Welcome to the Richardson High School Message Forum.
The Message Forum is an ongoing dialogue among classmates. The goal is to encourage friendly interaction, including interaction among classmates who really didn't know each other. Experience on the site has revealed that certain topics tend to cause friction and hard feelings, especially politics and religion.
Although politics and religion are not completely off-limits, classmates are asked to be positive in their posts and not to be too repetitive or allow a dialog to degenerate into an argument.
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I once had a Zeis Ikon, bought on a Dutch ship. It took fantastic pictures if I got all the little bells and whistles set right. The darn thing was complicated, so I sold it to a camera shop when I got home.
I had an old nice camera but it wasn't digital , so thought I would go buy a digital one . I do have a powershot but wanted alittle more. Went to the camera shop and decided on a Canon digital M50... Came home and played with it and found it way too complicated with little tiny buttons .... triled using it outside when I saw the four eagles and my powershot and phone did better in the moment. SO I pondered and then took it back to the store , saying I am old and just don't want to work that hard to take a picture. SO came home with this "used" Nikon coolpix p10 for half the price and " voila ", in my first day of taking pictures from my backyard , got these pics !
As I said on the other forum :
"buttons are so small , can't push the right one and can you imagine you are out taking pics of lions and spending time just squinting at the darn camera and getting out your reading glasses to see in the glaring down sun in your eyes..... ..? Then a lion notices you and comes charging at you, cuz he heard you cussing.".
SO far the only thing charging at me is :
Oh, can't call myself a bird-brain or "B***"...". Lance called me a Bird-brain during his "judgemental addiction " , phase. and I "b*****" , when cussing at my camera skills. So , there you have it... not that you were asking...
And "that's the rest of the story ..." , as Paul Harvey would say... loved listening to him.
I liked listening to Paul Harvey too. He was smart, funny, and a little quirky. His voice was powerful and self-confident. Good voice for radio. The way he said, "Good day!" at the end of every broadcast, always made me smile.
The squirrel picture is cute! I like his blue-gray color. The ones we have around our house are dingy brown. They are funny critters, except when they steal out pecans! We have to put nets on our trees if we want to have pecans for pies! I love baking and eating those pecan pies!
I'm hearing on my TV, which is nearly always "on" in our house, that Democrats are now laughing and making a 'big deal' or 'an issue' of Republicans, like Nikki Haley, saying that embryos are babies, as if that is a stupid comment. Embryos ARE babies (the egg has been fertilized) in the eyes of God, in whom we honor and believe. Now I know that many Democrats are not Christians, so they don't accept or understand our feelings and beliefs. They want to say that a baby is NOT a baby until it is born, or becomes a viable life outside the womb. Most Christians believe that once the spark of life begins at conception, that genesis is a blessing from God to be cherished, and each of those embryos have souls blessed and watched by God throughout the lives of each of those little ones.
So for the Democrats to snicker and curse our beliefs as nonsensical is disgusting to us, and to make a campaign issue of it all, is equally a BIG negative if Americans want to HEAL the divide in our country.
We need to be much more respectful of each other, dispensing with the constant nitpicking of every little matter.
Addendum:
Those in-vitro clinics need to have the utmost ethics and not fertilize too many embryos. The parents and doctors need to do everything legally, with agreements between each of them. I would think that any unused embryos could be placed for adoption to married couples unable to have their own children. Just like the issues we will face with AI, the issues we will/are facing with embryos will be challenging. The clinics HAVE to proceed with caution against evilness entering the process.
We've both realized for decades now that the Democrat Party cares NOT AT ALL about its loyal voters. But I bet the duped ones didn't realize how quickly they could be (and are currently being) replaced by many of the dregs of the earth, the illegal aliens. After all, once the totally corrupt Dem politicians get past their primary motivation (i.e., each wretched Dem pol's concern for him/herself), then the ONLY thing that matters is Party (just like Nazis, Bosheviks, & the other Marxist totalitarians).
