Tom Faranda's Folly

NJ Governor Christie on the President: "What the hell are we paying you for?"

"The President, a bystander in the oval office."

 

Global Warming AKA Climate Change update

Haven't done one of these in months and months. The lunacy is dying!

ClimateGate 2.0

Last week, 5,000 files of private email correspondence among several of the world's top climate scientists were anonymously leaked onto the Internet. Like the first "climategate" leak of 2009, the latest release shows top scientists in the field fudging data, conspiring to bully and silence opponents, and displaying far less certainty about the reliability of anthropogenic global warming theory in private than they ever admit in public.

Plus this -

The climate religion fades in spasms of anger and twitches of boredom.

Consider the case of global warming, another system of doomsaying prophecy and faith in things unseen.

Comparing the man-causes-global-warming mythology to religion, is quite insulting to religion, to say the least.

Croton River rescues cost the town $30,000

Back in August when five stupid men decided it would be a good idea to rubber raft down the Croton River during the giant storm, the sad result was The Croton Drowning Death .

The bills have come in for the rescue.

CROTON-ON-HUDSON — The village spent nearly $30,000 on a search-and-rescue operation after a group of expert whitewater rafters capsized on the Croton River in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene, killing one of them and triggering a major response from emergency agencies across the region.

Village Manager Abe Zambrano said Wednesday that the final estimate for the operation would be submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and it includes the cost of lost equipment, damage to a fireboat, gasoline and overtime, at just under $30,000. The federal government is likely to reimburse 87.5 percent of those costs, Zambrano said, based on a previous meeting with a FEMA representative.

******

The final report on the accident prepared by village police, obtained under a state Freedom of Information Law request, shows a fast-moving and complicated operation spanning several miles of riverfront. Dangerous situations were plentiful for the rescue crews as well as for the five men in the raft.

Hit the link for the whole thing. It was a hair-raising rescue, which almost cost at least one rescuer his life.

Why high tech industry growth is not the answer to unemployment

A good article (by Henry Blodget, a guy I really don't like) from Business Insider about a big new Aoole data center in North Carolina - it only produced 50 new jobs.

In the prior generation of American manufacturing companies, the decision to locate a huge new facility in Maiden would have been transformative for the town. This is one reason Maiden lured Apple with major tax breaks and crowed about the company's decision to put a data center there.

The NY Giants players say the Giants punter is the strongest man on the team

"Pound for pound", that is.

In this morning's NY Times -

Punters and kickers are, at least stereotypically, “the soft,” “wimpy” type, Giants punter Steve Weatherford said. But according to many of Weatherford’s teammates, Weatherford — at 210 pounds — is pound for pound the strongest player in the Giants’ weight room. He proudly works to maintain what defensive end Justin Tuck called (with only a hint of envy) a “total beach body.”

Weatherford, a seven-year veteran who has played with four other teams, readily admits that he is blessed with “some pretty good genetics.” But that does not fully explain his 5 ½ percent body fat or the fact that he regularly lifts as much weight as the Giants’ linebackers.

A few weeks ago, Weatherford was unable to do his daily workout at the usual time — he typically works when offensive and defensive players are in meetings — so he found himself lifting later in the day, when more of his teammates were around.

As Weatherford went through his progression, he noticed several players pointing at him. Then, as he went to replace the 100-pound dumbbells he was using, center David Baas — who is 6-4 and 312 pounds — stopped him. Baas was impressed.

“Why are you so strong?” Baas asked Weatherford. “You don’t even need it.”

Weatherford had a simple answer: longevity. During the off-season, he often trains with John Carney, the former kicker who is a mentor to Weatherford and Morstead. Carney retired in 2010 after playing for seven teams, including the Giants, during a career that spanned 23 seasons.

Quick family picture as Joe heads back to RIT

We loved having Joe with us for the past week.

our friend Damian took a few pictures of us outside church Sunday morning, just before Joe headed back to school.

Why do I always look so pale in these family shots?

Tom - Tim - Brigid - Joe

Who is the football player in this picture? Who's the engineer? Who's the artist? Who's the BS'er?

The financial mess in Europe

By that I mean the Euro zone, common currency , etc.

Good piece summarizing the situation in yesterday's NY Times Global Business section.

Two main options exist: either the euro zone splits apart or it binds closer together.

Each of these paths — Greece, and possibly others, dropping the euro or the emergence of a deeper political union in which a federal Europe takes control of national budgets — would lead to serious political, legal and financial consequences.

