Bluey's dad isn't so bad — and moms can be overly nurturing too



Does "Bluey" really "turn fathers into mothers"?

That's the claim Jeremy Pryor makes in a recent article for Align, arguing that that the mega-popular cartoon attacks the traditional family, especially in its depiction of fatherhood.

Any parent — father or mother — who fits Pryor’s description of 'Bluey’s' Bandit is in fact an active detriment to his or her children.

Bandit (the dad in "Bluey"), Pryor contends, is “constantly nurturing” and “always present.” He is no disciplinarian but “a plaything” in the eyes of his children.

Don't blame Bandit

First, let me be clear: I’m not sure that Pryor’s take is quite fair to Bandit, who seems in my limited exposure to "Bluey" perhaps overly gentle but not pathologically so. This is, after all, a preschoolers’ show.

That said, Pryor’s broader point about our mistaken postmodern paternal ideal is well taken. The idea that dads should always be accommodating and never be intimidating is, like most postmodern ideas, an infantile fantasy. It takes no account of human nature and creates misery wherever it is permitted to fester unchecked.

Pryor may have picked a poor example to make a valid point about what children need from their fathers.

Nevertheless, his critique of our modern investment in parental androgyny raises a question worth addressing: What makes an ideal father different from an ideal mother?

Nurture shock

Pryor contends that the very qualities he says make Bandit a lousy father — constant nurture, constant presence, always pleasant playmate — would make a woman an ideal mother.

Putting aside the question of whether Bandit in fact displays these traits to such excess, is that true? I would submit not.

Per Mary Wollstonecraft, the founding mother of feminism before it all went so terribly wrong: “Weak, enervated women” are “unfit to be mothers.” A woman who responds to her child’s every whim is not raising that child to engage the wider world but delimiting his capacity to engage anyone but her. The archetypal term for this insidious maternal figure is the “devouring mother.”

The devouring mother does have a long and storied history; she is an archetype for a reason. But she cannot be considered “traditional.” After all, women throughout most of history could not focus with such martyred self-abnegation on their children. They simply had too many other things to do.

Getting to good enough

Until industrialization, when middle- and upper-class women could for the first time in history devote themselves solely to the domestic welfare of their own nuclear families, nearly all women labored alongside their husbands and children on farms.

In these circumstances, the best a woman could hope for was to be a “good enough” mother: loving and strict and far too busy to be next to her child every second, like the mom in "Little House on the Prairie" or the one in the “Kirsten” books of the original "American Girl" series.

Fortunately, it turns out that “good enough” is what’s best.

Any parent — father or mother — who fits Pryor’s description of "Bluey’s" Bandit is in fact an active detriment to his or her children. Judging by today’s soaring rates of childhood misbehavior, mental health problems, and fragility, we do indeed have far too many such parents.

So if mothers should not be hovering pushovers any more than fathers should, what makes fathers unique and uniquely valuable?

Dad duty

Personally, I have two answers.

First, fathers provide a different kind of discipline — but only to a point. Yes, “talk to Daddy” is drawn as a leveling up of firmness in my house. Mommy is plenty firm, but Daddy has a different impact because Daddy is a man. But I also have four boys and no girls. If I had four daughters and no sons instead, I truly cannot imagine a scenario in which my husband would be the heavy; in fact, it would almost certainly go the other way.

Second, per Pryor, fathers do tend to offer a unique kind of “territory-expanding” and “training,” particularly to sons but also to daughters.

I am a “he’s fine” kind of mom. In part because it’s not my personality and in part because I know it’s not a good idea, I do not gasp or run over when my kid skins a knee or even a chin. I try to respond to what my kid says he needs (sometimes a hug, sometimes ice, often nothing), not react to what I saw.

But I am a mom, and I have my limits.

Checks and balances

I “let grow” pretty well, but when my kids aren’t back to my side exactly when I expect them to be — say, from the library across the street or from a bike ride around the block — I am always on the precipice of running to find them.

