The Weekly Watch

Time to Change!

Open Thread image.jpg

Yes, it is time for change in many ways and on many levels. Next week we will have changed time and leaped forward an hour...except not all.

Most of Arizona hasn’t observed Daylight Saving Time since 1968. Hawaii abandoned the Uniform Time Act a year before Arizona, in 1967, simply because of its relative proximity to the equator, which makes Daylight Saving Time unnecessary. The sun rises and sets around the same time each day in Hawaii, making the idea of springing forward and falling back redundant. A handful of U.S. territories also don’t observe Daylight Saving Time for essentially the same reasons as Hawaii — ample sunshine throughout the day. These places include Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The real change we need isn't adjusting our clocks, but redesigning our entire system...the capitalist, consumer based, polluting, militaristic, manipulative and controlling system. They won't change, so we have to adapt to some sort of new normal and take care of ourselves and others.

change.jpg

The response to the COVID pandemic is a perfect example of US dysfunction, and provides lessons to how we can act on own to protect ourselves from the unraveling of the social fabric. Everyone made mistakes. I remember being concerned bringing in groceries and other items into the house, but of course now we know this disease spreads through the air not on surfaces. In the US we still have thousands a day dying of COVID, and we continue to refuse to use effective treatments. Another woman had to sue the hospital to allow for the use of ivermectin. (8 min)

Many doctors are now using these therapies despite the lack of FDA approval. Remember the FDA is basically run by big pharma...and its recommendations are based more on potential profit than sound medicine and health advice.

Here's a few stories...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j02TZoefJeE (5 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1Ocq45V2DM (3.5 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DguMXUpwUkw&t=35s] (4 min)

So despite all the deaths and anecdotal doctor results, you need to see controlled studies? Well those exist...
Here's an hour long conversation reviewing an array of global studies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYF8bnmdQfY

Here's a single study involving 1000's with the success of ivermectin as a preventative
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZALh4gBldFQ&t=45s

Good news. Ivermectin is effective against the new variants.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soIAcI3QhTw (15 min)
Variants of the SARS-COV-2.
UK Variant (B.1.1.7)
South Africa Variant (B.1.351)
Brazil Variant (P.1)
California Variant (B.1.427, B.1.429)
NY Variant (B.1.526)
Here's a good explanation of the variants.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/health/coronavirus-variant-trac...

More virulent strains of COVID-19 threaten spring surge
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/03/06/viru-m06.html

I'm still not hearing a big push for Vitamin D. There are now control studies proving its positive effect in helping to cure COVID resulting in 93% fewer ICU admissions
https://www.ippmedia.com/en/features/first-clinical-trial-support-vitami...

Vaccines have become the holy grail of COVID salvation.
They are very effective.
This study in a nationwide mass vaccination setting suggests that the Pfizer BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine is effective for a wide range of Covid-19–related outcomes, a finding consistent with that of the randomized trial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNCrzOl2PfA (29 min with notes)

The problem is not that the good news isn’t being reported, or that we should throw caution to the wind just yet. It’s that neither the reporting nor the public-health messaging has reflected the truly amazing reality of these vaccines. There is nothing wrong with realism and caution, but effective communication requires a sense of proportion—distinguishing between due alarm and alarmism; warranted, measured caution and doombait; worst-case scenarios and claims of impending catastrophe. We need to be able to celebrate profoundly positive news while noting the work that still lies ahead. However, instead of balanced optimism since the launch of the vaccines, the public has been offered a lot of misguided fretting over new virus variants, subjected to misleading debates about the inferiority of certain vaccines, and presented with long lists of things vaccinated people still cannot do, while media outlets wonder whether the pandemic will ever end.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/02/how-public-health-mess...

It is interesting that the Oxford AZ vaccine still hasn't been approved in the US. It is almost like the $30 a dose vaccines are preferred over the $3 not for profit oxford jab. The J & J vaccines has been approved and should roll out shortly. Just one shot required.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/03/04/973436193/got-quest...

We are left to our own to determine our own course through the pandemic.
Since last spring we've been taking hefty doses of vitamin D. Although I bought some ivermectin we did not use it as a preventative, but intended to use it if we developed symptoms. Next week we will get our second Moderna shot. Everyone has to evaluate their own approach to these vaccines.

The US for profit sick care system needs to change.

So does our insane foreign policy...

More from Abby...

Biden claims nothing will fundamentally change and so far he is correct...

There will be no rise in the minimum wage. The $2,000 checks he promised to all voters will now be only $1,400 checks. They will also be heavily means tested. Those who made more than $80,000 in 2019 but lost their income in 2020 will get no check at all.

Even as they hold the White House and the House and Senate majorities the Democrats are unable or unwilling to deliver basic progress. This will likely cost them their House majority in 2022 and the presidency in 2024.

