Author: wwducat

About: Writer, Technology guy, Photographer, Possibly EX-Software QA Engineer, Worker Bee. Interests: SCUBA, Working out, Friends, New Views, New Vistas, Photography
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Why is everything a battle?

bangheadhere.jpegLately, it feels like I’m spending all my time either fighting or preparing to fight.

I’ve been banging my head against the wall for the past 12 months attempting to find a new job. Then just as unemployment insurance ran out we’re in lockdown.

Care to guess what that does to your job search?

Then Congress and the President say they’re extending unemployment benefits and sending a stimulus check. 

Great I think. I’ll be able to go on for a little while longer. Well, you’d think that, but I’ve not gotten a stimulus check and the Unemployment people haven’t gotten their shit together yet either.

In practical terms, this means that I’ve gotten two more battles added to my plate. One is getting the IRS website to accept my banking information which they had on file and have had for years, but their site said they didn’t have any information. 

Uhhh, wrong! You fuckers know exactly where to send the bill and exactly how to harass me at a whim. Now when it comes to you having to pay… Suddenly you can’t find my information? I call Bullshit!

On the plus side, I got them sorted out this morning.

One battle won.

Next, on to the unemployment folks. Their website is even worse than the IRS. It looks like something out of the ‘70s. In truth it probably is. Although the site says that it’s implemented the changes to allow for the extension and application for the Coronavirus relief funding when you go through their merry-go-round of links you end up at the same place that tells you you’re not eligible.

“Oh you have to use Chrome, to access the site.” 

Great so you’re telling me that I have to download a browser from the evil empire that Google has become, to allow being tracked, and hacked, and having 2 instances of googlesoftwareupdateagent running on my computer even when Chrome ISN’T running.

It’s also quite interesting that while these bits of software are running I see an uptick in network communication that is continuous.

Just what are these “Agents” doing? Why are there two instances sucking up my computer resources? I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask the question. I haven’t opened the code to analyze what this agent actually does, but I don’t think its what the name implies.

ReallyI have to have Chrome? Why? Could it be that your H1B1 programmers don’t know that adherence to HTML standards actually allows compatibility with multiple browsers? Or was it that they just had to use some little snippet of code that they could only get from Google? Instead of one of the myriad open source distributors

I download the wonder that is Google Chrome go back through the merry-go-round and guess what? I still can’t access the page that allows me to fill in the information to get the FEDERALLY FUNDED package. 

Gee thanks you California EDD dunderheads.

Battle number two – Lost for the moment!

Next Battle is the case of the missing check from the insurance company over the car. The check was issued and sent to the BMW Dealer. That check triggered a number of attempts on the part of the BMW dealer to reopen the insurance claim and ask for more money. WRONG! Sorry but that isn’t happening, I’ve seen to it.

Add to it that the BMW dealership underlings weren’t returning phone calls.  A strongly worded letter was sent to the one man at the dealership that runs by old world standards. I shouldn’t have had to involve him, but when all normal channels fail, you reach out to folks you know.

He responded this morning letting me know that he’d forwarded the letter to the right person over at the body shop. I’m expecting a call later in the week. It’s going to take the manager of the body shop some time to un-peel this onion. His underlings made a hell of a mess in their accounting and documentation.

Battle number three, indeterminate win/loss but it’s worth fighting because it’s over a grand that I’m owed.

Then on to battle number four.

The job search, and I’m back to banging my head against the wall.

At least it’s warm and pretty and I’m sitting on the back deck with a nice view.

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How to get written out of the will…

Real id logoMy Mom and I were chatting.

The usual pleasantries, How the family is and how things are going, you know, usual Mom stuff.

Then Mom started talking about the upcoming election and vote by mail. 

In the back of my mind I’m thinking this will probably not go well, but I go along for the ride.

Mom asks me what I think about vote by mail. Uh oh, this is going to go South really fast.

I tell her I disagree with the “All vote by mail” initiatives.

“Why?”

FL Driver License REAL ID topshot“Because I think it’s too easy for shenanigans to affect the vote.”

“Not really,” she says.

