internal blog links

The posts listed here from the last 20 months all touch on sports and are featured in Musing though a Pandemic. My Year an a Half (and then some) with Mr. Corona. Volume IV. Then play on. Readers of a paper copy can use these links to directly access a post and thus the links within it.

Michigan 84 Purdue 76 (2 OT)

Jan 12, 2020 at 11:57 AM

Brady in PB

Jan 20, 2020 at 10:16 PM

Juwan and us

Feb 9, 2020 at 5:33 PM

Sonny and Jimmy

Feb 3, 2020 at 4:56 PM

Bye, bye bikes?

Mar 15, 2020 at 9:25 PM

walkies

Nov 25, 2020 at 3:59 PM

gone, gone, gone

Jul 2, 2020 at 3:56 PM

trail tales

Dec 5, 2020 at 1:46 PM

hey, Tim

Mar 15, at 4:16 PM

deathless loyalty

May 28, at 10:28 PM

more Fielding Yost

football!

Jun 20, at 8:31 AM

college mascots

Jun 29, at 10:58 AM

Wasn’t that a party?!

Jul 17, at 5:57 PM

lunch with Jimmy

Aug 20, at 5:37 AM

down the hole, Bo

Sep 12, at 2:17 AM

LTE

Oct 21, at 1:32 PM

MSU rerun

Oct 27, at 11:27 AM

Brandy, you’re a fine guy

Nov 5, at 2:00 PM

from the ‘burg

Nov 10, at 11:58 AM

buckeyes!

Dec 1, 2021

HCQ HQ

A friend read my post yesterday about the new COVID pills (1), which I led off by writing that we have safe and effective pills for COVID already, and she commented “please explain”. I sent her a link to my ivermectin post of 2 months back (2), but then realized I’d only covered half the bases. What about Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine: HCQ)? I wrote a lot about HCQ in the early days of the pandemic, pleased to see that a trusted old friend was getting out there and helping others. HCQ was a very helpful medication for a lot of the patients I treated as a rheumatologist, particularly those with rheumatoid arthritis and/or lupus. It’s so important for the latter, once a patient’s on it they should never come off. It’s been shown definitively that when they do, they tend to slip out of remission (3).

HCQ never got to save nearly as many of the COVID infected – from getting infected in the first place, worse disease, hospitalization, ICUs, or even death – as it could have had it been used freely. Instead, in one of the bigger of many tragedies of how the mainstream handled COVID, use of HCQ was politicized, even demonized, as in some states it even became illegal to prescribe or dispense the drug for COVID, and more widely those who did risked censure or even loss of license. Or is this just my fantasy – admittedly shared by many others – that HCQ was a panacea wrongfully denied to patients it might have helped? My dive into PubMed found that the number of papers about HCQ in COVID is falling off, and their messages are a drumbeat of negativity. Not only does HCQ not work, it can be dangerous, especially to the heart. Of the hundreds and hundreds of patients I treated with HCQ over 35 years, only one had any heart trouble, and she had been taking too high a dose for her body weight for years. Given the many ways that COVID can affect the heart (4), ascribing a new heart problem in a COVID infected patient to a drug they are taking for it is a risky exercise at best. And my patients took the drug for years, compared to the days or weeks a COVID patient might.

But I write here not to save HCQ, only to explain it. Listed below are the 11 posts touching on HCQ I made in the first 11 months of the pandemic. In them, you will be able to see many of the origins of my enthusiasm. My wife and I are taking ivermectin for prophylaxis now. She needs it as she is surrounded by virus-spewing vaxxed colleagues and students hoping any 100 nm coronavirus they emit will be stopped by the 300⁺nm pores in the silly masks they still are required to wear. Should I ever test positive in my weekly spitting test, I’m asking my doc for a HCQ prescription.

Tonic?

Mar 14, 2020 at 9:40 AM

I told my high school English teacher about HCQ and she asked if she might be able to get the quinine by another route.

Plaquenil for corona

Mar 19, 2020 at 5:38 PM

A brief introduction to HCQ (with pictures) as it was just making the news as a potential treatment for COVID

How Plaquenil May Work

Mar 20, 2020 at 9:01 AM

Basic chemistry and cell biology say HCQ may drown Mr. Corona in Drano

Hands off My Plaquenil?

