Junk Science

I had some time on my hands during my recent vacation and took the opportunity to do some reading – sounds relatively benign so far right? Although the book I was reading was fictional, it used a lot of real science as the underpinnings for the plot, which was utterly forgettable. The science focused on the issue of global warming (a.k.a. climate change) and presented an argument that this “theory” is largely baseless. The author provided a list of references from known scientific journals (some of which I read regularly) so, having nothing else better to do, I spent some time tracking down the original papers.

Let me preface this by saying that global warming has never been a big issue for me. The scope of the problem (if in fact it is really a problem) is so vast that it would take the cooperation of all of humanity to fix, something that to my knowledge has never occurred even once in the history of humanity. Thus, I reckoned that it would just have to play itself out without the benefit of my worry. Imagine my surprise, however, when I discovered that most of the “facts” relating to the issue that I thought that I knew, were not really facts at all – I found myself to be the unknowing victim of “junk science”, something that I am pretty vigilant about avoiding. I won’t bore you with all that I learned, I’ll just give you some highlights and point you in the right direction to check them for yourself:

It seems that there is no reliable temperature record for any location on earth that goes back more than 20 or 30 years. The records that do go back farther suffer such significant inaccuracies, due to equipment changes, location changes, urban sprawl heat island effects and collection methods as to be completely worthless (note: the exceptions to this are in the paleo-records that exist in the form of core samples). Nobody anywhere on this planet knows what the average temperature really is, was, or will be. Of all the glaciers on the planet, only 4% have ever been studied and some are actually growing not melting, as is the case in Iceland. No actual average sea-level measurements exist, and due to various quirks of physics, it is unlikely that they will anytime soon. Water vapor is the greenhouse gas that is responsible for over 90% of the greenhouse effect - let's try banning evaporation. No one knows how many species are on earth, or what the normal extinction rate really is. More species are discovered each year than go extinct and no one knows at what rate new species are emerging. All climate predictions are based on computer models, much like our daily weather forecasts and we all know how often they are wrong when looking only a few days ahead. The system that is being modeled (Earth’s climate) is so complex and so poorly understood that the models are of little use other than as mere exercises or curiosities. There is a lot more, but suffice it to say that no one has a clue, and policy is being made on the basis of hype – so what else is new? Check out these links if you want more information:

The Real 'Inconvenient Truth' Greenhouse, global warming - and some facts

GLOBAL WARMING: Reason for Alarm?

Beginner’s Guide: Global Warming

Junk science is not exclusive to the climate change crowd, I encounter it in my daily perusal of autism research. A helpful example is the recent panic over the supposed connection between the MMR vaccine, mercury and autism. Careful studies of millions of children who had been immunized and which showed no causal link, were regarded as somehow tainted, while the views of junk scientists, and of celebrities whose ignorance was matched only by their reckless irresponsibility, were accepted quite uncritically. In the end, science seems to be winning out but it has been a close-run thing and the argument has been unconscionably protracted, while children fall victim to experimentation. Even now many otherwise intelligent people are not convinced.

It seems that lately science has come under attack by a cadre of antiscientists who use the trappings of science to advance their own political and financial agendas. They undermine the benefits of good science and emphasize the things that go wrong, which feeds into a general pessimism about science, the future, and about human possibility, that could be self-fulfilling. Junk science, which parasitizes the language of science — think of “intelligent design”, “reflexology”, alternative “immune therapies” — thrives on denigration of the real thing and is looming ever larger in the collective consciousness.

As Raymond Tallis, professor of geriatric medicine at the University of Manchester writes:

Other things ease the path of the antiscientist. The honesty of science is a built-in PR disaster. Unlike junk science, it reports its failures, its uncertainties and its changes of mind; and the rewards of fraud in science are short-lived. Self-criticism, perpetual questioning of authorised opinion and received ideas, goes all the way through science like “Brighton Rock” through Brighton rock. Worse, much science is difficult to understand and many educators regard the expectation of intellectual effort in pupils as harassment.

Junk scientists count on the scientific illiteracy and laziness of the public as well as the hysteria-seeking of the fear-mongering media. The “truth” has thus become the province of those who can shout the loudest or who can create the most sensational headlines. The fundamental methodology that makes science such a powerful tool for discovery has been subverted and corrupted, twisted and mangled then passed off on the bovine masses as the real thing.

Under the Wikipedia entry for junk science the authors offer some characteristics of junk science that should provoke skepticism when encountered. They were proposed by a group of concerned food scientists and have been only slightly modified by me to make them more food-neutral. I hope you find them helpful – see below:

Ten Red Flags of Junk Science:

1. Recommendations that promise a quick fix.
2. Dire warnings of danger from a single source, product or regimen.
3. Claims that sound too good to be true.
4. Simplistic conclusions drawn from a complex study.
5. Recommendations based on a single study.
6. Dramatic statements that are refuted by reputable scientific organizations.
7. Lists of "good" and "bad" things.
8. Recommendations made to help sell a product.
9. Recommendations based on studies published without peer review.
10. Recommendations from studies that ignore individual or group differences.

Perhaps old wisdom is still good wisdom, just as old science is often still very good science, so I will leave you with a dose of some of the best:

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.

Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many.

Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.

Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.

Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.

But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.

~ Gautama Buddha (563 - 483 BC)

What To Do?

I started off my morning today the way I often do – by reviewing my list of things to do and updating it. Yes, the ubiquitous “To Do list" is very much a part of my life and I’ve been spending some time today considering whether or not this is a good thing. It is a habit that I developed as a young adult – not on purpose, mind you – I was gently nudged, nagged and badgered into the practice by my parents.

It started when I was in high school and centered on the homework issue, or apparent lack thereof. I used to have a pretty good (if rather selective) memory, and used to rely on it exclusively to keep track of important assignments, or so I maintained. In actuality, I did not like doing homework and saw writing it down on a list as creating evidence to be used against me – not good mojo or good policy.

Eventually, I capitulated and waxed reactionary: I would sit down to do my work and spend hours preparing a list that broke the tasks that I must perform into such extensive and exhaustive detail as to be completely absurd. This was the point of the exercise of course - kind of like holding a focus group on forming a committee to organize a planning meeting to plan a meeting for the purpose of making strategic plans. It happens all the time and nothing ever really gets done, although sometimes a lunch menu is selected.

It was a learning experience, however, and at least I learned how to write a great outline in the process of the procrastination of innumerable college term papers. I once even wrote a forty page outline for a term paper on Freud's The Question of Lay Analysis: Conversation with an Impartial Person – ironic huh? I suppose I was repressing after all. Eventually “the list” became a habit, and to this day even a quick search of my wallet will usually yield one or two of them.

