Saturday, January 20, 2007
saturday stupidity (obtuseness didn't seem to fit quite as well there - sorry!)
But all right, I will concede - if not stupidity, let's speak of dementia then?
Dementia and all that it entails - what may come before or after it, that is...
Everyone is prone to these things, you know; dementia, lunacy, paranoia, apophenia, indifference, aphasia, absent-mindedness, gullibility, apathy, self-centeredness, arrogance, cruelty, ignorance, hypocrisy, apoplexy, apostasy...
Now, every single one of us can have bouts with any one of these unsightly aspects of our egos at almost any given time during the course of our lives, really... And those who do not admit to have succumbed at least a few times are adding another baddie to the list; lying! But that is another story and affliction - denial! Let's stick to dementia today...
On many occasions, it isn't the fault of the afflicted one at all - it just came upon him one fateful day, like a ton of bricks. There was nothing to do but to cope with it and learn to live with it. When one is stricken with a condition, benign or otherwise, one always finds a way to roll with it. If it doesn't kill you, it only makes you stronger - right? Verily, it is not how you deal with it that is the worst part - it is how others do that is the true problem! Others will exploit it against you, give you a hard time or simply belittle you... We've all seen that transpire - admit it, folks!
And so, crazy demented people -as well any degree of lameness there is- are frowned upon, demeaned and outright abused. My luminous suggestion to you all is simple: jog your grey matter muscles and fight back in a brainy way - heck, dare I say a luminous way! You can't speak properly? Gesticulate your annoyance! A finger speaks louder than a thousand words - they say it about an image at any rate! This is merely step one though - the preliminary phase of a master plan of self-affirmation and retaliation! After the finger has been dutifully pointed in the right direction (...) go about handing out meticulously pre-prepared photoshopped pictures of thy aggressors showing them in very compromising positions... These are obviously fakes but they'll ridicule thy enemy, thus accomplishing their primary purpose and exacting satisfactory revenge! If your adversary swindled money out of your naive personality's purse, you may indeed prolong the exercise! Maybe even blackmail a little bit - you might recuperate some of the moolah that way! It is a big "maybe" though... Each case is unique and should call for its own personalized handling.
Crazy old people now - those are the perfect targets for scams of all sorts, online as "offline"... It is up to the estate to exact swift revenge in these particular cases! I know I would... Alas, I cannot indulge in my own luminous methods - for, you see, my dear saintly dad was not stricken with dementia in the sense of senility, at all. He was, throughout his life, wise with his goods and wary of any and all crooks. If he was still astoundingly unlucky, it was simply because fate/kismet/destiny was such a damned bitch! Belief in fate does not go hand-in-hand with Faith - at all! Such is my luminous statement today - for fate, like "mother nature", is but an usurping entity that dares attempt to take the spot that belongs to only One - the Creator, God! God allowed this entity to be as bitchy as she undoubtedly is, just like He allows the devil to be his usual loathsome self - hence, you see it coming, I am racking in the devil, mother nature and fate all together in the same pile of $hit! Aye, tough call - but I am here to make it! ;)
One thing that clearly helped my dear dad to offset senility/dementia for his entire life, was the mere fact that he was bilingual! Me, I am trilingual - and some speak up to nine or ten languages, fluently! Those who do speak 2 or more are at an advantage over, say, the numbskull Québécois who sticks to his pathetic mangled version of French (par exemple...!) - for it helps greatly in overall brain efficiency. Nerve connections are healthier as a result of the boosted blood supply to the brain - such an increased blood flow is reputed to help fight off senility, the onset of Alzheimer's Disease (which is incurable - via traditional "certifiable" medecine anyhow...) and so on... So, it isn't me saying it - it's the damn quack establishment! You will surely take it into account now, discard the witticisms herein, disregard the tongue-in-cheek tone of the present piece and go out there and learn another language - or ten!
It's the right thing to do! :)
Oops - that's copyrighted to that oatmeal commercial - is it not?
Then I'll simply say that "it's the luminous thing to do"...! There! ;)
Now, québécois and québécoises who might be reading this -quacks or not- do not run, all at once, to your cells or portables to dial "254-6011 - deux cinq quatre six zéro un un - two five four six "o" one one"...!
I may be L.P. but I do not endorse LPS - at all! ;)
It would be, verily, almost as pathetic as giving in to a 40,000$ Nigerian e-mail scam... Or that other African scam that is "out there"... Those who fall for these type of things already know two languages, usually - they are, alas it would seem, beyond help as it is already... :(
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Bilingualism delays onset of dementia
By David Ljunggren Fri Jan 12, 4:13 PM ET
OTTAWA (Reuters) - People who are fully bilingual and speak both languages every day for most of their lives can delay the onset of dementia by up to four years compared with those who only know one language, Canadian scientists said on Friday.
Researchers said the extra effort involved in using more than one language appeared to boost blood supply to the brain and ensure nerve connections remained healthy -- two factors thought to help fight off dementia.
