I was totally going to post this happy full of pictures entry with bath tub endeavors of the kids, until…Until I stumbled upon this video.

I think its important to be seen by any parent who is considering this completely barbaric procedure. If you dont agree with the adjective, think its a bit over the top, do watch this. I dare you to watch it with the sound on. I couldnt. I tried, but I couldnt, it made me want to cry.

After the jump…

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The other day we were at the library dropping books off and the girls went to look through for some new ones. I like browsing the magazine section, as we dont buy those anymore (frugal decision that saves us a bunch). I picked up Choice magazine, which is a consumer information type of a publication, making tests and reviewing products and rating them. There was an article on milk. I dont drink the stuff, but it looked interesting so I read it.

Now, one would (quite reasonably, I would say) assume that cows somewhere get pumped, a big truck takes the milk to the factory, where its heated as required and then packaged into whatevers and delivered to a shop near you, where you buy it and drink its “wholesome goodness”. Its not just a blind assumption, mind you. Recently we visited the local processing factory and we were given a similar explanation. There was even a cutesy video of a happy cow and the milk getting to them and then they pasteurize it and send it off to us, the customers.

It turns out, this is all bullshit, excuse the language, but its fitting.

Milk gets to the factory and basically gets processed into cream and the rest. Most of the cream goes to further work- butter, cream and so on. The “rest” gets rebuilt to resemble milk, but only enough to pass the government regulations. The government says how much fat it needs to have to be considered ‘full cream’ and skim and the rest. So the factory puts just enough fat back in to satisfy those guidelines. Milk from our cows is about 4% fat (jersey cows are much higher). The minimum it needs to be to be full cream is 3.2%,  they add back to about 3.4% and the rest is kept. It makes sense, really, the cream is the expensive wonderful part, why give us more than they have to.

So now they have enough fat in the “rest”, they try to extend it even further. They grab a left over watery sugary by product from cheese making – permeate – and they mix that in as well. That surely extends the product even more. Why throw the stuff to the pigs, as used to be the norm, just give it to the consumers, they at least pay for it. Apparently some milks have around 10% of the stuff.

Now they have built up the mixture to something that can be called milk officially. Now it needs to be heated up to kill potential bugs. Since they also homogenize it – or break up the fat molecules into smaller ones to make the cream not rise to the top and look nice and save us the shaking part – a process that can cause issues with the enzymes naturally in the milk, the heating up is done very soon after, to kill the buggers. Enzymes are actually wonderful little things, but oh, well.

Natural? Milk?

If you want minimally processed milk, find an organic unhomogenized one from a small local producer (raw is probably best, but good luck with that one).

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Further reading:

The Choice Article  

Article about farmers' objection to use of permeate

Homogenization explained 

Dear Minister,

I am writing to voice my objection to the proposed changes and their un/intended consequences instituting a medical model monopoly over the birthing options of Australian women.

Background

You may not be aware, but at the moment women can choose to give birth in a hospital, in a birth centre or at home. The latter being a less known option and thus used by very few women, as it is never given as one by medical practitioners. It is available never the less for those that actively search it out. In most states the woman has the option to hire, at her own expense, a fully qualified independent midwife to attend her birth and provide the support she may need.

From a woman’s perspective the current situation is not perfect as it essentially reserves the option of an independent midwife for a certain class of women who can afford the $4000-$5000 cost of this personalized service. And it is just that, high quality, one on one care – appointments at the expectant mother’s house throughout the pregnancy, monitoring progress and health not only with scales and machines, but through extended conversations and discussions, which reveal more than any quick check up can. The woman is then supported throughout her labour in the comfort of her own home by the same person she has built a trusting relationship with in the past several months. The support is continuous and there is no change of shift that can disturb this comfort and familiarity. After the birth, the midwife can assess both the mother’s and the newborn condition in her position of a qualified medical professional and ensure their health and well being is not in any danger and if needed can make the call with the woman for any needed transfer to a hospital. The care doesn’t stop here, as she continues with the home visits past the birth of the child to ensure the safe transition for both mother and child. This is a service that cannot be given by any other form of medical care. That is why when the Maternity Services Review asked for suggestions from us as to how things can be improved in the area, many responded and more than half of the submissions (53%) asking for more support and recognition of homebirth.

