Pregnant Women More Than Doctors Believe Mom Advice

Number of health information resources that can be accessed no pregnant women seldom make exactly become confused. Although not according to your doctor's instructions or information from the Internet, sometimes the advice of family, especially mothers are more trusted.

Such a tendency is found from generation to generation. At least, the team of researchers from the University of London has been studied in a number of women who delivered in three different eras.

The researchers interviewed seven women who gave birth in the era of the 1970s and 12 children who gave birth in the era of the 2000s. Interviews were also conducted on 24 women from the 1980s. Interview materials related to pregnancy and prenatal information.

Most women giving birth in the 1970s to obtain information from another family member. While those who give birth between the years 2000-2010, tend to compare multiple sources. Apart from the family is also from the internet, midwives, and obstetricians.

Although varied, there is still a source who became a role model. For example when there are two different information sources, there is a tendency in women to more trust information from their own families, especially mothers.

This is experienced by Hetty, a young mother from the era of the 2000s. At first he tried to avoid the tea after receiving information from the Internet that caffeine may cause miscarriage in early pregnancy period.

This information is different from the advice of his grandmother, that tea actually reduce the nausea-vomiting in the morning (morning sickness). Hearing that her grandmother and her mother's pregnancy was fine, diligent Hetty choose to drink tea every morning.

Professor Paula Nicolson who led the study added, the tendency to listen more families actually increased when in pain conditions. Whatever your mother or grandmother is said to be more reliable.

"Actually, they do not care whether or not the information is important, science is sometimes overlooked in this case," said Prof. Nicolson.

"Too serious to follow medical instructions are sometimes made them feel uneasy. The family could make them more confident, and that more needed," he added.

Jane Brewin from an institution taking care of the baby concerned with the results of the research. He encourages pregnant women to see any information is balanced.

"Mother or other family did have the experience, and it can be very helpful. But we stress in pregnant women to stay in contact during any medical personnel on their pregnancy," said Brewin.

Words and Their Stories: Nicknames for Philadelphia and Boston

Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. Almost all American cities have nicknames. They help establish a city’s identity.  They can also spread unity and pride among its citizens.

Two east coast cities -- Philadelphia and Boston -- were both important in the early history of the United States. Philadelphia is best known as The City of Brotherly Love.

In sixteen eighty-one, King Charles the Second of England gave William Penn a large amount of land to establish a colony.  The king named the colony Pennsylvania in honor of Penn’s father.  William Penn was a Quaker.  He brought his beliefs about equality, religious freedom and brotherly love to this new land.  Penn was also an expert in Latin and Greek. He established a city and named it Philadelphia, which is Greek for “brotherly love.”  An ancient city called Philadelphia was also noted in Christianity’s holy book, the Bible.

Philadelphia became the social, political and geographical center of the American colonies.  In the late seventeen hundreds, many events that took place in Philadelphia gave birth to the American Revolution and independence.  For example, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed in the city.  Philadelphia was the temporary capital of the new nation from seventeen ninety to eighteen hundred.

Some of Philadelphia’s other nicknames are The Quaker City, The Cradle of Liberty and The Birthplace of America.  Philadelphia is a long name.  So many people just call it Philly.

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Boston is another important city.  It is one of the oldest cities in the United States.  In sixteen thirty, Puritan settlers from England established Boston in what would become the state of Massachusetts.

Several major events took place in Boston before and during the American Revolution.  You may have heard of the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party and the Battle of Bunker Hill.

So, like Philadelphia, Boston is called The Cradle of Liberty. Another nickname is The Cradle of Modern America.

However, Boston's most famous nickname is Beantown.  But it was not because the city grew a lot of beans.  In the seventeen hundreds, Boston was a major trading center.  It received a lot of sugarcane from the West Indies.  Beans baked in molasses, a sugar product, became a favorite food in the city.  Today, no companies there make Boston baked beans.  Restaurants in Boston rarely serve it.  But many Americans eat this tasty dish at home.

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This program was written by Shelley Gollust.  I'm Barbara Klein.  You can find more WORDS AND THEIR STORIES at our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

http://www1.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/Nicknames-for-Philadelphia-and-Boston-89834907.html