Always loved the slide guitar here by Jeremy Spencer of Fleetwood Mac - nice, different sound to the guitar; by the way still-around guitarist Buddy Guy plays a bit on this album - listed on the cover as "Guitar Buddy":
Remember how fame came to Cassius Clay, 60 years ago today, when he beat Sonny Liston for the first time in 7 rounds. That guy was crazy. Many came to love the personality and it's evolution. A lot did not. One thing was certain, he was a flamboyant personality and fighter extraordinaire.
60 years...my goodness...
By the way. Is anyone we know a fan of UCF or MMA? The internet says boxing is still the most popular fight sport. I suppose it is because of the youth boxing organizations like Gold Gloves...
I cringe at watching UCF or MMA...even being an avid sports fan. It just seems so devastating, and I have only watched momentary highlights by accident.
I loved boxing matches and the hype leading to them. My favorite fight was The Thrilla in Manila. Mike West's GF at the time was in advertising and occasionally got tickets. Mike and I went the the closed circuit broadcast of the Frazier/Ali spectacle in Memorial Auditorium downtown Dallas. I think otherwise it was 50.00 a seat. That was expensive, and sort of still is. Attending a live boxing big fight is not the same as sitting at home and watching on your own screen. I went to a few closed circuit fights in bars, and that was almost as good as that one in Memorial...but there were 5000 or more there...so rabid.
The fight has been shown millions of times over again, but the actual live action (being there while it occurred) was about the most exciting sports event I have ever witnessed. The last round followed the 13th, when Ali could barely get out of his corner...the pounding before that had decimated both fighters...finally, a relentless 13th was over and the 1 minute time seemed like an eternity...Ali got up and came out...Frazier declined. He had seen enough... Never before or since has anything measured up in my mind as such a valiant stand by both. Infamous fight.
No, but I do remember when you, me, and Rusty Langford went to the sportatorium watching Fritz von Erich rassel the Nature Boy! Later when the WWE took off...it was the best fight sport business.
In your last post above, did you proofread your first sentence? Your composing methods are usually excellent, but in that sentence, your 4th and 5th grade English teachers would have strung you up!
And then the word 'rassel'? Were you meaning to write 'wrestle'?
I'm just messin' wid ya', compadre. I'm guessing you were typing in a hurry, as we all have done on occasion.
At first, they branded him as 'the villain. I don't remember when, but I do remember that all of a sudden he was branded as 'the hero' and everyone loved him - and then, the tragedy of his sons' lives.
Yes Janalu...I confess my grammar has Wayned lately...as the good teacher, please deduct 5 points from my post above. As you've observed from prior posts...I go from villian to hero and back...Wierd huh?
Pastor Bedwell,
I hate to be a busybody, but I heard it from somebody at church who said:
Only one Body can disembody and reimbody to have the Heavenly body that everybody expects following an out of body experience.
With His sanctifying antibody, anybody can become somebody no longer baudy or naughty!
What the Von Erichs did was rassling. Part wresling and part show and part fake and ment to entertain the audience. They had to be very fit to do what they did.
I remember seeing on TV a manager got mad, picked up a metal folding chair and hit a fighter over the head and it did'nt stun the guy. Another time a manager took off a shoe and hit the wresler in the back of the neck where the wresler turned and puntched the guy. A lot of bad acting.
I have decided that merchants who use any form of the word "curate" should be imprisoned unless they are using it in relation to a museum.
Joe Perillo has a used car car dealership in Chicago that specializes in "curated pre-owned, luxury automobiles."
Waco's Magnolia Homes features "furniture and decor curated by Joanna Gaines".
Sirius/XM radio "curates channels" for listener enjoyment.
Come on! These guys are selling something, and they are trying to sound clever and sophisticated while doing it. A museum curator is identifying and purchasing artwork, etc. to share with visitors.
Pardon me while I go to the refrigerator to curate my lunch.
Oh, it's OK for a church to use the term curate -- generally a minister who supports the head minister in something like calling on sick and/or aged congregants.
