Tom Faranda's Folly

What Trump, Sanders, and Clinton supporters have in common

Sent to me by Ray, on another matter, but apropos ...

For good reason, the homeless in NYC don't like shelters

Here's the NY Times on the recent murder in a Manhattan shelter.

2 Lives Collide in Fatal Night at a Harlem Shelter

The killing of Mr. Black underscored the problems plaguing the shelter system, which now houses about 58,000 people, a record, and must take in anyone who asks. Yet many homeless people fear the shelters, because of drug use, theft and violence.

******

Other residents said Mr. White was increasingly volatile, at one point flailing his arms and throwing away dollar bills. He complained to one of his brothers that someone had stolen his iPod. His mother said she talked to him on the phone, and he said he was fine and that he was taking his medication.

But he had become so convinced that people were robbing him that shelter employees gave him a replacement lock for his locker last week, said Leonard McCaffrey, another resident. He warned men who bothered him that he would “give them a 150,” Mr. McCaffrey said, meaning 150 stitches across the face.

“He would fly off the handle,” Mr. McCaffrey said.

Plenty more  well worth hitting the link. I have no idea what the answer is.

Classic: "How to make a martini"

What would 007 think?

Politico: "Hillary Clinton confronts her 43% problem"

43%. The number of Iowa Democrats who self-identify as socialist.

In the final days before Iowa votes, Clinton is trying to thread the needle between the views of her big-money donors and the surprisingly high number of Iowa Democrats who describe themselves as 'socialists.'

Paul Kantner - Jefferson Airplane

My era, I suppose. The San Fran paper - Jefferson Airplane’s Paul Kantner dies at 74

A  good 3 minute Wall Street Journal Video -

 

Kimmel: Trump's Children's Book

Very funny. Kimmel is not a loser.

How to fall 1,000 feet ... and survive

YIKES!

Pro skier Angel Collinson was shooting a documentary in Alaska’s Neacola range in April 2015 when she tumbled and fell 1,000 feet down the snow-covered mountain, amazingly surviving the fall.

 

Thomas Aquinas Feast Day today

One of the great minds in history - although his nickname as a youth was "The Dumb Ox" he's now called "The Angelic Doctor." See some quotes below -

Here's his wikipedia entry - St. Thomas Aquinas 

And here are some of his quotes, a few of which are below this link - Aquinas quotes

“Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you. Amen.”

***

“Beware the man of a single book.”

***

“We must love them both, those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject, for both have labored in the search for truth, and both have helped us in finding it.”

 

Lastly -

 

“Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine”

Chili the Chinchilla

Oh dear. The patriarch of our chinchilla family is gone. Brigid found him around 5 pm yesterday at the bottom of his cage. She called me quite upset, and I came back from my office and had to tell Joe, who was taking a nap. We don't know what happened. We got him about 6 years ago when he was fully grown, and with his girlfriend Dusty (I don't think chins take marriage vows) sired a total of 11 chins. 

Here's a picture of Chili, which i just happened to take January 17th. I had to blow it up since it was a picture of the whole back room - he's sitting in his wheel with his head poking out.

There is actually a story to this. Brigid and Joe are the real chinchilla lovers, and Chili was Joe's favorite, despite Chili's sometimes aggressive personality (he liked to bite me). Tim and Dad kind of don't give them much time. Anyway Brigid and Joe hatched a plan to get a new cage for Chili and his son Spiderman - a huge duplex cage! Meanwhile Dusty and Toby, the daughter, are living together in another cage. Long ago, our nice back room where we used to have the occasional sit-down meals, had become a chinchilla residence. The new cage was going to drop the number of chin cages in the room from three to two. While Brigid and Joe were putting together the new huge residence for the two guys, I snapped a few pictures.

Crazy, eh? you can see Joe on the left sitting on the floor, putting together the big cage.

 

Now we'll have to bury Chili in the animal burial yard at the side of the house, which we'll do later today. He spent last night in a container in the garage, in the cold so his body wouldn't deteriorate too much.

The girls will be moving into the new big residence - in fact they already have and like it. Spiderman will stay in his own residence.

We're not really sure how old Chili was - chinchilla's can live a long time - up to 15 years - but they are delicate creatures. We think he may have eaten something while out on an organized foray in the kitchen. We noticed he hadn't eaten much in the last day or so. 

When my mother was able to come to our house, the first thing she'd do is go back and look at the chins, especially Chili. Last evening I told Brigid "You know my mother is now saying 'Hey what are you doing here? I didn't expect to see you for a few years.'"

