Medical care help for drug war victims
The Mexican government has spent plenty of cash during their war with the drug cartels that seek to keep Mexico under their thumb. But often, the real victims of the war get forgotten, those who have lost relatives or themselves been harmed during the more than six-year-long conflict.
They are generally left to fend for themselves and in many cases are even persecuted by Mexico’s police forces. This has caused quite a stir with human rights groups. Now, with a new president in power, the government is looking to correct some of this collateral damage by offering up much-needed medical care to those who have suffered.
The new law will attempt to assist victims by paying for their medical and psychiatric care, as well as setting up a fund for potential future reparations and organizing a national registry of victims. Rejected by the last president for its loose and unstructured nature, the law has been embraced by the new regime.
With tens-of-thousands of innocents dead because of the continuing war against the cartels, it’s good to see the government finally stepping up and doing more than just exchanging bullets with their enemies. It also serves as a powerful political move for the new president, one that many are inclined to disagree with but one that will also pan out with the citizens of Mexico come next election time.
And even though critics of the law have some issues about where the money for the new programs will come from, at least it’s a step in the right direction. As long as the act is not just symbolic, it could serve as the first stage of recovery from the many long years of conflict.
Malaysian Sultan bans use of ‘Allah’ to non-Muslims
While perusing the daily news, I saw the headline for this one across my Internet sources and had to do a face-palm. There had to be more to the story, I thought, else how could the banning of a word be taken seriously? While it was common practice some thousand years ago to punish those that took the Western God’s name in vain, we’ve had more than a few hundred years to think on that obsessively controlling mistake. As it turns out, some have still not learned their lessons.
In Malaysia, a sultan in charge of Islamic affairs decided to ban all non-Muslims from being able to use the word “Allah.” His excuse was that it is a sacred word and the use of it in a non-Muslim way could be potentially offensive to Islam. Of course, the Christian and aboriginal populations of the country have been using the word Allah for some time when referring to the name of their own supreme deity. This makes it a little bit complicated, being as how they’d need to change all the Bibles around.
To justify the shift, the sultan loosely quoted a passage from the Quran that referred to not accepting anything into Islam that wasn’t pure. Depending on how you read it, one could go either way on whether it includes Allah’s proper name being used improperly as a breach of Muslim etiquette. It also mentions nothing of the “sacred words” that the sultan refers to.
The underlying reality of the situation is that there’s a political battle going on between the sultan and his allies and those who are opposed to this ruling. More likely it’s just one more excuse to fight for power and the religious motivation is more of a smokescreen. But whether the sultan and his supporters believe all the talk about sacred words or otherwise, it does paint a ridiculous picture of Islam for the rest of the world. The Western world has done some pretty ludicrous things in the name of Christianity, and I would hope that Muslims could learn from our mistakes and perhaps not adhere to something as pointlessly controlling as banning a word.
Peaceful Parents, Happy Kids
Are you a screamer who wishes that you could just calmly and effectively help your kids without raising your voice? Maybe your own parents yelled at you all the time and you know you don’t want your child to feel the same way you did. Or maybe you don’t yell, but you use punishments like time-outs and taking away toys that just don’t feel right to you on principle. What can you turn to when your child won’t stop hitting or calling names?
Dr. Laura Markham’s book Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting readily comes to mind. Parenting isn’t about controlling kids, Dr. Laura reminds us, but about controlling our own actions in response to our children. Her book is built on this concept, plus fostering a deep connection with our kids. She also encourages coaching rather than controlling, something I know all of us can appreciate.
I am working through Dr. Laura’s book right now and already I am seeing results. My daughter is calmer as I help her find ways to express her anger without hurting anyone else, as it is her right to do so (just as it is your right and my right). As I stop to question if what I’m about to say to her would be appropriate to say to a good friend or my husband, I realize how often my words are condescending and harmful, even when I have the best intentions.
Dr. Laura’s website, Aha! Parenting, has already helped my family tremendously. My husband grew up with an abusive father; I grew up with a loving mother who just happened to yell a lot. Both of us struggle with learning how to grow from our pasts and move into a kinder, gentler style of parenting. Our parents did the best they could with what they knew, and we can only ask the same of ourselves. That’s why we keep learning and growing, trying to be better parents every day.
