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Michael McLeod

Got a subject for you Jim. Plasticity. HA! How's that for a ten-dollah woid? I was complaining to my significant other, who is the proverbial best thing that ever happened to me, about a new internet platform I have to learn in order to stay abreast of the writing class I teach. And she said it is good to keep learning because you are creating new neural pathways and it's healthy exercise for your brain and obviously psychologically life enhancing.

That phenomenon of being human - and that word, which means how the brain can change and adapt when confronted with a new task -- fascinated me at both a psychological and purely biochemical level.

Want to weigh in?

David Mitchell

Clare,

I gotta hand it to you, Of all the topics, in all the towns, in all the world, I never thougth I'd see "Papal erections" come up on this Forum.

I bet you thought I was gonna say "gin joints".

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mike,

Yes, even the senior citizen human brain is capable of learning new things (it is also subject to forgetting some things)!

In the past decade or so much has been discovered about the brain, it's biochemistry,  neurotransmitters and, despite what was once thought to be true, it's ability to "heal" from major insults. Neurons can regenerate albeit very slowly. Most "healing" likely entails re-programming or recruiting different neurons to perform tasks that damaged ones once performed.

I like to think of the brain as the ultimate GPS device. A good GPS will reroute us to a different pathway in order to arrive at our destination should the primary pathway be under construction or blocked by traffic, snow, landslides, etc. The brain is capable of doing that over a period of time but must be prompted by rehabilitation. One of my nieces is an Occupational Therapist who primarily works with brain damaged individuals. If she is dealing with a stoke patient who has difficulty with, let's say, a few fingers, instead of teaching them how to compensate with the other hand, she will push them to keep trying to do tasks with the damaged hand. Thus the brain will be stimulated to make new neural connections around the damaged ones. Granted, although some brain injuries are massive and so devastating that we have no current solutions, the future may hold some answers.

Indeed, an old dog can learn new tricks!

Exciting stuff!

Jim

Kathleen Wintering (Nagy)

 Now who was it from our class that could get on the microphone and imitate Monsg. Culp perfectly?? Kathy Wintering

Michael McLeod

Wow Kathy I do not recall anybody doing this but bet it was funny when they did. Right before they got expelled, I assume.

Thanks Jim.

I'm assuming, judging from our occasional discussions we've seen on this site on the issues of the day, that plasticity does not apply to politics. 

James Hamilton, M. D.

 Mike,

The Corpus Callosum, which connects the RIGHT and the LEFT brain, must obviously be impervious to plasticity and the re-routing process! 😁

Jim 

Michael McLeod

Ha. I knew you'd come up with something. Bien hecho.

David Mitchell

Kathy,

I don't think it was me on any microphone, but I do recall frequently mocking his patented opening line when he came to OLP to show his annual "missions movie".

"My dear children, meeshionaries all."  

Kathleen Wintering (Nagy)

I think it was Dan Cody that I remember getting  on the mike in the gym when we were decorating for something and doing  a great  imitation of," My Dear Young Missionaries!" Kathy W.

Michael McLeod

While we are on the subject of the wonderfulness of the west

Opinion

The Great Western Public Land Robbery

Trump’s pick to be the steward of America’s public lands doesn’t believe in public lands.

By Timothy Egan

Contributing Opinion writer

• Aug. 16, 2019
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President Trump has already sharply reduced the size of Bears Ears, and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. Even more of America’s treasured public lands will be in jeopardy with the appointment of William Perry Pendley to the Bureau of Land Management.CreditCreditGeorge Frey/Getty Images

Imagine if the head of Philip Morris were put in charge of the American Cancer Society. Imagine he had spent his career trying to fight cancer cures, while promoting one of the world’s leading carcinogens. For good measure, he mocked the mission of his new employer and insulted the prayers of those looking for hope.

No, I’m not talking about Ken Cuccinelli, the acting chief of federal immigration services, who wants to rewrite the poem on the Statue of Liberty to say something like: Keep out, wretched masses. Only well-off whites are welcome here.

