Thursday, May 27, 2021

The Lab or the Bat?

The covid-19 pandemic has few peers in affecting human society.  It is natural to wonder how the virus began.  Stifled a year ago, a debate now rages on how the virus originated.  Some experts stated in no uncertain terms the virus jumped from bats to humans.  Joined by the media hive mind, they shut down almost all speculation over whether the virus  originated in a Level 4 lab in Wuhan where the pandemic began.  However, some objective minds continued to question the origins of the virus.  Nicholas Wade blew up the debate with a thought-provoking and well-researched essay published on Medium.

No kook is Mr. Wade.  If you're on the liberal side of things, Mr. Wade is a member of your tribe.  He was a long-time science editor at the New York Times as well as editor for Nature and Science journals.  The article is a looooooong read so you know the drill.  Fix an old-fashioned, light up a Fuentes, and get to work. Some excerpts are published below as well as some commentary by yours truly are posted below. Enjoy.

 

I’ll describe the two theories, explain why each is plausible, and then ask which provides the better explanation of the available facts. It’s important to note that so far there is no direct evidence for either theory. Each depends on a set of reasonable conjectures but so far lacks proof. So I have only clues, not conclusions, to offer. But those clues point in a specific direction. And having inferred that direction, I’m going to delineate some of the strands in this tangled skein of disaster....

“We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin,” a group of virologists and others wrote in the Lancet on February 19, 2020, when it was really far too soon for anyone to be sure what had happened. Scientists “overwhelmingly conclude that this coronavirus originated in wildlife,” they said, with a stirring rallying call for readers to stand with Chinese colleagues on the frontline of fighting the disease.

Contrary to the letter writers’ assertion, the idea that the virus might have escaped from a lab invoked accident, not conspiracy. It surely needed to be explored, not rejected out of hand. A defining mark of good scientists is that they go to great pains to distinguish between what they know and what they don’t know. By this criterion, the signatories of the Lancet letter were behaving as poor scientists: they were assuring the public of facts they could not know for sure were true. 

It later turned out that the Lancet letter had been organized and drafted by Peter Daszak, president of the EcoHealth Alliance of New York. Dr. Daszak’s organization funded coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. If the SARS2 virus had indeed escaped from research he funded, Dr. Daszak would be potentially culpable. This acute conflict of interest was not declared to the Lancet’s readers. To the contrary, the letter concluded, “We declare no competing interests.”...

Dr. Peter Daszak. Remember that name. 

 Virologists like Dr. Daszak had much at stake in the assigning of blame for the pandemic. For 20 years, mostly beneath the public’s attention, they had been playing a dangerous game. In their laboratories they routinely created viruses more dangerous than those that exist in nature. They argued they could do so safely, and that by getting ahead of nature they could predict and prevent natural “spillovers,” the cross-over of viruses from an animal host to people. If SARS2 had indeed escaped from such a laboratory experiment, a savage blowback could be expected, and the storm of public indignation would affect virologists everywhere, not just in China. “It would shatter the scientific edifice top to bottom,” an MIT Technology Review editor, Antonio Regalado, said in March 2020. 

A second statement which had enormous influence in shaping public attitudes was a letter (in other words an opinion piece, not a scientific article) published on 17 March 2020 in the journal Nature Medicine. Its authors were a group of virologists led by Kristian G. Andersen of the Scripps Research Institute. “Our analyses clearly show that SARS-CoV-2 is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus,” the five virologists declared in the second paragraph of their letter.

Unfortunately this was another case of poor science, in the sense defined above. True, some older methods of cutting and pasting viral genomes retain tell-tale signs of manipulation. But newer methods, called “no-see-um” or “seamless” approaches, leave no defining marks. Nor do other methods for manipulating viruses such as serial passage, the repeated transfer of viruses from one culture of cells to another. If a virus has been manipulated, whether with a seamless method or by serial passage, there is no way of knowing that this is the case. Dr. Andersen and his colleagues were assuring their readers of something they could not know....

Mr. Wade said the two letters were political and not scientific in nature.  No matter.  The Borg mentality of modern media ensured the letters became Covid canon and woe to anyone who questions it.  ZuckerDorsey joined in and voila, all debate is banned.  

