Category: Uncategorized

NAACP & NASA: Advancing STEM Career Choices

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Well, this is simply. . . excellent!

I’m in the valley, reloading groceries — so I’ll post this for Monday morning enjoyment — do read it all:

. . .During an event Thursday, NASA and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) signed a Space Act Agreement to increase engagement and equity for underrepresented students pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and to improve access to agency activities and opportunities.

“NASA and the NAACP share a longstanding commitment to attracting more diverse students to STEM education and ultimately careers,” said Shahra Lambert, senior advisor for engagement and equity, NASA headquarters. “This agreement reaffirms that commitment and solidifies a partnership that will enable us to expand opportunities for more students of color to build their STEM identity and gain real-world experience through NASA STEM education, mentorship, and career awareness. With the NAACP’s help we’ll be able to truly impact young minds who will be our future scientists, engineers, explorers and more.”

As part of the agreement, the NAACP will incorporate NASA STEM lessons, content, and themes into its Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) achievement program, which is a series of competitions where students compete for scholarships and other incentives in areas ranging from performing and culinary arts to business and STEM. In turn, NASA will provide guidance on programming, participate in information sharing, provide mentorship, and facilitate tours of NASA facilities when appropriate.

“Much like NASA, brave, brilliant, Black women were critical to the success of the NAACP,” said Leon W. Russell, Chairman of the NAACP Board of Directors. “For years, we’ve worked to increase the number of diverse STEM students by providing scholarships and establishing key initiatives. Through our ACT-SO program and this new partnership with NASA, both organizations will make even greater progress to help pave the way for more Katherine Johnsons and Mary Jacksons. By enacting today’s agreement, we hope to increase the number of Black and underrepresented students in the STEM fields and help them reach for the stars.”

While initial efforts will be led by NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, the umbrella agreement also allows for further collaboration and partnership in the future. Specifically, the agency and the NAACP will look to support certain areas of NASA’s Equity Action Plan. . . .

So, now you know. . . heading back up the mountain — grin!

नमस्ते

Tonight, 23 And Me’s Independent Board Members, In Unison, Have “Voted With Their Feet”…

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Many long term readers here will recall that I was a very early, “bleeding edge” adopter of the 23andMe genetic sequencing services — and attendant data delivery. We’ve been following the story since late 2013 (even prior to any FDA approvals), pretty closely.

Since we last mentioned it, the company went public, and added a truly independent board. Then COVID-19 cratered whatever incremental sales and monetization plans the company had articulated. The outside large shareholders then grew impatient for an upside, or an exit plan. The response? “Let’s just go private — again.” Not a great strategy (for minority shareholders), even in the best of times. So, the stock has gone from ~$10, to $0.36, tonight.

It is not clear that the company will now remain intact, in this present form. Here’s the story:

…The board includes Sequoia Capital’s Roelof Botha as well as Neal Mohan, who took the helm as CEO of YouTube last year after Susan Wojcicki, Anne’s late sister, stepped down.

“After months of work, we have yet to receive from you a fully financed, fully diligenced, actionable proposal that is in the best interests of the non-affiliated shareholders,” Botha, Mohan et al wrote in a letter addressed to Wojcicki. “While we continue to wholeheartedly support the Company’s mission and believe deeply in the value of the personalized health and wellness offering that you have articulated, it is also clear that we differ on the strategic direction for the Company going forward.”

Due to that difference—and the fact that Wojcicki controls 49% of 23andMe votes—they resigned. Wojcicki is now the only board member left….

The company has been flailing this year. Last month, in a recent bid for cash, it began writing [sic — “filling” would be a better word, here] prescriptions for GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy through its telehealth subsidiary, Lemonaid Health….

We will check back in on this, when we come down mountain… in about ten days, but it may be… a completely different story, by then. It usually is — in these dramas. Onward, smiling….

नमस्ते

Idolizing… The Guy Leading Sodom and Gomorrah, John!?

