Month: December 2024

New Years Eve–2024

As per my tradition I look back on the past year and report on the doings here at IST.

As I have written it has been 18 years since I started my blogging journey and in that time there have been lean days and occasionally some really excellent days…..I have written 18,937 posts and have 3670 subscribers (although only a hard core few have stuck it out) and in that time I have gotten 490,000 hits (not earth shaking but still something I am proud of for all my hard work).

Today is a day of relaxation for Sue and myself as we ready for the influx of family for the traditional first meal of 2025.

I thought I would do what I seem to always do….look back at the past year here om IST….

My stats for the past year….

Total number of posts for 2024–619

A total of 403,000 words posted

Total ‘likes’–4520

Total comments for 2024–5720

Not a bad year in retrospect….I may not be breaking any records but I am satisfied with what the year brought.

Moving On!

For the post on this the last day of 2024 I want to give a look at what was predicted about a hundred years ago for 2025.

Look around you. The future has arrived.

Nearly 100 years ago, a group of deep thinkers dared to imagine what life would be like in 2025. Some of their prophecies were completely off target, while others proved to be weirdly accurate. 

Join us now as we gaze into that crystal ball from 1925.

Beauty is skin deep

The future looked ugly to Albert E. Wiggam, an American psychologist. According to his calculations, homely, dull people were having more children than beautiful, intelligent people.

“If we keep progressing in the wrong direction, as we have been doing, American beauty is bound to decline and there won’t be a good-looking girl to be found 100 years from now,” he told an audience in Brooklyn, New York.

Looking around the auditorium, he added: “However, this lack is not apparent yet, especially here in Brooklyn.”

….there is so much more interesting predictions check them out….

https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/2024/12/30/predictions-about-2025-from-100-years-ago/77021358007/

That does it for me for today….Sue and I will be spending some down time with the pups before the New Year….

Please if you are out celebrating the new year enjoy yourself but be careful and be safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The H-1B Debate Erupts.

Today is National Bacon Day and what better time to post on the pigs that will be running this country?

A minor buckle in the MAGA loyalists over a special visa for those ‘elite workers’…..it seems some of Trumpies picks for high position are not natural Americans and got where they are by this special visa and this set off a heated debate.

A “civil war” of sorts broke out over the weekend in MAGA world, pitting far-right Trump supporters against the billionaire tech-bro contingent. The fight started Sunday when President-elect Trump announced he’d chosen venture capitalist and India native Sriram Krishnan as a senior policy adviser on artificial intelligence. That “triggered an anti-Indian backlash,” per Axios, which notes that part of the pushback against Krishnan has centered on his advocacy for lifting caps on H-1B visas. More:

  • H-1B: CNN notes that this specific visa program allows 65,000 “highly skilled” workers into the US annually, with another 20,000 granted the paperwork if they obtained an advanced degree in the US. The tech sector especially makes use of this visa—including Trump ally Elon Musk, who first came to the US as a foreign student and then worked here on an H-1B visa.
  • Ready, set, fight: Newsweek has a timeline, starting with a series of disparaging tweets from Trump loyalist Laura Loomer. On Monday, she called the selection of Krishnan “deeply disturbing,” adding that his views are “in direct opposition” to Trump’s “America First” agenda. In a follow-up tweet on Christmas Eve, she noted “our country was built by white Europeans, actually. Not third world invaders from India.”
  • Musk: The new Trump BFF weighed in next in support of drawing highly skilled workers from other countries, writing on Christmas: “The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low. Think of this like a pro sports team: if you want your TEAM to win the championship, you need to recruit top talent wherever they may be. That enables the whole TEAM to win.”
  • Ramaswamy: Vivek Ramaswamy’s comments came Thursday, spurring accusations of “elitist rhetoric,” per the Times of India. In a lengthy tweet, Ramaswamy accused American culture of fostering “mediocrity.” “A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers,” he wrote. “More movies like Whiplash, fewer reruns of Friends. More math tutoring, fewer sleepovers. More weekend science competitions, fewer Saturday morning cartoons.”
  • More reaction: Other big names in the GOP sphere pushed back at Musk and Ramaswamy. “There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture,” posted former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. “We should be investing and prioritizing in Americans, not foreign workers.” Ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz weighed in on the “tech bros”: “We did not ask them to engineer an immigration policy.”
  • Musk turns on Loomer: When Loomer insinuated that a rift was growing between Trump and his Silicon Valley pals, and that DOGE is a “vanity project,” Musk called her a “troll,” per the New Republic. Loomer also insisted Friday that Musk was retaliating by taking away her blue check and subscriptions on X, the social media platform he owns.
  • Trump’s take: The former and future commander in chief slammed restricted H-1B visas somewhat during his first term. However, in a podcast this past June, Trump appeared to have softened his stance, noting that he believed any foreign national who graduated from an American college should be eligible for permanent residency.
  • What’s next? Per Axios, this “tense MAGA vs. DOGE moment” will “potentially settle a looming conflict over who has the most influence in Trump 2.0—his historic base or his newfound techno-libertarian allies.” “It’s a sign of future conflicts,” warns Samuel Hammond, senior economist at the Foundation for American Innovation, per the Washington Post. “This is like the pregame.”

