Harry Potter Fans

[galeteia]

Date: 10/5/2006 4:19:31 PM
Author: codex57
You don''t have to falsely accuse her of anything. Just check on her kids to make sure they''re all right. She''s acting a little strange. If that''s all there is, great. But just cuz someone has some beliefs doesn''t make it alright. It''s like strict vegans who don''t allow their newborn children to drink any milk or formulae. Certain beliefs can be harmful to a child''s health. It''s something you should check out for the sake of the children.

Err, you really riled me up with that statement. My non-existant maternal instincts are shrieking. I am definitely NOT a vegan, and if I had a child and you tried to feed it COWS MILK or FORMULA I would BEAT YOU DOWN for poisioning my child. Harmful to the child''s health? You betcha. Cows'' milk and formula are at worst harmful to a child''s health and at best nutritionally inferior to breastmilk. I know plenty of professional women who come from science-related backgrounds, who did the research, and who are passionate and outspoken about the erroneous belief that formula is as good as breastmilk, and who would never give their infants cows'' milk.

So please refrain from deriding vegans who are, in fact, protecting their children''s health.

 

[MINE!!]

Date: 10/5/2006 11:07:52 PM
Author: Galateia

Date: 10/5/2006 4:19:31 PM

Author: codex57

You don''t have to falsely accuse her of anything. Just check on her kids to make sure they''re all right. She''s acting a little strange. If that''s all there is, great. But just cuz someone has some beliefs doesn''t make it alright. It''s like strict vegans who don''t allow their newborn children to drink any milk or formulae. Certain beliefs can be harmful to a child''s health. It''s something you should check out for the sake of the children.

Err, you really riled me up with that statement. My non-existant maternal instincts are shrieking. I am definitely NOT a vegan, and if I had a child and you tried to feed it COWS MILK or FORMULA I would BEAT YOU DOWN for poisioning my child. Harmful to the child''s health? You betcha. Cows'' milk and formula are at worst harmful to a child''s health and at best nutritionally inferior to breastmilk. I know plenty of professional women who come from science-related backgrounds, who did the research, and who are passionate and outspoken about the erroneous belief that formula is as good as breastmilk, and who would never give their infants cows'' milk.


So please refrain from deriding vegans who are, in fact, protecting their children''s health.

Cow''s Milk for a child under 12 mos is not good. But there is nothiing... NOTHING wrong with giving a child Formula instead and Nursing... By looking at my children, you could NEVER tell which one was nursed and which one wasn;t, not by health OR size..

Just wanted to add that in... cause I think that it is wrong that people say that Formula is poison ... and I think it is ridiculous.

 

[galeteia]

Date: 10/5/2006 11:11:22 PM
Author: MINE!!

Cow's Milk for a child under 12 mos is not good. But there is nothiing... NOTHING wrong with giving a child Formula instead and Nursing... By looking at my children, you could NEVER tell which one was nursed and which one wasn;t, not by health OR size..


Just wanted to add that in... cause I think that it is wrong that people say that Formula is poison ... and I think it is ridiculous.

By 'poision', however hysterical I sounded (feed MY children dairy?! It's GO time!), I meant the dairy.

I was referring to the belief that formula is better than breastmilk, because it just isn't. About two weeks ago one of the abovementioned mothers was discussing some of the research being done on breastmilk, because there are some components to it they haven't even figured out yet.

 

[MINE!!]

K

Gotcha...

I understand what you are saying and understand your concerns. She is expressing her opinion and obviously she feels strongly about it. It does not hurt anyone, not your "future" children, and she is going to do what is best her her children.. no harm done... breath deep.

ANYWAY.. that is neither here nor there on this thread... we are talking about the Potter man... and who could not love Mr. Potter.. with or without a milk mustache...(smile)

 

[gailrmv]

Date: 10/5/2006 10:44:58 PM
Author: Alisoun

Date: 10/5/2006 8:38:31 PM
Author: gailrmv
I LOVE Harry Potter! Does anyone know when the next book comes out?

Hmm.. I''ve heard rumors that it will be released sometime in the summer of ''07, but I don''t think JK Rowling has confirmed that. I know the next HP movie is scheduled to be released this July, though.

Thanks! I am one of those nuts who is there at the midnight release party!

 

[bookworm21]

I heard that it will be released in July of 07. Not sure where I read that, but I''m pretty sure that''s the planned release date for the final book. I''m going to be SO sad when the series ends; I love those books. And while I''ll be too lazy to do the midnight, stand in line party thing, I''ll be there first thing in the morning!

