Thursday - April 02, 2020

Chain Breaker

US Navy Relieves Captain Of Corona Carrier USS Roosevelt
He emailed his concerns to too many people. In the Navy. And one of them leaked it to the press. So he gets burned. Douche-a-rama.

Yeah, and if he’d strictly followed the chain of command, and sent it encrypted, they would have buried it, denied it, and sat on it forever.

The Navy announced it has relieved the captain who sounded the alarm about an outbreak of COVID-19 aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Capt. Brett Crozier, who commands the Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier with a crew of nearly 5,000, was relieved of his command Thursday, but he will keep his rank and remain in the Navy.

Crozier raised the alarm this week, sending a strongly worded letter to Navy leadership that detailed his concerns about the spread of the virus on the ship. The letter leaked to the media and generated a series of headlines.

Speaking at a news conference Thursday evening, Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said Crozier was removed from his post because he sent the letter over “non-secure unclassified email” to a “broad array of people” rather than up the chain of command.

“I have no doubt in my mind that Captain Crozier did what he thought was in the best interest of the safety and well-being of his crew,” Modly said. “Unfortunately, it did the opposite. It unnecessarily raised the alarm of the families of our sailors and Marines with no plans to address those concerns.”

There’s the truth: the Navy has no plans to address these concerns. Because they’ve only known about the virus since ...before Christmas? Seriously, if our zillion dollar intelligence agencies didn’t spot this well ahead of the international media, and get word out to the military, especially those in that theater, then WTH good are they??

Holy crap. I’m just a doofus blogger and I had heard of the virus before New Year’s and the chloroquine approach since mid February at the latest.

Posted by Drew458     on 04/02/2020 at 08:15 PM   
Filed Under: • Military • Pandemic Pandemonium •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Wednesday - April 01, 2020

It’s Strange Out There

Our local grocery store has added plexiglass shields around the check outs.  I guess it works as some kind of cough barrier. And they only have every other register open to provide lateral social distancing. 6 foot markers all over the floors.At least they don’t have security guy outside with a counter. or one way aisles. Yet. They’re doing that across the river in NY. X number of customers in the store, nobody else gets in until somebody leaves.

We broke down and got some take out Thai from our local restaurant. We’ve been a bit hesitant to do this, because we don’t know the condition of the folks doing the cooking. But they put up a reassuring message online, so we went for it. Pick your selections from the online menu, call them up, give them your name and credit card info. The place has a short right angle entryway to keep the wind out. They have a table across the end of it, and our bag was on the table, with the credit card slip next to it. One visible employee, behind the regular counter 20 feet away. I waved. We’d ordered 3 lunches, so we had plenty to eat. Nice glass noodle chicken soup came with the meals. Gave them a nice tip too. I’d pulled up right in front, so I was in and out in 30 seconds. The food was good, but the experience was kind of strange.

We’d talked a few days ago that everywhere might become a plexiglass city. That’s the term for city stores in high crime areas. You go in the door into a cubicle of bulletproof glass, place your order, put your money in the slot, and a little door opens with your stuff. That might be where the world is going.

OTOH, our grocery store started up Shop From Home quite some time ago, and they deliver. Sure, you pay extra for that. But now, that practice might make a lot of sense. “Free toilet paper with every order over $100!!” It could work.

Posted by Drew458     on 04/01/2020 at 06:18 PM   
Filed Under: • Pandemic Pandemonium •  
• Comments (0) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Monday - March 30, 2020

It Would Take A Miracle, Max

Sorry, this is a rough post. Actually, it started as an email paste and just got expanded a bit. And it’s 2am. Good night.

Doctor Vladimir Zelenko, Miracle Worker??

Rockland County NY, on the west side of the Hudson River across from Westchester County, and just 30 miles NW of NYC, currently has 2209 cases, and northern neighbor Orange County has 1247.

