Autism

People usually call it autism (say: aw-tih-zum), but the official name is autism spectrum disorders. Why? Because doctors include autism in a group of problems that kids can have, including Asperger syndrome and others. These problems happen when the braindevelops differently and has trouble with an important job: making sense of the world.

Every day, our brains interpret (understand) the things we see, smell, hear, taste, touch, and experience. But when someone's brain has trouble interpreting these things, it can make it hard to talk, listen, understand, play, and learn.

A kid's symptoms could be very mild, severe, or somewhere in the middle. For example, some kids might be upset by too many noises or sounds that are too loud. Kids who have milder symptoms don't mind loud noises so much. Someone with mild symptoms might need only a little bit of help. But a kid with severe symptoms might need a lot of help with learning and doing everyday stuff.

Kids with autism often can't make connections that other kids make easily. For example, when people smile, you know they feel happy or friendly; when people look mad, you can tell by their face or their voice. But many kids who have autism spectrum disorders have trouble understanding what emotions look like and what another person is thinking. They might act in a way that seems unusual, and it can be hard to understand why they're doing it.

Segregated Prom

After national mockery rained down upon him like a Georgia squall, Mr. Deal finally conceded that Mr. Obama was, more than likely, born in the United States. Still, there won't be any more concessions to reality during his term if he can help it. That's why he has resisted calls to add his voice to the growing chorus of Georgians demanding integration of school prom nights where segregation still reigns.

Although the calendar swears it is 2013, black and white students from Wilcox County High School in the Macon area attend separate proms even though the school has been integrated by court order since 1970-71. Under pressure from white parents who didn't want their kids socializing across racial lines, the school long ago canceled the prom rather than risk white flight. The school has had separate Homecoming kings and queens, too, with no joint photographs of them for the yearbook.

Thus began the Wilcox tradition of white parents underwriting a private, invitation-only prom for whites, held far removed from school property, in a strategy mirrored throughout the South by other public schools. Black parents responded to the snub by underwriting private proms for their kids, although white kids aren't excluded.

New Album Releases 12/13/12

Bruno Mars: Unorthodox Jukebox- Fresh off earning his fourth No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, Bruno Mars now has his sights set on the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart.

MIA: Matangi- M.I.A. took to Twitter to talk about her new album, Matangi. According to Maya, the album will be out in December, it sounds like “Paul Simon on acid” (yes!) and features no collaborations or “fame whore” producers.

Warrior is dance-pop-by-numbers, inflected with guitar. Kesha's strident rap retains all its obnoxiousness on the title track.

Green Day: !Tre!-We should be impressed by the sheer songwriting prolificacy Billie Joe Armstrong and his brothers in pop-punk arms have put on boisterous display. This band that’s been going since 1987 just tacked on another third to their studio recording catalog, and did so, it seems, with incredible ease.

Kris Menace: Features- Nobody listens to him!!!!!!!

12/11/12 Blog Entries

TED
Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane brings his boundary-pushing brand of humor to the big screen for the first time as writer, director and voice star of Ted. In the live action/CG-animated comedy, he tells the story of John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg), a grown man who must deal with the cherished teddy bear who came to life as the result of a childhood wish...and has refused to leave his side ever since. 

THE Bourne Legacy
An expansion of the universe from Robert Ludlum's novels, centered on a new hero whose stakes have been triggered by the events of the previous three films.

Why Stop Now?
When a college piano prodigy tries to check his mother into rehab, he is taken hostage by her drug dealer and swept along on a wild adventure.

ice Age:Continental Drift
Scrat's nutty pursuit of the cursed acorn, which he's been after since the dawn of time, has world-changing consequences - a continental cataclysm that triggers the greatest adventure of all for Manny, Diego and Sid. In the wake of these upheavals, Sid reunites with his cantankerous Granny, and the herd encounters a ragtag menagerie of seafaring pirates determined to stop them from returning home

UNRAVELED BACKWARDS
Just days before Bernard Madoff captured headlines as the largest Ponzi schemer in U.S. history, Marc Dreier, a prominent Manhattan attorney, was arrested for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme that netted hundreds of millions of dollars from hedge funds. Brazen forgeries and impersonations branded the white-collar crime spree remarkable. Unraveled is set in the "purgatory" of house arrest -- an upper East Side penthouse -- where the Court has ordered Dreier confined until his sentencing day

Blog Entries For Monday, December 7 , 2012

Playing for Keeps: Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Dennis Quaid star in Playing for Keeps, a romantic comedy about a charming, down-on-his luck former soccer star (Butler) who returns home to put his life back together. Looking for a way to rebuild his relationship with his son, he gets roped into coaching the boy's soccer team. But his attempts to finally become an "adult" are met with hilarious challenges from the attractive "soccer moms" who pursue him at every turn.

