All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

New Medicine Could Replace Reading Glasses with Eye Drops – Slashdot (Me: more limited than headline indicates)

The new medicine takes effect in about 15 minutes, with one drop on each eye providing sharper vision for six to 10 hours, according to the company…. Vuity is the first FDA-approved eye drop to treat age-related blurry near vision, also known as presbyopia. The prescription drug utilizes the eye’s natural ability to reduce its pupil size, said Dr. George Waring, the principal investigator for the trial.

“Reducing the pupil size expands the depth of field or the depth of focus, and that allows you to focus at different ranges naturally,” he said.

A 30-day supply of the drug will cost about $80 and works best in people 40 to 55 years old, a Vuity spokesperson said. Side effects detected in the three-month trial included headaches and red eyes, the company said.

Source: New Medicine Could Replace Reading Glasses with Eye Drops – Slashdot

Alphabet soup for the soul vol.2 -“K”

Words from Walden

K is for Kind

“Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle” -Plato-

There is a piece of word-art in my home that says “In a world where you can be anything, be kind”.

Do you go out of your way to be kind? Do you say or do nice things for others (and yourself), for reasons other than to make them (and you) feel good?

Are you a kind person?

If things are not going the way you want in life, and you find yourself often sad or angry, then you have nothing to lose by projecting kindness.

In a media and global landscape that are trying to force almost the entire world to live in fear of disease, natural disasters, and scarcity, being kind will always win.

On a planet where we so visibly see global inequality for simple things like water, education and human…

View original post 165 more words

Can’t Force Love

Inhale Peace; Exhale Love. Joy will Follow! - RUELHA

The heart wants what the heart wants For the person nestled in its chambers, it longs The heart wants what the heart wants That person's face perpetually haunts The heart wants what the heart wants For that person beyond reasoning, it yearns The heart wants what the heart wants Irrationally and incessantly, it sings their song The heart wants what the heart wants It's willing to kneel in servitude despite the response The heart wants what the heart wants Knowing well it's right, the mind's taunts The heart wants what the heart wants Tries so hard, yet feelings begin to flaunt You can be their cook and their maid Bear their children, be their surrogate By their rules, always must have played Maybe, for all their expenses, you paid You can beg and cry Pray to God looking at the sky For their attention, you can wait With yourself, rationalize…

View original post 240 more words

Abolish Racist Mascots

LANDBACK Friends

The use of Native symbols and names has come to attention as pressure has come to change such names and symbols of national sports teams for example. Tomorrow’s discussion will be about the use of Mohawk in Mason City, Iowa.

The Mason City Community School District reached out to the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe and asked if the tribe would be open to a partnership and allow the use of imagery and name. The tribe said no and asked for the end of the usage of the “Mohawk” mascot and nickname. (Info from the Globe Gazette).

Last month, the Mason City School Board decided to end the use of the name“Mohawks,” at athletic events and on merchandise. Over the long term building signs and school décor will also be scrubbed of the name, as the district assesses costs related to rebranding.

Shortly after the decision was made…

View original post 356 more words

This fabric is hailed as ‘eco-friendly.’ The rainforest tells a different story. (Viscose rayon)

Jonni Spedika Viscose rayon is used in clothing ranging from couture dresses to t-shirts to sportswear. It has been touted as eco-friendly because it comes from a renewable resource: trees.

But it is also among the products that have driven the destruction of rainforest in Indonesia. The plantations built on the cleared land create a continuous supply of new wood or goods like palm oil, often from a single species of tree.

The plantations blend into the surrounding forest. But experts say they also dry out the land and increase the risk of fires as well as destroy the natural habitat of a diverse array of plants and animals.

“This is like them stealing our seas,” said Spedika, who noted that the pigs and other animals he used to hunt had disappeared.

Ruth DeFries, professor of ecology and sustainable development at Columbia University in New York, said tree plantations are highly disruptive to areas of biodiverse rainforest.

“A plantation of a single kind of tree is a very, very different ecosystem than rainforest with millions of species,” said DeFries, who has done research in Indonesia.

“One of the most beautiful times I had there was shadowing someone who was doing research on orangutans,” she added. “Seeing that their habitat is being destroyed — it’s just heartbreaking.”

Source: This fabric is hailed as ‘eco-friendly.’ The rainforest tells a different story.