******

Bernard Connolly, a persistent critic of Europe, estimates it would cost Germany, as the main surplus-generating country in the euro area, about 7 percent of its annual gross domestic product over several years to transfer sufficient funds to bail out Europe’s debt-burdened countries, including France.

the bottom line - Germany must sacrifice it's standard of living - with no assurance that their bailout would ultimately succeed.

That amount, he has argued, would far surpass the huge reparations bill foisted upon Germany by the victorious powers after World War I, the final payment of which Germany made in 2010.

Read the whole article - the next few yearsa re going to be interesting.

 

 

Over 2 million people have turned out in Russia to view "relic" believed to promote fertility

I am absolutely agnostic on these sort of pious objects. This is supposed to be a wool belt worn by Mary. So I am a strong sceptic.  

But it's interesting that there's this much interest in Russia ...

2 Million Russians turn out for fertility relic

The Voice of Russia reports that Mr. Vladimir Yakunin, the head of the Council of Trustees of the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation, which organized the transportation of the Belt from Athos to Russia comments:

“We did no expect to see such a great number of people willing to pray before the shrine. We saw a lot of pilgrims in Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Ussuriysk, Tyumen and other cities. And those were not only orthodox Christians but people of different beliefs. For example, in Saint Petersburg we saw a Muslim woman, who was taken from a hospice to see the shrine. This proves that more and more people are striving for spiritual revival, and they believe in better. Monks who accompanied the shrine from Athos were astonished at such a huge number of believers arriving to pray before the Belt”.

 The belt has already visited 14 Russian cities, and Moscow is the last point before it is taken back to Greece.  In total, approximately 2 million people in Russia have queued to venerate the holy relic.  As Marcus mentioned, according to the Associated Press “the influential Russian Orthodox Church is actively promoting motherhood to help the government curtail a population decline.”  If this many people are turning out to have their fertility boosted there is hope for Russia yet! 

Perhaps this huge turnout also says something about a changing religious demographic in Russia.  For a country which until the 1990s was a state-sanctioned atheistic nation, the people’s spirituality certainly seems to be alive and well. 

Hit the link for a neat picture.  

Got this in an email - Hip replacement gone bad? Sue the bugger!!

I have an ever-expanding group of friends who've had their hip replaced - how do you "recall" a hip? Hit the link for all the details.

Thousands of Hip Implants Have Been Recalled Due to Failure

 

Tom Wicker

The NY Times columnist. He wrote on their op ed page until 1991.

Tom Wicker, Journalist and Observer

He was a liberal with a capital L. A great writer, who stated his positions rationally and with fairness, especially  compared to the dodos the Times has had since then (Collins, Rich, Herbert, Brooks, et al).

In 1990, just before he retired, I wrote him a letter questioning his pro-choice/pro-abortion position. He sent me a nice note back.

Anyway, I wish he hadn't retired and had kept going, even if only with a weekly column.

 

A different take on the students-being-peppered-sprayed incident on the California campus

In case you missed it, here's video -  pepper spray incident 

But - check this from one of the protesters

Well we were protesting together and the riot cops came at us and we linked arms and sat down peacefully to protest their presence on our campus. And then at one point they were – we had encircled them and they were trying to leave and they were trying to clear a path. And so we sat down, linked arms and said that if they wanted to clear the path they would have to go through us. But we were on the ground, you know, heads down and all I could see was people telling me to cover my head, protect myself and put my head down. And the next thing I know we were pepper-sprayed.

Nevertheless, I think it was an over-reaction by the police. If you look at the video they culd have easily walked around or through/over the students.

OWS - income inequality - crony capitalism

An op ed in the Wall Street Journal by Arthur Brooks makes a very valid point in a good essay that's only 11 paragraphs  -

The protesters are on firm ground when they denounce those who get rich because of their political pull.

Free-enterprise advocates should view this as a rare opportunity to expose mistaken and misleading arguments about income inequality. The dreaded top 1% earns about 20% of income today, we hear. Yes, and they also pay 37% of the federal income taxes, according to the Tax Foundation. Further, as my colleague Jim Pethokoukis has shown, wealth inequality is roughly unchanged from 20 years ago—and from 40, 60 and 80 years ago too, for that matter. According to the Congressional Budget Office, every income quintile has seen a real increase in purchasing power of at least 18% over the past 30 years.