My anxiety is inevitably written all over my face. And my kids would surely see that, were I to follow my impulse and dash off at the first suspicion that they might be trying without immediate success to find their way back to me. Fortunately, my husband’s voice is always in my head, and often in my ear: “This is about you getting reassured, not about them being safe. They are fine. They will be fine. Do not worry them with your worry.”

I am beginning to notice that my sons tend to stay calm even when they are unsettled precisely because they have a dad who models that kind of stoicism consistently. Dads do tend, I think, to keep their sights trained more steadily than moms do on the endgame of raising adults who can manage real life, including when it’s scary.

So part of being a “good enough” mom, I guess, is knowing when to get out of the way and let Dad do his job.

Bullet reportedly pierces wall of Oakland home, hits father of 2 in head while he's asleep, exits through his eye



A bullet reportedly pierced the wall of an Oakland home last week, hit a father of two young daughters in the head while he was asleep, and exited through his eye.

Citing a GoFundMe page from the family of victim Run Hua Kuang, KTVU-TV reported that he was taking a nap Thursday afternoon after finishing his shift as a delivery truck driver when a bullet penetrated a headboard, went through his head, and came out his left eye.

'This shocking incident has left the entire family traumatized and in deep distress.'

Kuang was on life support in an intensive care united after a seven-hour surgery, the station said.

KTVU said the 33-year-old victim and his family live in a housing project, and he was the sole breadwinner for his wife of seven years and his two young daughters, ages 7 and just 3 months.

The East Bay Times said Oakland Housing Authority police are investigating what prompted the shooting in the 2200 block of East 19th Street, and no arrests were announced, and no suspect information has been released.

"This shocking incident has left the entire family traumatized and in deep distress. This tragedy has created a severe financial burden for our family," the fundraiser read, the station said.

Kuang's sister put together the GoFundMe page and said he's also the person in his household who speaks English, and he takes care of family responsibilities and communications.

The fundraiser says he immigrated to the U.S. from Taishan, China, in 2005 "searching for the American Dream for his family."

The campaign has raised nearly $111,000 of a $200,000 goal as of Monday afternoon.

Those with information about the shooting can call OHA police at 510-535-3100 or its tip line at 510-535-3155, the Times said, adding that an OHA communications representative said the agency has been in contact with the family and “is providing support and services.”

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Dad is in the dark that he won $1 million jackpot until detectives explain to him that his lottery ticket had been stolen



A Tennessee father had no idea that he had won a $1 million jackpot until the moment detectives told him that his lottery ticket had been stolen, according to authorities.

A lucky dad recently purchased two scratch-off lottery tickets at a Shell station in Murfreesboro. He reportedly asked the clerk to check if the tickets — $20 Diamond and Gold tickets — were winners.

'The feel-good side of this story is the [Antioch father] never knew he was the winner until we made contact with him. That is absolutely life-changing money.'

The clerk — identified by authorities as 23-year-old Meet Patel — allegedly told the dad that he had won $40 on one ticket, but the other ticket was not a winner.

Lt. Detective Steve Craig told WTVF-TV the ticket the dad was told was not a winner ended up "on top of the trash." Then when the dad departed the store, Craig said Patel "took the trash outside, and if you follow him on camera, you can see him grab the ticket and put it in his pocket."

However, the "losing" ticket was a million-dollar winner — and Patel allegedly attempted to claim the prize.

Craig noted, "He went to the lottery commission to claim the ticket as his own, but there were red flags, and they held onto the ticket."

Tennessee Lottery officials reviewed security footage from the Shell gas station and determined that the winning ticket was stolen.

Detective Dennis Ward told NBC News, "Mr. Patel is then seen later in the video celebrating in the store after scratching off the front of the ticket and learning it was a $1 million winner."

Craig explained, "It's pretty obvious. Good enough to put in front of 12 jurors, and they'll reach the same conclusion."

Patel was accused of stealing the million-dollar lottery ticket — a Class A felony — and was being held in the Rutherford County Jail on $100,000 bond after his arrest. Patel is scheduled to appear in court July 30.

Craig added, "The feel-good side of this story is the [Antioch father] never knew he was the winner until we made contact with him. That is absolutely life-changing money."