Dr. Vladimir Zelenko from Kiryas Joel. You know, the place up in Orange County that only had 14 cases? And also from Monsey NY… very likely from New Square or nearby. Both are very very similar communities, like Weschester’s New Rochelle NY and NJ’s Lakewood, only much moreso. Capice?

https://scontent.fagc1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/s960x960/91123497_10158203091111774_6588351459786489856_o.jpg?_nc_cat=104&_nc_sid=110474&_nc_ohc=aPvbXr6xXP0AX-H0ayP&_nc_ht=scontent.fagc1-2.fna&_nc_tp=7&oh=bc4ea64888c01a5b5ea2ccd3f42ca799&oe=5EA4E252

Yeah, he’s treated 699 patients with HCQ ( Plaquenil )+ Z-Pack + Zinc and had 100% success. Well, at least with shortness of breath. Not much else mentioned at this point, except that nobody died or needed to be put on a ventilator.

“results within 4 to 6 hours”

In a video posted on YouTube, Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, a board-certified family practitioner in New York, said he saw the symptom of shortness of breath resolved within four to six hours.

Read more ... and this is from 2 days ago, referring back to results he shared a week before that

https://techstartups.com/2020/03/28/dr-vladimir-zelenko-now-treated-699-coronavirus-patients-100-success-using-hydroxychloroquine-sulfate-zinc-z-pak-update/
https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3829531/posts
https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/rockland/2020/03/19/kiryas-joel-video-coronavirus-spread-debunked/2879652001/

https://techstartups.com/2020/03/25/doctor-vladimir-zelenko-treated-350-coronavirus-patients-100-success-using-hydroxychloroquine-sulfate/

The whole treatment costs just $20.

the success story from Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, a board-certified family practitioner in New York, after he successfully treated 350 coronavirus patients with 100 percent success using a cocktail of drugs: hydroxychloroquine, in combination with azithromycin (Z-Pak), an antibiotic to treat secondary infections, and zinc sulfate.  Dr. Zelenko said he saw the symptom of shortness of breath resolved within four to six hours after treatment.

Now, Dr. Zelenko provides updates on the treatment after he successfully treated 699 COVID-19 patients in New York. In an exclusive interview with former New York Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, Dr. Vladmir Zelenko shares the results of his latest study, which showed that out of his 699 patients treated, zero patients died, zero patients intubated, and four hospitalizations.

Dr. Zelenko said the whole treatment costs only $20 over a period of 5 days with 100% success. He defines success as “Not to die.”

OTOH, others in the community really do wish he’d just pipe down for now. All the news is giving their members a bad rep and causing problems.

KIRYAS JOEL - Village leaders and community groups issued a joint statement on Tuesday rebuking a local doctor’s predictions about the spread of the coronavirus and urging him to stop posting videos online about the outbreak or else leave Kiryas Joel and the Hasidic community out of them.

The unusual public plea from the village’s main congregation, health center and other organizations came after Dr. Vladimir Zelenko recorded at least seven videos, including one that predicted a rampant spread of COVID-19 in Kiryas Joel and another that led Fox News host Sean Hannity to invoke the community on his radio and TV shows on Monday.

“We the undersigned institutions strongly believe that the predictions presented by Dr. Zelenko have been proven false and are not supported by the overall medical establishment, specifically in his wild conclusions as to the spread of the virus in our community,” the letter stated.

They said those statements had spurred discrimination against its residents and made it difficult to staff local businesses that remain open during the state emergency. Zelenko had estimated 90% of Kiryas Joel had COVID-19 after 9 of his first 14 tests came back positive — a conclusion the Orange County health commissioner blasted as irresponsible.

About 25,000 people live in the Kiryas Joel community. Last time I checked, they only had 14 cases officially. Now he’s treated nearly 700? Either he really REALLY gets around, or else the local rumors (that Kiryas has 75% of all the cases in Orange County) are pretty much true.

~~~~

But is Tulicizumab even better?
https://techstartups.com/2020/03/27/breaking-tolicizumab-shown-effective-hydroxychloroquine-treating-coronavirus-patients-doctors-say/

according to doctors treating coronovirus patients in Italy, Tolicizumab, a drug used to treat moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, has been shown to be more effective than hydroxychloroquine. Tolicizumab is so effective that the FDA gives green lights to Phase III Tocilizumab Trial for COVID-19 pneumonia. In a related report, Italian doctors said that a 101-year-old Italian man who survived the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and World War II, recovered from COVID-19.

In another report, scientists claim Tocilizumab has been shown to help cure 95 percent of critically ill coronavirus patients in China. Tocilizumab, which is marketed as Actemra, is taken by patients with rheumatoid arthritis to reduce inflammation. Chinese doctors gave it to 20 patients during the peak of of coronavirus epidemic. Nineteen of the patients were discharged within 14 days despite being critically ill. Actemra has now been approved for use in China and for trials in the US

...

Tocilizumab, also known as atlizumab, is an immunosuppressive drug, mainly for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, a severe form of arthritis in children. It is a humanized monoclonal antibody against the interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R).

I guarantee you Actemra costs a whole lot more than generic Plaquenil and generic Z-Pack. And some vitamin pills. Yeah, I picked up on the zinc angle a couple weeks back. Vitamin C and D too, also rumored to help. Taking selenium, another metallic supplement, was an earlier rumor.

