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The Magazine covers a breastfeeding mom

admin — Sat, 12 May 2012 00:46:44 +0000

But that doesn’t make him a bankable cover photo. At least, not according to the news magazine, which decided to go for a more eye-catching image to illustrate this week’s feature story about the esteemed pediatrician and his popular parenting philosophy.

Instead, this week’s cover features Jamie Lynne Grumet, upright and staring at the camera as she nurses her nearly 4-year-old son while he stands on a chair. The title: “Are you mom enough?”

Naturally, the duo quickly dominated parenting websites, discussion boards and Twitter on Thursday, fuelling the eternally combustible debate over how long is too long to breastfeed, what makes a good mother and whether attachment parenting oppresses women.

The discussion’s tiring enough to put a baby to sleep.

Sears’ approach, developed with his physician wife, Martha, encourages parents to be responsive to a child’s emotional and biological needs through such practices as breastfeeding on demand, sling-wearing, co-sleeping and natural childbirth.

While plenty of commenters were outraged by the image, some parents saw it as a clever publicity stunt that didn’t reflect the subject of the story inside.

“Everything is getting lost in this except for the cover,” said Dee Brun, a mother of four from Kitchener, who questioned how a stylist could come up with the bizarre setup.

It is everyone else that has an issue with toddlers still feeding at the breast. Chances are that if you are still breastfeeding your 3 year old you will be gently or sharply ridiculed by friends and family as well as society. If you take it to heart you run the risk of becoming a closet feeder to avoid the negative innuendos and comments. This is sad because there is no harm in breastfeeding a young toddler. In fact many different philosophies on the matter are held. Le Leche League actually supports later feeding for a variety of reasons for moms who have the leisure to choose late breastfeeding.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that the world average for breastfeeding is 4.2 years and they recommend that all children be breastfed for at least two years. More often than not an older child will suddenly stop wanting feeds without too much bother or discussion. In reality would it better to give your 3 year old a cheese burger and milk shake? Many mothers find that a sick child that still nurses at her breast can be comforted and soothed more readily.

The emotional benefits alone, of breastfeeding your 3 year old are reason enough for some mothers to continue. The argument on the other hand is that those children breastfed for longer may develop an overly dependent attachment for their mothers. Research amazingly enough has found the opposite to true. In fact such children are more likely to be independent and not show needy behaviors around their mothers.

Time managing editor Rick Stengel, meanwhile, called it an “arresting image” that was aimed at making a splash and noted breastfeeding is one part of the story.

“Judging by the reaction on Twitter this morning, some people think it’s great, and some people are revolted by it,” Stengel said in an interview with the Washington Post style blog.

“That’s what you want. You want people talking . . . Do I expect some people to be outraged? Sure.”

The cover mom, Grumet, is a 26-year-old mother of two from Los Angeles who follows Sears’ approach and practises extended breastfeeding.

The biggest loser

admin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:45:38 +0000

How could I possibly complain about losing over 20 pounds?? The truth is I cant but the fact of the matter is there will always be complainers. Even Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers have complaints but you need to take a closer look at who is complaining before you draw ill conclusions.

People as a whole want results and they want them fast. It could be making more money, getting well, getting a promotion and of course losing weight. Everyone want’s things yesterday and when someone doesn’t drop 10 pounds in 24 hours they cry wolf and throw in the towel.

It’s no secret that diets carry a high failure rate. People just don’t have the will power to stick with long term diets. When they fail, they decide it would make them feel better to file a complaint about the diet plan they were trying to follow for whatever reason. The drop out’s will flock to the nearest internet forum and tell everyone that the diet sucks and it doesn’t work.

So why does Fat Loss 4 Idiots have such a high success rate? Because anyone can do this for 11 days and to be honest, once you see how easy it really is, you can probably do it longer. So to answer the question about Fat Loss 4 Idiots having complaints, sure there has to be a complaint here and there out there but I haven’t seen them and I am living proof the program works. At least try if for yourself and if you don’t like it, get a refund and move on.

