Oh Baby!

America sucks! Last year my best friend Jessica had postpartum depression. When she told me I was at a lost. I was shock and I didn’t know what to say, however I did what any best friend would do…I listened. She explained to me that she was sad all the time, and felt a shame for leaving her daughter in the hands of a childcare provider. She experience this great bond with her baby, and just twelve weeks later she had to return to work due to finances.

Postpartum depression occurs after a baby is born. Mothers experience mood swings, crying spells, anxiety, depression etc. This can proceed weeks or even months post pregnancy. Post partum depression is a serious illness and should be treated right away.

After hearing what Jessica witnessed, this encouraged me to see what my job offered employees for maternity leave.  It just so happen I ran into a co-worker who was pregnant. She explained to me that she could not take any vacations because she had to use the entire time of her PTO (paid time off) for maternity leave. I thought employees were given twelve weeks of maternity leave with job security. I didn’t know employees had to make sure they had the time in order to go on leave.

Why do we have to go through this? Citizens work hard in this country. Don’t they think we deserve to spend more time with our newborn? It makes me sick to my stomach when I see people returning to work shortly after delivering a baby. I think this country needs to be a little more caring when it comes to this issue.

I would love to experience my baby growing during their first year of life. From the Huffington Post there is a list categorized by countries, of the weeks they provide for maternity leave. The United States gives 12 weeks with only job security. There is no national program, and cash benefit varies state by state. Did you know other countries help with childcare assistance in addition to job security? France allows 16 weeks, but the government allows a family allowance until the child turns 20. Imagine that!

Finland government give mothers a maturity care package that provides the necessity pregnant moms need. On top of that, they give their citizens public childcare up until the child turns seven. If a parent opts out of the childcare program, they will receive paid leave the first three years of their child’s life. It boggles my mind that America thinks it’s easy to pop out a baby and go back to work as if a life-changing event didn’t happen.

Let’s take a look at what other countries do shall we?

Iceland gives mothers and fathers three months for maturity leave, which can be taken by either parent. Awesome Sauce! That’s a total of nine months. Iceland citizens also receive 80 percent of their wages, so parents are not struggling to meet basic needs.

Switzerland gives 14 weeks of maternity leave and pay 80 percent of wages.

 

Germany gives 14 weeks of maternity leave and pay 100 percent of wages. I wouldn’t mind taking that!

Canada gives 17-52 weeks of paid leave, wages are 55 percent for the first 17 weeks and the rest of the wages depends on province.

Get this! Latvia gives 112 days of maternity leave with 100 percent of wages.

Italy gives 5 months of maternity with 80 percent of wages. Woo hoo!

The list goes on and on, but I am sure you get the point.

 

The first year of my newborn, I don’t want to feel guilty to leave them because I have to go back to work. There have been a lot of political debates about maternity leave, and I am curious to see what happens once the next president is in office. For now I will keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best! Do you think America should give more time for maternity and paternity leave? I know I am not the only one ranting and raving about this issue. What are you thoughts? 

I Quit Sugar. Cold Turkey.

Three months ago, I stopped eating sugar. I also stopped eating diary. I used to drink the most delicious coffee with a little Half & Half is now just boring black coffee.

Add to the list of NO’s: grains, legumes, and alcohol.

I am not telling you this to brag. I am telling you this because I feel good. And I felt terrible for a really long time.

For the most part, I was a health conscious (more accurately, waistline conscious) eater. I was on the smoothie band wagon (with protein powder just for women!). And I was doing OK.

Except that my stomach always hurt. Always. The severity would change, but my stomach ached every day. 

Over the years, I had tried to figure out what was wrong, but honestly, it seemed complicated. Eventually, I joined the “I wonder if I have a gluten-thing?” and cut it out completely for a few weeks. Until, I bought and ate an entire box of GF Lemon Wafers in one day...but it was OK…they were gluten free, right?

I realized then that gluten might not be my issue…perhaps portion control was the problem…?

Last year, I learned about a program called Whole 30 from a co-worker - his wife had lost something like 80 pounds in a year by following this plan and he no longer needed hypertension medication! I started casually looking into it. For 30 days, you eliminate: Grains, Diary, Legumes, Alcohol, and Sugar. No cheats. Fun. 

The website says:

Don’t even consider the possibility of a “slip.” Unless you physically tripped and your face landed in a box of doughnuts, there is no“slip.”