~~~~

Not really related to this at all ... but little Putnam County NY, just north of Westchester (which has 8519 cases, 2nd in the nation only to it’s southern neighbor NYC), has a mere 142 cases. How is this possible?  Both counties are populous bedroom communities; commuters to NYC. Right across the Hudson, Orange County is also one these days, although it was the back of beyond as recently as 1985. Rockland has always been, ever since the bridges opened.
https://www.lohud.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/21/coronavirus-new-york-map-cases-by-county/2891036001/

Posted by Drew458     on 03/30/2020 at 12:38 AM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine • pandemic and epidemic diseases • Pandemic Pandemonium •  
• Comments (2) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Saturday - March 28, 2020

So Typical

Africa goes into lock down, so naturally they immediately start beating, gassing, and shooting people.

South Africa’s military helped to enforce measures that include bans on sales of cigarettes and alcohol, even dog-walking. President Cyril Ramaphosa, in full military uniform, on the eve of the lockdown told troops to be a “force of kindness” and reminded police that “our people are terrified right now and we should not do anything to make their situation worse”.

Some feared the abuse of power. In Rwanda, which imposed a lockdown over the weekend, police have denied that two people shot dead on Monday were killed for defying the new measures. In Kenya on Friday, police fired tear gas at people crowding to board a ferry ahead of a curfew in Mombasa.

More lockdowns are expected; Eswatini on Friday barred unnecessary travel for 20 days. Twenty-four of Africa’s 54 countries already have fully closed borders, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Posted by Drew458     on 03/28/2020 at 12:04 PM   
Filed Under: • Africa • Pandemic Pandemonium •  
• Comments (0) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Our Rights Have Been Trashed (For Our Own Good)

Rhode Island Hunting New Yorkers

You no longer have the right to free movement. As if you hadn’t noticed this already.

Rhode Island plans to send the National Guard out to knock door-to-door in an attempt to hunt down anyone who has arrived in the tiny state from New York City during the coronavirus pandemic. State police, meanwhile, have begun pulling over cars with New York state plates.

Gov. Gina Raimondo said anyone traveling there from New York will be ordered to undergo a 14-day quarantine and could face fines or even jail time if they’re found to not comply.

“Right now we have a pinpointed risk,” Raimondo said at a news conference Friday. “That risk is called New York City.”

She isn’t wrong to be seriously concerned. She should also be hunting down Massachussets people, as Boston is another outbreak epicenter. Hey, let’s jail folks from New Hampshire, because Manchester.

How about the whole country walls off Rhode Island, all 10 square blocks of it, and leaves them to rot? Let the uppity fuckers die. No loss to the rest of us. How Dare They?™

I’m really getting chapped about this fascist power grab game of one-upmanship going on. Oh you did this in your state? Hold my beer. Watch us do something even more repressive.

Does any of this even help? Maybe it does, but these acts could be destroying the union that is the USA. Certainly giving it a beating.

Rhode Island, which had some 162 confirmed cases by late Friday compared to New York State’s total of more than 44,000, joined a host of other municipalities and states trying bar entry to New Yorkers living in the epicenter of the US’ coronavirus outbreak.

The Hamptons, counties north of the city [ Long Island,, east of NYC ], and governors in Florida, Maryland, Texas and South Carolina have all also ordered New Yorkers to keep out or undergo mandatory two-week quarantines.

Cuomo said he was opposed to such restrictions, at least within the state.

