Sunday, May 11, 2008

Good Moms / Bad Moms - Best & Worst Moms Ever - TIME


Good Moms / Bad Moms - Best & Worst Moms Ever - TIME

Mrs. Jumbo loves her baby elephant boy with all of her heart. She doesn't care that his ears are growing to gigantic proportions, but seemingly everyone else does. Mama Jumbo does what she can to shield Dumbo from the taunts of other elephants and circus visitors, but when some mischievous boys tug at his ears, she goes into an elephantine rage. The circus workers think that Mrs. Jumbo has gone crazy and lock her up lest she injure anyone else. Dumbo is separated from his mother and left unshielded from the unrelenting attacks. But, showing the fortifying effects of a mother's strong love in his heart, he turns what others see as his greatest weakness into his greatest strength and uses his ears to fly. The metaphor is apt: a supportive mother can give her child wings.

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What autism means to a father -- -- chicagotribune.com

What autism means to a father -- -- chicagotribune.com

Nicely written (even if I don't agree with everything that he says).

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Friday, May 09, 2008

Gorgeous food pictures from Japan


Samples - a set on Flickr

I'm not sure that anyone presents food as beautifully as the Japanese, and now I'm starving.

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Sunday, May 04, 2008

Jamie Lee Curtis Turns 50

Jamie Lee Curtis Turns 50

Great article with Jamie Lee Curtis about aging. I'm not 50 yet, but I hope that I will be looking at it the same way that she does!

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Saturday, May 03, 2008

Top 10 Mysterious People

Top 10 Mysterious People - The List Universe

Some of them aren't all that mysterious, but it's fun reading.

via reddit

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Video Killed the Radio Star - CollegeHumor video

Video Killed the Radio Star - CollegeHumor video



Very impressive performance! This is actually one of the better cover versions I've heard of anything.

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Blogthings - What Color Is Your Mind?









Your Mind is Blue



Of all the mind types, yours is the most mellow.

You tend to be in a meditative state most of the time. You don't try to think away your troubles.

Your thoughts are realistic, fresh, and honest. You truly see things as how they are.



You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about your friends, your surroundings, and your life.



I'm not sure that "mellow" is the way to describe my mind these days.

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Dark Roasted Blend: Nightmare Playgrounds, Part 2

Some of these are truly disturbing.


Dark Roasted Blend: Nightmare Playgrounds, Part 2

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CTV.ca | Special needs kids may be forced into foster care

CTV.ca | Special needs kids may be forced into foster care: "Government infighting has families in a northern Manitoba community in anguish about how to best care for their children.

The Norway House Cree Nation has told the families of children with special needs that they may be forced to give up their children because the First Nation can no longer pay for their care, and federal and provincial governments can't agree on who should pay."


This is shameful...I thought that we'd had it bad when we were looking for care for my son.

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Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Why is it when South Africa had an aparthied system we all boycotted it, yet India has had one forever thats's apparently not worthy of a boycott

In this Horrible CNN article a man pushed a 6 year old girl onto burning embers for walking on a road that wasn't designated for Untouchables? If the girl was put into a fire because she was walking in a white's only road the political outcry would serve to cripple India's already hurting economy and we would force it to change.

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Human Organs for Sale, Legally, in Which Country? - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog

Human Organs for Sale, Legally, in Which Country? - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog

Very interesting post about how Iran runs it's organ donation program.

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Friday, April 25, 2008

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Cigarette packs patch up hole in chest | Metro.co.uk

Unbelievable.

At the moment I've lost my enthusiasm for debating the merits of Canadian vs. American health care.


Cigarette packs patch up hole in chest | Metro.co.uk

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Industrial Revolution, Take Two (A new approach to "environmentalism"

Industrial Revolution, Take Two: Entertainment & Culture: vanityfair.com

What an encouraging article- McDonough takes a completely different look at environmentalism and makes it work. I realize that he's been doing it for years now, but it's new to me!

