Strollerderby : world

Don’t like Your Baby’s Gender? Sweden Rules 'Gender-Based' Abortion Legal

Cole Gamble — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:00:00 GMT

Now, according to a Swedish medical ruling, if a mother or couple discover the gender of their baby and decide “that’s not what we were hoping for” they can get an abortion on that basis.

Here’s how it broke down. A Swedish mother of two girls requested two abortions in a row after learning the gender of her fetus. It became apparent to doctors her decision to abort was based on the discovery of gender, which obviously was not the one she was aiming for. Doctors at Mälaren Hospital expressed concern and asked Sweden’s National Board of Health and Welfare to draw up guidelines on how to handle requests in the future in which they "feel pressured to examine the fetus’s gender" without having a medically compelling reason to do so.

The board found such requests cannot be refused, and neither can abortions, thus medical staff cannot refuse to perform an abortion based on gender.

Now the idea of isolating a “gay” gene in fetuses and therefore “eliminating” it has been bandied about by rather tacky political pundits. But before we get to that moral maelstrom, pick-and-choose baby gender is already here. Sure, the day when doctors can fudge your baby’s DNA to increase the probability of a boy or girl is possibly coming sooner than later, but for now, if you don’t like what you got, scrap it and start again.

Does this already happen discreetly in America? I can’t imagine anyone would ever openly admit to their doctor or otherwise that they want to abort the baby because “I really had my heart set on a girl” but that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. Do you think this is more common that people are admitting?

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Is Online Cheating a Deal-Breaker?

Kelly Mills — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:33:00 GMT

From Britain comes the news that a couple who had an elaborate wedding on the virtual reality game "Second Life" are now getting divorced. So what tore this couple, who met in a chatroom, apart from each other? Well, Amy Taylor says she caught her real-life husband having virtual sex with a woman on the same game. Later she also reported she hired an online detective to track his virtual activities, though she knew he wasn't fooling around in this reality. "It may have started online, but it existed entirely in the real world and it hurts just as much now it is over," she said. Taylor is now in a new relationship with a man she met on "World of Warcraft".

Now, for a couple who are so invested in their virtual lives, it makes sense Taylor would consider this a betrayal. But what about other couples? With virtual reality games becoming more elaborate and consuming, do activities online carry the same weight as those commited in the physical world? Perhaps some would draw the line at any kind of online flirtation, whether or not it was acted out with avatars, while others would consider this harmless fun as long as it never spills over into real life.

What do you think? What's cheating in the age of online worlds? Where would you draw the line?

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China Quake Video difficult viewing

Brett Singer — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:00:00 GMT

If you want to get an idea of what it was like in China when the massive quake hit, take a look at CNN's video archive. It's very hard to watch, but it does a good job of showing just how horrible this disaster is. Fair warning: the footage includes children being rescued from a building that collapsed.

Also worth viewing if you can stand it is the footage of the 3 minutes of silence China observed yesterday. I'm in Europe and saw it live on CNN International yesterday. Very intense and moving.

Disaster Relief in Myanmar and China

Earthquake exemption: Does China's one-kid per family policy still apply?

image: CNN.com

Earthquake exemption: Does China's one-kid per family policy still apply?

Brett Singer — Sun, 18 May 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Slate answers a very legitimate, and extremely sad, question regarding the recent earthquake in China. Basically, China has a policy where each family is only allowed one child, in order to keep population growth under control. But many of these families have now lost that child in the recent horrible tragedy. Can they have another?

According to Slate, yes they can. Depending on where in China the family resides, "Mothers are allowed to have a second child if the first one dies or—in many cases—if he or she has a major disability." Some can also have a second child if the first one is a girl. (How Ancient Sparta of them.)

Aside: the "one child per" policy also may have played a part in the abandoned Queens baby case, according to one of our commenters.

image:CNN.com

Breaking News: Earthquake in China kills thousands, 900 children buried at a school

Brett Singer — Mon, 12 May 2008 19:15:00 GMT

CNN is reporting that close to 9,000 people have been killed by a 7.9 scale earthquake in China. One area, Beichuan County, has had 80 percent of its buildings destroyed.

To make it even worse, if that's possible, is that 50 bodies have been pulled from the rubble of a high school in Central China. 900 children were buried by the quake at that particular spot so the death toll is likely to rise.

President Bush released a statement expressing sympathy for the Chinese people, adding, "I am particularly saddened by the number of students and children affected by this tragedy."

The quake was so strong, it could be felt in Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam and Pakistan.

CNN has a lot of coverage, including eyewitness accounts (sample: "The floor was moving underneath me") and video.

Truly horrible.

image: CNN.com

With an Atlas, Kids Can Have the Whole World in Their Hands

Karen Murphy — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 13:24:00 GMT

One of my favorite things to do as a child was pore over the family's atlas, a huge red tome weighing nearly as much as I did. I'd drag it out on to the living room floor and lie there flipping pages, lost in the enormity of the world so far away yet right there at my fingertips.

I had forgotten how much pleasure I derived from that until I read about the upcoming release of the 12th edition of the Philips Children's Atlas. Surely my kids could use the same rich experience I had of discovering the world via the glossy pages of an atlas, couldn't they? The fact that the atlas is published by what appears to be a nice old English couple makes it all the more appealing. I actually own one of their travel maps of Europe and it's pretty good, and they're planning future atlases for the really wee ones, for ages 5-7 and 3-5.

It's never too soon for geography, is it?

Strollerderby : world

Don’t like Your Baby’s Gender? Sweden Rules 'Gender-Based' Abortion Legal

Creepy Old Japanese Pregnant Dolls (with Attached Creepy Fetus Dolls!)

8 "PG" Movies Way Too Scary for Kids

6 Reasons Why it Sucks to Be a Kid Today

10 Great Books For (Traumatizing) Children

Is Online Cheating a Deal-Breaker?

China Quake Video difficult viewing

Strollerderby Playdate: Getting Orphanage News From China

Disaster Relief in Myanmar and China

Earthquake exemption: Does China's one-kid per family policy still apply?

Earthquake exemption: Does China's one-kid per family policy still apply?

Breaking News: Earthquake in China kills thousands, 900 children buried at a school

With an Atlas, Kids Can Have the Whole World in Their Hands