Ohio Man Still Legally Dead Despite Reappearing

Well, thank goodness you're here. Am I glad to see you because I wanted to tell you about this really strange thing that's happened. First though, prime your pump with some freshly brewed coffee and a virtual treat. Ready? This is a 'say what?' kind of tale...and it's true.

A man who turned up alive nearly 20 years after he disappeared has been told he cannot have a driving licence because he is still legally dead.

Donald Miller Jr vanished from a town in Ohio in 1986 after he lost his job and turned to alcohol.
He was officially declared dead eight years later, only to resurface in 2005.

"It kind of went further than I ever expected it to," Mr Miller said.

"I just kind of took off and ended up in different places."

The 61-year-old went to court to apply for a driving licence and to have his Social Security number reinstated.

However, his request to reverse the 1994 death ruling was turned down by Judge Allan Davis, who informed him there was a three-year limit for death notices to be repealled.

The judge admitted it was a "strange, strange situation".

"We've got the obvious here - a man sitting in the courtroom who appears to be in good health," he said.

He told Mr Miller: "I don't know where that leaves you, but you're still deceased as far as the law is concerned."

Whoa! Hang on a minute? "When you daid...you daid!" Have I got that right? So, like, he can't be prosecuted or incarcerated or anything, eh...because he's dead. Think of the possibilities...

See ya, eh!

Bob

Stink Yourself Slim!

A caffo day to you! Glad you could drop out of cybersky and land next to the coffeepot here in my virtual cafe. Coffee's freshly brewed and the muffins are hot and right out of the virtual oven so dig in. I'm sure their delicious aroma tantalized your nostrils as soon as you dropped in, right? Isn't it funny how we associate great aroma with great taste? Well read on...

Like most people concerned about their eating habits and trying to lose weight, Alex Fontaine, an award-winning businesswoman, had tried virtually every diet ever invented. From hypnotherapy, acupuncture to “a flotation tank with whale music – which was lovely, but still didn’t do the trick,” you name it, she had tried them all, but with no real results. 

There had been no way of stopping Alex from reaching into her desserts' cabinet and devouring everything in sight, until a party where she had a strong aversion to the bad smelling food she was served. Having rediscovered her brain’s behavior of associating food with smell, Alex managed to create an odour so foul that will instantly make you lose your appetite. With her Stick Yourself Slim fragrance and her beloved Sally the Skunk always by her side, Alex lost 10 kg and now wants to share her weight-loss philosophy with the world.

As you probably already guessed, the key ingredient of this perfume is the foul stench! It works by using the cool ability our brain has of associating bad odors with food that has gone bad. 

Our hunter gatherer ancestors often used this ability to determine which fruits and meats were safe to eat. Although we no longer use our olfactory system to determine how fresh and edible a morsel is, odors still govern our food likes and dislikes as well as determine our cravings for meals without even being hungry. 

With this principle in mind, Alex believes that with bad smells we can train out brain to reject fattening foods by making them seem undesirable.

Walk into a fish market and your nose will quickly tell you what's fresh and what's not. I'm sure you've had bad experiences with food odours, haven't you? Haven't we all!

But I have a question for Alex...wouldn't wearing that perfume also mean you wouldn't have any friends either?

See ya, eh!

Bob

Whose Liver Are You Calling Fat?

Well, hi there! Cold out there in cyberspace today? Rather chilly here, too. It is only 2C though promising sunny and 19C for the afternoon. Glad you could make it today. Help yourself to a mug of warm the heart coffee and a virtual, low fat treat. Speaking of fat...I got another email from my pal Dr. Al and this one is all about fat. here's the gist of it...

Did you know that fat is the biggest threat to your liver? As you age, your liver collects more fat, and it’s worse if you have increased body fat.

This puts you at a high risk for liver damage and can even promote liver cancer.

This is one of the worst consequences of age and having extra body fat, and is one of those areas where having extra fat makes you age faster.

The good news is if you have an older liver that is fatty, or if you just have a lot of body fat, there are things you can do about it. I’ll give you my three steps to drop fat safely and protect your liver at the same time.

Why is this important to you?

Because your liver gives you the energy you need to get through the day, and detoxifies your body. Plus it turns nutrients into their usable forms. This helps your body act more youthful and keeps the needle in your energy tank on “full.”

Fat is even more important than the effects of alcohol. Studies show alcohol contributes to only 6% of damage to the liver. But being a bit overweight contributes to 52% of liver disease.¹ And if you're obese, you're 400% more likely to develop liver damage than a normal-weight individual.

That doesn’t mean you can drink whatever you want… Surprisingly, normal-weight people who didn't drink at all had just as much risk of liver disease as normal-weight individuals who drank a couple of glasses of wine with their supper.

So unless you drink to extremes, it really comes down to how much fat your liver accumulates.

