Encourage The Obamas To Plant a Victory Garden

This Lawn is Your Lawn from roger doiron on Vimeo.

Growing Onions in a Container

This is my makeshift seed starting station. I installed my shelf myself with materials I found in the garage. the grow light cost $15.00 at lowes, and the heating mat was about the same price in the health department of Target.


This isn't the best set up. The light should be overhead instead of to the side. This way, the seedlings are always reaching for the light. in retrospect, I should have attached it to the underside of a bookshelf top and placed the seedlings on the top shelf. Then, I could adjust the shelf (you should keep the light about four inches above the tops of the seedlings and raise it as they grow).


This is working adequately, though, and the shelf will be usefull to the next person who moves in. They can either put potted plants on it, which I will do when the seedlings are done, or they can keep kitcheny things on it if they put their kitchen table there. Or they can take it out.


The graduates across the windowsill there are calendula and sage. The spindly things in the tray are onions, plus you can see some basil and thyme. Technically it is very early to be starting any of these but I'll be keeping them all in containers so I can keep them indoors until the weather is nice enough.

This is a container for some of my onion graduates. I took a plastic storage container, drilled some holes in the bottom (go slow if you do this, or the plastic will crack, as I learned) and filled it with organic potting soil.


I then measured out squares the Square Foot Gardening way. Onions need a 4" x 4" space (unless you're growing some ginormous vidalia onions), so I used my ruler to measure them and then wedged the edge of the ruler into the dirt to make lines.


Then I used the handle of the trowel to make holes the size of the peet pellets I used to start the seeds.


I then taped the plastic cover from my seed starting tray onto the container to create a greenhouse.


I need about two more of these containers to plant of all my onion seedlings.


I've been bringing the container in at night and setting it out in the day with the hopes they will get more even sunlight.

PS - that hole in the wall under the shelf is NOT from us. Our landlords had a chewy dog. Dama isn't a chewy dog. She's a trash tamperer.

Regrets, by Peggy O'Mara

Regrets

Issue 133 (Mothering Magazine)

by Peggy O'Mara

This summer I met with several wonderful Canadian families at the Hollyhock Retreat Centre, on Cortes Island in British Columbia. I gave a five-day workshop in "Parenting: Finding Your Way," and parents came to the workshop understandably expecting to discover the essential rules of natural parenting. Instead, we talked about something much more difficult: becoming an authentic parent. We talked about the inevitable contradictions between our high parenting standards and real-life events.

Birth is one of those events. Mothering regularly publishes articles on homebirth and on midwife-attended births because these are the standards of care in countries with the best infant and maternal mortality statistics. When women don't receive this standard of care, it is not their fault. Often, they are simply not attended by practitioners who believe in normal birth.

Sometimes, however, even when everyone believes in normal birth, even when all the right attendants are in place and the best plans have been laid, emergencies happen. This can be hard to accept. A woman can at once feel glad that she is alive and wonder if there was something she could have done to prevent the emergency. She may feel that her body has let her down. She may even feel responsible for something that was out of her control.

Even when a woman understands that a birth situation was out of her control, she can still feel a great sense of loss that things did not turn out as she had hoped and planned. She may also be very angry at the situation and at the people who were present. Following the birth, she can even have post-traumatic stress, feeling vulnerable to the apprehension that anything might happen.

Several of the parents at Hollyhock talked about births that had not turned out as they had expected; births that had actually been traumatic. We receive strongly felt letters from readers who tell us of their own traumatic birth experiences, and who say that the more positive birth stories we publish make them feel guilty. They don't believe that these stories acknowledge their own experiences.

At Hollyhock, telling our stories was a simple thing that we found surprisingly healing. As women told their birth stories, they were able to psychologically organize their experiences anew for themselves. In having their stories heard and accepted without judgment, these women were able to be more understanding of themselves.

Finally, hearing about others' sorrows and losses put their own in perspective. It is a challenge to keep this perspective at Mothering because, as one of the few media voices for normal birth, we feel compelled to tell birth success stories to inspire others to the possibility. In doing so, however, we risk giving the impression that birth is always within our control. This message can give the erroneous impression that birth will turn out well if we only try hard enough.

Trying hard enough is a real issue for women whose breastfeeding experiences have not turned out as they hoped, or who have been told they "failed" at breastfeeding. I spoke to such mothers at Hollyhock, and Mothering receives letters from them. Some of these mothers got bad advice; others got good advice, but still, nothing worked.

Women have told me that they feel so ashamed when they don't breastfeed that they hide the fact from friends and never bottle-feed in public. What a reverse prejudice this is. While we want mothers to feel welcome to breastfeed in public, it is ironic that bottle-feeding mothers would feel unwelcome. They fear they will be labeled unenlightened mothers.

Seldom do we suppose, when we see a bottle-feeding mother, that here is a woman who may have tried so hard to breastfeed that her heart broke when she could not.

There are plenty of other things that break our hearts as parents. One mother lets her first son be circumcised because she doesn't know she has a choice. By the time her other sons are born, she knows better"hbut how does she live with her regret at having had her first son circumcised? Another mother vaccinates at first, only to later find information that makes her change her mind. She doesn't know whether to continue vaccinating or to just quit" but if she quits, she then must face regrets about the vaccinations her children did receive.

But as parents, we often change our minds. When we stop spanking, do we berate ourselves about the hitting we did in the past, before we knew better" or do we forgive ourselves and move on? It is precisely this type of ongoing moral dilemma that one must face if one is to have any parenting standards at all. Even as we hold to these standards, they are always in the process of being refined, changing in response to new knowledge about and fresh understandings of our children and ourselves.

Recognizing that our ideas, beliefs, and attitudes about our children and ourselves as parents are always in process keeps us from turning our good ideas into dogma. Natural family living is full of good ideas. There's plenty of evidence that responsive parenting works well. And yet ideas, no matter how good they are, must be forged by real-life experiences. We have to learn how to mediate them with the inevitably uncontrollable nature of family life.

Certainly we will feel regret when things turn out different from what we'd hoped. And we all ask the proverbial "Why?" when bad things happen. Too much time spent trying to answer this question, however, can distract us from finding out something even more important: What can I learn from this experience?

A bad experience is like a dive for buried treasure. There is a wreck. Someone has to figure out what happened and remember what to do the next time. Everyone hopes to find the treasure hidden in the wreck, even though many doubt that it's there at all. Like a bad experience, once we mine our regrets for information about what we might have done differently, and what we might do if the same circumstances arise again, we've already discovered a lot of treasure. When the time is right, we can then let the experience go.

However, it's easier said than done to surrender to things as they are and to let them go, much less to find the jewel in the tragedy.

Here are some things that help:

Tell your story.

As we learned at Hollyhock, there can be magic in just telling your story. It's important to tell your story among friends who are intellectually honest and emotionally mature and who have a good opinion of you. However, you can find these traits even among strangers; sometimes it's easier to tell your story to those who don't have preconceptions about you.

A tragedy, or even a seriously disappointing experience, can often be too big to carry alone.

There is something about simply saying it aloud that requires you to organize your thoughts; it also allows others to show you how to forgive yourself. Look for opportunities to tell your stories; especially, give yourself permission to share the difficult stories. You'll be surprised how grateful others are to share the intimacy of your pain.

Forgive yourself.

This is obvious, and the words make it sound easy. But forgiveness is among the most difficult things to do. Conflicts with others arise because we just can't forgive them for something in particular, or because we simply can't tolerate their idiosyncrasies. When we begin to contemplate forgiving others, we have to be ruthlessly honest. We have to learn to tolerate our own idiosyncrasies. In this way, suffering teaches us self-knowledge at the same time it offers us self-forgiveness.

