James T. “Jim” Hosey, 92, and his son, James W. “Jimbo” Hosey, 60 were more than father and son – they were best friends. In the hinkiest news you’ll hear this week, the father and son, unaware of each others’ conditions, died just one day apart.

Jim had suffered a head injury, and while he was in the hospital, his son Jimbo had a heart attack and died in his sleep Saturday night. Without knowing the news, Jim died in the hospital on Sunday.

Jim had another son and daughter – we wish them the best.

Sauce: Pittsburgh Live

The headline kind of said it all.

We’ve talked about him before, but never talked to him. You don’t just talk to Chris Illuminati. You patiently wait for Chris Illuminati to talk near you, then hit him on the head with a sack of doorknobs, roll him up in a carpet, and take him for your own.

Is that what those crafy offbeat chicks did?!

Sauce: Offbeat Mama

(image is of the Ham family, with possibly Photoshopped-in Dr. Frasier Crane, Captain America, and some dude in a sombrero.)

The Arizona Republic ran a novel about Steven and Roger Ham, who’ve successfully adopted 12 children. This is remarkable, since Arizona banned gay marriage AND disallow gay couples to adopt. The couple originally planned on adopting ONE child, if any at all.

The article talks about ALL of the legislation dealing with gay marriage and adoption. The TL;DR is “gay marriage and adoption by gay couples doesn’t happen.” The loophole is that while the government takes exception to these issues when finding children homes – the actual people working with the children generally do not. In the best interest of finding children homes and families, sexual orientation has proven to be just about as important as ethnicity. Which is to say, not at all. Writer Karina Bland mentions that “The Arizona Department of Economic Security, which licenses foster and adoptive parents, cannot discriminate based on sexual orientation.”

The only unbelievable thing in the story is that the family of 14 “gets by” on Roger’s salary as a school-bus driver. Are we supposed to believe THAT? If it’s true, sign me up! I live in California, where you’ve got to be working as a

If you’ve got the time, Steven and Roger’s story is extraordinary, and very father-relevant, no matter your sexual orientation. One might say that since there’s two dads, it might actually be double-relevant, so run and tell that, conservative America.

Sauce: Arizona Republic

Jeff Hall, a notorious Neo-Nazi and all-around terrible neighbor, was shot in his home early morning Sunday by a likely-or-unlikely candidate (depending on who you ask): his 10-year old son.

Talk about a great father-son relationship.

The LA Times doesn’t note the age, but other articles do; and mention as the LA Times does, that all of Hall’s children are under 12. Hall was active in the white supremacist community – and was the Southern California chapter leader for the National Socialist Movement.

When the world loses a monster, it’s no tragedy. The tragedy here is that multiple kids have to grow up without a loving family around them. Hopefully they’ve still got a chance at having a good life otherwise – but who knows what Hall’s wife will or won’t be teaching the children in Hall’s absence.

Sauce: LA Times

John Penney gives us the jewel a couple of paragraphs down: “hypocrisy is a crucial part of parenting.”

It’s true. And it’s because we somehow know better – whether it’s that you shouldn’t let your kid spend his money on a piece of crap toy because you know it’ll break, or maybe that exercise is important because like Penney, you grew up overweight and don’t want your kids to undergo teasing.

Whatever the reason – Penney and I are on the same wavelength. You should always be an example for your kids…and sometimes, that means verbally steering your kids away from things that they see you doing.

And of course, the second step, as Penney had to let his wife tell him, is evaluating whether you too should be doing them.

Sauce: Norwich Bulletin

With the news that Osama Bin Laden is dead, and all of the general “America, eff yeah” ballyhoo that’s going on, now’s a great time to father-up and talk to your kids about world events. It’s been a rough year for international politics, and chances are your kid’s got more questions than you can answer. The one thing you’ve got to consider, however, is the age old saying – if you don’t talk to your kids, somebody else will.

As a father, your kid (hopefully) looks up to you with unwavering trust and the kind of respectful awe that’s usually reserved for superheroes. Whether or not you’ve got all the answers, you’ve got a responsibility to talk to your kids about the world. I can’t tell you what you need to tell your kids about the international this-n-that of the world – but if you yourself are confused, or are politically middle-of-the-road like I am, you’re going to want to teach your kid that he doesn’t need to have an opinion on things, and more importantly, that as always, haters gonna hate.

SPOILER ALERT, 8BitDad doesn’t have the answers either.

Dr. Richard Fletcher from the University of Newcastle has a new book out that talks about how fathers may be more important than we’ve previously thought. Well, some of you previously thought, that is – we knew already.

Titled “The Dad Factor“, the book covers topics like baby-brain development and vocal-recognition. For example, fathers that play with their infant children are building neural pathways that actually physically “mold” a baby’s brain to think a certain way. Also – babies seek out and react to their father’s voice, which they’ve heard in-utero as they grew from a puddle to a person.

According to Finch Publishing, Dr. Fletcher “is a leading educator in the field of male health at the Family Action Centre at the University of Newcastle.” He also founded a community group called “Fathers Against Rape,” and the Engaging Fathers Project at the University of Newcastle.

(header pic from manbabies.com, chopped up and defaced)

Sauce: ABC (Australia)