Columnists

On May 12, the New York Times did a very curious thing. -more-

According to the New York Times (5/16/11), Gen. Sir David Richards, “Britain’s top military commander,” is proposing that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) target Libyan “infrastructure,” including electrical power grids and fuel dumps, in government held areas. -more-

The May 1st attack on Osama bin Laden produced an iconic image: President Barack Obama in the White House situation room, surrounded by his national security advisers, monitoring the progress of the Navy Seals’ mission in far off Abbottabad, Pakistan. Obama stands out because of the steely intensity in his eyes. He’s totally focused. Preternaturally cool. -more-

Birds have an astounding variety of bills, or beaks if you prefer. Consider the frogbills, the spoonbills, the crossbills, the boatbill heron, the New Zealand wrybill (a small shorebird whose bill is curved sideways.) Bird tongues, on the other hand, are nowhere near that variable. Most bird tongues are fairly boring. But there are notable exceptions. -more-

Earlier this month, we spent an enjoyable, informative week-long visit to Charleston, South Carolina. We had no idea that Charleston was observing the Civil War Sesquicentennial (150) until after our arrival. As a result, we were able to brush up on our Civil War history. That is, mostly from a southern point of view. What follows is a hodgepodge of trip impressions, trivia, and Civil War history. -more-

Many people with Schizophrenia or Bipolar illnesses have a relapse of acute symptoms every two or three years. Sometimes, this is triggered by going off medication against medical advice. In other cases, the relapse occurs in spite of the psychiatric consumer taking medication, and doing everything he or she is supposed to do. Stopping medication without a doctor’s approval is sometimes caused by an initial resurgence of symptoms (while still on medication) that clouds the judgment and interferes with the insight that the medication is still needed. The person had already begun the process of getting ill; and then stopping medication accelerated this deterioration. -more-

The great profile… AProfile of Older Americans: 2010 is now available online. This annual summary of the latest statistics on the older population covers 15 topical areas including population, income and poverty, living arrangements, education, and health. -more-