Acknowledge your place.

The ideas of natural family living or of any worthwhile philosophy can be intoxicating. If we cling to them, they can make life with children"something inherently out of control" seem controllable. Our ideas can even seem capable of protecting us from suffering. Good ideas protect us most of the time, but not always. Some things are simply out of our control.

Create your own relationship.

Among those of my generation, it was once popular to talk about "creating your own reality." It is easy to think of a parenting philosophy as a way to create a happy reality. If you have a "good" baby, this way of thinking works just fine, and you can take credit for his or her behavior. However, if you have a "high needs" baby, you are likely to blame yourself and think there is something you can do to change your baby. But it is these definitions, not your baby, that are the problem. While it may not always be possible to create your own reality or to change your baby, it is possible to learn a new relationship to reality. It is possible to learn to roll with the punches. This is what bad times teach you. This is the hidden jewel.

While these suggestions may help us surrender to things as they are, it is important not to set impossible standards in the first place. As natural approaches have become more popular, many people have forgotten that their roots are in the idea of "doing your own thing." The natural way coincides nicely with research and tradition, but it is also common sense; it is what we all would do most of the time if we had the confidence to follow our instincts and our hearts.

Following our instincts and our hearts does not mean that we will never have regrets. When we regret things and can't stop thinking about them, however, this means we have unfinished business. While we often blame others and ourselves for these regrets, there is usually no one at fault. It certainly doesn't make sense that we would knowingly be the cause of our own suffering. Taking the responsibility for understanding what has happened to us without placing blame on others or ourselves is a powerful exercise.

It is in taking responsibility that we mature in our authenticity and authority as parents. Parents are always faced with a paradox. We must keep high parenting standards even at the risk of unexpected failures and disappointments. It makes sense then to cultivate the safety net of self-forgiveness and give ourselves the benefit of the doubt.

As parents, we are willing to factor in the unexpected only reluctantly because, even in the face of obstacles, we unwaveringly believe in our capacity to work miracles for the sake of our children.

I F$#!&%$ Hate Labor and Birth. There, I Said It.

It's time I get something off my chest. I hate women who say labor doesn't have to hurt. I hate it so much. I can't tell you how much damage my two births have done to me.

I have people telling me it's because both times I had the wrong midwives, or I didn't do the hypnobirthing right, or (fill in the blank with whatever explains why my labors hurt and didn't work so that the bottom line is my labors could have worked out if I had done A or B).

The reality is, no matter what anyone else says, that something is wrong, either with my body or my psyche or both, that interferes with my ability to give birth vaginally, and causes me such intense pain that I actually contemplated slitting my wrists during my last labor. Nothing was more patronizing and emotionally abusive than crying my eyes out and then having people tell me "Hey, you're handling it so well!" No, all this crying and screaming should not be normal. All this terrible pain should not be par for the course. You weren't in my body. You don't know what it was like.

This has brought me so much grief because I know my story goes contrary to the ideal of natural birth, to the oft repeated wisdom that “We have a secret in our culture, and it’s not that birth is painful. It’s that women are strong.”

And my two transfers sully the statistics of midwives in Utah, who traditionally have a VERY low transfer rate.

So here is the reality. Many of my friends have given birth at home, some effortlessly and some with a bit of effort. I know it can be done and that they should have a right to do it.

But I also know that the homebirthing community can be very exclusionary at the expense of mothers like me who just aren't going to succeed at a homebirth. The pro-midwife movement can be just as dishonest and prone to hyperbole as the anti-midwife movement. Both sides can be so committed to their ideals that they marginalize the women that don't go along or fit the mold.

My second midwife tried to talk me out of going to the hospital, even though I knew something was wrong and I wanted to go. Once there, I found out that i was going into liver failure and both my baby and I were at severe risk of dying. After the c-section, the OB who performed the operation came in while I was alone and drugged up to give me a lecture. Here, both sides were poised to kick me out of the club - the homebirthing woman too weak to give birth, the c-sectioned woman too stupid to have just come to the hospital in the first place.

Somewhere in between is a truly loving place, where women can start out natural and then move seemlessly and without guilt into whatever category is necessary for not only her health but also her sanity.

I imagine European births are like that, since women start out with a midwife and can only see an OB with their recommendation. In general (I'm sure there are exceptions), no one is motivated by profit or a fanatic commitment to a birthing philosophy. Pain is not trivialized but respected. It is assumed that sometimes pain is too much, not that some women simply have a lower threshold for pain and can't handle it.

if there must be medicine for pain, or a c-section, then other things are done to salvage the experience, like using the smallest amount of medication possible to achieve a good birth, letting mom hold the baby right after a c-section (or letting the mother pull the baby out of her own body), and rooming in, and performing baby checks or billilight therapy in the same room as mom instead of down the hall with long three hour intervals between feedings.

I've mentioned the natural c-section movement in England before, and what a baby friendly hospital is, and blah blah blah. The reality is that I simply needed to say, to free myself emotionally and somewhat physically, that my births were traumatic, and it's not because I'm weak.

There is a thread on the Mothering Boards for mamas who had traumatic births, and I was there for a several months after Deirdre's birth. It was very important for me to connect with other natural mamas who had tried to give birth at home and not succeeded. It was so important for me to work that out with other moms who got it. We want to promote the natural birth movement, we want to stand behind midwives and their important place, we want to be able to say "hey, look, if I can do it, anyone can!"

but we can't, and now we don't fit anywhere, not on the natural birth side, and not on the medicalized birth side.

If I get pregnant again, I will be giving birth in a hospital with an epidural. That is my reality. I never want to feel that pain again. I don't even want to "give it a try" with a different midwife or different birthing technique, because the risk of that pain fills me with so much fear that my mind will always interfere with the process of birth. I will not go through that again, and that doesn't make me a quitter.

My preference is to not ever give birth again. I have been talking with a friend who has two adopted children. I don't think our family is complete yet, and I actually make a really good mom. Down the road, I would like to skip pregnancy and birth altogether and give a home to a baby without one.

More than one mama in my playgroup said I would make a fabulous adoptive mommy, that I would be good at making the adoptive child feel just as loved and important as the others. I appreciate the complements, and accept that my strengths all lie in the natural parenting that i do AFTER the birth is over. That is where I shine. That is where my goddess is.

It is a tremendous relief to finally say all of this.

What About Socialization??

I like this answer on the Montessori Homeschool page, especially the first sentence. - Alisa

Q. What about socialization?

A. The word socialization, contrary to the opinion of some, does not mean spending the weekdays competing with 15-35 human beings one's own age. In a natural community children spend their daily lives with old people, babies, and everyone in between. They do not compete, but learn to search out the needs of others and to help them live and learn. This mixed age group and habit of teaching and helping others, and being helped and taught by people younger or older than oneself, is a part of Montessori classes at all ages and is easy to fit into the Montessori homeschooling plan.

Don't worry about finding a group of children the same age as your child. This limitation came about when traditional schools were begun as a factory model of education, the most efficient way, or so it was thought. Natural socialization occurs when children spend their lives interacting daily with people of all ages. In Montessori schools the wider the age range the more successful the socialization and the learning, the more independent research and excitement, the more student-to-student learning, the less teacher-dictated schedules and assignments, and boring group learning. My best classes when I was a Montessori teachers were composed of children from 2-6+ years, and from 6-12 or 13 years.

