Cutting the dollars that go into projects advanced to this stage might make them worthless.

I am quite confident some of these funds came from the USA and the Trump administration has proposed huge cutbacks in science and medical research. Australia is suppose to be an ally. Cuts to any assistance is shooting ourselves in the foot.

It had to be the US because Australia didn't cut anything from it's astronomy budget.

May 10, 2017

In terms of the impact on science, (click here) the Australian budget, released 9 May, is “very bland,” says Les Field, science policy secretary at the Australian Academy of Science in Canberra, the nation’s leading scientific association. “There are no big spending initiatives but no major cuts,” he adds.

It’s a “business-as-usual budget for science and technology,” agrees Kylie Walker, CEO of Science and Technology Australia in Canberra, which represents scientists.

Overall spending on science for the fiscal year beginning 1 July and in later years, called the forward estimates, is not yet clear because support is spread across several ministries. But the plan does reveal some winners and losers....

If there has to be spending cuts it should occur for future project, not those already engaged, planned and underway. Honestly.

24 July 2017
By Sarah Wild

Designs for the world’s largest radio telescope (click here) have been scaled back to save money — a decision that astronomers say could affect its ability to peer deep into the Universe’s past. 

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA), a telescope 50 times more sensitive than current instruments, is expected to cost billions of dollars. Its final design calls for around 2,000 radio dishes in Africa, together with up to one million antennas in Australia, that will have a total light-collecting area of roughly 1 square kilometre — hence the project's name.

But the first phase of construction, called SKA1, is a more modest affair. Already slimmed down from a larger design proposed in 2013, it now comprises 194 dishes in South Africa and around 130,000 antennas in Australia. In March, the SKA's board said that the project would have to find further cuts of around 20% so that it could be built within a €674 million (US$785 million) cap imposed by the project’s ten funders — Australia, Canada, China, India, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. And at a meeting in the Netherlands on 18–19 July the board decided to make the savings by, among other measures, scaling back SKA1’s computing power and crowding its antennas and radio dishes closer together....

It is the US. Has to be. There isn't anything else it can be. There is opposition by Congress to the President's plans, but, that isn't going to play well with allies. They will not count on the USA and that just might be a permanent policy.

The 2018 budget proposal (click here) that President Donald Trump unveiled last week confirms two things that U.S. scientists have long suspected: The new president is no fan of research, and his administration has no overarching strategy for funding science. Deep proposed cuts to research at several agencies offer evidence that Trump doesn't see science—of any kind—as a spending priority. And along with neglect there's indifference. There's no telling how the National Science Foundation would fare, for example, because the budget blueprint doesn't mention it. In the meantime, scientists are also worried about the fate of this year's research budgets after Trump proposed cuts to the category that funds all civilian research. More angst: There's no word yet on whether the president will even appoint a science adviser, much less when he will fill dozens of senior slots at research agencies....

It's the USA. The global community is quickly coming to the conclusion the USA can't be counted on for anything.

27 June 2013

Australian organisations have won (click here) almost $19 million in funding to help design the world’s largest radio telescope.

The Australian Government has made almost $19 million available to Australian organisations to help design the groundbreaking international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project.

Co-hosted in Australia and South Africa, the SKA will be the world’s largest radio telescope. It is being funded by countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas as well as Australia and New Zealand.

“This is a gigantic international science project that will change the way astronomy is done worldwide and it will be co-hosted here in Australia,” Minister for Science and Research Senator Don Farrell said.

“These grants will help Australian organisations to win the opportunity to work with leading international players on the design of the SKA and, by doing so, demonstrate our world-class research and development capabilities.”

The grants are conditional upon the recipients being selected by the international SKA Organisation to undertake SKA work packages, worth around $114 million. An announcement of the successful tenderers will be made later this year....

The organizations that are falling short of funding could ask China. I am confident Chinese scientists would be delighted to be a part of it.

