Just because it didn't happen to you, doesn't mean it can't happen

"My baby was formula fed and she has NEVER had a cold."

 "My sister breastfed her baby and she got sick."

:::facepalm:::

Am I the ONLY person who gets SUPER annoyed when people say this? Like, just because it didn't happen to YOUR kid doesn't mean it's automatically debunked. I know SO many people who automatically assume that because their kid never had any negative affects from something, then it simply must not be true. I can't even tell you how much this annoys me. Great, i'm glad that your kid was on formula and never had a cold but research from MULTIPLE CREDIBLE SOURCES shows that breastfed babies are overall healthier and have stronger immune systems. I'm not making this stuff up. That doesn't mean breastfed babies never get sick (I can attest to this, both my kids have colds right now) but it means that they tend to get less colds, ear infection, etc then formula fed babies. I'm glad that there are formula fed babies out there who are just as healthy as breastfed babies or babies who start on solids super early who are just as healthy as babies whose parents delayed. However, what we need to remember is that our baby is not the only baby in the world and that not all babies are like our babies. I know...that statement sounded stupid but sometimes I swear, it's like people don't realize this. I once had someone say to me, "God! I'm SO SICK and TIRED of hearing how all your breastfed babies are healthier then my formula fed baby. It's such bullsh*t. [Insert childs name] is healthy enough and breastfed babies are NOT healthier. Um, really? So because your baby is healthy, then all these credible organizations, WHO, APA, multiple doctors and scientists around the world, UNICEF and many many other sources are just WRONG?

And may I remind people that when someone says something like, "Breastfed baby's are healthier and have less risks to certain diseases and illnesses" that it is NOT an attack against people who formula feed. I promise, we're not attacking you. I get so tired when some people who formula feed (not ALL obviously) act as though the very act of breastfeeding is a direct attack on them. I'm not attacking you. Honestly I'm not, but I tend to trust the World Health Organization (WHO) more then I trust the judgement of a single person. So when I say something like that, I'm simply quoting absolute facts that cannot truly, logically be argued with...not telling you that your baby is going to die of diabetes, cancer and ear infections by the time they are 5 just because you formula fed.

Just sayin'.

http://www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/fh/wic/bf/bfbest.html
http://www.doh.state.fl.us/Family/wic/Documents/breastfeeding_basics/WhyBFBest_10-07_Eng.pdf
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/2/T020600.asp
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2011/breastfeeding_20110115/en/index.html

^^^In case you thought I was making it up! ::wink::

Cherishing - This Moment in Thought

It's been raining for the better part of the last 2.5 weeks here in south-central Indiana. Work in the yard has been limited, time to play outside has been limited, I've been trapped with my monsters indoors for the better part of this time. So I've had time to think...I've thought about what a stubborn mule Aiden is, and how his personality now is just as it was when he was a baby, strong, playful, active, and stubborn. I've thought about what a pain his tantrums are, and how tired I've gotten of dealing with tantrum after tantrum. I've thought and thought about ways to support his personality while limiting his tantrums. I've thought about what a charmer Chase is, how his personality is so completely opposite of what Aiden was and is. I've thought about sending him to live with distant relatives when he stays awake for two hours in the middle of the night, I've thought about how his "yelling" is making me nuts inside this house with almost nothing on the walls, I've thought about how to bring him up in a way that preserves his gentle nature.

But today, as the sun is FINALLY shining and the skies are clear, I'm thinking about how much I cherish both these wonderful boys for being a part of my life, with their challenges come so many blessings, so many laughs, smiles, and hugs. In a way, I can cherish Chase's middle of the night play time...it's the only time he and I are TRULY alone. I cherish Aiden's strong will because I know it will serve him well when he is a grown man. I cherish my husband who, like me, is not always his best person in the middle of the night, because without saying a word, in the morning, he wakes up with Aiden, feeds him breakfast, and let's me sleep a little extra to make up for the hours he knows I spent "playing" with Chase in the middle of the night. Then he marches off to work so that we can have this home for our family, and so our wonderful boys never go without.

I cherish sweet moments nursing Chase. At his age, he's so interested in the world that a quiet nursing moment with him is rare during the day. Today this position caught his attention, he was very interested in this new set up...He wiggled and looked around, talked to me with his mouth full, made funny faces, and then...then he took advantage of these big, saggy bags, laid his head on my arm, and rolled his eyes back in his head and took a brief, peaceful, milky nap.

Aiden was quietly playing in the playroom just long enough to make this moment a reality. Chase is 6 months old, and I don't know where the time as gone. 

This afternoon I was overcome with the sweetness of my monsters both wiggling in my lap as I read them "Go Dog Go!" before nap time for Aiden. Aiden trying to snuggle up as small as he could while I read, reading with me, telling me the story...he's such a big boy. Chase trying to grab at Aiden, talking to him, and trying to get his big brother's attention. I thought...these are my boys...and these moments are rare. So I took a moment to cherish the snuggles and the interaction. 

Most of the day, I've been looking down on our flooded beach to observe our turtles...all the rain has brought the lake up pretty high, and they can all now get on top of the retaining wall to sun themselves. I want to tell them to scoot over and make room for me...I'll bring my Kindle (and I cherish my mom for sending this to me for mother's day..."for those few moments you get to relax") and we can sun together with our toes in the water! 

My house is kind of a mess today. I'm not really cherishing that, but I do cherish that my husband tolerates the insanity cuz his sweet boys clamor for him when he walks in the door. I think being a stay at home mom is the hardest thing I've ever done, it's more work than any job I've ever had. Some days it's thankless until I go to bed and imagine how heartbroken I would be if I didn't have this option. So I cherish those hard days that teach me to be grateful I can be there for my boys when they are having hard days. I let the house slide for their benefit, so we can play instead of distract, snuggle instead of scold, laugh instead of pout. It's worth it to me. Because frankly, the days I let the house slide are the best days with my boys...the view from the top is the best! 