I can’t say that I use “the list” as a way to remember things, as I seem to have a problem remembering to check my list on a regular basis. It is more of a way for me to organize my thoughts and priorities and it serves me as a sort of poor man’s data bank. “The list” also functions as a type of daily barometer – the best day being one at the end of which I have crossed the most items off. In a semi-subconscious effort to skew this, I add items to my list that I can’t help but accomplish: “wake up,” “eat lunch” and “breathe regularly” often appear.

There is a certain satisfaction to crossing something off of “the list” – at least for me – and I suspect some of y’all will identify with this feeling. This morning one of the items on my list read, “write something to post on blog,” and this rumination surely qualifies as “something,” so there you have it. Mission accomplished! Now if I can only remember where I put that damned list…

Monkeyshines, Some Snow and Back to Reality

Well, it feels like I never left New York – it’s amazing how our routines shape our thinking (and vice versa). And speaking of routines, our favorite little people came to stay with dear old dad this past weekend as usual. We had a very nice time - also as usual – other than that, there is not much to report but I'll try anyway (Note: the image update will be next Monday - stay tuned!).

Zach is doing a better and better job of communicating his feelings, wants and needs – and Daddy is doing a better job of figuring this communication out. There was a nice moment Saturday evening that bears some comment here. Miranda started a game with Zach, and they played it together for about 15 minutes. This was the first time that I have ever observed Zach playing with another child and it was as heartening as it was remarkable. This game was obviously one that they had played before, however, since I get so little time with them it was my first chance to see it.

The game consisted of Miranda announcing to Zach that “I’m going to get you.” She then turned and ran (making silly noises) to the other end of the apartment, jumping onto the doormat by the front door, as if it were “home base.” Zach started laughing and immediately ran after her, jumping onto the mat like she did. The game continued from there with Miranda running into the bedroom and jumping on Zachy’s bed, and Zachy following suit. The “bases” shifted to the couch, the big “thinking chair”, the kitchen window, etc., until they were both gasping for breath and laughing hysterically. Daddy just tried not to get run over, and egged them on – what fun!

The other interesting occurrence was that, upon waking at 3 or 4am, I went in to their bedroom to check on the sleeping monkeys and found Zachy’s bed empty. I had the briefest moment of fright, but then noticed that Miranda’s bed had become a double occupancy unit. Zachy had gotten up in the middle of the night and climbed into bed next to Miranda with his blanket – the two of them looked very cute all curled up next to each other. What was even better was that they slept through the night and Daddy actually got a decent night’s sleep.

I spent the rest of Sunday (after the visit ended at noon) cleaning up after “Hurricane Miller,” making my usual 2:30 meeting and doing laundry (sheets and towels mostly). I also spent some time trying to remember what I did for a living, and how exactly I went about doing it – it seems that I had forgotten. So I watched the snowfall and folded laundry, and started making those endless “to do” lists for the week, the month, the year, the… – but I suppose that’s another topic.

Monkeyshines, Travel and Other Things

Well, I guess it has been way longer than I normally let pass between posts, but life has been pretty full. Before I begin, let's have a little music, shall we?



That's better - as you're listening, just change the word "California" to "Florida" in your mind and we should be all set. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, so last week I was swamped doing all the stuff that I needed to do in order to not be around this week, which made for a few rather hectic days. Long story short - I got the absolute minimum necessary done, as one would expect - so here I am in sunny Florida (Lauderdale by the Sea to be exact - see map) staying with Dad and Fredi and having a fine time.

Of course my life was blessed this past weekend with a nice visit from our two favorite little people and even though we didn't sleep very much (and Daddy caught a wicked head cold from little miss Miranda - a cold that I'm still recovering from) we had a lot of fun.

The big adventure this weekend was our trip to K.B. Toys on 86th Street. We needed to get out at least for a little while on Saturday afternoon and the weather cooperated by warming up a bit, so we piled in the stroller and took a walk. Daddy explained to Zach and Miranda that they could each pick out one toy and only one, and that if they were good about this we could do it again in the future.

They were sooooo good! When we got there, Zach got out and was eyeing up the Thomas train sets, but Daddy reminded him that he already has one at Mommy's house, which he seemed to understand. He picked out a Geotrax train set instead, which turned out to be a pretty good choice, and got right back in the stroller clutching the box.

Miranda gravitated towards the dolls and much to Daddy's surprise picked out a Barbie (City Styles Barbie - her first). City Styles Barbie came with shoes and a hair brush, but to Miranda it was just "red Barbie". She also wanted "blue Barbie" (Barbie Fairytopia Magic of the Rainbow w/ necklace) which Daddy allowed so that each kid got the same dollar value of loot. We paid for our toys and headed back to Daddy's house to play with our new things.

It was a good thing that we had some fresh toys, as it was a long night. Must have been a full moon or something, because Zach (who went to bed nicely at 9pm) got up at 3am full of vip, vigor and vim. Miranda had only gone to sleep at 11:30 due to a long and late nap, but had a cold and got up at a little after 4am. So there we were: trains, Barbies, etc. burning the midnight oil. It was a good thing that Daddy had a little vacation coming up. Anyway, the visit was the usual slice of heaven and Daddy was sorry to see the little ones go, as always.

Monday was Presidents' Day which I spent sleeping and packing and Tuesday was a travel day. I've been comatose on the beach for most of the time since. I did get around to getting a camera and snapping a few pictures of the kids and have even taken a few here of sand and surf, so I will update this entry with those images when they become available.

Not much else to report - I will be traveling back to reality-land tomorrow evening and gearing up for another installment of Monkeyshines.
Peace and Love!

The Power of Nightmares

This is kind of mind-blowing and I would definitely call this a "MUST SEE." In order to save some time, I lifted the following description of this video trilogy from Wikipedia. Each part runs about 59 minutes and plays via flash media player. As always, your comments are not only welcome but sought after.

The Power of Nightmares, subtitled The Rise of the Politics of Fear, is a BBC series of documentary films, written and produced by Adam Curtis.

This documentary argues that during the 20th Century politicians lost the power to inspire the masses, and that the optimistic visions and ideologies they had offered were perceived to have failed. The film asserts that politicians consequently sought a new role that would restore their power and authority. Curtis, who also narrates the series, declares in the film's introduction that “Instead of delivering dreams, politicians now promise to protect us: from nightmares”. To illustrate this Curtis compares the rise of the American neoconservatives and radical Islamists, believing that both are closely connected; that some popular beliefs about these groups are inaccurate; and that both movements have benefited from exaggerating the scale of the terrorist threat.

The Power of Nightmares was first broadcast on BBC Two in three hour-long parts on consecutive Wednesday evenings in the autumn of 2004. The series was rebroadcast in late January 2005 on three consecutive nights, with the final part updated to reflect the Law Lords ruling from the previous December that detaining foreign terrorist suspects without trial is illegal.

