Day: April 2, 2024

All That Cancer Research

Once again we have arrived at a Sunday and the day that I try to help my readers with subjects that may not be readily available for them.

Since my better half, Sue, has been battling cancer I try to keep up with all the research that is available….and then I read something like this and it just sends me into a spiral….

Cancer research is big business, sorry to pout it that way, and there have been some fraud going on….

Dana-Farber was rocked this January by a blog post by Sholto David, a molecular biologist and internet data sleuth, in which he presented evidence of widespread data manipulation in cancer research published by leading researchers including the institute’s CEO and COO. David reportedly contacted the institute with concerns about 57 papers, 38 of which were ones for which the institute had “primary responsibility for the potential data errors.” The institute has requested retractions for 6 of them and initiated corrections for 31.

These data manipulations, to be clear, were not subtle. (David’s fairly bombastic blog post announcing the evidence calls it “pathetically amateurish and excessive.”) Many of the cases he identifies involved reusing the same images over and over in different figures, with different labels, and with the figures having been clumsily rotated or stretched in Photoshop or a similar image editor. Plots of data collection on different days are mysteriously perfectly identical. Test results are visibly copied and pasted.

It raises the question: Assuming that there was some misconduct behind the copied-and-pasted images, how were people so emboldened to commit such blatant fraud, so publicly, for such a long time? How much grant money was secured on the basis of fabricated data, and how much was the crucial fight against cancer set back by inaccuracies promulgated in these papers?

And perhaps most importantly, is this only the tip of the iceberg?

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24086809/fake-cancer-research-data-scientific-fraud

This story raises questions for me….if the research is faked then are the treatments really doing any good?

What happens to those faking the test results?

Cancer research is a multi-billion dollar cash cow for some….what is the government doing to stop this sort of fraud?

All good question but with few answers.

Sorry to be a bummer on this Sunday.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

What Happened To Character?

To me it seems that a person’s character means very little these days….it is more about the bolstered BS than what type of person is uttering the crap.

This made me think of Gary Hart, who I supported in 1984 and 1988, and his ‘scandal’ that ended his political career.

If you are too young to remember that election….or the person….

Hart first made a name for himself as the campaign manager for U.S. Sen. George McGovern’s run for the presidency in 1972. His organizational and fund-raising strategies enabled the liberal McGovern to capture the Democratic nomination. Two years after his candidate lost the general election to Richard Nixon, Hart was elected by Colorado voters to the U.S. Senate. By the time he won reelection in 1980, he was considerably more conservative than the long-haired Hart of the McGovern days.

Hart ran a close race against U.S. Sen. Walter Mondale for the 1984 Democratic presidential nomination. Although Hart won 26 states to Mondale’s 19, Mondale’s superior organization netted him enough delegates for the victory. Hart had gained momentum in the campaign until Mondale ridiculed his “new ideas” with the barb, “Where’s the beef?” which came from a TV commercial criticizing hamburgers that were more bun than beef.

Hart made a bid for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination. In 1987, exasperated by rumours of infidelity, Hart invitedNew York Times reporters to follow him and see for themselves that he was not unfaithful to his wife. In May of that year, with his wife, Lee, away in Colorado, Miami Herald reporters staked out Hart’s home in Washington, D.C., and spotted him leaving it with the model Donna Rice, who, they alleged, had stayed there overnight. The front-page story was published at a time when Hart already faced public doubts about his character. For a week he continued campaigning, but when the Washington Post threatened to release details about an affair with yet another woman, Hart quit the race. In December, however, he once again made headlines by dramatically announcing that he was back in the running for president, but after a disappointing finish in the New Hampshire primary, he withdrew from the race for the second and final time.

(britannica.com)

His character was in question and it made him choose the proper course.

Yes I know we could talk about Clinton….but why?

But those days are gone….now we have Congresspersons being fondled in theaters, people lying to get votes, just all around lousy character.

So what happened to character?

This may help explain it….

When Did Character Stop Mattering?

Do you know what happened to character among our politicians?

They have no principles any more just BS they spread to get votes while behind our backs are taking millions from big business to do their bidding.

Cash can subvert a lot of character….

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”