Measles and Autism

There are a total of 4 siblings in my family and all of us were vaccinated for measles, although my youngest brother was born with down syndrome and then later when he was around 2 years old my parents found out he had autism. Did they think it was from the vaccine? No they didn't but after reading several stories that said it came from the measles vaccines that children get, my mother started to believe that was the case as do many others since the measles are making a dramatic come back, and yes in the U.S. There have been many studies that have show that the measles vaccine DOES NOT cause autism but it's hard to squash years of rumors. There is an article in Scientific American "New Study: Measles Vaccine Does Not Cause Autism" and it goes in depth about the study on how the measles aren't the culprit for autism. The number of people vaccinating their children have gone down but the rate of autism is going up, 1 out of every 150 children are now autistic.

Many people will still believe that autism is caused by a vaccine, but not vaccinating your children is an even more risky game. Measles can be deadly in children especially for those without means or health care. "In a room of 100 people, only one of whom actually has measles, another 90 to 95 people will become infected, Seward said" This is a direct quote from Bio Medicine. There is no reason for children to be contracting this disease, especially in industrialized countries where vaccines are readily available.

For more recent news on the measles outbreaks click here

Broccli the new anti aging drug?

I don' know about most people but I love broccoli, and I like it steamed and plain. For those of you who don't like broccoli after reading Keen Cuisine: Broccoli Rave you might want to change your mind, or at least try it several different ways or hide it in another food just to eat some. Apparently Broccoli activates antioxidants can help fight aging by boosting the immune system. It also helps fight against heart disease, diabetes, and degenerative joint diseases. So if you don't like broccoli try it steamed and be sure to hold your nose while you swallow it down =)

How to end your worries

I know that sounds crazy, I mean how does one stop worrying? I mean there are so many things to worry about, the economy, is my job secure, how are you going to get money for college, are your kids doing well in school, is your relationship heading for disaster, did you pass your final exam, etc etc the list could go on forever. I came across Eight Weeks to End Your Worries, and I'm going to tell you right now it's a really long feed but it has a great deal of information it is also followed up with another post First Week: End Your Worries. If you come across this I think everyone should take up the 8 week challenge and see if you can end your worries or at least reduce them I would be interested to know how people do.

Electric Cars

I plan on purchasing a new car in about 2 years, by then I should be done getting my B.S. and have narrowed down a graduate school. I want to move to a more urban area so I won't be so dependent on a car, because for my next car I would really like to go electric. Right now I drive less than 40 miles per day so it would be a great deal, and even a better deal if I could walk where ever I needed to go. Unfortunately I don't know where I am going to go to grad school so it might not be an urban area and my commute might be a little further, if this is the case I hope that electric cars start making some advances fast. This problem in discussed in Scientific American's "Electric Vehicles of America: Helping drivers go electric but not very far" talks about this very issue on battery life and how major advances need to be made before they will be good for long road trips. It also talks about the DIY conversion kit to change your car over, honestly this sounds kind of scary, complicated, and an accident waiting to happen (speaking for only myself of course). Currently from what I have read the average miles you can get on a fully charged battery is between 40-45 of course some are more and some are less. These are the cars that are available to most people across the country, this excludes the aptera which is only going to be available in California and the telsa roadster because lets face it not everyone can fork out over 100k for a car. Since gas prices have gotten as high as they are, the demand for alternatives are finally driving manufacturers to start making big changes, I cannot wait to see the car industries are going to be making over the next 10-15 years.

How Safe is your identity

In a world where all of us have put our lives on the internet, with blogs, myspace, facebook, digg, flicker, and various other methods of getting our information in public view we have all put ourselves at risk. Browsing through my google reader I came across "How I stole Someone's identity" which is an amazing article of how someone was able to get get bank information changed by doing some simple password changes. How did he know the answers to the security questions to email accounts and bank accounts....simple he looked at her blog site which gave him all the information he needed, well most of the information.

