered On Airplane
  
• Couple That Abandoned Baby Ordered To Visit Children’s Cemetery

SOURCE

El curioso caso de Benjamin Button (Fincher, 2008)

¿De qué trata?:

Basada en un relato de F. Scott Fitzgerald, cuenta la historia Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), un hombre que nace con el cuerpo de una persona de 80 años, tiene cataratas, artrosis y esta lleno de arrugas.

Pero pese a la prediccion del medico no muere, todo lo contrarío, lentamente, a lo largo de los años, rejuvenece para llevar una vida llena de pasion y aventuras que abarca todo el Siglo XX.

La historia se entrelaza con otras, en particular la de su primer amor (Cate Blanchett). Eventualmente se enfrentara a la adolescencia y el miedo de ser un estorbo a sus personas queridas.

Hay películas que te llegan muy profundo de un modo extraño. Al igual que hay canciones que te abruman, paisajes que te deslumbran o personas que te impactan de lleno…

Esta película no me ha parecido que trate acerca de un caso médico extraordinario, curioso o diferente,… Me ha parecido una de las narraciones sobre la vida más completas, hermosas y bien contadas que he visto, leído, escuchado o imaginado.

Con un cierto aire a realismo mágico, Fincher nos envuelve durante casi tres horas en la piel de Benjamin Button y nos muestra la vida tal y como es. Hace ya horas que la vi y cientos de escenas aun surcan mi mente y mi estómago sigue encogido como ocurre cuando algo inesperado te “embiste” por sorpresa. El paso del tiempo, lo efímero de la felicidad, la dualidad realidad-sueño, la brevedad de la existencia, la eternidad del amor… son algunos de los interrogantes que componen la película y son también interrogantes de la vida, del hombre en general.

Las caracterizaciones son más que fascinantes

David Fincher toma una historia fantástica y la traslada a un marco real, le da vida, apoyado por un reparto entregado a la causa, consiguiendo crear el milagro de que todo funcione como el mecanismo de un reloj, sin momentos torpes, sin escenas que sobren, estando todo calculado al máximo para lograr esa “comunión” que mencionaba más arriba. La brillante dirección de Fincher es sólo una de las muchas cosas que elevan Benjamin Button a la categoría que merece, a las que habría que sumarle el diseño artístico, su impecable banda sonora, momentos de asombrosa imaginería visual y una historia que trasciende de su punto de partida: no es sólo la fábula de un niño que nace viejo, ni un romance, ni un drama. Es una historia sobre la vida, sobre las casualidades, sobre la superación personal, sobre la búsqueda de uno mismo, y en definitiva, sobre cómo afrontar nuestra existencia. Fincher nos acostumbro a su particular forma de dirigir, un poco oscura para mi gusto pero igualmente solvente, en Benjamin Button Fincher se calma, con una sobriedad exquisita nos cuenta los hechos, un trabajo que consigue un ritmo impresionante que jamás decae, el publico quedara hipnotizado, embobado con esta producción.

Cate Blanchett y Brad Pitt

Actuada con gran destreza, Brad Pitt encarnando a este particular personaje esta perfecto, Cate Blanchett brilla tanto como su personaje “Daisy”, es totalmente impresionante el talento de esta actriz (soberbia), y su conexión con Pitt es muy solvente, desde “Babel” esta pareja dejo mucho que desear en la gran pantalla, Tilda Swinton me parece exquisita en su rol, un papel que le sienta perfecto y aunque su aparición es relativamente corta, esos minutos hacen de ella una de las mejores actrices del momento, pero quien realiza un papel absolutamente admirable es Taraji P. Henson, una perfecta actuación y personificación de este importante personaje, de ella se espera mucho en las próximas premiaciones.

En la pantalla no vemos actores en la piel de personajes, vemos personas. Y por muy increíble que resulte lo que se nos narra, es todo tan veraz como la vida misma, consiguiendo emocionar o divertir según la situación, algo meritorio considerando que es una historia tristísima. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” es el sucesor directo de “Big Fish“, una historia envuelta en fábula que transmite algo en cada una de sus secuencias.

