Category Archives: Soapbox

Emails, life events, and things in the news that catch my attention and annoy me enough to rant about or interest me enough to comment on yell and scream about. Usually things regarding religious and political groups that insist on regulating the lives and lifestyles others with stupid laws and random taxation.

Death before alcohol

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I’ve been having a craving to try my hand at making bread pudding. I have a recipe that calls for brandy. Not having any brandy on hand I went to the grocery store yesterday. In Washington state beer and wine are sold at grocery stores whereas hard liquor is sold at liquor stores. There wasn’t any at the store I usually do my shopping at so I went to one that I know has a much bigger selection. I thought since brandy is derived from wine that it would be in a grocery store, but no I have to do a separate trip to the liquor store. I didn’t go. Why? Because on the door of every store is a sticker that says, “must be 21″. Yes, I’m well over 21, but Sophia isn’t. I can’t just leave her in the car even if it’s “just for a second”. I don’t know if I would be allowed in with her or not, but didn’t want to make a separate trip and pull her out of the car just to find out I either need to send Kurt after work or go by myself after Kurt gets home. I just don’t feel like – gawd I’m not myself after having a kid – I don’t feel like testing the limits. Alcohol laws are so fucked up!

Today on the news they said a judge ruled that a fourteen year old Jehovah’s Witness boy with leukemia could refuse a blood transfusion that could save his life.

Mount Vernon boy dies after refusing blood transfusion
NEWS UPDATE Nov, 29, 2007

SEATTLE — A few hours after a Mount Vernon judge ruled that a 14-year-old Jehovah’s Witness sick with leukemia had the right to refuse a blood transfusion, even though that refusal might kill him, the boy died in a Seattle hospital.

As Kurt pointed out while we watched the news tonight, this boy was basically granted the right to die for religious reasons, which is fine. It’s part of our freedom, but if this same boy sought to have a bottle of brandy for religious reasons, it would be denied. Much like the eighteen to twenty year olds that sign their life away to serve and protect this country, they’re old enough to die but not old enough to dull the pain. But unlike the military enlistees this fourteen year old can’t even legally have sex. If he had consensual sex with an adult that adult would be charged with statutory rape. But he can choose to opt out of medical treatment that could save his life at age fourteen.

Earlier Wednesday, Skagit County Superior Court Judge John Meyer denied a motion by the state to force the boy to have a blood transfusion. The judge said the eighth-grader knows “he’s basically giving himself a death sentence.”

Doctors diagnosed the boy with leukemia in early November and began treating him with chemotherapy at Children’s Hospital, but stopped a week ago because his blood count was too low, the Skagit Valley Herald reported. The boy refused the transfusion on religious grounds.

However, his birth parents, Lindberg Sr. and Rachel Wherry, who do not have custody and flew from Boise, Idaho, to be at the hearing, believed their son should have had the transfusion and suggested he had been unduly influenced by his legal guardian, his aunt Dianna Mincin, who is also a Jehovah’s Witness.

Mincin has declined to talk about the case.

The boy’s father told the P-I the ruling shocked him but after visiting his son later in the day Wednesday, he decided not to appeal. He said doctors told him Wednesday evening that the boy, unconscious since Tuesday, had likely suffered brain damage.

Several friends of Lindberg and of his parents attended Wednesday’s hearing, and some ran out crying when the judge announced his decision.

“Dennis does present himself as a very mature man. But he really is just a child trying to please the adults around him,” said Jan Curry, whose daughter, Morgan, is his friend.

With the transfusions and other treatment, the boy had been give a 70 percent chance of surviving the next five years, the judge said in court, based on what the boy’s doctors told him.

Still, the judge said his decision was based strictly on facts.

“I don’t believe Dennis’ decision is the result of any coercion. He is mature and understands the consequences of his decision,” Meyer said during Wednesday’s hearing. “I don’t think Dennis is trying to commit suicide. This isn’t something Dennis just came upon, and he believes with the transfusion he would be unclean and unworthy.”

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Vaccinate or jail?

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What the hell is up with this?

Md. schools get tough on vaccinations

By STEPHEN MANNING, Associated Press Writer Fri Nov 16, 5:56 PM ET

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. – Two months into the school year, more than 2,000 students in this suburban county outside the nation’s capital had yet to get the shots they needed to attend class. So the school system decided it was through playing nice.

Big deal? What’s the problem? I don’t get it.

Parents in Prince George’s County have been ordered to appear at a special court hearing Saturday where they will be given a choice: Get their children vaccinated on the spot or risk up to 10 days in jail and fines.

How exactly did a school district get the court involved in parents vaccinating their kids? Don’t we have options as parents anymore?

