Cliff Notes for “Swine flu: One Killer virus, three key questions.”

By Ilene

Brendan Maher and Declan Butler, authors of a recently published Nature article “Swine flu: One killer virus, three key questions,” set out to answer three questions about the H1N1 virus. Here’s what they found. 

How does it kill?

Sherif Zaki, head of the infectious-disease pathology branch at the Centers for Disease Control, discusses his team’s observations from their pathological studies.    

1.  The H1N1 virus penetrates deep into the alveoli (the terminal air sacs in the lungs). In contrast, the seasonal flu viruses tend to infect cells higher in the upper airways. This deep penetration is reminiscent of the action of the H5N1 avian flu virus. Zaki commented: “[H1N1] is like avian flu on steroids.”  Why might this be?

Zaki says that his observations fit well with recent research looking at the mechanism of infection. A group led by Mikhail Matrosovich at Philipps University Marburg in Germany and Ten Feizi at Imperial College London studied sialyl glycans, glycoproteins that the flu virus binds to in order to gain entry to human cells. Although seasonal strains of H1N1 bind mostly to versions of the glycoproteins known as α2-6, the researchers found that the new pandemic H1N1 can also bind to a version called α2-3, which is found in greater proportion in the lower respiratory tract.

2.  In patients who have died, co-infection was common with H1N1.  Zaki’s group observed infection with bacteria such as Staph aureus or Streptococcus pneumoniae in about a third of the fatal swine-flu cases. However, in the remaining two thirds of fatal cases, the virus was lethal alone.  The damage seen in the lungs is characterized as ‘diffuse alveolar damage,’ reflecting a very difficult to treat state of respiratory distress syndrome. According to Zaki’s research, about 90% of the fatal cases had some underlying medical condition.

Zaki expects the number of flu cases to increase as the flu season “ramps up.”

How does H1N1 spread?

Brendan Maher visited Peter Palese’s laboratory at Mount Sinai School of Medicine where testing for how the viruses spread is being carried out. Researchers John Steel and Anice Lowen compared the transmissibility of H1N1 to that of seasonal flu using a guinea pig model. Their data indicate that the H1N1 virus transmits as efficiently as seasonal flu viruses, which is consistent with real-world data showing rapid spread.

Prior exposure to H1N1 and H3N2 subtypes of seasonal flu seemed to limit the animals’ infection with the pandemic H1N1 strain, supporting the proposition that the seasonal flu vaccine provides some cross-protection against the swine flu.

What could it turn into?

Declan Butler spent time at the Jean Mérieux/INSERM biosecurity level four (BSL-4) facility in Lyon, France, where researchers are evaluating the likelihood that the pandemic H1N1 virus will ressort with the avian flu virus to create a deadly recombinant killer virus. In April, when the H1N1 pandemic began, priority lab time at the facility was allocated to Bruno Lina, a virologist at the CNRS, France’s basic-research agency, to conduct viral reassortment experiments. Although the pandemic H1N1 virus is not a BSL-4, the health ministry in France requires BSL-4 precautions for the reassortment experiments.

Butler writes:

The eight genes in the flu virus’s segmented genome are easily swapped between strains. But to be viable, new gene combinations must also be able to work together to package themselves into a virus particle. Viruses within a subtype tend to reassort with one another more easily and generate more viable reassortants than do those from different subtypes…

Lina is also preparing to submit a protocol to the facility’s scientific board seeking the green light to try to reassort pandemic H1N1 and the H5N1 avian flu virus. "It’s controversial research, but it is basic science that needs to be done," says Lina. H5N1 has killed more than half of the people it has infected since it resurged in 2003, but has rarely spread from one person to another. H1N1, on the other hand, seems to be as transmissible as seasonal flu, but mild in most people, if severe in some. The aim of Lina’s proposal is to find out the probability of a reassortant arising that combines the lethality of H5N1 with the transmissibility of H1N1…

Lina will use reverse genetics to generate a soup of reassortants, test whether any are viable, and if they are, assess their virulence and transmissibility. Because H1N1 and H5N1 are different subtypes, Lina does not expect them to swap genes easily. In 2005, he tried to reassort H5N1 with seasonal H1N1 and H3N2 viruses, without success. "After a year we only had three reassortants, and none was fit," recalls Lina, "they just don’t reassort well."…

Fortunately, Lina’s work suggests that viruses with the H1N1 subtype and avian flu viruses do not reassort easily into viable viral killing machines. However, the verdict awaits further research and real-life testing. Perhaps the most likely reassortment is between the pandemic H1N1 virus and the drug resistant seasonal H1N1 virus, resulting in the pandemic H1N1 strains showing increasing drug resistance. 

