To birth or not to birth

A big story in the news these days in Calgary is about a 60 years old woman who just had twin boys. Seems she and her husband always wanted kids but they couldn't ever conceive. About 10 years ago they tried to get IVF treatment in Canada but she was considered too old. She tried IVF in India (where she is from). They spent all their savings but she couldn't conceive. Last year they again tried IVF in India and she conceived and she just had her two healthy little boys last week. Supposedly she and her husband are taking care of the kids with the women's two parents.
There is a whole lot of hoopla right now about the ethics of the whole thing. Was the woman right to have the kids? Is it fair to the kids?

For me, it's a really hard decision. In a way I understand that people have dreams and this couple has wanted a kid for so long. And they are able to provide both financial and emotional support. But I also wonder how it would be for the kids to grow up with such old parents. It is bad enough having one generation gap between yourself and your parents, here you have two generation gaps. Then again they say that a lot of kids are brought up by their grandparents and they turn out well.
I do wonder why the couple didn't adopt kids when they were younger, but then again a lot of people prefer to have their own kids.

So I don't know. I would love to hear what others thinks.

After the night

This is a picture of Gaza students back to school after the bombings. The cards mention the names [and ages] of the students who are not there anymore.
It is not hard to imagine the desperation and desolation of these kids and what actions ca lead from them.

Informative Video

Watch the following 60 Minutes piece. Very informative. The situation in the middle east is extremely sad.

Time Running Out For A Two-State Solution?, 60 Minutes: Growing Number Of Israelis, Palestinians Say Two-State Solution Is No Longer Possible

A real pageant

Tonight I watched a really interesting documentary on PBS about the Miss Navajo Pageant (official site). One of the few requirements is that the contestants should know how to speak Navajo language, be over 18 and not married.
The pageant followed a very interesting schedule:
Day 1: they were asked about the Navajo government and council etc.
Day 2: they had to butcher a live sheep, clean it and cook it. Then they were tested on their grasp of the Navajo language
Day 3: they showcase their traditional skills
Day 4: The coronation

The women were beautiful, not in the glamorous Hollywood sense, rather in their smooth, tanned skins and high cheekbones and straight black hair. They seemed so sweet and so simple and so removed from the beauty pageants that are run these days where the women look so fake and decadent.

Deadline extended

Those two little words are like music to my ears. They can make my day, make me see the world thru rose colored glasses, let me find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.... they make everything magic...
Not one but both my conference deadlines were extended and I am a happy happy girl.

Regret?

You know I have been feeling weird since writing that post last night - does it seem that I am not being sympathetic enough for the Virginia massacre? Because I am - I think it was horrible. I am a very good candidate for knowing how horrible the loss of a loved one is and how terrible a time is spent trying to cope and make sense of it all. The loss of any human life is tragic, full stop. And comparing tragedies is wrong I know but it is massacres like the one on Monday that should remind us how horrible and tragic the situation in Iraq is. Can anyone make sense of the loss of 171 lives in one day? the number of people that are effected because the dead in Iraq also have families and friends. But since we are removed from the situation, we don't think about it. Here we see pictures of the families and friends of the affected, we see people grieving because of what could have been but fortunately wasn't, alumni of Virginia Tech that are grieving simply because of the shooting happening in their school. We are witness to this and we realize the magnitude of the horror. Can anyone say we are realizing the horror happening over in Iraq? and iraq is just an example country - think of Darfur, Palestine/Israel, Somalia, etc. Why is it that we prefer to change the channel to Friends, than watch what is going on over there? because we are responsible for them?

I don't understand the world - I know that if I turned on the TV and only watched all the bad things happening around the world, I would become very depressed - we need to see the beauty around us and the hope and the joy but we need to do it in an informed way. Then and only then do we end up really appreciating the beauty, the hope that we have and the wonder of it all.

Probably it's time I get off my soap box, but the inequality in the world is tragic.

One human life is not worthier than another.

Ignoring it and turning a blind eye on it is a crime itself.