effing anchor babies...

cartoon by nick anderson via the atlantic wire

new york's new sex symbol

New Yorkers have a new sex symbol. The international sign for the power button (the circle with the line thrusting out the top) will grace the wrappers of millions of New York City condoms.

The city's health department distributes 40 million free condoms every year. But the official design was less than stimulating. Enter the Web. An online contest for a special limited edition wrapper brought out the city's more dirty-minded designers and 15,000 people voted on the finalists.

The winning "power-on" logo was thought up by Luis Acosta, a designer from Queens.

"I wanted to associate it with something we see in our daily lives so it wasn't taboo for people," Acosta said. Not that he found the power symbol arousing, or anything. "I like electronics but I don't like them that much."

New York City's health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Farley, unveiled the design in a ceremony featuring the five finalists.

"When I saw [the design], I said this is pure genius," Farley told the crowd. "Everyone recognizes that symbol on their PC. People should use their own power to control their sexual health." And once you see the power-on logo in a sexual context, it does have a dirty vibe to it. That's the beautiful thing about designing a condom wrapper: It makes the most simple image seem erotic.

Runner-up Russell Greenberg put a 19th century top-hat on his wrapper design.

"It seemed like a simpler, more chivalrous time, so I wanted to remind people of the fact that there's good manners involved in sex," he said. And if you picture your favorite little gentleman wearing a jaunty chapeau, then so much the better.

Other entries in the condom contest were more suggestive. There was the image of a manhole. Another wrapper featured a subway train plunging into a dark tunnel.

"I didn't want it to be in you face, you know," explained designer Gene Lambert. After all, there's nothing dirtier than the New York City subway system.

Acosta's power-on design will not be on all of the city's official condoms. But with a limited release of 6 million, it will likely become one of the most recognized logos in New York.

"I get to be part of 4 million people's sex lives," Acosta calculates, noting that many people will grab more than one. But not Acosta. He's married and says he doesn't use condoms anymore.

by Robert Smith/NPR

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124503824

gays can get married, as long as one is a boy and one is a girl

tell me how a marriage between two strangers of the opposite sex is a good thing for the "holy sacrament of marriage", bc that's legal and a marriage between two committed women with a family is illegal...

TOTALLY BOGUS! EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL!!!

first openly gay man recommended for federal judge

Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York is recommending that President Obama nominate an openly gay man to serve as a federal judge for the first time. Daniel Alter has been designated by the senator for the U.S. district court for the southern district of New York, subject to Senate confirmation.

Schumer noted the historic nature of the recommendation in a statement, according to DC Agenda.

“His outstanding leadership skills, his commitment to justice, and his extensive experience make him an exceptional choice for a position on the federal bench,” said Schumer. “I’m proud to nominate Daniel Alter. Period. But I am equally proud to nominate him because he is a history-maker who will be the first openly gay male judge in American history.”

Schumer is the senior senator from New York. Presidents traditionally follow the judicial nomination recommendations of the senior senator from the state where this is a vacancy. 

According to DC Agenda, Alter is a graduate of Columbia College and Yale Law School. His experience includes six years as an assistant U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York and service as national director of the Anti-Defamation League.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton appointed Deborah Batts, an out lesbian, to serve as federal judge for the U.S. district court of the southern district of New York.

The Alter recommendation arrives as the San Francisco Chronicle reported this week that Judge Vaughn Walker of the U.S. district court for the northern district of California, who is presiding over the Proposition 8 trial, is gay. Walker has not commented on the report.


by julie bolcer @ advocate.com

uhhhhh this is scary

especially if you're a dude...

Exposed: Naked Body Scanner Images Of Film Star Printed, Circulated By Airport Staff

Authorities’ claim that virtual strip search pictures immediately destroyed proven fraudulent – use of devices needs to be halted now.

Claims on behalf of authorities that naked body scanner images are immediately destroyed after passengers pass through new x-ray backscatter devices have been proven fraudulent after it was revealed that naked images of Indian film star Shahrukh Khan were printed out and circulated by airport staff at Heathrow in London.

UK Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said last week that the images produced by the scanners were deleted “immediately” and airport staff carrying out the procedure are fully trained and supervised.