The dad requested that his identity not be revealed.

Craig gave some advice to those who play the lottery: "If you scratch off the front bar code, it will tell you if it’s a winner or not, regardless of whether you scratch off everything showing how much you won."

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Christian father killed in attempted Trump assassination lived and 'died a hero'



A 20-year-old would-be assassin fired roughly 6-8 shots Saturday at President Donald Trump shortly after the Republican began addressing a massive crowd in Butler, Pennsylvania. Although the shooter, whom the FBI have identified as ActBlue donor Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, was ultimately unsuccessful in his monstrous mission to kill the man Democrats have characterized as a "clear and present danger," he still managed to visit tragedy upon at least one family of patriots.

"We lost a fellow Pennsylvanian last night," Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) told the press Sunday. "Corey Comperatore."

"Corey was an avid supporter of the former president," said Shapiro, "and was so excited to be there last night with him and the community."

The last message on the 50-year-old former fire chief's alleged X account was posted Saturday morning and stated, "Trump rally! Butler, PA."

'Corey was the very best of us.'

The governor learned upon speaking with Comperatore's wife and two daughters, "Corey was a girl dad. Corey was a firefighter. Corey went to church every Sunday. Corey loved his community. And most especially, Corey loved his family."

Comperatore's love for his family was manifest in his final act: protecting them from harm.

The governor noted that Comperatore's wife not only cleared him to share their conversation but asked him to convey the following: "Corey died a hero."

Comperatore's wife told Shapiro that "Corey dove on his family to protect them last night at this rally."

"Corey was the very best of us," said Shapiro. "May his memory be a blessing."

Dr. Jim Sweetland, an emergency department physician, told CBS News that he had attempted to save a man shot at the rally, who suffered a gunshot wound to the head and collapsed between the bleachers. Sweetland indicated that the man, who appears to have been Comperatore, had no pulse and was not breathing.

"There was lots of blood," said the doctor. "The people over there were really helpful."

The efforts to resuscitate the victim were in vain. Sweetland noted that Pennsylvania State Police officers took over, "picked him up, unfortunately like a rag doll, and took him from the stands.

"I looked up to see his family, who witnessed my efforts and resuscitation, and the look on their faces said it all," added Sweetland.

Allyson Comperatore, one of the victim's daughters, said her father died "a real-life superhero," throwing her and her mother to the ground when gunshots first rang out, reported the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

"He shielded my body from the bullet that came at us. He loved his family. He truly loved us enough to take a real bullet for us," wrote Allyson Comperatore.

Dawn Comperatore Schafer, the victim's sister, noted on Facebook, "The PA Trump Rally claimed the life of my brother, Corey Comperatore. The hatred for one man took the life of the one man we loved the most. He was a hero that shielded his daughters."

"His wife and girls just lived through the unthinkable and unimaginable. My baby brother just turned 50 and had so much life left to experience," continued Schafer. "Hatred has no limits and love has no bounds. Pray for my sister-in-law, nieces, my mother, sister, me and his nieces and nephews as this feels like a terrible nightmare but we know it is our painful reality."

'He died a hero because he was a hero.'

Comperatore was the former fire chief for the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company.

Matt Lauer, a former president of the Butler County Fire Chiefs Association, provided WPXI-TV with a strong indication that Comperatore's heroism in his final moments was reflective of who he was in every moment prior.

"Corey put everyone and everything first before himself. It showed in his leadership as fire chief, husband, father, and son. He died a hero because he was a hero. Putting others first," said Lauer. "Butler [County's] emergency service family is less today without him. Godspeed, Corey. You will sorely be missed."

The Buffalo Township Fire Protection District said Saturday was a "tragic day" on Facebook, echoing another group's call to "keep his memory alive!"

Trump asked on Truth Social Sunday morning that Americans "hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed."

— (@)

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Dad tells cops he caught a rideshare driver sexually assaulting his daughter. So he did what dads do.



A father told police in Washington state he caught a rideshare driver sexually assaulting his daughter and got physical with the driver and fired his gun, the Olympian reported.

