ohomen171's Journey Through Life

Saturday, February 8, 2020

Thursday, February 6, 2020

A Chance Meeting With George Whitesides (CEO Virgin Galactic) Six Years Ago

I was at a cocktail party on Sunset Strip in February of 2014. I found myself next to George Whitesides., CEO of Virgin Galactic. We were not introduced. George is most perceptive. He looked over to me and said "You have something to say to me." George was at a low point in his life. Spaceship One had crashed. He did not act like a beaten man facing defeat. I said to George: "One of my most beloved films of all time is Rocketship XM-1 from 1950. In the film a group of astronauts landed on Mars. Three survived and began the return to earth. When they reentered the earth's atmosphere, they ran out of fuel. The rocket crashed. The three astronauts died. The president of the private space company ended the movie with these words::'Tomorrow morning we will start building the Rocketship XM-2.'" George was touched. We talked for 30 minutes. He made a wonderful impression on me. I bought the share when it went IPO. I made $26,000 in cash on one trade and am in the share big time.

Monday, February 3, 2020

A Gut Feeling

Sometimes that feeling in the gut is more than just an intuition.

Two studies published last month found that microbes in human guts can tell a lot about a person’s health and how long they will live, according to Science Magazine.

In the first study, a research team reviewed 47 studies that analyzed the connections between the collective genomes of gut microbes and 13 common diseases, including schizophrenia and asthma.

The team then compared the studies with 24 genome-wide association studies, which correlate specific human genetic variants with diseases.

The results revealed that gut microbes were actually 20 percent better at telling apart healthy and ill individuals than a person’s own genes.

The second study, meanwhile, looked into the correlation between a person’s gut bacteria and their long-term mortality risk through analyzing data from a Finnish study that collected health information and stool samples from thousands of participants in 2002.

The authors of the second paper noted that people with an abundance of Enterobacteriaceae bacteria – a family of bacteria that includes E. coli and salmonella – were 15 percent more likely to die in the next 15 years.

Scientists are still unclear why gut bacteria are related to death and disease, but both studies hint that more attention should be given to residents in our intestines.

Sunday, February 2, 2020

A Surprise Meeting With Two Russian Men

Dear:
Your Sunday newspaper...yesterday morning I drove to the pool for my 08:00 workout. I parked next to a Tesla. I walked to the entrance door for the pool. Two men of average height got out of the Tesla. They were speaking Russian. I spoke to them in English. They responded in English. I started to talk to them about the work that Telewave had done in Russia before relations got bad between the US and Russia. Then I mentioned The Great Patriotic War (Russia's battle against the Nazis in World War II that cost the lives of 27 million Russians.) I pointed out that the US and Britain would have suffered millions killed, if Russia had not been in the war.
Both men warmed up and we had quite a conversation. The conversation went quickly to Sir Winston Churchill and his friendship with Josef Stalin. Here are some details on Sir Winston for those who are curious:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill
Not known to many is that Churchill would get in a British bomber and fly from London to Moscow (Avoiding German territory and planes). Stalin's American-made Packard would meet Sir Winston at the airport and drive him to the Kremlin. Sir Winston would be taken to Stalin's private apartment in the Kremlin. A grand feast was always prepared by Stalin's staff. Sir Winston and Stalin would eat roast pig and consume copious quantities of alcohol. Both men would relax and "let their hair down."
The two Russian men were familiar with this little-known fact. I pointed out that Sir Winston was 5'8" and weighed 300 lbs. He smoked many cigars and drank copious amounts of alcohol. Despite all these bad health markers, Sir Winston lived to be 90 years old. The Russians pointed out that Sir Winston's daily alcohol consumption started with Champaign at breakfast, gin at lunch, and copious quantities of brandy in the evening. We all were laughing and became friends.
What a great way to start the day!!

Have a good Sunday!

Amo-a,
-JackW

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician, army officer, and writer. He was the prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, when he led Britain to victory in the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchill represen...