Mar 23, 2020 at 2:13 PM

An examination of the backlash of rheumatology patients to the use of “their” drug

Hello Plaquenil! You too, Aralen

Mar 30, 2020 at 8:48 AM

An EUA from the FDA for HCQ to treat COVID

Want a Z-Pac with that Plaquenil?

Apr 3, 2020 at 10:47 AM

Dr. Zelenko’s famous regimen

1919

Apr 17, 2020 at 12:36 PM

Quinine (HCQ’s precursor) against the Spanish flu

Hail to the Plaquenil, Chief!

May 19, 2020 at 11:59 AM

PDJT takes it. And look how quick he beat COVID once he caught it!

Plaquenil yay!

Jul 4, 2020 at 2:55 PM

In nearby Henry Ford Hospital, HCQ kept patients out of the hospital, out of the ICU

AMA caves on Plaquenil12

Dec 16, 2020 at 2:13 PM

They sure did, and in a very cowardly way.

how about that Plaquenil?

Jan 24, at 8:56 AM

In Hackensack, HCQ helps keep COVID patients out of the hospital

References

1. Ike B. A pill for COVID? Posted 11/5/21. https://theviewfromharbal.com/2021/11/05/a-pill-for-covid/

2. Ike B. dewormer – Imovec™, Stromectol™. posted 9/7/21. https://theviewfromharbal.com/2021/09/07/dewormer-imovec-stromectol/

3. Canadian Hydroxychloroquine Study Group. A randomized study of the effect of withdrawing hydroxychloroquine sulfate in systemic lupus erythematosus. N Engl J Med. 1991 Jan 17;324(3):150-4. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199101173240303. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejm199101173240303

4. Shaha KB, Manandhar DN, Cho JR, Adhikari A, K C MB. COVID-19 and the heart: what we have learnt so far. Postgrad Med J. 2021 Oct;97(1152):655-666. doi: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2020-138284. Epub 2020 Sep 17. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344301223_COVID-19_and_the_heartwhat_we_have_learnt_so_far

a pill for COVID?

Sure, Plaquenil and ivermectin are out there, safe and cheap and pretty effective if given at the start of COVID infection. That hasn’t kept the boys and girls at Pharma from cooking up something maybe better. Behold PAXLOVID™ (PF-07321332; ritonavir), a swallowed drug that inhibits a SARS-CoV-2-3CL protease (protein breaking down enzyme) that Mr. Corona uses to bust up cells before it starts remaking its own RNA. Supposedly, it was found to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by 89% compared to placebo in non-hospitalized high-risk adults with COVID-19 (1). In the overall study population through Day 28, no deaths were reported in patients who received PAXLOVID™ as compared to 10 deaths in patients who received placebo. Close to 20% of the patients in the trial reported adverse effects, but so did a similar number who had received a placebo. Pfizer reassures us that “In preclinical studies, PF-07321332 did not demonstrate evidence of mutagenic DNA interactions.”

Pfizer didn’t just cook this up special for COVID. It’s been on their shelf for years, with many trials in HIV.

Merck has molnupiravir, a drug with a similar mechanism of action (2), which may actually have beat Pfizer to this particular finish line. Neither has FDA approval, but fast track is of course being sought.

No word if either of the fancy new drugs will undergo head-to-head trials against hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin. As we wait for the FDA to act, patients should be reassured that such drugs are available, provided an open minded doctor is also available.

It’s going to be pricey, but Pfizer will offer our investigational oral antiviral therapy through a tiered pricing approach based on the income level of each country to promote equity of access across the globe. Good Pfizer is serving equity. What is it doing about diversity and inclusion?

