Preggers in the Hot Tub?

When I was making my way through my childbearing years, I was gifted with two beautiful, perfectly wonderful daughters. I thank God for them more times than there are numbers to count with, but sometimes I think about the two others.
I had a first miscarriage, then a live birth, a second miscarriage and a second live birth before my family was finished. I mourned both of the babies I lost and often thought that if I had only been able to identify what I might have done to cause the losses, I would never have done it again. I went to my then doctor after the first one, and tried to ask the question of him. He put his feet up on the desk. lit up a cigarette (we're talking twenty-five years ago) and then proceeded to take a personal phone call and arrange who would bring the wine with the party at the other end, while I sat there and cried. I will never forget that miseracle bastard or the helplessly sad feeling of having lost the little one I had wanted so much.
That's why I have always felt particular empathy for women going through the experience of a miscarriage; why it has remained a topic of special interest to me. With that in mind, I really took note when I learned about a 1996-1998 population-based study conducted in Oakland, California, at the Division of Research, Kaiser Foundation Research Institute. Miscarriage before 20 weeks of gestation was ascertained for all participants who gave details of hot tub and whirlpool use during personal interviews. Use of hot tubs and whirlpools was found to be associated with a twofold increased risk of miscarriage. The risk increased with increased use of the devices.
I know there are so many times when the only possible answer to the question is "we don't know what caused it". If there are identified causes, however, every woman wanting to have a baby should be informed of them. There will be more loss and the tears that go with it, but if I can forestall any of those tears for any of my sisters, I need to do so. There are still doctors out there with the same mindset as the moron who forgot his Hippocratic oath when he was dealing with me, but if I can help any of my sisters to survive them, I need to do so.
In that spirit, I write this post.

Taking Out the Trash

Saw an ad for the latest installment of the movie "Saw" yesterday. I have not seen the movie itself. I neither want to see it, nor need to do so in order to have a good idea of what it's all about. No-one who dwells in a western country needs to actually see that kind of movie to be able to "write the script". We've already been overdosed with its ilk.
I find it disgusting. Period. It's unredeemable garbage, on every level, and it raises questions about those who willingly spend admission money to see it. Those who actually regard "slashers" as entertainment are a few cards short of a full deck themselves. How could anyone regard watching such inexcusable and offensive trash as a worthwhile way to spend a couple of hours? It does indeed raise serious questions about their mentality.
I think the only good thing about the movie is that it will bring the cockroaches out of the woodwork. If we could vaporise the entire audience as they settled into their seats, it would be the last thing we needed to do before we slash up every copy of the film.

Matchmaker, Matchmaker

I was talking with someone recently about levels of education and how they can affect relationships. I made the point that once you move past a certain level of academic achievement, it makes it so that conversations are forever different for you. You can find yourself on a regular basis having to "dumb down" your vocabulary. Depending on whom you are talking to, you really don't want to see that glazed look come into their eyes as they get left behind verbally. When people have trouble keeping up to you intellectually, it's difficult. They lose interest in conversations they can't really follow. You feel like you're sticking out like a sore thumb. You're too much for them and they aren't quite enough for you.
My conversation partner took exception to the whole scenario I was painting and accused me of being an "elitist". Maybe, but we are talking a fact of life for some of us who can leave so many behind in our verbal dust. It can get a little lonely sometimes, trying to find others with whom to connect.
I found one of the possible answers today, when I stumbled across this site. It's based on the same premise as every other "singles" site is; that if you can establish commonality with someone, you might have a chance of going on to establish much more. I've found my sweetie, but if you're still looking, try following the link above.
Science Connection describes itself as the "network for single people interested in science or nature" and the people who have taken time to post their profiles on it range from army linguists and biomedical engineers to analytical chemists and college professors. If the drivel that passes for conversation at far too many bars has you despairing, take heart. To paraphrase one of the profiles, there might yet be a "humourous, intelligent" sweetie out there, just waiting for you and your "astounding conversation" to come along.

Oh Canada!

