The Gallant vs The Goofus
Posted by Michelle Moquin on January 15th, 2009
Hello everyone. I just had to share this with you this morning because it is just so hilarious. Jon Stewart from The Daily Show compares Obama to Bush when it comes to how they handle press conferences. I think you’ll get a kick out of it too.
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Hi Zen Lill: Thank you. This type of article is so easy for me to write because no research is needed; it is straight from my heart and the words just flow. I wish every article was just as fluid…but then again I might get bored if there was no challlenge, so I’ll take it as they come. Anyway, yes of course, you may lift a line or two if you choose.
So Nashville – wow – didn’t know they were based out there. Good luck with that – I am sure you will do well. Let’s try and talk before you leave ok?
As far as organizing a protest…I’ll call it a ‘Lovefest Protest’. Whatever happens it needs to be done in a nonviolent way – no riots, no craziness. Hmm…Where to begin? We and others need to brainstorm. And maybe flowers should be involved. I feel inspiration blossoming….
Hello Alita: My pleasure. I will need a couple of days to fulfill your request. I am aware of the drug problems but until I mapped San Cristobal de las Casas, (state of Chiapas) I really had no idea where it was. It is named one of the most stunning scenic areas in Mexico, mostly wild and rugged with thickly wooded jungles, mountains and valleys. Sounds like a good stomping ground for the drug smugglers to do business and hide out.
Your e-mail is not showing up with your comment, which is best. You sound like a very intelligent woman and I would not to put you or your job in jeopardy by exposing your identity to your corrupt government. The best way for us to correspond is via my blog.
Hello Dnsr: An acronym for? I do love that song too and you are very welcome. So…you must be a singer? Happy that I inspired it for your repetoire – will we ever get to hear it? Not sure who Bnmv is (another scronym?), but I would love to hear about your findings in Sri Lanka. As far as seeing you in sultry SF – ooh sounds so mysterious. My guess is you are performing somewhere here and that is an open invitation to come and listen. Oh…now I need to check out the SF scene and see if I can discover who you are. Oh why not just give it up? :)
Hi Lorri: Thanks for continuing to try and get in! How fab – please encourage your brother…oops cousin, to write in – thank you!
Enjoy this beautiful day!
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor
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January 15th, 2009 at 10:41 am
Hi Misch,
I meant a protest that’s very Ghandhi style, of course! Flowers are good, too, how about chocolate truffles and some champagne also?! Maybe we can get all that sponsored : ) so it will be one well advertised non-violent protest done Western style, too decadent? Am I out of control?!
Lily is ten years old today…wow…and what a motormouth, wtf am I going to do? It’s non-stop chatter over here : ) but she’s my doll so I don’t mind (selective listening works well), this also means I know you nine years, again, wow, and its been my pleasure and an honor (that goes for you 2 Doug).
Are you available for a chatfest on Su/Mo/Tu, I leave Weds, let me know…
Luv, Zen Lill
January 15th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Sorry, I’m gone Tu/Su 20-25 Jan, forgot dates momentarily : ) – ZL
January 15th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Night and the Aging Eye: How to Stay Safe in the Dark
Jane E. Brody
ow well do you see at night? If you’re over 50, probably not as well as you think, no matter how many carrots you eat. The typical 50-year-old driver needs twice as much light to see as well after dark as a 30-year-old. Yet few of us compensate adequately for the reduction in nighttime acuity that occurs in the aging eye.
Changes in driving habits are crucial, and so are adjustments at home to prevent the all-too-common accidents that land older folks in the hospital.
NIGHT AND THE AGING EYE
In a normal healthy eye, light enters through the pupil and passes through the lens, which focuses it and directs it to the retina on the back of the eye, where images form.
The retina contains two kinds of photoreceptors — cones and rods. Cones enable us to see when it is light. They give us color vision and allow us to see details like the words on this page. Rods are very sensitive, especially to motion. They provide only black-and-white images and thus are critically important for night vision.
If only we had the eyes of a cat.
Compared with the human eye, a cat’s eyes have more rods than cones, which helps the cat see in the dark. Cats also have elliptical pupils that open and close faster and can become larger than our round ones. In addition, cats and some other nocturnal animals have a mirrorlike membrane, the tapetum, on the back of their eyes, which reflects the light passing through the rods back through them in the opposite direction. This “double exposure” allows cats to see well in near darkness.
The human eye changes gradually with age, but the changes are critical, as the Harvard Health Letter described in its March 2006 issue.
In dim light or darkness, eyes adapt by widening the pupils to let in as much light as possible. The iris (the colored part of the eye surrounding the pupil) contains tiny muscles that control the size of the pupil. As you get older, these muscles (like most in the body) weaken and do not respond as well to the need to let in more light. The result is a small pupil when you try to see in poor light. It’s as if your eyes were still young but you were wearing sunglasses at night.
There is also evidence that as we age we lose more rods than cones. In the young eye, rods outnumber cones by nine to one in the part of the retina called the macula. But an autopsy study of older adults found that while the cones remained intact, almost one-third of the rods in the macula had been lost.
The less responsive muscles in the iris also affect the eye’s ability to adjust when the intensity of light changes, such as when a car with its headlights on approaches and then passes.
In older eyes, this phenomenon, called dark adaptation, takes longer, which means you see less well in the dark after being in the light, and vice versa. The diminished number of rods may be a factor, but in addition, the light-sensitive pigment in the rods regenerates more slowly in older eyes.