Although the series has not been shown on U.S. television, its three episodes were shown in succession on 26 February 2005 as part of the True/False Film Festival in Columbia, Missouri, USA. After the film, Curtis made a public appearance and led a discussion in which he expressed pessimism about an eventual American TV airing or DVD release. It has, however, played in some small independent theaters.

Curtis has also stated: "Something extraordinary has happened to American TV since September 11. A head of the leading networks who had better remain nameless said to me that there was no way they could show it. He said, 'Who are you to say this?' and then he added, 'We would get slaughtered if we put this out.' When I was in New York I took a DVD to the head of documentaries at HBO. I still haven't heard from him."

The BBC's The Power of Nightmares (part 1 of 3)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1002626006461047517

The BBC's The Power of Nightmares (part 2 of 3)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7930933565201168

The BBC's The Power of Nightmares (part 3 of 3)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8732625326538179377

Monkeyshines Unlimited

I'll keep this week’s Monkeyshines entry short and to the point: I love my monkeys! Zach and Miranda came over at the usual time and stayed overnight once again. We all had a great time hanging out and playing and eating and singing and dancing, and yes we got a little sleep too.


This week we pulled the electric train set out, which all of us had almost forgotten about, and made a layout around the amazing marble machine. It was quite a sight (and sound): the train was going, Miranda was running back and forth to the bedroom to get more and more weebles to ride in the train, Zach was jumping up and down and chasing marbles that were bouncing everywhere (some even to places that Daddy can’t find), the train was whistling and shouting “all aboard” and Daddy was just fanning the flames. It was all very tribal.

This week we were also able to get out for a walk on Saturday afternoon, as the weather was not too cold – this was the first such outing for us, though more are certain to follow. This week the kids also slept through the night, which was nice for Daddy. Zach fell asleep around 9pm, got up at 6am and crawled into bed with me, wanting to cuddle and read some books – it was a very sweet way to wake up. Miranda fell asleep at 9:30pm and slept until 6:30am, when she woke up all smiles and giggles.

It looks as though we are all already falling into a nice routine. Daddy didn’t take any pictures this week, but we will rectify that before next week’s installment of Monkeyshines

Just Another Friday

Staff meetings are always an excellent barometer of one's serenity. I find that they are a great opportunity for me to see for myself how much I've grown - or not.

"A meeting is an event where minutes are taken and hours wasted."
~ James T. Kirk

This morning's staff meeting here at work was certainly no exception to this. It began with the short session of musical chairs that always seems to result when a bunch of otherwise smart people are asked to arrange themselves in something resembling a circle. That accomplished, we began by going around the circle and introducing ourselves to the people that we eat lunch with and sit in restroom stalls next to - EVERY DAMN DAY! After this elucidative experience my boss, who means well, passed out pink pieces of lined paper with purple hearts on them (presumably in honor of Valentine's Day), to each of those assembled, for a writing assignment. Oh boy! The Icebreaker activity! On the top half we were asked to complete this phrase: "The one part of my job that I love is..." On the bottom half the phrase to be completed was: "The one part I can improve upon is...."

“Meetings are an addictive, highly self-indulgent activity that corporations and other large organizations habitually engage in only because they cannot masturbate”
~ Dave Barry

I chose not to share what I wrote, as we went around the circle - it was just harmless fluff anyway. In the past, blood would have been coming out of my ears by this point, but indeed I have grown. We went down the agenda items and I ate my bagel and sipped my coffee, trying not to be noticed, and not to notice what was being said. I think that most people view meetings as a place to get things off their chests or as some twisted form of group therapy, rather than as the working sessions of idea generation and consensus building that they are supposed to be. I mean, JEEEZ! - if it was just about information we could all just have written memos.



We discussed our class projects for Black History Month, We discussed what projects we were planning for Women's History Month and I sat thinking that when it was finally White Anglo-Saxon Male with Receding Hairlines Month that I'd really give it my all. The meeting ended with the obligatory "how can we improve our communications" nonsense and we adjourned, wondering if we had accomplished anything and not entirely clear about whether or not we had to do anything as a result of the discussions - so I guess it was a successful meeting, all the more so because my internal barometer was reading high pressure and sunny skies all the way. Looks like the forecast is good, right through the weekend.
Peace.

This Just In

The Washington Post article on the CDC autism study that was just released can be found at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/08/AR2007020801277.html

And Miles To Go Before I Sleep

I awoke this cold, dark February morning to the sound of helicopters, and for a moment or two I thought I was having one of my Vietnam flashbacks – then I remembered that I was never in Vietnam or even in the army - anyone’s army for that matter. Although this realization was something of a relief, I was still left with the matter of the helicopters. Helicopters – notice I used the plural form, for if it was just a single helicopter I probably would not have noticed or cared, as a single chopper usually denotes some kind of police action or semi-serious accident. When there are more than one it means that the media is involved, and that means something has happened – usually something rather inconvenient.

So I ran a bath and turned on the radio – surprisingly, AM news radio stations still seem to be the fastest news sources, even in this world of Internet and 24 hour cable news outlets. Sure enough, I quickly learned what I was seeking to know. It was kind of strange to hear someone reporting over the radio, from one of the helicopters that I could hear outside the bathroom window. There was this weird stereo effect to the noise of the rotors – news can be kind of fun but you don’t want it happening too close to home. The reporter was explaining that firefighters were battling a fire that had engulfed two houses on 74th Street near 4th Avenue.

It is an immutable law of physics that water runs downhill, and in New York City “downhill” is the subway system, which just so happens to run underneath 4th Avenue – I made a mental note, “better get a Snickers for the ride to work.”

Bay Ridge is connected to the rest of the world by a single subway line, the R-train, which is always voted the least reliable line in the annual survey of the NYC Transit system. Thousands of gallons of water per minute do not generally improve the functioning of electric trains; thus it was a slow ride out of the Neighborhood this morning. I transferred to the N-train, which is an “express” train, as usual at 59th Street in Sunset Park. I put the word “express” in quotations because, when used in reference to the subway, it has a slightly different meaning than you might expect: these trains do not go any faster, they merely make fewer stops at stations, although they make the same number of stops in the middle of tunnels. Things were fine, however, all the way across the Manhattan Bridge and through Chinatown, and it was not until 14th Street that the next hurdle appeared.

The NYC Transit System as it exists today, is a peculiar mix of new components and ones that are absolutely Jurassic. For example, the pumps that are used to pump rainwater (or any water) out of the tunnels were used in the construction of the Panama Canal, while the control systems that turn them on and off are relatively new. This mix makes for some pretty odd upkeep issues. This is aggravated by the fact that the Transit System has two long seasons, which are brought about by weather extremes: track fire season and track breakage season. These two long seasons are separated from each other by two, shorter track flooding seasons. Today, due to the extremely cold weather, it was definitely track breakage season, and the track my train was riding failed somewhere up the line. The best way to deal with these sorts of obstacles is to leave the underground and quickly hoof it across town to a different line, before everyone else on the train gets the same idea. I walked over to the 7th Avenue line, re-entered the system and made it safely to Harlem on the 2-train.