26 July 2017
By Jane Qiu

...For director-general Wu Ji, (click here) this 19.4-hectare, 914-million-yuan (US$135-million) campus represents the coming of age of China's space-science efforts. In the past few decades, Wu says, China has built the capacity to place satellites and astronauts in orbit and send spacecraft to the Moon, but it has not done much significant research from its increasingly lofty vantage point. Now, that is changing. “As far as space science is concerned,” he says, “we are the new kid on the block.”

China is rushing to establish itself as a leader in the field. In 2013, a 1.2-tonne spacecraft called Chang'e-3 landed on the Moon, delivering a rover that used ground-penetrating radar to measure the lunar subsurface with unprecedented resolution. China's latest space lab, which launched in September 2016, carries more than a dozen scientific payloads. And four additional missions dedicated to astrophysics and other fields have been sent into orbit in the past two years, including a spacecraft that is conducting pioneering experiments in quantum communication....

It is summer time and local vacations or trips to nearby states can be the best.

July 24, 2017
By Elena Mejia

The macaws make an appearance for an afternoon show and feeding in the Pavilion at the Indianapolis Zoo. The young birds are still learning their way around the zoo with the help of the macaw trainers.

It's perhaps not a shock to learn (click here) that the long-heralded San Diego Zoo or the Bronx Zoo would be named among the 10 best zoos in the nation.

But how about the Indianapolis Zoo?

Absolutely, at least according to Conde Nast Traveler, which recently released its list of the nation's top zoos, noting that the Indianapolis Zoo "is the only park in America certified as a zoo, aquarium, and zoological garden."

Carla Knapp, public relations specialist for the city's zoo, called it an outstanding recognition, given that Conde Nast Traveler is one of the foremost authorities on world travel. 

"We offer the only opportunity in the Midwest for people to get in the water with dolphins," she said. "That is a unique experience we offer to get people up close and personal with an animal that typically they would have to travel to Florida or someplace else to experience that."

The Indy zoo also recently unveiled a new exhibit that includes 50 endangered macaws. The colorful birds freely fly a half-mile above the zoo....

I wish someone would lift some DNA from the American Museum of Natural History (click here) and compare that DNA to the DNA of the species today. Endangered and threatened status means there is habitat stress among the surviving members of a species. It is when there is stress that mutations can take place. One of the reasons this episode of climate change is a crisis is because it is rapid climate change with increases the danger of survival of any species, including humans.

So, it would be prudent to examine DNA from specie members that did not experience habitat stress. The American Museum of Natural History often comes under criticism as being the place where man's arrogance shows the most. That is the case, no doubt. But, those hunters long ago that proved humans were superior in it's ability to dominate the wilderness may have done a favor to the species that exist today.

I have to wonder if there are signs in the DNA of current survivors that are marginally different from it's recent ancestors.

July 25, 2017
By Chris Peters

The Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium (click here) is investing heavily in the future of tigers.

The zoo announced two new initiatives on Monday: a tiger breeding facility and a sperm bank.

Last week, the zoo broke ground on a tiger breeding facility at its Lee G. Simmons Conservation Park and Wildlife Safari in Ashland. The facility is similar to the zoo’s cheetah breeding space, which has been a success since it opened in 2014.

In addition, the main zoo campus is now home to a genome resource bank for tigers. The zoo has begun collecting sperm samples from tigers in zoos around the country and freezing them in liquid nitrogen tanks inside its Center for Conservation Research.

Dr. Jason Herrick, the zoo’s director of reproductive sciences, described the bank as a “fancy sperm bank” during a Facebook Live video broadcast. “Once it’s frozen, it’s good in theory forever. We could be using it for 30, 40, 100 years after the tiger dies.”...

24 July 2017

African wild/painted dog (click here) and spotted hyena are usually aggressive competitors. This fascinating encounter took place when one dog from an Okavango pack made some friendly contact with first one, then another spotted hyena. Soon after, the rest of the wild dog pack attacked the hyena. 

Eleven (click here) endangered African Painted Dog puppies have been weighed, assessed and vaccinated in their first medical check at Perth Zoo.

