Shut up

Michael Savage is the Right's answer to idiots like Michael Moore or Ted Rall. He is a bomb-thrower, and a good chunk of his comments are based on ignorance or idiocy, or both. Such is the case with his latest pronouncements on autism, where he pontificated that autism is nothing more (in 99% 0f the cases) than a child acting up, or a he described it, being a "brat": http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-michael-savage-autism-080721-ht,0,7335653.story.

I don't have any autistic children in my family. I do, however, know such children. They are not brats. They are not acting up or acting out. They DO have mental health issues. Savage should just shut up, because this is a subject about which he obviously knows absolutely nothing.

Changing myself?

I am increasingly dissatisfied with the way I look. Not the baldness, which is simply a part of me at this point. Rather, I have gained a considerable amount of weight and now carry around about 184 pounds or so, the most I have ever weighed. So, as of Thursday, I am dieting (not to mention trying to exercise more regularly). I have cut out sweets completely (something very tough for a chocoholic such as myself to do), and have even eliminated diet sodas (I read or heard somewhere that they actually stimulate eating and do contain calories and some sugar, the representations on the bottles notwithstanding). I have also seriously reduced the amount of alcohol I consume (not that I drink so much, but I do love a cold beer on a warm day........).

I just saw an article online that talked about how to exercise, and while I don't know if I can follow it, I'm going to give it a shot: http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/3-surprising-fat-burning-tricks-184802/. My goal is to lose 20 pounds. I'm not going to set any artificial deadlines, but at some point, I want my weight to be back in the low to mid-160s. I think that I can achieve this, so wish me luck...........

This is just sick

Hackers decided that it would be a good idea to hack into the Epilepsy Foundation's website and put on it flashing images which are known in certain cases to cause epileptic siezures in those who see them: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24510864/.

I want someone--ANYONE--to explain the mentality of the hacker who thought that this was a funny thing to do, or a good idea.

Medical Myths

This is fascinating. I talked to a few doctors today, and even they believed some of these: http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20071221/sc_livescience/7medicalmythsevendoctorsbelieve. I can't even count how many times I was lectured by my mother as I grew up (or tried to, anyway) that I shouldn't read in the dark........................

Bird Flu in Canada?

So far, no one's talking, but the CBC is reporting that a chicken farm north of Regina, Saskatchewan, has been completely sealed off, and that officials are going so far as to wash the tires of vehicles coming from the farm: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2007/09/27/chicken-farm.html.

I've been watching the Bird Flu talk over the last few years, and have wondered when the virus, which had not been detected in North America, would finally get here. This may be it, and let's face facts. Our society is nowhere near ready to handle the panic and economic dislocation that would come with a flu pandemic, and the Bird Flu so far has proven (in those cases where humans have come down with the disease) to a fatal illness more than half the time.

I'd really like to know what plans our local, state and federal governments have in place to deal with the next pandemic. All I know is that every year, there seems to be a shortage of flu vaccines. If that's the case now, what will it be like in the event of a major epidemic?

What causes heart attacks?

As it turns out, virtually everything: http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070713/sc_livescience/sextoearthquakeswhatcausesheartattacks.

Pardon me while I curl up in a fetal position under my desk right now................