Lofty Matters

Caffeine is a legal performance enhancer. Can you believe it? Studies now show that caffeine effects the brain’s sensation of exhaustion and releases calcium that is stored in the muscle giving you more endurance.

Exercise physiologists have studied the effects of caffeine extensively. Will it help sprinters? Marathon runners? Cyclists? Rowers? Swimmers? Caffeine seems to enhance them all.

Now we need to know how it exerts its effects and how little is needed to get an effect.

Caffeine increases the power output of muscles by releasing calcium stored in muscle. This enables athletes to keep going longer or to go faster in the same length of time. Caffeine also diminishes the brain’s sensation of exhaustion so it improves endurance.

I’d say this definitely is another winning mark for caffeine. Not only can it wipe away the cobwebs early in the morning, act as an appetite suppressant, but now it is a legal performance enhancer! Woot!

Another week has flown by. I am happy to note that there is now more good news being posted to this blog than bad news. For a while I was focusing on many of the current events that are plaguing the world…and I still believe it’s important to stay informed…but I needed a place where everything was not just BAD news. So…here is some GOOD news!

Students in Uruguay Get Laptops

Computers are being provided to children of Uruguay by the One Laptop Per Child Foundation (a nonprofit group).

So far 400,000 laptops have been delivered and more are on the way before the end of 2009. Children have access to the computers both during school and outside of school and the laptops have been designed to be easily portable. There are no hard drives in the laptops. Instead the computers use flashdrives to store data.

Subway Hero Rescues Man, then Disappears

Subway heroes happen occasionally in New York subways. Chad Lindsey recently became one himself.

Lindsey was waiting for a train at Penn Station when he saw a man walk quickly toward the edge of the platform. The man fell, hit his head, and passed out. Lindsey jumped down and tried unsuccessfully to wake the man up. He finally grabbed the man and hoisted him back up onto the platform. The train came about 10 seconds later.

After the police arrived, Lindsey stepped onto another train and left. The man was treated at a hospital and released.

Robot Legs May Lift People From Wheelchairs

In 1986, Monty Reed was an Army Ranger. On a routine night jump another ranger accidentally got too close to his parachute causing his chute to close. Monty crashed to the ground and broke his back in five places.

Not realizing how seriously he was hurt, Monty actually was able to walk eight miles to a waiting helicopter in this condition. The next morning, however, he could not move. Doctors told him he would never walk again.

While recovering, Monty began to envision the concept of man-made muscles that would help people with disabilities.

Monty himself worked hard for years and was able to recover to the point of even jumping out of another airplane. However, his experience with disability fueled the desire to help those who are not able to recover. His project was to create a robot that people could wear to help them out of their wheelchairs.

While the design is rough, it works. Now Monty is receiving help from volunteers and is hoping to have a working model ready for testing soon.

Tags: Army Ranger, Chad Lindsey, laptops, Monty Reed, Penn Station, Uruguay, wheelchairs

I’ve been perusing the sales on buy.com lately. I’m looking for a new laptop and I found a Hewlett Packard that I think I like and the price is so reasonable! I just need to have my techie son take a look at it and make sure I would like it. Have you made it a point to check out the weekly specials? Howie and his funny commercials should help you remember! He’s quite a character.

How is spring treating you so far? The robins are all over my yard and watching them has been a fun thing to do for the last week or so. Here is your weekly dose of good news from Lofty Matters.

The economy has been bad but is now showing signs of improvement. The decline continues, but some experts say that the worst may be over. Evidence of this includes the price rise in commodities and some surveys that show that consumer mood is brightening. There has been higher spending in the past week. The Federal Reserve Board is meeting to discuss the economy. Citigroup and Bank of America are reporting that their firms were profitable the first two months of this year even.

85-year-old World War II vet Richard Thill was unexpectedly given his high school diploma 69 years after graduation.

Thill thought he was going to Humboldt High School in St Paul to tell the students about his experiences. But he had been lured there to be awarded an honorary diploma. It was dated June 8, 1942.

The 200 students at the assembly gave him a standing ovation.

Thill said his high school career ended because of a sailor’s white hat. A family friend had been in the Naval Reserve. He had a really cool white hat and Thill asked him for it. The reservist said no, then said: “If you join, you can get a whole uniform.”

National Honor Society students from Norwich High School are learning aboutthe basics of non-profit organizations. Their organization was asked to participate in a program that would administer $10,000 in grant funds to various non-profit organizations.

The students are learning about non-profit organizations and about specific operations in the area.

The students received nine request for proposal forms from area non-profit agencies asking for funding for specific projects.

Before they began this exercise, many of the students said they were aware of non-profits in the community but had no idea what went on behind the scenes.

Tags: Economy, National Honor Society, Richard Thill

Father Maurice Chase celebrated his 90th birthday by giving away $15,000 in cash to Los Angeles’ Skid Row. He passed out hundred dollar bills outside the Fred Jordan Missions. Twenty people received $100 bills and the rest received $1 to $3 each.

“This is the Lord’s work,” said Chase. “I come out here to tell them that God loves them and I love them, that someone is concerned about them.”

