!A challenge in the wne reay

ahppy wne yrae ot ouy lal!

I siwh yuo hte sebt ni teh compiugn eray!

Wlli eb bkca ot globgign osno!

Merrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry Christmas!

Holiday Hot Dog Vendor by Sister72 (The Saint in Asbury Park, NJ )

by B Rosen (Boston on Dec 20, 2005)

I wish you all a wonderful and merry Christmas, and all the best in the upcoming year.

I've had this blog for a few months now and I hope I can continue posting nice pictures and useful information for you guys in future as well. :)

RMEh

Friendship

by ^riza^ (the capture reads: "If We Hold On Together nothing can tear us apart .. ")

This is such an innocent and simple picture of friendship, of togetherness as we face the world in awe and excitement. I wish you all strong and lasting friendships.

Chess

From 1985 to 1993, Garry Kasparov was the Undisputed world chess champion. Some say he was a champion till year 2000. He is perhaps the most famous chess champion of all time.

There are many well-known chess champions and role-models for young chess players. One can think of the amazing Cuban José Raúl Capablanca, and the fantastic attacking player Mikhail Tal ("The magician from Riga"), not to mention the incomparable Bobby Fischer who was world champion from 1972 to 1975.

by BigTallGuy
by Petteri Sulonen
by gadl
by striatic by conorwithonen

From 2006 to 2007, the world champion was the relatively unknown Russian Vladimir Kramnik. Since then the championship has gone to the Indian Viswanathan Anand.

A question (nothing more)

If you close your eyes and let go, who will catch you?

Parents, siblings, or relatives?

Friends, coworkers, or neighbors?

An angel or God?

Yourself?

Nobody?

In fact, do you ever let go? Let me know, if you feel comfortable sharing, that is.

Have a nice day,

R.Meh

Lifeless Life

credit: Ray (rayphua)

This is likely a sculpture near Cavenagh Bridge in Singapore.

credit: wili_hybrid (Neptune fountain, Vienna)

Click on the images to see full size.

I was inspired by these pictures and here's a short poem I just wrote (though it's not directly related to these photos):

live your life today
stone
said
because tomorrow you decay

BUT I MUST DISAGREE
I WILL LIVE FOREVER
SAID THE YOUNG CACTUS TREE
MY HEART IS AS BIG AS THE SEA
MY LOVE AS FAR AS EYE CAN SEE
AND ONE THING I GUARANTEE
THAT WHATEVER HAPPENS TO ME
MY SPIRIT WILL BE FREE

Hands and Foot (life is beautiful)

"daffodil" by F.S.M




LIFE IS B E A U T I F U L

Smoking Your Life Away

credit: Dawn Endico

"reparing a cigarette vending machine" by semihundido

Yes, I'm wearing my medical hat again, and this time I'm going to talk about smoking.

According to Mayo Clinic**, "more than half the people who keep smoking will die because of it."

"Tobacco smoke contains more than 60 known cancer-causing chemicals and more than 4,800 other harmful substances."

Specifically, smoking is responsible for "nine out 10 of lung cancer cases."

Smoking increases the likelihood of impotence in men, leads to premature aging, causes numerous cancers, makes diabetes and respiratory illnesses more likely, and increases chances of dying of cardiovascular disease.

credit: kalandrakas


According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report***, tobacco lead to 100 million deaths in the previous century, and could potentially kill over a billion people this century.

According to Canadian Lung Association****, "Tobacco kills about 45,000 Canadians a year. That's more than the total number of deaths from AIDS, car accidents, suicide, murder, fires and accidental poisonings combined."

It's also estimated that second-hand smoke kills "1100 - 7800 Canadians".


**Mayo Clinic: Nicotine dependence

***WHO on smoking

****Canadian Lung Association

Avicenna (Abu Sina)

I was browsing the internet a while ago and I came across an interesting site entitled "Estimated IQs of some of the Greatest Geniuses" **

I noted Avicenna's picture there. Avicenna or Abu Ali Sina was the famous Persian polymath. He was a scientist, mathematician, psychologist, physician, astronomer, philosopher....

According to University of California's Dr. Barbara J. Becker*** Abu Sina's famed Al-Qanun fi't al-Tibb (Canon on Medicine) was used "until 1650 in European universities." The book was completed in 1025! That gives you an idea of the book's astonishing power and influence.

To learn more about Abu Sina you can visit Britannica's website.****

There are many reasons to be proud of being an Iranian. Here's another.


**http://hem.bredband.net/b153434/Index.htm

***https://eee.uci.edu/clients/bjbecker/PlaguesandPeople/lecture5.html

****http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/45755/Avicenna

Water, Water, everywhere!

As with most pictures here, I took this one from flickr.com, from photographer Daniel Greene's collection this time. The caption reads: "After our strenuous kayaking excursion, all Andy & I wanted was water, water, water. No wine or liquor on my birthday, just hydration!"

streets at night

credit: mugley

credit: wwarby (Pierre Vivant's sculpture, Traffic Light Tree in the Docklands, London)

There is something magical about streets at nights. The second picture is more complex, using warning lights as decoration. It makes you wonder what colors mean to you and why.

The Point Reyes Lighthouse

credit: photogirl7

We recently had a beautiful sunny day here, and I thought the picture of a lighthouse and the beautiful blue Pacific Ocean on a sunny day would lift up your spirits too. Enjoy!

Putting up a Wall against Alcohol

credit: Pingu1963
credit: Kessiye

Your drinking habit may be affected by genetics, environment, family, sociocultural factors (e.g. alcohol is part of many social events in Europe, where alcohol consumption is high), religious orientation (e.g. Muslims do not drink alcohol), economy, etc.