1 happy nursling, my feet up, and the sun shining
on my green yard just beyond my toes.
Life. Is. Good.

Today I challenge all our readers to find the light in the shadows, the good things to be cherished under the hard times. Cherish your little monsters. Cherish the lessons you have learned through the struggles you face. Cherish those challenging nursing relationships that you had to fight to keep. Cherish the days that are so crazy you never shower or dress. Cherish your body...it has given you those gorgeous children and fills out their plump cheeks, gives them a place to snuggle. Cherish the choices you made, because you did what you thought was right, and that was what mattered. Now, sit down and share with us what you are cherishing today!

Construction ahead

WIP and flash, but a bad picture is better than no picture.

It took me a while, but I found my bag of modeling tools today.  With those in hand, plus EV calling out my "Winter Guard Deathstar" for motivation, I set about assembling a handful of minis today.  Irusk and two Rocketeers broke free of their blisters and stood on their own bases today, making my Deathstar fully operational with the full complement of Rocketeers.  Irusk is no slouch either.  I made a PK Nob and spied a bunch of bits for the next one which will be a replacement for the Nob currently intended to lead the 'Ard Boys.  The Nob joined the Big Mek, but not his force field, on the painting stick.  Finally I had a random Elven mage mini along with a pair of Dark Elf cheerleaders from Blood Bowl.  Everything got their bases plugged with green stuff, ballasting, and priming.  After that I varnished the latest batch of Shootas.  Next on the painting table will be the remainder of the 23 strong unit of Shootas: 5 regular lads, a big shoota, a rokkit launcha, and a PK Nob.  Having a whole squad done will be nice, plus I already have a start on the Slugga mob.  This initial batch of Orks is most of the infantry, so when I finish the 54th Ork I'll be halfway done with the first step.  In closing, I did up a couple of Grey Knight lists the other night, but didn't find anything I really liked.  I settled on a list with Psyflemen, Purifiers in Psybacks, regular Terminators, and a Librarian.  I like most of it except that it doesn't have many scoring units (3) or troops (15) and those units are walking.  I could swap the Purifiers for Strike Squads, but the savings in points don't match the loss in ability even considering that the Strike Squads are scoring units.  I still haven't found a list with a Dreadknight that I like, though I keep looking for one. 

Little post

The part stands for the whole.

While some of my plans for the day fell through, in the end it's mostly been a success.  This morning I decided to build two Nobs, then prime them and the Mek so all the Orks would be ready for painting at any time.  I brought along a whole box of stuff to accomplish this so I'd have everything I needed.  I had basing materials, models, a batch of new paints to go in the paint carrier, and my priming gear.  As I hit the highway I realize I've forgotten my bag of hobby tools, making most of the box riding next to me useless.  Fortunately I had planned to build and prime after finishing the batch of Shootas and I had everything I needed for that task.  I did the metals and dotted the eyes red today, and after a wash they might be finished.  I'd like to go back and reinforce the black, maybe highlight it, and do a final pass for details.  I'd also like to finish painting these Orks so I can get on to painting more Orks.  Considering this batch looks good as is, or will after a wash on the metals, I may just carry on into a new group.  Calling these done puts me at 25/54 for my 500 point list.  None of their bases are finished, but I'm planning to do all that at once, or at worst in two large batches.  I want to take another look at how EV is doing his so that my army matches his and the board, ensuring optimal realism.  Of course the black band on the base will break the immersion, but these things happen.

Green, White, and Blue

The horde advances.

While I haven't had many painting sessions lately, and the ones I've had have been brief, I'm still making some good progress with the latest batch of Orks.  I just have blacks and metals left to do, plus red eyes and bases.  I'm happy with how the faces have turned out, but the other blue areas can look better.  What I'd like to do is add another layer between the basecoat and the highlight, but speed is a factor in this project.  It looks like EV will have his 500 points worth done in a week or two, so we'll probably give this thing an official start in May.  I have 15 Orks finished, save basing, plus these 10 and another 15-20 that are half painted as well.  I need to make another Nob still and the Big Mek needs priming, but everything else is primed or better.  I hope to finish this batch tomorrow and maybe get a start on another group, or perhaps build that Nob and maybe some boys and then prime the lot so everything I need for the first list is ready for painting.  I'm at 15/54 which means I'll need to average about a model per day, something I think I've pondered before.  The painting feels like it's going faster, plus most of the models have a start of some sort on them, so I think I should be fine to hit the end of May.  What I'd really like to do is paint up another mob of Dethskull Sluggas so I can keep with the one clan instead of mixing in Evil Suns.  This plan would involve using models intended to be 'Ard Boys as regular Slugga troops and I think I want to put a little more time into them, maybe with some checkers on their armor plates.  This approach will obviously take more time than painting regular boys, so I may plow ahead with the Evil Suns and then paint the Dethskulls if I have time left. 

The close-up example.

