Morning!

Poor Jesse. It took me forever to get to sleep too, but I did manage several hours finally.

Yay msbelle! I'm so very excited for you. Also, little boys rock.

Boo for bad caffeine laden coffee, but yay for having coffee with Tom!

Cindy, you just made my Monday morning. What a wonderful way to start the day.

So only 3 more weeks of horrid election commercials before we start on the 2008 campaign. It is a little amusing to be in Mark Foley's area.

I got a good night's sleep last night, in spite of having to be at work at 7:30 this morning.

But then again, I got beer instead of coffee yesterday afternoon.

Wise man.

Jesse, I'm about to call you.

Boo for bad caffeine laden coffee, but yay for having coffee with Tom!

True fact. Hi Laura!!

[link]

Cornell University researchers are reporting what appears to be a statistically significant relationship between autism rates and television watching by children under the age of 3. The researchers studied autism incidence in California, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington state. They found that as cable television became common in California and Pennsylvania beginning around 1980, childhood autism rose more in the counties that had cable than in the counties that did not. They further found that in all the Western states, the more time toddlers spent in front of the television, the more likely they were to exhibit symptoms of autism disorders.

Is this Casanova the BBC thing? Or Casanova the Heath Ledger thing?

I couldn't even finish the Heath Ledger one. This is Masterpiece Theatre (which, I assume is the BBC version) with David Tennant.

Cornell University researchers are reporting what appears to be a statistically significant relationship between autism rates and television watching by children under the age of 3.

I wonder if this will get people off the vaccination/autism link. Also, ugh. Like I need reason to worry about how much my toddler watches tv.

I think I need these speakers .

Also, Mr. Scola's tv.

The TV theory (I haven't read the article, just Tom's quote) makes me wonder which comes first in a chicken/egg sort of way and puts me in mind of the old, "Blame the woman, she must have been a cold mother," autism-theory that was popular when we were young.

The thing is, depending on how it manifests, parenting an autistic child can be exhausting, and TV is particularly appealling to some autistic kids, and a respite for their parents. I suspect there's never going to be an answer for autism, so much as a set of precautions parents can take. Less TV is never going to be a bad thing.

Had a really lovely weekend with lovely people. Managed to get a window seat on the train home. Sadly, I was a moron and picked the side in which I'd be facing into the setting sun most of the way, but that promoted eye closure and napping. Managed to get cat home from boarding. Did not manage grocery shopping, but I think I'll survive until this evening.

Now I need to work. Hrmph.