Unfortunately, I understand the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake reference. It's a challenge but I think the best way to deal with these kind of problems is to outperform the locals not out of spite but rather embarrassment. One local apologized to me profusely when he saw I was the only one helping an elderly lady hail down and and get into a taxi. Another thing I do is refuse to speak English with strangers. I always inform people that they should be speaking Japanese in a Japanese-speaking country. What is this going to amount to? Probably nothing. But, as I have heard you say in an interview, paraphrased to some extent, the behaviors of others do not absolve us of our responsibility.
Oh, I routinely offer my seat to elderly passengers, though not to embarrass the locals for not doing so; that is the extra treat in doing so. While I agree with your stance on the use of Japanese here, after these past 4 years, my already decreasing ability in the language is the worst it has ever been. I have not conversed in any language for most of the past four years and find that can no longer complete daily Japanese tasks that I once did with ease. Yet another reason I am so pissed off over true lockdowns and masking.
I also have much more experience with Japanese culture than the erai businessmen and women and politicians do.
Doing the right thing, when it makes sense, causes good feelings. It is one of the reasons so many people "masked," It felt good to be doing something. Which is one of the reasons I get satisfaction from stating when something like masks do not work because it comes with no other benefit than the realization that I am not simply "accepting the narrative."
Letting people into traffic, opening the door for them, and giving up a seat, these are good things.
You are not alone in the foreigner with more culture experience. I have seen others who are more knowledgable than the average local. My reasons for doing good deeds are not intended to shame, though I do feel that shame is a motivating factor for others because it is motivating factor for me. It works. I generally want the best for any person that comes into my life, even if it's brief. This applies to people at coffee shops and other "insignificant places". I want others to have this same attitude. Sometimes I walk this road alone. Sometimes I don't. All I know is that I don't want any of this nonsense to happen again.
Agreed. However, we cannot control the actions of others but we can control our own. Though it is difficult to control the rage, I know it is the right thing to do.
I've thought about different cultures and I think to a degree we have to police ourselves. After dealing with security in airports, and the ridiculous nature of "randomly screening" I think groups associated with certain bad behavior should be "all in" on profiling.
For instance, as a man, I am happy that men get scrutinized more than women for possibly being more violent offenders. Because violent offenders are someone I too have to deal with and not just women. I raise the hypothetical "if it was well known that people of Irish descent were responsible for the lion's share of terrorism, should there not be profiling of Irish?"
I would be happy to be patted down , singled out, if it meant dissuading other folks from thinking. they could commit heinous crimes. The reason is, I don't benefit from bad behavior anymore than anyone else does.
Ah, but Japan is different. After the earthquake of 1923 that destroyed much of Tokyo and the surrounding area, someone started the rumor that Koreans were poisoning the wells. Despite the fact that said Koreans were just as dependent upon the well water as their Japanese neighbors, this sparked a massacre of anyone who looked Korean, including many Japanese, such was their madness. Who undertook this mass murder? Yes, enraged townsfolk but also police and even bands of school boys engaged in organized murder of all they found who they thought were Korean.
I have read statements that this rumor fueled not only the massacre after the earthquake but also Japan’s belief that it must subjugate its neighbors for its leading to WW2 in Asia. I am not sure I buy that. Even adding a log to an already burning bonfire seems a stretch to me. However, they did not stop to consider why anyone would poison wells that they themselves used and even police went about murdering residents of their precincts along side school boys, so this theory is not as far out there as I would like to think.
This is one of the reasons why I think the Covid origin story is a side issue or a deflection. Why would interested parties create a "gain of function" virus that would also endanger them? The real conspiracy thought is (maybe they have the real antidote) but my contention is, why create a real virus when you can have the media do all the heavy lifting. As you point out, it doesn't take much.
Yeah. I think a lot of what is being discussed is a distraction. We, collectively, are so intent on overturning every single stone that we fail to act upon what is already known. We know more than enough to march against the institutions that forced all this upon us, but too many are busy kicking stones over to be bothered with acting.
Not sure if this is relevant, but you buried the lead about your friend and "Long Covid."
I have many questions, as I do, about any Long Covid post I see on Twitter. The first one being "is it Covid?"
I am willing to admit I sound insane when I even doubt it is Covid. But for most, it was a diagnosis by a PCR test that is far from reliable. My previous assertion that I had it in 2020 is due to symptoms associated with Covid and not a test itself. But being that the cold/flu all but disappeared in 2020, and Covid was the underlying cause of most diseases in 2020...I must have had Covid, yes?
I am still waiting to hear about tissue samples etc. that have been tested in 2015 2010 2005 "for Covid." The tissue samples would have to be viable/isolated so as not to be tainted by their current enviornment. My supposition is that a certain percentage of just about any tissue samples will test positive for Covid.
My response has been to call everything "Long" to make it appear that much more insidious and pervasive. I think people should talk about their Long Cancer, or Long Diabetes, or Long Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to anyone who talks of "Long Covid."
