ProWomanProLife

…I dedicate this post to Bell Canada. Watching this is better than therapy. Enjoy.

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Update: Had to watch again. Why? Because today I got mail from Bell Canada. They’d like it very much if I’d return to be their customer again. As I told them on the phone when they called me about this same matter, I already am a customer. Then I asked them not to contact me again. Guess they didn’t jot down those parts–either about me being a customer or not contacting me again. Therapy. This clip is therapy.

We’re all aware of some of the awesome powers of baking soda combined with vinegar. It bubbles, it unclogs sinks, and years ago when I became pregnant I replaced all my highly toxic pre-made household cleaners with home-made baking soda scrub and vinegar spray. I felt much safer knowing myself and my new infant weren’t ingesting dangerous chemicals off the kitchen table or (in baby’s case) off the floors. But nothing had not quite prepared me for the No ‘Poo revolution.

What is No Poo?

For folks who aren’t familiar with the idea of No ‘Poo, it’s a haircare regimen that involves washing and conditioning your hair without any harsh chemicals. The cheapest, easiest way to do this is with our old friends baking soda and vinegar.

Why do I love No ‘Poo? Well, aside from the obvious fun of saying it, there are 3 reasons.

1. IT’S CHEAP! A box of baking soda costs me less than a dollar, if I buy in bulk it costs even less. Apple Cider Vinegar is around 2 dollars for a small bottle, again bulk is the better bargain. These last me about a month for general household cleaning AND my family’s locks. I even use the baking soda as face wash and the vinegar as toner (a little goes a long way!). For parents, having items that can multipurpose is a must, and the more affordable it is to have and raise children the better.
2. IT’S SAFE! Baking soda and vinegar have been around for hundreds of years. They’ve been tried and tested far longer than any beauty product on the market today. Not only are they better for Mother Nature, but they lack irritating chemicals, like sodium lauryl sulfate. Last February CBC ran a documentary entitled The Disappearing Male that claimed our use of synthetics was effecting the male reproductive system and “may be starting to damage the most basic building blocks of human development”. And last but not least…
3. LESS MONEY FOR BIG PHARMA. Oh yes, Johnson & Johnson make a lot of money on baby shampoo, and they make even more money with their reproductive control products (offered at any Planned Parenthood). For every $10 face wash, shampoo or conditioner I don’t purchase, it’s less money in their pot. And thankfully, with the dream team of baking soda and vinegar, this doesn’t mean I have to live in smelly protest. No ‘Poo for Life anyone?

Abbotsford Right to Life is hiring. For more info, check their web site.

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Update: Apparently Thrive Ottawa is looking too.

I am slightly ticked off by this piece (just so you know: if you follow all the links some of them will show girls in bikinis). I get it to some extent (i.e. men do not want their girls to look like men – fair enough; I don’t want my men to look like girls). But to come down so hard on the Miss America contestants for having toned physiques is perhaps a touch exaggerated. We can’t all look like this…

True, I am biased. I’ve always exercised, and I’ve always enjoyed being fit and as much on the slim side as I can manage. I’m coming up to ten years in the same dojo (traditional karate). I don’t have Ms. Holloway’s hips but honestly I don’t want them either. I prefer to have curves that are more discreet but decent muscle underneath. Because you know what? After a while (not that I’m looking at any calendar in particular), without exercise, those nice curves just kinda fall apart on you. Also? Being trained in some kind of martial arts means you’re equipped to wallop the first clown who shows up behind you intending to whack your pretty little head with a hammer. It also helps you handle more, ah, serious weapons. Not much point being armed if you’re not strong enough to control the thing.

So. By all means let’s try to keep looking like girls. No, it’s not necessary to look like you’re headed for the body building competition. But come on. Abs on a girl are not necessarily ugly.

[h/t]

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Véronique adds: I don’t do karate, I run. I run two half marathons a year. (If one-and-a-half years makes a habit.) Last week, as I was leaving work to go for a run, my darling co-worker printed out the sketch of the “hammer dude” so I could get familiar with his face. Maybe I could outrun him, if it was at the beginning of my run and he was drunk. Running will get you some nice legs and burn some fat (assuming you don’t reward yourself with a Starbuck’s Trenta with a cup of whip on top). But it won’t help you wallop clowns.
Recently at home was our annual “Vero starts the generator day” to make sure I can survive when my husband is away. And sure enough, I have great running legs and cardio-pulmonary capacity but not enough raw power to crank-up the genny. So if looking like a guy means that you can survive hammer attacks and crippling blizzards, I say “bring it on”.

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Andrea adds: There must be something wrong with me. I looked at the links above and whether said blogger was criticizing or applauding, all I saw was beautiful woman after beautiful woman. I have issues with bikinis and high heels though. It’s just not practical.

Last night I had dinner with a charitable group that helps support men who have been in jail, to ensure they stay on the straight and narrow. It was a church basement affair and my sister and I sat with four men we’d never met. It was almost impossible to tell who was a mentor and who was being mentored and amongst the four men I got to know, I wasn’t sure.

