Survey: Adult death rates lowest in Iceland, Cyprus

ICELAND: (Parc national de Skaftafell )


-2 This amazing 'blue' picture was taken on the longest day (21 June, 2009) in Iceland at 1:00 A.M. The person who took the pic said that it's is funny having light 24/7 but that they get used to it.

-3 Bathers soak in the mineral rich water of Iceland's Blue Lagoon near Reykjavik


-4 I've included a map of Cyprus - it's under Turkey. (Click to enlarge.)




-5 Cyprus view





Some of us have talked about how much we're looking forward to traveling in our retirement years, and this may seem like an odd way to lead into the idea of checking out other possible places to visit, or at least find out more about different places, but that's what happened to me after I read this article that I'm going to link. I decided to find out a little more about the countries the article refers to.

The article is about adult death rates (15-60 yrs. old) and where they are the lowest worldwide - which turns out to be in both Iceland and Cyprus. After reading it, I was curious about those two countries, which I didn't know much about, and looked up a little information on both.

I came across some stunning pictures, especially of Iceland, but actually found myself fantasizing more about visiting Cyprus some day (Ha! Probably because of the weather). I wasn't even sure where Cypress is, so I've included a map of the Mediterranean Sea, showing all the islands, including Cypress on the east side of the map, below Turkey.

Here's the story that researched adult death rates over a 40 year time frame: "In a survey from 1970 to 2010, researchers found a widening gap between countries with the highest and lowest premature death rates in adults aged 15 to 60. The study was published Friday in the medical journal, Lancet.

The findings are in contrast to the trends in child and maternal mortality, where rates are mostly dropping worldwide. Health officials have long thought if child deaths were decreasing and health systems were improving, adult deaths would similarly decline. But that's not what researchers found.

Only a few countries have cut death rates by more than 2% in the last 40 years: Australia, Italy, South Korea, Chile, Tunisia and Algeria. The U.S. lagged significantly behind, dropping to 49th in the rankings for women and 45th for men. That puts it behind all of Western Europe as well as countries including Peru, Chile and Libya.

...... some countries — like Australia and South Korea — were particularly successful in reducing death rates, ...... guessed better policies on things like tobacco control and road accidents might be responsible." 40-year world survey: Adult death rates lowest in Iceland, Cyprus

..... I didn't find out why these countries came out on top in reducing death rates, but I sure am struck by their beauty. It may be healthy there because they are both islands, and therefore more isolated from the rest of the world. It can't be climate that connects them in their similarities (at least not temperature), because one of them is a 'lot' colder than the other.

Full Pink Moon tonight!

The overflow, until someone has a better idea

Cherry blossoms and Mallards arrive in Connecticut

Spring has truly arrived here in Connecticut....The last week or so, I was able to capture the beauty of cherry blossom trees that bloomed in my neighborhood....This is St. Theresa's catholic church in Trumbull & some of the streets I travel on the way to my office....

Before the cherry blossoms, there were the snow mountain and weeping cherry trees and.... the mallards came back to Connecticut...each spring, they arrive in April and hang around the wetlands for awhile...

The mallards seem to know that it is dinnertime

at Coreen's place.....and they are always welcome, along with squirrels, and any other furry or feathered friends that stop by....if you look close you can see our Woody the Woodpecker on the weeping cherry tree & in the grass alongside of the mallards....

Around the World, We celebrate EARTH DAY

Just found out it's Earth Day - So Happy Earth Day everyone!

10 Things to do on Earth Day / 40 ways to wish Earth Day a happy 40th





"You buy the stamps - Halo buys the food for 1 million shelter pets."

... hope Ellen doesn't mind being our guest star for a day - read that she introduced these stamps on her show (actually, the real stars are the animals).

The U.S. Post Office is featuring Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet commemorative postage stamps to raise awareness about the millions of homeless animals waiting for their forever homes in animal shelters across our nation.

You can preview or preorder the stamps featuring adopted pets from New Milford, Connecticut, photographed by Sally Anderson-Bruce at http://www.stampstotherescue.com/. If you mouse over the stamps, you can read a paragraph profile about each pet.

