ExecutiveMom's Safety and Self Defense Blog

No Tolerance or No Common Sense?

As a mother fighting to remove child molesters from our neighborhoods - not only putting them in prison but requiring counseling and mandatory programs (or there won't be any chance of rehab and we will continue with our high recidivism rate) and someone who believes very strongly in educating our children and families about "appropriate" touch and "not keeping secrets"..... I have to say, there are days and times I wonder if we have all just lost the ability to use common sense or to make a punishment fit the crime. 

People are not all "one size fits all" and neither are their circumstances and behaviors.  We can not expect every  "round peg" to fit into some "square hole" just because that is the "rule".   Where did we get the idea that everything is black and white with no shades of gray in between?  When did we stop thinking for ourselves and begin to follow cookie cutter patterns? 

Where did our common sense go???

My story begins two days ago at our elementary school.  The youngest had just finished a program on good / bad touch (which I'm not all in favor of since some bad touch does feel good but that's for another day).  There is a substitute teacher.

Two hours after viewing this educational movie - with only the sub as a guidance person on the issue - a group of girls are goofing around.  A little boy drops his pencil.  The girls pick it up.  Laughing, giggling, teasing, they hold the pencil high and the play begins.  In the middle of this adventure, the 7 year old boy touches a girls leg and then her chest. 

(now let me tell you I have been in close lines of people where I have whipped around to talk to the kids or something and accidentally hit a lady behind me in the chest - nice and hard with a hand or elbow..... embarrassing - definitely, sexual harassment?)

Anyway, girls tell teacher boy touched "inappropriately" and well sub takes boy to principal - huge mountain out of a mole hill / accident during play...and boy now has a one time strike on his record for inappropriate play / conduct.

WTH? Again I ask - where is our common sense?? Can we not allow children to be children? And then who reacts when something "bad" truly does happen? Have we taken some of this too far without fixing the true problem?  I am just beyond words on these types of punishments - and I know this isn't the first case of over reaction when it comes to a "no tolerance" policy....PLEEEEEAZE.....

Love to hear your thoughts...

For more on sexual assault and child safety click HERE: 

Barbie and A Conversation About Race

Doing my mommy thing today -

I read this in today's paper and found it quite interesting.  For the life of me, I can't figure out why people have to make EVERYTHING racial.  What happened to "people" issues or "human" issues.  We are all in this together.  Personally, I wouldn't care what color the Barbie was - hey, a sale is a sale and if I can get my child a toy that's cheaper - good for me! And great for my daughter - she not only gets a doll now but I can also afford to buy her additional clothes or other accessories.

My daughter is a teen now but have to say that through Bratz and the American Girl Doll collection - we have dolls that are white, black, American Indian, Spanish and Japanese.  They all seemed to play well together and there has been no revolt in our storage closet from any of them to this date....

You don't hear families complaining because there aren't more Asian or Mexican dolls like Barbie... JMO.  This is a marketing issue and happens on every product in a store that doesn't sell well so what makes this a "race" issue. 

I for one, as a parent trying to teach my child equality and inner beauty, am sick of hearing over and over again about "separate but equal".  It is not anybody's fault for the separation issues except for those groups that continue to bring it up (NAACP, etc).  We are people, we all have issues, we all are Americans born here (although my roots can be traced directly to the home my grandmother was born in - in Morocco Africa - so we are truly white, African Americans if you want to be technical - can many do that? )  Get over this race thing - it's a HUMAN thing....how can I teach my children equality when so many continue to want to harp on quotas and separation ???  No one is suppressed unless they chose to be - there are many opportunities in this country....(my incredibly beautiful, black female college room mate was abused as a child, worked 2 jobs and got scholarships to go to law school, worked her butt off, kicked my ass in everything and is now helping those less fortunate? Sorry - don't see many excuses when there is a will - )

This is just my opinion and I know I'm opening a "can of worms" but as they said in the article - love to hear your opinion.  Maybe WalMart should have put the clearanced items on an end cap all together or some other positioning but I don't see this as a "devaluation" of a race....)

Walmart discounts black Barbie doll, leaves white version full-price

By Steve Parker

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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ABC News reports that Walmart is drawing criticism for selling a black Barbie doll side-by-side with a white Barbie with the black version selling for about half-price.

ABC News reports the dolls were first shown in a photograph “posted to the humor Web site FunnyJunk.com and later to the Latino Web site Guanabee.com.”

