PSA: How not to do an experiment

 Back in 2009 in NEJM a European group reported the results of a study that alleges that PSA testing has no value after certain ages. Now the group adds additional data but claims only marginal improvement. It still delimits testing to less than 75.

However as I noted then and now again the test protocol was:

The screening interval at six of the seven centers was 4 years (accounting for 87% of the subjects); Sweden used a 2-year interval. In Belgium, the interval between the first and second rounds of screening was 7 years because of an interruption in funding.

As I had noted, I have seen patients got from 4 to 40, and 40 to dead in 4 years. Testing annually, along with %Free is essential just for monitoring. Measuring rates of increase are sine qua non. Change is the critical factor in any diagnosis.

PSA value can vary from one test method to another. From time of day. From state of exercise such as cycling. And other factors. The more frequent the measures the more these exogenous factors can be averaged out. Yet if we have 4 year intervals in my opinion and my experience the results are useless.

These studies were used to justify reducing PSA monitoring and eliminating it in the over 75 group. PCa is a horrible disease if not caught early. More frequent PSAs under common conditions using the same method of valuation is essential.  

 

How to Destroy a Company

 Some 25 years ago I described how telecom, voice calling on copper, would collapse. Since then I have seen how one entity, Verizon, a former employer, has managed to consistently snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.

In my opinion the main reason is that they have no idea what business they are in.  They keep trying to get in the media business. I was in the media business, at Warners, and the people there are creative risk takers, who know when to hold them and when to fold them. Telephone types come from a environment of pretenders in business. Historically the telecom business had defined profit as percent return on invested plant. All expenses were covered. The real world does not work that way.

The current and prior two CEOs come from a world not akin to the core business. One wanted to be a media king, think Yahoo, and how did that go. The next came from the hardware business. Verizon is in the service business. Ultimate mismatch. The current is a Silicon Valley type, with a company invested in pole climbers. 

The main problem is a Board who present well to the WOKE world but lack the ruthless world of competitive network services. They waited too long to the last CEO to get ousted. I suspect the current CEO will try to use his rule book but this will also fail.

After forty years of stock holdings, I sold everything off today. I suspect Verizon may get bought out directly or after a Chapter 11 filing. Pity. 

Rare Earths: Not so rare!

 One of the largest deposits of the rare earths is in the US. Namely California. Some fifteen years ago I wrote a long note regarding this issue. The only reason the US relied upon China is that California closed the rare earth mines due to environmental concerns. 

So what do we do. We go to Australia. As DW notes:

 US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Monday signed an agreement on Australia's rare earth minerals. The agreement comes as China puts new restrictions on rare earth exports, prompting Trump to impose an additional 100% tariff on imports from China from next month. "In about a year from now, we'll have so much critical mineral and rare earths that you won't know what to do with them," Trump told reporters at the White House. Trump was hosting Albanese this morning at the White House and the leaders signed the document before the media. Albanese described the deal as an $8.5 billion pipeline "that we have ready to go."

 We end up paying Australia to dig holes in their land, leaving California untouched. Think about it.

 

Socialism 1920

 From The NY Times, July 5, 1920 

Here is the Socialist ticket: 

For Governor—JOSEPH D. CANNON.

Lieutenant Governor— Miss JESSIE WALLACE HUGHAN

Secretary, of State— CHARLES W. NOONAN

Controller—PHILIP RANDOLPH.

State Treasurer — HATTIE F. KRUGER 

All candidates of the Socialist Party, when elected to office, will vote and work for the adoption of such  measures as the following, not only for the immediate relief of pressing evils, but also as preparatory to the full realization of the Socialist goal. 

1. Legislation which will enable municipalities to acquire land, construct dwellings on public account, and lease them at rents calculated to cover cost of upkeep and replacement, but without profit, thus solving the now growlingly acute housing problem. 

2.’ Establishment of a comprehensive system by which the State in conjunction with municipalities and co-operative societies shall deal on a large scale In food and other necessaries of life, buying directly from the producers and selling directly to the consumers at cost, thus eliminating the capitalist middlemen, stimulating production and diminishing the cost of living:. 

3. The rapid extension of State and municipal ownership and operation of transportation and storage plants, of lighting and other so-called public utilities and of industrial establishments beginning with those which, are already most largely monopolized and those which have to do with the production of the prime necessaries of life. 

4.’The conservation by the State of the forests, mineral deposits and source's of - water power which it still owns, the reclamation of such as have been voted away, and the exploitation of these resources by the State, not for profit, but for the production of raw materials and power to be sold at cost. 

5. Legislation which will clearly exempt labor unions and farmer associations from prosecution under the so-called anti-trust laws, and will assure them of the right of collective bargaining in the sale and their farm produce respectively. 

6. Legislation guaranteeing labor the right to organize and strike, free from interference by the courts through the power of injunctions. 

7. Repeal of the war emergency concerning military service and military training in the schools, and repeal of the so-called criminal anarchy law, which has been demonstrated to be in practice a law for the suppression of free speech and for the promotion of spies and provocators. 

8. Amendment of the State Constitution and of the laws governing municipalities in such manner as to introduce the principle of occupational as well as geographical representation in legislative bodies and administrative boards: to introduce the referendum and the power of recall 

I have a personal link, Hattie Kruger was my Grandmother. So none of this is new. But just look. New York did public housing. How has that worked out. Crime and Crumbling buildings. Public transport, think MTA and AMTRAK, also coslty crumbling failures. 

Perhaps we have been there already.  

Taking Your Own Advice

 In PJ Media the Wrestling Lady in DC noted:

 “Two weeks in, millions of American students are still going to school, teachers are getting paid, and schools are operating as normal,” McMahon emphasized. “It confirms what the President has said: the federal Department of Education is unnecessary, and we should return education to the states.”

 But it did not stop her from "advising" Universities how to do their tasks. Perhaps this is nothing more than the "blind leading the blind"

Another Simple Calculation

 I was thinking about MIT and foreign grad students. Consider the following:

1. 40% of the grad students are foreign

2. There are about 5000 grad students so that is 2000 foreign students

3. Half of them are PRC students or 1,000 students from the PRC

4. All grad students are funded by some form of research, almost solely from the US Government

5. The student costs paid for at $60,000 tuition and $40,000 support, or $100,000 per student per year

6. The PRC students are thus supported by we the Taxpayers for $100 million per year

7. When I was there in 60s we had no USSR students

8. The PRC students are there under the rubric of the US State Dept viusa program

9. The research grants do not restrict who is supported

Now think about this.