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While walking through an area above Guanajuato Mexico today I came across the sign you see at the right. It caught my eye as the sign said “Casa el purgatoria - conosca algo diferente” (House of Torture - something different) and the sign showed a poor chap having himself dunked for some unknown insurrection.  It appeared to be a form of waterboarding - the controversial form of torture now at issue in the US and probably for the next presidential election. Given international (UN) conventions on this, I’m hoping at least one candidate takes a stand on the issue.

20 Pesos later and I’m walking amidst all forms of implements you see below.

While chatting this up, I learned the only way acceptable in the 17th-18th century to convict someone was to have at least 2 witnesses or to get a confession. And so, people became very creative in extracting such confessions for all manner of crimes both serious and minor.   Some of those methods are pictured below

I found the sewing machine pedal-powered wrist-breaker to be the oddest of them all.

click to zoom

click to zoom

Holiday stress, money problems, and more causes child abuse to rise during this time of year. During this time it’s more important than ever to keep a watchful eye on the kids who are part of these situations.

This list, from a release posted at St. Louis University should be read by every parent.

1. Use common sense to determine how many “extras” really need to be done during the holidays. Don’t attend every holiday party, do lots of extra cooking, baking and decorating, mail cards and spend days shopping for perfect presents if the demands of caring for a child already are leaving you feeling stressed.
2. Stick within a budget and spend what you can afford on gifts. Pass on buying your child the extra-expensive gift he is requesting in favor of something else he wants that is within your means.
3. Try to get out, even if the weather is cold and gloomy. A change of scenery can prevent you from feeling so boxed in.
4. Know your personal limitations. Some people can’t handle the incessant crying of a colicky newborn but are fine dealing with a pre-schooler’s non-stop questions.
5. Talk to your spouse about the potential for child abuse. Make the topic a legitimate part of your communications. Don’t be afraid to ask for a break from caring for the children, and conversely, be willing to take over childcare responsibilities if your partner needs some time away.
6. Recognize when you’re about to lose your cool and do something about it. Make sure your child is in a safe place and leave the room. Counting to 10 is another way to cool off.

USA National Child Abuse Hotline
1-800-4-A-CHILD
(1-800-422-4453)
TDD: 1-800-2-A-CHILD

National Numbers and Weblinks by State is here

To report suspected child abuse or neglect in Kentucky call 800-752-6200.

Every client could fire me, Google could ban me, My computers could fry, and my Digg friends could bolt. It wouldn’t matter when you got this.

 

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Thanks for the comments on my Thanksgiving Theme everyone!
Here are a few others, along with some links to Thanksgiving-related stuff from SEO Roundtable.

Postscript re photo above:  Yep, she just claws her way up the door frame anytime she wants.   When I look for her around the house, I look left, right, down and up.

From an article on Final Call:

Two dolls sit on the table, one Black, and One White. Every feature other than race is identical. The reassuring female voice asks the preschool-aged Black Girl a question “Can you show me the doll that looks bad?” She chose the Black doll over a White one that is identical in every respect except complexion. “And why does that look bad?” “Because she’s Black,” the little girl answers emphatically. “And why is this the nice doll?” the voice continues. “Because she’s White.” “And can you give me the doll that looks like you?” The little girl hesitates for a split second before handing over the Black doll that she has just designated as the uglier one.

New research has been released lately.

The Pew Research Center finds that 67% of black men and 74% of black women think rap music is a bad influence on black America. In fact, 59% of black men and 63% of black women think the whole hip-hop industry from fashion to attitude is detrimental to African-American progress in the US.

The proportion of young black people in the 18-29 age group who condemn the current media images of black people is 31 percent — higher than the 25 percent of blacks between the ages of 30-49, and the 17 percent of blacks in the 50-64 age group with similar disdain for black images in the media.

Similarly, when asked if the portrayal of black people on television and in the movies is harmful, it is young black people who agree most. More than half of 18- to 29-year-old African Americans agree that black people are presented in a negative way in popular media. 50% of black people ages 34-49 agree. White and Hispanic Americans agree, too. The Pew poll finds 64% of whites and 59% of Hispanics agree on the damaging impact of hip hop (including the one writing this blog post.

The full report from Pew is here.

While hardly as sophisticated as the testing that Malcolm Gladwell refers to in “Blink” the results are more than troubling. Many think that this comes from subtle cultural clues, such as microaggressions.

But one must be careful about these surveys, as well as experiments like the one with the little girl. Since they had to explain much during the survey, did they answer with their hearts? Did she?

Since the little girl anticipated being asked “why” did she automatically go for the answer that would be easiest to explain (in terms of forming an explanation, not in explaining society.)
This scrutiny of such results is frequently discussed by Gladwell. If you’ve not read “Blink” you simply must.

