I just finished watching an incredible and heartwarming video about a painting elephant. Watch the following video and feel glad you are able to witness (through the magic of modern technology) at least one elephant in captivity (and in the background, several more) being permitted a positive outlet for its experiences. If any of you wonderful readers decide to visit this elephant (I believe it lives in Thailand), and if you decide to actually give the elephant a rose, shave the thorns off first. I think it might appreciate that.

More elephant paintings and additional information can be found on The Asian Elephant Art and Conservation Project page.

…For what you have. Right now you could be a starving orphan in Iraq. Or one of millions of Iraqi refugees, half-forgotten by the world. Be grateful that you are not a newly hatched and vulnerable tropical baby bird in a nest up in an old-growth forest that’s about to be demolished in order to make way for “progress” and “civilization” somewhere in Central America. Thank God you aren’t a caged zoo animal that exists solely for the bored amusement of others who pay to ogle you somewhere, anywhere, on this globe.

Be grateful. Be grateful. Be grateful.

I am. Or at least, I try to be.

One of my daughter’s all-time favorite books is Global Babies. It is a book about babies around the world. Strangely enough, it has two pictures of babies from the United States (out of a total of 16 babies in the entire book), but I guess it’s a silly way of appeasing the now-dominant Imperial power (the new Rome, if you will, which = United States of America)??? The publisher is located in the United States, so I guess that’s part of it too. Other than this minor little detail, the book is truly wonderful, and my daughter asks to have it read to her over and over and over again. I highly recommend that you either borrow it from your library or purchase it to have for your family’s collection. Its virtues and peaceful teachings are numerous.

Here’s a picture of the cover:

What I really want to do here, though, is include a picture of the Iraq baby:

This baby is loved (as are all the babies in the book).  I can’t tell if the Iraq baby is a boy or a girl (I’m guessing boy), but it doesn’t matter. I wonder about this baby a lot. I wonder if this baby is safe, if this baby is being fed. I wonder if this baby has a mother and a father now, after this long and unnecessary war has waged on for so long. More than anything, I wonder about other babies like this one, other babies born and now being raised in Iraq. Are they safe? Who is taking care of them? Who is making sure their mothers and fathers are safe? Do they have clean water to drink? Are they safe from radiation from U.S.-made weapons? Who is making sure these Iraqi families feel peace? What are we doing to make sure these children and, more importantly, the caretakers of these children, are safe, clean, comfortable, at peace? Who is caring for the mothers and fathers of Iraq so that they may care for their children?

Think about what life may be like in Iraq for these families.  I dare you to complain about anything in your life right now.

Tanya Lieberman over at Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog (and a reader named Stu — HI, Stu! :)) just informed me that the fledgling Mothers’ Milk Bank of New England will be receiving $10,000!!

Remember when I posted about the New England Mothers’ Milk Bank and the contest over at Ideablob.com? Well, according to Tanya, we WON that contest!!! Woo-hoo!!

So, now the HMBANA Mothers’ Milk Bank of New England will have $10,000 as seed money to help get their facilities get set-up (I’m guessing). It does take a little bit of an investment for freezers, space, and so forth. I wish them the best, of course, and hope HMBANA continue to remain helpful to all the preemies and sick infants of North America.

Happy Valentine’s Day, all.

I just noticed that The Lactivist’s Tuesday, June 05, 2007 post on The International Breast Milk Project accurately reflects the current reality with the IBMP and Prolacta now (Hm. I recently noticed Prolacta.com looks different — different colors and different pictures and different overall format — kind of annoying since before it was more technical and straightforward — though woefully incomplete — and now it’s more “soft” and “vague” and “wishy-washy” — and still missing a lot of really important information. When someone’s primary motivation is making a profit, you gotta wonder about these things…).

I want to thank her (The Lactivist) personally for updating her original, breakthrough thoughts on the IBMP with this thorough post: Thank you, Jennifer.

Please read her post. She has captured a lot of the concerns I’ve been writing about with regard to Prolacta and the IBMP. As a recipient (Jennifer is writing from the perspective of a donor), I can agree with most of what she has to say. I am not a capitalist at heart. I have learned to work within The Patriarchal Machine, and I do it really well, but I really do believe in a true democracy, where money doesn’t really matter (and everyone is equally important). But that information is not really that relevant to this particular post of mine. It’s really important that y’all read what Jennifer has to say regarding “What This News Doesn’t Change” and “Where Does This Leave You?” if you’re thinking of formal milk donation (unlike informal milk donation — like MilkShare, which for me as a mother who has desperately needed breastmilk for my child on numerous occasions and gotten it through there, has been a Godsend).