Bad Kids Go to Hell: Six private school high school kids find themselves stuck in detention on a frightfully dark and stormy Saturday afternoon. During their 8 hour incarceration, each of the six kids falls victim to a horrible "accident" until only one of them remains. And as each of these spoiled rich kids bites the dust, the story takes on a series of humorous and frantic twists and turns. Is one of the kids secretly evening the school's social playing field? Or have the ghosts of prestigious Crestview Academy finally come to punish the school's worst (and seemingly untouchable) brats? One thing is for sure...Daddy's money can't save them now.

Dino Time: There's nothing Ernie loves more than an excellent adventure. Whether he's zooming around town on his rocket-powered skateboard or stealing an early peek at the cool new fossil exhibit at the Dinosaur Museum, Ernie never lets the strict rule of his mom, Sue (Jane Lynch) or his tag-along sister, Julia, keep him from stirring up some fun. While visiting his best friend Max's house, daredevil Ernie stumbles upon Max's dad's latest invention: a sleek, egg-shaped time machine. When Julia bursts in on the boys' discovery, the time machine whirs to life and closes its doors on the three arguing kids. It whisks them away to a lush jungle untouched by mankind, where a living, breathing T-Rex named Tyra (Melanie Griffith) mistakes them for her newly-hatched children, joining her family with hyperactive dinosaur son Dodger (Rob Schneider).

Waiting for Lightning: A documentary on pro skateboarder Danny Way's tough childhood and his contributions to the sport, including footage of his jump over the Great Wall of China.

12/4/12 blog entries

The Dark Knight Rises
The Dark Knight Rises is a 2012 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan and the story with David S. Goyer. Featuring the DC Comics character Batman, the film is the third and final installment in Nolan's Batman film trilogy, and it is the sequel to Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008). Christian Bale reprises the lead role of Bruce Wayne/Batman, with a returning cast of Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Gary Oldman as James Gordon, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, and Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane. The film introduces two main characters to Nolan's series: Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), a cat burglar whose appearance in Gotham City sets in motion a chain of events that leads Batman to come out of retirement; and Bane (Tom Hardy), a mercenary whose objective is to destroy Gotham.

Hope Springs
Hope Springs is a 2012 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by David Frankel, written by Vanessa Taylor, and starring Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones and Steve Carell.

Butter
In small-town Iowa, an adopted girl discovers her talent for butter carving and finds herself pitted against an ambitious local woman in their town's annual contest. 

The Odd Life Of Timothy Green
The Odd Life of Timothy Green is an American fantasy drama film directed by Peter Hedges and released by Walt Disney Pictures on August 15, 2012. Based on a concept by Ahmet Zappa, the film is about a magical pre-adolescent boy whose personality and naivete have profound effects on the people in his town. It received mixed reviews from critics and had modest ticket sales in its debut weekend.

Beasts of southern wild
Hushpuppy, an intrepid six-year-old girl, lives with her father, Wink, in "the Bathtub," a southern Delta community at the edge of the world. Wink's tough love prepares her for the unraveling of the universe; for a time when he's no longer there to protect her. When Wink contracts a mysterious illness, nature flies out of whack-temperatures rise, and the ice caps melt, unleashing an army of prehistoric creatures called aurochs. With the waters rising, the aurochs coming, and Wink's health fading, Hushpuppy goes in search of her lost mother.
  
Silent Night 

 The police force of a remote Midwestern town search for a killer Santa Claus who is picking off citizens on Christmas Eve. 

Thunderstruck

hunderstruck is a 2012 children's film starring NBA player for the Oklahoma City Thunder Kevin Durant, along with Taylor Gray, Jim Belushi, Brandon T. Jackson, and Doc Shaw, and directed by John Whitesell. It was released on August 24, 2012.

 

Sports, Entertainment and The Arts

Sports:

NFL won't suspend Suh for low hit on Schaub

The NFL won't suspend Ndamukong Suh for his low hit on the Texans' Matt Schaub. The league will still review the incident regarding a potential fine in the future. Replays of Suh's hit weren't clear as to whether it was an intentional hit or not.

Entertainment:

Co-stars, fellow actors grieve over loss of Larry Hagman

Linda Gray, who played J.R. Ewing's wife on 'Dallas,' says Hagman was 'bigger than life. Hagman's J.R. Ewing inspired Joan Collins to play Alexis, Collins says. Hagman was 'an element of pure Americana,' says Barbara Eden of 'I Dream of Jeannie. Hagmand died Friday of complications from cancer.

The Arts:

Yasser Arafat's body exhumed

Former PLO leader Yasser Arafat was exhumed Tuesday. Forensic experts from three countries took samples from his remains for testing. Palestinian officials want to know if Arafat was poisoned with a radioactive element.