Damn foreigners!

This minor ‘civil war’ will be fascinating to watch and see how dear Donald handles this….

Damn I love this stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Ukrainian Realization

The conflict between Ukraine and Russia has been going on for damn near 3 years. The US and NATO has done everything it can to keep the conflict going but now there will soon be a new president that has a desire for the war to end.

My guess this bold statement by Zelensky has something to do with our past election.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has conceded that Ukraine does not have the ability to drive Russian forces out of the territory Russia has captured since the 2022 invasion, as well as Crimea, which Russia has controlled since 2014.

“We cannot give up our territories. The Ukrainian constitution forbids us to do so. De facto, these territories are now controlled by the Russians. We do not have the strength to recover them,” Zelensky told the French newspaper Le Parisien.

“We can only count on diplomatic pressure from the international community to force Putin to sit down at the negotiating table,” the Ukrainian leader added.

Zelensky has long maintained that his war goals include driving Russian troops out of Russian-controlled Ukraine, which includes about 80% of the eastern Donbas region and parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. A “peace formula” pushed by Zelensky called for a full Russian withdrawal before peace talks could even happen.

A potential peace deal that was on the table in March and April of 2022 would have involved a Russian withdrawal from the territory it had captured following the invasion in exchange for Ukrainian neutrality. But the deal was discouraged by the US and its allies and fell apart. Later that year, Moscow formally annexed Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, and it now considers all of the oblasts, even the Ukrainian-controlled areas, a part of Russia.

Back in June, Russian President Vladimir Putin laid out Moscow’s conditions for peace, which included a Ukrainian withdrawal from the oblasts he considers part of Russia.

(antiwar.com)

Let’s say this comes to be how will the Ukrainian people react to the knowledge that this conflict could have ended much earlier and spared all those lives and destruction?

After months of promoting Ukraine’s excursion into Russia….things have changed….

The Joe Biden administration believes that Ukrainian forces are on the verge of a total loss in Russia’s Kursk Oblast and is now advising Kiev to pull its troops back. Reporting on Kiev’s losses in Kursk, the AP reports the Ukrainian forces have become “demoralized.”

In August, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops stormed across the Russian border and seized a large swath of lightly defended territory in the Kursk Oblast. Since then, Moscow has slowly won back over half the territory. Now, the White House says Ukraine must abandon its foothold in Russia before its troops become encircled.

Discussing the situation facing Ukrainian forces in Kursk, one US official told Bloomberg, “it was a question of time whether Russian forces could envelop it, creating a dilemma for Ukrainian forces to either retreat or surrender.”

Two officials confirmed to the outlet that the White House believes that the Kremlin is now pushing into the Kursk battlefield, and Ukrainian forces will be defeated within months. This assessment has the White House telling Kiev to pull its remaining forces out of Russia.  

The strategy behind the Kursk offensive was always in question. Many of the proponents of the attack argued it would give Kiev additional bargaining chips at the negotiating table. However, it now appears Ukraine will lose the territory before talks begin.

https://libertarianinstitute.org/news/white-house-tells-ukraine-to-pull-its-demoralized-forces-from-russia/

This situation will be interesting to see how the US will handle this and the reaction of the Ukrainian people.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Jimmy Carter–Rest In Peace

The sad news has broken that ex-president Jimmy Carter has passed away.

Former President Jimmy Carter, who was turned out of office by voters after one term and went on to build houses for the poor and champion democracy around the world, died Sunday. He was 100 and the longest-living US president. His son said Carter died at his home in Plains, Georgia, the Washington Post reports. His wife, Rosalynn, to whom he was married for more than 77 years, had died in November 2023, and Carter made his final public appearance at her memorial service. Among his last appeals to his country was in an op-ed after the attack on the US Capitol in 2021. “Our great nation now teeters on the brink of a widening abyss,” Carter warned, adding, “Americans must set aside differences and work together before it is too late.”

Born Oct. 1, 1924, Carter was the eldest of four children and grew up in a house without running water or electricity. His family had a peanut farm two miles from Plains. When he was 19, Carter entered the Naval Academy, then became one of the first officers assigned to its nuclear submarine program under future Adm. Hyman Rickover, who drove his staff hard and didn’t believe in praise. “I think, second to my own father, Rickover had more effect on my life than any other man,” Carter said. He returned to Plains and the family business when his father died, per the New York Times. Although he called himself a peanut farmer when he entered politics in the early 1960s, his father had expanded and diversified as he prospered, and Carter ran a significant commercial enterprise by that time.

