World Autism Day

Today is World Autism Day. The facts below were taken from the AACTION website, www.aactionautism.org. (AACTION stands for "Autism Awareness Campaign Through International Organizations Networking.") A friend of mine is very involved in this organization. Take a few minutes to check out their website. Another organization to check out is Autism Speaks, www.autismspeaks.org.

"Autism is a brain development disorder characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication, and restricted and repetitive behavior, all exhibited before a child is three years old.

1 in 150 individuals are diagnosed with autism. It is more common than Down Syndrome or childhood cancer.

There is no known cure for autism. Early intervention can dramatically increase IQ and language ability. Unfortunately, many countries lack the tools and training to identify children with autism. In some cultures there is not even a word for “autism” in their native language.
Despite misinformation around the globe, autism is not caused by bad parenting. Autism is not a mental illness. Children with autism are not unruly kids who choose not to behave. Furthermore, no known psychological factors in the development of the child have been shown to cause autism. It is generally accepted that autism is caused by abnormalities in brain structure or function.
There are millions of people around the world that have autism and are not identified and are not receiving proper medical and/or educational interventions. Sadly, many of these individuals are severely mistreated or outcast from society."

On another note, big news across the pond. The Queen Mum hugged Michelle Obama. Crazy stuff happening these days.

Industrial Espionage

The Valspar Corporation is one of the largest global coatings manufacturers in the world, providing coatings and coating intermediates to a wide variety of customers. Since 1806, Valspar has been dedicated to bringing customers the latest innovations, the finest quality, and the best customer service in the coatings industry.

The paragraph above is from the website of the Valspar Corporation. You know their products and you've probably used them, like spray paint, for example. Valspar is in the news because they, like a lot of the companies operating in the USA, are under attack. In this case, a literal attack, by an industrial spy.

David Yen Lee, 52 years old, of Arlington Heights, Ill., worked as technical director of new products for the company's architectural group in Wheeling, Ill. He quit his job at Valspar on March 16, according to an FBI statement, two weeks after returning from a business trip to China.

Mr. Lee is a naturalized American citizen.

When the Valspar people examined Mr. Lee's Blackberry and laptop, items that he had turned in when he resigned with immediate effect, they found a data copying program, they found that his files had been purged, and they found evidence that propriety formulary information had been downloaded.

Mr. Lee's LinkedIn page proclaimed that he had taken a job with a major Chinese paint and coatings manufacturer.

Authorities found that Mr. Lee had purchased a one way ticket to Shanghai. They found his packed travel bag, and in it was a little computer memory drive, loaded up with Valspar data.

The maximum penalty for the crime of which Mr. Lee has been accused is 25 years in prison.

If Mr. Lee is found guilty, I hope he gets a long prison sentence here in his adopted country.

April Fool

April Fool!




How many times have you heard that? How many times have you wondered where it came from? Even so, would you please keep reading?

Way back when, the new year began around April 1, as it was related to the vernal equinox. In 1582, Pope Gregory ordered up a new calendar -- called, not so coincidentally, the Gregorian calendar. Spooky, like Lou Gehrig catching Lou Gehrig's Disease.


The new calendar moved the beginning of the year to January 1. As there was no CNN back in 1582, and the newspapers that are now failing had not yet been invented, a lot of people didn't hear about Greg's New Year, and some of those who did hear about it declined to adopt it. The early adopters of the new New Year made fun of those who didn't know or refused to switch, and the non-compliant were referred to as April fools.

Another version of the origin of April Fool is that back in BC May 1 was the day for planting crops, and people who jumped the gun were referred to as April Fools.

Yet another explanation is a reference in The Canterbury Tales to the actions of fools on the date March 32nd. Comedy Channel hadn't been invented yet, either.

There's a history of pretty good April 1 pranks, including:

Burger King advertising left handed Whoppers
Taco Bell purchasing the Liberty Bell : the Taco Liberty Bell
Lincoln Mercury buying the Lincoln monument : the Lincoln Mercury monument
The invention of spaghetti trees
Countries shifting to metric time
The discovery of Sidd Finch, the baseball pitcher with a 168 mph fastball

None of that stuff was all that funny or clever, but it was better than what's going on today. There's supposed to be some nasty computer virus that busts loose this year on April 1.

Bet Greg never saw that one coming.

Quality Cars?

Here's the latest JD Power dependability rankings for auto brands. I've presented it upside down, so it goes from worst to first. If I had the time, I'd create an index of dependability compared to average sales price, and this would change the list a lot.


Suzuki came in last- new slogan : "King of the Crap Wagons"
Volkswagen - next to last, and they dumped spokesmodel Brooke Shields!
Land Rover - haha, look how much you paid!


Isuzu - whatever happened to Joe Isuzu?
SAAB - test drove one, once. The console fell apart when I opened it. Sob...

Scion - kiddie cars

HUMMER - look like enormous gym lockers on wheels, but at least it's not a Land Rover

Pontiac - strong performer -- in the 60's
Kia - the auto division of Chia Pets
Saturn - nice cars that will be extinct in two years

MINI- a little for a lot
Dodge - Al Bundy drove a Dodge. So did my dad, and Richard Petty.
Nissan - pretty average cars. We've owned three.

Volvo - boring as a drive across Kansas. The Chinese may buy the company.

Chevrolet - ain't that America! Had a couple over the years.

Mitsubishi - no one actually buys these. No one.
Mercedes-Benz - less dependable than Chrysler, whom they divorced.

GMC - tarted-up Chevys, so why are they better?
BMW - beat Mercedes, lost to Hyundai. Ha-ha.
Chrysler - believe it...or not. I had two, so "not"

Subaru - OK, sure, why not?
Hyundai - they have come a long way.
Audi - VW's big expensive brother. Remember VW, next to last?

Ford - the healthiest US auto maker
Porsche - lotsa cash for the cache
Cadillac - great cars and Kate Walsh commercials

Honda - we love our Honda.
Lincoln - we like our Lincoln. A lot.
Acura - Honda with more frosting.

Infiniti - don't like 'em. Never have.
Mercury - had one. Surprisingly excellent car. Shitty marketing department.
Toyota - automotive appliances, but who can argue?
Lexus - the benchmark has been bested.

and in a tie for best...

Buick - I am impressed but I'm still not buying one. They dumped Tiger Woods, too.
Jaguar - This is now Tata Motors of India, by the way, and by the way of FoMoCo. They sell so few of these, each one should be perfect.

Newsreels

Today, a toy for you to play with at your leisure. It is the Universal Newsreel channel on YouTube.

For those of you under the age of ancient, newsreels were part of the cinema experience, whereby folks in the pre-TV age got their news visuals along with their entertainment at the movie theatre.

Very fun history lessons here!

http://www.youtube.com/user/UniversalNewsreels

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Different topic: Rick Wagoner, the CEO of General Motors, is "stepping down at the request of the White House". The boss of GM got canned by the President, the end of a 30+ year career that saw GM slide nearly out of existence.