If you need more proof of the dangers to your liver from being overweight, take a look at this new study. Researchers discovered that obesity causes mice to get liver cancer. Obesity turns on a cancer-promoting protein, and turns off enzymes that usually protect your liver.²

However, simply dropping a lot of pounds quickly can hurt your liver. Cutting calories and starving yourself can dehydrate your liver. And instead of losing body fat, dieting may cause you to lose mass in your vital organs and not body fat.

Here are my three recommendations for safely dropping the pounds and protecting and helping your liver so you can cleanse your body and have plenty of energy:

Step 1) Burn the Fat You Can’t See: We know from past studies that with short-duration pulses of exertion you can burn 9 times more fat than with long endurance exercise for every calorie burned.³

This is essential for your liver because the kind of fat that accumulates there is called visceral fat. It wraps around organs like your heart, liver, and kidneys and is far more dangerous to your health than subcutaneous fat, which lies right beneath your skin. Visceral fat is a storehouse for toxins that pump directly into your body.

But although you can’t see it, you can get rid of it. In a new study, researchers looked at how exercise affects visceral fat. They looked at a group of 44 obese girls and put them in three groups. One group did aerobic exercise, one did resistance training and one did nothing.

After a few weeks, the people who did aerobic exercise had lost a significant amount of visceral fat compared with the other groups.⁴ And they weren’t even doing short bursts of exertion, like I recommend. Imagine how much more fat they would have lost if they had been!

To take it a step further, what I discovered in my practice is that you can increase the fat loss by focusing on progressivity in your exertion. You don’t have to start with a high intensity workout right off the bat. The idea is to work out for shorter periods, and then incrementally increase the challenge to your body.

Your body will burn the visceral fat off your organs and keep burning off body fat long after your workouts. To try this for yourself, take a look at my PACE Express program.

Step 2) Measure fat loss the right way – How do you know when you’re losing fat in a healthy way? Easy. Simply keep track of your body composition. You’re looking for lots of lean muscle and a high ratio of that muscle to body fat.

There are scales you can buy that calculate your body fat for you. There are also hand-held devices that are reliable. You can find these on the Internet or you can get a set of the calipers I use at my clinic right here. They come with simple instructions. For men, the average is between 15-17 percent body fat. For women, the average is between 18-22 percent.

Another even easier way is to grab your skin between your finger and thumb just to the side of your navel and measure the thickness of the skin fold. It should measure less than 1 inch in both men and women. Even these rough approximations of your body fat are more useful than the archaic and misleading tables invented by insurance companies.

Step 3) Detoxify your liver a couple of times a year – Here’s a list of liver-detoxifying herbs I use in my practice that work well:

• Milk Thistle – This is the plant Silybum marianum and it’s my first choice. I have been able to document its capacity to heal damaged livers by measuring serum liver enzymes. I recommend 200 mg in capsule form twice a day. Look for dried extract with a minimum of 80% silymarin, the active ingredient for liver cleansing.

• Alfalfa – This herb cleanses the blood and liver. It can also lower cholesterol. It’s a good source of protein, vitamins A, D, E, B-6, and K, calcium, magnesium, chlorophyll, phosphorus, iron, potassium, trace minerals, and several digestive enzymes.

• Dandelion – This root stimulates bile production and acts as a diuretic for excess water produced by a diseased liver. Asian and Western physicians alike use dandelion to treat hepatitis, jaundice, swelling of the liver, and deficient bile secretion.

Try mixing your own blend of these herbs. You can also look for a pre-mixed blend with as many of these ingredients as you can find on the label.

To Your Good Health,


Al Sears, MD

We have one 'health food' store here in Cornwall and she (Sharon) does her best to keep up with nutritional things but here on the border with Quebec, if it isn't burgers, poutine or Tim's coffee, it's often hard to find...unless we want to trek it to Ottawa or Montreal. Getting near that time...

See ya, eh...and mind your liver!

Bob

US adults score below average on worldwide test

Yo! Like, how's it going, eh! I mean, like, you know, whatever. So like, grab yourself a coffee and like a virtual muffin, eh, and park it on a chair while I fill you in on, like, what's really happening out there in reality land, okay?

It's long been known that America's school kids haven't measured well compared with international peers. Now, there's a new twist: Adults don't either. 

In math, reading and problem-solving using technology — all skills considered critical for global competitiveness and economic strength — American adults scored below the international average on a global test, according to results released Tuesday.

Adults in Japan, Canada, Australia, Finland and multiple other countries scored significantly higher than the United States in all three areas on the test. Beyond basic reading and math, respondents were tested on activities such as calculating mileage reimbursement due to a salesman, sorting email and comparing food expiration dates on grocery store tags.

Not only did Americans score poorly compared to many international competitors, the findings reinforced just how large the gap is between the nation's high- and low-skilled workers and how hard it is to move ahead when your parents haven't.

In both reading and math, for example, those with college educated parents did better than those whose parents did not complete high school.

The study, called the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, found that it was easier on average to overcome this and other barriers to literacy overseas than in the United States.

