BEN FRANKLIN LIKED ‘EM OLD
Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress (1745)
June 25, 1745
…If you will not take this Counsel, and persist in thinking a Commerce with the Sex inevitable, then I repeat my former Advice, that in all your Amours you should prefer old Women to young ones. You call this a Paradox, and demand my Reasons. They are these:
- Because as they have more Knowledge of the World and their Minds are better stor’d with Observations, their Conversation is more improving and more lastingly agreable.
- Because when Women cease to be handsome, they study to be good. To maintain their Influence over Men, they supply the Diminution of Beauty by an Augmentation of Utility. They learn to do a 1000 Services small and great, and are the most tender and useful of all Friends when you are sick. Thus they continue amiable. And hence there is hardly such a thing to be found as an old Woman who is not a good Woman.
- Because there is no hazard of Children, which irregularly produc’d may be attended with much Inconvenience.
- Because thro’ more Experience, they are more prudent and discreet in conducting an Intrigue to prevent Suspicion. The Commerce with them is therefore safer with regard to your Reputation. And with regard to theirs, if the Affair should happen to be known, considerate People might be rather inclin’d to excuse an old Woman who would kindly take care of a young Man, form his Manners by her good Counsels, and prevent his ruining his Health and Fortune among mercenary Prostitutes.
- Because in every Animal that walks upright, the Deficiency of the Fluids that fill the Muscles appears first in the highest Part: The Face first grows lank and wrinkled; then the Neck; then the Breast and Arms; the lower Parts continuing to the last as plump as ever: So that covering all above with a Basket, and regarding only what is below the Girdle, it is impossible of two Women to know an old from a young one. And as in the dark all Cats are grey, the Pleasure of corporal Enjoyment with an old Woman is at least equal, and frequently superior, every Knack being by Practice capable of Improvement.
- Because the Sin is less. The debauching a Virgin may be her Ruin, and make her for Life unhappy.
- Because the Compunction is less. The having made a young Girl miserable may give you frequent bitter Reflections; none of which can attend the making an old Woman happy.
8[thly and Lastly] They are so grateful!!Thus much for my Paradox. But still I advise you to marry directly; being sincerely Your affectionate Friend.
SUPER-HUMAN POWERS
Scientists discover way to jumpstart bone’s healing process
In-body stem cell therapy has enormous potential for bone injuries
Rarely will physicians use the word “miraculous” when discussing patient recoveries. But that’s the very phrase orthopaedic physicians and scientists are using in upstate New York to describe their emerging stem cell research that could have a profound impact on the treatment of bone injuries. Results from preliminary work being released todayshow patients confined to wheelchairs were able to walk or live independently again because their broken bones finally healed.
At the heart of the research is the drug teriparatide, or Forteo, which was approved by the FDA in 2002 for the treatment of osteoporosis. Astute observations led a team of clinicians and researchers to uncover how this drug can also boost our bodies’ bone stem cell production to the point that adults’ bones appear to have the ability to heal at a rate typically seen when they were young kids.
Baseline research presented in February at the Orthopaedic Research Society meeting revealed that of 145 patients who had an unhealed bone fracture – half of them for six months or longer – 93 percent showed significant healing and pain control after being on teriparatide for only eight to 12 weeks. These findings were enough to convince the National Institutes of Health to fund a clinical trial underway in Rochester, and if the preliminary data are any indication, researchers may have discovered a new, in-the-body stem cell therapy that can jumpstart the body’s natural healing process in bones.
The clinical implication is significant, as orthopaedists can soon have a new tool at their disposable to deal with many common, painful bone ailments including the tens of thousands of painful fractures for which there is no treatment (pelvic fractures, vertebral compression fractures, clavicle fractures), fractures that won’t heal, fractures in patients that are either too sick to have surgery or chose not to have surgery, and even reduce the size of a incision in some surgeries.
Aging Bones Heal Slower
Of the estimated six million fractures in the United States each year, approximately five percent will have slow or incomplete healing. According to J. Edward Puzas, Ph.D., who heads up orthopaedic bone research at the University of Rochester Medical Center and is the principal investigator of the clinical trial, a large portion of non-healing fractures tend to occur in older adults.
“In many people, as they get older, their skeleton loses the ability to heal fractures and repair itself,” Puzas said. “With careful application of teriparatide, we believe we’ve found a way to turn back the clock on fracture healing through a simple, in-body stem cell therapy.”
Those especially hard hit are the nearly 60,000 Americans suffering from pelvic fractures, where bracing and immobilization are not an option for an injury that leaves people immobile and in pain before the bone fuses.
