I think Mr. SHriver may be projecting a little here. He really should get out there and talk to a broader ranger of working fathers and mothers. Men and women "choose" or are forced to choose time at work over time with their children for many reasons. SOmetimes it's because they want the power associated with work, sometimes it's out of loyalty to their employer, sometimes it's because they enjoy the work, sometimes it's because working longer hours is the price one has to pay to pay for the things one wants to give one's children. The hand wringing over children taking a backseat to work misses the point - sometimes, time with the kids has to take a backseat to work so that mommy and daddy can stay sane, fulfilled, and/or solvent; sometimes, work has to take a backseat to time with the kids because their needs are more urgent. Being a parent means being the leader of a family, not a slave to the real and imagined needs and wants of one's children. As a leader of the family, the parent's job is to make choices that will maximize the health and well being of all its members - this includes emotional and material well being, adults and children.

"... fatherhood isn't an obligation, it's a privilege ..."

i disagree! The cart before the horse?

Mr. Shriver et al: Ye hath a Natural-"Obligation" [since you made them] to Raise your Off-Spring the best way possible under whatever circumstances. And Man-Made Religion(s) has nothing to do with ones innate Obligation to raise Normal-Embryo's!

i.e., Hitler, Stalin or Pol Pot & similar Mass-Murderers (includes Paul of Tarsus) should not have been raised or aborted!

To be "Naturally Selected" instead of as if be "gods chosen People" via the SPERMATAZOOM Testical/uterus Selected-Moment (zero Abrahamic, Zero Vedic et al) THAT

To BE BORN is a MIRACLE (not a Sin via Curseth Biblio Storys) is not a "Priviledge" (an Honor/Appreciation) for being in "AWARENESS" of such a Phenomonal chance via a sexual-Encounter of many via once-in a-life-time opportunity!. Thus

this meeting/merger of Mom & Dad [Wed via Man-Made Document or or Not wed] , before Birth rights appeared, has nothing to do with the word "Obligation"!

Obligation comes after the Fact; Raising his Daughters/Son's has nothing to do with the word 'Privilidge"! So Mr. & Mrs. Obama & Co., are All & each are OBLIGATED by the RULE-Of-NATURE (hence our innate CLAUSES) to natured/suckle their off-spring into Living-Loving-Learning & Walking/Talking/Thinking but developed ZYGOTES/Sperm&Egg , born in MIRACLE (not via Biblio Sin stories) called HU{EMATES [US], aka Ex-HUMANs [YOU's]!

So, To Drive (via man-made State Issued License), under OUR blesseth "REPUBLIC" (not a Democracy) is a PRIVILEDGE not a RiGHT either. Nor is it a blessing!

IT is a blessing to Raise kids, not abort them! Thus, IT is an "OBLIGATION" and not a 'PRIVILEDGE" to 1st Raise OUR-Spermatazooms! (not Yours 2nd)!

So let the Churches, Mosques, Synogogues, Temples.. Raise All "Unwanted" Spermatazooms! And Jail All Dead Beat Mothers & Fathers who think it is a priviledge, Instead of an Obligation (Response-ability) to raise (planned nor unplanned) Zygotes! Soo

Raising "MEME"s {from a LIMITED GENE-POOL on Holyi Earth} is serious Business. So couples who Adopt some-one elses Spermatazooms are under the man-made 'Privilidge" rule, not any of G-D (not a HE/HIM nor a SHE/HER) innate Obligation-Rule.!

Any Being on this blesseth (not Curseth) Earth(s) who still religiously believe , via old time Philosophy or Schoolings, saying that YOU or YE (not US) art born in some man-Made Biblio/Chumash, Quran/Koran or Geeta/Kangyur Books, as if Life/Birth come from a SIN/Curse story/Fable/Tale, is very Stupid (Static Minded) and not Smart (Dynamic Minded)!

Please see the S P E R M A T A Z O O M Miracle (not Sin) in Holy-i Action/Motion, a Divine? Purpose or Intervention? for 1's (one)own chance, of a Life-TIME to become "WHOLE-AGAIN" here, aka S.S. Earth, aka S.S. GAiA, S.S. GEOiD, S.S. TELLUSng something:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spermatazoa
A Miracle (not a Sin) in Holyi-Motion, MIZANICALLY (balancing ITSELF) between the TWO-POINTS-OF-PALINDROME" (of the Holy Cosmic Heart-Beat) via Holy TEMPerature [aka, TIME; not manmade clock thinkings].

WE appear in Miracle (not Biblio story; but Real Story) because "IT" {G-D by 1,000 names & no-more by 99 names} is about

"ETERNiTY-AVOiDING-LONLiNESS" via All "IT"s Animate & inanimate "THiNGs & STUFF"s that Evolves ITSELF (G-D/Almighty/Rock/Ishvara/Lord...) in & outside of Us All; Here & on other Worlds!

