Vaccination - The Hidden Truth (1998)

This is the shocking but extremely informative video documentary Vaccination - The Hidden Truth (1998) where fifteen people, including Dr. Viera Scheibner (a PhD researcher), five medical doctors, other researchers, reveal what is really going on in relation to illness and vaccines. Ironically, the important facts come from the orthodox medicine?s own peer-reviewed research. With so much government and medical promotion of vaccination for prevention of disease, the video is clearly devoted to presenting the other side of the issue that parents and others are not being told. The result is a damning account of the ineffectiveness of vaccines and their often harmful effects. It declares that parents are not being told the truth by the media, the Health Department and the medical establishment, with a medical doctor, Dr. Mark Donohoe, confessing that "It is a problem for me that I am part of a profession that is systematically lying to people?". Find out how vaccines are proven to have harmful effects to your health and why do we still have to be vaccinated although there is no real need for it. Although many people simply refuse to believe this, the impeccable documentation presented in this amazing video has changed the minds of many who saw it. 90 min.

non evaluative communication

so. i'm reading this book called _punished by rewards_ by alfie kohen. he's a psychologist, and he's ultra anti-skinner and pop behaviorism. i'd never really thought too much about our culture, and the methodology we subscribe to, in terms of parenting/teaching/managing. i mean, it's so pervasive, that i just sort of assumed the 'do this, and you'll get that' frame was what the world was built on. i mean, even god seems to be into the pop behaviorsim. follow these commandments, or go to hell. jesus is a little more positive-follow these commandments, and you get to go to heaven-but it boils down to the same carrot/stick idea. and we do this to our kids a lot. and apparently, there are just SCADS of studies that show that extrinsic motivators decrease intrinsic motivation. and that, people perform less creatively when promised a reward. and that using rewards is really just a method of controlling behavior, rather than getting to the issue which is causing the behavior. i admit, i'm not very far into the book, but i already see the merit in this line of thinking.

i'm a very 'gold star' oriented person. i tend to do most things that are outside of my comfort zone, only if there is something in it for me. i need that external validation/motivation. things like, housework, etc. but things that i'm interested in because IM interested in them-i can do that for hours! but even then, i'm secretly wishing for a reward.

we're not at the tangible reward stage with peanut, obviously, but he's got the same harsh words for things like 'good girl' and stuff. apparently, praise is a verbal reward. so rather than qualifying an action morally (good, bad) or pinning emotions to an action (you did this so *i* am happy) you should make observational, nonevaluative statements. like
'you stacked the blocks!' or 'you used a lot of blue in this picture' and this makes the kid want to do things because they want to do it, not because they want to make you happy.

since, in my opinion, the whole point of parenting is to raise a healthy adult, and not an obediant child, i'm pretty into this as a philosophy. i'd hate for peanut to have the same hangups i do about praise.

but it begs the question. if i do this, and then say, she goes to school, or work, where they're still using stickers and bonuses, am i setting her up to get all screwed up because she doesn't know how to function in a rewards based system? maybe he gets to that, later in the book. i'll have to see.

more crazy photo hijinks

well. duh. even i knew this!

the link

Parents should avoid infant formulas made from intact proteins, a Stanford researcher told doctors assembled at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies.


“Standard intact cow's milk protein formulas cause allergies,” said John A. Kerner, Jr., MD, who is director of the Nutrition Support Team, medical director of Children's Home Pharmacy at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital and professor of pediatrics at Stanford University. “Should we continue to increase risk using the current standard? Or should we change the standard?”


Kerner's questions came as the climax of an April 30 symposium in San Francisco sponsored by Baylor College of Medicine and supported by an educational grant from the Nestlé Nutrition Institute. The presentation began with Peyton A. Eggleston, MD, a professor of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who described evidence for the rise in the incidence of allergy-related diseases in the United States.

........