I had planned to begin the first week of October but chickened out. I feared groceries would be more expensive, my fiancé (who has food allergies) might not be able to eat the same stuff, it would be hard and what if I did slip and fall face first into a box of donuts?!

A week later, I had an epiphany: It's only 30 days...you can do anything for 30 days!

The idea is not to be a glutton for self-inflicted punishment (Pun. Intended.) It's not a weight loss plan. The idea is to eliminate these food groups that can cause all sorts of problems in your system. Remove all of them and let your body reset. Then after 30 days, you slowly re-introduce the foods to see how you feel after eating them.

“Non-Scale Victories" become your focus during the 30 days. These are the things that are most impressive affects and they have nothing to do with your weight. Some of these things include: 

• better sleep
• less anxiety
• lower blood pressure
• reduced inflammation 
• brain-fog lifts
• improved mental acuity
• clear skin (people that suffer with long term skin problems, like psoriasis, see a marked improvement)

I won’t lie to you: It is absolutely not easy. I missed nachos and feta cheese (still do, if I’m being honest) and I craved glazed donuts like you wouldn’t believe. I had to get through Halloween without one piece of candy. 

It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard.

Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard.

At the beginning, it's not all feelin' good, either. The program tells you that on days two through five, you may experience emotional volatility. I was pretty proud that I only cried twice during those few days! On day 11 you are most likely to quit and eat a cheeseburger. And on days 25-28, you are most likely to say, “eh…close enough...TIME FOR WINE!”  

The "Hangover" is your sugar detox. It very much feels like a hangover.

By day five, I had stopped crying. I was sleeping better and waking up feeling rested. I felt mentally sharper. I didn’t experience the 3 PM Slump anymore. I made it successfully to day 30 - just in time for my company Thanksgiving party! 

Our grocery bill is a little higher, but not a budget-breaking high. We have figured out how to incorporate my dietary needs with my fiancé so we can both eat healthy. And I have not,  yet, fallen into any donuts! I'd say that is pretty successful.

I now stick to the plan about 90% of the time. Friday nights, I have pizza and a beer – I enjoy it and don’t feel guilty. I have gotten used to taking my coffee black. And I don’t have any stomach aches! 

The return of The Walking Dead

I can’t wait until Valentine’s Day because that is the day my true love returns. I am not talking about my husband – I am talking about AMC’s The Walking Dead.  My love affair with The Walking Dead started in the summer of 2014 when Dr. Alicia Crosby showed the pilot episode as part of a cult film course.   Because I am not someone who is into video games or graphic novels, I had never watched what I just assumed would be a zombie gore-fest.  Just ten minutes into the video, I discovered that my assumption was “dead” wrong. It turned out to be about people, community, and adapting under the worst imaginable circumstances.   So I went home and binge-watched the entire series on demand so I could catch up before the season premier.  I have now become a devoted and enthusiastic viewer with a desire to learn to use a cross-bow.                                                                   

In an interview, Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman said, “Zombies are inherently about people. Your average vampire or werewolf is about a supernatural monster that’s completely unrelatable.  But zombie stories are about human struggle, which is relatable to anybody. And I also think zombies are a physical embodiment of death, which is a fear we all have.”   Yes, the show is set in the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse but the show’s title can be seen as a reference to the survivors as well as the zombies because what it means to be human is forever altered once the virus is unleashed.

 

Take the quiz to see if you can survive

Blogger Dan Birlew writes “The zombie apocalypse scenario changes all the rules for the people who must live on afterwards.” Those who continue to survive are in constant danger, not only from the threat posed by the “walkers” but also from other survivors - everyone knows what the zombies want but it is difficult to determine the motives of the remaining human population.   Sanity and morality erode. The stress is unimaginable.  Surviving depends on doing whatever is necessary coupled with luck. But there’s no way to determine if the characters are behaving appropriately because there is no situation like their horrific experiences that we can use as a yardstick.  What defines a hero or a villain?

“If our understanding of what it means to be human is constantly betrayed by the disappointment of pernicious actions and schemes of others, why continue on with any human values at all?” – Loren-Paul Caplin

 

Each episode brings a fair amount of death –a reality in a zombie apocalypse- and neither Kirkman nor producer Scott Gimple is opposed to killing off major characters in order to further the plot.  So, it seems irresponsible, even perhaps a bit cruel, to bring a child into a world filled with so much inhumanity.  Not to mention the fact that babies cry.  Noise attracts the “walkers” so a newborn poses danger for the entire group.  Nevertheless the birth of baby Judith, nicknamed Little Asskicker, symbolized the hope that life will go on and the world will adapt.  She will never know a time without “walkers” so she will not be as emotionally damaged as her older brother. I can’t wait for the new season to begin now that Maggie is expecting a child.  