 

[firebirdgold]

Ooh, I don''t think my new husband (by then) would let me stand in the midnight line! Or if he did then he''d take the book away. My fi knows perfectly well that I''d much rather read than sleep!

I love HP and I''m so glad I''m not the only adult around who does!

One of the things that baffles me about peoples negative reactions towards HP is that they just ignore how fantastic it is for getting kids to read. I know this kid, now a teenager and driving *ack*, who had managed to convince his mother that he was dyslexic and had other learning disabilities that prevented him from reading more than a comic book. Right up until all of his friends started to read HP. It''s amazing how Harry Potter managed to ''magic'' the disabilities away!

Now the kid... er young man (*ack*) wants to be a writer!

 

[fatafelice]

I'll add another example of positive Harry Potter "magic."

As a reading teacher, I require all of my students to bring in a novel for independent reading. They usually read about ten minutes a day and answer a general question designed to get them thinking about what they have read. Most finish their novel during the marking period without having to take it home to read, though they are certainly allowed to if they want to. The other day, a student approached me before class to tell me that he had read 100 pages of his novel at home the night before, just because he liked it so much. This became even more significant when he told me that this was the FIRST BOOK he had ever read on his OWN, despite being in 7th grade. I almost started to cry, I was so happy, and I can't even take credit. It is all because of the book...Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Even better? He has already gotten copies of the next few books so that he can read them as soon as he finishes this one!

 

[codex57]

Date: 10/5/2006 11:07:52 PM
Author: Galateia

Err, you really riled me up with that statement. My non-existant maternal instincts are shrieking. I am definitely NOT a vegan, and if I had a child and you tried to feed it COWS MILK or FORMULA I would BEAT YOU DOWN for poisioning my child. Harmful to the child's health? You betcha. Cows' milk and formula are at worst harmful to a child's health and at best nutritionally inferior to breastmilk. I know plenty of professional women who come from science-related backgrounds, who did the research, and who are passionate and outspoken about the erroneous belief that formula is as good as breastmilk, and who would never give their infants cows' milk.

So please refrain from deriding vegans who are, in fact, protecting their children's health.

I'm not gonna get into the argument over when to give formula, whether it's horrible for your health or not. That wasn't the point. My wife is a "professional with a science background" and I have plenty of doctor friends. They do the "evidence based" practice stuff and I've seen plenty of studies. I've also done litigation. I can give you a study or doctor to say whatever the hell you want. No real use arguing that stuff. Wasn't my point anyways.

However, I wasn't trying to say all vegans are child abusers. I was just using them as an example (altho you use just about anyone as an example). News story about them popped into mind that's all. An example of a parent who may mean well, but still can hurt their child. Yes, it's their "choice" but you can also "choose" to let a kid play with a loaded gun. Letting people have choice is fine and all, but it still doesn't mean that's a valid reason for letting people do whatever they want just cuz they believe something.

In case you're interested in what case I was talking about:
News Article

(Court TV) -- Silva Swinton and her husband, Joseph, followed a strict vegan diet in their Queens home. They swore off meat and dairy products and existed on a regiment of vegetables, grains, seeds and nuts.

When Silva gave birth to a daughter, Ice, in July 2000, they put the newborn on the same plan. Instead of breast milk or baby formula, Ice Swinton got herbal tea, flax seed oil, fruit juices and a homemade soy drink.

The result, authorities say, was a health catastrophe that rises to the level of a crime. At 15 months, the girl weighed only 10 pounds and had no teeth. She could not sit up or talk and had a swollen abdomen.

Doctors diagnosed her with severe malnutrition and rickets, and the Queens district attorney said it was one of the worst cases of neglect he'd seen.

Her parents are now on trial in Queens Supreme Court on first-degree assault charges that could land them each in jail for 25 years.

The Swintons, both 32, maintain they are loving parents who doted on Ice and thought the diet was best for her and her little brother, Ini, who was born after the couple's arrest. Both children are in foster care. In his opening statement last Tuesday, Silva Swinton's attorney, Christopher Shella, told the jury of nine women and three men, "At the end of the trial, you'll find that the choices they made were not criminal, but human."

The Swintons may take the witness stand in their own defense later this week. According to her lawyer, Silva Swinton suffered from medical problems, including obesity, before becoming a vegan. Both parents were suspicious of doctors and medicine, and Silva Swinton delivered Ice at home. The girl weighed three pounds, according to a bathroom scale, Swinton later told a social worker. The Swintons also refused to have their daughter immunized.