Resistance can emerge by spontaneous mutation, but given that seasonal H1N1 is already resistant to the drug and spreads easily, reassortment is perhaps the most likely way that pandemic H1N1 will acquire resistance — especially as seasonal H1NI and pandemic H1N1 are the same subtype.

Photo:  This colorized negative stained transmission electron micrograph (TEM) depicted some of the ultrastructural morphology of the A/CA/4/09 swine flu virus. Wikipedia.

aku terima satu email dari rakan sekerja semlm
14 keping gambar yang menarik
rasanya
tak salah kalau kita berkongsi
so
aku post kat blog ni
hehe

Gambar mikroskopik tentang badan kita. Tak boleh dilihat dengan mata kasar!

Gambar-gambar berikut telah dirakam menggunakan mikroskop elektron pengimbas (SEM). Saiz mikro organ-organ badan manusia telah diperbesarkan sebanyak lebih kurang 250 000 kali ganda.

1. Vilus pada usus kecil

Macam lapisan lemak lak

2. Telur/Ovum dengan sel korona

Lawa kan.macam bebola getak

3. Sperma di atas telur / ovum

ni sekumpulan sperma yang sedang berusaha memasuki ovum

4. Sel kanser paru-paru

berhentilah merokok kawan2

5. Sel darah merah

gambar ni aku paling suk.buat aku lagi semangat nak derma darah

6. Sel bulu-bulu halus dalam telinga

serius? bulu2 dalam telinga kita?

7. Saraf perasa pada lidah

banyaknya saraf untuk rasa makanan kita

8. Salur darah dalam saraf optik

no word to describe

9. Neuron Purkinje (lapisan pada otak)

10. Plak Gigi

macam manalah plak dlm gigi aku lepas makan agaknya

11. Hujung rambut yang pecah

macam batang kayu lak.pokok yang patah

12. Embrio manusia (kelihatan masih ada sisa sperma)

sekumpulan tentera yang kalah dalam pertandingan merebut ovum

13. Embrio manusia berusia 6 hari (warna keperangan)

kita pernah menjadi sebesar ini dulu

14. Alveoli Pada Paru-paru

hmm..

tak de apa yang aku boleh katakan lagi
Subhanallah
Allah Maha Besar
aku insafi kejadianNya

Gratifying revenge; (June 31, 2009)

            The longer you live the longer the list of people that should incur your vengeance for deeds “totally uncalled for”.  The irony is that very few people reach the stage of acting on any kinds of revenge; time the wise tends to erase cluttered memories; away from sight far is the recollection of the offender; with rare exceptions.  The more enduring the desire for revenge the more irrelevant is the offense; they are offenses in the period of early ignorance.

            Why people who managed to get revenge spend a miserable life afterward? I am not referring to those pathetic comparses who harassed the avenger to going to the end of his frustration: they ejaculated their wretched anxieties and dispersed from the scene.  If the supposed offender has no recollection of the offense or is not willing to apologize because he still believes that he was in the “right” then the revenge has no value.  It is sweet to get financial remuneration for years of personal flagellation but it does not wash completely the lingering bitterness of having been “suckered” or abused of our foolishness.

            Revenge is not such a bad feeling if it becomes an incentive or a catalyst for individual improvement.  The worst part is that most of the offenders die without knowing that we have been feeling deeply miserable for so long because of a redundant word or an unconscious act they did to us; we like to believe that, most probably, the offenders died because of our evil eye or evil spirit chassed them relentlessly to their grave: ignorance has no limits within dark hearts.  Revenge is the bread of everyday but the victims of “honor avengers” for social behavior and close organizational customs and traditions are ultimately the excretion of the monsters of ignorance and ineptitude.