"We are pretty dazzled by the results," Professor Ellen Bialystok of Toronto's York University said in a statement.
"In the process of using ... two languages, you are engaging parts of your brain, parts of your mind that are active and need that kind of constant exercise and activity, and with that experience (it) stays more robust," she later told CTV television.
The leading cause of dementia among the elderly is Alzheimer's disease, which gradually destroys a person's memory. There is no known cure.
Bialystok's team focused on 184 elderly patients with signs of dementia who attended a Toronto memory clinic between 2002 and 2005. Of the group, 91 spoke only one language while 93 were bilingual.
"The researchers determined that the mean age of onset of dementia symptoms in the monolingual group was 71.4 years, while the bilingual group was 75.5 years," the statement said.
"This difference remained even after considering the possible effect of cultural differences, immigration, formal education, employment and even gender as (influences) in the results," it added.
Bialystok stressed that bilingualism helped delay the start of dementia rather than preventing it altogether.
Psychologist Fergus Craik, another member of the team, said the data showed that being fully bilingual had "a huge protective effect" against the onset of dementia but he added that the study was still a preliminary finding. The team plans more research into the beneficial side-effects of bilingualism.
The Alzheimer Society of Canada described the report as exciting and said it confirmed recent studies that showed that keeping the brain active was a good way to delay the impact of dementia.
"Anything that staves off the time when the risk factor (for dementia) overcomes the defenses is wonderful news," scientific director Jack Diamond told Reuters.
The society estimates that in 2000 -- the latest year for which data is available -- Canada spent C$5.5 billion ($4.7 billion) taking care of people with Alzheimer's disease.
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By David Ljunggren Fri Jan 12, 4:13 PM ET
OTTAWA (Reuters) - People who are fully bilingual and speak both languages every day for most of their lives can delay the onset of dementia by up to four years compared with those who only know one language, Canadian scientists said on Friday.
Researchers said the extra effort involved in using more than one language appeared to boost blood supply to the brain and ensure nerve connections remained healthy -- two factors thought to help fight off dementia.
"We are pretty dazzled by the results," Professor Ellen Bialystok of Toronto's York University said in a statement.
"In the process of using ... two languages, you are engaging parts of your brain, parts of your mind that are active and need that kind of constant exercise and activity, and with that experience (it) stays more robust," she later told CTV television.
The leading cause of dementia among the elderly is Alzheimer's disease, which gradually destroys a person's memory. There is no known cure.
Bialystok's team focused on 184 elderly patients with signs of dementia who attended a Toronto memory clinic between 2002 and 2005. Of the group, 91 spoke only one language while 93 were bilingual.
"The researchers determined that the mean age of onset of dementia symptoms in the monolingual group was 71.4 years, while the bilingual group was 75.5 years," the statement said.
"This difference remained even after considering the possible effect of cultural differences, immigration, formal education, employment and even gender as (influences) in the results," it added.
Bialystok stressed that bilingualism helped delay the start of dementia rather than preventing it altogether.
Psychologist Fergus Craik, another member of the team, said the data showed that being fully bilingual had "a huge protective effect" against the onset of dementia but he added that the study was still a preliminary finding. The team plans more research into the beneficial side-effects of bilingualism.
The Alzheimer Society of Canada described the report as exciting and said it confirmed recent studies that showed that keeping the brain active was a good way to delay the impact of dementia.
"Anything that staves off the time when the risk factor (for dementia) overcomes the defenses is wonderful news," scientific director Jack Diamond told Reuters.
The society estimates that in 2000 -- the latest year for which data is available -- Canada spent C$5.5 billion ($4.7 billion) taking care of people with Alzheimer's disease.
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Now, careful with that bilateral thinking there...!
I know what some of you might be thinking right now...!
One "bi" is good for you - let's buy into everything "bi"? Huh?
No way, Ho-say!
This is not "proven scientifically", for one thing...
And, for another, there was no inference there to support such crazy demented claims, desperate to find validation for their alternative ways of life...!!!
Better luck next time! ;)
I am sure everyone out there "with a cause" near and dear to their heart - a lifestyle to champion - anything really - everyone will find a quack -somewhere, somewhen- willing to provide them with reputedly scientifically-backed "evidence"...
You will NOT find these on the luminous blog though - no no no! ;)
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I know what some of you might be thinking right now...!
One "bi" is good for you - let's buy into everything "bi"? Huh?
No way, Ho-say!
This is not "proven scientifically", for one thing...
And, for another, there was no inference there to support such crazy demented claims, desperate to find validation for their alternative ways of life...!!!
Better luck next time! ;)
I am sure everyone out there "with a cause" near and dear to their heart - a lifestyle to champion - anything really - everyone will find a quack -somewhere, somewhen- willing to provide them with reputedly scientifically-backed "evidence"...
You will NOT find these on the luminous blog though - no no no! ;)
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