Please read her post. It’s very important. Don’t miss it.

Thank you. The International Breastfeeding Symbol Website and Blog thanks you.

I am not surprised. I am disappointed, but I’m not surprised.

“The United States is not ready for a female president,” I kept hearing… I didn’t want to believe that. I didn’t want to let myself believe that. (”It’s not true,” I kept telling myself. I still do.)

And then. A female contender for the presidency demonstrates that she is human, that she contains within her the vast range of human emotion, just like all of us do, like we always have (though we may not want to show it, for fear of…?) … And… The same old, tired, familiar misogyny rears its ugly head up again.

I don’t watch t.v. I dedicated a whole post to that, once upon a time. So, you see, I don’t experience the fullness of that hatred like a lot of people do. I don’t allow myself to internalize it. And, lately, I haven’t really been reading the news online either, because the truth is politics is so much illusion-making that it’s really quite tiresome for me, and it’s hard to escape the bullshit even on what is supposedly called “news.”

I’ve been focusing on other things. On my life. On growth and renewal. On making the world, my world, our world, better, …one person, one moment at a time.

But.

Something really troubling happened today. The man I love and have loved for so long shared with me an opinion that I cannot avoid, ignore, or pretend does not exist in the world. …Because it’s in my home, my sacred space. It’s in my very safe (I thought) Bear Cave.

I am not allowing this negativity to take over my safety. I am still safe, and I will continue to be. But I feel the need to share this moment with you. It is … very troubling…

My hope is that whoever attains the position of Presidency (and Vice Presidency) of the United States, that that person be a good person, a truthful person. I know no person is all good or all honest all the time… But our current Vice President is an imposter, and a corrupted man… Some would (and have) say that he is evil, and honestly, I can’t disagree with that sentiment. He has affected our nation’s very naive President in a very damaging and horrible way. And they both know it. They did nothing to stop themselves from committing treasonous act after treasonous act, so betraying to the people of this great land that they felt the need to create lies to cover up more lies… Maybe they can’t help it? I don’t know. I CAN’T know. There is no crystal ball for this. They were both wrong then, when the worst happened (9/11, and all the pain that propagated from that horrible tragedy) and they’re both wrong now. And now, even if they’re different, changed people, even if they’ve learned from some of their mistakes, it’s too late for them (thankfully), to do much more. I am grateful for that, that their time is coming to an end. It is time for a change. A change for the better.

So, back to the present time, to now, and to the impending, hopeful future… I feel very cautious about who I will vote for (make no mistake about this: I WILL be voting), and I am screening very carefully the kind of information I let into my life. I have always been very cautious, and will continue to be. It has served me well. In fact, you could say it has never let me down. I hope you, too, are cautious about the sort of influences you let in your sacred spaces. I urge you to be cautious about the kind of information you let into your hearts, dear readers, because sometimes… Sometimes it’s all you have to keep you safe.

Oh, and I feel the need to say this, too… It really is o.k. to cry. I think anyone who tries to bully someone for crying is not to be trusted, at least for that moment.

Peace to all of you.

Tanya over at Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog turned me onto this awesome new happening. New England will soon have its own HMBANA milk bank (or at least it appears that way from the MMBNE links page and the FAQ page)! And you, dear readers, can help make it happen by voting for it in a contest. All you have to do is register. Get more details about this over at Tanya’s blog and the Mothers’ Milk Bank of New England website (yup, they have one up already — very cool!) But hurry! The last day to vote is tomorrow, the 21st of January.

For those of you that are curious, I covered human milk banking in the United States in several of my previous posts, one of which is a go-to post on the subject of breastmilk donation, for those of you thinking of either donating or becoming a recipient of breastmilk. Please take a look at it when you have the time, ’cause it’s an eye-opener. The different types of milk banks, including HMBANA milk banks, are pretty well covered there.

Happy voting, everyone!