Carter was elected a state legislator, then governor, shaking up Georgia politics by declaring, “The time for racial discrimination is over.” He served one term but built a political team with an eye on the presidency. In 1976, he ousted President Gerald Ford, who later became a close friend, to become the nation’s 39th president. He had run as a moderate Democrat and born-again Southern Baptist who promised to never lie to Americans, drawing contrasts to the recently resigned Richard Nixon. He also brought technocratic plans to make government more efficient, per the AP. Carter had successes in office that included a landmark treaty in the Middle East. But his support faded under the weight of double-digit inflation and the taking of US hostages in Iran, and he lost the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan.

His presidency has risen in historians’ estimation recently, but it was Carter’s work after he left office that was most widely admired. He won the Nobel Peace Prize and hammered nails alongside his wife as they built homes for Habitat for Humanity. The couple founded the Carter Center in Atlanta, under which they traveled the world to promote peace, democracy, and humanitarian efforts. “I thought he was a great president because he was a president of values, and he acted upon the values,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi once said. “He went from the White House to building houses for poor people. He glorified that work. Others wanted to do it because he did it,” she added. “That’s powerful.”

Of all the modern presidents he was the most selfless and committed to serving the people of this country even after he was no longer president.

Past presidents tell of Jimmy Carter….

A moment of silence was held for Jimmy Carter at the Atlanta Falcons’ game at the Washington Commanders Sunday night—a game with multiple links to the former president, a native of Georgia who led the country from 1977 to 1981 from the White House, less than eight miles from the Commanders’ stadium, the AP reports. Meanwhile, current and former US presidents were also honoring Carter, who died Sunday at age 100, WBAL reports:

  • President Biden: “Today, America and the world lost an extraordinary leader, statesman, and humanitarian,” Biden’s lengthy statement starts. “Over six decades, we had the honor of calling Jimmy Carter a dear friend. But, what’s extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though, is that millions of people throughout America and the world who never met him thought of him as a dear friend as well. With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us.”
  • President-elect Trump: “Those of us who have been fortunate to have served as President understand this is a very exclusive club, and only we can relate to the enormous responsibility of leading the Greatest Nation in History,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “The challenges Jimmy faced as President came at a pivotal time for our country and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans. For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude.” Yahoo News notes that in a second post, Trump added, “While I strongly disagreed with him philosophically and politically, I also realized that he truly loved and respected our Country, and all it stands for.”
  • Former President Barack Obama: Framed as a story about Carter’s frequent Sunday school teachings, Obama made note of Carter’s accomplishments during “the longest, and most impactful, post-presidency in American history—monitoring more than 100 elections around the world; helping virtually eliminate Guinea worm disease, an infection that had haunted Africa for centuries; becoming the only former president to earn a Nobel Peace Prize; and building or repairing thousands of homes in more than a dozen countries with his beloved Rosalynn as part of Habitat for Humanity.”
  • Former President George W. Bush: “James Earl Carter, Jr., was a man of deeply held convictions. He was loyal to his family, his community, and his country. President Carter dignified the office. And his efforts to leave behind a better world didn’t end with the presidency. His work with Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center set an example of service that will inspire Americans for generations.”
  • Former President Bill Clinton: “From his commitment to civil rights as a state senator and governor of Georgia; to his efforts as President to protect our natural resources in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, make energy conservation a national priority, return the Panama Canal to Panama, and secure peace between Egypt and Israel at Camp David; to his post-Presidential efforts at the Carter Center supporting honest elections, advancing peace, combating disease, and promoting democracy; to his and Rosalynn’s devotion and hard work at Habitat for Humanity—he worked tirelessly for a better, fairer world.”

Kind words for a kind man.

More on the legacy of this superb American….read and understand….

https://www.commondreams.org/news/jimmy-carter-dying

Here is a look at photos of this well respected man….

In the mid-1970s, Jimmy Carter campaigned as a political outsider for the White House promising honesty, good governance and respect for human rights. These were issues that remained at the forefront of his thinking both during and after his one-term presidency.

Carter, who turned 100 on October 1, 2024, is the longest-living president and has spent more than four decades out of office. During these years he continued his human rights and humanitarian work. He undertook several (sometimes controversial) peacekeeping missions abroad, and helped build homes for charity alongside his wife, Rosalind (1927-2023), well into his late 90s.

“One of the things Jesus taught was: If you have any talents, try to utilize them for the benefit of others,” President Carter told People magazine in 2019. “That’s what Rosa and I have both tried to do.”

Below, look back at some of the key moments in Carter’s life, from his rustic Georgia upbringing to his post-presidency honors.

https://www.history.com/news/jimmy-carter-photos

He will be missed for he was the very model of what an American should strive for in life….service to community and the nation.