References

1. NBC News. Pfizer’s Covid antiviral pill may cut severe illness by 89 percent. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/pfizers-covid-antiviral-pill-may-cut-severe-illness-89-percent-rcna4593

2. NBC News. Merck says experimental Covid pill cuts risk of death, hospitalization by 50 percent. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/merck-says-experimental-covid pill-cuts-risk-death-hospitalization-50-n1280536

Brandy, you’re a fine guy

Jim Brandstatter was a passable offensive tackle when I was a student, two classes ahead of me, watching Bo’s early teams grind it out on the ground and win a lot. As part of that fearsome line, Jim’s partly responsible for that success. Jim, who’s been “Brandy” for as long as I can remember, pursued a very successful career as Michigan’s football announcer, play by play guy since Frank Beckman was fired for the fried chicken thing. Open and eternally upbeat, he handled Bo and Lloyd with aplomb, and never stops exuding his infectious enthusiasm. He’s retiring at the end of this season. When I wrote a letter to the editor of the Michigan Daily about Dr. Anderson, I showed it to my new friend Ken Magee, a retired federal agent who devotes his time to Michigan sports and looking after the veteran of the week at each Michigan home game. He said what I wrote resonated with some things Brandy had said – in public, unfortunately – and I should send him a copy. I looked him up and did just that. I’ve not heard back, but here’s what I wrote him:

Dear Jim

I write you on a serious matter. About Bo. But first, let me tell you how much I’ve enjoyed your coverage of Michigan Football over the decades. Your boundless enthusiasm was always infectious. You could even get a smile out of Lloyd on those old Michigan Replays. I doubt Bo was hard to coach on those shows, and you always had the right words for him.

I’ve watched you perform even longer than that. I was one of those hippies in the end zone swilling Boone’s Farm and booing Bo for playing such boring football, as all the while you, Deardorf and the rest were working your butts off to get the future Dr. Taylor his yards, winning all the way.

So count me among the furious at how Bo’s memory has been treated these past couple years, and it’s getting worse. I wrote a letter to the Daily editor Wednesday and put it up on my blog (since I doubt I’ll ever see it in the Daily). As a physician for over 41 years, including 36 at the U, I think something is missing from the Anderson story. Call it medical perspective or just plain common sense. I sent the text of my letter to my friend Ken Magee, who so ably runs the great Veteran of the week program (now officially “Community Hero of the Week”). He recommended I send it to you, so here it is https://theviewfromharbal.com/2021/10/21/lte/. In case the link doesn’t work, I’ve also attached the word file I used to make the post (I couldn’t do this on your web page).

I’m not looking to get this read on the air or anything like that, but thought if you appreciated it you might want it to share with some other like-minded individuals. I’m sure you know many.

Best wishes in your retirement, and Go Blue!

Bob Ike

Per Ken, Brandy had mentioned on the Lucianne Lance’s (local radio personality) show that perhaps Dr. Anderson’s doings were just standard practice for the time. Whether this brought about his nudge toward the door may never be known. I’ve never met Jim in person, but he seems healthy and vigorous and I’ve never caught a missed beat in his broadcasting. I’d love to know what he thinks of my letter. At least he knows there’s others thinking like him out there. Probably plenty. Time we speak up.

MSU rerun

So, it’s Michigan State week here in Tree Town, and all over the state, really. In fact, this matchup of two undefeated top ten teams may be the biggest game in all of college football this weekend. As Ed Pevow writing on MLive.com puts it “Last time a U-M vs. MSU football game was this big, The Beatles landed in America”(1). That was 1964, for you young’uns. Duffy Daugherty’s Spartans were a powerhouse, although his best team ever was yet to come. They featured fleet receiver Gene Washington and All-American back Dick Gordon, with future hall-of-famers George Webster and Bubba Smith still seasoning. Two years later they peaked, and would have ended up national champs had Notre Dame’s Ara Parsegian not decided to play for a tie in their match rather than gamble and maybe give the Spartans a last chance. We beat ‘em in East Lansing 17-10, 3 weeks before Halloween. The ’64 Wolverines were no slouch. Bump Elliott’s best team, led by multi-threat QB Bob Timberlake and the smooth Mel Anthony, whose Michigan single game rushing record (347 yards) held up even when Tshimanga “Tim” Biakabatuka went crazy that one game against Ohio State in ’95 (313 yards). The best player on the team was a lineman, Tom Mack, who impressed in the Rose Bowl win over Oregon State by staying right in step with Anthony as he ran 84 yards for a touchdown, setting a Rose Bowl record. Maybe that’s what got Mack the number two pick in the NFL draft later, on which he delivered by going on to a hall-of-fame career. The ’64 team will always be special to me as they were mostly the same players I saw up close the year before when my dad took me to my first ever game in Michigan Stadium. There they easily handled Southern Methodist 27-16, although they ended up with a losing record. Regardless, I’ve been a die-hard Wolverine fan ever since.

