Message Forum

Oh good. I was going to say Art Linkletter

10/29/21 01:09 PM

#10103

John Maxwell

Jim, Your bust resembles a young Dr. Robert Koch. Pasteur parted his hair on the opposite side of his noggin. However most elderly men of that age resembled each other, and it would be difficult to to tell them apart. Plus the upload of that image could be flipped, which is a common occurrence these days. I find that to be a chronic problem with social media. I find myself looking at my device in the mirror to get the honest depiction.

10/29/21 02:38 PM

#10104

Jack,

Nope, the upload wasn't flipped. On the original shot I framed it in the camera without the insignia. Here is a re-shoot with Louis' name visible for compaison.

Jim

10/29/21 04:09 PM

#10105

Boy, was I wrong - I thought it was Col. Sanders. Who else has touched American life so deeply?

10/30/21 11:45 AM

#10106

Michael McLeod

Damn. I would have guessed pasteur because youre a dr. and your friend was french but nobody's gonna believe me now.

10/30/21 02:13 PM

#10107

Mike McL.,

You " would have guessed Pasteur". Really? Let me fact check that statement...🙄.

Jim

10/30/21 09:34 PM

#10108

Don’t mind me – I’m just nattering on again about Irish stuff. But did you know that our American celebration of Halloween is mostly based on Irish/Scottish/Celtic lore? From the beginning of the Wikipedia entry on Halloween:

Halloween or Hallowe'en (a contraction of "All Hallows' evening"), also known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve, is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It begins the observance of Allhallowtide the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the departed.

Celebrated in Ireland and Scotland for centuries, Irish and Scottish migrants brought many Halloween customs to North America in the 19th century, and then through American influence, Halloween spread to other countries by the late 20th and early 21st century.

10/31/21 11:29 AM

#10109

Michael McLeod

ok boys and girls it is time for another episode of ask Dr J.

Jim; when my daughter got he second covid shot (pfizer) she had an interesting reaction. A bone in the wrist of the arm where she got the shot began to hurt. Her doctor explained that it was because she had rhematoid arthritis and the vaccine reacted with it - I'm assuming this was because the antibodies were reacting/attacking it.

Can you elucidate?

10/31/21 02:31 PM

#10110

#climatechangehypocrites

"Wealthy technocrats arriving on private jets staying at luxury 5 star hotels and being chauffeured around in large entourages are about to spend the next 2 weeks lecturing us about how we need to reduce our living standards.

I won't be listening and neither should you."

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/10/something_big_is_coming.html

10/31/21 02:45 PM

#10111

Mike McL.,

Interesting question about Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and the Covid Vaccines and I shall try to give you a (relatively) brief answer. But I cannot comment fully on your daughter's individual case since I obviously have not examined her nor do I know her medications or her entire history. Her personal physician/rheumatologist would be best informed to diagnose what is causing her wrist symptoms.

When the vaccines, particularly the mRNA ones, first came out there were some questions whether they would be safe in patients with various autoimmune diseases since there was not a lot of data that had been collected and evaluated on that subgroup of vaccinees. Since any vaccine is designed to stimulate an immune response these were valid concerns. However, as time has elapsed, most of these concerns have faded and severe side effects have not been very common. In fact the COVID vaccines are reccommended for these patients as the risk of getting COVID-19 far outweighs any risk of side effects. Additionally, severe COVID disease can overstimulate the immune system (remember "cytokine storm") and can even worsen autoimmune disorders.

Autoimmune disesases themselves take many years to develop in a patient and our understanding of that process is still not complete. The spike proteins in the mRNA vaccines are very short lived (days) in the body and probably have negligible effect on the actual autoimmune disorder itself.

Flares of RA are the rule and, even in well treated and controlled disease, do occur for many different reasons. Most RA patients are on some sort of chronic medication(s) most of which alter (supress) parts of the immune system. Sometimes, depending on which immunosupressive agent the patient is on and what the prescribing physician recommends, the medicine may be stoppped for a period of time around vaccination so as not to interfere with the vaccine's working. That could potentially cause a flare.

Inflammation usually occurs with flares and the hallmarks of inflammation are rubor (red in color), tumor (swelling), calor (warmth), dolor (pain) and Funcio Laesa (loss of function/mobility). We know your daughter had pain, the others would be determined by a physical exam of her wrist by one familiar with her baseline anatomy and any chronic deformities.

Of course her RA does not make her unable to have pain from any other wrist problem that any of us can get - overuse, sprains, injuries, etc.