The Occupy protesters are dead wrong on income inequality—but they are not so wrong in indicting our system today for unfairness, and for being wracked with crony capitalism, insider dealings and corruption. What is a fair economic system? Some define it in terms of forced income redistribution. The overwhelming majority of Americans, however, believe fairness means rewarding merit, even if that means some people have a lot more than others.

Sarah Palin ( who since she's not running for office is suddenly yesterday's news) makes the same point in another WSJ op ed eight days ago-

Politicians who arrive in Washington as men and women of modest means leave as millionaires. Why?

Mark Twain famously wrote, "There is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress." Peter Schweizer's new book, "Throw Them All Out," reveals this permanent political class in all its arrogant glory. (Full disclosure: Mr. Schweizer is employed by my political action committee as a foreign-policy adviser.)

Mr. Schweizer answers the questions so many of us have asked. I addressed this in a speech in Iowa last Labor Day weekend. How do politicians who arrive in Washington, D.C. as men and women of modest means leave as millionaires? How do they miraculously accumulate wealth at a rate faster than the rest of us? How do politicians' stock portfolios outperform even the best hedge-fund managers'? I answered the question in that speech: Politicians derive power from the authority of their office and their access to our tax dollars, and they use that power to enrich and shield themselves.

The money-making opportunities for politicians are myriad, and Mr. Schweizer details the most lucrative methods: accepting sweetheart gifts of IPO stock from companies seeking to influence legislation, practicing insider trading with nonpublic government information, earmarking projects that benefit personal real estate holdings, and even subtly extorting campaign donations through the threat of legislation unfavorable to an industry. The list goes on and on, and it's sickening.

Astonishingly, none of this is technically illegal, at least not for Congress. Members of Congress exempt themselves from the laws they apply to the rest of us. That includes laws that protect whistleblowers (nothing prevents members of Congress from retaliating against staffers who shine light on corruption) and Freedom of Information Act requests (it's easier to get classified documents from the CIA than from a congressional office).

The corruption isn't confined to one political party or just a few bad apples. It's an endemic problem encompassing leadership on both sides of the aisle. It's an entire system of public servants feathering their own nests.

 

 

Here's a diving feat

From the Telegraph (UK) online, as a free diver (no breathing apparatus) swims through a 492 foot long underwater cave system.

 

More on Stepinac beating White Plains in their annual Turkey Bowl

I already posted about this here Stepinac wins annual Turkey Bowl vs. White Plains, 38-14. , but I got the number of people attending wrong when I said it was 2,500-3,000.

Less than a week after a tough loss in the CHSFL AAA championship game, Stepinac defeated White Plains 38-14 Thursday at a fully packed Loucks Memorial Field.

An estimated 5,000 people were in attendance for the 41st annual meeting between the two teams, which has become known as the Turkey Bowl.

"It's a great day for the city of White Plains," Stepinac coach Mike O'Donnell said. "I don't understand why more schools don't want to play Turkey Bowls."

While the Tigers lead the overall series 27-14, it has been the Crusaders who have had the upper hand in recent years, winning five of the last six contests.

******

With the exception of Caleb Gilligan-Evans, few Crusaders found offensive success in the first half.

The senior rushed for 64 of his 96 yards in the half and scored his only touchdown of the game

Gilligan-Evans is one of only a handful of players to ever play in four Turkey Bowls.

"I got to really understand the importance of the (Turkey Bowl), not just to Stepinac or White Plains, but to the whole city," he said. "Being on Thanksgiving, it's a very family-oriented day and everyone takes a lot of pride in it."

Senior Austin Taps found success on both sides of the ball, blocking a punt on defense and scoring on a 24-yard reception in the fourth quarter to all but seal the deal for Stepinac.

Both of these players will be going to division 1 schools next year. Gilligan-Evans has offers from Yale and Penn. He weighs close to 250 lbs (that's a big running back by any standards!). Taps is 6'4" and weighs 235, playing tight end and defensive end.

Croton going after the State Class B football title

Croton has had marvelous football results in the past several years and this is the second time in four years they will be in the state finals.

Here's a nice article about their team and especially the offensive line. Cool picture - one for the scrapbook!

Perhaps the central reason why they return to the Carrier Dome Sunday for a second state final in four years is their superiority up front. Seniors Dennis O'Connell and Kyle Ricciardi are four-year starters who played in Croton's last trip to Syracuse. Fellow senior John Brennan joined them as a two-way starter as a sophomore, and juniors Matt Gennarelli and Alex Bowser both started games a year ago. 

