Moving back (thankfully) to the news, I want to flag a story that ran Sunday in the Kansas City star on local at-home dads. In terms of reporting, it was one of the most exhaustive newspaper stories I've seen in a long time, tracking down slowlane.com's Jay Massey, convention founder Bob Frank and Hogan Hilling. But the analysis of those guys was secondary to the stories of some nice-sounding midwestern dads who had it all -- perspective, humor and the best job in the world.

The piece was also noteworthy for its expressly non-economic analysis. It makes the point right off the bat that we're not talking about laid-off fathers here -- we're talking about guys who have chosen this path in life -- and suggests that few at-home dads were forced into the job by a layoff. There's no data, of course, on how dads ended up at home, so it's speculation, but the author clearly seems to have an opinion (and one that I share). Bonus points also given for casting doubt on the Census numbers (though the story errs in publishing the number of kids under fathercare -- 189,000 -- rather than the number of at-home dads themselves -- 105,000).

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Pacific, some in Australia have figured out the right thing to do regarding paid parenting leave: offer it. Though there's still much state resistance to the idea, it sounds like progress is being made. If I remember correctly, Australia is one of those countries where worker benefits is far more American than European, so this may be extra-good news.