In various other news, hopefully my Warstore order arrived today or will tomorrow.  I'm looking at adding a pair of Dreads at 750 while maxing out the second boys squad, though Kans are also a consideration.  I have one Dread in the order and will see what that kit is like before I choose between the two walkers.  They'll all be part of the horde eventually, it's just a question of in what order.  I was reading a post at 3++ today where a commenter said that psybolt ammo didn't work on psycannons.  My first thought was "Of course it does," but I didn't see any counter-comments about it.  I grab my GK book and find that the comment is right, psycannons don't get to use psybolts.  At first I was bummed as I lost theoretical S8 psycannon shots, but I'm thinking maybe it's a good thing.  Now I'll save some points by not giving the squads the ammo, so I'm thinking about a list that has a Terminator core with Purifiers in Razorbacks and Riflemen Dreads.  This is the same idea as before except with Psybolted Razorbacks instead of Rhinos.  This also means the list will play different with the Razorbacks rushing to deploy their contents and then lending supporting fire, instead of a moving bunker approach.  Not having psybolted psycannons means the Riflemen are even more important as I'll lost a lot of theoretical S8 psycannon shots.  Fortunately psybolts work on autocannons and heavy bolters, bumping them both up a level in terms of Instant Death.  I'll have to see what such a list looks like.  I liked the one I had before, but it lacked the Dreads and had lots of Terminator Psycannons instead.  A new list is liable to have less Terminators, but it might also avoid the problem of Paladins having 2 psycannons per 5 troops, while the GK Terminators boxes only come with a single psycannon per 5.  Maybe I can squeeze in a Dreadknight too...

PSA: Facebook Walls Are Not People - Off Topic Tuesday

A few incidents have happened in my life where real life friends have shown some mean true colors against me based on Facebook. I know that the internet has a certain anonymity that allows for this kind of stuff to happen with faceless nameless strangers... but when it is real friends it cuts pretty deep. One would think they knew you better than that, but apparently not.

In just looking at my Facebook wall I bet a lot of people have a very different picture about who I am. They probably think if they get an epidural or use formula they can't be friends with me. Yeah... right... because I'm THAT petty. All I want based on information I share is for folks to know their options because the epidural and formula world has become so normal that anything different almost needs to fight for attention.

People might think I'm a stubborn opinionated bitch, but it's my wall and I'll put my thoughts up there regardless of what anyone thinks. Sometimes I treat it almost like a journal. Most of the links I post are simply to spread knowledge for those that want it. All I'm doing is clicking 'share' from other peoples walls. I'm not spending hours blogging and scouring the internet for every little detail. It's not my life. Feel free to gloss over it and ignore it much like I do when people talk about sporting events, working on cars, or finding a new job.

Now, if we actually hang out in person... guess what... I don't talk about any of that stuff unless you bring it up! I do actually have other things to talk about in this world. I'm probably the most non-confrontational wuss debate avoider in the world. Do not fear hanging out with me... I promise I don't bite.

Now, I'm not going to change my ways - so I beg you... if you are on my friend list just festering with hate against me based on links I post or statuses I write... do us both a favor and either talk to me about it or click that unfriend button rather than let your anger build until you lash out against me. I'm not the one lurking in the dark, I don't know how you feel about the issues if you never tell me, and I don't mean to hurt/offend anyone.

If Facebook had existed 10 years ago my statuses would have been filled with information about drink specials, who slept with who, how much work sucked, rights of other beings on this earth, late nights, needing caffeine to function, and other such non-sense. Guess what? Nothing has changed. Just now the beverage special I'm talking about is breastfeeding, who slept with who is co-sleeping, etc. That's just it - those are all things I do no matter what decade or place I am in life... but they are not WHO I am.

Dairy free for ME!

As I mentioned in The Crankiest Baby on the Block and The Crankiest Baby on Block-Not Mine Ella is a cranky pants and we seemed to have found the magic combination of things to help with her crankiness. She has silent reflux and is on reflux meds and I cut all dairy out of my diet. When I first considered the dairy free thing, I was horrified at the very idea. I. Love. Dairy. Let me say that again.

I. LOVE. DAIRY!

LOVE.

I love sour cream. I love cheese. I love milk. I love ice cream. I love yogurt. I love butter. I. LOVE. BUTTER.

The doctor recommended a lactose free formula. Uh huh. I don't love dairy THAT much.

But it was still a huge sacrifice. A sacrifice that I was more then willing to make though. I figured that not only was this what you just DO for your baby but it was also an opportunity to eat a bit healthier. No more tacos that are essentially some meat with gobs of sour cream and cheese. No more "couple bites" of a pint of Ben and Jerry's that turns out to be half the pint. No more sleeve of oreos with a huge glass of milk.

I went cold turkey. Just stopped eating it one day. It was okay. Not bad. I missed the cheese on my eggs though. I had a few friends who had done dairy free for various reasons and one went shopping with me and made some recommendations. She introduced me to almond milk, rice milk, recipes etc. I also discovered coconut milk and coconut ice cream. Can I just say that coconut milk is probably the best thing ever? I absolutely love coconut milk. It's like a party in my mouth. Oh, and french toast made with vanilla almond milk? Yes please.

Our diet, which always included most healthy things, often included a lot of cheese. Cheese on everything. Lasagna. Tacos (with cheese and sour cream). Casseroles--with cheese. Eggs...with cheese. You get my point. I've lost most of the meals in my rotation and had to come up with new meal ideas. And we've started eating healthier!! My two year old has discovered hummus with carrots and we eat that at least 4x a week. Lots of veggies are now used and I don't eat nearly as much pasta (we've always eaten whole wheat pasta at least!). I'm still learning and definitely need to find more recipes and meal ideas but it's gotten easier. And honestly? Dairy is not good I discovered. I took a swig of milk about a week ago because I had a craving all of a sudden and I had a sour tummy for the rest of the night and it tasted like icky poo-poo. NOT good. Had a slice of cheese? Ummm...how do I put this delicately? Well, my husband used our second bathroom.

It's a lot of work but it's so worth it, and it's healthier too! The worst thing I've discovered is that Trader Joes has some pretty UH-MAZING dark chocolate peanut butter cups that are dairy free...which I no longer buy because I'll eat like 8 in one day and they are 100 calories each. Bad news bears!