Biden's "nothing will fundamentally change" attitude extends into foreign policy.

Tulsi and Aaron call out the Syrian attack...

The idea that China or Russia pose a threat to you is so self-evidently ridiculous, so transparently absurd, that the only way to make you believe it would be to propagandize you, writes Caitlin Johnstone.
https://consortiumnews.com/2021/03/05/countering-the-establishments-mess...

Humanitarian Imperialism https://fair.org/home/humanitarian-imperialism/
How corporate media sell regime change, Intervention and war to progressive audiences

Biden played a key role in selling the Iraq invasion to both Democratic colleagues and a skeptical public. He was also vice president in an administration that was bombing seven countries simultaneously by its end in 2016, and was a strong voice within the administration in favor of intervention ...
Worse, many of Biden’s cabinet picks have alarmed antiwar and human rights activists. His director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, was instrumental in covering up the US torture program, while his choice for head of USAID, Samantha Power, supported both the Iraq and Libya wars, arguing that the US must intervene on humanitarian grounds.

On 'Shia Backed', 'Iran Backed' Nonsense And Other Warmongering Journalism
The recent U.S. airstrike at the Syrian-Iraqi border and the missile attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq were followed by many examples of bad journalism.

wikileaks (2)_1.jpg

Nothing speaks louder to me about the sorry state of reporting than ignoring the plight of Julian for reporting US/NATO war crimes.
In this conversation Graham talks with Richard Medhurst about his observations of Assange case and the ruling class crimes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTch6Aq2DTk (18 min)

Katie and Matt's last episode of Useful Idiots hosted by Rolling Stone features julian's wife. Cued to her interview...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnbxOF41_jM&t=42m40s

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Meanwhile the economy teeters as the empire collapses.
Max and Stacy discuss the Fed's concern about bitcoin...it is out of their control.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6ZqQS1pmtI (1st 15 min)

‘The System Worked as Designed in Texas; That’s the Really Scary Thing’
https://fair.org/home/the-system-worked-as-designed-in-texas-thats-the-r...
“We at Food & Water Watch have called publicly, loudly, for a public takeover of electric utilities and power generation, so that it can actually be governed democratically for the good of the people.”

In a further cave-in to the right wing, Senate Democrats agreed Friday to reduce the weekly supplemental unemployment benefit in the Biden administration’s coronavirus relief bill by $100 a week, from $400 to $300. This would leave unchanged the wholly inadequate level enacted under Trump, itself a 50 percent cut from the $600 benefit included in last March’s CARES Act.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/03/06/jobs-m06.html

Chris Hedges: The Age of Social Murder
The ruling elites, despite the accelerating and tangible ecological collapse, mollify us, either by meaningless gestures or denial.

What can we do? Check out this master market gardener's yard production...

(the first few minutes are enough to see his productive yard.)
We got to get back to the garden!

Hope you all have a lovely day and great week. Keep the change!

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Lookout's picture

Chris Hedges talks to Erik Edstrom, combat veteran, and former platoon commander, about America's endless war.

Erik Edstrom is a decorated soldier who led combat missions in Afghanistan. His memoir is
Un-American: A Soldier's Reckoning Of Our Longest War.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahMUgX5rVZs]

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

dystopian union. Thanks for this.
Snow birds making hay in FL is a
good sign things can sustain.

Cheers LO!

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Lookout's picture

@QMS

I think Jim's Maine /FL summer /winter gardening migration is really interesting.

I also loved this approach in S. Wales building community supported agriculture (although I must admit I could help them improve their soil management)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDy4gt-mR8U]

The best change will come from us...not TPTB (who want a great reset).

Another lovely day here. Hope your weather is nice too!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Azazello's picture

Here are a few more.
Russell Brand is not nearly as well-informed about politics as Jimmy Dore but I thought this one was good:
Great Reset: Philanthro-Capitalism - The DAVOS Con
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw0nYNMUIfA width:500 height:300]
This episode of the Keiser Report is not to be missed, both halves are good.
Keiser Report | China’s 5G Base Stations | E1667
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-Zuo_8xOxo&t=569s width:500 height:300]
I know that 5G is supposed to be something really wonderful, really fast, terrabytes per second or whatever, but it will require lots of small towers all over the place and that can be a problem.
Arizona Daily Star: New 5G poles don't belong in Tucsonans' front yards
This was the coolest thing I watched all week:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtmaV8h5j1E width:500 height:300]

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We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

Lookout's picture

@Azazello

There was an old steam powered tractor at Auburn when I was there, but seems to have moved.
http://blog-agriculture.auburn.edu/theseason/old-nancy-departs-auburn-ca...

