This one is too funny not to share – apparently a true story.
Please read note to teacher at the bottom!
For homework, a class in NSW were asked to draw their parents at work.
This is Jessica's drawing:
Here's the letter the teacher received the next day:
Dear Mrs. Jackson,
I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer. I work at Bunnings* and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week after the floods hit. I told her we sold out every single shovel we had and then I found one more in stock and several people were fighting over who would get it. Her picture doesn't show me dancing around a pole. It's supposed to depict me selling the last shovel we had in the store. From now on I will remember to check her homework before she hands it in.
Ruben Noe Coronado, a 26 year old transsexual man from Spain, and his partner Esperanza Ruiz are to undertake a second round of IVF (in vitro fertilisation) treatment. Mr Coronado recently miscarried in the 18th week of pregnancy and lost the twins he was carrying.
Mr Coronado, born Estefania Coronado Jimenez, has been living as a man since the age of 18 when he decided to undergo gender reassignment before having his breasts surgically removed. However, Mr Coronado still has his female reproductive organs and interrupted his hormone treatments and delayed plans to have a full sex change, to become pregnant with his 43-year old partner who can no longer have children. The couple have spent years finding a IVF clinic that would treat them and finally had success with a clinic in Barcelona where they plan to have further treatment to become pregnant again.
It was discovered during a routine check-up the the twins had no heart beats and a scan showed that both of the babies had died. The doctors assessed that Mr Coronado's womb had not expanded enough for twins. They also emphasised that this was not related to testosterone injections the Mr Coronado usually administered as he had stopped taking the hormones to conceive and were no longer in his system.Mr Coronado said: 'We were devastated at losing our twins. Esperanza was desperate to be a mum and I was looking forward to being a dad'.
The couple has spent 16,000 Euros on IVF treatment but are eager to try again. Mr Coronado also said that: 'I want to help change people's prejudices, so more transsexual men can give birth in future'. Mr Coronado and Ms Ruiz are not the first transsexual couple in the public eye to have IVF treatment to become pregnant. Last year, a transsexual man in Oregon, US was photographed while pregnant with his daughter, who was then born in July 2008.
A lesbian couple has won a landmark case against a Californian clinic, where doctors allegedly cited their religious beliefs as grounds to refuse the couple IVF (in vitro fertilisation) treatment.
Guadalupe Benitez, 36, of Oceanside, and her spouse, Joanne Clark, sued doctors Douglas Fenton and Christine Brody, at North Coast Women's Medical Group in Vista for discrimination in 2001. The doctors treated Ms Benitez with fertility drugs and provided her guidance about self-insemination but allegedly told her they would not inseminate her, due to their religious objections.
The couple was, however, referred to another clinic by the North Coast doctors, which they were told would have no moral objections. Ms Benitez underwent treatment and the couple have since had three children. The discrimination case was finally settled after eight years for undisclosed sum of money. 'It's been a long, hard fight to get to this point,' Ms Benitez said following the settlement announcement, adding: 'But we know we've made a difference in the law that will help people in California and across the country.' The clinic released a statement saying it welcomed lesbian and gay patients.
Californian civil rights law prohibits discrimination in businesses which serve the public. Although the law does allow doctors the option to refuse certain medical procedures, such as abortion, if a procedure is available to the public, it must be made available to all.
The case went through a state appeals court in San Diego in 2006 which ruled in favour of the doctors. However, in 2008, the California Supreme Court barred Christian doctors denying treatment to patients on the grounds of sexual orientation. The ruling stated that the laws preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation extended to the medical profession. According to Jennifer Pizer, the lawyer for Benitez and Clark, the ruling 'shows a journey that our whole society is taking together, away from intolerance and towards inclusion.'
In the UK, the introduction of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (amending the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990) allows lesbian couples to more easily receive IVF treatment on the National Health Service (NHS). Prior to this, the 'need for a father' criterion in the 1990 Act enabled some clinics to deny same-sex couples and single parents IVF treatment, through statutory interpretation. This was challenged in two legal battles earlier this year in Scotland and England. In both cases the initial decisions to deny treatment, made by NHS trusts, were overturned following threats of legal action.
She lived at the dawn of a new era, when chimps and people began walking (or climbing) along their own evolutionary trails. This is Ardi - the oldest member of the human family tree we've found so far.
Short, hairy and with long arms, she roamed the forests of Africa 4.4million years ago.
Her discovery, reported in detail for the first time today, sheds light on a crucial period when we were just leaving the trees. Some scientists said she could provide evidence that our ancestors first started walking upright in the pursuit of sex.
