And the booby prize goes to...us. Again.

In case you had any doubt before, UNICEF just rated the United States the LOWEST out of 21 wealthy industrialized countries in health and safety of its children. We were ranked above only Great Britain overall for the welfare of our children.

According to one of the authors of the report, the United States fares so poorly "because of greater economic inequality and poor levels of public support for families."

I am so sick of living in a country where we don't think twice about corporate welfare, excessive military funding, and tax cuts for the rich, and our children and families are suffering every day. Even though my husband is a public school teacher, we can't afford the cost to be on their family medical plan. So, we bought a cheaper one, which we struggle and scrape to pay for every month. And you know what? I am thinking of canceling it an just paying for catastrophic care. I can't afford the deductible when I need to go in anyway. I have at least four things I can think of that I would go see a doctor for if I had the money. Hope they don't get worse.

If you were wondering what was wrong with support of families in America, or wanted to know what people are trying to do about it, please visit Moms Rising, home of The Motherhood Manifesto.

Send me a sign

Who loves it?

I LOVE IT!!!

Mothering Magazine, one of my favorite publications, sponsored a contest to create a sign showing support of breastfeeding. Not only did I see it in my weekly Mothering email, but I also saw it covered in several of my blog subscriptions, including Belly Tales and Women's Health News.

I could have used this sign when I had to pump at work. There is nothing like hearing the site manager's keys in the lock when you are strapped into to your Pump in Style, cowering in the corner of the empty conference room, with full letdown happening and milk pouring out. Sometimes a locked door and a "Room in Use" sign is not enough.

I won't go into a rant (OK, not much of one) about how it is incredible that public breastfeeding is still a controversy. (The article in last link almost turned me off to Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! entirely. I still listen, but whenever Roxanne "Breastfeeding in public = hairy man wearing a speedo" Roberts is on, I make sarcastic comments that make me feel better about it.)

But officer, I didn't know the rice was illegal!

I hope some of you have been keeping abreast of the latest chemical and technological threats here at my not-so-obviously named blog "Mom's Tinfoil Hat". (Our tech team promises that making the title of our blog actually visible on our blog is "on the list". *edit* It is such a joy to be using a FREE service like Blogspot that can give me better technology than all the money at Viacom!)

I have already covered conspiracies against our health and peace of mind have been hidden in the seemingly innocent form of rice.
Well here's a new one: the recent discovery of an illegal, unapproved, genetically-modified rice called LibertyLink or LL601 from the US firm Bayer on the international market. According to Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Richard Bell, LL601 has been detected in virtually all milled long-grain rice supplies that have been tested.

No wonder the Bayer homepage has the quote “We want to more intensively exploit the opportunities for growth in the areas of innovation, new technologies and seeds” on it no less than twice.

This has prompted many international markets, including Japan (no, they don’t eat a lot of rice!) and the EU, to refuse some or all of our rice at the border.

So, what does the USDA do? Reprimand Bayer for knowingly selling an illegal and unapproved new technology disguised as food to the global markets? They claim they didn’t knowingly release it into the food chain. Well, one of the biggest complaints about GMOs is how easily the altered genes can irreversibly contaminate the regular food supply. Hmm, maybe we weren't just paranoid after all.

Are they going to recall the rice? Are they planning on fining Bayer for not taking efforts to prevent its experimental and unapproved genes from spreading to the international food supply?

If you answered, none of the above, in fact let’s just retroactively rubberstamp this all as OK, you are our tinfoil hat winner of the day.

The USDA is inviting public comment on this decision. If you would like to comment, you can go through the simple process of going to http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main, you have to know the name of the document is “APHIS-2006-0140-0001”, and you can either click on the little speech balloon and make a comment (which is not readily apparent), or mail your forms in QUADRUPLICATE to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Too bad Bayer didn’t jump through hoops like this to get their Frankenrice approved.

Which side are you on?

(Originally posted Labor Day 2006)

Happy Labor Day!

It’s been about 85 years since Florence Reece wrote the lyrics to “Which Side Are You On?” in response to the way her family was harassed for her husband’s involvement in a coal mining union.

Back in the 1930’s, her Mama Reece's introduction to the labor movement came when her home was ransacked by the sheriff and deputies of Harlan County, waving guns at her and her seven children as they looked for her labor organizing husband.

Today, we have a much different labor battle going on. Families are in crisis trying to make ends meet with skyrocketing health care costs, stagnant wages, high gas and energy prices, and inadequate and expensive child care options. And it seems like the whole idea behind unions…organizing and banding together…just isn’t alive and well in America any more.

I hope the labor movement makes a major comeback. I hope we get better vacation benefits, maternity and paternity leave, flex time, affordable quality day care, and countless other improvements in work conditions that would help families and the community.

On your day off, check out Moms Rising, the official site of the Motherhood Manifesto and learn more about the situation we are all in together. Truly paranoia inducing. Where’s my hat?

Oh, and if you want to help

We have been filming a show at our birth center called "House of Babies" that you can see on Discovery Health Network. It has yet to be renewed for another season. If you would like to help us continue to film and show a birth "reality" series which shows natural births, midwife attended births, waterbirths and lots of breastfeeding, please visit this website and send off a letter in support. Not a completely shameless plug, but I apologize anyway...