I am also suspicious of the origins of "Long Covid"We know that post viral sydrome can occur to...well viruses. But there are also other causes to the various symptoms associated with "Long Covid." Brain Fog and Fatigue alone have many many sources.
Another culprit, of course, could be the vaccine. And as soon as anyone mentions "Long Covid" the reasonable question and a legitimate one is "Vaccine injury?" Yes, there were reports of "Long Covid" before the vaccine rollout, but that doesn't rule out the vaccine at all. In fact, it would make more sense given the vaccines ability to further apparently wreck immune systems that any virus previously dealt with ease by the immune systrem becomes a "whipping boy" of viruses and other diseases.
A third culprit could be prior or emergent chronic conditions. As they say "correlation does not mean causation." And this is true regardless if it is a condition that occurs after Covid or after the Covid vaccination.
There is also legitimate thoughts about the panic, or pandemic itself, having physiological responses to it. This is probably the most stigmatized of the origins because no one wants to admit they are dealing with real physical effects of psychological stimulus.
All that being said, Has ivermectin worked for you?
I have commented on long covid a few times and it has always stirred up a manure storm. I do not believe in long covid, which is as far as most will read and claim that I am saying it is all in their head. However, I do believe that they have something, but that it is misattributed to covid, just as so many other things have been.
I hav had the symptoms of long covid from mid to late 2020. It reminds of how I felt after a long deployment aboard ship, devoid of the physical activity was accustomed to ashore. To force someone to suddenly cease all physical activity and confine them in a house and worse, the tiny apartments here in Japan for months on end with no social interactions is going to cause the symptoms of long covid. Anyone who has ever read about what happens to those who spent long terms in solitary confinement should immediately recognize the glaring similarities. Brain fog was commonly joked about in various ways in 2020 and 2021 before the shots were released. One of my favorites that I feel capture the reality of the situation best is the following exchange between two people. A: “What is today’s date?” B: “April 93d, I think.” My wife lost track of time several months before I did, but I eventually lost track of the day of the week and date too. Looking at the wall calendar provided not a clue, we had to check our devices to know. The sleep cycle of pretty much every single soul on the planet was disrupted. This too has long been known to cause the symptoms of long covid.
For my friend though, she was able to remain active despite the lockdowns lite forced upon us. Different when you have family, I guess. All our out door activities kept getting cancelled; camp grounds cancelled pour reservations, parks and museums were closed, madness. I digress. Whatever is ailing her can then not be what ails me, the effects of enforced prolonged sedentary living. She refused the clot shot, caught covid, she believes from a coworker, no way to tell but she believes this, and was later diagnosed as having long covid.
I have not taken ivermectin. I bought it for the family, in secret as the wife would blow a gasket if she knew before the need arises. My friend claims it is miraculous. She went from not being able to get out of bed most days, and unable to climb stairs to bounding up stairs full of energy by the end of the first day she took it. She took some at the coffee house as soon as we met and while there, said she was able to lift her arms over her head for the first time in several days. She swears by it.
Going back to myself, I have terrible brain fog. I am behind in all things, including responding to subscribers and commenters here due to times where I simply cannot stare at the screen any more. Eyestrain is a long known contributor to brain fog. So is staying up until 2 am with the alarm going off a 7 and drinking lots of beer.
I deal with similar manure storms on X. I don't believe in it either, but also don't think "nothing is happening." Part of the problem is because the panic hyper-focused us all on disease and malaise, well everything becomes "Covid" and "Long Covid." I have "Long Diabetes" also a source of brain fog and fatigue. In addition, I have heart failure...also a source of "brain fog and fatigue." I imagine Covid and Long Covid believers probably think that Covid and Long Covid activated my disease, or augmented it. Similar arguments are made about the vaccine.
Incidentally, I was on a Zoom call tonight for a class I am taking and one of the teachers stated "he finally got covid." I didn't say anything. I was thinking to myself though "four years and I still have to put up with this s" He stated how happy he was to get on the Paxlovid regimen and showed his doctor the positive test, even mentioned how his reasons for getting "hit so hard" on Covid was not keeping up to date on his vaccine boosters. If I got sick, my reaction to getting Covid would have been the same as four years ago...I would sleep drink plenty of fluids, and if I was coughing, take some Nyquil to help me sleep.
And one of my questions would have been "do you think part of your reason for getting Covid could be due to the vaccine? Do you have many friends around you who are unvaccinated and getting sick? You're friend is someone whose experience I will add to my list of people who are unvaccinated who nonetheless "got Covid and now Long Covid" which again is why my "sources" are many for "Long Covid."
I hope she continues to improve.
I imagine one of the things that keeps people sane in solitary confinement is the brains ability to protect itself by "brainfog."
The other guy on the call stated he got Covid back in 2020, wasn't bad at all, but he was up to date on the vaccine.