The gallery of awful human beings, monumental incompetents, wife-beaters, frauds and outright criminals appointed to high positions in the Trump administration is large and varied. As wanted posters, they would fill an entire post office wall.

But you have to go pretty deep into the ranks of the Worst People to find someone equal to the man Donald Trump has now put in charge of your public lands — William Perry Pendley. This is another Onion headline that writes itself: Trump’s pick for public lands doesn’t believe in public lands.

David Leonhardt helps you make sense of the news — and offers reading suggestions from around the web — with commentary every weekday morning.

The man now overseeing 248 million acres owned by every American citizen is a mad-dog opponent of the very idea of shared space in the great outdoors. He has spent his professional life chipping away — in court, in public forums, in statehouses — at one of the most cherished of American birthrights.

It’s easy to overlook the latest villain from this White House because the pipeline from hell just keeps churning them out. At the top, the occupant of the Oval Office never stops debasing his office: the racism, the nut-job conspiracy theories, the thumbs-up pictures with newly orphaned babies — and that was just during the last week or so.

But behind the tragicomedy of this presidency, some laser-focused opportunists have been cleaning up. Opponents of public health and safety, of clean water, open space and a chemical-free food chain have never had a better chance to run the show.

This week, it was a rollback of the Endangered Species Act, the most powerful environmental law in history, a statutory savior of bald eagles, grizzly bears and countless other vital links in the web of life. Could anything be more Trumpian than going after the law that saved the national bird?

Weakening the Endangered Species Act by executive fiat is illegal on the face of it, but the law has never stopped this administration cold in its tracks. While the courts sort it out, the natural world slips further into peril. In May, a United Nations report found that one million plant and animal species are on the verge of extinction. And for those of you who think you can take refuge in one of the new gilded bunkers built for the rich and apocalyptic, this report had direct implications for human survival as well.

The Trump strategy is to destroy from within. He has a secretary of state who doesn’t believe in diplomacy, an attorney general who scoffs at lawbreakers in the executive branch and now a man who opposes public lands to run the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees an area nearly 50 percent larger than the state of Texas.

Pendley spent decades suing the government for trying to protect fish and wildlife and clean water. “The Founding fathers intended all lands owned by the federal government to be sold,” he wrote in 2016. He’s also expressed sympathy for the deadbeat rancher Cliven Bundy, a hero of anti-public land terrorists. And he’s mocked Native American religious claims to sacred sites.

Now, he’s free to fulfill the wish list of his former industrial clients.He’s the land bureau’s acting director, just like Cuccinelli at immigration. It’s another Trump tactic to put people in temporary charge of important arms of government, hacks who could never be approved by Congress. In the short term, they do enough damage to satisfy their big-money handlers.

Pendley was given this powerful perch by way of executive order orchestrated by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, a former oil and gas lobbyist who is now doing the work of his ex-clients on the taxpayer’s dime.

Americans, by huge margins, love their public land — a sentiment shared by Trump voters. In the West, where the bureau’s land includes prime habitat for wildlife, and a favored open range for hunters, anglers, hikers and birders, Trump’s policies could cost Republicans Senate seats in Montana, Colorado and even Texas.

But what’s good in the political backlash to bad policies still leaves us at a dangerous moment for nature. Trump has gutted two national monuments in the West, the largest environmental rollback in history. And he’s given fresh life to a colossal mine that could imperil the world’s largest wild salmon fishery, in Alaska’s Bristol Bay.

I was in Montana last week, sitting around a campfire after a day spent hiking and swimming in a public forest full of summer enchantment. My Montana family members and I were talking about how the rich pay $1,500 a day to go “glamping” in this Last Best Place. We had it free — the forest, the river, a meadow bursting with wildflowers and huckleberries — for now.

Lawrence Foster

I learned yesterday that our IC and WHS classmate Mark Cantlon passed away.  All I know is that he died peacefully after a long illness.

David Mitchell

Sorry to hear that Larry.

Mark was a nice guy but terribly shy. I got to know him while you guys were still grade school classmates since our dad's were frends.