“I don’t like it socially or culturally,” Cuomo said during a radio appearance Friday on WAMC. “I don’t like what it says about us as one state, one family. Also, I don’t believe it’s medically justified.”

In Rhode Island, Raimondo maintained she’s within her emergency powers to impose the aggressive measures and said she had consulted with state lawyers.

“I know it’s unusual. I know it’s extreme and I know some people disagree with it,” she said.

“If you want to seek refuge in Rhode Island, you must be quarantined.”

If Cuomo is saying this isn’t justified, it probably is. He and DeBlasio have proven yet again what level of idiots they really are. But that’s almost beside the point.

Yeah yeah, the public good. Want to know who owns most of the homes in the Hamptons? People from New York City. So now it’s “illegal” for people to stay in their own houses if they have more than one?

This is so wrong. It screams Statist Opportunism. Is the only way to save America to destroy it? Are we My Lai village writ large? How much trampling can we take? And even more worrying, will it become the new normal when this shit is finally over? Will the jackboots stay on the feet because every sparrow that falls will be another emergency? When does government ever cede power except at gunpoint?

Posted by Drew458     on 03/28/2020 at 08:19 AM   
Filed Under: • Jack Booted Thugs • Pandemic Pandemonium • Tyrants and Dictators •  
• Comments (0) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Friday - March 27, 2020

Standard Union Scamming

SEIU “finds” 39 Million Face Masks, sells them to states at huge mark-up

The union launched an exhaustive search for masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) five days ago in response to pleas from frontline healthcare workers that they need more protection and feel unsafe on the job as they treat the growing number of COVID-19 patients. SEIU-UHW has 97,000 members who work in hospitals across California.

Within 48 hours of painstakingly calling leads and potential suppliers, the union discovered a distributor who had the 39 million masks, and has since found another supplier who says his company can produce 20 million more masks a week. The union also has found a supplier who can deliver millions of face shields.

The union said it will be selling the masks to states, counties and hospitals for $5 apiece and claims it “has no financial interest in the transactions.”

Similar N95 masks are available on the Home Depot website for $23.97 for a box of 20, or about $1.20 apiece.

Sounds to me like someone was hoarding. And you know what happens to hoarders in an emergency, right?

“No financial interest” = Minimum $3.80 profit per mask X 39 million = CHA FRICKING CHING!! That’s a whole lot of slush to add to their Democrat Election funds.

I’ve seen boxes of masks. A box of 20 is half the size of a small loaf of bread. Probably 2 dozen boxes per case and at least 100 cases on a plastic wrapped pallet. That’s 48,000 masks per pallet: 39 million of them is 812 pallets full. 22-24 pallets fills a tractor trailer. 40 trucks worth. So it’s a small warehouse full. Let’s hope that the masks aren’t made in China. 

Posted by Drew458     on 03/27/2020 at 08:22 AM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous • Pandemic Pandemonium • Unions-Labor •  
• Comments (0) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Allah Says Drink Rubbing Alcohol

Yeah, let’s let these idiot savages have nukes.

300 Dead In Iran From Drinking Methanol To Cure COVID

Iranian media reports nearly 300 people have been killed and more than 1,000 sickened so far by ingesting methanol across the Islamic republic, where drinking alcohol is banned and where those who do rely on bootleggers. It comes as fake remedies spread across social media in Iran, where people remain deeply suspicious of the government after it downplayed the crisis for days before it overwhelmed the country.

“The virus is spreading and people are just dying off, and I think they are even less aware of the fact that there are other dangers around,” said Dr. Knut Erik Hovda, a clinical toxicologist in Oslo who studies methanol poisoning and fears Iran’s outbreak could be even worse than reported. “When they keep drinking this, there’s going to be more people poisoned.”

Wino 101: There are two kinds of alcohol. Ethanol gets you drunk. Methanol gets you dead.

Methanol will kill the virus if applied topically; any alcohol breaks down fat and this virus has a lipid coating. But the stuff is poisonous to drink. So don’t. Not even if you hear that it’s a great fish tank cleaner. Which is probably isn’t either.