My husband is much calmer as he considers what he says before he opens his mouth. I take a deep breath before yelling at my daughter and can usually stop it from happening. We try to anticipate her needs before they become problematic—is she tired? Hungry? Overstimulated?—so we can either prevent a meltdown or be prepared to deal with it as it comes.
We haven’t finished the book yet, but holy cow, I wish I could buy a copy for every parent I know. My copy is already dog-eared, and it’s taking me a little while to go through it since I’m taking notes and reviewing key sections with my husband. Like Alfie Kohn’s Unconditional Parenting, I truly think Dr. Laura’s Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids should be on every parent’s nightstand, heavily bent from use.
Modern Wonders of the World: Golden Gate Bridge
My daughter was born just over eight miles away from the Golden Gate Bridge, so it’s pretty special to us. Every day, looking out of her window from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, we could see the bridge—well, unless it was a gloomy, misty day—and it made us feel more hopeful about her coming home after being born extremely premature. Three months later, she did come home with us completely healthy and happy, and the bridge has been a symbol of our adventure and her gumption ever since.
I found a copy of Modern Wonders of the World: Golden Gate Bridge at our library and decided to check it out to help our little girl learn more about the icon from where she was born just over seven years ago. Written by Jennifer Fandel, the book is filled will gorgeous photos of the bridge and just about everything a child might want to know about the structure.
When you first open the book, you will find a cool map of the United States with a little dot that shows you where you’ll find the bridge. I can point to this and tell my daughter, “Look, that’s where you were born.” I still get emotional about it, even now. Flipping through, you may be amazed by the gorgeous photography. From the bridge surrounded by fog, to a full moon rising over the structure at night, to the bright city lights and cars dashing across the bridge, there are views from pretty much any season and angle.
The history of the bridge, from its building to its daily use in San Francisco today, is also covered in an easy-to-read, enjoyable format. It’s not storytelling, so don’t expect a tale to tell, but there’s plenty of information for your child to pick and choose from, depending on what she wants to learn about regarding the bridge and its richness.
The back of the book provides plenty of quick facts for kids who like that kind of info—from the important dates, sizes, and costs of the bridge—as well as a glossary that makes reading easier. I love the highlighting of the fact that California citizens bought the bridge through bonds, making the “Gateway to the Pacific,” the cross-country sister to our own Gateway to the West St. Louis Arch, a true functional monument belonging to the people. Of course, that doesn’t change the fact that you still have to pay the toll!
Dolphin stampede!
This is something that I’d never heard of until it started making waves (badda-bing) on the news lately - the rare and apparently breathtaking occurrence of dolphin stampedes. For some strange reason, hundreds of dolphins all get together at once and go rushing across the water, almost as if they were in some sort of great race. And while people are still at a loss to figure out exactly why this happens, at least now we have a video online so that those who didn’t have the luck to be there can still take a look at this amazing event.
It’s estimated that around a thousand dolphins took part in the great show off the coast of Dana Point in California. This area is known for its large dolphin population with an estimated 450,000 living in the region. But the dolphin stampede wasn’t just a singular occurrence. On both Saturday and Sunday the same thing took place, which is pretty remarkable considering how rare it is to see just one of these.
The video of the dolphin stampede went viral, of course, racking up more than 1.6 million views in little under a week. Better yet, the interest shown in the video has extended to other areas. There is more talk about the populations of these mammals in the California area, including people speaking about the dangers that dolphins are dealing with today. So while it may be amazing to look at, the end result provides us with more than just a bit of entertainment.
If only other endangered creatures would be so accommodating as to put on these grand performances, we wouldn’t have such a hard time protecting them from our fellow man.
And in case you haven’t had a chance to see the video, here it is:
A dozen-plus facts you need to know
Out of all of the end-of-the-year posts I read this year, Peter Daou’s “The Top Ten List You Shouldn’t Be Reading” probably affected me most. Sure, there were posts that made me feel warm and cozy about humanity, or that simply reassured me that the world, indeed, had not ended yet and I am not a zombie, but Daou’s post points out some staggering facts that we really need to consider. For example:
Did you know that the percentage of gun owners in this nation is higher than the percentage of youth who attend college, though over a million lose their lives to violence every year? After the Sandy Hook shooting, by the way, the NRA saw membership increase by a whopping 100,000 people. Come on, Americans! Put your guns down and let us move forward, for crying out loud. I’m tired of hearing that mass shootings are “a price we have to pay for freedom.” No, it’s not, it’s a price this country is paying in blood for your absurdity.