Thank you Jimmy….for your service and you will be missed….R.I.P.

I shame that more ex-presidents have not followed in his footsteps for this country would be so much better than it is today.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Starving Prostrate Cancer

It is the last Sunday in 2024 and what better time to inject some of my now famous FYI?

This info is merely for FYI…..please check with your medical professional before starting or changing any health practices.

As someone who is being treated for cancer I am always looking to pass on any news I find that may help others with their struggles.

Some research is being done in a new way to treat prostrate cancer….

Scientists at Indiana University School of Medicine have discovered a new way to attack prostate cancer by cutting off its supply of essential nutrients.

Their groundbreaking research, published in Science Signaling, reveals how targeting certain proteins in cancer cells can slow tumor growth and potentially lead to more effective treatments for one of the deadliest cancers in men.

Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men in the United States.

Current treatments focus on blocking testosterone, a hormone that prostate cancer cells need to grow.

Unfortunately, tumors often become resistant to these therapies, leaving patients with fewer options.

The new research offers hope by identifying a different approach: starving the cancer cells of amino acids, which are critical nutrients for their survival and rapid growth.

The research team, led by Dr. Kirk Staschke and Dr. Ronald C. Wek, explored how prostate cancer cells respond when deprived of amino acids.

Normally, when nutrients are low, a protein called GCN2 kicks in, helping the cells produce more fuel to keep growing. The researchers hypothesized that blocking GCN2 would weaken the cancer cells.

While inhibiting GCN2 did slow tumor growth, it didn’t kill the cancer cells completely. The team then uncovered the cancer’s “Plan B”: a protein called p53. In prostate cancer, p53 remains functional (unlike in many other cancers) and helps the cells survive by restricting cell division and gathering nutrients.

By targeting both GCN2 and p53, the researchers found they could effectively destroy prostate cancer cells. This dual approach exploits unique vulnerabilities in prostate cancer’s metabolism, cutting off its ability to adapt and survive.

This discovery provides a fresh avenue for developing treatments.

While more research is needed, targeting GCN2 and p53 simultaneously could become a powerful strategy to combat prostate cancer, especially in cases where current therapies fail.

Dr. Staschke emphasized the importance of this finding, saying, “Our study reveals a way to starve prostate cancer by exploiting its dependence on essential nutrients. This dual-target approach could be a game-changer.”

he study was a team effort, with contributions from graduate students Ricardo Cordova and Noah Sommers, along with scientists from Rutgers University and the University at Buffalo. The research highlights the potential for collaborative science to tackle tough medical challenges.

While still in early stages, this research provides a promising path for new prostate cancer treatments. By understanding how these tumors survive and adapt, scientists are one step closer to finding better ways to fight this deadly disease.

(knowridge.com)

I hope this will be helpful for those that need treatment….but please before you do anything consult your oncologist and other medical professionals.

Enjoy your last Sunday of the year and as always….Be Well and Be Safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

IST Saturday News Dump–28Dec24

The weekend after the big day….I do hope everyone had a good and safe day…..

Locally–weather here is in the low 70s and in the mid-50s and cloudy and humid and this cycle will remain for about a week or so we are told…..but at least after 6 months we got substantial rain.  Last Saturday night I thought there was a meteor which I thought was cool for over Thanksgiving Mississippi had a minor earthquake (I am sure there is some sort of conspiracy theory that can be assigned to these events) but alas it was not a meteor….

Saturday night, people across the Magnolia State witnessed what appeared to be a meteor breaking up in the earth’s atmosphere.

It wasn’t a meteor but rather was what Forbes Magazine described as a “defunct earth-imaging satellite made in China” disintegrating as it returned to Earth.

In a post shared by WLBT Chief Meteorologist Dave Roberts, Astronomer Jonathan McDowell reported the satellite was GaoJing 1-02, Superview 1-02, which was operated by the Beijing-based SpaceView company.

Personally–the big day came off without a hitch….everyone was well fed and we all had a good time. My doctor called to inform me that my immunotherapy would begin in 03Jan25….I am not looking forward to it plenty of side effects and lots of bucks….I will do what I always do….soldier on.

My Dump will be a bit thin this week for I spent lots of time fighting fatigue and prep for the big day…..

There is some news about coffee that magical drink…..

It’s not a mere coincidence that some of the world’s longest-lived people enjoy a daily cup of joe. Besides helping enhance energy and focus, coffee has been tied to a lower risk of premature death1 by heart disease and cancer. In one study on nearly 500,000 adults2, drinking up to eight cups of coffee (both decaf and caffeinated) a day was inversely associated with mortality.

Some research has found that habitual coffee drinking may reduce one’s risk of Type 2 diabetes3 and obesity4.

