Tom Faranda's Folly

My email to NY Times reporter Jeremy Peters

Having seen him on the MSNBC evening show Hardball with Chris Matthews while on the elliptical in the gym.

 

Your recent appearance on Hardball

Hi Jeremy

i caught several minutes of your discussion on a panel with Mathews. I'm amazed you view Trump as giving the Democrats a 40 state win. Maybe you've spent too much time talking to people who agree with you? I suppose that's one way to get on an MSNBC show - tell the viewers what the y want to hear.
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-01-08/new-poll-shows-donald-trump-is-a-real-threat-to-hillary-clinton

Good luck as you cover the 2016 campaign.
Tom Faranda

According to the poll above, 20% of Democrats are prepared to vote for Trump.

WaPo: "A divided country gets a divisive election"

The Washington Post, making some good points, and some stupid ones (like only Bernie Sanders has a positive message).  The reporter, Dan Balz, is an establishment dude and the article has the establishment tone.

... other Republican candidates, particularly those in the mainstream conservative wing, now appreciate, as they might not have before, how much they are dealing with an electorate fed up with Washington and the Republican Party’s leadership, with economic dislocations that have affected the working and middle class, and with resentment toward cultural shifts that reflect the diversity and tolerance of a changing country.

 

 

Hard to believe department - 10 years ago today I went into Sloan to start my high dose chemo

Having had four months of chemotherapy for my mantle cell lymphoma, starting in September '05, the protocol was now to get the high dose stuff, which is highly toxic to (hopefully) eliminate the last tough cancerous cells that survived the prior chemos. After six days of the high dose, you get your previously harvested stem cells transplanted back into you, to rebuild your immune system. Then you sit around in isolation, waiting for your immune system to be rebuilt by the stem cells.

And it worked! Here I am typing away.

Here's the first post I put up the first day, and below it the second, also on the day of admission. 

First day at Sloan Kettering for chemotherapy and stem cell transplant

We arrived at one o’clock, had some admission tests done and got upstairs to the room around three o’clock. The room is very nice with all the amenities they had mentioned – computer, DVD/VCR player, and plasma TV (but not a big one!).

I was checked in by a nurse practitioner by the name of Francine, who wasn’t too impressed by my bringing dumbbells. I had to assure her it was OK with Dr. K, and I wouldn’t be using them after the transplant.

Then it was down to the radiology department a few minutes to four (Brigid left at that point) for my catheter implant. It was put in on the front of my right shoulder, but over toward my clavicle.

Chemo started this evening and will run until about 11 o’clock.

So all is well.

Funny -the hook-up at Sloan back then was not broadband, so doing a post took awhile. Of course that was OK, since I had time on my hands.

Here's the second one, mentioning two of my supporters!

Thanks to one and all for the prayers and good wishes!

I have received many lovely notes, emails, and face to face sentiments, which are greatly appreciated by everyone in my family.

My good friend all-the-way-back-to-college Dennis Cannon sent me an email in which he said “I'd like to call it an adventure, because I think you kind of see it as a unique challenge. Like climbing Everest.” And my friend Paul Dinter said after Mass yesterday  “You are off on your chemically assisted Retreat.”

I thought those were pretty accurate ways of putting things (although climbing Everest – I don’t know that’s a heck of a high mountain!). I’ve got a bunch of books, internet access, some time on my hands, and I hope to be able to put it to good use.

If you're given a lemon, make lemonade.

Hindsight being 20-20, I suppose a positive attitude is a big help. AND the fact that Brigid handled the situation so beautifully with the boys - Joe was 12 and Tim nine - dealing with it very well also. And my business assistant/associate then (and still now!) Judy was tremendous. I was very fortunate.

Wil be posting more stuff this month about my "adventure" at Sloan Kettering.

 

Some people support Trump and Sanders

Which makes no logical sense, but a lot of emotional sense. They both tap into the same dissatisfaction.

From the NYT:

"Overflow Crowd for Donald Trump in Bernie Sanders’s Backyard

On Thursday, many who waited to hear Mr. Trump speak said they thought he and Mr. Sanders have some things in common even though they sit on opposite ends of the political spectrum.

“I think he’s smart, and he has the best chance of winning support and maybe flipping the state,” Daniel Nadeau, 22, of St. Albans, Vt., said of Mr. Trump. “Bernie is my No. 1 choice, and Trump is No. 2. They’re not that different.”

And

“I’m a Trump guy, but I do like Bernie,” said Peter Vincenzo, 59, who works installing hardwood floors and traveled from Ohio for the rally. “There are a lot of parallels between these two guys. There’s a populist appeal that comes with both of them.”

The mummified "Iceman" sheds light on human migration

Remember Otzi, found in 1991 in a glacier in the Alps? interesting story of the bugs found in his gut.

From the Guardian (UK).

Ötzi the Iceman's 5,000-year-old stomach bug sheds light on human migration. Mummified remains of man killed in European alps provide clue to timing of migration from north Africa

When they tested the contents of his stomach, they found a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori, an age-old pathogen that has evolved into different strains according to the region of the world in which it is found.

