Flying Fish

Alma [click]

 

Do your kid a favor: Smother him in germs

 
If you’re one of those germ-a-phobes who refuse to let your kids do fun stuff like eat mud and gobble up Froot Loops off the floor you’re doing little junior a big disservice.
A new Northwestern University study suggests that American parents should ease up on antibacterial soap and perhaps allow their little ones a romp or two in the mud — or at least a much better acquaintance with everyday germs.
The study is the first to look at how microbial exposures early in life affect inflammatory processes related to diseases associated with aging in adulthood.
Most provocatively, the Northwestern study suggests that exposure to infectious microbes early in life may actually protect individuals from cardiovascular diseases that can lead to death as an adult.
Good to know my parenting score just went up. And since I’m prone to drop food and still woof it down I’m feeling pretty good about my immune system too.
By Larry Dignan http://www.smartplanet.com/
Photo via Ontario Cycling Association

Pigeon: Impossible [click]

 

Everything You Read on the Internet is True

The Internet has revolutionized the publishing and media industries. Anyone with an Internet connection can instantly share their thoughts and opinions with a worldwide audience. The result, according to Google, is that there are well over a trillion unique Web pages [source: Alpert].
Since anyone can publish a Web site, you can never tell where that information comes from. That's not the case: By using a relatively simple set of guidelines, you can evaluate the credibility of information on any Web site.
The first thing you should examine is the Web address itself. Does it end in .gov or .edu? Does it include a person's name? With nothing more than a URL, you already have a good indication of the source of the material.
If the online material is an article, does it include the author's name and publication date? Search the author's name and find out more about his or her experience and expertise. If the article is old, consider whether it covers the kind of information that changes quickly.
If you don't recognize the name of the Web site from an offline publication -- newspaper, magazine or TV show -- read the site's "about" section to find out more. Look for clear signs of bias or commercial interests.
Above all, say the librarians of the University of California at Berkeley, you should approach all online information with "healthy skepticism" [source: UC Berkeley]. Use the same analytical tools you would use to examine any other form of media. In other words, consider the source.

From HowStuffWorks.Com: Top 5 Myths About the Internet

Dangerous DST? [click]

Like many old timers, I don't like changes. One change I don't like to accomodate twice a year is Daylight Savings Time.Click the link above and find a "green" reason to be suspect of the value of Daylight Savings Time.

I'm Searchin' . . .

Using Google to search the internet is good for the brain and can slow or even reverse age-related conditions such as dementia, according to scientists.
They found older people who have never used the internet before boosted their brain power just a week after going online.
The scientists from UCLA in Los Angeles found simple internet searches triggered key centres in the brain, which control decision-making and complex reasoning.
As the brain ages a number of structural and functional changes occur, which can impact how we process thoughts.
Research has shown that mental stimulation may affect the efficiency of this cognitive processing and alter the way the brain encodes new information.
Traditionally, these include games such as crossword puzzles, but with the advent of technology, scientists are beginning to assess the influence of computer use - including the internet.
Study author Dr Gary Small from UCLA, said: 'We found that for older people with minimal experience, performing internet searches for even a relatively short period of time can change brain activity patterns and enhance function.
'The study results are encouraging that emerging computerised technologies may have physiological effects and potential benefits for middle-aged and older adults.
'Internet searching engages complicated brain activity, which may help exercise and improve brain function.
'A simple, everyday task like searching the web appears to enhance brain circuitry in older adults, demonstrating that our brains are sensitive and can continue to learn as we grow older.
'With more time on the internet, they may demonstrate the same brain activation patterns as the more experienced group.'
The UCLA team worked with 24 volunteers aged between 55 and 78.
Prior to the study, half the participants used the internet daily, while the other half had very little experience.
The participants performed web searches while undergoing MRI scans, which recorded brain-circuitry changes experienced during this activity.
This type of scan tracks brain activity by measuring the level of cerebral blood flow during cognitive tasks.
After the initial brain scan, participants went home and conducted internet searches for one hour a day for a total of seven days over a two-week period.
The first scan of participants with little internet experience demonstrated brain activity in regions controlling language, reading, memory and visual abilities.
The second scan of these participants - conducted after the practice internet searches at home - demonstrated the same brain activity but also triggered the areas of the brain that work memory and decision-making.
The scientists said the results showed that after internet training at home, participants with minimal online experience displayed brain activation patterns very similar to those seen in the group of savvy internet users - after just a brief period of time.
Previous research by the UCLA team found that searching online resulted in a more than twofold increase in brain activation in older adults with prior experience, compared with those with little internet experience.
The findings are published in the academic journal Neuroscience 2009.

