Open (More or Less) Post on Covid 110

[ecosophia]

We are now in the third year of these open posts. As the phrase "died suddenly" repeats in the mass media like a mantra, statistics for work days lost to illness and all-cause mortality mount up in heavily vaccinated nations, and more and more ugly facts about the official response to Covid spill out into public, we are entering what may well turn out to be the most difficult period of the Covid disaster -- the phase in which denial rises in lockstep with the death rate, and a great many people try not to admit what has been done to them by the people and institutions they trusted. It could get ugly, folks.

So it's time for another open post. The rules are the same as before: 

1. If you plan on parroting the party line of the medical industry and its paid shills, please go away. This is a place for people to talk openly, honestly, and freely about their concerns that the party line in question is dangerously flawed and that actions being pushed by the medical industry et al. are causing injury and death. It is not a place for you to dismiss those concerns. Anyone who wants to hear the official story and the arguments in favor of it can find those on hundreds of thousands of websites.

2. If you plan on insisting that the current situation is the result of a deliberate plot by some villainous group of people or other, please go away. There are tens of thousands of websites currently rehashing various conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 outbreak and the vaccines. This is not one of them. What we're exploring is the likelihood that what's going on is the product of the same arrogance, incompetence, and corruption that the medical industry and its tame politicians have displayed so abundantly in recent decades. That possibility deserves a space of its own for discussion, and that's what we're doing here. 
 
3. If you plan on using rent-a-troll derailing or disruption tactics, please go away. I'm quite familiar with the standard tactics used by troll farms to disrupt online forums, and am ready, willing, and able -- and in fact quite eager -- to ban people permanently for engaging in them here. Oh, and I also lurk on other Covid-19 vaccine skeptic blogs, so I'm likely to notice when the same posts are showing up on more than one venue. 

4. If you don't believe in treating people with common courtesy, please go away. I have, and enforce, a strict courtesy policy on my blogs and online forums, and this is no exception. The sort of schoolyard bullying that takes place on so many other internet forums will get you deleted and banned here. Also, please don't drag in current quarrels about sex, race, religions, etc. No, I don't care if you disagree with that: my journal, my rules. 

With that said, the floor is open for discussion.

Comments

Re: Masking as an informed, individual choice

[(Anonymous)]

Echoing other comments, I certainly don't object to your coming to a conclusion different from my own and choosing to wear a mask sometimes.

(I promise this little story is true, and I'm sharing it in a lighthearted spirit.) I happened to read your comment while enjoying my annual cigar tonight, out under the stars. I doubt that anyone sitting next to me wearing anything except a sealed respirator would have failed to smell cigar smoke vividly. Nor do I expect my mask would have impeded any exhalations of cigar smoke. Taking smoke particles as a proxy for the (smaller) aerosols that spread Covid, I just can't see masks as effective protection.

I wish you and your partner excellent health and I'm glad you shared your thoughts here.

Re: Masking as an informed, individual choice

[(Anonymous)]

I haven't smoked since I was 21 or 22 and during this, uh, 'pandemic,' I certainly have wanted to start again. I haven't but Congratulations on enjoying your cigar! :-) :-) :-)

Re: Masking as an informed, individual choice

[(Anonymous)]

For evidence supporting the hypothesis that nicotine smoke is protective against viral infections that attach to the ACE-2 receptor, see this article. It was run by an organization whose primary purpose is preventing people from taking up smoking.

They were quite surprised by the results; yet they concluded that nicotine may indeed have a therapeutic role in prevention and treatment of those viruses that use the ACE-2 receptors as a pathway to infection.

Role of Cigarette Smoke on Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme-2 Protein Membrane Expression in Bronchial Epithelial Cells Using an Air-Liquid Interface Model

Massimo Caruso, Alfio Distefano, Rosalia Emma, Michelino Di Rosa, Giuseppe Carota, Sonja Rust, Riccardo Polosa, Pietro Zuccarello,Margherita Ferrante, Giuseppina Raciti, and Giovanni Li Volti

Lega Italiana Anti Fumo
Italian Anti-Smoking League
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.652102/full

ORIGINAL RESEARCH
published: 30 March 2021
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2021.652102

Re: Smoking protects against infection?

[(Anonymous)]

I'd seen the statistical data that smoking was negatively correlated against severe covid infection in young to middle-aged adults, but assumed that it reflected the tendency for smokers to go outside several times a day and, while smoking, get some sunshine (and vitamin D). It's interesting to see that there may an entirely internal chemical basis, as well. Thanks for bringing that to our attention.

Lathechuck

Re: Smoking protects against infection?

[(Anonymous)]

The effects of nicotine on the Angiotensin Converting Enzymes (ACE) suggest to me a potential line of research on other smoke-delivered substances such as aromatic resins and volatile organic compounds (VOC) found in incense smoke.

Tobacco was once primarily used as a sacred ceremonial herb. Likewise, incense has long been used to purify the air in churches, temples and public spaces where crowds celebrate religious festivals.

This suggests to me the possibility that incense-delivered VOCs might also block uptake of viral infectious agents by pre-occupying ACE receptor sites. Study design could compare essential oil diffusers with burnt incense to see how smoke or oil aerosols perform relative to each other. Do they each have a preventative effect against viruses or have a therapeutic effect post infection? Eucalyptus leaf oils and camphor for example. Also cedar, pine, cinnamon and florals.