Those old hit and miss tractors are fun too. There's an ice cream maker at the Florida Folk Festival that uses one of those engines. You can hear it from afar.

I caught Max and Stacy's 5G piece. It is good. I'll check out Russell.

Hope you're having a nice day. Sunny and warming here. Nice.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Azazello's picture

@Lookout
So far, anyway. It' s'posed get hot this afternoon. I hope not. 87° in March does not portend well for the summer.
My arm's a little sore, we got our first shots yesterday.
Why can't my state ever get in the news for something good ?

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We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

Lookout's picture

@Azazello @Azazello

but I've heard more severe (one-two day puniness) with the 2nd moderna jab.

I figure it beats dying. As Dolly sings...

Dolly (an investor) sings the praises
https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20210303/dolly-part...

I bet we'll live till we die!

Edit to add:

You think you got it bad. Try livin' in AL for national good news.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Thanks for the jam packed Weekly Watch Lookout, a smorgasbord for Sunday before it gets too sunny today. Then I will be down in the dirt patch. Right now it is brr cold with a thin coat of frost on the rooftops, but the sun is rising. Have a good one. cheers

dirtpatch4.jpg
Dirt Patch #4
---
I give up figuring out what level I'm on for the vaccine here, it was C1 under 65 years old, maybe that changed too. The economy level is still purple but moving toward red. I read Newsom said "you're just dumb and can't follow how complex the whole show is, because I watch it every day with my own fine eyes... so there." Okay? That was a paraphrase.

California upends how it’s divvying up scarce vaccines

“The state’s new approach is the right step to stop the bleeding and affirm that Californians of color are not collateral damage but the catalysts to recovery. California has a responsibility to those communities to get them help first and fast,” said Sonja Diaz, founding director of the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative.

"Come back here and take what's coming to you, I'll bite your legs off!"

I'd like to thank my brothers and sisters in Southern California for going first, and hope like hell the new and improved floor wax works better than the last coat. Some discounts may apply.

The communities receiving the 40% encompass 400 of the state’s ZIP codes, largely in Los Angeles County, the Inland Empire and the Central Valley, based on their low scores on the “Healthy Places Index,” which measures criteria such as income, education, park access, air pollution and housing.

Ghaly said about 1.6 million doses already have been administered to the underserved communities that the state is now targeting. So now those communities will receive at least 400,000 doses more in the next two weeks, double the current supply.

People in those ZIP codes must still meet eligibility requirements before they can be vaccinated — at this point, people 65 and older, health care workers, educators and some other essential workers.

Browser says time for reading all the words is 10-13 minutes, it covers a lot. Or just skip to the next article over there,
Disneyland, stadiums get green light to start reopening April 1
No fooling! "Stadiums" also known as Major League Baseball coliseums. Good luck.

Peace and Love

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Lookout's picture

@eyo

Hope it is fun as well as lovely.

To vax or not to vax? Is that the question? I understand people's doubt cause whenever they push things it usually isn't good. My primary motivation for vaxing was to allow for music sessions.

We called our county health office. They were booked out but recommended a local DR with a supply. We signed up and get our 2nd dose Thurs. Will report effects next Sunday.

Till then have a good one. Play in the dirt patch!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

@eyo @eyo
Whites get to the back of the line.
So much for MLK's dream of a color-blind society.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

@The Voice In the Wilderness sorry, that's what I get for paraphrasing. Because I hate Newsom the way he makes me feel sometimes. Rotten. Here's what he said there, the actual quote:

Newsom described how he was at a public housing site in East Los Angeles that has mostly Latino residents and saw “Audis pull up, folks that look like me” at a popup FEMA vaccine site for the neighborhood. “What happened is there was a code that went out on the app that was shared outside of the community… We’re seeing that in other parts of the state.”

Newsom must be taking advice from Bill Gates, that's what I think. I hate both equally, so there. heh

To resolve this, Newsom said “instead of having group codes, we’re now doing individual scheduled codes to make that more challenging and create more burdens and obstacles for people abusing that privilege.”

After all, what is government for?
But to:
Make that more challenging;
Create more burdens;
and obstacles, continuing on.

He didn't say "rich people" out loud he said "people who look like me" and rich people come in all colors. I'm thinking this is a class war, and I am tired of the same old wars. This is the best they can do at the state level I guess. I don't think rich people are going to solve any problem of inequality, they are the ones who create it. me duh

Peace and Love

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magiamma's picture

@eyo
down in your dirt patch. C'est vrai? Cool beans. No, wait that must be from last summer. There are sunflowers. oops. Oh well.

so yes I have had two jabs and have not morphed into a lizard. yet. sssssssssssst...
heh. Lol

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Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

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@magiamma hi, yeah those three sunflowers I planted late and they over wintered, now blooming. But also they got the powdery mildew problem, thus the neem application. Bad timing for that before it rained, but it worked okay I might try again on the other leaves after this next rain. Thinned again yesterday, there are twelve sunflowers, ten primrose, and eight poppies. Plus more sprouts... yikes.