How the swine caught the flu...

USDA confirms H1N1 in Minnesota pigs
Oct 19 2009
By HENRY C. JACKSON
Associated Press Writer

Udderly rude!

 

What can we do? [click]

 

Kelsey Briggs2002 - 2005

Don't Bug Me! [click]

Interesting Bios [click]

We'll get to the bottom of this...

Mr. President

So what does it all mean?

Click on the question mark!

This picture needs a caption...

The election is over...

What are you going to do now?

"I just woke up one day and here I am," said The Old Man.

My schedule...

Showdown at PS38...

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A Texas school district will let teachers bring guns to class this fall, the district's superintendent said on Friday, in what experts said appeared to be a first in the United States.
The board of the small rural Harrold Independent School District unanimously approved the plan and parents have not objected, said the district's superintendent, David Thweatt.
School experts backed Thweatt's claim that Harrold, a system of about 110 students 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth, may be the first to let teachers bring guns to the classroom.
Thweatt said it is a matter of safety.
"We have a lock-down situation, we have cameras, but the question we had to answer is, 'What if somebody gets in? What are we going to do?" he said. "It's just common sense."
Teachers who wish to bring guns will have to be certified to carry a concealed handgun in Texas and get crisis training and permission from school officials, he said.
Recent school shootings in the United States have prompted some calls for school officials to allow students and teachers to carry legally concealed weapons into classrooms.
The U.S. Congress once barred guns at schools nationwide, but the U.S. Supreme Court struck the law down, although state and local communities could adopt their own laws. Texas bars guns at schools without the school's permission.