5 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Apocalypse Could Actually Happen

 

While the zombie apocalypse may be the stuff of science fiction, the concept ties in quite well with emergency preparedness. As a result, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) hosts a zombie preparedness blog on its website.  What started out as a humorous campaign to promote emergency preparedness evolved into an effective platform for getting the public to think about emergency preparedness before disasters like hurricanes or pandemics occur. The blog uses The Walking Dead to illustrate the need for planning before it's too late.

 

 

Zombies have become quite popular in the media.  In addition to The Walking Dead, there is the spin-off Fear the Walking Dead, the CW’s iZombie, and SyFy’s Z Nation – not to mention movies like World War Z and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  Robert Kirkman believes that this zombie popularity reflects our culture. “ [The] current world climate and situations that are on the news today kind of give people an overwhelming sense of dread about their everyday lives. It means that Walking Dead can be a way to sit down and experience those feelings of fear and dread in a manageable way. Like, I’m working through my issues of worrying about if my boss is going to lay me off because [things are] not going well at the company by worrying about Daryl Dixon dying because zombies are attacking him.”

 

 

The Anti-terror Volunteers

(Viewer discretion is advised when viewing certain links: may contain violent images and/or text etc)

Imagine living in peace and your neighbor comes and kills you just because they have been indoctrinated to hate your race and ethnicity. That is what the life of an average Israeli, and an IDF soldier is like.

You cannot reason with somebody who believes and glorifies death. If somebody believes that once they die killing people they will go to heaven, it is extremely hard to reason with them. That’s the concept that the majority of the Palestinians hold. The Israelis on the other hand, most of them, believe in celebrating life and preserving it. So much so, that they often trade lots of Palestinian criminals and terrorist prisoners in exchange for a single IDF solider or an Israeli Citizen.

Israeli is the only democracy in the Middle East, where people have a considerate degree of freedom of speech, women rights and fun and entertainment. The people living in Israeli territories regardless of their religion or race, are thriving and free, and enjoy it there. On the contrary, majority of Palestinians even little children are taught to hate Jews and chant “death to Jews” at every possible event.

If you look at the internet, you see pictures of bloodshed and children’s dead bodies killed by IDF. However, it doesn’t take much research to see whether or not those pictures and news are real. Some were from Syria, some from Iraq, some from Pakistan. Where terrorist are always killing innocent people. The more I researched, the more I saw a huge media propaganda by the terrorists to play the Victim card. The media keeps blaming the IDF and not the other way round. Just because they are educated, and smart and not poor, whereas the Palestinian terrorists are not all that so they get the benefit of being the “miserable” people. Apart from the terrorist organization Hamas, which carries out coordinated attacks, the local citizens never stop attacking by stabbing, or throwing stones or whatever is in their capacities.

The more I looked into what IDF is and does, I was surprised and saddened because the kids serving in the IDF are all volunteers. What would convince a young teenage girl or boy who could be enjoying in college and going out clubbing and having the time of their lives to go and volunteer in the IDF and fight terrorists? It is because they are for fighting survival to ensure that they can regain their identity and remain safe after the holocaust. 

I have one such brave and empathetic IDF soldier with me here tonight.

Aylia: What made you decide to join the IDF?

Dmitry Braun

Dmitry Braun: "I got tired of the way Israel was misrepresented in the media and I wanted to go out there and fight terrorism. It was harsh. My commander got killed by a sniper. It was painful. But I think the IDF is the most morally sound army in the world in my opinion. It is based on values of peace and self-defense and respect for all people, and we even have women who serve in combat units. Hamas, on the other hand uses human shield and makes women suicide bomb themselves. The reason why the Israelis don’t suffer so many casualties is due to the bravery and defense provide by IDF and the Iron dome. Whereas, when the IDF retaliates in self-defense and kills these terrorists who are hiding among civilians, there are casualties and the media goes berserk about it. I have never had to use real weapons, and it is very rare that we get to do that because we are defensive not aggressive. I have used tear gas and pepper spray mostly in many situations, even though I had guns and grenades. 

The media portrays us as beasts but we are just a bunch of kids who want to contribute in defending their people and the only tiny place in the world that Jews can call their home. Not only that, we have so many non-Jews also who come to help us fight terrorism."