“It is very important to stress that the images which are captured by body scanners are immediately deleted after the passenger has gone through the body scanner,” Adonis told the London Evening Standard.

Adonis was forced to address privacy concerns following reports that the images produced by the scanners broke child pornography laws in the UK. When the scanners were first introduced, it was also speculated that images of famous people would be ripe for abuse as the pictures produced by the devices make genitals “eerily visible” according to journalists who have investigated trials of the technology.

However, the Transport Secretary’s assurances were demolished after it was revealed on the BBC’s Jonathan Ross show Friday that Indian actor Shahrukh Khan had passed through a body scan and later had the image of his naked body printed out and circulated by Heathrow security staff.

“I was in London recently going through the airport and these new machines have come up, the body scans. You’ve got to see them. It makes you embarrassed – if you’re not well endowed,” said Khan, referring to how the scans produce clear images of a person’s genitals.

“You walk into the machine and everything – the whole outline of your body – comes out,” he said.

“I was a little scared. Something happens [inside the scans], and I came out. Then I saw these girls – they had these printouts. I looked at them. I thought they were some forms you had to fill. I said ‘give them to me’ – and you could see everything inside. So I autographed them for them,” stated Khan.

The story was carried by Yahoo News under the headline “Shah Rukh signs off sexy body-scan printouts at Heathrow”.

Khan’s reference to “girls” with printouts of his naked body scan can only refer to female airport security staff responsible for processing the images produced by the scanners, “professionals” who are supposed to instantly delete the images, according to Lord Adonis.

The revelation that airport security staff are completely abusing any notion of the professionalism promised by authorities by printing out and circulating images of naked body scans should set alarm bells ringing, especially in light of the fact that such images of minors break child pornography laws. British authorities have made it mandatory for travelers to submit to the naked body scanners when asked and have overturned previous rules that prevented under 18’s from passing through the devices.

Within days of the devices being introduced at Heathrow, staff have abused their professionalism and printed out naked scans of a famous actor for their own titillation.

We were promised all along that the body scanners “increased privacy” because they were only accessible to a single staff member who had no personal contact with the passenger taking the scan, in addition to the assurance that the images could not be saved and were instantly deleted. It in fact turns out that airport staff have been saving, printing and circulating naked body scans in complete violation of these supposed guarantees.

Furthermore, we were told that the identity of the person undergoing the virtual strip search would also be kept private. The fact that Heathrow employees must have known that the actor was about to take the body scan in order to print out copies of the image also proves this claim to be a total fallacy.

The abuse of the naked body scan images in this instance is a total violation of every data protection law in the UK. Far from treating the story in a comical manner, Khan should be filing a very expensive lawsuit and preparing for a successful and lucrative outcome.

In the meantime, the revelation that the naked body scanner images are being freely printed out and circulated by airport security staff should prove to be the death knell for plans on behalf of governments worldwide to institute the scanners on a widespread basis.

Courts have consistently found that strip searches are only legal when performed on a person who has already been found guilty of a crime or on arrestees pending trial where a reasonable suspicion has to exist that they are carrying a weapon. Subjecting masses of people to blanket strip searches in airports reverses the very notion of innocent until proven guilty.

Barring people from flying and essentially treating them like terrorists for refusing to be humiliated by the virtual strip search is a clear breach of the basic human right of freedom of movement. Security experts agree that such scanners would not even have stopped the incident that has been exploited to justify their widespread introduction – the Christmas Day underwear bomber.

Not only have the scanners proven to be a total violation of privacy, but major international radiation safety groups are now warning of the health risks they pose.

Despite governments claiming that backscatter x-ray systems produce radiation too low to pose a threat, the Inter-Agency Committee on Radiation Safety concluded in their report that governments must justify the use of the scanners and that a more accurate assessment of the health risks is needed.

Pregnant women and children should not be subject to scanning, according to the report, adding that governments should consider “other techniques to achieve the same end without the use of ionizing radiation.”

“The Committee cited the IAEA’s 1996 Basic Safety Standards agreement, drafted over three decades, that protects people from radiation. Frequent exposure to low doses of radiation can lead to cancer and birth defects, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,”reported Bloomberg.