I reconfigured the thingamajigger to run east west, the flowers on the upper cardboard terrace, and veggies on the lower patch with a path between them. I made half the dirt for the upper parts this year, woo-hoo Many many earthworms.

I hardly remember eden last year, it was pretty good before it wasn't. haha Thanks again for the comfrey!
dirtpatch3.jpg
Dirt Patch #3

Peace and Love

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magiamma's picture

@eyo
They will be big and amazing this year, methinks. So I just finished a walk with another SC4Bernie compadre, without masks and we hugged at the end of the walk. She and I are the two most non-huggie people our group and omg, yes, it was amazing. An actual hug. lol, and so good to see her face when she was talking. JFC how long has it been? Right?

I guess we will see if there are any long term issues from the vaccine but all system go for the time being. Thinking my endorphins will scare away any bad vibes. heh. I did have a heck of a night but having an immune reaction is good. And now I can hang w my vaccinated friends and family. It was worth it.

Powder mildew sucks. Punct. Neem away and good lucky.

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@magiamma thanks for sharing your story, my Rastafarian pal appeared again this week, she (68) had both moderna shots, no problems. Her sister (83?) had the first round, is scheduled for the second. So far so good.

But then she told me the story of her (age 80) friend that didn't survive a tooth jaw infection, because it went systemic and the description of what she went through before expiration makes me want to flush all the BidenVow 1400 money down my face drain. yeesh

I am leaning toward yes on the vaccine wagon, despite the negatives. Thanks

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ggersh's picture

one has to sign up everywhere to hope you get in somewhere. It's akin to throwing shit at the wall at best. sigh.

and the NYT article of course says Ivermectin doesn't work, who to believe, who to believe.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/04/science/coronavirus-ivermectin-treatm...

Popular Drug Does Not Alleviate Mild Covid-19 Symptoms, Study Finds

Ivermectin, a drug typically used to treat parasitic worms, has been prescribed widely during the coronavirus pandemic, but rigorous data has been lacking.

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9 users have voted.

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Lookout's picture

@ggersh

I think the doctors using it. There's no drug profit motive here, just doctors who are using it with success and hearing crickets from TPTB despite pleas for a recommendation. Follow the money is usually good advice. These doctors had the same battle last summer for steroid use recommendation.

but rigorous data has been lacking.

Reports of the efficacy have been around since last April...why wasn't there a US study? No profit potential?

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

ggersh's picture

@Lookout Yes it's the NYT against Ivermectin another no brainer.

The usa has crapified anything/everything on it's way to exceptionalism, the $$$$ might be
the only asset left and that's hanging on by a thread.

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7 users have voted.

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Lookout's picture

@ggersh

and pointing out the NY Slimes for what it is.

Always nice to have you come by.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

@ggersh
for ALL of the COVID vaccines currently being administered. That’s the reason for the liability waivers and Emergency Use Authorizations.

There’s an extraordinary profit motive in billions of $30 vaccine jabs. The same can not be said for Ivermectin, which has been widely used for years and has an excellent safety history and has been fully tested and approved for treating parasitic infections for decades. The fact that not for profit vaccine competitors are also being widely disparaged and held to a different standard for EUA’s drives home the point that it’s not about protecting humans, it’s about protecting profits.

Good luck with your effort to find your J&J/Janssen dose. Take the time to learn the particulars of your state’s allocation and distribution system so that when vaccine does become available and your turn comes you will be ready and able to navigate the system successfully.

It’s sad that so many who expect their government to be effectively looking out for their best interest are likely to be sorely disappointed.

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Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes

Granma's picture

Studies of ivermectin. It showed no benefit. Common sense leads you to believe these studies over anecdotes. It is a pesticide used to kill parasites in animals. Covid-19 is a virus.

I agree with you about the news. We have several great vaccines against Covid.they are safe and they work very well. Media talks about variants and worries aloud that the vaccines might not work as well against them. And yet, the people saying these things are probably all either vaccinated or trying to be. They need to get a conscience.

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Granma's picture

@Granma if it worked, they would raised the price and shouted it from the rooftops.

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Lookout's picture

@Granma

https://www.drugpatentwatch.com/p/generic-api/ivermectin

Merck is pushing vaccines and monoclonal antibodies. Lots more profit there.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Lookout's picture

@Granma

What studies are you citing that show ivermectin isn't an effective treatment? By far the majority have positive results. There is bias against the studies because they come from 3rd world countries. You have suggested I don't respect science, but I've been citing lots of studies. Is it the NYT piece that GG cited? Cause big pharma has a big advertising budget with them.