If i was going to be a complete ass I would have asked questions and made corrections. First thing I would have said is "You were also exposed to many diseases over the past four years and didn't succumb to them, you think maybe the experimental injection you got might have something to do with the huge impact in getting "COVID-19." He stated he was unable to get out of bed for two days.
In a similar fashion, I remember before Covid, getting sick and not getting out of bed for two days. Not sure if "not getting out of bed" is anything..and if the house was on fire, would he have the same inability? A lot of us use hyperbole in what we say. I imagine also he didn't pee in his bed.
Never considered that brain fog might be a protective measure as you state. Could be. I just thought it was similar to atrophy in muscles from lack of use. Could be both.
I have in the past stated it was as if 99.8% of the human population got either amnesia or a lobotomy early 2020. Humanity seemed to suddenly come to believe that the only disease mankind has ever had to content with is covid and it arrived in 2020. Suddenly, everything that we had ever experienced in illness before 2020 was unique to covid. I was going to list everything, but you know. Madness.
The topic of long covid is a troubling one for me as it involves people who are suffering who somehow take the statement that I do not think covid is to blame to mean that I think they are have mental issues. Most people read to find points to argue against, not to increase and improve the information they have.
I agree with you about "atrophy" but I have to say I really get brain fog following a meal. And since I do enjoy thinking and learning it is a huge drag when this happens. What keeps me energized is moments we can connect like this. Finding some consensus not borne out of belief in a narrative, but actually thinking over situations and ideas. I don't want to lose that.
Also like the compassion you show for your friend. Maybe her response to "Ivermectin" is placebo, but who am I to say so? I'd shut up about it and give her anything she wanted if she thought it would make her feel better (minus experimental injections, she would be on her own there)
Everyone has had their collective etch o sketch shaken concerning diseases, and now because of that there is a danger we could face a similar situation with Bird Flu. Which is why I won't shut up. Bird Flu has been a "threat" since at least the year 2000 and they keep trying to start fires with it. And if we're not careful, they're going to end up injecting birds and livestock with BS "vaccines" and this will most likely also impact us.
It's this whole Public Health infrastructure that are acting like beavers on top of the Sears Robuck building trying to build dams. They keep wanting to rationalize their existence by predicting "worst case scenario health events" and yet at the same time ignoring "worst case scenario health events."
They should be recommending people get healthier, dig in, and have a healthier lifestyle. Yet it seems all they want to do is to figure out new ways to prod and prick us.
This past 4 years has taught me a great deal, once is that they do not want us healthy. Even without understanding why, doctors realized that those who got plenty of sunshine had better outcomes when they caught the Spanish flu. So, 100 years later, after a full century more of accumulated knowledge, out medical professionals did they level best at keeping every out of the sunshine for as many years as possible. Amnesia? Lobotomy? Malice? Not a lot of viable options here, in my view.
As with many things, there need not be just one answer to the question of brain fog. Often, mine dissipates after a meal. Other times after drinking water. Others, and by far the most common for me, drinking magical bean juice; by which I am of course referring to coffee. Physical activity, when I can work in it, has also been known to lift the fog. But these are my experiences. I have no doubt that while different individuals may share some of these, some will have others I do not.
And I think this is a feature of all we have endured this past 4 + years. Those behind all this did not rely on a single one size fits all approach. To easy to see the malice behind it and it would not have the desired effect on all anyway. Thus, they forced masking on just about all of humanity knowing it would lead to mask induced disease in many that they could misattributed to covid and use it to ramp up the fear. They forced most to remain indoors for long periods of time, which when combined with all that went along with this; closed schools and businesses leading to increased consumption of adult beverages, liquor stores being allowed to remain open while cancer treatment centers and churches were not, etc leading to increased death in numerous ways, again a blamed upon covid. Then we get the clot shots.
I blame all excess deaths and maladies over these past four years not on the clot shot but on the panicked response to covid; be it the clot shots, school closures, lockdowns, border closing, all of it.
Viral fatigue is a known thing that applies to many viral diseases including the Wuflu. I'm not sure there's anything specific to Covid in the symptoms people complain about
I got into it with a self reported MD over this point. He said I was spreading misinformation by stating that I did not believe that Long Covid was a thing and cited viral fatigue. I responded that yes, viral fatigue exists has long been known about, yet I have never seen wall to wall banner headlines warning people to do anything to prevent the spread of a viral disease due to “viral fatigue”, but I do with “long Covid”. We are not discussing the same thing.
Like everything else covid, I believe that most of the long covid cases are not in anyway unique to covid and may have little to nothing to do with it anyway, but have been hyped in the former case and misattributed in the latter.
I do think that many if not most or all of those claiming to have long covid are indeed suffering from something, though.