“It takes three to four months for a typical pelvic fracture to heal. But during those three months, patients can be in excruciating pain, because there are no medical devices or other treatments that can provide relief to the patient,” said Susan V. Bukata, M.D., medical director of the Center for Bone Health at the University of Rochester Medical Center Bukata. “Imagine if we can give patients a way to cut the time of their pain and immobility in half? That’s what teriparatide did in our initial research.”
Bukata said much more was at stake then just comfort and pain relief. Patients who would ordinarily be confined to nursing homes or require additional medical attention because of non-healing fractures might be able to live an independent life. Bukata and Puzas estimate that if this drug saved just one week in a nursing home, it would pay for itself – and beyond.
“Many people don’t realize that pelvic fracture carries with them the same mortality as hip fractures – in one year, approximately one-quarter of all older women with pelvic fractures will die from complications,” Bukata said. “And during that year of recovery, a patient typically puts a greater strain on our health care system, not to mention their pain and suffering.”
Translational Research at Work
The impetus for the research began in Bukata’s clinic, where she saw painful bone fractures in osteoporotic patients quickly heal within a few months of taking teriparatide. At the time, Bukata also served on a research team at the University’s Center for Musculoskeletal Research, and she began to advocate that the team direct its efforts in an entirely new direction based on the results she was seeing with patients who were taking teriparatide.
“I had patients with severe osteoporosis, in tremendous pain from multiple fractures throughout their spine and pelvis, who I would put on teriparatide,” said Bukata. “When they would come back for their follow-up visits three months later, it was amazing to see not just the significant healing in their fractures, but to realize they were pain-free – a new and welcome experience for many of these patients.”
Puzas and Bukata developed a plan to focus attention in both the lab and clinic to understand if her observations were a fluke or if there was an underlying scientific process producing such life-changing results for patients.
“While we had come to understand how teriparatide builds bone more robustly than the body can on its own, up to that point, we had no clue how the drug would or could help with fracture healing,” Puzas said.
Bukata began prescribing teriparatide to patients with non-healing fractures, and was amazed at her findings: 93 percent showed significant healing and pain control after being on teriparatide for only eight to 12 weeks. And in the lab, Puzas began to understand how teriparatide stimulates bone stem cells into action.
Closing the Gap
When a fracture occurs, a bone becomes unstable and can move back and forth creating a painful phenomenon known as micromotion. As the bone begins healing it must progress through specific, well-defined stages. First, osteoclasts – cells that can break down bone – clean up any fragments or debris produced during the break. Next, a layer of cartilage – called a callus – forms around the fracture that ultimately calcifies, preventing the bony ends from moving, providing relief from the significant pain brought on by micromotion.
Only after the callus is calcified do the bone forming cells – osteoblasts – begin their work. They replace the cartilage with true bone, and eventually reform the fracture to match the shape and structure of the bone into what it was before the break.
According to Puzas, teriparatide significantly speeds up fracture healing by changing the behavior and number of the cartilage and the bone stem cells involved in the process.
“Teriparatide dramatically stimulates the bone’s stem cells into action,” Puzas said. “As a result, the callus forms quicker and stronger. Osteoblasts form more bone and the micromotion associated with the fracture is more rapidly eliminated. All of this activity explains why people with non-healing fractures can now return to normal function sooner.”
“The decreased healing time is significant, especially when fractures are in hard-to-heal areas like the pelvis and the spine, where you can’t easily immobilize the bone – and stop the pain,” Bukata added. “Typically, a pelvic fracture will take months to heal, and people are in extreme pain for the first eight to 12 weeks. This time was more than cut in half; we saw complete pain relief, callus formation, and stability of the fracture in people who had fractures that up to that point had not healed.”
The new clinical research will study post-menopausal women and men over 50 who come to the Emergency Department at Strong Memorial Hospital with a low-energy pelvic fracture. Patients will be divided into two groups — one offered teriparatide, the other a placebo — and followed for 16 weeks to measure the fracture healing process in a variety of ways: pain levels, microscopic bone growth determined through CT scans and functional testing of bone strength, among others.
PASSENGER LANDS PLANE!
CRAZY.
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — A passenger landed a twin-engine plane in Florida after the pilot died in flight with a total of six people on board.
THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER CALLED A FRIEND WHO WAS FAMILIAR WITH THE AIRCRAFT AND RELAYED INSTRUCTIONS TO THE PASSENGER. UMM??? WTF
SOUTH PARK CREATORS GIVEN SADDAM HUSSEIN’S AUTOGRPAH
CLASSIC.