There is an element of internal tension for me in such gatherings. I don’t want to raise an awkward topic of discussion. So questions about work (if they don’t have any) and family (also if they don’t have any) are out.

I did at one point ask whether anyone had any nice Christmas memories from their childhood. Two of the men shook their head quite passionately, and another told how on St. Nicholas Day (December 6) he and his brother would leave their shoes outside their room and in the morning those shoes would be filled with a fruit and chocolate.

Later that evening, we sang some carols and concluded by standing in a big circle around the edge of the basement with candles. And one person lit the candle of the person standing next to them and so on, until it was a big, bright circle, while we sang Silent Night over and over. And then someone prayed for the whole group. It was quite moving, and this will now be part of a Christmas memory for me, as I hope it might be for those men who shook their heads in saying they didn’t have any Christmas memories from their youth.

Merry Christmas Eve.

If that were my only takeaway from this column, I wouldn’t blog about it.  Still, I thought it was a catchy blog post title and I’m sticking with it. The column is actually a good assessment of the season–how we give, what we give and how our giving generally misses the point.

To this end, my family can look forward to the fact that come Christmas morning there will be no Volkswagens or diamonds, just a rendition of my favourite John Denver hits on guitar. Oh yes, I’ll sing along as well. What a treat.

1. Don’t show up at the office Christmas party with a Marie Stopes “party purse”.

A total of 5,992 abortions were carried out at Marie Stopes International’s nine UK clinics in January – a rise of 13% on the 5,304 in January 2005.

“We may be seeing the consequences of the festive season, when partying excess and alcohol consumption combine to increase libido and lower inhibition, with the inevitable consequences of unprotected sex resulting in unplanned pregnancies.”

[...]

Last Christmas the charity offered festive “party purses” stocked with condoms and the morning after pill.

Liz Davies, MSI director of UK operations, said: “Despite our efforts we have still seen the biggest rise ever in abortion figures in the month after Christmas.

2. Do NOT use an unexpected pregnancy to exhibit your awesome powers of fertility.

Abortions usually peak at the end of long school holidays, according to newspaper reports in South China’s Guangdong Province. The past month – after the end of the school summer vacation – has seen more students having abortions, according to the Guangzhou-based Yangcheng Evening News.

A similar increase was reported a few months ago after the week-long May Day holidays when at least 1,000 students, most under age 20, visited hospitals in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, for abortions, according to the Xinkuai Bao newspaper.

And, the weeks after the Spring Festival – the Chinese Lunar New Year – and the week-long October 1 National Day holidays have also become peak seasons for student abortions, according to Doctor Yang Jin of the Gynecology and Obstetrics Department of Zhujiang Hospital in Guangzhou.

[...]

Many high school girls adopted a light attitude towards abortion and even considered it’s a way to show their ability to bear a child. Some even arrived at the hospital as a group in a festive mood.

3. Lastly, whatever you do, even if you put off shopping until midnight on Christmas Eve, do NOT, I repeat… DO NOT resort to buying your partner a Planned Parenthood gift card.

Indiana residents in need of a quick stocking stuffer this holiday season have an unusual option: Planned Parenthood gift certificates.

The group’s Hoosier State chapter on Wednesday began selling gift certificates redeemable at any of its 35 facilities for any service provided — from basic health screenings to birth control to abortions.

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Andrea adds: Too late on the Marie Stopes Party Purse, Jennifer! Our office Christmas party was weeks ago. Seriously, however, I’m trying to think of what my family would do if I gave a “Planned Parenthood gift card.” It would probably result in an immediate psychiatric assessment of some kind, hurried consultations and an intervention. That, or just lots of yelling.

About my previous post: I just thought it was funny that Donald Trump would want to run for president. I tried to imagine how the folks who react with something resembling apoplexy at the thought of Sarah Palin (who has been elected governor of a U.S. state) at the top of the ticket would take the news that Mr. Trump might try to spend his way into the race. And I snorted.

But it wasn’t meant to by a Serious Point, so if I left you scratching your head, just ignore the previous post and let’s move merrily along to something less irrelevant.

Oh, that post also (for some reason) generated roughly 4,000 times the usual amount of comment spam so if you have any comment on this story, add them at the bottom of this post please.

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Andrea adds: Ah, I see your point now. I was one who was left scratching my head. Got it.

This dude has been voted “sexiest man alive”.

I protest!!! Where’s Gerard?

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Véronique most sensibly agrees: Gerard, by a mile! The other guy looks weak. I mean, just putting the pictures side-by-side says it all. Dude looks like he still lives with his mother.

Please forgive the totally-unrelated-to-prowomanprolifesque-content. This is just too funny not to share. Especially for those of us (hi, Andrea!) who enjoy sending text messages on our way cool iPhone.

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Andrea adds: I recently attended a hymn sing at St. Barmaids (Barnabas). Funny.

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Deborah says: Ah, another one to add to my Google Reader. My husband was taking (or trying to take) a nap on the sofa next to me and I kept waking him up laughing. I wish I had an iPhone as an excuse for my occasionally strange typos . . .

Admittedly, St. Barmaids sounds like it could be a really fun church.