Mon Blogcast: Accidental inventions; Drone a**holes; Pig transplants; Fires

Thanks for a fun season, Broncos

The Denver Broncos got trounced on Sunday by a Buffalo Bills team that's simply better than the Broncos. That's OK. The Broncos outperformed most people's expectations this year with a 10-win regular season. (The betting line at the beginning of the season was 5.5 games and I bet $5 on the over.)

Bo Nix showed himself as perhaps the best rookie quarterback in the league, and that's saying something given how many good rookie QBs were in that draft class. And the defensive line was incredible, leading the leagues in sacks. The Broncos have some serious work to do at running back, and, despite what I just said about the D-line, they probably need a better run-stopper in the middle (maybe that's linebacker Alex Singleton who didn't play, but I'm thinking about on the line itself.). Hard to tell right now how good our wide receiver group is. Feels like they're good but not great. And the Broncos definitely need a reliable pass-catching tight end. Too big a part of today's NFL game not to have, and it sure seems like we don't.

Anyway, Sean Payton will have some months to figure some things out but overall the Broncos gave us an entertaining year and made the playoffs for the first time in 8 years so I'm gonna call that a success and look forward to an even better 2025 season.

AFC Wild Card Playoffs: Denver Broncos v Buffalo Bills — Photo: Timothy T Ludwig / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images

Today's Guests

Rep Bruce Westerman is Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources and the only licensed forester in Congress. We'll discuss the horrendous fires around Los Angeles and what might be done to try to reduce the risk of such events in the future.

Congressman Bruce Westerman |Representing the 4th District of Arkansas

Westerman, McClain, LaMalfa Issue Joint Statement on Los Angeles Fires | House Committee on Natural Resources

House Passes Bipartisan Solution Protecting America’s Forests Against Catastrophic Wildfires | House Committee on Natural Resources

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Dr Robert Montgomery is the Director of the Transplant Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. We'll discuss the promise of using organs from (special) pigs for transplant into humans, especially for organs where there is a significant shortage of human donors.

Tired of long organ waitlists, these patients are hopeful for a pig organ transplant | AP News

Dr. Robert Montgomery, Director of NYU Langone’s Transplant Institute, on the Promise of Pig Organs | NYU Langone News

Robert Montgomery, MD, PhD | NYU Langone Health

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US-ANIMAL-SCIENCE — Towana Looney, 53, who received a gene-edited pig kidney undergoes medical testing with Dr. Jeffrey Stern, MD at NYU Langone Health on December 11, 2024 in New York. On a farm in the southern US state of Virginia, David Ayares and his research teams are breeding genetically modified pigs to transplant their organs into human patients. Revivicor, the biotech company Ayares leads, is at the forefront of xenotransplantation research -- the implantation of animal organs into humans -- which aims to solve a chronic organ shortage that has thousands of Americans dying each year. It was on this farm that Revivicor bred a pig whose kidney was recently transplanted into patient Towana Looney, according to an announcement made December 17, 2024 by a New York hospital. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)Photo: ANGELA WEISS / AFP / Getty Images

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Other Stuff

I was having dinner with my younger kid on Saturday night (at Fruition restaurant, on its next-to-last night in existence) and he mentioned the idea of accidental inventions or discoveries. Penicillin and Post-It Notes came to mind, but there are plenty of others: accidental inventions - Google Search

The story of the invention of potato chips is a great one: Potato Chip Inventions | Lemelson

Any Way You Slice It, Potato Chip's Going Strong After 150 Years - Sun Sentinel

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Stuff about the California fires

One theory about how the fire started: What caused the Palisades blaze in LA? Visual evidence points to a recent fire nearby - NZ Herald

Offered without comment: Death toll from Los Angeles wildfires rises to 24 | AP News

Beyond sad: A father at the bedside of his son and a women who stayed behind with her beloved pets are among California wildfire victims | CNN

It’s already a federal crime but people who fly drones in areas where aircraft are being used to fight fires should have a MINIMUM sentence of at least a couple of years, and 5 or 7 or 10 years if they damage a plane.

California wildfires: FBI shares photos of pieces of drone that damaged super scooper aircraft while flying over Palisades Fire - 6abc Philadelphia

Thanks to listener Andy for this story: As wildfires rage, private firefighters join the fight for the fortunate few (Original at LA Times.)

More here: Private firefighters in place to protect Rick Caruso's Palisades home and neighborhood - Los Angeles Times

I can't find a way to embed this video but it's worth watching. Only about 100 seconds long: "Heat Hawks" assist firefighters and residents in California's Topanga Canyon | AP News

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The water utility in CA is going to have to answer some hard questions:

Asleep At The Switch - Robert Bryce

Here's their annual report that Robert references: 2023-24_BB_FullBook_Rev11_Revised.indd

The word “equity” is in the document 30 times. One example: “The Strategic Long-Term Resource Plan (SLTRP) is our roadmap for achieving a clean energy future based on the core principles and key considerations of environmental benefits and equity, reliability and resiliency, and affordability and rate impacts.” So things like reliability and affordability come after "environmental benefits and equity"....riiiight.

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This isn't great: Incoming Trump team is questioning civil servants at National Security Council about their loyalty | AP News

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Some kinds of subscriptions are notoriously difficult to cancel. For example, gym memberships where you can sign up online but have to cancel in person at the gym. Starting soon, that will change, and it's about time. Here's some info including a few links to law firms' analyses of the new "Click to Cancel" rule from the FTC:

FTC's "Click To Cancel" Rule Adds New Requirements to Subscription-Based Services By March 2025🖱️

Federal Trade Commission Announces Final “Click-to-Cancel” Rule Making It Easier for Consumers to End Recurring Subscriptions and Memberships | Federal Trade Commission

FTC Finalizes “Click To Cancel” Rule With Substantial Requirements for Recurring Subscription Programs | Perkins Coie

The New Cancel Culture: The FTC's "Click to Cancel" Rule | Insights | Holland & Knight

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Partly I think they're afraid of potential prosecution by the Trump DOJ and partly I think they realized (probably quite some time ago) that these programs are actually divisive but haven't had the courage to rein them in: Meta terminates its DEI programs days before Trump inauguration | US news | The Guardian

Amazon to halt some of its DEI programs: Internal memo

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CU Buffs news:

Deion Sanders will intervene for son Shedeur in NFL draft if needed

Bill McCartney dies at 84: Coach led Colorado to national title

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A follow-up on a story we covered some months ago. The original story is the first link, the update is the second link:

The Unraveling of a Charity’s Feel-Good Story About Saving African Orphans - WSJ

Exclusive | American Who Brokered African Adoptions Is Arrested - WSJ

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I don't entirely understand this story but it seems pretty nuts:

Sex-abuse watchdog fires investigator after learning of his arrest for stealing drug money | AP News