SciAm: "Zika Virus Threatens U.S. from Abroad"

From Scientific American -

"An interactive map, based on data from 50 state health departments, details how the mosquito-borne disease made its way to America in travelers’ bloodstreams."

Zika is not new to the U.S. Even as early as 2007, when the mosquito-borne disease had its first large outbreak in the Pacific island nation of Micronesia, the virus directly touched the U.S.—sickening one American traveler. Since then more than two dozen domestic cases have been reported, all from travelers who contracted Zika in more than a dozen countries around the globe. To create these exclusive maps, Scientific American launched its own investigation, gathering and analyzing information from all 50 states’ health departments, to depict a more nuanced picture of how this disease has been carried back to the U.S. via jet-setters. So far none of these cases have led to local disease transmission in the country but state health officials are bracing themselves for future such incidents.

March for Life students stranded in the snow - built a snow altar and have Mass

Stuck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, students from Nebraska and Iowa who'd traveled to DC for the March for life - whole story at the the link.

At about 9:30 p.m. Friday, the buses lurched to a stop at mile marker 133, and the group had to become comfortable for awhile -- because there they stayed for the next 23 hours. More buses with others from across the country were stuck with them, including a group from Nebraska.

An accident had stopped traffic up the road, Behm said, and in the hours it took to clear up, the snow rendered the buses immobile.

Thankfully, the buses has toilets -- until those filled up, Behm said.

About half a mile down the road, a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation station was equipped with bathrooms and food. The students were able to make use of them -- by walking there and back -- as the hours wore on.

As Saturday morning came, Behm said members of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis approached his group about performing Mass.

“It wasn’t even my idea, but I’m the one blowing up on Twitter and Facebook now,” Behm said with a laugh.

Equipped with his travel Mass kit, an altar of snow was built as hundreds congregated outside in the cold.

“I just happened to be there, the wrong place at the right time,” Behm said.

 

Pretty cool: "The Last Of The Mohicans by Alexandro Querevalú"

Came across this - I like it. Of course this is an interpretation from the great movie The Last of the Mohicans.

Here's the fellow's facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/AlexandroQuerevalu/

 

Kimmel: Chatting with interactive Barbie

Barbie decides he's a veterinarian ...

 

Bill and Hil

From my friend Joe -

Time lapse of Washington DC blizzard

Kind of cool. Especially the bottle ...

 

Kimmel: Cousin Sal contacts a carpet cleaner

Sent to me off Facebook by my bud Dennis. There is some issue of this gag being stolen from other sources, but it's really funny.

 

Croton 2016 Clearwater Festival cancelled

Surprising. A money bind. They hope to re-start the Festival in 2017.

The organization said they did not have the money to put on the two-day festival, having to pay for the restoration of the sloop Clearwater. The Coast Guard mandated it cannot sail until the restoration is completed.

"We are under a very severe financial bind," Erin Macchiaroli, media relations for Clearwater said. "We were unable to do both. The boat is what Clearwater is all about. We need to do everything to get that boat sailing."

******'

"It's been the inspiration for people to get out and experience the Hudson," Macchiaroli said. "If you love the river, you go out sailing and realize that you want to protect it."

Macchiaroli said they are planning to put on the festival in 2017. The festival was founded by Pete and Toshi Seeger.

 

Record snowfall - climate must be changing

Drudge headline last night and below, I'm using the snowblower I gave Brigid for Christmas.

WE'RE HISTORY!

DC 21" NYC 25.1"

 

3 minute Jesuit "America Media" video at the March for Life

Nice little job by the Jesuit publication, with mostly interviews with young students.

Pandas like snow ... who knew?!

Washington zoo - this is Associated Press and the BBC also picked it up.

At Friday's March for Life

 

The bus was cancelled, so a few of us drove down. The weather was really not a  problem; started snowing after one o'clock & didn't affect the drive back.

The numbers were MUCH lower - probably 20-25,000, a quarter of the #'s for the last few years. The weather.  Media coverage -. Nothing on the CNN youtube channel  and a two minute video on the FOX youtube channel. Here is the Washington Post coverage which was decent, as they usually are.  The NY Times website had a tiny article in which they said "hundreds" marched (UPDATE: Rooftop video is here. So much for the NY Times "hundreds marched"). Hahahahaha. What they should have said was "hundreds from Miami marched" since there were several hundred from high schools in Miami, who'd come up.

11 pictures + one on steps of Supreme Court. You can see how the weather changed over a period of about 2 hours.