So, what’s behind coffee’s longevity benefits? For starters, the caffeine in coffee can increase energy and reduce fatigue, which may help people stay more physically active5. It’s also been shown to rev up metabolism6 and enhance fat burn7in some cases.

But the fact that decaf has also been associated with a longer life span means there must be more to the brew’s benefits than caffeine alone.

To get a full picture of what makes coffee healthy, you need to look at its polyphenols.

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/coffee-can-majorly-add-to-your-longevity-of-it-has-this

I recently wrote about the new ‘smart tractor’ for farmers….and I wondered what could possibly go wrong….

We’re approaching the most active part of the Sun’s 11-year cycle. Our star is flinging a barrage of charged streams of plasma and particles at us this year, a trend that according to NASA will continue well into 2025 and even 2026.

One example of how that stellar fury affects the Earth, apart from triggering gorgeous auroras in the night sky: farmers say the barrage of solar particles has wreaked havoc on their high-tech agricultural equipment.

The issue is that modern tractors are highly dependent on GPS, which is provided by sensitive satellites in our planet’s orbit. One extreme solar storm in May, they say, threw off equipment when planting season was already in full swing.

“Our tractors acted like they were demon possessed,” aurora chaser Elaine Ramstad told SpaceWeather.com. “All my cousins called me during the May 10th storm to tell me that ‘my auroras’ were driving them crazy while they were planting.”

https://futurism.com/the-byte/intelligent-tractors-demon-possessed-gps

Squirrels!  The bane of bird feeders everywhere……but what can they possibly teach science?

In this state, I’m told the squirrels still breathe two or three times per minute, but despite squinting to catch the animal in my hand mid-inhalation, I cannot see its chest rise or fall. Rafael Dai Pra, a PhD candidate in his sixth year of studying hibernation, points out the occasional, involuntary micromovements of the squirrel’s leg–one of the only visible indicators it’s alive. “We think it’s some sort of spinal cord stimulus. You see the paw retracts,” Dai Pra says as he nudges it with a finger. The movement response is an oddity one of his colleagues, another graduate student Rebecca Greenberg, is studying. Dai Pra is investigating a separate marvel: How animals undergo sexual maturation in this deep state of metabolic and physiological depression.

Both graduate students are part of Elena Gracheva’s laboratory at Yale School of Medicine. The professor of cellular and molecular physiology and neuroscience leads a research group dedicated to unraveling the biological mechanisms that enable and regulate hibernation. It’s one of a handful of labs around the world keenly focused on hibernator physiology and what examining the extreme phenomenon can tell us about animals and enable for ourselves. 

https://www.popsci.com/science/hibernation-science-squirrels/

Speaking of science….our brains are amazing and have kept scientist working for a complete understanding….how fast does the organ process information?

Researchers at Caltech have calculated how fast the human brain processes information — and the number turned out to be hilariously low.

As detailed in a new study published in the journal Neuron, the team concluded that the speed of human thought is a measly ten bits per second.

“This is an extremely low number,” said team lead and Caltech biological sciences professor Markus Meier in a statement.

While that may indeed sound agonizingly slow, the team also found that our bodies’ sensory systems also process many orders of magnitude more bits per second of other information about our environment.

“Every moment, we are extracting just 10 bits from the trillion that our senses are taking in and using those ten to perceive the world around us and make decisions,” Meister explained. “This raises a paradox: What is the brain doing to filter all of this information?”

Scientists have estimated that our brains have 85 billion neurons, a third of which are used for high-level thinking.

https://futurism.com/neoscope/human-brain-bits-per-second-thought

That ‘healthy’ diet as deemed by the FDA….

For the first time since the regulation of the use of the term “healthy” on food labeling was developed in the early 1990s, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has updated the criteria required to make the claim.

Slapping “healthy” on a food product’s label remains voluntary on the part of the manufacturers, but in order to do so, they’ll have to ensure that their products meet the updated criteria by February 2028.

The original definition of “healthy” put limits on how much saturated fat, sodium, total fat, and dietary cholesterol could be in a product in order for it to be claimed as healthy. Foods were also required to contain a minimum amount of specific individual nutrients, including vitamins A and C, iron, and protein.

While the newer definition still consists of limits on saturated fat and sodium, it’s now been updated to include limits on added sugars and the removal of a limit on total fat. 

As for the minimum requirements, the focus is no longer on specific nutrients and instead on the inclusion of specific food groups and sub-groups: vegetables, fruit, dairy, protein, and whole grains. This, the FDA says, “better reflects the overall nutrient content of a food rather than focusing on one individual beneficial nutrient in isolation.”

https://www.iflscience.com/fda-updates-definition-of-healthy-food-so-what-does-it-mean-now-77334

Now for a bit of irony.

Last week I wrote about the hunter that shot a bear that was treed it fell and killed another hunter.