Thanksgiving visit to the cousins

Joe and Tim love visiting their four cousins and Uncle Phil and Aunt Ann. Unfortunately we don't get there often enough, which is dopey, considering we're only about ten minutes away.

But here are a few pix from yesterday.

The studious (A student) Katherine with and without Joe

The perpetual motion man Greg with Tim

And the youngest - pre-schooler Mark, with the oldest - 4th grader Luke

From the "Gear Junkie" - top ten new outdoor gear of 2011

I love lists like this.

I have used the current version of #4 as a summer sleeping bag on it's own, and as an extra in the fall with my down bag inside of it.

I am looking forward to the new, improved version, which I am sure will sell for a lot less than the $50 MSRP.

'Top 10' Gear of 2011 Awards!

As you can see if you look at the link above, most high quality lightweight outdoor gear is spelled e-x-p-e-n-s-i-v-e.

Stephen writes for many publications, including occasionally in the NY Times. Here's a sample - The Devil's Path in the Catskills

And, as a bonus, here's the Gear Junkie himself in a three minute video.

Fast and Light

Stepinac wins annual Turkey Bowl vs. White Plains, 38-14.

Tim and I went to the game - the last one of the season. This was the 41st Turkey bowl between Stepinac and White Plains and White Plains is way ahead in the series, 27-14. But Stepinac has now won five of the last six games.

You can read about the game at the link below. Stepinac led 10-0, White Plains went ahead 14-10 early in the third quarter, and then Stepinac blew them away with several long touchdown plays.

Stepinac 38, White Plains 14

In Westchester County, this is traditionally the second most attended high school football game, after Rye vs. Harrison.

Here are some pictures of the field and the crowd - Stepinac in white. The cheerleaders in white are with White Plains.

I think there were probably 2,500-3,000 people at the game.

Stepinac, in their 4-4-3 defense.

Tim will be a sophomore next year, and might have a chance to play in this game. I'm sure he'll be in it as a junior and senior.

 

 

 

The Thanksgiving libation

That's right, it's now Beaujolais Noveau season. By tradition, released on the third Thursday of November.

We are trying two different vintners, Georges Duboeuf - the guy who really popularized beaujolais - and Joseph Drouhin. The very reliable wine merchant we use here in Croton suggested that Drouhin may have the edge this year. We will see.

 

 

Chinchilla action, as Stitch leaves for a new home

CORRECTION - I misnamed the departed chin - confused her with Bailey, who is still here! It's now corrected.

So, one of the Chinchillas is gone, off to Joe's friend Simone's house.

The pictures and video are all done by Brigid. Unfortunately she neglected to get a picture of Stitch with her (we think Stitch is a her) new owner.

Here are a few pix of Bailey, who was born along with Stitch on August 31st -

And here's Stitch. Of course, for both chin's the names will be changing as their new owners give them their own -

And here's unedited video - five plus minutes - of their first sand bath. You knew (didn't you?) that chinchillas love sand baths.  Ignore the first shaky 25 seconds and we won't be insulted if you stop watching after a minute or two. In the background that's Joe talking to Brigid, and the squeaking is Trinity the guinea pig.

WSJ on the (so-called) Super Committee and it's failure

The Journal gets it exactly right.

The super committee's failure is rooted in a clash of visions.

Democrats don't believe they need to do more than tinker around the edges of the entitlement state while raising taxes on the rich. Republicans think the growth of government is unsustainable and can't be financed no matter how much taxes are raised.

Sounds like we need an election.

******

The abiding reality of American politics is that substantial change in Washington is impossible without Presidential leadership. And Mr. Obama does not want to lead on reforming entitlements or reducing the deficit. He is making clear he is running for re-election on a platform of consolidating the expansion of government of his first two years and raising taxes to finance it.

******

Democrats are confident they can blame Republicans for the failure and ride their president's class war campaign to victory. Republicans have to counter with a message of economic growth and sensible reforms of our government institutions so the U.S. doesn't end up like Europe.

This is for voters to decide. Let's have it out.

The whole ideao f a super committee was stupid.

Another thinking test

From my friend and humor consultant Ellen, who scored a 14. Eat your heart out Ellen, I scored either an 18 or 19 (can't remember which!) when I took it a few days ago.

Only takes five or six minutes.

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW AND TAKE THE TEST. THE NORMAL RATE IS 7 OUT OF 25. GOOD LUCK! BE SURE TO FORWARD TO YOUR FRIENDS AND CHANGE THE NUMBER IN THE SUBJECT BOX TO YOUR SCORE. DON'T BE EMBARRASSED IF ITS NOT SO HIGH. NOT MANY PEOPLE SCORE MORE THAN 5.

click here: A Think Test

European Union says you can't claim water stops dehydration

I was driving yesterday and Ruch Limbaugh was talking about this story, from the British press.

