The Svengoolie Movie the Leech Woman and What About the Pineal Gland?

OK, so I watched the Svengoolie movie, “The Leech Woman” a couple of weeks ago and I think I missed the part where the June Talbot was told that the potion containing the pineal gland secretion and powdered flower parts entailed the requirement that the pineal gland secretion should come from a man. You can read the Wikipedia plot summary for background and watch the movie for free on the internet archive.

Leave aside for the moment that the film tries to make you think you can have easy access to the pineal gland through the back of the neck using a sharp point on a ring. Of course it’s deep inside the brain.

What I don’t remember is whether or not June was ever told that the pineal gland secretion has to come from a man in order to reverse aging. It won’t work if it comes from a woman. Aside from devaluing women in general, it was never clear to me that June was ever told that by Malla, the African woman who is over 150 years old but looks like she’s 20 when she gets her shot of pineal and petal.

I’ve looked on the internet for reviews which mention the mistake June makes when she murders her lawyer’s fiancée who is unhappy that June managed to easily seduce him. She’s so unhappy she threatens June with a pistol in a confrontation that gets rather comically violent, resulting a in struggle leading to June stabbing the fiancée in the back of the neck, obviously in an effort to get the priceless pineal juice.

What’s weird about this (other than the obviously ridiculous premise that pineal glands have anything to do with aging or rejuvenation) is that June apparently either forgets or never realized that the pineal stuff has to come from a male to be effective.

What’s even more puzzling is that, before assaulting a woman for the pineal fluid, June had adopted a predatory strategy to pop the pineals of several men, leading you to believe she knew the source had to be a man.

So, is this an example of dementia or stupidity?

The United States Postal Service is in Code 101 Lockdown!

No matter what I do, the USPS Change of Address (COA) snafu team makes the situation worse. It reminds me of this scene in Men in Black 2 in which the MIB headquarters goes into something called Code 101 Lockdown. Agents J & K return to headquarters and Agent J fires a sort of space cannon into the front door.

This leads to just about everything outside (including a hot dog stand) getting sucked into the building. The verbal exchange between agents goes something like this:

Agent K: “Code 101 Lockdown!”

Agent J: “I know, I know! The building gets pressurized. Nothin’ in, nothin’ out. I knew that.”

OK, so the movie gets it wrong. The scientists would say that if a closed system is “pressurized” that means from the inside. Technically what actually happens is a negative pressurization or partial vacuum, because everything gets sucked inside the building.

The situation at the USPS is in Code 101 lockdown because it has sucked in both my online and paper requests for Change of Address (COA) and also has not refunded me the $1.10 they charged my credit card before the system failed to give me a confirmation code for the COA. By the way, that’s backward. The right way for the USPS to do that would be confirm that my input is correct—and only then charge me.

No matter what I try to enter into the dysfunctional USPS system in order to right the wrong, it just gets vacuumed into the system and no definitive solution gets out.

I don’t remember how the lockdown in MIB 2 got solved. And I don’t know how to resolve the USPS lockdown. Maybe get the worm guys to shut down their power?

UPDATE: As of July 2, 3024, the USPS snag may be on its way to being resolved.

CDC ACIP Recommendations for Covid 19 Vaccine for 2024

The CDC ACIP recommended implementation of the 2024 Covid-19 vaccine and the timeline is in the implementation slide set. CDC plans to use CDC Everything messages. Insurance plans, including Medicare, will cover the cost.

CDC Advisory Committee Makes New Recommendations for RSV Vaccine

I looked at one slide set for the Respiratory Syncitial Virus (RSV) vaccine. I didn’t watch the meeting. The ACIP Adult RSV Work Group Clinical Considerations powerpoint presentation recommend transitioning away from the shared clinical decision-making (SCDM) component for getting the RSV vaccine.

Slide 4 seems clear:

“All adults aged 75 years and older should get a single dose of RSV vaccination.

All adults aged 60-74 years and with certain chronic medical conditions or other factors that increase the risk of severe RSV disease should receive a single dose of RSV vaccination.

These recommendations would replace the SCDM recommendation, meaning that adults aged 60-74 years without risk factors for severe RSV vaccine, are no longer recommended to receive RSV vaccination.”

