NASCAR: last night -- an incredibly good race. Short track. Bristol. Kevin Harvick made it to the round of twelve, but just barely. Harvick has had no wins, no poles this season. Alec Almirola, one win this season, did not advance; nor did Kurt Busch who also had one win this season.
Paywalls: a thing of the past. Happened to find "the holy grail" of getting past paywalls while scrolling through social media tweets. So far it's worked 100% of the time. Works on iPhone and iPad but not the laptop but that's more than good enough for me. Wow.
Covid-19: this remains a fascinating story. The real question is why so many people don't get it. Going through that SEA-TAC airport late last week -- the place much have been swarming with particles, and -- knock on wood -- I'm still symptom-free. My older daughter and their three daughters never caught Covid despite their dad getting a fairly severe case, test-positive, with long-haul neurological symptoms which seem to have resolved.
Boosters: I'm surprised folks seem to be surprised that boosters and/or multiple doses are needed. Isn't that pretty much the norm for vaccinations? Even the incredible "tetanus" shot -- for a toxin that does not mutate -- requires a booster every ten years. Have you had yours? Years ago, I saw a case of tetanus during training at USC - LA County -- it wasn't a pleasant sight. A 50-ish year-old woman contracted tetanus through a lesion on her upper chest while gardening. I do believe she survived but it wasn't pretty.
Ivermectin: for those concerned about a medicine used to treat horses, those same folks may want to take a look at a life-saving medication for humans that was first developed as a rat poison, namely warfarin (Coumadin). Whereas, coumadin was developed to kill rats first, and then approved to treat humans, the opposite was true for ivermectin: developed specifically for humans (Nobel Prize) and then later approved for treatment of horses. Over at Schwa Nation: three items of note:
- a North Dakota veterinarian was a key participant in the development of warfarin;
- warfarin was first registered for use as a rodenticide (rat poison) in the US in 1948, and was immediately popular; and,
- WARF: Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation; -arin, for its link to coumarin.
Approved for medical use in humans in 1954, an early recipient of warfarin was President Dwight Eisenhower, 1955, after suffering a massive heart attack. The exact mechanism was unknown, and, of course, long term side effects were also unknown, but Eisenhower's use kicked off the frenzy for warfarin prescribing. Again, a rat poison. A huge thank you to a reader for sending me this. I had long forgotten. I wonder if President Eisenhower knew it was "rat poison" at the time, and if he had to sign an "informed consent" statement.
Some years ago, I saw a rat die after ingesting warfarin (rat poison) and the agony seen was unbearable for me to watch. And I hate rats.
Oh, by the way, North Dakota played a key role in understanding avian flu (corona viruses) also many decades ago.
By the way, I wonder how many deaths have been attributed to Coumadin over the years?
College football: 100,000+ stadiums filled to capacity; no one wearing masks; no reports of outbreaks.
NFL football: not one match-up interests me though I may tune into the Dallas game for a few minutes. Now that gambling is legal, I think posting the odds along with the schedule would encourage folks to watch. At least a little. Maybe. No. Law was overturned by US Supreme Court in 2018 (?) and the NFL now "embraces" legalized sports bettering -- according to CNBC.
Wow, slow news day. Great day for reading.
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