Bottom line: yes, a temporary flare could, I believe, have been due to the shot itself but it does not sound like she got a severe worsening of her RA.

Even if it was due to the vaccine she is better off with the shot than without it.

Jim

10/31/21 11:54 PM

#10112

Joseph D. McCarthy

So Friday I received this years flu shot; that makes four shots (so far) this year. Three for Covid and One for the flu. Can't wait to see what's next.

Last week I purchased a set of chains for our Explorer. Still have the UN-opened bag containing the chains for our old Explorer; different sized tires naturally. But better safe than sorry. On the other hand I may get to use them in two weeks when I drive up to Portland on November 11th and return on the 14th. And I get to go solo this trip, my wife is staying in California while I go to help out a coin club with their coin show.

Best of all I get to leave home between 3:30 and 4:00 A.M. for my drive North. The drive involves one gas stop near Corning, California and one half way between the birder and Portland. Plus I may even stop for lunch in Southern Oregon. The trip usually takes about eleven hours each way. On the 14th I leave about 4:00 P.M. and drive to Redding, California for the night and drive the rest of the way home on Sunday morning. Oh what fun.

Jim I have one little addition to your request for other things we did in our youth. I'm not sure if everyone is familiar with "SIDESHOWS". In California we have been involved with almost perpetual "Sideshows" by younger people showing off their vehicles. A Sideshow involves doing stunts including "DONUTS" on city streets or freeways. A "Donut" is when the vehicle spins in a circle burning tires.

My first vehicle was a 1954 Peugot. It had a four cylinder engine and a five speed transmission in the "TREE", or on the steering column, and an emergency brake that was on the floor like a handle between front seats. One of my friends, Bob, had a Ford of England (if memory serves me) that was similar set up. In the winter months late in an evenings when it was snowing we would pace each other North on I-71 and at certain points, when there weren't other vehicles around would pull the emergency brake and do 360's. The object (Foolish) was to time our rotations so that when we released the emergency and, hopefully be driving North. I quess we calculated correctly because we were always going North when we came out of the spin.

11/01/21 12:18 AM

#10113

John,

I wonder if I could prevail on you - one of my favorite techno-illuminatti - to explain to us - the great unwashed - about what this new, so called "Meta Verse" is all about?

Of course we all know it must be some sort of blessing to mankind since it is the brainchild of that widely respected poster boy for honest, wholesome, public goodwill - Mark Zuckerberg.

I am all a"twitter" as I await your "insta(nt)" gram of advice.

11/01/21 10:09 PM

#10114

MM’s previous post (“Wealthy technocrats arriving on private jets…” ) on the climate change summit is another example of how when you lose the substantive argument about the scientific consensus on climate change (and your cupboard of “ideas” is otherwise bare) you forsake rational arguments and shift the subject by turning to culture war/grievance politics. Would the authors of the tweets cited be happier if Biden rowed himself across the Atlantic to attend the G-20 summit and the Glasgow climate conference?

Their resentment of Biden and other world leaders attempting to deal with this problem has absolutely no bearing on whether climate change is real or not. The scientific community, the private sector (by that I mean the overwhelming majority of private companies), U.S public opinion (which now favors action by a 70-30% margin), and governments all around the world have made it abundantly clear that they accept the reality that climate change is real and serious.

Seriously - is the private jet argument the best they’ve got?

11/01/21 10:11 PM

#10115

Dave, I consider myself an expert on the “metaverse” since I heard about it all of a week ago when Zuckerberg announced to the world that Facebook was changing its corporate name to Meta.

My extensive research (which consists of reading several sentences in news releases) is that Facebook envisions the metaverse as an even more “immersive” online experience of Facebook and its sister offerings (Instagram, WhatsApp, etc). But I also know that key to making their offerings more immersive is a company they bought named Oculus Rift that makes augmented reality headsets that combine what you see around you with other very realistic enhancements that Facebook will offer.

This has the laudable goal of making Facebook users ever more addicted and happy to spend most of their waking hours consuming Facebook content and clicking on more and more ads. Sounds like a win-win, don’t you think?

But, as I frequently do, I will defer to Andy Borowitz who always manages to strike just the right balance:

Mark Zuckerberg Changes Name to Mother Teresa

MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA (The Borowitz Report)—Mark Zuckerberg has legally changed his name to Mother Teresa, Mother Teresa confirmed today.

In an official statement, Mother Teresa said that he had changed his name to better reflect his mission of charity and kindness.