Breast-feeding itself can also protect against allergies, said Kerner. Kerner, the final presenter at the symposium, presented data from several studies showing that human milk contains a wide range of ingredients believed to affect allergies. Whatever the ingredients responsible, feeding an infant with formula instead of human milk has a big influence in the organisms that live in an infant's intestines, Kerner said. For example, he cited several studies that found far more bifidobacteria in breast-fed infants. (11)

Other researchers have shown that these differences appear to affect the development of allergies. Allergic infants have less bifidobacteria and lactobacilli. (12)

These findings add to all the other evidence in favor of breast-feeding. But many mothers can't breast-feed or need to supplement their own milk with formula, and in these cases some health care providers have been uncertain which kind of formula to recommend, especially to families with a history of allergies. One common error is to suggest a formula made from intact soy protein. “There is no benefit to soy in allergy prevention,” Kerner said. He cited the American Academy of Pediatrics statement, which only endorses soy for infants who have already developed certain types of allergies to cows milk – and then only as one alternative. (9)

Another alternative is hydrolyzed protein formulas, that is formulas in which the peptides that hold amino acids together have been broken. The formulas vary depending on the type of protein used and the degree to which it is hydrolyzed. In 2003, a team of German researchers reported how they had tackled that question with a study on 2,252 children at high risk of developing allergies. Infants in the German Infant Nutritional Intervention (GINI) study were randomized into groups that supplemented their breast milk as needed with formula made from either intact cow's milk, partially hydrolyzed whey, extensively hydrolyzed whey or extensively hydrolyzed casein.

Among the infants who drank the intact cow's milk formula, 16 percent showed signs of allergic reaction within 12 months: dermatitis, urticaria or food allergy with manifestation in the gastrointestinal tract. By comparison, 11 percent of those infants who drank only breast milk for the first four months showed signs of allergy. Those who got partially hydrolyzed whey formula also had an 11 percent incidence of allergy. The incidence of allergic manifestation in the extensively hydrolyzed casein formula group was 9 percent, and in the extensively hydrolyzed whey group it was 14 percent. Probably because of its bitter taste, a significantly higher number of the families assigned to extensively hydrolyzed casein dropped out of the study.

The results don't completely fit the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which last issued guidelines in 2000. For infants at high risk for allergies who are not exclusively breast-fed, the academy advises either extensively hydrolyzed formula or formulas made entirely from free amino acids “or possibly a partial hydrolysate formula.” (These formulas are also recommended, as well as intact protein soy formulas, for children who have already developed certain types of cow's milk allergies.) (9)

Kerner draws slightly different conclusions from the data. Based on the results of the GINI study and other research from the past six years, he argues that partially hydrolyzed whey and extensively hydrolyzed casein are equally beneficial in avoiding allergies. In his own review of the literature, he found that 16 out of 18 controlled trials on partially hydrolyzed whey demonstrated efficacy for allergy prevention. By comparison, six out of eight reports on extensively hydrolyzed casein found it effective, while extensively hydrolyzed whey wasn't found effective in the one study where it was investigated.(15)

Furthermore, Kerner said, it is difficult to determine which patients are at high risk of allergy. It's not practical to do laboratory testing on most infants, family history is not consistently obtained, and “more than 50 percent of children at risk for allergies do not have a family history of them.”

Based on all these findings, Kerner gave these recommendations for infants not exclusively breast-feeding:

* If there is a positive family history for allergy, use either a partial whey hydrolysate or an extensive casein hydrolysate.

* For routine infant feeding, use a partial whey hydrolysate and not an intact cow's milk –based formula

my lil social butterfly

so i hosted the LLL meeting at my house again this month. it is a carefully crafted ploy to make sure i'm on time. anyway. there was a 17 month old boy, and an almost 4 year old boy, and then, two baby boys who were 4 and 5 months, respectively. so she's always been pretty good with babies. she's gentle, and sweet with them, but this is the first time she's really gotten to play with kids close to her age, or older. it's SO CUTE! she acutally plays WITH them, instead of next to them, like they say to expect in the books. she shares her toys, and talks a bluestreak. i love it. we're doing an accidental dairy challenge tho, because the 17 month old had annies organic chedder bunnies (think goldfish snax for hippies) and shared them with her. she really liked them so we'll see how she does. i'm hoping, since it's cheddar, it won't bother her too much.

photo madness

the playground where gene grew up...