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com

meghan mccain is redefining republican

Teabaggers are definitely getting all the attention these days when it comes to the Republican Party. Look no further than Massachusetts, where Republicans have graciously told their candidate, Scott Brown, to shove a curling iron up Democratic nominee Martha Coakley's butt, or to Oklahoma, where teabaggers have prayed for Senate Democrats to die.

Talk about a civility FAIL. Is there any hope left for the Republican Party? Maybe some sort of superwoman? Or, well, at least a super Tweeter and/or blogger?

Enter Meghan McCain, the daughter of U.S. Sen. John McCain, who has grown tired of childish kvetching and teabaggers. She's ready to redefine Republican, and for her, that starts with increasing the number of Republicans supportive of marriage equality for gays and lesbians.

McCain is scheduled to speak at George Washington University's "Marriage Equality Week," scheduled for February 9. That is, unless a civil war among students breaks out. A student gay rights group is thrilled that she's coming. But a student Republican organization feels like they were duped. They wanted Meghan McCain to speak about the new face of the Republican Party, and now they're miffed that she'll be talking about marriage equality.

"Our executive board was told that Meghan McCain's primary focus would be her opinion on what it means to be a Republican," said a GWU college Republican. "We later discovered through her Twitter and subsequent conversations ... that she would be giving the keynote address for Marriage Equality Week." Cue Republican boos and hisses.

But that's just it. From McCain's perspective, her opinion of what the Republican Party should be about is enmeshed with supporting marriage equality. In fact, the student Republican organization was hoping Meghan McCain would speak under the banner of "Redefining Republican: No Labels, No Boxes, No Stereotypes." Given that frame of reference, doesn't marriage equality as a topic du jour make sense?

McCain herself probably said it best last year, in the wake of several marriage equality victories in states like Iowa, Vermont and (at the time) Maine. "Gays and lesbians are a vital part of our communities. They are doctors, teachers, firefighters, emergency personnel and neighbors. In this way, marriage equality is also about supporting good citizens and strengthening our communities."

Leave it to a party dominated by teabaggers to disagree with that sentiment.

BY MICHAEL A. JONES

http://gayrights.change.org/blog/view/meghan_mccain_is_redefining_republican

NO H8!!!

if CINDY MCCAIN can support the NO H8 campaign, everybody should...

Marriage equality isn't a Republican issue any more than it is a Democratic issue. It's about human rights, and everybody being treated equally in the eyes of the law that runs and protects this country.

www.noh8campaign.com

On November 4, 2008 Proposition 8 passed in California, amending the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. The defeat provoked a groundswell of initiative within the GLBT community at a grassroots level, with many new political and protest organizations being formed in response.

The NOH8 Campaign is a photographic silent protest created by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska (http://www.bouska.net) and partner Jeff Parshley in direct response to the passage of Proposition 8. Photos feature subjects with duct tape over their mouths, symbolizing their voices being silenced by Prop 8 and similar legislation around the world, with "NOH8" painted on one cheek in protest.  


i like this one of holly madison and bridget marquardt, cuz i like them and their enthusiasm.

text and photos from noh8.com

marriage is so gay!!!

LOVE this shirt and what the company is trying to do/say.

http://marriageissogay.com/
ISSO is the first U.S. Company to launch with its first offering tied to marriage equality. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each "Marriage Is So Gay" T-shirt will be donated to organizations promoting marriage equality. After all, we love our friends - we love marriage - and we think marriage is so gay.

support the marriage protection act!

unbelievable and unjust

New Oklahoma law will publicy post details of women’s abortions online.

On Nov. 1, a law in Oklahoma will go into effect that will collect personal details about every single abortion performed in the state and post them on a public website. Implementing the measure will “cost $281,285 the first year and $256,285 each subsequent year.” Here are the first eight questions that women will have to reveal:

1. Date of abortion
2. County in which abortion performed
3. Age of mother
4. Marital status of mother
(married, divorced, separated, widowed, or never married)
5. Race of mother
6. Years of education of mother
(specify highest year completed)
7. State or foreign country of residence of mother
8. Total number of previous pregnancies of the mother
Live Births
Miscarriages
Induced Abortions

