Pampered, Selfish Robin Hoods

Liberals love to pat themselves on the back for giving away other people’s money. Latter-day Robin Hoods, they love to tax the “rich” and give to the “poor,” but they’re as tight as the bark on a tree with their own money. Do they rationalize that they give away so much of our money that they don’t need to give away much of their own? “It’s more blessed to give than to receive,” goes the proverb, and liberals believe it’s most blessed to give what isn’t theirs.

Most of what federal government takes from me and about about half of all other Americans is used for social programs. The other half of Americans pay no federal income taxes and receive most of the benefits from those programs. All this was designed by those who called themselves “progressives” at intervals of Democrat rule during twentieth century. Whoever might disagree with them were, by implication, regressive. Progressives called themselves “liberals” later on, but now they again wish to be called “progressives” here in the twenty-first century because “liberal” has taken on a negative connotation. Whatever they’re called, their aim is the same: take as much as they can get away with from the most productive and give it all to the least productive. They use big, bloated government for this redistribution because they don’t want to use bows and arrows and live in the forest like Robin Hood. They want the support Robin Hood received, but also the creature comforts beyond even what the Sheriff of Nottingham’s lifestyle provided. They love performances at the Kennedy Center and lavish parties at the White House paid for by taxpayers.

Whenever progressive liberal Democrats are in charge, they ramp up promises beyond what government could possibly afford. FDR’s New Deal promised Social Security pensions for the elderly. That’s been increased since to include disability payments for people of all ages and may soon be extended to millions of illegal aliens as well if they get their way. Al Gore used to talk about a “lock box” for the money FICA takes from our paychecks, but that was a myth. All the money we send to the federal government for our old-age pensions is spent immediately by that bloated government. All Al Gore’s lock box would contain is IOUs. In 2016, there won’t be enough money to back up the millions of checks it sends out every month. Looking further ahead, deficits for Social Security run to $100 trillion over the several decades.

Liberals in LBJ’s Great Society gave us Medicare thirty years later. Projected deficits for that run into the tens of trillions. Also, Barack Obama gave us health care “reform” that will take $500 billion from Medicare that isn’t really there and spend trillions more that we don’t have either. What he’ll do is try to borrow more and add that red ink to the $14 trillion deficit he already run up. All this debt and the prospect of still more is what’s really depressing the economy today.

Meanwhile, the Obama Administration has been using FDR’s Keynesian defibrillator to apply trillion-dollar jolts to an economy that continues to flatline. While running trillion-and-a-half-dollar annual deficits that alarm our creditors so much they’re balking at lending us more, he wants to use the “progressive” federal income tax to soak even more out of the “rich.” He’s also using the Federal Reserve to buy US Treasury bonds nobody else wants, and pay for them by printing over $3 trillion. It’s not a question anymore about if it’s all going to come unravelled - it’s only a question of when.

Up to now, the half of Americans who pay no federal income tax have been inclined to vote for presidents, senators and congressmen who promise more and more benefits at the expense of the other half who pay for it all. Along with the votes of guilt-ridden, trust-funded liberals, they swept “progressives” into power in 2006 and 2008. Their policies, however, are killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Cities and states like Detroit and California that progressive liberals have been in charge of longest are the closest to bankruptcy. Enough of the bottom half of Americans are watching their over-extended neighbors default on their mortgages and credit cards and realizing that our federal government is doing the same thing. Uncle Sam won’t be able to backstop it anymore. They’re realizing that if they keep voting for progressive liberals and their socialist policies, it will all come crashing down.

It’s going to be very interesting when votes are counted the evening of November 2nd.

Operation Slimdown, Mach 2, Week 1

Well, well, well Amy - here we are again. Thats right people, i'm getting back to Operation Slimdown, and this time i'm ramping it up a little. Lets face it, ramping it up a lot - it never really got off the ground the first time and was more wishful thinking than anything but this time i'm jumping back on the "get fit, be healthy " bandwagon and i'm not getting off for nobody! Unless that somebody is cheesecake. Or icecream. As a treat. In moderation. But i digress....

