After six months of intermittent or in some cases near-continuous lockdowns, many have reached their limit and uprisings are finally emerging around the world. The last week of August 2020 saw gatherings of tens of thousands of individuals in Berlin,1 London2 and Dublin,3 protesting stay-at-home orders, business closures, mask and vaccine mandates and Bill Gates’ dictatorial grip on public health matters. In the U.S., a protest took place August 30, 2020, in Boston, Massachusetts, against a new student flu vaccination mandate,4 and in Virginia, protesters gathered September 2 in opposition of unconstitutional COVID-19 mandates.5 These are just a few of the many demonstrations that have taken place in recent weeks around the world, as people are starting to realize their human rights are being stripped away over a virus with a lethality on par with that of seasonal influenza and other pandemic viruses, none of which was responded to with a global shutdown of economies and forced quarantining of healthy individuals. COVID-19 — A Massive Brainwashing Scheme?In recent weeks and months, more and more experts have come out sharing what they know about the roles of Big Tech, Big Pharma and global health organizations such as the World Health Organization in the creation of a new technocratic world order. If you missed my interview with financial analyst Patrick Wood, in which he details the technocratic take-over plan, which has been in play for decades, be sure to review it now. Other articles shedding light on what’s happening behind the scenes include “Harvard Professor Exposes Google and Facebook,” featuring a documentary with professor Shoshana Zuboff, and “Plandemic Part 2.” When you start to put all the puzzle pieces together, it seems clear this pandemic is being used as a cover story for both a global wealth redistribution scheme, and for the implementation of a technocratic system of totalitarian rule by unelected leaders. The WHO seems to be part and parcel of this global network. While the U.S. has severed ties with the organization, Big Tech is still promoting the WHO as a final arbiter of which views are acceptable and which are not — medical expertise and scientific achievements be damned. As reported by Reclaim the Net,6 the WHO eavesdrops on everything you do online, from reviewing your social media interactions to analyzing your emotions. To counteract “spread of misleading information” about the pandemic — which was a key area of focus during Event 201 — the WHO has partnered with an analytics company that uses machine learning analysis to scan more than 1.6 million social media posts per week. The aim of this “social listening approach”— a nicer term than good old-fashioned spying — is to counteract anything that doesn’t align with the WHO’s current narrative on illnesses, treatments, interventions and causes of disease. Aiding them in this dystopian censoring process is the United Nations, which has launched an army of 10,000 digital volunteers who troll the internet for “false” information and opposing views. On top of that, most social media platforms have their own highly biased "fact-checkers" who censor for all they’re worth. Back in April 2020, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, wife of Google product director Dennis Troper, announced they would ban and remove any video from the platform that contradicts the WHO.7 Countless examples of wanton censorship of perfectly valid medical and scientific information across all social media platforms and Google can be found at this point. Just How Deadly Is COVID-19?According to groundbreaking data8 recently released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 6% of the total COVID-19-related deaths in the U.S. had COVID-19 listed as the sole cause of death on the death certificate. Six percent of 169,044 (the total death toll as of September 2) is 10,143. “For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death,” the CDC states. As reported by Rochester First,9 the top underlying medical conditions included influenza, pneumonia, respiratory failure, high blood pressure, diabetes, dementia, heart problems and renal failure. However, the list also includes 5,424 intentional and unintentional injury and poisoning deaths, so basically, accidents and suicides in which the individual just happened to test positive (or was suspected of being positive for SARS-CoV-2) are also included in the grand total. (Please note, these data were accurate as of this writing. The CDC does not notate when data is altered as new death certificates come in, so the numbers may therefore be different from what is reported here, depending on when you’re looking at it. For the most up-to-date figures, see the CDC’s website.10) The fact that only 6% of COVID-19-related deaths are directly attributable to SARS-CoV-2 is bad news when you’re trying to keep a doomsday narrative going. In what appears to be a blatant attempt to minimize exposure of these data, social media platforms have censored many trying to share it.11 As noted by independent news commentator Tim Pool in the video below, fact-checkers are digging into nitpicky semantics in their effort to censor the CDC data, and in so doing, they’re really stretching the “false” claim ultrathin. Similar data have emerged from Palm Beach County, Florida, where an investigation by CBS 1212 I-Team revealed only 86 of the reported 658 COVID-19 deaths had “COVID-19 pneumonia” listed as the sole cause of death. All others had multiple comorbidities, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and dementia. As noted by CBS 12, “Most Palm Beach County COVID deaths cannot be attributed to COVID alone.” While Dr. Terry Adirim, senior associate dean at the Florida Atlantic University College of Medicine, told the I-Team that “it makes sense to count them [people with comorbid conditions] toward COVID deaths because the virus may have made an otherwise nonfatal illness like a heart condition deadly,” the converse argument can also be made. Had it not been for them having one or more serious comorbidities, the risk of the virus to these individuals would have been minuscule, and if they got sick at all, they’d probably have survived. So, ultimately, should the virus bear the brunt of the blame? Infection Fatality Rate on Par With the FluKeeping the “killer virus” narrative going much longer is probably going to become even more difficult in light of a September 2, 2020 article13 in Annals of Internal Medicine, which points out that:
The paper reads, in part:14
The estimated infection fatality rate for seasonal influenza listed in this paper is 0.8%. So, the only people for whom SARS-CoV-2 infection is more dangerous than influenza is those over the age of 60. All others have a lower risk of dying from COVID-19 than they have of dying from the flu. Put another way, if you’re under the age of 60, your chances of dying from the flu is greater than your chance of dying from COVID-19. White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx also confirmed this far lower than typically reported mortality rate when she, in mid-August 2020, stated that it “becomes more and more difficult” to get people to comply with mask rules “when people start to realize that 99% of us are going to be fine.”15 Expect Massive Propaganda Campaign to Boost Vaccine UptakeWith death rates being as low as they are for everyone under the age of 60, it really weakens the rationale for vaccinating the entire world, including newborns, the risk to whom the virus poses is virtually nil. The vaccine looking increasingly unnecessary is likely a reason for why the U.S. government is planning to launch an “overwhelming” COVID-19 vaccine campaign this fall, using carefully researched messages. As detailed in “Health and Autonomy in the 21st Century,” Yale University has conducted a trial16 to determine the type of message that will maximize acceptance and uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine. Messaging slants evaluated in the investigation included:17
The study, which was completed July 8, 2020, also sought to determine:
Prosocial Pressure Tactics Work BestHarvard Business School in collaboration with the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have also published a working paper18 comparing self-interested versus prosocial motivations for COVID-19 prevention behaviors. Considering the messages we’ve been bombarded with over the past few months — calling people who don’t wear masks “grandma killers” and so on — it seems clear that results from these kinds of investigations have been capitalized on. In that paper, “Don’t Get It or Don’t Spread It?” the authors review studies in which various types of messages were compared — messages highlighting the threat to self, versus the threat you might pose to others. Overall, prosocial messages, i.e., messages that stress the importance of complying with prevention behaviors in order to protect others fared the best. According to the authors:19
Stop Believing in the LockdownA powerful essay20 in the American Institute for Economic Research asks the question: Is the lockdown the best way to minimize casualties in this pandemic? Using historical examples beginning with Voltaire’s words, “those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities,” the author reasons that lockdowns are not going to save the world from COVID-19, if for no other reason than whenever lockdowns are eased, infections naturally start to creep back up. However, the vast majority of these “infections” or “cases” are asymptomatic. A rising “case” load does not mean people are actually getting sick and dying. The misuse of the medical term “case” is an egregious one, as historically, a “case” is defined as someone who has symptoms of a particular disease — someone who is actually sick. Never in medical history has a “case” meant someone who is perfectly healthy and requires testing to determine whether they are infected with a particular pathogen. Would you get tested for the common cold or influenza if you had no symptoms? If the test happened to come back positive, would you with a straight face say you “have” a cold or the flu? There are other myths, mostly scare tactics, that people are willingly believing that need to be stopped now, too, the author asserts — and it’s time to start questioning what is credulous and what is not. I encourage you to read that essay in its totality. The Fatal Attraction of Techno-FascismAnother article21 well worth reading is Mark Petrakis’ “The Fatal Attraction of Techno-Fascism.” This one also starts off with an excellent quote by Cato the Elder: “Those who are serious in ridiculous matters will be ridiculous in serious matters.” One of the first points he makes is that fascism is attractive because:
Petrakis goes on to discuss why propaganda and disinformation is required in order to maintain control in a fascist regime, and how truth is a liability that must be disallowed and penalized. In the end, the price we pay for this kind of intellectual laziness is “soul-crushing denial and disconnection.” No one who has been paying attention this past year in particular can have missed that propaganda is in full swing, 24/7, and that both truthful facts and personal opinions that run counter to the established propaganda narrative are being censored and penalized in equal measure. When it comes to COVID-19, the propaganda is so pervasive and widespread that it has actually shattered what Petrakis refers to as “the grandest illusion of all” that “must be maintained at all costs,” namely the appearance that the propaganda messages are randomly generated. “It must always appear that the media’s coverage and the comments of experts are entirely free from any preconceived manipulation,” he says. Today, there is little doubt that the narrative we see is anything but free from bias. There’s little doubt that what we’re told is “weaponized storytelling,” to quote Petrakis yet again.