My point is thousands a day are dying from this disease in the US alone. Here is, at a minimum, a promising treatment. It has been used for decades and even won a Nobel prize. It has been proven safe. What is the harm? The benefits are great. Many doctors and patients claim success. But FDA says no?

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Granma's picture

@Lookout and post the link. I have seen a few so was surprised you mentioned it again.
I don't know anything about The NY Times article.

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Lookout's picture

@Granma

and this doctor is worth a watch IMO. He reviews the effectiveness of these inexpensive treatments of Vit D, C , melatonin, and ivermectin.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOWEPqHtt-0&t=2m]

Your mileage may vary and that's ok.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

magiamma's picture

Thanks for the ww.

Just got of a call with my drawing partner who is in India and has been there for the last 5 mos. People are not social distancing nor wearing masks in her town, Baroda, Gujarat. Think it's the same everywhere. They are doing vaccines for 65 and under irrc. The phone system has a recording when you pick it up telling people to get vaccinated and to ignore the rumors. So there's that.

more Beckwith on salt free Arctic - his most recent
[video:https://youtu.be/0dbGzwNTjEg]

Take good care everyone.

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Lookout's picture

@magiamma

Climate large among them. As eyo said somewhere it's good to be at the end of the ride.

My understanding ivermectin is a common treatment in India.
In India, ivermectin has been distributed through kiosks since last August.
they've been doing studies...
https://noqreport.com/2021/02/25/peer-reviewed-study-ivermectin-cuts-cov...
Wonder what your buddy has heard? India has 114 deaths per million, the US over 1600.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Well all the best and have a good week!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

@Lookout @Lookout
IF you trust Indian statistics. If Indian Science is anything like Indian Engineering, I'm not betting my life on it.

In rebuttal to my own remark, "Do I trust Big Pharma studies?"
No, I do not. I fully expect the to fudge the data just like Big Tobacco and all the other companies that lawyers are pursuing today.

EDIT:
Are their any studies on the Sputnik vaccine? Not that I trust the Russian government but there should be European studies of it by now.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Lookout's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness

Denis Logunov and colleagues report their interim results from a phase 3 trial of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in The Lancet. The trial results show a consistent strong protective effect across all participant age groups.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2821%290...

Some EU countries are using it.

It is my hope the vaccines WILL get us toward a new normal.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

magiamma's picture

@Lookout
in India. It may well be bc of the ivermectin. She will get vaccinated soon and is taking strong precautions. It may also be in addition genetic? Just read that somewhere. No idea.

She also said that here now we are not sending the raw materials to India for vaccine production UNLESS they send us all the vaccine back so we can be FIRST. India is the biggest producer of vaccine in the world apparently. They have a remarkable health system if you are higher cast / have money. The changes there are happening fast - as in they have developed a coherent middle class within the last 20 years. And the changes are marked from year to year, per my friend who visits and teaches there every summer.

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@magiamma
The US demand is in a word, bullshit. Is India the jewel in Biden's crown?

I've worked with quite a few Indian engineers. Most were competent. None were outstanding. Many I consider personal friends. I don't ascribe this to any genetic fault. Look at S. Chandrasekhar the astrophysicist who wrote "The Structure and Evolution of Stars" while crossing the equator on a ship from India to England because it was too hot to sleep. What I do ascribe it to is becoming an engineer for money. A real engineer can't keep his hands off hardware (or software). In the words of an outstanding gifted engineer that i know "And they pay me! I'd do it for free if I had too."
Another argument for UBI.

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7 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

magiamma's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness

Worked with a lot of Indian engineers too. Some very good. Many of the folks I worked with back in the day are now renown, none are Indian. Though there are a lot of Indians in uppe management now. There was and may still be a movement to hire Indian engineers here in the Valley for less thus moving those that had the jobs for years out. I have not been working for a while now but think things are not so very different.

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Lookout's picture

@magiamma

...or at least that's my understanding. They are selling it to Canada anyway...
https://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-six-week-sprint-got-173126400.html

Oh I see gotta eliminate the competition.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A temporary U.S. ban on exports of critical raw materials could limit the production of coronavirus vaccines by companies such as the Serum Institute of India (SII), its chief executive said in a World Bank panel discussion https://www.worldbank.org/en/events/2020/12/14/7th-south-asia-economic-p... on Thursday.