            There are efficient ways of taking revenge grandly. For example, if you are the owner of an enterprise and you need to punish recalcitrant employees then assign them to alveoli with very low ceilings; the lower the height of the ceiling, the darker the colors and the more detailed is the task.  The recalcitrant personnels are those educated hiremen who are timorous enough to look their higher echelon boss in the eyes and devulge inefficiencies, scoundrels, and obtuse routines.

            Abstract notions and imagination take wings in high ceiling environment and amid green wide fields.  If governments are serious about fiscal loopholes then they should assemble the fiscal agents in charge in very low ceiling rooms to iron out the details for well oiled bureaucratic systems.  My hypothesis is that all dictatorial western systems of control were planned, studied, and analyzed in ultra low ceiling caves; most probably, they got these ideas and techniques from reviewing Chinese master archives.

Central Vacuum Cleaners transported out and permanently remove both fine (Micrometers) and large (visible) dust particles that continually floats in the air inside your home. Dust particles  will eventually settle on every surface, coating the inside of your entire house. This is the most critical part of any home cleaning process! What kind of Dust particles can we find inside your entire home? Contained in these dust particles are dust mites, pollen, molds, pollution, and animal dander (if you own a pet). Eventhough Dust is not only all that visibile it can be very hazardous to your health. Remember one thing: Our Lungs are the final filtration system when all others failed… Did you know? During the process of inhaling, Oxygen that contains dust particles will be inhaled into the lungs. The size of the particles that enter our lungs will determine the location where it will settles.

• Particles below 5 Microns will settles at the upper section of the respiratory tract
• While particles between 3 microns – 5 microns will settle in the middle section of the respiratory tract
• Lastly particles between 1 microns – 3 microns, will enter the air sacs found in the lungs and sticks to the alveoli (the primary sites of gas exchange with the blood.)
• Particles below 1 microns will be exhaled out from our respiratory tract.

Note: The alveoli are small with very thin walls. They have a radius of 0.1mm and wall thickness of about 0.2µm.

Using the following facts of alveoli  diameter and thickness, its no wonder that fine dust particles, if not purify properly, will enter and cause long term damage to our lungs and its respiratory system.Our lungs are the last resort for cleaning and filtering the air. The need to transport out polluted fine particles from our home can be the essential determinance to a longer and healthier life. The importance of a central vacuum cleaner to do this job should not be taken lightly. Think Clean is the motto!

The category of air pollutants called Respirable Suspended Particulates or also known as (RSP) includes pathogens, viruses, dust mites feaces, molds spores,  liquids, hydrocarbons, diesel soots, dusts, acids from aerosols and smoke particles that are smaller than 10 microns in diameter. RSP 10 Microns size limit has led to the abbreviation of respirable particulate matter (PM10).

Our Nose filtration system can filter out the larger particulates, but 10 Microns (PM10) down to 2.5 Microns (PM2.5) particles can penetrate deep into the lungs. The smaller the particle, the further down it can penetrate into our lungs. As it accumulates, the more likely it can cause us, the host, respiratory problems ranging from allergic rhinitis such as wheezing, sniffling, nose and throat irritation, itchy eyes to bronchial asthmatic such as bronchitis and lung damage.

Respirable suspended particulates comes in three stages, as written in previous post: Liquid State, airborne state and solid state. The hardest to remove is no other than airborne state allowing easier access to become respirable particulates at PM10. This is why it is very important to remove as much of the settled particulates during its solid state. Central vacuum piping system can transport RSP  to a different location far from the area that is going through the cleaning process.

Lurking Pollutants

The size of most airborne pollutants is measured in microns (one-millionth of a meter). Common and harmful airborne particles range in size from 2.4 microns to .3 microns. Below are some common household particles and their width:

Human Hair: 60-100 Microns
Dust Mites: 125 Microns
Dust Mite Feces: 10-24 Microns
Pollen: 10-40 Microns
Mold Spores: 2-10 Microns

The suction strength of mobile vacuum cleaner will only filter particles from 30-50 microns in size. RSP at PM10 or below such as  dust mite feces, pollen, and mold spores are not being effectively removed. Animal dander is especially difficult to remove, with particles about 2.5 microns in size that can stay airborne for hours.

