Strollerderby : illegal

Breaking News: CA Supreme Court Will Hear Prop. 8 Challenges

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:40:00 GMT

In case your post-election elation is starting to wear off, here's some good news in the fight for constitutional protections. The California Supreme Court agreed today to hear the case against Proposition 8 brought by the ACLU, the City of San Francisco, and gay rights organizations. This is the same court that unwittingly brought about the Prop. 8 firestorm after they ruled that banning gay marriage violates both the fundamental right to marry and the equal protection clause of the California Constitution.

The lawsuits against Prop. 8 hinge on two main arguments, namely (according to the San Francisco Chronicle) that "the measure exceeds the legal scope of a ballot initiative by allowing a majority to restrict a minority group's rights, and that it violates the constitutional separation of powers by limiting judicial authority."

The court's decision to review challenges to Prop. 8 is great news, but the fight is far from over. The court also ruled that same-sex marriages will remain illegal until it has considered the constitutionality of Prop. 8. And if it does find the measure to be constitutionally sound, the court will have to decide whether to apply Prop. 8 retroactively, nullifying the 18,000 marriages that took place between the court's legalization of same-sex marriage and the passage of Prop. 8. We'll keep you posted.

Photo: Los Angeles Times

Prop. 8 Protests Spawn Hope and Great Photos

Mom Kicked out of PTA for Prop. 8 Stance

Kid Rock says kids should steal everything

Brett Singer — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:00:00 GMT

You know how those kids today are downloading their music from the Internets without paying for it? Kid Rock has some advice for them.

This isn't a new video; it came out over the summer but I only just heard about it. As some of the commenters on YouTube point out, he's being sarcastic – Kid may have a complicated love life (Hey! Maybe he'll marry Pam Anderson again!) but I don't think he actually wants your children to go out pillaging at the local mall. At least this PSA is cleverer than the music industry's other tactic to keep kids away from file-sharing networks – suing them for millions of dollars.

image: spike.com, source: Howard Stern Radio Show

Disturbing Origins of 5 Nursery Rhymes

Naked Harry Potter pics hit the web

I can tell how much you orgasm because of how you walk

Two women found guilty of illegal midwifery

Brett Singer — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 21:00:00 GMT

This is a serious issue, but I have to say that the term "illegal midwifery" sounds like something out of a bad Shakespeare parody.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, here's the story:

"Tonya McGlade was found guilty of Attempting Midwifery Without a License. Linda McGlade was found guilty of Principal to Practice Midwifery Without a License.

"Prosecutors say the women helped Linda McGlade's other daughter-in-law deliver her baby boy. She died of internal bleeding two days after giving birth back in 2004."

In other words, they attempted to deliver a baby without having a license to do so. Sadly, the mother died; the baby survived. This site has a lot more detail if you're interested (fair warning: it's very sad).

What I'm wondering is, just how prevalent is this practice? If someone decides to give birth at home without a trained person present (midwife, doctor, nurse, whatever) and nothing goes wrong, would they be prosecuted as well? Judging by what I've seen on Babble, home births are far more common than I realized. If I had to guess, I would say that a large percentage of these births are against the law. And something else: isn't the problem that the patient died and received poor treatment, rather than the midwife's lack of license? I mean, you can get a midwife license online. (CORRECTION: according to a commenter, that web site only offers the coursework; to get licensed you have to complete your training under supervision.)

Image/source: mysuncoast.com

Read more:

11 months old, 62 pounds

Girl being kept alive by Viagra

They Say: no link between autism and measles vaccine

Red eye? Nope, eye cancer

McCain, Palin oppose teen pregnancy aid and sex education

New Mom Sues After No-Meds C-Section

Only 43% of British Moms Offered Home Birth! Outrage!

They Say: More Toddlers Get Immunized Than Ever

Is Home Birth a Civil Right?

Airline removes life vests

Storm Tracking? It Can Be Used in Pregnancy, Too

Teachers Play Bad Cop, Bad Cop

Kelly Mills — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:30:00 GMT

In a demonstration of the fact that kids have about the same rights as your average "terror suspect," four teachers frisked an entire class of third graders when five dollars turned out to be missing from the classroom. When a substitute teacher discovered an envelope that had contained five bucks for a school function was empty and in the trash, she first told the students that if whoever took it came forward, there would be no punishment. When no one surrendered, she, a student teacher, and a teacher from another class and an aide searched the students' backpacks and desks. Then they told students to remove shoes and socks (why, just like going to the airport,) lined them up along the wall and patted them down, sticking hands into some students' pockets. The money was never found.

Many of the students and parents were upset, and one girl said she and many of her classmates cried, especially when one teacher dug through the pockets of her jeans and told her she'd go to prison if the money was found on her. Why, don't those kids know this is the U.S.A.? But the school just happened to have a rule prohibiting teachers from physical contact with students, so the teachers were reprimanded for the incident. The principal sent home a letter to the irate parents, but: "There is no apology in the letter. The note also lacks details such as that the search included students’ clothing or that disciplinary action was taken against the teachers." Hey, justice don't come easy here.