Ultimately, the economic system known as technocracy is tailor-made for the transhumanist revolution — which I touch upon in “Will New COVID Vaccine Make You Transhuman?” — where man is merged with technology and AI. As always, the lure will be greater convenience, self-improvement and “a better world for all.” What’s never mentioned is the ultimate price. The price for all of it is complete subjugation to faceless leaders who profit from your every move, and therefore will dictate all of them. COVID-19 Rules Mark ‘Hysterical Slide Into Police State’I’ll end this with some observations by British Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption, who in a March 30, 2020, interview22 with The Post warned that COVID-19 rules are paving the way for despotism — the exercise of absolute power in a cruel and oppressive manner.
It is time to ask ourselves some very pressing questions. Is it reasonable to expect government to eliminate ALL infection and ALL death? They’ve proven they cannot, yet we keep relinquishing more and more freedoms and liberties because they claim doing so will keep everyone safer. It’s an enticing lie, but a lie nonetheless. Remember, they sold us on the business shutdowns and home quarantining by saying we just need to flatten the curve of infection to avoid hospital overcrowding. Now the curve is in a visible nosedive and hospitals are far from overcrowded with COVID-19 patients, yet lockdowns remain in many areas and some — Australia being a prime example — have reached astonishing new heights. Sooner or later everyone must decide which is more important: Personal liberty or false security? Circling back to where I started, the good news is that many are in fact starting to see the writing on the wall; they’re starting to see we’ve been “had,” and are starting to choose liberty over brutal totalitarianism in the name of public health. from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/09/16/global-uprising.aspx
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In early 2020, a global pandemic spurred the world into action, especially in the science community. Researchers began seeking to discover how the COVID-19 virus worked and to uncover the best methods for testing, treating and vaccinating. One of the interventions that the biomedical community has been pursuing is the use of antivirals, including remdesivir. The drug was initially analyzed during the Ebola outbreak several years ago but never approved. Its development was the result of a collaboration involving Gilead Sciences, the CDC and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. Testing was also done on SARS and MERS, which are both zoonotic coronaviruses, as well as two types of common human coronavirus which trigger the common cold. The medication was developed with a $99 million grant from the American government.1 A 2017 report noted that the Department of Defense “… is cost-sharing with Gilead biosciences for continued development of this product.”2 At the time it was labeled GS-5734.3 The initial studies that Gilead used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the drug had problems with the way they were designed, and changes made during the study would have negated the results. Del Bigtree from Highwire, who serves as CEO of the Informed Consent Action Network, described the issues with the studies in detail, which you can read about at “Remdesivir Treatment Stopped Due to Side Effects.” However, as just one of many technology platforms censoring or eliminating accounts that do not share the corporate view, YouTube terminated Bigtree’s entire account. This severing of information from public view has earned YouTube the title of “ministry of information” by some, because it infers that only YouTube/Google knows what’s right and wrong, according to user posts.4 Remdesivir Lengthens Hospital Stays for SomeAs described in one study published in The Lancet, scientists conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled investigation at 10 hospitals in China5 from February 6, 2020, to March 12, 2020. Two-hundred thirty-seven people were enrolled and randomly assigned to either a treatment group or a placebo group. The results showed that remdesivir was not associated with statistically significant clinical benefits, and had to be stopped early because it was believed to have caused adverse events. Despite a lack of strong evidence that the drug is beneficial, it is being used globally. In a highly quoted study about the drug, it was purported that it may have shortened hospital stays by 31%, from 15 days to 11.6 Dr. George Ralls with Orlando Health reports they are seeing positive benefits with remdesivir.7 However, he is also attributing a lengthier hospital stay to the need to complete a course of remdesivir. Interestingly, he also said the drug is keeping people in longer than if they weren’t taking the drug:
It does not appear, then, that the drug is shortening hospital stays. Alternatives Are Available, but IgnoredIn a paper from Dr. Harvey Risch of the Yale School of Public Health, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the use of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin was cited as necessary to helping halt the pandemic. The combination of inexpensive medications is highly effective during the first phase of the infection, before hospitalization. This does not compete with the intravenous drug remdesivir, used only after a person is hospitalized. Risch noted:8
According to Global Research, the same protocol is showing significant success in China, India, Senegal and Brazil.9 As I have also written, French microbiologist and infectious disease expert Didier Raoult, director of a research unit at Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire in France, has reported that using a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, administered immediately upon diagnosis in 1,061 people, led to recovery and “virological cure” in 91.7% of patients.10 It is also important to note that unlike remdesivir — which has had side effects severe enough to stop clinical trials — the hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin combination showed no cardiac toxicity, rhythmic cardiac events or sudden death in patient data. $3,120 Five-Day Remdesivir: A ‘Spectacularly Good Value’The long-awaited price for remdesivir was announced June 29, 2020, by Gilead Sciences. As reported in NPR, there was “months of speculation as the company tried to figure out how to balance profit and public health needs in the middle of a pandemic.”11 Daniel O’Day, chairman and CEO of Gilead Sciences, published an open letter in which he said:12
While the drug has demonstrated only questionable benefits, O’Day is correct in saying there are no guidelines on pricing a new medicine in a pandemic. Yet, he believes Gilead balanced corporate profits and public health when they settled on $520 per vial, which equates to $3,120 for the recommended five-day course of treatment (on the first day, a double dose is given). The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) released the calculated total cost of production, packaging and a small profit margin May 1, 2020. The cost was rounded to $10 per vial.13 The same group noted that the company could charge a much higher rate depending on its effectiveness, with Dave Whitrap from ICER qualifying that statement by saying, “If the drug doesn’t impact mortality and only shortens recovery time, we figure a course of treatment is worth about $310.”14 Gilead is currently charging $2,810 more for a drug that has already proven it doesn’t reduce mortality.15 O'Day wrote that under “normal circumstances” a medication would be priced “according to the value it provides.”16 In this case they estimated that early discharge from the hospital would save approximately $12,000 per patient. They believe the $3,120 price tag does not hinder anyone from receiving treatment, while it balances their responsibilities to continue work on remdesivir and research on antivirals. High Level Coronavirus ProfiteeringWhen the price for the drug was announced, an analyst for SVB Leerink, which is an investment bank, described the price as a “spectacularly good value.” The analyst, Geoffrey Porges, added that it is “unprecedented to price the drug below the medical costs that it's saving.” He believes remdesivir has the potential to save $40,000 per patient by preventing someone from entering the ICU. He also believes there's more value that Gilead has not built into their price. In other words, a drug that taxpayers poured $99 million into the development of, and for which Gilead pays $10 per vial ($60 per course of treatment) to produce, is somehow underpriced at $3,120 for a single course of treatment.17 Using this same logic, a florist could base the charge for a dozen red roses on how much they save a couple by preventing the cost of a divorce. However, in the same way the florist does not know if flowers are for a celebration or an apology, Gilead has priced remdesivir on the assumption that patients will be hospitalized for four fewer days, even though Ralls finds that his patients who take the drug are actually in the hospital longer. This is not the first time Gilead has leveraged exorbitant markups on their products. Sovaldi was billed as a “groundbreaking” drug to treat hepatitis C, for which Gilead charges $84,000 for each course of treatment.18 While some see the price for remdesivir as reasonable, it's important to remember that drug production is nearly riskless for Big Pharma as they are often subsidized by the government.19 U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, has been outspoken about the profits the pharmaceutical industry and others are making off the pandemic, saying, “The power of the industry combined with fear is driving extraordinary spending. It all suggests rosy times ahead for the pharmaceutical industry.”20 Big Pharma Poised to Make Big ProfitsThe profiteering has started for Gilead, which has a market capitalization of $90 billion21 and developed their antiviral drug with the help of your tax dollars. The day after the price was announced, the U.S. government bought 500,000 doses. Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said this was so patients would not be charged the real cost of the drug. On the surface, this means individuals will not be charged, yet all Americans are paying with their tax dollars. Emergency vaccine spending bills were recently passed, allocating $6 billion for manufacturing and distribution and $20 billion for development. As Doggett points out, “The public will pay for much research and manufacturing. Only the profits will be privatized. We’re in the extraordinary position of spending billions on vaccines before we know if they work.”22 Rolling Stone reports that some large pharmaceutical companies have made pledges regarding the cost of future vaccines, including Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. Astra Zeneca CEO Pascal Soriot announced, “We’ll do it at no profit.”23 Yet, when Doggett and his staff contacted the drug companies for clarification about what their statements meant, they did not get an answer, nor was there definition of “cost” included. Gestures like this may look good in the news but only time will tell if they keep their promises. Without announcing an end date and knowing that many public health experts will be pushing a vaccine for many years, it’s highly unlikely that any pharmaceutical company will provide a drug at cost for more than a short time to meet the initial need. Healthy Choices That Make a DifferenceSome public health officials and the media are wringing their hands over the number of new cases being diagnosed each day. Using these numbers to generate fear and distress, they encourage people to stay in place and wait for a vaccination. However, I recommend that you take a proactive approach in supporting your immune system. There are a number of simple, yet significant strategies you can use that you'll find on my Coronavirus Resource Page. It has become more apparent with every passing week that optimizing your vitamin D level is likely the easiest, least expensive and most beneficial strategy you can use to minimize your risk. The best time to start addressing your vitamin D level is right now, before the second wave of disease that health officials expect in the fall. You'll find more information about the importance of vitamin D and how the body uses it to combat coronavirus and other infectious diseases in “The Most Important Paper Dr. Mercola Has Ever Written.” It is my hope you use this resource to spread the word about the significance of vitamin D to your friends and family. Within the report I go into detail about how to raise your levels between 60 ng/mL and 80 ng/mL. One important first step is to get your vitamin D level tested so you know where to start. You'll find a quick summary of the key steps and information about getting tested in the article linked above. from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/09/16/popular-prescription-lengthens-hospital-stays.aspx Censorship continues to run rampant in the U.S. and elsewhere, particularly when it comes to information regarding public health. It was for this reason, along with their unscrupulous data mining efforts, that I left Facebook in 2019. The social media outlet, however, continues to censor posts from organizations seeking to share health truths, including Children’s Health Defense (CHD), whose mission is to end childhood health epidemics by eliminating harmful exposures, holding those responsible accountable and establishing safeguards to prevent further harms.1 As a result, the nonprofit organization, which was founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., sued Facebook, its CEO Mark Zuckerberg and three of its “fact-checking” partners for censoring their truthful public health posts and fraudulently misrepresenting and defaming CHD.2 Facebook Censorship ‘at Odds With the First Amendment’CHD takes aim at corruption in federal agencies, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Federal Communications Commission and the World Health Organization, as well as the pharmaceutical and telecom industries. They share information regarding vaccine safety, which was targeted by Facebook’s censorship efforts. On CHD’s Facebook page, the social media giant added a label stating, “This page posts about vaccines,” along with a link to the CDC for “reliable, up to date information.”3 They also deactivated the page’s donate button — stopping fundraising efforts — and prohibited CHD from buying online advertisements. They also added a warning in gray overlay stating that their independent fact checkers found false information, which, according to CHD, “has the intended effect of reducing both click-throughs to the underlying content and shares. The net effect is to drastically reduce by 95% the traffic to Children’s Health Defense website.”4 By deactivating CHD’s donate button and using deceptive forms of technology like shadow banning, which essentially renders posts invisible to the public without the user knowing, Facebook attempted to silence CHD’s criticism of government policies and pharmaceutical products. According to CHD:5
Facebook Has ‘Insidious Conflicts’CHD’s complaint cites Facebook’s coordinated censorship campaign with WHO and the CDC, which takes on renewed meaning when you consider that such censorship began at the request of Adam Schiff, a congressman and Intelligence Committee chairman representative, who asked Facebook to “suppress and purge” the internet of content that criticized government vaccine policies in March 2019.6 As a result, any statements that go against the U.S. government’s statements are deemed misinformation, even if they’re true. According to CHD, “Facebook has insidious conflicts with the pharmaceutical industry and its captive health agencies and has economic stakes in telecom and 5G. Facebook currently censors CHD’s page, targeting its purge against factual information about vaccines, 5G and public health agencies.”7 After the censorship began, WHO commended Facebook for the campaign in connection with public health officials. Ironically, Zuckerberg has stated publically that it’s not the job of social media to be an arbiter of truth, yet he works with government agencies to suppress pages that contradict the official government rhetoric.8 Independent Fact Checkers Aren’t IndependentCHD also alleges that three of Facebook’s fact-checking partners — Science Feedback, Poynter Institute and PolitiFact9 — are neither independent nor fact-based, even though they describe them as such. The Poynter Institute bills itself as a “global leader in journalism” that believes that a free press is essential.10 PolitiFact is a branch of The Poynter Institute that says fact-checking journalism is its “heart,”11 while Science Feedback is a French organization that claims it verifies the “credibility” of “influential” science claims in the media.12 One to 20 other unnamed “Does” are included in the suit.13 Investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson's is among those who have highlighted the overreach of Facebook’s dangerous “fake fact checking”:14
Taken together, the deceptive “fact checks,” misleading warning labels and disabling of the nonprofit’s donate button may violate the First and Fifth Amendments, the Lanham Act, which protects against misleading advertising and labeling,15 and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which seeks to eradicate organized crime. “Those statutes protect CHD against online wire fraud, false disparagement and knowingly false statements,” CHD noted, adding, “CHD asks the court to declare Facebook’s actions unconstitutional and fraudulent, and award injunctive relief and damages.”16 YouTube, Twitter Also Engage in CensorshipFacebook is only one online presence that’s controlling what you see and hear. In April 2020, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, wife of Google product director Dennis Troper, said YouTube would censor videos that contradict WHO guidance on the pandemic or share fake or unproven coronavirus remedies. According to Business Insider:17
Just months later, in June 2020, YouTube started banning our videos, a majority of which are interviews with health experts sharing their medical or scientific expertise and viewpoints on COVID-19. They also banned my video discussing WHO, and one in which I provide information about and instructions on how to use hydrogen peroxide therapy as a prophylactic against COVID-19. You can still watch these videos in full on the uncensored Bitchute that many alternative media sites are now using for their video content. However, it’s clear that mainstream media sites are targeting health information that offers alternative views to the government’s or Big Pharma’s. The documentary “Plandemic” by Mikki Willis, which features Judy Mikovits, Ph.D.,18 a cellular and molecular biologist whose research showed that many vaccines are contaminated with gammaretroviruses, thanks to the fact that they use viruses grown in contaminated animal cell lines, is a prime example. The film has been banned from social media platforms and hidden by Google to the extent that if you do an online search for it, all you find are dozens of pages with articles calling it a hoax, a fraud or the dreaded old “conspiracy theory.” Twitter also falsely labels Mercola article links as unsafe and malicious, warning potential readers my site might steal passwords and other personal data, or install malware on your computer, which is absolutely false. On the contrary, my site now has a firewall preventing Google analytic scripts from running on our pages, thereby protecting you from Google's intrusive data mining. Unfortunately, by