Oh I'm sure they are. They are suffering from Viral Fatigue and related issues. As you say nothing specifically covid related (unless they got the vax, in which case they could have a ton of other issues but those aren't Long Covid either, they are vax side-effects)
Japan has the same problem (and the US to a lesser extent) the euros have, a falling native population. When you combine this with an ever increasing social welfare state. It is/will become impossible. The accounting/math. If holding the welfare state contant, it means a falling working age population has to increase taxes PER worker to fund the state.
The state has three options, one, reduce the the welfare state and hence bennies, two, increase taxes significantly per worker, three, increase the # of workers via immigration, four, play funny money via QE, YCC and inflationary policies. The one I didnt put in this list is the hardest and least likey to be influenced by the .gov, having more babies.
Japan has fallen hard for #4, and I believe the increase in immigration is an early sign that #4 is coming to an end. The international political economy is coming apart and the ability to get away with stupid policies such a QE, YCC and money printing are coming to an end.
All true. Well, after writing the bit below on the birth rate I must amend this to “I think it is mostly true.” Years ago now, there was an excellent TV commercial that vividly related the issue. They used a see saw/teeter totter with a number of working aged people on one side and 1 retiree on the other to demonstrate how their social welfare system was designed to work and how it did in the beginning. Many working supporting few retired. Then they switched to one working aged man on the one side and several retirees he is to support on the other. That was well over a decade ago and things have just gotten worse since then. Long ago I read an OP/ED calling on Japan’s elderly to commit suicide for the sake of the nation. Not sure if it was tongue in cheek or sincere, but it shows the depth and longevity of this problem.
However, Japan is not allowing those it needs in through immigration. It is allowing unskilled folks in who have no intention of working here and reproduce at rates far in excess of the native population. They have started on the same path as Germany under Merckel (sp?) and the most of the rest of Europe. They too are deliberately destroying the culture of Japan and its communities under “diversity”.
I disagree that birth rate is the least influenced by government. I believe it is the most. All the reason for the low birth rate come from bad government policy. The idiots in charge have made it far too expensive to raise children. An employed individual must pay for the healthcare and pension of two generations of retirees at least in addition to pay for their own and these are taken put of their pay before rent and food are payed for. Simply not enough left for enough children needed to solve the population crises.
Personally, I think it is far too late for Japan. If every woman of child bearing age had a child today, it would be 20 years before the females could begin to significantly contribute to increasing the population. Sorry for the crude statement, it just shows how long it takes to reverse this trend.
I disagree that birth rate is the least influenced by government......... the low birth rate come from bad government policy..... too expensive to raise children."
Bingo, we actually agree. I would put it this way, a SOCIAL WELFARE state is unable to increase the native population because of the very nature of a social welfare state. Japan is working around the edges when it (like a developed countries) need a radical direction change. The welfare state effect (reduced replacement rate) overwhelms any attempt to increase it.
I’ve tried, but keep finding only postings on Trump and Jews.
The current PM seems to be a WEF stooge who will happily sell his people into slavery, if he has not already done so.
From my experience, Japan lacks preparation in all things. Anything you may have seen on their disaster drills are for show only. No one follows what they did during the drill when an actual disaster hits. I learned this first hand when the big quake hit some years back.
I have taught firemen who were just as bewildered as I when I learned that their training consistent of them saluting, shouting their number, falling forward to the specified angle and then sprint forward and nothing more.
If the self defense forces are prepping for war, I wonder what those preparations would be. They continue to allow the Chinese to to invade Japan’s EEC with their fishing fleets escorted by Chinese Coast Guard vessels. Sometime they do play number boats, but they have never run then off.
That is not to say that they are incompetent, the self defense forces, but they can only perform tasks they are ordered to do, and I do not see the current PM ordering them to defend against China any more than I can see Beijing Biden to do so with the US rainbow forces that were once the strongest military in the world.
Japan does not seem interested in allowing him to continue on here but happy to bring in unskilled persons from his homeland and elsewhere.
""
Sounds like how Sweden has been for the past couple of decades, albeit less severe.
Christian Iranian; started a business, paying taxes -> deported
Somali squeezing the girl he raped to death into a pile of rocks -> "imagine what the poor dude has experienced in his life"
Isis "refugees" vacationing in their country of origin, on the taxpayers dime, posting pictures on social media with the heads of infidels -> given an apartment for each wife when they return
Unfortunately, I understand the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake reference. It's a challenge but I think the best way to deal with these kind of problems is to outperform the locals not out of spite but rather embarrassment. One local apologized to me profusely when he saw I was the only one helping an elderly lady hail down and and get into a taxi. Another thing I do is refuse to speak English with strangers. I always inform people that they should be speaking Japanese in a Japanese-speaking country. What is this going to amount to? Probably nothing. But, as I have heard you say in an interview, paraphrased to some extent, the behaviors of others do not absolve us of our responsibility.