Gladwell on Oprah: “Those kinds of snap decisions that make up so much discrimination or … our thoughts and feelings, they’re a product of the worlds we live in,” Malcolm says. “And if you live in a world, as we do, where you … turn on the television and you see a TV show and the crack dealer’s always a black guy and the judge is always a white person … those images start to matter. They start to change the way the software in your head works. And that’s regardless of what race you are.

One of my clients has drawn my attention back to the split-second racial stereotype issues in recent weeks. The maker of the Eithidolls has an African Doll perfectly suited for African American Girls and other races too! Everything about it is in support of African micro-industry, fair trade, and authenticity. The story of Makeda, Queen of Sheba is inspiring and perfect bedtime material. It won’t change the world alone, but it’s nice to see a positive step. If my girls weren’t bursting at the seams with such toys I’d definitely have one here.

I worry that lots of people, especially white people, avoid the truly extraordinary products if they must explain their purchases to others.  If you buy a black doll for a white girl, you must explain yourself to many in our culture.   That should not be.

I came across these links related to this Topic. I hope you enjoy them.

Kwanzaa Kidz
Offers African centered childrens products and online games that educate and entertain.

A Caramel Kids eStore
A Caramel Kids eStore is one of the best multicultural e-Stores for African American,.

Dolls Like Me: Multicultural Dolls
Toy store featuring African American, Asian, Biracial, and Latino dolls and puppets.

Street Legends Ink
Hip-Hop Store specializing in High Quality Urban Comics and collectible toys.

Black Toys and Games
Find websites that showcase Black - African - Ethnic Toys and Games.

Queens of Africa Project
The Queens of Africa Project

Tyrone Geter
Dolls by one of the curators of Ponder Gallery at Benedict College, the fourth large HBCU (Historical Black Colleges and Universities) in the United States

The African Queen
Photos of an amazing African Queen Doll

Kwanzaa
A Great Page of Information

Kwanzaa - A Celebration of African Culture
All About The Holiday

Jasmyne Cannick
A Powerful, Well-Written Blog that digs into issues that are dividing us. Lots of thoughtful commentary. Allow some time to go through her posts.

Kwanzaa on Second Life

eShopAfrica
African Fair Trade

PLEASE DIGG THIS STORY

Ashland Park, Lexington KY - Autumn 2007

The colors outside my office window are amazing today, even in subdued light. We never got this in Santa Clara!

Well, it’s not a “TOTAL” migraine cure, but damn close - for me. I wanted to share this online in case others might find success. My history:

Average Migraines Per Month:

Month	Severe Migraines
June	13
July	14
August	12
September	2 *
Oc	2

“Severe” meaning that I had to stop whatever I was doing until it lifted..

*The only change:

Shifting from Equal (aspartaime - Phenylalinine, Methanol, and Aspartic Acid) to Spenda (sucralose) sweetener (or plain sugar.) 100% of the time.

Diet Coke with Splenda is the main thing that I did to cure my migraines, and I drink Ale-8-One when I want a small change (it’s a Kentucky thing.) I talked with a representative at Coke about it and they told me this wasn’t selling well (thus the difficulty getting it in some cities.)

Coke may Kill This Drink….Click here to tell Coke to keep carrying it.

I hope this helps you.

Ok, waaay off topic, but we all want to see this succeed, and I have particularly strong personal reasons. I have experience with someone close to me going through innovative cancer treatments at Wake Forest and I tend to listen up when something hits the news from that facility.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week gave Dr Zheng Cui permission to inject special immune cells into 22 patients. These donors have cells that are super-strength (up to 50 times more effective in fighting cancer than others’.) But How, and Why?

Dr Cui, who presented his latest findings in Cambridge last week, extracted such cells from 100 people, including some with cancer. When the immune cells were mixed with cancer cells, those from different individuals demonstrated vastly varying abilities to fight the cancer. Those of the strongest participants killed close to 97 per cent of the cancer cells in 24 hours, while those of the weakest killed only two per cent.

Dr Cui was the one who identified granulocytes as the cells responsible for mouse cancer immunity, a dramatic step forward in cancer research, for which he received acclaim last year. He injected the cells from immune mice into ordinary mice, and found it was possible to give them protection from cancer, often for the rest of their lives.

MUST READ: Wake Forest School of Medicine has Published a Summary of Current Research that is easy to read, and it’s better to get it there than from me.

Also: See New Scientist, 20 Sept 07, Issue 2622 (subscription)

Watch the yellow arrow on this video which points out where a type of white blood cell called a granulocyte is killing cervical cancer cells.

The school supply list looked normal until I reached the line that said “100 #2 pencils” …that’s one-hundred.