It’ll take a medical miracle for me to be alive after a similar interval from this year’s game and reminisce about it. Too bad, because we’ve really got the players: Hixson, Blake, Awl, Hutch, Dax, future doctor and my wife’s former student center and captain Vastardis (in his first year of med school!), decent QB (Cade) with a young superstar in the wings (JJ), plus ice-in-his veins kicker Moody. I don’t know any of the Spartoons, but have 3 days to study up. They seem to be a different team than the ones Dantonio fielded: speed and the pass rather than grind-‘em-out and defense. Should be a fun game, even for those who don’t bleed green or blue. Saturday at noon on Fox. College Gameday will be there.

My missus started a new pre-MSU ritual a few years ago, which I chose to write about last year (2). Unfortunately that led up to a game which I remember as a horrid empty-stands affair that we lost bad. But we lost only by a field goal (27-24) after coming into the game 22 point favorites and leaving en route to Harbaugh’s first losing season since his second year at Stanford (’08) and Michigan’s first since Brady Hoke got fired (’14). She was a little reluctant to repeat her performance, given those results. But with only a little coaxing, she’ll be at it again tomorrow. She’s adding something this year, as we’re up against Halloween. Rather than do the obvious maize-and-blue outfit, she’ll be wearing black slacks topped with an orange sweater. Very Halloween, plus orange negates green in the color wheel. It’s the anti-green! So her writing students will learn a little additional physics tomorrow.

So here’s what I posted last year, but not till after the Game! (Maybe that’s why we lost). Go Blue!

My beautiful wife loves Michigan

It started pretty early. Kathy’s mother was born in Ann Arbor, graduated Ann Arbor High in ‘36, and went to dental hygenist’s school at U of M, where she met Clutch, Kathy’s dad, who chose to pursue orthopedics at the wider open spaces of Akron City Hospital. Kathy was the second of their kids to be born there, so Kathy’s a buckeye by birth. Her time at Ohio institutions Western Reserve Academy and College of Wooster did not translate into a stronger bond. When Kathy went looking for grad school programs in Kinesiology, she saw that the program at Columbus had some attractions. Asking her dad about the possibility of going there, he responded “sure, but don’t ever plan on coming home again”. So she headed north up 23 to Ann Arbor, coached swimming for a while, and met me. Together we’ve been immersed in all things Michigan ever since, helped along by those great 50 yard line season tickets her dad got in the late 50s. We added basketball season tickets maybe 5 years ago and surely enjoy those outings, too. For the past 11 years, she’s taught Scientific Writing in the school of Kinesiology to sophomores (“just shoot me”). Kines is still home for many athletes, although many have drifted over to L.S.&A. as Kines has tightened its requirements. But she still gets a lot of athletes in her class, a few of them high profile basketball and football types. Drew Dilio, slot receiver, might have been the first she noticed, who kept a low profile as he didn’t want to be taken as a dumb football player. Some of her latest charges have no problem with that. “Big country” Austin Davis, Michigan’s returning center, is headed to P.T. school after he completes his 5^th year in a Kines masters.

Andrew Vastardis walked on to the football team 5 years ago and has taken his 6’4” 300# frame to the middle of the line as Michigan’s starting center. He has his eye on medical school. Kathy wants him to be a pediatrician.

So it’s understandable Kathy might take some special measures as we enter what in pre-COVID time was a huge week., facing her class this week as the football season finally opens with the battle for the Little Brown Jug Saturday night in Minneapolis. If that’s not enough, Michigan Stage week is next! She’s found a way to be decked out to show her Michigan spirit. Those kids who already love this cool old lady will surely get a boost of Michigan Pride. Go Blue! Beat State!

