Month: March 2024

Until Covid came along, I had always felt that Natural Immunity was the real deal. That is what I learned in Med School, and prior to 2020, I pretty much thought that the concept of Natural Immunity was widely believed and accepted. 

But then somehow. all of the sudden, Natural Immunity somehow became  a mystery! All of the sudden if you had documented Covid, you were no longer immune to Covid, and needed a Covid vaccine. Let’s be clear, I am not an anti-vaxer, having had the two initial vaccines plus a booster, but I am a pro-natural immunity individual. One would think that after this long a period of time, this issue would be settled. Why is it still controversial? Could it be that rather than being a medical issue, it became a political issue? 

Just imagine all of the confusion that would have occurred if the long standing concept of the effectiveness of natural immunity had withstood the onslaught of political doubters! If “those who know best” would have come out and said that natural immunity to Covid was the real deal, what would have happened? … Chaos!!! If those who already had documented Covid were naturally immune and thus did not require a Covid vaccine, so be it. That makes sense. However, what about those who self tested at home. Would we have taken their word for it? How could their positivity be proven? … It couldn’t. 

So could it have been that because “those who knew best” saw the potential chaos coming, they decided to lie about the effectiveness of natural immunity? Hmmm … did their end justify their means? Perhaps in theory, this approach could be argued. However, were the penalties imposed on individuals because they had documented Covid and thus refused to be vaccinated justified? We’re they penalized because they were right?!

This retrospective question becomes even more important in light of a recent study summarized in the Epoch Times:

“People who recovered from COVID-19 and received a COVID-19 shot were more likely to suffer adverse reactions, researchers in Europe are reporting. Participants in the study were more likely to experience an adverse reaction after vaccination regardless of the type of shot, with one exception, the researchers found. Across all vaccine brands, people with prior COVID-19 were 2.6 times as likely after dose one to suffer an adverse reaction, according to the new study. Such people are commonly known as having a type of protection known as natural immunity after recovery.”

So to me, not only were “those who know best” wrong about the concept individual’s natural immunity, but also apparently their bullheadedness also caused those who had natural immunity to suffer more adverse reactions when they were forced to get the Covid vaccine!

3/18/24

On Sunday I write about individuals who we can admire. Today the honoree is Lynne Pinches, a British woman who has principles and stuck to these principles.

From Epoch Bright:

The World Eightball Pool Federation (WEPF) had said in August that transgender players would not be able to play against “naturally-born women” but has since reversed this decision.

This was the “nail in the coffin” for Lynne Pinches, … a U-turn by the sport’s governing body, the World Eightball Pool Federation (WEPF), on its transgender policy.

Pinches, who has been dubbed the “matriarch” of a pool and snooker-playing family, walked away from the chance of a national title in protest against facing a transgender player in November.

She shook hands with opponent Harriet Haynes, who identifies as transgender, before she put away her cue and conceded the final of the Women’s Champion of Champions tournament without playing a single shot.

Subsequently, Lynne Pinches, one of Britain’s top female pool players turned down a first-ever professional contract in protest at a decision to allow transgender players to compete.

Ms. Pinches, 51, was offered a place on the Ultimate Pool Tour—featuring the game’s top 32 players—but did not accept.

“I’m absolutely gutted that I’ve dropped out, my heart wants to be on the Ultimate Pool Tour. I feel excluded even though I’ve self-excluded,” Ms. Pinches, from Norwich, Norfolk, told BBC Sport.

“I’m sticking to my principles. I don’t want to face the transgender players who would be on that tour. I don’t think it’s fair.

“You can’t bring up the hopes of hundreds of women and say you’re going to have a female-only section in August, and then change that eight weeks later.”

A principled Brit? … You betcha!

3/17/24

In general when dealing with important  things in retrospect there may been a tipping point … something that has swung the situation in a certain direction. Going out on a limb, I am going to predict that the tipping point of a Trump presidential victory in November was the establishment of Laura Trump as co-chair of the RNC. Why do I think that? … because of an interview of her and her innovative plans for the RNC.

Among other things she talked about establishing an election integrity division, training poll workers, having attorneys actually in polling places, and warning potential cheaters that they will be prosecuted and held responsible. She also talked about early voting so that the late fraudulent last minute ballots will not be able to steal the election.

However, perhaps the most important thing that she is doing is bringing Scott Presser on board to help with Republican voter turnout.

Now while I am not familiar with Scott Presser, what he recently tweeted

is very encouraging.

From C&C:

So Laura Trump/Scott Presser/RNC combination is my tipping point. Don’t forget to give credit where credit is due after this November’s election!

3/16/24

I just read two items in the news. As usual for a contrarian I wonder if these two items are related, and if so, why? I am having a difficult time correlating #1 with “where did they send them” in #2.

#1- An effort by Senate Republicans to stop non-citizens, including illegal immigrants, from being counted on the census for the purposes of apportionment for House seats and the Electoral College was shot down later Friday after the measure failed to gain the support of a single Democrat.

From Fox News:

“Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., moved to include an amendment, attached to the $460 billion spending package, that would require the Census Bureau to include a citizenship question in any future census, and then bar anyone who isn’t a U.S. citizen from being counted for purposes of congressional district and Electoral College apportionment.

While the bill would also exclude legal immigrants on temporary visas and green cards from the census, the move has been undertaken explicitly to stop illegal immigrants from being counted amid millions of new arrivals at the southern border. It’s similar to a Trump-era effort to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census. Trump’s effort sparked widespread criticism and condemnation from Democrats and left-wing immigration groups who argued that a citizenship question was unlawful and was designed to help Republicans in future elections.”

#2 … From Issues & Insights:

“According to the Center for Immigration Studies, “U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has approved secretive flights that last year alone ferried hundreds of thousands of inadmissible aliens from foreign airports into some 43 American ones over the past year, all pre-approved on a cell phone app.”

This was not disclosed at a news conference or at the daily White House press briefing but learned through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that pried the information from an administration that clearly wanted to hide it.

It’s anyone’s guess as to where these aliens have landed. The CBP has withheld the names of the airports that “received 320,000 inadmissible aliens from January through December 2023.” It is also refusing to reveal which foreign airports the immigrants departed from.”

Now here is my question. Do the Democrats have a plan for the 2030 census? Did Joe Biden authorize sending these 320,000 illegals to airports in Red states or in Blue states?

Did Biden send them to Blue states to counterbalance the vast outmigration of actual U.S. citizens from a lot of Blue states, especially New York and California?

Or … did Biden send these 320,000 to Red states. Does he figure that by 2030 all of these illegals will be voting and thus could change the make-up of these Red states to Blue, as certainly these 320,000 will vote Democratic.

As I view this blatantly illegal gambit of secretly transporting these 320,000 individuals into the U.S. I cannot help but think that there is some master plan. I hope that this stealthy Biden maneuver does not involve a real insurrection by 320,000 young military aged illegals!  

3/15/24

www.californiacontrarian.com

As many of you may have already read my personal experience with using Ivermectin, perhaps the data put forth in a recently published paper will not be surprising.

The paper was published by the Journal of Infection on Feb. 29.

The study covered an open-label trial that involved 2,157 ivermectin recipients and 3,256 who received typical care from June 23, 2021, to July 1, 2022. Participants were randomized and reported symptoms and recovery.

A recent headline from Epoch Health:

“People Who Received Ivermectin Were Better Off, Study Finds”

Continuing from that same Epoch Health piece:

“People who tested positive for COVID-19 and took ivermectin as a treatment recovered faster than a comparison group, a new study found. The time to self-reported recovery was a median of two days faster among the ivermectin recipients, according to the large UK study. The quicker recovery period was statistically significant.

People who received ivermectin were also less likely to be hospitalized or die, with 1.6 percent of ivermectin recipients being hospitalized or dying versus 4 percent of the comparison group, which received typical care, which in the UK is largely focused on managing symptoms. Ivermectin recipients also enjoyed a reduction of severe symptoms and sustained recovery, according to the study.”

Of course, as expected, some recalcitrants downplayed the results of this study. However, from my personal experience after last Thanksgiving with taking Ivermectin for Covid, the recalcitrants be damned!

3/14/24

From the Washington Times:

Americans have long viewed a four-year college degree as essential to financial success, but a reportfinds that most graduates can’t find a job requiring a degree within a year of commencement.

The nonprofit Strada Institute for the Future of Work and the Burning Glass Institute reported this month that 52% of graduates were “underemployed” in food service, hospitality, retail sales, office administration and other fields a year after earning a bachelor’s degree. The study analyzed federal statistics, job postings and online resumes of more than 60 million U.S. workers.

Ten years after graduation, 45% still didn’t hold a job requiring college-level skills. By contrast, 79% of graduates who started their careers with college-level jobs still had such work five years later.

Perhaps this is merely an example of supply-demand imbalance. Because “those that know best” told everyone that a college degree was necessary to achieve success in life, we now have an over abundance of college graduates. If 79% of those who graduated college five years ago still have college level jobs, maybe at that time (five years ago) we had enough college graduates. 

So what did the “everyone should go to college” dictum get us? … A deluge of individuals who owe more money than they can expect to pay in a reasonable period of time, and a future in which there will be a drought of skilled plumbers, electricians, etc.

3/13/24

www.californiacontrarian.com

Unfortunately it seems that President Biden and the Dems have painted themselves into a corner as far as EVs are concerned. For a while I have been saying that EVs will not take over the auto market, and the other day I read something practical that encapsulated the way I feel about the future of EVs. 

From America Out Loud:

“The EV market hits the brakes as sales hit a speed bump!”

“The elites have bought EVs, and elites may continue to buy EVs, BUT we’re quickly running out of elites.

The current EV ownership profiles are reflected in the oligarchic elite owners are that they are:

• Highly educated.
• Highly compensated.
• Multi-car families.
• Low mileage requirements for the families’ second car, i.e., the EV.
• Reside in a “temperate” climate like CA or FL. Almost 40% of EVs are in CA, and CA has 6 times as many EVs as FL.”

However, the same truths about “elites” and EVs  will also start to soon apply to California. Whereas California certainly has a lot of elites, it also has quite a share of non-elites that are mostly owners of internal combustion engine vehicles, and they are dramatically different from most potential EV vehicle owners.

• Many are single-car owners,
• Most of the potential car buyers are not as highly educated.
• Nor as highly compensated as the elite EV owners.
• Mandating a change to EV ownership and forced austerity, may face a rebellion from those that need affordable vehicle transportation.

The average debt in America is almost $60,000 across credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, and student loans. The common folks need a workhorse vehicle, not just a second car toy that sits in the garage to be used on short ventures!

Mandating a change to EV ownership and further financial austerity onto those who can least afford it is facing a rebellion from those who need transportation. The problem is that manufacturers are loading up the “supply chain” with EVs on dealer lots, but they’re not seeing the “demand” for EVs coming from the public.”

And in a similar vein last week Apple announced that it was pulling out of the EV market despite working on an EV for ten years and investing $10 billion over that period of time. 

Does Apple know something or realize something that other makers of EVs do not?

3/12/24

www.californiacontrarian.com

Was the entire January 6th debacle a set-up?

For a long time now I have been suspicious both of what happened on January 6th and of the infamous subsequent January 6th Committee.

As everyone is aware those on the January 6th Committee were hand picked by Nancy Pelosi to make it appear bipartisan even though those chosen by Republicans were not allowed to be on that so-called “bipartisan” Committee. Those “Republican” members were way more far left than even typical RINOs.

On 3/10/24 I read something in BlazeMedia that only goes to further validate my suspicions. The headline read:

“Liz Cheney, Jan. 6 Committee suppressed key evidence of Trump pushing for 10,000 National Guard troops to protect Capitol: Report”

A transcribed interview conducted by the committee from January 2022 appears to show evidence that Trump urged Democrat leadership to bring in thousands of National Guard troops to prevent any widespread violence on Jan. 6, according to a new report from The Federalist.

Then-Deputy Chief of Staff Anthony Ornato was interviewed by the committee on Jan. 28, 2022. The transcripts show that he told Cheney and other investigators that he overheard White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows urge Democrat D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to request as many National Guard troops as she needed to protect the city before the demonstrations centered around the results of the 2020 presidential election.

“Ornato testified that Meadows ‘wanted to know if she need[ed] any more guardsmen.’

“And I remember the number 10,000 coming up of, you know, ‘The president wants to make sure that you have enough.’ You know, ‘He is willing to ask for 10,000.’ I remember that number,” Ornato told the January 6 Committee. “Now that you said it, it reminded me of it. And that she was all set. She had, I think it was like 350 or so for intersection control, and those types of things not in the law enforcement capacity at the time.

“As Blaze News previously reported in January, the Jan. 6 Committee has been accused of deleting password-protected files that contained “critical information” just days before Republicans seized the majority in the House of Representatives. (The former Democratic-led House Select Committee on January 6 allegedly deleted password-protected files that contained “critical information” just days before Republicans seized the majority in the House of Representatives, Fox News Digital reported on 1/22/24.)

So it appears that Trump basically begged for more National Guard, and that his requested number was denied, and the number of National Guard that was called up was slow-walked. … Hmmm!

Then not only did this “bipartisan” Committee ignore and dismiss testimony this contrary, but just to make sure that such info never came to light, the January 6th Committee allegedly deleted their password protected files! … Hmmm!

3/11/24

As many are aware on Sundays, I write about heroes that we can praise.

From Epoch Times, Bright:

Charlotte County Sheriff’s Deputy Dave Musgrove doesn’t normally work nights, but on this particular late evening, on Thursday, Feb. 8, he was patrolling near Englewood, Florida.

It was dark, around 7:30 p.m. He was driving in the right-hand lane when he was passed by a speeding motorcyclist—who had just moments to live.

Approaching from behind, the motorcycle zipped by him, moving at what the officer guessed to be about 100 miles per hour. As both vehicles continued down the road, they approached an intersection.

“I saw a bright flash up ahead of me and a cloud of smoke,” Deputy Musgrove later told Fox News, describing what unfolded.

Within seconds of his arrival at the intersection, it was obvious that the motorcycle had collided with a car near the median. 

“My initial reaction was trying to find the motorcyclist,” Deputy Musgrove told the station. “But then I heard Kayleigh screaming.”

A mother, Kayleigh Foley, and her two babies were trapped inside the car that had been hit by the motorcycle. As Deputy Musgrove is seen approaching, her desperate screams can be heard, calling for him to save her two baby daughters.Her 3-year-old is still alive in the backseat. The officer manages to free her, yet he cannot leave the little girl unattended at the busy intersection while continuing to save the family.Speaking to Fox News later, he expressed gratitude for two bystanders who stopped, a mother and a man named Hunter, who held the toddler as he continued rescuing the family.Ms. Foley is heard hysterically pleading for her 6-month-old, who is still trapped in the back seat. Deputy Musgrove finds her in the car seat—trapped under the body of the deceased motorcyclist inside the car.After managing to free the baby from the wreckage, the deputy’s work is not done yet. He finds the infant isn’t breathing and begins chest compressions on her while bystanders hold back the terrified mom.

Finally, the tense moment gives way to hope as Deputy Musgrove hears the 6-month-old take a deep breath. Just then, EMS arrives.EMS take over the lifesaving efforts and soon detect a pulse, immediately informing the waiting, worried mother. Though in critical condition, the baby is doing well.

Deputy Musgrove is a true hero, saving a three-year old and a six-month old in a span of just a few minutes!

3/10/24

Granted although I was a practicing physician for many years, in no way, shape, or form do I profess to have expertise in infectious diseases. Likewise, I am certainly not an ‘anti-vaccer,’ having gotten flu-shots every year for close to fifty-five years including this year, and similarly having gotten the initial Covid vaccinations (the first two plus one booster).

Today I read an interesting article from The Hill, entitled:

“Is it long COVID or long vax? Does the government want to know?”

The gist of this article is that while there certainly appears to be what is called, “Long Covid,” a large portion of patients with this group of symptoms relate the onset to the Covid vaccine.

From the article (The Hill, 3/6/24) one of the two authors states:

“In two years, the practice has evaluated and treated over 1,000 individuals. Approximately 70 percent of these patients said their reported symptoms occurred in the minutes, hours, days and weeks after COVID vaccination, as opposed to after COVID infection. This could be tied to a new condition that’s flown under the radar until recently.

“This syndrome, dubbed “long vax,” is just starting to make its way into the medical literature. Dr. Harlan Krumholz at the Yale School of Medicine published a survey of 241 patients who described post-COVID vaccination symptoms of exercise intolerance, excessive fatigue, numbness, brain fog and neuropathy, a nervous system disorder that can cause pain, tingling sensations, numbness or weakness. Long COVID patients were excluded from the study, which is now undergoing peer review.”

As part of my Hippocratic Oath, I occasionally feel somewhat obligated  to report on pertinent medical issues that are unlikely to be mentioned in the Main Stream Media (MSM). Dollars-to-Donuts because this new info goes against what the MSM has been lecturing to us about for the last few years, the issue of “long vax” will not make it to WaPo, the NYT, USA Today, etc. in the foreseeable future!

3/9/24