Feb
22
Let’s get real about the journey
Kandiby Kandi

.Yesterday I told you I was going to get real and share things about myself. Some of it was known, some of it is new. First off, I haven’t always been overweight. Oh, I was always a little on the chubby side, but overweight wasn’t a word that was in my vocabulary. Yesterday I went on a mission to find some pictures of me from when I was a little more in shape.

Now, I was never a size 2. Not even close. The smallest I’ve ever been was a size 10 and that was in high school. I also have curves. No stick figures here. Anyway, here are the pictures with small descriptions next to them about my age, what I was doing and the like. The farthest back I went was to age 19 because I consider high school a stretch.

The first two were taken when I lived in Colorado. I’m not sure I’ve ever really said anything about my time there, but it was amazing! I’m an outdoorsy girl and the mountains offered it all. Views, hiking, biking, oh, and did I mention the lifestyle? I lived close to Boulder and that was first time I was introduced to the whole food, eat local, lifestyle. It was amazing, however I was only 19 at the time and my whole world revolved around having fun. I did take advantage of all the hiking though. One of the pictures prove it. Oh, and that was probably the last time anyone ever saw me in just a sports bra with my tummy showing. I’ve never had a 6 pack, but I wasn’t always as fluffy as I am now

The one in the sports attire was taken at a place called Eldorado Springs. It was gorgeous and the best part was at the bottom of the mountain. I real mountain spring facility where they bottled the water. I’m not even sure if the place is still there, but at the time it was kind of neat. Around this time I was weighing in at 150. Oh, and there wasn’t any ice on the road ahead…LOL. It was early summer.

The next picture cracked me up when I found it. Mainly because I look like a gigantic goober, but also because I look like a gigantic goober. Did I mention I look like a goober in this pic? Oh well, it was one of the few I could find of me standing in profile. I was about to turn 20 and was weighing in at around 150 and a size 10/12 (which may or may not be relevant to today’s sizing, but it was mid ’90′s). So without further ado, here is my super goober picture. Enjoy a laugh at my expense. Although, I did have some pretty nice curves didn’t I?

Over the next couple of years I gained a little weight, but not much. By the time I was in college, why yes I did take 3 years off between high school and college, I was in a solid size 12. No idea about actual weight because I stopped caring. Well, that’s not true, I just didn’t own a scale.

When Chuck and I met, I was in a size 14. I was still quite curvy and didn’t look terribly. I just figured it was normal weight someone puts on while in college and living the typical college kid lifestyle. Once Chuck and I got our apartment, well, I’ve been over this one before. We both gained anywhere between 25-50 pounds. Most of the weight went on after we were married, but quite a bit was on beforehand. I remember being fitted for my wedding dress and crying because of the size they had to order. I was so embarrassed. Well, the embarrassment wasn’t that bad, but it was still there. The nice seamstress told me she had to order it bigger because I was “busty”, but once it was in they didn’t have to take it in around the waist a whole lot. God Bless that little seamstress, she had my eyes dried before I showed it to my family.

From the time we were married to yesterday the pictures of me have been few. Not by my choice, but I am the one who typically has a camera in hand. The last picture I’m going to share is one of me standing in profile at the Y after a workout. You can plainly see I have some belly fluff. I’m not ashamed of what I have, it is what it is. However, I am trying to get healthier and if any of those little extra areas care to leave my body, then yay! Just so everyone can reference ahead, my current weight is 226 pounds.

Yes, I’m doing the “hard” way of changing my family’s diet and exercising 4 times a week. I’m so happy with the results so far (improved energy, happier outlook, and I feel stronger).

Oil spill who to blame

admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:39:33 +0000

The beaches in Alabama are as white as sugar, wide, and very beautiful. The chemical makeup of the sand on the beaches is quartz. To think of what is happening to the beaches makes us very sad and apprehensive. But what is happening to the sea turtles, our beloved pelicans that are so ugly but soar so gracefully, and all the seabirds really breaks our hearts.

Then there is the human element. From the agony of the loved ones who had family members who perished with the devastation on the oil rig to the oil rig workers, from the roughnecks to the roustabouts, from the members of the management team of BP who were inflicted with terrible injuries to the many small business owners who will never recover from the effects of this catastrophe, from the property owners who depend on the income from individual condominiums to make financial ends meet to many others, the list goes on and on. This accident will go down in history as the worst ecological and environmental episode ever!

The primary responsibility for all of this death and destruction falls in the lap of a good company from one of our staunchest allies, Great Britain. There are other companies that are complicit, if that is the right word, but BP is the primary company of responsibility. The other companies are Transoceanic Exploration, Halliburton and some smaller suppliers. The U.S. government has, and continues to show, disdain for the efforts and lack of urgency BP has exhibited. Based on the recognized magnitude of the problem, the financial implications for BP, and the public relations nightmare created by this cataclysmic occurrence, how can anyone think that BP is not doing everything in its power, with the best technology available, to bring this man made rupture in the Gulf’s subsurface to finalization?

It is true that deepwater oil exploration technology is suspect, as evidenced by today’s events. But the oil companies are drilling in areas of such incredible depths that technology is being created as they go. The oilrig that exploded was capped at 5,290 feet, and the drill was another 17,000 feet below that. But since so many of the areas where oil is abundant and easily recoverable in the United States have been eliminated from oil exploration that the only place left is the oceans surrounding our country. Other nations of the world are drilling in the Gulf, and foreign exploration will continue.

Many people have blamed the Obama administration for its meek response to the problem. Others have talked about the restrictive demand of the environmentalists as being a component of the problem, and all have talked about the overall intransigence of British Petroleum. The critics are all right in their thinking, and I don’t have enough space to discuss each charge. But one thing is clear from the governmental standpoint. Politics pervades our entire life. We can’t even escape it when we have a national catastrophic event such as this.

Obama has talked about “kicking ass,” and the politicians have already initiated a criminal investigation. There will be time for all this political posturing once the situation is under control, and it will be. Now is the time for all parties to focus on stopping this calamity and trying to kick the ass of the only party in this drama that can stop it is really stupid.

The millions upon millions of gallons of oil hemorrhaging into the Gulf of Mexico every day is a crude reminder of the many ways humans are fouling the planet. As forests are cleared, cities and suburbs paved and expanded, as the air and sea warm and become increasingly polluted with cancer-causing chemicals and garbage, and with species dropping like flies, the planet’s health is being challenged in ways that have not occurred in its entire 4.5-billion-year existence.

World Cup soccer could kill you

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:20:42 +0000

Take care when you’re watching the World Cup. It could be hazardous to your health – especially if you’re favourite team is facing a tough game or shoot out.

According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine watching a stressful soccer match more than doubles the risk of an acute cardiovascular event. And the study warns that in view of “this excess risk” men with known heart

The study examines the period from June 9 to July 9 2006 during the FIFA World Cup held in Germany and looks at cardiovascular events in patients in the greater Munich area. Heart attacks in 4,279 patients were assessed. And on the days of matches involving the German team, the study found the incidence of cardiac emergencies was 2.66 times than during the control period.

“Our results show a strong and significant increase in the incidence of cardiovascular events (including the acute coronary syndrome and symptomatic cardiac arrhythmia), in a defined sample of the German population, in association with matches involving the German team during the FIFA World Cup,” the study says.

“In contrast, the average daily number of cardiac emergencies during soccer matches involving foreign teams was well within the range of values obtained during the control period.”

In other words if it’s your team that’s in a tight spot during the World Cup you’re more likely to have a heart attack. “It is clear that watching an important soccer match, which can be associated with intense emotional stress, triggers the acute coronary syndrome and symptomatic cardiac arrhythmia.”

A British Medical Journal analysis also found there was a connection between watching the World Cup and heart attacks. The analysis found the risk of being admitted to a British hospital for acute myocardial infarction on June 30, 1998 – the day England lost to Argentina in a World Cup match that was decided by a penalty kick shoot out – was higher than other days. In fact 25 per cent higher than average for that day of the year. And it wasn’t just the day of the loss, but heart attacks continued for a couple more days. In total there were 55 more heart attacks than normal.

Muslim woman denied job at McDonalds

admin — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:50:50 +0000

A Muslim woman from Troy filed a bias complaint today, saying she was denied a job at a McDonald’s restaurant in Rochester Hills because of her religion and ethnicity. A McDonald’s official said their restaurant chain does not discriminate and has accommodated religious headwear for years.

Nasihah Barlaskar, 19, wears an Islamic head scarf known as a hijab. She told the Free Press that during a job interview on March 27, a manager at McDonald’s asked her about her nationality. The manager then asked “if I had to wear that thing on my head,” according to Barlaskar.

Barlaskar said she replied: “I do. Is that a problem?”

The manager then told Barlaskar she probably wouldn’t be able to wear that if she was working, according to Barlaskar.

Barlaskar filed the complaint with the EEOC, Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, the U.S. agency that deals with job discrimination. It was filed with the help of Dawud Walid, head of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Joan Rachelson, director of operations for McDonald’s Michigan region, said in a statement that the restaurant has a “strict policy prohibiting any form of discrimination.”

She said the allegations “are not consistent with our policies.”

Barlaskar, who was born in the United States, said it wasn’t proper for the manager to ask her about her nationality. Barlaskar’s parents are immigrants from Bangladesh.

After the interview with the manager, Barlaskar said she did not hear back from her. She said she then called back the McDonald’s and was told by the manager that they had hired someone else.

Rachelson, the McDonald’s official, said: “It is never our intention to offend anyone. … We require all employees to comply with local, state and federal employment laws and continually strive to maintain a positive restaurant environment in which everyone feels valued and accepted.”

Missing Lesson From the Mine Tragedy

admin — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:23:08 +0000

In the wake of last week’s disaster at Massey Energy Company’s Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia, it’s become increasingly clear that CEO Don Blankenship has gamed the loophole-laden mine safety enforcement system. Despite a supposedly tougher federal law that passed in 2006 after the Sago, West Virginia, mine explosion killed a dozen miners, Massey and other companies have been able to use the law as a shield to avoid tougher enforcement measures by appealing safety citations – and overwhelming the weak Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) with a backlog of appeals.

Even though Massey has faced proposed fines nearing $2 million since 2005 and been cited over 1,300 times, it’s paid only a fraction – one-sixth – of the proposed fines. All told, according to the United Mine Workers of America, nearly 50 people have been killed at Massey mines in the last ten years. In March alone, it was cited over 50 times for violations, many directly related to ventilation violations that allowed the build-up of explosive methane gas that played a major role in the killing of the 29 miners. As The Washington Post observed in an editorial,

“‘It’s a profession that’s not without risks and danger, and the workers and their families know that,’ Mr. Obama said of the coal industry Friday. ‘But their government and their employers know that they owe it to these families to do everything possible to ensure their safety when they go to work each day.’ A good place to start would be to ensure that the regulations on the books are vigorously enforced.”

And, in a perverse way, political leaders and media outlets that morbidly romanticize the courage of rural mine workers for working in an industry known for its risks are also in some ways promoting the view that mine disasters are as unavoidable as natural disasters. As USA Today proclaimed in a recent headline: “In mine country, risks a ‘way of life.’” The feature article concluded by quoting former miner Randy Cox, who had observed that deep in a coalmine, “bad things can happen fast, without warning.” The article noted, “that it will take a long time for this area to mourn and heal, Cox said. “‘It’s all in God’s hands now.’”

In contrast, “what unions, particularly in dangerous profession like mining, mean is that they give workers protection and the leverage of a working group with management to vocalize and bring forward concerns about safety without fear of retribution,” said Kimberly Freeman Brown, executive director of American Rights at Work, a champion of the now-stalled Employee Free Choice Act. She added, “In the absence of a union, in hard economic times, workers feel more vulnerable about losing their jobs and less confident about expressing their concerns about safety.”

This is what the Employee Free Choice Act is all about. Where there’s not going to be intimidation, where there’s not going to be retribution against employees who just think about organizing in the workplace because they’d like to go down into a workplace where they’re not going to lose their lives. Where it will just increase the safety in their area. Is that asking too much? Is it all for the dollar bill in America? This is morally wrong. There is absolutely no difference between what these guys did in the front office at this Massey Energy Company than what these guys did down the street on Wall Street to folks who were ripped off. This is a matter of life and death. That’s what this is.

Some dating services just not that into you

admin — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:11:47 +0000

It’s bad enough when a potential suitor breaks your heart. Now, dating services are causing grief for consumers.

The Better Business Bureau said complaints in northern Illinois about matchmaking services have more than doubled to 137 in the last year, up from 66 for the previous 12-month period.

The BBB told of a 70-year-old McHenry woman who paid $1,695 for an 18-month period, and didn’t realize it was an extra $20 a month to be able to go online and see potential matches after the first six months.

Pickings were slim in the 65- to 75-year-old demographic, she said.

“Many of them want to go out with women 15 years younger,” she told the BBB. “I joined in June 2009 and have only met three people.”

Common complaints included few arranged dates, subpar prospects and poor service.

Matchmaking services often say they have a database of thousands of singles in the area and promise a minimum number of dates, the BBB said. But one consumer “reported to only have received three referrals over a 12-month period, significantly less than what was promised.”

Often consumers complained about being paired with people who didn’t match their criteria, including smokers or people who lived too far away.

Others were told by matchmaking companies to quit being so picky about whom they dated.

The BBB encourages consumers to check its Web site for complaints, to avoid high-pressure sales tactics and to realize that they might not stop being billed once the contract runs out.

Iran complains about U.S. rhetoric

admin — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:06:08 +0000

The Iranian government will file formal complaints with the United Nations against the United States for making nuclear threats against Iran, officials said.

U.S. President Barack Obama left the door open for a possible strike against “outliers” Iran and North Korea in his revised Nuclear Posture Review released last week.

The review spells out U.S. national policy regarding the use of nuclear weapons

A nuclear conference in Washington this week tackles non-proliferation issues. Washington is expected to lobby for tougher sanctions on Iran as punishment for a controversial nuclear program during the conference.

Iran insists its nuclear program is for medical and civilian energy use. Iran, however, sits on some of the largest oil and gas deposits in the world.

Parast said the latest statements from the Obama administration would destabilize an already “tense Persian Gulf and Middle East.”

branson complaint letter response

admin — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 00:54:31 +0000

This is a letter recently received by the Virgin Atlantic customer complaints team and is currently being hailed on news blogs, such as this one on The Telegraph as possibly the funniest customer complaint letter ever.

I love the Virgin brand, I really do which is why I continue to use it despite a series of unfortunate incidents over the last few years. This latest incident takes the biscuit.

Ironically, by the end of the flight I would have gladly paid over a thousand rupees for a single biscuit following the culinary journey of hell I was subjected to at the hands of your corporation.

I imagine the same questions are racing through your brilliant mind as were racing through mine on that fateful day. What is this? Why have I been given it? What have I done to deserve this? And, which one is the starter, which one is the desert?

You don’t get to a position like yours Richard with anything less than a generous sprinkling of observational power so I KNOW you will have spotted the tomato next to the two yellow shafts of sponge on the left. Yes, it’s next to the sponge shaft without the green paste. That’s got to be the clue hasn’t it. No sane person would serve a desert with a tomato would they. Well answer me this Richard, what sort of animal would serve a desert with peas in:

I know it looks like a baaji but it’s in custard Richard, custard. It must be the pudding. Well you’ll be fascinated to hear that it wasn’t custard. It was a sour gel with a clear oil on top. It’s only redeeming feature was that it managed to be so alien to my palette that it took away the taste of the curry emanating from our miscellaneous central cuboid of beige matter. Perhaps the meal on the left might be the desert after all.

Anyway, this is all irrelevant at the moment. I was raised strictly but neatly by my parents and if they knew I had started desert before the main course, a sponge shaft would be the least of my worries. So lets peel back the tin-foil on the main dish and see what’s on offer.

I’ll try and explain how this felt. Imagine being a twelve year old boy Richard. Now imagine it’s Christmas morning and you’re sat their with your final present to open. It’s a big one, and you know what it is. It’s that Goodmans stereo you picked out the catalogue and wrote to Santa about.

Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking it’s more of that Baaji custard. I admit I thought the same too, but no. It’s mustard Richard. MUSTARD. More mustard than any man could consume in a month. On the left we have a piece of broccoli and some peppers in a brown glue-like oil and on the right the chef had prepared some mashed potato. The potato masher had obviously broken and so it was decided the next best thing would be to pass the potatoes through the digestive tract of a bird.

Richard…. What is that white stuff? It looked like it was going to be yoghurt. It finally dawned on me what it was after staring at it. It was a mixture between the Baaji custard and the Mustard sauce. It reminded me of my first week at university. I had overheard that you could make a drink by mixing vodka and refreshers. I lied to my new friends and told them I’d done it loads of times. When I attempted to make the drink in a big bowl it formed a cheese Richard, a cheese. That cheese looked a lot like your baaji-mustard.

So that was that Richard. I didn’t eat a bloody thing. My only question is: How can you live like this? I can’t imagine what dinner round your house is like, it must be like something out of a nature documentary.

Can the Pope be charged as a criminal?

admin — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 16:35:09 +0000

Protests are growing against Pope Benedict XVI’s planned trip this fall to Britain, where the legal world is debating whether the Vatican’s implicit statehood could shield the Pope from potential prosecution related to sex crimes by pedophile priests.

More than 10,000 people have signed an online petition to Prime Minister Gordon Brown opposing the Pope’s four-day visit to England and Scotland in September.

The campaign has gained momentum as more Catholic sex- abuse scandals shake Europe.

Although Benedict has not been accused of any crime, senior British lawyers are now examining whether the Pope should have immunity as a head of state and whether he could be prosecuted under the principle of universal jurisdiction for an alleged systematic cover-up of sexual abuses by priests.

The middle of last year, the Irish government’s commission investigating charges of abuse in Catholic institutions – keeping in mind that, for most of the last century, “Catholic institutions” meant not just the church on the corner, but most of the school system – concluded that there was “a substantial level of sexual abuse of boys in care that extended over a range from improper touching and fondling to rape with violence. Perpetrators of abuse were able to operate undetected for long periods at the core of institutions. Cases of sexual abuse were managed with a view to minimising the risk of public disclosure and consequent damage to the institution and the Congregation. This policy resulted in the protection of the perpetrator. When lay people were discovered to have sexually abused, they were generally reported to the Gardai [the police]. When a member of a Congregation was found to be abusing, it was dealt with internally and was not reported to the Gardaí.

“The desire to protect the reputation of the Congregation and institution was paramount. The documents revealed that sexual abusers were often long-term offenders who repeatedly abused children wherever they were working. Contrary to the Congregations’ claims that the recidivist nature of sexual offending was not understood, it is clear from the documented cases that they were aware of the propensity for abusers to re-abuse. The risk, however, was seen by the Congregations in terms of the potential for scandal and bad publicity should the abuse be disclosed. The danger to children was not taken into account. When confronted with evidence of sexual abuse, the response of the religious authorities was to transfer the offender to another location where, in many instances, he was free to abuse again.”

What he’s referring to is the pope’s previous job: For more than 20 years before he became the pope, Cardinal Ratzinger led the Vatican office that had responsibility, among other issues, for response to child abuse cases. An archbishop wrote letters to that office in 1996, calling for disciplinary proceedings against priest Lawrence Murphy. This has been confirmed by Church and Vatican documents. Murphy is believed to have molested some 200 boys at St John’s School for the Deaf in St Francis, Wisconsin, between 1950 and 1974. While a canonical trial was initiated by Cardinal Ratzinger’s secretary, it was ended by the future pope himself after his receipt of a letter from Murphy in which Murphy said he was ill and wanted to live out the remainder of his time in the “dignity of my priesthood”.