declaring our pages dangerous, they successfully suppress about 95% of our Twitter views. NewsGuard Expands Its ReachNewsGuard is another threat to the free sharing of information. It claims to rate information as reliable or fake news, supplying you with a color-coded rating system next to Google and Bing searches, as well as on articles displayed on social media. If you rely on NewsGuard’s ratings, you may decide to entirely skip by those with a low “red” rating in favor of the “more trustworthy” green-rated articles — but NewsGuard is itself fraught with conflicts of interest, as it’s largely funded by Publicis, a global communications giant that’s partnered with Big Pharma, such that NewsGuard may be viewed more as a censorship tool than an internet watchdog. Earlier in 2020, NewsGuard expanded its partnership with Microsoft, co-founded by Bill Gates, which will provide all users of the Microsoft Edge browser free access to its questionable ratings. Also under the agreement is Microsoft’s continued sponsorship of NewsGuard’s news literacy program, which put NewsGuard in more than 700 public libraries from Los Angeles to London, serving more than 7 million patrons.19,20 NewsGuard also classified Mercola.com as fake news because we have reported the SARS-CoV-2 virus as potentially having been leaked from the biosafety level 4 (BSL4) laboratory in Wuhan City, China, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak. According to NewsGuard, “There is no evidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the source of the outbreak, and genomic evidence has found that the virus is 96% identical at the whole-genome level to a bat coronavirus.”21 But NewsGuard’s position is in direct conflict with published scientific evidence suggesting this virus was created in a lab and not zoonotically transmitted. Even British government officials have considered the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 leaked from the Wuhan facility, stating in April 2020 that the possibility of this "is no longer being discounted."22 Free Speech and Ideas Are Being ThreatenedEfforts to shut down public discussions about health information, including vaccine safety, are in full force. Google is burying content and videos relating to vaccine safety issues,23 Amazon has removed films critical of vaccine safety from its streaming service24 and even Pinterest has blocked search terms related to vaccines.25 So, it's crucial that organizations like CHD take a stand against the censorship of speech, likening what's occurring now on social media to 17th century England, which controlled speech via its monopoly on printing presses. "Here, government actors actively partnered with one of today's leading 'printing presses' (Facebook) to censor Plaintiff's speech critical of government policy," CHD's suit alleges.26 What's more, CHD notes, the case is occurring during a pandemic, when "the need for public debate on health issues has never been greater."27 Let's hope the court will take action to ensure that the free flow of information is protected. from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/09/15/chd-sue-facebook-zuckerberg-fact-checkers.aspx The Silicon Valley company, Profusa,1 in partnership with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA),2 has created an injectable biosensor capable of detecting the presence of an infection in your body.3 In early August 2019, months before COVID-19 became a household word, DARPA granted Profusa additional funding “to develop an early identification system to detect disease outbreaks, biological attacks and pandemics up to three weeks earlier than current methods.”4 As discussed in “Will New COVID Vaccine Make You Transhuman?” we appear to stand at the doorway of a brave new world in which man is increasingly merged with technology and artificial intelligence, and COVID-19 may well be the key that opens that door, in more ways than one. For starters, many of the COVID-19 vaccines currently being fast-tracked are not conventional vaccines. Their design is aimed at manipulating your own biology, essentially creating genetically modified humans. Combined with hydrogel biosensors — which do not suffer from rejection as foreign bodies like earlier implants, instead becoming one with your own tissue5 — we may also find ourselves permanently connected to the internet-based cloud, for better or worse. Hydrogel Chip Will Connect You to the InternetHydrogel is a DARPA invention that involves nanotechnology and nanobots. This “bioelectronic interface” is part of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines’ delivery system. The biochip being developed by Profusa is similar to the proposed COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in that it utilizes hydrogel. The implant is the size of a grain of rice, and connects to an online database that will keep track of changes in your biochemistry and a wide range of biometrics, such as heart and respiratory rate and much more. A September 2019 paper6 describes how the injectable sensor can help improve monitoring for peripheral artery disease. However, while it might be convenient, this kind of technology will also have immediate ramifications for our privacy. Who will collect and have access to all this data? Who will be responsible for protecting it? How will it be used, and when? As noted in a SteemKR article discussing the implants:7
How the Biosensor WorksIn a March 3, 2020, article, Defense One explains the basics of how the biosensor works:8
So, to recap, the technology consists of three components:9 the implanted sensor, a reader placed on the surface of the skin, and the software that allows the reader to send the collected data via Bluetooth to your phone or tablet, which in turn can be connected to other online sources such as your doctor’s website. Detecting Outbreaks Before They SpreadAs reported by Defense One,10 Profusa’s DARPA-backed technology will be able to detect the presence of flu-like infections — including SARS-CoV-2 infections — in the population before they become symptomatic. As such, the biosensors may well become part and parcel of future pandemic detection systems. Profusa hopes to gain Food and Drug Administration approval by early 2021.11 March 3, 2020, Profusa announced12,13 the launch of a study to investigate the technology’s effectiveness for early detection of influenza outbreaks. Collaborators include Duke University, the Imperial College of London and RTI International, a nonprofit research institute that develops algorithms for disease detection. According to the press release:14
Privacy Questions Remain UnansweredMany questions remain, however. If your cellphone can receive information from your body, what information can your body receive from it, or other sources, and what effects might such transmissions have on your physical functioning and psychological health? So far, such crucial questions have not been answered, and they must be, considering the nightmarish possibilities. Writing for the technology journal The New Atlantis, technology critic Adam Keiper points out that:15
One of my favorite independent journalists, Whitney Webb, wrote an article16 about this: “Coronavirus Gives a Dangerous Boost to DARPA’s Darkest Agenda.” In it, he reviews some of the more nefarious possibilities inherent in this technology:
Department of Defense Is Deeply Invested in NanotechIt’s worth considering the possibility that the transfer of data may be able to go both ways, seeing how the Department of Defense is also working on nanotechnologies aimed at creating veritable “super-soldiers” equipped with augmented situational awareness and other battlefield survivability capabilities.17,18,19 Such technologies may also include gene-based weapons designed to undermine the enemy’s health and well-being.20 In “Coronavirus Gives a Dangerous Boost to DARPA’s Darkest Agenda,” Webb reviews several DARPA initiatives that stretch the imagination:21
As noted in the SteemKR article,27 mass surveillance of everyone’s biological data would also require “enormously increased bandwidth in cellphone and Wi-Fi networks,” and it’s possible that this is part of why governments around the world are so hell-bent on implementing 5G networks across the globe without giving potentially adverse effects a second thought. Nanotech Adjuvants in VaccinesThe U.S. Department of Defense is also looking at using nanotech-based adjuvants in vaccines in lieu of conventional adjuvants known to cause health problems. As described on the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies’ website under strategic research areas No. 1:28
The project page 1.6 expounds on the research further, stating:29
While much of this may still seem too far-fetched to be true to the average person, we’re at a point now where we need to face the transhumanist agenda head-on, because it’s being implemented whether we are aware of it and agree with its prospects or not. And mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 appear to be one way to get a large portion of the global population caught in the “net.” One of the ways you can arm yourself is to sign up for the Fifth International Public Conference on Vaccination: “Protecting Health & Autonomy in the 21st Century,” which will be held online October 16 to 18, 2020. There will be 40 speakers, including me, who will address these issues, including solutions. The cost is only $80 and will also include Andy Wakefield and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. >>>>> Click Here <<<<< from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/09/15/profusa-injectable-biosensors.aspx The medical term to describe the common cold is an upper respiratory infection (URI). This is often caused by a virus that infects your nose, throat and mouth. There are more than 200 different viruses responsible, with rhinoviruses being the most common.1 In one cross-sectional study published in 2016, scientists in India analyzed the incidence of URIs in rural and urban populations.2 There were a total of 3,498 people checked during the study, out of which 287 had an upper respiratory infection at the time. Children were infected more often than adults, especially those younger than 5. Antibiotic prescriptions are not recommended for children or adults with a common cold because those medications treat bacterial, rather than viral infections. The CDC recommends focusing on symptomatic relief, as:3