Oh, I routinely offer my seat to elderly passengers, though not to embarrass the locals for not doing so; that is the extra treat in doing so. While I agree with your stance on the use of Japanese here, after these past 4 years, my already decreasing ability in the language is the worst it has ever been. I have not conversed in any language for most of the past four years and find that can no longer complete daily Japanese tasks that I once did with ease. Yet another reason I am so pissed off over true lockdowns and masking.
I also have much more experience with Japanese culture than the erai businessmen and women and politicians do.
Doing the right thing, when it makes sense, causes good feelings. It is one of the reasons so many people "masked," It felt good to be doing something. Which is one of the reasons I get satisfaction from stating when something like masks do not work because it comes with no other benefit than the realization that I am not simply "accepting the narrative."
Letting people into traffic, opening the door for them, and giving up a seat, these are good things.
Correct as usually, my bare-faced friend.
You are not alone in the foreigner with more culture experience. I have seen others who are more knowledgable than the average local. My reasons for doing good deeds are not intended to shame, though I do feel that shame is a motivating factor for others because it is motivating factor for me. It works. I generally want the best for any person that comes into my life, even if it's brief. This applies to people at coffee shops and other "insignificant places". I want others to have this same attitude. Sometimes I walk this road alone. Sometimes I don't. All I know is that I don't want any of this nonsense to happen again.
Sadly, we did not kill this nonsense. It will happen again. For many, myself included, it never ended.
Agreed. However, we cannot control the actions of others but we can control our own. Though it is difficult to control the rage, I know it is the right thing to do.
True.
And we have the chance to test ourselves every day.
It's the same playbook, divide and conquer.
The moderate Muslims hold you down while the radicals decapitate you.
If there are no moderates around, they use rope.
The Art of War should be required reading in elementary school.
Doubt they could fit in with all the LGBTQWTFO books they force upon the kids.
I think you are 25 letters short but I know what you mean.
lol! You are probably correct.
I've thought about different cultures and I think to a degree we have to police ourselves. After dealing with security in airports, and the ridiculous nature of "randomly screening" I think groups associated with certain bad behavior should be "all in" on profiling.
For instance, as a man, I am happy that men get scrutinized more than women for possibly being more violent offenders. Because violent offenders are someone I too have to deal with and not just women. I raise the hypothetical "if it was well known that people of Irish descent were responsible for the lion's share of terrorism, should there not be profiling of Irish?"
I would be happy to be patted down , singled out, if it meant dissuading other folks from thinking. they could commit heinous crimes. The reason is, I don't benefit from bad behavior anymore than anyone else does.
Ah, but Japan is different. After the earthquake of 1923 that destroyed much of Tokyo and the surrounding area, someone started the rumor that Koreans were poisoning the wells. Despite the fact that said Koreans were just as dependent upon the well water as their Japanese neighbors, this sparked a massacre of anyone who looked Korean, including many Japanese, such was their madness. Who undertook this mass murder? Yes, enraged townsfolk but also police and even bands of school boys engaged in organized murder of all they found who they thought were Korean.
I have read statements that this rumor fueled not only the massacre after the earthquake but also Japan’s belief that it must subjugate its neighbors for its leading to WW2 in Asia. I am not sure I buy that. Even adding a log to an already burning bonfire seems a stretch to me. However, they did not stop to consider why anyone would poison wells that they themselves used and even police went about murdering residents of their precincts along side school boys, so this theory is not as far out there as I would like to think.
This is one of the reasons why I think the Covid origin story is a side issue or a deflection. Why would interested parties create a "gain of function" virus that would also endanger them? The real conspiracy thought is (maybe they have the real antidote) but my contention is, why create a real virus when you can have the media do all the heavy lifting. As you point out, it doesn't take much.
Yeah. I think a lot of what is being discussed is a distraction. We, collectively, are so intent on overturning every single stone that we fail to act upon what is already known. We know more than enough to march against the institutions that forced all this upon us, but too many are busy kicking stones over to be bothered with acting.
Not sure if this is relevant, but you buried the lead about your friend and "Long Covid."
I have many questions, as I do, about any Long Covid post I see on Twitter. The first one being "is it Covid?"
I am willing to admit I sound insane when I even doubt it is Covid. But for most, it was a diagnosis by a PCR test that is far from reliable. My previous assertion that I had it in 2020 is due to symptoms associated with Covid and not a test itself. But being that the cold/flu all but disappeared in 2020, and Covid was the underlying cause of most diseases in 2020...I must have had Covid, yes?
I am still waiting to hear about tissue samples etc. that have been tested in 2015 2010 2005 "for Covid." The tissue samples would have to be viable/isolated so as not to be tainted by their current enviornment. My supposition is that a certain percentage of just about any tissue samples will test positive for Covid.
My response has been to call everything "Long" to make it appear that much more insidious and pervasive. I think people should talk about their Long Cancer, or Long Diabetes, or Long Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to anyone who talks of "Long Covid."
I am also suspicious of the origins of "Long Covid"We know that post viral sydrome can occur to...well viruses. But there are also other causes to the various symptoms associated with "Long Covid." Brain Fog and Fatigue alone have many many sources.