The puppies were born in April to first-time parents Kisuri and Hasani – who was brought in to Perth Zoo from Altina Wildlife Park in NSW.

“We’re delighted to announce we have seven feisty females and four males,” senior zookeeper Becky Thomasson said....

Painted Dog Conservation (click here)

This is not the first time, but, the first time for an administration that wants to close down the borders.

This form of border crossing will become more popular and desperate people do desperate things. I don't know why this truck wasn't found and stopped.

July 24, 2017
By Frank Bajak and Nomann Merchant

The tractor-trailer was pitch-black inside, (click here) crammed with maybe 90 immigrants or more, and already hot when it left the Texas border town of Laredo for the 150-mile trip north to San Antonio.

It wasn't long before the passengers, sweating profusely in the rising oven-like heat, started crying and pleading for water. Children whimpered. People took turns breathing through a single hole in the wall. They pounded on the sides of the truck and yelled to try to get the driver's attention. Then they began passing out.

By the time police showed up at a Walmart in San Antonio around 12:30 a.m. Sunday and looked in the back of the truck, eight passengers were dead and two more would soon die in an immigrant-smuggling attempt gone tragically awry.

The details of the journey were recounted Monday by a survivor who spoke to The Associated Press and in a federal criminal complaint against the driver, James Matthew Bradley, who could face the death penalty over the 10 lives lost....

The way this is stopped is through x-rays into the truck. This photo is from 2011. This is a better x-ray than most. Some of the x-rays showed skeletons. The power of the ray was too strong. But, this definitely shows people inside a truck. There is no law that allows people as freight, except, buses.

18 May 2011
By Paul Bentley

Packed together (click here) in the tightest of cabins, with little air to breathe and no space at all in which to move, the migrants in this picture show just how far some will go to try to sneak into America.

Mexican police found the 513 agonisingly squashed together in two trucks just outside Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas - an eye-watering 18-hour-drive away from the nearest US border.

They were caught when the trucks sped through a vehicle scanner at a police checkpoint. After the astonishing X-ray image came up on screens, police gave chase, finding 240 people in one truck and 273 crammed into the other....

Just look at that mess. These trucks have to be stopped to realize what people are inside. Enemy or desperate illegal immigrant.

The Maverick is back calling for bipartisan health care reform. That is no surprise. He has always reached across the aisle.

July 25, 2017
By Elana Shor

...McCain waved spiritedly (click here) to a throng of reporters as he entered the chamber he’s called home for 30 years, served as the crucial 50th vote to proceed to a repeal debate, and then delivered a passionate speech undercutting the “shell of a bill” he had just agreed to take up.

“Our health care insurance system is a mess,” McCain said on the floor, adding of Obamacare: “We Republicans have looked for a way to end it and replace it with something else without paying a terrible political price. We haven’t found it yet, and I’m not sure we will. All we’ve managed to do is make more popular a policy that wasn’t very popular when we started trying to get rid of it.”...

...McCain said he plans to remain in the Senate in order to manage floor consideration of the annual defense authorization bill, part of his duties as Armed Services chairman, before returning to Arizona for further treatment of his glioblastoma — the same type of tumor that killed his friend, the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.).

"I have every intention of returning here and giving many of you cause to regret all the nice things you said about me," he said....

     

Buyer beware.

The most recent body count that I have seen is 87 persons dead from 12 apartments.

July 25, 2017
By Rachel Roberts

Arconic (click here) made profits of $212m in the second quarter of the year as it moves to absolve itself of responsibility for fire.

The firm that supplied the cladding used on Grenfell Tower has reported higher than expected profits as it moves to absolve itself of blame for the devastating fire.

Arconic made profits of $212m (£162m) in the three months to the end of June - the period including the 14 June inferno that killed at least 80 people - an increase of 57 per cent from the same quarter of the previous year. 

It has announced it will no longer sell its Reynobond PE panels for high-rise blocks because it has no control over their installation.

It also raised its forecast for annual revenue to $12.7bn (£9.7) from $12.3bn (£9.4), thanks to better than expected sales....