I'm tired tonight, but totally happy with the day. I was blessed with the opportunity to share some of the Canada that I love so much, with a new Canadian. Let me tell you about it.
I spent the day giving sighted guide to a young client of the CNIB. He's the adult literacy student I work with. Our "classes" are most usually spent inside the CNIB at the keyboard of a computer loaded with adaptive software, but today was really different.
Dave lives downtown, right in the concrete heart of the big city. He has come here from Jamaica, and has had very little opportunity to experience much of a natural Canadian setting. In fact, he rarely experiences much more than sidewalks and asphalt and that's been bothering me for a while, so today I finally had the opportunity to do something about it. As prearranged, we met at the CNIB this morning and drove off in my car, heading up to Kortright Conservation Centre. I picked that destination because unlike the parks within the city, it is not "manicured" so all the paths are truly footpaths through the woods.
We spent time before this trip, talking about vocabulary like "underfoot", as in the leaves make a carpet underfoot. We talked about some of the birds like the woodpecker and blue jays that live there. We talked about animals like the beaver and the coyote and some of their habits; all in preparation for him to get the most possible out of the trip.
When we got there today, things went even better than I could ever have imagined. First we stopped at the visitors' centre to pay the admission and I found myself face-to-face with a former teaching colleague of mine. She went out of her way to bring out from the back room all sorts of special items for Dave to handle. The list included a stuffed owl and an opossum, as well as the pelts of a beaver, a raccoon, and a fox. She had a swatch of black bear hide with its thick, thick fur and the tail of a beaver, too. She also had recordings of the calls of a chickadee, blue jay and cardinal.
After all that , we headed out into the woods. We walked for two hours. He felt moss and the old weathered split-rail fencing beside some of the trail. He felt tall pine trunks and knobbly old sugar maples. We climbed over a huge branch that had fallen across the trail at one point and made our way down to the river, where we tossed in stones and fallen branches to hear the splash and gauge thereby how close the river was to us.
We stopped and just listened to the quiet. As Dave said, he "never hears that sound in the city". We heard blue jays calling and chickadees singing. At one bend in the trail, we arrived at the same time as a white-tail doe. She stopped and we did, too. She looked at us for a minute and in spite of my voice raised in the excitement of telling Dave about the beautiful creature just feet away from us, she didn't run. In fact, she daintily and gracefully made her way across the trail and disappeared among the trees. We felt the sun warm on our faces and the breeze cool at our backs and both agreed we had a wonderful time.
Before we left, we returned to the centre to tell my friend that we had seen the deer and she hurried off to bring out something else for us. This turned out to be several deer antlers. She explained to Dave how the deer shed them each fall and how the centre staff collect them to show to visiting school groups. She explained too about the bucks using their antlers to "duel".
Dave had a morning truly filled with learning. We stopped for some late lunch on our way back into the city and as we ate, we listed words from the morning's adventure that Dave will use in his homework. His assignment is to write a sentence for each word, and we've done that kind of list before, but never with vocabulary gathered in such an interesting, hands-on way before.

I feel so good tonight!

Gulwalking

On October 21, more than 30,000 people in 80 cities and 15 countries took part in their local Gulwalk event and raised over $500,000.00. Not to worry if you missed it - you can still get involved.
At Toronto's event, former UN Under-Secretary Olara Otunnu urged people to "end the conspiracy of silence". Follow the link above and you'll find out what how you can add your voice to the growing world-wide chorus of concern for the children of Uganda.
Do it today, 'cause they need you tomorrow.

New Moons and Frog Guts

This is a magazine you need to know about if your life includes an 8-to14-year-old girl, whether she's your daughter, granddaughter, niece or young friend. New Moon is an advertising-free magazine that is also a six time winner of the Parents' Choice Gold Award for Best Children's Magazine. Quite the recommendation on its own, but if you need a little more, read on.
Jennifer Jones, a researcher in the department of psychiatry at the University Health Network in Toronto, has completed a study that shows more than one in four teenaged girls in Canada are exhibiting signs of eating disorders. Symptoms begin to show themselves in girls as young as 12, says Jones, adding "there is no doubt that constant bombardment with media images of stick-thin models places temendous pressure on girls and is creating unrealistic expectations." Since we share basically the same life-style, stats in Canada and the U.S. are usually similar. An alarming stat, indeed.
"The situations a girl faces everyday can leave her feeling confused, insecure and alone. Remember what it was like for you at that age? There is even more pressure on today's girls. And all those ad-soaked magazines filled with super-thin celebrities don't help." That statement from the editors of the magazine, echoing Jennifer Jones as it does, would seem to suggest that these people do indeed know how to put together a magazine with a young girl's best interests in mind.
It takes just $34.95 to put a girl's name on the subscribers' list, a price tag lower than the one attached to many "hot label" clothing items, and one likely to give her much, much more in return. If you're not completely satisfied with the magazine, you can cancel at any time and get a FULL refund. How many fashion mags make that offer?
This magazine is "written for girls and by girls" and encourages all kinds of reader input, in written form and in art work. Regular features in every issue include "Herstory", "Global Village" and "Science Side Effects" as well as the fun challenge "Find the 10 Luna Tics". When my daughters were that age, there was always an issue of New Moon topping the coffee table.
Following the link above will allow you to add your name to those who receive the e-newsletter, bringing you "news & info for adults who care about girls". There's a daughters' newsletter too and a pen-pal club already boasting more than 40,000 members age 7 to 17 from all over the world. The system is self-contained with filters and parental controls, set up to allay all fears about privacy and safety.
Phone 1-800-381-4743 or follow the link included here. If this magazine helped to boost the self-esteem of the girl in your life, what better gift could you give her?


If you've got $75. to spare and progeny of either gender in the grade 9 to 12 age range who are interested in biology, this is a site you want to know about. Froguts is the six-year-old pet project of Rick Hill, a teacher/software developer and David Hughes, infrastructure and software architect for the University of Wahinsgton School of Nursing. Their mission is to provide schools with a virtual "way out of dissection" while still allowing their students to learn nearly everything they would by dissecting a real frog, squid, starfish, cow eye, owl pellet and fetal pig. "Point-and-click versions of scalpels, scissors and even saws allow students to find, remove and examine organs without ever smelling formaldehyde."
Since many schools are located in districts with laws requiring such an alternative, they avail themselves of a $300./year license to use Froguts' software. Of course, there are other companies offering the same type of products, like Digital Frog and DryLab, but with a marvellous moniker like Froguts,I'm betting a lot of people go to them first. The Ontario Ministry of Education has secured a province-wide license for Froguts, the 2005 winner of the Technology & Learning Magazine Award of Excellence. The NASA Learning Technologies Advanced Technology Applications for Education Benchmark Study gives Froguts the nod as a "notable company with respect to innovation".
With credentials like that, AND that name, Froguts definitely seems to be on the cutting edge of virtual dissection.

