Regarding the question of breast feeding your baby: Do it. Best for the child; bets for the mother. According to La Leche League , there are definite benefits for baby. They cite the book "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" quite a bit, too: Benefits for Baby Chapter 18 of THE WOMANLY ART OF BREASTFEEDING, "The Superior Infant Food," documents the benefits of breastfeeding such as the antibodies in it to protect the baby from illness. For example, "Deaths from respiratory infe...
Child labor is alive and despite United Nations efforts through their International Labor Organization and the African Network for the Prevention of and Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect. This sad state of affairs is a necessity in Ethiopia, where the standard of living requires younger and younger kids to be employed in farm labor or factory work in order to stay alive. From today's Washington Post : Across sub-Saharan Africa, according to U.N. research, one-third of all ...
SURREAL - One part opiate of the masses, 13 parts overuse. Oddly, news anchor and television small talk is becoming more surreal. HUNKER DOWN - To brace oneself, in anticipation of media onslaught. Trotted out in reports about everything from politics to hurricanes. I have a hankering to ban all of this hunkering. PERSON OF INTEREST - Found within the context of legal commentary, but seldom encountered at cocktail parties. Pardon me, but people with guns want to talk with you...
SURREAL - One part opiate of the masses, 13 parts overuse. Oddly, news anchor and television small talk is becoming more surreal. HUNKER DOWN - To brace oneself, in anticipation of media onslaught. Trotted out in reports about everything from politics to hurricanes. I have a hankering to ban all of this hunkering. PERSON OF INTEREST - Found within the context of legal commentary, but seldom encountered at cocktail parties. Pardon me, but people with guns want to talk with you...
My best day of 2005: When my youngest (and last) son was born, June 30th 2005. He was six months old yesterday. Very cute kid. My worst day of 2005: Having surgery, December 23rd 2005. Hurt a lot. See "Shorn and Snipped" for details. You don't want to see a picture of that, trust me. So how about you? JUsers, let the world know your best and worst days of 2005! Happy New Year!
So today is my twelfth anniversary with my loving wife. We are still incredibly happy, despite four kids, many stressors, and six years in the Army. We see our lives as a great adventure. We are really looking forward to this chapter in our lives: raising our four children in Maryland, post-Army, trying to buy a house (finally - too many years of base housing), and just trying to get to know one another all over again every day. My wife is the best thing in my life. She is my best fr...
I do not text message on a regular basis. In fact, I think I have written about two. Two in my life, not two in the last five minutes. I want to know how people like this here new-fangled availability of text messaging. Because it eludes me. I don't see the point of it, since it costs 10 cents every time I want to send one. I don't see the need for it, since if I want to talk to someone on my cell phone, I just call them. I only see the novelty of it! From today's Washington Post: ...
The TSA has been watching people in airports and profiling them based on body language, responses to questions, and other odd behavior. This practice is nothing new, but it's receiving media coverage due to the TSA's plans to roll out the behavior profiling program to several other airports in the next few months. From USA Today : Carl Maccario noticed it the instant he watched a tape of three Sept. 11 hijackers going through security at Dulles International Airport. Not one of th...
Here I sit, peas on crotch. The deed is done: the vasectomy has been performed. Luckily for me, the pain is not too bad. It was recommended that I have ice on 30 minutes, off 30 minutes... but I haven't been willing to take the ice off for longer than it took for someone to run upstairs for the other bag. Let me tell you about the surgery (this is the point where the faint of heart are supposed to stop reading and click off this site): Started with a nice shearing o' the scrotes, sin...
From Reuters: SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's most famous scientist quit under a cloud on Friday and could face prosecution after investigators said results in a landmark 2005 paper on producing tailored embryonic stem cells were intentionally fabricated. A panel from Seoul National University has been examining the work of Hwang Woo-suk, hitherto regarded in South Korea as a hero for bringing the country to the forefront of stem-cell and cloning studies -- and the world the first cloned d...
Today, December 23, 2005, is the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith. He was the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church. From its start in 1830, it has grown from six members in New York State to over 12 million members throughout the world, in almost every nation. He translated the Book of Mormon, which was the record of a group of people who left Jerusalem in 600 BC and fled to the "promised land". This Promised...
Recently there has been a flurry of Church vs. State activism regarding the use of religious symbols and functions within the American government. It's over the "establishment of religion", which finds flower in the CHAPLAIN. The military chaplain is expected to be a spiritual advisor and friend to all within military ranks and circles. He or she is supposed to take the lead in family group counseling sessions, open and close military functions with a prayer, and be an all around relig...
I like a lot of music. I like everyone from Barenaked Ladies to Toad the Wet Sprocket to Def Leppard. And I am proud to like them, all of them. All but a few, that is... There are certain singers or groups that I absolutely love but I would never tell a soul, for fear of public humiliation. I have a closet band. I'll tell you because I like to hear who people enjoy listening to. My closet bands are: Prince : he is the master of funk. As a white boy growing up in Minneapo...
Pulling a page from the Gitmo playbook, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein claimed in an outburst at his Baghdad trial for torture and murder Wednesday that he had been beaten by U.S. soldiers. He claimed that his detainers were beating him on every inch of his body, so much so that the marks were still visible today in court. Not that he actually showed anyone those marks, but the allegations were there. Nobody believes him, but the freak show... I mean trial will be on hiatus for two w...
It occurred to me today, as I was listening and reading and watching all about the wiretap non-scandal and the post-9/11 assumption of powers, all in the name of the War on Terror... When do "We the People" get these civil liberties back? When can we fly without strip searches and shoe removal? When can we pick up the phone without wondering if anyone's listening? (No one is, I promise, unless you're already a terrorist.) (I could also go into "When can I stop worrying about the Mu...