It is one of the strongest efforts made by a U.S. school system to ensure its youngsters receive their shots.

Prince George’s County school officials and prosecutors said parents have been duly warned about the need for vaccinations over the past year. They said the goal isn’t to throw parents in jail but to protect public health and get kids who have been barred from school back to class.

Isn’t it the parent’s right to decide what’s right for their children? I mean we have parents that for religious reasons will pray rather than seek medical attention for their dying children and that’s somehow acceptable, but not getting shots means jail time? How exactly does putting parents in jail help the kids? And why aren’t they allowed in school just because they haven’t had their shots? If their is an outbreak of smallpox, mumps, measles, whatever it’s the kids whose parent’s opted out that will get it not the vaccinated ones (for the most part). There used to be some waiver that parent’s could sign at the school saying that if their child came down with one of those diseases you have to pull them out so it’s not passed around – duh they’re sick.

“How can you in good conscience allow your child to miss school and their education for no particular reason?” said John White, spokesman for the 132,000-student school system.

And how can Mr. John White be such a pompous fucking ass? My question is, what if you fear what’s in the vaccines. Vaccines for children used to contain thimerosal as a preservative and in the 90′s when there was an increase on vaccines for kids there was also an increase in autism, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, and speech/language delay. I ask Mr. John White how many ADHD and autistic children does he want in each classroom? Ok, asking that question is a logical fallacy. Yes, they’ve removed all thimerosal from vaccines for children under the age of six, but I can totally understand some parents being nervous about giving their children shots. The school district has 132,000 students, and about 2,000 don’t have their shots? Dude that’s only 1.52%. Give it up you jackass!

At the courthouse, the health department will have a makeshift clinic to administer vaccines. Parents will be given the chance to offer the judge an excuse for why they didn’t get their kids vaccinated. Under Maryland law, parents can obtain exemptions for religious or medical reasons.

Whether justified or not, does fear of causing neurodevelopmental disorders qualify under “medical reason”? If not that’s just fucked up. Thanks so much for removing all of the parenting from being a parent.

Those who fail to show up — and those who fail to offer a valid excuse and still refuse the shots — could be prosecuted under truancy laws and face possible jail time and fines of $50 per day. Prosecutors do not expect to actually charge anyone on Saturday.

May I have a list of “valid” excuses? Just make it a multiple choice test.

“The message is get your kids vaccinated or get an exemption,” said Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey. “You can’t just sit on the fence.”

Fair enough I guess.

Barbara Loe Fisher, head of National Vaccine Information Center, a vaccine skeptic group, complained: “It is terrorizing parents. When you have the threat of going to jail, it is hard to make an informed decision.”

UUmmm honestly hon – it’s hard to make an informed decision about vaccinating even without the threat of jail. Just knowing that people claimed to get polio from polio vaccines in the past makes me leery. Without advanced knowledge of chemistry and/or biology a parent is just weighing on whether they think it’s more risky to vaccinate and get a known or unknown side effect from it or come down with some disease that hasn’t made much of an appearance for years.

Even the judge who opened his court is somewhat skeptical about hauling parents into court.

William Missouri, administrative judge for the county circuit court, agreed to the Saturday session and said it would probably prod some parents to comply. But the problem “may have been ratcheted up to a level it should not have been at this time.”

School officials said that it is not clear why parents are not complying, but that some may have religious or medical objections, while others may have failed to turn in the paperwork, or their kids’ addresses were outdated.

The prospect of stiff penalties appears to have worked already. Last week, when the court notices were sent to parents, 2,300 students had not been properly immunized. As of Friday afternoon, only about 1,100 remained on the list.

Maryland, like all states, requires children to be immunized against several childhood illnesses, including polio, mumps and measles. In recent years, it has required that students up to high-school age be vaccinated against hepatitis B and chicken pox.

Chicken pox? Really? What if they already had Chicken pox?

Chicken pox isn’t that bad – as long as you get it as a kid. Chicken pox used to be a time of great social gatherings. “My child has chicken pox” “Really? We’ll be right over so our kids can get it too!”

After that, thousands of students — most of them high schoolers — were found to lack the required immunizations. Parents were sent letters and visited at home, and the school system even offered free vaccinations.

“Once the word gets out, it will definitely work,” Bob Ross, head of the parent-teachers association at Surrattsville High School in Clinton, said of the new get-tough approach. “Parents are going to have to set aside some time. Parents have a responsibility to help protect the public health.”

I have a responsibility to protect public health? Since when?! Besides if my kid catches something because I chose not vaccinate her it’s mostly the 1.52% whose parents didn’t get the memo that will be affected. It won’t be like black plague. Besides you can get vaccinated as an adult too.

