The research on nearly 100,000 women, published in the journal Circulation, found pessimists had higher blood pressure and cholesterol.
Even taking these risk factors into account, attitude alone altered risks.
Optimistic women had a 9% lower risk of developing heart disease and a 14% lower risk of dying from any cause after more than eight years of follow-up.
I already have high blood pressure, but the last time I had my cholesterol checked it was fine. Okay, that was two years ago, so who knows what state it's currently in. Details aside, however, after reading this article, I thought seriously about my Weltanschauung and what I could do to improve it and increase my chances of living past my next birthday.
Then I went to the Huffington Post.
While there, I came to the conclusion that the only thing that can improve both my outlook on life and increase my longevity is to stop using the Internet. I guess it had something to do with that piece on health care reform and the sign I saw calling President Obama "The Anus of America."
But then I had a nice lunch with my dear friend Silke and all was well with me and the world . . . until I returned home, logged into Facebook, and read a message from my friend Marc about the assification of Germany's Green Party.
Image courtesy of www.gruene-kaarst.de *sigh*
For my non-German-speaking readers, it says "The only reason to vote Black." Here black refers to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats . . . and the woman of course.
*sigh*
*sigh*
And then I went back to the Huffington Post and saw this, too.
Image courtesy of www.huffingtonpost.comI guess he was working in the corn fields the week his history class covered World War II.
*sigh*
But then Susanna sent me this and I laughed out loud and felt instantly better. So all of this negative shit notwithstanding, I think I'll be okay. Unlike the women who harbor hostile thoughts and feelings, which eventually kill them, I release mine through the wonder of Web 2.0.*
So, to those of you who do not want to live in a country that provides basic health coverage to all of its citizens,
Fuck you.
To Green Party members who are either too naive or too stupid to understand why some people find this campaign poster offensive,
Fuck you, too.
And now I will get ready to meet my dear friend Lars for a drink and enjoy the end of what has been a wonderful day.
So don't worry Stefan, I'm fine!
*yeah, the same Web 2.0 that's making me crazy in the first place. Whatever.
I guess it's 'fuck me' then cause I don't want it. Medicare is crap! Then, they want to do an insurance plan that's going to fucked up. It's going to raise everybody's taxes, put penalties on people who don't want to buy health insurance and would rather pay out of pocket, lengthen the process of getting health care and did I say taxes! You can't rush a health bill through and then call everybody who doesn't agree with it un-American like they are doing. I'm under the mindset that if the majority of the people here are voicing their opinion against this thing, then the 'elected' leaders should listen. That's their job, to listen to the people.
ReplyDeleteOh and yeah, looking at the green party campaign....*sigh*! What were they thinking with that one? No, wait what was the guy thinking that showed his ass in the picture?
ReplyDeleteThat's a woman's ass Korey, as it's meant to show that the Green Party supports same sex partnerships. Whatever, they still fucked up the message.
ReplyDeleteAs for the insurance, having lived for years in the UK and been eligible for National Health, I think that it's outrageous that people in the US (purported to be the richest fucking country in the world) continue to suffer due to lack of proper health care. To take Medicare as THE example of why a National Health system in the US would not work, lacks imagination. But so be it. I do understand how democracy works and if the people speak and the people don't want it, then that's something that has to be dealt with on a long-term basis for the entire nation. On a personal level, I would hope that those who are so resistant to basic coverage for all US citizens also pay attention to their own coverage. My time working in a hospital in Austin revealed that you never have what you think you do in terms of coverage, and what you do have can be taken away from you on a whim.
p.s. Do you have any idea what paying out of pocket means for catastrophic illnesses??
So, no "Fuck You," I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. How's that?