Sunday Poll: Will The City & County Population Increase or Decrease With The 2020 Census?

The new year will bring with it the decennial U.S. Census:

The U.S. census counts each resident of the country, where they live on April 1, every ten years ending in zero. The Constitution mandates the enumeration to determine how to apportion the House of Representatives among the states. (U.S. Census Bureau)

After the 2010 Census Missouri lost one seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Today’s poll isn’t about Missouri, but the population of both the City of Saint Louis and St. Louis County.

This poll will automatically close at 8pm tonight. My thoughts and the non-scientific poll results on Wednesday morning.

— Steve Patterson

Will Know In February 2020 How Well My Cancer Treatment Is Working

This year, like most, has had ups & downs. The big downer this year was when I was told I have Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma, aka Stage 4 Kidney Cancer.

My two prior posts:

• October 31st
• November 29th

Today I want to talk about kidney cancer and treatments. When a person has a small tumor in a kidney (stage 1) the solution is usually to surgically remove the tumor. Unfortunately, kidney cancer is often hard to detect — so it spreads — metastatic or stage 4.

One of my kidneys is now completely tumor. We can live with one kidney but surgery would’ve delayed treatment. My tumors have been growing and spreading since my initial CT scans so further delay wasn’t an option.

I’ve had two treatments so far — the 2nd was on Monday. Side effects have been minor, mostly greater fatigue. My 3rd treatment is next month.

Chemotherapy, right? No. Radiation? Nope. Immunotherapy!

Wait, what?

Cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation use medications or high-energy X-rays to kill cancer cells. Immunotherapy is different because it uses your own immune system to fight off the cancer.

Some immunotherapy treatments help your immune system find the cancer or work harder to attack it. Others give you man-made versions of proteins or other substances to help your body fight the disease. Immunotherapy is a type of biologic therapy.

Immunotherapy is approved to treat certain kinds of cancer, including melanoma, lymphoma, and lung cancer. Immune-based treatments for many other types are being tested in clinical trials. (WebMD)

As chemotherapy has been ineffective with kidney cancer, I’m fortunate to be getting the latest in immunotherapy treatment. My treatment is two different drugs administered intravenously every few weeks. I’m also in a clinical trial testing a third drug taken orally every day. It’s a double blind study — neither I nor my doctor know if I’m getting the third drug or the placebo.

In February I’ll get another scan — our first chance to see how well my immune system has attacked the cancer. A good result will be either no growth or shrinkage of the tumors.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Is ‘Die Hard’ A Christmas Movie?

There are many films out that are undisputed Christmas classics. Esquire recently published a list of the top 40 Christmas movies, here’s their top 10:

• 10. A Christmas Carol, 1951
• 9. The Muppets Christmas Carol, 1992
• 8. Bad Santa, 2003
• 7. Miracle on 34th St., 1947
• 6. Scrooged, 1988
• 5. Home Alone, 1990
• 4. White Christmas, 1954
• 3. A Christmas Story, 1983
• 2. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, 1989
• 1. It’s a Wonderful Life, 1946

Further down the list is Meet Me In St. Louis, at #16:

Vincente Minnelli’s 1944 musical is comprised of vignettes set during a variety of seasons, but none are as famous as the one featuring star (and Minnelli’s future wife) Judy Garland singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” (Esquire)

You can watch Garland sing this here.

Today’s poll is about the movie at #25 on their list — Die Hard, 1988. Here’s an intro to the plot:

On Christmas Eve, NYPD detective John McClane arrives in Los Angeles, intending to reconcile with his estranged wife, Holly, at the Christmas party of her employer, the Nakatomi Corporation. McClane is driven to the party by Argyle, a limousine driver. While McClane changes clothes, the party is disrupted by the arrival of a German terrorist, Hans Gruber, and his team: computer hacker Theo, Karl and Tony Vreski, Franco, Alexander, Marco, Kristoff, Eddie, Uli, Heinrich, Fritz, and James. The group seizes the tower and secures those inside as hostages except for McClane, who slips away, and Argyle, who gets stranded in the garage. (Wikipedia)

And this is the trailer:

I can’t think of a movie that has been debated more about being a Christmas movie or not.

This poll will close at 8pm tonight.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Should Missouri Eliminate Personal property Taxes?

It’s that time of year. Holiday parties, sure. But I’m talking about personal property taxes. Our bill is on our fridge with a calendar reminder. We pay online so we can wait until the last minute.

Our bill is significantly higher than previously because of the newer used car we bought in 2018.

At present, Missouri residents pay a yearly property tax on their vehicles. State Senator Bill Eigel from St. Charles County wants to put an end to that practice.

“I’ve been getting lots of feedback from my constituents, not only in St. Charles but around the St. Louis area, that are talking about the burden placed on households for having to pay for personal property tax on vehicles for a single year,” he said.

When the lawmakers go back to session in Jefferson City on January 8, Eigel said he will be working to get his bill out of committee and passed through the legislature so Missouri residents can vote on it. (Fox2)

This is the subject of today’s poll.

This poll will close at 8pm tonight.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Will Missouri Go Red or Blue In The 2020 General Election?

Missouri’s Presidential Preference Primary is less than 100 days away, on Tuesday March 10, 2020. We don’t yet know who the Democrats will nominate at the end of their convention in July 2020, in Milwaukee, WI.

A number of states aren’t even holding a GOP primary, but Missouri’s GOP primary ballot will have at least one other name besides Trump’s. Still, it’s safe to assume Donald J. Trump will get the GOP nomination at their late August 2020 convention in Charlotte, NC.

Today’s poll question isn’t about the primaries, but about the general election on November 3, 2020. In 2016 Missouri’s 10 Electoral College votes were Red (Trump).

This poll will close at 8pm tonight. My thoughts and results on Wednesday morning.

— Steve Patterson