Comments on: Agitprop

By: Bryan

Bryan — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 04:40:23 +0000

The comments on this post will be locked in a week. Just so you know. I just had to extend the time limit to post my reply.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 04:37:12 +0000

Kryten it’s called morality. We were raised to do our best to make the world a bit better for those who came later, rather than grab everything we could.

Conservatives may not all be greedy but the conservative parties seem to attract greedy people. Which is a paraphrase of what John Stuart Mill said about stupid people and the Tories.

I just posted about a man in Arizona who died from taking HCQ at Trump’s recommendation. Nigeria is dealing with a number of deaths and overdoses from taking the drug. It might have some effect, but someone need to conduct studies to find the safe and effective dose.

The viruses seem to be better at avoiding death than we are at killing them. A vaccine is our best hope, but we still don’t have an AIDS vaccine, and the annual flu vaccines don’t always work against the annual virus.

New York is using the serum from people who have recovered in hopes of at least reducing the effects of the disease. This is something that has nothing good in store for me. The Feds should be taking the lead on the medical supplies to control the prices. Health care doesn’t work under the rules of the market and never has.

By: Badtux

Badtux — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 17:18:39 +0000

Interesting. HCQ does have antiviral effects but it appears not ones that affect the SARS-2 virus, at least not in and of itself. My suspicion is that we’re looking at a cocktail of drugs like for AIDS. Looking at the genome sequencing of the virus (there’s a project underway to do that, where doctors send samples of COVID-19 positive patients to a university lab that then sequences the samples and publishes the results), it appears to be mutating too fast for any single drug to really be effective.

By: Kryten42

Kryten42 — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 11:51:00 +0000

Another Hydroxychloroquine trial has been published via Twitter Dr Gaetan Burgio, MD, PhD: "Another clinical trial for Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) treatment for #COVID19 versus control (Randomized trial) -> 30 patients, non severe #COVID19 at hospital. HCQ treatment (400 mg/day 5 days). No ≠ in viral load + clinical outcome after 7 days. The sample size is small but the trial is randomized. Randomized clinical trial with larger sample size is warranted. From these published data, NO evidence HCQ treatment for #COVID19 improves clinical outcome and reduces viral load." English version: Journal of Zhejiang University (Medical Science) Feb. 2020, Volume 49 Issue 1

By: Kryten42

Kryten42 — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 14:24:53 +0000

True Bryan. in the end, I am glad I chose to do the work I did. We know the World & the Humans for what they are. And that makes us what we are. Unlike many, we have no blinders on. But we know there are good people worth fighting for & I have done so many times. many, typically cynics, think I am either a *romantic* or naive when I speak of saving the innocent. Many believe there is no such thing. I could almost feel sad for them, but I don’t. I save that for the innocent that deserve it. I would have been naive if I’d ever thought I could *save them all*! But I, like you, are a true realist. I can only do what I can & I did try to do all I could. I may not be able to work at the level I once did, but I continue to do what I can. 🙂

Here’s the latest about the epidemic here & our morons-in-charge pitiful & inadequate responses. Paul Kelly is correct I believe:
https://twitter.com/Kryten_42/status/1242372614581977089

And my comments on this thread to clarify things a bit for the unemployed etc.
https://twitter.com/vanbadham/status/1242378765965000704

By: Bryan

Bryan — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 03:06:21 +0000

In reply to Badtux.

If it had been a Winn Dixie instead of a Safeway there would have definitely been a gun battle as people “stood their ground” to protect their Charmin.

They had some paper towels in Sam’s Club today and I worry that people are going to use them when the TP runs out. The sewers will clog with “strong when wet” paper towels get pitched in the loo. I’m fortunate that before this started I bought a large pack of my preferred Viva select-a-size paper towels. I also scored four containers of Clorox wipes and had a new container of Purell. I also had a box of masks from my bout of flu and lots of nitrile gloves for painting and plumbing. I have given a box of gloves to a tenant with a son who has had an organ transplant and has to take immune system depressants as a result. I gave the masks to a friend in the health care sector to place where necessary as they cause breathing difficulties for me when I wear them. Clorox is generally good and I have long cuff neoprene gloves for messing with chemicals and I don’t sweat in them like the nitrile.

The problem I have is other people who won’t take the minimum precautions. Six feet of separation is not unreasonable at any time. The problem with ‘culling the herd’ is that many of the best people will be taken while many of the worst won’t.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 02:42:12 +0000

In reply to Kryten42.

I wish her well and know that she will react differently than we would, because almost anyone coming after us is in for an unpleasant surprise, while she lacks the training to be a threat to others. That is not a bad thing as I would be very uncomfortable in a world inhabited by too many who had been given your training or mine.

Alas your country is just as much at risk as the US which means this isn’t a seasonal disease 🙁

By: Kryten42

Kryten42 — Mon, 23 Mar 2020 12:15:29 +0000

Thanks Bryan. I fwd your eMail. I asked that if she replies to either of us to CC the other, I’ll do the same.

I wanted to reply to you & Badtux’s comments above, but I’m honestly exhausted. I have so much going on right now…. never mind. We all have crap to deal with. *shrug*

Take care & be safe. I know you will both be smart & you are probably two people I’m least concerned about (in good ways that is). You know what I mean. 🙂

“Expect me when you see me.” [Name that (sadly short lived) TV Series!] 😉 😆

By: Badtux

Badtux — Mon, 23 Mar 2020 03:09:55 +0000

It was already reported on the local Nextdoor that there were some thieves who were waiting in the parking lot of the local Safeway to mug people walking through the parking lot in order to steal their toilet paper (amongst other things). The only reason it didn’t turn into a shooting is because it’s so darn hard to get a gun here in California and even harder to actually legally carry it. If this had happened in Florida it would have been a shooting, I’m sure.

I scored a 6-pack of paper towels today! I only had two rolls of paper towels left in the garage, and I’m using paper towels way faster now that I”m cooking most of my own meals, so I was worried about running out. I’m set for a couple of weeks now though I think.

No sanitizer or wipes though! But I have sufficient sanitizer for now and plenty of bleach. I can wear dishwashing gloves and wash them off with a bleach solution if all else fails. The bleach solution also suffices as a sanitizer, we used it when washing dishes when I worked at the pizza place in college to sanitize them.

The local grocery stores have plenty of stuff now, other than a few things in very high demand like paper towels and …. bakers’s yeast? Yep, baker’s yeast is in short supply! WTF? I guess I’m going to have to start up a sourdough starter, lol.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 23 Mar 2020 02:30:00 +0000

In reply to Badtux.

Trump is running the country like one of his businesses – into bankruptcy. He is a salesman, a con artist. He has never been a supervisor or manager. He needed a few years at McDonalds to learn the basics but I doubt he could hack it.

The problem with Chloroquine is that it is dangerous and does not nice things to your body if you take too much. It worked against the malaria parasites for a while, but you have to go slow with it. COVID-19 may require a ‘cocktail’ to control it, like HIV/AIDS.

In local news, the City of Fort Walton Beach has locked all of the public bathrooms because people were stealing the toilet paper and breaking the toilet paper dispensers. I’m waiting for the first toilet paper related shooting.