Aylia: Tell me a little about the culture of hate against Jews and Israelis?

Dmitry Braun: "People need to understand that it’s not an even fight. There is a whole nation of people whowere brought up on hating Jews. When I was standing guard in Hebron, Palestinian children would throw rocks and me and steal my food etc. and we would just smile and ignore them, and sometimes offer them food that they don’t have to steal. But it is so much worse out there. There are priests in mosques who preach hatred in their sermons. When Donald Trump says one sentenced full of hatred, we all are always there to condemn it. Why does the world show a cold shoulder when so much of preaching of hate is being done in mosques? I have lived with people who hate my existence even though I have done nothing bad to them. It is sad. What’s more sad is that little children are growing up with all that hatred. Having said that, there are some Liberal Palestinians who do not hate the Jews and the Israelis and they demand a peaceful solution to this war-like situation we are constantly in. However their voices get drained by the lessons of hatred preached in the streets of Palestine."

The conflict of the land of Israel is no doubt complex and there is bitter history associated with it. But the way the media ignores the terrorist activities carried out against the Israelis and portrays the IDF as a monstrous organization bent on killing innocent people is just outrageously misguided.  

At the end of the day, they are just trying to defend their country and people, and at some point they will have to use force because you can’t negotiate with terrorists whose aim is to remove each and every Jew from the face of the earth.  

Black People: Please Stop Whining about the Oscars

If the Oscar’s failed to recognize you, FAIL to recognize it. It’s that simple. If being recognize for your work and being publicly awarded is so important to Black actors, then, create your own ceremony. Don’t wait to be excluded…excuse yourself. But for goodness sake – stop whining!

People of Hollywood:

·       Jada Pinkett Smith – “I won’t be attending the Academy Awards and I won’t be watching”

·       Chris Rock – “The White BET Awards”

·       Spike Lee – “lily-white” Oscars

·       Whoopi Goldberg – “We have this conversation every year and it pisses me off”

·       Gina Rodriguez – “It’s not as diverse as reflected in today’s society” (the Academy board)

If black actors are truly disgusted by the so-called all white Oscar’s, do something about it – “don’t just talk about it, be about it”.  Do something! Create your own (call it the Satchel Paige) . Going on social media outlets to voice discrimination is a far cry from physical action.  The woe is me mentality needs to stop – not now, right now. And besides, going on twitter to "boycott" is just lame.

When black actors win…

To be fair, the Academy has handed out Oscar’s to black actors and actresses.  Let’s review some of the roles in which blacks have won:

·       Lupita Nyong’o – slave

·       Hattie McDaniel – slave

·       Mo’Nique – abusive, unemployed mother

·       Octavia Spencer – maid – “the help”

·       Denzel Washington – crooked Cop

·       Halle Berry – struggling, poor single mom – stereotypical portrayal of Black women

·       Sidney Poitier – traveling handyman

·       Forest Whitaker – brutal Ugandan dictator

·       Cuba Gooding, Jr. – hammy athlete

·       Jamie Fox – drug addicted musician

·       Morgan Freeman – the driver

It seems to me that perhaps more important than fighting for recognition, is the fight for diverse roles. Unless of course, black actors are more concerned with a nomination than the content of the characters they’re offered. Diversity is much more than merely the color of one’s skin (so I like to believe). Dear black actors: If an Oscar is more important than variation, then continue to play stereotypical, drug addicted, dysfunctional degenerates and low wage earner’s – you’ll get the nomination you crave.

Solution?

Think Baseball:

•     Informal discrimination and legalized segregation kept African Americans out of organized white baseball from the end of the 19^th century through the mid 1940s.

•     In response, blacks formed their own teams and leagues. Negro League Baseball grew from humble beginnings in the 1920s and 30s into a profitable business by the early 1940s.

It wasn’t so long ago when black people had to form their own (_________). This method worked in the past and will certainly work in the present. Exceedingly capable black baseball players were purposely and systematically denied entry into major league baseball, so they formed their own league, the result of which is abundantly apparent when one turns on the tube to watch a game – black players on every team. 

Question for us ALL

People of Color – Even though black actors are not justly represented by the Academy – can you still celebrate the work of white actors that deserve recognition?

White people– Would you be able to appreciate and support an Awards ceremony that highlights the achievements of people of color with the same vigor and respect given to the Oscar’s?