Gnocchi On Her Fleece Hammock

Nurse-In In Front of Denny's

Another nursing mother is asked to cover up or move to the bathroom. What bothers me is that I found this article cited on my crunchy email website, Care2, and a lot of the comments agreed with Denny's that this woman should cover up.

How can a community of animal rights and gay rights activist environmentalist liberals be so repressive and Puritanical about a mother breastfeeding? What is wrong with people!! Do you go around asking women in bikinis to cover up? Do you complain about the magazine covers you see while standing in line at the grocery store? What about the manaquins in skimpy lingerie in the front windows of Victoria's Secret stores at the mall?

People are ONLY comfortable with breasts being objectified. It's OK to explot them but not use them to feed a hungry infant like nature intended. Society is still pissed that women can vote and own property and leave the house by themselves.

Until God lets women lactate from their ankles, we ARE going to breastfeed, and we're going to do it everywhere. We're not going to cover ourselves up like women in Saudi Arabia to make you feel better. We're not just a trendy breastfeeding cult that's going to move on to some other cause when we get bored with this one.

- Alisa

http://www.mountainx.com/news/2009/nurse_in_ends_in_standoff

Nurse-in ends in standoff
by Jason Sandford on 02/22/2009

A group of about 25 protesters, including several breastfeeding mothers and chanting supporters, held a nurse-in outside the Denny’s restaurant off Patton Avenue in West Asheville on Sunday afternoon.

Outside the restaurant, a Denny’s official apologized to organizer Crystal Everitt regarding an incident two weeks ago that sparked the protest, but Everitt said his statement wasn’t enough.
Everitt says she was in the restaurant two weeks ago breast-feeding her 1-year-old son when she was asked by the restaurant’s manager to cover herself or move to the bathroom. Everitt says she declined, citing state law, which protects the rights of mothers to breastfeed in any public or private location.

Rick Pate, regional director of operations for the Asheville Denny’s franchise, said Denny’s “responsibility as a family restaurant is to provide a nonoffensive environment for all of our valued guests. Obviously, if any behavior or any practice that happened two weeks ago while she was in the restaurant — specifically us asking her to cover up — offended her in any way, we’re sincerely sorry for that. We apologize for that,” Pate said.

“My goal today was today was to come out and speak to everyone that was here to protest, with a desire to have them come in my restaurant and have lunch with us today,” Pate said, adding that breast-feeding mothers are always welcome.

Everitt said Pate’s statement wasn’t good enough. She said that the statement, which matches a statement she received from Denny’s corporate office, leaves it up to the discretion of the restaurant to determine what is nonoffensive.

“They’re putting in a discretion clause, and they might as well not have a policy at all,” Everitt said, while standing outside the restaurant and nursing her child. “Who is it that determines if I’m being discreet or not? ‘Discreet’ should not even be in there.”

“Their policy is not in line with the law, so it’s absolutely not OK,” she said. “They need to guarantee that moms will not be harassed.”

Standing alongside Regent Drive off Patton Avenue in a bracing wind, the group of protesters held signs that read “Breast feeding is not shameful” and chanted, “Breastfeeding’s not a crime. Why won’t you let babies dine?”

Click here to see a photo gallery of the nurse-in. Click below to see video from the nurse-in.
— Jason Sandford, multimedia editor

USDA Admits GMO Contamination is Inevitable

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_16974.cfm


USDA: "GMO contamination happens" By Ken Roseboro The Organic & Non-GMO Report, February 22, 2009 Straight to the Source

Since 2000, there have been six known incidents of unapproved genetically modified corn and rice entering the US food supply or exports.

Common sense would seem to dictate that the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) would want to tighten its oversight of GM crops and force biotechnology companies to make sure their unapproved GMOs stay out of Americans' corn flakes.

This is exactly what the Government Accounting Office (GAO) called for.

Following the most recent contamination incident involving an unapproved GM cotton from Monsanto mixing with conventional cotton, GAO called for more oversight and coordination among federal agencies to prevent unapproved GMOs from getting into the food supply.

Iowa Senator Tom Harkin said, "When unapproved genetically engineered crops are detected in the food and feed supply, food safety concerns rise, markets are disrupted and consumer confidence falls."

Unbelievably, USDA¹s has been to propose less oversight, wanting to "lessen the regulatory burden" on biotechnology companies, to quote APHIS spokeswoman, Rachel Iadicicco.

Unfortunately, the government's track record of lessening the regulatory burden does not inspire much confidence, as demonstrated by the recent collapse of major Wall Street banks. This has not dissuaded the USDA. In fact, USDA states that in some cases it doesn't want to do anything when unapproved GMOs end up in our food.

APHIS's plan states that "a low level presence of [GM] plant materials inseeds or grain may not be cause for agency remedial action," saying such incidents will be evaluated on a "case-by-case basis" and may be"non-actionable."Basically, USDA is saying that GMO contamination happens, so we might as well let it happen.

Does that mean that when some GM corn, which contains genes from some unclassified organism found 20,000 leagues beneath the sea (see Syngenta¹snew GM ethanol corn), gets into someone¹s taco shell and causes anaphylacticshock that USDA will consider it "non-actionable?" I would hope not.

The Union of Concerned Scientists lambasted the USDA¹s proposed rulemaking as "a serious abdication of its responsibility."Biotechnology companies are obviously pleased that USDA wants to lessen their regulatory burden, allowing them to avoid responsibility for contaminating the food supply.

Monsanto, whose unapproved GM cotton recently got mixed with conventional cotton, expressed its full support of the new rules. A spokesman for Syngenta, which in March 2005 revealed that it had"inadvertently" sold an unapproved GM corn for three years, said that it was"appropriate to establish science-based criteria by which regulated material would be considered 'not-actionable' by the agency."

APHIS's new GMO regulations were proposed in the waning days of the Bush Administration. Hopefully, the Obama Administration will ditch these proposals and tighten the "regulatory burden" on companies who should beheld accountable if their GMOs contaminate the food supply.

I HATED The Vagina Monologues, And So Should You

Since I can't sleep and I'm feeling snarky, I'd like to get something off my chest.

The Vagina Monologues are NOT pro-women, not inspiring, not empowering, no matter how many celebrities or feminists say it is.

Let's start with the segment about the teenager who is molested by her female neighbor. She is raped as a little girl by one of her father's friends and starts to grow up with negative sexual experiences and self-esteem issues. Until one beautiful day, when her female neighbor hits on her, invites her to spend the night (by presenting the event to her mother as a fun girl's sleep over), and then proceeds to get her drunk.

The author and presenter of the Vagina Monologues, Eve Ensler, then goes into the torrid details about the ensuing sexual experience, promoting it is this wonderful, liberating encounter.

This is a story about a PEDOPHILE who essentially RAPES a child, and that neighbor is no different from the drunken man who assaulted her as a little girl. I am infuriated that this trash is being twisted around to be some magical event in this teenager's life. How is that empowering??? How is that pro-women???

Then there's the segment about the woman who becomes so skilled at helping other women achieve orgasm that women start paying her to do it. Eve goes off about how this woman helps women find their "power moan." What a fabulous message - promiscuity is fantastic, and you'll only have the ultimate orgasm if you pay someone to do it, because no one would ever pleasure you voluntarily. Honey - you're a WHORE. You're not furthering the cause of feminism, you're insulting it, and increasing it's chances of developing an STD.