Such is the nature of the debate over the origin of the Covid-19 virus.  Dr. Daszack led the charge to shut down any and all debate.  He fought hard to get on the WHO team that investigated the virus's origins in China.  Frankly, the good doctor is acting as someone who has something to hide.  This website has covered criminal fraud for quite some time.  What does JJ think? JJ thinks Dr. Dascack is acting as someone behaves when he is guilty.  Think I'm going too far? Keep reading. 

both the SARS1 and MERS viruses had left copious traces in the environment. The intermediary host species of SARS1 was identified within four months of the epidemic’s outbreak, and the host of MERS within nine months. Yet some 15 months after the SARS2 pandemic began, and a presumably intensive search, Chinese researchers had failed to find either the original bat population, or the intermediate species to which SARS2 might have jumped, or any serological evidence that any Chinese population, including that of Wuhan, had ever been exposed to the virus prior to December 2019. Natural emergence remained a conjecture which, however plausible to begin with, had gained not a shred of supporting evidence in over a year....

 The alternate hypothesis is Covid-19 escaped from a lab.  Scientists can play with the genes of a virus.  The protein spikes on a coronavirus was an interesting little toy for their research games.  The spike protein determines which animal is infected by the virus.  The spike protein on one coronavirus strain was manipulated to attack only cats twenty years ago.  The Coronavirus gave birth to the SARS1 and MERS epidemics.  Thus the little bat bug attracted the attention of Chinese scientists.  

Think of spike proteins as spikes on a mace

They collaborated with the leading coronavirus expert, Dr. Ralph Baric at the University of North Carolina.  Mr. Wade chillingly spells out what they pursued in the lab:

Their work focused on enhancing the ability of bat viruses to attack humans so as to “examine the emergence potential (that is, the potential to infect humans) of circulating bat CoVs [coronaviruses].” In pursuit of this aim, in November 2015 they created a novel virus by taking the backbone of the SARS1 virus and replacing its spike protein with one from a bat virus (known as SHC014-CoV). This manufactured virus was able to infect the cells of the human airway, at least when tested against a lab culture of such cells.

Think of what this team accomplished for a moment.  It managed to convert a coronavirus that attacked only bats to one that attacked the human respiratory system.  Gain of function, indeed. Mr. Wade pondered the gain of such gain of function research to be zero while the risk of such study to be "catastrophic."  No matter.  Dr. Shi learned what she needed to know of Yankee ingenuity and applied to to more coronavirus research. 

Enter Dr. Fauci.   The National Institue of Allergy and Infectious Diseases funded part of her research.  NIAID is a division of the National Institutes of Health.  NIAID assigned the grants to Dr. Dasack's  EcoHealth Alliance.  Ecohealth farmed out the grant to Dr. Shi.  Mr. Wade managed to obtain a copy of the reports.  Dr. Shi made it clear she wished to jack up coronaviruses to the "highest possible infectivity for humans."  She would attach a spike protein (with a human DNA appetite) to a virus, creating a hybrid virus able to function among the human race. 

Mr. Wade is very careful to point out it is not known whether Dr. Shi created the Covid-19 virus in her lab.  The Chinese government sealed her records so that is one question that will probably go forever unanswered. Back to Dr. Daszak:

Even if the grant required the work plan described above, how can we be sure that the plan was in fact carried out? For that we can rely on the word of Dr. Daszak, who has been much protesting for the last 15 months that lab escape was a ludicrous conspiracy theory invented by China-bashers.

 However, Dr. Daszack bragged in a 2019 interview the Wuhan researchers were "reprogramming spike proteins" and creating coronaviruses that could infect humanized mice. Video of interview. He said such viruses could be manipulated "pretty easily."   Such work allowed them to create a "better vaccine."  Mr. Wade notes that Dr. Dascak went on a public relations warpath when the epidemic broke instead of giving public health officials what information he possessed.  As yours truly stated earlier, he behaves as someone who is guilty. 

The Obama administration shut down Dr. Fauci's gain of function research in 2014 but the good Doctor managed to get the Trump administration to turn him loose again. 

Lab Safety

There might be good reasons for conducting gain of function research.  However, there is one feature of such research on which there should be no compromise: lab security.  Viruses have a tradition of escaping from labs.   Smallpox escaped three times in the 1970s.  The breaches resulted in 3 deaths and 80 cases.  Viruses are the Jack Russell Terriers of the microworld - escape artists that constantly find ways to defeat security systems. 