So why do you care? I was hoping you’d ask! Even though I leave myself tons of extra time each morning, and was therefore never in any real danger of getting to work late, what is remarkable is that at no time did I get upset or bent out of shape. This is amazing! It is a first-class miracle! As I watched my fellow passengers on this commute from Hell turn from miffed, to irked, to totally irate with steam coming out of their ears and nostrils, I found the whole thing funnier and funnier. Today will be a good day – imagine that.

More Changes

So in case you didn't notice, I have made some more changes here. I added a couple of links (will it never end?) to the sidebar, these are: Del.icio.us, Answers.com, and Sonific.com. The first was suggested by my Jedi Master, friend and consultant on all things that are both electronic and technical - Nathan.

Delicious is really cool, it allows you to place tags on websites that you visit (as many tags as you want) instead of bookmarking them, and creates a relational database for your "bookmarks" that is not only searchable, but can be added to by anyone who knows your user name. It's kind of a social bookmarking site in this way. Also, you can add buttons to firefox so that it is even easier to use than the regular bookmarking dropdown menu. Cool huh? Check it out and if you want to bookmark sites/pages for me to look at. I am "zmmiller" - as always.

Answers.com is a site that my friend Lewis financed as a startup some years back, and is a cool search engine that primarily gives you results from a wide variety of reference sources, all on one page. It took me a little while to get used to, but I have grown to like it and find that it saves me from constantly going to Wikipedia.

The final addition is the coolest, but may be replaced if I can figure out a better way to do this. You may have noticed the new music players on the page. I have been wanting to add some audio (someday video too) to this page for a while, in order to create a more complete multimedia experience, and this widget comes courtesy of Sonific.com. I plan to update the song on the sidebar periodically, but not too often. This posting is also an experiment to see if I can add specific songs to go with a specific entry - we'll know shortly. Ultimately, I would like to be able to post my own music (published and nonpublished)and that of my friends too, but as of yet Sonific does not have that capability. Supposedly they are working on it. At least for now, though, enjoy some nice relaxing music and let me know what you think.

On an entirely unrelated topic, I forgot to mention a really charming "Daddy moment" that happened over the weekend. Early Sunday morning, the kids cooperated by playing nicely together while I grabbed a quick shower. After the shower, I decided to shave and Miranda came bouncing by the bathroom just as I had the shaving cream spread all over my face (at least the parts one shaves). She stopped dead in her tracks and stared at me with the funniest look that said, "what the Hell are you doing?" She had this look of intense concentration and I don't think that she blinked or took her eyes off of my face, until I had finished the whole process. She then laughed at me and went right back to her play with Zachy. It was really cute - I remember watching my Dad shave when I was that age or slightly older, and finding the whole thing to be somewhat mysterious - I guess some things don't change.
Peace and Love.

Overnight Monkeyshines

(Please note that the previous Monkeyshines post has been updated with 6 new images - Enjoy!)
This weekend featured the long-awaited overnight “slumber” party visit of our favorite little people. Although this will be the “new normal” it was special because it was the first time, none of us were used to it and we didn’t know quite what to expect. A complicating factor was the weather, which, with wind chills at or below zero, was bitterly cold throughout the weekend. This meant spending 24 hours together in Daddy’s little apartment. We handled it in style and had great fun in the process.

The visit started off the usual way at the Sensory Gym, only without any head injuries or vomiting this week. We arrived at Daddy’s house soon after, and Zach repeated his performance of the week before by handing Mommy her coat and shoving her out the door. We set about playing immediately, while Daddy got lunch ready. Zach ate a good helping of spaghetti, but Miranda, who had had her muffin on a stick with Mommy while Zach did his therapy, was not hungry. Zachy got spaghetti all over everything, including himself, so Daddy decided that a change of shirt was in the cards. As soon as the shirt came off the boy took the rest of his clothes off and jumped in the bathtub – so… it was bath time. Miranda loves the water too, and came running out of the woodwork, tugging at her clothes as soon as she heard the water running.

After the bath and some fresh clothes, Miranda asked for her milk and lay down on the couch for a nice long nap from 1:30 to about 4:15. Zachy and Daddy had some nice time together doing our thing. Zach is saying more words and the words that he is saying are becoming much clearer, so that I think even someone who didn’t know him would be able to understand some of them. I had planned to take them to Little People’s Parties, which is an indoor playroom with a jungle gym, rock-climbing wall, basketball, etc., but by the time Miranda-panda woke up it just didn’t make any sense. So we made dinner and had another bath, this time for real – hair got washed and ears got cleaned behind. We then put on our pajamas and had a nice quiet evening playing games, playing our instruments and watching our videos. They both really like hearing the guitar – when I play, Zach takes a blanket and makes a tent over our heads which he thinks is just so cool – kind of like an intimate club atmosphere. Both kids enjoy playing the guitar themselves too and both seem to have the Miller gift for music.

After our videos Zachy started getting tired, but Miranda was full of energy. Zach can get a little grumpy when he is tired, especially towards his sister and he earned a timeout for going after her with his feet. In fairness, there is really nowhere that he can go to get away from her and Miranda can be a bit larger than life at times. We had story time after brushing our teeth and by the end of In the Night Kitchen, both little people were happy again.

Zach fell asleep at around 9:30 so Daddy and his little girl watched an animal show until she fell asleep at around 10:30. Daddy watched his little ones sleep for awhile then decided to get some sleep himself at around 11:30. At about 2:30am Zachy got up and came into bed with Daddy and slept for another hour. At 3:30am he got up and decided that it was morning, flipped on all of the lights, turned on the marble machine and went to work. Daddy managed to keep him out of the bedroom for a while, but by 4:30am both little people were hard at play and Daddy was in the kitchen frying chickens for breakfast.

We ate our breakfast and played with some new toys like our rhyming cards, and just generally hung out all morning. By 10:30 or so both kids had had a snack (for lunch) and had crashed for some serious power naps. Mommy came by at a little after noon, just as we were all waking up. We changed our diapers and pullups and saddled up the big red stroller and said “bye Daddy’s house, see ya soon” – Miranda actually says this. Miranda grabbed a lollipop for the road and we all hugged and kissed, eagerly awaiting our next visit and our next installment of Monkeyshines.

