But would i really want to know?

British doctors may have come up with a long sought after easy way to diagnose the devastating and heartbreaking disease that is Alzheimer's.

It is a blood test that looks for certain markers, and it could be another ten years before they are certain enough of its results to approve it for common use.

They are talking about using it to diagnose people before they even have symptoms, letting them know they are in danger of losing their minds.

My question is, since the disease cannot be stopped or treated yet, would i really want to know?

Imagine being told you were in danger of a disease that will rob you of you, but there isn't anything they can do, and have a nice day.

The disease itself is scary enough, i'm not sure i would want that much advance warning.

Bill Cosby's joke was something to the effect that "My Grandpa told me about senility.  He said, 'Son, if you become senile, you won't know it.'"

Unfortunately, i think he is wrong.  It is my belief that much of the anger, meanness, and general uncooperativeness of many senility patients is that they understand more than they can get across.  Really i think they despise being treated as if they are not there, or as if they are children.  Imagine being able to understand some or even much of what is going on around you, but you can no longer control your ability to communicate, and you are never spoken to, just about.

So i'm not sure if i would even want to know.  Unless they come up with a cure or preventive.


Today is:

Alfred Hitchcock Day -- some internet sources say March 8, and no one knows who picked either day, but he is worth celebrating

Arbor Day -- China; Taiwan

Cheltenham Hunt Festival -- Cheltenham Racecourse, Prestbury, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England (a five day Festival, with the big race on that final day)

Donkey Appreciation Day -- formerly celebrated, but the lowly donkey is no longer as indespensible as he was; if you share my fondness for beasts of burden, celebrate it anyway

Feast of Tou Tei -- Macau (earth god; celebrated on the second day of the second lunar month, so if i've mixed up the date in Gregorian, i'm sorry, i tried)

Girl Scouts Birthday -- US

Gyalpyo Loshar -- Nepal

Hari Raya Nyepi Tahun Baru -- Indonesia (Hindu New Year)

Huddling of Fairies of the Third Flight -- Fairy Calendar

Kronprinsessans Namnsdag -- Sweden (Name Day of HRH Crown Princess Victoria, the Heir Apparent; an official flag day)

Lesser Eleusinian Mysteries -- Ancient Greek Calendar (three day festival, dates approximate; celebrates the marriage of Kore and Dionysos)

Martyrdom of Hypatia of Alexandria -- in 415, she was murdered for the three crimes of being intelligent, female, and pagan

National Day -- Mauritius

National Baked Scallops Day

Nyepi Day -- Bali, Indonesia (Day of Silence, the day following the Balinese New Year celebration on which everything is closed, even the international airport)

Organize Your Home Office Day -- Lisa Kanarek wants everyone to organize their home office on the second Tuesday in March; my response is:  in one day!  is she out of her mind!

Plant a Flower Day -- sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation; now's a good time to give wildlife friendly perrenials a head start, starting them indoors if you have to http://www.nwf.org/news-and-magazines/national-wildlife/gardening/archives/2010/plant-a-flower-day.aspx

St. Gregory the Great's Day (Patron of choir boys, educators, masons, musicians, popes, schoolchildren, singers, stonemasons, stone cutters, students, and teachers; England; Kercem, Malta; Legazpi, Philippines; Montone, Italy; San Gregorio nelle Alpi, Italy; West Indies; against gout and plague)
     note that Pope St. Gregory is also celebrated on Sept. 3, the date he was elected pope
     Graekarismessa (Mass of St. Gregory) -- Torshavn, Faroe Islands (traditional day on which the oystercatcher, their symbolic national bird, returns)
     Gregoru Diena -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (Gregory's Day, similar to groundhog day for weather prediction)

St. Seraphina's Day (Patron of the disabled and handicapped, and of spinners)

Youth Day -- Zambia


Birthdays Today:

Frank Catalano, 1978
Darryl Strawberry, 1962
James Taylor, 1948
Liza Minnelli, 1946
Al Jarreau, 1940
Barbara Feldon, 1932
Andrew Young, 1932
Edward Albee, 1928
Jack Kerouac, 1922
Gordon MacRae, 1921
Clement Studebaker, 1821


Today in History:

Martyrdom of Hypatia of Alexandria, philosopher, 415
Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Roman general, Belisarius, 538
Orvieto, Italy, rules it will behead and burn Jewish-Christian couples, 1350
Jews are expelled from Syria, 1496
New Jersey becomes an English colony, 1664
The first steam engine in America installed, to pump water from a mine, 1755
Andrew Watson makes his Scotland debut as the world's first black international football player and captain, 1881
In Vicksburg, Mississippi, Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time, 1894
The first main line electric train in UK, from Liverpool to Southport, begins running, 1904
The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) are founded in the United States, by Juliette Gordon Lowe, 1912
The foundation stone of the new Australian capital in Canberra is laid, 1913
Mohandas Gandhi begins 200m (300km) march protesting British salt tax, 1930
The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism, 1947
The Church of England ordains its first female priests, 1994
Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO, 1999
Financier Bernard Madoff plead guilty in New York to scamming $18 billion, the largest in Wall Street history, 2009