Conventional wisdom says our earliest ancestors first stood up on two legs when they moved out of the forest and into the open savannas. But this does not explain why Ardi's species was bipedal (able to walk on two legs) while still living partly in the trees.
Owen Lovejoy from Kent State University said the answer could be as simple as food and sex.
He pointed out that throughout evolution males have fought with other males for the right to mate with fertile females. Therefore you would expect dominant males with big fierce canines to pass their genes down the generations.
But say a lesser male, with small stubby teeth realised he could entice a fertile female into mating by bringing her some food? Males would be far more successful food-providers if they had their hands free to carry home items like fruit and roots if they walked on two legs.
Mr Lovejoy said this could explain why males from Ardi's species had small canines and stood upright - it was all in the pursuit of sex.
He added that it could also suggest that monogamous relationships may be far older than was first thought.
Ardi - short for Ardipithecus ramidus or 'root of the ground ape' - stood 4ft tall and weighed 110lb.
She lived a million years before the famous Lucy, the previous earliest skeleton of a hominid who was dug up in 1974.
Experts believe Ardi is very, very close to the 'missing link' common ancestor of humans and chimps, thought to have lived five to seven million years ago.
'This is not that common ancestor, but it's the closest we have ever been able to come,' said Dr Tim White, director of the Human Evolution Research Centre at the University of California, Berkeley, who reports the discovery today in Science. The first fossilised and crushed bones of Ardi were found in 1994 in Ethiopia's Afar Rift.
But it has taken an international team of 47 scientists 17 years to piece together, analyse and describe the remains. Ardi's skeleton had been trampled and scattered, while the skull was crushed to just two inches in height.
Despite this, Dr David Pilbeam, curator of palaeoanthropology at Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology said: 'This is one of the most important discoveries for the study of human evolution.
'It is relatively complete in that it preserves head, hands, feet, and some critical parts in between.'
Researchers have pieced together 125 fragments of bone - including much of her skull, hands, feet, arms, legs and pelvis - which were dated using the volcanic layers of soil above and below the find.
The results were surprising. Previously, scientists believed that our common ancestor would have been very chimp-like, and that ancient hominids such as Ardi would still have much in common with them.
But she was not suited like a modern- day chimp to swinging or hanging from trees or walking on her knuckles.
This suggests that chimps and gorillas developed those characteristics after the split with humans - challenging the idea that they are merely an 'unevolved' version of us.
Ardi's feet were rigid enough to allow her to walk upright some of the time, but she still had a grasping big toe for use in climbing trees.
And she had long arms but short palms and fingers which were flexible, allowing her to support her body weight on her palms.
Her upper canine teeth are more like the stubby teeth of modern people than the long, sharp ones of chimps. An analysis of her tooth enamel suggests she ate fruit, nuts and leaves.
Scientists believe she was a female because her skull is relatively small and lightly built. Her teeth were also smaller than other members of the same family that were found later.
Alan Walker, of Pennsylvania Sate University, told Science: 'These things were very odd creatures. You know what Tim (White) once said: 'If you wanted to find something that moved like these things you'd have to go to the bar in Star Wars'.'
Since the discovery, scientists have unearthed another 35 members of the Ardipithecus family.
Ardi was found in alongside crumbling fossils of 29 species of birds and 20 species of small mammals - including owls, parrots, shrews, bats and mice.
Lucy, also found in Africa, thrived a million years after Ardi and was of the more human-like genus Australopithecus.
'In Ardipithecus we have an unspecialized form that hasn't evolved very far in the direction of Australopithecus. So when you go from head to toe, you're seeing a mosaic creature that is neither chimpanzee, nor is it human. It is Ardipithecus,' said Dr White. He noted that Charles Darwin, whose research in the 19th century paved the way for the science of evolution, was cautious about the last common ancestor between humans and apes.
'Darwin said we have to be really careful. The only way we're really going to know what this last common ancestor looked like is to go and find it. Well, at 4.4 million years ago we found something pretty close to it,' Dr White added.
'And, just like Darwin appreciated, evolution of the ape lineages and the human lineage has been going on independently since the time those lines split, since that last common ancestor we shared.' Some details about Ardi in the collection of papers:
- Ardi was found in Ethiopia's Afar Rift, where many fossils of ancient plants and animals have been discovered. Findings near the skeleton indicate that at the time it was a wooded environment. Fossils of 29 species of birds and 20 species of small mammals were found at the site.