“The name ‘Mark Zuckerberg’ did not accurately describe my function: to be a force for good, spreading love and kindness throughout the metaverse,” he said.

11/02/21 01:19 AM

#10116

John,

Thank you. How utterly gratifying.

As their revenues grow into the tragillions of dollars, it is rumored they might even consider paying their fair share of taxes,,,,,,,,,or,,,, maybe not.

But we can all rest assured they will be extra carefull to maintain safeguards for their pre-teen users.

Right.

11/02/21 10:31 AM

#10117

John....Of course, the hypocrisy of the climate change summit jet setters whose carbon emissions to this one event exceed by the thousands anything I have used or will ever use in the remaining time I have here on this earth, is not "all we have"! That comment is a deflection. Why can you not just acknowledge that, by their own examples, these leaders cannot possibly be genuinely serious about the imminent disaster that will befall the world if the "common folk" do not accept their zero carbon plan for us? It obviously does not apply to THEM!

11/02/21 10:33 AM

#10118

On another note: https://wp.me/p2cTBs-13U

11/02/21 10:52 AM

#10119

Michael McLeod

You are buying into a lie, MM.

It's that simple.

The deflection isn't John's. He's dead on. The deflection is a massive one, an info-war being engineered by the people who have something at stake, and misleading people is their way of preserving their money-making status quo. It's a battle they will lose, inevitably. But the rear-guard action is slowing the pace - at your expense, at the expense of all of us.

I know it's futile for me to say this to you. I know you won't listen. But as they say, maybe somebody will. As a journalist I've seen this nefarious-ass game go on for years with great success. You may not appreciate those of us who point it out, but perhaps the folks that come along long after we're gone will be grateful for the effort.

Lordie. It's bad enough that there are people who refuse to address their own health. The money-grubbing people who don't give a crap about the only planet we've got - special place in hell, as Dante would say.

Or as my sainted mama would have put it: Turpis lucre gloria. For the sake of filthy money.

11/02/21 11:33 AM

#10120

So now Mike, you are calling into question my psychological status??? UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!

11/02/21 11:40 AM

#10121

Well, I see Mike that you had the decency,, while I was preparing my response which I finally decided to pare down, to edit your initial post by deleting the wording that I was "psychologically" incapable of listening. It truly tells me what you think of me & others who try to share deeply held & thought out convictions.

11/02/21 12:16 PM

#10122

Regardless of one's beliefs on the many factors that are involved with climate change, it does have the appearance of hypocrisy when so many choose to fly on private aircraft to a conference mostly directed toward the carbon issue. For what gets accomplished at these meetings it would seem greener to hold them virtually over the internet.

Jim

11/02/21 09:27 PM

#10123

Jim, I’m really skeptical that, for important things, virtual meetings invariably accomplish as much as face to face ones. The informal after-hours and casual get-togethers are just as important (or maybe more so) than the formal meetings.

You’ve spoken a number of times about the limits of telemedicine and mentioned you always make it a point to put your hands on the patient at least once (that impressed me). I’ve had a couple of virtual visits with doctors in the past year or two and they are just not the same (through no fault of the doctor). I’m guessing the situation is not much different with any kind of human interaction, including climate diplomacy.

11/02/21 11:22 PM

#10124

Does the fact that there are in fact, hypocrites flying private jets to conferences mean that the issue of climate change does not exist?

What is the explanation for the drastic loss of snow caps on the world's major peaks - Kilamanjaro, Aconcagua, or the Matterhorn for example, in the last century?

What is the cause of the slow but steady death of the world's corral reefs?

What can communities like Norfolk, Virginia do to stop the increase in flooding of it's streets near the harbor?

What will happen to most of the world's sea level island nations in the near future?

Why are the major casualty insurers (and re-insurers) growing so concerned over their liability exposure on cities like New York and Miami? (hint: could it be about the billions of dollars of subways and basement mounted HVAC systems in major East Coast cities)

What will Phoenix (and eventually, Los Angeles, Tuscon, San Diego, etc.) do after this first ever decrease in Colorado River water allottments? Will there be more cut backs? And if so, what will the Arizona and Southern Caifornia farmers do?

We could go on.

11/02/21 11:29 PM

#10125

P.s.

I lived in the "Mile High" city Denver for over 17 years. One needs only to drive down from the mountians (while driving the kids home from the ski areas) into the city, and see the sickening health hazard known as the famous Denver "brown cloud" hanging about a thousand feet over the entire city.

It's something ugly to behold!

11/02/21 11:40 PM

#10126