I think about the information that I have floating around out there and I did a search on my real name, then my user name, and then my blog names and nothing really stood out to me. I don't get that personal on the web, I just have simple information nothing that would help anyone get the answers to my security questions. Most people have the standard security questions, mother's maiden name, and date of birth or something along the lines of that. Try changing those out for more difficult ones information that only you would know, or if you are able to make your own security questions do so and make it some off the wall information like:
What is your favorite brand of toilet paper?
What is the name of your kindergarden teacher?
or find some private information that you wouldn't share with anyone:
What was the nickname your parents had for you?
what is your greatest fear?
what is your greatest fantasy?

Do a search on your name, check your blogs, and other pages to check exactly what kind of information you are just handing to people interested in screwing you over.

Great News for Amputees

It looks like there has been some advances in prosthetics that may help those that lack all of their limbs. Although the technology hasn't advanced enough for humans it is being used in animals. This technology I believe would greatly help reduce the stress, depression, and anxiety of those born without limbs, or those who have had to have limbs amputated. This would cause movements to be more natural, and it would feel more like a piece of their body because it would become a permanent prosthetic.

Real Human Contact

In this day and age of modern ways of communicate we forget that actual talking, and face to face time goes a long way. Text messages are ok for simple messages but they lack the emotions you feel from hearing tone of voice, laughter, sarcasm, crying, etc. When couples face troubles real communication is what is going to get them over the hurdle, as discussed in Texting Leave Out More Than Just Vowels discusses how real communication makes large impacts. Memories are created from contact and real involvement, something more than you can get from a text message, email, or instant messaging. Younger generations are leaving out the communication and trading it in for electronics, which there is nothing wrong with but in a relationship you need something more. You need to feel the caress of your partner, the sound of their voice and just being together is what will cause your relationship to develop and grow stronger. Messages not given in person can also be taken the wrong way because you can't hear the tone of voice, which can cause arguments that would have been prevented if the phone was picked up and used instead.

This is especially true when partners are separated for what ever reason. If the seperation is due to travel it has been known to cause higher emotional distress and real interaction was the only thing that helped with the distress "In fact, only a long phone conversation-not a bonanza of emails, texts, or voice messages-was effective at ameliorating these participants' negative experiences brought on by the separation." That is from Separation Distress Among Romantic Partners and its Lessons for Human Mating, this talks about how seperation causes high stress, and anxiety. This just goes to show that we need real contact in order for our relationships to grow, and how attached we become to one another but even that attachment needs constant reassurance from something more than an electronic message.

Are relationships too hard?

I'm sure it's not news when I say the divorce rate is up, and that infidelity is skyrocketing. I have also heard people say "well that was her first marriage, and you know those never work" but why? I came across Is Marriage Hard of course on psychology today and it was perfect, and I though amusing. It said

In fact, marriage is only hard for those who:
• Try to make their partners into someone they are not
• Believe they have superior rights, tastes, preferences, beliefs, or morality
• Are unwilling to use binocular vision to see their partner's perspectives alongside their own
• Are convinced that their partners are selfish, mentally ill, or defective
• Are unwilling to admire their partners' strengths and regard their vulnerabilities with compassion and support
• Are unwilling to appreciate the value and meaning their partner's add to their lives.

This right here says it all, if your a selfish person that only sees one point of view (your own) then you are not going to be happy with anyone but yourself. All relationships can be difficult it does require you to have an open mind, be compassionate, patient, and compromising. You are never always going to see eye to eye with anyone other than yourself, and if you don't believe that you are living in a fairy tale and have committed all of your relationships to failure. Relationships are only as difficult as you make them, my boyfriend and I have all different beliefs, likes, and dislikes but we support each other no matter what they are.

Another problem is everyone is in a rush, we have to get married, we have to have kids, we have to do this, but why do we have to do it as soon as possible? It can take years to get to know someone and be comfortable enough with a person to let your inner most secrets out. So why do people think that after 6 months of knowing someone they can just hop on the train of matrimony and everything is going to work out? Take your time, get to know each other make sure you have enough in common, but have some differences to keep things interesting if you do that then it shouldn't be hard, but that doesn't mean you won't hit a speed bump or two =)

Own your last mile

Google Public Policy Blog: What if you could own your Internet connection?

http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/customer-owned-fiber.ars/

Here's another story of a community who's taking their home network connection into their own hands. A private contractor is building out a fiber network from over 400 homes in Ottawa, Canada to a colo facility where any ISP can set up equiptment and sell internet service to these consumers. This will give the homeonwer the ability to buy their internet from any service provider they like, that's available in the area. More providers means more competition, which invariably means lower prices and bettter/faster innovations. As well as the fact that we won't have to deal with asshats such as Time Warner or Comcast cable systems.