- Geologist Giday WoldeGabriel of Los Alamos National Laboratory was able to use volcanic layers above and below the fossil to date it to 4.4 million years ago.
- Paleoanthropologist Gen Suwa of the University of Tokyo reported that Ardi's face had a projecting muzzle, giving her an ape-like appearance. But it didn't thrust forward quite as much as the lower faces of modern African apes do.
Some features of her skull, such as the ridge above the eye socket, are quite different from those of chimpanzees.
The details of the bottom of the skull, where nerves and blood vessels enter the brain, indicate that Ardi's brain was positioned in a way similar to modern humans, possibly suggesting that the hominid brain may have been already poised to expand areas involving aspects of visual and spatial perception.
The first signs of Ardi were discovered in Middle Awash, a desert site that would have been much wetter, teeming with animal life and thickly covered with trees 4 million years ago. A graduate student from the University of California at Berkley found two finger bones. Further excavation turned up pieces of pelvis, feet, hands and skull. By the end of three years, scientists realised they'd found a paleontological treasure.
The search continues for the 'last common ancestor' from which both modern humans and modern chimpanzees can trace their ancestry.
Many experts think the common ancestor lived at least 7 million years ago.
Research on Ardi suggests that this ancestor didn't look nearly as much like a modern chimpanzee as had been previously suspected.
This suggests that chimpanzees have themselves evolved significantly.
First Sikh soldiers go on parade to guard the Queen…without the traditional forage cap!
They are not quite what the tourists might expect when they come looking for a snapshot of a Buckingham Palace guard. There's not a red coat or a bearskin in sight - but there are two immaculately wrapped turbans in fetching shades of blue. Because they are changing the guard at Buckingham Palace. And Signaller Simranjit Singh and Lance Corporal Sarvjit Singh are it - the first Sikh soldiers to guard the Queen. There has been a long tradition of Sikhs serving in or with the British Army, but not until now has a Sikh soldier been among those charged with the responsibility of guarding the queen at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. The honor of being the first Sikh to take up the prestigious role fell to Signaller Singh, 'Sim' to his colleagues, earlier this summer. The 27-year-old is serving with the 21 Signal Regiment, normally based in Colerne, Wiltshire, but is at the end of a summer 'tour' of London. Mounting guard duty is normally carried out by the Guards of Household Division in their distinctive scarlet tunics and bear skin caps, but when the Guards units are busy with operational duties other regiments step in. Which is how Signaller Singh found himself leaving his normal duties at the headquarters' motor transport department looking after vehicles and radio equipment. As a Buckingham Palace guard he has had to adjust to the rigors of ceremonial parade, and, of course, standing motionless for up to two hours at a time while tourists do their very best to raise a smile. And because of his turban, in dark blue to coordinate with the forage caps of his fellow soldiers, Signaller Singh has become used to tourists. 'People do try to make me laugh,' said the soldier, who is married. 'They have made me smile a couple of times but not laugh. I'm there to do my job and I try to do my best.' Born in India he came to Britain as a teenager and worked as a clerk in the NHS before joining the Army in 2006. He has uncles serving in the Indian Army and a grandfather who served with the British Army in Burma. His family are incredibly proud, he said, of his latest role. And his proudest moment on duty? Probably when the Queen gave him a wave. 'That was a good day,' he said modestly. 'Things like that do matter to you as a soldier when you are doing your job protecting the Queen.' Lance Cpl Singh, 28, shares the same sense of pride in his job. He was born in India in 1981, but came to England in 2000 when his father, a state general secretary in India was working with the High Commission, and joined the Army Air Corps four years later. Due to marry later this year the soldier still has another month of Royal duty. He said it was 'hard work' training for drill movements, and for the long periods standing stock still, but worth it. A medal marking the fact he has served in Afghanistan adorns his tunic. But Lnc Cpl Singh said that for his family, the greater emotional impact came when he told them he was guarding the Queen.'I feel very, very proud to have this honor,' he said. As for being a soldier and a Sikh he said he was treated like everyone else, apart from the occasional occasion about his turban and whether it gets hot. Turbans, long hair and beards are considered a mandatory religious uniform for all Sikhs. Keeping uncut hair is required according to the Rehat Maryada, the Sikh instruction for living.
The MOGS FPAI Dr Avabai Wadia Memorial Workshop on Contraception was held on 26 September 2009. Cases were conducted at the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, Sion and relayed live to the Regus Convention Center, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai. The Workshop was held in two sessions. In the morning session, there was a demonstration on puerperal tubal ligation. Two different techniques of tubal ligation were shown – the Pomeroy’s and Madlener’s techniques – on either tube. This was followed by a demonstration of a laparoscopic tubal ligation. Special attention was paid to safe entry techniques in laparoscopy and instrumentation in terms of the band applicator. These surgical procedures were demonstrated by Dr Y S Nandanwar and Dr V R Ambiye.
This was followed by the Inauguration of the Workshop. The Workshop was Inaugurated by Dr Sandhya Kamat, Dean, Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital and the Chief Guest was Dr Asha Advani, Officer on Special Duty, Department of Family Planning, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.
In the afternoon session, Dr Nandanwar and Dr Ganpat Shinde demonstrated puerperal sterilization by Wood’s technique – a technique which has the maximum chances of successful recanalization. Kroener’s fimbriectomy procedure was shown in another case. Dr Asha Advani demonstrated Non Scalpel Vasectomy under local anesthesia. She also gave a lucid account of the rules and regulations around taking consent for sterilization and the correct forms to be used for this purpose. Dr R P Soonawala demonstrated the insertion of the Levonorgestrel intrauterine system with practical tips on making the procedure easy and comfortable. History of sorts was created at this Workshop with the first ever demonstration of the Essure device in the country. The Essure device for hysteroscopic sterilization was demonstrated by Dr Asher Shushan, one of the Israeli faculty members. The procedure was carried out very smoothly and it was much appreciated.
There was healthy interaction between the faculty in the Operation Theatre and the chairpersons and audience at the Convention Center. The operation theatre was coordinated by Dr Niranjan Chavan and Dr Shailesh Kore. The sessions were chaired by Dr V D Patkar, Dr Mukesh Gupta and Dr Abha Bhat in the morning and Dr Asha Dalal and Dr Vipin Checker in the afternoon. The organizing secretaries were Dr Sulbha Arora, Dr Raju Nagarkatti, Dr Vipin Checker and Dr Parikshit Tank.
The MOGS – FPAI Avabai Wadia Conference on Contraception was held on the 27th of September 2009 at ITC Grand Central, Parel. There were 100 delegates for this event including 12 postgraduate students. The Israeli Faculty included Dr Asher Shushan and Dr Motti Hallak. Dr Gautam Allahbadia, MOGS President welcomed the Israeli Faculty, the MOGS members and delegates from all over India. The national anthems of both the countries ie India and Israel were played to commemorate the MOGS Indo-Israeli year of Academic Exchange. Dr Usha Krishna, President FPAI and Dr Anjali Sen, Regional Director International Planned Parenthood Federation, addressed the audience. The program began with the Avabai Wadia Video Film Festival on Reproductive Health Technologies, where 8-minute videos were presented on Tubal Ligation and its reversal, Vasectomy and its reversal, Manual Vacuum Aspiration and Hysteroscopic Permanent Sterilization. This was followed by a Panel Discussion on Repositioning Family Planning Leading to Population Stabilization. The panel was expertly moderated by Dr Usha Krishna. The panelists included the Israeli Faculty as well as renowned doctors & family planning practitioners from India. The Indian Demographic scenario, the role of the Government & NGOs, factors having positive & negative influence, and advantages / disadvantages of the available methods were discussed. The Avabai Wadia Memorial Oration was delivered by Prof RP Soonawala on The Indian Contraception Story: Lessons Learnt and Future Challenges. The wonderful talk outlining the evolution of contraception over the last 3000 years with fascinating stories and personal experiences was enjoyed by all. Post Lunch we had four sessions of Invited Lectures on four different aspects of Family Planning. The Hormonal Contraception Session was sponsored by Wyeth, and covered lectures on Low Dose Oral Contraception, Modern Trends in Contraception and Injectable Contraception. The MTP Session included Medical Methods, Implications and Amendments of the MTP Act and Emerging Trends in Second Trimester MTP. The session on Surgical Approach covered the areas of Non Scalpel Vasectomy, Trials & Tribulations of Female Sterilization and Hysteroscopic Sterilization. Lastly we had a session on Contraception in Special Groups such as Adolescents, the HIV Positive and women with Medical Disorders. The day concluded with the MOGS Dr Bhanuben Mahendra Nanavati Golden Jubilee Oration, which was delivered by Prof Suneeta Mittal from New Delhi on Contraception Acceptance: Gaps and Promises. This excellent oration was founded on years of experience, data, images and personal insights. The tireless efforts of the Organizing Committee ensured that the conference was a success in all aspects – the acquisition of knowledge, free exchange of ideas with audience interaction and experts’ opinion on all aspects of family planning.