I, Meme

tagged ethereally by mama c-ta

I AM - finally happy
I want - popcorn chicken from sonic
I wish - that i could always protect peanut
I hate - stupid people
I miss - clubbing
I fear - chipmunks and loud noises
I hear - my child breathing
I wonder - who wrote the book of love
I regret - waiting to get help
I am not - spartacus
I dance - like a monkey
I sing - better than william hung
I cry- when the midnight sighs
I am not always -right, tho i think that i am
I make with my hands - joy
I write - to live
I confuse - myself
I need - my family
I should - clean
I start - big projects
I finish - very few of them

I tag - your mom. or you. whateva.

mothers day n such

so. sunday was a double header for the fam, since it was mothers day and gene's birthday. he's so sweet. before i got pregnant, i'd always say that i didn't want to have kids until i could keep a houseplant alive, and i didn't see that happening anytime soon, since i killed a cactus once. so sunday morning, he gets me up, and takes me out in our front yard, where there's a pot of hens and chicks cactii. and he says 'you've done such a good job with peanut, i figure it's time to give the cactii another shot.' i bawled all over the place. and then he and my mom went halvsies on a swingy/glider thing for the back yard. which is SO gonna rawk.
i got him a mountain bike. and i got my mom some plants, and a weed whacker. so, all in all, it was a good day.

peanutty updates.
she feeds us now. its a good thing i like the way fruit puffs taste. it's so cute tho, i can hardly stand it. and she chases us around. and she's cutting molars, which is harsh for the sleeping thru bit, but it's all good. tonight, we were in bed, and she was asleep, and i had to pee. so i got up, but gene was in the big bathroom, so i hit the half bath at the other end of the house, and right as i was standing up, i hear peanut start to cry. so i run back to the bedroom, but she's not there! so i look in the office, and she was standing by the computer desk looking all forlorn. like i'd left her for good. heartbreaking. as soon as i picked her up, she stopped crying. *sniffle* anyway, we got back in bed, and when gene came to bed, she was still awake, and so we layed there playing for a bit. she pulled his arm out from under the pillow, and then she pulled my arm out from under my pillow, and was making arm sculptures with our arms. it was too cute. she'd put my arm on top of his, and then move it away, and put his arm on top of mine, and then push our hands together so we'd hold hands. she now says new words. she say 'stat?' in a question like tone, while pointing to things. she says doose (juice) for anything in the sippy. which is funny, since it's hardly ever actually doose. she says eedah when handing you a book, which i am assuming is peanutspeak for read. she calls my mom dubdu, and i think that's because my mom always says/signs grandma loves you. so i think she's picking up on the loves you-dubdu. she calles the cat by name, sort of. the other two are still just scat! but bongo is now bodo. i think that's all the new stuff. and anyway, i'm tired.

my love hate relationship with google

so i've been doing more research on nutritional deficiency and mood, and i can't even begin to process all the stuff that i've read. did you know that flouride hasn't been approved by the FDA? and that, ingested flouride is only useful in building tooth enamel BEFORE the tooth erupts? and that it's in fertilizer (so therefore in fruits and veggies) and that it's toxic if ingested? hence the do not swallow rule on toothpaste? but at peanuts 1 year appointment, they tried to push flouride drops on us. i instinctively said no, tho at that point, i hadn't really done any research, but the idea of flouride drops made me a little uneasy. now, i'm SO glad i did. surf over to mother anarchy and read her latest. click on the links, and you'll find a crazy scary article on flouride. i grant you, it's written by a person who seems a little flaky, but her resources for her info are spot on. if it didn't have verifiable footnotes, i'd think she was a total loon, but i checked random googable links, and yep.