Aging Gracefully -- It's a Real Workout

The most depressing thing about getting older is that it can't be stopped. Or so we've been told. The aging process seems to be one of inevitable decline, the withering away of both body and mind. No matter how much we rage against the dying of the light, we're still going to forget where we put our car keys.
But is our fate really so fixed? Is the march of time always so cruel?
There is an important scientific debate about the inevitability of the aging process and what even young and middle-aged people can do to blunt the adverse effects of time.
According to scientists, it's entirely possible to grow significantly older without getting much slower -- as long as we're willing to put in the work. The elixir of youth, it turns out, is an old-fashioned cocktail: blood, sweat and tears.
The latest science suggests is that the best anti-aging treatment isn't something you apply to your skin or buy in a bottle: It's what you already have in your head. The bad news, of course, is that the same research shows that the passage of time is not an equal opportunity eroder.
Last year, a large study led by researchers at Harvard University compared the brains of young adults and senior citizens. As expected, the scientists found consistent differences between the two groups. The most significant occurred in a brain system known as the "default network," which is active when people turn their attention inward, as when they're trying to remember a name. The default network is defined by a series of pathways between the front of the brain -- this includes areas of the prefrontal cortex -- and the "back" of the brain, such as the cingulate cortex.
Under normal circumstances, the default network ensures that these two brain areas work in perfect sync. "When the front of the brain fires, you want to see the back of the brain fire right back," says Jessica Andrews-Hanna, the study's lead author. "Unfortunately, this connection seems to weaken with age, so that older people can end up with a rather disconnected brain." Andrews-Hanna suggests that deficits in the default network might be responsible for many of the classic symptoms of old age, such as an inability to focus and problems with memory retrieval.
The aging process is a biological wrecking crew. But buried in all the bad news are some optimistic data. It turned out that nearly half of the older subjects exhibited brain activity that appeared indistinguishable from that of the young adults: Their default system was nearly as synchronized as those of people in their 20s. Furthermore, these differences in brain activity were correlated with performance on a battery of tests that measured short-term memory, abstract reasoning powers and processing speed. "There really was tremendous individual variation," Andrews-Hanna says, "and this variation was evident both in the brain and in observed behavior."
The question, of course, is what causes this variation. How do some people manage to maintain such a spry cortex? Some scientists argue that the secret to thinking like a young person is cognitive exercise. "The brain is a learning machine, and like all machines it needs to be continually maintained," says Michael Merzenich, a professor emeritus at the University of California at San Francisco. "If you stop exercising the brain -- and this is what often happens during retirement -- then you shouldn't be surprised when it starts to die off."
Merzenich has developed a software program, Posit Science Brain Fitness, that helped reverse the cognitive effects of aging in 93 percent of elderly subjects, according to a 2006 study. After a few months of intensive training, the brains of 75-year-olds had the memory function of people decades younger, at least when tested in a lab. Merzenich argues that the aging brain requires rigorous workouts to stay in shape. There are no shortcuts. Even people blessed with ideal genetics -- those lucky souls at low risk for wrinkles and memory loss -- still need to exercise the mind to preserve their mental vigor.
But the mind does have one crucial advantage over the body: It can rewire itself as it tries to cope with the challenges of getting older. According to Denise Park, a neuroscientist in the Productive Aging Laboratory at the University of Texas at Dallas, the inevitable atrophy caused by the aging process means that older brains must continually find new ways to perform the same mental tasks. The cortex deals with cell death by re-directing its traffic, becoming more reliant on those neural pathways that remain viable.
Although it's still unclear where such mental flexibility comes from, several studies suggest that it's largely an ancillary benefit of "sustained cognitive engagement," or thinking intensely on a regular basis. Not only does an active mind have more cortical matter to lose -- scientists refer to this as "cognitive reserve," since the extra tissue serves as a buffer against cell death -- but it also seems better able to adjust its activity in response to the insults of age. "The brain operates on a use-it-or-lose-it principle," says Merzenich. "And the ability to cope with change seems to really be something you either use or lose."
What this suggests is that successful aging has little to do with stopping the aging process, because that can't be done. Our flesh is mortal; there is no fountain of youth. Nevertheless, these anatomical changes don't need to become handicaps. The brain is a flexible machine: If we put in the effort -- and it takes lots of effort -- our cells will find a way to stay fit. Nobody ever said aging gracefully was easy.

By Jonah Lehrer, editor at large at Seed magazine and the author of "Proust Was a Neuroscientist."


The Old Man says, "Ah, forget the whole thing."

click to enlarge

Going for the gold...