If we all had this ran to our homes, the collective price would be low indeed. Now we just need to work on co-op'ing the cellular providers we'd be set.

Are you a People Pleaser?

I will start off with there is nothing wrong with people pleasing so long as your are able to say no when needed, and have the ability to put your own needs first. It feels good to make others feel good, when it no longer feels good and you are putting your own values and needs below that of others is when it becomes a problem.

I have been afflicted with this many times and I am working at trying to get control of my life, and I have a wonderful man in my life to help me with the progress. This was not so when we first met, I wanted to make him so happy and make extravagant gestures and unforgettable memories. I did this at the cost of my personal needs, every time he was here for a weekend I would make sure I got new lingerie, I would take us out to dinner at places more than I could afford, and one time I even got a themed room at a hotel and went all out and got all these things to make the night special (I will not go into how much that cost) and have a little adventure. Meanwhile I was stressing on how I was going to pay for all of this stuff, I didn't think about that I just wanted to make him happy and I was putting myself in financial danger while doing so. When now I know that he would have been happy doing anything, just as long as he was spending time with me, not that he didn't like the things we did.

People pleasing has also been a problem with me in other areas, I have a hard time when people ask me for a favor, or sometimes I even feel guilty saying no, this is especially the case at work. I go to school full-time and I have been working, and just closed on a house so I am trying to get that organized as well. This summer I have been volunteering as a research assistant in a lab and I said that I would be available from 8-10am Monday thru Friday, well I have come in after work, I have been there all day on weekends when I should be working on other things but it's because I can't say no.

In "Field Guide to the People-Pleaser: May I Serve as Your Doormat?" it discusses how people may have picked up this trait in childhood. I know growing up I had half brothers and sisters so I was always fighting for the attention of my father. I was treated differently because I was not his child, the man raised me since I was two but that is a whole other. Anyway growing up I would try to be the best at everything, and do things he liked but it didn't work so I would keep trying harder. I did this all the way up until I moved out of the house at the age of 19, and the trait stayed with me. I would do favors for people, I would bend over backwards for people and everyone that meets me thinks "I'm the nicest person" but inside I'm angry and frustrated that I have become the go to guy for everything, although since I have started this job it isn't nearly as bad as it used to be.

I heard be more assertive, and being assertive is a good quality, I have tried that hat on too and people don't seem to like those that give their opinions freely and say no. Before I was able to go to school full-time I worked at another company (doing payroll), here I had a more assertive personality and it cost me a lot. I gave my opinion on a new policy that was being implemented that would not be convenient to some of our employees in another state, and immediately an email went out saying that anyone that has an issue with this new policy is part of the problem and the past. This happened during performance reviews and needless to say mine was horrible, when just 4 months prior it was outstanding and I received a nice raise. After this had happened work just got worse, and eventually they pushed my buttons so hard I quit.

This is a 3 part series on parent-pleasing to people-pleasing it contains information on the characteristics of people pleasing, and how to stray away from those habits and work on pleasing yourself:
http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolution-the-self/200807/from-parent-pleasing-people-pleasing-the-journey-away-self-and-the-wa
http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolution-the-self/200807/from-parent-pleasing-people-pleasing-the-journey-away-self-and-the-w-0
http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolution-the-self/200807/from-parent-pleasing-people-pleasing-the-journey-away-self-and-the-w-1


Writing this blog has been wonderful and lets me express MY views and opinions....I think today I am going to go home make what I want for dinner and then lay in bed for 15 mins while listening to some relaxing music as a special treat to myself and to get away

what are you going to do??

The facinating field of Anthropology

The field of anthropology has not always been an interest to me until I first saw National Geographic's series Taboo, which if no one has seen I highly recommend. One episode I remember seeing talked about raising children. The first part of the series showed typical American traditions when raising a child, then it went to the amazon, and then raising children in some parts of India. The differences were astonishing, and I have been hooked since and that was years ago. At the time I was like most Americans, we think everyone lives like we do, raises families like we do, and have the same mannerisms. Some Americans even forget that there are other cultures and countries out there (thankfully I was never that bad!)