Why Skip Breakfast?

While I'm writing this one, I'm thinking of a friend of mine who has always maintained that she "couldn't" eat breakfast. She just couldn't face food in the morning, she said. I've read a lot over the years about the detrimental effects of skipping the wake-up meal of the day, including just recently the statement that if you don't ingest something by approximately 8 a.m., your body will busily produce cholesterol in an attempt to compensate for you depriving it of fuel.
This morning I downed my usual day-starter of a whole grain product, organic yogurt, nuts and seeds and then headed off to do a little grocery shopping. "Peace Cereal" caught my eye, so I bought a box. After I got it home, I sat down to investigate their website. Even if you never buy one of their products, it's worth clicking on the above link. This is one packed-with-info site.
Since their launch in 1997, their habit of donating 10% of their profits to peace building organizations has resulted in more than $1 million in donations. Explore the site and you'll find out about Peace Cereal grants for nonprofit organizations working for peace, and International Peace Prayer Day, held annually in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico.
There's an absolute plethora of organic cereals you could order as well as other products, and a listing of (U.S. only) sites where they're available. For you Ontarians, I found my buy this morning at Longo's, and I've seen the cereal before at several "health food" stores. Cereal offers a really easy way to break the habit of skipping breakfast, and one of these is bound to please your palate.
The site also offers some eye-opening facts about American eating habits, like their annual consumption of sugar rising 36 pounds per person from 1970 to 1999. There's a formula to help you calculate how much protein a day you need based on your body weight, and tables that list best sources of essential elements.
Make yourself a cup of coffee, or maybe some herbal tea and sip away while you browse through this site. You've got nothing to lose, and maybe a lot to gain.

Calling Gary McHale

Another one to join the Idiot Alert files.
Gary McHale is a big mouth from Richmond Hill, Ontario, who felt obliged to further muddy the already roiled waters of native/non-native relations in Caledonia. Check out this blog for a succinct summation of McHale's mental capacity. While I agree with the opinion expressed there, I would like to add a little of my own sentiments to the denunciation of this pea-brain's annoying habit of drawing air.
Starting with the moron's insistence on calling the First Nation people of Canada "Indians" (you've gotta' follow that link above!), McHale does a great job of announcing his own mental limitations. He goes on to declare his need to get involved in Caledonia as arising from his perception that the Native people are treated differently than the rest of us and allowed to be "above the law".
Bloody right, they're treated differently than the rest of us. Far too often it happens. Read the entry below to find out one of the ways in which this is true. If McHale really wants to be treated just the same as the Native people are, maybe one of the hatemongers wearing a police uniform in Saskatoon could arrange for him to experience a starlight tour.
If that isn't enough to get McHale rethinking his position a little, a short stay with the Attawapiskat First Nation might be the final impetus needed. This James Bay community is one of the more than 3/4 of 633 Native communities found by a federal study to have unsafe drinking water. Many of them have "boil water" advisories that have been in place for years, without anything being done to ameliorate the situation. Yep, McHale, you're right. The Native people are treated differently than most of the rest of us.
This is Canada, however, and we're all supposed to be entitled to our opinions and the voicing thereof. That's why I think a little overnight up there in that James Bay community might be a good idea for you, Mr. McIdiot. Go draw up a chair and have a little chat with some of those uppity First Nation types. If your throat gets a little dry, you could knock back a glass or two of some nice, refreshing water while you try to get them to see things your way.

A Mark of Separation

That's what Tony Blair has called the veils worn by Muslim women, and he's right. I haven't spent a lot of time in the past agreeing with the man, but this time he's got it bang on.
Wearing those hijabs, burkhas and niqabs all serve to set the women apart from the rest of the world; from the rest of the western society so many of them have chosen to live in; from the rest of every one of their sisters worldwide.
The wearing of those veils is a habit dictated by misogynists and meekly accepted by far too many of the sisterhood. To talk about the potential danger inherent in any refusal to don the disgusting items is no different than to talk about the perils involved in any other refusal to go along with societal wrongs. Slavery, genocide - any of the evils that humankind might perpetrate can only be stopped by those brave enough to fight them. If the women of the Mulslim world could somehow organize themselves to rise up in unison against this leftover from the dark ages, the veils would become a thing of the past, overnight.
Since the beginning of time, men have feared women and their perceived magical powers. Before science explained the human body to those of us who dwell in one, man was left to wonder mightily about the power of the other half of his species. They could bring forth life, like no man could. They could sustain it with milk from their own bodies, like no man could. They could even bleed every month, for days, without bleeding to death, like no man could. A wound that would cause a man to bleed for that long, no matter how sustained, would kill him. Surely beings with such abilities were capable of mighty magic. It is no wonder that man feared the possibility of ever finding this magic directed against him. No wonder either, that they sought to control this magical being with every power at hand.
Since our days in caves, man has had the musculature that would allow him to win most pitched battles fought hand-to-hand against a woman. The obvious next step, once it occurred to them, was for man to invoke the otherworld in their search for control mechanisms. If the general populace could be persuaded to believe that something was the desire of the creator, it always made it an easier concept to sell. Get people believing that the angels might take offense at the sight of a woman's hair blowing loose and free and bingo! you've found the fast track to the niqab.
Power is enticing and ensnaring. Of course, many of the males of the Muslim world would be loathe to relinquish the power they perceive themselves as worthy to hold over half of the world's population, but there are examples of Muslim men with a brain. You only need to look to Tunisia, a Muslim country where the state religion is Islam. There is a long-standing policy in Tunisia banning the hijab. If reason can prevail there in Tunisia regarding this issue, surely it is a sign of hope for other areas, as well, but we need more voices raised in protest.
Keep voicing your opinion on this one, Tony. This time, it's worth listening to you.

