Sunday is Mother’s Day! If you have forgotten, yes, you should be racked with guilt. Not to panic though, there’s still some time. Mother’s Day is the perfect opportunity for all to pay homage to the valuable—yet too often underappreciated— women in our lives.
The problem is- I never know what to get my mom. Even Google can’t provide me with the right answers. Searching “Mother’s Day gifts” only results in the bombardment of ads for flowers, perfume, jewelry and spa visits—none of which my mom really cares for. And while a ordering a bouquet of flowers is nice, it’s not very personal and it’s more or less an effortless act. A Mother’ Day gift should be thoughtful, and thus should require a good amount of thought on the gift givers’ part. Go beyond the generic gifts. Take back Mother’s Day from Hallmark and 1-800-FLOWERS, and make it your own. Celebrate Mother’s Day like you mean it.
Having said that, I have little advice to offer. All moms are unique, and all relationships with moms are unique. No one gift can fit all mothers. Cheesy as it sounds, the best gift ideas can only come to you after reflection and introspection upon your relationship with your mom, and upon who your mom really is as a person. So much of mothers’ needs, desires, dimensions get overshadowed by their identity as a caregiver. Use this Mother’s Day to think about and discover who this woman really is. Do you know what she was like before you came into her life? Do you know how she felt when she was pregnant with you?
There is one thing—one Mother’s Day trick—that can never fail: a good ole homemade card. No excuses. You can never be too old or inartistic to make a card. Break out those dusty crayons and markers; and write her a personalized message that goes beyond “Happy Mother’s Day! Love, [Your Name Here]”. This Sunday you have the opportunity to tell your mom how much you love and appreciate her without the fear of being inappropriately sentimental. So, use it, and good luck!
For those who really want to impress the Moms…
If you want to go above and beyond this Mother’s Day, raise your awareness about the social and political issues facing mothers today. The truth is moms are systematically devalued. Even though mothers are the major wealth producers in our economy, their contributions are considered immaterial. “Most people, like infants in a crib, take female caregiving utterly for granted,” writes economist Ann Crittenden.
Did you know?
- Only four countries in the world—Lesotho, Swaziland, Papua New Guinea and the United States fail to provide paid maternity leave to all workers.
- Mothers in the United States are only half as likely as non-mothers to be hired for the same job and the average college graduate who becomes a mother will sacrifice a million dollars over her lifetime.
- Businesses that create flexible work environments find that productivity goes up, they attract more talent, turnover is reduce and their bottom line is improved.
(Statistics from The Motherhood Manifesto)
To learn more about the plight of mothers, refer to the following sources:
Are you a parent and a student at the University? To learn more about the services and support available to you, go here.
Yesterday the state Supreme Court, in a 5-2 decision, moved to prohibit public employers from providing health care benefits to the partners of lesbian and gay employees. The court ruled that the amendment to the state constitution approved by voters in 2004 , which defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman, also applies to employee benefits. The decision upholds a February 2007 ruling by the Court of Appeals.Unsettling that justice is in the hands of those who believe that only certain families deserve health coverage…
The decision, however, should not effect the University’s employee health care coverage. After the 2007 Court of Appeals decision, the University no longer offers benefits on the basis of same-sex domestic partner relationships; but had changed their policies so that employees’ partners would remained covered.
In an email sent out to the University’s faculty and employees, Laurita Thomas, Associate Vice President for Human Resources, states: “The University cares deeply about the recruitment and retention of its outstanding faculty and staff, and we design our benefits with these principles in mind. We believe all of our current benefit offerings are in full compliance with the law in the state of Michigan.”
The Ann Arbor News printed an op-ed by Nerieda Guillian, member of the Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrants Rights (WIRIC) and Master’s student in the School of Social Work. Guillian explains why the local Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) raids constitute as unlawful and violations of human rights.
Guillian closes with this: It’s important as community members to not allow unlawful treatment against undocumented immigrants to continue. We must remind ourselves what Franklin D. Roosevelt once said: “Remember, remember always that all of us … are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.” We are all immigrants and there is no reason to violate the human rights of any, whether documented or not. The next time you ask yourselves, “Is it a violation when undocumented immigrants are detained and sent back to their native country?” I hope you answer, “Yes, the way they are being detained is unlawful and I’m not going to allow it.”
Those who maintain skepticism toward Guillian’s claim holds a view contrary to the paradoxical reality that, for being a proud nation of immigrants, we sure treat our undocumented immigrants like subhumans. The New York Times reports on the death of Boubacar Bah in Elizabeth Detention Center, an immigration jail in New Jersey. Bah, originally from Guinea, had been detained for overstaying his tourist visa. At the detention center, Bah injured his head from a fall. Even though Bah was visibly in poor condition, prison guards placed him in solitary confinement, thus, depriving him of necessary medical treatment. Approximately 12 hours after his fall, Bah was taken away by an ambulance “more dead than alive”, according to the Times. Bah’s family in the United States was kept in the dark about Bah’s injury until five days after his hospital admittance and emergency brain surgery.
Bah is one of at least 64 people who have died in immigration detention centers within the last four years. Bah’s death raises larger questions about the lack of oversight and transparency in the immigration detention system. According to the WIRIC, some local undocumented immigrants are currently being held in federal detention centers; but it is near impossible to get ICE to disclose any information on their conditions even if you are a family member of the detained.
