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What you are going to read is not meant to represent in any way, shape, or form a scientific study. It is not a scientific study, but merely an anecdotal Covid/Ivermectin experience … my personal Covid/Ivermectin experience.

As background, I am a retired 78+ years old physician with hypertension and prostate cancer, meaning that as far as Covid is concerned, I am not in a low risk group. I am double vaccinated and received one Covid booster before my first Covid infection almost two years ago.

Where I picked up my recent Covid infection is not a focus of this story, but it is rather that Covid is still present among us.

Before I get to my use of ivermectin, as background, my symptoms of extreme fatigue, sleepiness, nasal stuffiness, headache, cough, and no appetite began two days prior (day -2). All of these symptoms progressed significantly through the following day (day -1), culminating in a Covid self test late that evening. The self test was positive.

On the following morning (day 0) I obtained an Ivermectin four-pack and took my first dose at approximately ten a.m. About two hours later I tried and actually held down some sips of coffee. (My prior attempts to ingest some caffeine  had been ineffective because after only a sip or two of either coffee or cola, I would immediately vomit) Within an hour or so my caffeine withdraw headache was gradually alleviated and did not recur. 

By two p.m. on day 0, (four hours after my initial dose of Ivermectin) I felt well enough to drink an entire cup of coffee and eat a small portion of a Cheese Danish. I slept most of that afternoon, but when I awakened at five p.m., I was starting to feel better – so much so that I actually had some appetite and was able to eat a small plate of my wife’s Chinese chicken salad.

Whereas my prior night had been horrific with only short spurts of sleep mainly interrupted by nasal congestion and coughing spells, my sleep on night 1 consisted of two separate but continuous four hour bouts of sleep separated by one plus hour during which I actually read. That was the first time since the onset of my symptoms that I had any interest in reading.

Upon waking up on day 2 I was able to drink my a.m. cup of coffee but then I had to take a nap after being up less than two hours. Before napping I took my second dose (day 2) of Ivermectin. Upon awakening a few hours later my cough was practically gone but I still had continuing nasal congestion and it’s accompanying dripping. Later in the afternoon I noted that my mental alertness was much improved … enough so that I could continue my daily writing. That afternoon (day 2) I was able to take a shower. On the evening of day 2 I had my usual pre-Covid late afternoon beer followed by chili for dinner as my appetite was back to about 80%. That evening I watched college basketball (Kansas vs UConn) on TV, and was able to stay awake until just past 8:30. On night 2 I slept better than usual – uninterrupted for over nine hours. 

On awakening on the morning of day 3 I felt pretty good. Not 100% normal, but close. On this third day I was not scheduled to take any Ivermectin as the dose and the day-to-day schedule was determined by my weight. Coffee followed by a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Watched the a.m. Marquette-Wisconsin basketball game on TV. Had a ham sandwich for lunch, took a forty-five minute nap, and then walked outside at a modest pace for more than five minutes. Other than my shower, that was my first off the couch endeavor for more than thirty seconds since the morning of day -2.

On day 3 my usual late afternoon beer was accompanied by some snack mix, and that was followed by a large plate of Chinese chicken salad. With the cough and nasal congestion pretty much gone, I slept well again that night.

On 4 and day 5 I took my last two doses of daily Ivermectin as was indicated by my weight. My strength and stamina continued to improve. On day 4 I walked to the neighborhood park and back (1800+ steps). On day 5, I increased my walking to almost thirty minutes (over 2700 steps) with no symptoms and no residual. Day 4 was topped off with an after dinner glass of scotch. I felt back to normal.

As I stated before, this personal Covid/Ivermectin story is not meant to be scientific, however, since I did have Covid once before, is it possible that I could I serve as my personal control. For what it’s worth in January, 2021 when I had my first episode of Covid, I had no Ivermectin. Back then I spent four consecutive days in bed, and it took well over a week for me to feel strong enough to attempt to walk outside. 

In my mind there is no doubt that taking Ivermectin led to a shortened illness, as well as an overall quicker recovery. I felt fortunate that I was able to get my contraband Ivermectin, however this begs the question as to why Ivermectin was not available to everybody. Why did our government do its best to prevent the use of Ivermectin by the general public? For those perhaps unaware Ivermectin has been safely used in Africa in Billions of people for river blindness (onchocerciasis).

