Category: Fail

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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…

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Hmmm A petition to recall MI governor Whitmer

Whitmer.jpgThat’s interesting!

I got a video taken by a guy wandering around in a Michigan Walmart.

The gardening supplies, seeds, plants, painting supplies, and BBQ stuff were all yellow taped. It wasn’t that the shelves were empty, they were full, just taped off.

His commentary was interesting because he’s muttering to himself about being stuck at home and not being able to do home projects.

I thought it was one single instance of a store misunderstanding lockdown instructions. When I saw the video I didn’t think much of it other than, “Boy someone is dumb.”

This morning, while catching up on the news. (I’m only taking the news in small doses every couple of days) I saw a headline on Breitbart that said; “Over 200,000 Michiganders Sign Petition to oust Governor Whitmer“

It turns out that the Walmart hadn’t misunderstood. They were complying with Michigan’s governor’s order.

Which leads to WTF?

I’m uploading the executive order Here.

The relevant part of the order reads:

For stores of more than 50,000 square feet:

(1)  Limit the number of customers in the store at one time (excluding
employees) to 4 people per 1,000 square feet of customer floor space.
The amount of customer floor space must be calculated to exclude
store areas that are closed under subprovision (2) of this subsection.

(2)  Close areas of the store—by cordoning them off, placing signs in aisles,
posting prominent signs, removing goods from shelves, or other
appropriate means—that are dedicated to the following classes of
goods:

(A)  Carpet or flooring.

(B)  Furniture.

(C)  Garden centers and plant nurseries.

(D)  Paint.

WTF? I could see maybe carpeting and flooring, possibly furniture because folks take their time deciding what they want.

But if you walk in and say I want paint in color X, a flat of Pansies, 1 package each of cucumber, carrot, and watermelon seeds. There’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to buy them.

The executive order seems somewhat random in its constraints about what will and will not be allowed. 

For example, you can be outside running, walking, biking, kayaking, and participating in other outdoor activities as long as you maintain social distancing requirements. 

But there was a report, I have yet to confirm, saying that a man had been arrested for being in a boat alone, out on a lake fishing. This activity does not conflict with the executive order so someone may have been arrested, but there may be more to the story.

The petition is on Change.org here 

A lot of comments in both the Breitbart piece and on the Change.org site appear to be disgruntled MI residents who feel that their Governor has over-reached her authority and is unnecessarily restricting their freedom. Another thread of comments say that she’s a possibility for the VP slot in Biden’s campaign, and is posturing for that position.

Given that MI has one of the higher rates of COVID-19 I’m not sure that the freedom allegation holds water. But the VP slot could cause her to be remotely interviewing.

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Bwhahahahah! There are some things that tickle the hell out of me!

CNN: Wanted: People who know a half century-old computer language so states can process unemployment claims.

willcodeforfood.jpegI saw this and just about laughed myself stupid.

I thought, “New Jersey is going to have to check homeless camps, ask old bartenders, check with real estate agents, lawyers, and gas station attendants.”

That’s where most of the old COBOL or FORTRAN programmers ended up, all of whom were laid off in favor of H1B1s. Yep, a lot of those programmers were tossed aside like yesterday’s trash by businesses, and government back in the 80’s.

manonbench.jpegA lot of them moved on to other things and I know several that built lucrative businesses in other fields. For a while I had an Eye doctor that had been a COBOL programmer. He was making way better money as an eye doctor than he ever made as a programmer and the hours were better too.

He didn’t regret getting out of programming at all. Like most of us old school tech people, he’d gone through lay off, after lay off, and had “trained” his replacements at too many companies.

homelesstents.jpegHe went back to school after his last layoff, graduated and started his own practice. To do this, he lived in a leaky teardrop trailer for two years after cashing out everything he owned to pay for school. He wasn’t eligible for student loans because he’d made too much in his previous positions.

I know some real estate agents and a couple of patent attorneys as well. They were all great programmers and they were treated like shit.

Iusedtobeyourneighbor.jpegThey wouldn’t touch a programming job now. It brings back bitter memories for them to even talk about programming.

See, they loved what they were doing, they had their joy crushed and were considered disposable in favor of “cheap” labor. Many of them simply walked off the job rather than “train” their foreign replacements.

I say “train” because more often than not the foreign replacements weren’t up to snuff to begin with. Many of these folks couldn’t follow the code, so training was a pointless exercise.

Then I remembered Y2K and thought it’s been 20 years. Couldn’t these government entities be bothered to update the equipment and programs? 

Some of the COBOL guys did come back to rework Y2K systems and they charged frankly obscene amounts to do it. I’d heard that several paid off houses and cars loans with the money they earned from Y2K contracts.

Then I thought, “Who’s gonna test it?”

I went back to laughing.

I’m sorry that the people in need of unemployment benefits aren’t going to be helped it’s not fair to them. However, this brings into sharp relief, other problems “leaders” in business and government have been sweeping under the carpet for decades.

