This traction on the retina, which is painless, sends a sensation of light to the brain that we see as flashers. People typically describe these as non-colored sparkles of light in one corner of the field of vision, usually affecting one eye.
South Carolina Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond celebrated his 100th birthday in the U.S. Senate in December 2002; New Jersey Democrat Frank Lautenberg is the oldest current U.S. senator; he is to turn 89 next month.
Rob Portman (b. December 19, 1955, in Cincinnati, OH) is a Republican member of the U.S. Senate from Ohio. Portman was first elected to the Senate in 2010. Portman was considered to be a possible candidate for Mitt Romney's choice of a vice presidential candidate in 2012, but ultimately he was not selected. Portman won re-election in 2016.