Researchers tested about 157,000 people ages 16 to 65 in more than 20 countries and subnational regions. It was developed and released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which is made up of mostly industrialized member countries. The Education Department's Center for Education Statistics participated.

The findings were equally grim for many European countries — Italy and Spain, among the hardest hit by the recession and debt crisis, ranked at the bottom across generations. Unemployment is well over 25 percent in Spain and over 12 percent in Italy. Spain has drastically cut education spending, drawing student street protests.

But in the northern European countries that have fared better, the picture was brighter — and the study credits continuing education. In Finland, Denmark, and the Netherlands, more than 60 percent of adults took part is either job training or continuing education. In Italy, by contrast, the rate was half that.

As the American economy sputters along and many people live paycheck-to-paycheck, economists say a highly-skilled workforce is key to economic recovery. The median hourly wage of workers scoring on the highest level in literacy on the test is more than 60 percent higher than for workers scoring at the lowest level, and those with low literacy skills were more than twice as likely to be unemployed.

"It's not just the kids who require more and more preparation to get access to the economy, it's more and more the adults don't have the skills to stay in it," said Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

Here's the link if you want to read the full test results: http://www.newsdaily.com/article/66f71a1c4fbe03ef8e5f95ad4543e6f6/us-adults-score-below-average-on-worldwide-test 

To me, these results are not surprising. As a teacher for most of the past 25 years, what I find disturbing, though perhaps not surprising, is how dismally people use the English language - and I especially include announcers, reporters, ad writers and others in the public eye. Correct grammar seems to have gone by the board. Sure, I accept that casual spoken English as in 'me and Joe went to the ballgame' or 'it was very fun' are part of an ever-evolving language but it doesn't mean I have to like it.

See ya, eh!

Bob

Ghost Singles Is a “Real-Life” Dating Site for Ghosts

Hey there! How's it going? Thanks for clicking by today. You're just in time for a robust mug of coffee and a virtual treat so go ahead and dig in. Speaking of digging in... Are you ready for Hallowe'en? Here's a new website you may like to visit and then bookmark for sometime way in the future...oooooooooooooh!

Are you one of those people who spent all their lives searching looking for their soul-mates, but failed to find them? Don’t let death get in the way of finding that perfect someone. Sign up on Ghostsingles.com, a new and improved dating website where life and its troubles are issues of the past and death is only the beginning.

Believe it or not, now that you’re a ghost, you have a real shot at love. Instead of worrying about serious issues like lack of time for a real relationship and financial problems, all you need to think about these days are questions like “does my butt look too transparent” or “if a person died in the 1850s and I died in the 1920s, does that make them too old for me?” 

You can meet other single and lonely dead folks through GhostSingles.com, a fantastic website dedicated to all the ghosts out there, no matter what century they died in. If you’ve ever dreamed of dating someone like Marylin Monroe, Marie Antoinette or even Cleopatra, this is your chance. Ladies, how about Steve McQueen, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, Marcus Aurelius, Alexander the...no never mind. He was a bit, ah...'

"Let's hope you don't need this service for a long time to come", he said gravely!

See ya, eh!

Bob

Alkaline Lake in Africa Turns Animals into Stone Statues

Well, hi there! Glad you could click by today. It's always a treat to see you. Speaking of treats, help yourself to out dazzling display of virtual doughnuts, muffins and assorted pastries. Wash them down with a perky mug of coffee. Remember, coffee is good for you and caffeine does wonders for your hair. Hey...we all have chemicals in our lives, don't we? Well, some are downright deadly...

When photographer Nick Brandt first visited Lake Natron, in Northern Tanzania, he was shocked by the macabre animal statues he saw aligned across its shoreline. He later found out something even more shocking – those were real animals calcified by the lake’s alkaline water.

Natron, which gives the lake its name, is a naturally occurring compound found in volcanic ash. It’s the same mineral the Egyptians used to preserve their mummies. The lake’s alkalinity is similar to that of ammonia, with a pH between 9 and 10.5, and the temperature of the water can reach 60 °C. 

No animal can withstand this caustic environment and venturing into the acidic environment is usually fatal. As soon as birds and bats plunge into the waters of lake Natron, the minerals start turning their flesh into stone and preserving them exactly as they were in their final moments. 

Flamingos sometime use the predator-free salt islands that sometimes form on the lake for nesting, but it’s a risky gamble, as the photos below clearly show. Only invertebrates, a few algae invertebrates and some fish that live near the edges of the lake can survive this environment.

Holy doodle! Remind me not to go there if I'm ever in Northern Tanzania, eh! Not that there's much of a chance of that happening any time soon.

See ya, eh!

Bob

These Fish Are So Delicious You’ll Soil Yourself, Literally

Hey there! Glad you could make it today. How are you doing? I see you've got your mug there ready for a freshly perked jolt of Arabica juice so go ahead and fill 'er up. Add a virtual treat or two while you're about it. Say...do you like fish. Well, here's one to try...but bee careful, eh!