The Wuhan lab has a BSL4 classification - the most secure rating.  Such labs have stringent requirements as seen in the picture below. 

BSL4 Lab Credit: Boston University

No one, including veteran virologists likes working in spacesuits, including veteran virologists.  However, the Wuhan lab had a way around that pesky restriction.  BSL4 was only required for SARS1 and MERS experiments.  All other coronavirus study could be conducted in a BSL2 setting.  BSL2 only requires gloves and lab coats.  Think of your dentist office or Mississippi Blood Services.  That is the level of biological security for conduction gain of function research with coronaviruses.  However, there should be no speculation.  Mr. Wade convicts Dr. Shi in her own words: 

Much of Dr. Shi’s work on gain-of-function in coronaviruses was performed at the BSL2 safety level, as is stated in her publications and other documents. She has said in an interview with Science magazine that “The coronavirus research in our laboratory is conducted in BSL-2 or BSL-3 laboratories."

 The State Department warned of inadequate security at the Wuhan lab.  The Wall Street Journal reported Monday: 

Three researchers from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology became sick enough in November 2019 that they sought hospital care, according to a previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence report....

November 2019 is roughly when many epidemiologists and virologists believe SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind the pandemic, first began circulating around the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where Beijing says that the first confirmed case was a man who fell ill on Dec. 8, 2019.

The Wuhan Institute hasn’t shared raw data, safety logs and lab records on its extensive work with coronaviruses in bats, which many consider the most likely source of the virus.

 Mr. Wade provides several warnings to his story:

The evidence above adds up to a serious case that the SARS2 virus could have been created in a lab, from which it then escaped. But the case, however substantial, falls short of proof. Proof would consist of evidence from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, or related labs in Wuhan, that SARS2 or a predecessor virus was under development there. For lack of access to such records, another approach is to take certain salient facts about the SARS2 virus and ask how well each is explained by the two rival scenarios of origin, those of natural emergence and lab escape.

 There is little evidence to show a direct bat to human transmission. SARS-CoV-2 "poorly" infects bat species.  Mr. Wade closes in rather damning fashion: 

It’s documented that researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were doing gain-of-function experiments designed to make coronaviruses infect human cells and humanized mice. This is exactly the kind of experiment from which a SARS2-like virus could have emerged. The researchers were not vaccinated against the viruses under study, and they were working in the minimal safety conditions of a BSL2 laboratory. So escape of a virus would not be at all surprising. In all of China, the pandemic broke out on the doorstep of the Wuhan institute. The virus was already well adapted to humans, as expected for a virus grown in humanized mice. It possessed an unusual enhancement, a furin cleavage site, which is not possessed by any other known SARS-related beta-coronavirus, and this site included a double arginine codon also unknown among beta-coronaviruses. What more evidence could you want, aside from the presently unobtainable lab records documenting SARS2’s creation?

Proponents of natural emergence have a rather harder story to tell. The plausibility of their case rests on a single surmise, the expected parallel between the emergence of SARS2 and that of SARS1 and MERS. But none of the evidence expected in support of such a parallel history has yet emerged. No one has found the bat population that was the source of SARS2, if indeed it ever infected bats. No intermediate host has presented itself, despite an intensive search by Chinese authorities that included the testing of 80,000 animals. There is no evidence of the virus making multiple independent jumps from its intermediate host to people, as both the SARS1 and MERS viruses did. There is no evidence from hospital surveillance records of the epidemic gathering strength in the population as the virus evolved. There is no explanation of why a natural epidemic should break out in Wuhan and nowhere else. There is no good explanation of how the virus acquired its furin cleavage site, which no other SARS-related beta-coronavirus possesses, nor why the site is composed of human-preferred codons. The natural emergence theory battles a bristling array of implausibilities.

The records of the Wuhan Institute of Virology certainly hold much relevant information. But Chinese authorities seem unlikely to release them given the substantial chance that they incriminate the regime in the creation of the pandemic. Absent the efforts of some courageous Chinese whistle-blower, we may already have at hand just about all of the relevant information we are likely to get for a while.

 The Chinese threw the scientists, journalists, and bloggers who tried to warn the world about the covid-19 virus. The world should know how the virus began but thanks to the Chinese government, it probably never will.  

 

45 comments:

Anonymous said...