Another culprit, of course, could be the vaccine. And as soon as anyone mentions "Long Covid" the reasonable question and a legitimate one is "Vaccine injury?" Yes, there were reports of "Long Covid" before the vaccine rollout, but that doesn't rule out the vaccine at all. In fact, it would make more sense given the vaccines ability to further apparently wreck immune systems that any virus previously dealt with ease by the immune systrem becomes a "whipping boy" of viruses and other diseases.
A third culprit could be prior or emergent chronic conditions. As they say "correlation does not mean causation." And this is true regardless if it is a condition that occurs after Covid or after the Covid vaccination.
There is also legitimate thoughts about the panic, or pandemic itself, having physiological responses to it. This is probably the most stigmatized of the origins because no one wants to admit they are dealing with real physical effects of psychological stimulus.
All that being said, Has ivermectin worked for you?
I have commented on long covid a few times and it has always stirred up a manure storm. I do not believe in long covid, which is as far as most will read and claim that I am saying it is all in their head. However, I do believe that they have something, but that it is misattributed to covid, just as so many other things have been.
I hav had the symptoms of long covid from mid to late 2020. It reminds of how I felt after a long deployment aboard ship, devoid of the physical activity was accustomed to ashore. To force someone to suddenly cease all physical activity and confine them in a house and worse, the tiny apartments here in Japan for months on end with no social interactions is going to cause the symptoms of long covid. Anyone who has ever read about what happens to those who spent long terms in solitary confinement should immediately recognize the glaring similarities. Brain fog was commonly joked about in various ways in 2020 and 2021 before the shots were released. One of my favorites that I feel capture the reality of the situation best is the following exchange between two people. A: “What is today’s date?” B: “April 93d, I think.” My wife lost track of time several months before I did, but I eventually lost track of the day of the week and date too. Looking at the wall calendar provided not a clue, we had to check our devices to know. The sleep cycle of pretty much every single soul on the planet was disrupted. This too has long been known to cause the symptoms of long covid.
For my friend though, she was able to remain active despite the lockdowns lite forced upon us. Different when you have family, I guess. All our out door activities kept getting cancelled; camp grounds cancelled pour reservations, parks and museums were closed, madness. I digress. Whatever is ailing her can then not be what ails me, the effects of enforced prolonged sedentary living. She refused the clot shot, caught covid, she believes from a coworker, no way to tell but she believes this, and was later diagnosed as having long covid.
I have not taken ivermectin. I bought it for the family, in secret as the wife would blow a gasket if she knew before the need arises. My friend claims it is miraculous. She went from not being able to get out of bed most days, and unable to climb stairs to bounding up stairs full of energy by the end of the first day she took it. She took some at the coffee house as soon as we met and while there, said she was able to lift her arms over her head for the first time in several days. She swears by it.
Going back to myself, I have terrible brain fog. I am behind in all things, including responding to subscribers and commenters here due to times where I simply cannot stare at the screen any more. Eyestrain is a long known contributor to brain fog. So is staying up until 2 am with the alarm going off a 7 and drinking lots of beer.
I deal with similar manure storms on X. I don't believe in it either, but also don't think "nothing is happening." Part of the problem is because the panic hyper-focused us all on disease and malaise, well everything becomes "Covid" and "Long Covid." I have "Long Diabetes" also a source of brain fog and fatigue. In addition, I have heart failure...also a source of "brain fog and fatigue." I imagine Covid and Long Covid believers probably think that Covid and Long Covid activated my disease, or augmented it. Similar arguments are made about the vaccine.
Incidentally, I was on a Zoom call tonight for a class I am taking and one of the teachers stated "he finally got covid." I didn't say anything. I was thinking to myself though "four years and I still have to put up with this s" He stated how happy he was to get on the Paxlovid regimen and showed his doctor the positive test, even mentioned how his reasons for getting "hit so hard" on Covid was not keeping up to date on his vaccine boosters. If I got sick, my reaction to getting Covid would have been the same as four years ago...I would sleep drink plenty of fluids, and if I was coughing, take some Nyquil to help me sleep.
And one of my questions would have been "do you think part of your reason for getting Covid could be due to the vaccine? Do you have many friends around you who are unvaccinated and getting sick? You're friend is someone whose experience I will add to my list of people who are unvaccinated who nonetheless "got Covid and now Long Covid" which again is why my "sources" are many for "Long Covid."
I hope she continues to improve.
I imagine one of the things that keeps people sane in solitary confinement is the brains ability to protect itself by "brainfog."
The other guy on the call stated he got Covid back in 2020, wasn't bad at all, but he was up to date on the vaccine.
If i was going to be a complete ass I would have asked questions and made corrections. First thing I would have said is "You were also exposed to many diseases over the past four years and didn't succumb to them, you think maybe the experimental injection you got might have something to do with the huge impact in getting "COVID-19." He stated he was unable to get out of bed for two days.