Here the emphasis is on Billions with a ‘B’ and “safely.” Likewise in Australia Ivermectin has been used safely in children for epidemic head lice. Here the emphasis  is on “children” and “safely.” During the Covid pandemic many countries, e.g. Peru, Japan, India found the use of Ivermectin to be beneficial for Covid, and in some countries it was available over the counter, e.g. El Salvador. 

Again the question … If Ivermectin has been safely used in very large numbers throughout the world, why was it not available to us common folk in the U.S.? As my recent infection indicates, Covid is obviously still with us. However, how come Ivermectin isn’t readily available? In my mind, based on my personal experience, I feel that the use of Ivermectin during the Covid pandemic would have helped many people, and could possibly have saved lives. … How many? 

I suspect there will never be adequate answers to these questions, and now the use of Ivermectin for Covid is no longer even being talked about. To me, this continued silence is very suspicious, and certainly suggests something very underhanded occurred with respect to Ivermectin and its potential benefit for Covid.

I just read an interesting story out of Illinois. 

New legislation in Illinois would allow individuals receiving blood donations to know whether they’re receiving blood from an individual vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine or another mRNA vaccine.

From Epoch Health:

“Bill HB 4243 introduced on Nov. 29 by Illinois state Rep. Jed Davis, amends the Illinois Clinical Laboratory and Blood Bank Act and would require blood banks to test donated blood for evidence of COVID-19 vaccines and other mRNA components, including lipid nanoparticles and spike protein—and requires a blood donor to disclose during each donor screening process whether they have received a COVID-19 vaccine or any other mRNA vaccine during their lifetime.

Additionally, the bill imposes labeling requirements for blood or blood components that test positive for evidence of a COVID-19 vaccine or other mRNA vaccine component or were obtained from a donor who received a COVID-19 vaccine or other mRNA vaccine.

“HB4243 does not criminalize individuals who donate blood if they’ve received a COVID-19 vaccine. It merely allows people receiving blood products to know whether the blood they’re receiving came from a vaccinated individual and requires blood blanks to add this information to product labels so that patients can make informed decisions.”

Of course the powers that be are against this idea.

The Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies, America’s Blood Centers, and the American Red Cross do not believe COVID-19 vaccines pose a risk to patients receiving blood transfusions. In a joint statement issued on Jan. 26, the three organizations said there is no “scientific evidence that demonstrates adverse outcomes from the transfusions of blood products collected from vaccinated donors and, therefore, no medical reason to distinguish or separate blood donations from individuals who have received a COVID-19 vaccination.”

Only two disagreements with the above proclamations. Is there “no scientific evidence” because none has been looked for? A true scientific study would involve randomization and follow-up. If this has been done, I do not see the highfalutin blood organizations quoting such a study.

Secondly, it has not been nearly long enough to determine if there will be any adverse outcomes from the blood taken from vaccinated donors.

In a practical sense, how big a deal would it be to ask one additional question of donors? … “Have you received a Covid vaccine?”

For the vast majority of us who have been Covid vaccinated, as a blood recipient, this additional question would be of no import, but for some of us, it could be quite important.

What I find especially interesting about the idea encompassed in 

HB 4243 is that it is coming out of Illinois, of all places!

12/15/23

For most of you it is pretty clear that I do not watch CNN. However, thanks to C&C, I did watch a short clip of Vivek Ramaswamy being interviewed on CNN Townhall. Despite the host continually interrupting him, he did put forth a reasonable case that the “J6 insurrection” was a case of entrapment by the government. 

To begin with he recounts the times in the recent past that the government has lied to its citizens, e.g. the origins of Covid, the now well verified Hunter Biden laptop, the Trump-Russia collusion falsehood. 

Why did the government only release 12 hours of J6 footage when the now released additional 200 hours shows the government firing rubber bullets and teargas into the crowd? Was this to purposefully antagonize some in the crowd as and to entrap some to enter the Capitol once the red carpet was rolled out?

Ramaswamy also said that there were law enforcement agents in the crowd. Were these agents provoking or encouraging some to go into the Capitol? More entrapment?

To me it has always seemed bizarre that Nancy Pelosi refused more protection for the Capitol. Did she know what was subsequently going to happen? Again, entrapment? Similarly,the Mayor of Washington D.C. refused to okay more protection for the area. Did she know ahead of time what was likely to happen? Was she also involved in an entrapment scenario? This is a lot of speculation on my part, but if entrapment does indeed turn out to be the case, I will not be surprised!

12/14/23

As some of you are aware Argentina has a new president, Javier Milei, who was overwhelmingly elected last month and who was sworn in on 12/10/23.  MSM has described Milei as “far right,” as well as a libertarian economist. However, he was elected with a promise to do something to stop Argentina’s drastic inflation.

Not mentioned at all in my local “newspaper,” and only alluded to in the Washington Post is what Javier Milei did almost immediately after being sworn in.

However, the People’s Gazette ran a story headlined, “Argentina’s President Javier Milei reduces ministries from 18 to nine on first day in office. The sub-headline added, “President Milei immediately streamlined his government, consolidating federal ministries from 18 to nine on his first day in office.”

From BlazeMedia:

“Ministry of Tourism and Sports — out!” he said, tearing a ministry name tag off a whiteboard. “Ministry of Culture — out! Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development — out! Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity — out! Ministry of Public Works — out, even if you resist!”

Milei also tore off the tags denoting the Ministries of Science, Technology, and Innovation; Labor, Employment, and Social Security; Education; Transportation; Health; and Social Development.

As elucidated in Jeff Childers’ C&C:

“So yesterday, as his first official act after being sworn in, Milei fulfilled one of his grandest campaign promises and chainsawed the size and expense of his country’s federal government. He told Argentinians that righting the economic ship would be painful for a while, but the government would share their pain.

In other words, Milei is pursuing a radical conservative scheme of deregulation and privatization. He will be opposed by every leftwing group in the world seeking to ensure it fails, so that Argentina won’t become some kind of example to the rest of the world.”

Hopefully after Trump gets sworn in in January, 2025, he will do something similar in terms of our bloated federal government.

12/13/23

From the git-go let me be clear. I do not own an electric vehicle nor do I have plans to buy one. Also let me be clear I do not make it a habit to read Politico, which leans strongly to the left politically. However, on 12/5/23 I came across an interesting and revealing Politico piece titled

“Congress provided $7.5B for electric vehicle chargers. Built so far: Zero.”

In other words the pie-in-the-sky plan to have EV charging stations everywhere is just not happening.

In a June study, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory projected the U.S. will need 1.2 million public chargers by 2030 to meet charging demand, including 182,000 fast chargers. To repeat …”not happening!”

From the Politico article …

“Congress at the urging of the Biden administration agreed in 2021 to spend $7.5 billion to build tens of thousands of electric vehicle chargers across the country, aiming to appease anxious drivers while tackling climate change. Two years later, the program has yet to install a single charger.

“Getting chargers up and running across the country is essential to reaching President Joe Biden’s goal of having half the vehicles sold in the United States be electric by the end of the decade — a key cog of his climate agenda. Americans consistently say the lack of charging infrastructure is one of the top reasons they won’t buy an electric car.”

In my opinion these government inspired EV mandates are a boondoggle that is destined to fail, and the lack of charging stations is only one of the reasons. When one thinks logically about the logistics of implementing such a nationwide program, to me it is apparent that it will be impossible north of the Mason-Dixon Line, because there is just not a consistent amount of year ‘round sunshine to provide the energy to power millions of EVs in the more northern parts of this country. Likewise until there is a feasible way to store the energy produced by solar panels, in northern states, EVs may run in the summer, but not in the winter.

Similarly, there is an urban-rural disconnect. In cities with a vertical population there is no possible way provide the electric fuel for all of the cars owned by those living in these high rise buildings. Furthermore in rural locales, conveniently spaced charging stations would be a must … and as Politiconotes, this is just not happening.

Here again I find myself agreeing with Donald Trump who has railed against subsidies for EVs and the infrastructure that powers them, arguing the market should dictate what type of car Americans drive. But he has also relentlessly attacked EVs for their range and the dearth of chargers — the issue Biden is aiming to solve with the infrastructure law funds, which not surprisingly is not happening!

12/12/23

The other day I heard an old song by Crosby, Stills, and Nash, titled “Teach Your Child.” By pure serendipity that same morning I had read an article on Townhall, titled, “Liberal Parenting Contributes to Mental Illness in Kids.”

It appears to me that there are ongoing societal mental health problems, and these issues seem to be worsening. The causes for this are multifactorial, but could one reason be the increasing number of liberal parents?

From Townhall:

“A widely ignored study from Gallup and the Institute for Family Studies shows that children who are raised in politically liberal households are more likely to suffer mental health problems than kids from conservative homes. 

In the study synopsis Parenting is the Key to Adolescent Mental Health, author Jonathan Rothwell focuses on different parenting styles and how they affect child development. The study then correlates these styles with political ideology and mental illness among children. 

The parenting style spread between liberal and conservative parents is not small. “Just 40% of liberal parents scored above average on the index, whereas 71% of very conservative parents and 56% of conservative parents did,” notes the report. Researchers also found that, “Very conservative parents are also somewhat more likely to report giving their child hugs and kisses every day. Generally speaking, political conservatism is associated with more responsive and discipline-oriented parenting.”

Could this outcome difference as far as the mental health of adolescents   be related to religion?

Still from Townhall::

“Perhaps unsurprisingly, political conservatives are more likely than liberals to identify as religious. Gallup released a study on politics and religion on September 1, 2023, and found that 81% of Republicans are Protestant or Roman Catholic, while 61% of Democrats similarly identified. The study also revealed that 26% of Democrats reported no religious affiliation at all compared with just 11% of Republicans.”

The increasing secularity of liberal Democrats suggests to me that perhaps they should listen to Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and teach their children … religion!

12/11/23

On Sundays I pay tribute to someone who deserves our praise. Levi Williams is such an individual. 

For background, Levi Williams originally from Canyon Lake, Texas is a college football quarterback at Utah State University (USU). His college career began at University of Wyoming, and in 2021 he transferred to USU where his college career was not memorable until the last game of this year’s regular season in which he led the USU Aggies to a thrilling double-overtime win over the New Mexico Lobos. He had 351 total yards, including 153 yards carrying, and accounted for a staggering five touchdowns against the Lobos. Even after he botched a snap in the second overtime, the junior quarterback picked it up and ran 13 yards for the game-winning score. His performance in that game was so remarkable that Williams was named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week and one of eight Manning Award Stars of the Week. That Saturday win also brought the Aggies’ record to 6-6, making them bowl-eligible.

From BlazeMedia:

Though listed as a junior as far as football eligibility Williams has already graduated from USU. On the Monday following the thrilling overtime victory Levi Williams announced that he intends to begin Navy SEAL training shortly after the Aggies’ bowl game.

“It’s something that took a lot of thought and consideration,” he said. “I love football and it’s so great, but I knew eventually it was going to come to an end. With the timeline of training and stuff, it just works out perfectly to end it this year.”

Williams, whose mother and grandparents also served in the military, added that patriotic fervor played a significant part in his decision. “I just want to be in a spot where I can protect this great country, where we get to play football with the freedom to do that,” he said. “I think this is the best country in the world. So I’d like to keep it that way and protect it as long as I can.”

Rather than shy away from the challenge, though, Williams seems to embrace it, as well as the opportunity to serve alongside other devoted patriots. “What I love about [the SEALs’] ethos and their motto is that no one guy is better than the other.

“It takes all of them to complete a mission.”

Kudos to Levi Williams, and good luck in his next career.

12/10/23

“We’re going to see more and more of these cases,” said Charles LiMandri. What kind of cases is he referring to? And who is Charles LiMandri?

For starters he is a very prominent San Diego-based lawyer whose firm represents “detransitioners.” LiMandri continued, “These lawsuits are rightfully a huge threat to the ‘gender-affirming care industry’ because they are exposing the dark side of a dangerous agenda that is hurting an untold number of vulnerable teens.”

On 12/523 Valerie Richardson of The Washington Times reported  that an increasing number of people have “detransitioned” or stopped identifying with “transgenderism.” 

These “detransitioners” include Soren Aldaco, Chloe Cole, and Prisha Mosley. All three “were prescribed drugs and underwent breast removals in their teens to adopt [a male] identity and later realized they preferred” being women. 

Richardson continued, “They are suing the medical professionals who signed off on puberty blockers, hormone therapies and surgeries. They accuse the physicians of rushing them into gender-reassignment treatment as a fix for their mental health problems without adequate screenings or warnings about the long-term physical and psychological risks.”

One of the three, Soren Aldaco, is autistic.I was surprised to learn that according to a recent study, “people who identify as ‘transgender’ or ‘non-binary’ are three to six times more likely to have autism than people who do not.”

Are these situations in which a psychiatric problem was treated with surgery?

As best I can tell there are no long term studies of the natural history of transgenderism. Should these individuals be treated while still in their teens, or is it best to wait until the individual is old enough to decide, or is it best to do nothing?

There are a number of issues that need to be addressed with these cases. All three of these girls underwent transgender treatment when they were teens, and at that age should not have been able to make an informed decision to proceed. So where were the parents? Realistically, the parents of these girls likely have no experience with this sort of problem, and in fairness to Chloe’s parents not surprisingly supposedly  succumbed to the ultimatum: “would you rather have a dead daughter or a live son?” To me this is an example of a medical practitioner unfairly putting the ultimate guilt trip on the parents … if this is what was actually said.

Mark my words, these cases will be blockbuster cases one way or the other. If any one of the three is settled or won by the protagonists, there will be an unending deluge of additional cases brought by unhappy de-transitioners, and this could go on ad infinitum!! 

It’s only a matter of time!

Stay tuned!

12/9/23

I do not often comment on medical issues, and I do not recall commenting on something of a medical nature coming out of Japan. However when I read a study conducted by the University of Tsukuba in Japan and published in GeroScience, I immediately thought of Joe … Joe Biden, that is.

From Epoch Health:

“The Japanese study sought to discover natural compounds that could improve age-related cognitive decline. Considering that roughly two out of three Americans experience some degree of cognitive restriction by the time they reach 70 years of age, maintaining brain health is often a significant and valid concern as we age.”

On a practical sense everyone who pays attention realizes that Joe Biden is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. The question is whether it is too late for the results of this Japanese study to help Joe B.

Again from Epoch Health:

“Researchers found that trigonelline significantly improved spatial learning and memory in aged mice. It was also found to support multiple pathways within the nervous system, decrease inflammation within the brain, and increase neurotransmitter levels.

“Previous studies have shown that trigonelline promotes the regeneration of cells within the neurons of the brain. This suggests that trigonelline can not only help sustain brain health but even improve it. At the same time, it inhibits the formation of certain byproducts which may cause neurological cell death. These two functions ultimately result in better memory capacity and improved cognition by preserving brain cells and supporting their optimal functioning as we get older.”

At this point you are probably admitting that you have never heard of trigonelline, and I admit that prior to reading about it yesterday, I also was clueless about trigonelline.

“Trigonelline is a naturally occurring compound found in various plants. A byproduct of Vitamin B3 (also known as niacin), trigonelline is often found in high levels in coffee beans, and in the Japanese radish.”

Since the Japanese radish is not readily available, perhaps Joe should drink more coffee … or perhaps eat more coffee flavored ice cream! 

Actually I think that Joe is well beyond that point. It is very doubtful that Joe’s brain function can be helped by drinking more Joe.

12/8/23

“The economy, stupid” is a phrase that was coined by James Carville in 1992. It is often quoted from a televised quip by Carville as “It’s the economy, stupid.” Carville was a strategist in Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 U.S. presidential election against incumbent George H. W. Bush.

With the Presidential election now less than a year away, how is the economy doing? More apropos how are the voting citizens doing? Anyone who is not an elitist is probably aware that Biden’s inflation is a killer! Even though inflation is not as bad as it was last year, it is still continuing ongoing inflation. The politicians can tell us that things are now under control, but those of us who are living in this inflation spiral, know that things are not under control. 

From Fox Business:

“Since January, 2021 groceries are up 20%, electricity is up 24%, gas is up 48%, and fuel/heating oil is up 75%.

Furthermore 61% of Americans reportedly living paycheck-to-paycheck, 

Inflation, mortgage rates over 7% and credit card APR’s north of 20% have pushed all income brackets into living paycheck to paycheck, according to a new survey from LendingClub Bank.

Many of these individuals are able to survive by using their credit card more and more, as Americans are putting the tab of the debt-driven inflation on the credit card because they can’t afford the cost of living, so credit card debt has now surged past $1 trillion.

To make the overall national situation even worse, from BlazeMedia:

Along with the $33.7 trillion in federal debt, we have a record $17.29 trillion in household debt, $12.14 trillion in mortgages (nearly double the pre-housing-crash peak in 2007), and a shocking $1.6 trillion in auto loans.”

From the Epoch Times:

President Biden is at a critical moment in his re-election bid with Election Day less than a year away and poll after poll shows the majority of Americans disapprove of how he has handled the economy. 

Bankrate’s recent survey has revealed that about 9 out of 10 Americans say the economy will play a pivotal role in who they vote for in the 2024 presidential election.

And to top it off … the U.S. poverty rate saw the largest one year increase in history!

If what James Carville said over thirty years ago is as true now as it was in 1992 -> good riddance, Joe Biden!

12/7/23

californiacontrarian