“Surprisingly, a strain of bacterium in his gut shares ancestry with an Asian strain,” said the study in the US journal Science. “In contrast to the fact that most modern Europeans harbor a strain ancestral to north African strains.”

If the stomach contents of the Iceman is a good reflection of Europeans 5,300 years ago, the analysis suggests that African migration had not yet resulted in intermingling with the Asian strain of the bacterium.

Like penguins and seals? check this!

They just can't figure that rope. Wouldn't be competitive in the high jump.

 

This guy has his finger on the H-Bomb

Very reassuring as we start the New Year - NOT

North Korea claims successful hydrogen bomb test in 'self-defence against US'

Bloomberg: Bernie Sanders ideas in own words

As he mixes half-truths and non-truths. A 73 year old man who has never had a real job (Being a lifetime politician doesn't count),

SciAm: esp. for chemists - 4 new super-heavy elements ID'd

Scientific America yesterday.

4 New Superheavy Elements Verified. The seventh row of the periodic table is now complete

Chemists and physicists have begun 2016 heavy with resolution—superheavy, in fact. Two days before 2015 came to end the guardians of the periodic table of the elements—the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry—announced that it was okay to add four new ones, filling out the seventh row. Atoms of each new element are packed with protons in their nuclei, giving the four atomic numbers of 113, 115, 117 and 118.

The official stamp of approval gives the scientists who made these discoveries during the past several years, by slamming lighter nuclei together, the rights to name the elements. The newbies "can be named after a mythological concept, a mineral, a place or country, a property or a scientist," according to the union. Four years ago element 112 was named copernicium, to honor Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, who placed the sun instead of Earth at the center of the universe.

HIt the link to see the temporary names - still haven't given them their final names.

 

 

Brigid's niece in Australia gives an opinion on Trump

Hahaha. Pretty clever.

 

Bill Clinton says Hillary most qualified to be prez in 50 years.

Nice to see such spousal loyalty. This from the Telegraph (UK).

“Everything she touches she has made better,” Mr Clinton said in his first public appearance of the presidential primary campaign.

??? That's an amusing line, coming from Bill ... Here they are in 1976

 

Trump v. Clinton in New England

Trump gets 8,000 at his rally (hit the link for the picture); Bill Clinton (campaigning for Hillary) get 720.

"This crowd shot from Donald Trump’s Massachusetts rally is absolutely mind-boggling."

New Obama gun control plan - what about doctor-patient confidentiality?

I really think this is quite outrageous. Where does it end? The possibilities for abuse are limitless.

While the 1993 Brady law prohibits gun ownership by individuals who have been involuntarily committed, found incompetent to stand trial or otherwise deemed by a court to be a danger to themselves or others, federal health care privacy rules prohibited doctors and other providers from sharing information without the consent of their patients.

SciAm: Feature on recently declassified outer space military project

The project was cancelled in 1969 after six years and a billion and a half dollars. The artist rendering above is off the MOL wikipedia article.

Newly released documents describe the U.S. Air Force's secret cold war project known as the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL)

The anticipated duties of MOL crews included reconnaissance activities under the code name Project Dorian. Dorian was a superpowerful camera system that could acquire photographic coverage of the Soviet Union and other locations with a resolution better than the best unmanned system at the time, the NRO's first-generationGambit spacecraft.

But the historical documents suggest numerous other jobs were on the MOL docket for deliberation, including the use of side-looking radar, the evaluation of electronic intelligence-gathering gear and the assembly and servicing of large structures in space. 

Also discussed were the use of MOL-carrying "negation missiles" that would use non-nuclear warheads, the inspection of satellites, and the encapsulation and recovery of enemy spacecraft, which may have been accomplished using rocket-propelled net devices.

Trump on Oprah from years ago - sounds pretty reasonable

The first video (3 minutes) sent to me by my friend Joe, is from the Oprah Show and has to be from prior to 1988, since he discusses the 1988 candidates - Bush and Dukakis - in the video.

 

The second one (5 minutes) is even older - not sure of the date. Again, sounds like a reasonable guy.

 

Saw Star Wars, Episode VII, "The Force Awakens"

It's like the Super Bowl, done in roman numerals. It's the first movie I've seen in a theater for several years - saw it with Brigid and Joe.

If you've seen the first three movies, then it's pretty entertaining. Brigid thought it was "great." I wouldn't go that far.

Here's Carrie Fisher complaining that they made her lose weight for the movie. Evidently she lost 35 lbs, and from the look of the embedded video she gained most of it back.

Carrie Fisher blasts Star Wars body shamers on Twitter

According to the Daily Mail (UK), here's what people were paid -

In December 2015, The Mail reported that Ford will be paid $25 million plus a 0.5% share of the revenue. Ridley and Boyega each will receive $460,000 plus a share if the movie grosses over $1 billion. Fisher received $1.5 million and Abrams was paid $5.1 million plus a 2% share of the revenue. For the original 1977 film, Ford was paid $10,000 (equivalent to $39,000 in 2016).