Baile a media noche

La calidad técnica habla por si misma, la caracterización y las actuaciones creo que también. La dirección es impecable y el metraje quizá un poco excesivo aunque supongo necesario para narrar tal cantidad de cosas. Benjamin Button no equivale a una superproducción de Hollywood, Benjamin Button es algo totalmente diferente, es un diamante precioso que anhela ser visto, tocado y saboreado.

No hay imagen sin carga emotiva

Al grano: Película con fastuosos recursos técnicos y visuales dónde lejos de ser un enorme pastel dulce (Australia) se convierte en un vehículo reflexivo hacia la vida y el tiempo. Y sobre todo, las oportunidades que dejamos en la vida y los efectos de nuestras decisiones cotidianas.

*  *  *  *  1/2 / 5

Too Bad We Can’t Rely Upon Our Barbados Police

Last August 29th, a newly-born baby boy was abandoned by his mother at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The child was left unattended near an elevator. The mother left the country for her native Guyana after telling the father that the child died at birth. When the father, who is a resident of Barbados, read in the newspaper about the abandoned baby he came forward and claimed the child as his.

The Royal Barbados Police Force became involved because of the child abandonment, and they started what can now be laughably termed as “an investigation”.

The baby’s father provided a DNA sample to the Royal Barbados Police Force a few days later on September 8, 2008 and then waited for the results so he could claim his son.

And he waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

He waited a total of four months…

Until he realised that the DO NOTHING OFFICERS of the Royal Barbados Police Force were lying to him. They hadn’t done a damn thing. They hadn’t yet submitted the samples for testing.

So the father had to arrange for DNA testing himself at an independent laboratory – which he would have been happy to do in the first place except that the DO-NOTHING POLICE told him that they “had to handle the tests officially.”

According to our source, once the father realised that he had to take action himself the paternity results from the independent laboratory took all of eight days. That’s all.

When will the Royal Barbados Police Force become a Professional Law Enforcement Organisation?

That’s easy. The RBPF will be come a professional organisation when two things happen: 1/ Officers in all ranks are paid a living wage, and 2/ The current senior leadership is replaced with REAL LEADERS.

From the Nation…

DNA test proves baby’s dad

by BARRY ALLEYNE

BABY JOHN DOE should soon have a new name, and a new home too.

That is because paternal instinct has finally paid off for a young Guyanese father living in Barbados.

Five months of playing a waiting game finally came to fruition last week, when he learnt that a newborn baby boy left abandoned at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) last August was positively his son.

The man had delivered a saliva sample to Royal Barbados Police Force officials on September 8 to determine if he was in fact the father. But the prospective father’s attorney Samuel Legay decided it would be more expedient to have an independent laboratory in Barbados conduct the DNA tests to prove the child’s paternity. Results of that independent test came back last week, proving the Guyanese is father of the child, who is now almost six months old, and in the care of the Child Care Board, having initially spent more than two weeks under observation at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital after being discovered….

… continue reading this disgusting story of police incompetence at the Nation (link here)

What is wrong with these people? Don’t they understand what the Safe Haven Laws are for? Why just abandon a beautiful newborn in the bathroom of a fast food restaurant? I am just amazed. Now, both parents could face charges and SHOULD.

Hours-Old Infant Abandoned at McDonald’s
Baby found abandoned at McDonald’s
Newborn Abandoned In McDonald’s Restroom
Newborn abandoned in area McDonald’s has safety leaders promoting a better way

Week fifteen and changes are speeding up, I suspect.  I’ve had far more energy this last week and not nearly so much sick stomach (thank goodness!).  I also have had at least one person comment on my belly.  If I wear a sweater, it’s not so noticable, but with a t-shirt on, I have a pretty noticeable bump.  I also feel a significant tightness in my only pair of jeans.  They were big enough to pull straight off without unbuttoning before I got pregnant, but now I at least have to undo the button, if not the zipper.  My favourites at the moment are grey dress pants that my mother-in-law bought me just after I got married – they came from Salvation Army and cost her a whole dollar.  They still look great and fit nice and loose so nothing is digging in.  I have to wear a belt or they would fall down easily, but that makes me pretty giddy in itself.  Here I am, on my third pregnancy, and the pants that I had to squeeze into before I was ever pregnant fit me loosely!  Hooray!  I feel pretty good about the size I am now and I feel healthy, even if I’m still technically overweight according to my body mass index. 

On a completely (more or less) different topic, my eye was caught by this headline: Skateboarders Rescue Baby Left in Dumpster and article.  Two brothers in Queens, aged 15 and 13 were skateboarding by around 8 pm when they heard the baby making noise.  They quickly went to check and found her facing down in a paper bag.  She was cold, but according to the hospital, she’s fine.  She still had her umbilical cord attached and was very fortunate to be found when she was. 

It still amazes me that people can do that to babies, but in a society where inconvenient children are dealt with in a number of frightening ways, it shouldn’t be a surprise.  I imagine a great deal of it has to do with panic on the part of the mother or at times, both parents.  The baby is unwanted and the trouble is unwanted, even just the trouble of finding a safe place to leave the child.  The parent panics and figures that no one will ever have to know if they put the child in a dumpster or throw them in a river or any number of other quick solutions that endanger or take the life of the child. 

As I read the article, a chilling thought came to me – we always hear the story told when a child is found – whether it lives or not – but how often are babies dumped and not found?  How many children lay unnoticed and uncared for until they die and then are dumped along with banana peels, dirty diapers and un-needed household furniture?  How many are dumped while still alive?  The thought also entered my mind that if that baby had been sleeping or just not making noise when those boys skated by, she may have never been found. 

When I read stories like this, I long for the days when it was acceptable to leave babies at churches or hospitals and not face charges of neglect.  Of course, the ideal would be for mothers who do not wish to keep their children to set up adoption in advance, but I suspect that some (particularly young girls) think in some part of their minds that they do want to keep their babies.  When the child is in their arms after a painful delivery, instead of love and affection, panic ensues.  The thought of caring for the child for even one day while awaiting foster care is simply too much and so they do the unthinkable. 

I cannot imagine that these acts are ever very pre-meditated.  With abortion being readily available, why on earth would someone face criminal charges for abandoning their baby after it is born?  And if a girl has decided not to kill her baby through an abortion, why would she kill it (or allow it to die) after its birth? 

Having a baby can be overwhelming in so many ways, but my only experience has been pure joy upon holding my children.  Instant love.  A desire to protect and nurture.  While I cannot imagine feeling anything but these emotions, there are women out there who do feel something else.  I feel for them and for those babies and the futures they will or will not have.  In the ideal world, we would all wait for sex and marriage until we were ready to be parents (physically and otherwise) and we would cherish the children we bore.  But in that world, what would happen to those unable to conceive on their own?  Adoption is a viable, important option.  I have seen agony on the faces of women not able to bear babies on their own.  I have two cousins who were adopted and they are 100% a part of our family.  They gave their parents what they could not achieve on their own and have been a source of joy to them ever since.  In Canada, using public adoption, couples may have to wait seven years to adopt a baby.  For an older child, the wait is usually shorter, but by that time, most of them have been in and out of foster care or their biological parents homes for years.  I hope that someday, we can provide a permanent home for a child who has been denied one in their young life.  The question is, why do people have to resort to expensive medical procedures or overseas adoption to hold a baby in their arms?  My answer: there aren’t many unwanted babies anymore.  In other words, they are seldom carried to term if they are unwanted by their biological mother.  Even though they are very much wanted by childless couples.  I can only hope that in the future, we will see more education about the blessing those young (or at times, not so young) mothers could be to families wanting to adopt.  Yes, their bodies will look different, and they may have to take time off of work or school to give birth.  Yes, they will deal with emotional issues as they give up that child, but they will know that the life they helped to create is being taken care of by a loving family.

My point wasn’t so much to get into the abortion issue, but the question of why or how any woman could give birth to a child and then abandon it to death or illness.  And how many of these children have been overlooked and lie forgotten in dumps around the world?