Buttery and succulent, the related oil fish (Ruvettus pretiosus)  and escolar (Lepidocybium flavobrunneum)) are considered to be two of the most palatable fish in the world. But before you run out to your local fish market in search of these delicacies, you’d better stock up on toilet paper because you’re going to spend a lot of time in the restroom after your scrumptious meal.
With such a large number of species in danger of  being over-fished and others posing health risks due to their high mercury content, the seafood industry needs alternatives that taste great, are cheap, sustainable and healthy to consume. 

The oilfish and escolar seem perfect choices, and although they’ve been popping up in restaurants and fish markets around the world, there is one dirty little secret that those who sell them sometimes forget to reveal – they cause explosive, oily, orange diarrhea. I know it sounds bad, but there is a way to avoid this embarrassing and highly uncomfortable side effect. 

The fish are safe to eat if they are consumed in portions smaller than six ounces, but most people are either unaware of the consequences or they just can’t help themselves because they are so damn delicious, so they go for full servings. People who actually went through this kind of ordeal have reported the oily discharges are almost impossible to control and often lead to embarrassing accidents.

"Waiter, I'll try a portion of oilfish. Better let me have a couple rolls of toidy paper and clear a path to the toilet!"

See ya, eh!

Bob

Software Developer Teaches Homeless Man How to Code

Hi ya! How're you faring today? Great to see you! Fetch yourself a mug of java and nudge a virtual treat or two onto your plate while I tell you about how one guy made a difference by helping a homeless man.

One day, Patrick McConlogue announced that he was going to teach a homeless man JavaScript and help him code his own app. Patrick, a 23-year-old software programmer, passed a certain homeless man every day while on his way to work and decided to run the idea by him to see if he was going to be the one.

“The idea is simple,” Patrick wrote on his website. Without disrespecting him, I will offer two options:
1. I will come back tomorrow and give you $100 in cash.
2. I will come back tomorrow and give you three JavaScript books, (beginner-advanced-expert) and a super cheap basic laptop. I will then come an hour early from work each day-when he feels prepared - and teach him to code.”

Sure enough, the ambitious homeless man, named Leo,  decided he wanted to learn how to code, thinking that the money could be easily spent in a week while the knowledge would be a great asset to him in the future. 

“He told me I could have a laptop and learn how to do something and I figured it could turn into something more,” Leo said. “It’s not like I don’t have the time to learn to do it.” 

Leo has been homeless for two years after he lost his job as a life insurance agent and came home only to find out that his rent went up as a consequence of luxury condominiums being built near his apartment. 

Despite his bad luck, Leo cared to mention that he was not unhappy or desperate when Patrick offered to teach him. Even though he believed “coding was something that went over like, a dessert” most likely thinking it meant “coating”, the man wanted to diversify his abilities so that he could once more be able to sustain himself financially.

Let's hope Leo applies his new programming skills and gets himself back on his feet.

Good for you, Patrick and good luck, Leo!

See ya, eh!

Bob

A Feast for the Eyes – Beautiful Glass Gem Corn

Hey! Hey! Thanks for clicking. A treat to see you...and I've got a gem of a post for you today. But first...throw some coffee into your mug and try a corn muffin, why don't'cha? 

Y'know here in Canada, we get fresh corn on the cob three to four weeks in August and that's about it. In Thailand, we got used to having it available all year round. Big, juicy, sweet corn. Well, here's something brand new for you...

Few cereals can be described as stunningly beautiful, but the multi-colored Glass Gem Corn is definitely one of these rare exceptions. Also known as Rainbow Corn, these unique strain of corn features kernels of many different colours that sparkle like tiny pieces of blown glass.


The story of Glass Gem corn began with Carl Barnes, a part-Cherokee farmer from Oklahoma, USA who noticed that every once in a while some of his corn cobs had strangely-colored kernels, and dedicated his life to creating the agricultural wonder you see below. 

Nobody knows exactly how many years Barnes spent worked on the unique cereal, how many successive seasons he carefully chose, saved, and replanted these special seeds, but one thing is for sure – his painstaking efforts had a truly mind-blowing result, a new breed of corn that most people consider a work of art rather than a cereal.

Until now, special corn has been of the 'peaches and cream' variety with both white and yellow kernels. This glass gem corn just blows that out of the water, doesn't it. But for me the big question is...what does it taste like? Until I know the answer to that, I'm reserving judgement. Would make a heck of a corn necklace though, wouldn't it?

See ya, eh!

Bob 

A Language Much Older then Twitter

Well, hi there! Wonderful to see you wing it in today. Ready for a mugga and a virtual muffin? Of course you are! Well, don't just stand there...whistle for Madge to bring them over here to the table for you. Whistle nicely though...she gets a little touchy about whistle tones...(segue).