I have signed up for many feeds and one of those is the psychology today blogs which I have referenced many times. I came across Thinking about cultural differences I: An introduction and Thinking about cultural differences II: Why bother? both of these discuss differences in culture and how in the field of psychology learning about different cultures has become important to understanding behavioral differences, and trying to get a better understanding the social norms in other cultures. So why is it important to learn about other cultures, religions, points of view, etc? Doing all of those things makes one a more well "rounded" person, makes a person more open and understanding. What you may find offensive may be a normal part of life in another society , it helps people understand boundaries. Not only that but it's important to learn thoughts and beliefs that aren't the same as your own because it makes people more open minded and might actually help mold your own views on something when you get more than one point of view on something. Most people never agree with other people when their views do not fit into our own, it would be a good lesson for everyone if they just took the time to open their eyes to see that there is more out there than just themselves. I have taken one anthropology course and hope to take another one, I believe it makes me a better and more versatile person for doing so. I enjoy talking to those with different opinions than my own, it makes for better conversation and I like to see why people believe one thing and I like to share why I believe another.


I believe if more people did this even religion and politics would no longer be one of those no nos to bring up in conversation ;)

It's Your Fault, No it's Your Fault

Unfortunately I have played this game I came across The Road to Marriage Ruin Begins with Blame although I am not married, I am in a committed relationship and my partner and I have been together for a while now. While reading this I started thinking about all of our little "tussles" we have been in and it's true most of them start because either I am cranky or he is. We even had one last night which was my fault, although at the time I blamed him. I had to work late which wasn't planned, and then by the time I got home I was starving so I was already moody. We got into a "run-in" for no reason other than I was being irritable. In this feed it gives questions you should ask yourself when disagreements do occur and you blame the person you are with:

1. What were you doing or experiencing immediately before that negative emotion?
2. How did you feel when you woke up on the morning of the incident you described?
3. Did any other negative events happen that day, before the incident you described?
4. Had you been feeling connected to your partner before the event that triggered the negative emotion?
5. What was your partner doing/experiencing immediately before your negative emotion?
6. How did he/she feel first thing in the morning?
7. Did any other negative events happen on that day, before the incident you described?
8. Had your partner been feeling connected to you before the event that triggered the negative emotion?

I did apologize for the way I was acting last night and it was before I read this, so I do realize when I am at fault and he isn't, I just need to realize it sooner and remember that the only reason I'm in a bad mood is because of MY day and not my partners. Maybe if more couples realized that everyone would go back to being the "cute" couple holding hands while walking down the street.

Creativity

I consider myself to be a pretty creative individual, maybe not so much in my writing but I am artistic, and I have creative thoughts and ideas. I came across this Building blocks of creativity article on the psychology today blog. The people in my life always tell me how creative I am, from the little sculptures I make, to the scrap booking I do and even telling stories. The building blocks article suggests that creativity may result from childhood play and imaginary friends.

When I look back to my childhood I am flooded with memories of games my friends and I would make up to play, and the "artist" of the week awards I won a couple times while I was in grade school, to taking ceramics in high school. The household I grew up in, reading wasn't really pushed as an activity, and I was a mischievous child so I remember being grounded a lot, which included the T.V; so I was left with nothing but my imagination. I remember coming home from school and being bored out of my mind so I would just lay in bed and stare up at the ceiling for hours and just let my imagination run wild, the day dreams I would create were almost as vivid as the dreams I had while sleeping. This became one of my favorite activities as a child since I was left with nothing to do. During this time I also wrote short stories and practiced my sketching, even when I wasn't grounded these became activities that I enjoyed and still enjoy today. Day dreaming is still one of my favorite activities and it comes in handy during long meetings and classes.

Could you imagine a world if imaginary play would be restricted? If all children were restricted from using their imagination would we of had such great artists such as Picasso , Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Dali? or great literary authors like Poe and Hemingway. Everyone should take a little break from life to dream a little.