WE art TOGETHER FOREVER with SOURCE-ONE (G-D..., not a HE nor a SHE but an "IT" being iTSELF, aka the HOLY-i NO-MAN/WOMB for it's own sake/survival too).

Hence WE art All Miraculously (Contrary/not via any man-made Sin/Curseth Biblio Stories) appearing because We was Frequencied [Naturally-Selectioned] between the 2-Points of ABSOLUTE HOT & ABSOLUTE COLD!

Hint: Photons = Life! This is LOVE, a Miracle in [holy+i] Motion via holy-TEMPerature (TIME) not via time (clocks)!

Note: Even Though in ones Testicals there are both Male Potentials {Mavorites} & Female Potentials {Sporades} THAT,

Artifical (un-natural) "Same-Sex Marriage" can never be equated with (Naturally occuring "Heterosexual-Marriage" (Wed via man-made License/string or not).

Note: SEX is not LOVE; Its Pleasure. But LIFE (= Photons) is LOVE! Hence

The 'Creator' of Photon(s) , aka G-D/LORD... Knows the condition or where ALL IT's own "Stuffs & Things" is at Omnipresently. Includes OUR "Carbon-Based" "BIO-FiNiTE-ESSENCES"! So,

For "IT" (G-D); TIME = TEMPerature. But for US {i} time = clocks. So TEMPerature/TIME or Clock/time thinking are incompatible, leave alone uncomprehensible! Soo,

Nothing is EXternal to the Creator Of Our Holyi Cosmic-Built "Photon-Essences" [aka HEURISTICa/o's, aka Imortal Souls]. AND

"Happy Everyday, Happy G-D Hunting & Good Selling!"