Although the questionnaire does not ask for name, address, or “any information specifically identifying the patient,” as Feminists for Choice points out, these eight questions could easily be used to identify a woman in a small community. “They’re really just trying to frighten women out of having abortions,” Keri Parks, director of external affairs at Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma, said. The Center for Reproductive Rights is challenging the law, arguing that “it violates the Oklahoma Constitution because it ‘covers more than one subject’ — a challenge that previously worked to strike down an abortion ultrasound law.”


here are some comments posted in response to this too:
>>"This is an outrage! ALL medical records are to be kept private! What’s next? Publishing who is on Birth Control? I don’t see anyone demanding that MEN have to release information if they get Viagra."
>>"New Oklahoma law will publicy post details of women’s abortions online.
– - In which public square will they have the bonfire burning of these women?"
>>"I can’t get over this. Why are people so dumb to allow this to happen? I thought the Righties were so concerned about the ‘Government’ taking over everything, and yet, they allow this? Peeking into private medical records? Pulbishing personal information?"
>>"Before this law goes could someone post all of personal details of the “lawmakers” who voted for this? Phone numbers, addresses and e-mail addresses should be included so they can be contacted about the absurdity of this."
>>"Fundies are worried about abortions but could care less about healthcare and education. "
>>"Does Oklahoma really have $256,285 to $281,285 a year to spend on this? Wouldn’t that money be more useful… say… hiring teachers, paying for police equipment, or paying for flu shots for underprivileged kids? Aren’t we in the middle of an economic crisis? Oh right, we’re 'in recovery.'"
>>"What this country is desperately in need of is a constitutional amendment protecting the right to privacy. So-called conservatives make a big deal about government staying out of peoples lives. Conservative and hypocrite now have the same definition."
>>"Wouldn’t this violate HIPAA laws? Also, by forcing only women to reveal personal private information (and not men), doesn’t this also violate the 14th Amendment?"
>>"I say, fine as long as they produce information about the person who fathered the embryo. like how many other women he’s knocked up, his race, age, and county he did the deed in.
If they’re trying to prevent unplanned pregnancies, they should also threaten the father, and in small communities, it’ll be easier to figure out his identity as well."


http://thinkprogress.org/2009/10/08/oklahoma-abortion-online/

ONE campaign

HEY FRIENDS!!! 

remember that spirit of caring and sharing i posted about in my xmas list intro? here's a super-simple way to help out other ppl around the world--- join the ONE campaign!!!

currently they are petitioning to have the next G20 summit held in an african country to more prominently focus on the role africa can and must play in any successful global economic recovery.

just click and put your name on the list as well! trust me, they are not annoying and don't send you things every stinkin day, but they do send very important e-mails when your signature of support can make a difference.

Subject: Send the G20 to Africa


Hi,


I've just taken action with ONE and asked the leaders of twenty of the world's wealthiest and most powerful nations to hold an upcoming G20 Summit in Africa, to focus the world's attention on how Africa can and must be part of any successful economic recovery.


I hope you'll join me: http://www.one.org/us/g20toafrica/index.html?rc=g20toafricataf


The nation hosting a G20 summit helps set the agenda, and bringing the G20 to Africa would focus the world as never before on this market of 1 billion people. And, with world leaders headed to Pittsburgh for a summit at the end of this month, now is the perfect time to ask them to look to Africa for one of their next meetings.


http://www.one.org/us/g20toafrica/index.html?rc=g20toafricataf


Together as ONE, we can make a difference.


Thanks!

  you can even use this handy pre-written e-mail to pass the news along. how nice are you, eh? 

laura ling and euna lee make first statement regarding events leading to capture

Hostages in the Hermit Kingdom

While covering human trafficking between North Korea and China, two American journalists wound up becoming the story.

WE ARRIVED AT the frozen river separating China and North Korea at 5 o'clock on the morning of March 17. The air was crisp and still, and there was no one else in sight. As the sun appeared over the horizon, our guide stepped onto the ice. We followed him.

We had traveled to the area to document a grim story of human trafficking for Current TV. During the previous week, we had met and interviewed several North Korean defectors, women who had fled poverty and repression in their homeland, only to find themselves living in a bleak limbo in China. Some had, out of desperation, found work in the online sex industry; others had been forced into arranged marriages. Now our guide, a Korean Chinese man who often worked for foreign journalists, had brought us to the Tumen River to document a well-used trafficking route and chronicle how the smuggling operations worked.

