What is Senescence?

A grand and splendid day to you! Great to see you! Traffic okay in cyberspace today? I know! I know! Tell me about it, eh! Fill your mug and massage a virtual treat onto your plate. Then, mosey on over here and I'll tell you all about senescence...or at least my pal Dr. Al will. He sends me all kinds of stuff and I am delighted to share the interesting bits with you...

Dear Bob,

Have you ever heard the term senescence?

It’s a synonym for aging.

Senescence describes the state of our cells once they’ve reached the end of their life.

Why is this important to you? Because it means your skin no longer produces enough new, healthy cells and begins to sag, wrinkle and look older.

The beautiful skullcap herb has a powerful skin-restoring nutrient.

But there’s a plant nutrient not very well know in the West that offsets this effect. The root it comes from has been used for thousands of years for other health benefits ... and now we’re finding that it helps restore your skin to a much younger age. It’s a proven cellular regenerator.

The effect has a lot to do with the shortening of your telomeres. These are found at the end of your DNA. Senescence (aging) occurs when your telomeres get to a critically short length.

This erosion of telomere length is especially important in your fibroblasts – the skin cells that provide structure, strength and resilience. Unfortunately, senescent fibroblasts tend to win out over young ones. This makes for a gradual loss of the characteristics of young skin.

Fortunately for your skin, a flavone from an ancient and beautiful plant called Scutellaria baicalensis georgi (commonly called skullcap) can reverse the aging of your fibroblasts and restore their youthful strength.

Flavones are from the flavonoid group of plant nutrients. Flavones have so much therapeutic potential that they have become valuable targets for drug design, including drugs that will affect your DNA.

Drug companies are desperately trying to modify flavones and patent their own man-made versions. That way they can sell the synthetic form back to you at a huge profit.

What they aren't telling you as you rub their mutant lab creation into your skin is that these drugs could only be a shadow of something nature has been producing for millions of years ... something safer and potentially more effective.

I'm talking about baicalin.

Baicalin stops skin cell senescence by restoring the telomere length of their chromosomes. Then your skin can make healthy, youthful new cells and keep your skin acting years younger.

Obtained from the roots of scutellaria baicalensis, baicalin increases skin cell working life by about 10 per cent, delaying aging. Part of the way it does this is by restoring their telomeres.

In one study, researchers blasted skin cells with sunlight-like UV-A radiation. Skin cells without baicalin had their telomere lengths reduced by almost 70%. Baicalin was able to restore the telomeres to 65% of their original length, despite the damaging radiation.¹

Baicalin also helps activate a set of anti-aging genes in skin cells called P53 genes that prevent cells from becoming senescent.

Baicalin can help repair DNA breaks and keep your skin cells youthful and healthy.² This increases skin firmness and elasticity, improves skin restructuring, and increases the number of fibroblast duplications.

And in a recent study, baicalin protected skin from UV-B radiation that can cause photo aging and even skin cancer.

When researchers tried to age skin cells with ultraviolet radiation replicating overexposure to sunlight, the fibroblasts of skin cells treated with baicalin remained youthful and normal.³ The antioxidant power of baicalin completely protected the skin cells from free radical damage that causes premature aging of skin.

Another study found that pre-treating skin cells with baicalin protected them from the DNA damage caused by ultraviolet radiation.⁴

Baicalin has many other benefits, too ... it’s a known memory-enhancer, for instance. What it does is keep the active peptides in your brain working for longer, keeping your memory fresh and sharp.⁵

Here are a few key points to know before you use baicalin:

1) You can buy fresh or dried scutellaria baicalensis leaves and dried powder online and in specialty stores.

2) There are 10 mg of baicalin in every gram of scutellaria baicalensis leaves.

3) As a supplement, you can get baicalin in an extract of scutellaria baicalensis. It’s known in Traditional Chinese Medicine as Huang Qin, and as skullcap in the U.S.

4) Some extracts are in liquid form, as a tincture, and you can also get it as capsules.

Make sure you are buying the leaves, or an extract of, scutellaria baicalensis. There is another kind of skullcap called Scutellaria lateriflor, but it’s not the same and does not have the same biological effect.

To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD

Sounds like something we can all use, though you know, I really don't want all the girls chasing after me again. Maybe I'll just stay the way I am and age as gracefully as I can! 

See ya, eh!

