Bonded?

It's all about the bonding.

Jerry Skeabeck, an overweight Highland Hills, Ohio, police sergeant, agreed to be part of the television "reality" show "The Biggest Loser" (he was 380 pounds and readier to be a desk than even to sit behind one) with his daughter, because "This meant a lot to her and was a big part of her dreams, and all I had to do was say one word, yes, to make this dream come true."

When the bonding isn't there, the dreams can very easily be of different paths. Consider, for example, the dreams of Blesa Kegbameni, a Ghana man who just wanted to expand his farm and buy a pick-up. Doing something pretty much every father — certainly those whose daughters have reached teenagedom — can understand, Kegbameni considered pursuing his own dreams by cutting the bond with his daughter ... actually, putting the 8-year-old up for sale.

Unfortunately for his own dreams, the buyer he found was an undercover policeman. And he is off to jail while his daughter loses a father ... not thatcutting the bond is a bad thing in this case.

What exactly is the secret that Skeabeck found that avoided Kegameni? Who knows but if you are single, try finding it quickly. In a report coming out of Ireland, half of all single women are eyeying their male friends as fathering material. Not necessarily husbands; not even necessarily fathers, per se; just material. Where exactlly is the bond in that to be found?