The chickens are coming home to roost.

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Gotta Love California! (NOT)

1894964978-gun-control-cartoon.jpgOkay, so I’m unemployed. I have been since Aug. I’ve also been beating the bushes to find something new.

Covered California – Health Insurance tells me my insurance will be 1400 dollars a month. I was only getting 1800 a month in unemployment. 

Leaving $400.00 to pay mortgage, car, utilities, food, and gas.

So obviously that wasn’t going to work.

I applied for MediCal. That was denied because 1800.00 a month in unemployment was making too much money to qualify.

Let me be clear, I have nothing wrong with me, aside from slightly high blood pressure. Literally no issues. 

Covered California sent me a notice today reminding me that I’d be fined 700.00 in 2021 for not having insurance.

Let me see… $16,800 per year that I don’t have, versus $700 that I also don’t have.

Any moron would like to have health insurance. But only a moron would move into a tent at the side of the road to be able to pay for it. Foregoing transportation (to interview for a new job), food to be strong enough to work the new job, or utilities to power the technology necessary to look for a new job.)

Yeah, California! The STUPID is strong here.

I gotta get out of this place!

Update 3/27/2020

Unbeknownst to me, the other half brought this insanity to the attention of our State Assemblyman.

Within 2 hours, I was speaking with a representative from Covered California.

Turns out that the records were a little messed up, which no-one had told me previously.

Once those screwups were corrected, and because I am no longer receiving unemployment suddenly my cost for insurance is less than $100.

Really?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to pay what I can and is reasonable given the level of care I actually need. I’m also happy to be on track to have health insurance.

I found myself asking this question though… Why did it take a call from an State Assemblyman’s office to get this resolved?

Any hoo now if I get sick, I’ll be able to go to the hospital.

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Used to be a saying, “You can never find a cop when you need one.”

These days I suppose that may still be true. 

Personally, in my misspent youth i never had any trouble locating the police. More properly, they never had trouble zeroing in on where I had been. Usually by the time they got to the location, I was already gone. There was that one time when I took a page from Briar Rabbit. For some reason police don’t like trekking through swamps at 3am…

Go Figure!

Today, Lawyers are much worse than the Police ever were. They’re in everything we do. Funny thing about it is what happens when you’re actually calling a Lawyer and offering to pay them.

Over the past year, I’ve tried to engage no less than six lawyers and None of them have returned my call(s). I guess lawyering means that you don’t have to worry about income and you can afford to blow potential clients off.

Good for them, I guess. 

Bad for those of us stuck in an ever increasing web of rules, regulations, law, and general bullshit.  

Lawyers have a great scam going, they’ve complicated things to the point that they’re indispensable on the government side of the equation and then charge us obscene amounts of cash to provide guidance out of the mess.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but they’re about as specialized as doctors. Now you not only have to engage a lawyer, but you have to know which speciality of the law they practice.

GREAT! just what we all need, more complexity!

To illustrate the point, have you noticed that when you deal with an insurance company, or a utility, or virtually anything else lately, you get read a long assed list of terms & conditions that two sentences in, start sounding like the teacher in a Charlie Brown cartoon?

“Blah Blah Blah”

Even renting a damn car there’s page after page after page of bullshit.

All of this bullshit is legalese and cannot possibly be comprehended by at least 25% of average people. Hey, read any newspaper in print or online and you’ll see that even ‘educated’ people, you know, the people who insist they’re our betters, can’t write worth a damn. We have people in professional positions that don’t know the difference between there, their, and they’re.

Given this, how can you possible expect ‘less educated‘ people to fully understand what the hell they’re signing and agreeing to after a barrage of several pages of legalese?

My Dad used to say that the best thing we could do for this country was put all the lawyers on a cruise ship, sail it out to the middle of the Atlantic and sink it.

I think his comment was based on two factors. 1) Lawyers complicate things. 2) Our government is rife with lawyers. 

Dad was always fond of the “Twofer”, and of doing business with a handshake. His word was his bond and to my knowledge he kept his word. There may be evidence to the contrary but let me keep my childlike illusions.

As a kid, I knew two things. Avoid entanglement with the law, and avoid, as much as possible, drawing the attention of the government:

Pay your taxes, don’t screw around with too many deductions and play it straight enough that the IRS, FBI, or any government agency didn’t come snooping.

Capone was our cautionary tale. Xaviera Hollander added a little color to my minimalist philosophy as I reached adulthood.

With rules, regulations, laws, and all the other complications in our lives it’s made me start to consider the following:

To play it straight, is automatically more expensive. To play the game loose and fast, keeps money in your pocket, and gets you to your goal faster.

Being a stand up guy means you’re going to get screwed. Nice guys don’t get shit except being shat upon, and honest people increasingly are being seen as fools.

So where does that leave us?

It leaves me considering coloring outside the lines. 

A quote from Captain Reynolds in Firefly or Serenity really rang true with me;

“Come a day there won’t be room for naughty men like us to slip about at all.”