Christmas Break

Merry Christmas! Like much of the world, we're wrapping presents, preparing holiday treats, and seeing family and friends more than usual. It's a good time of year.

I spent a couple of hours today wrapping the presents that I've accumulated for the past half year or so. With ten people scheduled to be around the Christmas tree on the morning of December 25th, our present unwrapping scene will last for a while. We insist on the presents being opened one at a time so that the gift and the giver can be properly acknowledged. Even if it is better to give than to receive, the giver should nevertheless hear a word or two of thanks!

We didn't spend a lot on presents, but then we never do. Christmas doesn't seem very fun if we overspend on it.

A little crow

Almost two months ago, I mentioned that I was starting to change my eating habits so that I could lose some weight.

I'm quite pleased. This is a healthy rate of weight loss, and I've still eaten dessert (just less of it). I snack less and in much smaller amounts, and I tend to not take seconds at dinner anymore. I'm also better at exercising some (20-30 minutes on a stationary recumbent bicycle) most days. I'm also slowly weaning my 18-month-old, which might affect things a bit, although I'm not sure which direction.

Nothing tastes as good as feeling comfortable in my clothes.

I highly recommend the book The Diet Trap Solution: Train Your Brain to Lose Weight and Keep It Off for Good by Dr. Judith Beck.

Autism Advance

Good news from the field of autism research today! For the first time, they've been able to link a neurotransmitter in the human brain to autistic behavior. Thank you, Harvard.

The neurotransmitter in question is GABA, an inhibitory transmitter. I bet some supplement makers are about to make a lot of money.

Life

Last week, Colorado was horrified when a lone, unstable-appearing man, who used marijuana and had other hints of less-than-prosocial behavior in his past, attacked a Planned Parenthood clinic.

Before I discuss this any further, I'm going to share a recent, raw tragedy. My younger sister, 19 weeks pregnant, went on vacation this week to another country. Yesterday, we found out that she was bleeding heavily. They had to give her several blood transfusions. The pregnancy ended. My sister is now physically recovering, but her emotional recovery will no doubt take a very long time.

I view the act of intentionally aborting unborn children for convenience to be heinous. I abhor Planned Parenthood's unique focus on providing that "service" to mothers who don't like the timing of when they got pregnant. (Please, get an IUD (females) or more permanent birth control (everyone) if you don't want children.)

All that said, I whole-heartedly condemn the shootings by Robert Dear in Colorado Springs. Pro-life means being against taking life in general. There are valid arguments for and against abortion, and those offering abortions (hopefully) typically don't consider themselves to be ending a life. (I think they're scientific illiterates for holding that belief, but I don't consider them intentional murderers.) Also, abortion is legal. Dear wasn't justified. At all. I reject any rhetoric that would claim he was.

Yesterday, we saw a jihadist couple leave their baby with grandma then go shoot up a holiday party, hoping to video-tape it for some repulsive purpose. They are part of a religion that claims to abhor taking innocent life, but apparently their working definition of "innocent" is much different than we in the USA are accustomed to viewing that word. I absolutely reject any rhetoric that defines as fair targets for violence those who are civilians on the ground that they reject Islamic supremacy. I applaud Muslims who also reject such rhetoric, and I wish there were more of them.