Sharing the Bed

 

Strictly Political

 

Genomics & DNA Sequencing

What is Genomics?
The study of the complete set of DNA (including all of its genes) in a person or other organism. Almost every cell in a person’s body contains a complete copy of the genome. The genome contains all the information needed for a person to develop and grow. Studying the genome may help researchers understand how genes interact with each other and with the environment and how certain diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, form. This may lead to new ways to diagnose, treat, and prevent disease.

What is DNA Sequencing?
Sequencing simply means determining the exact order of the bases in a strand of DNA. Because bases exist as pairs, and the identity of one of the bases in the pair determines the other member of the pair, researchers do not have to report both bases of the pair.

In the most common type of sequencing used today, called sequencing by synthesis, DNA polymerase (the enzyme in cells that synthesizes DNA) is used to generate a new strand of DNA from a strand of interest. In the sequencing reaction, the enzyme incorporates into the new DNA strand individual nucleotides that have been chemically tagged with a fluorescent label. As this happens, the nucleotide is excited by a light source, and a fluorescent signal is emitted and detected. The signal is different depending on which of the four nucleotides was incorporated. This method can generate 'reads' of 125 nucleotides in a row and billions of reads at a time.

To assemble the sequence of all the bases in a large piece of DNA such as a gene, researchers need to read the sequence of overlapping segments. This allows the longer sequence to be assembled from shorter pieces, somewhat like putting together a linear jigsaw puzzle. In this process, each base has to be read not just once, but at least several times in the overlapping segments to ensure accuracy.

Researchers can use DNA sequencing to search for genetic variations and/or mutations that may play a role in the development or progression of a disease. The disease-causing change may be as small as the substitution, deletion, or addition of a single base pair or as large as a deletion of thousands of bases.  READ MORE...

Power

 

Windfarm

 

Ego & Soul

 

Human Beings From Earth

The planet earth, on which we live, resides in a solar system with a sun, moon, and several other non-inhabitable planets, in the Milky Way Galaxy.

Within our galaxy there are at least 100 billion stars around which at least one planet is orbiting.  So, we could potentially have over 100 billion solar systems.

There are over 100 billion galaxies in the KNOWN UNIVERSE as a majority of the universe is still unknown to us as it cannot be seen by telescopes but is theoretically and mathematically speculated to exist...  however, we do have evidence that our universe is still expanding.

If one could travel at the speed of light or 186,000 miles per second, it would take 25,000 years to get to the middle of the Milky Way Galaxy and another 25,000 years to get to the other side from that theoretical mid point.   50,000 years...

If one could travel at the speed of light, it would take 1.87 years to cross from one side to the other side of our solar system.  However, it has taken the space probe Voyager 36 years to reach the outer edges of our solar system.

This should give you some perspective regarding how our EARTH relates to our solar system and how it relates to our galaxy and how our galaxy relates to the rest of the universe.

EARTH is like a grain of sand when compared to our universe.

I would speculate that not many people give a shit about what I just wrote, as they mainly concern themselves with what is going on in the here and now on earth.  And, while that has its merits, it has also become increasingly clear that space travelers from some other origin in our solar system or galaxy or universe have been and continue visiting us...

• Are they curious about us?
• Were they the ones who created us?
• Have they returned to see how we have progressed?
• Have they come to conquer us?

Imagine for a minute if you will, what will life be like in 2030 with our robots, artificial intelligence, and technological advances...   It will be much more advanced than it is in 2023.

Now, imagine 2050...

There is no doubt in my mind that our space visitors will make their intentions known to us before 2050...  and, when they do, will you be prepared?

 

Future Truck

 

Native American

 

Relative Size

 

A Few Philosophical Concepts

What is the meaning of life? What are good and evil? What is justice? These are some of the questions that philosophers have been asking for centuries. Philosophy is a complex and fascinating field of study that can sometimes seem daunting to beginners. And while there’s no one answer that everyone will agree on, it’s still important to know some of the most fundamental ideas in philosophy. Here are ten common philosophical concepts everyone should be familiar with, regardless of educational background.

Plato's Theory of Ideas
Plato was the first to separate the “world of things” from the “world of ideas.” According to Plato, the idea (eidos) is the source of a thing, its prototype, the underlying reality of any particular object. For example, the “idea of a table” can either coincide with a particular table in reality or not match. But the “idea of the table” and the “concrete table” will continue to exist separately.