Thats me, the fat girl ( taken yesterday ). My bubble butt only just fits in that swing....

I need to lose weight. I felt like i had plumped up a little but because i dont own a set of scales, i couldnt be sure of by how much. To be honest, i didnt particularly WANT to know - that little set of numbers can be very scary! However, after seeing the few photos we took on our Sydney trip last week i've been scared into looking at all those numbers and doing something abou them. I mean, i'm not obese or anything ( although according to my BMI i am... ) but those photos showed a me that i didnt recognise as "me". I'd seen that girl before, and she wasnt happy....and i dont want to be that girl again.

I know i can do this because i've done it before. Oh yea, i've been a gym junkie: not so long ago i went to the gym 6 days a week and maintained a size 10 figure. Then i met my beloved and spent less time at the gym, and more with him. And a few kilos crept on because i wasnt exercising as much and, besides, he didnt mind if i had a little junk in my trunk so i took a few liberties with the chocolate, and the ice cream, and the yummy, yummy burgers.... and then, i fell pregnant. I didnt put on much during my pregnancy, only 9 kilos, but somehow i have managed to not only NOT lose any of that but put on a handful more kilos aswell. Not happy.

So, inspired by those "fat girl " photos and by the lovely Holly over at Good Golly Miss Holly! ( who is also on a get fit plan ), i've decided the time has come to actually get my bum into gear and get serious about losing some pudge. I've taken my measurements and am going to post them for you all to see ( unlike Holly though I am not brave enough to take bikini pictures and share my cellulite with you. No. Thankyou. ). The numbers are:
Bust: 99cm
Waist : 84.5cm
Hips: 103cm
Bum: 108cm
Thigh: 67cm
Weight: 77.8kgs
*EDIT - i kind of forgot to add my goal weight here! I'd like to be down to 70kgs by Flynns 1st birthday on Dec 27th. Thats 3 months to lose 7.8kgs. 10kgs would be nice ( then i'd be back to my pre-pregnancy weight ) but i'll be happy to see 70kgs....

So thats that. I'm not going on actual "diet", i'm not counting calories and i'm not employing some fancy dietitan or personal trainer. I'm just going to eat smaller portions, have more fruit and more water and increase the exercise from one hour a week to at least half an hour a day. Wish me luck, and tune in next week for an update!

Dear Flynn, Aged 9 Months

Hey Flynny!

Loving the swings now the sun is out - and look at those little piggies!

Well good gravy - havent the 3 months since my last letter been a whirlwind? A crazy, cute, weird and wonderful whirlwind. What i cant believe is that both of have made it through alive ( i should have died from sleep deprivation and you should have been packed off to China, like i threatened a while back ). But here we are, on your 9 month-aversary, and we're both happy and relatively healthy ( if not a bit tired ). And my havent you come along way, little man? Not so long ago i was moaning to everyone that you'd never crawl; that you hadnt spoken your first word yet; that of course that must mean you were developmentally delayed. And what have you done in the last month since Fathers Day?
* You've come up with your first, and second, and almost third words - "dad" followed closely by " mum " and we're getting a " wub, wub, wub " whenever i look at you and say " love, love, love! ".
* You've started crawling and in the past week alone have managed to better your PB lap time around the dining room table time and time again. Your so fast now, and so interested in getting your move on, that i can hardly keep you still to eat your afternoon bikkie... and thats something. You love bikkies!
* You've kept on with the raspberry blowing, but have added that " wah, wah, wah " Indian-noise thing ( you know the one... ) to your repertoire. Impressive - except that instead of slapping your chubby little hand over your mouth, you slap it against your cheek and just make the " wah wah " noise. Don't worry - you'll get it soon.
* You clap, you wave bye-bye, you and  (i dont know how this happened ) give the Peace sign and you try your darndest to dance. Or at least thats how i interpret the wild arm flapping and smiles everytime you watch Playschool or Sesame Street.