THE US SOLDIERS WHO WERE IN CHARGE OF SADDAM’S INCARCERATION PRIOR TO HIS HAND OVER TO IRAQI OFFICIALS, FORCED HIM TO WATCH THE SOUTH PARK MOVIE, IN WHICH HE IS DEPICTED AS GAY AND AS HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH SATAN OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN. THEY ALSO FORCED HIM TO WATCH CLIPS FROM THE SHOW IN WHICH HE IS DEPICTED IN QUITE THE SAME WAY. NOT SURE IF THAT’S WRONG OR GENIUS.
THE SOLDIERS HANDED THE CREATORS A SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH OF SADDAM WHICH THEY ALSO FORCED HIM TO SIGN.
AB FAB
THERE IS A CERTAIN KIND OF HUMOR OUT THERE THAT CAN ONLY BE SATISFIED BY A CERTAIN KIND OF COMEDY. ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS, A SHOW CREATED AND WRITTEN BY THE PHENOMENAL, JENNIFER SAUDNERS, SUITS MY KIND OF HUMOR. IT IS AN INSTRUCTION MANUAL FOR ALL WHO SIMPLY DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT REALITY. A TOTAL DISCONNECT FROM THE RIDICULOUS SERIOUSNESS SOME PEOPLE APPROACH LIFE WITH. WHEN YOU WATCH THE SHOW THERE IS A RISK. THE RISK IS TAKING IT LITERALLY. IT IS IMPERATIVE TO KEEP IN MIND THAT THE WRITER AND THE ACTORS ARE MERELY… “TAKING THE MICK” OUT OF THIS SORT OF LIFESTYLE. HOWEVER, MANY WHO HAVE WATCHED THE SHOW AND HAVE SUBSEQUENTLY BECOME FANS OF THE SHOW, KEEP ITS LESSONS CLOSE TO THEIR HEARTS. LIVING YOUR LIFE LIKE EDINA AND PATSY IS CERTIANLY NOT HEALTHY, BUT THEY TEACH YOU SOMETHING ABOUT HOW LIFE SHOULD BE LIVED. NOT FABULOUSLY, BUT RIDICULOUSLY…
IF YOU HAVEN’T TAKEN A LOOK AT THIS SHOW… I SUGGEST YOU DO…
THE OBAMA GIANTS
DID ANYONE KNOW THEY WERE THIS TALL? OR IS REGINA ELIZABETH THAT SHORT?
NOPE… THEY’RE DEFINITELY THAT TALL!
THE WORLD IS GOING TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET AND WE’RE WORRIED ABOUT WHAT MICHELLE OBAMA IS WEARING???
THIS IS RIDICULOUS!
AMERICAN MEDIA SPENT THE BETTER PART OF THE MORNING AND EVEN WELL INTO THE AFTERNOON DISCUSSING WHAT MICHELLE OBAMA IS WEARING.
POOR MICHELLE.
AN INTELLIGENT SUCCESSFUL WOMAN BEING TREATED LIKE A FASHION SYMBOL. HOW VERY SAD FOR WOMEN. SHE HAS, FOR THE THE LAST THREE MONTHS BEEN KEPT QUIET. WE’VE SEEN HER AT SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS, AND HOLDING BREAKFASTS FOR NURSES BUT NOTHING SUBSTANTIAL FROM THIS PHENOMENAL FIRST LADY. MAYBE THEY’RE HOLDING BACK HER POTENTIAL TO BE UNLEASHED AT A LATER DATE. BUT REMEMBER ABIGAIL ADAMS? ELEANOR ROOSEVELT? HILLARY FREAKING CLINTON?
WE OWE MORE TO MICHELLE. WE OWE MORE TO WOMEN.
NOT TO MENTION, WHAT DOES THIS SAY ABOUT THE AMERICAN MEDIA? ARE THEY TRYING TO DISTRACT US FROM THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF EUROPEAN PROTESTERS IN LONDON SO WE DON’T GET ANY CRAZY IDEAS…
WE TOO DESERVE MORE.
POVERTY MESSES CHILDREN UP PYSCHOLOGICALLY… NO SHIT… READ HERE
“Growing up poor isn’t merely hard on kids. It might also be bad for their brains. A long-term study of cognitive development in lower- and middle-class students found strong links between childhood poverty, physiological stress and adult memory.”
NO MORE OVERDRAFTS
WHEN YOU MAKE A PURCHASE A MESSAGE IS SENT THAT THERE AREN’T SUFFICIENT FUNDS IN YOUR DEBIT ACCOUNT BUT THE BANK IS NOT ENTITLED TO NOTIFY YOU. THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WANTS TO MAKE A LAW THAT WOULD DEMAND NOTIFICATION OF A POSSIBLE OVERDRAFT!