Family grief hardly eased by demolition compensation

92-year-old Tao Xingyao lies on the bed in hospital after he and his son set themselves on fire Saturday morning in Huangchuan township, Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province to protest a forced demolition.
Severely burned and lying unconscious in the intensive-care unit of the hospital, 92-year-old Tao Xingyao does not know his house was bulldozed to the ground and his son died after setting himself on fire to protest a forced demolition to make way for a national highway.
The local government in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province reached an agreement Thursday with Tao's family with compensation worth 900,000 yuan ($131,838) for the demolition and Tao Huixi's death.
"It is not worth it. The money won't buy my father back. It is just not worth it," said Tao Qiuyu, son of Tao Huixi.
The younger Tao returned to the demolition site, trying to look for anything related to his father, but all he could find was some bits of cloth in the debris.
His life has changed forever and now he hopes his father can rest in peace.
However, Tao's grandfather is still struggling on the edge of death. The retired veteran, who went through the Huaihai Campaign in 1948 and crossed the Yangtze River with the People's Liberation Army in 1949, now lies hospitalized, periodically moaning, "I'm in pain…"
Always wearing his old army uniform, the grandfather telling Tao Qiuyu his old war stories, and at one point the older Tao  almost died in the Battle of Kuningtou. Therefore, he often said, "It is good to be alive."
Now his peaceful retirement has been disturbed with medical tubes inserted in various parts of his body.
"Dad brought the petrol," Tao Qiuyu said. "He said as long as we splashed it around the house, the demolition crew dare not intrude." He remembers what his father and grandfather always told him – as a man, you should safeguard your own property.
Defying local officials' attempts to tear down the Tao family's pig farm and house to make way for National Highway 310, Tao Huixi, along with Tao Xingyao, set themselves on fire Saturday morning in Huangchuan township, Lianyungang.
Witnesses said no one attempted to save the father's and son's lives after they committed self-immolation and that the pig farm was demolished afterwards.
In 1995 Tao's family had invested 200,000 yuan ($29,297) on the 0.13 hectares of land to build a pig farm and settle down. But the local government only offered to pay 75,000 yuan for the land, which Tao Huixi found unacceptable and insisted that just the house alone was worth more than 150,000 yuan.
The family agreed that if the offer was based on the rule of law, they would accept whatever the price was, but the government never referred to the law, Tao Qiuyu said.
The Huangchuan township had attempted to demolish the Taos' property and five other households nearby, claiming that their constructions were not approved. However, the county government later denied such claim.

On Tuesday, the township government admitted it was not authorized to tear down the property, which made the demolition act illegal.

US amusement park files for bankruptcy protection

Six Flags, a US amusement park company, is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying it needs to reorganize and shed 1.8 billion dollars of debt, a newspaper report said on Sunday.

 Mark Shapiro, the company's chief executive, said the move won' t affect the operation of its 20 theme parks in the US, Mexico and Canada, according to the Los Angeles Times.

 The company filed for bankruptcy despite having a strong year in 2008. Six Flags said it had a great year in 2008, seeing 25 million visitors and posting record revenue.

 Executives are trying to lighten a 2.4-billion-dollar debt load that they say is unsustainable, the paper said.

 Saturday's bankruptcy filing followed a failure of an earlier plan to negotiate an out-of-court deal with creditors, said the paper.

 Six Flags' parks include Magic Mountain in Valencia, one of Southern California's largest theme parks.

 Magic Mountain in Valencia is "running at full throttle," despite parent company Six Flags' bankruptcy filing, a company spokeswoman said in remarks published by the paper.

 "This will have no bearing on the park's operations or guest experience," said the spokeswoman.

 Six Flags shares have traded below one dollar since September. They closed at 26 cents on Friday.

http://business.globaltimes.cn/world/2009-06/436940.html

India’s unwise military moves

In the last few days, India has dispatched roughly 60,000 troops to its border with China, the scene of enduring territorial disputes between the two countries.

J.J. Singh, the Indian governor of the controversial area, said the move was intended to “meet future security challenges” from China. Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh claimed, despite cooperative India-China relations, his government would make no concessions to China on territorial disputes.

The tough posture Singh’s new government has taken may win some applause among India’s domestic nationalists. But it is dangerous if it is based on a false anticipation that China will cave in.

India has long held contradictory views on China. Another big Asian country, India is frustrated that China’s rise has captured much of the world’s attention. Proud of its “advanced political system,” India feels superior to China. However, it faces a disappointing domestic situation which is unstable compared with China’s.

India likes to brag about its sustainable development, but worries that it is being left behind by China. China is seen in India as both a potential threat and a competitor to surpass.

But India can’t actually compete with China in a number of areas, like international influence, overall national power and economic scale. India apparently has not yet realized this.
Indian politicians these days seem to think their country would be doing China a huge favor simply by not joining the “ring around China” established by the US and Japan.

India’s growing power would have a significant impact on the balance of this equation, which has led India to think that fear and gratitude for its restraint will cause China to defer to it on territorial disputes.

But this is wishful thinking, as China won’t make any compromises in its border disputes with India. And while China wishes to coexist peacefully with India, this desire isn’t born out of fear.

India’s current course can only lead to a rivalry between the two countries. India needs
to consider whether or not it can afford the consequences of a potential confrontation with China. It should also be asking itself why it hasn’t forged the stable and friendly relationship with China that China enjoys with many of India’s neighbors, like Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Any aggressive moves will certainly not aid the development of good relations with China. India should examine its attitude and preconceptions; it will need to adjust if it hopes to cooperate with China and achieve a mutually beneficial outcome.