Chase is active in Skid Row. He has given away cash, plastic rosaries and blessings every Sunday for 24 years. People wait for him every week.

He always comes on Thanksgiving and Christmas, but this is the first year he’s spent his birthday in Skid Row.

The crowd sang “Happy Birthday” several times. He was also presented with birthday cards, much to his delight.

Happy Weekend! Even in the midst of economic and worldwide turmoil, there is no shortage of good news. I hope this week’s stories help to encourage and uplift you!

When a car sped off of a bridge in Wiltshire, police officer Tom Kinderman jumped into the river and helped keep the driver’s head above water until firefighters arrived on the scene.

Kinderman pulled the woman out of the car because it was quickly filling up with water. The woman became unconscious then. Kinderman was able to get her out and push her through the car’s window. Another man came later and helped Kinderman. The woman was taken to the hospital and her injuries were not life threatening.

Doctors screening women for ovarian cancer were able to detect the disease two years earlier than usual, according to a British study.

Ovarian cancer kills almost 100,000 women worldwide every year. If it is detected early, almost 90 percent of women survive.

Unfortunately, most women are usually only diagnosed after it has spread (when there is only a maximum 30 percent chance of survival).

Michael J. Fox has lots of reasons to be a pessimist.

But instead he’s doing a TV special about the nature of optimism. Fox will explore science and his own personal experience. He says the past ten years since his diagnosis have been among his happiest.

For his special, Fox visited the Himalayan nation of Bhutan. This area is unusually committed to the well-being of its citizens. “Michael J. Fox: Adventures of an Incurable Optimist” will air on May 7.

Tags: Michael J. Fox, ovarian cancer, police officer, Tom Kinderman

There are quite a few Civil War-era shipwrecks off the Texas coast. A new one may have just been found.

Contractors searching for debris from Hurricane Ike have found what is thought to be a previously undiscovered ship carrying cotton that sank in 1864.

The Carolina was a privately owned merchant ship that tried to break though a blockade in Galveston. After being chased by Union gunships the crew ran the ship aground in shallow water between Galveston and San Luis Pass. They then set it on fire rather than let it be captured.

The shape of the image indicates it is a ship. Divers will investigate the site in the spring or summer when the Gulf of Mexico waters are calmer.

The end is in sight!  Daylight Savings Time begins tomorrow morning!  This has been a long winter for me…one of the longest I can remember.  I can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to “springing ahead” and getting the show on the road toward spring. We have rainy weekend in store, but had a pretty few days at the end of the week, so I won’t complain.

Here are some good news stories to help set the tone of your weekend!

Tiny particles of carbon that are called “buckyballs” may be able to keep the US’s water pipes clean the same way clot-busting drugs keep arteries clean.

Engineers discovered that buckyballs stop bacteria and other microorganisms from accumulating on the membranes used to filter water in treatment plants. They now believe that coating pipes and membranes with these buckyballs may be an effective way to treat water.

As the bacteria builds up on surfaces they attract other organic matter and create a film that slowly builds up over time. Buckyballs may be able to prevent this clogging.

An eagle has survived after crashing through the windshield of a tractor-trailer in Nevada.

A 15-pound golden eagle reportedly has a swollen head but appears unhurt after slamming into a Florida truck driver’s truck.

Matthew Roberto Gonzalez of Opa Locka, Fla., was dozing in the sleeping berth when it happened. “I woke up, and the windshield was all over me. Next thing I know there was a big bird lying on the floor.”

The eagle is recovering at the Northeast Nevada Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. The goal is to release it back into the wild.

The New Zealand city of Christchurch is hoping that Barry Manilow’s smooth and gentle tones broadcasting through the central mall district will calm unruly teens who congregate there…or perhaps encourage them to leave.

A group of several dozen teens have been littering, spraying graffiti, drinking alcohol, using drugs, swearing and intimidating patrons at the outdoor mall.

The city council, police and local property owners are hoping that “nice, easy listening” music like Manilow’s “Can’t Smile Without You,” “Mandy” and others might change their routine.

One 16-year-old told The Press newspaper that Barry Manilow wouldn’t deter them.

“We would just bring a stereo and play it louder,” Emma Belcher said.

The city would then be able to remove them with anti-noise citations.

Tags: bacteria, Barry Manilow, Buckyballs, eagle, New Zealand, Northeast Nevada Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

Steve Martin’s latest project is “The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo.”

It’s no joke. He even wrote or co-wrote all 15 tracks!

Martin has been a banjo picker since he was 17.

“I started thinking, standing back from my banjo career and looking at it, it is weird. What if David Letterman picked up the violin and played like (bluegrass fiddler) Paul Warren. I think that would be a surprise.”

His interest in the banjo began in the 1960s.

While he never seriously considered a career in music Martin did work the instrument into some of his stand-up bits. He also started writing songs.

The album is doing better than his movies. It was released Jan. 27 as a three-month exclusive through Amazon.com. Since then, the record has received much better reviews than Martin’s latest movie, “Pink Panther 2.”