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Tonight, Hinderaker would tell us that “persuadables” will find pro-Trump country ditties… vote winning. Emotional appeals, set to music — songs.

Color me decidedly… skeptical.

Kamala makes FACTUAL appeals, on the other hand — ones which are not just coincidentally deeply evocative, emotional appeals — as well… because it is a fact that at least two women bled out — in a parking lot, instead of getting family health services. This happened in two states where doctors are afraid they will go to jail if they save the woman’s life… before she is very near death.

That is an emotional appeal, driven specifically by hard factual truths — that radiate from “legal changes” — that Tangerine pushed through some red state houses, and the Supremes.

That sort of “Gomorrah governance” will drive Democratic turnout, among women (even women who previously voted Trump)… to a far greater degree, than some yokel crooning about a mythical “fighter”. [It will drive truly moral men, too.]

So much so, that I can’t wait for November to pop up — on my calendar.

Cheers, son.

Pembrolizumab Snags FDA Approval For Unresectable Advanced Or Metastatic Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma… Cool!

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This is very good news for mesthelioma sufferers, some 30,000 world wide.

And, even so… it is highly likely that oncologists have already been dosing the more dire cases, “off-label”, for a few years now. In any event, here is the latest — from the Rahway press release:

…[Merck] today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved KEYTRUDA, Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, in combination with pemetrexed and platinum chemotherapy, for the first-line treatment of adult patients with unresectable advanced or metastatic malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM).

The approval is based on data from the pivotal Phase 2/3 IND.227/KEYNOTE-483 trial. In IND.227/KEYNOTE-483, KEYTRUDA plus chemotherapy demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in overall survival (OS), reducing the risk of death by 21% (HR=0.79 [95% CI, 0.64-0.98]; p=0.0162) compared to chemotherapy alone at the trial’s pre-specified final analysis. Median OS was 17.3 months (95% CI, 14.4-21.3) for KEYTRUDA plus chemotherapy versus 16.1 months (95% CI, 13.1-18.2) for chemotherapy alone. KEYTRUDA plus chemotherapy also significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) versus chemotherapy alone (HR=0.80 [95% CI, 0.65-0.99], p=0.0194; median PFS 7.1 months [95% CI, 6.9-8.1] versus 7.1 months [95% CI, 6.8-7.7], respectively).

Overall response rate (ORR) was significantly higher for KEYTRUDA plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone (52% [95% CI, 45.5-59.0] versus 29% [95% CI, 23.0-35.4], respectively; p<0.00001). Adverse reactions occurring in patients with MPM were generally similar to those in other patients receiving KEYTRUDA in combination with pemetrexed and platinum chemotherapy….

Malignant mesothelioma is a type of cancer that starts in the linings of certain parts of the body, including the chest, abdomen, heart and testicles. Worldwide, it is estimated there were more than 30,000 new cases of mesothelioma diagnosed and more than 25,000 deaths from the disease in 2022. Pleural mesothelioma, which develops in the lining of the lungs, is the most common form of malignant mesothelioma, accounting for about 75% of all cases. Malignant pleural mesothelioma can progress rapidly, and the five-year survival rate for all stages for cases diagnosed in the U.S. from 2014-2020 was 12.8%….

Now you know. And… I’m the ghost — with the… most, babe! Grin.

नमस्ते

To Sum Up… The Exploding Mid-East Devices: Wrong, Scott.

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Scott lauds the two days of this.

I think a NYT editorialist said… it best (for me): this all evinces a tactical “success” — without any real strategic goal.

That pretty much… nails it for me. Sure since it’s not an official declared war, we cannot make the technical argument that these attacks violate the Geneva Conventions. But they do. And our own US — but modern, and international “law of war” treaties, ever since then plainly prohibit “booby trapped” consumer devices, like pagers and walkie-talkies.