@Kingfish
Not only is the Chinese Government to blame. But notice how our own government and media acts as if they are subservient to the CCP.

Anonymous said...

lab. and it was intentional. strap yourselves in for the next one sheeple. this was just a dress rehearsal

Anonymous said...

9:49, the UN/WHO also acts as if they are beholden to China. It is as if the rest of the world has already been written off for a Chinese hegemony that doesn’t even exist yet. What do the elites know that they aren’t telling us?

Makes me think of the movie 2012 where they needed China for the ARKs to survive a Human Extinction level disaster.

Messick said...

Are there really some people out there who believe the bat story?

Anonymous said...

You have two competing theories. The virus mutated naturally in the animal kingdom or the virus was manipulated in a laboratory setting. Both are equally plausible. Without finding the evidence to prove one of them as being true, you simply cannot say one of them is false.

Discounting the lab theory because of a lack of evidence is no more reasonable than discounting the natural mutation theory because of lack of evidence. Rational people knew it was pure political posturing that lead to the rapid decision to say the virus could not have come from a lab. I thought scientists were supposed to keep an open mind.

Anonymous said...

I remember many months ago when first discussing the origin of the virus, they were showing the open air markets in Wuhan where all kinds of exotic animals were sold for food, including bats. We were supposed to accept the notion that out of all the thousands of open air markets in China that this virus just happened to jump to humans in Wuhan. And Wuhan just happens to be the center for this biological warfare research funded by Fauchi and his ilk. What a coincidence! Who woulda thunk it? Duh

Anonymous said...

The whole China angle is a red herring. It was disclosed early on that the U.S. had funded research at the Wuhan lab but that information has been suppressed. One only has to look at the actions and responses of our own government and media, combined with how covid facilitated various political, economic and military objectives, to discern the truth about the matter. The whole "gain of function" and "creating better vaccines" rationales are BS. This type of research is done for one purpose: to serve political and military objectives.

Anonymous said...

Nothing to see here folks, please move along.
Our political leaders, media, and Big tech has clearly told us:

1. CV19 was natural and not lab born or lab released. Fauci, WHO, and a bevvy of scientists and politicians have spoken. Yes folks it was pure coincidence that Wuhan is one of a handful of cities in the world with a Biolab that deals specifically in coronaviruses. Come on! It's just bad luck and happenstance Just like...

2. The presidential election. Our leaders have spoken. Nothing unusual happened and certainly no substantial fraud occurred. The videos, 1st hand accounts, and atypical appearing votes coming in around 5am in various locales ....nothing to see there. Not even worthy of a Senate committee to evaluate.

3. Trump is a Russian mole. They told us...over and over (with congress committees investigating and even moving to impeach!) The Steele dossier is true! How'd that turn out?

4. H. Clinton and her wiped server. FBI cover up a few yrs ago. Nothing to see there either. Oops.

5. cloth masks and shutdown narrative. How'd that pan out. The effectiveness of each?

6. Now we have a completely narrative driven Govt admin in place. Woke narrative and climate narrative and free money narrative.

Yep. All just right wing conspiracy wingnuts. That's all.
Nothing to see here folks. Nothing at all.

With the colossal loss of trust in institutions that has occurred over the last few years how can any rational person actually believe and fall for the narrative du jour again?????







Anonymous said...

Either way China acted like they could handle any problems but covered up everything. How do you quarantine a city the size of the State of Ms population and not know that this is a very dangerous virus. They knew and realized that if they were going to suffer, let the world suffer so they didn't fall behind. A very early article detailed how they they plotted their response to this. Be assured they are working on other viruses and biological things just like this. We should be VERY afraid of them. Move all manufacturing out of there and bring it back home or we won't have a home in 10 years.

Anonymous said...

@ 10:10. I agree. I have been saying this fora year. The way most people strapped the useless face diapers and took the jab of the experimental "vaccine" it just proved how easy we will be taken over. When the CCP releases the next level stuff that stronger we will crash our entire economy and hold up in our houses until the CCP walks right down main street.

Bilde R. Berg said...

Lab without question! My opinion is WuHan is a
very minor part of the more significant execution
of events…and I am truly terrified.

Anonymous said...

The reason the elites don't want to get to the real truth is that the USA is a paper tiger and those in charge are scared to death of China and its financial hold over our country. They own 1.3 Trillion dollars of our paper and they would go toe-to-toe militarily with us anytime and anywhere. Our best days are behind us and they on the ascent to being the most powerful nation the world has ever seen.

