I so enjoyed this that I shared it with quite a few email buddies.  One, a
freelance magazine writer, wanted to see if ProMom could get permission from
the writer to put it on their site and did the research to find the actual
article.   Here's her note to me:

"The article was printed in the March 18th edition (Sunday) 2001 of the
Toronto Sun.  The author is Liz Braun, and the title is _Gland Tidings of
Great Joy_ it is available through their archive service for $2.95 online.
From the homepage of the Toronto Sun select "search archives" at the top of
the page, and enter Liz Braun's name and the full text 'breastfeeding" and
it should be your first selection.

"I'm sure that if ProMom wants to see about the actual copyright they can
figure it out from there... I'd like to see what else Liz has written!
Actually, doing a search on just Braun's name and breastfeeding turns up
quite a bit of fun stuff.  I only got the headings, but if someone contacts
her I'd love to chat and see what else she writes!"

Any enlightening info from our Canadian Lactnutters?

Lisa Dugan
LLLL, Southern NJ

Patricia Blomme wrote:
>This has been floating around on the email lists that I subscribe to.
Though
>the authors name is given I have not been able to locate the actual article
>on line. But I really did have to share this.

>Gland tidings of great joy
>>
>> By LIZ BRAUN -- Toronto Sun
>>
>> Let's not talk about Rene Heikamp, starving
> babies, social agencies, legal battles, futile
> inquests or any of the rest of it. Instead, today's
> topic is breastfeeding, a slight but important change
> from the usual handling of breasts in these pages.
>>>
>> About two months ago in The Sun, reporter
> Laura Bobak wrote an informative article about the
> many benefits of breastfeeding. Bobak pointed  out,
> with grace and kindness, that certain at-risk babies
> might have had a  better chance had they been
> breastfed.
>>
>> Having been absent on the day that grace and
> kindness were handed out,  we would come right up and
> tell you that anyone who makes a choice not to
> breastfeed is just not paying attention. (Please
> note: We said 'choice'.  Some women are not able to
> breastfeed. We know that. This is not about you,
> okay?)
>>
>> There is so much tip-toeing around the subject
> of breastfeeding that it's easy to see how people can
> be confused. In the name of not hurting anybody's
> feelings, or maybe in the name of supporting
> perfect baby bonding  or some other touchy-feely
> subject, breast and bottle are often presented as a
> six-of-one, half-a-dozen-of-the-other proposition,
> with breast milk gently suggested as having some sort
> of vague advantage.
>>
>> Even La Leche League goes around politely
> whispering, "Breast is best," and they, of anyone,
> know better -- breast milk kicks the stuffing out of
> the competition. There is no contest. Breast milk
> rocks! The only worthwhile thing that comes in a
> bottle is 30-year-old scotch.
>>
>> From now on, the gloves are off. No more Mrs.
> Nice Breast.
>>
>> You want all the scientific evidence boiled
> down into easy terms?  Breastfed babies are healthier
> and smarter. Their immune systems work like rockets
> and they all speak Greek and Latin fluently by
> the age of three; 98% of university professors and
> world leaders, not counting Bill Clinton, were
> breastfed as babies. Okay, I'll stop.
>>
>> One of the concerns some mothers have is
> finding a place to feed baby whilst out in public. We
> have all read the proper way to drape a little blanket
> over both baby and breast, in order to feed in a
> modest fashion and  not offend anybody.
>>
>> Yeah, sure. Well, let's make a deal. The same
> day Pamela Anderson and her pneumatic ilk agree to
> throw a little blankie over their breasts in public,
> nursing mothers will agree to do the same.
>>
>> Until then, let it be resolved that women are
> free to ignore those righteous persons who want them
> to know that breastfeeding should be done in private
> only.
>>
>> (Such people, by the way, inclined to pick on
> the vulnerable as they are, may be gently rebuffed in
> these situations with a simple, "Bite me," although
> the all-purpose "F --- off," is useful repartee
> in a pinch.)
>>
>> You may have noticed some very bad reports
> about cow's milk in the newspapers lately. There seems
> to be a connection between milk and a whole pack of
> childhood diseases, including ear infections, asthma,
> SIDS and juvenile diabetes.
>>
>> Cow's milk is suspected of playing a part in
> the transmission of the bacteria that cause Crohn's
> disease.
>>
>> If any of your children has ever had an ear
> infection, you probably remember the pediatrician
> saying "No more dairy," or "No milk for a while."
> There you go.
>>
>> (You really don't have to be a tree-hugger in
> Birkenstocks to get off the milk wagon. Plenty of us
> nature-hating carnivores eschew milk.)
>>
>> Meanwhile, the best argument of all for
> breastfeeding is the one you will get from the lazy
> people, like ourselves -- there is nothing to boil,
>> sterilize, cool down or generally muck about with
> when somebody hungry is crying for you.
>>
>> You don't have to stumble around the house
> looking for apparatus. All a breastfeeding mother has
> to do is find her own breasts, a job even Lara Flynn
> Boyle could handle.
>>
>> And unlike bottles, you can't drop your
> breasts on the floor by accident in your new-mother,
> sleep-deprived state.
>>
>> You can never misplace the nipples, either.
>

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