Last week I found another bit of irony….

The owner of a restaurant in Vietnam that specializes in the meat of dogs and cats appears to have been indirectly killed by one of the animals he slaughtered. The 33-year-old died of rabies in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, reports Tuoi Tre News. The man, who regularly handled butchered dogs and cats, began exhibiting symptoms three days before his death. His symptoms—muscle spasms, frothing at the mouth, confusion—grew progressively worse until he died at a hospital.

Rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms appear, and health authorities there urged people to take precautions by seeking medical treatment immediately after possible exposure. Five other people were bit by a stray dog exhibiting symptoms of rabies in the same province. All received quick vaccinations, and the dog was euthanized. Vietnam has been battling a relatively high number of rabies cases this year, as the Sun previously reported.

I cannot make this stuff up.

That does it for me on this weekend after Christmas…..onto New Years.

As always…. Be Well and Be Safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is This The Scandal Of 2024?

There are many incidents in 2024 that we could say was the scandal of the year……but I think this situation hits the nail on the head….at least in my mind.

Looking back on 2024, Peggy Noonan has no doubt of the scandal of the year: “the decline of Joe Biden’s mental acuity” and what she says was a coverup by White House staff. The Wall Street Journal columnist claims President Biden “has been in apparent cognitive decline for some years, perhaps since before taking office, and wasn’t fully up to the job.” She suggests the right move would’ve been to inform the public. Instead, the Biden White House “felt justified in misleading the public about the president’s true state,” protecting him from scrutiny—until it couldn’t. With the June presidential debate, “the country finally saw what those in the White House saw every day,” Noonan writes, adding the alleged coverup will forever color the Biden administration’s reputation.

She contrasts the White House’s alleged actions with those of the wife and aides of Woodrow Wilson who “misled the public as to his condition” after the president was left incapacitated in 1919. In her 1939 memoir, Edith Bolling Wilson wrote that she suggested her husband should resign before a doctor told her that would be bad for the country and that she should essentially serve in his place until he recovered. She claimed to have acted as an intermediary and “I, myself, never made a single decision regarding the disposition of public affairs.” However, in his 2013 biography of her husband, historian A. Scott Berg wrote that Bolling Wilson had “executed the physical and most of the mental duties of the office” and “enshrouded the Presidency in as much secrecy as possible.”

“The Wilsons’ historical reputation was never the same. Nor will the Bidens’ be,” writes Noonan, who suggests that to mislead the public about the president’s true state is “Democratic Party gospel.” Apart from the alleged coverups related to Democrats Biden and Wilson, Noonan refers to speculation that Ronald Reagan was experiencing cognitive decline shortly before he left office. “Political parties, like people, must beware the stories they tell themselves, the stories they weave and come to believe that just are not true,” Noonan concludes. “The not-true ones can get you in terrible trouble, especially the ones you use to justify your actions and that make poor personal motives seem noble.”

Read the full piece here.

Like I said this ‘scandal’ I agree with….I was never a big Biden supporter so this should come as no surprise to anyone.

If you think there is something else that is the ‘big’ scandal of 2024….please elaborate.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Is This Trump Foreign Policy?

I know that Trump has mouthed a lot of crap since being elected but so far he has bee mostly silent on foreign policy….that is until now.

Is this the type of silliness we can expect from the Trump administration in the coming years with our foreign policy?

The nonsensical foreign policy begins.

Turning over the Panama Canal, a process started in 1977 by President Carter, was foolish, President-elect Trump says. And unless there are changes, Trump posted, “we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question.” At issue are the fees Panama charges US ships to pass through the canal, which he called exorbitant, Politico reports. Trump teed the issue up with two long posts Saturday night on Truth Social, then returned to it Sunday at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Phoenix.

“It was given to Panama and to the people of Panama, but it has provisions, you gotta treat us fairly and they haven’t treated us fairly,” Trump said in his speech, per the Hill. To keep the canal, he said, Panama must follow “the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving.” When a member of the audience member hollered “take it back,” Trump answered, “That’s a good idea.” Panama is a strong ally of the US.

A few hours after making that idiotic statement he made yet another foreign policy proclamation…..

President-elect Trump is expressing some interesting territorial wishes ahead of his return to the White House, hinting in recent days that Canada should become the United States’ 51st state and floating the idea that the US should retake control of the Panama Canal. Over the weekend, the Trump reupped an older item on his wish list: the US gaining ownership of the Danish territory of Greenland. Trump’s desire for the island state came via a Sunday post on Truth Social, as he announced PayPal co-founder Ken Howery as his nominee for the ambassadorship to Denmark.

