How many researchers does it take to find out that age-related visual problems might contribute to rapid mental decline in elderly people?

Can you believe this junk from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston? These, eagle eyed researchers, found that among 2,000 elderly Mexican Americans, those with significant impairments in their near vision tended to show a steeper decline in mental functioning.

I guess the same would be true of 2,000 five year olds or forty year olds. Thought of testing them for hearing loss, bunions, gum disease or arthritis?

Hit And Run Horror Story

A hit-and-run victim in Natal, South Africa, was run over by five cars in succession on Wednesday night

The remains were so severely mutilated that paramedics were unable to identify the victim's sex or race.

Motorists angered by the resulting holdup, blared their hooters to try to get the traffic moving again.

South Korean Mobile Pet Messages

Dog owners in South Korea are using mobile technology to monitor the state of their stay at home pets.

The pay in service uses recorded dog barks to reference the sounds made by the imprisoned pooch. It then sends texts to the owner - "I am happy - bursting for a pee or have just eaten the parrot."

Just shows what you can do with technology these days.

Contact Lens Appears

I was reading Joseph Helle's second novel, Something Happened, when my left eye started to feel like it was full of grit. A trip to the magnifying mirror revealed nothing.

A good swill out dislodged nothing and then - there it was - a chunk of contact lens.

I have no idea how long it had been in there. I lost a piece of a lens early last year in Barcelona and I think I lost another chunk about a month ago.

I hope this is the Barcelona bit. Mental decline here I come.