The products used in these deaths has to be outlawed based on chemical structure, otherwise, another company or a new name of the same company can circumvent the law.

5 July 2017
By Nicole Morley

...Police investigating the Grenfell Tower disaster (click here) stressed that ‘the catastrophic damage’ inside means the grim discoveries are not thought to be ’87 people’.

Commander Stuart Cundy, who is overseeing the Metropolitan Police response to the fire said: ‘On Monday, we forensically recovered the last of the visible human remains from Grenfell Tower and transferred them to Westminster Mortuary.

‘In total we have made 87 recoveries, but I must stress that the catastrophic damage inside Grenfell Tower means that is not 87 people....

In the UK, the product is outlawed BY INSPECTION of the siding, but, after the fact.  There needs to be standards that reflect the inspection of materials before they are used as siding. That really should not be an issue. The builders know the products they will use, otherwise, they could not decide on a sales price without doing that. It is about regulating the acquisition of materials for buildings either with human employees or residents.

...Since the fire (click here) – the deadliest in the UK for more than a century – tests have shown that at least 149 high-rise buildings in 45 different local authorities in the UK have failed cladding safety tests....

Looks as though Interim CEO David Hess is looking forward to a bonus.

Arconic Second Quarter Report 2017 (click here)

Net income attributable to Arconic in the second quarter of 2017 was $212 million, or $0.43 per share. The results include $47 million in special items, including a gain on the debt-for-equity exchange of Alcoa Corporation shares, which is intended to qualify as generally tax-free to Arconic for U.S. federal income tax purposes. This was partially offset by costs associated with the early redemption of debt; proxy, advisory and governance-related costs; and restructuring-related charges.

Excluding special items, second quarter 2017 adjusted income was $165 million, or $0.32 per share. All segments delivered higher volumes while maintaining focus on cost reduction savings. Annualized return on net assets (RONA) was 8.7% based on the results of the first half of 2017.

Second quarter Consolidated adjusted EBITDA was $444 million, up 3% year over year. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA excluding special items was $486 million, up 2% year over year. Adjusted EBITDA margin excluding special items was 14.9%, up 20 basis points year over year.

“Arconic delivered another solid quarter. The business increased revenue and profitability, continued to expand margins and take out cost. We ended the first half of 2017 with significantly less debt, a strong cash position and good liquidity. We are pleased to update our guidance for the year, reflecting our increased confidence in 2017 performance,” said Arconic Interim Chief Executive Officer David Hess....

It seems unclear to me from the information on line if the problem with the sheeting panels is the materials and/or the manufacturing.

Environmentally sound products is the selling point, but, it goes on to say a number of materials can be incorporated into the sheeting to create any architectural design.

Reynobond® Design Line, (click here) an innovative paint breakthrough using Duragloss™ DL, an advanced polymer finish, featuring nature-inspired patterns and textures that are ideal for outdoor project applications.  Design Line™ finishes resist sun, extreme temperatures, humidity – even salt water.  The Duragloss™ DL paint finish is made to last, with a 20-year warranty.

These environmentally sound products are virtually indistinguishable from nature’s own creations. Looking to add to a natural, but unique touch to your aesthetic design – incorporate wood, mineral, stone or patina finishes into your next project, and without sacrificing the environment.  And, enjoy the same benefits from Reynobond Aluminum Composite Material, from its remarkable strength and flatness to its formability and light weight. Even the most challenging architectural concepts are easy to accomplish. See our nature-inspired Design Line™ finishes in our new Architecture Color Chart.

In order to get to the bottom of these disasters, Reynolds Aluminum should be in any and all lawsuits.

The idea wood, of all things, can be incorporated into sheeting containing two panels of aluminum is hideous. They heat and burn at different temperatures. That holds true for the other materials of mineral, stone and patina finishes. All these elements are different in chemical composition and have different freezing, heating and burning temperatures.

