Batch of links

- I really enjoyed this family’s time-lapse video of a year in their community garden; it makes me look forward to having raised beds and gardening with more varieties of vegetables (and strawberries, I need fresh strawberries). By the way, did you know that urban farming tends to lower the crime rate?

- Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Day is May 17th this year.

- This site lists everything you can get for free on your birthday from various companies (in the U.S.). My birthday falls very close to Christmas, and with the travelling and festivities involved during the holidays, I never end up having time to use any of these ideas, but I’m sure some people can benefit!

- Here’s a round-up of outrageously sexist ads, with a commentary of how they affect the way men and women view themselves.

- You’ve heard about the 4th-grade “science” quiz, right? Turns out it’s real. Granted, it was given by a private Christian school, not a public school, but I still have trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that some kids are still being taught this in the 21st century, but it does explain some of the stupid thing coming out of people’s mouths…

- The cheat sheet version of the language situation in Quebec.

- A fascinating New York Times article titled Diagnosing the Wrong Deficit, about how some symptoms of chronic sleep deprivation can easily be confused with symptoms of ADHD. Obviously, treating ADHD when the problem is really sleep deprivation isn’t optimal! It’s also interesting to note that chronic sleep deprivation in children has increased in recent decades, as has the rate of diagnosed ADHD…

- There’s now a way to potentially diagnose autism at birth so that treatment can be started right away, as opposed to waiting until your child is a toddler to get a diagnosis and then a few more years until you can get adequate care… This test isn’t standard yet and at this point is only recommended for parents who already have an autistic child, but there’s a lot of potential there.

- And finally, a bunch of links about pot, which fell in my lap this week. First, hard evidence that cannabis use in one’s teens leads to an irreparable drop in IQ (which is not the case when one either doesn’t use pot or starts using it in adulthood). A commentary targeted at those who say using pot makes them better at parenting (hint: your kids are not oblivious), plus evidence that an older sibling’s behavior can have more influence than parental influence (which works both ways: an older sibling setting a good example will help the younger ones despite hard conditions, but the opposite is true as well). And last, a neat video titled The Accidental Stoner, about how a journalist reporting on pot accidentally got high on the job – and how today’s pot can be much stronger than what was available in previous decades.