The Rally

The March up Constitution Ave. to the Supreme Court -

There were a couple of dozen pro-abortion counter-protesters. The man's t shirt says "Abortion on Demand & Without Apology".

On the steps of the Supreme Court, women from Silent No More, speaking - very emotional, as always

 

"Pope strongly upholds Christian marriage"

In a talk he gave yesterday.

Pope strongly upholds Christian marriage

The Roman Rota judges individual cases against the laws of Christian marriage, and thereby fulfills a dual role, showing the Church’s compassion and at the same time its fidelity to Christ’s teaching, the Pontiff said. Through the tribunal, he explained, the Church “can show the unfailing merciful love of God to families—especially those wounded by sin and the trials of life—and, at the same time, proclaim the essential truth of marriage according to God's design.”

The Pope stressed that tribunal judges should exercise compassion particularly in cases when they uphold the validity of an unhappy marriage. They should “always remember that those who, by choice or unhappy circumstances of life, are living in an objective state of error, continue to be the object of the merciful love of Christ and thus the Church herself.”

The Church recognizes that many young people enter into marriage without a proper understanding of their responsibilities, the Pope continued. He remarked that “among Christians some have a strong faith, formed by charity, strengthened by good catechesis and nurtured in prayer and sacramental life, whereas others have a weak and neglected faith, unformed, uneducated or forgotten.” Nevertheless he said that the goals of Christian marriage can be attained by all couples, and in fact many couples learn to appreciate “the fullness of God’s plan for marriage” only gradually, by experience.

In a clear reference to the acceptance of other living arrangements, the Pope said that “there can be no confusion between the family willed by God and any other type of union.” This unmistakable rejection of non-marital unions appeared to be a reflection on the discussions of the Synod of Bishops last October, when some prelates had suggested greater acceptance of same-sex partnerships and cohabiting couples.

The Roman Rota judges individual cases against the laws of Christian marriage, and thereby fulfills a dual role, showing the Church’s compassion and at the same time its fidelity to Christ’s teaching, the Pontiff said. Through the tribunal, he explained, the Church “can show the unfailing merciful love of God to families—especially those wounded by sin and the trials of life—and, at the same time, proclaim the essential truth of marriage according to God's design.”

The Pope stressed that tribunal judges should exercise compassion particularly in cases when they uphold the validity of an unhappy marriage. They should “always remember that those who, by choice or unhappy circumstances of life, are living in an objective state of error, continue to be the object of the merciful love of Christ and thus the Church herself.”

The Church recognizes that many young people enter into marriage without a proper understanding of their responsibilities, the Pope continued. He remarked that “among Christians some have a strong faith, formed by charity, strengthened by good catechesis and nurtured in prayer and sacramental life, whereas others have a weak and neglected faith, unformed, uneducated or forgotten.” Nevertheless he said that the goals of Christian marriage can be attained by all couples, and in fact many couples learn to appreciate “the fullness of God’s plan for marriage” only gradually, by experience.

In a clear reference to the acceptance of other living arrangements, the Pope said that “there can be no confusion between the family willed by God and any other type of union.” This unmistakable rejection of non-marital unions appeared to be a reflection on the discussions of the Synod of Bishops last October, when some prelates had suggested greater acceptance of same-sex partnerships and cohabiting couples.

- See more at: http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=27271#sthash.VFaDVjWb.dpuf

The Roman Rota judges individual cases against the laws of Christian marriage, and thereby fulfills a dual role, showing the Church’s compassion and at the same time its fidelity to Christ’s teaching, the Pontiff said. Through the tribunal, he explained, the Church “can show the unfailing merciful love of God to families—especially those wounded by sin and the trials of life—and, at the same time, proclaim the essential truth of marriage according to God's design.”

The Pope stressed that tribunal judges should exercise compassion particularly in cases when they uphold the validity of an unhappy marriage. They should “always remember that those who, by choice or unhappy circumstances of life, are living in an objective state of error, continue to be the object of the merciful love of Christ and thus the Church herself.”

The Church recognizes that many young people enter into marriage without a proper understanding of their responsibilities, the Pope continued. He remarked that “among Christians some have a strong faith, formed by charity, strengthened by good catechesis and nurtured in prayer and sacramental life, whereas others have a weak and neglected faith, unformed, uneducated or forgotten.” Nevertheless he said that the goals of Christian marriage can be attained by all couples, and in fact many couples learn to appreciate “the fullness of God’s plan for marriage” only gradually, by experience.

In a clear reference to the acceptance of other living arrangements, the Pope said that “there can be no confusion between the family willed by God and any other type of union.” This unmistakable rejection of non-marital unions appeared to be a reflection on the discussions of the Synod of Bishops last October, when some prelates had suggested greater acceptance of same-sex partnerships and cohabiting couples.