Posted by Drew458     on 03/27/2020 at 08:06 AM   
Filed Under: • Iran • Pandemic Pandemonium • Stoopid-People •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Viral Career Killer

Dem Michigan Governor Threatens Doctors For Chloroquine

I kind of wonder if she has any actual authority here, but if this stuff works then “I left you to die!!” is the worst re-election slogan in history.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs warns that prescribing hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine for treatment of COVID-19 ‘without further proof of efficacy’ may be investigated for administrative action; reaction from Dr. Jeff Colyer, former Kansas governor.

Excerpt from the letter sent out by the Michigan BPL:

TO:  Licensed Prescribers & Dispensers
RE:  Reminder of Appropriate Prescribing and Dispensing

Dear Licensed Prescribers and Dispensers:The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs has received multiple allegations of Michigan physicians inappropriately prescribing hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine to themselves, family, friends, and/or coworkers without a legitimate medical purpose.

Prescribing hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine without further proof of efficacy for treating COVID-19 or with the intent to stockpile the drug may create a shortage for patients with lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or other ailments for which chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are proven treatments. 

Reports of this conduct will be evaluated and may be further investigated for administrative action. 

Prescribing any kind of prescription must also be associated with medical documentation showing proof of the medical necessity and medical condition for which the patient is being treated. 

Again, these are drugs that have not been proven scientifically or medically to treat COVID-19.Michigan pharmacists may see an increased volume of prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine and should take special care to evaluate the prescriptions’ legitimacy.

Pursuant to Michigan Administrative Code, R 338.490(2), a pharmacist shall not fill a prescription if the pharmacist believes the prescription will be used for other than legitimate medical purposes or if the prescription could cause harm to a patient

In addition to whatever stock on hand is in the US, Teva has donated 6 million pills, Bayer AG has sent us 3 million, Novartis has 50 million on hand and will churn out another 80 million by the end of May, and the FDA has added HCQ to the Interim Policy list, which will allow generic pharma companies and even pharmacies to make the stuff.

All told, there is probably enough out there right now to treat 4 million people. With lots more coming. So there is no shortage at all, and no hoarding necessary. Just keep the distribution channels running. Since the treatment plan is less than a week, we should have trials results data real soon. Provided, of course, that the media bothers to report it.

~~

You may remember Governor Whitmer. She’s the one who gave the Dem rebuttal to President Trump’s magnificent SOTU address back in February.

“It’s pretty simple. Democrats are trying to make your health care better. Republicans in Washington are trying to take it away,” Whitmer said in prepared remarks.

Uh huh. That is pretty simple: she’s a total lying hypocrite.

~~~~



Meanwhile, this EVIL DRUG that TRUMP IS POISONING EVERYONE WITH is showing success in Belgium and Bahrain. Phhhbbtt. Foreigners, what do they know about anything? It’s up to MI Governor Whitmer to block this for your own good.

Bahrain and Belgium report their hospitals are successfully treating coronavirus patients with the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine touted by President Trump as a possible breakthrough in the pandemic.

The Kingdom of Bahrain’s Supreme Council of Health chairman said his country was among the first to use the drug and that its impact has been “profound,” according to the Bahrain News Agency.

Dr. Shaikh Mohamed, who leads the National Taskforce for Combating COVID-19, was also quoted by the news agency as saying hydroxychloroquine was administered according to the same regimens as those used in China and South Korea.

The first COVID-19 case in Bahrain was reported on Feb. 21, and hydroxychloroquine was first administered to patients showing virus symptoms on Feb. 26. As of March 25, the virus had caused 4 deaths in Bahrain, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. 

...

Meanwhile in Europe, another U.S. ally, Brussels, is reporting similar early success with the same drug and is taking steps to ensure its availability for the sickest coronavirus patients.

“Using the limited stocks of these medicines for unnecessary or unjustified preventive treatments jeopardizes the availability of these medicines for patients who need them: chronic patients and hospital patients seriously affected by Covid-19,” Belgium’s Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products said this week.

Belgium, like the United States, has begun a longer-term clinical trial on the efficacy of using Hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients.

While warning against hoarding, and saying that this treatment plan is not yet proven or even fully tested, Belgium is delivering enough to treat 22,000 patients to each of their hospitals, with enough in the next delivery to treat another 17,000. There are 7,284 cases in the whole country.

Sounds like they are giving it a serious try. 

Posted by Drew458     on 03/27/2020 at 07:07 AM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine • pandemic and epidemic diseases • Pandemic Pandemonium •  
• Comments (3) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Thursday - March 26, 2020

Not Enough Social Fishtancing?

Washington State Bans Recreational Fishing

Good grief. You’d think even our new fascist masters would allow fishing. Standing by yourself out in a stream or on a little boat with one or two others?

This week, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) issued a temporary order to close all recreational fishing and shellfishing in the entire state in order to further prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The news came shortly after Gov. Jay Inslee issued a “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order, which required Washington residents to stay home unless out for an “essential activity.”

“We’ve seen an uptick in outdoor recreation at some locations in recent weeks as people have looked for ways to get outside,” WDFW Fish Program director Kelly Cunningham said in a news release issued Wednesday. “We’ve had reports of crowded boat ramps and busy fishing on some rivers, which runs counter to the governor’s direction to stay home and practice social distancing.”

“This is not a decision we take lightly, but it’s the right thing to do for the health and well-being of Washington’s families,” said WDFW director Kelly Susewind,

WDFW’s ban went into effect at midnight on March 25. As part of the restrictions, fishing and shellfishing seasons will be closed for at least two weeks. Access to wildlife areas and water access areas will also be restricted for that same time period.

Access to wildlife areas? That means no hiking. I guess all those outdoorsy types have been having secret giant parties out in the back of beyond. Probably licking the trees too. How Dare They™!!!??!!

Posted by Drew458     on 03/26/2020 at 11:25 AM   
Filed Under: • Pandemic Pandemonium •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Oh The Irony

China Closing Border, Cutting Air Flights To Keep Kung Flu OUT Of China

China slashes inbound and outbound international flights in drastic action

China’s aviation regulator has slashed the number of international flights in and out of the country, in a drastic move to curtail air travel and limit the rising number of imported Covid-19 cases.

Effective March 29, each Chinese airline will only be allowed to fly one weekly route to one city per country, operating it at no more than 75 per cent capacity, according to a statement by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). Similarly, each overseas carrier will be limited to fly one weekly service to China, at three-quarters capacity, the regulator said.

~~~~

China to suspend most foreign arrivals to block contagion’s spread

China will ban most foreigners from entering the country starting at midnight on Friday in an effort to block the spread of the coronavirus through imported cases.

With several exceptions, including transit visas and foreigners arriving via Hong Kong and Macau with short-term entry permits, entry visas issued to foreigners will be suspended as an “interim measure”, according to a statement late Thursday by the country’s foreign ministry.

“In view of the rapid spread of the new coronavirus epidemic worldwide, China has decided to temporarily suspend entry of foreigners with currently valid visas and residence permits in China,” the ministry said.

“This is an interim measure that China has to take in order to respond to the current epidemic situation, with reference to the practice of many countries,”

Posted by Drew458     on 03/26/2020 at 11:08 AM   
Filed Under: • Pandemic Pandemonium •  
• Comments (3) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Wednesday - March 25, 2020

Jerks Knee Jerking

Nevada Gov: No “off label” HCQ treatments for you. Because Tropical Fish?

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak has restricted the prescription of two malaria medications that President Trump named as potential remedies for coronavirus, after a man died and his wife was hospitalized for using a fish tank cleaning additive with a similar name as a substitute.

Sisolak, a Democrat, issued an executive order Tuesday prohibiting prescriptions of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for coronavirus patients after the president mentioned the two drugs during a press briefing.

“While the two drugs have necessary medical purposes, there is no conclusive evidence at this time among COVID-19 experts or Nevada’s own medical health advisory team that the drugs provide treatment for COVID-19 patients,” Sisolak said in a statement.

While addressing reporters, Trump mentioned both drugs as being fast-tracked for use as treatment, touting their likelihood of being effective despite the FDA still testing it for coronavirus use.

The order also limits a prescription to a 30-day supply to ensure it’s available for “legitimate medical purposes” and so that people cannot find a way to stockpile the drug.

Sisolak faced a backlash from Trump allies over the order, as the drugs are in fact being used in trials. They are among a select group of possible therapies the World Health Organization is currently looking at as potentially treating or preventing COVID-19, though the effectiveness of the drugs remains unclear.

