We are reading "She Has Her Mother's Laugh" by Carl Zimmer. It has been a genuine eye-opener. The most striking part was a mother being told that the children she bore were not hers, based on the results of DNA testing as was required by her state of residence to qualify for financial assistance. This happened in 2003, not that long ago. Luckily, an earlier similar case came to the attention of her lawyer. Both cases hinged on a simplistic view of heredity, DNA and the biology of cells. The takeaway correction idea seems to be that a mother can get some cells into her body from her fetus and those cells can multiply enough to be obtained in a blood draw.
Amazon sends me ads about ebooks every day. I ignore the cozies, books that explain after a breakup or a death, a lovely but lonely young woman raising two children meets a new employee. He happens to come with a fantastic six-pack abdomen and is quite handsome and attractive. Unfortunately, he is also imperious and arrogant but over time, our lovely finds that she enjoys looking at him, catching him looking her over, etc. I have actually heard that story enough.
I like to stay open to unusual angles, ideas and perspectives. This morning, I saw "The Men Who Lost America" about British military, diplomatic and political men who were in power during the defeat of British attempts to quell the American revolution. I immediately thought of "Poldark". I couldn't remember his name but that trusty old-guy's friend, Google Search, quickly supplied it. Amazon had that book on sale but I have lots of ebooks so I checked the app Libby and the online catalogs of the two libraries in town. One had it but before I got there, I thought of posting quotes from books I like on Twitter as "@olderkirby", which is fun. I wound up buying the Amazon book on sale.
