Women in Utah May Face Prosecution Following Miscarriage

Last week I read the news that the government of Utah is proposing a new law against miscarriage. The bill states that women who cause themselves to miscarry through reckless behaviour could face prosecution.

At first it struck me as risky, but surely these people had done their research? The more I look at this case, the more I think they've actually jumped into this decision way too fast, and all because it's the 'easy option'.

This legislation seems to have been prompted by the case of a young woman who paid a man to beat her, so that she would intentionally miscarry. What I want to know is why the reaction to this has been disgust and outcry, when surely it should be 'why did this happen and what can we do to stop it in the future?'. It's quite clear to me that the woman was in trouble, she really didn't want to be pregnant and because she lived in Utah (a predominantly Mormon state) she could not have an abortion.

Personally, I think Utah really need to look at what causes women to become addicted to drugs or alcohol in pregnancy, or what makes them not care for their unborn child and educate them so as to stop it happening. They also need to provide free contraception in droves to get the message across that it's not hard to use during sex and can become a way of (happy) life.

Instead, they make abortion illegal, frown upon sex before marriage (when they know it's never going to stop), and finally strip away every ounce of autonomy a prospective mother has left. Governing our actions through threatening prosecution means we don't know what's right or wrong any more. We can lean mindlessly on the law and avoid doing what the state says we are not to do, leaving the matter of parenthood out in the wilderness. Yes, these women will know it's wrong to get drunk in pregnancy, but when their baby is born will they know not to spoil him or her? "There's no legislation that says spoiling is wrong, so perhaps it's okay!"

Quite apart from that, women who miscarry quite innocently are highly likely to avoid getting the essential after care they need. Would you really go back to hospital if you faced an interrogation after losing your baby and then having to give birth to it? Many women would not, especially if they living in poverty and have other children to care for. They will be terrified of prosecution for something that wasn't their fault, and having their children taken away.

This legislation will breed fear in the innocent, and ignorance in the guilty. Please, Gary Herbert, do not sign this bill!

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UK Copy Press Release Writing Hits the Papers

Swansea, Wales - February 10th 2010: After 23 months of article writing and PR submission, one of South Wales' small copywriting companies has just this week begun outsourcing its press releases to newspapers. UK Copy works with companies and individuals to produce press releases specialised for and ready to submit to local and national newspapers.

To some, this news may sound like the Swansea-based company are moving away from the Online audience. This is not true, as UK Copy have simply added offline press release services to their repertoire, and are aiming to get news stories to both newspapers and the Internet at the same time, while news is still relevant. For companies with a product or service that applies both online and offline, a combined package that caters to both press markets is offered.

“The online audience and the press audience are at different points on the media spectrum.” Says Lucy Wallace, senior writer at UK Copy. “Nobody should be submitting the same press release to both, but instead they should tweak one story so it fits each format and is distributed properly. Our 'online-offline' press release writing package provides both, with a 25% discount.”

Lucy goes on to explain that Search Engine Optimisation doesn't exist in the newspapers. This means there's more freedom with vocabulary and a requirement for genuine news: “Newspapers journalists separate the wheat from the chaff themselves. Our press release writing is now aimed at professional humans rather than search engines robots; it's an exciting time.”

Having written Online content since April 2008, copywriter Lucy Wallace founded UK Copy in 2009 and began expanding the writing formats she and her small team could provide to website owners. Now that UK Copy (ukcopy.com) offers press release writing to those outside of the World Wide Web, it's hoped that the company can continue outsourcing their other services as well, such as article writing and the creation of sales copy.

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Markeeting? Twarketing? I Give up...

After a horribly long break, we're back with some new articles and even new services, as well as a resolve to keep posting although we know it probably won't happen. Saying that, we're always updating our twitter page (@UK_Copy) and will tweet about new blog posts. So if you don't have an RSS reader then that's the place to find us.

In fact, we've been thinking about Twitter a lot lately, and not just because we're addicted to the thing. It's an undeniably useful tool for promoting business, but for some it might not be immediately obvious how. For that reason Lucy has written a guide - a very long guide - on how to use Twitter for marketing and how not to act like a complete n00b (for lack of a clean word) while you're at it.

You can find the guide on HubPages: The MASSIVE Guide to Marketing on Twitter. Let us know what you think!

By: Twitter Buttons

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Gruesome Nostalgia

Do you remember Tollund Man? Perhaps you've never been introduced*. Mention him to any of my school friends and they'll coo fondly; remembering their very first secondary school history project and his decaying, doll-like body. Kids love anything gruesome. Yet, after researching him on the Internet some twelve years later, I'm starting to wonder whether Tollund Man - leathery, Scandinavian, condemned Tollund Man - actually has some ethereal quality that makes him endearing to all ages, everywhere.

It could be the mystery: this man has a name, but it's clearly not his real one. We know very little about his life, but we know so much about his death thanks to the layers of peat from the bog he was found in; his body preserved perfectly for over 2000 years.

Perhaps it's just my morbid fascination. Everyone has this kind of interest (right?), but I can't help getting drawn into events or documentation that has one vital part missing. Do ghosts exist? Who was Tollund Man and why was he in that bog? What actually happened in the Dyatlov Pass incident**? I will never stop being terrified by these stories, but I'll never stop wanting to know more, either. Tollund Man holds the same fascination as the paranormal and Dyatlov Pass, but in a far more endearing way.

To put it simply, if someone says they hate history then the great test of their conviction is to show them Tollund Man. Who can resist the satisfying details of the fact he didn't shave on the day he died? Or the fact that his heart and lungs were so well preserved, even from 2000 years ago? He was kept so perfectly in that bog that scientists even know what his last meal was, for goodness sake.

