Frankie's New Writeups

Baby Led Weaning (idea)

2008-08-04T03:11:25Z

Baby Led Weaning, often seen as BLW, is a reawakening of very old weaning practices. At the turn of the century, Gill Rapley, Deputy Programme Director of UNICEF's Baby Friendly Initiative, and former UK health visitor, midwife, NCT breastfeeding counselor and lactation consultant, conducted research into the weaning of breastfed infants.

Research Base

Gill Rapley's research built upon World Health Organization (WHO) research that showed that babies should be exclusively breast- or formula-fed for the first six months of life. Rapley's 25 years of service as a Health Visitor had taught her that by 6 months, babies are capable of feeding themselves appropriately-prepared foods, so this formed the basis of her research.

The rationale was that breastfeeding babies have regulated their own food intake their entire lives, and are capable of doing so through the weaning process and into adulthood.

Developmental Pre-

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Battle of Blood River (event)

2006-09-22T17:56:36Z

In Brief

Who: 464 Boers vs. more than 10,000 Zulu warriors.
Where: Ncome River, near Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
When: December 16, 1838
What: The slaughter of 3,000 Zulus to the point that the river ran red with Zulu blood. No Boers were killed.
Why: Revenge
How: Armed Boers formed a laager (circle of wagons, virtually impenetrable) in a very defensible position and lured the spear and shield carrying Zulus into firing range.

Longwinded Version

Murder of Piet Retief

When the British outlawed slavery in the Cape in 1834, the Afrikaner inhabitants had their world turned upside down. As a concession to the farmers at the Cape, however, they decreed that freed slaves be indentured to their former masters for 4 years. The apprenticeship period was to lapse in 1838. Not only were the Afrikaners put out because of the abolition of…

Angolan Civil War (event)

2006-09-09T19:30:28Z

It just wouldn't be a history lesson if it weren't full of intrigue, conspiracy theory fuel and one-sided perspective. Here follows a brief chronicle of the build-up to the Angolan Civil War, as told to you by an apartheid struggle history buff who has a particularly interesting book written by two apartheid exiles in the mid-1970s.

Western Influence

US Oil Company (surprise, surprise) Gulf Oil was real cosy with the Portuguese rulers of Angola. By all accounts, the Portuguese made Rhodes look benevolent, and the people of Angola were beginning to get a little tired of it by the 1970's.

European farmers (and in this case, they really were "European", because Portuguese policy in its colonies was to treat the locals like pond scum unless they pledged allegiance to the Portuguese dictator Antonio Salazar and became fully-fledged Portuguese citizens) occupied 60% of the arable land. They…

Confessions of an Amaxophobic (idea)

2006-09-07T22:18:56Z

I will shortly be taking a long flight to visit someone in a land whose very fibre is defined by the motor car. Henry Ford is an icon, for his "everyone should be able to afford a motor car" vision, and transport planners throughout the land have continued to pay homage in their daily working lives. Massive intersections characterise the cityscape, and public transport is a dirty third cousin nobody talks about.

The person I will be visiting is a typical American when it comes to his car. Road trips are routine rather than occasional bonding events, and when listing his top three possessions, his car would be embroiled in a bitter battle against his computers for the blue ribbon.

On our trip, we will indulge in one Ten Hour Round Trip (I have discovered through our discussions, that this is the standard format for describing road trips) and several Two and a Half Hour Round Trips between our lodgings and…

Travel the World (idea)

2003-03-19T11:12:37Z

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

This writeup is dedicated to all the people who have /msg'd me about the countries I've noded and said that they've never left their own. I hope it inspires you. Seasoned travellers, feel free to /msg me that I don't know what I'm talking about and am alarmingly full of shit. Here, I'll help:

/msg frankie YOU ARE ALARMINGLY FULL OF SHIT AND DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT

Concepts

Know your bounds

Travel the World is a catchy title and a great concept. Yes it is possible: The beauty lies in the interpretation. Some will not rest until they have conquered every square inch of this Blue Planet; others will be satisfied once they've visited each of her seven continents; some might hang up

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Caught between the moon and New York City (idea)

2003-03-18T11:35:24Z

All the things that they make you say
And all the love that you hide away

Dating culture in Britain is well defined: Friday night is Boys' Night, Saturday night is Date Night. Both entail binge drinking in your local pub; the only discernible difference is what happens at closing time. Fridays you venture onwards to the Curry House, Saturdays you have sex.

Britons all seem strangely satisfied with this set-up. Sunday is easy enough ("morning sex is always worth staying for"), don't linger too long and he'll ask for her mobile number, maybe give her his if he likes her. The fun starts on Wednesday. Monday is Euphoria Day ("Yay! I had sex!), Tuesday is Decision Day ("Should I see her again?"), Wednesday is Treat Her Mean to Keep Her Keen Day ("Heh, she sent me a flirty text message."), Thursday is Little Saturday (not too many drinks in your local, he'll…