Friday, February 18, 2011

Depressing Links and Video of the Day

Want to know the end result of bullshit conservative policies? Check out Texas:
Mrs. Bush, Abstinence and Texas



The true cost of plastic:
plastic flood in philippines
Can you tell what that is? Look closely.



OK, this one might not be as depressing to you as it is to me, but if you teach at the college level it's both unsurprising and profoundly depressing. Meanwhile, people increasingly complain that a college degree is worth less and less on the job market. Gee, I wonder why?
What happened to studying?



I'm not a huge advocate of co-sleeping. I think every family should figure out what works for them, and being tuned in to your kids personalities and your needs as a parent is far more important that anything you can learn in a parenting book. Still, it was always puzzling/amusing/irritating to me when people reacted with horror and/or deep concern if I mentioned that I let my daughter sleep in our bed so she could nurse whenever she wanted to at night. It worked for us, and all the evidence suggests that co-sleeping is safe and good for tiny babies, especially those who are nursing. It's great for the mom - you get to sleep all night. But of course, as a culture our approach to things like this is anything but evidence-based. That makes this headline a bit ironic: Study: Average of 26 children hurt by cribs every day. I believe that means it's more dangerous to sleep in a crib than with your parent(s). Is that going to change the horrified reactions? Yeahno.



And then there's this:
Single motherhood still rejected by most Americans, poll finds
Which prompts me to ask "what about teh menz?!?"



On the other hand, there's this!



Have a good weekend y'all.

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous2/21/2011

    I can totally believe that article about students studying less than 6 hrs/wk. It makes perfect sense.

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  2. Anonymous2/21/2011

    I'm secretly kind of glad that Texas is fucking itself over. It provides a good example of what happens when you don't invest in things like education and health care.

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  3. But it's irresponsible for you to downplay the dangers of co-sleeping with a very small baby.

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  4. Sandy,

    Co-sleeping drastically reduces SIDS. Sounds pretty irresponsible.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous2/22/2011

    Sandy,
    What dangers?

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  6. diamonds2/22/2011

    She's probably referring to the news stories you still occasionally hear about infant deaths while co-sleeping. Generally if an infant dies while in a crib it's diagnosed as SIDS, but in an adult bed it's always attributed to co-sleeping even when there's nobody else sleeping in the bed with them. Also, if a child suffocates on loose bedding in a crib it's SIDS, while suffocating on loose bedding in an adult bed is attributed to co-sleeping. But of course, the crib industry is big business - the centerpiece of every nursery is a fancy, increasingly costly crib. That's a big market share to give up.
    Cosleeping &SIDS Fact Sheet

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  7. the link on single mothers is broken.

    ReplyDelete