I seem to recall his house - an older one on E. North Broadway - was connected by tunnel from his basement to another house down the blcok and across the street. If I recall correctly, the two houses were part of the "underground railroad", harboring escaped slaves from the South. Could anybody who knew him better confirn that?

Michael McLeod

Aw man. He was such a fragile hearbreak of a kid. I hope he had some joy in his life.

Michael McLeod

Underground rr in columbus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8EaV3K8UNU

Also this from a local website:

The Friends of Freedom have identified over 25 Columbus locations, which were used as Underground Railroad safe places. Second Baptist Church, Anti-Slavery Baptist Church (led by Rev. James Poindexter, Rev. Isaiah Redman, and member John Ward, until its 1858 merger with Second Baptist Church), Kelton House in downtown Columbus, the Neil Mansion on The Ohio State University campus, Margaret Agler House on Sunbury Road, Caroline Brown House on East Livingston Avenue and the Southwick-Good and Fortkamp Funeral Home in Clintonville were also stops on the Underground Railroad, along with Stoner House and Hanby House (occupied by the family of Bishop William Hanby, a co-founder of Otterbein University). The majority of the 25-plus safe havens that were operable no longer exist- identified only by markers or signs.

Freedom-seeking runaway slaves were guided to these safe houses and Underground Railroad destinations by conductors, most of whom were Black. Barbers (Rev.) James Poindexter and Andrew Redmond, and John T. Ward (a clerk at Zettler’s) were welcome sights to the desperate faces of runaway slaves secreted in attics, barns, smokehouses, and in wagons traveling northward at night to Clintonville. Teamsters Louis Washington and his son Thomas were drivers. “The Underground Railroad was actually going on here in Columbus when I came in 1828,” recounted James Poindexter. Conductors David Jenkins, N.B. Ferguson, and John Bookel were all members of Poindexter’s Antislavery Baptist Church. Shepherd Alexander, William Washington, William Ferguson, Jeremiah Freeland, and many other African-Americans also served as conductors.

Kelton House, located on Town Street in downtown Columbus, was built by Fernando Cortez Kelton and his wife, Sophia Langdon Stone Kelton, in 1852. The Keltons were fervent abolitionists, who used their home as a safe haven on the Underground Railroad. Fernando Kelton was selected to be a pallbearer at the Columbus funeral procession of Abraham Lincoln, largely because of his work as an abolitionist. The Keltons’ eldest son, Oscar, was killed during the Civil War in 1864, fighting against slavery. The Keltons also took in Martha Hartway, a young runaway slave from Virginia, whom lived with them for ten years until her marriage in 1874 to Thomas Lawrence, a Black carpenter whose work can still be seen in Kelton House. Today, Kelton House offers tours, educational programs, and special events that bring its early history and the African-American experience to life.

Bonnie Jonas (Jonas-Boggioni)

Since I have SO much time on my hands, I saw this yeaterday and thought I would share for those going to _ichigan:  

Michael McLeod

Thank you Bonnie.

Apart from the topicality for those going to that state up north, this brings back sweet memories.

My mom and I loved doing the jumble.

David Mitchell

Thinking back to Kathy's question about Monsignor Kulp in her post #5966 reminded me of another "mission movie" experience. Did any of you in the other schools (besides us "chosen ones" at OLP) ever get treated to a trip to the movies to see one of those old movies about the lives of the Saints? We were taken in car pools down to either the "Southern" or the "Markham", or maybe the "Parsons" theaters to watch movies about the Saints. They were black and white low budget films, and I believe they were made in Spain in the 1950's, then dubbed in English. I seem to recall about 4 of these trips but can only remember 2 of the films. One was about St. Vincent dePaul and the other was about a little orphan boy who was left at the gate of a monsastery. It was called "Miracle of Marcelino". Does anyone remember any of this? There might have been one about St. Francis of Assisi, and St. Theresa, but my recollections are a bit fuzzy on the other films.