The one thing that i had hoped to include this letter is "champion sleeper " but, sadly, we still arent quite there yet. Maybe its just because you love being close to your mum and dad, or maybe its because your so interested in the world around you that you cant bare to miss one minute of it with something as boring as sleep ( huh! ) but for some reason we still havent progressed to night time sleep throughs. You've had a few little good patches but, by and large, you're still waking up three or four times a night. You've stopped staying awake for hours on end ( thank Gawd ) but i'm crossing fingers that this new sleep routine i'm implementing will see consistent sleep throughs sometimes soon. I mean, i know no-ones perfect but if you start sleeping through hell...you'll be as damned close to perfect as a baby boy can get.

Despite all the night-time craziness, the gigantic dirty poops, the hair pulling, the splashing me til i'm soaking wet at bathtime and general baby kookiness - i love you. Big lots. To the moon and back even.
Wub, wub, wub
Your Mama

An old fashioned concept for a new start, and the Magic of Oxford

The past few weeks have been very busy ones. However, last week’s busy-ness was not down to having to travel so much as having to deal with some big issues and to do so in a tight time frame. Tuesday morning, in a meeting faintly reminiscent of Brief Encounters (in that a somewhat illicit meeting was held in the Coffee shop opposite M&S on the Mezzanine floor of Piccadilly Station) the Deans and Heads of School (Health Care) from across the North West gathered to go through the options available to make the required savings shortfall from the agreed 15% cuts in the Non Medical Education Training budget. The sum required was nearly £5 million over three years, so coming up with options was a challenge.

The subsequent meeting with colleagues from the SHA was a good one, and by lunch time an agreement in principle had been reached. Whilst the cut and thrust of the negotiations debate was interesting, it was also a little wearying. On returning to the University, I had time to meet with all the new students who this week, had started journey of becoming nurse or a midwife, before returning to the station and traveling down to Oxford.

This was the second session I had with the students this week, and both were the highlights of my week. It is a great privilege to meet all these new students and have the opportunity to talk about the relationship we (that is my colleagues and I in the School) want to develop with each student over the next three years. It is also an opportunity to describe what I think is involved in becoming an effective nurse or midwife, and where I think the nursing and midwifery professions are headed in the brave new world we find ourselves in.

One of the thoughts I wanted the new students to take away and reflect upon comes from an old but, in my view important idea. This idea is concerned with ensuring as we become nurses or midwives we find ways to nurture what Carl Rogers described as an unconditional positive regard for others. This is an approach based upon the acceptance of a person whatever that person says or does. It is accepting that people might behave in a particular way, and often for reasons not known to us. To be judgmental in such situations is likely to result in poor relationships and ineffective care and recovery. My belief is that developing such unconditional positive regard for others first requires us to understand something more about our self. This can be a difficult and uncomfortable experience – but an important one.

Although Carl Rogers is the person most associated with the concept, in his book On Becoming a Person he acknowledges that it was his fellow PhD student, Stanley Standal who first developed the term. Stanley was a complex person but someone who was said to have excited and challenged all those he came into contact with. His and Carl Rogers development of the concept of unconditional positive regard became a popular framework for understanding of the interpersonal relationships dynamics involved in therapeutic relationships. For me it is a concept and an approach that allows for nurses and midwives to understand the interrelationship between the being and doing of nursing.

Stanley was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in the mid 1990's. He moved to the Philippines with his wife Ophelia where lived out his last days. For our students, these are the first days of their new life and journey on becoming a nurse and or a midwife. I wish them all the very best. Many thanks to all those new students who have taken the time to say they enjoyed the two sessions I was privileged to share with them at the beginning of the week. Please remember that I always welcome comments and feedback from all students, it is an important way for my colleagues and I to ensure we constantly find ways of making your experience the best it can be.