- See more at: http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=27271#sthash.VFaDVjWb.dpuf

Wow. Mrs Clinton really could be indicted

From yesterday's Wall Street Journal daily email, which synoptizes their editorial and op ed pages.

U.S. v. Clinton

By JAMES FREEMAN

Former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who also served as a federal judge, thinks that the Department of Justice will bring a criminal case against Hillary Clinton. “The simple proposit ion that everyone is equal before the law suggests that Mrs. Clinton’s state of mind—whether mere knowledge of what she was doing as to mishandling classified information; or gross negligence in the case of the mishandling of information relating to national defense; or bad intent as to actual or attempted destruction of email messages; or corrupt intent as to State Department business—justifies a criminal charge of one sort or another,” Mr. Mukasey writes in today’s Journal.

Case of the man frozen to death who came back to life

Happened in Pennsylvania. Funny, a couple of friends mentioned this to me three days ago, and here is the BBC covering it.

I suppose this is similar to situations where people submerged under ice for long periods are able to be revived. The metabolism slows way down and your need for oxygen drops.

 

Colbert: "Tells Christian Bale how to put on weight"

Three minutes, very funny.

Drones to shoot down missiles

From the Telegraph (UK). Technology marches on ...

Pentagon plans fleet of laser drones to shoot down missiles. Four years after giving up on laser-equipped 747, military chiefs turn attention to lightweight lasers and UAVs that can stay aloft for days

Joe Costanzo, K of C Man of the Year

Which of course makes Gina Woman of the Year!

This is from last Thursday's dinner honoring Joe for his last four years as the Knights of Columbus local Council's Grand Knight. And Joe and Gina are a big presence in our community and our Parish. Or as Mike Reynolds, our new Grand Knight says, our "leader."

A good crowd - over 80 people.

Mike Reynolds, our new leader in romantic half focus.

And then the usual goof-balling around as Joe is given a series of gifts and tokens of his service. Mike is demonstrating how to use a gavel...

 

Then some short thank you's from Joe - again romantic half focus ...

Meanwhile Woman of the Year Gina is running around giving out her homemade cookies!

and for Italians, cookies are serious business -

While over at the Hot Momma Table, Felize and Keith's fourth daughter is being passed around.

Felize is the lady with the big smile across the table.

Nice picture with my phone, but a professional, Philip Jensen-Carter, took the picture. 31 guys and we all looked OK.

Joe we luv ya!

 

 

 

 

 

SciAm: Beyond Pluto - another planet

UPDATE: This is a good article also - shorter from the Guardian (UK) and with a good diagram Astronomers investigating the odd alignment of rocks beyond Pluto have concluded that an undetected icy planet four times the size of Earth must exist

Remember, Pluto has been downgraded to a dwarf or minor planet status.

Strong Evidence Suggests a Super Earth Lies beyond Pluto. Astronomers have found compelling hints of a huge, unseen world that may reside in the murky reaches of the Kuiper Belt

The planet that best fits the data would be on the order of 10 times as massive as Earth—putting it in the so-called “Super Earth” category, which includes many planets around other stars but none, until now, in our own solar system—and smaller than Neptune, the fourth-largest known planet orbiting the sun, which has about 17 Earth masses. Its most probable orbit is a highly elongated one that brings it to within 35 billion kilometers of the sun at the closest (“that’s where it does all the damage,” Brown says) and between three and six times as far away at its most distant.

 

NY Times: Retirement and: "Hello, Hiking Boots and Kayak."

Even though I'm not retired, something to look forward to? I know people who will end up doing this...

HIt the link for the whole article.

Some people retire to golf courses. Others travel. And then there are those who enjoy physical challenges, traversing hiking trails, rivers and mountains: Huck Finn meets Grizzly Adams.

Sunny Eberhart, 77, a retired eye doctor, who goes by Nimblewill Nomad, lives mostly out of his pickup truck because, well, why not?

“Put me in the great outdoors, preferably the mountains, and you’ve got a happy camper,” said Dr. Eberhart. (He uses his niece’s home in Missouri as a mailing address and occasionally swings by to pick up his mail.)

Most of these adventurers do it on the cheap, living off Social Security and incurring minimal expenses. Ms. Bray spent about $3,000, with airfare, on the trip to Spain; Mr. Roberts’s biggest costs have been replacing equipment that was lost, stolen or ruined along the way.