Edited to add:  Tanya has informed me today (January 23) that the Mothers’ Milk Bank of New England has made it into the final round in the Ideablob.com contest and is competing among seven other candidates.  So, if you would like to see a new HMBANA Mothers’ Milk Bank form in New England and have some of its start-up costs defrayed, please vote again.  If you’ve already signed up, you just need to log in and vote.  It’s super-fast and easy, and it could make the difference between life and death for babies in the New England area in the near future.  Please vote.  The last day to vote for the final round is January 31st.  Thanks again to everyone who voted already and those who will vote again.  (And thanks again, Tanya, for the heads-up.)

There is a new documentary out, by director Abby Epstein and executive producer Ricki Lake. It’s called “The Business of Being Born.” It explores homebirth and hospital births, and how hospital births have become big business. The film is currently showing in limited venues across the country (and even in Australia!). I was heartened to discover that here in Texas, there is one screening scheduled for December 10 in San Antonio. I was even more thrilled to discover that it’s FREE! I am hoping to make it to that free screening, and I’m hoping others in the area will join me to watch it. If you live in Texas anywhere near San Antonio, come on over.

There’s also another screening in Texas, near Houston (Webster, TX is about 30 minutes away from Houston), so if you’re in Texas and can’t make it to the San Antonio one, go to the one there. It’s not free, but the movie is worth paying money for, imo. If there weren’t a screening in San Antonio already, I’d probably make the 4 hour drive and pay the $25 for it (it includes food!).

Here’s a trailer of “The Business of Being Born:”

Now you want to watch it, right? Find upcoming screenings for your hometown.

ETA:  Women’s Health News blog wrote a review on “The Business of Being Born.”  Check it out. 

If you know a person is lying and making lots of money by lying, but they’re also doing a little bit of good within all that lying, does it make the lying O.K.? This is an honest, open-ended question, which I still have no answer for.

Now, completely different topic (lest you think that question above has anything to do with what I’m about to report)… Jill Youse is in the news again! She is ABC News’ Person of the Week this week. I almost died… Hyperventilating with laughter… When I saw that. Congratulations, Jill!

You know what I found really funny about the second ABC News report on the International Breast Milk Project? There was NO mention of a few really important details (which makes me think ABC News either did a sloppy job with this one or that these important details were deliberately not mentioned — why, I don’t know; could be for any number of reasons):

1. Prolacta gets at least 75% of the milk donated to the International Breast Milk Project. According to the IBMP website, this 75% of the donated breastmilk is exchanged for a $1/ounce “donation” from Prolacta (in other words, Prolacta buys at least 75% of whatever is donated to the IBMP for $1/ounce). On an older version of the IBMP website, it used to say that 100% of this money would be donated to various African outreach organizations (like the Lewa Children’s Home in Eldoret, Kenya). None of that money was actually donated, and then when I (and another blogger) started asking questions about the “100%,” the IBMP website was changed to say that, actually, some of that money would go to “operational expenses” within the IBMP. How convenient. It was vague enough that now there’s no telling how much will go to “operational expenses” within the U.S. and how much will go to Africa.
2. The money received by the International Breast Milk Project in exchange for breastmilk, which, to date, is estimated at over $50,000 (probably well over double that figure by now, given how much time has elapsed, but let’s be conservative), was not mentioned in the ABC News report at all. The money the IBMP claims to have sent to Africa on its “September Update” page was donated privately, some of it by Prolacta’s other milk funnel, The National Milk Bank, to the IBMP. From the IBMP website:
   

   “Because of your generosity, in addition to shipping thousands of ounces of donor milk to iThemba Lethu in Durban, South Africa, we have donated $13,000 to the Lewa Children’s Home in Kenya, another $15,000 for clean water and health care projects in Tanzania, and $5,100 for hospital equipment in Cameroon through Dr. Peter McCormick’s Beryl Thyer Memorial Africa Trust.”

   All that money the IBMP allegedly sent to Africa? The IBMP sent it before May 31, 2007… Before the IBMP allegedly started receiving money from Prolacta in exchange for the milk (according to Jill Youse, through email correspondence). All that money was privately donated, some of it from the National Milk Bank (again, according to Jill Youse, through email). Any money the IBMP made and donated after May 31, 2007, there is STILL no mention of anywhere, not on the IBMP website, not from Jill Youse through email correspondence (I asked, and last I heard from her, none of the money had been donated yet), and certainly not in the ABC News report. I do not know if the money has already been donated, or if it’s being put in a bank awaiting donation for the “early 2008″ construction of the Lewa Children’s Home clinic, or if it’s being used mostly to cover “operational expenses” now. Speaking of “operational expenses,” it’s difficult to know what percentage of the money made from selling milk to Prolacta will make its way to Africa. The ABC News report didn’t even mention money, so it’s not like I’m looking at ABC News as a reliable IBMP update information source, kwim?