And Oxford, well it was my last conference of this academic year and the last opportunity for me to present my work to others. The conference participants were mental health nurses from all over the world and in the surprising sunshine of late September, it was lovely to enjoy the discussion, debate, and exchange of ideas. The venue for the conference, Wadham College, had a magical feel to it, part Morse and part Hogwarts, it was lovely.

Rocks

I like rocks. Always have. They're solid. They're old. Each one has a story millions, even billions of years old. If I see an interesting rock small enough, I'll sometimes take it home. If it's too large, I'll photograph it.Saw this one on a hike up Whiting Hill in Lovell, Maine last week. It's white quartz with light brown feldspar - pretty typical for a hilltop in western Maine.Here it is closer up. The black outline of weathering around the crystals pleases me.Like to climb over rocks too, especially along Maine's coast. This is part of the bedrock near Biddeford Pool on the southern Maine coast. Maine has some of the most varied geology to be found anywhere on earth. It's not only interesting; it's beautiful. The amateur geologist in me thinks this is sedimentary, metamorphic, turned up 90 degrees and weathered by the surf.This is just a few yards away, but from another age entirely, and that's how Maine bedrock is. This rock heated and swirled more than the one above it.Only about four feet away is this one in a seam where iron oxidized, creating dark red staining.Looks like chemical reactions I don't understand at all are creating different textures as well.Albany, Maine stone wall I found in an abandoned neighborhood last spring.Carrickabraghey Castle on Isle of Doagh, Donegal where we visited two years ago. My ancestors built this "keep" - all that remains of the 14th century castle that was about ten times bigger than what you see here.It's mostly limestone around that area, but some granitic outcrops are scattered about. Glashedy Island is offshore. Glashedy means "green on top." It's a big rock with ten acres of grass on it. Locals brought sheep out there to graze.View out to sea from inside the keep. I love the way the limestone weathers inside - so different from the granites and feldspars of Maine. Easier to work as well.View out another window.And another.And out a door with my wee wife outside.And a high window.A long beach nearby deposits weathered rocks in terraces. When waves recede, millions tumble against each other. The sounds they make are as charming to the ear as the polished limestone specimens are to the eye. The wee wife has found a beauty to smuggle home. Ireland won't miss it.

Experiencing God

Right now I'm going through the Bible study Experiencing God. It's an amazing study. I've learned so much and gotten so much closer to God and my thinking has been changed about a lot of things. Yesterday while I was doing my daily study when I read this paragraph that sums up what this study has helped me see:

"When your life is in the middle of God's activity, He will start rearranging a lot of you thinking. God's ways and thoughts are so different from yours that they often will sound wrong or crazy. You need a readiness to believe that what He is doing is best for you. Don't try to second-guess God. Just let Him be God."

God is so Great.

I Like It, I Love It!

So - when i disappeared for a few days, where did i go? Mick, Flynn and I went to Sydney for a few days, thats where. And, i'm happy to say, we had a great time and it was just the break i needed. We stayed at Micks aunties place so we didnt have to pay for accomodation ( yay for being able to crash at the rello's place! ) and we got breakfast and dinner cooked for us, so we saved on food costs too. We drove down Sunday, only stopping twice with Flynn, and went shopping on the Monday. We hit up DFO Homebush and Westfield Parramatta - i didnt buy much but it was still a decent way to spend sometime. Thankfully Flynn wasnt too over-awed by all the people and the noise although he was a little unnerved every time we went in an elevator...

Tuesday we took the train from Parramatta into the city. Although he's too young to appreciate it, i really enjoy just cruising around the CBD and i wanted to get a photo Flynn with the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. It happened to be a beautiful sunny day so the pics are a little over-exposed and, as i'm feeling quite fat, i'm not posting the pics of me. You can have this one of Daddy and Flynn though:

But the absolute highlight of my trip? Tim McGraw!! If your one of those sad people who i've come across who doesnt actually know who is, Tim McGraw is a country music superstar, a Grammy winner, and actor and an allround hunk of sexy. Please peruse these pictures as evidence of that last bit:

Oh yea - spunkrat. Anyhoo, Mick and I ( and my mum and dad, who were kind enough to pay for our tickets ) took ourselves off to see Tim live in concert on Tuesday night and, i gotta tell you, it was awesome. My one disappoint was that i didnt take my camera - i thought it would be no use to me but thats because i didnt realise how close we would be. Turns out our tickets were only four rows from the front of the catwalk so i could have got a perfect shot of his performance ( or his cute little bum! ). We were that close that if i had stood on the seats the row in front of me i would have been able to touch him - only i'm not the kind of girl who climbs all over crap, risking a humilating fall onto a fellow concert goers during which i may have exposed my butt crack. Not cool. Anyways - so yea, we were super close to the stage and i didnt take my camera. Very disappointing. I did manage to borrow my mums camera phone ( couldnt use mine - Flynn drooled on my phone and now the camera doesnt work ) to snap a few grainy pics. Apologies for the quality:

And the best part of all? He brought out his wife, Faith Hill, to do a duet with him and apparently it was the only leg of the tour that she sang at ( take that Brisbane and Melbourne! ). I stood, i sang, i danced, i loved it and i stayed out past midnight for the first time since falling pregnant with Flynn. So thank you Tim McGraw - you rocked your sexy butt off!

Butterfly

There have been so many butterflies flying around the past two months and lucky me I only got one picture of one. Oh well, I enjoyed them anyway.

Here Comes The Sun...

I'm back people - did you miss me? I've spent the past few days down in Sydney, having a little time away with Mick and Flynn ( more on that at a later date ). Home last night, and off to our regular Thursday mothers group meeting today. And what a glorious day it was!

The sun has finally decided to make an appearance around these parts after weeks of wind and rain and overcast yuckiness, so we mumma's took a little bubba's down to the local park for a play. I was kind of excited because its the first time Flynn has really been able to enjoy going to the park - he's at the age now where he likes going on the swings ( especially ) and can interact a little more with other kids and the equipment. Plus, it was the first chance he's had to wear his sun hat and didnt he just look adorable:

Loving his Vegemite sandwich - and his favourite tractor!

Hopefully we're blessed with gorgeous weather next week as we have plans to have our mass playdate at the local Japanese gardens, which should make for some nice photos. Now, onto tomorrow, which is forecast to beautiful, warm and sunny. Perhaps we could take Daddy to the park?

Strong Wind To Starboard

Some still don’t take the Tea Party seriously, even after they’ve gathered over and over, all around the country, in huge numbers, and protested big government’s unconstitutional expansion. Mostly they’re smug liberals who consider themselves to be intellectuals. They think they know what’s best for the rest of us and they’re running the country - right into the ground. Bernie Marcus, one of the guys who founded Home Depot, thinks they’re tenured academics and “They don’t have a clue of what they’re talking about.”

“They come out of Harvard,” he said. “They come out of Yale. They’re all on tenure. Tenure means they get paid whether they work or not. Tenure means they’re on insurance for the rest of their lives. Tenure means they don’t ever have to worry about anything because they were there for a number of years, but America is not that way . . . If the president got out of the White House and started moving among the peasants, which is everybody else in the world except for Washington. Washington has their own insurance plan. They got their own pensions. They don’t abide by the rules everyone else abides by . . . When I talk to people who are creating jobs today - these are not villains. These are not monsters.”

“And you think they’re being portrayed that way [by the White House]?” asked the host.

“Oh, there’s no question about it. Yeah, we’re monsters and we are disgusting human beings . . . for creating 300,000 jobs
. . .”

Marcus is pissed. So is the Tea Party. The elitists still don’t get it. They will after November 2nd though.

These tenured liberals have lived all their lives in academic echo chambers and think they know how to run the world - its health care and its economy. They’re still predicting an economic recovery to follow the $800 billion stimulus that spent $2 million for each job it created. But ordinary Americans understand that no recovery is going to happen that way. They know Obama, Pelosi and Reid only made things worse by putting us $800 billion further into debt. They know our health care system was much better before that triumvirate “fixed” it by making it more complicated, more expensive, and less effective. They know we won’t have a recovery until they take back their government - and they will.