Did it really need an "expert" to make this statement? Aleading consumer researcher who investigates portion size, eating habits and the impact of food names on the aforementioned habits, Brian Wansink, has just told a Canadian Diabetes Association meeting that the blame for the current obesity "epidemic" rests squarely on the shoulders of each and every one of the porkers who are busily trying to place the blame elsewhere. The fast food industry, the government and their food label laws, or lack thereof, food comanies all have come under fire for the ever-expanding waistline some of us heft about, but according to Wansink, it all comes down to the prospective muncher knowing when to say "enough", and pushing their chair away from the trough.
Wansink, a Julian Simon Memorial Faculty Fellow in Marketing, and a professor of Business Administration in the College of Business, also has appointments in nutritional science, advertising, and agricultural and consumer economics. He has conducted so many food studies now that it might be time for the overweight crowd to start paying more attention when he says that most people overeat simply because the food is in front of them. Read that as "lack of self-control", folks.
The only thing is, here in our society of instant gratification and the easy way out, most of the obese will continue to look for a scapegoat to blame for their girth, simply because it's easier to do that than to practice a little self-discipline.

Bankrolling Civility in the Classrooms

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced on Monday that his government will be spending $2 million to start character education programs in the province's schools. Education teams are scheduled to spend the next year in consultation with teachers, parents, and students as to what each sees as the best way to build character in schools. The plan projects the programs' being in place by 2008.
I wonder if we haven't got too little, too late here, Mr. McVoteforme. I've seen the half-assed attempts at teaching civility that so many educators indulge in. Hasn't anyone ever told you, you can't legislate attitude? If you've got people standing at the front of the room who don't really give a shit about much more than the paycheque, you've got a program ready to go nowhere and to get there fast. If you've got impressionable minds spending endless hours in front of the tube, absorbing garbage that promotes the macho I-don't-take-nuffin-from-nobody action man as the hero of far too many pieces, then you've got a program doomed to get a failing grade. If you've got a principal motivated more by having the community perceive his watch as being a perfect paean to peaceful pedagogy than by anything else, you've got a program all set to toss $2 million into the shredder.
I'm not going to hold my breath on this one working any better than any of the previously failed attempts at making our schools into better places. I suggest you don't either.

One Last Starlight Tour

It seems it sucks to be aboriginal if you run afoul of the law in the true north strong and not always so free. Howard Sapers, correctional investigator and ombudsman for federal prisoners, has just released his annual report in which he discloses some disturbing facts.
Aboriginals, says Sapers, face systemic discrimination in Canada's prisons. Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day officially tabled the report in the House of Commons but felt obliged to note that there was "no empirical evidence" for Sapers' claims. My trusty dictionary tells me that empirical means provable or verifiable by experience or experiment. Day has either never read any accounts of the "starlight tours" that Saskatchewan natives have been subjected to, or he just plain refuses to give the stories any credence. Unless Day is willing to listen to the experiences of Aboriginals who have experienced this type of discrimination, he'll need to conduct his own experiment, in the style of John Griffin's "Black Like Me" trek through the biased world of white America. I don't know how convincing Griffin managed to look but there's something slightly nauseating about the idea of Day with his hair in braids and a medicine pouch slung from his belt.
If Day has heard of the accounts but is refusing to accept them, then there is empirical evidence. It just doesn't fit his agenda to acknowledge it. It's often easier to play word games then to admit to the truth. After all, it might turn out to be an inconvenient truth, to borrow a phrase from Al Gore.
Jim Maddin, 25 year veteran of the Saskatoon police force, is now sitting on city council. Confronted with the stories about these starlight tours, Maddin responded with "If somebody asked me does this happen --- I couldn't look them in the eye and say absolutely no, it's never happened; never will happen. I couldn't say that ... I've heard stories of people where this has happened to (sic) in other cities. Who's to say it didn't happen here? I can't say it didn't happen..."
OK, OK, Maddin, we get the point. You don't want to give a straight answer. Isn't that the norm from someone who has jus stepped in a pile of shit but still refuses to say they got it on their shoe? If Day has any problem accepting accounts of police taking discriminatory action against aboriginals, then he just has to look at Maddin's "I've heard stories".
The police, surely, must be acknowledged as a link in the chain of criminal justice, the same as the prisons are. If the first link of the chain is rusty and needs cleaning, why doubt that there is a need to polish dirt off other links?
Sapers charges that aboriginals are regularly classed as higher security risks than non-aboriginals; that they have a harder time winning parole and receiving rehab and are more likely to have their conditional releases revoked for technical reasons than non-aboriginal prisoners. In his report, he makes reference to "well-documented" overrepresentation of aboriginals in Canada's prisons.
The ombudsman says these disparities need to be "addressed on an urgent basis". By the time the politicians finish playing their word games, it'll be too late for so many imprisoned by discrimination here in their own country. At the same time as this is going on, the immigration system continues to allow known criminals into the country and the justice system continues to mollycoddle murderous individuals like the 17-year-old who shot a Toronto woman in the face. He hasn't been taken on any starlight tour and dropped off in sub-zero temperatures somewhere in a field 70 km north of Toronto. Nor is he likely to be. There have been no stories of this happening to non-aboriginals.
Canada is a wonderful country, indeed, a country to be proud of in so many ways. In our treatment of the First Nations, however, we need to hang our heads in shame. There is so much needing to be done to even begin to right the wrongs. Stockwell Day and his ilk are not likely to be people who make any positive contribution to the situation at all.
Maybe, just before we close the history books on starlight tours, we could organize a last one for Day and his fellow "empiricists". Some quiet little locale on Baffin Island might be a good destination to consider.