Identify Upper Respiratory Tract InfectionsMany of the symptoms of seasonal allergies, the common cold and lower respiratory tract infections (LRIs) with flu can look similar. Acute LRIs from flu were linked to 34,800 deaths in 2018; that's why it's important to be able to understand the symptoms.4 In a review of the literature from 2015, scientists looked at 56 studies and found 124 definitions of upper and lower acute respiratory infections.5 This variability influences the ability to generalize prevention and treatment recommendations. Doctors from Louisville, Kentucky, say there are signs and symptoms that distinguish seasonal allergies, colds and flu:6
Honey Is Superior Treatment for URIsAlthough children are infected more commonly than adults with the cold virus, it continues to be the third-most frequent diagnosis for adults who sometimes get between two and four colds each year.7 The CDC recommends that adults treat their symptoms with decongestants and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories. The use of antihistamines on their own, intranasal corticosteroids and opioids are not supported by scientific evidence. Even though the majority of URIs are the result of a viral infection, acute respiratory tract infections continue to be the most common reason antibiotics are prescribed for adults.8 The Mayo Clinic recommends specific at-home treatments:9
While over-the-counter (OTC) medications are not regarded as effective for children younger than 6, in a Cochrane Review of the literature it's noted that although many preparations have only minor side effects in adults, they may not work any better than a placebo.10 The authors of a recent review of the literature sought to evaluate how honey stacked up against usual care and antibiotics for symptomatic relief in adults with upper respiratory infections. The scientists included 14 studies in which cough frequency, cough severity and symptom scores were compared. They concluded:11
The results of this study support past data with similar results. In one Italian study involving 134 children with a nonspecific cough, researchers compared the use of multiple doses of honey to the use of dextromethorphan and levodropropizine, two the more commonly prescribed OTC cough medications in Italy.12 The children were given either a mixture of milk and wildflower honey or a dose of one of the medications, based on the group they were assigned to. The researchers found that the milk and honey mixture was at least as effective as the medications. Honey Reduces Nighttime Cough in ChildrenIn an earlier study, the effectiveness of honey was compared to that of dextromethorphan in 105 children with URIs who had been sick for seven days or less. The researchers found that honey performed the best and parents rated it more favorably.13 Another group of researchers compared the effectiveness of dextromethorphan and diphenhydramine to that of honey. They were interested in whether the treatments reduced coughing associated with URIs that made it difficult to sleep. One hundred thirty-nine children were split into four groups, receiving either honey, dextromethorphan, diphenhydramine or supportive care. The study team found that a 2.5 ml dose of honey at bedtime relieved more coughs than the other treatments. Interestingly, there was no statistical difference in the effectiveness of dextromethorphan versus diphenhydramine.14 According to the authors of a paper published in the Canadian Family Physician, in a given week, one or more OTC products are used by more than 50% of children who are younger than 12.15 Cough and cold medications account for most of them. Based on the results of a meta-analysis, scientists demonstrated there was no evidence for or against the use of OTC medications.16 In another clinical trial an Egyptian team enrolled 100 children ages 5 and younger who were coughing because of a URI. The intervention group received cough medicine with a combination of honey and lemon.17 The researchers found that the children who were given honey and lemon experienced greater relief than those who only got the medication. Many OTC medications carry potential risks for children, including both insomnia and drowsiness. Taken together, the results from all of these studies suggest that honey works as well as dextromethorphan and diphenhydramine. It's also safer. However, it shouldn't be used in children younger than 1 year old because it can contain dormant clostridium botulinum, which can lead to infantile botulism. For this reason, it's important not to give children younger than 1 year any products that contain honey. The author of a paper published in the Canadian Family Physician says that honey can be recommended "… as a single dose of 2.5 milliliters (one-half teaspoon) before bedtime for children older than 1 year of age with cough."18 May Help Slow the Spread of Antibiotic ResistanceA secondary benefit to using natural products like honey is it helps to slow the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The overuse of antibiotics is a contributing factor to the growth of superbugs.19 Researchers have suggested that education for parents20 and professionals21 can help reduce antibiotic misuse. In one retrospective chart review, it was found that 64.2% of people with respiratory tract infections received inappropriate antibiotics, the most common of which were azithromycin, amoxicillin-clavulanate (Augmentin) and moxifloxacin.22 Interestingly, in this review, penicillin allergy and the presence of a cough were significant predictors of the inappropriate use of antibiotics. Some bacteria have developed a resistance to multiple antibiotics. The CDC estimates that "… more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur in the U.S. each year, and more than 35,000 people die as a result."23 Some experts believe the actual numbers could be up to seven times higher.24 An infectious disease specialist from Washington University, Dr. Jason Burnham, along with two colleagues, surveyed data from 2010. They expanded the definition of antibiotic-resistant deaths and concluded that 153,113 deaths could have been attributed to multidrug-resistant organisms. These reports drive home what experts have warned us about for decades — bacteria are continuing to evolve and mutate so they can survive. As more and more antibiotics are used in health care and in agriculture, they become less and less effective and we become increasingly vulnerable to antibiotic-resistant infections. Take Care With the Honey You BuyHoney has been used for centuries for its medicinal value and because people enjoy the taste. Scientists have found that it has antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella enterica.25 It has demonstrated activity against antibiotic-sensitive and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.26 Manuka honey has been used to treat wounds because it inhibits bacterial growth while stimulating a local immune response and suppressing inflammation.27 The benefits of honey are significant, but as I've warned in the past, those do not extend to the processed honey you find on grocery store shelves, which is often little more than fructose syrup. It is especially important the honey from the grocery store is never used on wounds because it can actually increase your risk of infection. In addition to the challenges of finding quality honey in regular stores, it's come to light that honey may be adulterated or even faked — presented and sold as honey when in actuality it's something else — because the bee population is plummeting and not as much real honey is available. You'll find more information in "Have You Been Eating High-Priced Fake Honey?" Consider getting true, organic honey from local producers at farmer's markets. Since real honey doesn't expire, even after opening, it's safe to buy enough in the summer to last until the following spring.28 It also pays to know how to test your honey at home. Here are some of the physical properties you can look for in quality honey:29
from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/09/14/honey-beats-traditional-treatment-for-respiratory-infections.aspx 1 Which of the following industries is NOT funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation?
2 Which of the following statement is true, based on published science?
3 Which of the following statements is false?
4 Which of the following groups was found to have the highest rate of suicidal ideation due to the COVID-19 pandemic in a recent CDC study?
5 According to findings by the National Bureau of Economic Research, lockdowns, closures, travel restrictions, stay-home orders, event bans, quarantines, curfews and mask mandates have had the following effect:
6 What is the goal of the transhumanist movement?
7 Who was instrumental in abolishing lobotomies and other brain damaging psychosurgeries?
from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/09/14/week-147-health-quiz.aspx Genetic analysis using the Oak Ridge National Lab supercomputer called the Summit has revealed an interesting new hypothesis that helps explain the disease progression of COVID-19. A September 1, 2020, Medium article1 by Thomas Smith reviewed the findings of what is now referred to as the bradykinin hypothesis. As reported by Smith, the computer crunched data on more than 40,000 genes obtained from 17,000 genetic samples.
