GETTING VACCINATED FOR SHINGLES ALSO REDUCES THE RISK OF DEMENTIA!

First, on Trump and War.

• Ukraine-Russia War has not been solved in one day.
• Israel-Hamas War is getting worse and worse.  Trump's attempt to convert the Gaza Strip into an American resort was taken by the Middle East to be a big joke.

• 
  He has initiated a global trade war.
• The bear market woke up today.
• Dow Jones:  - 1630  3.9% drop
• S&P 500:  -274  4.84% drop
• Nasdaq composite:  -1050  -6.97%
• Countermeasures and retaliation will of course occur.

• 
  Ordinary households will be most affected, for they will be hurt by higher prices on everything, with a higher unemployment rate.
• Stagflation, inflation and recession are looming.
• Read this article released today in The Economist, President Trump's mindless tariffs will cause economic havoc.

Shingles can be terrible, and could be hurting you for up to a month.  I was tempted to show a few photos, but will save you the horror.

Early Symptoms: 

• Burning, tingling, or shooting pain in a specific area of the body, usually on one side
• Numbness or sensitivity to touch
• Itching 

Later Symptoms: 

• Red rash with fluid-filled blisters
• Blisters that may break open and crust over
Fever
Headache
Chills
Nausea or upset stomach
Fatigue 

Other Symptoms: 

Sensitivity to light
Weakness in the affected area (rare)

Worse:

Shingles can lead to serious complications. The most common complication of shingles is postherpetic neuralgia, or severe pain in the rash area that lasts for months or years. Approximately 10%–18% of people will experience this complication, and the risk of the complication increases with age.1

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Shingles (herpes zoster).

Many elders avoid taking the vaccine, Shingrix, for there is a risk of contracting Guillain-Barré syndrome, a terrible ailment.  Here is the story.

• Chicken pox is not common today (4% rate) because children are vaccinated to prevent this from happening.
• In my day (I'm old), this percentage was closer to 80%.
• My brother took the shingles vaccine, got G-BS and almost died.  However, the odds of this happening are only 3 in a million.
• But more than 10% of those who earlier had chicken pox, go on to have shingles.  Another source indicated that 1 out of 3 people in the U.S. will develop shingles.
• Or a million cases of shingles/year in the U.S.
• The chicken pox vaccine only became available from 1995.
• Thus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all adults age 50 and over receive two doses of Shingrix to prevent shingles.  
• This shot is recommended even if you never had chicken pox.  
• Even more so if you have any kind of weakened immune system.
• Also for those as young as 18 with immunodeficiency or immunosuppression caused by disease or medication.

I purposefully am covering this subject because only today, a new study found that the SHINGLES VACCINE COULD BE THE NEXT BEST TOOL TO PREVENT DEMENTIA!!!

• In Nature, Stanford Medicine reported about research on Welsh older adults who received the shingles vaccine, and they found that they were less likely to develop dementia over the next seven years than those who did not receive the vaccine.
• Actually, only 20% less likely.
• However, senior author Pascal Geldsetzer thought this finding was striking, and that women had more pronounced protection from dementia than men.
• Of course, two-thirds of all those with dementia are female.
• The researchers further said that those adults who take the shingles vaccine also tended to have other healthy habits that helped prevent dementia, such as exercising and eating a healthy diet.
• Why the connection between shingles and dementia?  Both ailments are related to viruses that affect the nervous system.
• Interestingly enough, if you actually get stricken by shingles, this will raise your risk of dementia by 20%, from an earlier finding last year published in Alzheimer's Research and Therapy.

I'm thinking, does this mean that by my taking Shingrix, I actually am 40% less likely to get dementia?  First for just taking the vaccine.  But also, for lowering my chances of catching shingles, which would tend to increase the risk of dementia.

About dementia, would you take a blood test to find out if you will someday have Alzheimer's?

• There are now two new treatments for Alzheimer's disease.  Both would help if taken before symptoms appear.
• But tests to detect the coming of this disease lags.
• PET scans can pick up amyloid plaques, the clumps of protein that are found in the brain, but only after the onset.
• 
  Nature Medicine reports that the Bateman Lab at Washington University in St. Louis revealed promising results of a blood test they developed to detect a different form of tau than the one shown in a PET scan.  Said Randall Bateman:
• This crystalized form of tau can be detected earlier, and blood is a convenient target rather than the brain or spinal cord.
• Further, their research is proceeding to develop new strategies for controlling and slowing the progression of Alzheimer's.

Finally, 15 Craigside will have another mass inoculation for the latest COVID-19 vaccine.  Unfortunately, I will be away on a trip.  So I went to Long's down the road and got vaccinated.  My health plan apparently covers this shot.  I mention this because Dr. Anthony Fauci is warning people over 50 to do this now!

