Wednesday, January 20, 2010

FREE SHIPPING TO HAITI IS A HOAX

too bad

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

They are trying to blame it on the girl! / God forbid we have knowledge

I have this graphic novel bible from when I was a kid and my wife is as I type, reading it to the kids before they go to bed. She was starting at the beginning, you know on the first day, blah blah blah ... I did not realize that I had a problem with that story, well, I never thought the world was created in six days, but some of the creations of God seem to be out of order, but that's not the point here.
I over hear my wife reading about the garden of Eden and the forbidden fruit, and I began to rethink my "okay-ness" with teaching this stuff to my kids. I have always planned to teach them about Christianity because it is the religion of our culture and families, when they ask questions I answer them in a very non-fundamentalist way, the stories in the Bible are mostly stories that teach one how to live a good life that is respectful of others, and not an actual history. Some of it may have happened, some historial events probably did, but the main take away are the morals of the stories.
Once they get old enough to comprehend other theories on life and religion I will help them find something that suits them, we are sort of Episcopalians, if they like that fine, if not that's fine too.
So after the Adam eats the forbidden fruit, my 7 year-old says, "They are trying to blame it on the girl."
So I hopped up and went to the boys room to add my two cents, I said to my wife tell him the truth, she said I did they are trying to blame it on the girl, I said to him do you know why? Because women are evil!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Only kidding, I said because men originally wrote this story and rather than splitting the blame equally they chose to blame women, but it was really both of their faults. I was so proud that my seven year-old could see through the BS when so many adults can not.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

One Legged Freak!

My 2nd grader was walking down the hall at school and he saw a boy that he use to have Taekwon-do with. The boy does not have the lower part of one of his legs, I do not know exactly how far down his leg goes, but while they were in class together he use to have a prosthetic leg.

I can remember my son asking me all kinds of questions about the boy while his mother/nanny (?) was sitting next to us, I tried to answer them the best I could but I know I was over compensating because she was next to us and came of sounding like a PC PTA member that Mike Judge would make fun of on one of his cartoons.

Anyway, now the boy uses some form of crutches, I imagine it must be a financial hardship to keep buying new prosthetics for a growing child. One of my son's classmates saw the boy and yelled out to him, "Look a one legged freak!" My son told him that's not cool and told the teacher on him, she did speak with the boy, but my son was mad that he was not sent to the Principal's office.

I was really proud of my son for not only feeling compassion but for standing up for another person, not because they were friends (they are not) or he had anything to gain, but because it was the right thing to do.

Married in the Playground?



My PreSchooler was worried that he was now married because a girl (the one whose name I confused when talking to her mother a few months back) was told by one of her friends that she should kiss my son, so she walked up to him while he was playing and kissed him on the lips.

He was truly worried that because of the kiss being on the lips it meant that he was now married, "I don't want to be married Daddy."
We told him that it was okay, he was not married and if she tried to kiss him again he could just tell her to stop before she got too close.

My older son was totally freaked out by this whole situation, long after my little kisser was over it, he was very indignant about it, "My brother is only four no one should be kissing him!"
My wife and I teased the seven year-old, "Why are you so concerned, what are you jealous that he had his first before you did?" As you can imagine that did not go over real well with.

Scientists link plastics chemical to health risks

LONDON - Exposure to a chemical found in plastic containers is linked to heart disease, scientists said on Wednesday, confirming earlier findings and adding to pressure to ban its use in bottles and food packaging.
British and U.S. researchers studied the effects of the chemical bisphenol A using data from a U.S. government national nutrition survey in 2006 and found that high levels of it in urine samples were associated with heart disease.

Bisphenol A, known as BPA, is widely used in plastics and has been a growing concern for scientists in countries such as Britain, Canada and the United States, where food and drug regulators are examining its safety.

David Melzer, professor of epidemiology and public health at the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, England, who led the study, said the research confirmed earlier findings of a link between BPA and heart problems.

The analysis also confirmed that BPA plays a role in diabetes and some forms of liver disease, said Melzer's team, who studied data on 1,493 people aged 18 to 74.

"Our latest analysis largely confirms the first analysis, and excludes the possibility that the original report was a statistical blip," they said in a statement.

BPA, used to stiffen plastic bottles and line cans, belongs to a class of compounds sometimes called endocrine disruptors.

The U.S. Endocrine Society called last June for better studies into BPA and presented research showing the chemical can affect the hearts of women and permanently damage the DNA of mice.

"The risks associated with exposure to BPA may be small, but they are relevant to very large numbers of people. This information is important since it provides a great opportunity for intervention to reduce the risks," said Exeter's Tamara Galloway, who worked on the study published by the Public Library of Science online science journal PLoS One.

URGING BANS

U.S. environmental health advocacy groups are urging a federal ban on BPA.

"There's enough research to take definitive action on this chemical to reduce exposures in people and the environment," Dr. Anila Jacob of the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit organization, said in a telephone interview.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering whether any action needs to be taken.

U.S. government toxicologists at the National Institutes of Health concluded in 2008 that BPA presents concern for harmful effects on development of the prostate and brain and for behavioral changes in fetuses, infants and children.

Canada's government plans to outlaw plastic baby bottles made with BPA. The charity Breast Cancer UK last month urged the British government to do the same because they said there was "compelling" evidence linking the chemical to breast cancer risk.

Experts estimate BPA is detectable in the bodies of more than 90 percent of U.S. and European populations. It is one of the world's highest production volume chemicals, with more than 2.2 million tonnes produced annually.