Stat News has a report which includes comments on the unanimous vote in favor of the above.

Reminder: CDC ACIP Meeting June 26-28 on Vaccines Including Covid-19 and RSV

Just a reminder about the upcoming CDC ACIP meeting on vaccines, including RSV and Covid-19.

Great Rounding@Iowa Podcast on Preventing & Managing Heat-Related Illness

The Rounding@Iowa podcast has many fascinating and helpful episodes, not the least of which is this one on heat-related illness. The days are getting hotter and we need to pay close attention to what happens in our bodies when exposed to excessive heat.

89: Tick-borne Illnesses Rounding@IOWA

Join Dr. Clancy, Dr. Appenheimer & Dr. Barker as they discuss prevention, diagnosis and treatment of various tick-borne illnesses.  CME Credit Available:  https://uiowa.cloud-cme.com/course/courseoverview?eid=82296   Host: Gerard Clancy, MD Senior Associate Dean for External Affairs Professor of Psychiatry and Emergency Medicine University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine Guests: Ben Appenheimer, MD Clinical Associate Professor of Internal Medicine-Infectious Diseases Assistant Director, Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program Associate Clinical Director, Infectious Diseases Co-Medical Director, TelePrEP, University of Iowa Health Care University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine Jason Barker, MD Associate Professor of Internal Medicine-Infectious Diseases University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine Financial Disclosures:  Dr. Gerard Clancy, his guests, and Rounding@IOWA planning committee members have disclosed no relevant financial relationships. Nurse: The University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine designates this activity for a maximum of 1.0 ANCC contact hour. Pharmacist and Pharmacy Tech: The University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine designates this knowledge-based activity for a maximum of 1.0 ACPE contact hours. Credit will be uploaded to the NABP CPE Monitor within 60 days after the activity completion. Pharmacists must provide their NABP ID and DOB (MMDD) to receive credit. JA0000310-0000-26-038-H01 Physician: The University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. Other Health Care Providers: A certificate of completion will be available after successful completion of the course. (It is the responsibility of licensees to determine if this continuing education activity meets the requirements of their professional licensure board.)  
  1. 89: Tick-borne Illnesses
  2. 88: Modifiable Risk Factors for Breast Cancer
  3. 87: New Treatment Options for Menopause
  4. 86: Cancer Rates in Iowa
  5. 85: Solutions for Rural Health Workforce Shortages

Cicada-Geddon in Eastern Iowa

A couple of days ago I saw one of the many news items about the 17 year (and 13 year) cicadas invading Eastern Iowa this summer.

But I haven’t seen any mention of the sex-crazed, fungus-infected zombie cicadas announced in April.

So, you can relax. Try noise-cancelling headphones.

June CDC ACIP Meeting on Covid and Other Vaccines

There’s an upcoming meeting of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) June 26-28, 2024. They’ll discuss the new Covid-19 vaccine and several other vaccines including RSV.

About That Artificial Intelligence…

I’ve got a couple of things to get off my chest about Artificial Intelligence (AI). By now, everyone knows about AI telling people to put hot glue on pizza and whatnot. Sena and I talked to a guy at an electronics store who had nothing but good things to say about AI. I mentioned the hot glue thing and pizza and it didn’t faze him.

I noticed the Psychiatric Times article, “AI in Psychiatry: Things Are Moving Fast.” They mention the tendency for AI to hallucinate and expressed appropriate reservations about its limitations.

And then I found something very interesting about AI and Cribbage. How much does AI know about the game? Turns out not much. Any questions? Don’t expect AI to answer them accurately.

FDA VRBPAC Meeting: Vaccine Targeting Lineage JN.1 for Fall 2024

I didn’t get a chance to watch the June 5th FDA advisory committee meeting on the new vaccine formulation for Covid-19 for this fall. There is a nice summary on the Minnesota CIDRAP (Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy).

The committee unanimously upvoted the selection of the JN.1 lineage strain (which includes JN.1, KP.2 etc) for Covid vaccines this fall in the U.S.

As usual, Director Dr. Jerry Weir’s slides (summary slides 22-26) provide excellent background and clear discussion.