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Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World - April 21, 2008 - The New York Sun

Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World - April 21, 2008 - The New York Sun

Scary.

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Monday, April 21, 2008

Environment- Why Bother?

The Green Issue - Climate Change - Environment - Energy Efficiency - Consumption - New York Times

Excellent article on why it is important that individuals make changes in the way that we deal with the environment.

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Great Wall 360 degree panorama at Jinshanling

Great Wall 360 degree panorama at Jinshanling

360 degree panorama shots generally make me a bit nauseous, but this is pretty spectacular.

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Saturday, April 19, 2008

The original sad panda

YouTube - The Most Pathetic Baby Panda Ever

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ABC News "Politics is Hard, so we do this Instead"

Well, that pretty much sums up the debate. I'm glad that I'm Canadian.

YouTube - Juicy

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This Way of Life: Living With Executive Dysfunction

This Way of Life: Living With Executive Dysfunction

Although I'd never heard this term before, this is certainly an excellent article on strategies to help some autistic people to manage every day life more easily.

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Thursday, April 17, 2008

Grilled Cheese Invitational Rules!




Grilled Cheese Invitational Rules!

This sounds like a fun place to go.



NO FLAME-THROWERS!

Yes, this means you. No ice-melters, Molotov cocktails, you name it. If you bring something that even vaguely resembles a flame-thrower you WILL BE ASKED TO LEAVE.





Have sex with somebody before the competition - Let your hair down and relax, then come and grill cheese. You'd be surprised how much of a difference it really makes in the grill.

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CNN is like the worst "news" source. Ever.

Great drawings of CNN's worst headlines, like Pit Bull kills Cancer Boy's Miniature Horse


CNN is like the worst "news" source. Ever.

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Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Discovery Channel: I love the World

YouTube - New Ad Discovery Channel: I love the World

It's not very often that a commercial just makes you feel happy.



via reddit

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Tips for Giving Birth

The attitude of my heart, before your eyes: An uncandid glimpse into childbirth

Great list of pointers for giving birth, from a Labour and Delivery Nurse.

Via At Your Cervix

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National Geographic has put all of their China articles online





China's Journey - National Geographic Magazine

I know what I'm doing today!

via boingboing

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He's Dead Jim

He's Dead Jim - DoubleViking Video



A LOT of people died on Star Trek.

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How Time Changes A Song: Billy Bragg’s “A New England”

mental_floss Blog � How Time Changes A Song: Billy Bragg’s “A New England”

Still one of my favourite songs from the 80s :-)

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The Art of Manliness | Man Up

The Art of Manliness | Man Up

When I first heard of this site I thought that it was a joke site, but it's actually got surprisingly well-written and useful articles. It's an interesting place to browse through.

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Monday, April 14, 2008

Sunday, April 13, 2008

What Power Looks Like

What Power Looks Like | Newsweek International Edition | Newsweek.com

Fascinating article on "The Superclass". From the article "being a member of the superclass means being able to "get to anybody in the world with one phone call.""

And from David Brin's blog posting this morning: The next few decades will in part revolve around whether these people decide to side with Western Civilization... and with our children ... or instead, they give into the blandishments of ego and human nature, doing what you or I might do, if we stood in their $20,000 loafers.

It's not going to be a boring time ahead for anyone.

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Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Respectful Insolence: Another reason why it's important to vaccinate

Respectful Insolence: Another reason why it's important to vaccinate

And another great post from Orac.

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5 Incredible Buildings Made of Ice : Environmental News Blog | Environmental Graffiti


5 Incredible Buildings Made of Ice : Environmental News Blog | Environmental Graffiti

A picture of the Quebec ice hotel, where hopefully Mark and I will go for a holiday some day. I'm not fond of cold, but I'd love to try it!

There's a neat documentary from the Documentary Channel called The Ice Hotel...it's worth watching if you ever get a chance.

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Koro- the oddest mental health syndrome I've ever heard of.