There were no signs marking the international border, no fences, no barbed wire. But we knew our guide was taking us closer to the North Korean side of the river. As he walked, he began making deep, low hooting sounds, which we assumed was his way of making contact with North Korean border guards he knew. The previous night, he had called his associates in North Korea on a black cellphone he kept for that purpose, trying to arrange an interview for us. He was unsuccessful, but he could, he assured us, show us the no-man's land along the river, where smugglers pay off guards to move human traffic from one country to another.

When we set out, we had no intention of leaving China, but when our guide beckoned for us to follow him beyond the middle of the river, we did, eventually arriving at the riverbank on the North Korean side. He pointed out a small village in the distance where he told us that North Koreans waited in safe houses to be smuggled into China via a well-established network that has escorted tens of thousands across the porous border.

Feeling nervous about where we were, we quickly turned back toward China. Midway across the ice, we heard yelling. We looked back and saw two North Korean soldiers with rifles running toward us. Instinctively, we ran.

We were firmly back inside China when the soldiers apprehended us. Producer Mitch Koss and our guide were both able to outrun the border guards. We were not. We tried with all our might to cling to bushes, ground, anything that would keep us on Chinese soil, but we were no match for the determined soldiers. They violently dragged us back across the ice to North Korea and marched us to a nearby army base, where we were detained. Over the next 140 days, we were moved to Pyongyang, isolated from one another, repeatedly interrogated and eventually put on trial and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor.

DURING OUR TIME in captivity, and in the weeks since we returned, there has been speculation about what we were doing in that part of the world and about what happened on the morning of the 17th. After arriving home, we were disoriented, overwhelmed and not ready to talk about the experience. There are things that are still too painful to revisit, but we do want to explain what took us to northeastern China and the circumstances of our arrest.

Our motivations for covering this story were many. First and foremost, we believe that journalists have a responsibility to shine light in dark places, to give voice to those who are too often silenced and ignored. One of us, Euna, is a devout Christian whose faith infused her interest in the story. The other, Laura, has reported on the exploitation of women around the world for years. We wanted to raise awareness about the harsh reality facing these North Korean defectors who, because of their illegal status in China, live in terror of being sent back to their homeland.

In researching the story, we sought help from several activists and missionaries who operate in the region. Our main contact was the Seoul-based Rev. Chun Ki-won, a well-known figure in the world of North Korean defectors. Chun and his network have helped smuggle hundreds of North Koreans out of China and into countries -- including the U.S. -- where they can start new lives. He introduced us to our guide and gave us a cellphone to use in China, telephone numbers to reach his associates and specific instructions on how to contact them. We carefully followed his directions so as to not endanger anyone in this underground world.

Because these defectors live in fear of being repatriated to North Korea, we took extreme caution to ensure that the people we interviewed and their locations were not identifiable. We met with defectors away from their actual places of work or residence. We avoided filming the faces of defectors so as not to reveal their identities. The exception was one woman who allowed us to film her profile.

Most of the North Koreans we spoke with said they were fleeing poverty and food shortages. One girl in her early 20s said she had been told she could find work in the computer industry in China. After being smuggled across the Tumen River, she found herself working with computers, but not in the way she had expected. She became one of a growing number of North Korean women who are being used as Internet sex workers, undressing for online clients on streaming video. Some defectors appeared more nervous about being interviewed than others. But they all agreed that their lives in China, while stark, were better than what they had left behind in North Korea.

We also visited a foster home run by a pastor who worked for Rev. Chun. The home housed six children born to North Korean women who were forced into marriage in China. The mothers had either been repatriated to North Korea or had abandoned their families. Because the children have Chinese fathers, it is unlikely they will be deported to North Korea. The foster home provides them with decent conditions, an education and hope for a better life.

In the days before our capture, our guide had seemed cautious and responsible; he was as concerned as we were about protecting our interview subjects and not taking unnecessary risks. That is in part why we made the decision to follow him across the river.