I thought he was exaggerating, but here it is, in the Daily Mail (UK) -

Drinking water does not ease dehydration, the European Union has ruled – and anyone who disagrees faces two years in prison.

The decision – after three years of discussions – results from an attempt by two German academics to test EU advertising rules which set down when companies can claim their products reduce the risk of disease.

The academics asked for a ruling on a convoluted statement which, in short, claimed that water could reduce dehydration.

Dehydration is defined as a shortage of water in the body – but the European Food Standards Authority decided the statement could not be allowed.

The ruling, announced after a conference of 21 EU-appointed scientists in Parma and which means that bottled water companies cannot claim their product stops people’s bodies drying out, was given final approval this week by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Yesterday, Tory MEP Roger Helmer said: ‘This is stupidity writ large. The euro is burning, the EU is falling apart and yet here they are worrying about the obvious qualities of water.

"Stupidity writ large." Yup. Hit the link for all the silliness.

Mrs. Pelosi comments on Catholics

“[Those who disagree] may not like the language,’’ she told The Washington Post, “but the truth is what I said. I’m a devout Catholic and I honor my faith and love it . . . but they have this conscience thing [that puts women at risk.]”

"Absolutely disgusting" - The Morning Joe hostess about Newt

Mika Brzezinski. Pompous?

International investors "reach a historic level of pessimism"

Now if you are a contrarian, maybe it's a good time to invest internationally? We'll have to check back in, in six months, to see.

Scott notes that the current international equity flow metrics are unusually negative, which is an argument to buy. At the current level, the only time it would've been too early to buy was during the Lehman Brothers crisis.

No more thrill up his leg: MSNBC Chris Matthews turns on Obama

No longer the Messiah for Matthews?

 

Some OWS protesters spent nights at a $700/day hotel

Nice!

The humor of it all.

Hell no, we won’t go — unless we get goose down pillows.

A key Occupy Wall Street leader and another protester who leads a double life as a businessman ditched fetid tents and church basements for rooms at a luxurious hotel that promises guests can “unleash [their] inner Gordon Gekko,” The Post has learned.

The $700-per-night W Hotel Downtown last week hosted both Peter Dutro, one of a select few OWS members on the powerful finance committee, and Brad Spitzer, a California-based analyst who not only secretly took part in protests during a week-long business trip but offered shelter to protesters in his swanky platinum-card room.

Stepinac falls short in the CHSFL AAA finals

Stepinac lost to St. Anthony's, the #1 high school in New York State, 14-0 Friday evening.

The NY Post had a very good article on the game - including nice comments by Mike O'Donnell, the Stepinac head coach.

play reverses Stepinac's momentum in 'AAA' title game loss

Brigid, Tim and I traveled to the game, at Mitchel Field, across from the Nassau Coliseum. Tim's friend and fellow freshamn football player Chase Fendrich, along with our friend (and also a Stepinac alum) Ed Riely, went with us.

The Stepinac defense was excellent (Stepinac had lost to St. Anthony's a few weeks ago, 55-29, and the defense could not stop them!). The only score the St. Anthony offense had was in the second quarter, after they ended Stepinac's opening drive with an end zone interception.

But Stepinac's offense sputtered much of the night. They couldn't get their passing attack going. At the end of the game, they did have a drive that started from inside their own one yard line, but ended with under a minute left on the St. Anthony six yard line - turned over on downs.

The decisive point in the game came midway through the third quarter, as Stepinac was moving the ball, but then St. Anthony's defensive player picking up a fumble and ran 61 yards for a touchdown.

This Thanksgiving Day morning is the last game ofthe season - the annual "Turkey Bowl" against White Plains. I'm sure Tim and I will be going.

 

 

 

What a Supreme Court Justice does when he retires.

The Washington Post had a fascinating short interview yesterday with retired Justice John Paul Stevens. It's fair to say that Stevens was a "liberal" member of the court, and was the third longest serving Justice. He retired at age 90.

What does a Supreme Court justice do in retirement?

Q) I hear you once said 70 was the optimal age to retire.

I am not sure I said that. In my second or third year on the court, I asked one of my law clerks to do a study at what age most Supreme Court justices retired. And I think he told me somewhere around 70. And I thought that might be the appropriate age to retire. Then time went on, and I didn’t retire at 70.