Girly, For Once

I don't wear makeup, tweeze my eyebrows, wear dresses, wear high heels, carry a purse, get my hair styled, wear jewelry, or paint my nails. My own mother was much the same. For Chicklett? Why would I dress her in frilly tutus and headbands with giant gerber daisy flowers? I pretty much dress my children in normal clothing that I would also wear. I wear jeans and a t-shirt just about every day. To me, dressing her in some things I've seen would be as silly as me wearing a prom dress to the grocery store. If you want to dress your child that way, more power to you... but I get crabby about being judged for not doing it. When people insinuate that I don't dress her "girly" it rubs me the wrong way... because clothing does not make you one gender or the other. Just because she's not in pink with ruffles and lace doesn't make her any less of a girl.

My daughter also has the "unfortunate" circumstance of being born to parents who had a boy first that do not believe in strict gender roles. Therefore... much of her hand-me-downs are big brothers former clothing. I guess maybe my son should be extra thankful he wasn't born second! Ha! We did "team green" for both pregnancies, so much of our initial 3 month and under clothing is pretty neutral anyway.

Now, I do weed through and find things that are more neutral and I have also obtained many articles of clothing from friends with older girls. So, it's not all cammo, trucks, and dinosaurs for this little girl. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But, I fail to see why we need to have the brown pants with a little ruffle on the bottom VS just regular brown pants. Know what I mean?

At Christmas time I dressed my daughter in the same little suit we had my son in for some photos of her sitting in an antique toddler rocking chair next to the tree. I thought it was cute to have them do the same sort of pose. There were already some raised eyebrows on that one.

Could my children BE any cheekier??

With the "girl" hand-me-downs I often weed through them and regift the more elaborate things on to other friends who have girls. First off, I think that my daughter looks washed out in pastels - so that means all things light pink get put in the "to go" box. She has fair skin and black hair - deeper/brighter colors just look much better on her. Just like her mama. :)

And secondly, we are also a "onesie" kind of a family. I never knew this phenomenon existed until I had children... but there are folks who love onesies and ones that could live without them. Our baby's wear onesies every day of the week. Shirts and dresses just seem insane in our cold Minnesota climate. Shirts always bunch up exposing skin, and dresses... well.. come on! Brrrr! We're just very practical folks. Maybe now that summer is around the corner we will branch out... maybe...

The horde takes shape

Roll tide roll.

On a whim yesterday I decided to pull out the Orks needed for my prospective 500 point list, just to see what they look like.  Despite counting a number of times, I still wasn't convinced I had all the models to fill the list out.  Turns out I don't, but the power klaw Nob that I'm missing I already knew about, so it's almost like I'm not missing anything at all.  I grouped all the lads up, using a stunt Ork for the absent Mek and the to-be-made Nob, and took a nice family photo.  What pleased me most about this exercise was that all but 8 of the 53 minis have some color of non-primer on them.  I also found that with a bare minimum of repainting I can field a Dethskull slugga mob.  I'm on the fence about this as it's something I'd like to get done, but considering how much progress has already been made on the Evil Suns mob, and how much I have left to do on the whole batch, this may not be feasible.

Who needs detail?

Speaking of progress, things took a tiny hit this week.  My existing can of gloss varnish, a Krylon can, is all but finished.  As such I got a new one a couple weeks ago, this time Rustoleum as Home Depot didn't have any Krylon.  I figured that varnish is varnish, and I'm not so worried about the gloss coat anyway.  Turns out all cans are not made equal.  The new one has a different kind of nozzle, one that allows spraying at any angle.  This is nice enough as I don't have to worry about the stream failing if I move my hand to an odd position, though you can't clean the nozzle by turning the can upside down and spraying like other cans.  The biggest difference is the amount of spray.  The new can is less a spray than a rocket.  My usual 6-8 inch distance between can and model became something like 24-30 inches with the new one.  Overall I was pleased, until I took a look at the finished product.  I'm of the belief that there's no such thing as too much varnish, but I've been disabused of that belief again with this latest batch.  I filled in a lot of detail with the varnish and now things look funny.  I'm hoping that when the Dullcote goes on things will look better, but for now I've made the shoota boys that I spent many, many hours on instead look like I spent a couple minutes.  I'm none too optimistic that this will happen, but ultimately they'll be a small section of a larger mob and should do fine.

The new batch.

I spun my wheels a bit deciding what to paint next, but finally settled on a batch of the recently primed shootas.  I'm fighting my urge to paint them as well as possible and am trying to replace that urge with a desire to paint quickly.  It's a process and will require plenty of effort to implement, but it's something I need to work on.  With this in mind, I'm trying a new approach on these models.  I did the skin with a base of Goblin Green followed by a heavy-ish drybrush of Snot Green, which all the models got.  Then I started playing with washes.  I did the helmeted models with an overall coat of Thrakka Green, then a coat of Devlan Mud targeted into the details and shadowy areas.  The rest of the batch got the same treatment, but starting with the Mud and ending with the Green.  I also did one model with a full coat of both, starting with the Mud.  In the end, they all look pretty similar, so going forward I may do the double total wash, or maybe just the Mud if that looks good when I try it later.  I also started the whites on one group.

As an end note, I got another Warstore email telling me that all my backorders, TDA Chaplain included, have been filled.  My order is presumably on its way now, and might show up on Monday or Tuesday.  Some rough figuring tells me that I'll need another Dread, a box of Kans, a box of Bikers, and perhaps a box of Nobs or Boys.  That feels pretty close to me, even if a lot of what I have still needs to be built.

