ElementalMom

• Desperately trying to manifest a decent day, despite waking up cranky. #
• RT @rozsavage: just 4hrs sleep, but lost 3 miles of eastwards progress. sore and discouraged.#rozsavage #oceans #rowing #
• I love Joe Bageant. http://bit.ly/bo1w3 #
• RT @rozsavage: ocean incredibly dark since the moon set. still rowing… #rozsavage #oceans #rowing #
• Checked the lid on the milk, shook the milk, and the lid came off anyway. ::sigh:: Guess the floor needed mopping anyway… #
• And now, we're in SAIL! OK, our bit is only in the sidebar, but still! Check us out! #sailing #liveaboard http://bit.ly/14×4iD #
• @mslaura Social Security demanded that Jason pay his dead father's back childsupport payments… to himself. Surreal, eh? in reply to mslaura #
• @alecmuffett I'm happy and sad for you. in reply to alecmuffett #
• RT @rozsavage: Day 96 – Announcement: Changing Coursehttp://bit.ly/3F54rd #rozsavage #oceans #rowing #
• Just inherited an old, classic watch-chiming clock and barometer. They weigh about a gazillion pounds, but are gloriously nautical. Score! #

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This makes me want to babble on about the commonality of the human soul. But I think I’ll just let Bobby prove it.

I subscribed to the MSF RSS feed a while back. Why? I still don’t quite know. But I’m going to go out on a limb and recommend that you all do too. Right now. Click here.

We are so so so isolated here. We read about financial collapse, we fret about TV shows, and we complain about the price of gas. The news doesn’t actually tell us what’s really happening in the rest of the world, to our fellow human beings, and we don’t even notice the omission.

As a people, we are ridiculously myopic.

Read what the rest of the world deals with, daily. And read about the heroes who are helping them. And maybe, just maybe, become one of them. For the betterment of mankind.

An interview I did a few weeks ago got published today! Hurrah!

20 Unschooling Questions: Laureen from San Francisco Bay, CA

Enjoy, and please leave comments there.

Photo Credit: Zen.

This just in from the Columbia Valley News:

WHO ‘recommends’ global mandatory vaccination, Canada prepares
Why are health ministers in places like British Columbia, Australia and Greece telling the public that ’swine flu’ is just ordinary H1N1 type A seasonal flu, while at the same time they are preparing to vaccinate their entire populations against H5N1 avian flu using untested vaccines that contain live avian flu?

Why are pandemic plans being laid to combat a more serious second wave of ’swine flu’ when it is already clear that such an outbreak is not happening in the southern hemisphere, where the flu season is already under way? Both Australia and Argentina report a normal flu season with no mutation of the ’swine flu’ virus.

If the world is really so concerned about a ’swine flu pandemic’ this fall, why has the World Health Organization stopped counting cases?

These are just some of the many questions being asked in the growing controversy over the safety of ‘pandemic flu’ vaccinations that health officials everywhere are planning for the entire global population.

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Disclaimer: We have extensively researched this subject because it is so controversial and there is so little clear and accurate information available. We were also inspired to look into the subject because of the wide gap between public concern and media presentation, with most concerns about vaccine safety being unaddressed by public health bodies and the media. We have done our best to sort out all the conflicting information available, but do not claim that the results of this research have revealed the complete truth. We encourage you to check the links below and do your own research.

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I encourage you to do the same. Do your own research before you let them inject you.

I swear, I need to go back and retag stuff. People with a message are beginning to figure out what the Schoolhouse Rock folks did all those years ago; if it’s got a catchy tune, we pay attention.
And with that, this gem:

This just in… Dr. Stuart Fischbein needs help. Read the whole thing here:

…Dr. Stuart Fischbein, is being threatened with disciplinary action by his hospital “for violating hospital policies.” The hospital has already suspended the privileges of the two CNMs he works with, and now he faces a possible loss of his livelihood.

His crime? Supporting women’s right to informed consent and to having a say about happens to their bodies. In the past few months, he attended 3 VBACs and 3 vaginal breech births, all successful and with healthy outcomes.

There’s a Dr. Amy-led smearfest in the comments. I’ll be honest folks… I don’t care what else he does, if he supports women in VBAC and breech, I’ll stand for him. I’ve also met him personally, and he’s the goods.

Go forth, do what you can, and thanks!

