Strollerderby : united kingdom

Abortion Ads On Television?

Brett Singer — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:00:00 GMT

British TV viewers may soon see "adverts" for abortions alongside the more typical commercials for tea and crisps.

According to ABC News, "the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practices [in the U.K.] is considering rewriting the TV rules regarding advertising as a way of tackling the problem" of an increased rate of teen pregnancy. Rules on condom ads would be relaxed as well; currently prophylactic TV pitches are only allowed to air after 9pm.

Groups like the British Pregnancy Advisory Service would applaud the changes, with chief executive Ann Furedi saying, "Why would we not want women to be able to know quickly and simply where they can get pregnancy testing and referral for abortion treatment or antenatal care, depending on what they decide is best for them?"

Speaking for the other side is Dr. Peter Saunders of the Christian Medical Fellowship. "This is like having the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff to deal with the casualties rather than putting up a safety rail at the top of the cliff to stop them falling off."

Well, not exactly. It's more like telling people the ambulance exists. While it's true that if there were no abortion clinics, there would be fewer abortions, is it really so wrong to actually let women know what their options are? Of course, cigarettes exist, and we don't allow television ads for those. (That's true in the United States at least; I don't know what the rules are across the pond.)

Should the rules be relaxed, and should ads for abortion clinics be allowed on television?

Source: ABC News, BBC (Video report)

Image: SXC

Baby Born in Penn Station During Rush Hour

Texas Wants Women to Listen to Fetal Hearbeat Before Abortion

Late-Term Abortion Provider on Trial in Kansas

Surrogate Agency Disappears With Potential Parents Cash

Green Expert Says: Limit Kids to Two

JeanneSager — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:27:00 GMT

Have at least two kids? Planning on having more?

A UK sustainable development expert says you should think twice about making any more babies – lest you want to see the world a blacker place.

The way Jonathon Porritt sees it, anyone with more than two kids is "irresponsible" about the way they're affecting the environment.

"I think we will work our way towards a position that says that having more than two children is irresponsible. It is the ghost at the table. We have all these big issues that everybody is looking at and then you don't really hear anyone say the "p" word." Porritt told the London Times.

By "P" word, of course, he means procreation.

The way he sees it, we should be shifting our monies away from curing illnesses (which, of course, keep the population on this earth) and push them toward increasing contraception and abortion.

It's true that each person has his or her own personal carbon footprint. A British study late last year put the figure around eleven tons of CO2 per year by a Brit, nearly double that per year by us in the states.

But if Porritt's adovacating for a shift in funding, how about focusing on ways to reduce people's carbon footprint rather than cutting people's family planning dreams off at the knees? Carbon emissions are indeed an important issue, and one that won't go away anytime soon.

I'm also deeply disturbed by the suggestion that abortion is one of the best ways he can come up with for keeping families down to just two kids. I'm pro-choice, but that's for women who want or need an out from a pregnancy, not for women who are happily pregnant and being told they need to suddenly reduce their carbon footprints.

Does this sound something coming a bit too close to the Chinese? You know, the country accused of human rights violations for its extreme methods of population control that borders on eugenics?

It's true Porritt isn't calling for selective breeding to create a master race but for an overall reduction in peoples populating the earth. But even as a mom who has just one kid, and one who would call for more parents to take a look at their capabilities (financial, first and emotional, next) before getting pregnant again and again, I think Porritt is cutting off the nose to spite the face.

The world is in trouble because people have been stupid. So let's smarten up, and create a "master race" of kids who are wise about the ways of green living - no matter how many there are. Our kids don't have to be a burden on the world's resources if we don't let them be.

At least this guy practices what he preaches. Porritt has just two kids. Wonder if that has anything to do with his magic number?

Vatican to Women: The Pill Pollutes Environment, His Testes

Are Pick-Up and Drop-Off Moms Killing the Environment?

Pulling the Plug on Plural Pregnancies

No Great Outpouring of Support for Struggling New Mom of Quintuplets

Not So Hot - Male Strip Tease Teach Suspended

Brett Singer — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:00:00 GMT

If you heard that a teacher did a strip tease in front of their class, you probably would think of a Van Halen-esque scene ("I got my pencil -- give me something to write on." Ah, the 80's.) At least that's what I would think of.

But, once again, I would be wrong. An English teacher at the Sudbury Upper School in the U.K. was trying to get his students to calm down. They wouldn't, so he threatened to take his clothes off. The teacher is not, shall we say, in the best physical condition. When the wild rumpus continued, he made good on his promise, "whipping off his shirt…before flexing his muscles…topless for a few seconds then spending half a minute getting his shirt back on."