Bob

It's a Matter of Perspective

Hi there! Whoa! Mind the coffeepot as you slide down out of your cyberspace orbit, eh! I'm happy that you're here. Fill your mug and slide a virtual corn muffin onto your plate, why don't'cha? Y'know sometimes things depend on how you look at them, wouldn't you say? That's called perspective. Let me give you a couple of examples from the USA...

Example 1: For nearly 30 years, until 2007, the U.S. national symbol, the bald eagle, was endangered and protected, but officially they (along with golden eagles) are now so insignificant that the government is willing to endure dozens of them being chopped to death annually in the blades of "clean energy" wind turbines. An Associated Press investigation in December revealed that the federal government is purposely ignoring the eagles' attrition out of fear that outraged conservationists' campaigns will hinder development of wind power as an alternative to coal-produced electricity. 

Example 2: Another recent AP investigation revealed a similar painful choice in the continued commitment to ethanol as a cleaner alternative fuel even though that cleanliness is being increasingly questioned, and even though ethanol production requires the massive diversion of corn that could inexpensively feed millions of hungry people worldwide. [Associated Press via Philly.com, 12-6-2013] 

What are your thoughts on these two items? Let's get a dialogue going... over coffee.

See ya, eh!

Bob

Ever Wonder What Sand Really Looks Like Up Close?

Well hey there! How're you faring today? Glad you could click by and  join me for a mug of coffee and a virtual treat. They're scrumptious as always. Say...most of us love the beach, right? But how many of us have taken a really close look at the sand we sit on and play with...letting it trickle through our toes, e.g?

Professor Gary Greenburg’s work reveals to us that tiny grains of sand are actually colorful, delicate structures. You will be amazed at how each grain is so unique in terms of shape, size and color.

“It is incredible to think when you are walking on the beach you are standing on these tiny treasures,” said Professor Greenburg, who has a PhD in biomedical research from University College London. He views these extraordinary particles at a magnification of over 250 times, exposing their real shapes – fragments of crystals, tips of spiral shells, bits of coral, or crumbs of volcanic rock.

We all know the sand is there and enjoy it but... usually there are other things around to distract us...if you know what I mean, eh. 

I love the beaches in Thailand. Pay less than $1 for a deck chair all day. Want something? Food? Massage? Beer? Coffee? Put your hand up and wait a few seconds. Don't see what you want? Vendors will be by with more food... souvenirs... newspapers... handicrafts... Thai silk... 2 week tattoos... you name it. 

Next time I'm going to a beach, I must remember to take a magnifying glass. A microscope would be better but not easy to stuff in my backpack!

See ya, eh!

Bob

Turning Disposable Coffee Cups into Works of Art

Hi ya! The whoosh of the downward spiraling wind! The buzzing of electricity! The thump as you land right next to the coffeepot. How you manage to do that day after day, I'll never know. But, as always, I'm glad you made it. Pour some freshly roasted and brewed coffee in your mug and help yourself to a virtual treat. Hey...you know that if it's about coffee, my ears perk right up...

I love all kinds of unusual art too and, of course, if it has anything to do with coffee, you'll read about it here. 

Miguel Cardona’s unique paper cups fit the bill perfectly. The San Francisco-based illustrator and professor of design takes ordinary coffee cups and transforms them into stunning collectibles. His doodles cover a range of subjects – from aliens to sea creatures, and even the face of Walter White (of Breaking Bad fame).

Cardona’s love affair with cups began last year, when he happened to visit a café near his workplace. The barista tied a napkin around a takeaway cup, and Cardona thought it looked like a scarf. So he quickly sketched a hipster around it. On subsequent cups the scarf became a doo-rag and then a Ninja Turtles’ mask.

Neat stuff! Too bad Tim Hortons paper cups are dark brown, eh! Have to apply a white acrylic primer first but then you'd have a blank canvas on which to practice your new winter hobby! Drink the coffee first!

See ya, eh!

Bob 

Virginity Tests in Quebec?

Bonjour! Having a 'caffo' one, I trust. Glad you could find time in your busy schedule to click by. Coffee's freshly brewed so fill you mug and fill your plate with low-fat virtual treats while you're about it, why don't'cha? Say...here's a touchy (or should I say no-touchy) item from Canada's "La Belle Province...

Quebec’s physicians college has forbidden its members from performing virginity tests after learning of four cases in which doctors were asked to conduct the gynecological exams.

The province’s College des Medicins said it recently provided guidelines outlining its stance on virginity testing, which examines whether a woman has engaged in sexual intercourse.

The procedure goes against its code of ethics, the college said, as physicians are not to intervene in their patients’ private lives.