In a similar fashion, I remember before Covid, getting sick and not getting out of bed for two days. Not sure if "not getting out of bed" is anything..and if the house was on fire, would he have the same inability? A lot of us use hyperbole in what we say. I imagine also he didn't pee in his bed.
Never considered that brain fog might be a protective measure as you state. Could be. I just thought it was similar to atrophy in muscles from lack of use. Could be both.
I have in the past stated it was as if 99.8% of the human population got either amnesia or a lobotomy early 2020. Humanity seemed to suddenly come to believe that the only disease mankind has ever had to content with is covid and it arrived in 2020. Suddenly, everything that we had ever experienced in illness before 2020 was unique to covid. I was going to list everything, but you know. Madness.
The topic of long covid is a troubling one for me as it involves people who are suffering who somehow take the statement that I do not think covid is to blame to mean that I think they are have mental issues. Most people read to find points to argue against, not to increase and improve the information they have.
I agree with you about "atrophy" but I have to say I really get brain fog following a meal. And since I do enjoy thinking and learning it is a huge drag when this happens. What keeps me energized is moments we can connect like this. Finding some consensus not borne out of belief in a narrative, but actually thinking over situations and ideas. I don't want to lose that.
Also like the compassion you show for your friend. Maybe her response to "Ivermectin" is placebo, but who am I to say so? I'd shut up about it and give her anything she wanted if she thought it would make her feel better (minus experimental injections, she would be on her own there)
Everyone has had their collective etch o sketch shaken concerning diseases, and now because of that there is a danger we could face a similar situation with Bird Flu. Which is why I won't shut up. Bird Flu has been a "threat" since at least the year 2000 and they keep trying to start fires with it. And if we're not careful, they're going to end up injecting birds and livestock with BS "vaccines" and this will most likely also impact us.
It's this whole Public Health infrastructure that are acting like beavers on top of the Sears Robuck building trying to build dams. They keep wanting to rationalize their existence by predicting "worst case scenario health events" and yet at the same time ignoring "worst case scenario health events."
They should be recommending people get healthier, dig in, and have a healthier lifestyle. Yet it seems all they want to do is to figure out new ways to prod and prick us.
This past 4 years has taught me a great deal, once is that they do not want us healthy. Even without understanding why, doctors realized that those who got plenty of sunshine had better outcomes when they caught the Spanish flu. So, 100 years later, after a full century more of accumulated knowledge, out medical professionals did they level best at keeping every out of the sunshine for as many years as possible. Amnesia? Lobotomy? Malice? Not a lot of viable options here, in my view.
As with many things, there need not be just one answer to the question of brain fog. Often, mine dissipates after a meal. Other times after drinking water. Others, and by far the most common for me, drinking magical bean juice; by which I am of course referring to coffee. Physical activity, when I can work in it, has also been known to lift the fog. But these are my experiences. I have no doubt that while different individuals may share some of these, some will have others I do not.
And I think this is a feature of all we have endured this past 4 + years. Those behind all this did not rely on a single one size fits all approach. To easy to see the malice behind it and it would not have the desired effect on all anyway. Thus, they forced masking on just about all of humanity knowing it would lead to mask induced disease in many that they could misattributed to covid and use it to ramp up the fear. They forced most to remain indoors for long periods of time, which when combined with all that went along with this; closed schools and businesses leading to increased consumption of adult beverages, liquor stores being allowed to remain open while cancer treatment centers and churches were not, etc leading to increased death in numerous ways, again a blamed upon covid. Then we get the clot shots.
I blame all excess deaths and maladies over these past four years not on the clot shot but on the panicked response to covid; be it the clot shots, school closures, lockdowns, border closing, all of it.
If you get brain fog after a meal then it sounds like you might be eating too many carbs?
Exactly.
Viral fatigue is a known thing that applies to many viral diseases including the Wuflu. I'm not sure there's anything specific to Covid in the symptoms people complain about
I got into it with a self reported MD over this point. He said I was spreading misinformation by stating that I did not believe that Long Covid was a thing and cited viral fatigue. I responded that yes, viral fatigue exists has long been known about, yet I have never seen wall to wall banner headlines warning people to do anything to prevent the spread of a viral disease due to “viral fatigue”, but I do with “long Covid”. We are not discussing the same thing.
Like everything else covid, I believe that most of the long covid cases are not in anyway unique to covid and may have little to nothing to do with it anyway, but have been hyped in the former case and misattributed in the latter.
I do think that many if not most or all of those claiming to have long covid are indeed suffering from something, though.
Oh I'm sure they are. They are suffering from Viral Fatigue and related issues. As you say nothing specifically covid related (unless they got the vax, in which case they could have a ton of other issues but those aren't Long Covid either, they are vax side-effects)
In addition to that, I still lean heavy towards the effects of just being locked inside staring at a screen for so long.