We didn't spend more than a minute on North Korean soil before turning back, but it is a minute we deeply regret. To this day, we still don't know if we were lured into a trap. In retrospect, the guide behaved oddly, changing our starting point on the river at the last moment and donning a Chinese police overcoat for the crossing, measures we assumed were security precautions. But it was ultimately our decision to follow him, and we continue to pay for that decision today with dark memories of our captivity.

AFTER WE WERE detained, the two of us made every effort to limit the repercussions of our arrest. In the early days of our confinement, before we were taken to Pyongyang, we were left for a very brief time with our belongings. With guards right outside the room, we furtively destroyed evidence in our possession by swallowing notes and damaging videotapes. During rigorous, daily interrogation sessions, we took care to protect our sources and interview subjects. We were also extremely careful not to reveal the names of our Chinese and Korean contacts, including Pastor Chun. People had put their lives at risk by sharing their stories, and we were determined to do everything in our power to safeguard them.

Our families and colleagues back home maintained total silence about our work for two full months, both to minimize the potential impact on sensitive underground work in China and to protect us. We were surprised to learn that Chun spoke with reporters publicly in the immediate aftermath of our arrest. Among other things, Chun claimed that he had warned us not to go to the river. In fact, he was well aware of our plans because he had been communicating with us throughout our time in China, and he never suggested we shouldn't go. Chun's public statements prompted members of our families to speak directly with him in Korean, pleading with him to refrain from any further comment that might jeopardize our situation and those of relief organizations working along the border.

After spending nearly five months in captivity, we were relieved to be granted amnesty by the North Korean government. We continue to cope with tremendous mental and emotional anguish, but we feel incredibly fortunate to be free and reunited with our families. We are forever indebted to the United States government, particularly to President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, to former Vice President Al Gore and our colleagues at Current TV, to Swedish Ambassador Mats Foyer, and to former President Clinton and his team for taking on this private humanitarian mission.

WE can't adequately express the emotions surrounding our release. One moment, we were preparing to be sent to a labor camp, fearing that we would disappear and never be heard from again; the next we were escorted into a room with President Clinton, who greeted us and told us we were going home. We are grateful to the many journalists who kept our story alive. We are humbled by the tens of thousands of people who supported us, prayed for us and fought for our release.

At the same time, though, we do not want our story to overshadow the critical plight of these desperate defectors.

Since our release, we have become aware that the situation along the China-North Korea border has become even more challenging for aid groups and that many defectors are going deeper underground. We regret if any of our actions, including the high-profile nature of our confinement, has led to increased scrutiny of activists and North Koreans living along the border. The activists' work is inspiring, courageous and crucial.

Many people have asked about our strength to endure such hardships and uncertainty. But our experiences pale when compared to the hardship facing so many people living in North Korea or as illegal immigrants in China.

The outcome of our three-day trial was never in doubt. In the end, we were convicted and sentenced to two years for trespassing and 10 years for "hostile acts." What did we do that was hostile? We tried to tell the story of repression and desperation in North Korea. It's not surprising, given the North Korean government's desire to silence any form of dissent, that the more extreme portion of the sentence was issued not for trespassing but for our work as journalists. Totalitarian regimes the world over are terrified of exposure.

We know that people would like to hear more about our experience in captivity. But what we have shared here is all we are prepared to talk about -- the psychological wounds of imprisonment are slow to heal. Instead, we would rather redirect this interest to the story we went to report on, a story about despairing North Korean defectors who flee to China only to find themselves living a different kind of horror. We hope that now, more than ever, the plight of these people and of the aid groups helping them are not forgotten.