Feeling Groovy

This morning Mia and I met on Roosevelt Island to tour The Child School. I had never been there before and getting there is a lot of fun. I took the subway into Manhattan as I do most days, but stayed on the train until 59th Street (usually I get off at Times Square and transfer to an uptown train for Harlem). I walked a few blocks up to 2nd Avenue at 59th Street which is where the 59th Street Bridge is. It is the bridge that inspired Paul Simon to write what many people call the “feeling groovy” song (interestingly, MS Word seems to recognize “groovy” as a word – huh?). This is also where one catches the Roosevelt Island Tram (pictured). After securing a cup of coffee for the ride at the diner on the corner, I found that when I swiped my Metrocard to enter the loading area that I got a transfer and thus got on for no additional charge (hooray for me).

I got a seat by the front window and enjoyed the view, which is in fact pretty groovy. The tram runs along side the bridge, which is an old art-deco affair spanning the East River, built of stone and some amazingly intricate ironwork. The ride only lasts for a few minutes, but it takes you up a couple hundred feet into the air then back down to the island. Roosevelt Island itself looks like it was once just a sandbar in the river, though now it has been developed into a charming little community. It has a free shuttle-bus service that runs you up and down Main Street (which seems to be the only street) and the whole place has the feel of a village, with incredible views, promenades, parks and lots of condos. The school is towards the northern end of the island on the Manhattan side.

The Child School occupies four modern buildings and has a real campus feel to it. It also has everything that you could ever want in a school – gyms, art studios, soundproof music rooms, stages, science labs, an organic garden, libraries, rock climbing walls, courtyards, soccer fields, and on and on and on. Most of all it was a real place of learning where the students were happy and safe. I was truly wowed! We were most interested in the kindergarten, which has six students, one teacher and one assistant teacher. They have a speech pathologist, psychologist, and OT on staff and appeared to use them very flexibly. Needless to say we are going to apply for Zachy for next September, as it seems like a darn good fit.

After the tour, the dog and pony show and questions and answers, we rode the tram back to reality-land and back to work. Today is a short workday for me, as I’ve lots to do in order to get ready for Overnight Monkeyshines – stay tuned sports fans!

Research…

Today I spent a lot of time reading through the ever-growing pile of autism research articles that I collect. I use Google Alerts, which allows me to set up search criteria and uses Google’s search technology to monitor not only news outlets and scientific journals from around the world, but also the web, blogs and all kinds of groups. When “hits” occur a link to the source material and a brief synopsis are automatically emailed to my gmail account. I then label them according to several categories I have set up and archive them in the 2800+ MB (and growing) of free storage that comes with the account. All of the archived material is searchable in several ways. It works so well that I have never deleted any email at all and am still only using less than 10% of my storage space. I can store documents and images, etc. all in one place, accessible from anywhere in the world – pretty cool, huh?

I have created a system in which I use one set of search terms to cast a very broad net, and several other sets of much narrower terms to focus in on what I’m interested in. In this way I not only get the veritable mountain of material that is published daily concerning various aspects of autism (and the other issues that interest me), but I also get a closer look at what the mountain really contains that pertains to me (and Zach). It works for me, but a lot is going on and keeping tabs on it requires a lot of reading. I suppose it is a coping strategy for me, however, sometimes I get too much information or read something that is pretty disturbing.

Today I read an article exposing what has become a scandal and debunking the link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Apparently the research was funded by a group of trial lawyers who wanted to make some bucks off the pharmaceutical companies (villains attacking other villains) and perpetrated by researchers who got rich from doing seriously flawed studies and then acting as expert witnesses based on those studies. Another article offered a thoughtful look at the link between environmental toxins and autism and proposed taking a more holistic approach to treating side effects like gut problems, which are common in autistics, to improve their ability to learn. This was about improving the effectiveness of traditional approaches, not something absurd like curing autism. A third article pointed out the need for a greater speech-language focus in autism programs. I read a very ho-hum article on disciplining autistics and a wonderful article on mirror neurons, which would seem to hold the key to understanding autism. I suspect that this area of research will yield more fruit than any other area of autism research that is currently being undertaken. I plan to write quite a bit more on this as I learn more – stay tuned.

The kick in the teeth came in the form of an article that was just published today. It suggests that it is very likely, given the paradigm followed by the researchers, that chelating autistic children, in a misguided attempt to cure their autism, is causing permanent and significant brain damage to these children - similar to that of lead poisoning. The parents and doctors who have done this will have to live with the knowledge of the harm they have done to these children. The follow-up research is apparently already in the works and will most likely culminate in primate studies. The only positive that will hopefully come out of this is that all of the doctors, who in their arrogance feel that they know best and thus don’t have time to wait for proper research to be conducted, and who have been chelating autistic kids (and worse), will be sued into bankruptcy, drummed out of practice, or better yet jailed (nope - no axe to grind here!).

The final article concerned the use of anti-psychotic drugs (Risperdal in particular) to treat behavior problems in autistic children, the thought of which is completely repulsive. The side effects of these medications are permanent as well, and include: fever, stiff muscles, confusion, sweating, fast or uneven heartbeats (occasionally heart failure), restless muscle movements in the eyes, tongue, jaw, or neck, tremor (uncontrolled shaking), trouble swallowing, light-headedness and fainting.

I have gotten into the habit of taking a few moments for prayer, both before and after my daily perusal of these materials. Not to do so seems unwise and ungrateful, for I have two bright, beautiful, healthy, wonderful children who are fine just the way they are, and for that I give great thanks.

Head for Rent

The other night over coffee, a close friend of mine was relating a recent set of circumstances that really pissed her off (her choice of words, not mine). The circumstances themselves were not very interesting to me, but she is cute and I had nothing else to do, so I sat listening and sipping my decaf mocha java, when she said something extraordinary: “I don’t know why I let people rent space in my head… for free!”

I was thunderstruck and I’m sure my face showed it, for it was one of those ah-ha moments where a host of disparate thoughts that had been percolating unbeknownst to me suddenly gelled in a concatenation of events. The connection(s) between worldview, feeling, reality, and the act of creation suddenly crystallized for me. I too have been guilty of letting others create my reality for me, one that is not in my best interests.

We are disturbed not by events, but by the views which we take of them.
~ Epictetus

So how does one go about wresting control of the creative process back from all that exists outside one’s self – that’s the real rub of it. The short answer would seem to lie in the power of choice; however, it is often the case that the mechanism through which that choice is attenuated has been idled for so long or adjusted so infrequently that it has corroded almost to the point of dysfunction – almost. A second factor that further confounds matters is that this choice, or transformation thereof, is made instantly and incessantly, moment by moment, throughout one’s existence, on a subconscious level. Changes of this type, those involving deeply ingrained habituation, can best be effected by practicing the alternative habits until a new, more desirable state of habituation evolves. But it takes a great deal of practice, and is difficult for those, like myself, who crave immediate gratification, to sustain. I have to keep reframing it in terms of a struggle for my soul; it would seem like real work, but perhaps this is not the case.