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Papers are in order

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A couple weeks before Sophia was born Kurt and I went to see a lawyer about ensuring paternity rights, drawing up our wills, and creating a trust for our spawn in the event Kurt and I die of spontaneous combustion or we go out on a date without the kid and develop a severe case of road rage and the S.W.A.T. team is required to take us out Bonnie and Clyde style. Anyway, we signed our wills on Wednesday and none of you gets anything so even ask. Although I may allocate a boot to the head to a few special people, one of them being my ex. Sit down this might be a long story.

My ex and I have been legally divorced for NINE YEARS. We parted as friends and didn’t use lawyers for our divorce. We were stupid and thought that because we were parting on good terms we wouldn’t need them at all. Stupid stupid stupid! We agreed on everything as far as who would keep what and who pays which bills. We filled out one of those “do it yourself” divorce packets, filed it with the court, and $130 in filing fees later that was it. The problem is that we had and STILL have a house together. In the divorce decree the house and all the bills associated with it are his, but no where in those do it yourself papers did they have a place for me to write in a deadline for when my name should be removed from the title or the LOANS. We removed each others names from the credit cards we kept and have since sold all the vehicles that were owned by us jointly, but the house, the fucking house is still in my name.

We bought the old 1930′s home as a fixer and intended to uumm fix it up. It wasn’t in bad shape when we bought it. There were a couple highly fixable oddities, but it was livable. Not the case anymore. While we were together, he upgraded all of the single pane windows. He also ripped out all of the cloth wiring, which meant insulating and adding sheetrock as well. It still needs the sheetrock, doors for the kitchen cabinets, siding on half the damn house, but that’s not what makes the place unlivable – oh nnnnooo. It’s the dry rot from not finishing some of the outdoor type projects, the dead 60 year-old tree next to the house that is so infested with termites that they spread to all the trees on the property and the house, and the transients he lets store all their crap all over the place and live there rent free. Now according to our divorce decree the house is his and he has been making all of the payments, so I really don’t care who lives there or what condition the house is in, but my name is still on the title and the loan. That means two things to me. If one of the many people or their kids get hurt in the house of perpetual construction or anywhere in the half acre landfill junkyard it sits on and they sue the owner of the house…that includes me! Also the three late payments to the house affect MY would-be pristine credit.

I’m ex military but he isn’t and we took out a VA loan. I think if he had been military it would have been as simple as dropping my name from the loan through VA. However, the actual loan is not through VA it’s been shuffled off to a mortgage company just like everyone else’s home loans. You may sign the papers at a local bank but they often sell it off to some other company, so the fact that it started out as VA is moot now. I’ve called VA and they tell me to do a “quitclaim deed” – oh hell no! That means I have no interest in the property, but I DO! As long as my name is on the loan and my credit is affected you had better believe I have a very real interest in that property. VA said that I need to go to the mortgage company to find out how to take my name off the loan. I call the mortgage company and they say that HE must refinance and qualify for a new loan, and here is where the big problem lies. How the fuck do you drag an unwilling adult to the mortgage company?! And the really big question how do you get a mortgage company to agree to give a loan to the person who has been making all of the house payments by himself for the last NINE years when he has no actual job? That’s right, legally, on paper, he has no job! He’s paid under the table for construction work.

So sell the house ye may say. Nay says he. We tried that route about two years ago. I brought out my real estate agent (I keep one in my pocket at all times). I gave her full warning about the property before I had her meet with my ex. We set up a day for her to come out and view the place for pictures and a value assessment, and afterwards she privately said to me, “You know what this is right? This is a practice house for the fire department”. I’m not kidding, that’s really what she said. Of course, before she said that she said she legally had to ask me, “Have there ever been any drug ‘cooked’ there?” I really have no idea, but I don’t think so. I was so ashamed to be associated with that property. She knew but I had to tell her anyway, “That is not how I live”. He has made that house THAT bad.

He found a sucker in one of his friends and we and came very close to selling. He wanted to make the purchase without agents and I reluctantly agreed, but he didn’t qualify for the loan. I should have seen that one coming, so that was it. My ex didn’t really want to sell for the price my real estate agent gave. He has put WAY too much money into that shit hole and for some fucked up reason he thinks he can get much more and actually gain a profit from the sale. Across the street from the house is a fourplex that sits on the exact same size lot. I was hoping that she could give a number that he would like by focusing on contractors wanting to build apartments, but the property just isn’t worth it when you factor in demolition of the house and such.