SII, the world's biggest vaccine maker, has licensed the AstraZeneca/Oxford University product and will soon start bulk-manufacturing the Novavax shot.

https://news.yahoo.com/indian-vaccine-giant-sii-warns-130145827.html

Also:

After Covishield and Covaxin, Sputnik V may become the third vaccine to be approved in India as Dr Reddy's Laboratories has approached the Drugs Controller General of India for emergency use approval. Pfizer too had sought approval in December but what keeps Sputnik V ahead of Pfizer is that it conducted trials in India whereas Pfizer's application was based on trials conducted elsewhere.

It's a big pharma club...

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6 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

enhydra lutris's picture

spent a little bit looking for it, no Open Thread subheading to menu so dunno if it will make any diff or not. Thanks for all the info. CA passed a law to ignore DST, but it was't clear or conclusive as to whether to be normal all year or to go to year round DST, which a lot of folks advocate because dunno, so maybe we'll need an initiative or legislation on that - crazy times, as they say.

Turning my cover crop, but there is a ton of oxalis mixed in, making for a tedious process instead of simply digging and flipping. Also, lots of very young white clover, so confusion is easy.

Much confusion around the casa this week, but much global confusion, so meh.

Re testing the efficacy of drugs and such - the protocols and cut-offs are often an impediment to declaring that something that works does so. Also, better than placebo is at times crazy, hypertension and amoebic dysentery should have radically different sensitivities to placebos, if they don't then we really need to figure out how to marshal the power of placebos. OK, all that said:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166354220302011 ---

The FDA-approved drug ivermectin inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro
Author links open overlay panelLeonCalyaJulian D.DruceaMike G.CattonaDavid A.JansbKylie M.Wagstaffb
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.antiviral.2020.104787Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons licenseopen access
Highlights

Ivermectin is an inhibitor of the COVID-19 causative virus (SARS-CoV-2) in vitro.


A single treatment able to effect ~5000-fold reduction in virus at 48 h in cell culture.


Ivermectin is FDA-approved for parasitic infections, and therefore has a potential for repurposing.


Ivermectin is widely available, due to its inclusion on the WHO model list of essential medicines.

Abstract
Although several clinical trials are now underway to test possible therapies, the worldwide response to the COVID-19 outbreak has been largely limited to monitoring/containment. We report here that Ivermectin, an FDA-approved anti-parasitic previously shown to have broad-spectrum anti-viral activity in vitro, is an inhibitor of the causative virus (SARS-CoV-2), with a single addition to Vero-hSLAM cells 2 h post infection with SARS-CoV-2 able to effect ~5000-fold reduction in viral RNA at 48 h. Ivermectin therefore warrants further investigation for possible benefits in humans.

well, ok, so why not self testing if further testing is warranted?? Heh. Full article available as download (.pdf) at link.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Lookout's picture

@enhydra lutris

As to ivermectin, we knew this in April 2020. We didn't do the controlled study we say we need and then say 3rd world studies don't count? Hell, we say UK studies don't count and still have not approved the Oxford AZ vaccine.

It is a blatant and obvious as can be that this pandemic is manged for profit. Kinda like our wars, energy system, and so on.

To paraphrase Jimmy (who surprisingly wasn't in this WW)..."just enjoy your day!"

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8 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

ggersh's picture

@Lookout

up
6 users have voted.

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Lookout's picture

@ggersh

Just follow the money.

Hope your vaccination scene becomes easier to navigate...provided you want one.

All the best!

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5 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

ggersh's picture

@Lookout even though I'm 68 with a less than average health history I just don't trust anything w/Bill Gates name attached, especially medical!

Call me cynical conspiratorial whatever, my gut says stay away from anything Bill Gates, I trust my gut.

Stay safe my friend!

up
9 users have voted.

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

@ggersh
The small number of ANY available COVID vaccines in our State has us limited to administering to 65 and over, frontline health workers and multi risk factor younger folk. I had to log in at 4am to the registration portal and wait until the noon “release” to secure my appointment. All 1,200 appointments were filled in a matter of minutes while many seekers languished in the virtual “waiting room” for their turn to begin the application process. (The “virtual waiting room” was created to keep the registration portal from crashing repeatedly by limiting access.)

The next morning I checked into the registration portal early, to find that the entire State had NO OPEN APPOINTMENT SLOTS FOR ANY BRAND OF COVID VACCINE.

THE ENTIRE STATE.

NONE.

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6 users have voted.

Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes

Lookout's picture

@ovals49

See you on the other side of the jab!

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3 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

ggersh's picture

@ovals49 hopefully we all survive now and in the future w/these jabs we are all receiving.

up
1 user has voted.

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Since you have marked this as an open thread, I'd like to ask some questions that I couldn't find on line after two plus hours of googling.

1. All the covid vaccines are labeled by the Feds (CDC? Health Department?) as "Experimental" but "Approved for emergency use". Q What is the normal time interval for an experimental vaccine to be no longer considered "experimental" and to be approved for general use if that is a separate thing?