Compassion?

On October 9th of this year, an armed youth made a decision that will forever change the life of a Toronto woman. He shot her in the face. Since he is facing attempted murder charges, it is obvious his victim survived the attack, but no-one would argue her life has been forever changed in a way she never chose. Nightmares, anguish both physical and mental, a face that will perhaps never again look the same - all of this and more was forced on this woman by a criminal, a thug with no concept of compassion, and the harm done can never be undone. Yet our laws are protecting this offender from the full consequences of his decision.
Under Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act, the name of this offender is denied to the media for fear that it might have negative impact on his future. What protection was there for the future of his victim?
This 17-year-old malefactor was old enough to procure the weapon he used; old enough to choose to load and aim it; old enough to choose to fire it. Why aren't we treating him as old enough to accept the consequences of his choice? He willingly imposed unending negative impact on an innocent life. Why, why, why are we protecting him? Treating him in the manner currently dictated by our laws is embarking on a fool's errand of misplaced compassion.

Turn from this nameless wrongdoer to the famous and supposed doers of good. I'm thinking right now of Madonna. She must look into the mirror lately and find herself staring at an aging rock star, a face that is slipping a little from its formerly favoured position in the lenses of the paparazzi. What to do to recapture some of the limelight? Well, it would seem that Madge has somehow selected a Malawi orphan for the dubious distinction of being adopted by her.
Needing to "re-invent" herself again, I suppose, she has already played the boy's situation for all the publicity she could garner from it. She started out by touring African orphanages and then having her publicist issue denials to the resultant rumours that she wanted to adopt a child. Don't you have to wonder how else to explain the denial, especially since she has gone on to do just that?
The singer is supposedly "adopting an entire country" with her plans to set up an orphan care centre that could feed, shelter and educate up to 4,000 children. That's a wonderful plan, and kudos to her if she proceeds with it, but why does she need to take one of the children away from his roots to the unreality of her world? Why not leave him to grow up in the surrounds where his pride of heritage would be best nurtured?
If she has some need to adopt, why not look to her own roots? Hailing from Bay City, Michigan, as she does, she comes from a country where there is more than enough want and need for her to involve herself in. Why not adopt a native child, one languishing on a reservation that will forever curtail his/her opportunities in life? How about a child currently falling through the cracks of the foster-care system? So many of them end up as north america's version of the disadvantaged orphan. Are America's needy children just not the flavour-of-the-month orphans?
It would seem there isn't quite enough glamour and publicity potential attached to extending her compassion at home. She wants maximum camera exposure from this whole scenario and looking for a cause to care about in her own backyard just isn't going to produce it.

Why Should She Feel that Way?

I was tutoring last night and my student told me she had to research a hero. Since she didn't know where to start, I had her type "hero" in google.ca and she got back more than 6 million sites. Feeling perhaps even more bewildered about where to find the one she would write about, I suggested she narrow her search. Reminding her that she was a Canadian girl, I asked her to type in "Canadian heroines", and that's where the problem began. She raised her eyes to mine with an incredulous look and said, "I have to research a man." Wondering if I had encountered a teacher with a narrow mind behind this project, I questioned her about it. She showed me the assignment sheet which was devoid of gender specifications. I continued to question her about it, and she told me she felt she had to research a man, "because no-one wants to read about stuff women do".
That's a statement that says way too much about the attitudes our girls encounter still in school and society at large. I have no problem with Black History Month. The opportunity it provides here in north america to redress a wrong forced on a whole people is important. The ramifications of slavery's period in out history are still manifesting themselves today. In the spirit of "There will be no-one left" we need to continue addressing the topic of hate in regard to its ability to rebound on absolutely everyone.
We don't need any more special months, however, designated for special groups. I heard recently that there is a push for a "Latino History Month" being mounted. No, we don't need it. There are not enough months in the year to cover all the groups. Spend too much time looking at groups and you find you're just giving more and more time to the things that divide us, anyway. How about looking more at things that unite us?
It doesn't matter what group you're looking at, they're all composed of male and female. Too many groups victimize their own females, and little to nothing is done about it. We need to do more to show our young people that being human is what counts, being compassionate and moral is what's important. Being one gender or the other should not be the most important consideration in whether or not respect is given to an individual. The colour of their skin or the way they cook their food should have no bearing at all.
There should be no more female members of any group feeling they have to find a male to research because "no-one wants to read about stuff women do".