but what got me, was the fact that flouride interferes with your bodys ability to properly transmit and recieve neurotransmissions...or.....aminoacids. nutty, right? so even if you're eating right, you're still being robbed of the full benefits of a healthy diet, since flouride blocks amino acida. and even if you drink and cook with bottled water, you're probably still bathing in flouridated water, so you're getting your dose through the skin, and, you're breathing it in! crazy, right?

and while i totally believe that topical application can help with good oral hygiene, they show that too much flouride (ingested OR topical) can cause a progression of tooth decay.

so. there are studies that show that amino acid deficiency can cause depression. there are studies that show that flouride in large levels can cause aggressive/violent behavior and depression. flouride blocks amino acids. and america has more folks on antidepressant than any other nation. and our industrialization of agriculture, has led to a depletion of mineral/vitamin content in the soil, ergo, our fruits and veggies aren't as healthy as they used to be.

i grant you, that my diet is pretty bad, even for a typical american. it got better for a while, after i had peanut, but then i had the gallbladder surgery, and then i got REALLY depressed. which in hindsight makes total freakin sense, since, pregnancy and nursing take big tolls on your nutrient stores, as does healing from surgery, and i had two abdominal surgeries in less than 6 months, on top of gestating and nursing peanut. of COURSE i was deficient.

i can't believe that all of this information is readily available, and doctors are still perscribing antidepressants FIRST. it's not like i've actually had to change my diet. i'm taking pills, just like everybody else, but the difference is, it's stuff my body actually needs.

that being said. i totally think that there are people who benefit from the meds. totalllllly. but i bet they'd benefit even MORE if they had the building blocks to make their own seretonin.

more later.. the peanut has wakened.

day two

well. today is the second day of amino acid therapy. i actually went out and took a walk! on purpose! it was good. i feel really good. i can't believe i let it go this long.

rebirth of me

so. it's official. i do indeed, have post partum depression. i've been ignoring it, and selfmedicating with chocolate and sleep. but i had my annual gynie visit today, and came out to the doc. so she gave me a 'starter kit' of zoloft. i haven't taken it yet, because i've read some super interesting stuff about amino acid therapy for depression. so i talked with her about it, and she said that there are indeed studies, which show a correlation between low levels of enzymes and stuff, and depression.

so i'm taking 5HTP, L-tyrosine, GABA, Inosotil, a vit. B complex, a calcium/magnesium supplement, and brewers yeast. i took my first doses of all of the above this morning.

today is the first full day where i don't feel like peeling my skin off and letting my skeleton run nekkid and screaming down the street. my nerves aren't jangling, and the angry swarm of hornets has left my head a quieter, more peaceful place. i'm so relieved.

i'll probably blog about it more, but right now, it's a little raw.

we are so low

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-05-09-infant-mortality_x.htm

which is ridiculous, given the fact that we are supposedly the most developed nation in the world. here are some things i think we could do to fix it.

*cover birth control on ALL insurance plans. especially if they'll cover viagra.

*make formula available by medical perscription only. stop direct consumer marketing. stop hawking by medical professionals in exchange for funding or kickbacks.

*have prenatal and postnatal (12 months worth ) healthcare available for all women, for free, regardless of income/marital status.

*have lactation consultants covered by insurance (including the free insurance suggested above)

*encourage safe cosleeping

*breastpumps for everyone who requests one.

and that's just off the top of my head. how hard could it be, to implement some of these measures?

my attempt at being daniel quinn

i was thinking more about this whole breastfeeding debate thing. and i was thinking how what we see shapes what we do, unless we choose to learn a different way. like, for instance. my mom grew up in a family that preached tolerance for all people. but when she started dating a black boy in high school, they freaked out on her. and then, when she married a black man, like, none of them came to the wedding. and it's never really 'talked' about, the fact that i'm half black.

so my mother, out of her family, chose to do something different.

my mom breastfed me, for 6 months. clearly, i don't remember this. but other than that, i had never seen a woman breastfeed. on my fathers side of the family, (which was my primary exposure to anything baby related) no one breastfeeds. none of the women i babysat for breastfed. and, when i got pregnant, nobody sat me down and said, you HAVE to try this. i basically had like, no exposure to breastfeeding. all i knew was what i read in What to Freak Out About, and the Pregnancy Book. which was enough to make me want to try it.

