Friday, February 26, 2016

Illiterate educators

Even scarier than the outbreak of zika virus in Brazil.
According to a news report 74% of educators in Brazil are functionally illiterate. And then we wonder why the country is the way it is. 
The people who should be teaching our population how to understand what they read can't understand what they read!!!
Makes me sad. 
I might really have come from the privileged class. 

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

call me stalker mom

Is it sad that every time my mom leaves the house with my baby I have the Find My Friends app open?

Call me a stalker.

 I always told my husband I was not going to be one of those parents! And yet... Here I am... Stalking my kid.

 I stalk my husband too. 

If the weather is bad, I stalk him all the way to and from work.

... I'm helpless. 

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Canceled trip

I'm sad today. 

I've canceled my trip to Brazil. :'-( 

my travel agent said not to worry - TAM is refunding pregnant ladies, and she'd try to get me a refund based on the fact that we are trying to get pregnant.

I know I did the right thing. But I'm really upset. 

My two BFFs were pregnant at the same time I was. We never got together. Now our girls are all born and we still won't get together. They are hanging out all the time with their babies and I am missing out on it. :'-( 

I've done a lot of reading about this zika virus. CDC and its Brazilian equivalent, news reports and researchers and doctors opinions all over Brazil. At first I thought it could just be mass hysteria. But the more I read, the more I realize no one knows what's going on. Everyday there's a new fact. One day situation looks harmless. Next day it could be the end of the world. 

E.g. At first only 41 out of 462 microcephaly cases have been linked to zika. Which suggests microcephaly might be related to another issue altogether. Then just the next day this number jumped to over a thousand. 

Also there's no data on how many healthy babies have been born to mothers who had the zika virus - a relevant question no one is asking. 

But... What if I am wrong? I'll never forgive myself. 

 I will be risking the life of my next baby. What if it turns out once you're infected, even in infancy, you'll never be able to have normal children again. Now I'm jeopardizing Alexandra's future. 

Plus, both sides of the family are worried sick.

When your family tells you not to do something and you do it either way, then something bad happens... You just can't forgive yourself. 

....

 There's a lot of misinformation out there.

A lot of it is just people intentionally trying to cause panic.

Here's an example:

Some idiot posted a video saying microcephaly in pernambuco (a state in Brazil where many microcephaly cases are happening) was caused by a shipment of expired vaccines against rubella that were given to pregnant women in the area. 

This man should be arrested. This is the equivalent of yelling "fire" in a crowded movie theater. 

Pregnant women can't be vaccinated against rubella!!!!

As a matter of fact there's very little reason to fear zika outbreak here in New England as well. 

Zika is transmitted by a certain mosquito, the Aedes Egypt - an old acquaintance of mine. 

As far as I know, Mr. Egypt lives only in tropical climates. 

That means no mosquitos that bite you here in New England can NOT infect you with zika. 

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Woman's Rights?

It really bugs me that the phrase "women's rights" is used by most pro-choice people to mean "abortion". I think it's a very dishonest way to approach the discussion. All abortion really is a human being killing another human being (who happens to be inside a human being's body). 

So it's not about a woman's right over her body. It's about when it's okay to take someone's life. 

I think you can't discuss this matter honestly if you don't call it what it is. 

Is it right to kill an unborn human being under certain circumstances? If so, what circumstances should those be? I am willing to discuss that, as I am willing to discuss any matter that involves life or death, because there are plenty of situations in which one must die for the sake of another.

But I am only willing to discuss that once we establish that abortion is about taking away a human being's life.

Most times I hear people talking about abortion as a woman's right it usually involves very selfish motives. "It's not the right time", or "the condom failed", or "I don't want kids", or "what kind of life will this child have?"... So are these legitimate motives to take away a life.

Thursday, February 04, 2016

Star Wars in Brazil

This globalization thing is really annoying sometimes.

I grew up in the 80s and back then Star Wars in Brazil was called Guerra nas Estrelas. NOthing special, just the name star wars in Portuguese language.

Well, none of the millennial's in Brazil knows what Guerra nas Estrelas is.

I was talking to my 17-year-old brother, who belongs to the state wide Jedi a league, and he had no idea what I was talking about.

Sorry, he is not 17. He is 19. I am so lost when it comes to keeping track of this boy's age!

Ok, so I kept saying the name in Portuguese and he was giving me this blank stare. As in, "What the hell is this show you talk about?"

Then I said, "Come on, you're a Jedi! You should know what that is." Still a blank stare. Eventually I said, "Star Wars!" and he said, "Oh! Star Wars!" And I said, "Whoa! What's going on here? We're from Brazil! We should speak Portuguese!"

No, my friend. Now everything is Star Wars.

Unless you lived in 80s. Then it's never going to be Star Wars. It's always going to be Guerra nas Estrelas. But none of the Millennial's will ever understand that, because to them it's always been Star Wars.