2. If I understand this correctly. The mRNA vaccines are 90% effective but only studied against the original Wuhan virus. The J&J conventional vaccine is 60% effective but was tested against the South African and California/Mexico variants as well. Q Is there a breakdown of the effectiveness vs the three variants separately.

I'm not an anti-vaxxer. I've had maybe a dozen(?) vaccinations. But I regret having advised my youngest grandson to follow his pediatrician's advice and be vaccinated with Gardisil. He was 17 not quite 18 and just wanted to avoid shots. Now, I read, that my advice may mean no great-grandchildren.

The Catholic church is opposing the J&J vaccine because it is based on a genetic line from cells retrieved from an aborted fetus. Isn't a good thing that that little life was sacrificed to save others, even though that was not the reason for the abortion? BTW, I was a paying member of NARAL before they endorsed Hillary for President. Maybe I shouldn't have penned this paragraph.

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5 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Lookout's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness

...is ALL the vaccines are 100% effective against severe COVID. Most of the docs I trust say get whichever one you can. If I had my druthers, I would choose the J&J, but I got what I could (Moderna).

Oh no, I'm gonna die! As though I wasn't before?

up
7 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

@Lookout

Oh no, I'm gonna die! As though I wasn't before?

I'm mainly concerned with side effects emerging later. As the roster of covid patients wh survived with no apparent ill effects grows, including my 84 year old brother-ln-law, I'm losing fear of covid. But I haven't lost my fear of Bill Gates and Big Pharma. I'm very interested in J&J and Sputnik (will never be approved here, Russiagate) as they are conventional vaccines. Might take an mRNA vaccine 20 years from now, but doubt that I'll be alive then.

It seems if a patient dies with covid and something else, it's listed as a covid death. My father had Parkinson's and died of pneumonia. You will never convince me that Parkinson's wasn't the cause. Pre-civid, pneumonia was the leading cause of death (officially) in the USA. Yes, we both have had our pneumonia vaccines. I think there were two different pneumonia vaccines. But this whole business is incredibly rushed (understandably) and Fauci is an admitted liar. How a medical doctor can admit he lied because a politician (Trump) forced him to and not hang his head in shame... Alligator Ed would have resigned first, I'm sure.

BTW, Bob's memory has gotten bad, but he's 84 and been in a hospital or nursing home for two years. that includes 40 days in intensive care. A tough Viking, indeed!

BTW:
I'm glad my parents were fearful of the Salk vaccine. they were also afraid of polio. My sister and I spent every august at my Aunt's farm in Michigan, away from the Chicago polio outbreaks.
As an adult, I had the Sabin vaccine. IIRC I was about 40, but not certain. Sabin had been out a long long time.

up
6 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

@The Voice In the Wilderness

Is there a breakdown of the effectiveness vs the three variants separately.

You will find the trial breakdown in this pdf. I do not recall the CA variant being mentioned. SA: yes, the British variant was not present among any of the trial participants.

Janssen PDF

up
5 users have voted.

Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes

@ovals49

The Ad26.COV2.S (COVID-19) vaccine is based on the Ad26 vector platform. Clinical
experience with the Ad26 platform consists of the Ad26.ZEBOV/MVA-BN-Filo Ebola vaccine
regimen (approved by the European Medicines Agency on July 1, 2020) and investigational
vaccines against Zika, filovirus, HIV, HPV, malaria, and respiratory syncytial virus. As of 31
December 2020, Ad26-based vaccines have been used to vaccinate 193,831 participants in
clinical studies and vaccination programs. Overall, these vaccines have been shown to have an
acceptable clinical safety profile to date.

Weren't the HIV, Ebola, and HPV vaccines very bad. Sterilit, plus more problems?

Eyes glazed over. Why can't doctors write clear and to the point papers like Physicists? It was almost as bad as reading a legal opinion.

What I got was that mortality in the placebo group although much higher than the vaccine group, was still only one in a thousand. Like driving in Rush Hour.
So, far froim being the Black death, it's not worth worrying about.

up
4 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

@The Voice In the Wilderness
the trials participants, being interested enough in COVID to volunteer for the study, were exercising precautions (masks, distancing, etc.), which would itself greatly reduce the odds of acquiring an infection. When the general population, which is already becoming restless with these limitations, resumes “normal life” and abandons precautions, I would expect the risk of their becoming infected would be much greater than that of the participants of this drug trial.

Evaluating risk and modifying behaviors is a very subjective process for most of us. Data can be used to defend a variety of predispositions, a tendency that I have sometimes observed in myself, and the data itself can be slanted either consciously or unconsciously. We do the best we can with what we’re given and still can end up with a great variety of “answers” to one particular question. I’m ok with that, if for no other reason than it seems absolutely inevitable.

up
4 users have voted.

Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes

Is what came out of anagram generator on Day 42, after feeding it this command and headline:

an -c liar "Biden vows enough vaccine for all US adults by end of May"

AN(6)
NAME
an - Anagram generator
...
THANKS
Richard Jones (richardATdeep-thought.org)
- Coding and algorithm design of original version.
Julian Assange (proffATsuburbia.net)
- Algorithm design of original version.
Please note that the email addresses for Richard and Julian
are from over ten years ago and probably no longer work.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) Paul Martin 2012. All rights reserved.

liar unconventionally subsumed chaff bayed wove dogs
.
liar unconventionally somebody waved cuffs head bugs
.
liar unconventionally shadowed comedy gave buss buff
.
liar unconventionally shadowed obeys cuffs gave dumb
liar unconventionally shadowed obeys caved smug buff
liar unconventionally shadowed obeys caved mugs buff
liar unconventionally shadowed obeys caved muff bugs
liar unconventionally shadowed obeys caved gums buff

and so on. How many vows can Grampy Joe make? As many as it takes, apparently.
---
"Bill Clinton has died." I'd like to thank Jen for that dream and her comment. It looks good in my booksmark menu, and in my dreams too. I'll be dead before them, and all their evil spawn as the saying goes. Haunted forever.

California’s make-or-break reopening has arrived

Newsom’s top economic adviser Dee Dee Myers

OMG WTF where am I what year is this and how does a press secretary get to be top economic adviser for governing the 5th largest economy in the world? West Wing in the University of Hollywood I guess. Her wiki page links to Glover Park Group

The firm's services include lobbying, public relations, advertising,[1] marketing, government relations and policy counsel, crisis management and opinion research.

Which makes her an expert on economic policy, of course. Same as when Bill Gates certified me as an Engineer. wat

Not sure what day this is, forty-something who cares? Good luck. Hey, Bazooka Joe won sixty bucks at the casino on the way back from wine tasting. "You gotta know when to walk away" is what he said. right on

Peace and Love

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5 users have voted.

Just getting a round tuit, the interview with Julain's wife. As if I could get any more disturbed, I think substack is paywalled, right? I have to give up at least an email address to connect me to the big database in the clouds. I'm dumb so just now realized Microsoft named their cloud product Azure because they are still not IBM. Now IBM owns RedHat I give up. blew by you blue bayou VOTE BLEW oh no

Anyway, the substack page is linking unpkg.com in my matrix application, who is unpkg.com?

unpkg is an open source project built and maintained by Michael Jackson. unpkg is not affiliated with or supported by npm, Inc. in any way. Please do not contact npm for help with unpkg. Instead, please reach out to @unpkg with any questions or concerns.

Okay, who is npm?

npm (originally short for Node Package Manager)[4] is a package manager for the JavaScript programming language.

npm, Inc. is a subsidiary of GitHub (a subsidiary of Microsoft), that provides hosting for software development and version control with the usage of Git.

A subsidiary of a subsidiary and looky there's Microsoft. sheesh Not even six degrees. doh

npm security issues to know of in 2021
...
Why even bother reading that page? I didn't. I am still hung up about today's headlines:
Bill Gates Says that Bitcoin is bad For the Planet

In a live-streamed Clubhouse session, Bill Gates, Microsoft's co-founder and chair of the Breakthrough Energy Ventures Investment Fund said Bitcoin swallows planet energy due to the highest transactional energy consumption.

“Bitcoin uses more electricity per transaction than any other method known to mankind, and so it’s not a great climate thing,”

But Azure data centers are a great climate thing right Billy?

Data centers generate a lot of heat, so engineers are tasked with finding the methods to cool them. Microsoft has not only found a way to do that, but also to make the data centers faster and greener.

The company is experimenting with submerging the data centers into the sea.

The New York Times reports that Microsoft has tested out its plan, named Project Natick. Last August, a prototype submersible, called Leona Philpot, was placed 30 feet underwater in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.

?
https://www.halopedia.org/Leona_Philpot

During Leonas time at high school, she broke her neck while diving into a pool, leaving her recovering in a wheelchair during spinal column regeneration. Despite, or perhaps because of this, she became homecoming queen of her high school.[1].

Halo?
i love bees... okay I'm out. All roads lead to the out of control Artificial Intelligence with a dash of hypocrite billionaires on top, and half the population (or more?) is already under happy XBOX joystick control. Can't wait for the next version. woo hoo

Thanks.

RIP libre links to Useful Idiots, thanks for all the fish. good luck

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2 users have voted.
Lookout's picture

@eyo

We'll see. Must have been an editorial dispute with rolling stone?

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2 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”