Oh Say Can You SEE?

The Miracle of Cataract Surgery

That one’s vision (seriously impaired by cataract opacity) can be fully restored, is an incredible accomplishment of modern day ophthalmic surgery and plastic technology.

Advanced in years (95), my rapidly diminishing vision, beyond correction by stronger lenses, was making my life a barely endurable hardship. No longer able to read a book or a newspaper, my only visual solace depended upon how close I could get to my computer’s monitor and how large I could make the fonts I needed to read.

And yet, just thinking about having cataract surgery caused me more angst than I could tolerate. But, as more of my aging peers extolled the simplicity of the procedure and its miraculous benefits, I reluctantly resolved to submit. Indeed, I went whole hog; I had both eyes done! I am happy to report that the procedure is discomfort-free and it rarely takes more than 15 minutes to complete.

Am I pleased with the result? Beyond description! With my vision now fully restored, my gratitude is boundless. I unceasingly extend it to my peers who encouraged me and to my Mount Kisco Medical Group Ophthalmologist, Dr Michael Cohen, whose operative skills and optic omniscience, make him a paragon among truly helpful professionals. (Would it surprise you to know he is also a low handicap golfer?)

By The Dawn's Early Light . . .

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9/30 ~ Ecstasy can come to us in different ways. It came to me last night, when after I blew the dust from my bedside copy of Plato’s Republic, I was able to read a whole chapter with long forgotten nostalgic ease and satisfaction ~ The Horn

Political Bias

Are you politically biased?

A “no” response will attest to the fact that you are seriously deluded. Face it; you, I and everyone else in the world have political attitudes that are profoundly and perhaps irreversibly biased.

Although each of us may be standing under a particular political umbrella with millions of similar minded people, no one of us is there for identical reasons. How we think and feel has always depended on our corporeal and cerebral endowment and our own individual life history. Which factors have had the greatest influence in the formation of our attitudes cannot now be honestly, easily or accurately assessed. And you don't need the acumen of a scholar to understand that bias puts you at an intellectual disadvantage. But the very worst part about being unaware of your bias is that it predisposes you to feel superior towards anyone who does not share your point of view.

So, if we can motivate ourselves to undertake an occasional probing scrutiny of why and how we came to rely so heavily on certain news sources, perhaps we might uncover some startling reasons for our current political attitude. But because few of us are ever disposed to do this, most of us have never enjoyed the ecstasy of a major epiphany, a sudden, spontaneous self awareness of hitherto narrow based thinking.

If you have never had a political epiphany, you are dwelling in a house of mirrors. But if you are stubbornly unwilling to undertake an occasional, analytical survey of your thinking, then in fairness to yourself and those to whom you relate, you should at least make it a practice to draw a steady modicum of input from some news sources that differ from yours.

Pursuant to the above (and as a helpful convenience for readers of this blog) I have installed a "Google News" hyperlink on The Horn’s opening, title page. Left click on it and you will enter a news site like none other in the internet. Totally and absolutely unbiased, it draws from nearly 5,000 constantly refreshed news sources all over the world. Indeed, it also offers the news in a number of major foreign languages (making it a stimulating place to brush up your language skills). Every single item has a clearly marked source and its time of publication and you can customize the site to your own specifications. I urge you to try it!

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