“Yes really Mom. Voters in FL couldn’t handle pushing a pin through a piece of paper several years back. Other states have been sued to force them to review, and clean up their voter registrations. Each of those invalid registrations would produce a mailed ballot to a household that shouldn’t be sent a ballot. This would potentially allow multiple votes to be counted that shouldn’t be.”RealID

“People wouldn’t do that,” She says.

“Trust me they would, Mom. Probably for no other reason than it would be funny and they’d think it’s no big deal. Mom, I’m actually in favor of requiring ID at the polling location.”

“Oh we can’t have that. There are lots of people that don’t have ID and can’t afford it,” She replies.

“Really? So how do these people write checks, do banking, cash their paychecks, get on a plane, or use a credit card, Mom? It’s a pretty low bar to produce your state issued / required identification to cast a vote. If it’s a matter of not being able to afford a state ID, then make state IDs free, and still charge for drivers licenses.”

“Some people don’t have birth certificates, Son”

“Come on Mom, I don’t have my birth certificate. I’ve never gotten a replacement copy since the fire. But I do have my driver’s license, and a little thing called my passport which every citizen is also supposed to have. So once again, if you’re a citizen you’re supposed to have some ID right? Those folks who are so old that they may not have these things are probably not in much shape to vote, not that they shouldn’t be able to, but it’s a very small subset. Unless you count the vote by seance crowd.”

“You sound just like YOUR FATHER!” [Note: They’ve been Divorced for 50 years, He’s been Dead for 28 years.]

“So you’re saying I Win????  Hello? Hello? Mom?”

“IF YOU WISH TO MAKE A CALL PLEASE HANG UP AND TRY AGAIN…”

Hmmm, I knew that wasn’t going to end well.

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While we’re all locked down

I have a suggestion, watch some things that challenge your beliefs. 

Find a documentary that you’d never watch and give it a go.

Since a lot of these documentaries are available as freebies on your streaming services, what have you got to loose?

If it offends you turn it off and move on.

I’ve done a lot of this over the past few weeks and there have been some that for one reason or another I couldn’t watch to the end. 

Some cases were that the subject matter just didn’t hold my interest. Others were boring beyond belief, monotone narration, and subject matter or conclusions that were akin to an Ancient Aliens episode. Don’t get me wrong, watching Ancient Aliens is fun when I’m in the mood, but a steady diet comes up short.

Here are a few of the documentaries that actually kept my interest.

Hillarys America documentary film posterHillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party – Amazon Prime: This one is interesting because the film-maker Dinesh D’Souza tells the story from his first person viewpoint. He was convicted and sent to jail for an illegal political contribution. Then he begins an re-examination of how he, an immigrant thought about America. I’m sure that some of the film is apocryphal, nonetheless it was thought provoking and served, as art should to make the viewer re-evaluate their beliefs.

HoaxedHoaxed – Itunes: I’ve been questioning the veracity of the media since before Trump. I was questioning journalism during the Bush administration. I believe that journalism shouldn’t be editorial or opinion printed as fact. When I started noticing that there were two truths depending on what your news source was, I had questions. This was especially true for me, when the “Truths” were diametrically opposed.  Mike Cernovich explores the dichotomy from a conservative and personal perspective as well as the perspectives of other conservative journalists or film-makers who have been on the receiving end of journalistic inequity. The most interesting piece was the story of Documentary director Cassie Jaye.

KeepandbearKeep and Bear – Amazon Prime: This one is interesting. It’s the story of a California family who moves to Idaho. Once there, the director Darren Doane discovers that most of his neighbors have guns. From there Doane decides to learn more about the gun culture and discovers that it’s not what he thought it was.

Pandemic: How to prevent an Outbreak – Netflix: This is a timely series. I’d started watching it about a week before the Wuhan Virus gained national Pandemic new on netflix january 22ndattention. This is a docu-series. It details the precautions and research that’s always ongoing to prevent influenza. The people in this series are heroes and they put a lot of their lives into trying to predict where outbreaks are likely to happen. It’s worth watching because most of us never know what’s going on behind the scenes when we get our flu shots.

