The Bullet Bites The Apple

Holiday in Australia

YOU HAVE TO READ THIS FIRST BEFORE LOOKING AT THE PICTURE..

Family on holiday in Australia for a week and a half when husband, wife and their 15 year old son decided to go scuba diving. The husband is in the navy
and has had some scuba experience.  His son wanted a picture of his mum and dad in all their gear so he got the under water camera ready to go. When it came to taking the picture the dad realized that the son looked like he was panicking as he took it and gave the 'OK' hand sign to see if he was all right.  

The son took the picture and swam to the surface and back to the
boat as quick as he could so the mum and dad followed to see if he was
OK.  When they got back to him he was scrambling onto the boat and
absolutely panicking.  When the parents asked why he said 'there was a shark behind you.'  The dad thought he was joking but the skipper of the boat said
it was true but they wouldn't believe him.  As soon as they got back to the
hotel they loaded the picture onto the laptop and this is what they saw.

(Try and tell me you wouldn't have emptied your entire digestive system right at the point you saw it)

Would you have stayed to take the picture? Maybe what saved them was that the shark wasn't hungry, they were in the water not on the surface, and there was no fear coming from them - only because they were not aware. Probably better that the kid didn't point for them to look behind them.

The Biggest Loser-2008

The Magic Quarter

Obama Meets Monica Lewinsky

First Israeli Gay Man Gets ‘Maternity’ Leave

The National Insurance Institute authorized Israel’s first-ever “maternity” leave for a male couple on Thursday. Yonatan Gher, director of Jerusalem’s nonprofit Open House Pride and Tolerance organization, has received institute approval of a 64-day leave from work on the occasion of the birth of his biological son, born of a surrogate mother in India. His partner of seven years commenced formal adoption procedures, so that the child will be formally recognized as his as well.
Despite confirmation of the leave, Gher has not received an answer to his request for reimbursement of NIS 10,000 in hospitalization costs (Gher and his partner also stayed in the hospital prior to the delivery) from the NII.
The process began two years ago, when the couple realized formal adoption by a single man or two gay men was not an option here. They did not want to agree to joint parenthood with an Israeli woman, because they said it would expose the child to a situation similar to divorce.
They opted instead for IVF treatment through Rotunda-CHR, a Mumbai clinic(www.iwannagetpregnant.com), and chose the donor of the egg and a surrogate mother. They returned to Israel with their son in November 2008, and Gher took leave. Earlier this month he requested that his leave be acknowledged by the NII, and says he was “surprised” to have received a positive reply within a few weeks, without needing to take any additional action or submit an appeal. Gher sees the decision as a significant achievement. “What we have here is the establishment taking responsibility for a process that had been forced upon us,” he explained. “We have no legal possibility of having a child with a surrogate mother in Israel. Because it won’t allow that, the state is obliged to share with us the costs of the alternative, by the very fact of recognizing the maternity leave.”
The overall cost of the IVF procedure, including all expenses, is estimated by Gher to be over NIS 130,000. Meanwhile, his partner’s request for a leave is presently being debated at a labor court.
New Family organization lawyer Irit Rosenblum, who represents the couple, praised the NII decision. “This is an important milestone on the way to equity for the rights of the same-sex family in Israel. Up to now, the approach of the institute was detrimental to the rights and welfare of children in such families,” she said.
“The purpose of maternity benefits is to allow a devoted parent to answer the most important basic needs of an infant during the first months of its life,” Rosenblum added. “The needs of a male and female parents are identical in this situation, and the time has come for the legislator and the authorities to face reality and prevent gender discrimination in basic family rights.”
Tel Aviv’s District Labor Court is presently debating a precedent-setting lawsuit by two men seeking leave following the birth of their daughter from a surrogate mother in the United States.

The Price of Children

I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice.

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.

But $160,140.00 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:
* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741..38 a month,
* $171.08 a week.
* A mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is; don't have children if you want to be 'rich.' Actually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your $160,140.00?

* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up. You get to:

* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs,
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:

* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watch Saturday morning cartoons,
* go to Disney movies, and
* wish on stars.

You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:

* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
* coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat in history to witness the:

* First step,
* First word,
* First bra,
* First date,
* First time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits - so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the
Price !!!

Love & enjoy your children, grandchildren, & great-grandchildren!!!
It's the best investment you'll ever make !!!

by Anonymous