P.S. That’s our stuffed wolverine, Fritz, in the background, named after Fritz Crisler

References

1. Pevow E. Last time a U-M vs. MSU football game was this big, The Beatles landed in America. MLive.com. 10/26/21. https://www.mlive.com/news/2021/10/last-time-a-u-m-vs-msu-football-game-was-this-big-the-beatles-landed-in-america.html

2. Ike B. My beautiful wife loves Michigan. Posted 11/10/20. https://theviewfromharbal.com/2020/11/10/my-beautiful-wife-loves-michigan/

NoCal

I’ve just returned from a long weekend in Northern California. I recounted the highlights to my little friend and classmate Sandy Northrop Jones, who’s also a writer, and she suggested I post my descriptions. So here ya go:

We just got back Tuesday from our long weekend in N. California. Goal since last February was a concert in Novato (near Napa) with Bill Kirchen and as many of the living Lost Planet Airmen he could round up.

And what kind of car is that in the backround? Could it be a Hot Rod Lincoln https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsLdufJePz0? He got 3 LPA (there are 5): Dr. John Tichy – lead singer and rhythm guitar, the man who introduced the Commander to old country music while they were both washing dishes in a frat house – who’s made a career as a professor of engineering – at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy NY, head of department of Mechanical Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering for a while, with an emphasis on fluid dynamics (fluid dynamics were a big part of every CCLPA concert!), assembling a stellar academic career that still continues https://faculty.rpi.edu/node/36055. And his sons formed a rockabilly band -the Lustre Kings – with whom he plays. Then there’s Andy Stein – or Android E. Stein as his bandmates call him on stage – on sax and fiddle. After CC&hLPA broke up, he’s had a rich career in NYC playing classical and old jazz. He had a 10 year gig in “Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band”, the house band on Prairie Home Companion. Finally, there’s Buffalo Bruce Barlow on bass and backing vocals. He got his name for his long blonde tresses, which he still has, a little. The concert was outside at Hop Monk Tavern (great beer!). The sold-out crowd had to wait in the rain a little, but it was well worth it. Closest thing to a gen-you-wine CC concert since the whole crew came to the Ark in Ann Arbor 1/11-12/01 as part of their “Not Dead Yet” tour, conducted in the 25th anniversary year of their breakup.

While out there, we spent some time with Kathy’s little brother Jimmy (6’6″), his wife and 3 teen kids, oldest of whom is a sophomore bananna slug at UC Santa Cruz, plus Kathy’s older brother Bob, who’s living out there as his dementia has progressed to where he can’t live independently. Finally, I looked up an old buddy from St. Louis, Dave. We were residents together at Barnes. He’s a tall drink of water from Texarkana and when younger could pass for Clint Eastwood. He’s doing boutique primary care in Petaluma, his life enlivened by a saucy Ukranian girlfriend and a group of like-minded misfits who convene every Friday at 5:31 PM in the back room of the hardware store one of them owns. Kathy and I got to attend, sample the Indian food and various intoxicants, and get accepted by the group, even getting our own bird names.

The Commander sings that “Too Much Fun” is unattainable https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEh3HBeZNHE, but I think I came close. I’ve been spending most of these first days home in bed. That’s that fast California life style for ya. I can’t wait to get back there again.

LTE

Readers of this blog will know where I stand on the “scandal” already tarnishing the memory of one of Michigan’s greats, former coach and athletic director Glenn E “Bo” Schembechler (1). At issue is whether his thorough and systematic team doctor, Robert Anderson, through his regular exams of rectums and testicles of players committed some sort of systematic sexual assault, Bo complicit and guilty by “doing nothing” despite hearing complaints from his players. Already they’ve purged any mention of him from the big scoreboard videos at each football game (2).

Both Bo and Dr. Anderson are dead, Bo passing on the eve of the Ohio State game in 2006 with Dr. Anderson following him 2 years and less than a week later. Many in this town still love and revere Bo, and all I’ve talked to are incensed at the treatment he’s been getting. When his report by the “Historical Commission” goes up for public commentary, I expect an avalanche of a backlash.