ChasingCoralChasing Coral – Netflix: This is a documentary that follows researchers looking at the effects of oceanic warming on reefs. It’s got beautiful scenery of coral reefs with a before and after juxtaposition that’s jarring. Ocean warming and pollution does a lot of damage to reefs. Most of us don’t notice because the reefs are in places that we can’t reach. If this film makes you pay more attention to reducing your impact by recycling, extending the lifespan of something you own or properly disposing of chemicals it will have served its purpose.

I don’t necessarily agree with all the claims made in these documentaries I think that each of them makes good points and is food for thought.

I’m not really that much of a documentary kind of guy. Generally speaking I find them boring but every once in a while I’ll happen upon something that keeps my attention. These did the trick and also helped me fight some of the lock down boredom.

Give ‘em a whirl if you’re of a mind. Draw your own conclusions and think for yourselves.

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That was weird

NINWithTeeth.jpgI lost a day, I have no idea where I lost it. But when I woke up this morning, It was a day later than I thought it should be.

Did I sleep a full 24 hours?

I was reminded of NIN “Every Day is Exactly the same”

I know that I didn’t sleep 24 hours, but all my days are running into one another. I guess it’s just that there’s nowhere to go and I’m rapidly losing interest in doing anything around the house.

It’s not that I don’t have stuff to do, It’s that more often than not, when I’m in the midst of doing something I realize that I need something from a store that’s either closed or a place where I’m going to have to stand in line for 30 minutes to get into, or out of the place, possibly both. If all I need is something dumb like a bolt or screws it’s not worth the effort or annoyance. So the project dies right there. 

I’ve been trying to put things on my lists so that when I go somewhere I’m picking up all the little bits at once preferably in one store. Otherwise a mult-store run turns into a whole day affair and the herd tension of the crowds makes me very uncomfortable.

Even the outdoor carwash isn’t working properly. There’s no soap in the spritzer, and many of the wash bays are no longer functional. It’s not like you’re going to violate social distancing and the way the wind whips through the place the likely-hood of contamination is pretty darn low.

But trying to wash the car wear a mask, not have your glasses or sunglasses fog up, plus the lack of soap or working bays has taken even the simple pleasure of washing my car to the depths of despair. 

There are some things that may not be essential services, but they should be allowed to remain open for the positive psychological benefits. I may just wash the car in the front drive, California water restrictions be damned.

At least I’d be outside and doing something different.

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Okay, So with all the Chloroquine hubub…

800px-Medical_quinolines_pathway.pngI got curious. 

There has been a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth about this drug.

Yes, it’s a drug and guess what, it’s listed as an essential drug by the World Health Organization.

OMG! You mean Trump didn’t just pull it out of his ass?

Nope! He didn’t. Before you go off on the other now debunked report that Trump has stock in manufacturers of this drug, Just STOP!

I knew it’s primarily used as an anti malarial drug. But Malaria is caused by a parasite, not a virus. Hmmm, so what the hell?

Well it turns out that it’s also used for autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus erythematosus. Why? because Chloroquine has a depressing effect on the immune system. 

Wait a minute… If it depresses the immune response it makes no sense to use it with a viral infection. If someone is sick, it’s counterintuitive to actively depress their immune system. 

Chloroquine has been known since 1934. Its analog organic origin was originally obtained from tree bark by the indigenous people of Peru, before 1633. They used it as an extract to fight fever and chills. It was introduced to Europe after 1633 as a treatment against Malaria. It was called Quinine.

While I was in the shower, My head locked on quinine. That was familiar to me and I knew it was in my household I just couldn’t place it. Another minute researching with Wikipedia and BOOM! 

Same bark, same tree, same indigenous people and known to the Spanish as early as 1571 to have medicinal properties. 

Cinchona bark was exported by the Spanish to Europe, Remijia bark produces lower quantities of Quinine but has a stronger taste. It’s used to flavor Tonic Water.

Don’t you Gin & Tonic drinkers get too excited, the levels are a bit too low to be medicinal. However, essentially you’ve got 400 years of research on Quinine. 