Do you know about the ingenious Panamanian golden frog which lives near loud waterfalls and communicates by waving? The people of Kuşköy, a small Turkey village, have proven that they can be just as creative and resourceful as the little poisonous frog. Long before they even had electricity, they invented a brilliantly simple way of communicating over long distances, by whistling.

They call it the “bird language” or “kuș dili” as it originated in Kuşköy, which itself means “bird village”. This fascinating means of communication was created over 400 years ago as a consequence of working in the fields of the Pontic Mountains. 

The terrain is irregular making travelling very difficult even on short distances, and because of this, the villagers felt the need for an alternative to speaking and shouting , one that made long distance communication easier. Inspired by the songs of birds, they started whistling the syllables of Turkish words which proved to be much more effective and less energy-consuming than yelling or walking all the way to the person they needed to speak with. 

Villagers notify each other about visitors, ask for help and make invitations for tea. They can even have complex, long conversations just by whistling. The songs of the bird people resonate over distances as long as 1km. If the distance is longer, the neighbors are kind enough to pass on the message to each other until it reaches its destination.

Yessir...“kuș dili” may very well be the original "twitter", don't'cha think?

See ya, eh!

Bob

Camping for City Folk!

Greetings and good wishes for a caffo day, eh! Great to see you. I heard you clicking along the cyber space lanes and just managed to jump out of the way before you landed. Dang near spilled my coffee! Grab a mug of your own and a virtual treat while I fill you in on the latest camping gear. What do you mean the season's over? Well...maybe so but here are some nifty items you may want to ponder before the next season begins.

For some people, hiking miles through the woods, cooking over a campfire and sleeping beneath the stars is an ideal way to spend the weekend. For others, it's a complete nightmare.

If you're more of a glamper than a camper, check out these gadgets and gear that will make nature seem a lot more like home.

Sleep in style

Don't want to sleep on the ground? Consider taking the mobile designer suite known as Opera on your outdoor escapades. Inspired by Sydney's famous opera house, the camper has hardwood floors, high ceilings and a wine cooler, making it even more luxurious than your average hotel room. Of course, if you're a bit more adventurous, you could rough it in the 146-square-foot Big Sky Lodge tent, which stands 7 feet high and even comes with closets.

Gourmet gadgets

Forget trail mix and campfire hot dogs. There are a variety of gadgets for creating gourmet camp meals. Coleman makes a propane-powered portable oven and stove (pictured right) that can bake a 12-inch pizza or a dozen cupcakes, as well as a portable deep fryer. 

If you're craving Chinese, be sure to bring along the carbon steel wok kit. And you can wash it all down with a margarita made in Vortex's camping blender. Just don't forget to pack the stainless steel margarita glasses.

Joe on the go

Can't function without your morning latte? For $200 you can get the ROK espresso maker, which comes with everything you'll need to make a great cup of coffee. It even has a stainless steel milk frother.

Light up the night

There's no need for a flashlight when the Hozuki LED lantern is hanging over your campsite. Inspired by Chinese paper lanterns, the Hozuki has three brightness settings, and it has a unique candle mode that allows it to respond to wind or sound with flickering light.

Comfy by the campfire

Glampers don't roast marshmallows from atop a log or camping chair. For ultimate campfire comfort, inflate a Blofield outdoor sofa in just a matter of minutes.

Roasted to perfection

You'll never have to make s'mores with a stick again, thanks to the Rolla Roaster. This 42-inch long stainless steel fork has a rotating hardwood handle that comes in a variety of colors. Plus, it compacts to 12 inches and comes in its very own vinyl storage case.

Not-so-pocket-sized knife

Sometimes a blade, a screwdriver and a can opener just aren't enough. If you want a knife that has everything, look no further than Wenger's giant Swiss Army knife. It comes with every tool you can possibly think of, including a flashlight, fish scaler, tire gauge and telescopic pointer.

High-heeled hiking

Hiking in the great outdoors is no excuse not to be fashionable. Perhaps that's why Teva made these high-heeled sandals that come in two colors and retail for $330.

Just about every gadget you'd ever want out on a wilderness trek and then some, eh! What will they think of next. I used to love camping. Had a Volks Camper van named Wolfgang for nine years. Great fun...even without any of the above 'necessities'. 

See ya, eh!

Bob

PS: Don't tell Mother Nature but I liberated this post from her network. 

Get Your Blood Flowing Naturally

Yo! How's tricks? Hope you're having a caffo day. Ready for a mug of coffee and a virtual muffin? Why the heck not, I say. You may like to try adding a little cocoa to your coffee for that mocha taste. As my pal Dr. Al says, it's good for your heart as well. Read what he has to say about blood pressure...

If you have blood pressure concerns, your doctor will probably start taking steps to keep it under control.

Some of these steps can impact blood pressure by opening your arteries. But unfortunately, the effects don’t last very long. Sometimes a "nitrate tolerance" can begin, which may cause more harm than good.

But there’s an effective and natural alternative that some doctors don't know about. It works the same way – only without the side effects.

