Monday, November 1, 2010

Sunday News Round-Up


A few things of interest:


Nikki has notes from a recent Twitter chat on health literacy, including a bunch of suggested resources on the topic.


PF Anderson points to a great presentation (embedded there) on using social media for sharing family planning messages. It’s a useful introduction to tools like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube with examples of how they’re being used by groups like Planned Parenthood.


A nice response to the ridiculous “i like it…” statuses on Facebook that are inexplicably supposed to make people feel like they’re doing something about women’s health: I like it without pinkwashing


Weight loss drug Meridia was taken off the market, “because of clinical trial data indicating an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.” An FDA person said, “Meridia’s continued availability is not justified when you compare the very modest weight loss that people achieve on this drug to their risk of heart attack or stroke.”


RH Reality Check has good posts on lawsuits resulting from misrepresentations in anti-abortion political ads, and an example of how reproductive choice is not always about abortion.


Last week was National Midwifery Week; there are several relevant posts at Midwife Connection. The whole month is National Medical Librarians Month; I’m kind of bummed that there seem to only be websites for librarians (posters and materials to use), rather than a central site/page/anything that promotes the month to *non-librarians.* Maybe I should volunteer for that.


Science & Sensibility has a thing about emergency funds for pregnant women on bedrest who are experiencing financial difficulties because of the bedrest – such as being fired from their much-needed jobs.


Some high school girls decided to organize a campaign in their school for girls to not wear make-up one day each week as an empowerment thing. It’s kind of cool. I’ll be over here waiting to see how many expand that to the rest of the week, whether the girls who were already not wearing make-up every day or otherwise conforming to social standards are being embraced or still shunned, and whether anybody is going to ask why girls are expected to wear make-up at all when their male peers obviously aren’t. *one step at a time*


Something I would not have thought of if it weren’t for seeing this post, and that’s what I love about FWD/Forward – discussion of how the switch from physical buttons to touch screens at cash register card self-swipe machines creates difficulties for blind and low-vision consumers.


Via Siobhan at BHIC, info on a new government helpline for folks affected by the oil spill.


Finally, there have been some great videos posted at http://www.youtube.com/itgetsbetterproject, http://www.youtube.com/trevorprojectmedia, and elsewhere to try to combat the bullying and despair lgbt teens experience, particularly in reaction to recent suicides. My favorite thus far is from Sarah Silverman on how kids learn to be so cruel, embedded below. Warning for an f-bomb.


[Relatedly, Renee reminds us that 'anti-bullying is not solely the fight of the LGBT community', and Cara talks about anti-trans violence in jail]