We were not heard.

Proposed Changes

Not only were we not heard, the resulting changes to the law will have the effect of making independent midwives and their services illegal.

Clauses from the draft legislation Health Practitioner Regulation Law 2009:

The government steps in and ensures indemnity insurance for all other medical professionals, but it will not extend the same curtesy to independent midwives, which will leave them unable to fulfil the requirements for registration and thus become unable to practice, despite being fully qualified and trained to do the job.

After the initial shock, women from all over Australia followed up and made close to 2000 submissions to the senate enquiry.

We were not heard.

This issue is not about whether homebirth is safe. There are enough studies to show that whether slightly safer or slightly riskier, the choice to birth at home is not a reckless one. Certainly no more than getting in our cars every day.

The issue is freedom for women to choose how and with whom to give birth. Who can have access to our bodies in this quite vulnerable process. We already accept that no woman should be made to birth if she doesn’t want to and support the elective surgery of cesarean section as a viable option of delivery. The government funds it, even though it carries more risks to the mother and baby and despite being a lot more expensive than normal birth.

And yet, if these changes are passed, if a woman doesn’t want to give birth in a institutionalised medical environment, but still wants to be supported by a qualified professional in the face of an independent midwife, she will be denied her choice.

I am quite gutted by this prospect, even more so that this draconian, anti-women law is being pushed by a government I have voted for; a government that prides itself on defending the rights of the vulnerable, the rights of the minorities in our community. But then Minister Roxon light-heartedly dismisses our concerns as we are such a “tiny group” and its too hard to figure out how to fit us and our choice in with the proposed changes.

I am off to Canberra with women from across Australia and will be outside Parliament house fighting for our rights. I hope someone inside will actually finally hear us.

And since you, Minister, are my representative in there, I am letting you know and hope you will do that – represent me and give voice to my very real concerns and opposition to the proposed changes.

Regards,

S.B.
Hoping to never give birth in a hospital again

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Its the time of the year when all kinds of flu and cold ‘remedies’ have a prominent place on the TV ad slots. It doesnt seem to end really – take this for sniffles, this for fever, this for coughs and if you feel crap as a whole, this will do you wonders. There are multitude of amazing pills that can fix you and bring you to your shiny sunny self before you can say sss..s..sick! And yet, people still walk around with runny noses, miserable looks and colds that last forever. Something aint right, something doesnt add up. Its simple, those things just dont work. No pill will fix the pesky cold or flu. It may drug you enough, so you believe you are better, but your body still needs to actually fight off the infection.

Being sick sucks. It feels horrid and it is definitely no fun, there is no arguing about it. And it should feel like that. Our whole body is at war, all the defenses and army is up and fighting with the invader, using all the possible ammunition. The desire to escape the situation is quite understandable. Early physicians knew that and used it for their benefit. They kept on experimenting with new ‘discoveries’ in order to make an impression on the patients and to keep on justifying their profession – ‘harmful drugs made the presence of the physician a dubious advantage in much medical care. Wellington state in 1870 that “over medication has been the besetting sin of the  medical profession”‘ ¹. This is 1870, long before the bloom of pharmacology and Big Pharma.

One of the enemies back then and now is fever. They were determined to bring it down “at all hazzards” and used variety of ways to do so – blood letting and aconite amongst them. Today antipyretics (fever reducers)  are some of the most used drugs out there – who hasnt popped a Panadol/Paracetamol/Motrin/Tylenol/Aspirin etc. etc. recently? Its almost a given to do so at the first sign of the raise in temperature. Is the fear of fevers actually justified or is it an irrational one?