Reynodual (click here) is the only coil-coated double sheet aluminium panel in todays' market. Reynodual has been tested and approved by the CSIRO for use when a 100% non-combustable material is required.

They advertise it as a non-combustible product. It sure doesn't seem like it. 

It seems to me the fire ignites almost simultaneously because of the molecular composition. If there are conflicting temperatures throughout the exterior sheeting then the building will be reaching a tipping point at the same time. Once one section is hot enough to erupt into flames, the entire building covered in the sheeting will be reacting the same way. I don't think the sheeting causes a fire in one location that spreads, I think the sheeting explodes at the same time. 

Reynobond® Architecture aluminium composite panels with FR or A2 core, Reynolux® aluminium sheets and Reynodual® double sheet aluminium panels are certified fire solutions, reaching the high-level standards of the European fire classification EN-13501-1.

There is another brand if Reynolds sheeting carried by Arconic as well. It comes down to the specific molecular composition of the sheeting or siding or whatever one wants to call it depending on the culture of the product. Molecular analysis will nail down the exact product. With so many to choose from it requires that level of analysis to decide EXACTLY the product composition. There is nothing to say the wrong sheeting was used either.

The UK should not give up understanding this fire as many people around the world could be at stake. No matter the final analysis there are the same two companies involved Arconic and Reynolds. It is in the best interests of these companies to be an open book to the UK investigators to solve this mystery. I WOULD NOT LET THE COMPANIES SOLVE THE MYSTERY. But, they should provide details, without exposing patents, of the materials and manufacturing of the sheeting that exploded.

"Deals" under Trump compromise quality of life and economic stability of allied countries.

Many Americans don't eat food from Wall Street sources. "GMO Free" or "Non-GMO" is the cry for Americans these days and organic markets and cooperatives are cropping up everywhere. This is a Wall Street issue because they can't sell these tainted foods to Americans the way they used to. Literally, Wall Street is dumping their garbage on other countries compliments of Trump.

There is nothing wrong with the British seeking only food from trusted sources. "Made in the USA" under Trump may not work out after all.

Some of the culprits might not be found on grocery shelves so much as the fast food lines. I'll put it this way, I've never seen a McDonald's with the sign on the menu "No GMO." 

July 25, 2017
By Rob Merrick

Theresa May (click here) is warned today that opening the door to low-quality food from the United States  after Brexit could spell disaster for both British farmers and animal protection.

Slashing food regulations in order to strike a quick trade deal with Washington would spark “a race to the bottom for welfare standards”, says a report by a House of Lords committee.

Such a deal could also “undermine the sustainability of the industry” – making UK farmers “uncompetitive” against cheap, imported food produced without the same rules on quality.

The stark warning comes after Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, mocked fears about the sale of chlorine-soaked chickens in Britain after Brexit – describing the prospect as “a detail”.

Speaking in Washington, Mr Fox confirmed a cabinet split, dismissing protests that US farmers use the chemical washes to make up for inadequate hygiene on farms and abattoirs.

Other concerns surround US practices such as the use of hormones in beef and the growth of genetically modified crops....

...In today’s report, the peers point out that “high farm animal welfare standards can be a selling point for UK producers” and enjoy universal support as a “public good”....

If these are the type of trade deal Trump is touting as a boom to American business, then it will never work. Americans don't put up with this. They'll eat British imports long before they will eat "pink slime."

"...If you go to Canada or other countries they have standards, right?... So they don't sanitize the beef...."

What is wrong with American healthcare? Nothing, expect, greed.

No one makes the argument for "Single Payer" healthcare, but, let me point to "Emcare" as the primary reason why there needs to be a massive change in the cost of healthcare insurance.

EmCare (click here)

Part of the problem with a political agenda that includes "Single Payer" is that the specifics are not discussed enough and there is too much wiggle room for lies and political rhetoric. 

Does anyone actually believe the cost of health care insurance is going to come down? Why should it? THE FREE MARKET SYSTEM is suppose to work to maintain costs. It will never work if there are companies, like EmCare, that simply don't care what they charge patients. They don't care. They want their money and they will get it.