Drinking alcohol is harmful and dangerous.

According to World Health Organization:

"Alcohol consumption has health and social consequences via intoxication (drunkenness), dependence (habitual, compulsive and long-term drinking), and other biochemical effects."

"In addition to chronic diseases that may affect drinkers after many years of heavy use, alcohol contributes to traumatic outcomes that kill or disable at a relatively young age, resulting in the loss of many years of life to death or disability...Overall there is a causal relationship between alcohol consumption and more than 60 types of disease and injury."

"Alcohol is estimated to cause about 20-30% worldwide of oesophageal cancer, liver cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, homicide, epilepsy, and motor vehicle accidents."

"Worldwide alcohol causes 1.8 million deaths (3.2% of total) and 58.3 million (4% of total) of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs)."

"Unintentional injuries alone account for about one third of the 1.8 million deaths, while neuro-psychiatric conditions account for close to 40% of the 58.3 million DALYs."

I obtained the above information from here: http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/facts/alcohol/en/index.html

Go here for much more: http://www.who.int/topics/alcohol_drinking/en/


Alcohol is a significant risk for breast cancer, even a single drink a day*.

credit: Dawn Endico

To give you a more local picture, let's consider alcohol-related death and injury, specifically in Canada.

In 2001, Rehm and colleagues** at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health attributed 4,010 of all deaths (those under age of 70) to alcohol. Keep in mind, they took into account, "the deaths prevented by moderate consumption of alcohol."

credit: shashiBellamkonda

According to their research, 144,143 years of life were lost prematurely only in 2001, due to alcohol. Main causes of death were unintentional injuries, malignant neoplasms (i.e. cancer), and digestive diseases.

*Hamajima N, Hirose K, Tajima K, et al; for the Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer. Alcohol, tobacco and breast cancer — collaborative reanalysis of individual data from 53 epidemiological studies, including 58,515 women with breast cancer and 95,067 women without the disease. Br J Cancer 2002;87:1234-45.

**Rehm J, Patra J, Popova S. Alcohol-attributable mortality and potential years of life lost in Canada 2001: implications for prevention and policy. Addiction 2006;101:373-84.

credit: dubswede

Colors of Autumn

It's several days past the midpoint of the fall season, and I decided to post a picture of this beautiful tree, a Japanese Maple.



credit: Paul Keleher

NHL hockey in Canada

credit: spcbrass


Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, and Vancouver Canucks, all in the Northwest division;

Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, and Toronto Maple Leafs, all in the Northeast division.

These six teams are the pride of Canada, as hockey here is the national sport and brings such warmth and excitement even in the coldest climates in Canada. It is about speed, beautiful goals, even bone-crunching hits, and occasional fights, all part of this electrifying game.

Right now, the Montreal Canadiens (see picture above), a team has been improving over the last couple of years, is ahead of other Canadian teams--and many US teams--with 17 points and 8 wins in the last 10 games.

anthias fish

Credit: JennyHuang

Okay, so today's the 2008 United States presidential election, and I have decided to post a picture of anthias, beautiful coral reef fish.

They are all born females and only when the male of the group dies, a female will take its place and become male.

And this reminds me of elections. Why? Think about it.

Halloween

credit: Joe Shlabotnik

Pretty funny, eh?

The top right pumpkin is the funniest.

Prayer for the ill--for all of us

credit: mindfulness

I would like to pray for the ill, those in the hospitals, those at home, the ones who are alone, the people surrounded by others yet lonely, the souls with pain in their hearts and fear in their minds, the kids with no parents and the parents with no kids, the ones who can't find love and the ones too afraid to seek it. If you are ill, in any shape or form, I wish you a quick recovery and wish all the best for you in this life and the next. Sincerely. Please accept my love and know that at least this person here loves you and wants what is best for you.

I would also like you to pray for others and lend a helping hand in a way that you find possible. We're all in this together, and like this beautiful chick in this picture we will get through this and come out victorious.

My best,

R.MEh

Hope

Hope, British Columbia, Canada (credit: jeff_w_brooktree)

What is hope?

In their 1991 article in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Snyder and his colleagues defined hope as “a cognitive set that is based on a reciprocally–derived sense of successful agency (goal–directed determination) and pathways (planning to meet goals)”.

What?!

Pathways have to do with the plans that we believe we can make to reach our goal. Agency has to do with the person's belief regarding their ability to begin and continue moving towards their goal as planned.

So this is how I see it: I know and I can!

You do not have to agree that psychologists--or these particular psychologists--have "hope" all figured out. However, let us assume that their view is close to truth and apply it to a common situation:

I want to help the poor. Can I be hopeful about it?

plan: I can think of specific organizations that help the poor. I know the poor areas of the town and I know that giving money to the poor people there helps.

agency: I am able and willing to walk to the poor areas and make some donations, and I am capable of making enough money to continue making donations. I also feel confident that I can get involved with the organizations and be an effective member there.

Result: I am hopeful about being able to help the poor.

Iran

credit: Thomas Roche

Iran has an area at 1,648,195 km². According to Population Reference Bureau's mid-2007 estimate, Iran's population is 71,200,000, though some organizations give lower estimates.

Iran is a beautiful country of many different people and wonderfully ancient cultures, picturesque four seasons, scenic views, delicious cuisine, breathtaking architecture, and much much more. I will have more to say about Iran in future posts....

Azadi Tower, Tehran, Iran (credit: saital)

Khaju Bridge, Isfahan, Iran (credit: Hamed Saber)

A snowy day in Tehran, Iran (credit: Hamed Masoumi)

Iranian girl, Iran-Angola game, Fifa 2006 (credit: geisagholian)