The prosecution's case has focused on the severity of Ice's medical problems and her parents' apparent lack of concern.

The doctor who examined Ice in November 2001, after an anonymous tip about neglect led to the intervention of children's services, testified last Wednesday that the girl, then 15 months old, looked like a newborn. He said her spindly arms and legs were bowed by rickets, her belly was distended and her skin covered in "the worst diaper rash you ever saw."

Ice "looked like someone you'd see coming out of a famine in a far-off country," Dr. Jay Berger of Long Island Jewish Hospital testified.

The EMT who took Ice to the hospital told jurors her hair was matted and filthy and her fingernails were so long and dirty as to resemble "claws."

The girl spent nearly four months in the hospital and in a rehabilitation center. Another physician, an expert in childhood malnutrition, testified Monday that Ice was "at a severe and critical risk of dying" when removed from her home. Dr. Roy Brown also said Ice may be dogged throughout her life by developmental delays caused by a lack of nutrition to the brain during her infancy.

Prosecutor Eric Rosenbaum also called a nutrition expert and practicing vegan who said the couple did not seem to be practicing a mainstream vegan diet. Amy Joy Lanou, of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, said that vegans are encouraged to breast feed their children or use a manufactured soy-based formula instead. She also pointed out that the Swintons gave the baby cod liver oil, an animal product vegans avoid.

Throughout the testimony, Silva Swinton, who is free on $20,000 bail, and Joseph, who remains in jail, whispered to each other at the defense table and wrote notes to their attorneys.

Some prosecution witnesses have described the couple as deeply caring but oblivious. A doctor who treated Ice said the couple expressed "paranoid themes" about the hospital's treatment of their daughter, but also seemed loving. The mother, the doctor testified, was taking care of Ice "according to her belief" without realizing the harm done.

A social worker who insisted Ice go to the hospital testified Monday that while she had grave concerns about the girl's health, she was certain the parents were devoted.

"I was really going to try to work with the family. The mother and father obviously do love their child a lot," said social worker Kelly Harris.

Shella and Joseph Swinton's lawyer, Ronna Gordon-Galchus, have suggested both that the Swintons did not realize the danger of the diet and that Ice's problems have more to do with her premature birth than with malnutrition.

 

[fatafelice]

from her official site:

"Friday 29 September 2006
Banned Books Week
Once again, the Harry Potter books feature on this year''s list of most-banned books. As this puts me in the company of Harper Lee, Mark Twain, J. D. Salinger, William Golding, John Steinbeck and other writers I revere, I have always taken my annual inclusion on the list as a great honour. "Every burned book enlightens the world." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All rights reserved JK Rowling."

 

[Larissa]

I worked in CPS in Georgia, right next to the county where this mother lives, and believe me, this case wouldn''t be considered in the least. Intake would politely write down the case (by politely, I mean, not laugh at the reporter on the phone) and in the next step, it''d be thrown out with the county director''s signature all over it. There are MUCH bigger fish to fry (anyone hear of meth?) than a mother who is a helicopter parent.

Off of my CPS soap-box...
This woman is wound a wee-bit tight. As though Georgia doesn''t have a bad enough rap! What a great way to waste government money and then later complain that the school system doesn''t put enough money into it''s children and is failing them. Simply say that your child can''t attend said summer camp or read said book and get your head out of your arse!!

 

[Mannequin]

I teach Language Arts in a middle school. I LOVE Harry Potter and have been a fan since the books first appeared in stores. I have so many students who love the series, and I find great satisfaction in seeing students willingly pick up a book that they truly enjoy.

I find the witchcraft argument against HP completely ridiculous. There are so many books that would have to be removed from libraries if we had to get rid of all mention of magic, witches, sorcery, including nearly all of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales that most everyone loves. Do these people seriously think that after reading one of the HP books that their kids are going to start sticking frogs and twigs in cauldrons? Come on...

I have been to the last two midnight release parties for novels five and six. I LOVE going to these at the Borders bookstore I used to work at because they do a FABULOUS job of hosting activities and games and contests for all comers. The first year I went, I made the local TV news because I came dressed up as Professor McGonagall in a sparkly hooded witch''s costume I had worn for Halloween previously. I went to the novel six party with my Jr. Bridesmaid in the same outfit and let her borrow a cape from another costume. We had a blast!

I''m kind of sad that there are only seven books in this series, because I like the characters and the stories, but I am actually excited to see what JK will do next. I am hoping she continues to write.