LAURA LING is a correspondent for Current TV and vice president of its Vanguard Journalism unit. EUNA LEE is a producer and editor for Current's Vanguard series. To see more of their work, go to current.com/vanguard.

maternal mortality

maternal mortality is a global concern, but it is not just under-developed countries where it is most prevalent. in 2007, the world health organization (WHO) reported that 40 countries have lower maternal death rates than the united states. FORTY countries? this is the u.s. ppl! this shouldn't happen! the world mortality rate is higher now than in 2000. as many as one in six women in parts of africa dies from pregnancy- or birth-related complications. every minute of every day, somewhere in the world, a woman dies of pregnancy- or birth-related complications. this adds up to more than half a million women each year.

in the united states, the post-birth care has significantly decreased, making complications that could easily have been treated in a hospital immediately fatal instead. some common problems are infection, hypertension, septic shock, and amniotic-fluid embolism. the centers for disease control (CDC) has estimated that more than half of these deaths could have been prevented with diagnosis and treatment. Ina May Gaskin, a certified professional midwife explains, "they used to keep women in the hospital for 10 days after birth because they were so worried about complications. by the 60's, they shortened that to five days, and in the early 90's suddenly the hospitals switched and made everyone get out in two or three days." two days is not enough. "you're home, you're still hurting, you could be infected, you could still have something in your uterus. all these things can be dangerous, and they can be easily fixed if you spot the trouble in time."

so how do we lower our percentage of deaths? a simple combo of rest and at-home check-ins by a postpartum nurse or midwife for several days after delivery. this kind of program is de rigueur in the netherlands where the risk of dying by pregnancy and childbirth-related complications is one in 10,200. the united states' number is one in 4,800. <<

sarah brown, wife of the british prime minister and co-chair of the maternal mortality leadership group puts it best: "when you save a mother's life, you save the best person to raise her children, feed, clothe, vaccinate, and educate them, and also contribute to her community, her economy, her environment. ***save the mothers and you can save the world."

what can you do to help? support the white ribbon alliance for safe motherhood (WRA) which is a coalition of medical professionals and others from 140 countries who are working on behalf of women worldwide. visit whiteribbonalliance.org
also, you can write to your congressperson or local newspaper in support of maternal health legislation.

info from jenna gabrial gallagher, harper's bazaar.

the healthcare mess. my thoughts...

now, i am not a blind follower of anything. i don't think obama is god. i'm not fanatical. but i'm about to get real left-wing here for a sec...

ppl who think health care needs no reform are idiots. according to the independent, 50 million americans can't afford health care. we are "the only major, industrialized country that does not provide regular healthcare to all its citizens." SOMETHING needs to be done. all these fanatic republicans are doing is spreading panic and misinformation. it's completely ridiculous!!! there was a quote from the president that i felt summed this situation up nicely. "where we do disagree, let's disagree over things that are real, not these wild misrepresentations that bear no resemblance to what's actually been proposed." alright ppl???? it's getting a lil bit ridic. and all the hassling that's been going on at the town hall meetings are only stunting any kind of debate that could happen.


http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-republicans-religion-and-the-triumph-of-unreason-1773994.html


this is an interesting article showcasing the ridiculousness of the republican party right now. love the bill maher quote. "the democrats have moved to the right, and the republicans have moved to the mental hospital." they are truly imagining an alternate reality full of complete untruths! 


http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/settingtherecord


here are some lies that are being propagated by the republican party. and if you don't want to believe a pro-obama site, check out http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/. They are a non-partisan site that gets to the bottom of all the hype ppl are spewing, on BOTH sides. 


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/opinion/16obama.html?_r=1


this is an op-ed piece written by the president for the new york times. straight from the horse's mouth, if you will.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-brutal-truth-about-americarsquos-healthcare-1772580.html


if you need further evidence, this article will do it for you. a mobile charity called remote area medical set up a field hospital at the l.a. forum for eight days. ppl came from all over, spending the night in their cars, just for the opportunity to get some medical help. 10,000 ppl were expected to get help by the end of the eight days. these ppl were not just lazy bums, these were hard-working individuals that had to choose between paying rent or going to the doctor or dentist.


where did compassion go? i am not a socialist (and neither is obama guys, read up a little, really) but i believe in helping others. why must we all be so GREEDY?! friends, it's not all about money. as much as i'd like more of it and i'd like nice things and nice trips, we are STILL soooooo much better off than many, many other countries' peoples. our country is not war-torn, plagued by genocide or famine. we have clean drinking water readily available!!! these are huge things. it's not all harder, better, faster, stronger, ok? now i'm getting all hippie over here (and i'm a lil tired, so i may be rambling), but my point is valid.

appreciate what you have people.

help others. 

don't be greedy.

 live simply.

 you'll be happier in the end. 

promise.