Since the film has already grossed $1.16 billion, Harrison Ford is getting a real bonanza - probably end up way over $100 million. And JJ Abrams with 2% of the gross revenue? Immense amount of money.

 

 

 

Rose Bowl - Christian McCaffrey - Whew! I'd never heard of this kid 'til yesterday

I really don't follow college football, but I do when it's Bowl Game time. Turns out McCaffrey who's 19 years old but looks like he's 12, broke Barry Sanders collegiate record for all-purpose yardage gain in a season. And yesterday he broke the Rose Bowl record for all-purpose yards. I told Brigid "He does remind me of Barry Sanders" (she has no idea who Sanders is) and the play by play guys said the same thing a few minutes later. Oddly, Barry Sanders Jr. is also a running back for Stanford, but he only got in for a few plays.

Here's a quote from the NY Times coverage:

McCaffrey, the human highlight film, resumed his act in the third period with a 30-yard jaunt memorable for dizzied Hawkeyes who were juked out in the open field.

Highlight film at the end of this posting.

Here's the Washington Post article,

Christian McCaffrey scored a 75-yard touchdown on the first play of the Rose Bowl

Christian McCaffrey came into the Rose Bowl already in possession of the NCAA singe-season record for all-purpose yards. The Stanford running back wasted no time adding to his gaudy numbers against Iowa.

On the game’s first play from scrimmage, McCaffrey collected a pass over the middle from quarterback Kevin Hogan and turned it into a 75-yard touchdown. Just like that, the Hawkeyes were down, 7-0, 11 seconds into the game.

Here's a highlight film from the game - three and a half minutes if you hit the  link.

2016 Rose Bowl highlights

 

CNN: "Pope ... forgiveness without limits"

 

This is a "Year of Mercy" for Catholics -

Colbert "Calls Bruce Willis A Liar… MISTAKE"

Juvenile stuff ... but so what?

New Year's afternoon, Croton Landing

Having gone down to the Landing on Christmas afternoon  Christmas afternoon Croton Landing, I decided to go back today,, at the same time and take some pictures to do a comparison.

Reprising the Sleeping Indian view,the sky is similar, but no reflection off the water as there was on Christmas. I would certainly say the Christmas picture was nicer - hit the link to see it.  This was taken at 3:54.

25 minutes later, at the Half Moon Bay north end parking lot

And the reflections looking south off the building and shrubs. The still unsold large house was where we resettled our last winter's home mouse invaders, when the house was still being built. 

Scientific America: Top 10 Science stories of 2015

It's interesting to even just skim through this article to see how they rate science happenings of 2015. I never would have thought of their #1 ranked story as being the top one.

Scientific American's Top 10 Science Stories of 2015

I found one of the stories that tied for #10 to be one of the most interesting, and here it is -

10. (TIE) New Discoveries about the Immune System Impacts the Brain

Credit: ©iStock

Depression, autism and Alzheimer’s disease are all painfully prevalent brain disorders, but they have something else in common: they have been linked to inflammation in the brain. This essential immune response that helps us fight infections sometimes backfires—when prolonged, the action can damage tissue and negatively affect our mood and cognitive abilities. Think about the last time you had a cold: That lousy, drowsy feeling can be attributed to this effect.

Scientists are starting to understand how immune responses contribute to disorders of the brain and are beginning to test new drugs that target inflammation. Clinical trials assessing the effectiveness of anti-inflammatory drugs for depression and schizophrenia are already underway. Researchers have even tested an experimental vaccine that manipulates the immune system to lessen the fear response in rodents—a technique that could someday be used to treat and prevent post-traumatic stress disorder.

This year, scientists also discovered an unexpected line of communication between the immune system and the brain—a previously unseen network of lymphatic vessels in the meninges, the membranes surrounding the brain, that drains fluids from tissues and carries immune cells. Though abnormal immune activity had been associated with psychiatric conditions in the past, scientists believed the brain’s immune system to be separate from the body’s. This new finding suggests that malfunction in these vessels could contribute to a variety of neurological diseases with an immune component including Alzheimer’s and autism.  

Not only were the connections between the brain and immune system further solidified by studies published in 2015, but the brain’s resident immune cells also emerged as a key player in both development and disease. Though microglia were long seen solely as the primary defenders of the brain, scientists have recently recognized their critical role in eliminating unwanted synapses, the connections between neurons, during early development. Research presented at this year’s Society for Neuroscience conference in Chicago revealed how defective pruning by microglia might lead to developmental disorders like schizophrenia and autism. Scientists also provided preliminary evidence that microglial activity later in life could play a role in neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington’s disease and blocking this activity might reduce the loss of synapses seen in such diseases. These new revelations will likely lead to better treatment options for a variety of psychiatric and neurological conditions in the years to come.—Diana Kwon