Senator John Kerry, for whom I used to work when I was a young and foolish liberal, made some nasty remarks about Tea Party victories in last week’s primaries. “The news from Delaware is crystal clear: It’s Sarah Palin’s party now. We [must] defeat the Tea Party extremists.”

Extremists? The Tea Party is extremist? Not smug elitists like himself who tripled our deficit and turned recession to depression? Tenured elitists think Republicans are being hijacked by the Tea Party and they’re right. The Tea Party wants to pull the Constitution out of mothballs, dust it off, and apply it the way the founding fathers intended. That’s extremist to Ivy League elitists like Kerry, who think they’re much smarter than Jefferson and Madison. They don’t want government to be hampered by the Constitution. They know better how to create jobs better than people like Bernie Marcus too, even though he’s actually done it and they haven’t.

They’re right that the Tea Party has been concentrating on Republicans - to clean liberals like Castle, Murkowski and Crist out, because there’s no point having two liberal parties. That makes other RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) like Maine Senator Olympia Snowe nervous. If Mike Castle can lose a primary in a liberal state like Delaware, Snowe can lose one in liberal Maine too - and she’s up in 2012. Some expect her to come out of the closet as a Democrat soon. Will Susan Collins be far behind? She’s up in 2014.

Now that the primaries are over, the Tea Party will focus on defeating liberal Democrats in November. How many will drop? Hard to tell. I happened to be passing through Portland, Maine last Monday when Lady Gaga showed up to pressure our two Lady RINO senators into breaking ranks and repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The pierced and tattooed turned out to cheer their liberal Democrat heroes who warmed up the crowd with speeches - like 1st District Congresswoman and Pelosi Pet, Chellie Pingree. The contrast between that crowd and a Tea Party crowd in nearby Westbrook where Pingree’s opponent, conservative Republican Dean Scontras, spoke the day before could not be more profound. Pingree’s web site pledges to “Stop the Tea Party,” but which constituency will prevail in Maine and America on November 2nd? Maine’s 1st district is the bluest part of a very blue state in the azure northeast - a sanctuary state with generous welfare benefits for illegal immigrants and a homosexual haven. Pingree is ahead in opinion polls 48% to Scontras’s 37%, but 15% are undecided. Scontras is a tireless campaigner and Pingree is worried. She looked pretty haggard when I saw her Monday. She knows that 15% is likely to break for Scontras and sink her.

If Scontras beats her November 2nd, our two Lady RINOs will probably start tacking to starboard as John McCain has in Arizona. In spite of Lady Gaga’s pressure, they didn’t break ranks when “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” came up in the US Senate on Tuesday. They have their fingers in the wind - which will become a gale in about five weeks.

With Carol Shea Porter (D-NH) on one side of me and Chellie Pingree (D-ME) on the other, it’s been difficult, but both may well go down in only forty days. I can’t wait.

Good bye Burt Bacharach, Sitting at the Rectors Table, and the NMC Standards, Transformed

Since writing last week’s blog I have travelled some 1941 miles on University business (Helsinki –Tallin-Helsinki-Copanhagen-Manchester-London-Manchester-Manchester-Newcastle- Manchester). It has been a week where trains, boats and planes have lost their appeal. And for me, Burt Bacharach never had any appeal. However, as they say, it was worth it.

As part of this week’s travels, I went to the Imperial College London. I was there to support one of my colleagues, Denise Megson, who was presenting her work as part of the Stellar HE Leadership Programme. This is a strategic executive development programme for Diverse Leaders (BME) in Higher Education. It has been designed specifically to develop and implement leadership strategies that reflect the unique challenges and experiences of black and minority ethnic academic and professional staff across the whole of the University sector. Stellar HE is a unique leadership development programme that draws on 21st century leadership approaches and thinking to further leverage the effectiveness of Diverse Leaders. The programme aims to address issues of institutional race discrimination, level the career playing field, and provide equal access to promotion, professional development, and increased retention of talented staff. Denise was there presenting their work alongside academics from eight other Universities – Greenwich, Imperial College, Leeds Metropolitan, Loughborough, Oxford,  Bradford, Cardiff and Glasgow. Denise presented her work well and was a great ambassador for the School.