Indeed, anyone with a working forebrain knows this use of explosives disguised as comms devices… is killing women and children — many of whom are not involved. This morning, at a funeral for one of yesterday’s pager attack deaths, a second device — a “walkie talkie”, was detonated — and it clearly injured women and children at a funeral — during prayer (video available… everywhere). This. Is. Not. Acceptable.

Thus, these tactics are largely indistinguishable from… terrorism.

Moreover, there is a high likelihood that this mostly leads to a hardening — a hardening of the positions taken by much of the EU… that Israel’s military is untethered — and that Bibi, and the IDF just needs to… stop. Cease-fire.

Onward.

Mayhem for mayhem’s sake… seems… illogical.

And I say that as a supporter of Israel.

That’s all I’ve got.

Tom Fitton’s Idiotic Strike Suit — Against Evanston Reparations — Just Admitted That None Of His Recruited “Plaintiffs” Live There, Or Hold Property There. Game Over.

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Not surprisingly, once again, Tom Fitton and Judicial Watch will be drummed out of federal court, for failing to grasp jurisdictional matters. That is, as we suspected (and Fitton admits this morning, through counsel’s silence in a sworn pleading!), none of the recruits live in Evanston, or hold property there. [I won’t quote his nonsense, but it is linked here for the sake of a complete record.]

I represented, pro bono publico, several of the already successful actual reparations recipients — and all the final papers (as opposed to the drafts Fitton offered) require that a recipient show current Evanston residence. It is, in sum… a jurisdictional requirement — to be able to apply. Without meeting it, one has no standing to complain. Period.

[Note that the reparations funds were/are all raised from local Evanston / real estate tax assessments — why would local Evanston residents vote to send money to people who do not live there, and do not agree to use it, to improve the housing stock in Evanston, in which victims of prior race discrimination now reside?! The resolution was passed on the basis of making amends to people still living in Evanston. Fitton deceptively says that about 7% of those applying were not resident in Evanston. None of those people have received funding. Full stop. What a putz.]

This is a requirement none of his “recruits” presently meets, and had not met on the day he churlishly filed suit.

In passing, we would again remind the readership that. . . an elected Palatine Village Trustee (a tax-payer funded position; see at right — in a village that is about 10 miles WEST of Evanston, no less!) — and yet another of Fitton’s local lawyers… knew it, too.

Trustee and private attorney Alicia Svenson averred that ending race discrimination is no longer a compelling government interest.

[I wonder what the ~26,800 people of color (non-whyte) in the Village of Palatine (2022 population: ~68,500 people) think of that sworn position, of hers, in this suit? I may ask, when I return from the mountain vacation… via a web-site dedicated to removing her from office — and promoted on social media — world-wide.

When is that next Trustees’ election, BTW?] Smile.

नमस्ते

The Global Vaccine Alliance, GAVI — Is Shipping ~500,000 Mpox Vaccine Jabs, To African Nations Gripped With Clade Ib…

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The US could clearly afford to be doing more. But this is clearly good news. Good news, for the children of DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya and Uganda. Still, about 20 deliveries of this scale are yet needed to meet demand, and save lives.

The UK Guardian has it all, and as we mentioned yesterday, public health authorities in Britain will begin vaccinating at risk populations, locally in the coming weeks. Here’s the morning’s story:

…A batch of 500,000 mpox vaccines has been bought by the vaccine alliance Gavi, for delivery this year to virus-affected countries in Africa, where until now doses have been scarce.

It is estimated that 10 million vaccines are needed to meet demand, but the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which accounts for most cases, only received 100,000 vaccines earlier this month despite having had more than 700 deaths this year and 22,000 cases of the new Clade 1b strain. Neighbouring countries Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya have each reported a handful of cases.

“We are committed to working with affected governments and our partners to turn these vaccines into vaccinations as quickly and effectively as possible and, over time, to build a global vaccine stockpile if sufficient funding is secured for Gavi’s work through 2030,” said Gavi’s head, Dr Sania Nishtar….