This whole ordeal is what finally ended my friendship with my ex. Actually, it ended when he called me a “stupid bitch”. So enter the lawyer stage left. When Kurt and I first talked to our lawyer about getting my name off this house, he made it seem like something definitely could be done and that it might not take much at all. After I sent him my divorce decree and we talked on Wednesday – he doesn’t seem so eager for the job. He said I would have to submit a revision to the divorce decree, but the way he said it sounded like that sort of thing isn’t approved often, or it would somehow be very difficult. I didn’t ask for details as to what had to happen to make that happen. He said he would look over the decree again to see if there might be another option.

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Un-fucking believable Bumbo

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Has this ever happened before? Has there ever in the history of recalls been a recall on a product that functions perfectly when used according to the manufacturers instructions? What dim-witted dip-shit thinks that gravity ceases to exist when they put their darling in a Bumbo seat? For those that keep an eye on their child while sitting on a raised surface – kudos. But to those whose famous last words were, “I just turned my head for a second”. I offer thee a swift kick in the pants.

They’re recalling the Bumbo because it’s dangerous when misused, no shit. Tons of things are dangerous when misused. Cat’s don’t come out well when you dry them in the dryer – even if you set it to “fluff”. And haircuts just aren’t the same with a lawn mower – if you don’t believe me go ahead and try it.

Serious Head Injuries Prompt Recall of Bumbo Baby Sitter Seats – New Warnings and Instructions to Be Provided To Consumers

Please go and get your new warning stickers lest your child receive a head injury from properly sitting in a chair.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Yes, you must stop using this chair because without the new warning stickers that are being issued that chair is a hazard to the human race and maybe even the whole planet. It could go off at any moment.

Name of Product: Bumbo “Baby Sitter” Seats

Units: About 1 million

Manufacturer: Bumbo International, of South Africa

Hazard: If the seat is placed on a table, countertop, chair, or other elevated surface, young children can arch their backs, flip out of the Bumbo seat, and fall onto the floor, posing a risk of serious head injuries.

Incidents/Injuries: CPSC has received 28 reports of young children falling out of the Bumbo Baby Sitter seat, including three skull fractures, which occurred when children fell out of chairs that had been placed on tables.

Description: The bottom of the children’s seat is round and flat with a diameter of about 15 inches. It is constructed of a single piece of molded foam and comes in yellow, blue, purple, pink, aqua, and lime green. The seat has leg holes and seat back that wraps completely around the child. On the front of the seat in raised lettering is the word “Bumbo” with the image of an elephant on top. The bottom of the seat has the following words: “Manufactured by Bumbo South Africa Material: Polyurethane World Patent No. PCT: ZA/1999/00030.” The back of the seat contains the following “WARNING” – “Never use on a raised surface. Never use as a car seat or bath seat. Designed for floor level use only. Never leave your baby unattended as the seat is not designed to be totally restrictive and may not prevent release of your baby in the event of vigorous movement.”

Did you notice that? In the description it says there is a warning on the back of the chair already…is it not big enough? Do they really think that if they make the letters bolder or something *that* will force people to read it? Actually I think it’s the wording. No one lacking in common fucking sense understands what a “raised surface” is, and I think all warnings should being with, “Don’t be a fucking dolt!”

Sold by: Target, Wal-Mart, Sears, Toys R Us, Babies R Us, USA Babies and various other toy and children’s stores nationwide, and various online sellers, from August 2003 through October 2007 for about $40.

Manufactured in: South Africa

Remedy: Consumers should never use the infant seat on a table, countertop, chair, or other elevated surface. Consumers can contact Bumbo to obtain new warning label stickers and instructions, free of charge. The new warning label will state: “WARNING – Prevent Falls; Never use on any elevated surface.” Consumers should use the Bumbo seat at ground level, but should never leave a child unattended.

Consumer Contact: Contact Bumbo International at (877) 932-8626 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s Web site at www.bumbosafety.com

That is a stupid remedy. First of all the original warning was much more descriptive and therefore better in my opinion, with exception to the “raised surface” bit. If they just used, “Never use as a car seat or bath seat. Designed for floor level use only.” from the original warning that would make perfect sense. But changing raised surface to elevated surface – dumb.

Other blogger posts about the Bumbo recall.

My past post on a diaper pin warning.

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Led by trains

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I love trains minus living near a stretch of tracks that has many crossings. *grumble* What’s funny about the tracks I currently live near is that right next to them is a sign that reads, “Sound ordinance strongly enforced”. I shit you not. I’ll have to get a picture of that sign someday.

My senior year of high school I used to play hooky all the time and go to a park that was about three miles from where I lived. At this particular park there was an overpass over the tracks which lead to the “beach”. I use the word beach loosely because this was in WA state and the beaches are quite sad – not as sad as those in Alaska, but I digress. I would hang out alone on this overpass and watch the freight trains travel below me. At this spot they would sometimes go very slow and I kept trying to work up the courage to hitch a ride and see where it would take me.