Fevers are not specific to us humans. Just about every vertebrates and invertebrates respond with it when faced with toxins or dangers to the creature. This ability has been kept and developed throughout evolution, despite the expense it costs us in regards to energy use. Its not easy to raise our temperature and its not cheap. We use ten percent more energy for every 1 degree raise we achieve. This would not have continued to be so if there was no benefit to be gained. The creatures that did this for no good reason would have simply not survived and after a few thousand or millions of years, the feature would have been lost. ²

And yet here we are each of us running a fever when needed without a fail. So what is the benefit?  It enhances the immune response.  It helps the mobility and activity of white cells. In patients with sepsis, fever has been shown to reduce mortality ³. Higher temperature is thought to make the person less hospitable for the growth of bacteria ⁴ and a few more complicated beneficial effects.

“Although treatment of fever may improve patient comfort and reduce metabolic demand, fever is a normal adaptive response to infection and its suppression is potentially harmful.” ⁵

And we come back to the comfort. Yeah, fever may be helpful, but if we can save ourselves the unpleasant feelings, why not do it? No particular reason other than saving our livers and system from unnecessary drugs. There are none of them that dont come along with a price. Paracetamol (Tylenol, Panadol, Efferalgan) for example, is derived from coal  and toxicity from it is the biggest cause of liver failure and drug overdoses in the Western World ⁶ . Popping a pill to supress the work of our bodies may seem like an easy way out, but in effect it makes more work for the already taxed system, now it needs to clean up the chemicals on top of dealing with the infection. The Australian Prescriber in short advises that:

“there is little evidence to support the use of paracetamol to treat fever in patients without heart or lung disease, or to prevent febrile convulsions. Paracetamol may prolong infection and reduce the antibody response in mild disease, and increase morbidity and mortality in severe infection.”

The fever is not the enemy. The issue still needs to be dealt with and the issue is not the fever, contrary to the numerous ads that make it seem so. The fever is not an ugly monster that is attacking our child and by drugging it we are not heros.

Here are some more fever myths and facts from the Motts Children’s Hospital . Really, the evidence against antipyretic use is quite plentiful, but in the end I think this quote from the Bulletin of the World Health Organization summarises well the reality:

“Fever represents a universal, ancient, and usually beneficial response to infection, and its suppression under most circumstances has few, if any, demonstrable benefits. On the other hand, some harmful effects have been shown to occur as a result of suppressing fever: in most individuals, these are slight, but when translated to millions of people, they may result in an increase in morbidity and perhaps the occurrence of occasional mortality. It is clear, therefore, that widespread use of antipyretics should not be encouraged either in developing countries or in industrial societies. Unfortunately though, just as fever represents an ancient biological response, an emotional effect is embedded deeply. Through the ages, parents have seen that when fever begins to diminish and disappears, the child feels better and recovers from the illness — whatever it was. Thus, the fever has become synonymous with the illness. This flaw in logic has persisted in parents’ and physicians’ minds, and they are seduced by the thought that if they “make the fever go away, the patient will be well.” No amount of scientific discourse will change this attitude, and antipyresis will continue to be used in children with low-grade fevers, or even no fevers, in the home as well as the hospital.”

…no amount of evidence will change attitudes. How true, not just in this particular case.

Its not just a pill. And now you know.

.

We take it for granted. Our health that is. We do.

I was at the mall today, as I had to buy some things. Dont get all scared on me, I will not take it out on you. This has nothing to do with my love for the mall.
So, I am there in the queue waiting for my turn to fork out the money and I engage in trolley watch. Its a fun game and makes the time pass much quicker. Plus, who doesnt like to peak into other people’s stuff? Where else can you find out what tampons that woman is using? Or that the hunky dude has a toddler AND a baby at home? Fungal issues? Touch of the dandruff? There are no secrets at the queue with your life all hanging on the criss crossed metal of the trolley ahead of you.

People are idiots ¹.

A few minutes earlier I was getting a bottle of water from one of those fast foodie places and a woman arrives pushing a trolley. She had what looked like a big doona on her leg. It looked all soft and fluffy. So she walked all funny. She also had a catheter on her arm all taped up and there were tubes coming out of it. One of those was attached to some kind of equipment box that was hanging from her neck. The tapes that were holding the line were pulling her old wrinkly skin, her face was tired, but devout of emotion, as though she is just so used to it all. She stood next to me and paid for her coke (but diet!) and a sausage roll to “nourish” her poor body. Then slowly pushed her trolley, limping on that big soft foot.

