alexist

The leader in today's Independent on Sunday claimed that the paper was "pro-Israeli". I laughed (bitterly).

What made it exceptionally ironic was that it then went on to blame Israel for the current conflict.

What I don't get is this: All the British papers acknowledge (if grudgingly) that Hizbullah is in the wrong and that Israel has a right to respond. They then go on to slam "collective punishment". How, precisely, is Israel meant to attack Hizbullah without affecting any Lebanese civilians? (I grant that particular actions may not be acceptable, but they're stating this as a blanket rule.)

Worse, the Indy then conflated Gaza and Lebanon, which are entirely different cases!!

They sent me a letter for my next scan. 15 Sept, 15:00. Nice timing. It's just before 23 weeks. Good of them to schedule it right before the termination limit. (Not that I would, you understand, but it's the principle of the thing--the 2nd scan is supposed to be for anomalies.)

Meanwhile, at the scan, I was told that a midwife would contact me within 7-10 days to arrange my booking appointment. They have not done so. So, I'm 14 weeks, a potentially high risk pregnancy, and HAVE NOT SEEN A MIDWIFE!!

Ah, and since estherchaya reminded me of bad scheduling: My scan last time was scheduled for 11:15. They saw me 40 minutes late. Normally I'm fairly accommodating, but 1.5L of water in my bladder does not make me nice.

I also think a mistake was made on the forms they gave me. One of them is a checklist for a consultant birth. Answer "yes" to any risk factor and they hand you to the consultant. One is "BMI greater than 18.5 and less than 35". Er, that includes the normal range... Methinks they reversed it!

Also on the chart, there's an ethnicity form. It goes so far to distinguish Greek from Greek-Cypriot (must be specific to Barnet & Chase Farm; lots of Cypriots round here), but doesn't consider Jewish (or Ashkenazi Jewish) an ethnicity. Which I would argue they should, since there are genetic diseases that are specific to the Ashkenazi community. Nearly 15% of Barnet residents are Jewish, so it's certainly not about numbers!

ETA: I do feel like a bit of a spoilt American--I know my pregnancy isn't that problematic. But I do feel that it shouldn't be so much to ask to know that my care was organised, that I had someone to contact if I had any worries, and that I was being looked after. At the moment I don't feel like any of that is being done. I can contact my GP, but that's not really a substitute for proper maternity care.

Today's Yasmin Alibhai-Brown column: "Only anti-Arab racism can fully explain the behaviour of the Israelis".

Of course, it's all just hatred of the Arabs, nothing to do with getting bombed... (And yes, she manages to find disgusting quotes from right-wingers, but if someone used the words of right-wing imams to slander all of Islam, the letters page would be ablaze.)

My stomach is definitely shrinking. I just had dinner. I had 1 drumstick, about a third of a thigh (roast chicken), and 4 mouthfuls of pasta. Normally I'd finish a whole chicken quarter and a decent serving of pasta. And because it's hot, I'm drinking a lot (various things) so it fills my stomach without actually providing any nutrition. :(

So now I'll be hungry again around midnight, and it will strike suddenly and I won't want to waste time in preparation. :( At least there's quite a bit of roast chicken left (1 thigh, 1 breast) so it can be eaten cold or made into salad.