Dos de Voyage dans Temps

If you're wondering where to go for your vacation this year; if you like reading historical fiction set in medieval Europe,, then get yourself to Paris, to start. Rent a car or hitch a ride, 'cause you need to get yourself about one and a half hour's distance outside of the city to the region of Burgundy to find your destination. Drive along the secondary road D955 that connects Saint-Sauveur en Puisaye to Saint-Amand en Puisaye. It's a drive that will take you on a voyage back in time, to the medieval building site of Guedelon.
At this site, craftswomen and men are toiling to build a medieval castle, following 13th century techniques, and using only the materials at hand. Quarriers, stone hewers, carpenters, and masons are among those working on the project. It is a project that has brought employment opportunities along with it, because of the on-site jobs, but also because of the tourist attraction the site has become. More than a place for a tourist to wander through a fascinating tour, it has become a schooltrip destination as well, and of course, it is providing constant data for the omnipresent Scientific and Historical Committee. The site is directed by the Guild of the Builder's Companions of Puisaye, and overseen by Michel Guyot, also curator of nearby Saint-Fargeau.
If you've got the money to spend, and the desire to see the setting of those novels you love come alive, this place needs to be part of your travel plans. For a preview of what you'll see there, follow this link. You'll get a "guided tour" and lots of info about the project. Then you can decide if a little time travel is indeed in your future.

Want a Better Body?

There's no one pill you can take to give you one, no one special food to nosh on daily that will make it happen. Unless you've got a fairy godmother with a wand to wave over you, you'll have to work for it, just like the rest of us. If you're willing to put in a little effort, however, and you live or work in north Toronto or Thornhill, then I know just the place for you to work a little magic of your own.
It's called "Better Bodies Fitness" and it's got to be the best little gym in town. Run by owner Eli Palmer, it's a place where people are encouraged to make changes for the better, and helped to achieve their fitness goals, in style. This exercise establishment's business cards declare itself as a place to "Realize your potential and improve your health and well-being".
Long-term members are used to Eli looking in the gym's mirrors in the morning and declaring himself, incredibly, to be even better looking than the day before. They're also used to his bluff exterior hiding a heart of gold. Don't let him fool you. This is a man you can talk to, as well as train with.
As a balance to Eli's brash exuberance, manager Bonnie graces the gym with a warm smile and a gentle manner that would put anyone at their ease. Between the two of them, you're bound to find the personal trainer just right for you.
They're presently on Steeles Avenue East, but they'll be moving soon to 300 John Street in Thornhill Square. Sign up with them before October 31st, and get a sweet deal on your membership fee.
Call them at 416-229-2288 and talk to Eli or Bonnie. If you're really interested in a better body, there's no better call you could make.

Fried Brains

A couple of interesting items from the labs at the U. of T. where professors have been looking at the club drug ecstasy, and alzheimer's. Both will fry your brain.
The drug is being investigated by Professor Konstantine Zakzanis who has conducted a long-term study on the progressive memory impairment it causes. His first findings showed that the performance of regular users on neuropsychological tests of learning and memory declined over a one-year period.
His next study revisited the same group and found that those who were still regularly in search of a fried brain had found it. Their test scores were even lower.
Several members of the group had begun displaying a little sense and sworn off the drug. Those who had resisted the temptation to indulge for at least 32 weeks scored better than they had in the previous tests, or at least, no worst. The professor determined that the recovery of learning and memory abilities depended on the frequency and duration of the subjects' previous use of the drug.
The next step Zakzanis would like to take is to conduct a brain-imaging study of his subjects in an attempt to determine if there is functional change in their brains.

To switch the focus now from those who stupidly play around with self-inflicted neurotoxicological effects to those who haplessly suffer neurodegenerative diseases, there is news in the fight against Alzheimer's disease. A research team led by Professor JoAnne McLaurin may have discovered a drug that could prevent cognitive damage and memory loss in Alzheimer's patients. The substance in question stops the amyloid beta peptide responsible for the toxic neural damage in affected brains.
Testing done on lab mice genetically altered to develop the disease have shown that the drug prevented additional memory loss and cognitive damage. Health Canada has approved Phase 1 Clinical trials to determine if the drug produces side-effects in humans.
Should the drug prove to be a success, its administration to the 800,000 Canadians predicted to suffer from Alzheimer's by the year 2026 could go a long way toward saving some of the $8 billion it is expected will be the cost of care for these patients. It could also save untold misery and suffering for the patients themselves, as well as for their families.
I watched my father slide down the icy slope that is Alzheimer's inexorable descent into hell. There was really nothing that medical science could do to help. Every time I went to visit him, I saw all the other sufferers on that ward, each making their own descent. There were so many. I remember different faces, but one stands out in particular; Rosa.
When I first met Rosa, she was still ambulatory, as was my father at that point. She would come up to me and roll up her sleeve to show me the ID number tattooed on her arm in a Nazi concentration camp. Obviously, this woman had already suffered, but it was not enough. Some cruel fate had decided that she had more dues to pay before she could be free. As her condition progressed, she went through a series of names for me, calling them out when she saw me, sure that I was a person from her past come to visit her.
The last time I saw her was unutterably sad. By then she was in a wheelchair. She would still gesture to me, wanting me to come over to her, and I always did. This time, when I went up to her and knelt down beside her, she began to stroke my cheek and say "Mama, my beautiful Mama, I knew you would come for me. I knew you wouldn't leave me here. Can I come home with you now, Mama?"
As I sit here typing out this story, the tears come back and I am struggling to see the monitor through them.
I held her hands in mine and stroked her cheeks in return. I told her how beautiful she was and assured her that it would indeed be time to go home soon. I finally extricated my hands from hers and left with a promise to return as soon as I could.
I was crying so much by then that I could not go down the hall to see my Dad. I had to leave.
When I read about the two studies I have detailed above, I am filled with both hope and disgust, all at the same time. No-one chooses a disease like Alzheimer's. It strikes without mercy and destroys lives. This drug seems to promise great hope to the people it victimizes.
On the other hand, idiots who choose to take ecstasy are playing with the same kind of dynamite, but purposely making the choice to do so. I find that disgusting, because you know very well that their demands for medical help will be strident and loud when it comes time for them to reap what they choose to sow. I have to wonder if these morons would appreciate a tour of an Alzheimer's ward before they pop the first pill. I wonder if they are so stupid that meeting the people in the ward where my father died would have no impact on their decision to self-destruct. Would they change their mind if they met someone like Rosa, or remain unmoved as they went back to the club and did their thing?