Wouldn't you be surprised if, in the middle of the World Series , the announcers cut away to do a five-minute interview with the pitcher's parents? While the game continued?
Wouldn't you be surprised if, in the middle of the Super Bowl, the camera left the field and did a five-minute-long interview with the quarterback's high school friends watching the game in a bar in his hometown? Wouldn't you be surprised if TV stations around the country decided not to show the World Series unless a local team was in it? If none of these sound strange to you, you're gonna love NBC's prime-time coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics , because these kinds of things will happen all the time.
The Olympics celebrates the coming together of the best athletes to promote a better understanding between peoples and nations of the world. Not that you will see much of those "peoples" from other nations in prime time if the broadcast is anything like the Olympics of the past. If an American is favored to win gold in an event, you'll see more of that sport than all the other sports combined . If an American is not favored to win an event, its chances of being on television drop dramatically. I wonder how often network executives and the IOC have this debate: Should a sport an American can't win be considered an Olympic sport?
You'll also learn just what it takes to win the gold. You might think it takes years of training, coaching, sacrifice and natural talent to win. But that has nothing to do with it. According to NBC, if an athlete's wife is having a baby on or near the event, it's better than Human Growth Hormones and steroids put together. And it's legal. "How can he lose? His wife is having a baby!" An athlete's chances also go up if there's been a recent death in the family or even a life-threatening illness.
It's sports for people who hate sports.
It comes as no surprise that there will be a lot of ads during the Olympics, but after 17 days, it will slowly occur to you that the only people who are not allowed to suck every possible dime out of the Olympics are the folks without whom the events would not be possible the athletes.
They make such a big deal about fairness at the Olympics the drug testing, the integrity of the judges why isn't it fair to give the athletes a cut of the gate, a cut of the TV money ? You always hear how much football stars and basketball stars make. How much do shot put stars make? How much do high jumpers make? How much do track stars make? Fair is fair.
If it's anything like the past, during the highly rated, sportsfree closing ceremony, NBC will run a highlight reel with swelling music while the announcer intones , "Who will ever forget ... this ... dramatic ... moment?" You would think he was talking about the sinking of the Titanic or the crash of the Hindenburg. Quick, how many "unforgettable" moments can you remember from four years ago? Any? One?
I love the Olympics and will probably watch every annoying night of it and a few of the complete events on cable. But please, stop making it more than it is a bunch of healthy, young kids in the prime of their lives having the time of their lives. None of them are going to come back and say, "Gee, we had to go China and hang out with girls from the Swedish swim team while our friends got to stay home and surf MySpace . It was horrible, they've wrecked my life!"
If NBC would stop trying to make every single moment of the Olympics the most memorable thing that ever happened in the history of the world, I'd enjoy it a lot more. What makes a memorable moment is not that there are so many of them, but so few. I'm not going to watch the badminton and table tennis and rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming because they are so memorable. I'm watching them because it's so out of the ordinary that it's fun. If I want melodrama I'll watch a soap opera, not the Olympics.

From The Village Idiot column by Jim Mullen

You've gotta love him!

Click on a picture to find him!

It's that time again...

Blame those rotten tomatoes

Some people got sick after eating dishes with tomatoes in them, but most people didn’t – some at home, some in restaurants. It was happening all across the country. A lot of people said they ate dishes with tomatoes in them. So, it’s got to be the tomatoes, right?

It couldn’t possibly be the minimum-wage busboy who didn’t wash his hands after using the restroom. After all, he already washed his hands once today. It must be the tomatoes!

It couldn’t be the grabby 3-year-old behind you who crawled on the floor then sucked his fingers and touched everything he could reach on his way out. He probably got sick from tomatoes.
It can’t be the ice they put in your soda that comes from a machine that hasn’t been cleaned since it was first installed; it’s got to be the tomatoes.
It couldn’t have been the guy who sneezed as he walked past your table without covering his nose; it must be the tomatoes.
It couldn’t come from touching the menus that have been handled by every customer that’s ever been in the place. There’s no way that could transmit germs; it must be the tomatoes.
It’s not the cash you just got out of the ATM or the change in your pocket. Everyone knows that there’s a secret ingredient in money that kills germs on contact – no matter how many people with filthy hands touch it, it can’t transmit disease. It’s got to be the tomatoes.
It can’t come from the French fry your boyfriend snatched from the pile on your plate with the same hands he had been using to clean the fish tank 20 minutes ago; it’s got to be the tomatoes.
It’s not the hamburger you ate with your bare hands after driving the rental car you picked up at the airport two hours ago, because they always disinfect those steering wheels. It’s got to be the tomatoes.
It couldn’t be touching the snot-encrusted Game Boy that Junior and his little brother were fighting over all morning. It’s the tomatoes.
It wasn’t the diaper that you just changed in the rest area, you could eat off the floor in those places, it’s the tomatoes you put on your BLT.
It’s probably not the plastic utensils in those little buckets in the company cafeteria. Sure, it’s hard to grab one fork without touching two of the others, but one little touch won’t spread germs. It’s not like they’re tomatoes.
It couldn’t come from the telephone. Sure, every time you touch it you’re practically sucking up someone else’s dried spit, but we all know it’s the tomatoes. What else could it possibly be?
There’s no way disease could be spread by children. Talk to any parent or teacher, and they’ll tell you they rarely get sick during the school year. It’s only when they eat, touch or walk past a tomato that they start to feel ill.