• According to the CDC, COVID-19 infections increased 5% last week.
• If your last booster was four months or longer ago, Fauci says go now.
• This is especially important for those 65 and older, or if 50 and older with underling health concerns.
• What is Dr. Fauci now doing?  After 38 years at the National Institutes of Health, he is now a Distinguished University Professor in the School of Medicine and McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown.

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HOW MANY MOONS ARE THERE IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM?

Before our science topic of this Wednesday, first the latest in the politics of the USA.

About Trump reciprocal taxes and Liberation Day, let's start by being realistic.  The U.S. has a sizable trade deficit every year mostly because our exported products are too expensive.  Start with a simple matter of what it costs to produce anything.  Unions are part of the problem, too, but workers here get paid from $30 to $40/hour in many industries.  That is what is earned by employees in China...but per day.  And that's high, for here is what is the monthly wage in these Asian countries per month:  China $193-332, Vietnam $107-$156, India $74-$223 and Cambodia $122.

In the Rose Garden at 4:10PM EDT today, you can yourself watch President Donald Trump's Liberation Day remarks:

• Tariff speech shared some facts, exaggerated a lot, downright lied here and there, and continues the process of screwing up the best current economy of the world, ours.
• There will be a 10% baseline tariff for all trading partners from April 5 and more reciprocal tariffs on April 9 for the worst offenders.

• 
  Among his comments:

The president used aggressive rhetoric to describe a global trade system that the United States helped to build after World War II, saying “our country has been looted, pillaged, raped, plundered” by other nations.

“Taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years,” Trump said in remarks at the White House. “But it is not going to happen anymore.”

• There will be worldwide reprisals.
• Prices will go up.
• Unemployment will increase.

• Apple stock fell 6.7% in after-hours trading.  Note that this Trump talk began after the market closed.

• 
  Dow Jones futures plummeted 1,100, or 2.7%, while the S&P sank 3.9%.
• The stock market will continue to fall, probably leading to a recession, maybe as soon as this Fall.

Clearly, there were two embarrassment yesterday for the MAGA world.  

• The Trump/Musk/MAGA/Republican gang got rebuked, for their Florida election margins dropped, while Wisconsin snubbed Musk by easily selecting Susan Crawford (the Democratic-backed candidate) over Brad Schimmel (the Musk guy), even though all polls showed a dead heat up to election day.  
• 
  Looks like Trump will now need to go to Plan B, which is to find a way to cancel the 2026 mid-term election.  Watch out Democrats, for the more serious the protests, the more likely Trump can order military rule and become a dictator.  

• 
  Or Trump can simply ignore any Supreme Court verdict against him.  They have no enforcement power.  Trump has the Department of Defense, National Guard and the Attorney General with him.

Repercussions?

• 
  Trump hates losers.  Leaked out was info that Elon Musk would return to his enterprises, soon.  However, no doubt Musk will continue to get major federal projects to insure that he continues to provide sufficient funds to Republican candidates, hopefully in ways that don't rile up the opposition.
• A small band of Congressmen from the House this morning staged a rebellion, and Speaker Mike Johnson cancelled all legislation for the rest of the week.  Those two new Florida members won't make a difference for this kind of blowback.  Republican members are getting restive.

About the science topic for today, what exactly is a moon?

A moon is an object that orbits a planet or something else that is not a star. Besides planets, moons can circle dwarf planets, large asteroids, and other bodies. Objects that orbit other objects are also called satellites, so moons are sometimes called natural satellites.

Are all moons spherical?  No.  The larger ones generally are because of gravitational effects, but smaller ones like Phobos and Deimos around Mars are not.

How many moons are there in our solar system?

• In the year 2000, astronomers only counted 146 moons.  Jupiter had 66 and Saturn 62.  
• As of this week, we are now up to 923.   (That graphic to the right was created on 17July2024 when there were only 761.)
•  The number regularly goes up.  And the odds are high that this number will change this year.

• 
  According to Edward Ashton, there are probably 10,000, just in our solar system.  
• For example, there should be more than 100 extra dwarf planets in our outer solar system, and all probably have at least one moon.
• Jupiter has 95, including the largest, Ganymede, which is larger than Mercury.

• 
  Saturn has 274, the most, and Titan is almost as large as Ganymede.
• Mars is the most likely place extraterrestrial life might be found, at least according to David Bowie.  Other options are mostly moons, with Jupiter's Europa #2, Saturn's Titan #3, Saturn's Enceladus #4, Venus #5 and Jupiter's Ganymede #6.