Then, she ends the whole sordid mess with a birth story, where the woman is flat on her back with people holding onto her legs, and the doctor tears the baby out of her body with forceps. The monologue presents vaginal birth as this disfiguring martyrdom where the mother sacrifices herself and her vagina for her baby.

You just spent the last hour talking about orgasms. Why not do a segment on orgasmic birth? Or why not discuss Tori Amos's experience, about how she said birth helped her heal from the brutal rape she endured way back when, and giving birth to her daughter through that part of her body transformed it from a painfull place to a place of love and miracles.

Then, over the credits, the stage crew presents Eve with a vagina cake, and she licks up the middle of it. CLASSY!

This was trash. This wasn't the Female Power thing I expected it to be at all. The friend who watched it with me said she felt like if she told people she didn't like it, she would come across as anti-women. And that's the hitch - we'll probably be accused of "not getting it" or "not understanding." Ha!

My friend was sexually assulted when she was a child, and she found nothing healing or sympathetic about The Vagina Monologues. You know how she has found healing? Through a loving, monogomous relationship with her husband, NOT through paying hookers or being taking advantage of by a neighbor or buying a vibrator so she doesn't need anyone. And her home waterbirth was amazing.

And the person who has treated my body better than anyone, including me, is Bryan. And he doesn't have to get me drunk first.

The anti-love, anti-male, anti-feminist message I got from The Vagina Monologues is harmfull and tragic. I'm really happy that Eve is a crusader for ending violence against women, but she herself is comitting a violent act that undermines true female value and power.

Baby Montessori - They're Smarter Than You Think

Working the pink tower at 10 months. She didn't always get them in order, but she loved stacking them.

The first cylinder block, at 14 months. I demonstrated once how to find what fits where by starting a cylinder at one end and sliding it across the top until you find the hole it falls into. She copied me immediately and now places them all in the right spot. This is actually one of her favorite activities, so I need to get the other three cylinder blocks.

Deirdre has also been practicing opening different containers and bottles, and helping mommy knead bread. She also enjoys putting laundrey in the baskets and in the dryer, and unloading utensils and putting them in the drawer.

It amazes me everyday how much she picks up on and what she is capable of doing. You never really know what a child can do until you give them the opportunity!

I Deleted My Private Blog

Because anything I can say to 15 friends, I can say here.

I'm going to ruffle people's feathers and be offensive sometimes, but I've decided that's better than trying to hide what I really think. It's tiring to try and ask myself "who will not like this post?" everytime I want to say something.

The reason I have a public blog is the same reaons I read other people's blogs - to find people with similar ideas and experiences, and connect with them.

Sometimes that means we show a not-so-stellar side, but last I checked, none of us were exhaulted or had reached enlightenment. We have strengths, and we have flaws.

If you don't like something I wrote, do me a favor. Say so. Don't go complaining to my husband, who has nothing to do with this blog whatsoever. He's not my Dad, and I speak for myself, not for him or "us."

And now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Kitty Nurses Baby Squirrels

Cat Adopts Baby Squirrels @ Yahoo! Video

Why the Farming Crisis Has Everything to Do With the Economic Crisis

"We live off of what comes out of the soil, not what's in the bank. If we squander the ecological capital of the soil, the capital on paper won't much matter... For the past 50 or 60 years, we have followed industrialized agricultural policies that have increased the rate of destruction of productive farmland. For those 50 or 60 years, we have let ourselves believe the absurd notion that as long as we have money we will have food. If we continue our offenses against the land and the labor by which we are fed, the food supply will decline, and we will have a problem far more complex than the failure of our paper economy. Remember, if our agriculture is not sustainable then our food supply is not sustainable... Either we pay attention or we pay a huge price, not so far down the road. When we face the fact that civilizations have destroyed themselves by destroying their farmland, it's clear that we don't really have a choice."

Source: Wes Jackson, co-founder of The Land Institute, in an interview with Alternet -- Read the Full Interview

The TOADY Goes To Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Barbie!

http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/pressreleases/toadywinner.html

Remember when I posted the vote for the worst toy? The Campaign For a Commercial Free Childhood tallied up the votes, and the winner is Barbie!!

"“When you combine two classic symbols of gendered stereotypes – the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader and Barbie – you get one terrible toy,” said CCFC Steering Committee member Joe Kelly, of www.dadsanddaughters.com. “Do we really want to teach our young daughters that they belong on the sidelines, not in the game, and the way to get noticed is show a lot of skin?”"

The Lost Cake

If you are a fan of Lost, Ace of Cakes, or both, you'll like this cake.

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2009/02/ace-of-cakes-gets-lost.html

Mr. Rogers Segment on Breastfeeding

Includes a close-up of a human baby latching on to the mother's exposed nipple.

A Cord Around The Neck is NOT a Birth Emergency

http://jeremyscorner-grifter.blogspot.com/2009/02/cord-around-neck-is-not-emergency.html

My friend Emily worded this perfectly so I am just linking to her.

I did find this exchange in her comments section illuminating:

"Our 2nd son had the cord around his neck. It wasn't suffocation that was the problem, it was that when my wife pushed, it would tighten and cut off his blood supply and made his heart rate drop to around 40 bpm. It may not always be dangerous, but there are cases where it can be.

Anonymous: In one of the articles I linked, she describes the physiology of the baby's descent. What you are describing is physically not possible. As the baby moves down, the placenta and uterus move down with the baby, so the cord is never "pulled tight," as we might imagine it. Baby's heart rates do drop normally during contractions anyway, and while your son's heart rate dropped dangerously low, it is unlikely to have been caused by the cord (except in the case of cord prolapse.) Two other factors that can cause unfavorable heart rate drops are pitocin and narcotics, such as nubain, or those found in an epidural."

S0...are medical professionals ignorant on the physiology of birth, or liars? If you believe some of the stories I've heard from both midwives and nurses, a lot of them are actually liars.

Video of Salma Hayek Breastfeeding an African Baby

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/10/salma-hayek-breastfeeds-a_n_165676.html

I love this. This is beautiful.

And What Is Missing From The Crunchy Quiz?

20. Do you spank your children?
10 points for never
5 points for "I have in the past, but I am trying to stop and making progress or have stopped completely
0 points for yes
-5 points if you believe God requires you to spank and you'll be defying God if you spare the Rod.

21. Do you recycle?
15 points for yes, at home and at work
10 points for only at home or only at work
5 points for only newspapers
0 points for no
-5 points if you litter

22. Do you buy organic, fair trade toys?
15 points for always organic and fair trade
10 points for always organic OR fair trade
5 points for sometimes organic or fair trade
0 points for "only if I come across it while shopping and it's affordable"
-5 points for "organic is a rip off and fair trade is overpriced"

23. How much television do your children watch?
15 points for none
10 points for one hour a day or less
5 points for two hours a day or less
0 points for more than two hours a day
-5 points for "I don't even know - the TV is always on at our house"

24.Do you (Or would you) breastfeed in public?
20 points for yes, uncovered
15 points for yes, covered
10 points for yes, but I try to find a spot out of the way
5 points for yes, but only if NO ONE can see me
0 points for no
-10 points if you think breastfeeding uncovered in public is obscene

25. Do you buy organic and fair trade clothes?
20 points for always both, plus I make some and sell it
15 points for always organic and fair trade
10 points for always organic OR fair trade
5 points for sometimes organic or fair trade
0 points for "don't care either way"
-5 points for "fair trade is unAmerican"

26. If you must bottlefeed or have an adopted child:
15 points if you supplement with donated or purchased breastmilk, or attempted to lactate yourself for an adopted infant (even if you didn't succeed, you get kudos for trying)
10 points for using organic formula at least 50% of the time and using bottles free of phthalates
5 points for regular formula in phthalate-free bottles
0 points for regular formula in regular bottles

27. Do you put you put your baby on a feeding schedule?
1o points for never - baby eats on demand
5 points for not in the first year
2 points if not in the first 3 months
0 if the baby only eats on a set schedule
-5 if you actually recommend Babywise to all of your friends

28. Do you ever make your baby cry it out (cry themselves to sleep until they learn to sleep through the night)?
10 points for never
5 points for we tried it but we couldn't bare it so we stopped
2 points for only on a baby older than 3 months
0 points for yes
-5 if you believe that babies who get picked up whenever they cry are spoiled.