Peter points out so many other staggering facts for us to soberly ponder—such as how 300 kids die every hour from malnutrition, though it only takes 25 cents a day to feed a kid. Did you know that the leading cause of death for a pregnant woman in the world is murder? And though fracking uses 2 to 4 million gallons of water per well, while 1.6 million people face economic water shortages. How much longer are we willing to let these gross economic disparities occur? How much longer are we willing to let the majority suffer with nothing while the minority comfortably enjoys massive profits, extra homes and resources, and the prerogative to lay off or fire millions of people to make even more?
Guys, we have to do something. We can’t just sit around smoking and drinking and eating Cheetos and doing whatever we do to numb ourselves from the pain of the world. Hell, you might be experiencing one of these issues yourself. Some politicians are putting the pressure on. You might know that Hillary Clinton is pushing for measures against violence against women, or that Bernie Sanders is finally introducing a climate change bill in response to this past year’s massive record temperatures. But we have to do something, too. We have to put pressure on our politicians to make this change, we have to be ready to spend time or money to these causes, and we have to use our wallets as weapons every chance we get to stand up against oppression.
No kids on The Biggest Loser
Are you freaking kidding me? Kids on The Biggest Loser? What’s next, throwing little Sally and Sammy Junior onto Survivor? I don’t freaking think so! The Biggest Loser is possibly the worst show on television. It promotes self-hate, bullying and fat hate culture. Rather than making kids get healthy—which the show is trying to pretend it’s doing—it’s only going to make fat kids hated and bullied even moreso.
And why? Because people are “worried about fat people’s health.” That’s bull, by the way. Nobody cares. They like to bully, and bullying fat people is the last accepted form of bullying there is based on this flimsy excuse—which, by the way, is debunked by science on a continuous loop. Just recently, among the many studies that have proven that being fat alone doesn’t prove a damn thing about you except that you are, indeed, fat, a huge study proved that people who are either somewhat overweight or level one obese actually live longer than people who are considered a “normal” weight or underweight. Extreme cases are not included, but on a general basis, most of the fat people you make fun of may actually live longer than you, statistically speaking.
Subjecting fat kids to abusive Biggest Loser techniques—which, by the way, may be extremely dangerous and deceitful, according to secrets from the show that were recently revealed—just because they are fat, with no known other health problems apparent, is outrageous. And even if these kids have health issues, no one loses weight and keeps it off by being bullied. Do you really think that yelling at someone and calling them names helps their self esteem, or helps them love their body? Absolutely not. And that’s where real change happens. Anything the show manifests is made from Hollywood tricks and superficial, brief exterior changes.
If you want children to really be healthy, make physical education mandatory in schools. Have schools—all schools!—serve healthy foods instead of Pizza Hut. Educate them. Educate parents. Make healthy food choices affordable instead of subsidizing corn and sugar. Don’t shame people and don’t hate them; all it does is cause more shame and hate, not health.
Click here to tell producers to keep kids off the show—and that you won’t watch it at all until they do. (Check out that photo in the petition link. Think Michaels feels big and bad bullying someone just because she weighs more? Would you like to see a child subjected to that kind of hate?)
Atheists face global oppression
I have seen commentators on Fox News and other news stations cry foul over the religious discrimination that today’s Christians face—while they wear cross necklaces on national television, for the world to see. Oh noes! They’ll be flogged for that later, right, because of the rampant discrimination they face? No? Well, they’ll at least be denied an existence on this planet altogether, take away their rights to citizenship and other liberties, or even be executed, right?
Oh, wait. No, I’m thinking of atheists.
Whether you live in the United States, Europe, or especially in Islamic nations, you are likely to face oppression due to your atheism. According to a study conducted by the Humanist and Ethical Union, there are actual laws that deny people rights because of their atheism in some nations. Actual policies in America favor people in religious institutions while rejecting atheists as outsiders. In at least seven countries, you may be executed for simply being an atheist.
Did you know that in America, if you are an atheist you cannot hold public office in seven states? In Arkansas, atheists cannot testify as witnesses in court trials. These are only a couple instances of how atheists face direct discrimination in this country where we supposedly have religious freedom.
On a personal note, my daughter and I had to change “serve God” to “serve Earth,” in our Girl Scouts pledge. While our troop leader was very supportive, it has caused confusion and annoyance, to say the least. Why does it even have to be there? We don’t use that part of the Pledge of Allegiance, either, and it’s also there on our money!