• 
  Here is a trick question.  After our Moon, around which planet was a moon first found.
• Jupiter in 1610, Io, Europa and Ganymede, by Galileo Galilei.
• Saturn in 1656, Titan, by Christiaan Huygens.

• 
  Saturn in 1673, Iapetus, by Giovanni Cassini.
• Many other moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune....until Mars in 1877, Phobos and Deimos, by American Assaph Hall III.  Why so late?  They are smallish and too close to Mars.

• 
  One more, this about our Moon.
• Sure, we've heard about the recent Blood Moon, so the color changes.  
• Any Blue Moon is not blue in color, but just means that there is a second full moon that month.  Actually, I've never seen this, but pollution can provide a blue tinge to the Moon.

• 
  Sunset, for example, provides orange.
• Usually at sunset, with atmospheric effects, there is even a purple moon.

• 
  Our Moon has shown a dozen different colors, some  hard to explain as to why.  Watch this video.

I many times end my posting with some musical finish, cartoons (usually featuring Donald Trump, Snoopy and such) and so forth.  Today, my latest karaoke song, Always on My Mind.  

• I thought Willy Nelson was first to record this song.  Nope.
• This ballad was written by Wayne Carson, Johnny Christopher and Mark James in 1971.  

• 
  The backstory is that Carson on the phone apologized to his wife for staying away in Memphis on a project for too long, and indicated that he had been thinking about her all the time.

• 
  Hmmm...good idea for a song.
• James had already written the 1969 Suspicious Minds for Elvis Presley, so for a while it was thought AoMM had something to do with Elvis' marital troubles.

• 
  Gwen McCrae first released You Were Always on My Mind in March 1972, Elvis Presley later in the month, and Brenda Lee three months later.  Elvis had separated from wife Priscilla only a few weeks earlier, his Always on My Mind was on the B-side of Separate Ways.

• 
  In 1979 John Wesley Ryles released a country version and retitled it, You Are Always on My Mind.
• My mind somehow forgot all those recordings.  In 1982, Willie Nelson recorded Always on My Mind, hitting #1 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart in May, and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Won him three Grammys in 1983.  Christopher played guitar on Nelson's song.

• 
  While my karaoke version is Willie's, my favorite Always on My Mind came in 1987 by the Pet Shop Boys, commemorating the tenth anniversary of Elvis' death.  Came at the height of my disco years. Reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Here is a 2016 re-mixed video, 15 minutes long.
• How much do writers get for a song?  Well, just for the Willie Nelson version, the three writers shared more than a million dollars.
• Good story of this song here. written 37 years ago.

Maybe I didn’t love you

Quite as often as I could have

And maybe I didn’t treat you

Quite as good as I should have

--From “Always on My Mind”

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FLORIDA/WISCONSIN, SENATOR BOOKER, MARCH MADNESS AND APRIL FOOL'S DAY

Three noteworthy elections today, one in Wisconsin and two in Florida.  

• How much have the antics of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk hurt Republicans?
• Those two Florida elections for the U.S. House are in solidly deep-red states, so the odds are very low that a Democrat can prevail there.  What could happen, though, is a much closer race than expected, so that alone will be an indicator of the damage Trump/Musk  caused.
• 
  In Wisconsin, the race is for the state's Supreme Court.  Elon Musk alone has provided $15 million for the Republican candidate, plus three $1 million prizes for those signing his petition.  However, Democrats and affiliated outside groups outspent Republicans on the airwaves, $42 million to $33 million.  The key point is will Democrat voters show up to vote showing disdain for Musk and Trump?  We will know tonight.

Senator Cory Booker is filibustering, now past 21 hours.  Watch live on You Tube.  Why?  

“These are not normal times in our nation,” Booker said as he launched into his speech. “And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate. The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent, and we all must do more to stand against them.”

Who is he?  

• Is 55-years old, played tight end for Stanford University's football team, then went to become a Rhodes scholar, continuing on to Yale University's law school.  
• Was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2013.  
• Will he break the record of Senator Strom Thurmond's 24 hours 18 minutes?  
• Watch this continuing You Tube link.  
• Started at 7PM EDT last night, so needs to continue until 7:18PM tonight.  
• It is now 5:30PM as I type this word.

• 
  At this point, Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona interrupted to ask a question, but Booker made a long joke of how Kelly is really from, like him, New Jersey.  Funny exchange.  But Booker still looks strong.  At noon Hawaii time, Only 1 hour 18 minutes left to beat Thurmond.

• 
  Waste of time?  Hardly, for just this sudden notoriety now makes him the most likely Democrat to challenge President Donald Trump into the future.

Filibuster rules.

• NO BATHROOM BREAKS ALLOWED!!!  Others have discreetly used catheter bags.
• Can drink water or milk, but no food.  Perhaps sneak in some hard candy.
• 
  Must stand, but can't leave his desk/podium.
• Don't yield to any Republican on anything, but they can ask a question, to which Booker must respond.
• Can read a telephone book or The Bible, and just about anything else.
• Can have Democratic colleagues ask a long question or seemingly give a supportive speech.  How long?  No limit, I think.  But he can't leave his position.
• A memorable filibuster is Jimmy Stewart's from Mr. Smith goes to Washington.
• CORY BOOKER BROKE THURMAN'S RECORD!
• But, on this notification, said he had a few more things to say.  If still continuing, this is the site to see him still talking.

The Women's March Madness Final four will have three #1 seeds because Connecticut defeated #1 University of Southern California, primarily because their best player, Juju Watkins, was injured and did not play.  Games will be held on Friday, April 4, with the Finals on Sunday, April 6, in the Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida.

The Men's March Madness Final Four are all the #1 seeds:  Florida, Duke, Houston and Auburn.  First time this has happened since 2008.  Games will be held on Saturday, April 5, with the final on Monday, April 7, in San Antonio, Texas.

Doing fairly well in those ESPN March Madness basketball tournament challenges, with 93.5% in the Women's Challenge and 97.3% in the Men's.

ESPN Women's tournament challenge:

espn59512106's Picks 1 

234K 

93.5% 

ESPN Men's tournament challenge:

espn59512106's Picks 1 

674K 

97.3% 

The New York Yankees gained the attention of the sports world by hitting a Major League Baseball record 15 home runs in the first three games of the season.  What were they doing differently?  Used something called a torpedo bat.

• Babe Ruth played in an era when the average pitch was only around 85 MPH.  He used a 36 inch long bat weighing 44 ounces.  Pitch speed is today 95 MPH.
• Bats are only made of wood.  A generation ago, the the type changed from ash to maple.

• 
  From Wikipedia:  By regulation it may be no more than 2.61 inches (6.6 cm) in diameter at the thickest part and no more than 42 inches (1.067 m) in length. Although historically bats approaching 3 pounds (1.4 kg) were swung, today bats of 33 ounces (0.94 kg) are common, topping out at 34 to 36 ounces (0.96 to 1.02 kg).
• More recently, pitchers began to dominate over hitters.

• 
  Aaron Leanhardt, an MIT-educated and physics professor at the University of Michigan for seven years, left academia for sports, and came up with an idea.  He worked for the Yankees in 2024 and this year is with the Miami Marlins.

• 
  The bat length cannot be changed, the weight varies from 31 to 32 ounces and the barrel size cannot exceed 2.61 inches.
• What Leanhardt did was redistribute the weight from the end of the bat towards the sweet spot, an area 6 to 7 inches below the tip, which became the fattest part of the bat, with a smaller diameter tapering to the  tip.

• 
  "This bat is just trying to say: What if we put the mass where the ball is going to hit so that we have an optimized equation of mass and velocity?" said Scott Drake, the president of PFS-TECO, a Wisconsin-based wood products laboratory that inspects all MLB bats to ensure they're within the regulations. "You're trying to take a sweet spot and put more mass with that.
• Leanhardt worked with the 41 approved bat makers and given model numbers that start with BP (abbreviation for bowling pin).  He now likes torpedo better as the name of the bat.
• Theoretically, this sweet spot varies for each player, so there someday will be a special bat for each player.
• This bat is officially allowed, and had a supposed debut over the past weekend by the Yankees.
• 
  Actually, Giancarlo Stanton, who is now injured, began using this torpedo bat last year, and had an average bat velocity of 81.2 MPH, nearly 3 MPH ahead of the second-fastest swinger, and more than 9 MPH quicker than the the average MLB swing.  He did hit 7 homers in 14 postseason games.  However, did the torpedo bat cause his injury?  Says he will continue to use this bat when he returns to play.

• 
  A 70 MPH swing speed results in a 101 MPH batted ball, while a 71 MPH swing brings a 102 MPH batted ball, which could be the difference between a fly out and home run.
• The Marlins should also show more home runs because that is where Leanhardt now works.  However, they this year so far only rank #19 of 30 teams.
• Third baseman Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays uses this bat.  Watch how he does.
• More and more, others will too.

Oh, be careful about today.  This is April 1, or April Fool's Day.  Here are some pranks so far today.

In Japan, the Japan Times usually sneaks one in, but more recently, anime and games toss stand out.

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