VO: The Hedonism Edition

This week's issue features guest editor Dave Pollard (of How to Save the World), published as always by the inimitable Mark Hoback (a.k.a. Fried Green Al Qaedas).

Check it out, see hedonism defined by members Salon's blog community.

 

  8:59:40 PM    comment []

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Just thinking: Autism and certain environmental exposures…

 

Most of us who read or listen regularly to the news heard about the recently published study that linked infant/toddler head size with autism.  There appears to be a direct correlation between larger head size and autism, giving new hope to parents who’d like to diagnose and get treatment earlier for their child.

 

The study doesn’t give anything more than this, just an observed correlation.

 

As I poured organic milk for my kids’ dinner this evening, I realized that I’ve read there may be many more cases of autism – a greater incidence – than in the past.  If autism were environmentally-induced, there would be a corresponding change in the developmental environment which would cause larger-than-average head growth as well as nervous system changes.

 

Why not exposure to cow’s milk from cows shot up with BGH (bovine growth hormone)?

 

The use of BGH is far more prevalent now than it was in previous decades.  It’s possible that BGH does not only speed development in bovines and in young human females’ reproductive systems.  Perhaps it has an accelerating affect on young humans’ heads and nervous systems, with a greater impact on young males than females?

 

It’s food for thought.

 

There’s plenty of room for conjecture that head growth is merely a function of human evolution; our brain sizes have expanded enormously over the last 150,000 years.  Brains also grew in spurts, depending on the environmental conditions – if William Calvin’s theory is entirely correct.  Could the large brain size AND corresponding autism both be results of a new evolutionary trait in humans?  Are we seeing an expansion in head size over the entirety of the species?

 

Or is an increase in overall brain/head size only appearing in countries with better environmental conditions – access to food, prenatal care, etc.?  Or, is an increase in overall brain/head size only observed in countries where BGH is used?

 

Further, what of either rates of Caesarian sections or maternal deaths where fetal brain/head size may be implicated?  Are there greater occurrences in countries which use BGH?

 

Think I’ll be sticking to organic milk from here on out, maybe even cut back on red meat.  I had two babies with BIG heads; my daughter’s head thankfully looks proportional to the rest of her.  However, should my son grows into his brainpan, he’ll be scary.  That may be worse than having to work with autism.

 

  7:38:55 PM    comment []

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Animal Planet: Childrens’ television?

 

My kids love the Animal Planet channel; they can watch it for hours.  I’m often surprised at how much they’ve learned from watching this channel.  Sometimes it fills in gaps in their knowledge about animals they’ve learned in school or from other channels or books. 

 

Gorillas, for instance, have been an object of concern around this household over the last couple of years.  My son had a wig-out, a total freak session after watching “Stanley” on Disney Channel.  He was absolutely certain that there were gorillas living in our neighborhood, just down the street, and we’d be risking injury if we left the house.  Gah!!!  Of course this freak-out happens when I need to be someplace at a particular time – it took me 15 minutes to get him calmed down.  Try rationalizing with a 3-year-old about the nature of gorillas and their habitat while you’re under time constraints.  “Stanley”, cute as he is, was persona non grata around this house for a while.

 

My son was phobic about gorillas for over a year about gorillas.  We couldn’t visit them in the zoo; even though they are one of the largest attractions at the zoo in Colorado Springs, taking him any where near the gorilla exhibit during last summer’s vacation would induce a tantrum complete with screams and tears.

 

Somehow, through gradual exposure to them via television and in particular through Animal Planet programs, my son has come around about gorillas.  He’s actually said he’s looking forward to seeing them at the zoo again soon.  (Maybe the fact that he’s not seen a gorilla in the neighborhood has helped, too.  Hmm.)

 

Today I had to re-think the Animal Planet channel.  My kids were watching some program that discussed water-borne parasites.  In one case, an adult human male was doing something that looked a lot like urinating in a body freshwater.  (It was implied, suggested, not an actual guy peeing in the water!)  The program shows a worm of some sort swimming towards this guy, then the guy jumping up and down, yelling, while grabbing the crotch of his shorts.

 

My daughter freaks out and changes the channel.  Both kids are now asking all kinds of crazy questions.  They’re holding onto their crotches.

 

What WAS that???

 

Do I have one of those in me???

 

Are they in the water???

 

Did it kill him???

 

Can it hurt me???

 

Omigawd.  As if I even caught but a glance at the show; as if being Mom makes me an expert on human parasites.

 

My daughter gets brave after I assure them that 1) it’s a worm to which they weren’t exposed, that 2) likes warm water unlike the frigid waters of Lake Superior they swam in recently, and 3) these kinds of worms don’t live in their friends’ swimming pool.  She runs to watch the rest of the show on another TV so that her brother won’t see the show and be influenced unduly.

 

She races back to tell me about tape and hook worms.  Lots of details that I could do without.  I tell her that’s why we cook our food thoroughly, for lack of anything else constructive to say about parasites.  Umm, yeah.

 

Damn.  Now I’m going to have to start screening the Animal Planet.  Who’da thunk?

 

I guess I better bone up on my parasites, too.  Add that to my growing list of things to do.

 

  2:14:15 PM    comment []

K

 

WeatherPixie: Lying wench

 

If my Pixie to the right appears under partly cloudy skies, 72F temp, in a sun dress, she’s lying.

 

It’s overcast and raining – been raining for a half-hour now, and it looks like it’s going to be for a couple of hours.

 

The airport isn’t THAT far way, from whence Pixie gets her data; I’m sure it’s raining there, too.

 

Pixie, didn’t you learn anything in the last couple of weeks?  Question all the intelligence!  (Maybe by the time you read this she’ll have gotten her story straight.)

 

  1:46:11 PM    comment []

Slow-moving Sunday

Here it is, 1 pm, and all I have to show for it is a partially-cleaned master bedroom and a partially-started sewing project.

 

Not exactly ripping along, am I?!

 

Oh, I forgot, I did hang a couple of shelves in the bathroom.  Not too bad, but that "honey-do" list is awfully long.  I'll be back to post as time permits.

 

Photo: Asiatic Lily from my garden (in a Georgia O'Keefe kind of moment]

 

BTW: To guests who may have attempted to visit last evening -- we had an outage of undetermined origin beginning yesterday afternoon, sorry about the disruption.  Glad you made it here today!

 

  1:13:29 PM    comment []