Interesting though is the way EmCare is going about it.

July 24, 2017
By Julie Creswell, Reed Abelson and Margot Sanger-Katz

Early last year, (click here) executives at a small hospital an hour north of Spokane, Wash., started using a company called EmCare to staff and run their emergency room. The hospital had been struggling to find doctors to work in its E.R., and turning to EmCare was something hundreds of other hospitals across the country had done.

That’s when the trouble began.

Before EmCare, about 6 percent of patient visits in the hospital’s emergency room were billed for the most complex, expensive level of care. After EmCare arrived, nearly 28 percent got the highest-level billing code.

On top of that, the hospital, Newport Hospital and Health Services, was getting calls from confused patients who had received surprisingly large bills from the emergency room doctors. Although the hospital had negotiated rates for its fees with many major health insurers, the EmCare physicians were not part of those networks and were sending high bills directly to the patients. For a patient needing care with the highest-level billing code, the hospital’s previous physicians had been charging $467; EmCare’s charged $1,649...

EmCare is not an insurance company. It is not a hospital. It is a subcontractor for care that is given hospital privileges, in what appears to be, rural hospitals. They don't have to answer to insurance commissioners or any regulation, they simply decide if they want to purchase their next yacht and charge their patients accordingly.

That is clever. Very clever. EmCare is in emergency rooms. Not surgical suites, but, the most delicate place in a hospital where life and death are in the balance.

How do they do it? 

July 24, 2017
By  Mike Cummings

A new study by Yale researchers (click here) of more than 8.9 million visits to emergency departments (EDs) reveals that a small group of predominantly for-profit hospitals in the United States have the highest concentration of out-of-network ED billing rates: While 50% of hospitals have out-of-network billing rates below 5%, 15% of hospitals have out-of-network billing rates above 80%.

The researchers previously found that 22% of privately insured individuals who went to in-network hospitals were treated by out-of-network physicians and thereby potentially exposed to significant unexpected costs. In their new study, they also found that recent legislation in New York State has been effective at reducing the incidence of out-of-network-billing, but that policy makers could do more to better protect consumers....

The billing comes from EmCare as an OUT OF NETWORK provider. A healthcare insurance consumer may very well seek pre-approval even on the way to the ER, but, it doesn't matter because the physicians treating him are not in network.

In California, dialysis centers found they would be paid better if their patients were not on a government medical insurance program. They took it on themselves to see to it their patients had health care insurance from the exchanges. There was nothing illegal about it. It caused the cost of healthcare to increase.

If Senator Bernie Sanders is looking at the same paradigm shift I am, there is no answer to the corruption entering the healthcare industry spawned by greed.

Physican groups such as EmCare will drop out of insurance carrier after insurance carrier to bill independently as Non-Network providers.

Single Payer is not about ideology. Single Payer answers this level of corruption with a solution and that is what Senator Sanders is looking at. No matter how many provisions are built in to the Affordable Care Act to bend the cost of health care down, it won't happen because there is too much greed and corruption in the costs.

The Affordable Care Act didn't seek to change the infrastructure of health care delivery, it sought to support it while containing the costs and over time reduce the costs to consumers. Some of that belongs to Americans. If they take advantage of their free annual physical and take their physicians advice the cost of health care will come down because of a healthier America. That is still in play, but, emergency rooms are emergency rooms and EmCare chose the one place in the hospital that no matter how healthy Americans become they will still need emergency rooms.

Single Payer would insure all Americans. It would contain costs by the fees it pays for services including practicing physician SALARIES and not simply COSTS. A physician would receive a salary like any other professional in this country, except lawyers.

The fraud will stop because the billing and fee schedule will be simple and straight forward.

Why don't Republicans want this? The obvious answer is that Wall Street would be hurt by such a system. But, it is more than that. Physicians are among the largest political donors in state elections. Not federal, but, state. If all the physicians in a given state are receiving basically the same salary (specialists would be paid more) who is going to pay for political favors? What would the political favors be? Raise in salary? Nope, that is not a concern. Whenever a salaried person is working directly for any government there are unions to guarantee outcomes the members are looking for. Physicians would have unions to protect them no different than workers on production lines. 

