While out running errands, I was reminded by numerous advertisements that tomorrow is Mother’s Day. So I got myself a Mother’s Day present:
…a brand-new cordless drill. 14.4 volts, 300 pounds of torque, keyless chuck and a spare battery. One way or another, something in this house is gonna get screwed.
Researchers find common genetic variations in autistic people:
The review showed that most autistic people examined have a genetic variation in a portion of their DNA that affects the way brain cells connect with one another. Scientists also reported a link between autism and small “mistakes” in another DNA segment involved with cell communication. Both reports add weight to the idea that autism is related to problems with the way brain cells connect.
This comes hard on the heels of news that Dr. Wakefield, who established a link between MMR vaccinations and autism, faked his results. Now we’ve got parents refusing to get their children vaccinated—leading to outbreaks of measles—and researchers trying to publicize actual facts getting death threats from rabid anti-vaxxers.
It’s genetic, people. The docs have suspected it since before Wakefield’s report in 1998, and now we’ve got DNA evidence. Really, wouldn’t you rather know what is actually causing autism, instead of blaming the wrong thing and doing more damage?
Last week, the subject of police car lights came up somehow. I often refer to them as “bubbles.”
“Why do you call them bubbles?” asked Alpha Geek.
“I’ve heard police call them that.”
“I’ve never heard a policeman call them bubbles. They call them ‘light bars.'”
“Okay,” I shrugged. I didn’t care that much about it.
“No, really, when did you hear them called ‘bubbles’?”
“I didn’t note the date and time or anything.” I turned to my son, the Director, listening with interest nearby. “When you go back to school, you can ask Officer G. what he calls the lights on his cruiser.”
“I will give you fifty dollars if he calls them bubbles,” added Alpha Geek.
I had forgotten about it by the next day. The Director hadn’t. Today when I picked him up from school, he exclaimed, “I talked to Officer G. today, and asked him what he calls the lights on his car.”
I laughed. Of course the Director would remember. “And what did he call them?”
“He calls them ‘blue lights.'”
“Well there you go. We were both wrong.”
“But I told him about what you were saying, and he said that actually they did used to call them ‘bubble lights.'”
HAH.