The lure of adventure also motivates people to stay strong. To prep for his excursions, George MacNaughton, 70, a former executive in Nahant, Mass., hits the gym a couple of times a week and does chores outside. He derives as much pleasure from planning a trip as actually taking it; he can easily spend a month poring over maps, checking out the latest equipment, calculating mileages and projecting times for any given trail.

“I’m racing to beat the aging cartilage in my knees,” said Mr. MacNaughton, who has been retired for about 15 years and has nine children. Last year he hiked and camped in Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior; and MacNaughton Mountain (no relation) in the Adirondacks; canoed on the Androscoggin River in New Hampshire; and backpacked the Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier in Washington with Fitpacking, an adventure travel company.

 

 

 

Colbert v. Patricia Heaton having a "Catholic throwdown"

Not bad. Heaton is a bit of a rarity; Hollywood pro-life Catholic. She's done some work with Feminists for Life of America.

The difference between a Socialist and a Democrat?

No Democrat seems to be able to answer it. At least Bernie Sanders is honest - maximize government control.

"Chris Matthews of all people is stumping Democrats like Hillary Clinton, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Chuck Schumer on a fairly simple question: What's the difference between a socialist and a Democrat?"

 

Autologous stem cell transplants - part of therapy being used more and more for other diseases

January 16th was the tenth anniversary of my autologous (given my own previously harvested stem cells back) transplant. (If you hit that link you'll see what is probably not the greatest picture of me.) The stem cells then rebuilt my immune system which was compromised by my prior six days of high dose chemotherapy. That was the culmination of five months of chemotherapy for my mantle cell lymphoma - seems to have worked, I'm still here...

Anyway, my friend Laurie posted a story on her facebook page where a similar protocol is showing dramatic results for people with MS (multiple sclerosis).

Here is the article, from the Telegraph (UK).

"Miraculous" results from new MS Treatment

The treatment is being carried out at Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield and Kings College Hospital, London and involves use a high dose of chemotherapy to knock out the immune system before rebuilding it with stem cells taken from the patient’s own blood.

Miss Drewry had the treatment in Sheffield. She said: “I started seeing changes within days of the stem cells being put in.

“I walked out of the hospital. I walked into my house and hugged Isla. I cried and cried. It was a bit overwhelming. It was a miracle.”

Her treatment has now been reviewed and her condition found to have been dramatically halted. She will need to be monitored for years but the hope is that her transplant will be a permanent fix.

Yes, let's hope so. Medicine and science march on!

USA top marathoner Ryan Hall retires

I vaguely have heard of him - since the only time I follow marathon events is the Olympics. He's only 33 which is not really old for a marathoner, but is suffering from chronic fatigue and low testosterone levels.

But he's got a very interesting story. He and his wife belong to a "charismatic evangelical church" and just adopted four sibling sisters from an Ethiopian orphanage.

Here's his blog. Ryan and Sara Hall

Here's a good article in the NY Times, and below that a link to Runner's World Magazine where he's interviewed about his Faith.

His Strength Sapped, Top Marathoner Ryan Hall Decides to Stop

Sprinting seven miles down a 9,000-foot mountain and then running back up to do it again may not appeal to even the most self-punishing of athletes, but Ryan Hall believes it is the kind of “experimental workout” that transformed him into the fastest American distance runner in history.

It is also the kind of extreme training that is now driving him to abruptly retire, two decades into an audacious career that produced national milestones — his time of 2 hours 4 minutes 58 seconds at the 2011 Boston Marathon is by far the fastest for an American runner — but never a victory in a major race.

And go here for the Runner's World interview about his Faith and "Faith-based training".

Ryan Hall: The Faith Interview.  The publicly devout Olympian's thoughts on the intersection of sport and religion

WSJ: "Hillary and Ted’s (Cruz) Big Problem "

The Wall Street Journal now sends around a morning email, summarizing their editorials and op eds. Here's some thoughts from Friday's.

Hillary and Ted’s Big Problem

Peggy Noonan says that “Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz have both recently learned the same two lessons. The first is that it is not at all pleasant to face a competitor who’s as tough and mean as you are. In each case that competitor is Donald Trump.” Our columnist writes that the second thing Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Cruz “are both learning, I suspect, is something most people learn by their 20s: It matters what people think of you.”

Mr. Cruz is getting no backup from other Republicans on Mr. Trump’s birther argument because “almost no one” who works with Mr. Cruz “likes him.” And as for Hillary Clinton, the problem “is that so many people do not find her to be a person of reliable integrity.” Ms. Noonan adds, “After 23 years at the highest levels of public life, Mrs. Clinton has become encrusted by scandal, from her part in her husband’s dramas straight through to Benghazi, the Clinton Foundation and the emails, in connection with which she may be indicted.”