3. The ABC News report did not mention the dates of the milk shipments, or even how many total shipments to Africa have been made since the IBMP was founded. According to my tally (which was established by calling South Africa and asking Penny Reimers at iThemba Lethu how many shipments she received), there have been a total of four shipments already sent to Africa, not including the one that allegedly will be done now. If the 50,000+ ounces of breastmilk actually make their way to Africa (which I am confident that they will, since it’s so highly publicized), that will bring the grand total of shipments the IBMP has made since April 28, 2006 (the date of the first shipment) to FIVE (please, Anna Coutsoudis or Penny Reimers, if you can confirm or correct this, write me and I will). The total number of ounces donated by the IBMP to Africa would then be around 62,000 ounces in a year and six months. Sounds like a lot, right? Well, in absolute terms it is a lot, but if you compare it to the amount of milk the IBMP has received from generous breast milk donors, it’s actually a pittance. The IBMP received an estimated 65,000 ounces of breastmilk from its generous donors in just two months (June and July 2007)!!! From the IBMP “August 2007 Update” letter: “In June, we collected over 30,000 ounces of milk, and in July we collected over 35,000 ounces of milk.” If you assume the IBMP only receives half the lowest amount (30,000 ounces) for August and September, that’s an additional 30,000 ounces, also not going to Africa (because, according to the IBMP, the 50,000+ ounces of milk going to Africa right now were all donated before May 31, 2007). Details, details…

The first ABC News report on the International Breast Milk Project (aired October 4, 2006) also had a few important details missing. For instance, the report aired on October 4, 2006 and there was no mention of Prolacta. The milk that arrived in Africa for the second shipment (the one filmed in the first ABC News report) was raw breastmilk, unpasteurized. That shipment was delivered free by DHL. Prolacta had not officially partnered with the IBMP when the footage was filmed, but the partnership with Prolacta was in effect by the time the report aired (October 4, 2006). Oh, but it’s just details, and nobody will notice, right? Nobody except anyone who’s paying attention.

Look, I have nothing against a project that sends breastmilk to African orphans. Who would have a problem with a program like that? It’s altruism; it’s a beautiful, touching concept. More importantly, it gets people talking about (and therefore, normalizing) breastmilk (and by proxy, breastfeeding and lactation). Does the IBMP do more harm than good? I don’t know. More good than harm? Hard to say. Does the IBMP do some good in the world? Clearly, yes, in many ways. Is the harm is does worth it? I don’t know. That’s the part I have trouble with. The partnership with Prolacta cannot be ignored, and is not without negative consequences.

My only point in writing any of what I write is so that people become more informed and more aware of what’s really going on behind the scenes. If you have all the information at your disposal and you still feel like it’s a net benefit to donate to the International Breast Milk Project (and you are fully aware that if you do, you will forfeit any rights to your milk and that the majority of your milk — very likely ALL of it, statistically speaking — will actually go to Prolacta and be sold for a profit here in the United States and NOT make its way to Africa), I have NO problem with that. The part I have a problem with is the NOT knowing. The part that bothers me is that some really generous women will donate their breastmilk thinking that what they’re signing up for is not what they’re actually signing up for. …If you catch my drift.

Imagine this: You’ve just had a baby. It was a wonderful homebirth, very peaceful. Breastfeeding was established the way it should be, without interference. You were never needlessly separated from your baby. About five weeks go by, and you get a phone call from a government worker who looks over your child’s birth certificate and tells you you forgot to get your baby’s blood drawn for metabolic testing. “Oh that,” you say, “I didn’t forget. I have no plans to get my baby’s blood drawn. Thanks anyway. Good-bye.” For that, guess what happens? Child Protective Services shows up at your door and takes your baby away.

O-kaaaay. (NOT.)

So your baby is kidnapped from you (but it’s legal ’cause the government is doing it) and taken to some stranger’s house, a foster home. In order to make sure your baby is still being breastfed, you visit the foster home and breastfeed your baby — not the government’s baby and not the foster home’s baby, but YOUR baby — the one you gestated for nine months and then birthed, with much pain, from your body. And then the judge in charge of hearing your case finds out that you are spending time with your baby and forbids you from visiting YOUR baby for the purposes of breastfeeding because, as every ignoramus knows (and I mean “ignoramus” literally), formula is “just as good.” And that silly breastfeeding thing, eh, that’s not so important to a baby’s health and emotional well-being, right? Not to mention, you must not love your baby if you don’t make him bleed for an arbitrary test imposed by the government, so you should be punished and not have any right to see him. …WTF?