Biofuel Plants

I use google reader as a way to keep up on the news from places such as Psychology Today, National Geographic, Discovery, and Scientific American. I found an interesting video about the Jatropha plant. At the bottom of the video it displays

Jatropha, a hardy biofuel plant grown in salty soils near the Indian Ocean, may reduce biofuels' competition with food-producing crops, industry officials say.

If this plant in fact can produce mass quantities of ethanol and reduce the use of corn it could drive down food costs and end the food riots that are going on currently. According to Circle Biodiesel & Ethanol Corporation these Jatropha plants are resistant to drought and produce seeds that contain 40% Jatropha oil. This corporation has also done research into the use of algae to produce biofuels. They state that one of their machines runs for 195,000 US dollars (which is probably 1 day in iraq) and it can produce 1 gallon per minute. They have containers in which algae can be grown, but the use of algae would also be a way to clean up lakes, streams, oceans and pretty much all water sources since some algae blooms are caused from runoff pollution from fertilizers and farm waste.

Some species of algae are so rich in oil that it accounts for over 50% of their mass, which means not counting the water, which is over 90% of the algae. It is believed that the majority of oil and natural gas originates from algae in ancient oceans.

With an economy in an economic slump one would think we would be investing more into these resources, for one it would produce thousands of jobs. You have to have "farms" to grow the algae, people to transport it, people to run the machines that transform the algae into usable fuel, to bottle it up for transport, etc. etc. Also if oil companies should be looking more into these resources because their product is going to be a thing of the past, and the costs are already too high

Hop on the bandwagon for electric cars

This morning I was listening to NPR's "Oil Prices Gone Wild" on my way to work they keep talking about how the oil prices keep going up and they are only going to keep going up. How some of the oil producing countries are trying to get the prices to come down, but since all of the oil producing countries aren't increasing production the prices of oil continue to rise. I have also read John McCains Energy Policy he wants the ban to do off shore drilling lifted so we Americans can stop our dependence on foreign oil. This may sound fine to some Americans, but this isn't the solution to the problem and once the ban is lifted it's going to be harder to get the ban back in place. Trust me once oil spills start happening and our coasts are being ruined from them, and animals are washing up on the shore dead from oil suffocation, there is going to be a large public outcry. By then it will be too late, major damage will be done to our beaches and wild life, not to mention it will be difficult to pass legislation to have the ban reinstated because we didn't do anything but make our dependence on oil stronger. Does the American public even want to take this chance?

Americans should be working to rid our dependence on oil period. Brazil has been using Ethanol for years, and all of their gas pumps have been converted they don't even use oil anymore. We should be working on going completely to hybrids and electric cars, they have a few electric cars out now, one manufacture produces the Aptera and it looks promising but they are only available in California. There is also the Xebra but it has only sold 700 cars in America. Although the reviews haven't been great on it, the higher the demand the more cars manufacturers will produce hybrid and electric card and the vehicles quality will only improve over time.

Most people drive short distances unless going on vacation, or traveling for work. I bet 65% of Americans could go to using electric cars because of how little they drive. Those who do drive more could opt to get a hybrid to make up for the extra distance. Unfortunately most gas stations in America haven't even upgraded their pumps to supply ethanol, which should have already been happening. Car manufactures also charge an addition 3500.00 dollars on buying a hybrid when the consumer should be getting a tax break. Things aren't going to change in America until the consumers and voters start complaining, people should be writing their congressmen,senators, and local car dealerships voicing what they want. If voters were to start complaining in large numbers the representative in each state are going to want to push for economy friendly cars because they want to get re-elected.

I personally do not plan on buying a new car until 2010 because that is when some of the electric cars plan to go on the market. I only drive to school, work, and small errands. I probably at most drive 200 miles per week and I shouldn't be paying 80 dollars a month to fill up my tank for that kind of driving, especially in a Honda civic.

Even chimps know the importance of emotional support

It’s amazing to me that even though we are at the top of the food chain and intelligence ladder we still learn from our “lesser” companions in the animal kingdom. In the article “Chimps Hug, Kiss to Show Support” it discusses that after chimps have been pushed around another chimp not involved in the conflict will approach the victim and console him/her by giving a hug and/or a kiss. Those researching this phenomenon found that stress was reduced; this was show by chimps actually reducing their stress behavior such as scratching and self grooming.