Bonus Points:
5 points if you've ever breastfed at (or attended) a Nurse-In
5 points if your house has an alternative energy source, like solar panels
5 points if you compost
5 points if you have a crunchy job or hobby, such as doula, animal rights activist, cashier at a healthfood store, maker of items used frequently by crunchy people, etc.
5 points if you subscribe to crunchy magazines, such as Mothering, Vegetarian Times, Natural Health, Mother Earth News, Etc.
5 points if you never buy your children toys or other products with TV/Movie characters
5 points if your children attend a crunchy school, such as Waldorf, Montessori, Democratic, etc
2 points if your child attends a public school with crunchy potential, such as vegetarian meal options or an edible garden.
2 points if your disposable diapers are chemical-free
0 points for yes

How Did I Score 157 In Crunchiness?

Between what I've seen here and on Facebook, I seem to be unusually high on the crunchy scale. So, I thought I'd share my answers.

Do you have homebirths?
5 points for alternative birthing
Because I'm attempted two homebirths and only used midwives for prenatal care

2. Will you circumcise future sons?
5 points for "no"
Too bad there's no extra points for "Haven't circumcised the boy I already have, either."

3. Do you use cloth diapers?
15 points if "yes" (wash and make your own)

4. Do you observe your fertility signals using Natural Family Planning/Fertility Awareness and use that for birth control/trying to conceive?
10 points for "yes" (observe and use for birth control/ttc) or you use ecological breastfeeding/lactational amnorrhea
Mostly because hormones mess me up, I'm sensitive to spermicides, and we both hate condoms.

5. Do you co-sleep?
10 points for "yes" (all night every night)
Don't forget that co-sleeping means having them in your room. Bedsharing is co-sleeping with them in your bed. So, I should get extra points because we co-sleep with our son and bedshare with our daughter. No, I didn't actually give myself extra points - but I deserve them.

6. Do you use a sling/soft carrier?
5 points for "yes"
I cannot fathom how anyone parents successfully without one. (No offense to mamas with bad backs who can't use them)

7. Do you breastfeed exclusively for the first 6+ months?
10 points if "yes"
And I think we should add an extra question here for breastfeeding in public, because I'd rake in the points for having breastfed both kids uncovered in public SIMULTANEOUSLY.

8. Do you believe in/practice child-led weaning (even if that means breastfeeding for several years)?
10 points for "yes" (up to 3 years)

9. Do you tandem nurse/nurse during your pregnancy?
10 points for "yes" (nurse during pgcy and tandem nurse)

10. Would you/have you ever breastfeed/fed someone else's baby or have someone else bf your child?
5 points if yes (would)
Salma Hayek said in an interview that she couldn't help but breastfeed an infant she was visiting in a third world country. I think that is amazing and beautiful.

11. Do you eat organic/whole/natural foods and limit your meat?
5 points for "yes" (try to buy natural, whole grain foods, etc.)
I do some of the ten point stuff too, like grow some of my own food organically, but we're quite addicted to bacon, so we don't limit our meat much.

12. Do you use herbal/homeopathic remedies?
10 points if "yes" (very rarely see a regular doctor)

13. Do you home school?
10 points if "yes" (currently homeschool)

14. What's your take on childhood vaccinations?
15 points for no vaccines

15. Do you use cloth/re-usable products for mom?
2 points if thinking about it
I'm considering a Diva Cup, which is re-useable.

16. Do you wear makeup?
10 points if never
Though now I realise that I sometimes use powder just for shiny spots and the occasional tinted chapstick, so I guess this should be five points instead of ten.

17. Do you shave?
5 points if sometimes/rarely (or some parts, like armpits but not legs)
I shave maybe once a week in the summer and go longer between shavings in the winter.

18. Whats your shoe style?
5 points if sandals when going out
I only wear socks and toed shoes in the snow.

19. Do you use natural cleaning product/etc?
5 points if yes (buy)

Total: 152 (not 157 - hm - I wonder if Bryan did give me ten points for making my own bread and growing some food when I took this last night)
Subtract five points for sometimes wearing facepowder and my true crunchiness number is 147, still Crunchier Than Grapenuts)

Ratings:
140 - 170 WOW...Crunchier than Grape Nuts.

Gardasil Death & Brain Damage: A National Tragedy

Gardasil Death & Brain Damage: A National Tragedy
by Barbara Loe Fisher

The tragic story of Gardasil vaccine is one that is playing out real time in the homes of trusting parents, who thought they were doing the right thing to try to make their daughters "one less," and in the 21st century cyberspace forum of public opinion as well as on television.

On Feb. 6, CBS-TV Evening News released NVIC's new report on Gardasil vaccine risks. (watch VIDEO here)

Today, NVIC launched a petition and issued a national press release calling on President Barack Obama, his Administration and Congress to investigate the fast track licensure and universal use recommendation of Gardasil in 2006 and the dismissal of more than 10,000 reports of Gardasil-related reactions, injuries and deaths to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) as a "coincidence" by federal health officials.

NVIC's latest Gardasil risk report comparing the number and severity of adverse events reported to the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) through November 30, 2008, reveals that death and serious health problems such as stroke, blood clots, cardiac arrest, seizures, fainting, lupus and rechallenge cases are reported three to 30 times more frequently after Gardasil vaccination than after meningococcal (Menactra) vaccination. If the deaths and serious injuries being reported after Gardasil were only a "coincidence," there would be little or no difference between the frequency and severity of vaccine-related adverse events between two vaccines if the vaccines were equally reactive and the number of doses were roughly the same.

Gardasil and Menactra vaccines were licensed within a year of each other and recommended by the CDC for universal use in 11-12 year olds. Although Menactra is given to boys and girls and has already been mandated in many states for high school and college entry, Gardasil is only given to girls and is not yet mandated. Menatra is given as one-dose series and, by February 25, 2008, the CDC reported that about 15.5 million doses of Menactra had been distributed in the U.S. Gardasil is given in a three dose series and the CDC reported that, by July 2008, about 16 million doses had been distributed in the U.S.

This means that about 15 million doses of Menactra were given to about 15 million boys and/or girls and about 16 million doses of Gardasil - if every girl got three doses - were given to about five million girls. It is individuals - not doses of vaccine - who collapse, convulse, become paralyzed, have heart attacks, develop lupus and other chronic health problems after being vaccinated. The fact that death and serious health problems are reported 3 to 30 times more frequently after Gardasil than after Menactra is highly significant and it is irresponsible for federal health officials and Merck to blow it off as unimportant.

What is sad is that the average junior high or high school student could do this VAERS analysis and come to the same conclusion. It does not take an M.D., Ph.D. or math genius to figure it out.