I’m talking about nitric oxide (NO). It’s a gas already made by your body. And one of the easiest ways to support normal blood pressure is to get your body to produce more of it.

But to understand how NO can help, let me first explain a little bit about how your arteries work.

If you have normal blood pressure, your heart can push blood through its delivery system – your arteries – without working too hard at it.

Healthy arteries are strong and flexible. Inside the walls of the arteries are endothelial cells, which produce NO. This gas sends signals to the muscle cells of your artery walls to relax – and your blood pressure eases. Blood pressure drugs with nitrates damage these endothelials and your ability to maintain normal blood pressure.

So, what can you do to get more NO into your bloodstream, and help out your arteries?

You can start by taking these steps to support healthy blood flow by increasing your NO levels:

• Take in more L-arginine. L-arginine is an amino acid that helps your body produce NO. Foods – such as organic dairy, peanuts, walnuts, and even chocolate – are all good sources. You also can supplement. I recommend 500 mg once a day. But you should always check with your healthcare professional when beginning an L-arginine regimen.

• Eat foods containing antioxidant-rich cocoa. Cocoa is good for you in so many ways, but it’s especially good for your heart. And one of the ways it helps is that the flavonoids in cocoa activate the endothelial cells in your arteries to produce NO. Plus, cocoa improves circulation even in healthy adults.

• Exercise. This boosts NO levels by increasing an enzyme called NO synthase. A high-intensity, short-duration workout, like my PACE program, is an easy way to get NO flowing throughout your blood. And the best part is it takes just 10-20 minutes a day.

• Eat natural foods rich in vitamins C and E. These nutrients can help preserve your NO levels. The best way to get these healthy vitamins? Eat your fill of citrus fruits, broccoli, blueberries, sunflower seeds, almonds, tomatoes, and green, leafy veggies.

New Nose Grown on His Forehead

Well, hey there! Wonderful to see you today. Thanks for clicking by. Coffee's hot and fresh and the virtual treats are just out of the oven. I'll bet your nose detected the delicious aromas as you came in, eh. Speaking of noses...

Meet 22-year-old Xiaolian. He is not wearing some bizarre special effects makeup, that is actually a real nose growing on his forehead. As strange as it looks, this is apparently a pretty common nose reconstruction technique.

No too long ago, Xiaolian was involved in a car accident that damaged his nose. After he refused medical treatment, the wound became infected and in a few months time the bacteria had corroded the cartilage of the nose, making it impossible for doctors to save. 

But since we’re living in an age where medical miracles are possible, they decided to remove the infected tissue and grow the young man a new nose. This was done by by placing a skin tissue expander onto Xiaolian’s forehead, cutting it into the shape of a nose and planting a cartilage taken from his ribs. 

It’s taken Chinese doctors in Fuzhou, Fujian province, nine months to grow the nose, but it was worth it, because the organ developed perfectly and it’s almost ready to be shifted in it the place of Xiaolian’s original nose. Judging by the picture, Xiaolian’s new nose appears to be almost twice the size of his original one...though maybe it's just the angle the picture was taken, eh.

Well how about that, eh? Medical miracle to be sure...though now it's common science. Say... I wonder if they could...nah, I doubt it. What I really need is a new lottery ticket - with the winning numbers... and they can grow it anywhere they want (almost)!

See ya, eh!

Bob

The Great Lakes Triangle

G'day to you! How's it going? Wassup? Been caught in any weird fog lately? Electronically charge your mug with a fresh dose of java and grab hold of a virtual muffin, why don't'cha? Yesterday, I was on about electronic fog. Here's a video that got me interested in this in the first place. It's about a lady who went for a sail one evening on Lake Michigan. I saw this on William Shatner's Weird or What.  I'm always interested in anything suggesting a different dimension, time warp or other weird spacial thing.

Her boat was suddenly engulfed in a weird fog that seemed to take over her boat. She thought it lasted only a few minutes but when it disappeared as suddenly as it appeared, she looked at her watch and it was after midnight - two hours later than it should have been. Her captain's watch corroborated her own.

Watch the video and see what you think. It refers to the fellow I mentioned in my blog yesterday, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6ISnU8vjys

There's another case of a whole lake freighter disappearing while travelling with a sister ship. Something's going on. I have no idea what it is but  maybe, as some suspect, it is a link between time and space...a doorway to another dimension. What do you think?

See ya in our own time-space continuum, eh!

Bob 

We're watching you... earthlings.
 

Electronic Fog: Time Travel In Our Grasp?

Hey hey! Great to see you. Thanks for clicking by. Are you in a fog today? I hope not...at least not an electronic one. Fill your mug and latch on to a virtual treat or twain while I tell you about electronic fog, okay?

Bruce Gernon, co-author of “The Fog”, claims to be a victim of electronic fog. If his account is true, he would be the only person to have survived an encounter with electronic fog. 

Gernon’s story is that while he, his father, and a guest were flying over the Bermuda Triangle, in December 1970, they encountered this fog, and flew through a “timestorm”. 