A student filmed Mr. Rose Lee (not his real name, I just made that up) with her cellphone and posted the footage to YouTube. Unlike R. Kelly, he was unable to convince anyone that it wasn't him, and was promptly "sacked" as they say in Britain.

Bizarrely, some people actually seem to think this was an extreme punishment. Over at the Daily Mail, one commenter said, "I just think it's sick to take a bloke's job away for that. At least he got the pupils' attention." Another weighed in with, "I suppose this was a bit of fun, he never really hurt anyone, things like this make school life all a bit more fun."

The video is gone from YouTube, but some screenshots survived. For comparison, here is the classic Van Halen "Hot For Teacher" video. Even if the teacher looked more like the Van Halen girl and less like Fatty Arbuckle (actually, he kind of looks like Rob Reiner), I still think a firing isn't exactly unwarranted. Maybe he should hook up with this guy and start a day care center.

images: DailyMail

Sins of the father: bin Laden's son can't live in UK

Brett Singer — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:30:00 GMT

Omar Osama bin Laden, the son of, yes, the Osama bin Laden, has been denied a visa to live in the United Kingdom. He currently lives in Cairo, Egypt with his wife, Zaina Alsabah, who is British. Alsabah -- who used to be called Jane Felix-Browne -- wanted to return home. Omar is 27, his wife is 52. (Um, you go girl?)

British authorities told Omar that they found "evidence of continuing loyalty to your father who is ultimately held responsible for the London bombing" which took place on July 7, 2005, killing 52 people. Omar has also allegedly said that his father's guilt in the World Trade Center attacks "could not be proved."

Alsabah says that the couple will appeal the ruling, because, "The decision can't be based on media reports." In other words, she believes that the British government denied the visa based partly on what they read in the newspaper about her husband. According to CNN, "Omar has not renounced his father, but says he wants to be an 'ambassador for peace' between Muslims and the West. The couple plan a 3,000-mile horse race across North Africa to draw attention to the cause of peace." Ooookay.

Look, if it were anyone else, it would be fairly easy to say that you shouldn't blame the son for his father's actions. In this case, I can kind of see the British government's point. When they say, "Your presence in the UK could...cause considerable public concern," that might be the understatement of the year. You also have to wonder about the mental state of someone who wants to move to a place where it is unlikely that he'll be able to move around freely. I mean, not only is he the son of the most notorious terrorist on the planet, he has the same name. Not just the same last name. THE SAME NAME. So maybe the Brits are actually doing him a favor.

image: CNN.com

UK Parents Can Grow IVF Babies for "Spare Parts"

Karen Murphy — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 17:24:00 GMT

The ethics of in vitro fertilization have sprung wide open in controversial new legislation in the UK that allows much greater latitude for parents of sick children to then grow "savior siblings" to use as a source of "spare parts" to potentially save the life of the sick sibling. Presently this translates into using umbilical cord blood or bone marrow to treat conditions like sickle cell anemia, but experts say that one day the technology could be available to use to grow a kid with good kidneys to save a sibling in renal failure.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. One the one hand it seems wrong to bring a life into being expressly for the purpose of saving another (what a burden on the "created" sibling, and then what do you do with him afterward? Is he truly wanted? I suppose that would depend...), but on the other hand I don't know what it's like to have a seriously ill child who could only be saved in this way. So I can't know how I would feel in that case, and wouldn't my love simply expand to embrace the new child anyway?

So this is expected to become law in the UK in 2009, and I'm curious to hear how it all works out and how people take this. It's already practiced in the US (the first "savior sibling" was born in 2000) but it's pretty much on the down low media-wise, and likely for good reason. Embryos are discarded based on tissue-matching for the illness being treated in the sick child (leukemia is a big one), and anytime you discard embryos, people get uncomfortable with that. So I would imagine that the UK controversy will have an affect here in the US.

Anybody here more intimately familiar with the IVF world? How do you feel about this?

Dads Get Naked to Bond With Their Babies

Karen Murphy — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 12:28:00 GMT

All right, dads, it's time to take off your shirts. That's right, it's time for a little more man boob action! You probably already know this but one of the best things to help ease newborns through the transition of birth into the world as we know it is to provide some skin-to-skin contact, and doctors and midwives in the UK are now recommending this from new daddies as well as with the mums.

The idea, of course, is to promote stronger bonding of dads with their babies because there is "compelling evidence that demonstrates the strong impact that fathers have on the health and well-being of mothers and babies, especially as fathers' involvement increases during pregnancy, at birth and in baby care".