“For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Trump wrote. “Ken will do a wonderful job in representing the interests of the United States.” Axios notes that Greenland is a desirable plot of land, with access to the Arctic and natural resources such as gold, silver, copper, and uranium, as well as the possibility of offshore oil. The US has indicated multiple times since the late 19th century that it would love to have the world’s largest island in its fold, but nothing ever panned out. Trump’s overtures, meanwhile, have been roundly dismissed by Denmark and Greenland’s leadership.

In 2019, when as president Trump first expressed interest in Greenland, Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, called the idea “absurd,” per the Guardian. Trump ended up calling her “nasty” and nixing a trip to her country. It’s not clear what Denmark thinks of Trump’s latest remarks, but Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede has weighed in. “Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale,” Egede said in a statement. “We must not lose our long struggle for freedom.”

I hope this is not the total extent of foreign policy by Trump and Rubio….and this theme of ‘imperialism’ is a scary situation….

As he prepares to return to the White House, President-elect Trump has floated the idea of the US taking over Greenland and the Panama Canal, not to mention needling Canada about becoming the 51st US state. A look at related coverage:

  • No joke: OK, disregard the Canada comments, which were made with a “trolling jocularity,” write David E. Sanger and Lisa Friedman in a New York Times analysis. But Trump is serious about Greenland (an ever-more strategic locale as Arctic ice melts) and Panama (because of worries that China is gaining too much sway over the canal).
  • No joke, II: Trump may use an “America First” motto, but that doesn’t translate to an “isolationist creed,” they write in the Times. It’s more an expansionist one, and “it reflects the instincts of a real estate developer who suddenly has the power of the world’s largest military to back up his negotiating strategy.”
  • Historic reach: If Trump is indeed serious, it would translate to “an American territorial expansion” that “would rival the Louisiana Purchase or the deal that netted Alaska from Russia,” writes Steve Contorno at CNN. His analysis also draws a comparison to “the 19th century doctrine of Manifest Destiny—a belief in the United States’ divine right to expand across the continent.” Contorno finds it a striking view from a president-elect who has advocated a pullback from American intervention in foreign wars.
  • Mexico, too: Rolling Stone reports that the incoming Trump administration is planning what one source close to the president-elect describes as a “soft invasion” of Mexico. That could mean, for example, sending in special-ops military personnel to take out cartel leaders—fulfillment of a Trump campaign pledge to wage “war” against cartels flooding the US with drugs. “How much should we invade Mexico?” says a senior member of the transition team. “That is the question.”
  • The i-word: Assessing all of the above, Dave Lawler at Axios writes that “America First is colliding with American imperialism,” adding that “no one, including Trump, really knows how it will all play out.” For context, he notes that Trump often says “wild stuff” without acting on it, but as president-elect, his proposals cannot be ignored.

But not to worry his idiocy is not only in the international scene he has inject his stupidity into domestic affairs….

Opposition to President-elect Trump’s renewed suggestion to change the name of Alaska’s 20,310-foot mountain back to McKinley includes many Alaskans, including Indigenous people, and the state’s two Republican senators. Sen. Lisa Murkowski advocated for years to remove the name of the nation’s 25th president, who never visited the mountain or had any connection to it, the Anchorage Daily News reports. “There is only one name worthy of North America’s tallest mountain: Denali—the Great One,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski wrote on X.

Trump brought up the idea in a speech Sunday at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Phoenix, where he praised William McKinley as a fellow supporter of protective tariffs. “We’re going to bring back the name of Mount McKinley because I think he deserves it,” Trump said. In 2016, Trump had said he might change the name back, a notion he dropped when Alaska’s senators objected, per the AP. Denali is the Koyukon Athabascan name that was used by Indigenous people for centuries. It translates to “the high one” or “the great one.”

The federal government named it Mount McKinley in 1896, which stood until Barack Obama’s administration in 2015. That switch came after years of effort by state officials and Native groups. Sen. Dan Sullivan once told an Alaska Federation of Natives conference that Trump made the same suggestion when he and Murkowski met with him at the White House in 2017. The senators objected vehemently, he said. An aide texted the Daily News that “Sen. Sullivan like many Alaskans prefers the name that the very tough, very strong, very patriotic Athabaskan people gave the mountain thousands of years ago—Denali.”

Not even in the seat of power and he is already making stupid statements.

How much sillier can this get?  (I know silly question)

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A Look Back

The day after…the toys are being played with….the gadgets are up and working and now the clean-up from yesterday has begun.

Since Sue and I will be trying to get the house back into order I will not be spending much time on IST today. 

I thought I would take some time and look back on the early days of my blogging journey.

Today I started blogging but on a different platform, Blogger, it was for me to rehab my mind…..on 26Dec2006 I was hurt working to straighten up the Coast after Katrina….a ladder I was work off of shifted on some debris and I fell onto concrete breaking my right leg in 3 places…..after 2 surgeries and a shitload of metal I sorta got my leg back but it would never be the same…..I had been in rehab for months and my mind was starting to betray me so I learned about blogs and off I went.