Shake hands? Kiss on the cheek? Grab a strap on the bus, a handrail on an escalator? Eat a hot dog at the ballpark that got passed down the row to you hand over hand? It’s all risky behavior. Who knows if the other people who touched those things might have touched a tomato first?

Whoops! Wait a minute. The FDA just announced it’s perfectly safe to eat tomatoes. It turns out that they’re actually good for you! Go figure. Thank goodness this scare didn’t put every tomato grower in the country out of business – it just cost them tens of millions of dollars they’ll never get back.
Something else must have made all those people sick. It couldn’t possibly have been the five-alarm chili they ate for lunch or the three tequilas they drained to wash them down. It’s got to be the jalapenos ...

Jim Mullen
Copyright 2008, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.

Vantage Point

I saw the movie Vantage Point recently. A thriller based on viewing the same incident from the vantage point of various people.
It made me think about my present point in life and how my perspective changes as I age and my circumstances change. When I was younger there were years in my past and decades ahead. Now I reflect on the past and see decades and realize that there are only a few years ahead.
From this "vantage point" how is my view of life and assessment of the world and it's inhabitants been affected? Where are you on the timeline below, and how does the world look to you? How far can you see in each direction?


Questions to ponder.

Don't be escheated...

Ignore your assets and they could disappear.
So you've put some money away. And you're just letting it sit there and grow. Or maybe you've stashed away some valuables in a safe deposit box. If you haven't touched either in three to five years, you may never touch them again. It's all because of state laws - called escheatment or unclaimed property laws - that require banks and brokerages to turn over unclaimed property, including un-cashed payroll checks, stock, bank deposits and more, to the State. Property is classified as "unclaimed" when a Customer doesn't contact the bank where his/her money is held over an extended period of time and there has been no activity.
The State government is then supposed to identify and contact the rightful owners, and reunite them with their property; however, each State has a "who's who" list of people who "couldn't be found" and whose property has been seized. For more info, click HERE.

Here's what you can do to avoid this:
+ Login to any online account at least once a year
+ For each bank account, make a balance inquiry, small deposit or withdrawal at least once a year
+Cash or deposit checks when you get them
+Use gift cards, traveler's checks and gift certificates promptly
+Visit your safe deposit box at least once a year
+Notify any holder of funds of an address change or a new name
+Make a list of all your account information including retirement plans, insurance policies, trust payments, and brokerage or other accounts, and give a copy to a trusted family member or friend

Old friends are the best...

Busy as bees (except on Fridays)

 
Starting next month, it will be "TGIT" for Utah state employees. As in: "Thank God It's Thursday."
In a yearlong experiment aimed at reducing the state's energy costs and commuters' gasoline expenses, Utah is about to become the first state to switch to a four-day workweek for thousands of government employees.
They will put in 10-hour days, Monday through Thursday, and have Fridays off, freeing them to golf, shop, spend time with the kids or do anything else that strikes their fancy. They will get paid the same as before.
The order issued by Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman will affect about 17,000 out of 24,000 executive-branch employees. It will not cover state police officers, prison guards or employees of the courts or Utah's public universities. Also, state-run liquor stores will stay open on Fridays.
The compressed workweek in Utah — whose motto is "Industry" and whose official symbol is the beehive, representing thrift and perseverance — could prove inconvenient to those who need to use state services and find certain offices closed on Fridays.

By MIKE STARK (AP)