You know what this means, of course, don't you, dads? More diaper changing. Just thought I ought to warn you.

UK Charity Wants Parents Punished If Kids Drink: Is This America?

Melissa Summers — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 12:04:00 GMT

The proposal comes after a study was released showing drinking among 13 to 15 year olds has increased in recent years. Currently it's legal for alcohol to be given to children as young as 5 in private homes. Wow, gives new meaning to cocktail playdates. Those against the bill say legislation won't stop young people from drinking irresponsibly, good parenting will.

Best quote from wine columnist Joe Fattorini, "My children know more than most that moderate, restrained drinking is normal. They see me surrounded by drink, but they've never seen me drunk." Mr. Fattorini, you'd love America.

New U.K. Program Gives Books Starring Gay Families to Schoolkids

Karen Murphy — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 11:09:00 GMT

Joining books that have become old standards like "Heather Has Two Mommies" and "Everyone Poops" are a new set of likely controversial but incredibly useful books for children in a new program in the U.K., bringing topics to the forefront that some people have long wished would simply go away. However, books like "King and King" and "And Tango Makes Three" in the new program can only, in my estimation, help take away the differences many people perceive about various families and the dynamics within them, and at the same time create a more open and sympathetic atmosphere for everyone. While I typically frown on the state creating public policy, I believe that in the end that programs like this can only be beneficial. And it's about damn time.

The program's director reports that feedback has been largely positive but admits that there has been opposition from various groups, mainly religious groups that are opposed to homosexuality. What do you think? If this material was introduced in your child's school, what would your reaction be? Personally? I'd be thrilled.

A Toddler at Six Months?

Patti — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 13:20:00 GMT

Poor Connie Robinson. The English mama probably thought she had a few more months of precious, peaceful immobility, but her son Reuben had other ideas. After starting to crawl at four months, Reuben's already walking at six months old. Six. Freaking. Months. Old!

Reuben's big sister Yazmin was an early walker too, but she had the generosity of spirit to wait until she was nine months old, at least.

I have personal sympathy for Connie--my now-four-year-old was crawling and cruising the furniture at six months, although she didn't feel like letting go of the coffee table until she was nearly one. Still, she was able to get anywhere (and anything) she wanted, and it was wayyyyy too soon for my tastes. But Connie's taking Reuben's strides in stride, and enjoying his status as the playgroup superstar.

According to experts, about half of babies walk by the age of one, with a few walking sooner and most catching up by 18 months. Reuben's a little extraordinary.

Getting Fit, Wii-Style

Patti — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 00:19:00 GMT

Some days all the news seems to end up as variations on a theme--last week it was all about sex, and this week it's all about video games as a form of exercise. Hot on the heels of this morning's video-games-as-school-PE-program story comes a study from a British university that confirms that the Nintendo Wii can be a valuable calorie killer--raising heartrates more than conventional video games, which are also known to increase heartrate.

According to the John Moores University study, up to 27 pounds a year could be lost with regular Wii-ing, confirming countless anecdotal Wii-loss stories that have floated around the nerdosphere since Wii's release. The researchers note that British kids spend an average of more than 12 hours a week gaming, and that it might as well give them a little cardio while they're at it.

Wacky Brits Launch Gelli Baff

Patti — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 00:22:00 GMT

No, that little girl in the picture is not acting out the prom scene from Carrie. She's enjoying a nice, gooey Gelli Baff, a new British product that turns bath water into colorful goo until you add a dissolving agent.

The video at the company's website does make it look pretty fun, although my experiences with bathtub crayons, paints, confetti, and other so-called "fun" have been less than stellar. There's something a little off-putting about the notion that Gelli Baff is made from "a similar substance [to that] used in disposable nappies", given that parents who use disposable diapers generally flip out the first time one of them splits and leaves those gel beads all over the place. But it turns out that the dissolving agent is plain old salt, which is somehow comforting. Although I can't for the life of me figure out how Gelli Baff is a bath in the sense that it results in clean children, it does seem like an interesting diversion.

I have my doubts as to whether Gelli Baff will ever make its way Stateside, as the website mentions that it "isn't nice" to eat and that it could sting eyes, which might make it unlikely to pass our lowest-common-denominator product restrictions. But if anyone's heading to the UK any time soon, will you bring me some?

via PlayLibrary

Times Online's List Of Ten Great Parenting Blogs

Patti — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

UK news outlet The Times Online's Alpha Mummy blog has posted their list of the ten great blogs that every working mum should read--good to know that the US doesn't have the market cornered on the assumption that to be a parent means to be a mother, and the qualifier "working" is somewhat puzzling, as their list is not at all specific to working parents.