Thurston County Sheriff’s deputies around 1 a.m. Saturday were dispatched to Sixth Avenue Southeast and Old Pacific Highway — a fishing location on the Nisqually River — over a report of a weapons violation, the paper said.

The female's father told deputies he discovered his daughter being sexually assaulted, 'beat up the driver a little bit,' and fired the gun.

Two shell casings were found at the scene, the Olympian added.

A deputy who stopped a motorist attempting to flee the scene noticed the motorist was injured, Fox News reported, adding that detectives determined the motorist was a rideshare driver who had provided transportation to a "highly intoxicated female."

The driver had suffered injuries in a fight but wasn’t shot, Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Brooks said Sunday, according to the Olympian.

The female's father told deputies he discovered his daughter being sexually assaulted, “beat up the driver a little bit,” and fired the gun, Brooks told the paper, adding that the timing of the physical altercation and the gunshots wasn't clear.

The 58-year-old driver was treated for his injuries at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia and then booked into jail on suspicion of first-degree kidnapping and second-degree rape, the Olympian reported.

Those with information about this incident should call the nonemergency dispatch line at 360-704-2740 or send an email to detectives@co.thurston.wa.us, the paper added.

How are observers reacting?

Nearly 1,000 comments so far have appeared underneath the Fox News story about the incident, which was published Monday on Yahoo News. As you might imagine, a number of commenters are sympathetic toward the father:

  • "The father did what every red-blooded American father would do to protect his daughter!" one commenter declared. "Kudos to him for being a real father!"
  • "The dad was defending protecting his daughter, and tried his best to stop the criminal assault in progress," another commenter said. "He saved his daughter's life."
  • "It's uplifting to have some good news for once," another commenter noted.
  • "It's Washington state, so the father's freedom is still up in the air, but great job dad," another commenter added. "Shame you didn't put him underground."
  • "I'm a progressive individual, but even I feel the dad was well within his rights as a father," another commenter stated.

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Dad enters HS classroom, confronts student for allegedly bothering his daughter. Dad now charged for making threats, assault.



A New Jersey dad was caught on video entering a high school classroom and confronting a student for allegedly bothering his daughter — and now that dad faces multiple charges, including threatening a student and assaulting another.

What are the details?

Cellphone video shows a parent who was supposed to be picking up his child entering a Paulsboro High School classroom Monday and confronting a student, WTXF-TV reported.

The station said the criminal complaint identifies the parent as Aaron Thomas of Gibbstown.

The video shows Thomas exchanging words with the student and complaining that the student allegedly was bothering his daughter, WTXF said.

Moments later the video shows an adult apparently trying to intervene and calm down the situation, but things escalated again as Thomas began arguing with another student, the station said. Video appears to show Thomas putting his hand on the second student.

WXTF said Thomas has been charged with several offenses, including entering an unauthorized section of the school, threatening to punch and knock out a student, and assault for allegedly grabbing a student’s arm and getting in his face.

The Paulsboro Public School District released the following statement on the matter, according to the station: "Safety and security of our staff and students is paramount. Unfortunate situations such as these gives us an opportunity to reflect and analyze current practices to further strengthen the district’s safety and security procedures to ensure that our schools are a safe place for all students and staff."

While WTXF said nobody answered the door at Thomas' home on Wednesday afternoon, a woman drove up to the house and told the station she lived there. WTXF said she didn't want to identify herself but noted that the family is working with an attorney and would like to tell their side of the story eventually.

Video shows New Jersey dad confronting student in classroom at Paulsboro High School youtu.be

Mother of second student speaks out

Faith Bagby, the mother of the second student in the video, told WTXF in a separate story she was "distraught" over the situation.

Bagby told the station her son was sticking up for the student Thomas confronted.

"He was telling the boy that had the guy in his face, ‘you don’t got to say nothing, don’t say nothing.' That’s when the guy must have not liked that and hopped in his face," she told WTXF. "So, he had nothing to do with it at all. He was just an innocent bystander protecting his classmate."