To learn more about the detention and deporation system, visit the Detention Watch Network. And go here to follow the Time’s coverage on in-custody deaths.
The New York Times says:
“The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners.”
Perhaps it’s time to rethink the way our prison’s operate:
Jake Long is a real man. In attending the University of Michigan he has thrived in Michigan’s rich history, where JFK’s vision for the Peace Corps and Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine were announced, where we have an alumni charter on the moon, and you know the rest. In recognition of Long’s greatness, he will be the number one pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. Justin Boren is a pansy, who was exposed as inadequate when juxtaposed with the University of Michigan’s great traditions. As such, he had no choice but to transfer to an institution that prides itself not on excellence but the lack thereof, where their greatest source of pride is a tree nut. To sum:
The Ann Arbor News publishes Ann Arbor area restaurant inspections. The worst offenders (only major offenses listed):
Harvest Moon: Employees were observed handling ready-to-eat food with bare hands (corrected).
Prickly Pear Cafe: Several pieces of cooking equipment and food containers needed to have old food cleaned off of them (corrected). An employee was observed handling ready-to-eat food with bare hands (corrected). Several containers of expired foods were found and food wasn’t ordered in the cooler correctly (corrected).
Amer’s Deli: The dishwashing machine wasn’t sanitizing utensils and dishes correctly.
Uptown Coney Island: Employees were observed handling ready-to-eat food with bare hands (corrected). Vegetable soup, mashed potatoes and corn were cooled improperly (corrected).
Home Town Buffet: The can opener needed to be cleaned and have a blade replaced (corrected). Employees were observed drinking from open beverages in the prep area (corrected). Potentially hazardous foods were found stored at an improper temperature (corrected). Cleaning chemicals were stored next to food utensils (corrected).
Food Zone Chinese Restaurant: The facility uses a self-made cabbage press that’s not approved and isn’t considered to be a cleanable piece of equipment. Dishes were washed, rinsed and sanitized improperly (corrected).
And some minor offenses by some of my Ann Arbor favorites:
Zingerman’s “Next Door”: A couple of coolers needed the seals on the doors cleaned more frequently. Pop machine nozzles needed to be cleaned.
Red Hawk: Several spray containers weren’t labeled correctly (corrected).
Angelo’s On The Side: Stove and fryer areas needed to be cleaned better, more frequently. Floor, wall and stairway needed to be cleaned better, more frequently. Bakery floor needed grout replaced. A sanitzer solution was mixed improperly.
Happy Earth Day everyone. Wired Science, whose staff probably wakes up before noon, beat me to the punch, but regardless, enjoy some satellite images of our beautiful Earth.
Alluvial Fan:
The Bogada Mountains:
Mississippi River Delta:
Richat:
Terkezi Oasis:
Looking forward to seeing Ben Stein’s new movie on the demerits of evolution? Yeah, neither was I. But hey, at least there was the launch of this website that treats the movie as the piece of rubbish that it is: Expelled Exposed. While you’re at it check out this two part series that rips some more of the movie’s arguments to shreds.
From the Washington Post and ACHAMP:
“We’ve seen just a skyrocketing autism rate. Some people are suspicious that it’s connected to the vaccines. This person included. The science right now is inconclusive, but we have to research it.” - Barack Obama, Pennsylvania Rally, April 21, 2008.
“It’s indisputable that (autism) is on the rise among children, the question is what’s causing it. And we go back and forth and there’s strong evidence that indicates it’s got to do with a preservative in vaccines.” - John McCain, Texas town hall meeting, February 29, 2008.
“Yes. We don’t know what, if any, kind of link there is between vaccines and autism - but we should find out. The lack of research on treatments, interventions, and services for children and adults with autism is a major impediment to the development of delivery of quality care.” - Hillary Clinton, ACHAMP Questionairre
What in the world is everyone thinking? Are they not fully briefed on the issues, or do they simply not care? How many studies do our presidential candidates need to ignore to keep perpetuating such myths? Is this peer-reviewed study from the journal Pediatrics, this study from the Institute of Medicine, these findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or numerous other studies that all demonstrate that there is no link between thimerosal and autism not enough?
This isn’t simply shameless pandering to a lobbying group, it has wider implications that perpetuate falsehoods that needlessly endangers the health of infants everywhere. Fostering the false belief of a link between mercury and autism only leads loving parents to reject their trust in the efficacy of vaccines, which may lead to the decision not to inoculate their children with vaccines like MMR, or even worse, most new vaccines altogether. Rather than entrust in the scientific community with peer reviewed research and studies, parents with autistic children may turn to “alternative” therapies that have no method of verification to “cure” their children of the purported cause (mercury) of their illness. Emotional wounds are kept unhealed with trial lawyers taking advantage of the public sentiment to sue the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VCIP).
It is understandable vaccine preservatives be studied to see if there is a relationship to particular illnesses. But these studies in relationship to autism have been done, numerous times, with conclusive findings. With the continuance of this false discussion, however, we are only doing a disservice to the trust of sound research that is the only well thought out manner in which we have to verify our problems. We are placing the role of hearsay and pseudoscience above science, and even worse, we are wasting valuable resources in information campaigns and redundant studies that could otherwise be used to actually fund research to better understand autism.
It’s also understandable that parents of children with autism want to discover the underlying causes of their children’s disorder. But Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama have no business and no evidence to keep perpetuating disinformation, especially given their roles of public office.