but even at that point, i was like, well. if it doesn't work, formula is just as good.

clearly all of that has changed, but not based on anything other than research.

if i were a less nerdy person, i would totally have let cultural viewpoints dictate my parenting choices. i would probably have formula fed, cribbed peanut from day one, and let her CIO.

so how does one fight enculturation? i mean, obviously, one way is through self education, but, i mean, for instance, i was just at a babyshower today, and there was a LOT of mainstream parenting advice flying around. especially from the in-laws. gene and i got the moms-to be mei tais, and they've come to La Leche meetings, which is good, because they get to see how nursing looks, and i totally think that it's a big help in normalizing the breast as a feeding utensil, and not as something to wave dollars at.

(omg! funny aside...in december, my friend courtney came to visit, and we were over on hilton head, and i was nursing peanut, who, at that point, was 9 months old. since this is SC, it was not remotely chilly. so i had on a tshirt, and i was sitting on this bench, nursing. and this old old man comes up, and he's like, how old is your baby? and i'm like, she's 9 months sir. and he sits down, and pats her head a little bit. and then he reaches in his pocket. and i'm freaking out, right? cuz i'm a city girl, and i'm thinking the worst, and he pulls out a dollar! i shit you not! a dollar! and i was getting ready to go ALL ghetto on him, when he said, here, put this in her piggy bank. and walked away! so now, i'm all nonplussed, right? cuz i thought the worst, and it turned out to be really sweet. altho, even if it had been the worst case, it still would've been nice to get a dollar for my post partum boobs, lol. okay. end funny aside.)

anyway, i guess what i'm wondering is, like, i keep hearing this saying 'my parents did X and i'm fine', but while that may be true, it doesn't make it safe, or right, or the best thing for YOUR baby. like, i know i was in the front seat WAY too early. and gene, i don't even think he HAD a car seat. clearly, we're both fine, but we're also planning on keeping peanut rear facing until the weight limit of her seat, even tho SC statutes say she coulda been turned at 12 months, since she was over 20 lbs.

and like, our western view on circumscision. like, the AAP basically says it's cosmetic surgery. and granted, the numbers are falling, in terms of how many people are having this pointless surgery, and so now, it's closer to like, 60/40, which is good, considering it used to be like, almost 100%. but so many people do it, just because. because that's what they've seen, that's what they're used to. even tho there's NO medical reason to do it. and in fact, there are more risks, than percieved benefits. you know, cuz it's friggin surgery, and all.

but then, people formula feed by choice too, and clearly that has more risks than benefits. and it's because that's what they see. it's what they know. so it's what they do.

but my mom says, 'when you KNOW better, you DO better.' i think she stole that from oprah, but i like my mom better, so i'll give her the credit. but how does one get to the point where knowing becomes doing.

it's not like the formula cans don't ALL say that 'breast is best.' so clearly, even without the advent of google, there is some knowing there. but we still have the lowest breastfeeding rates in the developed world.

i breastfeed in public, mainly because my kid is hungry, but also, because i feel like, it's easy advocay. if people see it, it becomes less alien, less unfamiliar, and more normal. i invite total pregnant strangers to come to La Leche meetings. my standard shower gift is a babysling of some sort. but i feel like sysiphus, pushing the boulder of enculturation up the hill every day.

good thing i'm stubborn, right? lol.

pump up the volume

so i'm pumping again. so that she can have a sippy of milk. and it's so weird. like, some days, my supply is huge, and i can pump 12 oz. and some days, it just sucks, and i only get like, 6.

and i know, that i could pump more frequently/nurse more to increase my supply. i'm just lazy.

but i also hate taking fenugreek cuz it makes everything that comes out of my body smell like maple syrup. and that's just not cool.

and the lactation tea tastes like ass. not that i've tasted ass. but i bet this is similar.

now i'm arguing the benefits of extended breastfeeding on my birth board on babycenter. i feel like they might be getting a large chunk of my hostility towards my friend. but i'm still using rational facts and figures, and all i get in return is 'but it's gross!'

shut up. it's not common, and it might not be in your comfort zone, but that doesn't make it gross.

i don't get people who like sushi. i wouldn't eat it if you paid me a million dollars. but i'm not gonna call it gross. it's just not in my comfort zone.

