"LANCASTER, Calif. (CBS) ― The body of a man believed to be a transient was found on Tuesday with an arrow through the chest, according to the sheriff's department."

That means there's a weirdo with a bow and arrow somewhere that just decided to use another human being as target practice. Wow.

Link to the whole story.

Request for Information: Names of Autism Advocacy Organizations in the State of California

We are a group of social scientists at Columbia University studying autism. Our research, under the supervision of Peter Bearman, is funded by the 2007 National Institute of Health Pioneer Award.

Project Background

There has been a staggering increase in the incidence of autism and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in California in the past decade--- with comparable increases nationally. Three competing theories have been advanced to account for the rise in autism cases: expanded criteria for diagnosing autism, increased environmental degradation/toxicity, and increased genetic risk.

It wasn't until a couple days ago when we realized how devastating the fires in San Diego have become.  We got word that family has been evacuated from their home and may not have a home to go back to. 

Half a million people have been evacuated making this a comparable natural and national disaster to Hurricane Katrina.  You would think news coverage on this tragedy would be 24/7, however, on our local Minneapolis channels it has only been deserving of 2 minutes of coverage on the 5 and 10 o'clock news.  Very sad.  (I guess we'll have to break down and purchase cable to get any real news or just rely entirely on the internet.)

Here is a Google map of the fires in the San Diego area so for those of you who don't live in the sourthern California can see how expansive these fires have become.  [via digg] 

Here are some sites with continuing coverage on the fires:
California Wildfires (CNN.com)
Bush declares major fire disaster (BBC News)