Talking of Long Covid - https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/the-washington-posts-self-parody
Seen, read and commented upon.
Thanks,
Japan has the same problem (and the US to a lesser extent) the euros have, a falling native population. When you combine this with an ever increasing social welfare state. It is/will become impossible. The accounting/math. If holding the welfare state contant, it means a falling working age population has to increase taxes PER worker to fund the state.
The state has three options, one, reduce the the welfare state and hence bennies, two, increase taxes significantly per worker, three, increase the # of workers via immigration, four, play funny money via QE, YCC and inflationary policies. The one I didnt put in this list is the hardest and least likey to be influenced by the .gov, having more babies.
Japan has fallen hard for #4, and I believe the increase in immigration is an early sign that #4 is coming to an end. The international political economy is coming apart and the ability to get away with stupid policies such a QE, YCC and money printing are coming to an end.
All true. Well, after writing the bit below on the birth rate I must amend this to “I think it is mostly true.” Years ago now, there was an excellent TV commercial that vividly related the issue. They used a see saw/teeter totter with a number of working aged people on one side and 1 retiree on the other to demonstrate how their social welfare system was designed to work and how it did in the beginning. Many working supporting few retired. Then they switched to one working aged man on the one side and several retirees he is to support on the other. That was well over a decade ago and things have just gotten worse since then. Long ago I read an OP/ED calling on Japan’s elderly to commit suicide for the sake of the nation. Not sure if it was tongue in cheek or sincere, but it shows the depth and longevity of this problem.
However, Japan is not allowing those it needs in through immigration. It is allowing unskilled folks in who have no intention of working here and reproduce at rates far in excess of the native population. They have started on the same path as Germany under Merckel (sp?) and the most of the rest of Europe. They too are deliberately destroying the culture of Japan and its communities under “diversity”.
I disagree that birth rate is the least influenced by government. I believe it is the most. All the reason for the low birth rate come from bad government policy. The idiots in charge have made it far too expensive to raise children. An employed individual must pay for the healthcare and pension of two generations of retirees at least in addition to pay for their own and these are taken put of their pay before rent and food are payed for. Simply not enough left for enough children needed to solve the population crises.
Personally, I think it is far too late for Japan. If every woman of child bearing age had a child today, it would be 20 years before the females could begin to significantly contribute to increasing the population. Sorry for the crude statement, it just shows how long it takes to reverse this trend.
I disagree that birth rate is the least influenced by government......... the low birth rate come from bad government policy..... too expensive to raise children."
Bingo, we actually agree. I would put it this way, a SOCIAL WELFARE state is unable to increase the native population because of the very nature of a social welfare state. Japan is working around the edges when it (like a developed countries) need a radical direction change. The welfare state effect (reduced replacement rate) overwhelms any attempt to increase it.
Ah! Now THAT I agree with 100%.
I think Japan is as good as sunk. Japan has dealt several mortal blows against itself and the point of no return has long since been passed.
Hi Ktsune! Did you read Michael Yon's substack on Japan? Let me know what you think.
Something about Japan set for war?
I’ve tried, but keep finding only postings on Trump and Jews.
The current PM seems to be a WEF stooge who will happily sell his people into slavery, if he has not already done so.
From my experience, Japan lacks preparation in all things. Anything you may have seen on their disaster drills are for show only. No one follows what they did during the drill when an actual disaster hits. I learned this first hand when the big quake hit some years back.
I have taught firemen who were just as bewildered as I when I learned that their training consistent of them saluting, shouting their number, falling forward to the specified angle and then sprint forward and nothing more.
If the self defense forces are prepping for war, I wonder what those preparations would be. They continue to allow the Chinese to to invade Japan’s EEC with their fishing fleets escorted by Chinese Coast Guard vessels. Sometime they do play number boats, but they have never run then off.
That is not to say that they are incompetent, the self defense forces, but they can only perform tasks they are ordered to do, and I do not see the current PM ordering them to defend against China any more than I can see Beijing Biden to do so with the US rainbow forces that were once the strongest military in the world.
I could be wrong though, and hope I am.
Michael Yon seems to have gone very very kooky. I was not impressed with what I've read from him recently
Thanks for your insight. Michael is or was in Japan. That's how I feel, too.
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Japan does not seem interested in allowing him to continue on here but happy to bring in unskilled persons from his homeland and elsewhere.
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Sounds like how Sweden has been for the past couple of decades, albeit less severe.
Christian Iranian; started a business, paying taxes -> deported
Somali squeezing the girl he raped to death into a pile of rocks -> "imagine what the poor dude has experienced in his life"
Isis "refugees" vacationing in their country of origin, on the taxpayers dime, posting pictures on social media with the heads of infidels -> given an apartment for each wife when they return
Hi Kitsune.....Please check out Michael Yon's substack. He is talking about Japan and the
mRNA shots. Have you heard of what he is talking about? Let me know. Thank U :-)