A young man, walking alone at night to a diner he regularly frequents for dinner, is accosted by a teen with a knife who demands his wallet.
But the man goes one further and offers the mugger his coat.
What happens next, if you haven't heard the story, will warm your heart.
You can read the full text via the link below, but let me just say that as a Mom, I'd be proud to have Julio Diaz as my son.
Now get out your kleenex, and read all about this incredible young man.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Barack Obama takes on The View
Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama responded to an invitation from Barbara Walters to appear on The View this morning, taking on Republican Elizabeth Hasselbeck, while fielding questions from a sympathetic Joy Behar, Barbara and Whoopie Goldberg.
First on the agenda, Senator Obama responded to the controversy surrounding recently-retired church pastor Jeremiah Wright. Obama is taking fire for remaining in the church after the pastor's controversial antics: as early as 1993, Wright called for the primarily African-American congregation to sing, "God Damn America," rather than God Bless America, as well as placing responsibility for the 9/11 terrorist attacks squarely on the United States itself.
Obama is on the record as "categorically" denouncing any rhetoric "that disparages our great country." His impassioned speech on racial relations, as Hasselbeck noted, "crossed party lines," and won many undecided supporters over, calling for an open-minded, inclusive discussion of the issues.
Still, the shadow of Wright's legacy hangs over Obama's head, and as he has remarked before, "I can no more dismiss this man [Wright] than I can my white grandmother." Barack's outspoken and independent wife, Michelle, didn't help matters when, in February, she passionately cried out during a campaign stop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, "For the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback." No doubt her words were intended as praise for her husband's success; however, her poorly-worded comments only sparked outrage over what many saw as further denigration of America.
In addition, continuing to attend Wright's church for 21 years suggests to many a tacit approval with Wright's divisive sentiments; opponents argue that Obama only distanced himself from the pastor when the relationship was brought out into the open.
This morning on the View, Obama weighed in with, "I'm not vetting my pastor. I didn't have a research team during the course of 20 years to go pull every sermon he's given and see if there's something offensive that he's said." Obama went on to say that the picture the news media has given the American people is merely, "a snippet of the man."
Obama also went on to address what he considers the three major focal points of his presidential campaign:
Removing our military force from Iraq "as carefully as we carelessly went in."
Putting forth a bill that will "allow every family to receive affordable health care."
Dealing with the nation's economy. Earlier this week, Obama railed against Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain for taking, as he put it, "a sit back and watch" approach to the failing economy in the midst of what analysts say is an economic recession. Obama denied that he would, as McCain suggested Tuesday, raise taxes. Instead, he plans to "remove tax breaks from the richest Americans", who, he points out, don't need the breaks as much as the average worker needs to hang on to his house.
After Barack's stint on the view, Sherri Shepherd, former comedienne and survivor of the infamous "flat earth" discussion in which she disavowed evolution, declared herself won over by Obama's appearance and declared herself willing to campaign for him.
Hopefully, after facing down all this controversy already, the Senator is savvy enough not to take her up on her offer.
First on the agenda, Senator Obama responded to the controversy surrounding recently-retired church pastor Jeremiah Wright. Obama is taking fire for remaining in the church after the pastor's controversial antics: as early as 1993, Wright called for the primarily African-American congregation to sing, "God Damn America," rather than God Bless America, as well as placing responsibility for the 9/11 terrorist attacks squarely on the United States itself.
Obama is on the record as "categorically" denouncing any rhetoric "that disparages our great country." His impassioned speech on racial relations, as Hasselbeck noted, "crossed party lines," and won many undecided supporters over, calling for an open-minded, inclusive discussion of the issues.
Still, the shadow of Wright's legacy hangs over Obama's head, and as he has remarked before, "I can no more dismiss this man [Wright] than I can my white grandmother." Barack's outspoken and independent wife, Michelle, didn't help matters when, in February, she passionately cried out during a campaign stop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, "For the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback." No doubt her words were intended as praise for her husband's success; however, her poorly-worded comments only sparked outrage over what many saw as further denigration of America.
In addition, continuing to attend Wright's church for 21 years suggests to many a tacit approval with Wright's divisive sentiments; opponents argue that Obama only distanced himself from the pastor when the relationship was brought out into the open.
This morning on the View, Obama weighed in with, "I'm not vetting my pastor. I didn't have a research team during the course of 20 years to go pull every sermon he's given and see if there's something offensive that he's said." Obama went on to say that the picture the news media has given the American people is merely, "a snippet of the man."
Obama also went on to address what he considers the three major focal points of his presidential campaign:
Removing our military force from Iraq "as carefully as we carelessly went in."
Putting forth a bill that will "allow every family to receive affordable health care."
Dealing with the nation's economy. Earlier this week, Obama railed against Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain for taking, as he put it, "a sit back and watch" approach to the failing economy in the midst of what analysts say is an economic recession. Obama denied that he would, as McCain suggested Tuesday, raise taxes. Instead, he plans to "remove tax breaks from the richest Americans", who, he points out, don't need the breaks as much as the average worker needs to hang on to his house.
After Barack's stint on the view, Sherri Shepherd, former comedienne and survivor of the infamous "flat earth" discussion in which she disavowed evolution, declared herself won over by Obama's appearance and declared herself willing to campaign for him.
Hopefully, after facing down all this controversy already, the Senator is savvy enough not to take her up on her offer.
New Facebook Discussion Topic: Spring Break

Don't forget to head over to Facebook and join the new Cool Moms group for your chance at a free T-shirt (I'm giving one away for every 25 people who join the group! Great odds!). Today's topic is Spring Break. What do you and your family have planned? Did you already go? Or is everyone in your house sick?! Let us know and share your vacation photos over at the Cool Moms group!
~Viv
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Join the NEW Cool Moms Facebook group and you could win a Cool Moms T-shirt!
I just joined Facebook, and I wanted to invite all my Cool Mom friends to come on over and join the new Cool Mom group!So here's some incentive for you all: when the membership reaches, say, 25 Moms, I'll give away a Cool Moms Rule! t-shirt to a random member. If we get 50 folks, I'll give another way, 75 and I'll add another, and if we reach 100 Moms, I'll have a super spectacular giveaway of some of the best-reviewed products here on Cool Moms Rule!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
So... are you sick of the hype?
You can't walk into a store today without being inundated with images of this girl on magazines, clothing, and of course her music. So we have to admit to a delicious guilty pleasure when we discovered this graph over at Graph Jam. It's owned by the delightful I can has cheezburger? people.

see more funny graphs

see more funny graphs
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