Dust mites produces droppings  that can go up to  200 times its own body weight in fecal material in a single lifetime (One month).  According to American Family Physician, sensitivity to dust mite waste is present in 10% of the population in general and 90% of asthmatic patients. It is even worse in tropical countries where it has a much more favorable conditions due to the high humidity and warm temperatures.

Invisible particles in the air can be harmful…. it is better to prevent than to cure!

This week marks the launch of my Spring Promo Campaign for 2009; yesterday was spent composing various compilations for representation and exposure across the continent. I had hoped to have my new website layout completed and functioning before April; unfortunately, it will now be pushed back, hopefully uploaded within the next week or two (depending on workload). In the meantime, here are some of the promo image compilations for your visual enjoyment. Click on any one of them to access categorically selected works from my portfolio website.

dario e basilio, giornata C.P. a Rocca, nov_2007 _foto a.v.

____ da un commento di Basilio Muto

Premessa: con queste riflessioni non voglio stabilire in maniera assoluta e definitiva quello che per me stesso è bene e quello che è male, ma ciò che è saggio e ciò che è scellerato verso l’altro da me medesimo; su basi patafisiche.    Le fessure umane son divenute troppo larghe per contenere con parchezza e pacatezza l’infinita ingordigia spasmodica dell’uomo che corre, corre; corre per arrivare a mete sempre diverse, e così facendo non assapora l’infinito contenuto in poche gocce di affastellato calore, di traguardi posseduti e non compresi. Calma! Respirate profondamente, irrorate gli alveoli polmonari e lasciar fiorire la piantina di ginepro.
Perché voler entrare nella cruna di un minuscolo ago, nella quale per addentrarsi è necessario essere esseri asfittici e non invece vitali, enormi, incontenibili, instancabili cammelli. Il mio cammello potrebbe decidere, come fan molti, di indossare una maschera da inerte filamento e gabbare l’ago, ma riemerge appena in tempo perché comprende che in quel caso portando a fine il suo scopo……….!?!, violenterebbe irrimediabilmente l’ago, e magari verrebbe al fine, anche cento volte ed una ancora, in tutti i sensi, perpetrando però un’infamia che danneggerebbe con un sol’ atto il mondo intero; indi sé stesso.
Tu, un turista della “clemenza”, vedi il mondo come un ago e noi come cammelli che vogliono “sagacemente” spingersi dentro, dentro la sua cruna. L’inghippo è proprio qua. Io da folle visionario contento delle diversità, intese in maniera inclusiva, aggiungente, percepisco il mondo come un universo di fragranze magnifiche nelle loro sfumature lussureggianti fatte di croccante ed appetibile dolcezza, ma anche nell’accezione ostica e per questo non meno degne, comunque impalpabili ed allo stesso tempo devastanti nel loro donarsi in maniera totale senza riserve; nella loro interezza !
Denudiamo le travestite coscienze da approssimative vesti, maschere che la corteccia sociale ci pone addosso plasmando univoche ed impersonali volontà. Occorre libero arbitrio! Ora!
Tutti i “pazzi” sono armati, sempre, di un’acuta e cauta speranza .

Homo faber fortunae suae, sta a significare letteralmente l’uomo è l’artefice della sua sorte.