The meeting was held at the impressive 170 Queen's Gate (the Imperial College Rectors House). This magnificent building was designed and built in 1889 by Norman Shaw, one of the most important English architects of the 19th century. His work is characterised by an ingenious approach to creating an open plan feel to his buildings. Although he worked mainly on big projects, the country house, and commercial buildings, his designs were adopted on a more modest style, in the mass produced housing of London and Leeds at the start of the 1900s.

On Thursday I was at Northumbria University, in that very privileged role of external examiner at a PhD viva. Whilst the surroundings were not as impressive as those at Imperial, the scale of scholarly work and endeavour was. These opportunities always touch me. Hearing a fellow academic defend their work (and often this is done with such passion), is a special experience, and not one to be undertaken lightly.

At the end of the week we had a School Development Day. Part of the day was a brilliant presentation from my colleague Margaret McAllister, Professor of Nursing, from the University of the Sunshine Coast (what a wonderful place name). She had travelled some 10235 miles since last Sunday to get to Salford. For me it was worth it. Margaret shared with colleagues her experiences in developing transformational learning approaches with and for her pre-registration nursing students. Drawing on some very creative examples from practice, Margaret provided us all with a powerful learning experience.

The timing was spot on as finally, the NMC published the standards and guidance for the new pre-registration nurse education this week. Some 5,000 individuals and organisations across the UK contributed to the development of these long awaited standards. It is these standards, which will provide the foundation for future pre-registration nursing programmes. In our School, Jane Jenkins and Karen Holland have over the last 12 month, led colleagues in developing a framework for our new programme, which we will launch in September 2011. This programme will reflect the new standards. Part of what we heard from Margaret in her presentation, was the importance of developing a ‘language of possibilities’ for our students – whilst we already know of some of the words, it is now up to us to write this particular dictionary.

Why Don't YOU Cover Up?

I know i've blogged about this before but i found an article today that had me so riled up i just had to make mention of it. Well, not so much  the article, but the storm of comments following it : should breastfeeding mothers have to cover up while feeding in public?

The majority of comments seemed to be supportive of women being able to breastfeed their babies whenever, wherever, and however they wanted to, or supportive of the right to feed but asking for discretion. But there were some comments that just made my blood boil. This one in particular -

Breast feeding
Posted by: no interest, perth, on 17/09/2010 10:34:16

Just because you have your offspring attached to your breast doesnt mean you can automatically get it out wherever you like and start feeding your litter. Most people have no interst in seeing such things, its just not called for in public. Have a bit of self respect and respect for those arround you and put it away or at least cover it up. While we are at it try putting a leash on the rest ofyour litter while in public and perhaps a muzzle as well, parent shouyld take control of their brood and stop them from running wild and screaming like animals, however I guess if the litter are to run wild then perhaps the parent can breast feed in public like the rest of the live stock.

 

Pardon my language but - what.a. fucking.cockhead. I just wanted to reach through the computer screen and punch this idiot in the throat. How insulting to mothers everywhere, regardless of whether they breastfeed in public or not. And believe it or not, this wasnt the only comment likening breastfeeding to nursing animals. One other person said mothers who breastfeed in public should be made to do so out in the paddock like the rest of the cows (!) and numerous people compared the natural act of breastfeeding to the natural act of defecation - and then said we arent allowed/it isnt polite to defecate in public view so why should it be any different for breastfeeding.