Another common change in older eyes is a gradual clouding of the lens — the formation of cataracts — which makes the lens less transparent and reduces the amount of light reaching the retina. Cloudy lenses also scatter light. This can cause temporarily blinding glare from, for example, the headlights of an approaching vehicle at night.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Traffic deaths are three times greater at night than during the day, though only 20% of driving is done after dark. Fatigue and alcohol are two important causes, but experts say the biggest factor is darkness. Ninety percent of a driver’s reaction depends on vision, and we were just not engineered to see very well in the dark.
The American Automobile Association and the National Safety Council, among others, have published critically important suggestions for improving vision when driving at night, however old you are.
The number one recommendation is to protect your eyes during the day by wearing sunglasses (neutral-gray lenses are best) and a hat with a brim when the sun is shining. Bright sunlight bleaches the photoreceptors and lengthens the time it takes for your eyes to adjust to the dark. While it normally takes half an hour for full adaptation to the dark, being in bright sunlight for two or three hours can delay this adaptation by hours.
“The longer you stay in the sun, the worse your night vision gets,” the association warned.
Another recommendation: Clean the windshield of your vehicle, inside and out, at least weekly. As with a cloudy lens, a grimy windshield scatters light and intensifies glare. (You may be surprised by how dirty the inside of the windshield gets.)
Clean the headlights as well. Just a thin layer of grime can reduce the light they cast by about 90%, which in turn reduces how well a driver can see. And make sure the headlights are properly aligned.
Most new cars these days have rear-view mirrors that adjust automatically at night to eliminate the reflected glare of headlights behind you. If not, make sure to adjust the mirror manually to night setting. But keep in mind that this makes the vehicle behind you appear farther away than it really is.
If you wear glasses, make sure they are clean. Grimy glasses, like a grimy windshield, scatter light. When getting a new prescription, make sure the lenses have an antireflective coating. Though I don’t legally need glasses to drive, my ophthalmologist suggested I wear them, especially when driving at night, to enhance my distance vision.
Avoid looking directly at approaching vehicles at night, even when their lights are dimmed. Instead, direct your eyes about 20 degrees to the right, toward the white line on the right side of the road, and use your peripheral vision to see ahead for those few moments.
Reduce your speed at night and increase the distance between you and the vehicle ahead of you. You should be able to stop inside the area illuminated by your headlights. If you overdrive your headlights, you create a blind crash area in front of your vehicle.
STAYING SAFE AT HOME
If I had a dollar for every time someone broke a bone tripping over something in the dark, I’d be rich.
Night-lights — the kind that plug into wall outlets — are inexpensive and highly preventive, especially for older people who make nighttime trips to the bathroom.
In unfamiliar surroundings, such as a hotel or friend’s home, leave a light on in the bathroom all night and close the door partway. Or travel with a night-light.
Keep paths and stairways clear of objects, including slippers. Loose rugs are accidents waiting to happen. Get rid of them or fasten them securely to the floor with carpet tape.
Finally, have your eyes checked at least once a year. If you have cataracts, have them removed sooner rather than later, and see how much brighter the world can be.
Retirement interviewed Jane E. Brody, an award-winning columnist who regularly writes about health. Copyright © 2007 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
January 15th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
You know who you are. I have fallen in love with you all over again. The Picture, I shall always believe that it was taken with me in your thoughts. Here are mine of it.
Ahhh, those eyes, the smile, the hands, the tilt of the neck, the
light touch of the hair on her shoulders, those pearly whites, the
parted sweet red lips, the nose that draws in your gaze and holds it
for the sensuous cheeks until they capture the viewer’s eyes and
unfurls them entranced over the dazzling face of an angle of beauty.
Where does one start? Does it really matter? Wherever one starts, it will begin
with an innocent appreciation of beauty and end in the inexorable adoration of your magnificence.
Today I received a picture of elegance.
With a face, body and background of perfect balance.
It said between us there is some distance
Admire my beauty in your absence.
I see a picture of a beauty of incredible brilliance
Poised in an air of innocent sensuous cadence.
As fair damsel has given me license
to comment on its essence.
I do so now with prudence,
so as not to make it a hindrance
should she again be in my presence.
Eyes of breath taking radiance
Hair that hints at its sweet fragrance
Lips that speak in silence
of their promising potence.
A smile that is instantly imbedded in your conscience
because of its incomparable loveliness.
And yet all of this
sits on a neck of exquisiteness
as if oblivious to its magnificence.
Hands whose comeliness
belies their nascence
when given an opportunity to express
their passion with gentleness
Left to one’s imagination and desire to possess,
or to just hold and caress
a beauty such as this
one just drifts into ineluctable happiness.
And yet as I inhale this picture of my enchantress,
this beauty whose parts together form the meaning of gorgeousness.
I am torn between delight and distress
because her picture, however lovely, I can not caress.
Yet, I would view this lovely portrait again and again as long as it’s in my presence.
Thank you, my Sweet, for your remembrance.
I shall hold it and give it my most sincere reverence.
January 15th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Oil prices keep going down per barrel. But the oil companies are in the US are in collusion to cut the supply of gasoline to artificially raise the price of gas and to keep the price of energy from going down during the cold season in the east.
They are using a modified Enron scam to rip off the public. The price is at about $36.00 per barrel, but the public is paying as if it is at $48.50 per barrel. The bush administration is giving orders to the energy regulatory agency to stand down and leave any action to be taken to Obama. Essentially the order is to allow big oil to make as much as they can while they can.
Anonz
January 16th, 2009 at 1:56 am
I saw a flying saucer. I know that it is an incredible thing to say. My cousin says that here I will not be taken as a daff.
The thing was hovering and then it dashed in and was gone. With it went the vanes.
Thomas
January 17th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Thank you my Long Lost Liege…please use other means to contact me..
Im glad you got it..My eyes are indeed bad …any help would be most appreciated..