Archive for January, 2012

Chain letters are far less painful to forward than they used to be when you had to hand write copies for each lucky recipient. Today, with just a few clicks you can fulfill your commitment and not worry about any jinxes.

Despite that ease, I generally do not forward chain emails. I find them annoying and most of the time I’m glad I didn’t inflict them on my friends. However, about half the time the chain letters are prayers, and I feel a bit bad for not forwarding those. Maybe it would help someone? Maybe someone could use a prayer that day? Or maybe it would just annoy your friends.

Does not forwarding a prayer chain email show a lack of faith? Or is faith that God would help with or without the email?

Do you forward chain emails? Does it matter if it’s a prayer? Do you feel more guilty about not forwarding the prayer than the regular ones?

Continue reading Do you forward chain emails? What about prayer ones? »

A 7-year-old girl appears to have died from an allergic reaction to peanuts at her Virginia elementary school last week, according to news reports.

Ammaria Johnson’s mother knew the child had a peanut allergy and had an allergy action plan at the school.

From The Huffington Post:

” ‘She has an allergy action plan at the school,’ Pendleton told WTVR TV, saying she authorized the school to give the student Benadryl during a reaction. ‘They didn’t do that.’ “

“Pendleton went on to tell the station that at the beginning of the year, she had tried to give the school clinical aid and EpiPen for reactions, but was told to keep it at home. EpiPens inject epinephrine, or adrenaline, currently available only by prescription.”

The child was in cardiac arrest by the time the ambulance arrived. She was pronounced dead a short time later at a medical center.

“Since severe allergies can develop without previous incidences, Dr. Dan Atkins, head of ambulatory pediatric at …

Continue reading Should schools stock EpiPens? Can administrators get to them fast enough? »

Last week 15-year-old Jaime Gonzalez Jr. was shot and killed by police in his school after an altercation with another student. The police asked the boy if he had a gun. He answered yes. (Read here for the whole story of what happened at the school.)

It was actually a high-powered BB gun that resembled a black Glock semiautomatic. It can be purchased on the internet for $60

His death raises questions about BB and pellet guns that resemble real guns and that are easily purchased online.

From The New York Times:

“The death has shocked this South Texas border city, but it was only the latest in a series of shootings involving realistic-looking BB guns and pellet guns. In recent years, dozens of police officers in Texas, California, Maryland, Florida and elsewhere have shot children and adults armed with what they believed were handguns but that were determined later to be BB guns or other types of air pistols. In addition, the gun replicas have killed or injured thousands of …

Continue reading Should BB/pellet guns look like real guns? Should their sale be more regulated? »

All too frequently married couples split when one spouse cheats. Often friends take sides and just disengage from the other spouse. They unfriend them on Facebook, they don’t call them or see them. And sometimes, it’s just that simple.

But what if you run in community circles where you still see both spouses? What about at the gym, around the neighborhood or school events? How do you treat the offending spouse?

Do you act like nothing has happened and stay out of it? Do you pretend not to know? (I can see this approach for acquaintances but what about for good friends – obviously you know!)

Do you give them the cold shoulder? Are you hostile? Do you yell or scold them? Do you tell them they are bad? Do you want an apology?

Do you ask the injured spouse how they want you to act? What if they say “Cut his tires!” What do you do?

What is the proper etiquette for social situations with the cheating spouse?

Continue reading How do friends treat the spouse who cheats? »

When the news broke about the woman being arrested for allegedly trying to take a baby from a Clayton County hospital a friend made an interesting comment on Facebook.

She essentially said: See I’m not crazy! This does happen!

She went on to say that’s why she made her husband walk the newborn to and from the nursery every time.

And of course you know I did that too. Our babies were almost always in the room with us but when they went to the nursery we walked with them and usually stayed for any shots and checks.

In fact, I almost passed out the morning after Rose was born walking to the nursery for her to bed checked by a pediatrician. I didn’t realize how weak I was and how much blood I was still losing and while waiting I almost passed out. They had to pull over a chair for me.  After that I made Michael go.

When Rose was first born, they were stitching me up and I was ordering Michael to go with her to the nursery. “Don’t worry about me! Don’t leave her alone …

Continue reading Did you worry about your baby being stolen at the hospital? »

Why do 30 million Americans a year continue to tan indoors in UV beds and booths with all the warnings about skin cancer?

A new report in the journal Addiction Biology reveals that UV light actually stimulates parts of the brain that play a role in addiction.

From The New York Times:

“What the researchers found was that several parts of the brain that play a role in addiction were activated when the subjects were exposed to UV rays. The findings, which appear in the coming issue of the journal Addiction Biology, may help explain why some people continue to tan often despite awareness about risks such as skin cancer, premature aging and wrinkles.”

“What this shows is that the brain is in fact responding to UV light, and it responds in areas that are associated with reward,” said Dr. Bryon Adinoff, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and an author of the study. “These are areas, particularly the striatum, that we see …

Continue reading Can tanning be addictive? »

I am reading on Facebook and hearing from many friends that some nasty stomach bugs are going around Atlanta.

A new study of hospital toilets shows that it’s critical to close the lid on the toilet before flushing to help prevent the spread of diarrhea-causing bacteria.

From Good Morning America:

“Researchers from Leeds Teaching Hospitals in the U.K. detected C. difficile – a germ that can cause diarrhea and even life-threatening inflammation of the colon – nearly 10 inches above the toilet seat after flushing lidless hospital toilets. C. difficile is frequently found in hospitals and long-term care facilities were antibiotics are common.”

“The highest numbers of C. difficile were recovered from air sampled immediately following flushing, and then declined 8-fold after 60 [minutes] and a further 3-fold after 90 [minutes],” the researchers reported in the January issue of the Journal of Hospital Infection.

“C. difficile was spotted on surrounding surfaces 90 minutes …

Continue reading Stomach bug in the house? Close the toilet lid!! »

Several news outlets are reporting that Maria Shriver may be reconciling with Arnold Schwarzenegger. She filed for divorce about two months after she learned he fathered a child with a woman who worked in their household.

The story on The Huffington Post claimed she was reconsidering for religious reasons.

It seems like years ago women just accepted that there would be some infidelity during their marriage. They turned a blind eye and moved on with their lives.

I am wondering if this a more reasonable understanding of marriage and monogamy or was it purely because the woman would be screwed if she left her husband?

Was that because divorce laws favored the man and the woman wouldn’t get the kids or be supported if she left? Was it because she had no way to support herself if she left so was willing to put up with it?

Was it because she didn’t want people to know he cheated and if she left they would know?

A recent article in Psychology Today examines a new approach to …

Continue reading Can a couple rebuild and benefit from an affair? »

If you got it on over the holidays, you were not alone.

But seriously, according to multiple studies, December has the highest rate of conception of any month.

From The Daily Beast:

“1. Conception rates reach their annual peak in December, with 9 percent of all U.S. conceptions occurring during that month.

August is the annual “trough,” with the year’s fewest number of conceptions. The University of Texas–affiliated study that yielded this stat confirms similar findings in many other studies showing that most babies are born in late September, while the fewest are born in April. “Biologic hypotheses include deterioration of sperm quality during summer, seasonal differences in anterior pituitary-ovarian function caused by changes in the daylight length, and variation in quality of the ovum or endometrial receptivity,” the study’s authors write. “Increased sexual activity associated with end-of-year holiday festivities has also been postulated.”…

Need more …

Continue reading Did you do it during the holidays? December is the biggest month for conceptions »