The Bradykinin HypothesisBradykinin is a chemical that helps regulate your blood pressure and is controlled by your renin-angiotensin system (RAS). As explained in the Academic Press’ book on vitamin D (which has a significant impact on the RAS):2
The bradykinin hypothesis provides a model that helps explain some of the more unusual symptoms of COVID-19, including its bizarre effects on the cardiovascular system. It also strengthens the hypothesis that vitamin D plays a really important role in the disease. The findings3 were published in the journal eLife July 7, 2020. Based on this new hypothesis, the researchers also suggest more than 10 potential treatments, most of which are readily available drugs already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. I’ll review those later on. As detailed in previous articles, your ACE2 receptors are the primary gateways of the virus, as the virus’ spike protein binds to the ACE2 receptor. As explained by Smith:4
Bradykinin Storm Likely Responsible for Lethal EffectsIn addition to upregulating ACE2 receptors throughout your body, the SARS-CoV-2 virus also downregulates your body’s ability to degrade or break down bradykinin. The end result is a bradykinin storm, and according to the researchers, this appears to be an important factor in many of COVID-19’s lethal effects, even more so than the cytokine storms associated with the disease. As bradykinin accumulates, the more serious COVID-19 symptoms appear. Mounting clinical data suggest COVID-19 is actually primarily a vascular disease rather than a respiratory one, and runaway bradykinin buildup can help explain this. How SARS-CoV-2 Attacks the LungsThat said, COVID-19 certainly has a respiratory component, and it appears the virus attacks the lungs in more ways than one. For starters, bradykinin increases vascular permeability, essentially causing your blood vessels to leak fluid. In the lungs, this leads to fluid buildup that can trigger inflammation when immune cells also leak out into the lungs. But the Summit data also show the virus uses yet another pathway, which raises production of hyaluronic acid (HLA) in your lungs. HLA has the ability to absorb more than 1,000 times its own weight in fluid, and when it combines with the built-up fluid in the lungs, the effect is devastating, as it ends up forming a thick hydrogel that makes breathing near-impossible. When this happens — in severe cases — even mechanical ventilation becomes ineffective, as the alveoli in the lungs are simply too clogged with this gel-like substance that prevents oxygen uptake. Note that the HLA produced in your lungs does not mean that using supplemental HLA is a bad strategy. It is only when HLA is produced locally in high concentrations in pathologic conditions like COVID-19 that it becomes problematic. Otherwise it has important physiologic benefits. How SARS-CoV-2 Attacks Your Heart and BrainSARS-CoV-2 can also affect heart function, causing arrhythmias and low blood pressure. About 1 in 5 COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalizations have experienced damage to their heart. Your heart has ACE2 receptors, so SARS-CoV-2 has the ability to infect your heart directly. Arrhythmias and low blood pressure can also be the result of a bradykinin storm. In some cases, COVID-19 has also been known to trigger neurological symptoms such as dizziness, seizures, delirium and stroke, and this too can be explained by bradykinin buildup. At high levels, bradykinin can lead to a breakdown of your blood-brain barrier, thereby allowing harmful compounds to flood your brain. Bradykinin itself also causes blood vessel leakage. Together, these effects can trigger inflammation, brain damage and a variety of neurological symptoms. SARS-CoV-2 Mimics ACE Inhibiting DrugsInterestingly, as reported by Smith:5
Another side effect associated with ACE inhibiting drugs is the loss of smell and taste. This is also an early sign associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, and it’s a primary symptom of zinc deficiency too. Zinc, as explained in “Swiss Protocol for COVID — Quercetin and Zinc,” plays a vital role in immunity as well as in blood clotting, cell division, thyroid health, smell and taste, vision and wound healing, and can effectively inhibit viral replication. Your body does not store zinc, and it’s poorly absorbed, which appears to be why the combination of zinc and zinc ionophores such as quercetin and hydroxychloroquine are so effective when taken at first symptoms. Bradykinin Hypothesis Explains Other COVID-19 Symptoms TooThe bradykinin storm also helps explain other odd COVID-19 symptoms such as “COVID toes,” a condition in which your toes become swollen and bruised. This may be due to leaky vasculature in your toes. As explained by Smith, it can also shed helpful light on the gender differences seen in COVID-19. Women tend to have a lower mortality rate than men, and this may be due to the fact that women have twice the level of certain proteins involved in the RAS system. Potential TreatmentsThe good news is that if bradykinin storms are to blame, there are a number of already existing drugs that can help prevent bradykinin storms, either reducing bradykinin or blocking its receptors. As noted in the study:6
However, please understand that taking these drugs is absolutely not my recommendation. These are simply the conventional strategies that can be used if this hypothesis is correct. Why on earth would we use dangerous drugs like these for a disease that they have not been tested on when we have so many other safe, inexpensive and highly effective interventions for COVID-19? Strategies like nebulized peroxide, ozone, molecular hydrogen, exogenous ketones, and quercetin with zinc. Evidence for Vitamin D StrengthensThe researchers also highlight the usefulness of vitamin D, noting that “Another approach would be the modulation of REN levels via Vitamin D supplementation …” Vitamin D is involved in the RAS system,7,8,9 and can reduce a compound called renin (REN), thereby preventing a deadly bradykinin storm. Renin is an endopeptidase, the function of which is to generate angiotensin 1 from angiotensinogen in your plasma. Several investigations have highlighted the apparent influence of vitamin D in COVID-19 incidence, severity and mortality, and its effects on RAS further strengthens the idea that vitamin D may be a crucial component in your COVID-19 defense arsenal. As explained in the 2004 paper,10 “Vitamin D: A Negative Endocrine Regulator of the Renin-Angiotensin System and Blood Pressure,” when the RAS system is inappropriately activated, high blood pressure can result. One factor that influences your RAS is your vitamin D level, as it suppresses renin biosynthesis. If you are vitamin D deficient, your renin expression is stimulated, and based on the latest data, that may render you more prone to bradykinin storm. The Evidence for Vitamin DIn a November 1, 2020 commentary11 in the journal Metabolism Clinical and Experimental, JoAnn Manson and Shari Bassuk call for the elimination of vitamin D deficiency to effectively squelch the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that 23.3% of the total U.S. population have insufficient or deficient vitamin D levels, with people of color having disproportionately lower levels than non-Hispanic whites. They list several types of studies showing vitamin D deficiency is “an important modifiable risk factor for COVID-19,” including:12 • Laboratory studies that demonstrate how vitamin D helps regulate immune function and the RAS, and modulate inflammatory responses to infection. • Ecologic studies showing populations with lower vitamin D levels or lower UVB radiation exposure have higher COVID-19 mortality,13,14,15 and the fact that people identified as being at greatest risk for COVID-19 hospitalization and death (people of color, the elderly, nursing home residents and those with comorbidities such as obesity, vascular conditions and chronic kidney disease) also have a higher risk of vitamin D deficiency. A pilot randomized clinical study16,17 published online August 29, 2020, found hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Spain who were given supplemental vitamin D (calcifediol) in addition to standard of care — which included the use of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin — had significantly lower intensive care unit admissions. Patients in the vitamin D arm received 532 micrograms of calcifediol on the day of admission (equivalent to 106,400 IUs of vitamin D18) followed by 266 mcg on Days 3 and 7 (equivalent to 53,200 IUs19). After that, they received 266 mcg once a week until discharge, ICU admission or death. Of those receiving calcifediol, only 2% required ICU admission, compared to 50% of those who did not get calcifediol. None of those given vitamin D supplementation died, and all were discharged without complications. • Observational studies showing low vitamin D levels are associated with a greater risk of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 and contracting acute respiratory infections. Most recently, a September 3, 2020 JAMA study20 reported that people who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 were 1.77 times more likely to be deficient in vitamin D than those who tested negative for the virus. • Randomized clinical trials showing vitamin D inhibits respiratory tract infections, especially in those with lower vitamin D levels at baseline. REALLY IMPORTANT: Optimize Your Vitamin D Level NowFor years, I’ve stressed the importance of optimizing your vitamin D level, especially in anticipation of flu season, and it seems clear it can go a long way toward protecting yourself against COVID-19 as well. Aside from what’s already been mentioned, vitamin D also helps Type II cells in your lungs produce surfactant that aids in fluid clearance. When you’re vitamin D deficient, your entire RAS is deranged or dysfunctional, thereby raising your risk of both bradykinin storm and cytokine storm. In closing, experts have been warning that SARS-CoV-2 may reemerge in the fall when temperatures and humidity levels drop, thereby increasing the virus’ transmissibility. Now is the time to check your vitamin D level and start taking action to raise it if you’re below 60 ng/mL. An easy and cost-effective way of measuring your vitamin D level is to order GrassrootsHealth’s vitamin D testing kit and learn more about vitamin D and its impact on your health. Knowledge is empowerment, and that is particularly true during this pandemic. To learn more about the influence of vitamin D on your health in general and COVID-19 in particular, see my vitamin D report. from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/09/14/bradykinin-hypothesis.aspx Dr. Peter Breggin, a psychiatrist, has written more than a dozen bestselling books on psychiatry and the drug industry. He's frequently referred to as “the conscience of psychiatry” because he's been able to successfully reform the psychiatric profession, abolishing one of the most harmful practices, namely lobotomies and other experimental psychosurgeries. He was the first to take a public stand against lobotomies as a young man, and was able to change the field as a result. He’s featured in Aaron and Melissa Dykes’ excellent documentary, “The Minds of Men.”1 Now 83 years old, Breggin has seen a lot, and in this interview, he shares his own evolution and experiences as a psychiatrist. His interest in psychiatry began at the age of 18, when he became a volunteer at a local state mental hospital.
Toxic PsychiatryBreggin eventually became the leader of that volunteer program. He and 200 other students painted the walls and took patients for walks. He asked the superintendent to assign one patient per volunteer aid, to build real relationships. The superintendent balked at the idea, but eventually gave in. Breggin tells this story in his book, “Toxic Psychiatry.”2
All of this is what motivated Breggin to go into psychiatry, in order to help reform the profession from the inside. Interestingly, as early as 1963, Jerry Klerman, who later became the highest-ranking psychiatrist in the federal government and a professor at Harvard, told Breggin there was no future in helping people strengthen their mental resilience. The future, Klerman told him, was in drugs, and using computers to decide which drugs to use. After his first year at Harvard medical school, Breggin left and went back to the Upstate Medical Center (University) in New York, where he had already done internship.