L’embrionale consapevolezza del rapporto tra l’uomo e il “mistero” non può essere concesso o negato per legge, ma è una libertà di ogni singola persona, non intesa come facoltà più o meno consona alle circostanze di indossare infinite apparenze.
E’ fondamentale riconoscere la necessità di altro da sé; perché tale libertà possa esprimersi, specie se all’interno di una comunità intesa come luogo di libera espressione e di ascolto partecipato, in cui confrontarsi in maniera solidale e diretta, de visu, guardando negli occhi, anche virtuali, le persone e non il contrario. Mi piace pensare che il sintagma Comunità Provvisoria possa avere significati non preconfezionati; MA significati patafisici. La Patafisica è un movimento incessante e mutevole verso qualcosa. Appunto una dimensione PROVVISORIA.
“La Patafisica è in divenire, non cerca di raggiungere nessuna costruzione chiusa, con pretese totalitarie e incessantemente dall’esperienza. Nessun dogma, nessuna limitazione, nessuna intolleranza, nessun fine ultimo, nessun riduzionismo, nessuna formula pretenziosamente definitiva, sintetica e globale. Se anche una verità unica, una verità superiore, una verità chiave esistesse, e se anche si chiamasse Dio, essa non potrebbe restare che indeterminata, restare la suprema irraggiungibile meta verso la quale si muoverebbe incessantemente, patafisicamente, una pluralità, continuamente accresciuta, risistemata e risistemabile di simboli dal significato frammentario, PROVVISORIO, e solo parzialmente accessibile. Poiché non esistono differenze categoriche essenziali e definitive. Le categorie sono delle classificazioni artificiose che generano delle differenze convenzionali, artificiali, e niente affatto essenziali.
Anche se il Principio di Indeterminazione non fosse valido per la storia e per i fatti esso sarebbe pur sempre valido per il nostro modo di conoscerli e di interpretarli, andiamo signori! Prendiamo il nostro coraggio a due mani e fluire, fluire signori, con coraggio” . Alfred Jarry
Checcè? Allora? Coraggio signori,pensare!Dire! Azione!

Il mio è un’ appello alla responsabilità personale, al ruolo dell’uomo nella natura, affinché prenda coscienza della realtà nella quale gli esseri umani sono messi in gioco ed intrisi di passioni positive e/o negative……. che siano. Certuni non riescono ad interpretare emozioni e sentimenti tipicamente umani e riconducendosi alla vasta natura, dove siamo immersi sin dalla nascita, cerchiamo, ognuno a proprio modo di disvelare e comprendere, interpretando, sfumature ed antinomie, squilibri e contraddizioni pur presenti.

La follia,la diversità ha destato in me un’attrazione eziologica viscerale, trasformata oggi in malia.
Che cos’è la normalità ? Che cos’è la follia? ….. e la pazzia ?
Forse avevano ragione i vetusti elleni
I maggiori beni ci giungono per mezzo di una follia (manía), concessa per un dono divino.
Sapiente è (colui che entra in con _tatto, in relazione con le “cose”) colui che sa molte cose per natura ! Chi impara ha bisogno della ratio.
Gli arcaici greci, coloro che imposero i nomi agli Dei, non valutarono la follia come un male o una turbamento; infatti chiamarono proprio con il nome di «folle» (maniké) l’arte più bella, quella per cui si osserva il futuro … la fede, I SOGNI. Mentre, quella indagine del futuro che gli uomini prudenti fanno per mezzo della sola ragione, cercando di dare alle supposizioni umane (presentimento e apprendimento), la chiamarono “arte” <> (oionistiké). … I conSapevoli antichi greci sostenevano che la follia, che è divina……., è più euritmica della prudenza che nasce solamente tra gli “uomini” che radicalizzano la secolarizzazione.
D’altra parte, l’esistenza di contrasti e «difetti» negli uomini sono comprensibili e naturali. Non è più tempo di porsi in atteggiamenti divinatori, meramente illusori, ma restituiamo a noi stessi la “follia” di un sogno possibile, perché reale, l’essere individui pensanti ed agenti

La follia è la determinante radicata a livello ancestrale nella comprensione della coscienza individuale e collettiva, ques’ultima non esiste. Le coscienze personali, le personalità individuali si rivelano manifestandosi con l’apertura di orizzonti che si può presumere sia la miglior condizione par la libera espressione della propria individualità: dove il proprio modo si manifesta sostanzialmente come nuovo e non più legato alle antiche tradizioni, è naturale che ne risulti favorita la ricerca e spesso l’approdo a nuovi stili di pensiero che si traducono agli altri da sé come comportamenti illimitatamente insoliti.
In una società nella quale si tende a desoggettivare l’individuo per mandare avanti un durissimo e miope appiattimento verso il basso in termini di gusti, modalità espressive, costumanze etc. ecc., in questo tipo di società che non favorisce lo sviluppo del singolo individuo in termini di scelte e dove le istituzioni non perseguono il nobile scopo di formare globalmente, nella sua interezza riempita da caratteristiche irripetibili e non paragonabili a nessun altro individuo perché appunto soggettive, in questo consorzio umano va inserita la diversità.
/ Non si fa quello che si vuole, tuttavia si è responsabili di quello che si è. / (Jean-Paul Sartre)