A vivid illustration of the division of the world into the world of ideas and the world of objects is the famous Platonic myth of the cave, in which people see not objects and other people but only their shadows on the wall of the cave. In this metaphor, the shadows projected on the wall of the cave correspond to the individual objects in the world, while the objects whose shadows are on the wall correspond to the ideas – which are more fundamental and real, in Plato’s view.

The cave for Plato is an allegory of our world, where people live, believing that the shadows on the walls of the caves are the only way to know reality. However, in reality, the shadows are just an illusion. Still, because of this illusion, it is difficult for people to pose critical questions about the existence of reality and overcome their “false consciousness.”  READ MORE...

Update on Medical

 It has been a while since I've updated you about my medical condition.  Several months ago instead of having a separate blog for medical, I decided to incorporate those posts on this blog.

My medical situation revolves around the follow:

1. Age
2. Cancers
3. Heart
4. Back

Age 

This category is relatively simple...  as we get older, on average, our bodies tend to lose their physical abilities...  this can be offset by exercise but even that only slows down the process...  at 75 years of age, my physical abilities have become curtailed to a large extent by my age, even though I exercise regularly, eat healthy, quit smoking cigarettes 35 years old, don't drink alcohol, or use drugs.  Eating healthy is no red meat, fish, chicken, turkey, lamb, fish, beans, and veges.  My fish intake is typically tuna, cod, and salmon, flounder, and orange ruffy.

Cancers

As you may or may not recall, I am in my 15 year of fighting non-Hodgskin's Lymphoma and in my 11 year of fighting Melanoma.  I have experienced surgery, radiation, chemo infusions, immunotherapy infusions, and am currently taking pills that alter the cancer cell's protein so that it cannot reproduce.

My treatments have included the following:

• Rituxan
• Triandra
• Cytoxin
• Fludara
• Opdivo
• Yervoy
• Imbruvica - pill - $1,000/month out of pocket
• Calquence - pill - $700/month out of pocket

I get infusion of drugs every four weeks and a CT Scan every 3 months and if something serious is detected, there is a follow-up PET Scan.

My Lymphoma is considered SLL and is treated in the same manner as CLL is treated which is Leukemia...  it sound odd, but that is what my Oncologist has been telling me.

All my chemo has damaged my Thyroid and has left me anemic, a platelet count under 100,000,  and a very low white blood cell count.  I am constantly fatigued and have to force myself to exercise (walking), diarrhea, shortness of breath, all sorts of surface of the skin carcinomas, and frequent nausea.

My last CT Scan (this month) showed an increase in Lymphoma of about 1 cm in two areas which is why my pill meds were immediately changed from Imbruvica to Calquence.

Heart

About 15 years ago I had a heart attack while walking on the treadmill.  It was serious enough that the doctors wanted to do a triple bypass.  My LAD was blocked 100% and the other 2 arteries on the left side were both blocked 90%.  Because I was so damn healthy, my body created its own bypass with dozens of arteries it had created.  I got my arteries cleaned out at NY Presbyterian Hospital in NYC and today, my stents are still pristene as a result of an angioplasty 6 months ago ordered by my Cardiologist.  My eating and exercise has helped.  My cholesterol both good and bad combined is 84.

Back

Seven month ago, I had lower back surgery to fuse together L2-L3-L4-L5-S1.  I felt hardly any pain the next day and took no pain killers.  However, the last 7 months, I have been walking 5 out of 7 days to help me learn to walk again.  I am much better but my walking seems forced and not natural and I have a really hard time trying to walk fast.  I am told that it may take another 12 months before I am completely restored but that will never be like I was.  My movements and bending will be restricted.  I still cannot put on my socks because I cannot bend that far over, so when I walk, I walk without socks.

I was born with an excellent body and I have always treate my body with respect regarding my exercise and eating habits.  However, my body is not just being tested but it being gradually taken away from me.  The fact that I have endured all of this and can still do more than most males my age can, impresses the hell out of me...

My goal is to live longer than my mother did.  She passed away just shy of her 96 birthday.

I've got a little more to do with my body for me to get there by losing another 15-20 pounds.  I have already lost 30 of the 50 pounds that all my steroids had put on me.  These last 20 are not so easy.

