Friday Crab Blogging

I am not exactly sure what is going on here. There is clearly a shark and a man. What is the man in? Oh, there is a crab in the picture. Down in the lower right corner.

Friday Crab Blogging

All is Small in the Retrospectoscope

16 October 1994

Writing

I have never been sure what people wanted to read about when they picked up something for that activity. It would be interesting research to interview, for a little stipend, of course, people leaving a Doctor's waiting room. After all, some people spend an inordinate amount of time spinning their wheels there and, for lack of anything better to do, perusing issues of Time and the National Geographic from at least two years prior to the present date. So, what do they actually read when they do this; if they actually read at all and don't just look at the pictures. You know, I don't think that we have a clue. Of course, maybe those weekly magazines do market research and ask people what they want to hear about; I am sure that, in this dog-eat-dog economy, where selling a few extra copies might mean the difference between enough profits to buy a Lexus versus a used Geo, weekly magazines like People and Time do just that. But, if you asked me what I wanted to read about, and I thought you wanted an answer that you could tell your boss, I'd say sex and money. And, that is what we get in very large doses.

No, I mean, what do people read about when no one is looking. When they actually, consciously sit down to read something and they aren't engrossed with the seventy-first rerun of I Love Lucy. I simply don't know and it drives me crazy because, if I did know, I could be a pretty famous writer.

One thing that people don't want to know about is what is bugging you. I mean, everybody has something that bugs them. Usually it is their boss, their spouse, their neighbor, their dog, or their neighbor's dog. In other words, it is another person (or dog). Note that I used the singular, not the plural. Once you get beyond a few people, it is hard for a group to really bother you; they are just too nebulous and impersonal. I dare say that the Russians didn't bug Ronald Reagan as much as Tip O'Neill. And people can wax on for hours about this. I know, I've done it and lost more than one girl-friend. People just don't want to hear about your problems with other people; probably because they have the same problems and they haven't a clue how to solve them.

So, what do people want to read about? Not Nature, I can tell you that. If we want nature, we put on our coat and go out the door and look at Nature. This may be hard in downtown Atlanta, but most people don't live there. So, cross Nature off the list. That includes the Weather. People are saturated with information about the Weather. Pretty soon, the Weatherman will always be right. I mean, with science and mathematics moving forward like they are, some big computer will predict the Weather for a year. Then, my friends, life will really become boring. The foremost subject of banal conversation will suddenly be relegated to the trash heap. After all, you can't talk about the Weather if you know exactly what is going to happen for the next 365 days! Now, this will be a true tragedy. One could think of a guerrilla operation to sabotage these computers.

No, Nature and Weather and Dogs and Cats (and Rain) are all out of the question when one sits down to write about something that people might actually read, as opposed to look at the sexy pictures interspersed throughout the text. You might note that I have done that here. After all, how else was I to get your attention?

Well, you might say, what about History? Bumfuddle. The famous adage that those who don't read History are condemned to repeat it has never been more in force. There are those in Pentagon who haven't the slightest idea when the Crimean War took place let alone where the Crimea is (must be in Chicago; has to do with crime, doesn't it?). Yet, one look at the stupid military adventures of the last 40 years, including that all time disaster, Vietnam, shows you that man, or rather generals, never change. "Into the valley of death rode the six hundred, etc.".

I don't think History intrigues people the way it should. And future History, predicting what is going to happen, well, people just laugh. They had enough of this in the fifties and look where we are now. About 180 degrees from where we were going to be. I think that most are afraid that H.G. Wells will come out and predict that Time Travel is just around the corner, if only the Congress will support one more project to construct a machine. Of course, we were going to beat Cancer by the year 2,000. Unfortunately, Cancer and the Viet Cong took lessons from the same master and the pundits merely predict something else. I don't think that predicting the future is a good subject either. So, that leaves cooking and chocolate and children and lots of other things. But that is subject for another day.

Friday Crab Blogging

This is really a superb drawing. Of course it helps if your dad sells crabs for a living!

This drawing captures the essence of crabness.


I like it when asked to draw a crab they can't resist to add themselves, and, of course, fish.


And flowers.

This family is going for a drive and, yes, the mother does wear big ear rings. I don't know dad. I guess he is short.

It was most amazing to see this construction. First the flowers. Then the windows. And only then the walls of the house. And, of course, the ubiquitous sun.

Life is a series of tiny steps

The Growlery has an interesting post up about mathematical models of biological systems. In particular he refers to an excellent article in Scientific Computing by Paul Schreier.

Having had a past interest in this, I thought I would comment. Through the retrospectoscope, life is a strange and interesting thing. I became interested in math models back when I was doing research in oncology. I had some serious training as an inorganic chemist so I naturally gravitated towards that most unusual of chemotherapeutic agents, cisplatinum (Cisplatin).

The whole story of how this drug was discovered is fascinating:

In the 1960s, Barnett Rosenberg and van Camp et al at Michigan State University discovered that electrolysis of a platinum electrode produced cisplatin, which inhibited binary fission in Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria. The bacteria grow to 300 times their normal length but cell division fails. Rosenberg then conducted a series of experiments to test the effects various platinum coordination complexes on sarcomas artificially implanted in rats. This study found that cis-diamminedichloridoplatinum(II) was the most effective out of this group, which started the medicinal career of cisplatin.

By the time I started looking at this drug in the 1980’s, it was well established in oncology for the treatment of testicular cancer. At that time it was being looked at in almost every other solid cancer, particularly in childhood tumors, including those of the brain. I even ran a clinical trial using it in relapsed brain tumors. The drug continues to be used extensively in cancer. It continues to have activity, but has monstrous side effects, particularly in children. Its congener, carboplatinum, has less side effects but is probably not as effective. While cisplatinum is curative in testicular cancer, it is not so in many other tumors.

In chemistry graduate school, one of our faculty was John O. Edwards, the then reigning guru of chemical kinetics. He put me onto an appreciation of the dynamics of the molecular world. Trust me, at a time in chemistry when X-Ray Crystallographers held sway, molecular mechanics had a hard time competing with the static view of nature.

It occurred to me that of all the ligands that might react with cis platinum, a sulfhydryl containing one would be the most likely, and the cell is replete with such ligands, including glutathione. During my study of such reactions, I found that the reaction was biphasic and began looking for a way to solve the simultaneous differential equations involved.

I still think that the reaction of sulfhydryl contiaining molecules is the key to the mechanism of action of cisplatinum, but the cross linking of DNA has been the dominant theory since the beginning. It is so dominant that it has attained the status of dogma and only a few souls in the wilderness, myself included, have bothered to question the dogma. I find this a very interesting comment on Big Science and Big Medicine. Most assuredly the damage cisplatinum does to the inner ear (the hair cells) and the kidney involve sulfhydryl binding. However, in the end, it is probably a theoretical question since it is doubtful that the drug will be in use in the future once more active biological treatments are developed.

(To be fair there has been some recent studies suggesting that the reaction of cisplatinum with sulfhydryl groups including those on GSH is too slow to account for its biological activity. I have some questions about this study but will leave it there.)

In any case, even modelling A + B -> C and C -> D as simultaneous differential equations is difficult. That’s when it became obvious that Euler’s solution became the way to handle this problem. I am quite sure that many others had worked this out long ago, but it was fun to come across something like this by yourself. Basically I came in the back door (and the sub basement) to system dynamics and the computer solution of dynamical problems exemplified by Stella and, I assume, MathLab.

Unfortunately my research on this project went nowhere, mainly because of the lack of support by the powers that be who wondered why I was questioning the orthodoxy of cisplatinum and DNA. So, I switched over to modelling the cell cycle where I also ran up against orthodoxy. The "Pipe" model of the cell cycle does very well in predicting flow cytometry results. But, orthodoxy holds sway. So, throwing up my hands, I left academic medicine. (incidentally, googling "pipe model" of the cell cycle gets you lots of references to "pipe cleaners"!!!)

I have often wondered about the theoretical basis of these simulation programs (e.g. Stella) and every other one including everything from SimCity to all the Virtual Reality sites. I guess the hypothesis is that one can divide time into smaller and smaller increments so that the approximation approaches its asymptotic limit. That is, if one has A -> B; C -> D; B ->E; D -> A; etc that one can use the starting concentration (amount) of A, B, C, D, E, etc in the rate equations and run through a cycle, then adjust the concentrations for the new values and run the cycle again. If the time increment is small enough, the generated curves should fit experiment.

I’ve always looked back with pleasure on the times when thinking about these things was more than a hobby. Unfortunately, questioning orthodoxy in science doesn't get you tenure. Only a lot of grief.

Friday Crab Blogging

These figures are actually a little sinister if you look close.

US strike 'kills Iraqi civilians'

From the BBC:

Eight civilians have been killed in an air strike by US military helicopters north of Baghdad, Iraqi police say.

Two children were among those who died in the attack on Wednesday evening near the town of Baiji, the police said.

Baiji's police chief said the attack targeted a group of shepherds in a farming area. The US military said the incident was under investigation.

..............

A US military spokeswoman, Lt Col Maura Gillen, said one of its helicopters fired in the Baiji area after noting "suspicious activity", and she said people travelling in a car had ignored warnings to stop their vehicle.

Locals said some of those killed had been people running away on foot after the US forces entered the area.

A local man, Ghafil Rashed, told Reuters that his brother and son had been killed in the attack: "The Americans raided our houses... People started fleeing with their children, then the aircraft started bombing people in a street along the farm." (emphasis added)

Comment: The most effective way for the news media, even the BBC, to depersonalize murder is to put the victims in quotes, e.g. 'kills Iraqi civilians.' Presumably, in spite of eyewitnesses, the helicopter pilot is given the benefit of the doubt, as if it was somehow acceptable to bomb 'suspicious people' or cars that refuse to stop.

As we have stated ad nauseum, bombing civilians is a war crime.

How do we ever stop this insanity?

I Do + I Do = Doo Doo

Late Entry

Sometimes we save the best for the last!

Friday Crab Blogging

I would be remiss if I didn't comment on this very intersting picture. The absolute height of the building is interesting given that the child lives in a rural area and would rarely see such tall buildings, except, of course, on T.V. He could offer no explanation as to why the building was so tall. Note that the building is taller than the sun which would only be true in the early morning or late afternoon. Of course, the sun was added as an afterthought. Why children put suns on their pictures I do not know. I guess it gives them an anchor in reality. And, of course, a sun is easy to draw. Now one has to explain why there is a STAR in the picture too. This is also beyond me.

So you thought you could forget Iraq?

There is a startling video up at Gorrilla's Guides:

Please note that no one, neither the liberal blogs or the MSM appear to have reported this incident, to the best of my knowledge. It cerainly didn't make the rounds as did pictures of Clinton's cleavage or Obama's bowling score.

Think about it.

Remember General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing Nguyen Van Lem, a Viet Cong officer. (H/T the Growlery)

Friday Crab Blogging

Houses by children are interesting. Having a door is important. Having a door knob is very important, even if its on the left side! Windows are universal but drapes are important because it means the house is lived in. There is no chimney, but then, how many houses have a chimney any more? If there is one, you better have smoke!

Same Old, Same Old...

I submit this as an ad for the Democrats in the Fall

Friday Crab Blogging

Sorry but the scanner didn't pick up this quite excellent crab in all its glory.



and a turtle

Killing Children - II

This appeared on the front page of the Washington Post with this comment:

BAGHDAD, April 29 -- A four-hour battle Tuesday between U.S. soldiers and Shiite militiamen left at least 28 Iraqis dead in the capital's Sadr City neighborhood, making it one of the bloodiest days in a month of sustained street fighting.

With this explanation:

U.S. officials emphasized that U.S. troops responded only after they were attacked and that it was the fault of the militiamen if there were civilian casualties. "The sole burden of responsibility lies on the shoulders of the militants who care nothing for the Iraqi people...

I guess no one cares that so many innocents are being murdered and that it is a War Crime to bomb civilians.

Killing Children

As quoted here:

The abuses include deliberately provoking violent reactions from crowds to give soldiers a pretext to shoot, locking families in one room of their house overnight and using the rest of the house as a base, and shooting children. (emphasis added)

When the world comes to accept this as the status quo; and is more interested in a bowling score, then there is little hope left.

Friday Crab Blogging

First, two crabs:



The man is jumping from his jet ski. However, other than shooting at the boat, it was not possible to ascertain what his intentions were.


The anatomy is a little unusual here; sort of an Escher experience.

Without Further Comment

An Iraqi girl looks at a wrecked car in Baghdad's Sadr City, struck by US missiles during fierce fighting with al-Mahdi army militia overnight.


Iraqi children in Baghdad's Sadr City look at a car wrecked by US missiles.


A boy looks at the shattered windshield of a vehicle after an air strike in Baghdad's Shula district April 20, 2008.


A girl looks at the remains of a burnt vehicle after an air strike in Baghdad's Sadr City April 20, 2008.

Duke Nukem

Whoops!

John McCain, Charles Grassley Physical Altercation Confirmed By Washington Post

Good thing he didn't have his hand on the button.

Friday Crab Blogging

Sort of a Swiss Army Knife Crab

This picture was incredibly important to me. It let me know that there is hope for our world. The bouncy little African American who drew it was very proud of her work, as well she should be. I asked her who the two people were. As you can see, she assigned me to the darker of the two. She just doesn't see the difference. (Actually, I hope to blog on this issue and other aspects of racism.)

What's disturbing about this picture?

There a number of things disturbing to me about this picture, one of the many that get posted daily on Yahoo from Iraq.

1. The bullet holes. Look about you as you drive around today. There are no buildings in the U.S. that have bullet holes. I can recall two other places where I saw such holes. The first was in the Boar's Head Inn in Ireland. There was a hole in one of the window panes that was there from the Easter Rebellion in 1916. There was also an inscription in the glass from a diamond ring. I can't remember what it said and I think it was in Irish. The second place was in a Church in the center of Bucharest, Romania. They were left there from the revolt against Ceauşescu in 1989. Strangely, the Athenee Hotel (which figures so prominently in Olivia Manning's The Balkan Trilogy ) wasn't so damaged.

2. Why aren't these boys in school? They are definitely either teenagers or are close to being teenagers. We know that there is very little functioning education in Iraq at the current time. What will happen to these young men in 5-10 years? They have never known anything but violence. The idea, in Bush's mind, that such a society could suddenly become a functioning democracy subserved to the rule of law is absurd. Even more frightening is that they will become jihadists in an Islamic State. They will very likely be sworn enemies of the United States.

3. Does not the American Soldier remind you of something? If he was all in white he would look even more like a storm trooper out of Star Wars and all that that signifies. He is utterly without a personality. Plus that, his whole demeanor is one of dominance and control. Note that his gun is not over the shoulder, but at the ready with his finger on the trigger. You might think he is "cool" if you are an Iraqi teenager, but when you became a soldier, you would want to emulate him.

This is what George W. Bush wants to continue. This is what John McCain wants to continue, for 100 years. It ain't going to happen.

Torture

For what its worth, this was printed in the local paper on 04/20/08

To the Editor:

There can now be no doubt that we are a Nation that tortures prisoners. Since this is an issue that goes to the very heart of what we are, this is an issue that should be confronted in every public forum available, including this one.

Torture is morally abhorrent and we cannot continue to claim that we are a moral nation if we do not immediately, and without ambiguity, both cease and desist in the torturing of prisoners, and foreswear, once again, the use of such odious activities. There is no need to rehearse what is involved here, there is more than ample public documentation. The pictures from Abu Ghraib that so stunned the civilized world in 2004 are only the beginning.

In this confrontation, we must not consider the alleged “utility” of torture. The armor of moral authority is extraordinarily fragile in this regard and can be completely shattered by the tiniest admission of moral relevance or situation ethics.

Why is it so hard to consider this issue? One answer is that all of us, including and particularly our highest leaders, are now legally culpable for agreeing to these activities. The entire structure of our Laws is threatened by inaction on this issue. This is almost impossible to comprehend, but it is an obligation from which we must not shirk. We owe it to our children to clear our good name as a Nation.

And the green

Mexican deer courtesy of my nephew.

The Red and the Blue

Now I understand the red reflex (actually, it is mostly yellow or, in African Americans, almost white). But Blue? Somebody explain! (looking closely the cornea are blue)

Friday Crab Blogging

Now a note of importance. Only the female of the Angler Fish has this lure!! It is a:

...piece of dorsal spine that protrudes above their mouths like a fishing pole—hence their name. Tipped with a lure of luminous flesh this built-in rod baits prey close enough to be snatched. Their mouths are so big and their bodies so pliable, they can actually swallow prey up to twice their own size.

I thought you would be interested in that. We can be thankful that black widow spiders and praying mantii don't have them. Caveat femina! On the other hand, it is no wonder that she is cross-eyed!I suspect the glowing flesh is probably luceferin, like the fire fly. On the other hand it could be a midshipman fish (called so because of the bright buttons on a midshipman), but it is most likely Coelenterazine.
There is a crab here, if you can find it!