Breggin Spearheaded Drug-Free PsychiatryBreggin focused on helping people without medication. “I learned very quickly that the most disturbed people would calm down and relate when somebody cared about them, wasn't afraid of them, was interested in them and made no pretense of being superior to them,” he says. Drugs, he explains, were simply stifling the patients. While they might ease some of the suffering, that relief came at the expense of brain damage. Breggin goes on to tell the story of how he prevented the return of lobotomies and psychosurgeries — strategies in which the brain is purposely damaged through electric shocks, radium chip implants or puncturing the prefrontal area of the brain with an ice pick inserted next to the eyeball, for example. Breggin refers to lobotomies as a rape of the soul, the permanent mutilation of an individual’s selfhood, as damage to one area of the brain will harm the integration of the whole brain. As noted by Breggin, you cannot “plop out aggression” like a pit out of an olive. The brain doesn’t work like that. It’s an integrated organ and mental processes arise from integrated processes involving many different areas of the brain. He decided somebody had to stop the madness. And, while he received no support from any other well-known psychiatrist or professor, and came under vehement attack by the establishment, including threats of physical violence against himself and his family that at times necessitated the use of bodyguards. Breggin eventually succeeded. It’s a fascinating story, so I highly recommend listening to the whole interview. When asked why he took on this formidable fight, he says:
The Lawsuit That Ended LobotomiesThe end of lobotomies was brought about by a lawsuit filed by a young lawyer named Gabe Kaimowitz on behalf of a chronically hospitalized patient who had been promised release from the mental hospital if he underwent experimental psychosurgery. Breggin tells the story:
It’s important to realize just how important this was, to put a stop to the return of lobotomies and experimental psychosurgeries. It was widely accepted as a practical solution for all sorts of problems, including race riots and behavioral problems among young children. The beginning of the end of psychosurgery was the early 1970s. At that time, Breggin, who for most of his career struggled to get support, got the support of the Congressional Black Caucus, who could see the social consequences of psychosurgery being used on black children, as well as certain conservative Senators who thought it was immoral.
The Dangers of Speaking Out Against ProzacBreggin also had a hand in getting the word out about the dangers of Prozac. In his 1991 book, “Toxic Psychiatry,” he briefly mentioned Prozac is likely to do a lot of harm, and that there were already reports of the drug causing violent aggression. He was later asked to be the sole scientific expert to put together the science for several dozen lawsuits against Eli Lilly, in which patients or their families claimed the drug had caused violent episodes, suicide, homicide, mania or psychosis. The drama and intrigue surrounding this trial rivals any good spy novel, so for more details, listen to the interview. As just one example, at the time of his deposition against Eli Lilly, he, his wife and daughter all developed severe illness. By chance, a plumber they’d called in to fix a problem in the basement discovered the stovepipe for the gas heater had been disconnected and was laying out of sight, as if purposely hidden, pumping gas into the house. Before that, the family had received death threats, and Breggin had called the FBI. Agents claiming to be FBI had visited his family, but something obviously wasn’t right.
In broad strokes, the Eli Lilly trial turned out to be fixed in Eli Lilly’s favor and Breggin was set up to fail in his investigation. The plaintiffs lost the case and Eli Lilly was cleared of charges. Eventually, however, evidence emerged showing Eli Lilly lawyers had bribed some of the plaintiffs and arranged for a secret settlement provided they lost the case. A Supreme Court judge in Kentucky declared the trial a fraud and changed the verdict to “a secret settlement with prejudice.” When the judge decided to disclose the amount of the secret settlement, he was removed and replaced with another judge who decided the settlement amount was not to be disclosed as it might hurt Eli Lilly. The full details of this remarkable case can be found in Breggin’s book, “Medication Madness.”3 Electroshock Treatment — A Real-World ConspiracyOne psychiatric treatment Breggin has not been able to eliminate is electroshock treatment (ECT), which is actually starting to be used more and more. Breggin says:
On Neuralink and Transcranial Direct Current StimulationBreggin also discusses the hazards of transcranial direct current stimulation and Neuralink, a transcranial implant designed by the Elon Musk Company. Elon is probably doing this because he’s concerned about the integration of artificial intelligence, which is coming. He fears the human race could become subservient to artificial intelligence. He thinks one of the preservation strategies is to allow us to sort of keep pace with these advances. Breggin comments:
from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/09/13/peter-breggin-toxic-psychiatry.aspx Dr. Mercola Interviews the Experts This article is part of a weekly series in which Dr. Mercola interviews various experts on a variety of health issues. To see more expert interviews, click here. Dr. David Brownstein, who has a clinic just outside of Detroit, has successfully treated over a hundred patients with what has become my favorite intervention for COVID-19 and other upper respiratory infections, namely nebulized hydrogen peroxide. He has published the results of his work in a study that you can download here. Since I first wrote about it at the beginning of April 2020, I've received impressive testimonials of its effectiveness from friends and acquaintances who got severely ill and used it. Brownstein is probably best known for his promotion of iodine and its supplementation. He was also an early adopter of vitamin D optimization and nebulized peroxide. He explains the background that led him to his current regimen:
Hydrogen Peroxide and OzoneWhile attending an oxidative medicine course, Brownstein learned about hydrogen peroxide. At that point, he and his staff started using nebulized hydrogen peroxide and intravenous (IV) hydrogen peroxide. That was back in the mid-1990s. So, he has been using nebulized peroxide clinically for 25 years now, which is longer than anyone I know of. With each revision of his original protocol, patients seemed to fare better. Fast-forward another couple of years, at another medical course, he learned about the benefits of ozone.
107 Patients — One Hospitalization, Zero DeathsBrownstein and the other physicians in his practice first started treating COVID patients in the middle of a Detroit winter under full social distancing and lockdown restrictions. As a result, he had to treat patients who were ill in a drive-through manner in his clinic parking lot. They'd stick their arm out their car window, and Brownstein and his colleagues would do an IV of hydrogen peroxide and vitamin C and intramuscular shots of ozone.
The case report,1 "A Novel Approach to Treating COVID-19 Using Nutritional and Oxidative Therapies," was published in Science, Public Health Policy, and The Law in July 2020. For a couple of months, Brownstein would post video interviews with his patients, in which they told their story. He removed all of them after receiving a warning letter from the Federal Trade Commission, saying that because there's no established prevention, treatment or cure for COVID-19, any mention thereof falls in violation of FTC law.
Boosting Your Immune Function Is ImperativeInterestingly, as explained by Brownstein, in addition to having direct viricidal effects, iodine also stimulates and supports the immune system. It increases the killing effect of hydrogen peroxide production in your white blood cells by improving white blood cell and thyroid function, which is one way our immune system works to kill pathogens. Vitamin C directly increases hydrogen peroxide production when used at high doses, he says, while vitamin A helps modulate your immune system.
How to Do Nebulized Hydrogen Peroxide — The BasicsNebulized hydrogen peroxide is extremely safe. Brownstein has used it for 25 years with no ill effects being found. It's also incredibly inexpensive, and you can administer it at home, without a prescription. In my view, it is one of the absolute best therapies for viral infections like SARS-CoV-2 or even worse respiratory viruses that will likely be unleashed in the future. You need to buy a desktop nebulizer (it needs to produce a very fine mist and desktop versions are stronger than handheld battery operated models). The one I use is the Pari Trek S Compressor Aerosol System, which is available on Amazon or less expensively on eBay. The large battery option is unnecessary as you can simply plug in the device to run it when you need it. Please understand, though, that the Pari Trek S is designed to treat asthmatics and as such only comes with a mouthpiece. While this would get the peroxide in the lungs where it is needed, it does nothing to reach the sinuses, which are also likely infected. This is why it would be worth pick up some face masks on Amazon to use instead of the mouthpiece as they are only about $10. It is important to acquire this BEFORE you need it, as the sooner you treat the infection the better your results will be, although the testimonials are unbelievably impressive even in late stage illness. It is not necessary to treat yourself preventively, but only if you are sick or exposed to someone who is. While I've been using a 0.1% dilution, Brownstein uses an even lower concentration of just 0.04%. Neither Brownstein nor I recommend using commercial 3% hydrogen peroxide found in most grocery stores, however, as it has potentially toxic chemical stabilizers in it. Then take 3-5 ml and put that into the nebulizer and inhale the entire amount. You can do this every hour when you are sick until you start to notice improvement and then back down to every 4-6 hours and continue until you are over the illness. Since you are not using full strength 3% peroxide and diluting it by 30 to 50 times, it is unlikely the stabilizers will present a problem, but to be safe it is best to use FOOD-GRADE peroxide. Also remember not to dilute it with plain water as the lack of electrolytes in the water can damage your lungs if you nebulize that. You will need to use saline or add a small amount of salt to the water to eliminate this risk. Brownstein also dilutes the peroxide with sterile water and saline rather than distilled water. Using saline prevents the osmotic differential that can cause damage to lung cells. Brownstein dilutes the 35% food-grade peroxide as follows. When nebulizing, Brownstein also adds one drop of 5% Lugol's solution to the nebulizer as well.
