Lakeside Freethinkers Jan. 15 meeting at 4 PM at Yves Restaurant
lloyd kumley
Guests are always welcome, but please let us know in advance how many seats to reserve for you. Thanks!
Let's make 2026 a "reasonable" and innovative year together!!
Here are some ideas for topics that could lead to good discussions:
(I welcome others.) Lloyd
1. Breakthrough in breast cancer vaccine trial
https://abc11.com/post/duke-health-researchers-announces-breakthrough-breast-cancer-vaccine-trial/18161631/
A small group of women with advanced breast cancer participated in a trial where they received a vaccine, and all are alive today, with robust, long-lasting immune cells that recognize their cancer.
2. Engineered immune cells are being used to successfully treat people with a range of debilitating autoimmune conditions, such as ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Researchers say positive results from around a dozen studies over the past three years suggest CAR-T-cell therapy could eventually be used to treat any disease in which the immune system attacks the body. CAR-T-cell therapy exploits the immune system’s T cells that fight off infection: these cells are collected from a person and tweaked to produce proteins called chimeric antigen receptors. They are then reintroduced into the body to target antigens expressed by B cells, another type of immune cell. In autoimmune disorders, these B cells make antibodies that attack the body’s own healthy tissues.
The use of the therapy for immune conditions has exploded since 2021, when a 20-year-old woman in Germany with severe lupus became the first person with an autoimmune disorder to be treated with CAR T cells. (It was used successfully to treat my brother for bone marrow cancer at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio 4 years ago.
3. Connecticut’s pioneering model for publicly owned, small-scale solar. https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/connecticut-pioneers-public-small-scale-solar
The Connecticut Green Bank goes beyond grants and loans to directly develop solar for towns and schools — a model other states could follow as energy costs rise. 26 November 2025
4. OpenAI sued in death of teenage boy who commited suicide.
The family filed the lawsuit in late August, arguing that the AI chatbot had coaxed their son Adam Raine into killing himself. Now, in a legal response recently filed in a California court, OpenAI is arguing that the boy had used the chatbot wrong and broken the company’s terms of service, — a shocking argument that’s bound to draw even more scrutiny of the case.
“To the extent that any ’cause’ can be attributed to this tragic event,” the filing reads, “Plaintiffs’ alleged injuries and harm were caused or contributed to, directly and proximately, in whole or in part, by Adam Raine’s misuse, unauthorized use, unintended use, unforeseeable use, and/or improper use of ChatGPT.”
In the months since the lawsuit was filed, OpenAI has made startling demands of Raine’s family, with the firm’s lawyers going as far as to push them to provide a list of people who attended Adam’s funeral, while also demanding materials like eulogies and photos and videos captured at the service.
Its latest response once again highlights how far OpenAI is willing to go to argue that it’s blameless in the teen’s death. The company said Raine had violated ChatGPT’s terms of service by using it while underage, and that it also forbids using the chatbot for “suicide” or “self-harm.” While ChatGPT did sometimes advise Raine to reach out for help via a suicide hotline number, his parents argue that he simply bypassed those warnings, once again demonstrating how easy it is to circumnavigate AI chatbot guardrails. Case in point, it also assisted Raine in planning his specific method of death, discouraged him from talking to his family, and offered to write him a suicide note. The case is one of eight lawsuits that have been filed against OpenAI, many of which also allege wrongful death.
Watch this video. Some solutions have been overlooked, until now.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lost-planet-theia-that-created-the-moon-came-from-the-inner-solar-system/
New work pinpoints origin for the planet Theia, whose ancient collision with Earth likely produced the moon, 4.5 billions years ago. A postulated planet, Theia, collided with earth and knocked off some chunks that formed the Moon. By testing some rocks taken from the Moon by the Apollo missions scientists determined Theia originated close to the Sun. New testing of isotopes of heavy elements with finer equipment made this determination possible. I believe this finally puts to rest the false belief that the moon is made from yellow cheese.
Donna Steadman
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lloyd kumley
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lloyd kumley
Since the suggested topics have little to do with freethinking or religion, maybe we could also discuss Trump's terroristic attacks on Venezuela that killed 100 people for the purpose of abducting Maduro.
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Vijay Nilekani
I have a schedule conflict, and will be arriving mid meeting. My apologies.
Regards,
Vijay
lloyd kumley
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/lakeside-freethinkers/1811266085.10436494.1768276921512%40mail.yahoo.com.
Linda Jeschofnig
Lillie Henley
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Donna Steadman
to keep up with their email overload or don't particularly want to
receive all the 'extra emails' with additional comments from other
members (although they often contain interesting information).
Does anyone with better tech skills than I have a solution? Here's one
imperfect option: Perhaps Lloyd and I could write "from Admin" on
the subject line of essential messages like the initial monthly
meeting announcement and the meeting minutes; however, even those
emails would have to be opened to see the subject line.
Any ideas from other Freethinkers?
Thanks,
Dab