Autistic children can read mental state of others through their eyes

Autistic children can read mental state of others through their eyes: Biosingularity

As the father of an autistic child, this post was of particular interest to me. So much so that I posted a comment to it. If you are the parent, sibling. or grandparent of an autistic you have to read this post. This confirms what I’ve always suspected about my son.

One [Not So] Shining Defining Moment

There has been what the media is calling “a resurgence of violence” in Iraq. Well, in order to have a “resurgence of violence” you first have to have had an abatement of that violence. Any such abatment, as far as I can tell, has existed only in the mind, such as it is, of George Bush and his spin doctors.

Here’s the latest report on this “resurgence” from CNN:

Baghdad was on virtual lockdown Friday as a tough new curfew ordered everyone off the streets of the Iraqi capital and five other cities until 5 p.m. Sunday.

That restriction didn’t stop someone from firing rockets and mortar rounds into the capital’s heavily fortified International Zone, commonly known as the Green Zone.
Baghdad on lockdown as rockets, bombs fly

The Generation Gap in Media Trust and Usage

A December survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press looked broadly at how media were being consumed this campaign. In the most striking finding, half of respondents over the age of 50 and 39 percent of 30- to 49-year-olds reported watching local television news regularly for campaign news, while only 25 percent of people under 30 said they did.
Young quick to share political news online
Social networks seen fueling distribution of campaign messages, coverage

It is this pnenomena that has provided the Obama campaign with its energy and its overwhelming lead in fundraising. And, IMHO, it is the strongest rebuttal against critisms and questions regarding Obama’s lack of experience, supposed inability to find real solutions to problems, and that he supposedly all talk and no walk. Both Clinton and McCain can only dream of a grass-roots level of support like Obama’s. To me, their criticisms have the distinct taste of sour grapes.

Bush’s Legacy: 4000+ Die In Senseless War

Eugene H. Robinson is a regular columnist for the Washington Post and one of my favorite editorial writers on or off line. I like his stuff so much that I have added him to the news aggregator on this site. That way you can read his column without having to leave this site.

His latest column, 4,000 Dead for What?, is his commentary on the fact that the death toll for American troops in Iraq has reached 4000. Robinson, like me and many other Americans, has some very harsh criticisms of our involvement in this war: its bogus rationale, its nebulous aims, its awful consequences for the families of the dead.

I thoroughly agree with his assessment.

Is America Still The Greatest Country In The World?

Barack Obama has been severely criticized for his association with Rev. Jeremiah Wright because of the Reverend’s damning criticism of this country. Both men have had their patriotism called into question because of the association and because of Rev. Wright’s criticism. It seems that amy negative comments, no matter how true, about this country are a mortal sin.

The question I want to address today is this: Is American so great that it is above criticsm? Is American so great that there is no room for improvement? Is American still the greatest country in the world, if it ever was?

Expressing an opinion is not slander or libel

A visitor took offense at my comment about how I thought Yanni was not all that good of a choice for the first Westerner to play the Taj Mahal, accusing me of slandering Yanni. First, let me set this visitor straight: slander is an oral falsehood. If what I said had been false, it would be libel. But I was expressing my opinion, and if you do not approve of it, well, tough. An opinion is neither libel nor slander. However, sending an email with a false accusation of slander might just qualify as libel. I suggest this person learn to be more cautious about how free she is with her accusations. It might come back and bite her in the ass.

Vaccination Exemptions Are Evil, say media and public health officials

Alexandra Stewart, director of the Epidemiology of U.S. Immunization Law project at George Washington University, said many of these parents are influenced by misinformation obtained from Web sites that oppose vaccination.

“The autism debate has convinced these parents to refuse vaccines to the detriment of their own children as well as the community,” Ms. Stewart said.
Public Health Risk Seen as Parents Reject Vaccines

Tell that to my 12-year-old son who is autistic and whose autism developed after his first MMR vaccination at the age of 14 months!!!

Obama Delivers “A More Perfect Union” Speech

I have noy said much about the recent developments in the Democratic nominating race, mainly because, until the incident with Reverend Wright, things had been pretty boring. And I did not say much about that incident because I wanted to see how Obama would handle it. As did many others as well.

We got our answer a couple of nights ago in Philadelphia, where Obama delivered an extraordinary speech that addressed the issue of Reverend Wright and a whole lot more. Here’s a link to the video of the speech and the complete text so you can follow along as you listen to him speak: A More Perfect Union.

Some hope for American support for Tibet

“If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China’s oppression in China and Tibet, we have lost all moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world.” Speaker pf the House Nacy Pelosi in a speech in Dharamsala, India, where is meeting, along with some other Congressional leaders during a visit with the Dalai Lama, the longtiem leader of the Tibetan government in exile. On Visit, Pelosi Offers Support to Dalai Lama

Hopefully, Speaker Pelosi will put those words into action when she returns to Capitol Hill. As tarnished as American moral authority has become during the reign of King George II, it will be refreshing to watch Congress do what our Fearless Leader cannot or will not do.

BTW, I suspect there is a certain amount of political prejudice on the part of the reporter who wrote the article. He says the Dalai Lama forced his followers to give the speaker a standing ovation. I seriously doubt he would ever force anyone to do anything. That is definitely not the Buddhist way of doing things.

Is This The Republicans’ Idea of Immigration Reform?

An Agent, a Green Card, and a Demand for Sex

reading this made me angry and disgusted. Just more proog we need to do a serious housecleaning in December.

And if John McCain or any other Republican touts their commitment to family or American values, let’s keep articles like this to throw in their faces.