Can anybody else see what’s wrong with this picture?

This actually happened to Nebraska resident Mary Anaya and her family. The test in question, a test considered invaluable by medical and government authorities for determining whether or not a child is born with rare metabolic disorders like sickle cell anemia and phenylketonuria, required a blood draw. The Anayas rejected the test because they consider blood to be sacred. Most other states allow parents to reject the testing for personal preference or religious reasons, but Nebraska does not.

Whatever the Anayas’ reasons for not wanting their child to get blood drawn (and regardless of my own personal opinion on getting this test done), it is unconscionable for the government, for any institution, to step in and remove a child from a family’s home when it is clear it is more harmful to the child to be removed than it is to just let him live with his family. Furthermore, okay, so after baby was already removed from his rightful home and forced to have his blood drawn anyway (which was presumably the whole point of taking him into state custody in the first place)…why, then, was the judge so callous about not letting the mother feed her own child??? I wonder how so many people in the Nebraska Supreme Court could have screwed this one up so badly. It’s a no-brainer, but I guess this means these people have no brains? Or no heart? I would imagine there have got to be far worse child abuse cases in the state of Nebraska for them to waste so many precious resources on this one, a case where it’s clear no abuse has taken place.

You know what would solve this? A provision in Nebraska’s law that would allow parents to sign an agreement with the government freeing the state of Nebraska from any legal liability arising from the development of an undiagnosed metabolic disorder, if the parents wish to forgo the screening. Problem solved. The end. Why can’t Nebraska state law just do that? Or is the prospect of tormenting future breastfeeding moms and their families way more satisfying than finding a real solution? Assholes.

A couple of stories in the news lately have me worried. First there’s the controversial Jena 6 case. I won’t go into the details of it. It’s way too controversial and media contaminated, and, at least for now, I’m not touching it with a ten-foot pole. I might as well write the word “abortion” instead of “Jena 6,” because both terms guarantee to piss off everybody, on both sides of the debate. Not worth it.

Rather than alienate my readers, I’ll instead draw your attention to the more recent case of a young girl in California who got her wrist broken by a guard at her school. According to the news reports, Pleajhia Mervin, a 16-year old high school student, dropped a birthday cake on the floor of the school cafeteria. She picked up the mess, but was then told by the security guard to pick up some crumbs she left behind. Mervin went back to pick up the crumbs, and when she was done, started walking to class. The security guard, not satisfied with the way Mervin had picked up the crumbs (WTF? Isn’t that what the janitorial staff at a school is for?) engaged in a verbal altercation with her which culminated in him slamming her against a steel grate and twisting her wrist until it broke. I cannot make this shit up, people! It was caught on a video cameraphone by an quick-on-his-feet fellow student. (Said student was also “taken down,” by the guards — WHY?? –, and his incident was also documented in a picture by yet another student, thank goodness.)

There is so much wrong with this, I don’t know where to begin: The flagrant abuse of power by the guard(s) in question; the subtle sexism (”How dare she not finish cleaning up every last crumb?” was the implication the guard’s actions carried, wordlessly); the subtle racist insult (so subtle Mervin’s mother had to explain it to her) by the guard who broke Mervin’s wrist: “nappy-head;” the fact that even daring to document the abuse of power was seen as so much of a threat by the guards that they chose to assault the rogue documentarian (who was himself another student) for NO legitimate reason… On and on and on…

Which brings me to my point, here: Where is all this racial tension coming from? Was it always there and I just didn’t notice? Is it like the sexism I didn’t notice (and I’m a woman), because it was so much of a part of life that I didn’t register the subtle jabs at women doled out by society, over and over again, those spoken and unspoken, unless and until they became as obvious as this news story? Is this a backlash of some sort? Or is it that I couldn’t put it all together before because never before was I mature enough to understand, and never before were the resources at my disposal (the internet) to help me connect all the dots? It could be all these things and more. Thank goodness for the internet; that’s all I have to say. Second only to the right to vote, it’s probably the thing that will make it possible for the ordinary person to finally have a voice.