"Stamps of past years have helped to raise social awareness for worthy issues such as literacy, breast cancer awareness, organ and tissue donation, philanthropy, Alzheimer’s awareness, children’s health, and now in 2010, stamps are focusing public awareness on our homeless animal companions." Stamps to the Rescue! Adopt a Shelter Pet Stamps Revealed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Happy trails Mr. Mallard

I lost a good friend yesterday. Mr. Mallard and his Ms. came by several times a day to visit and eat the corn I threw out for them. He was a dedicated and faithful duck husband. That wing he has hanging down by his side was the result of his fighting off these two young punk ducks trying to screw with his hen. He was healing up pretty well before his little life was snuffed out. Heard tell it was some dogs or a car that did him in. Around these part, if you are wildlife and you taste good baked, roasted, or BBQed, your days are numbered.

I'll miss you Mr. Mallard.

PS. No one has seen Ms. Mallard. She may have left town with the bad boy punk ducks. She even deserted her eggs. Grief can do that to a girl.

Houseboat Brenda, one of my new friends in the Hood, had to rescue these baby ducks. A hen laid these eggs in some woman's planter down the road. They just hatched yesterday and the lady who had the planter didn't want the duck do do around her place so Houseboat Brenda had to take these younguns to raise. They are only one day old so I hope they make it. She said she's raised lot of different birds and ducks before. She going to try to catch the mama duck tomorrow.

UPDATE: Went down the road to check on the baby ducks this afternoon. There are 13 fine babies and all are alive and pecking. While I was down visiting, Houseboat Brenda left the picnic table we were visiting at and came back and said that Gimpy was back. I said Gimpy? Yep, she said, Gimpy, his hen and the two punk ducks. Gimpy is AKA Mr. Mallard. I went over to look and sure enough, Mr. Mallard is still with us. He must have been out catting around, or ducking around, or somethin that rhymes with ducking.

So please disregard the memorial service. Mr. Mallard has returned from the dead!

Thanks to Coreen for linking the yoga article from the N.Y. Times last week - I've been checking out a few of the online videos it listed, and read that you can feel the benefits after the first session - that beginners needn't be able to get into the exact position they are trying to do, until after some practice. So the pics I've used are more realistic (except for one, and therefore somewhat humorous).

Immediate benefits of yoga include: relaxation of body and mind (which in turn revitalizes your nervous system), a feeling of peace and stability, posture improvement, becoming acquainted with muscles you didn't know you had (which is the first step in toning them up), a feeling of being more energized (if not immediately, then the next day).

Yoga benefits that come about after more longer term practice include: Greater self-discipline, increased self determination, greater ability to concentrate, vastly improved flexibility, a greater sense of well being. improved strength in our back and stomach, less stiffness in our joints slowing down the effects of aging on our bodies.

A few videos from Coreen's article:
Beginner Yoga with Shiva Rea
GAIAM Yoga PM Stretch
Shiva Rea Yoga Sun Salutation
Shiva Rea Yoga Shakti
text you're link from
A sheet of poses

April 15 Tax Day

Someone once said, the only sure thing is Death and Taxes (excuse the grammar - but that is the way I remember it). On April 15, each of us in the good old U.S.of A. will be required to submit tax returns. Many of us will be paying taxes on that day. Here is some information on the origins of the IRS.

The roots of IRS go back to the Civil War when President Lincoln and Congress, in 1862, created the position of commissioner of Internal Revenue and enacted an income tax to pay war expenses. The income tax was repealed 10 years later. Congress revived the income tax in 1894, but the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional the following year.

In 1913, Wyoming ratified the 16th Amendment, providing the three-quarter majority of states necessary to amend the Constitution. The 16th Amendment gave Congress the authority to enact an income tax. That same year, the first Form 1040 appeared after Congress levied a 1 percent tax on net personal incomes above $3,000 with a 6 percent surtax on incomes of more than $500,000.

In 1918, during World War I, the top rate of the income tax rose to 77 percent to help finance the war effort. It dropped sharply in the post-war years, down to 24 percent in 1929, and rose again during the Depression. During World War II, Congress introduced payroll withholding and quarterly tax payments.

In the 50s, the agency was reorganized to replace a patronage system with career, professional employees. The Bureau of Internal Revenue name was changed to the Internal Revenue Service. Only the IRS commissioner and chief counsel are selected by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

The IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 prompted the most comprehensive reorganization and modernization of IRS in nearly half a century. The IRS reorganized itself to closely resemble the private sector model of organizing around customers with similar needs.