Mrs. Clinton’s struggles against socialist Bernie Sanders may also be the result of changes in her party. The Journal’s Kimberley Strassel writes that “Barack Obama’s biggest legacy may prove his dismantling of the Democratic center. He ran as a uniter, but he governed as a divisive ideologue and as a liberal, feeding new fervor in the progressive wing.”

Very cool! Underwater drone spying on Great White Sharks

This is from an article in the Guardian (UK). Great white shark's predatory behavior captured by underwater drone video

Here's the five minute video. As close as anyone wants to get to their teeth!

 

Carly Fiorina's 3 shots at Hillary Clinton

During yesterday's "undercard" debate - I didn't watch it, or the main debate - this is from the Washington Post.

The first, whether true or not, is a cheap shot. The next two are right on.

 

Luis Arroyo - Yankee reliever

I vividly remember this guy, with his "screwjie" (screwball pitch), as described by Phil Rizzuto. He saved Whitey Ford's bacon during Ford's great 25 win 1961 season, which was far and away Arooyo's best season.

He was 88.

Some nice photos at both of these links.

He was an All-Star in his rookie season in St. Louis, but his best year in the majors came in 1961 when he helped the Bronx Bombers win the World Series. He finished with a 15-5 record, 2.19 ERA and major league-best 29 saves that season and even earned a victory in the Fall Classic over Cincinnati. He made his second and final All-Star team in 1961 as well.

And the NY Times

Luis Arroyo, Baseball’s Best Reliever in ’61, Dies at 88

SciAm: "Can We Truly 'Cure' Cancer?"

It was such a relief when I, a cancer suvivor (for the moment anyway), heard that the President had put VP Biden in charge of curing cancer. Didn't Nixon declare a "War on Cancer".? Parenthetically, I have about the same opinion of our current President as I have of Nixon ...

Anyway here's a Scientific American web article from yesterday on the issue of "curing" cancer. Excerpts below. It's a very good article - hit the link for all ten paragraphs.

Pres. Obama laid out a moon-shot target of knocking out cancer, but cancer is not one disease—it’s many

On January 12 Pres. Barack Obama laid out an aspirational plan in his final State of the Union to “cure cancer.” He did not put forth a specific time line for this effort or the metrics that would measure success but did say that he was putting Vice Pres. Joe Biden in charge of “mission control.” And already, the White House released information about several meetings in the coming month that Biden will hold to get the ball rolling on the initiative.

Yet is such a goal truly achievable in the near future? Patients and doctors know all too well that cancer is not one disease and there is no singular cure for the complex group of disorders. Biden did help secure a $264-million cash infusion in the most recent government spending bill that will support cancer work at the National Cancer Institute, but the obstacles to attacking cancer effectively are more than just financial. “A cure is a long way off,” but the prospect for some specific cancers does look bright, says James Allison, chair of the Department of Immunology at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. For his part, at least Allison was not surprised about the announcement last night, he says, because the vice president himself called him and other researchers within the past two months to talk about cancer research. And now, unlike even five years ago, a 10-year remission is realistic for cancers like melanoma, which seemingly were unbeatable.

These gains are largely thanks to historic breakthroughs in the past few years with a bevvy of methods to employ patients’ own immune systems, collectively known as immunotherapy. But still large obstacles remain when it comes to getting immunotherapy to work for many different types of tumors. Although some cancers—particularly those that are rife with mutations like lung cancer or melanoma—create more tangible targets on the surface of cells for the immune system to recognize and attack, other malignancies such as prostate and pancreatic cancers have proved more intransigent. As Scientific American reported earlier this year, more than half of the current cancer clinical trials do incorporate some form of immunotherapy but still oncologists are often only in the early stages of understanding how to use such treatment on a larger scale. Even with the cancers that are further along in their immunotherapy responses, a “certain fraction of those kinds of tumors, I don’t know we’ll ever cure,” Allison says.

It's a very good article - hit the link

NY Times clobbers New York's (formerly) #1 restaurant

Per Se, a restaurant I'd never heard of, because I can't can't afford $3,000 for a dinner for four. They downgraded it from four stars to two.

At Thomas Keller’s Per Se, Slips and Stumbles

Such is Per Se’s mystique that I briefly wondered if the failure to bring her a new napkin could have been intentional. The restaurant’s identity, to the extent that it has one distinct from that of its owner and chef, Thomas Keller, is based on fastidiously minding the tiniest details. This is the place, after all, that brought in a ballet dancer to help servers slip around the tables with poise. So I had to consider the chance that the server was just making a thoughtful accommodation to a diner with a napkin allergy.