Perhaps I need a little time to 'get over' how wonderful history and science are. Or otherwise have a happy little grieve for those 2000 years that we will never see for ourselves. Well, only through Tollund Man.


*Reader, meet Tollund Man. Tollund Man, meet reader: http://www.tollundman.dk/udseende.asp

**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_incident

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Revolutionising Childhood Cognition (article)

For many decades child development experts have held the belief that children are far less intelligent than adults; that they don't understand many facets of life and are largely unaware of them too. Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Alison Gopnik, has set out to change that dated view of childhood cognition in her books 'How Babies Think' and 'The Philosophical Baby' amongst others, and it's all to do with imagination.

Alison maintains the view that babies are 'useless'. There's no doubting that the human race has the longest time from conception to a child being able to look after themselves and in an evolutionary sense that doesn't make much sense. To be able to survive better we should become independent as soon as possible, perhaps once we're weaned from our mother's milk, yet it's only 17 years later that we're considered to be capable. Alison wanted to look closer at the reasons for this and carried out experiments of infants of various ages, that went deeper into their cognition than experts had ever been before.

What Alison and various other child psychologists and researchers found was that children do think and understand complex thoughts, but they do it in a very different way to adults. Incredibly, babies have a better understanding and memory of very complex sequences of events. One experiment involved a researcher showing children a complex set of events that would turn a machine on or off. The children repeatedly followed the sequence correctly, having only been shown once and it was concluded that they don't have a full and rounded understanding of how that sequence works, but somehow their brains compute it subconsciously.

Now you're probably thinking 'why?'. From the outset it's not clear why babies need this heightened intelligence whilst everything is being done for them, but most people can relate quite closely to it. Have you ever thought, or said out loud to friends “wouldn't it be lovely to be a child again? With no cares in the world?”. Certainly most of us have. The 'useless' child isn't useless just for fun; children are actually learning very important things about the world while their parents take care of sustaining their survival, finding food, keeping them clean, etc. Toddlers of as young as 18 months are already starting to learn the difference between morality driven by empathy and morality driven by rules, and this learning can be clearly seen at a number of stages. Take a child at the 'terrible twos' stage for example. They're terrible because they do 'bad' things despite knowing their parents won't like it. To adults it seems calculated and mischievous, but the two year old has only just learned that other people are capable of different values and desires. They're testing this absurdity to try and understand it.

From studying child cognition much more closely than ever before and looking at children from a very different angle, Alison Gopnik and her team of researchers have discovered something incredible about the way that their minds work. Quite how this will affect the way that parenting and childcare evolves remains unclear, but it certainly gives us pause for thought when playing with our own children.

REFERENCES
To Be a Baby – Seed Magazine: http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/to_be_a_baby/
How Babies Think by Alison Gopnik, Andrew Meltzoff and Patricia Kuhl.

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PRESS RELEASES GRAB THEM BY THE BALLS!

How Distributing a Quality Press Release can Boost Business Sales Tenfold

Knowing what makes your product or service sell is one thing, but knowing how to write a press release is something completely different. If you're in the know then great, get typing! Yet a lot of business owners talents lie in other areas and hiring a press release writer is a short term commitment that will result in a long term answer.

Online press releases are often quite different to those that you see in the press and other media formats. For starters if you have a story that you're worried is 'not very newsworthy' then that's no problem. With Search Engine Optimized press releases (SEO) which use key words and key phrases to get ranked highly by Google, your news can hit the first page of the World Wide Web's favourite search engine within hours. The first step to getting this kind of exposure is to find an experienced press release writer who has an understanding of the industry, a flawless grasp of the English language and most importantly a flare for web-based press creativity. A great press release writer knows that the most important part of the document is the headline and a snappy, attention grabbing title is of paramount importance.

Without going into the intricate details involved in a press release, you should consider the information that you will give your writer. Basically, choose the most news worthy pieces and any information that you might need to back them up. Provide your contact details as well as some background information on the company and a quote from a member of staff (preferably the manager or CEO).

“Business owners shouldn't worry about providing a quote” says professional press release writer Lucy Wallace, “if you give permission then they can add to and improve what you provide so that it sounds top-notch”.

So if you have some news about your business that you think the world should know then a Press Release could be just what you need. Prepare your information, let your writer know exactly what you want the press release to achieve and you're well on your way to increasing targeted traffic to your website and increased sales for your business.

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A Background Check

Amidst the press release samples and seemingly random articles which pop up on this blog I thought that I would provide you- the person who is considering hiring me, with some information about me- the person who would like to write for you.

Starting at the beginning, I was born in late 1980s southern England to a mother who was a freelance jeweller and a father who was a freelance technical author. My father in particular was, and still is very familiar with writing and the media, having worked in an Oxford publishing house in previous years.

I went through school at a satisfying pace, getting good marks along the way. Having gotten three qualifications at A level I decided to move to Wales and pursue a degree in Psychology and Philosophy. It was when I reached my second year that I realised this degree was most certainly not for me. For a while I struggled between trying to keep up with my course and deciding whether to give it up for a career in childcare, when shortly afterwards a friend very kindly introduced me to freelance writing.


Since that day I've been writing for clients globally, including the creative media agency Angry Ant Media. One day, I applied for a job writing press releases. I have to admit at this point I had no idea what a press release was but I was determined to try writing in every different format and on every different niche to find out what I was best at. I threw myself at the project and came off with only minor injuries. Overall it was a success and to this day I am writing Press Releases, improving ALL the time. I've learnt that there is an incredible amount to be learned about the media and the press, not to mention how these things work online.


So I have come to the present day, where I hesitate to say I'm standing but rather moving forward towards being a better Press writer and fulfilling my ultimate goal of simply being content. No pun intended.

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