In the hours before the CBS News report was broadcast, the best answer that Merck could come up with to address the differences between adverse events associated with Gardasil and Menactra was this:"It's important to remember that the proven benefit of GARDASIL is that it helps prevent cervical cancer caused by the two virus types responsible for most cases of cervical cancer. Nothing is more important to Merck than the safety of our products and we carefully monitor the safety of GARDASIL on a routine basis. Experts at the FDA and CDC also continue to review data and, as recently as four months ago, said "GARDASIL continues to be safe and effective, and its benefits continue to outweigh its risks."

NVIC is not a medical organization and has a long history of raising concerns about vaccines that are in direct conflict with the opinion of leading medical experts. We encourage consumers to get reliable information about the safety of vaccines from www.cdc.gov.

"No, it doesn't take a doctor, health official or "medical organization" to do the math. What it takes is caring about every life - whether that life represents a baby, toddler, child, teenager, young adult, adult or senior citizen - because every life is important and nobody deserves to be written off by a drug company or government agency as an expendable casualty of public health policy.

Gabrielle, the 15 year old gymnast, honor roll student and cheerleader from Wichita, Kansas, who talks about how her health has been destroyed by Gardasil vaccine in the CBS report and in the NVIC video press release, spends most of her time at home or at doctors' offices now.

A few weeks ago, her school voted her Homecoming Princess. On Saturday, she tried to go to the Homecoming dance. As she was getting dressed, she collapsed with seizures and severe abdominal pain.

The medication she has been taking to try to control the seizures she developed after Gardasil vaccination caused her to develop kidney stones. She was rushed to the emergency room and hospitalized.

In the past 27 years, the stories of death and brain damage that have been reported to the National Vaccine Information Center have never changed. Whether the vaccine victims are 15 months old or 15 years old, the stories are the same: a trusting parent took a bright, healthy child to a doctor for a routine vaccination and the child was never the same again.

Gardasil vaccine was inappropriately fast tracked and licensed by the FDA and recommended by the CDC with too little attention paid to the reports of brain and immune system dysfunction that developed after vaccination in pre-licensure clinical trials. That same cavalier attitude toward Gardasil-related deaths and serious health problems, which have been experienced by many girls and young women after licensure, is inexcusable.

Americans are losing trust in pharmaceutical companies making drugs and vaccines and in federal health agencies, whose responsibility is to ensure that drugs and vaccines licensed for public use are safe, effective and necessary. If those responsible for protecting our health are not going to step up to the plate and do their jobs, then it is up to the people to do it.

At www.NVIC.org you can sign the Investigate Gardasil Vaccine Risks Now! petition, read NVIC's new report on Gardasil risks, and check out our new website that makes it easier to navigate and find information to prevent vaccine injuries and deaths.

In 2009, I have a sense of déjà vu, as the story of Gardasil vaccine plays out real time. There are striking parallels between how those operating the mass vaccination system reacted in the 1980's to persistent reports that DPT vaccine was harming more children than originally assumed and the way they are reacting now to persistent reports that Gardasil is more reactive than it was originally assumed.

Assumption of safety is no substitute for proof of safety.

And turning away from human suffering in order to protect the status quo is not the way to run a government that needs the trust and support of the people.

In the 18th century, Queen Marie Antoinette looked down at a starving people pleading for bread to stay alive and said "Let them eat cake." It is time for everyone in government, industry and medicine to take a different approach to persistent reports of vaccine injuries and deaths or risk metaphorically suffering the same fate that ended the monarchy in France. In the 21st century, today's peasants don't have pitchforks - they have laptops, desktops, smartphones and the internet.

How Crunchy Are you, Mamas?

I scored 157 - Crunchier Than Grapenuts

What's Your Granola Factor?------*~*------

1. Do you have homebirths? 15 points for "yes" (unassisted) 10 points for "yes" (midwife in attendance) 5 points for alternative birthing left 2 points for "thinking about/would like home birth"0 for "no" (wouldn't consider it)------

2. Will you circumcise future sons? 5 points for "no" 0 points for "yes"------

3. Do you use cloth diapers?20 point if you do Elimination Communication (no diapers) 15 points if "yes" (wash and make your own) 10 points if "yes" (wash your own) 5 points if "yes" (diaper service) 2 points if "thinking about it" 0 points if "no" (wouldn't consider it)------

4. Do you observe your fertility signals using Natural Family Planning/Fertility Awareness and use that for birth control/trying to conceive?10 points for "yes" (observe and use for birth control/ttc) or you use ecological breastfeeding/lactational amnorrhea 5 points for "yes" (observe for trying to conceive)2 points "thinking about it" 0 points for "no" (wouldn't consider it)------

5. Do you co-sleep?10 points for "yes" (all night every night) 5 points for "yes" (part/all of most nights) 2 points for "thinking about it" 0 points for "no".------

6. Do you use a sling/soft carrier?5 points for "yes" 2 points for "thinking about it" 0 points for "no" (wouldn't consider it)------

7. Do you breastfeed exclusively for the first 6+ months?10 points if "yes" 5 points for "no" (use occasional bottles of expressed breastmilk) 2 points for "no" (use occasional bottles of formula) 0 for "no" (don't breastfeed by choice)------

8. Do you believe in/practice child-led weaning (even if that means breastfeeding for several years)?15 points for "yes" (complete child-led weaning) 10 points for "yes" (up to 3 years) 5 points for "yes" (up to 2 years) 2 points for "thinking about it" 0 points for "no" (you'll wean the baby at 1 year or earlier)------

9. Do you tandem nurse/nurse during your pregnancy? 10 points for "yes" (nurse during pgcy and tandem nurse) 5 points for "yes" (nurse during pgcy, but wean before birth) 2 points for "thinking about it" 0 points for "no"(wouldn't consider it)------

10. Would you/have you ever breastfeed/fed someone else's baby or have someone else bf your child?10 points if yes (have or someone has bf your baby) 5 points if yes (would) 2 points if maybe 0 if no (wouldn't consider it)------

11. Do you eat organic/whole/natural foods and limit your meat? 15 points for "yes" (grow own/buy organic, shop only at health food store, grind own wheat, vegetarian, etc.) 10 points for "yes" (grow some of own food, buy organic, use whole wheat flour, bake own bread, eat some meat occasionally)5 points for "yes" (try to buy natural, whole grain foods, etc.) 2 points for "thinking about it" 0 points for "no" (wouldn't consider it)------

12. Do you use herbal/homeopathic remedies?10 points if "yes" (very rarely see a regular doctor) 5 points if "yes" (but use a doctor occasionally) 2 points if "thinking about it" (see a doc for now) 0 points for "no" (wouldn't consider it)------

13. Do you home school?10 points if "yes" (currently homeschool) 5 points for "yes" (will homeschool) 2 points for "thinking about it" 0 points for "no" (wouldn't consider it)------

14. What's your take on childhood vaccinations?15 points for no vaccines 10 for delayed, selective vaccination 5 points for selective, on schedule vaccination 2 points for thinking about not vaccinating 0 points for vaxing on schedule------

15. Do you use cloth/re-usable products for mom?10 points if yes (make own)5 points if yes (buy own) 2 points if thinking about it 0 points if no------

16. Do you wear makeup?10 points if never5 points is sometimes/rarely (or use natural makeup/lightly)0 points if yes------

17. Do you shave?10 points if never5 points if sometimes/rarely (or some parts, like armpits but not legs)0 pints if yes------

18. Whats you shoe style?10 points if barefoot all the time5 points if sandals when going out0 points if any or toed/socks------

19. Do you use natural cleaning product/etc?10 points if yes (make own)5 points if yes (buy)0 points if no------

Ratings:
140 - 170 WOW...Crunchier than Grape Nuts.
120 - 139 Super Nutty, Ultra-Crunchy Granola Earth Mama.
90 - 119 Mmm! Love that whole-grain crunch!
60 - 89 Pretty Crispy.
20 - 59 Sprinkled with Granola
.5 - 19 Instant Oatmeal.
0 - 4 Jell-O

Let's Discuss Living Wage For a Moment

The minimum wage in Utah is currently $7.25/hour.