Note: I actually got so curious a few years ago that I bought "Miracle of Marcellio" in a DVD - just to see if my memory was correct. It is a sweet fiction about a little boy discovering a life-sized crucifix in an attic storage room, and beginning to carry on a conversation with the crucified Christ. Unfortunatly the voice used in the english dubbing is a teenager reading the lines in a bit of an obnoxious high pitch "baby talk". A poor imitation of the real 5 or 6 year-old boy I have recently watched on You Tube from the original soundtrack.  

Mark Schweickart

Like Dave, I do have a recollection of being dragged off downtown somewhere to see a film about St. John (maybe Don) Bosco. But enough of that sad memory, here's a far more life-affriming film to consider:

Do yourselves a favor and check out the new movie, Blinded by the Light.  It is absolutely wonderful. It is set in the 80's, in a London suburb, and focuses on a Pakistani-British teenager who wants to be a writer, and who becomes obsessed with the music (and especially the lyrics) of Bruce Springsteen. For those of you who are not particularly Springsteen fans, you will be after seeing this, and for those of you who are already quite the fan ... well, prepare to be utterly transported. It was co-written and directed by the female Indian-British director, Gurinda Chadha, who previously directed two other favorites of mine – Bride and Prejudice, a wonderful, sort-of-Bollywoodish, remake of Pride and Prejudice, and Bend It Like Beckham, which included Kiera Knightley's first break-out role. You won't go wrong checking out either of these older films if you get the chance. But Blinded by the Light just opened yesterday, so I am sure you will have a chance to see this (if you ever still go out to the movies, that is). I have never seen a more inventive way of incorporating the power of song lyrics into the making of a film, (and fear not, this definitely not some sort of lame, long-form music video; it has a compelling narrative as well). It inventively, (and only occasionally) graphically slides the words across the screen, not as subtitles, but as... well... it's hard to describe, but you'll see in the trailer I have linked below. And this not only makes it easy for non-diehard Bruce fans to not miss the lyric, but also impresses us by the expression on the actor's face as to how much this is affecting him, as well as making clear how relevant it is to what is going on in the film. That probably sounds a bit bizarre, but you'll get a feel for this with the trailer.

I was blown away, perhaps more than a little bit, because I must admit that it was listening Springsteen in my younger days that inspired me to dabble in song-writing. I remember saying to myself after having heard the song Point Blank, something to the effect of "Damn, why don't more songwriters write like that? Maybe I could write something like that." Well, I never got that good, but nevertheless, like the main character in this film, Springsteen's lyrics challenged me to try.

David Mitchell

Mark,

Been watching the previews for this at some other films lately and had an inkling it would be good. But I thought maybe it was just too coincidental. You know, another go around the same block as "Yesterday" (which I wished I'd seen twice). English teen-age guy - Pakistani parents - 70's Rock music - kind of similar setting. But thanks to your description, I am definately going.

James Hamilton, M. D.

I was listening to some oldies a few days ago when Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville was played. I checked the internet and that song was released about July 1976, just over 43 years ago. Wow, are we old or what!

Recent discussions on this Forum have included songs and health issues. Getting past the great rhythm of Margaritaville and looking at the words made me wonder what the character in that song would be doing today. So, as a doctor, I came up with some new verses that might tell us where he would be here in 2019:

(Taken down as I revised it later and may send it to JB) 

Jim 

Michael McLeod

Let's see: which songwriter do I lean towards.

This being a no brainer.

Really fascinating to me that Bruce has now been elevated to movie-subject status.Thanks for the tip about this latest one, Mark. 

He's been a hero to me for so many years now.

Saw him back when you could get could tickets for eight bucks.

Always loved the story Clarence Clemons would tell about how they'd be somewhere and Bruce would pick out people in a crowd and make up a story about them.

He is a fabulous musician but most of all a storyteller. 

A myth-maker.

Lord know we needed those myths to get by.

Grateful for the music we needed so badly to keep going. And still do.

Michael McLeod

Jim:

It's too bad you aren't out there in a classroom teaching med school students.

You could sing that song to them and have them use the clues in the lyrics to diagnose the character in your song.

Mark could accompany.