Objectivist Round Up - April 21, 2011

Welcome to the April 21, 2011 edition of the Objectivist Round Up. This has been a big week for Objectivism! Many of the posts this week are reviews of the Atlas Shrugged movie, and whether we loved it or hated it, whether we promote it or renounce it, we can all agree how wonderful it is that the book sales are so high! So here is the new edition of the Roundup, and here's to many new people reading it and reading Atlas Shrugged.

Edward Cline presents April Fools’ Day: Imam Rauf Addresses the Nation posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, "On April 1st, The Washington Post, in its continuing state of dhimmitude, allowed Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, founder of the Cordoba Initiative and promoter of the Park51 mosque near Ground Zero, to serve Americans a smorgasbord of Islamic taqiyya, “Five myths about Muslims in America.” Taqiyya is the Islamic practice of saying one thing in English, and another in Arabic. His article was reprinted in numerous newspapers across the country. This commentary will serve as a rebuttal to his principal assertions."

Joseph Kellard presents My Long Road to Objectivism posted at The American Individualist, saying, "A looked back at my years-long introduction to Ayn Rand and her books that changed my life."

Hannah Eason presents The Real World: Atlas Shrugged posted at Hannah, Writer, saying, "A for-fun recasting of the Atlas Shrugged movie with public-figure doppelgangers."

Tony White presents Post 3: How to watch the Atlas Shrugged movie posted at Peripatetic Thoughts, saying, "A blog post reviewing the Atlas Shrugged movie and suggesting that Objectivists will profit from watching the movie in a certain way."

John Drake presents What are you doing this summer? posted at Try Reason!, saying, "Maybe not Phineas and Ferb quality, but I will be busy this summer."

Shrikant Rangnekar presents Atlas Shrugged Movie Report: April 17, 2011 posted at Shrikant Rangnekar.

Ari Armstrong presents Atlas Shrugged Audience Reactions posted at Free Colorado, saying, "Hear what audience members thought of the Atlas Shrugged film in Westminster, CO, in this video."

Harsha Vardhan presents Food Ministry to target food wastage at weddings. posted at Harsha blogs!, saying, "Food Ministry has decided to target food wastage at weddings. How absurd can they get?"

Opus Dei presents This is John Galt Speaking posted at Ayn and Self..., saying, "No one on earth explained 'Individualism' and 'Capitalism' in this honorable a way. Never ever did history of literature witness such a feat as the John Galt speech. And I know, it never will."

David C Lewis, RFA presents Are You Responsible For Your Own Retirement? posted at A Revolution In Financial Planning, saying, "There was a time when people were responsible for their own retirement. Now that burden is shared or completely shifted onto taxpayers. I discuss an interesting day-trip to a county fair and what I learned there."

Jason Stotts presents Atlas Shrugged: The Movie posted at Erosophia, saying, "My thoughts on the new Atlas Shrugged movie."

Kate Yoak presents Life begins at conception posted at Parenting is..., saying, "An unborn baby does not have individual rights, it does not think, feel or reason. It exists outside of governmental control or protection. But it does have an identity. I describe the intimate connection that begins even as it is just a multi-cellular organism."

Rational Jenn presents The One about the Atlas Shrugged Movie posted at Rational Jenn, saying, "My thoughts about the experience of seeing the new Atlas Shrugged movie as well as how our local group is trying to take advantage of all of this recent interest in Ayn Rand and Objectivism."

Stephen Bourque presents Movie Review: Atlas Shrugged Part 1 posted at One Reality, saying, "I enjoyed watching the film . . . but it has a lot of problems."

Shrikant Rangnekar presents Atlas Shrugged Movie Polls (Over 350+ answers and counting?) posted at Shrikant Rangnekar

Harsha Vardhan presents Back to License Raj--Competition Commission's new guidelines. posted at Harsha blogs!, saying, "This note addresses the negative effects of the new merger guidelines released by the Competition Commission of India."

John McVey presents OTI post #5 - validation and importance posted at John J McVey.

Rory presents Politics: Addendum posted at A Matter Of Mind To Matter, saying, "Something of a personal post, but also something I think others will be able to relate to: the attitude that when it comes to trying to change the world, inspiration and appeals to emotion are just as important as reason and facts."

Diana Hsieh presents Atlas Shrugged, Part 1: Video of My Review posted at NoodleFood, saying, "In Sunday's Rationally Selfish Webcast, I discussed "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" in the "Atlas Shrugged, Part 1" movie. Here's the 17-minute video from that webcast."

Scott Connery presents Bring the Troops Home From the Drug War posted at Rational Public Radio, saying, "It's time to learn from the mistakes of alcohol prohibition and apply them to drug prohibition. It's time for advocates of liberty to become consistent advocates."

Rachel Miner presents Harry Potter Love posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, "This is a combined post where I both share my reasons for re-reading the Harry Potter series so many times and briefly review Ari Armstrong's new edition of Values of Harry Potter."

Jim Woods presents Unbalanced Rhetoric posted at Words by Woods, saying, "Sen. DeMitt offers empty rhetoric instead of legislative integrity."

Kelly Elmore presents An Instance of Problem-Solving Between Parent and Child posted at Reepicheep's Coracle, saying, "This post describes a misunderstanding between parent and child and how we solved it together."

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Objectivist Round Up using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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A question that should have occurred long ago

How did I miss this?

While poking around the interwebs I came across a throw-away reference to Blood Angel, and Space Wolf, Rhino rushes.  This is a tactic I'm very familiar with from back in 3rd edition, but one I didn't think would work in 5th.  I'm under the impression that you can't assault from a vehicle that has moved that turn, which would mean this "rush" involves racing your Rhinos forward, then taking a turn of shooting before piling out and assaulting.  I believe the Blood Angels had a rule in their 3rd ed codex that let them assault out of a moving vehicle, though I don't have my books handy to check, which made this approach viable way back when.  Since there is no such rule in the current BA codex, I'm assuming that they can't pull the same trick now and have been focused on jump armies as a result.  I've been doodling up a bunch of Rhino based lists lately with the aim of running a mobile bunker sort of list though I'd much rather keep the assault flavor of the army.