The WHO originally did not have the two drugs as part of their trial, but high interest led them to reconsider.

I didn’t post on yesterday’s story about the two idiot senior citizens in Arizona who poisoned themselves by taking fish tank stuff. Because chloroquine and because Trump. Most of the news was about the news; how the various DemMSM media outlets had used this as a cudgel against the President. I did look into it quite a bit, which not one of the media sites has done.

First, the stuff is not fish tank cleaner. It is aquarium antibiotic. HUGE difference.

Second, this stuff generally uses a different kind of chloroquine (the sulphate variant), and often has some other kinds of really strong medicine mixed in with it.

Third, it is really hard to find in the USA in consumer sized amounts, and not all that easy to locate in professional bulk either.

Fourth, in Australia and other areas around there on the far side of the world, prices have been skyrocketing for a week now.

So these two winners in AZ aren’t the only people thinking along these lines. And unless they were major tropical fish enthusiasts, I have a whole lot of doubts about their story. Like, maybe they bought it from eBay in panic. Or maybe this is a perfect murder. He’s dead. She survived. Blame Trump.

There have been media stories about hoarding HCQ, although whatever kind of hoarding that might impact the distribution channels would have to be done at the drug warehouse level to make any difference.

Very little news front page coverage that the Isreali pharma company TEVA has given the USA six million doses. That would be positive news and the DemMSM exists only to fuel the panic in order to bring down Trump. However the story is out there, but it didn’t fit the agenda.

And now we have the Governor of Nevada banning the HCQ / Z-Pack treatment. Because OF COURSE he’s a Dem.

However, the entire chloroquine angle is being denigrated by the Left, simply because President Trump mentioned it. I admit, I’ve spent far too much time digging into this whole coronavirus situation since the very beginning. Aspects of the disease, it’s origins, victims, tests, and treatments. While various forms of chloroquine have been being used for this with pretty good effect around the world for quite some time now, it is not a perfect panacea. Nothing is. But the moment our President mentioned it as a ray of hope, it was instant anathema to a large part of our media who then ran all kinds of negative stories about it. And Governor Sleestak is playing the same tune. Remember this, Nevadians.

[ If you want to stay abreast of the latest news about treatments, trials, and other COVID R&D, the investor pages are your best bet. They put these stories out there without political bias and without drowning you in medical terminology. ]

Posted by Drew458     on 03/25/2020 at 09:50 AM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Pandemic Pandemonium • Politics •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Sunday - March 22, 2020

good one

Posted by Drew458     on 03/22/2020 at 06:44 AM   
Filed Under: • Humor • Pandemic Pandemonium •  
• Comments (0) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Saturday - March 21, 2020

Shoot Them. Up Against The Wall, And On Live TV

President Trump essentially closed the border with Mexico. Mexico has essentially closed the border with USA, to keep this damn virus up north. But any number of junior Border Patrol supervisors told the worker bees to ignore the posted Presidential Directive, and they’ve now let hundreds and hundreds of cars full of Mexicans into the US, all of whom are up here for non-essential purposes.

These are government employees. We are having a national emergency that our President has likened to war. This ought to be a capital offense. Drumhead trial followed by immediate televised execution of the low level supervisors. Direct and knowingly disobeying orders, putting the nation at risk. Shoot them.

Border officials allow hundreds of Mexican vehicles to cross despite Trump ban

Customs and Border Protection officials are defying the Trump administration’s directive to block all nonessential foreign travel into the United States from Mexico, allowing noncitizens claiming to be on shopping trips to continue entering, according to two officials involved in the implementation of the order.

CBP employees in Arizona told the Washington Examiner Saturday they were instructed Friday night at the start of the executive order and again this morning not to turn around noncitizens who said they were coming in to shop, visit family, or for medical appointments. By Saturday morning, “hundreds” of vehicles that should have been blocked at the port of entry had been allowed through, two officials said.

“We’re letting them through. And that’s pretty much the gist of it,” one official said. “Nobody’s enforcing it. It was put up — the president put it out. The chief patrol put it out. And we’re just not doing it.”