We'd have him work up a flashy video, too.

You'd have to come up with some dance moves. I'm sure we have a classmate out there somewhere who could tune you up.

I see you dancing down the middle of a ward, your loyal interns trailing behind, with patients in beds on either side, all of whom jump up and start dancing by the end of the video thanks to your melodious ministrations.

Now all that is necessary is to give you a stage name.

Suggestions, anyone?

Lawrence Foster

RE:  Mark Cantlon

I remember going to Mark Cantlon's house a few times.  Yes it was on EN Broadway across the street from IC.  Closer to the school than the church.  

Now Dave, I never knew about the underground tunnel but I do remember the wonderful pool table that the Cantlons had in their basement.  Mark showed me how to hold a cue stick and some of the other basic rudiments about shooting pool. 

Mark went to Aquinas freshman year and then like me and a bunch of others we transferred to WHS starting sophomore year.   Mark and I started off that fall walking to school via Sharon Road over to Canyon Drive or Glenmont and then made our way to WHS.  We'd usually enjoy a morning smoke on the way and tried to figure out how to adjust to school - you know, typical stuff of life back then for our ages.

I remember once him speaking out in a class in what I am pretty sure was senior year.  My sort of rough memeory of it was in English class with Sister Margaret.  The writing assignment was one that had, in theory, to do with technical writing.   Sister had a small stuffed animal, a dog, that she put on the podium.  Without naming it we had to write a report/essay describing it in such a manner that the reader could draw the image on a piece of paper or the chalk board. 

A few days later began the task of showing how well we had done.  Sister had individuals go to the board and write exactly what she read out.  And she was reading from our papers.  It may have been accidental or maybe it was intentional but her voice was snarky and belittling.   She had an attitude for a couple days and for me, and maybe some others, it was demeaning and embarrassing.  I was one of the ones who had to try to draw it on the board in front of everyone.  I got a few snickers from her reading style and my drawing of her words.  Mark got called to do it and after a minute or two he left the chalk board and just sat down in his chair.  She said something to him.  His response as he looked into her eyes and kept his voice low and calm was, "Go to hell."   

After the dead silence echoed for what seemed like minutes but was likely only a few seconds we were told to get our books out and to read.  I don't remember him receiving any punishment for his response.     

When I came back from the Army in October 69 Mark and I met up a few times.  He was working somewhere on Rte. 23 up near Delaware.  Perhaps at some gas or electic company.  With my working nights at Riverside Hospital and then starting college in Jan. 70 we just lost our connection.  His shyness or quietness or whatever it was, impacted him for sure.  But I do remember when he taught me something new (pool) and when he stood up for himself.  

Okay, that's enought rambling from me this morning.   Later.     

David Mitchell

Jim and Mike,

I make a pilgrimage to the capital city of Ohio every five years to attend a gathering of old high school mates - but who shows up?  A bunch of old farts who don't look anything like that group I once knew. There's a dirty nasty rumor going around that we are all gettting older. I say baloney! 

As any fool would know, the secret to long life is wearin' my flip flops. and of course, livin' on sponge cakes. 

(That and a heavy dose of denial)

But another wise medical sage I used to know (my dad) used to say as he read the obituaries in the Dispatch, "We're never gonna make it out of here alive".

Quite a while back in the Forum I mentioned a story about having to take my 7th or 8th graded daughter out to old Mile High Stadium (in Denver - about 1986) to see a Bruce Springsteen concert. She had won two tickets sellling candy (where have we heard that idea before?), at Most Precious Blood Catholic grade school school - don't ya love it? And I could not let a kid her age go alone with another girl her age (out at night by themelves with 60,000 adult rock fans!!!).

I just remember two things: First, we stood almost the whole night rocking, swaying, and clapping, and Second, we couldnt hear for three days!   

David Mitchell

Larry,

In case you mised it, there is a sign on the front door of this Forum that reads;

      "RAMBLINGS WELCOME HERE"

The "Society for The Propagation of the Forum" has asked me to forward this message:

In future, please continue to ramble.