A Walmart spokesman couldn’t verify which store was pictured, but the spokesman did verify that the black doll was being sold at a discount while the white doll sold at full price, ABC News reports.

From ABC News:

“To prepare for (s)pring inventory, a number of items are marked for clearance, ” spokeswoman Melissa O’Brien said in an e-mail. “… Both are great dolls. The red price sticker indicates that this particular doll was on clearance when the photo was taken, and though both dolls were priced the same to start, one was marked down due to its lower sales to hopefully increase purchase from customers.”

“Pricing like items differently is a part of inventory management in retailing,” O’Brien said.

But, ABC News reports, some view that strategy as insensitive:

• “The implication of the lowering of the price is that’s devaluing the black doll,” said Thelma Dye, the executive director of the Northside Center for Child Development, a Harlem, N.Y. organization founded by pioneering psychologists and segregation researchers Kenneth B. Clark and Marnie Phipps Clark.  “While it’s clear that’s not what was intended, sometimes these things have collateral damage,” Dye said.

• Walmart could have decided “that it’s really important that we as a company don’t send a message that we value blackness less than whiteness,” said Lisa Wade, an assistant sociology professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles and the founder of the blog Sociological Images.  Last year, Wade posted a blog entry on another case where a black doll was apparently priced less than its white counterpart at an unidentified store. Wade said that when white dolls outsell black dolls, it’s usually because black parents are more likely than white parents to buy their children dolls of a different race.  “Most white parents wouldn’t think to buy a black doll for their child, even if they believe in equality and all those things,” she said.

What are your thoughts? Did Walmart show insensitivity in discounting just the black doll?

Are We Arrogant Americans?

Found this interesting....have we as American's gotten "too big for our own britches?"  Sometimes wonder if we all have so many expectations to "be manager.  Are we paid more than we deserve, yet unwilling to put in the work we owe?  We seem to have a lot of excuses for not doing this or that or we have to hire unqualified people because of anti-discrimination laws.  Are we too arrogant for our own good?  Who said life has to be a "Rat Race" and who says we can't have a balance of work / life any more?  We are all just people trying to survive in a declining environment....maybe this is a good time to reevaluate how we view ourselves, our place in this world and communities.... Just something to thing about - this doesn't paint a pretty picture of America but is it true?

    

Job Ad: 'Arrogant Americans,' Seek Work Elsewhere

An employer is apologizing after a help-wanted advertisement was published with a sentence that indicated "arrogant Americans" would be a bad fit for the company's open position, Fox News reports.

The ad, which was placed with CareerBuilder by a staffing firm on behalf of Exelon Nuclear Partners, started off simple enough, saying Exelon was looking for a technical writer who would be working with Chinese businesses. The ad indicated the company preferred a candidate "who is respectful and understands Chinese culture."

Then, there's the line that grabbed the attention of Fox News.

"An arrogant American will not work well in this role," the ad read.

In apologizing, Exelon said a third party had created the language that was included in the ad and that copy was never approved by Exelon.

"Exelon was surprised and very disappointed to see this job posting including this offensive and inappropriate language," the company said in a statement to Fox News. "This statement was not approved by Exelon and in no way reflects the company's policies and values. We regret that this language appeared in recruiting materials that were prepared by a third party and not approved by Exelon. We apologize for this error and the offense it has caused. We are taking steps to ensure this does not happen again. Exelon is deeply committed to diversity and inclusion, and we make every effort to attract and retain talent of all backgrounds."

The ad has been removed from CareerBuilder, but Fox News has a copy.

Source: Fox News
http://nl.blr-news.com/c.asp?830971&23f9056bae2215f6&27

Good luck in your life.   Best to you and yours.    Have a wonderful, healthy, SAFE weekend!

Drug Recall - Are You Up to date on Effexor and other products that may affect you?

Today, there has been a recall on Effexor XR distributed by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. 

What does that mean for you?

At this time, there have not been any reports of health problems associated with these recalled Effexor XR capsules. The chance of a patient consuming the recalled Effexor XR and experiencing problems is very low. However, since the capsules involved in the recall may contain unknown substances, it is best to avoid using the recalled product when possible.

The FDA has a list of the lots that are being recalled..... BUT have you signed up for their email notices which include recall notices and product label changes for anything from food and cosmetics to animal products to drugs and medical devices. 

You may want to check it out and keep updated on things that could affect your daily well-being.  For the FDA site click HERE.

Have a wonderful and SAFE weekend. For more information on Pharmaceutical safety and links click HERE