The cases came to light when two University of Montreal ethicists researched virginity testing. The college said a physician also raised concerns about the gynecological exams.

Dr. Charles Bernard, CEO of College Des Medecins, said physicians still have a responsibility to evaluate if there is “any problem” that prompted the request, and whether there is a possibility the patient is in danger of being harmed.

“If you find there is something going wrong, you can recommend a patient to maybe visit a social worker, a psychologist,”said Bernard.

Bernard said if the physician is very concerned about possible violence, they can even go as far as referring the matter to Quebec’s child welfare system.

And, if a physician does issue a “virginity certificate,” he or she could face disciplinary charges. 

Council for the Status of Women told CTV Montreal it’s important to note that while there were four reported cases, this is not a trend, and the demands are coming from religious fundamentalist groups.

Shaheen Ashraf, from the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, said virginity tests are “archaic.”

“We should be able to control our own bodies,” she said. “No one else should have the right to even think along those lines.”

Archaic is the right word here, methinks!

See ya, eh!

Bob

Where are Harper's Priorities?

Well hello there! Great to see you. It really is. I’m glad you could click by for my daily, somewhat educational and entertaining look at the world around us. Fill your mug with some perky Arabica coffee and snag a virtual treat from the always delightful array. I’m on my soapbox today and here’s why...

Canada's Prime Minister Harper recently announced that the government is giving $6 million to help seniors in Canada! Okay...a good start!

Prime Minister Harper recently announced that the government is giving $60 million to help Syria! What?

Prime Minister Harper just announced that the government is giving $150 million to assist education in Syria! Double what?

Do you see anything wrong with the balance there? I sure do! Whatever happened to taking care of your own people first?

Canada is supposed to be one of the best countries in the world in which to live. We are also one of the heaviest, if not the heaviest, taxed nation in the world. 

Healthcare here is frighteningly slow! Here in Ontario, I cannot even find a family doctor in Cornwall – a city of 47,000. I had to accept one two towns away and wait three months to see him! Then two more months for a follow-up visit! Yet there are thousands of qualified doctors waiting to work in Ontario – but the government says they don’t meet Canadian standards because their medical degrees and experience is from outside the country and as far as I know, precious little is being done to qualify these doctors (and nurses) to practice here.

We need more doctors...more nurses...more hospital beds...more facilities and care for seniors. I could go on and on... but when I hear our Prime Minister Harper standing up and smilingly giving away millions upon millions of our tax dollars left, right and centre on the other side of the world when they are so badly needed back home, it rankles me to no end. Sure, Syria has serious problems...but isn't that what the United Nations is for?

End of rant!

See ya, eh!

Bob

The Dark Hedges – Ireland’s Real-Life Fantasy Setting

Top of the morning to you! A fine one it is, too... somewhere. Here it's just another day when the Polar Vortex is breathing its icy blasts down upon us...and it will be here at least another week. Ho-hum! But..it's good coffee-drinking weather, though, isn't it? Wander over by the coffeepot if you would and pour us both a goblet of brown nectar, it you'd be so kind. Perhaps pick up a couple of Irish biscuits while you're about it, eh. Talking about Ireland...

Along Bregagh Road, near the village of Armoy in Northern Ireland, lies a tranquil byroad called The Dark Hedges. For the past three centuries, a stretch of Beech trees have been guarding either side of this road. They have reached up and intertwined with each other, creating an ethereal tunnel of trees with shadow and light playing through the entwined branches. The effect is nothing short of spectacular.

The trees were planted in the 1750s by the Stuart family, on the grounds of Gracehill House, James Stuart’s Gregorian mansion. They wanted to create a compelling landscape to impress visitors who approached the entrance to the mansion. Needless to say, the Stuarts managed to achieve the desired effect. Even today, the Dark Hedges attracts locals and tourists alike.

Up until fifteen years ago, only locals knew about the Dark Hedges. In 1998, Northern Ireland’s national tourist board began to use the setting to promote tourism. Visitors have been pouring in ever since. It is one of the most photographed places in the world, and has become a desktop wallpaper cliché. Several scenes of the hit series ‘Game of Thrones’ have been filmed here and it is also a popular location for wedding photography.

Except for the colour, it looks like the "Surreal Forest" acrylic painting I did last summer. If you look at the picture and let your eyes go slightly out of focus, you may see a leprachan or two peeking out at you from behind a tree. Mind they don't spot that wad of money you're carrying. Tricky folk, they are.

See ya, eh!