Reuters reported this month that rich countries such as Japan, the US and Canada have millions of doses of mpox vaccines stockpiled and only a small proportion of them have been pledged to help stop the outbreak in Africa….

Manufacturer Bavarian Nordic praised the deal, saying it would significantly increase the number of vaccines available in Africa. Gavi said it will now work to secure funding to build a stockpile of vaccines….

Now you know. And this may be my last entry… for about ten days… keep it spinning in good karma….

नमस्ते

Hey Scott — No One But Tangerine… Made Tangerine Tell Dozens Of Increasingly Crazy Lies, Over And Over, At Debate…

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More goofy BS, from Johnson (and the silly billionaire Ackman), today.

I think Scott (preposterously) imagines this will be like the Bush43 Texas Air National Guard papers… but it won’t be.

The crux of the “debate problem” — for Donald Trump is that he told Lie after Lie after Lie, each of them growing more preposterous, in turn. [And yes Scott, he endangered Haitian Americans in Ohio, in the process — what an a$$!]

He got slaughtered in the debate because by the end, he was spouting nonsense and foaming at the mouth and looking every bit like your crazy great uncle at Thanksgiving.

It is clear that Kamala Harris exposed how easy it is to use his raging and now largely collapsed narcissism… to cause emotional crises, in his self-perception.

That’s what America saw, and that is why he cannot be president again, because any world leader may easily manipulate him in a time of crisis.

So just wander off (to the far right) Johnson — and Ackman. No one cares that you’re peddling re-treaded lies.

Cheers.

This Is Good News For The Daiichi Sankyo & Merck Collabo- In NSCLC (Lung Cancer)… But Is Not Complete — So… Immaterial.

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I’ll add this a couple days late, but the analysis from Fierce alone, is worth a read.

Do go read all that the outlet observed, here — and a bit:

…A phase 3 trial of Daiichi Sankyo and Merck & Co.’s HER3-directed antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) has hit its primary endpoint, boosting plans to take a second shot at FDA approval. But two more people died after developing interstitial lung disease (ILD), and the overall survival (OS) data are immature.

The trial compared the ADC patritumab deruxtecan to chemotherapy in people with metastatic or locally advanced EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after the failure of a third-generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor such as AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso. Daiichi linked its ADC to progression-free survival (PFS) of 5.5 months in an earlier phase 2, only for manufacturing issues to sink a filing for FDA approval.

In the phase 3 trial, PFS was significantly longer in the ADC cohort than in the chemotherapy control arm, causing the study to hit its primary endpoint. Daiichi included OS as a secondary endpoint, but the data were immature at the time of analysis. The study will continue to further assess OS….

Now you know…. smiling into the warm night here… one day left… then off-grid, for about ten days. Grin.

नमस्ते

Elon “The Putz” Musk Is Doing NOTHING About This… At X-itter. Typical.

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The giant turd-blossom regularly complains about how the “Democrats” lie about Tangerine.

But when “Red Pill USA” on his site uses very poor AI, to libel our sitting Vice President, and our soon-to-be 47th President… by associating her with an now indicted felony sex trafficker and thug… to imply she endorses him…

Musk… is a ghost.

G O N E.

This is libel per se, as it implies the Veep was complicit in (or endorsed) his felony crime spree. [As a career prosecutor, she has likely never agreed to be in a public photo-shoot with Diddy. She likely knew all about him. You see, DAs talk to one another at conferences.]

BTW, the real Montel Williams might also sue, since it is plainly “false light publicity” — a separate state level tort — in LA | California (as might the other young lady, Montel’s daughter, falsely depicted here as being with Diddy). Just as Eddy Grant just won summary judgment in Manhattan on, against Tangerine 2020 campaign coffers.

So… Musk… do grow up, and own up to the cesspool you’ve allowed to fester — for over two and a half long years.

Out.