What can any single “Michigan Man” do? Besides sharing my views with friends, I’ve done nothing public till now. But a story on the front page of last Wednesday’s Michigan Daily tipped me over (3). The Daily, tho’ ”just” a student newspaper, is a venerable local institution, published since 1890 and counting among its editor alumni such as playwright Arthur Miller, near-President Thomas Dewey, and Mr. Jane Fonda Tom Hayden. The annual release of the DPSS (Division of Public Safety and Security) stats provides a snapshot of on-campus security. Anything happening to a student that feels like a crime can be reported, and is recorded on the date of reporting, not when the offense occurred. This year, Dr. Anderson’s transgressions from the 60s through the early aughts drowned everything out. Of 1212 rapes reported in 2020, 1,194 were ascribed to Dr. Anderson. Similarly 916 0f the 947 cases of fondling came from Dr. A. The University is expecting hundreds of millions of dollars in claims, higher if individuals choose to sue rather than taking the group settlement the University is pursuing. Outgoing President Schlissel recognizes the enormous potential liability, but won’t give numbers (4). The University, with an endowment of $12.48 billion (2020), an annual budget of $9.88 billion (2018), and over $2.1 billion projected for the 2022 general fund, isn’t going to go broke, but there might be a few less crumbs left for DEI and such.

Things are probably way too far gone for any medical common sense to have much of an effect, but I decided to take a stab and write Ms Hao, editor of the Daily. Here’s what I sent her (references added for this blog):

“To the editor:

Since the first release of U-M’s report into complaints about the late Dr. Robert Anderson (5), reactions to his performing of what were then standard practices on male physical exams have grown into a hysteria that threatens to take down the Michigan icons who supervised him – Bo Schembechler and Don Canham – not to mention draw significantly on the coffers of our University. Dr. Anderson, a ’53 grad of our med school, received accolades for his proposals that sports physicals be taken as an opportunity to screen for health problems of young men who otherwise rarely visit doctors. Such encounters would include visits to the sensitive nether regions where testicles – potentially harboring the cancer most likely to kill young men – along with deformities (hydroceles) possibly leading to later infertility – and the rectum – where many illnesses might leave a trace. Modern medicine, where doctors’ hands spend more time on keyboards than on patients, has found different ways to assess pathologies from these areas, but from the 50s through the 90s doctors’ hands were supposed to go there. We in the residency program of the prestigious Barnes Hospital (St. Louis) during the early 80s were admonished when we failed to do a rectal exam on a new patient. Our physical exam bible – Degowin and Degowin – describes the testicular exam thusly (trigger warning: graphic!) (6).

‘Compare both testes simultaneously by grasping one with one hand, using thumb and forefinger. Determine their size, shape, consistency, and sensitivity to pressure. Even though they feel normal, transilluminate each; one may be atrophied and the normal size attained by a hydrocele.’

No one’s complained yet about Doc A. taking a flashlight to them.

While such an approach by an older man wearing rubber gloves might seem off-putting, to call this “rape” or even “sexual assault” degrades both these terms. Bo’s response to any player complaining about such an exam to “toughen up” seem about right, particularly considering that Bo himself likely had endured many such exams.

I am not defending Dr. Anderson. His reported antics at Detroit selective service exams are reprehensible (7). That as a closeted homosexual he took pleasure in these exams is more than distasteful. But what he did with these athletes was standard practice for the day and may have even benefited several. Everybody involved with this case needs to heed Bo and “toughen up”, not fill the UPSS blotter with so many entries as to blot out ongoing sexual misconduct statistics.

Ms Hao has not yet responded. But it’s been less than a day. I don’t know if courtesy of a reply goes to all supplicants. She may have had to run to a safe space after reading it. I’m not expecting to add a Michigan Daily contribution to my CV, but wouldn’t that be great? Thanks to you all for taking it in on this forum.

Robert W. Ike, M.D.

Emeritus Associate Professor

Department of Internal of Medicine

Division of Rheumatology

University of Michigan Health System”

References

1. Ike B. Et tu, Bo? Posted June 11, 2021. https://wordpress.com/post/theviewfromharbal.com/1611

2. Ike B. Down the hole, Bo. Posted September 12, 2021. https://wordpress.com/post/theviewfromharbal.com/1915

3. Coletti D. DPSS report logs over 2,000 crimes by Anderson. Michigan Daily CXX (54):1. October 13, 2021. https://issuu.com/michigandaily/docs/2021-10-13

4. Kozloski K. UM president admits Robert Anderson litigation is “enormous” liability for university. Detroit News September 30, 2021. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/09/30/um-president-admits-anderson-litigation-enormous-liability-university/5881713001/

5. Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLC. May 11, 2021. Report of Independent Investigation: Allegations of Sexual Misconduct Against Robert E. Anderson. https://regents.umich.edu/files/meetings/01-01/WH_Anderson_Report.pdf

6. Bedside Diagnostic Examination 3^rd edition, EL DeGowin and RL DeGowin, 1976. Macmillan, New York NY. ISBN 0-02-328050-6. p. 593.