Bob

"We're barbers, not neurosurgeons."

Well, good day to you! I hope you're having a 'caffo' one, You know...learning something new with a little caffeine thrown in to help keep the old brain active, eh! 

Help yourself to a mug of java juice and snag a virtual muffin or doughnut from the magnificent assortment on display, why don't'cha? 

Say...you may have read my rant some time ago about the difficulty of finding a real barber here in Cornwall. I finally had to resort to going to a First Choice Haircutters. Why do they want your name, address and phone number? Luckily, I got a woman barberette who did not talk too much - unlike the chatterbox across the room who didn't stop talking all the while I was there. Even from the other side of the room, I couldn't hear myself think! 

I don't know about you but I go there for a haircut - not a social experience. Well, it seems the Ontario government is determined to kill the ancient profession of 'barbering' and turn everyone into metrosexual hairstyists. Listen to this...

The Ontario College of Trades ministry, finally implementing a long-ago reclassification of about 300,000 professionals, announced in November that barbers would immediately face fines if they had not acquired new licenses demonstrating proficiency with perms and highlighting and other aspects of women's hairstyling. Even barbers who had cut men's hair for decades and with no desire to accept female customers would probably need a costly study program for the upgrade, which one barber estimated at 2,000 hours and $5,000 or more. Said one exasperated old-timer, "We're barbers, not neurosurgeons." 

To me, it's a sad day here in Ontario. Maybe I'll cross the bridge and get my hair cut in New York State. Maybe I'll move there...or even better - back to Thailand where a haircut is about $2.50.

See ya, eh!

Bob

Teacher Moonlighting During the Day!

Hi there! Glad to see you today. Thanks for clicking by my virtual cafe. Help yourself to a mugful of java and a virtual treat. Woo-eee! Most teachers moonlight (earn extra money after-hours by teaching or tutoring) but this takes the cake...and the pie...the cookies...the pudding and all the rest!

A cultural diversity coordinator at the University of Colorado Denver is being forced to take a break from her day job because of her night job: operating a phone sex business and running a soft-core porn website. Resa Cooper-Morning, who works in UCD’s Ethnic Studies department, is under investigation and has been placed on paid administrative leave while the school looks into her “extracurricular activities.”

Records obtained by CBS4 show that in 2003 the CU administrator established a business which included a website ‘msresa.com’.* The site features numerous nude, provocative photos of the CU administrator and allows users to purchase memberships that allow them to view dozens of low budget, soft core videos starring Cooper-Morning. One is entitled ‘Erotica in Pink,’ another ‘Ride Her Pony!’ while a 2013 offering is called ‘Vanilla Cocoa Butter Oil.’ The short videos generally show Cooper-Morning in provocative poses and taking her clothes off.

Cooper-Morning, who is 54(!), declined to speak with reporters about her website or “outside employment.” She has worked for UCD since 1992 and receives an annual salary of $68,000.

Although CU Denver Vice Chancellor of Communications Leanna Clark told CBS that the university “takes this allegation very seriously” and “has initiated a thorough internal investigation,” she acknowledged that Cooper-Morning’s activities do not appear to violate any university or state policies.

Under Colorado state statute, no employer has the right to restrict an employee’s legal, off-work activities.

Except that, according to details provided by CBS, Cooper-Morning’s phone sex business may be partly on university time:

The site says Cooper-Morning can be reached for phone sex Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. until late at night. Her university work hours are listed as 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Her daughter-in-law, Blair Cooper, asserts that Cooper-Morning does in fact mix business with pleasure, telling CBS:

I’ve been in her office and she’s said, ‘Oh, let me be right back I have a phone call.’ She takes them very discreetly, shuts her door takes phone sex calls on CU of Denver’s pay. As a taxpayer I think this is wrong that she is doing this on our dollar.

 

On Thursday, hours before the CBS investigation was scheduled to air, a check of Cooper-Morning’s phone sex website revealed that the hours had been changed, reflecting that she was available for phone sex weekdays after 3 p.m., which is when her workday at the college ends.

You've been naughty!  You're going to have to stay after school...and you're the teacher!

See ya, eh!

Bob

A cultural diversity coordinator at the University of Colorado Denver is being forced to take a break from her day job because of her night job: operating a phone sex business and running a soft-core porn website. CBS Denver notes that Resa Cooper-Morning, who works in UCD’s Ethnic Studies department, is under investigation and has been placed on paid administrative leave while the school looks into her “extracurricular activities.”

