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.

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…