Todd S

“The ongoing mass vaccination campaigns are a threat to our human species. Vaccine mandates and immunologic discrimination are, therefore, a crime against humanity and will undoubtedly be referred to as such in the history of mankind.” Todd A., Have you found any substantial peer-review support for Geert's theories? I find it hard to see how what he is doing can be effective in helping humanity.

The Possibility of COVID-19 after Vaccination: Breakthrough Infections What We Know about Vaccine Breakthrough Infections Vaccine breakthrough infections are expected. COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing most infections. However, like other vaccines, they are not 100% effective.

Wouldn't any mandatory boosting only be until pandemic => endemic?

Todd Allen, you seem to be implying that people who don't suspect that they have a comorbidity should avoid being vaccinated against COVID-19 -- because doing so would increase risk to others. Have you found any paper or scientist that has come to a similar conclusion? The paper you linked says, "In summary, even as efforts should be made to encourage populations to get vaccinated it should be done so with humility and respect." [my emphasis] I only looked at the third one of the subsequent references from that paper, but it included: "3. If you get infected, being vaccinated helps. The good news is that among Israel's serious infections on Thursday of this week, according to Health Ministry data, the rate of serious cases among unvaccinated people over age 60 (178.7 per 100,000) was nine times more than the rate among fully vaccinated people of the same age category, and the rate of serious cases among unvaccinated people in the under-60 crowd (3.2 per 100,000) was a little more than double the rate among vaccinated people in that age bracket. The bad news, doctors say, is that half of Israel's seriously ill patients who are currently hospitalized were fully vaccinated at least five months ago. Most of them are over 60 years old and have comorbidities. The seriously ill patients who are unvaccinated are mostly young, healthy people whose condition deteriorated quickly." Instead of drawing conclusions from just 'cases per 100,000 people' (both vaccinated and unvaccinated), I think it would be preferable to draw conclusions from 'cases per 100,000 of vaccinated people' compared with cases per 100,000 of unvaccinated people. Or better yet, comparing such numbers specifically for serious cases.

Todd Allen, While acknowledging the attempt at humor, the analogy is poor. Unvaccinated people likely increase the risk to others, whereas not wearing a lifejacket primarily affects risk to one's self (and secondarily to potential rescuers).

Thank you Dean! Accumulated earwax has been an ongoing issue in my left ear for many years. This new tool works great! --Todd

Mike, Do you happen to know the most common cause of death of these folks -- and how old an age they generally live to?

Dr. Seheult explains in Update 106 that he thinks that the death certificates of those 6% were incorrectly filled out -- and that COVID-19 should never be listed as the only cause (or proximal cause) of death.

I watched the livestream event -- thanks Gordo for letting us know about it. Right at the beginning, Musk indicated that the primary purpose of the event was to help in recruiting engineers. I think it was likely effective for that purpose.

Ron wrote: "asymptomatic" means someone who is not secreting and spraying fluids, by definition? I don't know where you got this "definition", but my understanding is more along the lines of what Wikipedia says: "In medicine, a disease is considered asymptomatic if a patient is a carrier for a disease or infection but experiences no symptoms. A condition might be asymptomatic if it fails to show the noticeable symptoms with which it is usually associated." "Knowing that a condition is asymptomatic is important because:" " ... It may be contagious. ..."

I buy natto from a local japanese market (Nijiya). I also buy Trader Joe's Steamed Lentils [ lentils, salt ,and essential oils (cloves, laurel, thyme, pepper, and garlic) ]. I combine the two together and distribute the combination into small plastic containers that I (freeze or just) refrigerate -- and consume with dinner over the subsequent week. I find this to be an enjoyable way to consume natto

Mccoy, Mike's September 14, 2019 post about the DREEM 1 band was "I tried the 1st one and found it to be totally useless. I returned it after using it for thirty days. I had no problem getting a refund, so Giving it a try makes sense." He didn't indicate what his expectation was in trying it that was not met.

It is reasonable to do a search and find a Feb 2018 commentary, but why not at least look at the DREEM website for scientific references? The Dreem 2 is an FDA Registered Class II device. For clinical validation, they claim "Extensive trials and 15 peer-reviewed articles and publications in leading journals."

Yes, it has been tested for accuracy. You can find the relevant research papers on their website. And it is now an approved medical device -- even in the U.S.

And Ron, Better yet -- look at the "Daily New Deaths in the United States" chart to see the many daily values -- and optionally the 3-day or 7-day averages.

Ron, You said, "Here is a screeshot of Worldometer today. 452 deaths is sad, but ..." Are you aware that you quoted a value (452) which represents only a small portion of the day's total? Perhaps you haven't used worldometer very much -- or else you would have been aware of this. You can look at the "Yesterday" value to see an actual day's total.