Q) How did you know it was time to retire at 90?

Thought it was time.

Q) Did age bring you more wisdom to your job?

Well, I don’t think it brought me more wisdom. It brought me more knowledge. I learned a great deal in the years after I reached 70. Working at the court is a learning process.

The entire interview only takes a few minutes to read. He just published a book on five Supreme Court chief justices (he served with three of them).

Joe back from college + chinchilla update

As mentioned here earlier today Joe has traveled down from RIT and is home. First thing he did - as Brigid was sure he'd do - was head to the back roome to see the chinchillas.

you may recall that three chinchillas were born the day Joe left for RIT on August 31st. He literally went back to say bye bye to the guinea pig and three chinchillas, and dusty had given birth to three babies.

Unfortunately, one died four days later - we don't know why. The other two - with the temporary ames (from Brigid) of Stitch and Bailey - have done well.

Early in the video, you can just hear Tim call out to Joe - "Joe even  for two months out of the gym, I can still bench press more then Dad."

And then I start moaning about Chili (the father) in the adjacent cage, trying to bite me.

Joe takes one out and then Oooops!

 

Here's the original video, as Joe discovered the babies, back on August 31st. They certainly have changed in 11 and a half weeks.

 

Joe on his way home today

Just texted Joe and he's on the bus, due into NYC just after 4 o'clock.

RIT is on a quarter and not semester system (there are in the midst of changing ove, so they'll be like most other colleges) and Joe had his quarterly exams this past week. now he's off all week and will return to RIT next weekend.

We are all excited about having him home - and he seems to be glad to be getting home. He told me last night that "college food doesn't agree with me."

 

Physicians who wrote out sick notes for Wisconsin protesters are formally reprimanded by Medical Board

Remember the Docs who were interviewed, as they wrote out sick notes for people demonstrating in Madison, Wisconsin months ago?

Seven doctors received a reprimand from a state board Wednesday after issuing sick notes to demonstrators during the protests against Gov. Scott Walker's union bargaining law.

"The board action today holds these physicians accountable for their very public actions," said a statement from Sujatha Kailas, a physician and chairman of the Medical Examining Board.

******

During the protests, doctors in white lab coats were videotaped issuing excuse notes for workers, which critics blasted as a sick-day dodge.

The Medical Examining Board reached stipulations with seven doctors Wednesday in which they were formally reprimanded for failing to make adequate records on the patients they saw during the protests. The stipulations also required the doctors to pay $225 to $350 each for costs and take four hours of continuing education courses within 90 days on medical record keeping.

The reprimands will stay on the doctors' records permanently and will show up in a national database of physicians, Murray said. The doctors' reprimands would be a factor in determining discipline in future cases if any of the doctors come before the board again, he said.

I'm kind of surprised the board went to this trouble. Was it justified? you need to read the whole article to have a reasonable opinion. Note the term "stipulation" above which in New York courts has a specific meaning. And of course, they MD's weren't in court and it was in Wisconsin.

Headline: "80 is the new 65 when it comes to retirement ..."

Ha! No joke.

Three-fourths of those surveyed said they expect to work in their retirement years. One quarter said they will "need to work until at least age 80" to live comfortably in retirement.

 

Stepinac going for the championship this evening.

Against the heavy favorite, St. Anthony's. At Mitchel Field, out by the Nassau Coliseum at 7:00.

We will be driving to the game, along with a couple of Tim's friends. Here's how Stepinac got to the CHSFL AAA championship match. Stepinac makes the AAA final match

Stepinac is a huge underdog, you can read about it here. Stepinac vs. St. Anthony's

The game is on live, on the MSG varsity television network (that's channel 14 on cablevision in Westchester) starting at 7PM. 

 

FDA revokes use of Avastin for breast cancer

I've posted about this issue before, most recently here.  Breast cancer and the drug Avastin This article quotes a WSJ editorial.

And I think it's the wrong decision. Very wrong.

Your government at work.

From the Washington Post -

FDA says Avastin should no longer be used for breast cancer, citing no proof it extends life

If you are interested in this issue, I suggest not only reading the Washinton Post article, but the other  posting as well, and then folllow the links.

Kimmel: Regis Philbin's last day on "Live with Regis and Kelly"

Kimmel gives his take on the last show, which is today ...

 

"The Iron Lady" Trailer; Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher

At time Meryl looks the part, and at times she doesn't. But she is a great actress.