A living wage, as opposed to a minimum wage, is "The living wage shown is the hourly rate that an individual must earn to support their family, if they are the sole provider and are working full-time (2080 hours per year)."

Thus, according to this calculator, the hourly wage that Bryan should be earning to support our family of two adults and two children is $29.05.

He earns $10.00/hour, so he would need three fulltime jobs, that's working 24 hours a day, for us to be considered above poverty and stable here. Poverty wage, according to the calculator, is $9.83.

Even if we adjust their calculations - we don't spend that much each month on food, and spend nothing on childcare, but spend more on housing and utilities - Bryan would need two fulltime jobs for us to be considered above poverty.

I bring in $1070 a month in Social Security Disability, which I had to pay into for ten years to qualify for. We are still considered below poverty level and qualify for Medicaid, which is, of course, a government hand out paid for by you tax payers.

We pay for some of our bills with student loans, because we are trying to get Bryan a higher paying job and hopefully better healthcare, higher quality food and a home of our own. Our student loan is not a government handout and will need to be paid back, but the Pell Grant that pays tuition was funded by you tax payers.

If both Bryan and I worked outside of the home, we would still not be considered as earning a living wage for our family. If Bryan worked two full time jobs while going to school, say, because Pell Grants were no longer offered,we would still be below the poverty line, and Bryan would not get any sleep,let alone the type of grades that would lead to a good degree and better paying job.

Am I whining? No, I am making a point.

You can't have it both ways.

If you don't want to have to pay your employees a living wage, because you are a small business, or you've worked really hard and deserve to have a paycheck 30 times more than your lowest paid employee, then you'd better be ready to have some taxes withheld so that the government can take care of your employees for you.

Which is, of course, the whole business plan of WalMart - California is investigating WalMart because they actually post and handout instructions to their employees on how to apply for government benefits, and employees are paid just low enough that the state foots the bill instead of Walmart.

So, when you think you are saving money by going to Walmart, you aren't really, because your tax dollars has to make up for what WalMart won't give to that cashier ringing up your purchase.

I'd like to say we don't live in a state where the rich person gets treated for cancer or heart disease while the poor person gets miediocre care and then left to die, but we do. Why? Because those poor people obviously aren't working hard enough. They're waiting for the government to come and rescue them and take care of them. They don't want to do what it takes to get themselves health insurance. Right?

It has nothing to do with how little people are paid all over the US. Those of us who are poor are obviously too lazy or too unmotivated to make a better life for ourselves.

I want you to think much more carefully about this "people should take more responsibility for themselves" bullshit that republicans like to preach from the rooftops.

If you cut back on education spending, insist on barely raising the minimum wage or worse getting rid of it, make healthcare impossible for millions of Americans, and keep sending jobs overseas because, dammit, you don't want to pay American wages, then you are basically preventing people from making a better life for themselves and guaranteeing an American Caste System where the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor and everyone stays in their neat little place.

It's like the landowners who employeed recently freed slaves, but insisted that they only shop at the company store, and made everything in the company store so expensive that the slaves were still slaves, unable to ever catch up.

It makes me angry that my tax dollars pay for your stupid war and congressmen raises and junkets. It doesn't make me angry that my tax money pays for job training and school lunch programs. If you're not going to pay these kids' parents enough, then someone has to feed these kids.

Because we're not going to just let them starve just so you uphold your sacred principles of small government and free enterprise.

Socialism Evil?

We've been discussing Obama's plan to cap some executive wages on MDC. Some people say good riddance, others say it's going to far when the government tells you how much you can earn. The discussion inevitably came down to Socialism.

I love this post here:

As someone who was raised in the USA and now happily lives in a socialist country, I'd like to respond to this post. First, this "top talent" didn't do such a top job, did they? In fact, a lot of it was pretty lousy. You really want american taxpayers to bail them out? And anyway, they won't be stuck with ONLY 500K, with all their stocks. Plus I'm sure with that money they will be able to pay some creative economist to find some loopholes.

Second, the minimum wage here is about 25 dollars/hour. Employers can afford to pay this, they have been for years and years.

Unemployment is very low, 2 or 3%. So raising minimum wage is possible. More importantly, this makes a healthier society for everyone, because it means if you are working, you can afford the necessities, and then some, without working 2 jobs or just scrapping by. (And if you are not working, the gov't, through higher taxes that I am willingly paying, will provide you with housing, education, job training....)

Third, my boss's boss makes more than me, A LOT. But he doesn't make 10 or 20 times what I make. So I can afford a home, food, clothing. And my boss's boss can afford an even better home with a better view... but no, he doesn't have a private jet or boat.... This lack of obscene salary does not diminish his skills or qualifications. Skilled, talented people are running businesses and banks across the country, and they are obviously not doing it for the money, because these huge sums do not exist.

Fourth, money is just looked at differently. We laugh about america, where everything is more, bigger and better. Except the better part is an illusion. For example, everyone has medical coverage, everyone. If I am hurt, I am treated, not asked about my budget. Now in the USA if you have a prime insurance, you can cut the line and get that chemo treatment, or that new hearing aid, a lot faster than the woman next door on medicare. Here, I can't cut the line. And maybe I have to wait A LOT longer than you for the hearing aid, but if my cancer is spreading faster than yours no one cares you have a bigger income, I am getting that chemo first. Meaning the non-emergency but still very important to quality of life sometimes is terribly slow, but the real emergencies are based on the person, not income.

And overall, our medical, even with this word socialist, that everyone here thinks is so dirty, is much higher than in the USA. Of industrialized countries, our maternal and infant mortality rate is #3 (sweden, also socialist is #1) and USA is at the bottom (but ahead of Latvia). http://edition.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/p...mothers.index/.

So, here's the thing.

If you're tired of the government taking your money and giving it to other people, then PAY YOUR EMPLOYEES A FAIR WAGE. As you see in this example, she said her taxes are high but there's also a living wage enforced, so paying those taxes doesn't interfere with her ability to provide a good life for her family. And executives are still paid well and allowed to succeed, just not at the expense of their employees.

Executive pay is now well over 200 times their lowest paid employees. This isn't your right. You don't have a right to pay your employees unliveable wages.

I am excited about this.

Because ALL Cavy Owners Put Them In Stupid Poses

Imbolc, St.Bridget's Day, Candlemas, or Ground Hog's Day

As with most American holidays, Ground Hog Day can be traced to celtic tradition.

Imbolc marked the halfway point between the Winter and Spring Solstices. As with the other Celtic Sabbats, it was typically celebrated with a bonfire.

The Celtic folklore book we have says that it coincided with the udders of pregnant ewes softening in prepartion for lactation, and so the day can be celebrated with cheeses and other dairy products. I am crocheting the kids a slice of cheesecake as an Imbolc gift.

Imbolc was also considered the Feast of Brigid, who is celebrated as the bride waiting for the return of the sun god. Women and girls would often dress in white, and create dolls from grains that they would dress as brides.

