OMG, talk about striking two or three of my nerves with those two articles. Three of the topics I'm pretty passionate about, actually. First, let me address why the mother of that baby is an idiot and should be stripped of her right to own a uterus.
1) Malnutrition and Breastfeeding. Anyone who has spent any length of time talking to me probably knows that I breastfeed. Spend longer talking to me, and you may have heard me mention that I am a certified lactation consultant and sit on the board of a nonprofit breastfeeding education program. At nine months old, that baby's primary source of nutrition should be from her mother's milk. In fact, up until 12 months of age, solid foods and self-feeding is really just for practice. A child can remain well-nourished and thrive on mother's milk into the first year of life, no problems. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding until 12 months of age, and then continuing as long as is mutually desirable to both mother and child. The World Health Organization recommends a minimum of 2 years, and then again, continuing as long as it is something both parties are happy and comfortable with. The nutrients and antibodies contained in breastmilk are nothing short of miraculous. Breastmilk alone can cure a multitude of things, both by being ingested, and by applying topically. Pink Eye? Mama's milk applied to the eye, either from the source, or with a dropper can kill it in a flash. Diaper rash? Same same. I have treated many a diaper rash on my two babies with expressed, cooled breastmilk straight from my fridge. However, any mother who has breastfed their child knows that breastfeeding can come with trials and tribulations. Often times, there are components in the mother's diet that can sabotage either her child's comfort or the supply of milk. Talking with your pediatrician, a lactation consultant, or even a homeopath worth his weight in salt can help you to identify and remedy nearly any breastfeeding obstacle. The malnutrition found in that child was inexcuseable. Both Reglan and Domperidone can be prescribed to the mother to kick-start and/or increase production of milk. Oxytocin nasal sprays can be utilized by a mother to force a "let-down" of hind milk, which usually naturally occurs, but some women can have problems with. The hind milk of a mother contains a higher concentration of nutrients and fat, crucial to the development of a child's brain and eyes, as well as maintainence of a healthy body weight and overall caloric intake. Shunning convential medicine, there are herbs that a mother can take to produce similar results. Alfalfa, Blessed Thistle, and Fenugreek are some of the more common ones that have been known to work. Sometimes these can be taken alone; but often times a combination of 2 or more have been able to produce dramatic results in the increase of breastmilk production, thus increasing the quantity of calories available to the nursling. When none of that works, which is fairly rare, there are human breastmilk fortifiers that can be added to human milk to give it more subtance and allow a child to continue to sustain its diet on milk that would otherwise not be plentiful enough. It makes me sad that a mother with any kind of conscience could continue to be as selfless and attentive to her child by maintaining a breastfeeding relationship and be so tragically ignorant to the overall health of her child and not seek the type of assistance available to make that relationship thrive. There's just no excuse for it.
2) Homeopathic alternatives vs. severe medical issues (i.e. eczema). I don't know if this article was prompted by the conversation we had in guild chat, or if it is just circumstance, but we talked in guild chat the other day and Adrie asked about eczema. I mentioned that my son has mild eczema on the backs of his arms and the outside of his thighs. She told us that she has it on her hands and finds it very uncomfortable, often painful. Cobaro even has it on his finger! (

) We talked about the ways each of us has dealt with it, etc. I don't know how many realize that I take a fairly homeopathic approach to health and medicine. When my son first developed the eczema, I spoke at length with my midwife about it. She offered me some tips that she found successful in the past, and I implemented them straightaway. Fortunately for me and my son, they worked like a charm, and he no longer has any discomfort from the eczema and it's not been an issue for us. However, had those tips not worked, the next line of defense would have been to go to my pediatrician and speak with him about it. Because as much as I would like to limit the amount of medications given to my son, it is the UNNECESSARY medications I strive to avoid. There comes a time when you have to recognize that the things you would PREFER to do and the things that you HAVE to do many not be the same. In a perfect world, I could fix all that ails my children with kisses and cuddles. I have yet to find that world, however. I feed them whole, organic foods; I pay careful attention to their nutritional needs. I am supremely confident in the immune systems given to them, and thus, trust that with proper fuel, their bodies can overcome virtually any malady they come into contact with. That being said, if for some reason, modern medicines are the only thing that can help whatever situation they encounter, I am the first in line at the pharmacy, because that's your responsibility as a parent. The fact that these people went to an MD and received treatment in the first place tells you that it wasn't against their deep seated religious beliefs, it was simply preference. The article said that the eczema cleared up when they used the medicines given to them by their pediatrician and flared when they abandon the treatment. I can't imagine watching my child suffer and agonize over a skin condition, treatable with a topical steroid cream, and instead force my will into the equation harming my child with my own philosophical stubbornness. The parents of that child should go be sterilized and go to jail.
I know I'm probably gonna get flamed for some, if not all of that, and that's okay. It's just a subject matter that's pretty close to me. Since I typed so much about that, I won't go into the motorcycle thing, except to say that both of my brothers ride, and I grew up in a very motorcycle oriented family. Unfortunately, the sad truth of motorcyclists is that they don't only have to be good drivers themselves, they have to trust the idiots that drive on the road around them. I hope that lady spends some time in jail, as well. When you get behind the wheel of a potentially lethal weapon and don't give it the attention necessary to do it safely, you should pay the consequences.
TL;DR: Minxie talks about boobs, and everyone who is stupid should just go to jail.
Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.