The English, atheist, communist socialist, who was the best man at our wedding in Jamaica despised Thatcher.

 

Good article "Predicting the Outcome in Europe and What it Means for U.S. stocks"

This is an excellent article, including the four minute embedded video. Lots of good points, the obvious one being don't take to heart the daily ruminations of business and investment pundits.

I especially like the author's point here:

I continue to hold a contrary constructive view on Europe. My reason is pretty simple:

It is in the financial interest of the entire world to reach a solution.

Here's the not-very-long article:

Predicting The Outcome In Europe And What It Means For U.S. Stocks

 

Tim knee update

Six weeks post-surgery today, and saw Dr. Weinstein. Tim no longer needs to use crutches, but will continue wearing a brace (a smaller one) that allows him to flex, but keeps his knee properly aligned - no twisting. 

Tim very relieved and happy to be off the crutches. We went to the gym afterwards, and he walked on the treadmill for 16 minutes at 2 miles an hour. Then lifted weights for half an hour. He did very well, was able to easily bench press two reps at 155 lbs, as part of a 38 rep benching workout. Did some other stuff, all carefully designed to avoid any pressure on the knee, beyond walking.

Tim weighed 186 lbs. before his injury; tonight he weighed 184, so very pleased about that.

He starts physical therapy in two weeks.

All in all, a good day.

Turning your phone into supercamera

Attachments, and for not a lot of money.

Say, Can You Make Phone Calls on That Camera?

One of Photojojo’s most popular products is a kit of three lenses, for $50, which will work with most smartphones. The kit includes a fisheye lens to capture wide-angle images, a macro lens for close-up detail shots and a telephoto lens for objects or people far away. The lenses can also be purchased individually for $20 to $25.

The lenses all come with a small magnetic ring that sticks to the back of a smartphone, and they can be attached to the ring when in use. Just connect the appropriate lens, snap a photo and disconnect. No fiddling with f-stops, apertures or other confusing camera adjustments.

“People don’t have to be intimidated by photography anymore,” said Jen Giese, Photojojo’s store manager. “With a smartphone and some easy-to-use lenses, they don’t need to know anything about photography or lighting to take great pictures. It’s become extremely accessible.”

Washington Post on Gingrich doing well in polls, and a video of him responding to a good question

Here's the WaPo piece -

Gingrich allowed that self-control has not exactly been his strong suit in the past.

“That’s true,” said the man who once accused President Obama of having a “Kenyan, anti-colonial” worldview. “Hopefully, I’m going to be more disciplined.”

But he insisted: “I’m much more relaxed and more mature than I was 12 years ago. . . . I have had 12 years to rest and to think and to run small businesses.”

One thing he will not do, Gingrich said, is go on the attack against Romney.

“I don’t need to try to get his votes,” he explained. “My campaign is going to focus on substance. My campaign is going to focus on very large proposals, the size of the challenges the country faces.”

and here's the video -

We (in the form of the Federal Reserve) now own more of our own treasury debt then the Chinese

Of course, only with the central government can you own your own debt.

Smoke and mirrors.

At the close of business on Tuesday, the debt of the federal government exceeded $15 trillion for the first time--with the largest single owner of the publicly held portion of that debt being the Federal Reserve.

In its latest monthly report, the Federal Reserve said that as of Sept. 28, it owned $1.665 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities. That was more than double the $812 billion in U.S. Treasury securities the Fed said it owned as of Sept. 29, 2010.

Meanwhile, as of the end of this September, entities in mainland China owned $1.1483 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities, according to data published today by the U.S. Treasury Department. That was down slightly from the $1.1519 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities the Chinese owned as of the end of September 2010, according to the same Treasury Department report.

Aging and exercise

An encouraging article in the excellent NY Times health section. hit the link for the whole article - after all, it's your body. 

(FULL DISCLOSURE: I graduated from my fifties this past summer.)

Is physical frailty inevitable as we grow older? That question preoccupies scientists and the middle-aged, particularly when they become the same people.

... a growing body of newer science suggests that such decline may not be inexorable. Exercise, the thinking goes, and you might be able to rewrite the future for your muscles.

Then some interesting results of recent studies, and the final musings -

Other questions about the impacts of exercise on aging muscle also remain unanswered. “We don’t know what kinds of exercise are best,” Dr. Wright says and, in particular, whether endurance exercise is necessary for muscle sparing or whether weight training might be as good or better. Scientists also haven’t determined just how much activity is required to maintain muscle mass, or how intense it needs to be.

“What we can say with certainty is that any activity is better than none,” Dr. Wright says, “and more is probably better than less. But the bigger message is that it looks as if how we age can be under our control. Through exercise, you can preserve muscle mass and strength and avoid the decline from vitality to frailty.”

Blonde joke

From humor consultant Ellen, with some modifications -

As a blonde was driving down the highway, her cell phone rang.

Answering, she heard her mother's voice urgently warning her "Helen, I just heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on Interstate 77!

Please be careful!!"

"Heck," said Helen, "It's not just one car. It's hundreds of them!"

Embryonic stem cell research firm ends it's studies

Good.

As a person who benefitted tremendously from an autologous stem cell transplant (where I was given back my own previously harvested stem cells to rebuild my immune system after chemotherapy) I'm delightedthat they are giving up immoral research to concentrate on something that can actually help people.

Embryonic stem cell pioneer Geron exiting such research to focus on cancer drug tests

The company doing the first government-approved test of embryonic stem cell therapy is discontinuing further stem cell work, a move with stark implications for a field offering hope of future medicines for conditions with inadequate or no current treatments.

The Washington Post article continues, with the standard BS about how embryonic stem cell research shows "great promise", etc, etc, with a little lip service to it being "controversial". Some of us do object to creating, raising and then killing human embryos. ...

Meanwhile here's Benedict XVI (that's the Pope) a couple of days ago, on Embryonic stem cell research -

"It Is Tempting for Scientists and Policy-Makers to Brush Aside Ethical Objections"

The pragmatic mentality that so often influences decision-making in the world today is all too ready to sanction whatever means are available in order to attain the desired end, despite ample evidence of the disastrous consequences of such thinking. When the end in view is one so eminently desirable as the discovery of a cure for degenerative illnesses, it is tempting for scientists and policy-makers to brush aside ethical objections and to press ahead with whatever research seems to offer the prospect of a breakthrough. Those who advocate research on embryonic stem cells in the hope of achieving such a result make the grave mistake of denying the inalienable right to life of all human beings from the moment of conception to natural death. The destruction of even one human life can never be justified in terms of the benefit that it might conceivably bring to another. Yet, in general, no such ethical problems arise when stem cells are taken from the tissues of an adult organism, from the blood of the umbilical cord at the moment of birth, or from fetuses who have died of natural causes...

 

Cable News ratings

I am semi-conversant on cable news, since I watch it in the gym.

MSNBC surpasses CNN? (CNN's Piers Morgan is a brainless idiot, but otherwise a travesty.) Can you believe that many people watch Al Sharpton? Even when I'm on the treadmill in the gym I can't stand to listen to him for more than a few seconds. He's just unbearable.

But FOX NEWS still king by a massive amount.

MON., NOV. 14, 2011

FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,185,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,207,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 2,104,000
FOXNEWS SHEP 1,969,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 1,669,000
MSNBC SCHULTZ 907,000
MSNBC HARDBALL 866,000
MSNBC MADDOW 814,000
MSNBC O'DONNELL 766,000
MSNBC SHARPTON 734,000
CNN COOPER 565,000
CNN PIERS MORGAN 544,000

 

Gasoline (Petrol) prices; it's all relative

U.S.A. vs. Europe

Think gasoline is expensive in the U.S.?

 

 

Michel Barone compares the Tea Party to the 60's Peace Movement

Here's a column that will bug lots of people ...

It irritates members of both groups when I note the similarities of the Tea Party movement that swept the nation in the 2010 election and the peace movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

But they are similar. Both movements represent the surge in political activity by hundreds of thousands, even millions, of previously uninvolved citizens.

Both movements focused on what are undeniably central, not peripheral, political issues: war and peace, the size and scope of government.

Both movements initially proclaimed themselves nonpartisan or bipartisan, but quickly channeled their efforts into one political party, the peace movement in the Democratic Party, the Tea Party movement in the Republican Party.

******

Any inrush into political activity by hundreds of thousands or millions of people will bring forward a certain number of wackos, weirdoes and witches. Tea Partiers, like peaceniks, beat moderate incumbents in party primaries and then lost in November. There were left-wing Christine O'Donnells 40 years ago.

But both movements also thrust forward many solid citizens with strong convictions, and some turned out to have good political instincts.

 

The Zuccotti Park clean-out

"For health and fire safety reasons"

Here's the NY Times Police Clear Zucotti Park of Protesters with a number of photos

And a video