A Little Feline Fact or Two

Did you know? Saint Gertrude of Nivelles is the patron saint of cats. The good woman lived in Belgium in the 600's, and was for a time an abbess. She is often depicted with a cat near her and mice climbing up her staff. Visiting her shrine in Cologne used to involve leaving a silver mouse when one asked for her intercession. Too bad Gertrude didn't show up earlier in history. Cleopatra's cats could have used her help. When the great queen decided to end it all, she killed her cats first so they could accompany her to eternity.

Just a little FYI. I found this site you might be interested in if you're looking for ways to tone those abs. There are 43 titles to choose from in a list of articles about ab exercises. Click on any title and you'll find yourself looking at a usual two-page spread that includes some info and general hints on the topic from an expert, often a certified fitness instructor, plus a few exercises to try. Not all include pictures of how to do the exercise, but the instructions are fairly easy to follow. With titles like, "Couch Potato's Workout", "Exercisers Make Better Lovers", and "Gut-Busting Golfer's Exercises", you can see that the list is meant to appeal to a wide range of readers. Take a peek. There might be something there for you.

Consumerism or Caring?

I came across something this morning that brought me up short. It's the I.V. Plant Pot, available at www.vitaminliving.com for a mere $280.00.
I don't know how it will seem to you, but for me this product has a slightly obscene veneer to it. It's a rather unspectacular planter outfitted with a medical-grade 500 CC I.V. to water the plant even when the owner chooses not to. It's life-saving properties, of course, hinge on the owner remembering to refill the drip bag when it's empty.
To me, this is an example of consumerism at its worst. Most of us have an image of a family gathered around a hospital bed, praying for the recovery of a loved one connected to an I.V. Using the drip for a plant pot trivializes this.
Take a look at their site, with its slogan "a life less ordinary" and its supposed nurse posing for the camera while she holds her little play-doctor kit. This is all to sell a money-grabbing idea to people who have coin of the realm to waste and absolutely no idea of how to spend it on something worthwhile.
If someone with $280.00 to spare is really interested in a "life less ordinary" they can take that money to the online catalogue for Canadian Food for the Hungry International, and spend a happy hour deciding just how to use their money. Any sum they spend there will take a life where the "ordinary" is too often poverty, disease and despair, and truly make it extra-ordinary.
Malaria takes an average of 3,000 children's lives a year. Instead of one plant pot, your money could buy 20 bednets and perhaps save those 20 lives. Who knows whom you might be saving? Imagine helping to bring the next Gandhi-like figure to his/her people!
If the idea of your gift rippling out in concentric circles of care appeals to you, that same amount could be used instead to fund the training for six health care workers. That one plant pot could be turned into six 6-day training workshops for community health care workers. In countries where understanding of basic sanitation is sometimes sadly lacking, having someone of your community, someone right there to teach young mothers how to better care for their babies, for instance, could truly produce a ripple effect that would have no end.
If you prefer to think of your gift as having a face you could put to it, use that same amount of money to purchase two agri-combos. One pig, four rabbits and fruit trees will be given to two separate families, creating food and income for each of them. Instead of one plant pot, you could gift two families and their communtites with smiles, and you'd still have enough money left to go to the nursery and buy yourself a spectacular plant, a lovely pot, and a clay plant feeder/watering system. Many of them will water your plant for up to 14 days. If you can't remember to replenish the water within that time period, maybe it's time for you to consider a move to silk flowers. You can sit and gaze at their artificial beauty while you think about the very real smiles on the faces of those who benefited from your gifts.

60 Years of Fair Trade

Ten Thousand Villages is getting ready to celebrate 60 years of fair trade. On October 14th, they want you to join in the fun. Check out this website for a listing of the stores in Canada that are participating and the events being held at each one. Many of them will include sampling and giveaways, as well as guest appearances, "mystery gifts" and prizes. Some of the "specials" will really be worth your while, like the 25% off being offered to anyone 60 years of age, who brings ID to the Calgary store on Fairmount Drive between 10:00 and 5:00 on the 14th.
the occasion offers a great chance to treat yourself to something special or even do a little early Christmas shopping, and know while you do it that you're helping to provide a better life for disadvantaged third-world artisans and their families. No matter what your purchase, it will have been fairly purchased in trade agreement set up based on a philosophy of "commerce with a conscience".
Begun in 1946 by Edna Ruth Byler, a worker with a Mennonite Central Committee, Ten Thousand Villages continues to achieve their aim of providing respect, dignity and hope by returning fair value for products created. How many other stores actually offer you the chance to enjoy shopping AND the knowledge that your purchase involves you in a strategy for "poverty alleviation and sustainable development"? You come out of their stores feeling good in more ways than one.