“In plain English, it was a giant shit show,” said a second official. “Nobody followed the directive, a plain and simple directive. You’re trying to keep the coronavirus from going north ... yet you just let it bleed through anyway, so you’re not doing the job you’re directed to. That’s what’s aggravating.”

CBP’s Office of Field Operations officers who inspect vehicles at the border crossings were supposed to begin at 9 p.m. PT Friday turning away all noncitizens unless they had a permit to work in the U.S., are a legal permanent resident, or are a student. However, officers were told by supervisors not to do so, according to sources.

Border Patrol agents familiar with operations at highway checkpoints located north of the ports of entry said employees at checkpoints were caught off guard late Friday when cars with Mexican license plates continued arriving since they should have been blocked at the border.

Agents continued to see vehicles with plates from the Mexican state of Sonora, which runs up along the entirety of Arizona.

...

As of Saturday morning, port of entry officers were still sending through noncitizens entering for nonessential travel, the officials said.

Posted by Drew458     on 03/21/2020 at 09:06 PM   
Filed Under: • Border Security • Pandemic Pandemonium •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Friday - March 20, 2020

Things Have Changed

I could have written this short post pretty much at any time over the past 5 years, but I’m doing it now because today was the worst of it I’ve ever seen.

We have one grocery store in town. We used to have 2, but the A&P went out of business.

I had my first real job, actually my first real career path, in the grocery industry. I started out as a cashier, eventually went full time, became a manager, and spent 13 years there.  But when I was a cashier, way back in 1977, we had to be fast. And I was the fastest. There were no scanners; you pretty much learned the prices of everything, even though in those Carter days of wild inflation they changed constantly.

Now there seems to be a rule that whoever is the slowest, most dimwitted, most nearly dead employee they can find becomes the Express cashier. WTH?

~~~~

We raced in to the grocery store to get a card because her sister is getting married this afternoon. That’s another FUBAR I don’t want to go into, but there have been tears, yelling, phone calls, constantly changing plans and venues ... and the bottom line is, that wedding will take place on the deck in their backyard with just a couple guests, because you can’t have even a small crowd not even in a church, the Justice of the Peace is closed over at Town Hall, and the preacher they did manage to get at the last second is having and Abundance Of Caution and won’t even go in their house. And us, the other 2 guests, but with my wife’s coworker out sick and waiting for EIGHT DAYS now on her coronavirus test results from CDC, neither of us knows if we were exposed. And her dad will be there and he’s in his 80s with various medical conditions. Oh yeah, it’s been so much fun here. A regular stress factory for over a week, with the dial turned up to 11 24-7.

So we’re in the grocery store, got a card and a few things while we’re there, and we go to get on line. But there’s a line director (!!!) who shunts us off to the back of the remote line. Which starts in the dairy aisle, wraps across the frozen food zone, down the far side, across the back, up the other side, back out of the dairy zone, and then all the way down the nearly empty bread and toilet paper aisle. Had to be at least 100 customers, all doing Social Distancing. We’d be there for hours. And the front end has just 3 registers going and no baggers. Because it’s 1:30 in the afternoon and that’s the slack time usually.

To Hell with this.

So I was a good former grocery store boy and put the meat back. We left the rest in the cart and went across the lot to Walmart. Which wasn’t very busy because 1) they have almost no food in their mini-grocery area, and 2) while they had NO cashiers on duty, they’ve converted the front end to have about 16 Self Check stations. She got the exact same card and was out in 3 minutes.

And now the rumor is that NJ is going to shut down the liquor stores like PA did yesterday. What fun!!

At least I have time to grab a shower and get my clothes through the dryer. Then we can drive an hour, go watch the ceremony while wearing masks and gloves, toast the bride and groom from a distance, and then drive home. In rush hour.

[ hours later ] And we’re back. Actually we were there for 4 hours. It was very nice. The sun came out and the weather was perfect. We had a couple of pizzas delivered for the wedding feast and washed it down with champagne. It was just the 5 of us, and we had a great time talking - well, nearly yelling - as we all stayed a good distance apart on their large deck. And J and G are now happily married, so three cheers for them. We got back, changed clothes, and took a nap.

Posted by Drew458     on 03/20/2020 at 01:12 PM   
Filed Under: • Daily Life • Pandemic Pandemonium •  
• Comments (0) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner