Michael Prescott's Blog

Guest post: The mirror and the light

I really enjoyed this well-written and thoughtful comment that appeared in a thread on my Facebook page, and with the permission of the author, Emiliano Pardo Saguier, I'm posting it here.

Emiliano was responding to my downbeat remarks about the psychological toll that this extended period of national house arrest is taking on me.

(The title of the post is mine, and is a reference to Hillary Mantel's latest [and final] book in her trilogy on Thomas Cromwell.)

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These recommendations are not meant to make light of your intellectual acumen, nor are they made in jest. With the assumed proviso that you will take this with good cheer, I say:

Go outside. If you have a yard, or an open private space of any kind, sunbathe in the hours between 10-12 PM, or so. Expose as much unprotected skin as you can to maximize vitamin D production — to be frank, twenty-or-so minutes in the midday sun should prove more than sufficient if you're bone-white like me.

There are myriad unknown benefits to sun exposure. Many of the mechanisms of the benefits that are known are a mystery too, but it's been theorized that vitamin D (which is notably useless as a supplement) is not the cause of all the benefits from sun exposure, but rather one of its byproducts. It's indeed a marker that you're getting enough of it, but not the only net positive.

For one, you'll be in much better spirits, and have improved focus and concentration. Having increased vitamin D levels won't hurt either; there's pretty strong evidence to suggest that most in the Western industrialized world are lacking in it. Your immune level will improve by leaps and bounds, which you would want in any old year, but especially in 2020. There's solid epidemiological data that backs high vit D as one of the greatest barriers against COVID-19 complications.

These may seem like painfully obvious suggestions, and you may already be following them, but they've worked wonders for me. I've been soaking up more rays than I had ever gotten in my 36 years, and I've found sun exposure to be the silver bullet against an all-abiding state of dejection and depression. I've also been on more flights since this whole crisis started than I'd been in the past five years combined, and I haven't had more than a few sniffles, or a couple coughs back in March.

For human stupidity and irrationality, I have nothing. We're just a bunch of apes, too afraid to die, too afraid to live, it seems. The world is now stuck in this stupid, useless, deadly paralysis.

And while people blindly follow the official story, even revolutionaries and Bernie-bros, we continue to circle the drain, ever closer to the big gulp.

My only solace in this situation is the few contrarian, non-conspiratorial voices rising from the din and being reasonable. Maybe one day, voices like yours will be hailed as the actual heroes in all this mess.

Don't hold your breath, though. We know this is all the fault of Trump, global warming, the Left, the Right, the Pope, the Church, CO₂ emissions, climate skeptics, climate believers, SJWs, alt-righters, and that guy who sneezed on me at LAX.

Never of the stupid, gullible asshole in the mirror.

Strange days

In a comments thread, I recommended a Twitter feed by a contrarian journalist named Alex Berenson, who's covering the coronavirus outbreak and its ramifications. Berenson can be a little snarky, but I guess snark goes with the territory on Twitter. He seems to have libertarian leanings and may overstate his case at times, but overall I find his point of view refreshing and the facts that he digs up and highlights quite revealing. (Rather than link to posts supporting each point made below, I'll just refer you to his Twitter feed, where you'll find all of them.)

Berenson's focus lately is on a) the threat to civil liberties and b) the damage to our economy, but his predicate is that the virus has not come close to matching the modelers' projections. He points out, among other things, that outside New York City, many hospitals are furloughing staff because admissions are way down; that the models have consistently been revised downward even though "full social distancing" was assumed from the start (contrary to some media apologetics); that children are at virtually no risk, and most people under 50 are at minimal risk: that in many states the number of people hospitalized is stable at around two or three hundred, yet increasingly draconian and even Kafkaesque measures are being taken; and that the epidemic seems to have plateaued throughout most of the world, including the US. He also links to preliminary studies suggesting that the virus is already widespread throughout the population, which would imply that many of us already have immunity.

Some people say that government lockdowns are no big deal because people would be taking precautions anyway. If this is true, why do we even need the lockdowns? Clearly, people would take precautions; equally clearly, they would not allow their lives to come to a complete halt. They would steer a middle course – something that governments at all levels are apparently incapable of doing.

Just this morning, I read a report that the supply of pork and other meat products is running low, and there may be shortages soon, because lockdown orders have closed meatpacking plants. Food shortages in the US in 2021 isn’t something I expected to see. I wonder how complacent people will be about "the new normal" when they realize the food is running out.

Even the New York Times is starting to worry about the rise of authoritarianism in respond to the virus. A little late, since they helped fuel the panic ...

Meanwhile the federal response is being orchestrated by the estimable Dr. Fauci, a man who believes we should never shake hands again, and who ponders the idea of people carrying immunity certificates to produce for the authorities. ("Show us your papers, citizen!") In other words, he is a fanatic on the subject of germs. This perhaps is to be expected in an epidemiologist, but it's the kind of tunnel vision that doesn't make for good public policy. Nevertheless, because Fauci is an "expert" who's climbed the greasy pole of the federal bureaucracy to its summit, he can put the entire country under indefinite house arrest. Isn't democracy wonderful?

Did you know there are drones in Elizabeth, New Jersey, that overfly public areas and, when they spot people outside, reel off a recorded order to disperse? The looming food shortages remind me of Soylent Green; the drones remind me of Robocop. Both movies are dystopian, and I don't want to live in either of them. I’m 59, which puts me at higher than average risk, but what scares me is not the coronavirus but the sheeplike compliance of the American public. A country that can be frightened this easily by a disease that mainly affects the elderly and will probably have a death toll comparable to, or lower than, a severe strain of seasonal flu can no longer call itself "the home of the brave." A country that allows itself to be quarantined in perpetuity on the basis of computer models that have already proven wrong is hardly "the home of the free."

Incidentally, for three years we’ve heard from the left and the media that Trump is itching to institute martial law, suspend the Constitution, and rule as a dictator, if only he can find a pretext. Well, he’ll never have a better chance than he has now. Why hasn’t he taken it? Could it be that he never wanted to be a dictator? Is it possible that the left and the media have been hyperventilating over nothing? Is there a chance they're doing exactly the same thing about the virus now?

I continue to think we're in the grip of a social mania precipitated by a hysterical press and panicky (or sometimes maliciously destructive) politicians. It's like other manias I’ve witnessed, although more far-reaching in its effects. Remember the hysteria over millions of children being kidnapped by strangers? (Nearly all of the so-called kidnappings were routine custody disputes.) Remember the widespread terror about satanic rituals and sexual abuse at preschools? (The impressionable tots were only repeating tall tales that police and prosecutors suggested to them.) Remember Y2K? Or bird flu, which the esteemed Neil Ferguson of Imperial College predicted would kill 200 million worldwide? (The actual number was less than a thousand. So he was a little off. Nevertheless, the media continue to describe him as "the gold standard" of computer modeling.)

We live in strange, and deeply stupid, times. But perhaps this has always been true.

Of mice and men

Reuters reports on a promising innovation in cancer therapy, which has yielded 100% survival rates among cancer-stricken mice. 

The therapy, published in the latest Nature Biotechnology journal, sees mini-cells called EDVs (EnGenelC Delivery Vehicle) attach and enter the cancer cell.

The first wave of mini-cells release ribonucleic acid molecules, called siRNA, which switch off the production of proteins that make the cancer cell resistant to chemotherapy.

A second wave of EDV cells is then accepted by the cancer cell and releases chemotherapy drugs, killing the cancer cell.

"The beauty is that our EDVs operate like 'Trojan Horses.' They arrive at the gates of the affected cells and are always allowed in," said [Dr. Jennifer] MacDiarmid.

"We are playing the rogue cells at their own game. They switch-on the gene to produce the protein to resist drugs, and we are switching-off the gene which, in turn, enables the drugs to enter." ...

The Nature report said the mini-cells were "well tolerated with no adverse side effects or deaths in any of the actively treated animals, despite repeated dosing."

Human trials will start next week in Australia. Could this be the beginnng of the end for cancer?  

Sneezes in the breezes

Allergy season is nearly upon us, and in some parts of the country it's already here. Many people suffer from hay fever and similar allergies, but a surprising number of them seem to be unaware of an over-the-counter allergy medicine that really works. It's called Nasalcrom (cromolyn sodium).

Nasalcrom comes in a spray bottle. You squirt it into your nostrils. It inhibits the mast cells (mastocytes) in the sinuses from reacting to pollen and other irritants. If the mast cells don't react, allergy symptoms won't develop.

Most other allergy treatments address the symptoms of allergies - runny nose, sneezing, etc. Nasalcrom addresses the source of the problem.

It's not habit-forming and has no side effects. Generic versions are also available. If your local drugstores don't carry it, Nasalcrom can be ordered online.

Why don't more people use Nasalcrom? Part of the reason may be that it takes a while to become effective. You have to use it for a week or two and let it build up over time. Some people seem to lack the patience; they try it for a couple of days, get no relief, and give up.

Also, Nasalcrom is most effective when you start taking it a week or two before allergy season begins. But many people seem to wait until their allergies are already acting up. The product will still work, even if started late, but it may take longer to have an effect.

Maybe there are some allergy sufferers who won't respond to Nasalcrom, but many (like me) will benefit greatly from it. If you have seasonal allergies and haven't used Nasalcrom, give it a try. Your nose may thank you.

Comments are down

Comments don't seem to be working at the moment. Another TypePad glitch.

Here's a comment I would have posted on the last thread:

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Why didn't you try energy work?

Because I don't know anything about it.

It's been 49 hours, and my cough has not returned. Today I had a mild upset stomach so I cut back on the megadoses.

I plan to take at least 1000 mg of C daily as a nutrient. Since the Ester-C 1000-mg tablets really are big enough to choke a horse, I'm going to experiment with chewable tablets from another manufacture. These combine ascorbate and ascorbic acid. I don't know if they'll be as effective as ascorbate alone.

For what it's worth

What follows is purely anecdotal evidence. In fact, it's pretty much the definition of anecdotal evidence. If you look up "anecdotal evidence" in the dictionary, you will find a link to this post.

Still, it's interesting and, as newspapers used to say in the days when they printed stories they couldn't verify, "important if true."

Since Tuesday I've had a sinus infection. On Thursday, having realized it wasn't just an allergy or a cold, I went to a doctor and got a prescription for antibiotics, which I am faithfully taking. The antibiotics cleared up most of the symptoms within a couple of days. But one symptom persisted and in fact got worse - a continuous heavy cough.

I had a sinus infection last year, and the same thing happened. The cough persisted long after the other symptoms, and even after I had completed my course of antibiotics. In that case I had to go back to the doctor for a second, stronger course.

This time the cough was especially bad. I could hardly sleep at all. On Saturday night I was awake until the wee hours of the morning (Sunday morning). I finally got about two hours of sleep.

During my period of insomnia I went online and searched for "cough" + "remedy." Various herbal teas and other concoctions were offered. I'd tried some of these last time with no effect.

One idea I hadn't tried involved Vitamin C. The suggestion was to take a very large dose of C in ascorbate form. Ascorbate is said to be more efficiently absorbed by the body than the more common ascorbic acid.

I was skeptical. Isn't megavitamin therapy a crock?

On Sunday morning I dragged myself to the local drugstore and bought some food and other essentials, but I did not buy any Vitamin C. I thought it would be a waste of money.

But when the cough persisted into the afternoon, I got desperate. Feeling foolish, I returned to the drugstore and hunted among the Vitamin C products until I found one that contained C in ascorbate form. The brand is Ester-C. I bought the 1000-mg variety. (The RDA for Vitamin C is only 60 mg.)

Still coughing when I got home, I immediately took three of the Ester-C pills. That's 3000 mg of C. This was at 3:30. Within five minutes my cough stopped. (I kept a journal to ensure accuracy of recollection.)

An hour later, at 4:30, I started to cough again. I took an additional 2000 mg of C. This brought the total dosage of C to 5000 mg. The cough stopped.

Moreover, I felt a rush of energy. I decided to go for a "short walk." The short walk turned out to last almost two hours, during which time I hiked up and down the twisting, hilly streets in my neighborhood. I had not had this much energy since coming down with sinusitis. (I'm not even sure I had this much energy when I was healthy.)

At 6:30, back from my walk, I was starting to cough again. I took 2000 mg of C. The cough stopped and remained quiet for nearly four hours.

At 10:15 it started to make a comeback. I took 2000 mg of C, and another 1000 mg at 10:30 because I wasn't sure the first dose was enough. After that, the cough was quiet.

But now the acid test was approaching: bedtime. This is when the cough was always at its worst. Would I start coughing as soon as I lay down?

Rather nervously I reclined on the couch at 11 PM. After a short time - still cough-free - I fell asleep. I woke up at 12:30 PM today, having slept for more than thirteen hours. And I still wasn't coughing.

Could this be a coincidence? I think it's unlikely. The cough disappeared almost immediately after I took the first megadose, and each time it started to return, another megadose suppressed it.

How about the placebo effect? I can't rule this out. Although consciously I was skeptical, subconsciously I may have expected the treatment to work. On the other hand, I had tried various other remedies for the cough, and none of them had any effect. Why would the outcome be different in this case?

I think the most likely explanation is that the Vitamin C really did knock out the cough. I can't prove it, but I'm passing along the information for what it may be worth.

Incidentally, I should point out that the 1000-mg Ester-C pills are very large, and some people may have trouble swallowing them. Ester-C is available in 500-mg form as well, and those pills are smaller and easier to swallow.