There is a parable I have heard at various times, perhaps many of you have as well, and that I think is apropos in this context, I will therefore risk being repetitive and relate it here. It is one purportedly from Native American culture in which a young boy is sitting with his grandfather, learning the ways of the shaman. The grandfather explains to the boy that inside the boy there are two wolves battling for control of his soul. One of the wolves is good and noble, pure and kind, joyful and peaceful. The other wolf is evil and dishonest, selfish and cruel, angry and restless. “But grandfather,” the boy asks, “which wolf wins?”
And to this the old man replies, “the one you feed.”

I am feeding the wrong lobo when I hang the rental sign on the helmsman’s chair of my emotions, and the price paid is profound. Especially upon consideration of the fact that simply opting to purchase a different brand of wolf-chow is no additional work – a bag is coming home from Petco and a wolf is getting fed either way – why should brand loyalty run one’s life?

There was a fuller, more three-dimensional feel to the epiphany; the understanding that I gained was somehow more substantial and more integrated than words can adequately express. Before it blurred and faded like a good dream, I endeavored to preserve what I could for future reflection, by furiously typing text into my cellphone as we flirted and watched biscotti crumbs clinging desperately to the sides of our mugs, as if to avoid succumbing to the warmth and drowning. Capturing revelations of this sort is a difficult and imprecise affair, but one that is utterly worthwhile. And while I suspect that this recounting of one such instance fails miserably to accurately relate the enormity of the experience, by trying I am telling the big bad wolf that there is no vacancy here.

The Blind Leading the Stupid

Now this one is truly mind boggling, and I owe much thanks to Obi for pointing it out to me – sorry it took me so long to deal with it, I have just been in denial I guess. Being confronted with such incredibly heinous stupidity just causes my mind to vapor-lock sometimes. I should probably tell the rest of you what I am speaking of, but before I do that…

If you’ve ever listened to Alice’s Restaurant (I wore my copy out) you may recall the part where, after dumping the garbage from the church and getting arrested for it, Arlo and friends are in court waiting for the judge to look at the 27 8x10 color glossy pictures (with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one…), and the judge walks in with a seeing-eye dog. He describes it as a typical case of American blind justice. Lest we forget, the judiciary is only one of the three branches of our governmental system, and this story concerns the second of those three.

I suppose you could file this under “only in Texas” but you would hope even they would have more sense. As you may or may not be aware, hunting in Texas is enormously popular. Why even our Vice President has been known to go out and shoot (with) a few friends. But wait, there’s more. There is a new bill in the Texas legislature specifically for improving the sporting lives of blind hunters in Texas.

I should just stop right there – BLIND HUNTERS – it says it all. These are two words that should never be next to each other in the same sentence let alone in the same piece of legislation… but they are. In the realm of truly bad ideas this ranks right up there with blind Indy car racers or blind mohels or blind bomb disposal technicians.

Anyway, you can read the article for yourself at the following link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6173535.stm

This bill would allow blind hunters to use laser-sighted rifles to hunt animals in Texas. The article appeared in the BBC news some weeks back, so once again the good old US of A is the laughing stock of the entire civilized world, confirming their opinion of us as a bunch of violence-loving barbarians.

Monkeyshines ‘till Nine

This week’s visit got off to another rather bumpy start. Both little ones reportedly got up at 3:30 in the morning and were ready for their afternoon snack by the time they arrived at the Sensory Gym at 10am. Zach had a short session, as he became sick and barfed in the waiting area shortly before the session was due to end. He did get some therapy done, however, and felt better almost immediately upon tossing up all of the junk that he ate prior to the session.

countBy the time we got to Daddy’s house, he was out for the. This was Zach’s first nap in his bed at Daddy’s house (of course I took pictures to capture the event). Miranda had taken a brief nap while Zach was doing his thing, so she was ready to play. After tucking Zachy in, we took our toys into the living room and play we did!

You might recall from a previous entry that our little guy had some shiny new Matchbox cars waiting for him leftover from his Dental visit, so equity demanded something for our little lady. Miranda found two beautiful necklaces for her to play dress-up with (of the cool, funky painted wooden, stretchy variety) and two giant superballs with little dinosaurs inside – the kind that she likes. She immediately held one up and said, “this is Zachy’s ball” and went and quietly laid it next to him while he was sleeping. What a good little sister!

We played with dolls for quite some time, had a tea party, banged on our tambourine, and had our lunch and a lollipop too. Zachy slept until 5:20 and woke up feeling fine, but no sooner had he gotten up, than Miranda fell asleep (she slept on the couch this time because Zach tends to play in the bedroom) and remained asleep until Mommy came back at 9pm.

Zach and I did our usual things, had a bath, watched our Chicka-chickas, and had a nice dinner (I didn’t overcook the steaks this time and the boy ate ravenously).

Mommy came and collected the monkeys at 9pm. Poor little Miranda was not happy about being woken up and bundled up – she cried and let it be known that it is better to let sleeping pandas lie. We hugged and kissed and said goodbye – this coming Saturday will see the first Overnight Monkeyshines and promises to be a momentous occasion. Stay tuned!

Be Afraid

I was reading yet another article today, among the never-ending stream of thousands produced by the fear-mongering machine that is our contemporary mainstream media. In today’s article, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told a high-level panel on terrorism at the World Economic Forum that the century will only get more dangerous as technology improves, and that global leaders must make some hard decisions now if they want to avert catastrophe. Chertoff said that the world is facing a critical test as it seeks to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists, and that there will be no way "to put that genie back in the bottle" if it fails.

My first thought was “damn, I hate tests, and I didn’t even know there was going to be a quiz or anything. I wish I had more time to study.” OK, so that’s really three thoughts, but the point I was coming to lies in the forth thought that I had, “Oh, it’s terrorists again today, not illegal immigrants or evolution touting hippies or gay marriage.” Chertoff was beating the familiar but effective drum that the media so love, whose beat goes something like this: “Be afraid. Be afraid enough to give up your rights and freedoms. Be afraid enough to compromise you beliefs. Be afraid enough to let us take control, so that we can protect you – even from yourself. Be afraid, but continue to consume.”

To be fair, I suppose that the alternative media are also guilty of fear mongering, they simply beat a different drum, telling us that the mainstream outlets are wrong about what we should be afraid of and that we should be afraid of the mainstream sources for this very reason. Not only should we be afraid of the mainstream for getting the truth wrong, we should also be afraid of all the things that the alternative media has identified for us as the real bogeymen. These include global-warming, dangers to our food supply, industrial pollutants, evangelical Christians, etc.