That'sMisterDeplorableToYou said...

@10:10 That's the only real question, accidental or intentional. That and why scientific research intentionally increasing the potency of viruses isn't internationally banned.

Anonymous said...

The Fact that workers in the Lab became sick right before it began spreading brings more awareness that China turned their back on the World. The U.S. needs to open our own investigation and separate from the WHO permanently. This was not just a US crisis/pandemic; but a worldwide crisis that could have been prevented. Trump told this but everyone was so adamant about proving him Wrong the Democrats including Biden turned a blind eye. Sounds like when Iran kept the Uranium issue going and Biden Laughed and said it would never happen. Say what you want about Trump hurting feelings but he put America first!

Donald Jr. said...

You just hold on China Joe will get to the bottom of this. His son Hunter will head a committee to investigate this to the fullest. No, I didn't type this with a straight face.

Anonymous said...

At what point should the US throw diplomacy out in favor of a WWE brawl to deal with China?

Thankfully 75 years ago MacArthur recognized that diplomacy with regard to dealing with Japan on the issue of the Emperor would benefit a peaceful end to the war but the Tea Party Republicans today object vehemently to any diplomacy in favor of a president who insists on MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY.

The US is only a small part of the world and Americans cannot dictate how the rest of the world must act. Often diplomacy is the greatest tool in dealing with friends and potential enemies and I personally favor making use of all reasonable potential options short of military action. China is innocent until proven guilty.

And besides, Wasn't China the Republican's great industrial friend for 3 decades? The Chinese Communists were the Right Wings ally in fighting labor unions. What gives?

Anon-E-Mouse said...

One ponders why the communist Chinese aren’t willing to admit what happens when the rest of the world knows what happened.

Anonymous said...

This LAB GROWN virus was unleashed on the world for ,as of today, reasons unknown. But you can figure Fauci knows ....along with several billionaires who funded the trial run. Prepare your minds now.

Anonymous said...

Why didn’t the last administration get to the bottom of this? They had over a year.

Kingfish said...

10:43: Why don't you read the actual article, especially the part about the Furin cleavage site.

Anonymous said...

Agreed 10:34. Occam's Razor.

Anonymous said...

Yes 12:42.

The important thing here is to brag on Biden or Trump.

While we are busy defending our favorite brand of mega rich politician, the nation is failing.

These MSM race wars and D vs R battles have been very effective indeed.

Anonymous said...

There is at least one more plausible scenario. There were bat guano collectors in China that came down with a mystery illness circa 2017 (this is well-documented in science and medical journals). Essentially, SARS-Cov-2 may have been natural in origin but "escaped" to the larger population from the Wuhan lab. There is one absolute fact: SARS-CoV-2 is not a very good bioweapon in context. The spread has been extremely limited and its effects relatively mild in countries that acted quickly and decisively. And now, the same uneducated and uninformed lay idiots that claimed COVID was no big deal, masks don't work, and other nonsense are the same idiots now accusing China of manufacturing an apocalypse.

Surprising as it may be to some, Chinese bat guano collectors aren't much on world travel or big-city socializing, so while it was easy to isolate initially, if it escaped into a population like that of Wuhan, it would be a vastly different matter. If that is what happened, combine that with the CCP being the CCP, and just like most other governmental fuckups, the coverup winds up being exponentially worse than the thing covered up. In other words, if the illness observed circa 2017 was COVID caused by SARS-CoV-2 and it was understandably being studied and escaped, and the CCP had done the rational sensible thing - dealt with it openly and forthrightly - it almost certainly wouldn't have developed as it has. If that is what happened, it is exponentially different than a manufactured weaponized virus escaping.

As to the Chinese (or really, the CCP) wanting to take over the US, the adjoining counties don't want much if anything to do with Jackson. Why in the fuck would anyone in China want to take it (or St. Louis, Baltimore, Chicago, etc., etc., etc.) over? The Chinese and the CCP absolutely want to run China and they have a gracious plenty in the bowls doing that. China and the CCP do OK exporting crap - they don't need or want to IMPORT bullshit. Where there is real cause for concern is what happens between China and India if it turns out the CCP allowed this to propagate rather than admit its mistake. The CCP hasn't gotten remotely serious about Taiwan or Hong Kong in 75 years and folks are worried about them invading Canton in the next few months? Seriously?

Anonymous said...

What are the military implications of virus-related "gain of function" experimentation?

Anonymous said...

11:01 deserves a standing ovation.

Anonymous said...

The powers that be and their media minions don’t all of a sudden agree with us, the conspiracy “theorists.” This is a setup for war. You release a virus to kill the old, a vaccine to kill the middle aged and dumb and launch a war to kill the young.

Anonymous said...

1:44 sounds kind of batshit crazy.

A. Epicurian said...

This whole problem could easily be resolved by sending Robert St. John to the Wuhan Province and have him dine at Mr. Wu's Wet Market Bar and Grill, on a Tuesday evening. Bat Chowder and Pangolin on the half shell as a starter, then the main course could be stir fried Pangolin with a side of Bat fritters. Of course we'll let him choose the wine pairing. Quarantine him for 14 days with nothing but Eggo toaster waffles, from a reliable source of course, and see what happens.

Anonymous said...

Definitely the lab and definitely planned. Too many "coincidences" to be anything else.

Gates and Fauci funded the lab. Do some research on who has profited from the vaccine efforts. Also, interesting to note, at the very beginning of the pandemic, Gates "stepped down" as CEO of Microsoft. And, now, his wife finally has the balls to leave him... just before people finally wake up and start questioning the lab. Me thinks Melinda is trying to distance herself from Bill and Anthony's scheme!!

There was a Chinese whistleblower, who worked in the lab, that early on tried to spread the truth. She was called NUTS! Because of course, it's best to trust the media and government's version of "science." (Smack yourself in the head now if you agreed with that last sentence.)

Only a country as stupid as ours would make the true villain (Fauci) the face of the pandemic.

Anonymous said...

1:44, Mr. Wade covered this possibility at the end of his article.

Now, look up Dr. Fauci answering John Kennedy's questions about NIH funding of gain of function research and then read these paragraphs from the Medium article again:

Dr. Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance, for one, believes that the term gain-of-function applies only to enhancements of viruses that infect humans, not to animal viruses. “So gain-of-function research refers specifically to the manipulation of human viruses so as to be either more easily transmissible or to cause worse infection or be easier to spread,” an Alliance official told The Dispatch Fact Check.
If the NIH shares the EcoHealth Alliance view that the term gain of function applies only to human viruses, that would explain why Dr. Fauci could assure the Senate it had never funded such research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. But the legal basis of such a definition is unclear, and it differs from that of the moratorium language which was presumably applicable.
Definitions aside, the bottom line is that the National Institutes of Health was supporting research of a kind that could have generated the SARS2 virus, in an unsupervised foreign lab that was doing work in BSL2 biosafety conditions.

The only thing I disagree with in Mr. Wade's article is his opinion that Fauci has "served with integrity."

Anonymous said...

John Cena is going to open a can of Whoop Jackassery on this blog for dissing China. Yu can bat your bottom dollar on that!

Anonymous said...

@2:25pm - Call down bubba. Lay off the Facebook and infowars

Anonymous said...

Wait until the electron microscopes are recalibrated to American standards and we see that "Made in China" label on those Covid cells! Cover up is over!

Anonymous said...

Well in the long run either way don't mean shit. I agree that this was probably a dry run. The worldwide death rate is manageable/acceptable (sorry if I have offended anyone who lost someone supposedly to Covid) as I'm not convinced the death rate was really as high as determined. The criteria was very vague, but then again, they needed to justify this cold. 0.17% dead in USA and 4.2% in the world. Besides, we need a thinning of the herd.

Anonymous said...

Nicholas Wade is a long time conspiracy theorist who has no creditability.

Anonymous said...

No matter if it was from the lab or not , it came from the bat first. Now the question is, did they release it.

Anonymous said...

"...a long-time science editor at the New York Times as well as editor for Nature and Science journals." How, exactly, does this make someone a liberal?

Anonymous said...

"A. Epicurian said...

This whole problem could easily be resolved by sending Robert St. John to the Wuhan Province and have him dine at Mr. Wu's Wet Market Bar and Grill, on a Tuesday evening. Bat Chowder and Pangolin on the half shell as a starter, then the main course could be stir fried Pangolin with a side of Bat fritters. Of course we'll let him choose the wine pairing. Quarantine him for 14 days with nothing but Eggo toaster waffles, from a reliable source of course, and see what happens."