Now I'm wondering if I have it wrong.  Fortunately I have my 40k rulebook on hand, plus Ork and BA codices, so I can go check it out.  If things work like I think they might then I'll likely lose most of the day in list writing.

Update: Looks like I was right.  While BA Rhinos are fast, that doesn't let the unit inside jump out and assault.  Trukks will work though being open-topped.

Nurse-In

We're coming up on the 1-year anniversary of me officially considering myself a lactavist. Last Easter a woman in one of my mommy groups was harassed while enjoying a family dinner when her baby wanted to nurse and restaurant employees took issue with it. I had never even heard of someone being harassed for breastfeeding before, and quite frankly it made my brain explode. I found myself stepping forward to support this woman and others like her.

Being involved in a nurse-in was a wild experience. Actually being the planner of the nurse-in is not something I ever thought I would be doing. I'm not generally one to take a "stand" and publicly show it, but then again... don't mess with mama bear's right to feed her baby!

A nurse-in generally happens at an establishment where a breastfeeding mother was mistreated. Yes, you are giving them money by purchasing something in order to avoid being in trouble for loitering... but it is to prove a point and then never go back there again.

I guess the event I organized was technically a "nurse-out" as we did it in front of the building rather than actually going inside. Old Country Buffet was too spendy of a stand to make having all of us go inside. Not like we could just order a $1.89 soda pop and chill out for an hour. We had lots of media coverage, and a good turn out. Overall a totally positive experience and I highly recommend being involved if ever one happens in your community.

Every time something like this happens to a nursing mother we have an opportunity to educate and change the view of the general public. Some people are beyond educating... but there are a large number that just have never seen breastfeeding before and they believe the crazies who think we all strut around topless shaking our milk makers.

After the initial hype of the Old Country Buffet incident I wanted to have a Facebook page with a more positive spin on things, and thus The Normalize Nursing in Public League (The NNIPL) was born. And yes... the acronym is like the word 'nipple' and yes... the logo is a giant boob. I'm still surprised at how many people don't catch that the first time around.

It's a small, green world

This is what I call a successful morning.

Because this part of the post goes with the picture it gets to kick things off.  This has been a productive day in terms of volume, if not in finished product.  On the heels of thinking that I should figure out what kind of Orks I have built, and what I still need to build, I combined some of my Ork boxes today.  The storage system for my Orks is complicated, or used to be.  I had two boxes, one for models with some form of paint and one for models devoid of paint.  This morning I switched it up a little and put all the infantry in one box and all the vehicles in another.  While doing so, I discovered that I have enough to fill out a 500(ish) point list, provided that I switch the mob sizes of the sluggas and shootas and that I build another power klaw Nob.  It makes a bit more sense to have a full sized slugga mob in retrospect, so this all has worked out for the best.  I based all the unprimed models, plus the painted ones that are finished.  The spray cans came next, primer for the bare plastics and varnish for the painted ones.  While I would prefer to base things before they get primed, having things already painted and unbased makes that a little tough.  I used a bit less water than usual when mixing the glue, so hopefully the ballast will stick better in this batch.  I also hope that the varnish will keep the ballast in place on the painted ones so I can actually paint the bases instead of just wiping the ballast off with a brush.  Time will tell.



From the "what a small world we live in" file, I had an odd collision of interests this morning.  While this blog is about wargaming, I have another overriding passion: hockey.  Keen-eyed observers may have noticed that my user icon is a Caps logo and that one of the blogs I follow is a Caps-centric blog.  I've been a season ticket holder for something like 12 years now, and over that time I've come to recognize some of the so-called superfans.  One of these fans is known as Goat, an odd name for the single loudest person I know of.  He yells of "Let's go Caps" can be heard throughout the arena, and he's been a fixture for as long as I can remember.  While reading some hockey article or other, I followed a couple links and ended up at his home page, appropriately called Loud Goat.  A few clicks later, I'm surprised to discover that he was a graphic designer for GW for many years.  While I realize that the odds are decent that someone else in the 18,000+ fans at Verizon Center shares similar interests, outside of hockey, it's still an odd feeling to know that the guy that sits on the other end of the ice from me was connected to the hobby world.

As a forgotten addendum, I put in a Warstore order this morning for Draigo, Crowe, a TDA Chappy (who didn't appear on the order I got in the email, but hopefully I can straighten it out), an Ork Dread, and some Orky dice.  I considered Pedro Kantor, but in the end figured that I could convert one up easy enough in the unlikely event that I absolutely have to have one before GW replaces metal with whatever it is they'll be using.  With this order in, I'm covered on special characters I could conceivably want to use and almost set on sculpts that I like enough to buy. 

I've seen the green light

The (nearly) finished group.

I had an epiphany while painting Orks today: if I don't stop painting them eventually, they'll never get done.  This may seem obvious, but it's a hard step for me to take.  I've mentioned my desire to fully shade and highlight every buckle on a mini in the past, which is a noble goal.  However, it doesn't work so well with a horde army.  As such, I'm about to call this batch done.  I'm considering doing some of the weapon details like the glyphs in red, and they need to be based, but I'm happy enough with the group to call them nearly finished.  They aren't my best work ever, but they'll look fine as a group.  Quantity has a quality all it's own after all.  I hope to get a similarly productive day in tomorrow, though I'm torn between sticking with painting and assembling more boys.  I'll need more shoota boys regardless, and I think I need more slugga boys too.  I'll also need to make up some power klaw nobs and possibly a few special weapons. 