****

With each fresh review, a restaurant has to earn its stars again. In its current form and at its current price, Per Se struggled and failed to do this, ranging from respectably dull at best to disappointingly flat-footed at worst.

****

The kitchen could improve the bacon-wrapped cylinder of quail simply by not placing it on top of a dismal green pulp of cooked romaine lettuce, crunchy and mushy at once. Draining off the gluey, oily liquid would have helped a mushroom potpie from turning into a swampy mess. I don’t know what could have saved limp, dispiriting yam dumplings, but it definitely wasn’t a lukewarm matsutake mushroom bouillon as murky and appealing as bong water.

Yikes!

Servers sometimes give you the feeling that you work for them, and your job is to feel lucky to receive whatever you get. As you leave, you’re handed a gift bag. It’s small, but still too big for its contents, two chocolate sandwich cookies for each person and an illustrated booklet called “Per Se Purveyors.” No doubt this will make useful reading some sleepless night, but it feels like the swag that’s given out after a free press lunch. Except Per Se isn’t free.

Devastating.

 

A kangaroo mourns his dying mate

UPDATE: Ahhh, another anthropomorphic bubble is burst. hit this link for the follow up story. Images of 'grieving' kangaroos misinterpreted

Sent from Australia (where else for a kangaroo) by Brigid's niece June. Hit the link for the story and more pictures.

Dying kangaroo’s sad goodbye

A GRIEVING male kangaroo grasping on to the dying mother of a nearby joey is not something you see every day while walking your dog.

 

What happened on the missed field goal that cost Minnesota the game.

FULL DISCLOSURE: When I was living in the Caribbean I did some rugby penalty and conversion kicking. I was pretty average, but there was no one else, and I missed plenty of "easy" kicks.

I thought that the problem was that Blair Walsh's plant foot (the non-kicking foot) skidded. But maybe it always skids? Here's an interesting analysis by a former kicker, in USA Today.

An NFL kicking expert explains what happened on the Blair Walsh miss

 

President's State of the Union speech in 2 minutes

Timesaver from the WSJ.

 

Tavis Smiley: " On every leading economic issue, ... Black Americans have lost ground" under Obama

One minute video below -

Megyn Kelly: On the subject of race, are we better off today that seven years ago?

Tavis Smiley: I’m not sure we are and I think ultimately the president missed a moment… On every leading economic issue, in the leading economic issues Black Americans have lost ground in every one of those leading categories. So in the last ten years it hasn’t been good for black folk. This is the president’s most loyal constituency that didn’t gain any ground in that period.

You can find some statistics if you go here and scroll down -

 

Royal Bank of Scotland says "Sell everything except for high-quality bonds"

I disagree but here's the story - off the AOL website.

In his note, Roberts likened the current situation to 2008, except this time China would be the crisis point, instead of Lehman Brothers.

 

Colbert: Trump and the ominous Warlock Poll

Amusing. Also explains why Republicans find his humor cloying.

Moveon.org endorses Bernie Sanders for Democrat primary

I've been on their email list for years.  From the Associated Press -

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Tuesday received the endorsement of MoveOn.org, a grassroots organization that has been at the forefront of liberal causes.

MoveOn says the Vermont senator was supported by 78.6 percent of its membership in an online vote of more than 340,000 members. Hillary Clinton received 14.6 percent and Martin O'Malley received 0.9 percent with the remaining members urging no endorsement.

"MoveOn members are feeling the Bern," said Ilya Sheyman, executive director of MoveOn.org Political Action. "We will mobilize aggressively to add our collective people power to the growing movement behind the Sanders campaign, starting with a focus on voter turnout in Iowa and New Hampshire

****

The group was formed in response to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, with its supporters urging Congress to censure the president and move on to more pressing matters facing the American people.

 

 

Fallon job interviews Trump for President

Fallon can be clever. i think he's interviewing Hillary for the job later this week. Interesting what Trump says is his weakness.

 

Voters calling themselves Democrats or Republicans reaching record lows

From Gallup.

Overall, 42 percent over the course of the past year identified as independents, a slight drop from the 43 percent who identified as such in 2014. While Democrats maintained a small advantage over Republicans — 29 percent to 26 percent — the Democratic share is at its lowest in Gallup history.