There's More to This Than Meets the Eye

I spend a lot of time here expounding my views on local, national or international events, on the theory that everyone is entitled to my opinion, but every once in a while I get all domestic on you. This is going to be one of those times.
This afternoon I spent some time in the kitchen making up a big batch of a family favourite. It started out years ago as ordinary cranberry sauce, but with a little change here and a small alteration there, it evolved into the culinary delight we call "chunky apple-cranberry sauce".
I know, I know, you can just open a can. Why bother doing the work of making your own? Well, read on and see if my offering can tempt you to change your mind on this one.
Read the recipe on any package of cranberries and you'll find directions for making cranberry sauce, using water. The first change I made was switching from water to orange juice. Water gives you nothing in particular, but o.j. gives you vitamin C, potassium, and folate, among other goodies.
I also began cutting down on the sugar called for. Since north american diets are already more than high enough in sugar content, on average, cutting down a little on the substance is never a bad thing. If you're thinking you already know all about the supposed harm sugar can do, you might be interested in this site. There you'll find a list that goes far beyond tooth decay and hyperactivity in kids that most people think of. In fact, there is a listing of 76 possible detrimental effects, backed up by a citing of 111 sources and references, including ones like "Christansen, D. Critical Care: Sugar Limit Saves Lives. Science News. June 30, 2001". If you already are familiar with cranberry sauce, but you're not too sure about making it less sweet, browsing the above site may give you a reason to consider it.
If you're not yet familiar with cranberry sauce, learning a little about the health benefits of the red berries may give you a reason to try it. Research into the health potential of the cranberry is ongoing, but it is already accepted that the proanthocyanidins (PAC's) in the berries can help prevent infections of the urinary tract wall, and may also inhibit the bacteria associated with stomach ulcers. If you want to know more about cranberries, check out this site.
We like to add apples into the mix because we all agree they add to the good taste, but there's more benefit than that from adding them. First, the apples help to naturally sweeten the tart taste from the berries, allowing you to cut back on the sugar. Also, the fibre content in apples can help to slow the release of sugar into the body and thereby maintain a steady level of blood sugar. This is a good thing for those with concerns like hyperactivity or triglyceride levels. Click here to find out more about apples.
I triple the recipe 'cause it goes fast around here. I also use a crunchy apple, like Cortlands, because MacIntosh apples cook up too mushy for us. If you like a challenge and some fun, try to peel the apple in one whole, uninterrupted peel. If you manage that, and you're single, take the peel and toss it over your shoulder. Now take a look at it and see if it has landed in a shape that suggests a letter of the alphabet to you. Legend says that letter will be the first one in the name of the man you will marry.
Now, after all that preamble, if you're still interested, here's my recipe for chunky apple-cranberry sauce.

Chunky Apple-Cranberry Sauce

*four apples *one 12-ounce package fresh or frozen cranberries (no need to thaw them first) *1/2 cup orange juice *1/2 cup sugar (use white granulated, or demerera) *optional, 1/4 cup raisins

Wash and peel the apples. Core each apple and cut it into quarters. Cut each quarter into half. Chop each piece into two chunks.
Place in a large saucepan with just enough water to stop the apples from sticking. Stir frequently as you cook the apples over a medium-high heat. When the apple pieces begin to soften and "mush" a little, after about 4 or 5 minutes, you're ready to stir in the cranberries and the orange juice.
Once you add in the orange juice, it will stick more easily, so KEEP STIRRING OFTEN!
Bring the mix to a slow-bubbling boil, and continue to cook it until the berries begin to pop. If you want more of a whole-berry consistency to the sauce, take it off the heat now. If you want a little more smoothness to the texture, continue cooking it for one or two minutes more. During the last minute is the time to add in the raisins if you're using some, so that they're on the heat just long enough to plump them up.
Remove your creation from the heat and stir in the sugar. Let it cool a little before you put it in the fridge. It will thicken more with the cold.

I hope you like it.

More and more people are beginning to put together their eating habits with the future of the planet, as well as the future of their own arteries. If you're one of them, you want to check out this site. You'll get quite the array of "eating greener" facts, some of which are real food for thought.
There are several interactive sections to the site, like the "Score Your Diet" which gives you an idea of the environmental impact your eating habits have on our planet, and "Eating Green by the Number" which prompts you to make your best guess-timate for several interesting posers like the proportion of food-poisoning deaths due to pathogens from animals or their manure, and the annual cost of coronary bypass operations and angioplasties, as well as the proportion of all the greenhouse gas, methane, emitted by cattle.
Don't leave the site until you've clicked on "Tour the Food Supply". You might need to give it a minute to load, but the info you'll glean from it is more than worth the wait. It's a treasure trove of goodies for any teacher wanting to "beef up" what's offered in the human geography text about environmental footprints. You'll get animal feed and feedlot facts, fertilizer and pesticide facts, and lots more. If you're curious about what livestock and their manure have in common with 33 million automobiles, this is the place to find out.
Take a minute and check this one out. You might find your interest sufficiently piqued to order the book "Six Arguments for a Greener Diet" and/or sign up with the CSPI.