pleinair
pleinair's JournalThe perils and triumphs of aging well
One use of a good long life, of course, is to continue to vote Democratic, but there are lots of other reasons those of us over 50 (or so) would like to live longer. In this article in The Atlantic by Ezekiel Emanuel, the author argues in favor of a lifespan limited to approximately the age of 75. My (loose) interpretation: he decries the cultural tendency he calls "American Immortality" (with all its attendant vitamins and nourishment advice) and picks the age of 75 as the ideal time to die. The primary reason: quality of life for one's self and one's children. He does not advocate euthanasia or suicide, but simply leaving Nature to its course, including cancer and infections, among other things.
The depressing part is that he cites a decline in creativity in old age. (I have to say I disagree with this) Although not named in the article, people such as Jimmy & Rosalyn Carter, Clint Eastwood, Pablo Picasso, Georgia O'Keeffe and Pablo Casals (among others) would be probably defined as "exceptions" by him.
(SPOILER ALERT) he also concludes that he has the right to change his mind (!), which is to say, everything he stated before was not to be taken at face value. Thought -provoking read:
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/09/why-i-hope-to-die-at-75/379329/
There is a companion article in the same issue about examples of thriving longevity.
She looks fine
I'm no fan of Palin, but I agree with another poster who said no woman is required to wear makeup.
LOL + 1,000
I love the comment from Tommy G on the C&L site: "After the perpetual crap-alanche of the past couple of weeks, this video has raised my spirits more than 20 laughing baby vids on YouTube. If only I could figure out a way to make Cruz being booed off stage into a ringtone."
Robert Reich on foreign corporations funding American campaigns and "think tanks"
"The New York Times reports this morning that more than a dozen prominent Washington think tanks have received tens of millions of dollars from foreign sources in recent years while pushing U.S. government to adopt policies that often reflect the donors’ priorities. But the Times misses the really big story about foreign influence in Washington: Global corporations owned and run largely or partially by non-Americans that since the Supreme Court’s shameful “Citizen’s United” decision have been pouring unlimited sums into election campaigns" more at link: https://www.facebook.com/RBReich?fref=nf
In Her Own Words: New Joni Mitchell memoir
She changed popular music for the better, but unfortunately her life is not a peaceful one.
snip
"Always searching for something – for meaning and purpose, she said: 'I've had the experience of poverty, middle class, now extreme wealth and luxury, and that's difficult too'.
Now she is alone. Mitchell lives like a recluse, dividing her time between a home she built in a remote area of British Columbia and an equally isolated sprawling villa high up in Bel Air, California, overlooking Los Angeles."
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2738088/The-secret-torment-Joni-Mitchell-Unflinching-memoir-reveals-reclusive-70s-icon-battles-disease-makes-skin-crawl-haunted-stalkers-heartache-giving-daughter-adoption.html#ixzz3CAW7kIce
Vest cameras for police officers
There's a petition up at Change.org for the "Mike Brown Law" asking the Obama administration to require all law enforcement to wear them: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/mike-brown-law-requires-all-state-county-and-local-police-wear-camera/8tlS5czf
According to an article from gizmodo, Ferguson MO is considering vest cameras for its officers in the future.
snip:
LAPD Sgt. Dan Gomez described a situation to the Daily News where just the act of seeing an officer wearing a camera seemed to immediately calm an antagonistic person. "All of a sudden, the whole thing started to de-escalate," he said. "They were able to deal with whatever the situation was, and no additional enforcement action was needed."
--more at link:
http://gizmodo.com/ferguson-police-will-finally-get-the-one-device-they-re-1623312960?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_facebook&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
B.K.S.Iyengar, Who Helped Bring Yoga to the West, Dies at 95
NEW DELHI — B. K. S. Iyengar, who helped introduce the practice of yoga to a Western world awakening to the notion of an inner life, died on Wednesday in the southern Indian city of Pune. He was 95.
The cause was heart failure, said Abhijata Sridhar-Iyengar, his granddaughter.
...
Ms. Sridhar-Iyengar said her grandfather recognized early on that yoga, up until then viewed as a mystical pursuit, “had something for everybody, not just the intellectually or spiritually inclined.”
“He felt satisfied,” she said. “He took yoga to the world. He knew that.”
Full story at link: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/21/world/asia/bks-iyengar-who-helped-bring-yoga-to-west-dies-at-95.html?_r=0
10 Ways You Can Help the People of Ferguson, MO
(snippet)
7. Don't allow irrelevant narratives to deflect from the larger issue at hand.
As Michael Brown's death unfolds in the media, numerous developments haphazardly released by the Ferguson Police Department have served to distract from the core issue behind the Ferguson protests: Another unarmed, black teenager has been gunned down by law enforcement with little to no explanation.
...
Regardless of whether an 18-year-old stole a pack of cigars or had marijuana in his system when he died, his life had value and the circumstances of his death deserve fair and complete examination. Black Americans have had to remind the rest of the nation this a few too many times.
...
9. Diversify your media consumption.
The ongoing protests in Ferguson have unleashed a flurry of competing perspectives on issues ranging from police militarization to racial inequality.
With social media driving so much of the Ferguson narrative, it becomes even more important to actively seek coverage from a diverse range of political outlets to gain a deeper understanding of the historical, cultural and socio-economic factors at play in Ferguson.
more at link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/19/how-to-help-ferguson_n_5688541.html
"the noose has tightened around the death penalty"
from TPM:
" both internationally and within the United States, fewer and fewer credentialed experts have been willing to involve themselves with state mandated executions. Pharmaceutical companies have become more aggressive in making sure their drugs are not used to kill people. "
complete article at: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-death-penalty-chaotic-end
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Member since: Sat Jun 14, 2014, 02:51 PMNumber of posts: 171