Helicopter Parents

For those unfamiliar with the term, helicopter parents are those that hover directly over their kids indefinitely. These are the parents that keep track of their kids' schedules, assignments, and finances. And by "kids", I mean "college students". These parents drive down to their kid's dorm twice a week bringing food and laundry and picking up dirty laundry. They write resumes, set up interviews, and so on. Well, now they're apparently harrassing their kids' places of employment, trying to make sure they're treating their babies right. Does anyone else realize how crippling this is to the kids? Sure, you hold your baby up when they're learning to walk, but once they can walk on their own, you let go! A psychologist was on the Today show yesterday who asked the viewers to hold up their right hands and swear to uphold the one commandment of parenting: "I will only do for my children what they cannot do for themselves". I applaud this.

Rabies

This is a meerkat from the Minnesota Zoo. It is no longer alive. No, it did not die from old age or disease. It was not eaten by the tigers. It was euthanized when a kid climbed to the top of the wall, stuck her hand into the display, and was bitten. The zoo offered to give a prophylactic rabies vaccine, but the parents said they didn't want their kid getting a shot, so all six animals had to be euthanized to check for rabies. This happened a while ago, but I happened across this photo I took a couple years ago and felt like sharing it. I just still can't believe that these animals were killed because a kid was too curious and the parents were... Well, I don't think there are words to describe the parents.

Gerald Edelman Talk

I happened across this video of a talk I saw given on another occassion. It's perhaps one of the best talks I've ever heard, so I strongly recommend it to everyone (once you get past the bureaucratic beginning).

Gerald Edelman's talk.

From Brain Dynamics to Consciousness

1 hr 26 min 4 sec - May 10, 2006

If you're having trouble watching the video, try copying the following URL into your browser:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7437432153763631391&pr=goog-sl

Granny Bikes

My wife wants a granny bike. I'm worried that she has delusions of commuting to work, which is almost 15 miles away.

Ritalin

The local radio personality just said, "It's time for Riddlin' Ryan", but I thought he said "Ritalin Ryan" and half expected to hear him go hyperactive. It got me thinking what the general consensus is about Ritalin and other ADHD meds. The research shows how effective it is, at least in the short term, but the long term effects are just being elucidated. They seem to be positive as well, but there are serious issues with sampling and so forth. But that's empirical research. Most people don't read the American Journal of Psychiatry regularly enough to be up on these issues, so what trickles down to everyone else? You know, the people who actually use, abuse, or could benefit from some sort of treatment. For that matter, what do people think of ADHD in general? Hmmm....

Outside Puppy

Our dog loves to be outside, and I would have no problem staying outside with him except that I have to do actual work (to get money and stuff). All last summer I tried various methods, but there was the inevitable pardox of "If I increase the screen brightness on my laptop so that I can actually see anything, my battery only lasts an hour or two". Well, over the past two days I have perfected my system, and the crowning moment was when I ran an extension cord to the backyard. Woo hoo! Then at 11 o'clock it got too warm for us, so we had to come inside anyway. Oh well.