 

Attitudes like that make me absolutely sick and i was shocked that they even exist in todays society. Yes, i can appreciate that some people may not know where to look when faced with a breastfeeding mother ( my advice? If you're not sure, just look away ) but that doesnt mean women should be forced to feed their babies in dirty public toilets or be made to stay home with their babies because thats we're new mums and babies belong ( both of which were suggested by commentors on this article ). Nor do breastfeeding mothers feel they are untouchable and that they're rights come before everyone elses ( also a prevailing attitude in the comments section ) but rather want their babies to have the same freedom to eat when they are hungry that every other person has. Its as simple as that. Anyone who suggests otherwise, or that thinks breastfeeding mothers simply just want to get their boobs out in public and flash them to the world ( give me a friggin' break.. ) is out of touch, out of their minds and out of order...

Friday Flip Off Time

Like i said last week, i dont think anyone is hosting Friday Flip Offs anymore but i've enjoyed doing them so they are ( for now ) staying a permanent fixture on my blog. Its a light-hearted type of carthasis for me, so i only see fit to keep it going. On to this week:

To my state manager, The Bell - as i put it to my father today: i hate you, i hate your guts. I have no idea how you came to be in your position of relative power because you have zero people skills and only the barest of empathies for your employers. You have known since December of last year that i intended on returning to work in the first week of October. It is only now, 2 weeks before my intended return from maternity leave, that you have decided to throw a spanner in the works. It is so typical of you to operate this way - you've done it before - and, frankly, it shits me to tears. If it were a viable option ( which it isnt right now ) i'd quit and find myself another job.  And i may yet do that, in time - at which point you will be politely told to FLIP OFF!

To the half dozen people who have overtaken me in a school zone whilst speeding - you are idiots. The speed limit in a school zone in NSW is 40lm/h there fore it is not only illegal to round me up doing at least 70km/h ( dickhead... ) but stupid and dangerous aswell. I dont know whether you're in a big rush to get somewhere or you just think you wont get caught but whatever the reason, its not going to be good enough when you hit a little kid who is trying to get across the road to school. Grow up and stop speeding, you wankers - go FLIP OFF!

To the two women who have dismissed my idea of going to Tresillian - screw you both. I know one of you actually entertained the idea of going herself with her youngest child, so i dont know where your attitude is coming from. The second one just thinks she is damn Superwoman or something. She can take her idea of how to make a baby settle ( " just turn him on his side, leave the room and let him cry, doesnt matter if its for 3 or 4 hours " !!!! ) and shove it up her damn jumper. What kind of mother does that? I've tried controlled crying, and i'm not a big fan, but even that technique doesnt leave a baby alone to cry for hours on end. Neglectful much? So to both of you, with your ideas of what is a waste of time and what is not needed FLIP OFF!

Waning Summer

Most people know I'm a teacher around here. "Summer's over," they tell me at the Post Office, the store, the gas station, because school started three weeks ago. But it's not over. Waning, yes, but it hasn't ended just because the school busses are running. It started early and it's been a grand one.There was very little rain. Water grass on Lower Kezar Pond exposed some nice red stalks. It was a nice day for kayaking.Out for a walk one day with granddaughter Claire and daughter Annie. Another granddaughter is incubating about three feet down to the lower right. Can't wait to see her. Life is good.Claire likes me.Saw a bald eagle annoyed with an osprey one day over Kezar Lake. Chased him all over the sky for about a minute. It was quite a show.The sun came up behind a spider web the next day. I was running late, but stopped anyway for this. Got my shoes all wet in the dew, but it was worth it. Gotta take time for beauty.Afternoon clouds gathered in the western sky.Alway liked mills like these in Saco. Oak logs were floated down the Saco River - possibly from here in Fryeburg/Lovell - to hold up the floors. Local brick, local wood, power from the river. All so ruggedly built, they survive to this day. Many have been gutted and await commercial tenants looking for office space, but a slow economy and glut of commercial real estate threaten these magnificent old buildings. Hope this sunset over the mills isn't foreshadowing.Sunset over Kezar Lake. Is that a dolphin? A character from "Neverending Story"?