Mr. Good Enough.

In other news, I found some of my list of metal minis to get before they disappear.  I stopped by the FLGS yesterday before work, but they didn't have any of what I was looking for.  I sent off an inquiry to the Warstore and while they have a couple of the minis, Chaplains and GK characters to be particular, they're lacking the BA characters I'm really after.  I tried another not so local store this afternoon and had more success.  I have a Sanguinor, Astorath the Grim, Lemartes, and Terminator Librarian now.  Since I can get Draigo and the Terminator Chaplain through the Warstore, and will place that order soon, my list of Potentially Regrettable minis is complete.  There are a couple from the Would Be Nice list floating around that I may come back to, or I may fill out the Warstore order with some Orky walkers.  I should really sit down with mt Ork boxes one day and figure out exactly what I have.  One thing I already have built but hasn't made it's way into a recent army list is an 'Ard Boys mob.  It's trukk sized, and has a big shoota, so it's unlilkely to see table time in the near future, but I could always use them as regular slugga boys until I find a need for them.  While I originally intended them to be a trukk mob, I'm starting to wonder if they wouldn't be better off as a much larger infantry mob.  Of course they may not be viable at all as 4 points for a 4+ save seems a bit steep, but since Orks are so cheap it shouldn't be too hard to find a spot for them.  That said, I never seem to have enough points to fit everything I want into a list.

The Crankiest Baby on the Block-Not mine!

So, you know those babies who cry when they're hungry? Or tired? Or need lovin'? Or they're uncomfortable?....and that's the only reason they cry? You know, normal freakin' newborns. Uh yeah, Ella is one of those babies. Oh yes, my friends it is true. My baby is fixed. Do you hear the choir of angels?

I started out by bringing her to the chiropractor and while that helped with some issues, it didn't help with the constant screaming (which is a distant memory...). I had noticed at night that Ella would gag in her sleep but she wasn't a spitter so I called the doctor and requested reflux meds. They prescribed them over the phone because we'd discussed the issue already. I got them and started her on it. A few days later, the screaming was still going on. So I finally did it. I gave in. I said goodbye to my milk. Goodbye ice cream. Goodbye {gasp, choke, sob} sour cream. And within 2 days she was cured. She only cried (and screamed) when she needed something...well for the most part. About a week or so into it, I decided to try and see how she'd do off the reflux meds because I don't want her on meds if she doesn't need them obviously. Day 1, excellent. Day 2, great...I'm actually excited. Day 3? PURE HELL.  She screamed the entire day. Alrighty so it takes approximately 2 full days for the reflux meds to get out of baby's system. Noted. Put her back on them and next day she was a-okay. It was a freakin' miracle.

I've actually been handeling the dairy free thing much better then I thought I would. She can tolerate some butter thank GOD and I now drink almond or coconut milk. I've gotten creative with my cooking and coconut ice cream is my BFF. Mmm have you ever had coconut ice cream? YOU MUST TRY IT. I swear to God, I like it better then regular ice cream!! It's amazing! Then the other night I took a swig of cows milk and I almost puked. I had an upset tummy all night long and the grossest taste in my mouth. I don't know that I'll ever drink cows milk again. EW!

Ella still has some issues. The car is NOT her friend. She HATES her car seat. She screams almost the entire time. It's horrible going places. When she DOES need something or is tired and fighting it, she gets extremely worked up. I have a long scratch on my breast from a nap battle the other day. But now she's just a regular high needs preemie as opposed to a hell demon high needs preemie. It's so much better...I can't even tell you guys. And we're still going strong on breastfeeding. :)

An Instance of Problem-Solving Between Parent and Child

For the past few months, Livy has been shutting her door when she is alone in her room, playing or watching TV. I have always knocked and waited for an answer before I come in because that seemed respectful and kind. Lately, I have been getting the answer, "What?" when I knock.

I was bothered by this because it just sounds so cold. "What?" Not, "Yes?" or "Come in." I was starting to get super irritated by how rude this sounded, and it hurt my feelings a little because it felt like my presence was irritating to Livy and causing her to be rude.

Finally, I talked with her about it. I said, "Could you say something else when I knock on your door? 'What?' sounds very rude to me, and I'd like you to answer in some more polite way, like "Yes?" or "Come in." This didn't sound like a very big request to me.

Well, it was. She started to cry and said that she didn't want to say any other words but "What?" She said that she wasn't trying to be rude and that she didn't want to talk about this anymore EVER.

I pulled her into my lap and comforted her in her obvious distress. "We have a problem. We have to talk about. Do you need a break before we talk about it anymore?" No, she didn't want a break. Her attitude seemed to be that if we had to talk about this, we might as well get it over with. :)

I told her about how "What?" hurt my feelings because it seemed she never wanted me to come in. She cried more and told me that she didn't want to hurt my feelings, but she did not want to say any other words. She seemed adamant about not accepting any of my alternatives for "What?", and to this day, I have no idea why.

So I said, "I don't know what to do about this situation. I don't want to have my feelings hurt every time I knock. You don't want to say any words except the ones that sound rude. Do you just want me not to knock?"

At this, Livy brightened right up. She thought this was an excellent idea. I learned that really she didn't like to be interrupted by my knocking and her having to give an answer. If I just come in, she has a second to finish her thought, pause her movie, put her Lego in place, close her circuit, whatever, and then she doesn't feel like she loses her train of thought. She wasn't closing her door to have privacy; she told me that I can come in anytime I want and she'll never mind. She added that she never, ever wanted to talk about this again. Apparently what to say when someone knocks on your door is traumatic. :) I told her that we might want to talk about it again when she is older or if our plan doesn't work, but that for right now, we can drop the subject entirely.