Well now...  there you have it...  consider yourself caught up with MY HEALTH...  Not arrogant nor egotistical...  just wanting to share what is going on with me, so that you might learn something from my experiences...

TAKE CARE AND KEEP THE FAITH...

Long Neck Crane

 

Extreme Bending

 

Strictly Political

 

Biden's Leadership

It turns out that going from America First to America Last has real world consequences.

President Joe Biden’s rejection of President Donald Trump’s approach to national security and foreign policy has created devastating harm to American interests abroad and our security at home.

Trump’s main goal was to prioritize our interests, thereby leveraging American power to deliver greater global stability, certainty and relative peace. Biden prioritizes multilateralism and globalism, reversing Trump-era gains and introducing increasing chaos, instability, uncertainty and conflict.

President Trump’s critics often complained his America First policies were damaging our alliances and rewarding our enemies. The exact opposite was true: like President Ronald Reagan before him, Trump delivered peace through strength. Biden has diluted American power, and as a result, our allies no longer trust us and our enemies no longer fear us. American weakness always invites the wolves, and the wolves have returned.

Let’s recall where we were just one year ago.

• The Trump administration had provided unwavering support to Israel and achieved historic peace agreements in the Middle East, agreements which cultivated economic and other cooperation that, in turn, is delivering enduring peace.
• It had successfully pushed back on China’s economic aggression, human rights abuses, and geopolitical adventurism in the South China Sea and Pacific Rim.
• It had successfully contained Russia’s expansionism and slowed the progress of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
• It had productive diplomacy underway to contain North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
• It had withdrawn from the catastrophic Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and was using its extensive sanctions authority to restrict Iran’s nuclear program.
• It had negotiated a plan for a managed, conditional exit from Afghanistan that would have secured us a continuing intelligence capability.
• It had realigned our relationship with our NATO allies, holding them to their promises of the alliance.
• It had successfully negotiated fairer, more reciprocal trade deals with China, Canada, Mexico, South Korea and Japan, among others.
• It had begun to modernize and rebuild our military, left hollowed out by the Obama-Biden administration.
• It had largely solved the immigration issue through a more secure border and commonsense diplomatic agreements.

The Biden administration is hell-bent on reversing many of President Trump’s stunning achievements.  READ MORE...

Cruelty

 

Frequencies

 

Too Short

 

Unintended Consequences of "All Things Racist"

I am not an expert on anything except not being an expert...

I am a senior citizen

a veteran

a parent

retired

well educated

well experienced

a conservative liberal

riddled with cancer

opinionated

sarcastic

clean shaven

All of which put me in a perfect position to make the following statement...

OUR FOCUS ON WHITE SUPREMACY, WHITE PRIVILEGE, AND RACIST AMERICA...  IS ACHIEVING NOTHING EXCEPT CREATING MORE RACISM IN AMERICA...

This may sound a little odd but I believe that it is more correct than it is incorrect.

There will always be a few whites who automatically feel guilty about slavery and want to do something about it because it was so horrific and devastating...  but, a vast majority of whites, see slavery in our past, and there is really nothing that can be done about our past except not to repeat it in the future.

Anything more is overkill... and turns into resentment...

Black Lives Matter...  in an of itself is racist because it ignores all the other lives that are in the US of A.  So, until that slogan changes into something like ALL LIVES MATTER...  then at least 50% of whites, maybe more, are going to ignore it, and disregard the message.

Critical Race Theory...  in and of itself is also racist because it does not accept the changes that have taken place in the US of A and it is teaching a THEORY rather than a fact of life in America several hundred years ago to the present.

ALL BLACK CHURCHES...   in an of itself could easily be seen as racist since it offers little to no encouragement to ask whites to join and participate in their brand of faith...   it is almost like black churches practice a different faith than white churches...  and, the blacks do not want the white to participate with them...  by definition, that means black churches are racist.

AFRICAN AMERICAN CUTURAL CENTERS on college campuses...  in an of itself are racist because they refuse to be perceived as simply American Cultural Centers.  In a way these centers are saying the two races are and should be MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE....  again, the very definition of racism.

Creating Categories between white and black underscores separation and perpetuates RACISM...

What is going happen to the US of A, if:

• Asians want the spotlight
• Hispanics want the spotlight
• Jews want the spotlight
• Russians want the spotlight
• Irish want the spotlight
• Mexicans want the spotlight

The whole point of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is that we are UNITED...