Before getting to anything else in today's world o' news I'm posting this link to a BBC piece on booby-trapped links hackers are placing in fake entries on Blogger sites.

Apparently the gang out to make life miserable for millions has already managed to hijack hundreds of thousands of PCs by infecting them through booby-trapped fake links to what look like greeting card sites, YouTube links, and European storm-watch sites.

So, if you have a blog on Blogger, watch out!

My personal blog is on Wordpress, if anyone's interested ...

More in the "I don't quite get the 'why' of this" category, this big hoopla ... a "media firestorm and scrutiny by public officials", according to the LA Times ... over the kids on CBS's "Kid Nation" and whether or not the show was handled correctly.

Hey! People! It's TV. It doesn't matter if it's "reality" TV or "Mr. Peabody and Sherman", it's still TV, so OF COURSE lines will be written and people will say them when they're told to.

"That may be surprising to the public, but it's actually not unusual for reality TV," Henry said. "It's not unusual for shows to make sure they have all the footage they might ever need to cut and paste the story line they want to create because they're creating entertainment. But that is significant in this situation because CBS and the producers are trying to claim that this was not work and was not scripted and the children were not actors."

And, see? There's the rub. It's all about unions and pay and defining what "work" means.

Sheesh.

Parents are apparently now complaining, saying they're "just learning how much of a television production this was, the many do-overs and the requests to do things a certain way".

Paaaaleeeease.

For parents everywhere, if you want to avoid your children being used, don't put them in TV shows. When they open casting calls for "Adopted Kids, the Reality Show", run.

A court ruling in Maine has opened the door to same-sex couples adopting in that state.

Co-adoption by Gays and Lesbians have already been permitted in twelve other states.

In a press release from Black PR Wire, a news service for Black-owned publications, information on American companies that offer adoption assistance to their employees.

The list is from the Dave Thomas Foundation's 2007 Best Adoption Friendly Workplaces report.

The top 11 are:

• Citizens Financial Group (#1 in rank!)
• CMP Technology
• Timberland
• JPMorgan Chase
• Avon
• American Century Investments
• Fannie Mae
• The McGraw Hill Companies
• South Mountain Company
• Google
• Abbott Laboratories

And for a nice story about a nice lady, this is just the ticket.

About a woman who made lemonade with the lemons life handed her, then shared it, some with the "children of the dump" she met in Mexico, using her spending money to buy then school and art supplies.

Just goes to show that everyone can do something.

Since we've been on a bit of a roll with foster care lately, I'll add this story that suggests that although fewer kids are staying in care for long periods in MIlwaukee, more are being abused.

... the number of cases of maltreatment of children in the
system shot up over the first half of this year. From January through
June, the bureau reported 16 confirmed cases of maltreatment of children
in the foster care system, up from only one confirmed case in the first
half of 2006 ...

Sigh ...