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Green Your Christmas

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:58:36 -0800

From the page: "Christmas trees are a pretty big debate with environmentalist. Real trees have problems like filling up the landfill, harmful pesticides, poor farming practices, and other issues. Fake trees are almost always made with PVC which can contain lead, can't be recycled when no longer usable, and a host of other problems.

But don't think this means you have to give up having a Christmas tree. There are many options. Here are just a few."

When 'being yourself' is dangerous & blue milk

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:12:35 -0800

From the page: "The problem is not that young bodies are beautiful, it is that, particularly in the case of young women, their bodies have been used to symbolise commodified pleasure, and when everything about you represents consumption you can be terribly vulnerable. The appreciation of youthful beauty would not be so troublesome were it not to come with the sense of entitlement that is the leering eye. In our culture young women are both sexualised and silenced �" a terribly dangerous combination for them."

Look left of the pleiades: Dear Kate Harding

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:56:25 -0800

From the page: "If a fat woman, like you or I, gets on a plane, no one wants to sit next to us. Because they might be a bit put out that we take up some of their seat. It isn't our fault they make seats for thin people. Yeah, it sucks that the thin person might have to lose a little bit of their comfort. It isn't so great for us, either, spread across two seats. Especially when we have to put up with the glares and daggers. But if a thin person wrote an article about how how, to be fair, the thin person had a point, and the comments discussed how we should either lose the fat or not fly at all? I think you'd be up in arms.

If I get on a plane with my two year old, no one wants to sit next to me. Because they might be a bit put out that my child is noisy with either excitement or upset. It isn't my fault they don't make flights particularly child-friendly, with, say, games, or in-flight movies (except in the posh bit of the plane, obviously, where I can't afford to go). It also isn't my fault that if I nursed my child to calm him, I might also risk being kicked off the plane. (It also isn't my fault that if I did put an in-flight movie on for him, I'd still get judged for letting him watch television at all!) Yeah, it sucks that the child-free person might have to lose a bit of their comfort. It isn't so great for me, either, having to cope with an unhappy child, especially when I have to put up with the glares and daggers."

Down to Earth Mama & Hypocrisy

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:09:49 -0800

From the page: "Fact

Conservatives don�t want big government. They suggest that big government infringes on the individual freedoms that built this country.

Fact

Conservatives have no problem infringing on individual freedoms if it means you would get to marry someone that you love or have to make a tough decision over what happens with your own body."

Have H1N1 (Swine flu)? Take my survey | Crunchy Domestic Goddess

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:42:00 -0800

From the page: "If you or someone in your family has had H1N1 (either confirmed or suspected), please complete the H1N1 survey. It only takes a couple minutes."

Helping Themselves: Breastfeeding Advice Nestle-Style | PhD in Parenting

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:27:01 -0800

From the page: "Why would the world�s largest infant formula company want to help mothers breastfeed? Huge spoiler ahead. Ready? They don�t. Yes, Nestle runs a glossy US website called the Start Healthy Stay Healthy Resource Center which claims that it gives expert advice about infant nutrition. Yes, the website�s informational section on breastfeeding is actually larger than the corresponding section on formula feeding. And yes, of course, some of the advice is accurate. It has to be. If they gave nothing but blatantly bogus information that would look pretty bad and a certain level of credibility is essential. Instead, the advice is misleading and manipulative in subtle ways. The �oewhy” part should go without saying; if they can turn a mother who plans to breastfeed (as the majority do these days) into a mother who feeds her baby Good Start, they have just earned thousands of dollars. Switzerland is not in fact neutral."

Mourning gay marriage in Maine | Melissa McEwan | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:38:27 -0800

From the page: "Sometimes the stragglers at the tail end of this slow march of progress need a boot to get them moving forward. When the legislatures haven't provided it, it has been the judiciary's job to deliver it instead, as marginalised groups were never meant to have no recourse against discriminatory practices, even if the will of the majority is to extend the codified biases in perpetuity. Just because something is popular doesn't make it right.

And so came the howling about "activist judges". But in Maine, it was not left to a judge to decide the fate of same-sex marriage, but instead to the state legislature. And then �" what a surprise �" that wasn't good enough, either. It still had to be brought before Maine's voters, so that every straight person in the state would be allowed to cast their own opinion on whether their gay neighbours should be allowed their rights, which is only fair. On some planet where "fair" means "deferential to the tyranny of the majority so as not to hurt their precious wee feelings".

This country is not, and never has been, well-served by leaving the civil rights of the minority in the hands of the majority. Putting that up to a vote which is subject to deeply held prejudice is ruling not by democracy, but by mob mentality."

13 Ridiculous Food Labels that Might Be Fooling You

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:48:42 -0800

From the page: "With the ridiculous and misleading claims that are made on the packaging of many foods, it can be difficult to differentiate the truth from devious marketing. This is important because the failure to make this distinction can have a significant impact on your health and wellbeing."

You Are What You Eat | New Greener Family

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:45:25 -0800

From the page: "Have you ever seen a picture of your blood plasma after you've eaten a meal from McDonald's or Burger King? It's not a pretty picture. It looks thick and cloudy. Fast foods are loaded with fat and sodium. They use white bread and rolls, which means they've used white processed flour, with very few nutrients in them.

And how do you feel after a Big Mac and french fries? You need a nap, don�t you? All that fat will drag you down and make you feel sluggish."

Former director of Planned Parenthoods story doesnt add up.

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:03:38 -0800

From the page: "I'm sorry, Rachael, but this story you linked about Abby Johnson's sudden conversion from a Planned Parenthood director to an anti-choice fanatic has more holes in it than a piece of Swiss cheese after being used for target practice."