Koro-like syndrome in a Jordanian male

Especially since it comes in "epidemic" form. From the mentalfloss link where I found it: "Koro doesn’t just strike one unlucky person; it hits southeast Asia in waves of a mass hysteria in which everybody becomes terrified of death via genital retraction."

So everyone wakes up in the morning and decides that their genitals are disappearing, and they're going to die?

And another great article on it.

God bless the internet...bringing you more information on things that you didn't know existed for a long time now.

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Dear Abby Letters

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Dear Abby Letters

Selection of classic Dear Abby letters.

"Dear Abby:

I have a man I can't trust. He cheats so much, I'm not even sure the baby I'm carrying is his."

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Tuesday, April 08, 2008

If Mark loves me, we will have a Hello Kitty wedding


Hello Kitty Wedding | Planet Hello Kitty

(Well, maybe not.)

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Behind the times as usual...I had no idea that this existed

Latest Videos (1432) - FoodTube.net

Videos recipes. I feel the sudden need to ignore my housework/paperwork.

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I don't know where you can buy these, but they're the best salt and pepper shakers ever

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Autism asks community to understand

Times Herald - www.thetimesherald.com - Port Huron, MI

Nice article, especially this quote from Gwynne Dyer ""Whenever you have a thought that excludes or judges anyone else, you aren't defining them; you're defining yourself as someone who needs to judge others."

I wish that this could run in more newspapers.

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Sunday, April 06, 2008

The Meth Project

The Meth Project

Certainly the most effective anti-drug campaign I've ever seen. I'd recommend not watching the "Sister" one.

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VIDEO: Extremely Rare Lion Baby Born

VIDEO: Extremely Rare Lion Baby Born

Damn, extremely cute animal video of the day #2.

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11 Very Strange Videos From the Internet Archive

11 Very Strange Videos From the Internet Archive

Interesting, and definitely odd. (I think that all of them are safe for work).

My favourite is probably Bela Lugosi meets a Brooklyn Gorilla, but I have a soft spot in my heart for extremely bad movies. How can you not love a movie that has "Ramon, the romantic chimp", AND bad musical numbers?

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If you're an SF nerd like me

Welcome to Asimov Online

.mp3s of interviews with Isaac Asimov

(sorry, I can't remember who sent this to me)

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Letters from Johns: I Have a Physical Disability

Letters from Johns: I Have a Physical Disability

On my never-ending quest to find information about "disability" and sex education, I found a very interesting post this morning. (It is fairly non-explicit, but does involve a visit to a prostitute.)

One of the things that I find the most frustrating as my kids near puberty is the lack of any good information at all on sexuality and people with different needs, so I look for it everywhere. While this gentleman's situation is quite different from that of my kids' as he is able to express his needs and desires and has the legal and cognitive ability to make decisions for himself, regardless of your moral stance on prostitution, at least he's found a workable outlet for himself. (And no, I am not blind to the fact that nothing gives us any clues as to why the girl is a prostitute, and whether or not this was a profession that she chose willingly).

I just found it thought-provoking.

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Incredibly cute baby animal video of the day

YouTube - たわしねこ

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Friday, April 04, 2008

US Judiciary opts to spend millions on accessing its own records, which are now available on the Web for free - Boing Boing

US Judiciary opts to spend millions on accessing its own records, which are now available on the Web for free - Boing Boing

So sad that it's almost funny. Linked through boingboing because they explain the documents first (follow their link to see the letters).

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Household Science: Homemade Tips

Household Science: Homemade Tips

Comprehensive list of everything that you can do with household items, all in one place.

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Random Fact Generator �

Random Fact Generator �

This is too much fun!

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Nice story from Snopes

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Charlie Brown

It's always good when wartime brings out the best in people, even when they're "enemies".