Of course, upon reading the article, I quickly checked our conveniently color-coded alert status to see how afraid I was supposed to be. I found it to be holding steady at “salmon”, not the more comforting “chartreuse” that I was hoping for, but at least it was not the truly alarming “vermilion,” which would have caused me to rush out shopping for duct tape and plastic sheeting. So I did what any good citizen would do – nothing. What else is there to do, really? Have a DHS sanctioned prescription for anti-anxiety medication filled (as long as it is not one of those dangerous Canadian-made generics)? Should I just sit there and frown, or frown and tremble at the same time? Generally, I prefer to sit and stew, and when I engage in this activity, absurd things happen.

“The Terrorists” – it is so goofy that it almost sounds like something from James Bond (Spectre) or from the Saturday morning cartoons of my youth, like the “Legion of Doom.” Where the hell are the Superfriends when we need them? We need the Wondertwins (what was up with the monkey?) to turn into some cockamamie shit and save the day. We need Aquaman talking to some fish or a squid or something. We need Batman and his little bitch Robin to throw some serious kung fu at the problem. We need a savior! What we really need is Jesusman to come back and take another crucifixion for the cause! Jesusman - I just made that up - I rather like it, but I digress - I’ll run with that later.

I suspect that the real strategy of “The Terrorists” is far simpler and far more devious than we can imagine. Just ask yourself, “what would Lex Luther (a.k.a. Osama Bin Laden) do?” His best strategy is to just hang out in his energy-independent cave, eating his organically raised and free-range Yak burgers, stoking up his fire with another renewable Yak turd or two, drinking pure glacial-melt water, simply waiting for our entire civilization to collapse, then standing up and proclaiming that Allah’s will has been done. The sad reality is that anyone wanting to destroy our way of life has to get in line – behind us.

If Hurricane Katrina (brought to you by those wonderful folks who gave you the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004) taught us nothing else, it taught us that we are only a few days away from anarchy when faced by even a relatively predictable and normal natural event. When only two seemingly insignificant transmission lines came down somewhere in deepest darkest Ohio it caused the great blackout of 2003 in the Northeast U.S., which left tens of millions without the basic necessity of life for days. Our water supply, transit, energy distribution and food distribution infrastructures are all incredibly complex, incredibly old (Jurassic really) and incredibly fragile. What is worse, is that they are all interdependent, thus a failure in any one area will, more likely than not, lead to cascading failures in the others.

The real Legion of Doom knows this far better than do we Americans. They do not want to come here and take over, if they did they would already be here, driving our cabs, managing our convenience stores, buying our apartment blocks, cheating on their taxes and vacationing at Disney. They do not want what we have, they only want us to stop forcing our way of life and our problems on them. This is their cause, and the most effective way to defeat a cause is to take away the reason for the cause in the first place. Thus, the best strategy for homeland security is a benign and non-interfering foreign policy, or better yet, no policy at all. After all, by making a policy isn’t one addressing a situation that doesn’t yet exist, or answering a question that has not yet been asked? It is laziness and foolishness, and has resulted in our present culture of fear. Be afraid only of this, be very afraid.

Worldometers

OK, so I know this endless tweaking is annoying, but I'm trying to create something that is not only archival, but also enjoyable and useful as well. To that end, I have decided to add one last link (at least for now) to the links sidebar. This site can be found at http://www.worldometers.info/ and gives real-time world statistical data that are regularly recalibrated. It provides some good food for thought and I feel that it is in keeping with most of the recurring themes of these pages. Enjoy! I promise to actually write something for my next entry and several ideas/issues are marinating - thanks again for all the support.

The Mix is in the Message

I've decided to add a new link to the sidebar here. It is a news site that I visit often and find to be very helpful. Hopefully, some or all of you will check it out - it does not buy into all that liberal vs. conservative bullshit and actually presents "news", what a concept. Here is a brief description of AlterNet:

AlterNet is an award-winning news magazine and online community that creates original journalism and amplifies the best of dozens of other independent media sources. AlterNet's aim is to inspire citizen action and advocacy on the environment, human rights and civil liberties, social justice, media, and health care issues. Its editorial mix underscores a commitment to fairness, equity and global stewardship, and making connections across generational, ethnic and issue lines. AlterNet serves as a reliable filter, keeping hundreds of thousands of people well-informed and engaged, helping them cope with a culture of information overload and resist the constant commercial media onslaught. AlterNet's aim is to stimulate, motivate, and engage.

To check it out visit: http://www.alternet.org/

Is It Safe?

Yesterday we took Zach to his first dental appointment with Dr. Lim the dentist, who has an office at 505 East 70th Street in Manhattan. Dr. Lim has experience treating kids with ASD, has a good approach to it and had some good recommendations for us regarding dental care for the kids.

At this first appointment, Zach sat on Daddy’s lap in the chair (just sitting in the chair was traumatic for Daddy) while Dr. Lim merely looked at Zachy’s teeth. He only used the little mirror thing that dentists love to use (not that awful pick thing), was careful to let Zach hold it first and didn’t force it into his mouth. Daddy and Zach made monster roars/noises so that Dr. Lim could see inside.

Zachy’s teeth are apparently in very good shape – coming in straight, evenly spaced, and with no visible signs of decay. This was good news considering all the Tonka trucks, cars and bicycle handlebars that our guy has gnawed through over the past couple of years. The only big change is that Zach is going have to stop having is bedtime rice milk (we were told that it is loaded with sugar) unless we are able to get him to brush afterwards.

Dr. Lim wants to see him once a month to get him used to having his mouth looked at, gradually increasing the invasiveness each session, until he can do a real cleaning, etc. Good plan, huh? The only negative about the whole visit was the major meltdown that Miranda had because she had to wait outside with Grandma – Grandma had to capitulate and brought her into the examining room gasping and shaking because she was so upset – she can really work herself up into a state sometimes.

Daddy had stopped at Riteaid and bought some Matchbox cars, which were to be used to console Zach or reward him for being so brave, but they were not needed. I guess we will get to play with some new toys this Saturday, when the gang comes over for Monkeyshines time.

Maps of War

Here is a website with some really interesting flash animations. The following link will play one of several available on the site. The animation lasts about 45 seconds (no sound) and has a sliding time line below it to show the approximate year. As you watch it, notice the number of times that Israel and Iraq are conquered and reconquered - especially at the end of the animation when it replays the entire sequence at high speed. It kind of puts the prospects for peace in the middle east in a new perspective - not a very optimistic one. Enjoy!

http://www.mapsofwar.com/images/EMPIRE17.swf

Overtime-Monkeyshines

This week’s episode of Monkeyshines got off to a bumpy start – literally. The gang was about ten minutes late to the Sensory Gym because of an accident – apparently, Zach was playing chase with his Step-Grandfather and ran into the futon. He sustained a 1cm (I measured) vertical cut through his left eyebrow and the pediatrician had to be called, to see if he needed stitches – she said that they don’t stitch eyebrows. I felt bad for the little scar-faced guy, but was grateful that it did not happen on my watch. He seemed to be in good spirits by the time they arrived and had a good (if rather short) session with his therapist Luz.