According to the witnesses, they watched a menacing cloud form a tunnel in front of the plane, and a tunnel behind the plane. These two clouds engulfed the entire plane. Inside the tunnel, a vortex formed and spiral shapes appeared. They then experienced weightlessness, instruments malfunctioned, the compass spun, and they saw nothing but nothingness and fog all around them.


They were only in the fog for a few minutes, but when they did finally emerge from the fog, they found that the plane was already over Miami and 40 minutes had gone by! The Miami air traffic controller could now see their plane on radar again. They had travelled not just in time, but space as well! Normally, that flight would take them around 75 minutes, but this time, only 35 minutes had gone by, and they had travelled over 200 miles in that time. How did that happen? They even had gas still left from the trip. The plane was verified as having left radar screens and reappeared on radar when they left the “tunnel”.

This is Gernon’s claim. And most of the facts have been verified. All three men have the same story. The only fact that can’t be verified, is of course, what happened inside the tunnel. Did Bruce’s plane travel through time and space riding some meteorological phenomena that produces electronic fog?


Okay, this is a fantastic claim, but you may be asking, has there been other instances of this electronic fog? And somewhere other than the Bermuda Triangle?

The answer is YES! Many instances of strange greenish fog or gray fog has been reported by witnesses. Many people have seen weird cloud formations, like portals or tunnels with strange swirling lights, and sounds – some kind of electromagnetic distortions. But Gernon’s story is the first that someone has survived an encounter.


Another famous fog case, is a story from 1915, when an entire Battalion disappeared in front of witnesses. The witnesses stated that the Battalion marched to the top a hill, then a fog engulfed the troops on top of the hill. When all members were at the top of the hill, and inside the fog, the fog lifted up and merged with the other clouds. No one in the Battalion has ever been seen again.  

There have been a number of people and places that have disappeared mysteriously, in front of witnesses, and outside the Bermuda Triangle.

Could electronic fog be responsible for these disappearing acts as well as other events in the Bermuda Triangle and Devil’s Triangle? Maybe. I'll have another story about electronic fog on the Great Lakes tomorrow for you. 

See ya in the fog, eh!

Bob

602-pound Media Sensation

Hi ya! How's it going? What'cha up to? Got time for a mug of freshly roasted coffee and a virtual treat? Of course you do. All the treats are no-fat so eat whatever you like. Finish off with a dozen doughnut holes! Hey, speaking of no fat, low fat, etc., there are always people who want to turn things around, right? Read on...
 
While the morbidly obese struggle with their health (and society's scorn), those who eroticize massive weight gain are capturing increased attention, according to a July (2010) ABC News report. Commercial and personal websites give full-bellied "gainers," such as New Jerseyan Donna Simpson, and their admiring "feeders" the opportunity to express themselves. 

Simpson became a 602-pound media sensation in March (2010), when she began offering pay-per- view video of herself to an audience of horny feeders. 

Wrote another gainer-blogger, "Lately, I've been infatuated with the physics of my belly ... how it moves with me." 

When he leans to one side, he wrote, "I feel a roll form around my love handle." 

One sex researcher called it a "metaphor of arousal." 

In the end, though, as a medical school professor put it, "The fetish may be in our heads, but the plaque is going to be in (their) arteries.

"Thin may be in
But fat's where it's at!"

See ya, eh!

Bob

Changing the Religion of the Dead!

Here's to a fine and caffo day to you! And why not? Today  it is exactly three months till Christmas. Bet you didn't think about that, eh? Well pour yourself a mug of Arabica juice and grab a virtual treat while I tell you about some bizarre happenings out there...

Outraged Jewish leaders complain periodically about Mormons who, in the name of their church, posthumously baptize deceased Jews (even Holocaust victims) -- beneficently, of course, to help them qualify for heaven. Church officials promised to stop, but in 2012 reports still surfaced that not all Mormons got the memo. 

Thus inspired, a "religious" order called the Satanic Temple conducted a July "pink mass" over the Meridian, Miss., grave of the mother of the founder of the Westboro Baptist Church, Rev. Fred Phelps Jr. -- posthumously "turning" her gay. (Westboro infamously stages small, hate-saturated demonstrations denouncing homosexuals and American tolerance.) Ten days later, Meridian prosecutors charged a Satanic Temple official with misdemeanor desecration of a grave.

Can you really alter the religion of the dead? Can you truly change someone's sexual orientation once they're deceased? Seems rather pointless to me, don't you think? Ah but... if it was possible to do such things and if there would be some effect to it...the possibilities boggle the mind.

See ya, eh!

Bob

PS: Have a merry 'Three Months till Christmas' Day! 

Crocs loose again in Thailand

Sawasdee! How the heck are you? Nice to see you today! I hope you're not up to your ying-yang in water like many folks are in Thailand. Pour yourself a mugga and grab a virtual treat before the critters eat them all. This is nothing new for Thai people. It happens every time it floods in the Thai kingdom but no one seems to learn from the 'experience'.