If you enjoyed the previously posted Medcram lectures (with critical care specialist Roger Seheult, MD.) — Updates 61, 63, and 65 — then you’re also likely to enjoy these Updates 67 and 68: Coronavirus Pandemic Update 67: COVID-19 Blood Clots - Race, Blood Types, & Von Willebrand Factor Coronavirus Pandemic Update 68: Kawasaki Disease; Minority Groups & COVID-19

That's an interesting response -- in that it appears that you and I are focused on different things. You seem more interested in the lockdown decisions and impacts from the lockdowns than you are in the evolving science -- other than just epidemiology -- of how SARS-COV-2 affects the human body. So you tend to redirect conversation in the direction of the former (the politics/impacts). I'm more interested in the evolving science -- and tend to redirect conversation in that direction. Based on everything I've read so far, I'm concerned about the increased risk from SARS-COV-2 to the life of everyone I know -- and there are things that I can personally do to mitigate some of that risk. On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be anything that I can do about the lockdown-related decisions.

Ron Put, Your comments on the COVID-19-related statistics have seemed consistent over time. I previously asked you a couple of simple questions in order to better understand your viewpoint -- and I thank you for the responses that you provided. The one question I posed to you that went unanswered is one that I'm still interested in your viewpoint on. That is, if you've viewed the previously posted Medcram lectures (with critical care specialist Roger Seheult, MD.) — Coronavirus Pandemic Updates 61, 63, and 65 -- do you still think that COVID-19 is not significantly different from the flu?

If you enjoyed this previously posted Medcram lecture (with critical care specialist Roger Seheult, MD.) — Coronavirus Pandemic Update 61: Blood Clots & Strokes in COVID-19; ACE-2 Receptor; Oxidative Stress — then you’re also likely to enjoy the updates 63 and 65: Update 63. This 26-minute lecture shows an hypothesis explaining increased cardiovascular complications with COVID-19. Coronavirus Pandemic Update 63: Is COVID-19 a Disease of the Endothelium (Blood Vessels and Clots)? Update 65. This 20-minute lecture goes into further detail on how someone with existing oxidative stress can do poorly with COVID-19. It was at first thought that there would be an increase in hospitalizations of patients with existing lung conditions (asthma, COPD, Obstructive Sleep Apnea) and COVID-19. But that doesn’t appear to be the case so much as it is for patients with hypertension, CAD, CHF, or obesity — because of the pre-existing oxidative stress with those conditions. Coronavirus Pandemic Update 65: COVID-19 and Oxidative Stress (Prevention & Risk Factors)

Ron, If you have watched the entire "Corona Virus Pandemic Update 61" Medcram video that Dean posted above, why do you think that Dr. Seheult would characterize the effects of COVID-19 as being so unusual?

Ron, Did those 1957-1958 and 1968-1969 numbers cover a period of one or two years each? If so, does that mean that we won't get a fair comparison until an equivalent duration has elapsed with the existence of SARS-CoV2?

Ron, Separate from politics and past statistics for COVID-19, is there a future threshold beyond which you would decide that COVID-19 might be significantly more serious than the flu? [For example, U.S. deaths assigned to COVID-19 by Aug 4.]

TomB, Strength can be increased without always going to failure -- of completing a rep or completing a specific time under tension. Going to failure is useful in determining current limitation. But for progression of workouts I think it is best to choose a number of sets and a number of reps (or time) per set such that failure is not reached. With the right choice, the workout initially is probably not easy. Over a period of weeks -- it should become easier -- and the number of sets and reps/time can then be adjusted to progress in strength. Most of us get stiffer with age. Flexibility (range of motion of joints) and mobility (strength within the range of motion) are important in terms of avoiding injury. At 73, I find that I need to spend a lot more time on flexibility exercises and mobility exercises than when I was younger. I've been going to the same gym for 36 years now -- participating in the noontime cardio-mix (i.e., aerobic dance) class 3 times per week. For many years, if I had sufficient time I used strength machines before the class. But now for strength exercises I prefer mostly bodyweight gymnastic fundamentals -- mostly targeting core and upper body. Hollow body rocks and arch body rocks, for example, are something I do every time as part of my warmup. I also do deck squats. The major pain that I experience regularly is related to having had torn cartilage removed from my left knee almost 40 years ago. The tear was likely from skiing during high school years. I managed the knee lockup issue without surgery for many years -- until the time when I was unable to straighten my leg for more than 3 hours. Left knee pain has worsened in recent years -- to the point that I usually can't jump without pain -- and I sometimes need to pause for a short time if I notice pain with every walking step. The class that I take involves a fair amount of hopping on one foot -- which I can usually do -- but sometimes I do get sore feet. --Todd

Gordo, I can confirm that plugging the USB connection from the CompCooler UniVest into an Apple 5 V charger instead of the 7.4 V battery still works for running the water circulation pump.