If chimps know the importance of consoling a person when they are having a stressful day, we should know this. So next time a person in your life has a bad day, whether if be a child, friend, spouse or significant other remember a hug and a little sympathy can go a long way, and they will be more inclined to comfort you when you need it.

What is the problem people

While going through google reader catching up on my new I came across http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/quirky-little-things/200806/the-bigot-in-the-political-pulpit-gays-get-the-shaft . Disgusting? an abomination? Something repulsive and to be loathed, these sound like adjectives that would describe a serial killer, or a pedophile but what is this woman describing her thoughts on gays?

Really people it’s 2008 and gays have been around as long as man has been around, and gay people aren’t going any where nor should they. I was so happy to hear that California is now allowing gays to get married, and then I come across an article like this, just when I though people were putting aside their personal beliefs and giving people (yes for those of you who don’t know gays are people too) the right to be married, a right that should have been theirs a long time ago. I am a human rights activist, that doesn’t mean I go on pickets and do anything crazy it means that I believe ALL people should have the same rights. People should not be putting religion into the equation, its fine if you’re religious and everyone is entitled to their own beliefs but you shouldn’t restrict a person’s rights because of their sexual orientation. Seriously how does one’s sexual orientation effect your personally? It doesn’t you can get on with your life the same as it was before. Sexual orientation is something that cannot be helped. It’s not like you woke up one morning and thought to yourself I think I’m doing to be straight today, just like gays didn’t wake up and choose to be that way.

And for those of you who are religious, do you know what an abomination is? It’s an organization that covers the biggest child molestation scandal the world has ever known and it has paid out 2 billion dollars in abuse costs since 1950, just incase you don’t know what I’m talking about it’s the Catholic Church. A scandal that the Vatican helped cover for many years, it’s the organization that tells the public what morals they should abide by, but they themselves do not abide by. They are the ones that tell you that gays are evil in the eyes of God and they can’t keep their hands off little boys. That to me just seems wrong, and it’s a religion I certainly couldn’t follow.

Anyway back to the topic at hand, what is so wrong with gay people? Like I said above sexual orientation isn’t a choice it’s something you are born with, and yet gays aren’t seen as equals in the eyes of the law, people still beat them for being gay and unfortunately gays are still being killed because of their sexual preferences. I hate to use this as an example because the two really aren’t related but both are something you are born with. Individuals born mental handicaps, it is something they can’t help but they have protection under the law, those without severe handicaps can get married, and when someone kills them or physically harms them there is a large public outcry. And yet when someone harms an individual that is gay, I heard a lot of “gays get what they deserve” or something like this article said “It is an offence to God, an offensive act and something that God abhors." They are so fixated on the fact that the individual is gay that they don’t even see that a person was harmed. What do you think God finds more offensive beating people up and killing them, or being gay? If you guess being gay, your incorrect. Those bible beaters out there quickly forget that Jesus was persecuted for his beliefs, for not conforming to what society at the time believed and he crucified for it. Is being gay so different, you have people out there just trying to live their lives but you have other people all over the world that want to persecute them and see them wiped off the face of the earth in the name of religion? Does that strike anyone else as odd? It’s sad to say that those who do the in the name of religion are usually doing the most offensive things, such as protesting at funerals.

Please don’t misinterpret what I said above about gays and the handicap, it was a bad example but I couldn’t think of anything else, I’m not saying people shouldn’t be upset when the handicap get hurt, and I’m not saying that being gay is a mental handicap because it isn’t. I’m just trying to express that ALL people should be seen in the same light, all people should be seen the same way in the eyes of the law, all people should have the same rights.

I also heard marriage is between a man and a woman, according to whom? Another thing I hear is letting gays get married is a sacrilege, married sacred? Sorry to bust some bubbles but how sacred is marriage anymore? Look at the divorce rate, you have people say oh well you know it was her first marriage and you know first marriages never work? Also adultery is out of control, if marriage was as sacred as people believe, you wouldn’t be able to get married by Elvis in Vegas, you wouldn’t be able to get a divorce so there would be no “1^st marriage mistakes”, and there would be no such thing as adultery. If gay people want to join the matrimony nightmare let them, who are you and I to prevent people from achieving happiness.