More than 30 crocodiles were on the loose after escaping from a flooded farm in Prang Ku district on Sunday.

The crocodiles got out of the Ban Sanai farm in Tambon Pimai late in the morning, Thai Rath daily newspaper reported. Provincial authorities quickly set up a unit to catch them, fearing they could pose a threat to the public. Well, I guess they might, eh!

The team had captured six of the escaped crocodiles by late Sunday afternoon and are trying to catch the rest of them as soon as possible.

Prang Ku is one of eight districts, including the municipality, hit by flooding caused by continuous rain and run-off from Phanom Dong Rak mountain.

Si Sa Ket Governor Pratheep Kiratiraekha said floodwater on Sunday had receded in five of the affected districts except in Muang where the water level continues to rise.

More than 600,000 Thais have been affected by flooding since July and more than a quarter of Thailand's provinces have been inundated, prompting officials to issue landslide warnings and begin evacuation measures on Monday. Lots of photo ops here for politicians to have their picture in the papers with local residents showing their concern over the situation. One hopes that eventually something would get done to prevent future croc 'escapes'. Higher fences? More secure facilities? Stricter laws (enforced) by the respective governments on maintaining facilities holding dangerous animals? Oh...did I mention pythons?  King Cobras?

Devastating floods in 2011 killed more than 800 people and caused massive disruption to industry, cutting economic growth that year to just 0.1 percent.

Four people have been killed in this year's flooding. More rainfall is expected later this week.

"Due to a heavier-than-usual monsoon season, 21 provinces are now experiencing flooding. We have issued a warning about landslides and have told boats in the Gulf of Thailand to be vigilant," Chatchai Promlert, chief of Thailand's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, told Reuters.

Thais take it all in stride. If it is going to happen, it will because that's the way things are. 

Have yourself a caffo day. See ya, eh!

Bob

'Alien Bugs' Discovered In Earth's Atmosphere

Hi there! Thanks for dropping in from the wilds of cyberspace. You have to be careful surfing around out there...could be aliens lurking about. Before I tell you about it, fill your mug and snag a healthy virtual treat, why don't'cha? Now where was I...

Tiny organisms were discovered by University of Sheffield experts on a research balloon they had sent 27km (16.7 miles) into the atmosphere during last month's Perseids meteor shower.

The microscopic bugs were detected when the balloon landed back on the ground in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

But the scientists insist the samples could not have been carried from the Earth's surface into the stratosphere - the second layer of our atmosphere, which stretches up to 50km (31 miles) from the ground. Strict tests were taken to avoid any contamination, they said.

Professor Milton Wainwright, who led the team, said: "Most people will assume that these biological particles must have just drifted up to the stratosphere from Earth, but it is generally accepted that a particle of the size found cannot be lifted from Earth to heights of, for example, 27km.

"The only known exception is by a violent volcanic eruption, none of which occurred within three years of the sampling trip."

He went on: "We can only conclude that the biological entities originated from space.

"Our conclusion then is that life is continually arriving to Earth from space, life is not restricted to this planet and it almost certainly did not originate here."


"If life does continue to arrive from space then we have to completely change our view of biology and evolution," Prof Wainwright added. "New textbooks will have to be written."

Could they be 'yorkies' lifted 'op, by gum? They're pretty tiny. 

See ya, eh!

Bob

The Dark Side of Cooking – Naturally Black Chicken

Hey there! How's it going? Wassup? Ready for a mugga and a virtual treat. We're talking food today...or should I say "Weird talking food today." Read on...

Did you know there was such a thing as black chicken? And I don’t mean as in dark feathers, but black skin, bones and even internal organs. There are actually several black chicken breeds in the world, especially in Asia, but the most popular of all has to be the Chinese Silkie.

Silkies are beautiful birds, covered in fluffy plumage, which is said to feel like silk, but underneath all that fluff they are far less attractive. Their skin is a dark-bluish color, the flesh is dark beige and the bones and some internal organs are pitch black

Although in the Western world silkie chickens are sold mainly for ornamental purposes, in countries like China they are considered a super food and are appreciated for their deep, gammy flavor. 

Called “wu gu ji” or “black-boned chicken”, the silkie has been prized for its medicinal value ever since the seventh or eighth century. 

Chinese women consume it after they have given birth to get a boost of energy, but it’s also said to have a positive effect on the yin, blood, lungs and stomach. 

Silkie meat is rarely roasted. To take full advantage of its curative properties, the Chinese mainly use it to make an amber-colored broth laced with ginseng , dried wolfberries and jujubes.

"Yo, bro.
Cut me some slack
Cause we got de black
Black is de word
De word is black
Fry me some thigh
Rest some breast
On ma plate
And don't be late

Gimme some chicken
And make it black
We don't have to eat no white chicken.
Cause we got de black.
De word is black.

See ya, eh!

Bob