This was a week of “firsts” and the first “first” occurred right after we got back to the House of Miller. Zach wanted to get started playing and seemed to think that Mommy needed to go, in order to enable this. He picked up her coat and handed it to her, inviting her to leave so that he could get started. When she did not go immediately, he shoved it at her twice more until she did go, then set about business.

Another “first” was that Miss Miranda earned her first time-out from Daddy, which she did not like one little bit. Zachy was playing nicely in the bedroom while Miranda had been eating her lunch. Upon finishing her meal, she marched in and tried to insert herself in his game by grabbing. Normally Zach just walks away when this kind of thing happens and lets her have her way (mostly to keep her from crying which he hates), but this time his game involved his cars and his marbles (precious objects) and he “said” no to her and would not let her play. Miranda got pissed off and began hurling toys (and some other things) around to demonstrate her ire. This infraction (throwing things in anger) is what earned her a time-out (we do this because this form of discipline works so well in Hockey). Afterwards, she sobbed on Daddy’s shoulder for a few minutes until she recovered enough to return the goofy faces that Daddy was making at her. It was obvious to Daddy that this little one was overdo for a nap and she retired to the couch with her Reggie-blanket and a bottle of milk for a two-hour nap (1:30 – 3:30) after which she was her usual jolly self.

The final "first" for this week was the dreaded dual-poop, which occurred during music time. Both children went strangely silent and appeared to be concentrating fiercely on my guitar playing, which was very gratifying until I realized (smelled actually) the real reason for it. No one was hurt, diapers were changed and windows were briefly opened to ventilate the room.

Daddy and Zach had some special time while Miranda napped, coloring at the easel - we worked on our shapes (exploring polygons) and colors. We also had a fine time playing Blues Clues and Ride the Daddy. Of course the amazing marble machine was running continuously throughout the entire eight-hour visit (stock tip: invest in Duracell).

I won’t bore you with the lunch and dinner menus – they were fairly typical, but I added raisins, tossed salad and everything-free chocolate chip cookies to the “staples list”. Although I overcooked the steaks for dinner (we ate mostly French-fries and ketchup – it’s a vegetable right?) and they were kind of tough, suffice it to say that nobody went hungry and everybody got two balanced meals and a whole bunch of healthy snacks – thank God they love fruit!

After bath-time (the marbles even took a bath with us) we settled down (all three of us) in Daddy’s thinking chair to watch our Chicka-chicka Boom-boom videos and have some nice quiet time. It was a very sweet and loving evening. Mommy came back just before eight and we said a fond farewell at 8:15, until our next adventurous Monkeyshines time.

AQ Test

Take The AQ Test:

(from Wired Magazine)

Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues at Cambridge's Autism Research Centre have created the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, or AQ, as a measure of the extent of autistic traits in adults. In the first major trial using the test, the average score in the control group was 16.4. Eighty percent of those diagnosed with autism or a related disorder scored 32 or higher. The test is not a means for making a diagnosis, however, and many who score above 32 and even meet the diagnostic criteria for mild autism or Asperger's report no difficulty functioning in their everyday lives.

Click on the following link to take the test:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html

By the way, I scored a 31.

Off-Balance

As I was explaining to my good friend Obi this morning, I have been feeling completely off-balance this week. I have been tired, forgetting things, clumsy (to the point of mayhem), hiding from the world and just generally screwing things up. Fortunately, no one has gotten hurt - myself included.

It’s kind of hard to figure – the week started out with a Holiday, though the day off was consumed with a pediatrician visit (Miranda got a rubella shot and Zach got pronounced pink-eye free) and a visit to a lawyer. The latter was a consultation that Mia and I went to, to discuss what the steps were to sue the Board of Education for private school tuition for Zach, should they not be able to provide him with an appropriate educational setting (something that they are almost certainly not going to be able to do). It was kind of weird sitting there together as a team, having spent so much time meeting with lawyers in our difficulties with each other – at least it was weird for me.

So I guess the week was off to an unusual start. This was compounded by our adventure to the Ideal School of Manhattan on Wednesday, where Zach had his first interview for a kindergarten slot. Zach did fabulously – he counted to twenty, said his abc’s, did his shapes and colors and even did some drawing for them. He also did a great job of holding Mommy and Daddy’s hands and was ultra cute and very sweet with everybody. Unfortunately, I suspect that the school will not be a fit for him, as the class sizes are too big (15 kids per class) and they will probably not be able to provide enough speech therapy (only twice per week). Zach had a fine time however, and even sat in on a music class and looked at some pollywogs in an aquarium. We rode the train all the way back to Brooklyn and parted at Flagg Court.

Thursday (yesterday) I absentmindedly forgot to wear a nicotine patch - again. I realized this just as I was getting out of the train in Harlem and was about to start a twelve hour day – ugggh! I made it through without smoking, but I was pretty miserable and woozy all day. I had to keep asking everybody if I was being too cranky and apologizing for just plain old being useless. I put one on as soon as I got home and today I seem to be fully recovered and back on balance.

That should bring you all up to date with what’s been going on in Miller’s world – I’ve got a meeting tonight at 8pm and then 8 hours of Monkeyshines tomorrow Peace.

Quality Time Monkeyshines

This week's Monkeyshines visit featured another milestone (the first two meal visit) and lasted until well after 7pm. Our favorite little folks stormed into the House of Miller and played their little hearts out all afternoon long.

Before I go any further, I should note that I updated the images on a couple of earlier entries (New Years Monkeyshines and Walden) and have several more Christmas images to add to the Christmas Monkeyshines post - please check them out and enjoy.

I'll try to keep this brief- lunch was the usual fair, however, this week the kids stayed for dinner, which consisted of steaks, corn on the cob, french fries, and peas and carrots for Miranda. It was nice to see two little ones with such good appetites eating healthy food. Most all of the food and a lot of grapes, bananas, melon and assorted other fruit were all eaten by the end of the evening (but virtually no potato chips or other junk food!).

This week Daddy did a better job of planning and we not only had art-time, but also music-time, nap-time, story-time, tumble-time, bath-time, dinner-time, and movie-time. In another week or two, when the Monkeys start spending the night, we'll add quiet-time and bedtime to the list.

Daddy is learning quickly that a little pre-planning really makes the day that much more enjoyable for all. I don't get much time with the kids so I really have to make what little bit of time I get count.

Nothing of great note happened during this visit - just a lot of love. I'll try to do a better job of getting these entries back on a Monday post-time schedule. Until the next time, stay tuned for Monkeyshines.