“Ramadan fasting in pregnancy, diabetes - Gulf Times” plus 4 more

Ramadan fasting in pregnancy, diabetes - Gulf Times
Pregnancy seat belt safety education urged by nurse - Longview News-Journal
Groupbattlesstate forcar plates - NorthJersey.com
Citing Condom is condoning and creatng crises - GhanaHomePage
Palin Mum on Rumors of Bristol's Broken Engagement - ABC News

Ramadan fasting in pregnancy, diabetes - Gulf Times

Posted: 29 Aug 2009 04:18 PM PDT

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Pregnancy seat belt safety education urged by nurse - Longview News-Journal

Posted: 29 Aug 2009 09:30 AM PDT

A Longview trauma nurse is taking the lead in informing pregnant women nationwide about seat belt safety.

Junell Nichols, a registered nurse who teaches trauma care certification, noticed something when she bought a new Ford Focus in November 2007: The seat belt safety instruction card included with the car didn't specify how pregnant women should use the seat belts.

"Often, nobody really takes the time to educate pregnant women on how they should wear their seat belts," Nichols said. "The doctors sometimes leave it up to the automobile manufacturers and the auto makers seem to leave it up to the doctors."

A pregnant woman should wear her safety belt low, supporting her abdomen rather than stretching across it, she said.

Nichols immediately sent an e-mail to Ford, asking the company to add specific safety belt instructions for pregnant women in the literature included with new vehicles. However, since that was nearly two years ago, she'd assumed her e-mail had been ignored or lost; until she got a phone call from Ford last week.

"I was stunned when I answered the phone and it was a woman with Ford's consumer innovation office," Nichols said. "She told me the company researched the safety information I'd sent them and it was all accurate, so they'll be including it with new cars beginning in 2011."

Nichols is scheduled to travel to Michigan next week, where she'll meet with Ford executives and be interviewed for the company's magazine and Web site. She also received coupons and gifts from the company.

"I think this whole situation just goes to show you that one person really can make a difference," Nichols said. "I'm not famous or wealthy, but I've been able to influence one of the largest companies in America to include more detailed safety instructions with their products."

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for women during the childbearing years, she said, and the most common cause of fetal death is maternal death from motor vehicle crashes. Trauma in pregnancy remains the leading cause of maternal death secondary to non-obstetric causes, according to the National Safety Council.

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Groupbattlesstate forcar plates - NorthJersey.com

Posted: 29 Aug 2009 10:37 PM PDT

If you treasure New Jersey's trees, support Rutgers football or buy local produce, the state has a license plate just for you.

But if you want the world to know how you feel about abortion, property taxes or health care, buy a bumper sticker.

The state makes license plates to extol, celebrate or simply recognize any number of things Jersey, but it doesn't produce plates that it considers politically motivated.

That policy is being challenged in federal court by the Children First Foundation, a New York-based pro-adoption organization, which is opposed to abortion and wants license plates emblazoned with the slogan "Choose Life."

The proposed plates feature the phrase written in a childlike scrawl alongside a doodle of kids' faces. The fees raised from the plates in New Jersey would go to crisis pregnancy centers, maternity homes and non-profit adoption agencies selected by the Children First Foundation.

The group submitted an application to make the plates available in 2003 but was denied by former Motor Vehicle Commission chief administrator Diane Legreide.

According to court documents, Legreide prohibited the plates because they did not comply with state regulations. The state has 31 different specialty plates, 14 of which are dedicated to civic organizations such as the Policemen's Benevolent Association and 17 that are designated for certain causes such as organ donations.

"Cause" plates, which 461,829 residents own and are used for fund-raising purposes, can advertise a particular message but only with legislative approval.

John Santana, a spokesman for the Motor Vehicle Commission, said neither the agency nor acting chief administrator Shawn Sheekey would comment on an ongoing court case.

Demetrios Stratis, a lawyer for the Children First Foundation, said the state agency refused to allow the plates simply because it didn't agree with the message.

"I may not be a fan of Rutgers football, but does that mean I'm going to be offended by it if it's on a license plate? That doesn't make any sense," Stratis said.

In 2004, the Children First Foundation filed suit saying its constitutional right to freely express itself was violated.

While other plates advocate for environmental conservation or promote other organizations, Stratis said this one was denied because the state didn't like the message.

Elizabeth Rex, president of the Children First Foundation, said "Choose Life" isn't actually the motto of her organization.

"Our slogan is 'Adoption, it's the best choice,' " she said.

After she and her husband, Charles, adopted two children, she decided she wanted to support women with unwanted pregnancies in making that decision.

"It really is a choice that everyone can support, whether you're pro-life or pro-choice," said Rex. "It should be non-political. It's non-religious."

But Rex said she wanted to include "Choose Life" on the plates for marketing purposes, as a way to attract residents to her organization and its cause.

"One word can make the difference between success and failure," Rex said.

Jackie Cornell, a field director at Planned Parenthood Affiliates of New Jersey, said she doesn't disagree with the license plates or the message but does have a problem with where the Children First Foundation donates its money.