"Many women of my generation grew up being told they could have it all--careers, power, family. Most of them had to unlearn the lesson. The promise of 'having it all' has been proven to be a charade. Something has to give."
~~~~~~~~~~~

Interestingly, Shriver's definition of "having it all" is a distinctly male one -- "careers, POWER, family."

Women of his generation (as well as mine, and I'm a bit older) didn't necessarily define "having it all" as having the kind of high-profile career that offers big salaries and big handfuls of power. For many of us, it meant being able to work fulltime at a job in a field we loved (or at least one we'd studied) and still being able to manage marriage and motherhood.

"Most dads can't choose to stay home. Most dads are providers," he says, with all the smugness of a guy who's got enough money that his wife can "choose" to stay at home with the kids.

Perhaps coming from a cloistered life, he doesn't realize that women don't automatically want to stay home with their children or that it's not an option for most of those who do. Either way, it's an ugly slap in the face to women to lump them all into a single category of aspiration. He and his co-religionists may feel that motherhood is a woman's highest calling, but the arrogance of that position just makes his claims all the more insulting.

"The most involvement one can expect from dads is the limited involvement of a stressed-out, full-time worker," says St. Tim. Well, working mothers the world over are "stressed-out, full-time workers," but their involvement with kids and household is expected to be 110% -- always has been, always will be. And, if it isn't, well, don't expect poor, stressed-out, fulltime-working dad to pitch in. He's just too tired.

This whole column is nothing more than an elaborate excuse for laziness, absence of creativity, and monumental self-involvement.

KJOHNSON - Absolutely agree. I'd only add that this self-righteous, self-absorbed column is not only sexist, but classist. Most MEN don't have jobs that involve them putting in long hours and travel in exchange for "power". Such jobs are largely the province of the rich and already powerful. And many (if not most) WOMEN don't have the "choice" to stay home - such choices are also increasingly the province of the rich. I think Mr. Shriver's perspective is a little skewed by his background and his personal idiosyncracies.

"Most dads are providers. The most involvement one can expect from dads is the limited involvement of a stressed-out, full-time worker.

But that overlooks another part of the equation: For many men, work isn't merely a way to create economic security; it's also a means to power, influence and prestige. Work is about their identity. The truth is that many fathers aren't home taking care of their children because they're at work taking care of themselves."
__________________________________________________
What a wild ride on the time machine with Timothy Shriver, all the way back to nineteen-fifty-something! Or, have we entered the Twilight Zone?

You: "MOst Dads are providers." Here, on Planet Earth, where a majority of us reside, MOST MOMS ARE PROVIDERS.

You: The most involvement one can expect from dads is the limited involvement of a stressed-out, full-time worker.

Moi: The most involvement one can expect from moms is the limited involvement of a stressed-out, full-time worker. Hence, couples of your generation, younger, and a bit older have been struggling to remedy the problem. Both men and women have postponed having children, taken time out from their careers, elected to have one partner work part-time, etc.

You: But that overlooks another part of the equation: For many men, work isn't merely a way to create economic security; it's also a means to power, influence and prestige. Work is about their identity. The truth is that many fathers aren't home taking care of their children because they're at work taking care of themselves.

Moi: The same is absolutely the case with mothers. HOwever, thankfully, many couples, many fathers and mothers are not quite so self-involved and narcissistic as you appear in this article. For that, we must be grateful, as we will be dependent upon their children.

YOU NEED to wake up. As a religious person, I highly recommend that you seek counseling. Your thinking is a mess. Patriarchy is dying. Wake up.

president obama is known with poetry, with his support to gay rights, with alexander and his debt to china to heal economy.

the army of usa shall not go to america, shall move to china. this shall be like alain turing's machine from greece to china. the history shall be reformatted but not imitated and the language of golden sphere shall be re-verbalized.

commander in chief, president obama, of almond and apricot, what shall your "H-aus-A" dine with till china, on your journey to pakistan and india? ice?

Haus : House, Army of USA, in german.
does china know st francis?

so Iran, do not worry. groups from Cyprus British BAse may be taken too. the matter is, the resistance of the cable, i mean, your attitude towards the army of USA. they shall move to china, either way, today or in ten years. the matter is the heat because of the resistance and superconductivity.

st markus, to dis-cuss, shall be the mercy on the journey. "mosaic" and "lighthouse" are known with St MArkus. as you studied radioactivity, Iran, i invite you to study saints also, other than philosophy. philosophy is greek and saintful, philosophy is the shining family lineage of Kahunas.

and china knows st markus, so do the germans. i think they do. people from china shall visit SIDE Antalya this year, the Prince of Syria, Cleopatra of Milkyway and ATLAS, the King of Atlantic Ocean and the land of choir and music, of astronomy also.

hey, who is sleeping over there, wake up. patriarchy is painting the sky. pakistanis shall move to malaysia and endonesia soon, to marry.

Ah, Taki, I'd wondered where you had gone. What is your opinion of Mr. Shriver's essay?

BTW, IMHO, Pakistan has no plans to relocate in the immediate future. I could be wrong, of course.

my opinion, about god's trade-off? like serkisoff watches?

i think about the father of Nida, the "address, speech, voice of beloved".

i think about Ahmedinejad, and the Family of Ahmed.

i think about the "voice from the skies, of heavens".

i think about why did Ahmedinejad make a team of such rude transaction? how shall he be able to explain?

i think about Hamaney the FAther.

i think about the kindness of Pope Benedictus, how He treated to Ahmet prophet according to His ancestors and lineage.

i invite United Kingdom, United States of America, Germany to help in Philosophy, to help where they began with and where they have taken to uptodate, as we add explanations in the software code text.

It is difficult to think. Rafsanjani will survive this, I suspect. I wonder if the "West" has an "endgame" in mind.

How are you, Taksi?

That is quite interesting. However, if you would like to improve your English, you must try to converse.

Of course, you are a poet, Taksi, but poets also write prose. You can compose on the internet. I've seen you do it!

Taksi, in one hour, President Obama will be holding a press conference. He is expected to say something about Iran.

Neda

Well, then, you will have to teach all the rest of us bloggers Turkish.

Fatherhood is a commitment that must be made intentionally and must be kept regardless of the obstacles. The scriptures teach implicitly that if any provide not for his own, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. Providing for your own goes beyond the natural provision of food and shelter. You are charged to be a spiritual leader for the home as well. You must provide spiritual guidance to your family.

It appears your blog has been hijacked by code-talking Iranians looking for a safe place to communicate; or spam being filtered through Babelfish...

razzl:

Last time a checked Turkish was different from Farsi. Taksi is posting from Bursa, Turkey, and has been posting here for years, largely in Turkish prose and English poetry. Some of is have been trying to engage him in English. It's a big small world, Razzl, and it's getting small bigger.

However, no one hijacks a thread, except, perhaps, for those who complain of hijacking rather than post with substance, no?

"liveandlove" appears to have a bit of JJ/taksimbirki in him/her. Or is it someone else???

Mom had to raise my brother and I essentially alone. We were special ed students.

Mom once complained, "they're your kids, ma'am."

Dad worked at the office late at Social Security Administration, by choice, he came home when he thought we were asleep. I see myself doing it and I am not even married yet.

I am smarter than my deceased parents. I am skipping kids. I hope I can find one woman who understands.

I like sleep, I like disposable income, I like a life for two. I don't want to take 18 to 30 years detour between now and retirement if I even live that long (I am 39). I could be dead before they get out of grad school, or the house, esp. if they inherit Asperger too. Employment and marriage are very difficult odds to beat with Asperger (but somehow I have a career in Web design/general computer programming, but I had to give up on my Master's in social research indefinitely. (Smiling) I'm not taking a pay cut now to go back and forfeit 9 years experience).