And when I wore my pagan pentagram at work as a young adult, I had people call me horrible names—though I also had some great connections with complete strangers who identified with or supported me and my right to freedom. I am so glad that my husband, an open atheist living in the Bible belt among family members who are mostly Christian, won’t be beheaded here. And if we move to Arkansas, he may not have to serve jury duty! What a perk.
But if we move, he also may not be able to ever run for Congress—while our local representative, who just barely won after we helped campaign against him, happens to also be a preacher.
Yeah, I see a LOT of Christian discrimination going around.
Behold the giant penguin!
When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a paleontologist. Doesn’t everyone? It’s that magical lure of dinosaurs and other giant animals that no longer exist—the kinds of creatures that would be labeled as cryptids by today’s scientists if no evidence supported their existence—that makes the kid in all of us perk up and listen. Of course, I’m sure most paleontologists don’t make huge discoveries regarding amazing creatures like Nessie or possible missing links or ancient giant penguins…
Except for that last one.
Scientists recently discovered fossils of penguins that were 6.5 feet, or 2 meters, in height. This is quite taller than the tallest penguins that exist today, emperor penguins, which stand at 1.2 meters tall at their tallest height. Researchers say that these huge fossils are the largest penguins known to date.
This reminds me of the giant ground sloth, something that just amazed me when I found out about it just a few years ago. My mind was boggled, but I also wondered why we didn’t learn about them in school. An animal that I normally think is adorable was once an enormous creature larger than life.
What would it have been like? And why didn’t we learn about it—the threat of evolutionary thought, or it simply wasn’t as important as plant cells or verb conjugation? (I’ve always maintained that we should have learned much more about growing plants themselves for our survival rather than their structure.)
Could you imagine going to the zoo to see these massive penguins? It would make a typically cute exhibit rather scary! Penguins would tower over dads in the crowd. They’d definitely have to have larger enclosures, that’s for sure. I’m not sure I’d want to see one that close, fish-eater or not.
Even so, stories like this make me wish we could glimpse into ages long ago for a deeper look at what kinds of creatures lived. And if we are just now making a discovery this big, imagine what else could still be out there just waiting to tell us its secrets.
It also makes me think that perhaps this paleontologist career thing is still a go. It’s not too late for me—and it’s definitely not too late for my kiddo, who is only seven and loves things like this. Maybe one of us could make the next big discovery. Maybe you could, too.
Great news for Boy Scouts
Ever since my family found out about how the Boy Scouts discriminate against gay boys and men, we decided to cease supporting them in any fundraisers or other activities that they do. I hate to say no to a kid working hard to earn his badges, but I think it’s important.
Ever since then, I have heard of troops surreptitiously allowing gay members to participate. I heard about a dad who started a Boy Scout troop that not only allows gays, but also girls! (This is very important, I must tell you, because my daughter is in the Girl Scouts and as much as she loves it, the Boy Scouts have much more fun things to do at their events—such as animal exhibits at the History Museum events, whereas the girls have bracelet-making that my daughter’s not interested in at all.) His troop proves the motivation and desire that parents have for such a club, by the way, as the parents of 40 local kids want to join him.
I have heard about awards being given to scouts despite the prejudice laws, such as in the case of the Mount Diablo-Silverado Boy Scout Council, which just awarded a 12-year member his Eagle Scout Award. Unfortunately, now the executive of the local scouts is refusing to sign off on the award; you can contact him here.
Sponsors are also puling funds from the Boy Scouts until they agree to let gay members participate. Merck, for example, has suspended funding until the organization ceases its bigoted policies. Previously, Intel and UPS have also cut their funding after learning about the discrimination the organization promotes. This means that the boys will have to work harder at fundraising, unfortunately—but hopefully the dollar signs put pressure on the Powers That Be to change their ways.
I totally agree that a business—whether it be the Boy Scouts or Chik-fil-A—has the right to its own ethical principles (of course, these, to me, are the opposite of ethical), but most forms of discrimination are outlawed. Banning a person due to sexual orientation is not an ethical practice but a discriminatory one reminiscent of Jim Crow laws in this country. Every person—no matter their color, race, religion, sexual orientation, or other identifier—should be protected from discrimination per the law. And until the law catches up with our needs—as it always seems to be behind them—it is our duty to pressure businesses and organizations to do so.