Back in those early days I had one regular visitor when I was on the other platform he went by the name of Quin and he lived in the Canary Islands….and as so many bloggers do he eventually disappear into the ether….

After a couple years on Blogger I decided to switch to Word Press and the rest, as they say, is history…..I had all my previous posts imported to WP.  I also changed the name to Info Ink after a company I had back in the Compuserve days, the Dark Ages.  The name changed a couple of times until I decided to name it after a self-published book of poetry back in the 70s, In Saner Thought.

I thought I would take a short trip into my blogging past and share with my readers……

This was my first post just to get started…

INTRODUCTION

Short and sweet….and so it began.

Back in those days there was not many people rushing to read a blog entitled “Studies And Observations’….so I tried to get creative to see if I could generate some interests and followers….

This one was my first attempt…..

Watermelon Makes You Horny

Although at one point that was the most clicked on…..so I tried yet again to generate some traffic.

“Fart Gas” Linked To Blood Pressure

Those two attempts were not as successful as I had hoped so I decided to stop trying so hard and just write what I knew and what I thought my reader would like to learn.

My most popular day was 31May08….a total of 745 clicks….this is one of the posts from that day…

Liberal vs Conservative

As you can see not many were rushing to comment on my thoughts.

That was 18 years ago and I am still fighting for visitors, as we all are….but that is not the important part….quality visitors is the only stat I worry about and I have some great visitors and they just keep coming….although slowly but arriving nonetheless.

I would like to thank all those faithful visitors that have stuck with me for so many years….please know I appreciate each and every one.

Onto to another 18 years and quality readers and friendships abound.

Thank you!

IST should be back to normal posting tomorrow and thanx for sticking with me.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Christmas Day–2024

I would like to wish everyone visiting a very Merry Christmas.

Today we get together with family and friends and celebrate the day peace, love and joy….As usual I will try to cook for 8 people….Baked Ham, Sweet potatoes, Green beans, Mac and cheese, corn and blackberry cobbler for dessert.

The Jolly Fat Man has made his appearance and I hope everyone was good and got their heart’s desire in return.

The goodies are under the tree and the presents have been opened….or should I say gifts have been opened?

That brings up a question….are presents and gifts the same thing but different?

It’s that time again when we’re busy buying, wrapping, and giving them. Sometimes we call them “gifts,” sometimes “presents.” Is there a difference?

The words come to us from different language families. Gift comes from the old Germanic root for “to give.” It referred to an act of giving, and then, to the thing being given. In Old English it meant “the dowry given to a bride’s parents.” Present comes from the French for “to present.” A present is the thing being presented or bestowed. Both words were in use for the idea of something undergoing a transfer of possession without expectation of payment from the 13th century onward.

The words gift and present are well-matched synonyms that mean essentially the same thing, but even well-matched synonyms have their own connotations and distinctive patterns of use. Gift applies to a wider range of situations. Gifts can be talents: You can have the gift of gab, or a musical gift. Gifts can be intangibles: There is the gift of understanding or the gift of a quiet day. We generally don’t use present to describe things like that. Presents are more concrete or a bit more, well, present. If your whole family gave donations to your college fund for your birthday would you say “I got a lot of presents”? It doesn’t exactly sound wrong, but since you never hold these donations in your hand, gifts seems to fit better.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/89961/whats-difference-between-gift-and-present

Now all those goodies left by the jolly fat man in the red suit….

Some people refer to Santa as St. Nick….but I do not understand why…..St. Nick is far from the Jolly Fat Man we know and love.

It is hard to imagine the cheery, plump version of Santa Claus emerged from Saint Nicholas, the 4th century Bishop of Myra who, as a nursing infant, fasted on holy days and whose bones were stolen after his death.

Instead of a “right jolly old elf,” St. Nicholas is the patron saint of everything from brewers to pawnbrokers to murderers. Here are eight often terrifying legends associated with the saint that seem more like a script from Dexter or Game of Thrones.

St. Nicholas, best known as the patron saint of children, is credited with a myriad of miracles that validate this claim. The earliest attributed miracle is that he somehow miraculously saved a baby during his bishop consecration ceremony at the cathedral.

According to the story, the baby’s mother absentmindedly left her child in the bathing tub, which was warming over the fire. After hearing the church bells ring out, the mother rushed out without a second thought for her tiny infant—she didn’t remember her baby until she returned home and saw the smoke-filled room. But instead of finding a charred or drowned baby, she peered over to find her little one contentedly smiling; all the credit for the kid’s survival went to the new Bishop Nicholas.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/st-nicholas-legends

That is my gift to my readers on this day….knowledge.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day and enjoy time with family and friends….eat, drink and be safe.

Once again Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo