As expected, the creeping tyranny mandating that all shall be vaxxed is not emanating from Uncle so much as from the private sector. Kathy and I were looking forward to traveling to Cleveland to see James McMurtry* – tonight was to have been the night – but that got postponed to sometime in April. The venue later issued an announcement that all comers to any further events at their place must produce proof either of COVID vaccination or of a negative test performed within 48 hours of the concert. “Can I see your papers, please?” Then today I read a happy e-mail from one of our local jazz favorites, saying he and his group will be starting up a regular Wednesday night gig, indoors (!), at their old haunt. But “vaccinated only”. No mention of tests. Maybe the person they post at front to take the cover charge will also be checking C19s. Granted, they draw an older crowd and likely don’t want anything like what happened at Gretchen’s and Mario’s nursing homes.

So I figured it was high time to get my own papers. No, I’m not taking the stab. Instead, I’m taking a stab at getting an exemption from the U. Der Schliz has not come around to mandating emeritus faculty get vaxxed, yet. But I thought I could still enter the portal https://campusblueprint.umich.edu/vaccine/ and see about getting a religious exemption. Pro-active, doncha know. I’m Christian and pro-life, and all 3 vaccines used fetal cell lines somewhere in their development https://www.michigan.gov/documents/coronavirus/COVID-19_Vaccines_and_Fetal_Cells_031921_720415_7.pdf, so it seems like a no brainer. The form has a little box to enter your comments on why you’re seeking an exemption. Here’s what I wrote:

“By my deeply held Christian faith (I am a Methodist, member of the Ann Arbor Christian Reformed Church from ’06 till recently, when I transferred back the the Vicksburg UMC where I first became a member) I revere all life as a gift from God.  I grew to become staunchly Pro-Life as my values coalesced after college and I realized my wonderful life as an adoptee might never have happened had Roe v. Wade been law of the land in ’52.  I oppose abortion in all forms and find use of tissues from aborted babies for research and pharmaceutical development especially heinous.  All 3 US COVID vaccines have used fetal cell lines in their development.  I cannot abide accepting a product with this lineage.”

So we’ll see what happens.

Have you heard Eric Clapton’s latest take on life, such as it is today? https://rumble.com/embed/vj89iu/?pub=4

*PS. 2 of my favorite James McMurtry songs

“Just us kids” (“had enough of this small town bullshit”) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH5hTwWgHp0

“Choctaw bingo” (“have us a time…”) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nggqe-L9ZQ8

addendum (9/4/21, my 69th birthday): someone at the “U-M Exemptions and Temporary Postponement Response” office e-mailed me 11:02 PM last night that my request for an exemption from COVID-19 vaccination had been approved. Hallelujah!

Finally catching my breath from a July that featured Kathy’s big birthday pre-retirement party and my 50^th plus one high school reunion, I was ready to slide into that last month of summer, ready to cruise on into the new school year (hey, my wife’s a teacher, so I still feel it!).  Yeah, there was that 10 day trip to California coming up, finally pulling it off after all those COVID cancellations, but arrangements had been in place for months and all we had to do was touch all the bases.  But with a family health crisis in No Cal and some serious real estate shopping in So Cal (by Windnsea Beach), even a week and a half in paradise can start to feel stressfull.

Once home, things were hopping.  I got my picture into my hometown paper https://southcountynews.org/2021/08/16/three-authors-with-local-ties-self-publish/, and got the Vicksburg District Library to put that book on their shelves (1).  We got to two actual concerts, one outside (Grand Funk Railroad at Soaring Eagle) and one inside (Kalkaska String Quartet playing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at the Masonic by candlelight).  Jimmy Harbaugh came to speak to us at Weber’s, getting us fired up for the season https://wordpress.com/post/theviewfromharbal.com/1889.

Home improvement is never ending, and we were invaded by electricians for a day replacing all our toggle switches with rockers.  We lost our electricity for several extended stretches during the day, giving us glimpses of life without screens or stereo.  Rather peaceful, in small batches.  My living room was currently quite spacious for the better part of the last week as I sold both of our leather couches to make room for the new ones that arrived from Sykkylven today.  With them came our matched blue leather recliners, which we had not expected till October.  What a nice early birthday present.  Oh, we may never arise from them!

I’ve published 2 instructional videos (2,3) and one book chapter (4) and have submitted 4 manuscripts to be considered for publication (5-8).  I’ve gone many years back when I was working where I didn’t add as many chits to my CV as I did in this single month.  This all feels very good to me.

Then there’s been the sturm und drang over Kathy’s final year of teaching, just half time these last 2 semesters.  Will she get her office back or won’t she?  Will she get to teach live and in person or is it back to the dining room table in the living room?  Her school is hiring her replacement, a young woman with whom Kathy is quite sympatico, the two being both from Ohio, one-time dancers, and conservative, for starters.  But the dean is pussyfooting, like usual, and Kathy worries she’ll screw the whole thing up.  And of course the whole vax thing.  Sheesh https://wordpress.com/post/theviewfromharbal.com/1875.  Right now, as she’s set to undergo evaluation for allergies to vax components, Kathy’s been granted an exemption through October 20^th.  She’ll be considered “in compliance” till then.  That’s plenty of time to get her retirement paperwork in.  She’ll be required to wear a mask in the classroom, but then so does all the faculty, vaxxed or not.  As I type this, she’s put in her first day, two classes, and everything went fine.  Her office was undisturbed, and bore her name next to it, new since last year.  No high profile jocks in her classes, tho’ she has a golfer.  The swimmers and tracksters often lie in the weeds till they’re discovered.

Oh, and the UPS guy delivered our case of wine from Obsidian late this afternoon.  Life is good.  Tomorrow brings another month and more tasks.  I have to write and submit several letters to the editors of journals tied to professional organizations, announcing Sara’s and my salivary gland biopsy videos to their membership.  I have to get on the stick to Friends-in-Deed to come pick up our now obsolete and in the way blue La-Z-Boys.  I have to make the sad entry on the Chicago Better Business Bureau web site regarding failure to provide service from a chika with whom I entrusted components of my treasured vintage Stressless chair for refurbishing  in March of 2020.  Despite several promises of shipment, the parts have never materialized.  We even ventured to her place of business in NW Chicago during one of our trips and had some beers at the nice bar across the street, where the waitress vouched she was alive, tending to her business, and showing up for a beer from time to time.  Who knows what happenned.  Mental illness?  But she has close to $1400 of my money and my chair parts and I want them back, at least the chair parts.

So in a few short hours, August will be behind us.  I’m not sure I can keep up that pace.  Like the French say, too much of that can wear you Août!

References

1.         Ike R.  The Accident.  Amazon (Kindle) 2021.  Available at: .https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095BS8VRJ

2.         McCoy SS, Ike RW.  Labial salivary gland biopsy demonstration.  Posted to YouTube by RW Ike 8/19/21.  Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIFkBjKSxas

3.         McCoy SS, Ike RW.  Labial salivary gland biopsy workshop.  Posted to YouTube by RW Ike 8/30/21.  Available at: https://youtu.be/iHP58yNkhW8.

4.         Ike RW.  Review of benign subcutaneous emphysema following knee arthroscopy.  In New Frontiers in Medicine and Medical Research.Volume 1.  2021, BP International, London

5.         Ike RW, Kalunian KC.  It’s time to bring back knee washout.  MOJ Orthop and Rheumatol. (submitted 8/27/21; withdrawn 8/30/21 after they reneged on waiver of publication fees. To be submitted elsewhere).

6.         Ike RW, McCoy SM, Kalunian KC.  What bedside skills should the modern rheumatologist possess?  Seminars Arthritis Rheum (submitted 8/31/21)

7.         Ike RW, Kalunian KC.  Regarding arthroscopy: can orthopedists and rheumatologists be friends?  J Clin Rheumatol (submitted 8/31/21)

8.         Altman RD, Ike RW, Hamburger M, McLain DA, Daley MJ, Adamson III, TC.  Missing the Mark? American College of Rheumatology 2019 Guidelines for Intra-articular Hyaluronic Acid Injection and Osteoarthritis Knee Pain.  Osteoarthritis Cart (nto yet submitted, but my comments are in!)

Yesterday, in an e-mail to my protegée and co-author Sara describing my frantic efforts to complete our project, I told her of a lunch break I took with my wife after what seemed a very productive morning:

“Sensing victory, I took a break and went to Weber’s with Kathy to hear Coach Harbaugh at the U of M Club of Ann Arbor’s kickoff luncheon.  Kathy had to join to attend, bringing down the average age of the membership.  The place was packed and Coach was in fine form, slimmed down, enthusiastic, funny, and coherent.  If the team’s as good as he says it is, we’re in for a great season.  Odd what sports will do.  Kathy was all pissed off and sour at the U for how they’ve been treating her vis-á-vis retirement, teaching obligations, and vax mandate (but the U always treats you shitty at the end, maybe so you don’t feel too wistful about the job you had to leave behind).  But as we left Weber’s she was all rah, rah, go Blue, Hail to the Victors!  It helped that she bumped into JH as he was coming in, and asked after her former star student Andrew Vasartis, starting center and captain of last year’s team.  He just got into med school and as a 6th year senior will be playing football while attending his first year of med school.  As JH was discussing his players, he got to his glowing remarks on Andrew, beginning to say how very smart he was, then looked up and pointed to the back where Kathy was, saying “where’s that professor I was talking to, he’s the smart guy, isn’t he?”.  Good thing she was sitting down, or she’d a been walking on air.”

Now doesn’t that put you in the mood for a rousing chorus of The Victors?  Feel free to sing along https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iJgDsYkGd4

Sorry to subject you with poetry, but this just came to me as I arose from my nap this afternoon.  I love mornings, and always arise at 4 or 5 to embrace them.  So much different than when a 6 AM alarm was my call when I was working.  I just don’t sleep much in my old age.  Maybe it’s old Ben “There’ll be sleeping enough in the grave”.  Even if I’ve overdone it on the sleep deprivation, there’s the promise of an afternoon nap.  Oh those blessed naps!  But here are my thoughts on the benefits of early arising.

Oh my lord, there’s things I gotta get outta bed.

Oh, but no, that’s where but I wanna lay my head!

Got to say, there’s things I really wanna do.

So my butt I drag, on to all those things to do.

Oh email, so things I just wanna say

Who knows what I wanna write down today?

Amazon, just things I gotta have today.

What else have I left on my screen to see?

News a ‘comin’, just what went down tonight?

Wunderground. Will the weather be alright?

Sports and scores, who won and lost and why?

Then we gotta eat today, freezer’s sayin hey?

Kitchen’s full of last night dishes, wash ‘em up!

Sweetie’s gonna want her cap, warm it up!

Old glory’s waitin’ by the door, put ‘er up!

Neighborhood’s gotta see what side I’m on.

Then comes sunshine, with her smilin’ face

Coming to her cup, in its place.

And suddenly, all is in its place

Cue Dave for Sousa, march apace!

Dave is Dave Wagner, or favorite DJ on WRCJ https://www.wrcjfm.org,, Detroit’s classical music station.  For some time, Dave has featured the “Sousa-alarm”, whereby at 7:15 or so, he plays a John Phillips Sousa march, often by the Detroit Symphony Band, which recorded a multi-CD set of all of them back in the 70s https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Marches-John-Philip-Sousa/dp/B00005RGK3.  Dave always follows with vignettes of how the marches came about, which are always entertaining.  If you’re not up and at ‘em by the Sousa-alarm, your arousal is surely in jeopardy!  On to the day we go, energized.  I recommend it heartily.

And it came to pass last Friday, that there went out a decree from President Schlissel that all of U of M faculty shall be vaxed.  By start of classes August 30^th.  Regardless of what, where, or how they taught.  Or even if they taught.  My dear wife, who must get one more term under her belt to retire with benefits after 22 years of service, is dead set against getting the jab.  Not only does she wish to avoid the many often horrid complications of the vax, she realizes that the immune response raised by exposure to Wuhan spike protein does not protect very well against the new multiply mutated strains.  Furthermore, she is deathly allergic to most everything.  When she finally sought attention for her multiple allergies some years ago, she had an anaphylactic reaction to her first set of skin tests.  Had the reaction not occurred right in the allergist’s office where they were equipped and trained to handle such a situation, her outcome could have been much worse than just the staff calling me to come pick her up as she was too shaken to drive home.  Hence, she will be applying for exemption from the “vaccination” on medical grounds.  She will also be applying for exemption on religious grounds.  All three US COVID “vaccines” utilize cell lines from aborted babies at some stage in their development and manufacture (1).  We are both strongly opposed to abortion in all forms, and find the use of aborted tissue for research and pharmaceutical purposes especially heinous.

But the latter exemption is a personal matter.  A life-threatening allergic reaction is not.  But Der Schliz is being a stickler, hewing to CDC guidelines (2) and exempting only those who have shown a reaction to some component of the vaccine.  So if you’ve taken a jab and gotten myocarditis or a blood clot or whatever, no more for you!  Gee, thanks.  But might there be a way to determine in advance if you might be allergic?  It turns out there is.  First step is to know what’s in these things.  I’ve explained about the PEG encapsulated RNA and the adenovirus with the spike protein code spliced in (https://wordpress.com/post/theviewfromharbal.com/1649), but what else is in the stuff?  Since you asked:

Table.  Chemical components of U.S. COVID-19 vaccines (adapted from (3))

Pfizer-BioNTech	Moderna	Johnson & Johnson Janssen
RNA (for spike protein, synthesized)	RNA  (for spike protein, synthesized)	DNA (adenovirus 26; contains inserted strand coding for mRNA of spike protein)
lipids	lipids	lipids
((4-hydroxybutyl)azanediyl) bis(hexane-6,1-diyl)bis	1,2-dimyristoyl-rac-glycero3-methoxypolyethylene glycol-2000 [PEG2000-DMG]	(none)
(2-hexyldecanoate), 2 [(polyethylene glycol)-2000]-N,N-ditetradecylacetamide	SM-102 (synthetic amino lipid which is used in combination with other lipids to form lipid nanoparticles.) C44H87NO5
1,2-distearoyl-snglycero-3- phosphocholine [DSPC]	1,2-distearoyl-snglycero-3-phosphocholine [DSPC]
cholesterol	cholesterol
acids	acids	acids
(none)	acetic acid	citric acid monohydrate
acid stabilizers	acid stabilizers	acid stabilizers
(none)	tromethamine & tromethamine hydrochloride	(none)
salts	salts	salts
potassium chloride	sodium acetate	trisodium citrate dihydrate
monobasic potassium phosphate
sodium chloride
dibasic sodium phosphate dihydrate
sugars	sugars	sugars
sucrose	sucrose	2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HBCD)
		polysorbate-80, sodium chloride
other ingredients	other ingredients	other ingredients
(none)	(none)	ethanol

The lipids (except cholesterol) are all jazzed up versions of polyethylene glycol (PEG) derived from the chemical in anti-freeze and used to make the nanoparticles that carry the RNA into cells.  The J&J “vaccine” uses a modified adenovirus, one of the many common cold viruses, which is already equipped to penetrate human cells.

It turns out that most people who have had allergic reactions to any of the COVID “vaccines” were reacting either to PEG , polysorbate, or trolamine (tromethamine).  Trolamine is also a component of some arthritis rubs, like Aspercreme (trolamine salicylate).  It turns out you can get tested to determine of you’re allergic to any of these chemicals, a simple patch test for trolamine (4) and a skin prick test for PEG and polysorbate (5).

So if you find yourself under an edict similar to ours here at the U, have allergies, and are looking for a way out, I recommend seeking out an allergist who will do these skin tests.  Not all allergists are equipped to do them.  My wife’s allergist, in private practice, said she did not have the tests and referred us to U of M allergy.  So our fingers are crossed.  There are many other reasons not to get the jab, but I’ll save those for another post.

As we used to say back in the Nixon years “Fight the power!”.

References

1.         Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.  COVID-19 vaccines and fetal cells.  April 21, 2021.  https://www.michigan.gov/documents/coronavirus/COVID-19_Vaccines_and_Fetal_Cells_031921_720415_7.pdf

2.         CDC.  COVID vaccines for people with allergies.  March 25, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/specific-groups/allergies.html

3.         From Ravell JC.  A simple breakdown of the ingredients in the COVID vaccines.  Hackensack Meridian Health.  Health U.  eNewsletter.  January 11, 2021.  https://www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/HealthU/2021/01/11/a-simple-breakdown-of-the-ingredients-in-the-covid-vaccines/

4.         Chemotechnique Diagnostics.  Dormer Laboratories Inc.  Triethanolamine patient information sheet.  http://www.dormer.com/Allergens/PDF/P_InfoEn/T-016.pdf

5.         Pitlick MM, Sitek AN, Kinate SA, Joshi AY, Park MA.  Polyethylene glycol and polysorbate skin testing in the evaluation of coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine reactions: Early report.  Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2021 Jun;126(6):735-738. doi: 10.1016/j.anai.2021.03.012. Epub 2021 Mar 26.  https://www.annallergy.org/article/S1081-1206(21)00188-5/fulltext

I hadn’t thought about Kinky Friedman – the Kinkster – for a long time. 

We’d had a CD stuck into the player in our Wrangler for years.  Today, it seemed to spring to life.  I guess all those jostlings on the back roads knocked it back into place.  And who were we trying to listen to way back then?  The Kinkster, his CD “Old Testaments and New Revelations” containing a lot of his old good stuff.  “We reserve the right to refuse service to you” got us laughing and wanting more.  That had to wait till later.  We had WCBN (the student’s network) Down Home Show to listen to.  That wonderful compendium of country music from across the spectrum and years is a can’t miss at our house.  Afterwards, we were hungry for some more country music, so I proposed a Kinky symposium.  We finished off the CD we’d had in the Jeep, enjoying some of his best*.  We have 2 other of his CDs “From one good American to another (’95)” and “Kinky Friedman’s bi-polar tour (’13)”.  For years we’ve had “Pearls in the snow (’98)”, a tribute album with other artists with better voices covering the Kinkster’s best.  I bought that album ‘cause Don Imus recommended it.  Kinkster was a regular on Imus; how I miss that old bastard.

Kinkster hasn’t confined his prodigious talents to music.  Yes, I’ve been watching him since college, when his “Get your biscuits in the oven and your buns in the bed” helped sum up my views on women’s liberation.  Kathy doesn’t like the tune.  My Wikipedia says it was Commander Cody who got him his big break in ’73.  No wonder I like him.  He’s written a number of mystery novels, which all sound like fun though I’ve never read any.  In 2006, he ran for governor of Texas.  He received 12.6% of the vote, placing fourth in the six-person race.  During the campaign, he offered a doll which would spout Kinky’s campaign phrases.  I bought it and have it somewhere.  I recall one of the slogans: “I support gay marriage.  They should have a right to be as miserable as the rest of us”.  He’s since made a couple of strong bids for Texas agricultural commissioner.

The Kinkster hasn’t toured for a while.  He’ll turn 77 in November.  He released a new album, “Resurrection”, 2 Octobers ago.  I’m hoping he’s just laying low till the Mr. Corona thing gets sorted out (think he’ll have something to say about that?).  In the meantime he’s got a treasure trove of recordings to tap into that harken back to a time when you could say what you think and think what you say.  Those were the days.

*A Kinky sampler

We reserve the right to refuse service to you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDFCBblV1Pk

Get you biscuits in the oven and your buns in the bed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gptq01MFVGQ

Ol’ Ben Lucas.  A surefire children’s classic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JRmKaGP9xc

Waitret please waitret.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ5QMyXyJ1g

Homo erectus.  Insight on teacher student realtionships.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WtLpglKNMQ

Asshole from El Paso https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BYky67PB-4

Then there’s his semi-serious songs

Wild man from Borneo (he did 2 years in the Peace Corps in Borneo) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3z3ML1WVoE

Ride ‘em jewboy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBewkqSdehQ

They ain’t makin’ jews like Jesus anymore https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FSWm67IhDU

Old home week* got even more fun, if that could be possible, when I read Kathy Forsythe’s e-mail Saturday morning asking “Do you have a blog?”.  Kathy, editor of the South County News, is writing a story for the August issue about Vicksburg and Vicksburg-connected folks who had self-published their books.  Kathy, VHS class of ’76 and an English teacher at the high school, assumed the post upon the passing of Sue Moore May before last.  Sue had cut her chops as a newshound doing child labor for her dad, Meredith Clark, publisher of the now defunct weekly Vicksburg Commercial ( 1).  In our ‘burg, news of doings at the high school were always a big deal, so I found myself in there a time or two.  I had ‘em send the paper to me at my dorm at Michigan, much to the amusement of my more sophisticated dorm mates.  Sue married Tim Moore of Simpson Lee Paper, with whom she begat Chris, who has come back to the ‘burg to transform the abandoned Simpson Lee paper mill into an entertainment and meeting venue, a garagantuan project (front page and pp24-33) (2).  One of the highlights of reunion weekend was a tour of the mill arranged for the classes of ’70 and ’71.  We were fortunate enough to have Tim in our tour group.  Mid tour, he sat and told us about the complex process of paper making.  He was joined by Chris, who didn’t say much, but clearly adored his dad.

Sue divorced Tim but remained a force in the village.  She was amongst a group of folks convened by Village president Bill Adams to bring forth a successor to the Commercial-Express, the last iteration of the Commercial, then owned by the Kalamazoo Gazette, who finally closed things down in 2012.  The group asked Sue to edit what emerged as South County News (3) in June 2013.  The monthly is every bit as charming and informative as the Commercial was, and features color!

I’d made it into SCN twice, once when Sue wrote about me (4), and a few months later when I wrote about her (5).  The paper is free, but I send ‘em a donation every so often and make it onto the back page on the list of supporters.

When I published my first book in May (6), I e-mailed Kathy Forsythe in case she wanted to tell her readers that that doctor from April 2020 had finished his project.  When I hadn’t heard from her in June, I e-mailed her again, hoping that that piece would be in the paper when members of the VHS class of ‘70 descended on the ‘burg for their 50^th plus one reunion*.  She wrote that that issue was full, but that she’d be writing a piece for the next month about locals who’d self published; all she wanted from me was a pic of me holding my book.  You got it Kathy!  I’m giving her 2 choices.

See you in the (funny) papers!

References

1.         Vicksburg Historical Society.  Vicksburg Commercial Newspaper Office and Print Shop.  History of Vicksburg Commercial Newspaper. https://vicksburghistory.org/vicksburg-commercial-newspaper-office-and-print-shop/.

2.         Mackinder L.  going in BIG.  Encore October 2019.  p24-33.  https://issuu.com/issuuencore/docs/encore_october19

3.         South County News.  https://southcountynews.org/

4.         Moore S.  Dr. Ike Plans to Write About 1968 Vicksburg Car Accident. South County News.  April 2020. https://southcountynews.org/2020/04/18/dr-ike-plans-to-write-about-1968-vicksburg-car-accident/

5.         Ike B.  Goodbye Sue.  South County News.  July 2020.  https://southcountynews.org/2020/07/09/goodbye-sue/

6..        Ike R.  Shameless plug.  theviewfromharbal.com.  5/19/21.  https://wordpress.com/post/theviewfromharbal.com/1417

My new dear friend, Judy, a Vicksburg classmate, was a medical transcriptionist.  She understood the lingo but took her understanding of COVID from the MSM.  I’ve been working on setting her straight.  When she came back from a recent exchange stating that was her understanding was that Plaquenil (which she had to look up as hydroxychloroquine) didn’t really work, I had to step in.  Here’s what I wrote.

So if you have my first book https://www.amazon.com/Musing-through-Pandemic-Year-Corona/dp/B098GV14KY/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=%22robert+ike%22&qid=1627004171&sr=8-3, you can answer a lot of your questions about Plaquenil.  There’s even a post – “1919” – describing a passage in a North Dakota medical journal describing the positive effects of quinine (precursor to Plaquenil) and salicylate (aspirin, an NSAID), in treating patients with Spanish flu.  The old is new again.  Plaquenil does not help patients already sick in the hospital get better.  Plaquenil is what you take, maybe with Zithromax, when you first come down with COVID.  The U was their stubborn assed selves, taking a very “anti” attitude when it looked like using it in hospitalized patients didn’t help.  Once you hit that ER door with respiratory problems, it’s too late, Jack.  The time for it was in the outpatient setting, which is where the corrupt useless AMA totally blew it.  The atmosphere got so bad that docs prescribing it at all were identified as pariahs.  This crap about taking it from the mouths of lupus and rheumatoid patients who truly needed it is total BS as the stuff is easy to make and the several manufacturers could just cook up their vats and make more, which is what they did.  PDJT took it and still got COVID, but he beat it in less than a week, helped along by some steroids and remsevidir.  That was standard treatment at the time, not something they ginned up just because he was Prez.  Some of the increased hospital numbers at the time rose because, instead of turning folks away till they got sicker, they brought them in for this treatment.  Later, the hospital numbers fell as they figured how to give this stuff as an outpatient.  I don’t know if you watch the Johns Hopkins site https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/state-timeline, but I follow ’em like sports scores.  In some states lately, there’s been a very slight uptick from an extremely low baseline in new cases.   Not in Michigan, but deaths remain flat.  As expected (to anyone who knows virology), the virus has mutated into an effete shadow of its former self, as happens with all viral epidemics!  Delta schmelta.  As would have happened with this one much earlier had they not tried to “flatten the curve”.  The once mighty and fearsome spike protein of the virus has gone flaccid with many mutations, which also means that immune systems primed to recognize it by those mRNA vaccines no longer do so and thus offer no protection against new strains.  So further vaccination is a waste of time.  Thus the outcry for reinstitution of restrictions and more vaccinations.  Give me a break. Let the fuckin’ virus run its course and go from a Wuhan bioweapon into another common cold agent where it started.  That’s where evolution is taking it.  As we so often say, not often enough, let nature take its course.  “Follow the science”, for chrissake.

I today brought home from Staples some paper copies of the second edition of my first little book The Accident so I could have some for the Kindle-less.  They look great but lack one functionality of a Kindle, the ability to access any link.  There are only four links in the book, two to songs that emphasize a point, and one to a book about the history of the village of Vicksburg, one to my Amazon author page, and an article in the local paper about my beginning research for this book.   I’ll be sticking the URL of this post inside the front cover of each book so readers can access those links by coming to this page.  After the obligatory reproduction of the book cover, I list those links.

Links:

Boz Scaggs’ “Fly like a bird” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge3s3QvRqco

Don White’s “More Alive” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_IZqQAUMxs

Dr. Schneider’s book: Dr. Arle Schneider.  A Tale of One Village.  Vicksburg, Michigan 1831-2000.  Vicksburg MI: Vicksburg Historical Society, 2004.  https://www.amazon.com/Tale-Village-Vicksburg-Michigan-1831-2000/dp/1893270270/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1E92UZDJMJRS2&keywords=%22A+Tale+of+One+Village.+Vicksburg%2C+Michigan+1831-2000+%22&qid=1671122188&sprefix=a+tale+of+one+village.+vicksburg%2C+michigan+1831-2000+%2Caps%2C231&sr=8-1

Dr. Ike’s Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B095CPDZGP?ref_=pe_1724030_132998070

South County News article https://southcountynews.org/2020/04/18/dr-ike-plans-to-write-about-1968-vicksburg-car-accident/