Free Republic

...The debate raises the question of how long Hollywood producers and unions will keep the costly and time-consuming measures in place.... “SAG-AFTRA has continued to see a small but vocal minority spread misinformation that certainly makes it harder to do the work of the union,” said one board member, who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to comment. “That has been a challenge for the union overall. The National Board has been consistent. The union has continued to keep people safe and get people back to work.” However, Drescher, by opening the topic to debate, is giving...

BUTLER, Pennsylvania — A longtime nanny to Pennsylvania Republican Sean Parnell’s three children testified on Tuesday that she had never witnessed Parnell abuse his children, an allegation Parnell’s wife leveled against him last week as part of a bitter custody battle. Lori McGoogan said under oath during the final day of custody hearings at the Butler County Courthouse that she has provided child care for the children for about a decade — including in-home care starting about five years ago, overnight care, and completion of household tasks like laundry and dinner preparation — and that she never witnessed Parnell become...

Mary Robertson, an American businesswoman who lived in London in 1980, hired a young woman to be her nanny. She had no clue that her nanny would later be known as Princess Diana. Back in 2017, Inside Edition interviewed Mary Robertson about Lady Diana Spencer's time working for her and what she labeled as the late Princess' "happiest year of her life." At that point, the People's Princess made only $5 an hour taking care of Mary's toddler son, Patrick, and handling several other activities, including doing their laundry, picking up a bunch of toys and washing the dishes. One...

After graduating from Spelman College in 2015, Brieonna Johnson knew she wanted to work with children. She applied for teaching jobs, but the pay was low and she was worried about paying off her student loans. Although she had worked as a part-time nanny in college, she hadn’t considered that she could turn it into a full-blown career. But then she came across a nannying agency in Atlanta. In 2016, Johnson found a live-in position with a family in Atlanta and fell in love with the work and the kids. Being able to live with the family was a major...

..... ....Rumors even swirled that Barron was getting a Goldendoodle puppy named Patton to go along with his new home. However, as of this writing, Patton has yet to arrive. Does Barron Trump have a nanny? In a September 2015 interview with People, Donald and Melania Trump insisted they did not use a nanny to help raise Barron Trump. "I like to be hands-on," Melania told the magazine. "I think it's very important. Barron is 9 years old. He needs somebody as a parent there, so I am with him all the time. As you know my husband is traveling...

BOSTON (AP) — Cute plastic animals with tiny accessories that pose a choking hazard, Black Panther-inspired claws with the potential to cause facial or eye injuries, and green slime that could be harmful if swallowed: These are just some of the items on an annual list of potentially dangerous toys released Monday by a consumer advocacy group."Although intended for fun and entertainment, many toys contain hidden hazards unnecessarily putting children at risk of injury or death," Boston-based World Against Toys Causing Harm Inc. said in a statement announcing its "10 Worst Toys" of the year.With parents looking for ways to...

Utah Senator Mitt Romney argued that flavored e-cigarettes and vaping juices like “unicorn poop” should be banned because of their attractiveness to children. President Donald Trump hosted a lively discussion at the White House about the benefits and dangers of vaping flavors. The president spent over an hour listening to supporters for banning vaping flavors as well as vape industry advocates who have sharply criticized the president’s proposed ban. Senator Mitt Romney participated in the discussion in support of a ban on flavored vaping. He argued that most adults were not using vape flavors, earning a strong reaction from vape...

The sale of foie gras looks set to become illegal in New York City with city council members expected to pass a bill on Wednesday that bans the sale of the fattened liver of a duck or goose at restaurants and grocery stores. Under the bill, vendors and restaurateurs caught selling the French delicacy could be slapped with a $1000 fine and a year behind bars. Animal welfare advocates have long supported banning the sale of foie gras, claiming the practice of force-feeding a bird by sticking a tube down its throat is inhumane. However, farmers who produce the specialty...

To San Franciscan Chris Chin, the owner of a vape shop in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood, the proposed e-cigarette ban being considered by city officials would be tantamount to becoming the ultimate “nanny city.” “I’ve renamed it ‘Ban Francisco’ because you can’t do anything in the city,” said Chin, whose store, Gone With the Smoke, stands to go out of business if the city enacts the proposed ban. “You can’t get a plastic straw or bag, or flavored tobacco. What’s next?” Chin’s sentiments capture an undercurrent of frustration that a city once famous for its free-spirited ethos has strayed so...

NEW YORK - The mother of two children slaughtered by the family's nanny yelled that the defendant is "evil" as she left court. Marina Krim shouted at Yoselyn Ortega on Friday after grueling testimony about discovering her children dead in their Manhattan apartment on Oct. 25, 2012. "You're evil and you like this!" she said as she concluded her testimony, according to CBS New York. "You're getting pleasure!"

A Namibian woman is facing charges of child abuse, assault and attempted murder after she allegedly recklessly threw a baby she was caring for into a cot, Netwerk24 reported. Annemarie Theron, reservations and marketing manager at a lodge in Namibia, laid a charge at the Outjo police station in Namibia, after capturing video footage of her nine-month old daughter Laila allegedly being manhandled by her nanny. “It was very emotional watching it. I refused to sleep, eat or drink for a couple of days afterward. It’s difficult to imagine how long this has been going on for. I can see...

Why I want a robot nanny Ruth Margolis I'm a tech-phobic parent — not exactly the sort of person who gets excited about the idea of letting a machine watch my children. But when I heard about the newly developed iPal — a doe-eyed, 3-foot-tall robot companion — I couldn't help but see the potential advantages to struggling parents of young kids. So many of us are crippled by the costs of childcare, sleep deprived and, frankly, bored. (You try coming up with 37 different scenarios for "The Wheels on the Bus" before breakfast...) Is it really so crazy to...

New York City plans to start enforcing a first-of-its-kind requirement for chain restaurants to use icons to warn patrons of salty foods after getting an appeals court's go-ahead Thursday to start issuing fines. But it's not the final word on whether the regulation will stand. The novel rule took effect in December, and some eateries already have added the requisite salt-shaker-like icons to menu items that contain more salt than doctors recommend ingesting in an entire day.

It was the most awkward and divisive of questions that I would ask of other parents, usually new acquaintances, but also of old friends. We’d be on the phone, discussing our young children, laughing, and the subject of play dates would come up. The other mom might say, “Can Chloe come over here tomorrow to play with Maddie?” I would ask, “Do you keep guns in your house?” Always it would lead to the most illuminating of answers, whether yes or no. If the response was negative, the parent would answer immediately, following up with something like, “No, never. We...

Legislators in Puerto Rico are debating a bill that would fine parents of obese children up to $800 if they don't lose weight. The bill aims to improve children's wellbeing and help parents make healthier choices, Sen. Gilberto Rodriguez said in a statement issued Monday. Public hearings for the bill are scheduled to begin Friday.

Looking at the glorious NON-EVENT that was this BS blizzard, I ask that we conservatives teach our friends how to see the dangers of the nanny state. Think about it....media, politicians and "scientists" in the government all worked together to SHUT DOWN commerce, freedom of movement, etc. I know this would be easy to let them off the hook and say "Well, they did their best, better safe than sorry, etc." I think, however, that this splendidly demonstrates that these entities think of themselves as overlords who KNOW better than their citizenry how to conduct themselves in a potential crisis....

Lyle Denniston, the National Constitution Center’s constitutional literacy adviser, tackles a weighty issue: the FDA’s constitutional ability to mandate calorie counts on restaurant menus nationwide. “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today finalized…rules requiring that calorie information be listed on menus and menu boards in chain restaurants [and] similar retail food establishments….The menu labeling final rule applies to restaurants and similar retail food establishments if they are part of a chain of 20 or more locations, doing business under the same name and offering for sale substantially the same menu items. Covered food establishments will be required to clearly and...

The king cobra is so poisonous that it can kill an elephant in a single bite. It is so long that it will use its 18-foot length to ‘stand up’ and look a human in the eye if confronted. And in this astonishing viral footage, a helpless baby is being protected by not one of them – but four. Deadly: King cobras can kill an elephant in a single bite (Picture: Mike J/YouTube) The reptiles each stand guard in the corners of the bed where the baby is lying with their necks extended above the ground – the stance it...

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that “Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz is preparing to introduce a bill that would restore the pre-2011 federal ban on Internet gaming, a spokeswoman confirmed on Wednesday. It would join a similar bill to be sponsored in the Senate by GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.” “The goals of the Graham-Chaffetz legislation,” the Review-Journal continues, “are consistent with the highly publicized campaign by billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson to outlaw Internet gambling on moral grounds.”

I have run into an unusual situation. I have struck up a friendship with a philipina woman. However she is "employed" as a nanny by a couple from the UAE and is in Baltimore at the moment. The employers have confiscated her passport, work her 7 days a week with no days off or vacations. And pay her a nominal $9.00 per hour except they "hold" the money for her which amounts to $400.00 per week. (I haven't figured out the math on that one yet, since she is technically "on the job" 24 hours a day). What are her...