7. Jesse D. U-M doctor helped men avoid Vietnam War in exchange for sexual favors, ex-students say. Detroit Free Press February 28, 2020. https://www.freep.com/story/sports/university-michigan/wolverines/2020/02/28/michigan-um-doctor-robert-anderson/4897540002/

Todd

I thank my dear friends and distant cousin Ron and Barb Ike with sharing this.

Todd was a regular lowly citizen stating his case before the Alpena (MI) school board. Likely such things as mask and/or vaxx mandates were at issue. Todd came armed with the facts. They’re worth sharing.

To: The Alpena Public Board of Education

From: Mr. Todd Britton

The mask issue, like the vaccine, is really very simple. If you believe in either or both, then go ahead and use a mask and/or get the shot. If you don’t, don’t. There is absolutely no problem with this until other people start making those decisions for you. Can you imagine the outrage if there was a contingent that was running around trying to stop people from having the ability to choose a mask or vaccine?

If masks and the vaccines really work, those that partake should be protected and in a logical argument have no standing. If they don’t work, then it really does not matter what we do. I have studied masks extensively as I am still in the middle of contesting a couple of MIOSHA citations. Masks absolutely do not work unless you believe some recently manufactured “science” that only minimally supports that they may some insignificant benefit. ALL of the previous studies and random controlled trials showed either no or statistically insignificant benefit in using them.

To keep things in perspective:

The virus has an infection survival rate of approximately 99.78% across all ages.
The average death age of Covid fatalities is at or higher than the average death age of the general population.
94% of the fatalities had 4 or more comorbidities, so only 6% of the reported deaths are actually from Covid only (per the CDC).
Based on the reported number of fatalities in the US to date (690,152) times the actual percentage of deaths from (.06) works out to 41,409 total deaths from Covid from March 2020 until today – 19 months. In the last 10 years, the seasonal flue has killed between 12,000 and 61,000 in 12 months. For comparison, around
78% of the fatalities were obese (CDC).
The vast majority transmission of the virus is aerosolized particles, not droplets.
An N-95 mask is not capable of filtering particles smaller than 5 microns and 99.9%+ of the aerosolized virus particles are smaller than that.
In less than 1 minute of wearing a surgical mask the CO2 and O levels behind the mask are at levels that are not considered habitable for confined space work.
A child’s developing brain is particularly susceptible oxygen deficiency and elevated levels of CO2
During the 1918-19 Spanish Flu epidemic, more than half of the fatalities died of bacterial pneumonia rather than the virus. The pneumonia was most likely caused by the masks and these people would have likely survived without them. (per a paper by Dr. Fauci)
Wearing a mask decreases the strength of your immune system right when we need it most.

We both know that the masks don’t and can’t work. The science is there to prove it and the math is there to prove that the virus particle, even when aerosolized is way to small to be stopped by even by the tightest weave of an N-95. The analogy of a chain link fence trying to keep out mosquitoes is fitting. Occasionally a mosquito might get stuck to the fence.

Using the CDC as a source for any guidelines is just plain madness. If anyone looks into where the CDC gets its money, they will find EVERY large pharmaceutical company, medical device manufactures, defense contractors, etc. They cannot be impartial, nor should we expect that they are actually looking out for our best interest. As with most, they actually look out for their own, which is not us. We also, need to look out for our own.

To reiterate part of the email. If one uses logic with both masks and the vaccine, if they work, those that choose them should be protected and from their perspective, this problem should solve itself through natural selection. Personally, I do not believe that will be the case and I choose my own immune system. Vaccines were only invented 225 years ago, yet humans have survived somewhere between 200,000 and 7 million years (depending on how you classify humans) without them.

This issue is really about the health of kids and the freedom of choice. How have we arrived here?

Thank you.

Todd

This issue is really about the health of kids and the freedom of choice. How have we arrived here?

Thank you.