Prior to 2015, the lowest share of Americans identifying as members of the Democratic Party came in 2014, with 30 percent. Going back to 1988, 29 percent is the lowest overall share of self-identified Democrats since the polling institution began interviewing subjects via telephone instead of in person. According to its data from 1951 to 1987, however, there was never a year in which less than 37 percent identified themselves as Democrats, making the 29 percent the lowest in Gallup’s 65 years of asking the question.

Meanwhile, the share of self-identified Republicans is just 1 percentage point above its Gallup historical low of 25 percent in 2013, dating back to 1988.

Yeah, some gun people are whackos.

Luckily nobody ever was hurt by this guy. The authorities handled the 16 year situation well.

From the Daily Mail (UK). As typical with their articles - lots of pictures.

 

Longest armed stand-off in American history ends: Grandfather who bit a cop then threatened to kill any officer who came to arrest him has charges dropped after 16 years meaning he is free to leave his home for first time wince 1999

In late 1999, Gray was in a car pulled over for speeding in nearby Anderson County.

State troopers saw high-powered rifles and anti-government materials in the car, but Gray refused to get out. When the troopers tried to remove him from the car, he allegedly bit one trooper's hands and tried to grab his gun.

After his arrest Gray showed up in court for a bail hearing, when Anderson County District Attorney Doug Lowe told the judge he feared Gray was a major threat because troopers found diagrams of plans to blow up a Dallas overpass.

The family have been living behind a fence without running water and electricity, challenging authorities to arrest Gray for the third-degree felony warrant since that hearing.

Hand-drawn warning signs litter the outskirts of the grounds, where the family grow their own fruit and vegetables to live off.

Gray, who used to work in construction, claimed he did not ever feel like a prisoner 'living out here and following God's laws'. 

Despite this, he did appear to be tempted to leave his property in 2000 after actor Chuck Norris met him and offered to get him free legal representation. However, Gray turned down the offer. 

Gray had boasted that he will never leave, but finally - after 16 years - he might just venture beyond his garden gate.

Hudson Valley Hiking can be tricky: "Dramatic New Year's Eve Rescue"

Our great friend (and fellow sometime hiker) Karen sent me this, from the Cold Spring?Beacon local paper.

Seems like they got lost near Bull Hill/Mount Taurus. Karen sent it to me because I'd told her that the last Hike of the Month (which I've yet to post about) ran longer than expected (wrong turn) and we'd needed to use our flashlights the last half hour. Of course we knew we could always call Karen and Mike to bail us out like on one of our past hikes.  See picture below for how and where that hike turned out/ended up.

Some excerpts after the link - but it's a quick read if you do hit the link.

The latest rescue of lost-and-stranded hikers came at a time when even the most dedicated of volunteers would have preferred to be at a party. The incident began late in the afternoon of Thursday, Dec. 31, and didn’t end until about 3:30 a.m., well after the ball had dropped in Times Square and most revelers had gone to bed.

Two hikers from Dutchess County, a man in his 40s and his 11-year-old daughter, along with two Bernese Mountain dogs, set out on a hike that took them along trails north of Cold Spring, off Route 9D. According to Josh DiNardo, then chief of the Cold Spring Fire Company (CSFC), the call for assistance came in around 5 p.m. “It began to get dark sooner than they expected,” DiNardo said. He said the pair became disoriented and strayed away from the trail, a turn of events that resulted in them not only being lost but stranded in a precarious spot.

Early on, DiNardo, who served as incident commander during the rescue, was able to get a rough fix on the pair’s location when he spotted a light from the man’s cell phone. They were somewhere between the old Cornish Estate and a long-abandoned quarry popular with hikers. But the cell phone battery was nearly dead, eliminating a small beacon that might have greatly simplified and sped up the rescue. A helicopter from the New York State Police was called in to assist in the search.

Hikers stranded on a ledge

DiNardo dispatched a team from the North Highlands Fire Company to approach the stranded hikers from the quarry side and a CSFC team to come in from the Cornish side. The hiker’s cell phone engaged just long enough for DiNardo to speak to him and to learn that he and his daughter were stranded on a ledge; a cliff rose above them and a cliff fell below them. “As soon as I realized the position they were in, I called in the Orange County Rope Rescue Team,” DiNardo said. When that team arrived, its members repelled down the upper cliff to assist the hikers and dogs down the lower cliff.

The hikers were able to walk out, although the girl suffered mild hypothermia. The two had not dressed for the colder night weather and had taken no food or water.

Sloppy planning, which could have had much worse results.

Here's how our getting lost July 26th (my birthday) hike turned out at the end. Our savior Karen is in blue - picture by Mike.