The list features a few of the usual suspects: Dooce, Parent Hacks, Kiddley. Also included are a couple of blogs that aren't necessarily parenting blogs per se, but that a parent could definitely benefit from reading: Lifehacker and The Happiness Project. Alpha Mummy rounds out the list with fellow Times Online blogger India Knight's Isn't She Talking Yet, the Wall Street Journal's Juggle, and new-to-me reads MamaPop and Motherhood Uncensored (sometimes I don't know where I am when everyone else is blogging great stuff).

Oh, and the top of the list? Just a little site called Babble.

And now comes the best part of any top-something list: What's Wrong With It. Who's missing from Alpha Mummy's top ten? Is this list really what it claims to be, the top ten blogs for working parents (at least one of the blogs, MamaPop, is written by self-described stay at home parents)? Where all my daddybloggers at?

14 Year Old Sails Solo Across Atlantic

Patti — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 20:16:00 GMT

When I was fourteen my greatest accomplishment was being able to get to school in time for a zero hour class, and that's pretty much the expectations I've been building up for my own kids. Now I might have to scale my hopes and dreams up a notch or two, as fourteen year old Michael Perham of England sailed into Antigua today to become the youngest person ever to sail solo across the Atlantic, seven weeks after embarking from Gibraltar.

I'm not going to pick the nit of "is it really solo if your dad is tailing you in a second boat? Wouldn't that be more like, I don't know, tandem or something?" (oh, wait, I guess I did. I blame my husband, who said exactly that when I read him the story over coffee). I know bugger-all about world-class sailing, and this detail is proving maddeningly hard to clarify (can you clarify it? Let us know in the comments). Various sailing authorities are certainly treating Michael's trip as a solo voyage, so his father's shadow boat must be within their criteria for that (whatever that criteria is).

Michael's a sophisticated little dude--went and got himself a sponsorship from Skechers and a team of PR people, but his trip blog shows glimpses of a surprisingly normal kid. A surprisingly normal kid with his own 28-foot sailboat that sleeps eight, but never mind.

And what did Michael's mom, Heather Perham, think of her son's hair-brained scheme? Like her husband, Heather's nothing but supportive: "You cannot expect your kids not to go out. You don’t want them staying at home, fixed to the computer. They need to be out there, fulfilling their ambitions, otherwise life will pass them by. I just wish more kids had the opportunity to do these things.” I think maybe Heather's the real hero in this story.

UK Mom Delivers Twins and Triplets in Twelve Month Span

Patti — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 14:00:00 GMT

What the sweet fancy Jesus is in the water in England? First there was this, which nearly made my single uterus shrivel up of its own accord. Now there's Rachel Reidford, who recently gave birth to triplets only nine months after giving birth to twins.

Rachel was unaware of the twins' conception until it was discovered during a routine scan prior to gallstone removal. And as for the triplets, well, she thought there was only one. And also, that she was only a few weeks along: Rachel and her partner hadn't even told their families about the newest pregnancy when her water broke and she had to call an ambulance.

"The babies just kept coming and coming. I couldn't believe what was happening to me. It was the worst night of my life - and the best," Rachel told the Mirror. Rachel, 24, also has a six year old daughter from a previous relationship. Her 20-year-old partner, Ricky, missed the birth of Harry, the first triplet out of the gate, but arrived just in time to welcome Alfie and Billy.

Rachel told the Daily Mail that she is currently using injectable birth control, but plans to take a pregnancy test monthly just in case. "I'm considering sterilization", she says.

British Woman Births Triplets From Her Two Uteri

Patti — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 17:00:00 GMT

Yep, that's right, her two uteri. Against odds of about 25 million to one, Hannah Kersey of Devon delivered identical twins from one of her uteri, and a singleton from the other.

Ms. Kersey lives with a surprisingly common (one in 1000 women in the UK) condition called uterus didelphys, as do her mother and sister. But the specifics of her pregnancy are very uncommon indeed: she conceived in both uteri at the same time, with a different sperm fertilizing an egg in each. One of the eggs subsequently divided to produce identical twins Hannah and Tillie, while Gracie gestated in the womb next door.

According to Dr. Simon Grant of Southmead Hospital, who delivered the babies, "There are very few world firsts nowadays, but it may be one," while Ellis Downes of Chase Farm Hospital noted "Women with two wombs have conceived a baby in each womb before but never twins in one and a singleton in the other."

Hannah looks so proud in that picture, and I'm really happy for her and her partner. But for myself, I have never been so happy for my one little old uterus in my entire life. Damn!