“La follia è una condizione umana. In noi la follia esiste ed è presente come lo è la ragione. Il problema è che la società, per dirsi civile, dovrebbe accettare tanto la ragione quanto la follia, invece incarica una scienza, la psichiatria, di tradurre la follia in malattia allo scopo di eliminarla. Il manicomio ha qui la sua ragion d’essere”. F. Basaglia
Ogni Organismo, risponde in maniera differenziata, agendo secondo precise leggi biologiche e biochimiche adeguandosi ogni istante, alle varie esigenze di stimolazione esterna dell’atmosfera nella quale vive; infatti tutte le variazioni iono atmosferiche, anche minime, modificano ad ogni istante le cariche bio-elettroniche dei liquidi dei corpi dei vari organismi viventi.
Il corpo umano è la sede di uno slancio organico la cui proliferazione è difficile da contenere. Basta una piccola mutazione, qualche reazione chimica nei tessuti a legittimare uno sviluppo ipertrofico della mente e dei sensi. Produzione di buchi, voragini dello spirito, dove eaculare frustrazioni. Per far ciò occorerebbe che dai genitali sbocciassero delle escrescenze vegetali invece che carne e sangue. Questo cambiamento è inevitabilmente accompagnato da un violento risveglio dell’istintualità inesplorata ed animale. L’uomo racchiude nel suo inconscio una potenza dalla portata sterminata, se questo potere viene liberato gli esiti possono essere patafisici.
La possibilità di interagire con gli altri e il mondo si estende oltre il proprio corpo. Tutto ciò è racchiuso nella mente umana.
IL bisogno dell’uomo di esser se stesso, creare rapporti interpersonali soddisfacenti, in cui potersi esprimere creativamente, ed anche di trovare forme di espressione all’interno del proprio mondo sociale, senza per questo dover tradire la propria natura. Questo cozza con lo status quo esistente che verrebbe sconvolto se ci si comportasse, imprimendo al proprio agire volontà personale e che va a contrastare non pochi poteri e soprattutto interessi.
Homo faber fortunae suae, sta a significare letteralmente l’uomo è l’artefice della sua sorte.

P.S.: monica sono inpreziosito dai tuoi affettuosi ringraziamenti,in quanto alla principessa è marcatamente, delicatamente, magnificamente indisponente e questo la rende straordinaria

Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret:
Anche se caccerai la natura con la forca, essa ritornerà. (Orazio).
Significa che non vi è cosa più difficile che spogliarsi della propria NATURA.

Meglio esser pazzo per conto proprio, anziché savio secondo la volontà altrui. Tutti gli uomini sono pazzi, e chi non vuole vedere dei pazzi deve restare in camera sua e rompere lo specchio. …………………………………

Anita Renfroe makes every mother feel normal, and for that, I am absurdly grateful. Her Mom Song, featuring lyrics she’s written, set to the William Tell Overture, is racing around the world via the Internet and YouTube now, with over a million viewers and counting.

When my nine-year-old brought a box of blue hair dye to me in Rite-Aid, I took it from her, looked skeptically at the box, and handed it back to her.

“Put this right back where you found it, darling,” I said. Reaching for the box next to it, I explained: “Your hair is much too dark for this to work. You need to bleach your hair out first. Otherwise the blue won’t show.”

I consider myself a – mostly – typical mother. But later, strolling down 82nd St., she attracted attention. One little girl pointed, and stage whispered, “Mama, that girl has blue hair.”

I began to wonder. Who pays attention to anything in New York City?