Single Payer will end the abuse of the USA health care system and begin to address the needs of all Americans. For those running for office in support of Single Payer, they will need graphs and charts to explain how it works and where care will be better with lack of corruption and of course the US dollars involved. There are aspect of Single Payer that is not a hard sell.

The other company mentioned in the Yale study is "TeamHealth." (click here)

Two companies. ONLY two companies that specialize in Out of Network physicians. ONLY TWO, causing all this grief to Americans. This MUST be addressed before the entire system is out of sync with reality and the TRUE cost of healthcare.

CLINICIANS

Love what you do, plus where and how you do it 

TeamHealth recruits everyone from residents to Advance Practice Physicians. They do not specialize in one department of the hospital to place their Out of Network Clinicians; they place them in the ER, OR, Anesthesiology, Hospital Medicine and its sub-specialties, behavior health, ambulatory care and Post acute care. Oh, is that all? Why not just staff an entire hospital and bill patients directly for OUT OF NETWORK costs.

Hippocratic Oath, Modern Medicine (click here)

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.

I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.

Written in 1964 by Louis Lasagna, Academic Dean of the School of Medicine at Tufts University, and used in many medical schools today.

For the first time in the thirteen year history, its founder Michael Moore will not be attending.

Mr. Moore is beginning his limited engagement of "The Terms of My Surrender" on July 28th. The film festival is from July 25th through the 30th. He will be missed. People could always find him at screenings, panel discussions and the awards ceremony at the end of the festival. This year TCFF is flying on it's own and so far so good.

Everyone is wishing Michael Moore a successful run of his show and congratulations on the addition of Michael Mayer. It should be a good show. I hope his security is intact as it always has to be considering the fact he tends to be a lightning rod of one sort or the other. The novelty is that he was the one person who predicted Donald Trump would win the primary and the election. Hence. "Terms of My Surrender." 

I think the dedication to his show is obvious. He is not at the festival and that is simply unheard of. He is carrying out his own priorities and worrying less about the passions of the past. Good luck, Mr. Moore.

May 1, 2017

Academy Award-winning filmmaker and bestselling author Michael Moore (click here) is set to make his theatrical debut with The Terms of My Surrender, a subversive new solo play and cross-examination of America’s political climate, that will take aim at the current administration. The show will open on Broadway this summer with direction by Tony winner Michael Mayer.

The Terms of My Surrender is set to begin a limited 12-week engagement July 28 at the Belasco Theatre, ahead of an August 10 opening.

“I think what the world needs right now is Michael Moore standing on a Broadway stage sharing his hilarious stories and incendiary political perspective, creating the kind of dialogue that can only happen in the theatre,” says Mayer in a press statement.

The Terms of My Surrender will be performed by Moore live each night, and will feature his signature wry, satirical humor. The show will pose the question: “Can a Broadway show take down a sitting President?”

Flip through the photos below of his announcement at Sardi’s:

The design team includes a set by Tony winner David Rockwell (Falsettos, She Loves Me), lighting design by four-time Tony winner Kevin Adams(Hedwig..., American Idiot), sound design by two-time Tony winner Brian Ronan (Book of Mormon, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), costumes by Tony nominee Jeff Mahshie (She Loves Me, Next to Normal), video and projection designs by Andrew Lazarow, and movement direction by Noah Racey. IMG Original Content and Carole Shorenstein Hays are the producers, with 101 Productions serving as executive producer.

Tickets for The Terms of My Surrender are $29–$149 and are now available at Telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200. For more information, visit MichaelMooreOnBroadway.com.                      

What are you doing this week? This is just one film at the Traverse City Film Festival 2017. Join us.

Revenge and retribution is a strong driver of violence in the Middle East. The films Asghar Farhadi is involved in are nothing short of poignant.