Thanks for that Allman Brothers post. Here is their entire remastered, deluxe (added stuff) version of their Live at the Fillmore East album. Starts out with "Statesboro Blues" and also has "One Way Out" that you posted on there, 2 of my very favorites of theirs. WHAT A SLIDE GUITARIST DUANE WAS! ENJOY!
The former director of Panama's border patrol, Oriel Ortega, told THE EPOCH TIMES that the United Nations' migration agenda is behind the chaos at the US southern border, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are assisting.
The increase of thousands of people 'on the move' corresponds to the U.N.'s GLOBAL COMPACT for safe. orderly, and regular migration, a compact voted on and signed by 152 nations in 2016. But under the UN, the migration process has been anything but orderly, Mr. Ortega said.
The book, "Weapons of Mass Migration: Forced Displacement, Coercion, and Foreign Policy," written by Kelly Greenhill, suggests that weaker countries are using migration to destabilize their more powerful adversaries.
Joseph Humire, the executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society and an expert on unconventional warfare, says "This is a strategically engineered migration."
Nearly $1.3 billion of US taxpayers' money was given to the UN and other agencies assisting migrants in 2023, according to a government spending database.
Rush Limbaugh used to say frequently that the UN is no friend of the US. They work continuously to bring us down.
Cognitive neuroscientist Charan Ranganath says the human brain isn't programmed to remember everything. Rather, it's designed to "carry what we need and to deploy it rapidly when we need it."
Bulat Silvia/iStock / Getty Images Plus
When cognitive neuroscientist Charan Ranganath meets someone for the first time, he's often asked, "Why am I so forgetful?" But Ranganath says he's more interested in what we remember, rather than the things we forget.
"We're not designed to carry tons and tons of junk with us. I don't know that anyone would want to remember every temporary password that they've ever had," he says. "I think what [the human brain is] designed for is to carry what we need and to deploy it rapidly when we need it."
Ranganath directs the Dynamic Memory Lab at the University of California, Davis, where he's a professor of psychology and neuroscience. In the new book, Why We Remember, he writes about the fundamental mechanisms of memory — and why memories often change over time.
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Ranganath recently wrote an op-ed for The New York Times in which hereflected on President Biden's memory gaffes — and the role that memory plays in the current election cycle.
"I'm just not in the position to say anything about the specifics of [either Biden or Trump's] memory problems," he says. "This is really more of an issue of people understanding what happens with aging. And, one of the nice things about writing this editorial is I got a lot of feedback from people who felt personally relieved by this because they're worried about their own memories."
Interview highlights
On instituting a cognitive test for candidates running for president
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I think it would be a good idea to have a comprehensive physical and mental health evaluation that's fairly transparent. We certainly have transparency or seek transparency about other things like a candidate's finances, for instance. And obviously health is a very important factor. And I think at the end of the day, we'll still be in a position of saying, "OK, what's enough? What's the line between healthy and unhealthy?" But I think it's important to do because yes, as we get older we do have memory problems. ...
On why you can sometimes only remember the first letter of something, like a name
You get what's called partial retrieval, where you get a piece of the information but not the whole thing. ... Memories compete with each other. And this is true for a name. This could be true for memory, for an event. And so if you have learned multiple names that start with the letter K, now what happens is you have this competition where essentially they're fighting with each other.
They call it the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon ... where you know the information is there, you're aware of something, but it just doesn't. You don't have proof of its existence. You're just working on this complete faith that it exists. There's many reasons why this happened. One of the big ones is you pull out the wrong information. When you pull out the wrong information, what happens is it makes it much harder to find the right information. So in other words, if you're looking for someone named "Fred" and you accidentally pull out "Frank" and you know that's not the name. Now, Frank is very big in your consciousness, and it's fighting against the other memory that you have. And so as a result, you're going to have some trouble. Now, later on, what happens is your mindset changes and you're no longer stuck in that previous mistake. And that's why it can pop up. So what can sometimes happen is that we're looking for something, but then we get the wrong thing. And that leads us so far in the wrong direction that the competition in memory works against us.
On how interruption hurts our ability to remember
This is the reality of modern life, is that we're constantly being interrupted. Now, sometimes those interruptions are in our world and not of our own making. So any person with a newborn child, for instance, can relate to this idea of you're trying to do something and all of a sudden your child starts crying and your brain is telling you, "Forget everything else. Let's focus on this." Then there's things that we do to ourselves, like, we just have other thoughts that come into our head or we start daydreaming about things. But then I think the most insidious of all are the alerts and the distractions that we put upon ourselves with smartphones and smartwatches where there's things constantly buzzing and grabbing our attention, and then people start to get bad habits like checking texts and emails. For instance, I'll sit in academic talks and I see people checking email during a talk, and I can guarantee you they're not remembering either the email or the talk after they've left the place.
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On how stress interferes with memory
Stress has a bunch of complex effects on memory. So if you have a severely stressful experience, sometimes you can remember that experience better than if it was not stressful. And so this happens a lot in cases of traumatic memories. But the other part of it is that stress makes it harder to pull out the information you need when you need it. ... It shuts down the prefrontal cortex. And under those states of stress, you're prioritizing things that are more immediate, your knee-jerk responses to things. And so that makes it harder to remember stuff that happened before you were under stress.
Then there's the issue of chronic stress, where we know that chronic stress can be actually neurotoxic for areas of the brain that are important for memory, like the prefrontal cortex and another area called the hippocampus. And that is really, I think, part of the problem that you see in people with PTSD, for instance. If you're under chronic stress for a long period of time, there's a whole series of stress-related hormones that are bathing your brain in these stress-related hormones. And what can happen is, this can be causing damage to areas like the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex so that they're no longer functioning as efficiently as you would hope they would. And you can see this in many different animal models of stress.
On why sleep is so important to memory
One of the fascinating things about sleep is we tend to think, oh, nothing's happening. I'm not getting anything done. But your brain is hugely at work. There are all these different stages of sleep where you can see these symphony of waves, where different parts of the brain are talking to each other, essentially. And so, we know for a fact that some of these stages of sleep, what happens is the brain will flush out toxins, like the amyloid protein that can build up over the course of a day. So just by virtue of that function, sleep is very important. But then on top of it, what we can see is that the neurons that were active during a particular experience, have come back alive during sleep. And so there seems to be some processing of memories that happen during sleep, and that the processing of memories can sometimes lead to some parts of the memory being strengthened, or sometimes you're better able to integrate what happened recently with things that happened in the past. And so, sleep scientist Matt Walker likes to say that sleep converts memory into wisdom, for instance.
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[Sleep is] an investment. Because you're depriving your brain of all this, information processing that can happen in your sleep. And I do believe it's controversial, but I do believe in the idea that sometimes you can wake up and through that memory processing, actually have the ability to solve a problem that you couldn't do when you were, before you went to sleep. I mean, the other part of sleep, I think that's very important is when we're sleep deprived it's just terrible for memory. All the circuitry that's important for memory does not function as well, and memory performance really declines.
Sam Briger and Thea Chaloner produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Carmel Wroth adapted it for the web.
Do you agree that Biden should submit to a cognitive and neurological assessment evaluation, to help our citizens learn of his abilities toward running the country?
So far, he has refused to allow his current, medical assessments to be reviewed by the public, unlike Trump and other former presidents, which, of course, makes it appear that he and his physicians are dodging the truth of the situation.
I, and many others, observe Biden's frailties every day, noting how much we can detect just by his walking about, his facial expressions, and his sometimes incoherent comments.
By the way, would you name 3 or 4 accomplishments from Biden that are you feel are glorious deeds done for this country's wellbeing? And don't you think it would be advantageous for Biden to participate in at least one debate with Trump, if the two become the two leading candidates for president? Not allowing a debate to happen, is very telling, don't you think?
So , there you have it... not that you were asking... 