Back to my queue.

When I see one of those trolleys filled with chips, chips, cereals, cordials, juices, chips, frozen meals, processed hopefully used to be meats, chips and a juice for a good measure I judge. I will not pretend I am oh, so mighty free of prejudices person. I am not. At the sight of that trolley, which is in most cases pushed by a fat owner, I judge. Out of all the food and choice in those mall groceries, you chose THAT? That is what you came up with?

People are shmucks ² .

All that crap goes in the body. That is what it is expected to use in order to sustain a system so complex we still havent figured out?
Ok, my dear body, here is some juice (water, color and fake flavor), some chips (used to be potato, salt, old cheap oil, fake flavor and some color maybe), some processed thing that is supposed to be meat (who the hell knows whats in that).. now go ahead and feed my brain, renew all the cells in my body, fight the constant assault of bacteria and viruses, make sure all those organs work properly and are fed the way they need to, k! Deal! Now fuck off.

People are fools ³.

When we are sick, nothing else matters. If that pesky body of ours is not right, all else falls to the side and we realize how essential our health is. No amount of money, holidays, fancy houses, designer clothes could even come close to the importance of our health for our happiness. We would give it all up in a second for a working body.

90% of all ills can be avoided with regular exercise, healthy diet and regular exposure to sunlight. Thats it. Our bodies have gone through thousands of years of evolution. They are made to work. And they do amazingly well under the lack of nutrition and care they are given in our ‘developed’ societies. Imagine if one actually bothers with them and provides them with what they actually need.

This may seem like a vent, but its a motivational internal speech I have been lecturing myself for the last few months. I have slacked and feel not up to par with my self. Feel guilt in my own body, which seems in need of some one on one time.  My hair is a bit funny. My skin slightly drier. Energy is not that good. Not much, you will say, but its enough of a sign for me. I dont want to wait for the big stuff.

This is my own kick in the butt. I need it.

Do you?

I was not looking for this kind of a book last time we were at the library, I was just browsing slowly, trying to help Baby Blab to go to sleep.

And then I saw it, it grabbed my attention and I plopped it on top of the pile of books we had designated to cart back home – usually quite a sizable load.

What an eye opening read this was. I was already quite suspicious of the drugs being flung here and there for just about any ailment (real or not) under the sun. I didnt need any convincing to keep them away from my and my loved ones’ bodies. But this cemented my view with quite a lot of substance.

This book goes into quite a lot of detail about the pharmaceutical business – its set up, premise, wheelings and dealings, influence and tentacles probed deep into just about every crevice of the government and medical establishment. Its about the abuse of tax payer money, that are funding the vast majority of research into discovering drugs, which are later sold back to them at exuberant prices. About the lack of innovation on the part of the drug companies themselves. Its about the diseases they sell us and a whole heap of disturbing facts surrounding the industry. The author, Marcia Angell, M.D., is the former editor in chief of The New England Journal of Medicine and as one would expect, her claims are well backed up and palatable for the mind. This aint some crazed drug rep, scorned by an untimely dismissal a girl that didnt want to put out on the second date.

I will not even attempt to give you a short version of “The Truth About the Drug Companies”, you just need to read the whole lot, as its all connected and part of the big picture.

But here are a few quotes:

“The ALLHAT study was eight years long and involved over 42,000 people at more than six hundred clinics, the largest clinical trial of the treatment of high blood pressure ever done. It compared four types of drugs: ..Norvasc, the fifth best selling drug in the world in 2002; …Cardura, and also sold generically as doxazosin; an angiotensin-converting-enzime (ACE) inhibitor – sold by AstraZeneca as Zestril and by Merck as Prinivil..; and a generic diuretic (*water pill”) of type that has been on the market for over fifty years.

The results, reported in 2002 in The Journal of the American Medical Association, were startling. To nearly everyone’s surprise, the old time diuretic turned out to be just as good for lowering blood pressure, and actually better for preventing some of the devastating complications of hight blood pressure – mainly heart disease and strokes…

Yet over the years the newer drugs had largely supplanted diuretics as treatment for high blood pressure. “

And:

“…Prozac lost its patent protection in August 2001 and is now sold as generic fluoxetine at about 80 percent less than it used to cost..

