Don't Shake Your Baby...REALLY????

Ever seen one of those billboards imploring you not to shake your baby? Maybe I’m being overly logical or giving the human race too much credit but do we really need to be told not to shake a baby?
Of course I realize that there are a select few, deranged, insensitive, ignorant, child abusers out there that are guilty of this very act however, I do not believe for one second that they thought it was okay, or that it would not harm the baby! They lost their patience and temper, plain and simple. They lost control and they took it out on a baby. I do not believe that they would have behaved any differently had they passed a billboard earlier in the day reminding them not to shake their baby.
I guess I believe that, although there are messed up people out there, posting lessons in good behavior in public places is not going to make a huge difference.
It makes about as much sense as billboards that read, "Do not hit your baby with a bat", "Do not set your baby on fire" or "Do not step on your baby". Of course you shouldn't do these things! It’s common sense!!
Since when did we become a society where we have to tell people NOT to do harmful and illegal things by posting public bulletins for them?
Future bulletins might read: "Do not rob banks", "Do not set fire to public or private buildings", "Do not deal drugs", "Do not hit a cop (no matter how much he may deserve it)", or even "Do not kill people...it’s just not nice!"
Call me old school, but I believe that the majority of the population in this world know what is acceptable behavior and what is not. It’s just that some people don’t really care what is right or wrong, they just do whatever they want regardless of who it hurts.
So, instead of placing pointless warnings of common sense, perhaps billboards should show someone beating the hell out of someone that shook (or otherwise abused)a baby. Another could show an arsonist being set ablaze while another could show a murderer in front of a firing squad.
Other countries have less crime because they don’t coddle criminals and treat them like children that don’t know better! They make sure the punishment fits the crime. Perhaps we need to be a little (or a lot) more harsh with the convicted felons in our country.
I think it’s safe to say that signs like "Don’t Shake Your Baby" just aren’t cuttin’ it!!

Mercury and Other Playthings of the 60's

I was recently struck with the flu and am just now recovering. I was surfing the net and researching chronic medical problems I've dealt with for most of my life and I came across something really mind blowing!
Perhaps playing with the mercury from broken thermometers as a child was not the best idea ever. I remember my mom breaking a couple of thermometers over a mirror and letting me play with it for hours. It was a blast! It's an incredible substance, the way it separates, then sort of "rolls" back together to become one little puddle again. If you squish your finger down in the middle of the puddle, you can make it separate into hundreds of tiny beads that almost look like crystal sand, but you can push it all together again! It tasted metallic. I was warned by my mom that she could not play with it because it would immediately bind with her wedding ring and ruin it.
As I read the myriad of symptoms caused by mercury poisoning, it read like my medical file! It causes damage to the central nervous system (mine's a mess), kidneys ( I've had borderline renal failure more than a few times), liver damage (I was an inch away from the liver donor list for a while there), damage to the endocrine system (what endocrine system?), cognitive and memory disorders...I can't remember what I was talking about...oh yeah, Skin problems (got that), reproductive damage (I've had around 20 miscarriages and still-births-no, I'm not kidding), damage to intestines (I've had most of mine removed), stomach disruptions (I enjoy ulcers), and DNA alteration. Don't know if that's any relation to an Anti-nuclear antibody disease I have but it sounds possible.
I'm a product of the 60's when people were largely uninformed of the hazards related to mercury. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED playing with it! I consider it a happy (potentially lethal) childhood memory. But there may be others out there that enjoyed the same type of carefree mercury play that I did. If so, I'd advise anyone that did to consider getting themselves tested for mercury toxicity.
Whether you played with mercury like I did, or not, we all survived somehow, as miraculous as it seems!
We also went without helmets on our bikes, shoes on our feet, seat belts and car seats in the car and yes, we even wore hats to school!
Considering the cautions we find it necessary to take with the youth of today, it's amazing we lived through the carefree days of our childhood!!