• RT @jonaiello: This is disturbing: http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2009/08/13/20090813computer0813.html #
• Trying to reframe myself, and live my life as Charlie would have wanted me to. #
• Researching to put a garden on the boat. If I can grow food here, anyone can! #gardening #liveaboard #
• @JenniferDorr LOL! That's precisely what happened to me yesterday!!!! Loooves me some Cat Stevens! in reply to JenniferDorr #
• Looking forward (?) to defrosting the fridge and freezer. Ice on the coldplate in the fridge engulfed an entire bottle of wine. Eeek! #
• RT @rozsavage: RozCast for Aug. 20, 2009 – Solo Pacific Row, Stage 2, Wk 13 http://ff.im/6UQMq #rtozsavage #rowing #oceans #inspiration #
• @jonaiello Oh, Jon, I'm so sorry. Best to Nat, too. Hope you're holding up OK. in reply to jonaiello #

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I’d like to brag up someone else’s kids today.

Today is for Shaye’s Brayla.

I am so proud of her. Not for the topic, necessarily, but for her sheer determination to say what she thinks is right, and to keep pressing home the point, even though she’s not getting the traction she expected in the face of her argument.

Go, little Brayla. Keep right on speaking truth to power. It won’t always go the way you expect, and it won’t always get you what you want, but it will someday change the world.

• OMG, mark the freaking calendar, Nancy Wainer called *me* for help!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! #
• Out in the NV desert, getting ready to have the best Perseid watching-party ever, with the kids. #

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On our drive home from a recent visit to the folks in NV, I listened to an episode (edition?) of the California Report, regarding lead in toys.

It’s bad. Read and/or listen to it here.

Thank goodness, LEGO stuff is still totally safe. But I’m spending the rest of today with a garbage bag, going through the rest of the kids’ things looking for hidden horrors.

• Actually managed to get up as early as I wanted this morning, and I feel really, really good about it. #
• Prepping goodies for our picnic lunch after seeing the Samurai display at the Asian Art Museum. Yay field trips! #
• Handy tip: shave your legs before you pick citrus, because there will be far too many scratches on you to do so afterwards. Just sayin'. #
• STOKE! We're in X-sport! http://xsport-magazine.com/ page 20! #sailing #oceans #cruising #publishing #
• @jonaiello Ooooh that does not sound good. Although I want to know what you find out, cause the kids threw my lovely MacBook on the floor… in reply to jonaiello #
• RT @rozsavage: wind southeast. being pushed yet further north. sigh. #rozsavage #rowing #oceans #
• Yes yes yes yes RT @mslaura: Belligerence is the currency of the intellectually bankrupt. #
• @sufficiency OOOH! Where's the link to the Astyk interview? in reply to sufficiency #
• RT @rozsavage: 3.40am. wind back in the east. sea anchor back on board. #rozsavage #rowing #oceans #
• Packing for trip to NV, and rehearsing the eulogy I'm giving for Charlie's memorial tonight. Hopefully I can get through it without crying #
• Heading to NV for some Grandma time for the kiddos, and sewing time for me. Woot! #

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Kestrel decided he wanted his hair cut. He was serious. For over two months, he badgered me about getting it done, and I stalled, not only because I wanted to make sure that was really what he wanted, but also because I loved, loved, loved his golden curls, and the way they made him look all Pre-Raphaelite.

This is why it really needed to be cut.

This is my pal Jenny, who is a professional hair stylist, preparing to do battle with the blizzard of Kestrel’s hair.

The end of the ponytail. My mom had asked for some hair, and here it is. The whole ponytail. Kes had gotten so annoyed with his hair that he’d actually started asking for ponytails regularly, but his hair is so fine, they’d slip out promptly anyway.

Rowan kept Kestrel and Jenny entertained by reading Bionicle comics to them, and holding the comic up so Kes could see it without moving his head around. What a guy!

And as per usual, Aurora was fascinated by the proceedings, and wanted to get in on keeping Kestrel entertained.

It’s a little blurry, but I just love the expression on his face here. So serious, so determined, and so gorgeous. It’s Kestrel all over.

The deed is nearly done now. Jenny’s putting on the final touches.

The deed is nearly done now. Jenny’s putting on the final touches.

The first thing Kes said, upon seeing his new short hair in the mirror, was “Whew! That’s better!” I was so worried about cutting it and then him changing his mind, but apparently, it all worked for him. Hurrah!

This post, from Sheridan, is absolutely brilliant. Read it and laugh. And then, if you’re me, get vaguely ill, because it’s come to that.

Restaurant Wars

• @2Shaye Exams were totally cake… one makeup day to do, then I'm certified! in reply to 2Shaye #
• @2Shaye YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy you finally are tweeting! in reply to 2Shaye #
• RT @rozsavage: just crossed 4degN. had to fight really hard for that one! 8 days… #rozsavage #oceans #rowing #
• Trying to keep the day from going pearshaped. Already. #
• RT @rozsavage: Day 70 – Sense and Serenity http://ff.im/63Gyw #rozsavage #rowing #oceans #
• @jonaiello Can't figure out if that's profound or morose. in reply to jonaiello #
• Loving how completely reasonable the Italian government is. No, really. #

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