As Christians came, Brigid was made into a Saint so that the holiday could be incorporated into Christian tradition. It was believed that if on this day the sky was clear (and you could see your shadow), winter would keep going on.

Candlemas, then, was the day that families made enough candles to last through the following year. It is considered the day, 40 days after Christmas, that Jesus would have been brought to the temple.

You can deduce that Ground Hog's Day draws from the idea that a hibernating animal who sees his shadow will go back to hibernating.

Widdershins.org has this fun list of things to do on Imbolc with your children. If I had planned ahead, I would have chosen today to start all my seedlings. Seems appropriate! Obviously I won't be having my children say prayers to Brigid - I may be a misfit Mormon, but I am still Mormon. Nevertheless, they are Irish and Scottish through both parents, and I think cultural aspects are valuable. - Alisa

13 Ways to Celebrate Imbolc
by Heather Evenstar Osterman

Regardless of what religion we grew up with, most of us have favorite memories of things we did every year for specific holidays. These traditions were what made our celebrations special. So what do you do when the holidays you celebrate now aren't the same ones you grew up with? How do you share the joys of Imbolc with your family?

Imbolc (or Candlemas/Brigid/whatever you choose to call this celebration) falls on February 2nd and is a time to honor the quickening of the earth and the first manifestations of spring emerging from winter. This Sabbat is sacred to the goddess Brigid in particular, and is a wonderful time to acknowledge your own creativity, expand your knowledge, and practice the healing arts. Here are my suggestions to get you started developing your own family traditions!

Help your kids go through all their clothes, toys, and books to find the unwanted and outgrown items. Donate everything to a charity that will give the items to children who need them.

Collect canned goods from family and friends to give to a food bank. Yule isn't the only time people are in need.

Go for a walk! Search for signs of spring. Take off your shoes and socks and squish your toes in the mud.

Open all the doors and windows and turn on every light in the house for a few minutes. Let the kids sweep all the old energies out the doors.

Lead the family on a parade around the outside of your home, banging on pots and pans or playing musical instruments to awaken the spirits of the land.

Make corn dollies and a cradle for them to sleep in.

Create a sun wheel out of stalks of grain and hang it on your front door.

Meditate as a family. Have everyone explore what it would feel like to be a seed deep in the earth, feeling the first stirrings of life. Lie on the floor and put out tendrils. Stretch and bloom.

Have your children hold some herb seeds in their hands. Talk to the seeds. Bless them with growth and happiness. Fill them with love. Plant an in-door herb garden.

Decorate candles with stickers, metallic markers, paint and anything else you can think of! Light your candles and give thanks to Brigid for her inspiration.

Help your kids make a special feast! Spicy foods and dairy dishes are traditional. Try Mexican or Indian cuisine. Top it off with poppy seed cake. Drink milk or spiced cider.

Set a fabulous dinner table with your candles, evergreen boughs spring flowers, dragons, sun symbols, or whatever says Imbolc to you. Use the good china.

Let your children make their beds in a special way to represent Brigid's bed. Go camp style with sleeping bags or build a makeshift canopy! Have sweet dreams..."


Some other ideas from other websites:

Plant spring bulbs, which need some time in the cold ground before they emerge in Spring.

Make suns out of paper plates and hang them in a window.

Eat lemon sorbet or lemon yogurt.

Try new cheeses.

Make beeswax candles - all you need to do is roll a sheet of beeswax around a wick. Beeswax can be cut into shape to decorate the outside of the candle.

Eat dinner by candlelight.

Do a shadow profile - shine a light on the side of your child's face to cast a shwdow on the wall. Tack a piece of paper there and trace the shadow.

News Completely Twists SIDS Study

I'm going to go ahead and plagiarize Heather Cushman-Dowdee on this one (the artist of Hathor the Cow Goddess) because I couldn't have written it better, and most of my readers are lazy and aren't going to follow the link. - Alisa

"This just in…Rise in infant suffocation tied to bed-sharing

Now on the face of it that’s pretty alarming, huh? BUT, and I’m no expert at reading these little science reports, but I spot enough inconsistencies in their logic to go “WTF?” It’s like a Highlights puzzle, what’s wrong with this picture.

FIRST, note that in this article (and most of the other ones, as they were all copies of the same AP-released story) they say that “rates of sudden infant death from suffocation or strangulation have quadrupled in the past 20 years in the United States” yet, I’m hard-pressed to find ANY mention of the rates before or after this increase. Did the number go quadruple from 4? Or did the number quadruple from 400? I’m sure you agree that this bit of information would help us decide whether to be alarmed or not.

SECOND, they associate this increase with more parents sleeping with their babies, yet mention that “black male babies are most affected”. Are they saying that more parents are sleeping with their “black male babies” than any other group? Or could there be another underlying reason for this disparity?

THIRD, the story says that “Most of the deaths that could be determined were by “overlay” — the parent rolling over onto the child.” That’s MOST of the deaths that COULD be DETERMINED. Though they don’t give numbers AND the suffocation/strangulation rates also include “suffocating in soft bedding, becoming wedged between a mattress and frame or wall, or getting a head caught in something.”

So, doing some very limited research this is what I pieced together …The scientists that wrote the study (CDC’s Carrie Shapiro-Mendoza and her colleagues) came to a very different conclusion. Their title was: Recent National Trends in Sudden, Unexpected Infant Deaths: More Evidence Supporting a Change in Classification or Reporting and their basic point was that SIDS rates have gone down due to changes in how we classify deaths, you see, while SIDS rates have gone down (Yay!) they were “offset by increasing rates of cause unknown/unspecified and ASSB (accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed)” The author’s of the study report that “Most of the decline in SIDS rates since 1999 is likely due to increased reporting of cause unknown/unspecified and ASSB”. Hmmmmm, why would the news reports try to make this study sound much more dramatic than it actually is?

ALSO, the classification ASSB (accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed) Which sounds like there was definitely someone else involved, includes babies who were put on their stomach in a crib and suffocated because they couldn’t lift their head off the soft mattress. It includes babies who got their heads stuck in crib slats, it includes babies that slide down in between couch pillows AND cases of overlying. In the cases of overlying, the death certificates rarely report which parent or caregiver or other person caused the suffocation.

AND if the death certificates include the mother, they never differentiate between breastfeeding mothers or formula feeding (an important distinction according to James McKenna Why babies should never sleep alone: A review of the co-sleeping controversy in relation to SIDS, bedsharing and breast feeding (the whole thing is very interesting but go to page 45 if you wanna get to the pertinent stuff…) and don’t include other factors such as drug use, and smoking, and other factors.

So, the point is this, the recent stories about the dangers of bed-sharing are being overly-dramatic well and beyond reasonable proof. My theory is that most parents think that babies go into Cribs so they provide the baby with a crib and all the other stuff and THEN when they meet their baby and the baby doesn’t want to go into the crib (the baby wants to sleep beside mommy, NOW! ) they take the baby into their bed. Without coming up with any way to make this a safe place for the baby. Tall beds, overly small beds, no bedrails, couches and recliners, heavy comforters tucked up to the chin, these things have the potential to be dangerous.

Why can’t we stop this silly discussion that says cribs are the only safe place and start putting our heads together and come up with a series of recommendations for SAFE co-sleeping. Oh wait, James McKenna already did ;o) Sleeping with Your Baby: A Parent’s Guide to Cosleeping (Paperback)

and so did I Archive for Co-Sleeping
hope that helps!

xox,Heather