Bagby also noticed the adult in the classroom apparently trying to calm down Thomas.

"Why wasn’t he taken out of that classroom?" she asked the station. "You got your hand on his back like you’re caressing his back — you don’t look like you are trying to get him out."

The student's aunt, Jennifer Bagby, expressed outrage to WTXF.

"I’m mad at the school, I’m mad at the administrators, I’m mad at the security," she told the station. "I’ve been to plenty of basketball games, they run down on these kids, you can’t even stand on the court without running down on them, but an adult come into the school, act up, and nobody know what to do."

WTXF said Faith Bagby has a message for Thomas: "You were wrong, wrong all around."

Mother fed up after her son caught the heat as Paulsboro High School father confronted his classmate youtu.be

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Terrifying video: Creep grabs 4-year-old boy, tries to leave store with him. But Dad is right there — and does what dads do.



A surveillance video that almost certainly would terrify any parent of young children shows a male grabbing a 4-year-old boy and trying to leave a store with him Thursday in Miami Beach — but fortunately the boy's father was right there and fought off the would-be kidnapper.

What are the details?

The boy's mother was walking out of the CVS Pharmacy on the corner of Collins Avenue and 74th Street just before noon, and her son and her husband were walking behind her, WPLG-TV reported.

The surveillance video shows a man whom police identified as 26-year-old Nicolas Sternaman walking into the store at the same time — then turning, bending down, and grabbing the boy by the neck, the station said.

Sternaman lifted the boy off the ground and turned to face the store’s door to leave, but the father sprang into action and grabbed Sternaman until he let go of his son, WPLG said, citing the arrest report.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

The station said the mother turned to hit the man, and the boy fell on his back but wasn’t injured. The mom picked up her son and held him, WPLG said, adding that police noted that the boy was frightened.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Police said Sternaman ran away, leaving his jacket behind, and that a witness and the father followed him southbound on Collins Avenue, when Sternaman removed his sweater and threw it, the station said.

Officers joined the pursuit and arrested Sternaman along Harding Avenue near 71st Street, WPLG said, adding that Sternaman was facing felony charges of aggravated child abuse and battery.

Not his first arrest

Police arrested Sternaman — a resident of a penthouse at the Mirador 1000, a South Beach condominium — for petit theft on Jan. 3, the station said.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Miami-Dade County court records indicate he was released on a $150 bond, WPLG said, adding that his status hearing was 8:30 a.m. Thursday, and his trial for the pending misdemeanor case was scheduled for April 1.

Detectives asked those with information to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477, the station said.

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'Here's an idea to bridge the divide on abortion': Ramaswamy suggests requiring men to financially support child and mother



Author and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has suggested that if a woman becomes pregnant and has a child, she should be able to legally require the father to fully financially support both her and the child until that child turns 18, provided that the man's fatherhood has been verified via a paternity test.

"Here's an idea to bridge the divide on abortion: codify sexual responsibility for *men* into the law. If a woman carries a child to term, she can automatically make the man fully $ responsible both for herself *and* for the child, if confirmed by paternity test. Should be an idea that both parties can agree on," Ramaswamy tweeted when sharing a video in which he discussed the idea during an appearance on "The Breakfast Club."

Elon Musk agreed with Ramaswamy, replying, "Yes."

— (@)

Ramaswamy has previously said that he believes "abortion is a form of murder" and that the issue should be decided by states, not the federal government.

Ramaswamy dropped out of the Republican presidential primary last week and endorsed former President Donald Trump. He came in a distant fourth place in the Iowa Republican presidential caucus, finishing behind Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley.

"The southern border disaster isn't the product of incompetence. It's the intended result of years of careful planning by the Democrat Party. Once you understand that, the situation makes a lot more sense & the solutions become much simpler," Ramaswamy asserted in another tweet.

"Correct," Musk replied.

— (@)

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Biden’s HHS Wants To Nuke The Definition Of Nuclear Family From Its Regulations

The government’s bid to use Orwellian ‘newspeak’ resembles the Marxist push to destroy the definition of the nuclear family.