*sigh.*

i'm seriously pondering moving to new zealand. they seem a little less loony over there.

a better bangs shot. excuse the red-eye

she climbed in the pampers box and sat down all on her own.  this wasn't staged.  at least, not by me. 

the bangs. (also, still getting over the cold.)

 

can you even stand it?  she looks so old!  but, i promised pix, so here they are. 

i believe the children are our future

as long as we keep em away from stupid adults....


March 13, 2006 -- YOUNGSTER'S BLACK-POWER POEM RILES SCHOOL

A 7-year-old prodigy unleashed a firestorm when she recited a poem she wrote comparing Christopher Columbus and Charles Darwin to "pirates" and "vampires" who robbed blacks of their identities and human rights.
Hundreds of parents of Peekskill middle- and high-school students received a recorded phone message last week apologizing for little Autum Ashante's poem, titled "White Nationalism Put U in Bondage."
"Black lands taken from your hands, by vampires with no remorse," the aspiring actress and poet wrote. "They took the gold, the wisdom and all the storytellers. They took the black women, with the black man weak. Made to watch as they changed the paradigm of our village.
"Yeah white nationalism is what put you in bondage. Pirates and vampires like Columbus, Morgan and Darwin."
Autum was invited to speak at the Westchester schools on Feb. 28 by Melvin Bolden, a music teacher at the middle school who advises the high school's Black Culture Club and is a member of the Peekskill City Council.
Autum, whose rsum includes several television appearances and performances at the Apollo Theater and the African Burial Ground in Manhattan, told The Post that her poem was meant to instill pride in black students and to encourage them to steer clear of violence.
"I don't think there's anything wrong with my poem. I was trying to tell them the straight-up truth," Autum said. "I'm trying to tell them not to fight because they're killing the brothers and sisters."
Autum, who is home-schooled in Mount Vernon and speaks several languages, prefaced her performance at the high school with a Black Panthers' pledge asking black youngsters to not harm one another.
It did not sit well with parents.
In a telephone interview with The Post, Bolden said Autum has been "unofficially" banned from performing in a district school again and that school officials would review transcripts of future speakers.
"It's unfortunate, because some teachers said they wanted this little girl to explain the things she said to their students, but some parents don't want her on school grounds," Bolden said.
"[The poem] might have been a little too aggressive for what the middle-school kids are ready to handle," Bolden added.
Kimberly Greene, a mother of children in the high school and middle school, said she was shocked when she got the recorded phone message.
"If there are people who are upset about what she said, the schools should have talked about and analyzed it rather than send a message to everyone saying this little girl was offensive," Greene said.
Autum's father, Batin Ashante, said he can't believe the fuss over his daughter's poem.
"She's a little girl who does poetry about real things. She doesn't do poetry about cotton candy," Ashante said. "She's a serious little person."
White Nationalism Put U In Bondage
White nationalism is what put you in bondage
Pirate and vampires like Columbus, Morgan, and Darwin
Drank the blood of the sheep, trampled all over them with
Steel, tricks and deceit.
Nothing has changed take a look in our streets
The mis-education of she and Hegro leaves you on your knee2grow
Black lands taken from your hands, by vampires with no remorse
They took the gold, the wisdom and all of the storytellers
They took the black women, with the black man weak
Made to watch as they changed the paradigm
Of our village
They killed the blind, they killed the lazy, they went
So far as to kill the unborn baby
Yeah White nationalism is what put you in bondage
Pirates and vampires like Columbus, Morgan, and Darwin
They drank the blood of the sheep, trampled all over them with
Steel laden feet, throw in the tricks alcohol and deceit.
Nothing has changed take a look at our streets