"If these funds were not attached to crisis pregnancy centers, we would not be as concerned as we are now," Cornell said. Cornell said women at crisis pregnancy centers are frequently given medical advice by volunteers instead of doctors and are "scared" into choosing adoption in favor of other options.

"We always give people the full range of options" Cornell said of Planned Parenthood. "It's not our job to tell you what to do, it's our job to give you the medical needs that you will have for all the options."

The legal conflict of the license plates still looms large, six years after the complaint was made. The case has been to the 3rd Circuit twice after appeals delayed it. Oral arguments were heard in April and a decision is expected in the coming weeks.

In 2008, U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano threw out the organization's complaint, saying it was "legitimate" for New Jersey to want to stay out of political discussions, especially on state-issued car tags.

"The purpose of license plates is for vehicle identification," Pisano wrote.

A total of 22 states across the country, including Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut already have choose-life plates. Choose Life Inc. the Florida-based organization that started the nationwide campaign, has raised over $6 million there from at least 40,000 drivers.

But two other states, New York and Illinois, are also embroiled in legal issues.

A federal judge last year said Illinois had the right to restrict content on its own license plates. Choose Life Inc. has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.

E-mail: mfuchs@starledger.com

Citing Condom is condoning and creatng crises - GhanaHomePage

Posted: 29 Aug 2009 10:37 PM PDT

Murder, rape, defilement, theft and robbery are bad. Religiously, individuals in society are passionately admonished not to be involved in them. In nation building and as a form of social control, murder, rape, defilement, theft, and robbery are emphatically included in criminal law provisions as examples of heinous crimes or felony. Individuals in the jurisdiction of any state are therefore restrained, lawfully, from indulging in them or face punitive sanctions when found culpable. There is no room for excuse as these legal sanctions or taboos are enforced strictly except in the case of, for example, murder where there is a strong evidence of self-defence.

At the kindergarten or crÃ¨che, young children or babies are caringly coached to recite the 26 English Alphabets comprising A, B, C, Dâ€¦ up to Z. As simple as its recital may appear, it is the basis of proficiency in the English language. Without them words and sentences can never be formed or constructed. Children are therefore taught at their very early stages in order not to be found wanting when speaking or writing in the English language at school, work place, social gathering or home, almost throughout their lifetime. Interestingly, ABC method has been employed as one of the surest ways of fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic which is subtly consuming human life almost in all countries. A, B and C respectfully denotes abstinence, being faithful and condom. This article argues that while A and B are apposite, citing C is condoning and further creating crises in our quest to conquer the disease.

IS IT RELIGOIOUS OR SCIENTIFIC DOGMATISM?

Religiously, premarital sex, fornication and adultery should under no circumstance be encouraged or tolerated since they affront the commandments of God. Beside, they are the breeding grounds for unexpected pregnancy, illegal abortion, broken relationships, broken hearts etc with their attendant problems. Those who hold this view are christened religious dogmatists but is that really the case?

Scientific research has proved that condom usage is one of the very few proven measures to prevent HIV infections. What these scientific findings have woefully failed to address is the inability to reveal the adverse impact of the usage of condom. Unfortunately, the C method has today dominated the campaign on the prevention of HIV/AIDS without seriously questioning its repercussions on the youth, probably because scientists say it is one of the good approaches. Is this also not scientific dogmatism? In Ghana and for that matter Africa, the usage of condom has received not only exaggerated publicity but also it is patronised ignorantly.

In 2001 alone Ghana for example ordered one million female condoms from the United Nations Population Fund through Female Health Company. As if this was not enough, the Ghana AIDS commission (GAC) launched and distributed 5,000 condoms at no cost to hotels that accommodated the 2008 African Cup of Nation`s guests in Ghana (Nigeria`s Vanguard, Jan 14, 2008) with the aim of reducing the spread of HIV during the tournament. The GAC`s â€œcampaignâ€¦ (urged) both men and women to take ADVANTAGE of the condomsâ€ (Emphasis is mine). Clearly, the campaign placed no or little emphasis on abstinence and faithfulness. Ghana sponsored the usage of condoms by the â€˜guestsâ€™ without educating them on our avowed ethical values: chastity and purity. Perhaps, GAC realised the contradiction in preaching abstinence and faithfulness on one hand and promoting the usage of condoms on the other hand. Is GAC not condoning the crises? Sadly, students continue to freely

receive condoms as gifts from the very agencies or persons who are admonishing them to eschew premarital sex. This is the apex of hypocrisy.

IS THE USE OF CONDOM THE ANSWER?

