Embracing the Chaos

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Bunny show jumping

Bunny show jumping - Snotr

I don't even know what to say except that now I think that the years I spent going headfirst off of horses were a bit wasted.

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Clear sticky tape can produce x-rays, may be able to trigger nuclear fusion

Streaming video: X-rays

That's pretty damned cool.

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NTs Are Weird � Blog Archive � Autism Ain’ts…

# - Different from Asperger’s
# - Just another word for “geek”
# - Something that makes us superior
# - A horrible condition
# - A prison sentence
# - A guarantee of loneliness

There's a great list up at NTs are weird, and people are contributing more all of the time.

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Thursday, October 23, 2008

Memories Selectively, Safely Erased In Mice

Memories Selectively, Safely Erased In Mice: "Memories Selectively, Safely Erased In Mice"

Targeted memory erasure is no longer limited to the realm of science fiction. A new study describes a method through which a selected set of memories can be rapidly and specifically erased from the mouse brain in a controlled and inducible manner. New and old memories have been selectively and safely removed from mice by scientists.

That's pretty freaky.

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Monday, October 20, 2008

Awesome- A girl with Downs' Syndrome is chosen Homecoming Queen

A crown made of friendship -- chicagotribune.com

What a fantastic story.

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Sarah Palin: Pointing a loaded gun at the environment? - Telegraph

Sarah Palin: Pointing a loaded gun at the environment? - Telegraph

"Palin's administration, for example, opposed legislation, put forward earlier this year, that would have banned the flame retardant Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs), which affects brain development in young children, including memory and learning functions.

The toxic compound also causes thyroid problems, slow sexual maturation and significantly reduced sperm counts in adults.

Democratic state representative, Andrea Doll, from Juneau (Alaska's capital), tried to get Palin interested in her bill early on. "I told her about the bill," she says. "But she was totally not interested in any way, shape or form. It was that look on her face - that 'don't even go there' look."

So much for her heralded interest in special needs kids.

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Sunday, October 19, 2008

Spanish Baby Engineered To Cure Brother

Spanish Baby Engineered To Cure Brother | Guanabee

Wow- there's some ethical questions there. I wouldn't presume to say whether they're right or wrong, but it definitely raises some interesting questions to think about.

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Sex ID

BBC - Science & Nature - Sex ID

A fascinating test to find out whether you have a male or female brain. It took me about 10 minutes (after I found a ruler), but it was even more interesting to see why they asked certain questions than the actual results.

For the record, my brain is apparently 50/50 :-)

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Saturday, October 18, 2008

Hawaii ending universal child health care

Hawaii ending universal child health care: "Hawaii is dropping the only state universal child health care program in the country just seven months after it launched."

I pay considerably less in taxes for a family of four (Canada), than my husband does for 4 months of U.S. health insurance, and I have rarely had to pay out of pocket for anything (we did have to pay for an ambulance ride a couple of years ago, and there was one injection-GCSF- that my daughter got to boost her immune system while she was doing chemotherapy that OHIP didn't pay for).

So for 13 years of premature triplets (including about 3-4 weeks of hospital stays for me before their birth, plus assorted ultrasounds, genetic counseling, doctor's visits etc), 9 weeks of NICU for the kids, probably 20 weeks of additional hospitalizations due to pneumonia from the girls' lung damage, then cancer and treatment for one child (about 8 months worth all together including surgery), developmental pediatricians, speech, and occupational therapists as well as a version of ABA because of the autism...I've paid taxes. When I was single, and working, earning over 100,000, I was taxed at about 17% (I understand that's gone up a bit). I paid my "dues". So did my parents...my mom had 13 years of treatment for her malignant melanoma before she passed away. My dad did have to wait about 6 months for his knee replacement, but I think that he was consoled for that by the fact that he could take my mom to the hospital whenever he wanted to.

My husband is paying almost $800/month for his health insurance right now (just for him) through the American company that he works for. We know that it's high, but because he has a "pre-existing condition" he has to. We couldn't move our family to the United States if we wanted to, because even completely aside from the autism, one of my daughters had cancer and we could never get her health care covered, and we could never be sure that any job that WOULD cover her would stay forever.

The United States pays more per capita than any other nation in the world, and yet they can't afford to insure their children have health care in even ONE State? No matter how many times people explain it to me, I will never understand that. Kids growing up in a developed nation deserve more.

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Freakiest fish of 2008

Freaky Fish Contest | Oceana: "This creature is like an octopus-squid hybrid — it has eight arms like an octopus, but it also has long retractable filaments that squids use for hunting. When it feels threatened, it spits bioluminescent clouds from the end of its arms, and it can also go into 'pumpkin' or 'pineapple posture,' inverting its arms over the body so it’s covered in spines"