Chloroquine is a synthetic with a different chemical signature, that came into wide use around 1947.

Naturally occurring quinine is C20H24N2O2. Chloroquine is C18H26ClN3 They’re different but similar chemistry. Chloroquine is a synthetic analog of Quinine.

You have to read much further into the article to find out how all this relates to Coronavirus.

2560px-Chloroquine.svg.pngBy the way, the Wikipedia article is here.

Fairly late in the article there’s an explanation of the antiviral effects of Chloroquine.

Because of the way Chloroquine affects the PH of organelles within a cell it tends to prevent a virus from releasing its genetic material.

Since the virus can’t release its RNA, it can’t infect a cell to convert the cell to replicate more viruses. Chloroquine also does something to Zinc uptake in the cell which inhibits RNA functions too.1920px Chloroquine 3D structure

I’m not a biologist, but I know that the basic way a virus reproduces is by hijacking the DNA of a cell, essentially reprogramming the cell to stop doing normal cell stuff and start using all the cellular resources to make viruses. It does this by putting its RNA into the cell. That’s how it reprograms cellular function.

When the cell runs out of resources it dies, then the cell membrane ruptures releasing all the viruses its built into surrounding cells. That’s how the infection continues.

So if you’re able to prevent the virus from hijacking healthy cells to begin with, you end the infection. The body then has time to identify and destroy the inert virus material floating around.

Remember DNA and RNA are related and if memory serves, interact during cellular reproduction. 

Since Chloroquine is absorbed quickly by the body and is distributed rapidly in the bloodstream it’s like a big off switch to the virus invasion. That’s possibly why so many people have reported that they or their loved ones were on death’s door and had such amazing recoveries after being given Chloroquine.

The news isn’t all rosy. Chloroquine can have nasty side effects and it can become toxic easily. That’s why careful monitoring is required and only doctors prescribe it. It also can interact with other drugs and cause other problems.

The side effects of the drug are many, and include problems with vision, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, headache, diarrhea, shortness of breath, muscle weakness and the list goes on. 

Make no mistake Chloroquine is a powerful drug and as with any powerful medication there is a possibility that it could cause more harm than good.

That being said. If I’m on my deathbed, what the hell do I have to lose?

So in conclusion, this is a drug that’s been around for many years. Its effects are fairly predictable and its side-effects and countermeasures are well known and researched. 

All the information about the drug is readily available on the internet in less than five minutes (even if you misspell the name).

There are two versions of it. One is Chloroquine and the other is Hydroxychloroquine I don’t know, and am not qualified, to evaluate the differences or provide explanation as to why there are variations. However both appear to have been derived from a 400 year old, or older natural organic remedy called Quinine.

It may be something as simple as one is more effective or easier on the system.

Apparently, Chloroquine was investigated during the SARS outbreak and there was a report published that is appeared to have efficacy against SARS in vitro. 

SARS is also caused by a Coronavirus.

It’s entirely logical that the medical people would have gone back to the publications and research done on any Coronavirus, looking for something that would be effective at least in slowing Coronaviruses to buy time during treatment. Remember slowing the progress of a disease gives the body time to construct an immune defense.

This information would have been presented to the President and his advisors when coronavirus first hit the world stage. The President probably shouldn’t have been as excited about the possibility of an untested treatment. But he at least was able to tell the American people that all was not lost, coronavirus infection was not a death sentence and to have hope.

Yes, there haven’t been any clinical trials yet. Clinical trials take time. Half the group you give the drug, and half the group you give a placebo then you tally the results to determine effectiveness.

Tell me, how many of you would want to participate in a clinical trial during a pandemic? How many of you would want to be sick and be getting sugar pills instead of something that at least anecdotally was working?

Uh huh, I didn’t think so…

Now can we please stop all the bitching and complaining about the President saying anything about Chloroquine or Hydroxychloroquine?

The other question I have is this… If a dumbshit like me can look up this information and understand in at least a rudimentary way how the drugs work;

WHY THE HELL CAN’T PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS?

Just saying…