I moved to Michigan three days after graduation and after signing up for the Navy. My first train ride was when I was shipped off to boot camp from Michigan to Great Mistakes Great Lakes Illinois. Despite that I still love trains. It probably helped that anytime we had liberty in boot camp it was the train that also took us away to Chicago for the day.

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Nursery Water

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I’ve seen this at Babies “R” Us and today I just saw it today at another store. My first thought goes to the name – I know what kind of liquids come from a baby nursery and I want nothing to do with any of them much less buy some of it bottled. My next thought is other than for convenience if your camping or something like that – why the hell are we buying bottled water? We already have to pay for tap. Just use that. It’s the same stuff I promise. Unless you live in a third world country or came from the same town in Alaska that I did where city water smelled like rotten eggs and actually had visibly brown sediment your tap water is at least as good as the bottled stuff.

Back to “Nursery Water”. At the store I saw this brand in it cost about 30 cents more than the surrounding brands. The marketing on the web site of this brand says, “Our water goes through an extensive process of steam distillation” – fancy huh? All that means is it’s distilled. Ok, distilled water usually costs more because something is actually being done to it, but is that really necessary? If you just boil water that will get rid of any bacteria. Distillation gets rid of bacteria and any minerals – What the fuck minuscule trace mineral are you afraid your baby might come into contact with? The marketing team at Nursery Water goes on to say, “We even add minerals such as magnesium, potassium, and calcium for a refreshing taste your child will love!” If you take just one second to read the nutrition label on the bottle none of those things even register as a percentage of the daily recommended allowance, so anything they add to it is so little it’s basically ZERO and they might as well not bother. It’s water – there is no fucking flavor! “Specially formulated to contain the ADA recommended level of added fluoride” The tap water in most communities has fluoride and so do some other bottled waters.

From the EPA:

Bottled water is not necessarily safer than your tap water. EPA sets standards for tap water provided by public water systems; the Food and Drug Administration sets bottled water standards based on EPA’s tap water standards.

From the FDA regarding formula preparation using tap water:

In most cases, it’s safe to mix formula using ordinary cold tap water that’s brought to a boil and then boiled for one minute and cooled. According to the World Health Organization, recent studies suggest that mixing powdered formula with water at a temperature of at least 70°C (158°F) creates a high probability that the formula will not contain the bacterium Enterobacter sakazakii—a rare cause of bloodstream and central nervous system infections. Remember that formula made with hot water needs to be cooled quickly to body temperature—about 98°F—if it is being fed to the baby immediately. If the formula is not being fed immediately, refrigerate it right away and keep refrigerated until feeding.

From the FDA regarding formula preparation using Bottled water:

If consumers use non-sterile bottled water for formula preparation, they should follow the same directions as described for tap water above. Some companies sell bottled water that is marketed for infants and for use in mixing with infant formula. This bottled water is required to meet general FDA quality requirements for bottled water. If the bottled water is not sterile, the label must also indicate this. Water that is marketed by the manufacturer as sterile and for infants must meet FDA’s general requirements for commercial sterility.

By the way – Nursery Water does not meet the FDA’s requirements for commercial sterility they even say so on the FAQ section of their website, which means that according to the FDA you’re supposed to boil it anyway.

Why am I picking on this brand? Because when I passed by it in the store today I thought it’s stupid to market water just for babies, so I wanted to know more because I apparently enjoy torturing myself. It’s just water, and that particular zero calorie beverage doesn’t need to be any different for a baby than for an adult. Then I saw on the label, “specially formulated for babies” and I flew into rant mode. I know that those words tickle the guilt-ridden heartstrings of new moms and I have something very blunt to say about that. I will make no apology for the following sentiments – anyone who purchases this brand of water because they truly believe that it’s not only better for their baby than tap water but because they also think water can actually be “specially formulated for babies”, is fucked in the head. It’s water you stupid drone! You are the reason there are isles and isles of useless crap in stores that prevent me from finding something as simple as a replacement for my broken vegetable steamer basket because there are apparently so many of you out there buying this useless shit that stores don’t bother with actual merchandise. I went to Target, Fred Meyer, and K-Mart looking for one and finally found it at Safeway. I bought two of them!

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Keywords and phrases

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I’ve seen this done on a few blogs, so I thought I’d join in the fun. This is the list of searches that lead people to my blog during the month of August:

“heartburn potatoes” – You know when I started posting about my heartburn I expected it to come up in searches, but never with potatoes. I don’t feel like as much of a freak now. Thank you. Who ever you are.

“my mum does not want to know about my baby s birth” – Wow, that’s really sad. I’m so sorry to hear that. What’s odd is that I did the search in Google and found that the first draft of my birth plan was listed second using that phrase.

“alisha blimka”
“huntwood industries”
“huntwood discrimination”
“huntwood industries lawsuit”
“huntwood suit”
“huntwood industries court case” – Nothing funny about these SIX searches, but they were very near the top. These would all lead to my post about a woman that was fired for going against her employer’s religion and living with her boyfriend.

“why get cramp in my toes” – Why not? Seems as good a place as any to get a cramp.

“baby benadryl” – I don’t know if this person actually wants a bottle of it, but on my site it leads to a post about an irritated flight attendant.

“poker” – this person must have been REALLY bored to find my blog using just the word “poker”. The only post in which I mention that word (until this post of course) is one where I talk about how I spent my New Years Eve and I only used it once at the very end of the post.

“my first home birth” – I really don’t get this. Why would someone want to take this risk? I want doctors and nurses around me. I want to know that the baby and I will come out of this alive. Just because you’re in a hospital doesn’t mean that you have to accept all the cool drugs they offer. You can do the natural thing there and in the event that things don’t work out they will do their damnedest to make sure you and baby live. Yes, people used to give birth at home and in those days there was also a high rate of women dying during child birth and babies that didn’t make it. And why ruin your own bed and flooring with blood and other fluids – let the hospital ruin their stuff and the staff take care of the mess.

“animal boys mom” – I think in order to get where you want to go you’ll have to be more specific.

“7 foods never to eat during conceiving” – uumm I can’t think of anything you need to avoid during conception. As a matter a fact I hear alcohol is how most people get pregnant. :P I would avoid handling jalapeños (or anything containing capsaicin) and then handling your partner’s genitals though.

“worst pregnancy symptoms” – My worst were the taste in my mouth for the first trimester and in the third trimester definitely the heartburn!

“voyeur” – That’s it I’m investing in curtains.

“spotting and nosebleed at 10 weeks” – oh coming out at both ends, that’s no fun. I’d see a doctor about the spotting.

“are pregnancy symptoms worse at night” – The heartburn yes! When you lay down the stomach acid tend to come all the way up. Pregnancy, ahh what a magically romantic time. Oh and having to pee every 15 minutes is more annoying at night too. It interrupts the whole trying to get some sleep bit.

“pregnancy drain” – Yes, yes it is.

“bumgenius wordpress” – The only thing a cloth diaper and blogging software have in common is this search right here.

“bloody nose heartburn” – WOW, and I thought my heartburn was bad!

“panties for obese woman” – Try the special panties that Mormons are supposed to wear.

“car seat big enough for cloth diapers?” – uuumm if your child won’t fit in the car seat because of the diaper I’m guessing you have no confidence in the absorbency of cloth and have over diapered your poor baby.

“6 week burning sensation pregnancy” – I’m no doctor but it sounds like you got an STD with your pregnancy. Congratulations!

“journal of pediatrics and baby einstein video”
“journal of pediatrics baby einstein”
“journal of pediatrics baby einstein university of washington” – My thoughts on the article that prompted all these Baby Einstein searches in one word, BULLSHIT.

“foreskin blogs” – I say keep the foreskin, but really, is it THAT important? I can just picture guys all networking together blogging about their special connection with their foreskin.

“why does pregnancy make you feel like an emotional monster” – It’s called HORMONES dear.

“i am stuff and things” – I really don’t know how to respond to that. Truly you are special stuff.

“eat banana during cough” – Just try not to choke, ok?

“pregnancy pet bird safety” – Birds don’t get pregnant, they lay eggs. Didn’t your parents explain the birds and bees to you?

“woo hoo biking in calif a different animal” – Funny this search lead to my “about me” page.

“citrucel and pregnancy” – You must use it! I don’t know how I would have made it without.

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Placentophagy and postpartum depression

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I was just reading some posts from other fellow bloggers and one had recently posted about placentophagy being a possible cure for postpartum depression. I’ve never ever ever heard of that term or the claim. Placentophagy is what it’s called when one eats their own placenta – that’s just gross! I haven’t looked up any news articles on it but apparently a woman recently sued a hospital to get her placenta so she could eat it. The idea behind this madness is that the placenta is filled with hormones that helped sustain the pregnancy and if the woman ingests it she can avoid postpartum depression because it will replace the hormones she lost after the delivery.

In her blog post Kristin posed a question:

One question I haven’t yet seen addressed is: once a placenta is dried out, would the hormones even still be chemically active/viable?

I was going to leave a comment on her blog with my thoughts, but this topic was so bizarre to me that I decided to put my answer on my blog and just leave some links to her site and post. My comment:

That is so gross! As far as the placenta having hormones and them still being active – I would guess yes. I mean USDA requires that cows not get any hormones for a period of time before they’re slaughtered so that it doesn’t affect the people that eat it. I just wonder if the placenta has the right hormones in it – as in the ones that will help a woman against PPD. If they ever do a study on cannibalizing placentas I’ll make sure to keep tabs on it, but I’m not signing up for it!

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Discrimination at Huntwood Industries

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Woman alleges she was fired for cohabitation
Virginia DeLeon
Staff writer
August 9, 2007

A former Huntwood Industries employee is suing the company, alleging she lost her job because her boss disapproved of the fact that she was an unmarried woman living with her boyfriend.

OH my! Watch out for locust falling from the sky. The end of the world is coming when you stop judging the personal lives of your employees. Doesn’t it say something in the bible (since the US is about 80% Christian I’m just assuming they follow some form of that bible) about casting the first stone – how does that one go again?

In a lawsuit recently filed in Spokane County Superior Court, Alisha Blimka, of Spokane, claims she was singled out almost two years ago because of her marital status and because she did not share her employers’ religious beliefs.

Huntwood President Tim Hunt said he had yet to see the lawsuit Wednesday, but stressed that his company would never mistreat its employees. “I can tell you emphatically that we don’t discriminate,” he said. “But it doesn’t keep people from wanting to sue us.”

You know uumm suing one’s employer isn’t exactly an everyday occurrence, especially when you only have 750 employees. Usually if someone is going to take that step – something happened and they have the documentation to prove it.

One of the Spokane area’s largest manufacturers, Huntwood Industries is a wood-manufacturing company with about 750 workers. Last fall, the Liberty Lake company laid off roughly 100 workers as a result of a national downturn in the wood products market.

Excuse me, but what does that have to do with the lawsuit? Last fall was 2006. This woman was fired in fall of 2005.

Blimka, who worked in Huntwood’s payroll department, lost her job on Oct. 17, 2005. According to the lawsuit, she received a “personnel action notice” signed by supervisor Darrick Hunt in March 2005 stating that she would be discharged “if not married by 12/31/05.” A copy of the notice was included in the court filings. Hunt is the son of Huntwood owners Tim and Resa Hunt.

Ahh the paper trail. Good girl for keeping that one!

“We believe that as set forth in the complaint, the allegations of religious discrimination and marital status discrimination — a violation of Washington state law — is supported not only by our client’s testimony but also by the personnel action notice,” said Kammi Mencke, Blimka’s attorney. “It is our understanding that (Huntwood owners) Tim and Resa Hunt have a religious belief that does not support two people who are unmarried living together. … We believe Huntwood’s religious beliefs conflicted with Alisha’s.”

Mencke declined to answer questions about Blimka’s faith, stating only that Blimka had recently received a raise and good evaluations before her job was terminated.

I don’t understand why we even need to know Blimka’s faith. This isn’t or shouldn’t be a case of who follows which religion and whose religion is the correct one. This is about not medaling in an employee’s private life. It’s not an employer’s job to make sure it’s employees are following what they deem a righteous path. Blimka might even follow the same religion as the company owners but not follow the rules as strictly.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers with 14 or more employees from discriminating against individuals because of their religious beliefs or practices, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “Employees cannot be forced to participate — or not participate — in a religious activity as a condition of employment,” according to the act.

Woo!

In the past, Tim and Resa Hunt have publicly stated the importance of faith in how they view their roles as company owners. “We feel the Lord has placed a blessing on this company and allowed us to have a vision for it,” Resa Hunt told the newspaper in February 2006.

Vision it however you’d like, but there are these pesky things called antidiscrimination laws. Your own bible says it’s not up to you to judge others (again I’m assuming they’re some variation of Christian).

According to the lawsuit, Blimka started working at Huntwood in July 2004 and was asked about her religious beliefs by Huntwood owners and managers during the course of her employment. Blimka had worked in the company’s small payroll department, Mencke said, and people knew she was living with her boyfriend. It wasn’t clear, however, what led to the personnel action notice.

Being asked about my beliefs by the owners and managers would have made bells and whistles go off in my head. Not that it’s her fault for answering I mean a little bit of personal life always comes out at work especially if you become friends with coworkers outside of work. It’s known at my job that I’m not married. I don’t wear a ring and I always refer to Kurt as my boyfriend. – That’s right I’m pregnant and not married. And I have no intention of getting married either! – DEAL WITH IT!

When asked about Blimka’s response to the notice and why she didn’t immediately report it to the EEOC, Mencke responded: “I’m not at liberty to answer that.”

Now that’s something I’d like to know, but it’s an ongoing case – yadda yadda

The complaint also lists former Huntwood administrative assistant, Tracy Schneiderman of Spokane, as a plaintiff in the case.

After learning about what happened to her co-worker, Schneiderman told her boss, Ron Schutz, about Blimka’s personnel action notice. She also called attention to the working conditions at Huntwood’s production floor, where her husband, Stephen, was working, according to the complaint. She told him that employees in the production department were working long hours during the summer and early fall of 2005 but were not receiving their meal and rest periods, according to the lawsuit.

Tracy Schneiderman, who started working at Huntwood in July 2004, also lost her job on Oct. 17, 2005 — a week after talking to her supervisor about Blimka’s notice, according to Mencke. Until then, Schneiderman had received raises and good evaluations from her supervisors, Mencke said. The lawsuit claims she was the victim of retaliation.

Oh I hope Schneiderman has some kind of written documentation about that conversation (an email would be fantastic because it’s date stamped and everything) otherwise her specific case looks pretty weak.

Both Blimka and Schneiderman were told that they were “let go based on a reduction in force,” Mencke said. It was unclear, however, how many others lost their jobs that day.

How can that be unclear? Doesn’t the company keep records?

Schneiderman’s husband, Stephen Schneiderman, also lost his job, Mencke said, but the attorney didn’t know the date when he was laid off.

Although it’s been almost two years since Blimka and Tracy Schneiderman lost their jobs at Huntwood, the women filed their lawsuit only last month because they were waiting for the state Human Rights Commission to finish its investigation.

The commission found there was “not sufficient evidence that an unfair practice has occurred,” according to Mencke. Her clients, however, are proceeding with the lawsuit because “the personnel action notice is pretty clear on its face that she was to be terminated because she wasn’t married,” she said.

How could the Human Rights Commission come to that conclusion? Unless they found that the company fairly fires all unmarried cohabiters and the people that question such a ridicules practice, and they totally missed Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I mean the woman had a personnel action notice stating that if she wasn’t married by the end of the year she would be fired. How much more blantent can they be about it?

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Study links women’s obesity, birth defects

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By LINDSEY TANNER
Tuesday, August 7, 2007 – Page updated at 02:06 AM
The Associated Press
CHICAGO — Women who are obese before pregnancy face a higher risk of having babies with a variety of birth defects than women with a healthy weight, a new study suggests.

I shouldn’t, but I’m going to assume that when they talk about obese women they aren’t speaking of women that are just 20 pounds overweight. It makes sense that if a woman is so overweight that she has health problems due to weight her unborn baby may be affected. If any woman takes in too much caffeine, alcohol, or certain over the counter medications it can have serious effects on her unborn child, so it makes sense to me that a woman that has a wholly unhealthy lifestyle (in this case diet and exercise) could also cause negative effects to her baby especially if the bulk of her diet is overly processed foods with long ingredient lists (my bias, sorry). But does obesity automatically mean that the person has a bad diet and/or is unhealthy? To me that’s like assuming skinny people are healthy and/or vegetarians.

The results involving nearly 15,000 women from eight states found abnormalities of the spine, heart, arms, legs and abdomen, building on previous research that showed heart and spine defects. The greatest risk was for spina bifida.

Were these obese women or just 15,000 random women? If they were all obese how did the rates compare to women of a healthy weight and women that are overweight?

“Obese women should not be overly alarmed by these findings because their absolute risk of having a child with a birth defect is low, and the cause of the majority of birth defects is unknown,” said University of Texas researcher Kim Waller, the study’s lead author.

So why are we sharing this “news”? You’re only telling us that their absolute risk is low. Is absolute risk higher than for healthy weight women and over weight women? – if not why are we wasting this valuable newspaper space?

Still, the results underline yet another reason for women to maintain a healthy weight, Waller said.

Great, any F@#$ suggestions for those that have thyroid problems or for those that already have a healthy diet and adequate exercise?

The findings, published Monday in the August edition of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, suggest that about 4 percent of women who are obese before pregnancy will have babies with major birth defects, versus 3 percent for healthy-weight women, Waller said.

A one percent difference? Are you F#@$ing Sh@tting me? That’s not a found link in birth defects! That’s like getting pulled over for doing one mile an hour over the speed limit and calling it reckless driving.

Obese women faced double the risk of having babies with spina bifida than women of healthy weight. With spina bifida, the most common disabling birth defect in the United States, the spinal column fails to close properly.

Babies born to very heavy women also were 60 percent more likely to have a rare defect in which abdominal organs protrude through the belly button; 40 percent more likely to have heart defects; 36 percent more likely to have shortened arms or legs; and at least 20 percent more likely to have any of several gastrointestinal deformities.

Ok this sounds extremely significant, but we’re always hearing that the rate of obesity climbing in the US…if obesity is the link than is the rate of these birth defects also climbing?

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