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Mitt Romney (Photo credit: NewsHour)

The Republican National Convention concluded last week after Mitt Romney accepted his party’s nomination and not before Republicans made a desperate attempt to court women voters. The convention featured an impressive lineup of female speakers including former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez and of course, Ann Romney who talked about mothers saying, “You are the best of America. You are the hope of America. Tonight we salute you and sing your praises.” Romney himself mentioned the word “mom” at least ten times in his acceptance speech. But speeches and theatrics can’t overcome GOP policies that are decidedly not female-friendly.

My family loves to grill, and now that we live in temperate North Carolina, we’re grilling more than ever.   Everything seems to taste better – even vegetables, my son Christopher says – when touched by our backyard grill.  I’ve grilled peaches and slices of pineapple this year for a healthy dessert.

But, even when I put on my backyard chef’s toque, I never take off my food safety hat.  Food safety never gets a weekend off.

So, here are some hints to make your Labor Day cook-out tasty – and as safe as possible.

First of all, always use a digital, tip-sensitive meat thermometer to make sure that meat, poultry, fish and eggs are cooked thoroughly – color is not an indicator of doneness.  I know there are a lot of dial thermometers out there but they require calibration and are not particularly reliable.  A good digital thermometer can be hard to find but is definitely worth the investment!  Also, print out our Safe Cooking Temperature Chart as a quick reference for checking food temps.

In addition,

This week, as the country prepared to celebrate Labor Day, the National Partnership released the results of an unprecedented analysis of the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Our finding: More than three in five pregnant women in the United States (62 percent) are in the labor force. In fact, in every single state in a one-year period, the majority of women who gave birth also held jobs.

Not surprised? That’s because we all know a coworker who is or was pregnant, or a family member or friend who worked during her pregnancy. Nearly half of workers in this country are women, and our families depend on us as breadwinners as well as caregivers.

What is sobering is that many of these women are at considerable, and growing, risk of pregnancy discrimination.

Written by Jennifer Seiderer for CTWorkingMoms.com

Turn your neighborhood into a place for play!

“When I was young my friends and I played all over our neighborhood. It was our world, and it gave us the security to go out later and explore the wider world around us. Life is different now. You can drive through the safest neighborhoods and they look like ghost towns. Not a single child is outside playing. I am so grateful to Mike Lanza for reminding us that play begins at home and in our neighborhoods. It takes so little to make it happen there – just awareness, passion, and commitment. This book helps to feed all of those.”    — from a review of Playborhood by Mike Lanza

People say the third time is the charm.

Imprisoned women and their allies in California certainly hope so.

“Someday, people will look back and be shocked that California would routinely shackle pregnant women,” says Karen Shain, Policy Director of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC). “This bill is a way to lay the groundwork to ban this practice once and for all.”

Legal Services for Prisoners with Children has been working with women in prison for more than 30 years, and championed the 2005 law that established minimum standards of treatment for pregnant women who are incarcerated.

But the organization’s follow-up research found that nearly two-thirds of county jails never implemented the provisions against shackling.

Moreover, LSPC and other groups knew that pregnant women needed protection from shackling prior to going into labor, giving birth, or immediate postpartum recovery.

What makes it more likely that an overweight or obese 5th grader won’t remain obese by the 8th grade? Location, location, location!

A recent study in the Archive of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine by Bridging the Gap shows that an overweight or obese 5th grader who lives in a state with strong laws that restrict the sale of unhealthy snacks and beverages in schools is less likely to remain so by the 8th grade than their peers in states without these laws.

Researchers observed children and teens for three years, and found that students in schools with strong snack food and beverage laws gained less weight, as they got older.