Certainly not! Awareness of the disease (and the promotion of the usage of condom) are said to be on the increase but the rapid rise in HIV/AIDS incidence appears to be continuing (credit: Ghana AIDS Commissionâ€™s webpage, Aug. 24, 2009). According to United Statesâ€™s Aid Organisation (USAIDS), about 22 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with HIV (Associated Press, Mar. 2001). Ghanaâ€™s HIV/AIDS Sentinel Surveys in 2002 pointed out that HIV prevalence rate in Ghana was 3.4%, which increased in 2003 (UN Integrated Regional Information Networks, Feb. 2004). By the year 2008, however, the prevalent rate stood at 1.7 percent. More than 300,000 HIV cases were recorded form 2005 to 2006 including 21,828 cases involving children at the age 14 and below. The 2006 HIV Sentinel Report reveals that 88% of all HIV positive cases in Ghana involve persons below age 35. According to Ghana Health service, 2004, 80% of all HIV/AIDS infections are through heterosexual contact.

Research indicates that African is the most youthful region in the world, with 41% of the population under the age of 15. The above HIV/AIDS statistics reveal that the youth are mostly affected. In what way are we training or educating the youth such that when they grow they will not depart from it? Are the youth being told that premarital sex or adultery is not good but they can use condom if they still want to? Certainly, this is no solution since the youth have not found it to be useful. This is because there is no evidence stating that the use of condom has plummeted the upsurge of the disease. Indeed, it is high time the youth are told the dangers inherent in the use of condoms. They must be assured that self-control is possible, abstinence is the best and that no condom can shield them from the mental, emotional and spiritual consequences of ephemeral sexual intercourse.

USING CONDOM IS CRAETING CRISES

Some scientists tell us that condom is one of the methods of preventing HIV/AIDS infections. However, while there is no adverse effect in adhering to the abstinence and faithfulness methods, the usage of condom has proved to be very cataclysmic.

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, in an analysis of 11 different studies, found that condoms on the average failed 31% of the time to prevent transmission of the AIDS virus. Susan Weller, reporting on this finding in Social and Medicine

(June 1993) has that stated;â€it is a disservice to encourage the belief that condoms will prevent sexual transmission of HIV.â€ In the November 1997 edition of the Italian journal, Medicine and Morals, Jacques Suaudeau, a physician, reports that â€œthe risks of contracting an HIV infection while (using) condom is at least 10 to 15%â€, based on his review of 88 studies. Medical studies also show that condom provide little or no protection against what are now classified as the two most common sexually transmitted infections (STI`s): Human Papilloma Virus (HPV, the cause of virtually all cervical cancer) and Chlamydia (which, if undetected, can lead pelvic inflammatory disease, scaring of the fallopian tubes and consequent inability to conceive a child). In addition, medical experts have pointed out that there are tiny spores in condoms and that low quality and expired condoms can rip or tear during sexual intercourse.

Furthermore, the use of condom has never been able to take away the psychological and spiritual repercussion of uncommitted sex which include: the worry about pregnancy and STI`s, emotional upheavals associated with unexpected pregnancy, the stress of premature parenthood, the impact on education and career if one undertakes the financial and other moral responsibilities of parenthood and the trauma and the aftermath of abortion if the pregnancy is aborted. The use of condom cannot prevent or heal the feeling of regret and self-recrimination that usually follows a broken sexual relation, the feeling of being used, lost of self control and the consequent lost of self-respect, the shaken trust and fear of commitment in future relationship, the rage over betrayal, sometimes leading to violence; the depression, sometimes leading to suicide, the ruined relationship, the debasement of sex and the sense of having sinned against God`s law and jeopardised one`s soul.

CONCLUSION

Light and darkness are not friends. There is no excuse for theft, robbery and intentional killing. Fornication and adultery are immoral and the use of condom cannot purify them neither can it prevent or control their grim consequences. Promotion of condom has only incited many people, especially the youth, to indulge in promiscuity thereby watering down the need for faithfulness to one`s spouse and sexual abstinence on the part of the adolescent. STI`s including HIV/AIDS are less prevalent in societies were infidelity and premarital sex are shunned and discouraged. Africa needs these methods and nothing less.

Richard Obeng Mensah;borncapy@yahoo.com, author of Persecutions are Promotions and If You Think of Your Opposition You Lose Your Position. He is also the 2009 National Best Student Author/Writer.

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Palin Mum on Rumors of Bristol's Broken Engagement - ABC News

Posted: 29 Aug 2009 09:54 PM PDT

The office of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is not commenting on reports the governor's 18-year-old daughter has broken off her engagement. Star magazine is reporting on its Web site today (Wednesday) that Palin's daughter, Bristol, and Levi Johnston, the father of her two-and-a-half month old baby, have broken up.

The report quoted Levi's sister, Mercede.

Palin spokesman Bill McAllister says he doesn't know and doesn't plan to inquire. He says it's up to the governor to respond if she wants to.

Palin didn't immediately return a message The Associated Press left with McAllister.

The Johnston family was not immediately available for comment. Palin revealed her daughter's pregnancy just days after the governor was named John McCain's running mate on the Republican presidential ticket. Bristol Palin gave birth in late December to a boy named Tripp. In an interview that aired on Fox News last month, Bristol Palin said her fiance sees the baby every day and described him as a "hands-on" dad.

The two have said they were considering a summer wedding.