HAPpy halloWEEN

whadja say?

Conor has successfully completed tech school: (party hats and streamers!)



He graduated as "Distinguished Graduate" with an unheard of 98%.


While in tech school, he also maintained a 4.0 in college through online courses.

Somehow, he also managed to read these:


WHAT THE HELL? I'm becoming concerned that he may be a robot.

Sadly, Sesame Street depicts bottle-feeding as the norm now. But this clip is so sweet. I had a little boy ask me if Finn was eating my arm.

Like a dog in heat

Every time I hear the commercials for the period-eliminating contraceptives, I find it a little disconcerting. I tend to embrace being a woman, and believe that even if this pill proves "safe" over the long term (which I doubt), that eliminating the menstrual cycle in adult women will have other lasting ill effects on the psyche, the circadian rhythm, and who knows what else. Well now we've come to realize that it may have an even more dire effect. Tips! A new study has shown that lap dancers in their fertile stage get better tips than their counterparts on contraceptives. (FYI, periods while on the pill are kind of "faux" periods anyway." From the study:

But the study does appear to show that the dancers somehow advertise their fertility to men, who then consider them more attractive during this fertile phase, as reflected in their tips. How they advertise, however, and whether they do it consciously, is unclear. "We don't know the mechanism of attraction," says Thornhill, who is also at the University of New Mexico but was not involved with the study. "Are the men detecting the scent of oestrus? Or does the women's behaviour change?" he asks.

ideas, ideas, ideas!

I don't know if anyone has heard of TED. It is an annual conference for the free exchange of ideas. I'm addicted to the videos of the speakers. My latest obsession is this one.



She is a lexicographer who has such a refreshing view of language evolution. I tend to be a straight-laced, if it isn't in the dictionary, it isn't a real word. A "No you are NOT NAUSEOUS, unless you feel like you make other people sick, you are NAUSEATED!!! I feel like watching this did me some good.

Marcus Brigstocke: Letter to the 3 Abrahamic Relgions - Can the rest of us have our planet back?

McDonald's strip search hoax

You've all probably heard about the young woman at McDonald's who was strip searched, sodomized, forced to masturbate, and forced to perform oral sex on a man in a strange phone hoax. If not here's a link. I watched the victim on 20/20 tonight. While keeping in mind that I in NO WAY blame this young lady for the horrible things that happened to her, I found one thing she said to be very telling. The interviewer asked her why she submitted to the abuse when she could have run (though completely naked) from the office. Her answer was this.

"My parents taught me that when an adult tells you to do something, you do it. When you get your hand slapped, you listen."

It made me think of Violet's speech therapist when we lived in SC. She would pull Violet onto her lap without any sign of an invitation from Violet. That's NOT how she rolls! When Violet would struggle to get away, she would hold onto her, trying to cajole her into staying. I would simply take Violet by the hand and pull her out of the therapist's lap.

For me, it's as simple as this: If you teach your children that adults (ANY adult) are allowed to touch them without their permission, how can you ever expect them to be able to know when it isn't OK for an adult to touch them?

For me, it extends much further. Teach children to question authority. Even their parents.

In pharma's pocket

Not that I was remotely considering voting for Mitten Romney, but I just realized that he is the governor who overturned the Massachusetts legislature's decision to prohibit the distribution of those good ol' formula stuffed goody bags to new mothers by hospitals. Nothing like saying that breastfeeding thing (the one the the AAP recommends) ain't REALLY going to work out. So we'll just stock you up on formula now. I actually had a nurse come trotting out of the room bringing me the several cans of formula that I deliberately left sitting in the room. Possibly the same nurse who asked Conor "what possessed" me to have natural childbirth. I traipsed out with a "No thanks, we don't need it."

Check out this handy breastfeeding in public pocket guide. Somebody...ahem.....needs to get crackin' in Idaho. They have NO legislation protecting public breastfeeding.

The realist in me knows that some savvy ad-exec came up with a really clever way to sell beauty products by marketing them in a pro-woman anti-patriarchy anti-beauty standards package. The optimist in me still likes it. There is a part of me wishing I was radical enough to hate it though. I applaud Unilever (Dove's parent company) for banning models with a BMI below 18.5. However they are still selling us on the necessity of being hairless and smelling like baby powder. They also sell skin-lightening cream in India. I'm going to tentatively go with applauding this sliver of corporate responsibility and hoping it spreads.

Hometown Pride!

Why am I not home to rally??!!! Aurora Planned Parenthood has fought the good fight, and is now open! Congratulations!

And now a quote from Obama: ( I could possibly vote for any man who can say "pap" in an interview without falling apart.)

"I fully support Planned Parenthood's desire to open a new facility in Aurora. Planned Parenthood will provide a valuable and necessary service to the Aurora community, which has seen an increase in the uninsured population, as well as an increase in sexually transmitted disease rates. The proposed center will serve the growing population in a part of the state where access to a full range of reproductive health care services is lacking. Every day the health center is not open, more women go without critical services such as pap tests, contraceptive care, cancer screening, and breast exams."
"I hope the investigation by city officials into the permit process can be concluded as quickly and fairly as possible, so that this important facility can begin its operations."

Chavez

Seing as how I think Bush is the Devil too, I feel a little kinship with Chavez. Such as his rejection of western beauty standards. He has recently decried the growing practice of giving breast implants as 15th birthday presents.