PETA KILLS 2,124 PETS
HMMM… THIS IS VERY DISTURBING. THE NONPROFIT CENTER FOR CONSUMER FREEDOM PUBLISHED REPORTS THAT PETA HAS IN FACT PUT TO DEAHT 58% OF THE PETSUNDER ITS CARE IN 2008… PRETTY FRICKIN CRAZY. ONLY 7 WERE ADOPTED???
DRUG RAID IN CT
I FEEL VIOLATED.
“Drug raid at
Wethersfield High
Updated: Friday, 27 Mar 2009, 12:56 PM EDT
Published : Friday, 27 Mar 2009, 12:31 PM EDT
Wethersfield (WTNH) – Officers from numerous police departments charged into Wethersfield High School Thursday to hunt for drugs.
Armed with police dogs, officers from Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, Manchester and New Britain raided the high school at 411 Wolcott Hill Road.
Locker by locker and room by room, police and their dogs sniffed around to send the school district’s message that drugs will not be taken lightly.
Police also searched more than 100 cars in the school’s parking lot, which led to the arrest of one student for drug paraphernalia.
Police ended up not finding any drugs, and that lone arrest is something School Superintendent Michael Kohlhagen is proud of.
“This is just one step in the right direction, to ensure our students continue to learn and thrive in a drug free environment.” Kohlhagen said and later added, “This issue has been and remains a priority; our entire administration and faculty remain committed to the health, safety and welfare of our students.”
Kohlhagen said Thursday’s raid proves that Wethersfield High School is safe and drug free.”
FCKN CRAZY
I was 9 months pregnant and didn’t know
By Alison Smith-Squire, sundaymirror.co.uk 29/03/2009
EXCLUSIVE
When Claire Durick felt queasy at her dad’s wedding in America, she blamed jet-lag and a boozy meal the night before.
But the next day she found out the real reason – when Claire gave birth to a 6lb 8oz baby boy.
Cuddling surprise arrival Carter, she said: “When doctors told me it wasn’t jet-lag or a tummy bug but that I was nine months pregnant, I said ‘no way!’ I’d split with my boyfriend months ago and just didn’t believe them. But minutes later I heard a baby cry and, incredibly, there he was.
“It was such a shock – I had no morning sickness or tiredness and absolutely no bump at all. Only four days earlier I’d flown thousands of miles from England to the US.
“I’d put on about 5lbs but it wasn’t enough to stop me wearing my new green dress for the wedding. I’d even been using the contraceptive jab and having regular monthly periods.
“I thought I had a hangover, jet-lag or a tummy bug. Never did I consider that I felt off-colour at the wedding because I was having a baby.”
She first felt ill on the morning of the wedding when she woke with what she thought was a hangover. “We’d gone for a celebratory meal,” she said, “so when the next day I woke feeling queasy I thought it was because of the long journey, a heavy dinner and too many vodkas.”
The next morning Claire, 22, an optical assistant at Specsavers, woke with stomach cramps but put it down to a bug.
The following day, though, as Claire, her dad David, his new wife Legend and her brother set off for a long drive to her dad’s house in New Hampshire, the pains began again and she started being sick. They stopped for dinner but as Claire sat in the restaurant she realised she wasn’t hungry and went to bed at the hotel they had booked.
Claire said: “My dad went to a local supermarket to find some medicine. An hour later, though, when I sat on the loo I noticed I was bleeding and everyone went into panic mode.”
Fearing Claire was seriously ill, her dad and stepmum rushed her to hospital.
“As my dad carried me into the waiting room I thought I was going to die,” said Claire, “and because I was in such pain a nurse came to get me. Stripping off my clothes to put on a gown was agonising.”
But a few minutes later a doctor told Claire her agony was not constipation – as the family had suspected – but a baby. And she was in labour.
Claire, from Littlehampton, West Sussex, said: “I looked at my tummy and thought ‘he must be joking’. Then I felt a sharp pain and a few pushes later we heard a baby cry. My God, I thought, it really is a baby.”
She had a healthy baby boy – but although Claire’s dad and stepmum were smiling in wonder at their surprise grandchild, it was too much for her.
“It sounds awful now,” she admitted, “but I began to sob hysterically. I kept thinking I was having the worst nightmare and any moment now I would wake up with relief to find it was only some awful dream. Sheer panic welled up inside me and I was in so much turmoil I couldn’t bear to look at him. I needed space and time to think. I’d always imagined having a child – but in the very distant future.
PLAYMATE INSPIRED BY POPE
JOANNA KRUPA
“I think worrying about going topless in a photo shoot or film is really ridiculous,” Krupa told FOXNews.com in an exclusive interview. “And the fact is Pope John Paul said, since we were born naked, it is art, and it’s just showing a beautiful body that God created.”
RIIIGHHTTTT