The plan has been working: I have been walking right in, and she has been perfectly happy about it. I don't feel hurt by rudeness, she doesn't feel interrupted, and we understand each other a little bit better.

Blood Angels vs. Plague Marines: The Hat Trick

EV and I had our third round of Blood Angel vs Plague Marines yesterday.  Our lists were the same as last time, but to briefly recap:

Blood Angels
Librarian with Jump Pack, Shield, and Blood Lance
Sanguinary Guard w/ Banner
3 Sanguinary Priests, 2 with Jump Pack & Power Weapon
3 max Assault Squads with 2 Meltaguns and Power Fist
2 max Devestator Squads with 4 Missile Launchers

Plague Marines
2 Daemon Princes with Wings and Warp Time
3 pairs of Obliterators
4 Plague Marine squads in Rhinos with a mix of special weapons and Power Fists

We alternated terrain setup.  I tried to keep my objective close to EV's again, but the best I could do was putting it on the same side of the board as it had to be in my deployment zone.

Those circles sure are hard to see...

We rolled the double objective mission along with Dawn of War.   EV set out a single squad in a rhino, while I held everything off the board.  He rolled on in turn 1 strong on the side with the objectives.

EV after 1.

Everything runs on for me.  Because I love coming around terrain, I decided to return to my strategy from last game and attempt to roll EV's flank.  I placed the Devs in cover as best possible to try and keep them out of the Obliterator's field of view.

My turn 1.

EV shoots a couple of my troops in his turn, but mostly stays put.  I start swinging my jumpers around while the Devs shoot.  Coming into this game the thing I wanted to do most was shoot those Daemon Princes with my missiles.  Krak missiles are as perfect a weapon as there is for taking them out.  Considering how much trouble they've caused in the past I was willing to take any shot possible, regardless of cover saves or juicier targets.

What kind of daemon prince hides behind a rhino?

Of course this plan required me to be able to fire on the Daemon Princes.  Since EV hid them behind the Rhinos, I couldn't shoot at them since I couldn't see them.  With no better option I shot up the Rhinos instead.  I blew two up, but they stayed on the board and kept the Princes hidden.

I demeched things, huzzah.

I underestimated the charge range on one of the Princes, so an Assault squad took one for the team.  EV chewed a pretty good hole in the squad, but they didn't break.  I had a bit of a ponder in my half of the turn.  One of my Assault squads could have mostly cleared the center woods, a jump that would put them in the middle of the Plague Marines.  I decided to keep them in line because I didn't want to lose troops to a dangerous terrain check and also didn't want to strand them in the middle of the opposing army.  Instead the other non-engaged Assault squad leapt over the combat to shoot and charge the Plague Marines behind.  A spectacular round of shooting and combat saw the Plague Marines rout my Assaulters for little loss.  I also unloaded every missile I had into the other Daemon Prince only to watch it come away unharmed.  Not the best turn ever.  At least one of the Daemon Princes was still locked up with the remains of the last Assault squad.

End of turn 3.

EV advances of the objectives this turn.  One of his Rhinos continues its push forward, while a demeched squad comes up on foot.  His unengaged Prince charges into the fleeing Assault Squad.  Warp Time sucks a lot, but fortunately I have a Psychic Hood in my army.  Unfortunately it never worked.  EV did take a wound or two from Perils of the Warp though, and through general wear and tear his Princes were a little banged up.  Since it was turn 4, I started thinking about the objectives.  With two Princes and a bullish squad of Plague Marines on the left of the woods, I didn't think I'd have anything getting out of there to contest.  Fortunately EV didn't have any scoring units close to his objective, so I figured I could run Devestators up to contest my objective and get a draw.  EV finally breaks the squad that's been holding up one of his Princes, which leaves him stranded and staring down a lot of melt and power weapons.

EV turn 4.

I send the Sanguinary Guard after the Plague Marines and the Assault squad to the Prince.  The Guard are great against things they can demolish, but if they start taking power weapon hits they disappear.  Since the Prince would strike before them, so I'll let him eat Assault marines instead.  Both units do their job and finish their targets, which is quite the victory for me.

At the bottom of the board I send the lone Assault Sergeant over to the Rhino, along with the Priest who babysits the Devs.  I didn't think the pair would do too well, but they would at least hold up the advance of the Rhino.  I stunned it with a couple missiles, while a couple more were ineffective against the remaining Prince.  The Sergeant pops the Rhino in the assault, but has to stand and watch the troops pour out of it.

End of turn 4.

Coming into turn 5 the best I can hope for is a draw, but I think I have a good shot at it.  EV charges the Sanguinary Guard.  He attacks the squad, which takes out the Chapter Banner.  The Priest and Librarian do a wound or two, but still lose.  The Librarian runs, but the Priest stays and denies me the chance to shoot it with meltaguns.

EV turn 5.

I finished off the second Prince in my turn, and my Priest survived through the end of the turn at the bottom.  These were hollow victories though.  EV moved a squad onto his objective in his turn from a Rhino I had completely forgotten about.  He contested mine at the least and probably held it outright.

End of game.

It was ante\her crushing defeat for the Blood Angels, but I think I did better this time.  I took out both Princes and two squads, which is the most casualties I've inflicted yet.  I had a decent shot at a draw, that one forgotten Rhino aside.  My shooting was subpar, the missiles in particular.  I didn't get as many missiles into the Princes as I wanted, but the ones I did were ineffective.  The whole Plague Marine army is a tough nut, but I'll crack it eventually.