I know you've all been waiting for this all year, so here it is.

Here are my predictions for 2010 (actually, other members of The Loveshade Family contributed to this; they just don't want to admit it):

* The HEALTH CARE REFORM so praised by Americans (that is, those who don't have health care), will not work as planned.  Detractors will say it's a huge waste of money, and will put America in the toilet.  However, supporters will say it's at least better than it was, and it will continue to get better.  Rush Limbaugh will say at least I'm still alive.

* ELVIS PRESLEY will be spotted in a shopping mall in New Jersey.

* The AMERICAN ECONOMY will show significant improvement; Democrats will claim it's because of their fine work, while Republicans will claim it's because of improvements made while George W. Bush was still president.

* An American group will work very hard to prove that BARACK OBAMA DOESN'T QUALIFY AS PRESIDENT.  The group will be suspected of having ties to a dissident group overseas.

* The supposedly dim-witted PARIS HILTON will still maintain the facade of being dim-witted, but will none-the-less cleverly manage to get herself in the news for yet another scandal.

* A male AMERICAN ICON of purity and wholesomeness will be caught with his hand somewhere people don't think it belongs; i.e., in someone else's pocket.

* A female BRITISH ICON of purity and wholesomeness will be caught exposing a portion of her anatomy that the prudish will not think should be exposed.

* The Law that DEATHS ALWAYS HAPPEN IN FIVES will once again be proven this year.  At least of those deaths will be unexpected, a famous singer, and a famous actor.

* QUEEN ELIZABETH I will not die, but will have a significant medical problem.  (Sorry, your Majesty).

* A major figure in the MIDDLE EAST will be violently killed.

* In the United Kingdom, there will be renewed interest in an ANCIENT ACTIVITY.  It will be something that's been popular in North America for years.

* HIP HOP will still be popular with many, and still hated by many others.

* I will perform a legally-recognized DISCORDIAN WEDDING, and there will be much rejoicing.

HAPPY NEW YEAR,

THE LOVESHADE FAMILY

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If you remember 1990s American television, you likely remember Miyam Bialik as Blossom. Blossom was the teen who hung around with Six and had a clueless brother named Joey. Now Bialik is becoming known for alternative or holistic parenting.

Bialik, who received a doctorate degree in neuroscience, is using and promoting family bed sharing, home schooling, home birth, and nursing on demand--breast-feeding based on your child's needs, not a schedule. She also promotes elimination communication, which means the parents learn to observe when the child is ready to "go potty." Her first son was potty trained at 12 months.

Two of our small family have worked professionally with children, believe in holistic methods, and most if not all of us were fans of the TV program Blossom. (You may also have see Bialik in the film Kalamazoo? and while playing Bette Midler's character as a young girl in the movie Beaches).

You can learn about Mayim and Holistic Parenting at http://www.holisticmoms.org/category/aboutus/spokesperson/ and see the commercial-free version of Ali Landry's interview with Bialik at http://omg.yahoo.com/blogs/goddess/spotlight-to-nightlight-mayim-bialik-from-teen-icon-to-unconventional-mom/270?nc. Photo is linked to http://holisticmoms.org. No threat to their copyright is intended.

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"Students at two elementary schools in Chino Hills have been attending summer school for nothing."

The California Legislature rejected the effort by Dickson Elementary and Rolling Ridge Elementary schools to make up for "missing time" that was never missing.

Both schools fulfilled the state-required number of school hours--except that, because their Friday sessions were mistakenly a few minutes short, they didn't count at all. So to avoid losing millions of dollars in state funding, the schools hurriedly tacked on 34 extra days of school.

The legislature was supposedly working hard to correct the school district's mistake and their own misguided law, but they didn't. Instead, they're using it as an opportunity to refuse to give those schools $5 million to which they were otherwise legally entitled. In addition, the schools are out all the extra money they spent on summer school days that aren't being counted.

Hopefully a bill to fix this legal threat to education will fix the equation:

School district mistake + California legislature mistake = punishing the kids and the schools.

Welcome to California.

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/inland_empire&id=6908380

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The California legislature is scrambling to fix the snafu that is forcing two Southern California elementary schools to stay open an extra 34 days. Susie Lange, California Department of Education's deputy superintendent of fiscal services, said "To the average person, it sounds like crazy bureaucracy that we count the number of minutes,"

As a couple of us have worked in the educational system, it does sound like crazy bureaucracy.  But that's because they aren't counting the minutes.

It's not a matter of the schools being short of the state allotted 54,000 minutes in school. The students made and even exceeded that requirement by the end of the scheduled school year. It's a matter that, because their Fridays were 5 minutes short at Dickson Elementary in Chino and 10 minutes short at Rolling Ridge Elementary, those days weren't counted at all. As far as the legislature's tally goes, the 170 minutes and 175 minutes students spent each Friday at those schools never happened.  In arithmetic as figured by the state legislature, 180 - 5 = 0.

Yes, the school district made a serious error in miscounting the minutes. But how could the legislature intentionally make a law that ignores time students actually spent at school?

Estimates are that even if the state legislature works at maximum efficiency, it will be at least another eight days to fix something that should never had been made broken. Perhaps we need to send those legislatures to those elementary school students. Maybe one of the kids there can teach them how to do their arithmetic.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-california-schools-not-out,0,7891036.story

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Students at two elementary schools in San Bernardino, California, exceeded the number of required minutes to be in school. So they're off on summer vacation, right? Wrong. Instead, they have 34 more days of school. Instead of getting out on in the middle of June, they're supposed to stay until the end of July.

How did this happen? Rolling Ridge Elementary in Chino Hills and Dickson Elementary in Chino had shorter days on Fridays just like many elementary schools in California. This gave teachers time to plan, meet with parents, etc. But it ends up that state law requires these days to be 180 minutes long. Due to a spreadsheet error, these days were only 175 minutes at Dickson and 170 at Rolling Ridge.

The logical among us might say, "So what? They exceeded the minimum number of minutes for the school year. What difference does it make what days those were on?" But the logical among us are likely not bureaucrats and legislators.

Continue reading "School District Error Means 34 Days Less Summer Vacation" »

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13-year-old Alfie Patten, who got front-page recognition as the father of his 15-year-old girlfriend's baby, is not the father.

While mother Chantelle did apparently did have sex with Alfie when he was 12, she was impregnated when 14 by someone else.  DNA tests that were released today, Tuesday, May 19, said the father isn't Alfie.  It's apparently a youth who is now 15 years old.

This case has opened a big debate about the virtual lack of sex education in England.  The nation has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in Europe.  It seems that kids can learn to do things they aren't taught in a classroom.  Who would have thought it?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30819938/?GT1=43001

For our blog entries on Alfie Patten, click on http://www.loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=alfie+patten

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Yes, it may sound like a bit of strange advice, but it's true.

Children who always follow the rules, who do what they're told, can grow up sadly unprepared for the realities of life. Not all rules are good, and not all good rules are good all the time.

And those who continue to follow the rules are the same people who support oppressive and unfair regimes. They are also the people who are oppressed by such regimes.

While we don't necessarily agree with everything in Craig Playstead's article, you might want to check it out at http://lifestyle.msn.com/your-life/family-parenting/article.aspx?cp-documentid=16949831.

Posted by The Loveshade Family at 02:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

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The father of a United Kingdom boy who impregnated a girl when he was age 12 plans to have a talk with his son about sex. 

Dennis Patten, father of new father Alfie Patten, now age 13, decided it's time for an education. '"I will talk to him again and it will be the birds and bees talk. Some may say it's too late but he needs to understand so there is not another baby."'

The new mother is Chantelle, who was 14 when impregnated and is now 15.

Just another example of how effective it is to try to keep children ignorant about sex.

See more at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29184929/?gt1=43001

Posted by Reverend Loveshade at 07:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

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Shackling teens for 12 hours a day; physically and sexually abusing teen girls and teen boys; stripping teenage girls naked and forcing them to eat their own vomit: These are correction methods that have been investigated by various agencies, including the U. S. Department of Justice.  Now the Columbia Training School of Columbia, Mississippi, which has been the site of much of this controversy, is being shut down.

While many of the 13,000 claims of abuse for juvenile correction centers made in America from 2004 to 2007 are likely bogus, it's still a staggering number.  This is especially considering there were about 46,000 detainees in 2007.  Assuming the number of detainees and reports was more-or-less constant for those three years, that's about one report per ten teens per year.

But is the problem just with juveniles, or with the whole system?  The flawed mission of the adult correction system was perhaps intentionally pointed out by Ana Margarita Compain-Romero of the praised Missouri Department of Social Services.  "It's just a different approach that we take. It's a treatment approach.  In other states, they take a more punitive approach, more like corrections."

In other words, so-called adult correction isn't treatment, it's punishment.  But don't you treat something in order to correct it?

See the article "13,000 abuse claims in juvie centers" by Associated Press writer Holbrook Mohr at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080302/ap_on_re_us/juvenile_detention.

(Alden Loveshade contributed to this report)

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Once again, Texas has the highest teen birth rate of any state in the United States.  Interestingly, Texas has a policy of denying contraceptives without parental consent and strongly promotes abstinence-only sex education in public schools.

By contrast, California, which promotes both teaching abstinence and birth control, and which makes contraception available to teens without parental consent, has a much lower teen birth rate.

From 1991 to 2004, the nation's teen birth rate dropped by a third.  Texas only dropped by 19 percent, while California dropped by 47 percent, according to the non-profit group Child Trends.  (California and Texas are respectively the first and second most populous U. S. states).

Certainly there are other factors involved--micro or sub cultures, wealth vs. poverty, etc.  But the numbers certainly don't support the idea that abstinence-only education stops teenagers from having sex.

See a Dallas Morning News article about this at http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/110507dnmetteenbirths.35daddb.html

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By Adam Newton, Banana Dance Press Writer

October 3, 2007 CE / 57 Bureaucracy 3173 YOLD

Captain "Sesame Seed" Rogers and Sister Hooter announced that they've merged their Discordian youth groups Shamlicht Boys and Shamlicht Girls.

The new group, Shamlicht Kids Club*, promotes personal freedom, individualism, and the motto "Be Prepared for Anything." Both clubs' previous motto was "Be Protected from Everything." Spokesperson Pope Hilde said the new motto is much more useful, and "less subject to prosecution than keeping the kids locked in the closet all day had been."

Rogers founded Shamlicht Boys in August of 2005, while Hooter founded Shamlicht Girls in September of 2005. But Hooter claimed to have the idea first, a claim Rogers disputed. They finally agreed to disagree, and the new club was formed on October 3, 2007. (This is in honor of Luna Wilson, daughter of Robert Anton Wilson and Arlen Riley Wilson. The 15-year-old Luna's murdered body was discovered on Oct. 3, 1976).

Shamlicht Kids Club is for all sexes and all ages between X and Y. Members can choose their own uniform, and work for any of several merit badges, which include Community Service, First Aid, Brain Surgery, Writing, Poetry, Punning, Bicycling, Jockey, Jock Strap, Multiplication, Algebra, Training Bra, Estory, Gymnastics, Knot Tying, Sewing, Wedgies, Science, Fnord, Music, Discord, Dancing, Animal Husbandry, Animal Noises, Harbol Quest, Camping, Cooking, Chili Making, Tooting, Toilet Papering, Babysitting, Child Proofing, Child Photography, Puberty, Origami, Swimming, Diving, Sink, 1000 Blank White Cards, Painting, Artillery, Scuba, Fiber Arts, Underwater Basket Weaving, Jumping, Jakes, Calvin Ball, and Binky the WonderSkull Posers.

For more information, see Shamlicht Kids Club at http://discordia.loveshade.org/skc

*The group is sometimes called Smagmoid Kids Club

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In 1892, Horner Plessy, a "colored" shoemaker, was locked up in jail for sitting in the "White" car of the East Louisiana Railroad.  With a series of failed appeals, the Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896 established that the principle "separate but equal" was legally valid in the United States of America.

It wasn't until 1952, over half a century later in Brown v. Board of Education, that the court finally decided that separate but equal was inheritantly inequal.

Now, with a twist it's happening all over again, only this time in reverse.  It's been decided that "separate but equal" is fair, only this time it's not "white" v. "colored," it's "boys" vs. "girls."  Public schools can now receive federal funding for same-sex classes, and even same-sex schools.  It's not just for physical and sexual education anymore.

Is this a wise policy decision, or just sexism?

You can read the story, which Danacasso pointed out to us, at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070125/ap_on_re_us/same_sex_schools

Posted by Alden Loveshade at 03:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBacks (0)

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A high school principal in Long Beach New York banned three girls because they dressed as Captain Underpants on Superhero Day. Captain Underpants is a children's book. So is it too sexy for high school?

And the girls were completely covered. They wore beige leotards and nude stockings under their white briefs.

But Principal Nicholas Restivo didn't like it.  "Yes, I know they weren't naked," Restivo said. "But the appearance was that they were naked."

If he thinks wearing briefs over a leotard looks like being naked, he needs to go to a nude beach. I guess he just doesn't like briefs.  Maybe he wouldn't have a problem if the girls just took their underwear off.

You can read the whole story at http://news.lycos.com/dynamic/stories/C/CAPTAIN_UNDERPANTS?SITE=LYCOS&SECTION=home&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Posted by Lorien Loveshade at 06:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

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We don't believe in Ageism, which is deciding what you can do and can't do based on an arbitary age. (Read The Myth of the Adulthood Fairy for a humorous story about ageism).

But this ACLU survey is fun. How old should you be to do adult things in America? Check it out and fill it out at http://www.aclu.tv/youthsurvey

Posted by Lorien Loveshade at 05:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (0)

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I think a mother nursing her baby is one of the most beautiful things in the world. It's best to breast-feed at least a year and really as long as you and your child want to. And here's more evidence that's true!

Scientists learned that breast-fed babies handle stress better when they're older than babies who were bottle-fed. They studied 9,000 children at birth, age 5 and age 10. One thing they found was that breast-fed babies whose parents divorced or separated were twice as likely to be highly anxious as babies whose parents didn't. But bottle-fed babies of divorce or separation were nine times more likely to be highly stressed!

You can read the article "Breast-Fed Babies Handle Stress Better Later in Life" at http://health.msn.com/pregnancykids/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100142172&GT1=8404 and learn more about breast-feeding at http://womenshealth.gov/Breastfeeding/index.cfm?page=home

(the photo is in the public domain)

Posted by Lorien Loveshade at 06:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

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