I remember the first Iranian film I ever saw and it was at the TCFF years ago. It was not a Farhadi film. It was about 90 minute film of a father and son that fashioned satellite dishes for media reception. They found a way to hammer sheets of metal into satellite dishes, would deliver them to residents in tenement buildings by bicycle. The roof tops were full of satellite dishes. 

Eventually, the Iranian government (under Ahmadinejad) would show up and remove all the satellite dishes. That was good news for the father and son team, because, the residents would order more satellite dishes.

It provided a magnificent glimpse of the Iranian people, their resourcefulness and their desire to be part of the world, too. 

The TCFF brings films from around the world to the people attending. The festival is about the directors and some producers. They are respected at the festival and attend parties dedicated to the Directors of independent film. There is a great deal going on all the time.

Come and visit, it is worth it. There is even an Open Space where films are shown every evening for free. There is also cutting edge technology at a venue called "The Woz." Dutmers Theater is a specialized venue where thought is the experiment. 

Hope to see you there!

Ianian director Asghar Farhadi (“A Separation”) made global headlines for boycotting the 2017 Oscars in protest of President Donald Trump’s travel ban. Despite the backlash, Farhadi won the Best Foreign Language Oscar for his minimalist masterpiece—a simmering domestic thriller with masterful Hitchcockian suspense and twists. Married couple Eman and Rana are starring together in a local production of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” when a violent assault upends their lives. Eman is disastrously driven to seek revenge, more motivated than he realizes by his portrayal of Willy Loman, a character who similarly struggled with his inability to provide for his wife. A climactic final act brings the parallel between Miller’s play and Eman and Rana’s lives to a quietly devastating conclusion. Tragic and transcendent, it will leave you breathless.

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44 years of believing the Republican rhetoric has produced Republican radicals and not conservatives.

The Trumpcare repeal is not about the American people regardless of the two years that are suppose to reform the Affordable Care Act. He plays the American people for fools.

Does anyone believe that the Affordable Care Act will be reformed in the two year window of the Trumpcare repeal bill? Heck, no. Those two years will be another election slogan of "Repeal Obamacare." There won't be a replacement and the American people know that.

The Trump Care act is exactly that, another Republican rhetorical political trump card for political volleys. 

DNC Chairman Perez needs to stop the infighting.

How many times does it have to be said, "The Democratic Party needs to be the party of the people, 24/7 and 50 states all the time." Not just during election seasons that bring about victory, but, all the time. That means the DNC has an organized effort to promote their policies and vision. 

NO MORE CHEAP SEATS. When the DNC invests in an American Vision that is real and works, the country will come together.

Tom Perez has a tough job. The 2016 elections were not only invaded by Russians, they were divisive within the party with a missing generation finding their own voice in Senator Bernie Sanders. At this point, Tom Perez should be meeting with Senator Sanders and finding in roads to keep the democracy, NOT JUST THE PARTY, but the American democracy intact.

As a side note, Kid Rock is running for US Senator. The Republican grassroots pundits are look to Kid Rock, not "The Rock" as an icon to drive Democrats to their side.

July 24, 2017
By Alex Seitz-Wald

Providence, R.I. — Democrats (click here) have a very rare opportunity coming up to win when it matters most — if they can get their base to pay attention.

The upcoming slate of governors races combines an unusually favorable map for Democrats with a strong chance to influence the once-in-a-decade congressional redistricting process. That process helps determine how many seats each party holds in the House, and Republican success at the controlling the process has helped the party achieve dominance in Congress.

Washington politicos and grassroots activists alike often overlook governors races, and that’s especially true in the Democratic Party, which is years behind the GOP when it comes to investing in state races.

The party is down to just 16 out of 50 governors, the fewest in recent decades. It lost nearly 1,000 state legislative seats during President Barack Obama's eight years in the White House.

“We’ve been annihilated at the local level,” Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a former national party chairman, told NBC News at the National Governors Association conference here last weekend. “My problem with the party is, we raise billions of dollars in the presidential year and then go away for four years until the next one.”...