Blue hair. Big deal. My older daughter, at eleven, sports a rather unnatural shade of red. I’ve been letting them create their own personas since they were old enough to want their own looks.

My nine-year-old still can’t quite match her clothes reliably. Any blue in her closet: print, plaid, Pucci – combines with any other. It’s truly dazzling, but delightful.

It works: she’s always had to beat back the admirers. Not one kid in her class razzed her for the blue do, either.

As Mother’s Day approaches, it occurs to me: there’s no autopilot, but like pregnancy, despite attempts at control, this is a natural process, ongoing before we hopped into the generational stream, continuing long after we jump out.

Take pregnancy: you certainly can’t ignore it. Eat right, keep in shape (wait, hang on, that’s kind of funny), lay off alcohol and caffeine, sleep when you can (until the last furlough when sleep is impossible, because of the torpedo trying to fight its way out), and obsess over your stack of gestational books. (“What To Expect When You’re Carting Around 25 Pounds of A Kicking Stranger.”)

Still, pregnancy marches on; nature takes its course. The laissez-faire pregnant people seem to do just as well as the uptight ones do. Honestly, babies are lucky we’re not in charge of the whole complicated mess.

Same with mothering. We’re sort of wired for it. Anita Renfroe is a writer and comedian – certainly not your average mom – and yet her lyrics resonate with every living mother on the planet, typical or not.

My kids’ dad looked at me last night when I said: “I’m a typical mom,” as though I’d said: “I’m an anteater,” with an indulgent look over the top of his eyeglasses.

“Um,” he started, flailing for tact, “ya think? No.”

Having sworn a vow to avoid “Because I say so,” I have gone to near-ridiculous lengths to explain things to my kids, and to allow them freedom of choice whenever possible. Don’t want the cough medicine? Okay, cough all night. Don’t want the Tylenol? Unless your fever’s out of control, okay – suffer.

But when one of them had pneumonia, and needed antibiotics, I accessed the Internet, a medical encyclopedia and a small sketchbook to show her exactly how the lungs, the alveoli and the bronchioles were filling up with fluid and she would drown in her own mucus if she didn’t cave in and swallow the tasty bubble gum liquid.

Still, I say – more frequently than I care to admit, but hey, if Anita Renfroe can do it, then so can I: “Because I said so, that’s why.”

I have also said: “If Alexis/Rachel/Sierra jumped off the Empire State Building, would you?”

Of course, the response was: “Was she bungee-jumping? Then maybe.”

I have said: “Pick up this pigsty.”

“Don’t give me that face.”

“Who do you think you’re talking to?”

“I said no.”

“Do you know how lucky you are?”

“No one appreciates a darn thing I do around here.”

“Try cleaning toilets, then get back to me about how tough you have it.”

“Of course I’m not your friend. I’m your mother. That’s better.”

“No, you can’t call me Elizabeth.”

I have had that shuddering experience of hearing my own mother’s words come out of my mouth; words I never thought I’d say.

Once, my friend saw me beating potatoes with an electric beater. “No masher?” she said. I showed her my bent masher; she laughed, and exited the kitchen, wine glass in hand.

My mother came into the kitchen next. “Beaters?” she asked, innocently. My entire body stiffened.

“What’s wrong with beaters?” I asked defensively.

Years later, my older daughter, having just learned to scramble eggs, was at the stove.

“You know, you might have better luck with a different spatula,” I suggested.

“What’s wrong with this spatula?” she asked, defensively.

I flashed back to my own mother, and thought of all the words flowing in the generational stream, of the power a mother has over a daughter. Those words we have wired into us, that we pass onto our daughters and sons have enormous power – to hurt, to heal; to encourage or to dismay.

“You know what?” I backpedaled. “Actually, you’re doing great. They smell good – would you mind making some for me?”

She brightened up. “Sure,” she said, with the same excitement you save for a question like, “Want to go to Great Adventure?”

Best breakfast I ever ate. Full of love, life, and the history of a hundred thousand mothers and children.

Thanks, Anita Renfroe, for telling us that story in less than three minutes.

View this delightful video:

The Mom Song.