I Speak of Dreams

Keeping Kids Safe

That Girl has been ruminating on maintaining her peace of mind in contemporary culture.

At the risk of sounding dismissive, I will venture to say that -- very generally speaking -- the horrific things that happen today to kids aren't all that different than the horrific things that have always been happening. But because we react so strongly to it, the horrifying stuff gets the highest play. Over the past five years the media has seemed to teach us us that kids are kidnapped all the time. They aren't. It's rare. And the majority of kidnappings are actually done by non-custodial parents. Not that the genuine kidnappings are any less horrific, but they aren't as prevalent as the almighty media would have us believe.

Nanny-Blog-Gate

Patrick Nielson Hayden says of l'affaire Helaine Olen

That's what's interesting about this story: the values implicit in Olen's decision to write this essay and the Times' decision to publish it. It's increasingly clear that the people who control our national media are as unreflective an elite as the Bourbon royal court. Helaine Olen doesn't just enjoy massive privileges; she enjoys the privilege of never, ever having to think about her privileges.

Another Man Who Loves His Job

EMS is not all fun and glory.

A Man Who Loves His Job

I don't often agree with Doc Russia's politics, but I would like to have him as my physician down the road.

ICE

ICE -- In Case of Emergency -- programming numbers into your cell phone under the heading ICE -- got a mention from GruntDoc  the same day I got such a mention from my daughter's Dean of Students.

Snopes credits

Bob Brotchie, a paramedic who works as a clinical team leader for the East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust has launched a campaign (sponsored by Vodafone's annual Life Savers Awards) to get people to store "In Case of Emergency" (ICE) information in items that have become ubiquitous in many parts of the world: cell phones.

Campaign For Real Beauty

Well, the Campaign for Real Beauty is a consumerist thing -- designed to sell more Dove products -- but it is also worthwhile.  Real women don't look like this (warning: NSFW, nudity)  very often.     ( Johnza liked the campaign & has an overview of the web response)

So go buy Dove products, I suppose.  I use 'em anyway, but I sure like seeing normal-sized women on the backs of Fitness Magazine.

Consumerism & Parenting

One of the things I've been thinking about is raising an intellectually and emotionally robust child in contemporary society, with its  consumerism and entitlement and "self esteem".