Britney Bald

Tis TRUE...................................LOOK!

Home safe and well

The brother and sister who went missing earlier today are reported to be safe and well after they went missing from their home.

AMBER ALERT - MISSING CHILDREN

Urgent Alert over two missing children .

A brother and sister aged seven and 10 have gone missing from their home.

Police issued an urgent alert on Saturday to find Jack and Stephanie Parkes. Officers were searching with dogs and a helicopter was scrambled.

Officers said their mother had reported the pair missing from their Medway home after 1100 GMT on Saturday.

Kent Police said she woke at about 0900 GMT to find they were not in the flat in Gun Lane, Rochester. She called police after checking with relatives.

Stephanie has light brown, shoulder-length hair and is believed to be wearing black trousers, beige boots and a blue T-shirt.
Jack is believed to be wearing blue jeans and a navy top with an Adidas logo on it and blue Velcro trainers.
CCTV is being studied from the surrounding area.

Any sightings of the pair PLEASE contact Kent police.

Baby brains

An article on yahoo this morning (for full details check out) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070217/ap_on_sc/infant_amnesia;_ylt=AhuPHKXmeQZ3VKubR9sYKJLMWM0F

states that babies are capable of forming memories........unfortunately, they forget them.

It's all to do with something called ' infant amnesia' or in laymens terms the puzzling inability of people to remember events early in life. Yes that is what the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science do for those who thought of joining. Patricia J. Bauer of Duke University quotes "The reason why babies do not remember is because their rates of forgetting are faster than that of adults

Alledgedly, from the age of 6 months to 2 years,a baby's memory increases from 24 hours to a year.

The tests they base this on are to do with a cup and a block and observing the chidren to see if they will remember which one had a block put in it. though. Supposedly scientific but you can make reults like that read what you want them to read.

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Tracy DeBoer of the University of California, Davis, said babies born to diabetic mothers are at increased risk of memory loss. Such children may have shortages of oxygen and iron before birth and that can cause impaired memory when they are growing.
That impairment did not occur in cases where the mothers' diabetes was controlled during pregnancy, she added.

Go and read the whole artifle it's very inyeresting

American Idol - FIX!

Controversy always helps viewing figures and although American Idol hardly needs a gaurantee, this will be the outcome.

Would you believe it but the millionaire mogul has now been accused of planting someone who once signed for him back in the UK into the auditions for American Idol. That someone is ex Take That backing singer. Tom Lowe who at that time had moved onto a band called North and South. Anyone recall either him nor them because neither can Simon????

Tom auditioned this year Seattle as he's now a fully fledged American citizen and wowed ALL THREE judges. At the end of the audition Tom piped up that he was at BMG at the same time as Simon! Let us remember that he has a GOOD voice everyone and not just one judge put him through.

Simon SIGNED Tom's band not just worked at the same place so there is some cause for contoversy I suppose but realistically how many jaded popstars does Simon see through his doors? This lot had four minor hits and the highest one only getting to number seven before Tom went off to do stage work in the West End; or should I say the band couldn't cut it with the big boys and so BMG probably cut THEM.

The British tabloid press love to see a hullaballoo and to even consider that maybe Tom is a plant, well they must be rubbing their hands together with glee at bringing down Simon 'smarty-high-waisted-pants' Cowell. Personally I don't see it though?

Don't the public vote for the eventual winner not the judges?

PS.......British tabloid press need to catch up with the latest news too. Watch tonight (Friday 16 February 9pm ITV2) for the result.

Viagra two up

Shy guys

Yesterday if you were a man struggling to ........''get it up" and happened to be in Manchester and also happened to be between the ages of 30 and 65, you could have visted one of three branches of Boots in Manchester because from February 14 you will be able to buy four tablets of Viagra for £50 and no longer have the hassle of going to your GP. Of course you must satisfy the pharmacist of your medical history, blood pressure and cholesterol and glucose levels are satisfactory.



Viagra used to save baby's life

We all know this 'normal' use for viagra but there is another amazing use for the little drug. Viagra has been used by doctors on Tyneside as a last resort to save the life of a premature baby.

Lewis Goodfellow was born at 24 weeks weighing just 1lb 8oz. One of his lungs had failed and not enough oxygen was able to get into his bloodstream.

His parents feared he may not survive and had even begun planning a funeral.
Doctors at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary then tried Sildenafil, also known under the trade name of Viagra, and Lewis is now home with his parents.

Ms Goodfellow said: "Doctors said he couldn't be given any more oxygen.
"They were just clutching at straws basically. They explained it was experimental and may not have any effect at all."

Alan Fenton, consultant neonatologist at the hospital, said: "The problem we see in premature babies with breathing difficulties is although we can blow oxygen into their lungs to help them, there isn't enough blood supply to various areas of the lungs to take the oxygen around the rest of the body.
"What Sildenafil does is open up the blood vessels so they can capture the oxygen and take it around the body."

Lewis was born in August 2006 and was finally allowed home in January, to the delight of his parents.

His mother said: "I don't think you could put into words how we feel.
"The doctors are worth their weight in gold. We admire each and every one of them for what they have done."

Good luck and best wishes to baby Lewis and his family who have been on every television set since this story broke yesterday! Let's hope his life is now successful with the start he's been given and with the coverage this gets let's also hope it saves other lives.

St Valentine's Day

I could not let today pass without mentioning St Valentine. I imagine most of us would like the hearts and flowers aspect of it , but how many of us know the true story of St Valentine?

There are varying opinions as to the origin of Valentine's Day.

Some experts state that it originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries. Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine". Other aspects of the story say that Saint Valentine served as a priest at the temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius then had Valentine jailed for defying him. In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honour St. Valentine.

Gradually, February 14 became the date for exchanging love messages and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers. The date was marked by sending poems and simple gifts such as flowers. There was often a social gathering or a ball.
In the USA, Miss Esther Howland is given credit for sending the first valentine cards. Commercial valentines were introduced in the 1800's and now the date is very commercialised. The town of Loveland, Colorado, does a large post office business around February 14. The spirit of good continues as valentines are sent out with sentimental verses and children exchange valentine cards at school.

Valentine's Day started in the time of the Roman Empire. In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno. Juno was the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage. The following day, February 15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia.
The lives of young boys and girls were strictly separate. However, one of the customs of the young people was name drawing. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man would draw a girl's name from the jar and would then be partners for the duration of the festival with the girl whom he chose. Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry.

Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns. Claudius the Cruel was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. He believed that the reason was that roman men did not want to leave their loves or families. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. The good Saint Valentine was a priest at Rome in the days of Claudius II. He and Saint Marius aided the Christian martyrs and secretly married couples, and for this kind deed Saint Valentine was apprehended and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. He suffered martyrdom on the 14th day of February, about the year 270. At that time it was the custom in Rome, a very ancient custom, indeed, to celebrate in the month of February the Lupercalia, feasts in honour of a heathen god. On these occasions, amidst a variety of pagan ceremonies, the names of young women were placed in a box, from which they were drawn by the men as chance directed.
The pastors of the early Christian Church in Rome endeavoured to do away with the pagan element in these feasts by substituting the names of saints for those of maidens. And as the Lupercalia began about the middle of February, the pastors appear to have chosen Saint Valentine's Day for the celebration of this new feaSt. So it seems that the custom of young men choosing maidens for valentines, or saints as patrons for the coming year, arose in this way.