Sample Case HistoryBrownstein relates the case of a 67-year-old male patient. The man developed COVID-19 symptoms, and after seven or eight days could not breathe and went to the hospital where he was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia. After two days of treatment, which included oxygen, he felt only slightly better, but was released from the hospital due to a shortage of beds.
Nebulized Peroxide Typically Improves Symptoms Within HoursThis story echoes the experiences of personal acquaintances who have tried the treatment. After two treatments, they felt significantly better. After the third treatment, their breathing was restored and they were well on their way to a full recovery. You'd be hard-pressed to find another treatment that works within hours. Brownstein agrees that this scenario is consistent with what he has encountered among his own patients. "Usually, everything feels better within a couple of hours of starting nebulizing," he says. When asked about how others in the medical community have responded to his blog posts about the treatment, he replies:
Hydrogen Peroxide FactsIn my April 2020 article, "Could Hydrogen Peroxide Treat Coronavirus?" I reviewed some of the basic science of how hydrogen peroxide works, as well as some of the studies assessing its therapeutic potential. The most relevant study2 was published in March 2020 in the Journal of Hospital Infection. They studied 0.5% hydrogen peroxide, and found it killed human coronaviruses, including the coronaviruses responsible for SARS and MERS. Here are a few additional facts that explain how and why hydrogen peroxide works so well for respiratory infections: 1. Hydrogen peroxide freely crosses cell membranes and does not readily oxidize biological molecules, including lipids and proteins.3 It does however react with iron. The presence of free, unbound iron in high concentrations in pathogens is what allows them to be selectively targeted by hydrogen peroxide. High concentrations of iron result in a rapid breakdown of hydrogen peroxide into hydroxyl radicals and water. The hydroxyl radical, a potent oxidizing agent, kills any pathogens present. (Under normal, healthy circumstances, hydrogen peroxide merely breaks down into oxygen and water.) 2. Peroxide is generated by activated phagocytes (pathogen-killing immune cells) at sites of inflammation.4 Phagocytes also contain high amounts of ascorbate (vitamin C), which directly donate electrons to peroxide to generate the pathogen-killing hydroxyl radical inside the infected cells. Vitamin C also helps generate increased amounts of extracellular hydrogen peroxide, which further boosts the elimination of pathogens.5 3. Hydrogen peroxide is continually generated inside all cells in your body, including the epithelial lining of your lungs. (Hydrogen peroxide is present in the air exhaled by healthy human subjects, and when inflammation is present, more peroxide is found in the exhaled breath.6) The presence of excreted peroxide on these surface cells in the airways is part of a healthy, at-the-ready immune response.7 4. Aside from its anti-pathogen properties, hydrogen peroxide is also recognized as an important signaling molecule, both intracellular and extracellular, influencing and modulating multiple metabolic processes.8 In summary, hydrogen peroxide sits inside and outside your cells in low levels, ready and waiting to be generated in greater amounts as soon as a pathogen is detected by the immune system by NADPH Oxidase (NOX). Its presence in your human body (at varying amounts depending on whether infection is present), and the lack of toxic metabolites, are indicative of its safety and nontoxic nature. Similarly, as noted by Brownstein, hydrogen peroxide is extremely safe to use and nebulize at the diluted levels suggested. It's also effective. All pathogens studied to date have been found to succumb to hydrogen peroxide, albeit at varying concentrations and for different amounts of exposure. So, nebulizing hydrogen peroxide into the sinuses, throat and lungs is a simple, straightforward way to augment your body's natural expression of hydrogen peroxide to combat infection. While individual sensitivities to inhaled peroxide vary, even very low concentrations (below 3%) have been shown to reliably kill most pathogens.9,10,11,12 Through trial and error, Brownstein found 0.04% was the lowest concentration at which patients report significant improvement, which is why he recommends that level of dilution. Summary of TreatmentTo summarize, here's how I would treat myself or a family member:
The key is to have everything you need readily available. Have it in your possession before you need it. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so procure the nebulizer, peroxide and iodine before you get ill. If you're exposed to someone who is sick, you can use the nebulized peroxide as a prophylactic, but if you're healthy, it's not recommended to nebulize daily. For prevention, also make sure your vitamin D level is above 40 ng/mL. In the later stages of disease, NAC may be really useful. The MATH+ protocol developed by Dr. Paul Marik uses methylprednisolone, vitamin C, thiamine (vitamin B1) and heparin. Heparin is administered because COVID-19 is a blood disorder too. There are clotting complications, and the heparin seems to improve that. NAC also prevents platelet aggregation and abnormal blood clotting. It also reduces oxidative stress and increases glutathione levels, both of which play important roles in this disease. In my view, quercetin, zinc, glutathione, vitamin D and nebulized peroxide is a home run.
from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/09/13/how-to-nebulize-hydrogen-peroxide.aspx You’re probably already aware that a good sleep schedule is a vital component to a healthy lifestyle, but did you know that when you don’t get enough sleep, your brain actually starts to eat itself? I don’t mean that in the literal sense of the word, but research from the Marche Polytechnic University in Italy shows that astrocytes, a type of glial cell in the brain that normally gets rid of unnecessary nerve connections start to break down healthy nerve synapses in response to chronic sleep deprivation.1 In the study, mice were divided into four groups: well-rested (six to eight hours of sleep); spontaneously awake (periodically woken up); sleep-deprived (kept awake for an additional eight hours); and chronically sleep-deprived (kept awake for five days straight). The researchers then looked at astrocyte activity in each of the four groups. In the well-rested mice, 5.7% of brain synapses had astrocyte activity. That number jumped slightly to 7.3% in the spontaneously awake mice. But in the mice that were sleep-deprived and chronically sleep-deprived, those numbers jumped again to 8.4% and 13.5%, respectively. How the Brain Normally FunctionsTo understand what this increased astrocyte activity means, you must first understand how the brain normally functions. Your body and your brain constantly go through cellular cleansing processes. In the brain there are two types of glial cells that are responsible for clearing out old or damaged cells and synapses. Microglial cells initiate a process called phagocytosis to remove debris, pathogens and dead cells from the brain.2 Astrocytes are supporting cells that provide structural support, insulate surfaces and protect the brain during inflammation and injury.3 These are complementary roles that help repair and restore the brain while you sleep and get you ready for a new day. Normally, that’s a good thing. But when you don’t get enough sleep, astrocyte activity increases and the cells actually start to exhibit behavior similar to the microglial cells, eating waste and engaging in excessive cleansing — a physiological process called astrocytic phagocytosis.4 When this happens, instead of targeting only dead or damaged cells, the astrocytes start to eat away and destroy healthy synapses too. Over time, this can lead to chronic brain diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of neurodegeneration, like Parkinson’s disease. Other Health Problems Associated With Sleep DeprivationAlthough it’s a big problem, increased astrocyte activity and destroyed brain synapses aren’t the only problems associated with chronic sleep deprivation. If you’re not getting enough good quality sleep, it can also lead to several acute and chronic symptoms and health conditions, including:
How Much Sleep Do You Need?It’s important to make sure you’re getting enough sleep to avoid damage to the brain and chronic health problems. But how much is enough? A general rule of thumb is to get eight hours of sleep, but the exact amount that’s right for you depends on your age, your overall health and your daily activities. The National Sleep Foundation breaks recommendations down by age to make sure you’re getting enough sleep:7
Keep in mind that these are general guidelines and getting an hour more or an hour less may be appropriate, depending on your lifestyle, health circumstances and how you feel. If you’re productive, energetic, happy and healthy on seven hours of sleep, there’s no need to bump that up to eight based solely on a chart. Tips on Getting a Good Night’s SleepIt’s important to note that getting a good night’s sleep means quickly falling asleep, reaching a deep, restorative sleep and staying asleep. Going to bed at 10 p.m. and then tossing and turning all night until 6 a.m. doesn’t count as a good eight hours of sleep. If you’re having trouble getting a good night’s sleep, there are a number of things you can do to improve your sleep hygiene. Just like eating a good diet, it’s important to prioritize these sleep tips so you can achieve optimal rest. If you practice all of these things regularly, you’ll be well on your way to a good night’s sleep and making sure your brain stays healthy:
from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/09/12/effects-of-chronic-sleep-deprivation.aspx |
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