But that doesn’t mean Eli Lilly just gave up. It tried to stay in the SSRI business by patenting a weekly dosage form of Prozac. And in a move even more audacious than the switches from Prilosec to Nexium or from Claritin to Clarinex, it renamed Prozac Sarafem, colored it pink and lavender, and got FDA approval to market it for “premenstrual dysphoric disorder,” its term for severe premenstrual symptoms. Same drug, same dose, but priced three and a half times higher than generic Prozac at my local pharmacy.”

Most people will find it hard to look at this information with clarity. It is hard to shake off billions of dollars spent on making us believe we need all these drugs, bribing and ‘educating’ our doctors and supporting the most powerful lobby groups in Washington.

I know you wont run out and read this book, but will you at least pay attention to this – the author’s advise on how to protect your interests. When your doctor is suggesting a certain drug for you, how about asking a few simple questions, before putting it into your body:

” What is the evidence that this drug is better than an alternative drug or some other approach to treatment?

Has the evidence been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal? Or are you relieing on information from drug company representatives?

Is this drug better only because it is given at a higher dose? Would a cheaper drug be as effective if it were given at an equivalent dose?

Are the benefits worth the side effects, the expense, and the risk of interactions with other drugs I take?

Is this a free sample? If so, is there a generic drug or an equivalent drug I can use that is cheaper when the free samples run out?

Do you have any financial ties with the company that makes this drug? For example, do you consult for the company? ..Are you being paid to put me on this drug and enroll me in a drug company study? Do you make time for visits from drug company representatives?”

Feel funny about it? Dont. Its your body and health at stake, dont allow it to be used and abused for the sake of profits. It doesnt help drug companies and doctors when you are healthy, think about it. They dont have interest in your health. You do.

And to finish a serious post, here is the same message, but with a smile:

I wanna get off. This train is not taking me anywhere nice. Feels like its running in circles and we are seeing the same scenery over and over and over and over…OH! And over.

Our feet are on the way out, dangling over the edge of the door, being cooled down by the gentle breeze of the freedom beyond the train. But I want more. We want more. We are dreaming of building our own house by ourselves. Not your average mainstream house…our own. Earth and human friendly, non toxic, random and imperfect, but touched with love and attention only the way one can do themselves. Wild and free, beautiful and friendly…a place where all the things inside are meaningful and treasured, no cheap disposable plastic and stuff that exists only because someone somewhere wants to pay their mortgage and own a yacht.

Oh, the dreams.

But back to the topic – stuff.

Recently I stumbled upon a little fun presentation called “The Story of Stuff”. A wonderful succinct way of describing why the consumerism culture is not as good as we have been led to believe.

Watch it:
Its own website
OR
Youtube

Can you see through the emptiness of the things that surround you? Or do they really bring you the happiness and joy that was promised when they were sold to you? I am curious to hear your views, not just fishing for some comments

I have been getting a few questions about this, so here is the scoop.

Cloth nappies are not your grandma’s nappies anymore. The choices are wide and varied – small, big, easy, organic, in pieces and not, with folding and not, quick drying and not so, with cover or without… something for everyone.

In short though, a nappy needs two things: absorbency and waterproofing and here are the main types according to the way those two points are taken care of:

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Continued from part I and part II

The morning came way too fast. The alarm rang and I didnt want to even acknowledge it. Thankfully Mr.Blab took care of it. My little man was sleeping peacefully next to me and my hand was resting on a pillow above him.

We got up and started getting ready.

Close to the time we were leaving our little girl complained of some pain on her foot. I had a look and it was a splinter. Usually I am the master of splint removal and it hasnt been an issue before, but with my right hand incapacitated, my skills were useless. Mr.Blab took it upon himself to deal with it, not very enthusiastically. A few cries later I go in and itch to get it done. I wonder if with my left hand I will be better than him and take the reigns. By now she is not very happy with the whole situation and my work is that much harder. After a few failed attempts and a bunch of tears I let it go and we get ready for the hospital.

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