Records obtained by CBS4 show that in 2003 the CU administrator established a business which included a website ‘msresa.com’.* The site features numerous nude, provocative photos of the CU administrator and allows users to purchase memberships that allow them to view dozens of low budget, soft core videos starring Cooper-Morning. One is entitled ‘Erotica in Pink,’ another ‘Ride Her Pony!’ while a 2013 offering is called ‘Vanilla Cocoa Butter Oil.’ The short videos generally show Cooper-Morning in provocative poses and taking her clothes off.

Cooper-Morning, who is 54(!), declined to speak with reporters about her website or “outside employment.” She has worked for UCD since 1992 and receives an annual salary of $68,000.

Read more at http://libertyunyielding.com/2013/12/18/college-diversity-coordinator-who-moonlights-as-porn-star-placed-on-administrative-leave/#98yxTXtkVoGOSZXp.99

A cultural diversity coordinator at the University of Colorado Denver is being forced to take a break from her day job because of her night job: operating a phone sex business and running a soft-core porn website. CBS Denver notes that Resa Cooper-Morning, who works in UCD’s Ethnic Studies department, is under investigation and has been placed on paid administrative leave while the school looks into her “extracurricular activities.”

Records obtained by CBS4 show that in 2003 the CU administrator established a business which included a website ‘msresa.com’.* The site features numerous nude, provocative photos of the CU administrator and allows users to purchase memberships that allow them to view dozens of low budget, soft core videos starring Cooper-Morning. One is entitled ‘Erotica in Pink,’ another ‘Ride Her Pony!’ while a 2013 offering is called ‘Vanilla Cocoa Butter Oil.’ The short videos generally show Cooper-Morning in provocative poses and taking her clothes off.

Cooper-Morning, who is 54(!), declined to speak with reporters about her website or “outside employment.” She has worked for UCD since 1992 and receives an annual salary of $68,000.

Read more at http://libertyunyielding.com/2013/12/18/college-diversity-coordinator-who-moonlights-as-porn-star-placed-on-administrative-leave/#98yxTXtkVoGOSZXp.99

A cultural diversity coordinator at the University of Colorado Denver is being forced to take a break from her day job because of her night job: operating a phone sex business and running a soft-core porn website. CBS Denver notes that Resa Cooper-Morning, who works in UCD’s Ethnic Studies department, is under investigation and has been placed on paid administrative leave while the school looks into her “extracurricular activities.”

Records obtained by CBS4 show that in 2003 the CU administrator established a business which included a website ‘msresa.com’.* The site features numerous nude, provocative photos of the CU administrator and allows users to purchase memberships that allow them to view dozens of low budget, soft core videos starring Cooper-Morning. One is entitled ‘Erotica in Pink,’ another ‘Ride Her Pony!’ while a 2013 offering is called ‘Vanilla Cocoa Butter Oil.’ The short videos generally show Cooper-Morning in provocative poses and taking her clothes off.

Cooper-Morning, who is 54(!), declined to speak with reporters about her website or “outside employment.” She has worked for UCD since 1992 and receives an annual salary of $68,000.

Read more at http://libertyunyielding.com/2013/12/18/college-diversity-coordinator-who-moonlights-as-porn-star-placed-on-administrative-leave/#98yxTXtkVoGOSZXp.99

A cultural diversity coordinator at the University of Colorado Denver is being forced to take a break from her day job because of her night job: operating a phone sex business and running a soft-core porn website. CBS Denver notes that Resa Cooper-Morning, who works in UCD’s Ethnic Studies department, is under investigation and has been placed on paid administrative leave while the school looks into her “extracurricular activities.”

Records obtained by CBS4 show that in 2003 the CU administrator established a business which included a website ‘msresa.com’.* The site features numerous nude, provocative photos of the CU administrator and allows users to purchase memberships that allow them to view dozens of low budget, soft core videos starring Cooper-Morning. One is entitled ‘Erotica in Pink,’ another ‘Ride Her Pony!’ while a 2013 offering is called ‘Vanilla Cocoa Butter Oil.’ The short videos generally show Cooper-Morning in provocative poses and taking her clothes off.

Cooper-Morning, who is 54(!), declined to speak with reporters about her website or “outside employment.” She has worked for UCD since 1992 and receives an annual salary of $68,000.

Read more at http://libertyunyielding.com/2013/12/18/college-diversity-coordinator-who-moonlights-as-porn-star-placed-on-administrative-leave/#98yxTXtkVoGOSZXp.99