Todd

ajo negro

That’s what the Spanish would call it, this new discovery of mine. Thinking I’d done about all one can with Allium sativum, and happy with that, some aging hippie at the Santa Fe farmers’ market sold me a little bottle of black garlic, telling me of its subtle taste and health benefits, but not revealing details of its making other than to say a prolonged fermentation was involved. Once home, I made a wonderful salad dressing with it, then dove into research on the stuff. Apparently, it’s a staple of Korean cooking that has become fashionable with some Anglos recently. Plain old garlic is set to ferment at a low heat for weeks, ol’ Mr. Maillard reaction takes place https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/maillard-reaction, turning simple sugars into more complex, and tasty, compounds. It’s why browned foods taste better.

It seemed I had all the elements for my own experiment. We had a fine oven in the downstairs kitchen that seldom gets used. Of my 3 turkey roasters, the oval one seemed well suited. So on June 9th, I went out and bought 18 heads of garlic at Busch’s (theirs is the best), set the oven between “warm” and 200, plunked my Meater (shows temps on my phone) in the empty roaster, and was pleased when it registered 167 degrees. Guides on making black garlic wanted 140-190. I put the garlic in the pan, covered it with one sheet of Saran Wrap and 2 sheets of foil, plunked on the cover and closed the oven door. Instructions on black garlic said the stuff could be ready in 3 weeks. I just let it go, the low hum of the oven’s fan the only reminder something was going on downstairs.

Today, a steak salad was on the menu, and I thought some sort of black garlic dressing might be in order. I got up early and attacked the roaster, a little wary as to what I might find. After all, my garlic might be burnt to a crisp. Getting the cloves out of 18 heads of fermented garlic was way easier than dealing with a similar amount of fresh garlic. I ended up with a huge bowl of hard black cloves, still not reassuring the “burnt to a crisp” worries. Total weight of the cloves was 13.3 oz. I never weighed the original 18 heads (bad scientist!), but I believe there was some dessication. These cloves weren’t the soft rubbery cloves I’d bought in Santa Fe. What to do with these? Fortunately, as I googled around “black garlic”, I came across “black garlic powder”. So into the spice grinder my cloves went, and what emerged was a pint jar of wonderfulness. So fragrant in the grinder, I knew these hadn’t been a scorched botched experiment.

So comes the scramble to find the right dressing recipe. The Santa Fe one wouldn’t do, as that was soft garlic. We came up with the following, a little modified from the source. Let me tell you, it is muy tasty.

Now the challenge is what to do with the rest of our pint. The TSBP we threw into the dressing used up 0.46 oz of our 13.3 oz stock, leaving 28 more TBSP to kick up whatever might seem to be needing black garlic, and a TBSP is kind of on the high side for dosing. Working through the calculations, with 18 heads yielding 13.3 ounces, a TBSP 0.46 oz, a head of garlic accounts for about 3 TBSP. So many adventures await, and many happy returns.

MLive article https://www.mlive.com/news/2021/10/last-time-a-u-m-vs-msu-football-game-was-this-big-the-beatles-landed-in-america.html

“fried chicken” story https://deadspin.com/it-took-a-while-but-michigan-decides-that-fried-chicke-510612333

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2. NBC News. Merck says experimental Covid pill cuts risk of death, hospitalization by 50 percent. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/merck-says-experimental-covid pill-cuts-risk-death-hospitalization-50-n1280536

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So here’s what I posted last year, but not till after the Game! (Maybe that’s why we lost). Go Blue!

References

1. Pevow E. Last time a U-M vs. MSU football game was this big, The Beatles landed in America. MLive.com. 10/26/21. https://www.mlive.com/news/2021/10/last-time-a-u-m-vs-msu-football-game-was-this-big-the-beatles-landed-in-america.html

2. Ike B. My beautiful wife loves Michigan. Posted 11/10/20. https://theviewfromharbal.com/2020/11/10/my-beautiful-wife-loves-michigan/

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7. Jesse D. U-M doctor helped men avoid Vietnam War in exchange for sexual favors, ex-students say. Detroit Free Press February 28, 2020. https://www.freep.com/story/sports/university-michigan/wolverines/2020/02/28/michigan-um-doctor-robert-anderson/4897540002/

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