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Thursday, April 03, 2008

Ouch

Server room during a rain shower

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Nurse Ratched's Place: Change of Shift with Nurse Chapel

Nurse Ratched's Place: Change of Shift with Nurse Chapel

Excellently done Change of Shift...great Star Trek themed round-up of excellent posts for the week.

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Life Before Death at the Wellcome Collection | Society | guardian.co.uk

Life Before Death at the Wellcome Collection | Society | guardian.co.uk

I'm not sure what to say about this, except that it's one of the more moving things that I've seen. Portraits of people before and after death (not scary, or gross).

The quotes are thoughtful, and the images are incredible...I think that I'll be thinking about this for a long time.

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Several SF Canada members on Aurora Awards final ballot

SF Canada Members' News: Several SF Canada members on Aurora Awards final ballot

Canadian SF award nominees.

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One of those stories that sounds like it should be an April Fool's Joke

The Diesel Tree: Grow Your Own Oil : TreeHugger

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10 Ways History’s Finest Kept Their Focus at Work | LifeDev

10 Ways History’s Finest Kept Their Focus at Work | LifeDev

Very interesting, and some great practical advice (especially the getting a massage part!).

via Lifehacker.

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Impressive child!

5th-grader finds mistake at Smithsonian - Yahoo! News

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Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Best Rickroll EVER.

YouTube - Hilarious Muppets Bloopers!

I love Beaker more than I can say.

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Karen McCarron is sentenced to 36 years.

The Associated Press: 36 Years for Killing Autistic Daughter

Nothing can ever bring little Katie back, but hopefully this might at least deter some other parents.

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Study Links Preemies With Autism Signs

The Associated Press: Study Links Preemies With Autism Signs

Interesting...I've always wondered about this, as the rate of autism seems to skyrockets with triplets and more (who are obviously preemies). It's good to see so many positive avenues of research opening up.

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Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Strange Molelike Animal Melts Ice Tunnels With Its Head | Unusual Organisms | DISCOVER Magazine

Strange Molelike Animal Melts Ice Tunnels With Its Head | Unusual Organisms | DISCOVER Magazine

Classic April fool from Discover.

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Happy April Fool's ...Youtube Rickrolls everyone

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

Just click on any featured video.

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Mother of Shrek: Let us not forget


At the beginning of Autism Awareness month, let's not forget how lucky our children already are if we live in the developed world. Hopefully at least a bit of the energy that we spend on our own kids can be channeled in even a small way to help those who are much less fortunate.

Mother of Shrek: Let us not forget

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Monday, March 31, 2008

Four Years

And I still miss my mom every day.





Doctor David has a great post on melanoma right now. Unfortunately when my mom was first diagnosed, lack of information and medical mistakes meant that by the time it was found, she had years of struggle ahead of her before submitting to malignant melanoma. Make sure that you have enough information to protect yourself, because it IS generally avoidable.







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One day online autism seminar with Donna Williams

AWARES Conference Centre

I've heard great things about the online AWARES conference although I've never been able to attend. But Donna Williams was the first autistic author that I ever read, and if nothing else she convinced me that my kids had more potential than anyone could imagine. I'm looking forward to this.

Via Casdok.

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Funny Toilet Signs



Toilet Signs

I love these two!

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The Bacon Flow Chart






via List of the Day

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Autism Awareness Month- a positive sign!

Fear over vaccines and autism - The Denver Post

Another major newspaper prints an article about vaccines and autism, with actual facts! Maybe we're getting somewhere!

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MMR Doctor Denies Submitting Kids To Painful Tests Just To Prove His Theories

MMR Doctor Denies Submitting Kids To Painful Tests Just To Prove His Theories

More on the Wakefield hearing.

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Sunday, March 30, 2008

Dith Pran, ‘Killing Fields’ Photographer, Dies at 65 - New York Times

Dith Pran, ‘Killing Fields’ Photographer, Dies at 65 - New York Times

What an amazing person he was.

I re-watched The Killing Fields a few months ago, and it's no less heartbreaking than it was when it first came out.

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