I see at least two problems. First and foremost, while you may well be "A. Epicurian," you might consider becoming "An. Epicurean." Corrections aside, I'm not sure the taxpayers can afford much more restaurateur subsidies. After all, a few trillion dollars for bat fritters here and a few trillion yuan (sorta like "you'ens" but in Chinese) for Eggos there, and sooner or later it's going to add up to real money. Mostly later. Oh, one more problem - who is going to drag Robert away from his 3rd helping of the 43 course tasting menu at Chateau Aintmymoney and put him on the AirCommie flight to Wang Chung and its dance-hall days so everyone can have fun tonight?

Anonymous said...

"at the New York Times...How, exactly, does this make someone a liberal?"

What are you, one of them there commiepinkoliberal pollacks, meathead? And you, little girl, go stiffle over there with your mother!

Anonymous said...

China has most likely been working on this virus for years. It was designed for moderate population control. You’re a Communist Country with limited resources and you can only feed the ones that are able to work. But wait, Tyrannical Trump put the economic squeeze on China plus sent them some mean tweets. Well, it’s time to release the contagion that will wreck the world’s most vibrant economy while the Chinese economy shoots to number 1. And we get our communist friends in America to help and take Trump the treacherous tyrant out of office. Easy as pie. I’m afraid, round 2 will be so much worse. It will make Hiroshima and Nagasaki look like skirmishes.

Anonymous said...

@11:10
NYT is the Pravda of the Left. It is only considered journalism by leftists. To everyone else, it might was well be Weekly Word News.

Anonymous said...

"NYT is the Pravda of the Left."

It's not very PC or even in vogue to say this kind of thing nowadays but c'mon admit it, you think the devil wears Pravda, don't you?

Anonymous said...

I'm a little bothered by the science writer who doesn't understand the difference between a theory and hypothesis. It matters because people like this undermine science when they show their ignorance. A lab leak theory would involve a lot more evidence and criminal charges.

That said, I would like to see more studies into the lab leak hypothesis.

Anonymous said...

The problem is that the general public apparently can't tell the difference between a scientific theory and conclusive evidence.

Yes, China should be cooperating. That they aren't isn't necessarily because they are covering up but because they fear scrutiny of any kind regarding how they control their citizens.

Do remember that our government also covered up that the Spanish flu originated here, not in Spain. There was nothing nefarious about how the origin, as usual, it's the cover up.




Calm Down said...

The lab, obviously. However, the bigger story is the hoax that China pulled to frighten the world how severe the virus was, and our media/gov't swallowing that hook line and sinker, with a big push by 'public health' bureaucrats.



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Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and “Big Cat” Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).


Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge.

Donna Ladd of The Jackson Free Press will give several classes on learning how to write. Smearing, writing without factchecking, and reporting only one side of a story will be covered. A donation to pay their taxes will be accepted and she will be signing copies of their former federal tax liens. Ms. Ladd will give a dramatic reading of her two award-winning essays (They received The Jackson Free Press "Best Of" awards.) "Why everything is always about me" and "Why I cover murders better than anyone else in Jackson".

In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates.

Trollfest '09 is a pet-friendly event as well. Feel free to bring your dog with you and do not worry if your pet gets hungry, as employees of the Jackson Zoo will be on hand to provide some of their animals as food when it gets to be feeding time for your little loved one.

Relax at the Fox News Tent. Since there are only three blonde reporters in Jackson (being blonde is a requirement for working at Fox News), Megan and Kathryn from WAPT and Wendy from WLBT will be on loan to Fox. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both and a torn-up Obama yard sign will entitle you to free drinks served by Megan, Wendy, and Kathryn. Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required. Just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '09 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.


Note: Security provided by INS.

Trollfest '07

Jackson Jambalaya is the home of Trollfest '07. Catch this great event which promises to leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Sonjay Poontang and his band headline the night with a special steel cage, no time limit "loser must leave town" bout between Alan Lange and "Big Cat"Donna Ladd following afterwards. Kamikaze will perform his new song F*** Bush, he's still a _____. Did I mention there was no referee? Dr. Heddy Matthias and Lori Gregory will face off in the undercard dueling with dangling participles and other um, devices. Robbie Bell will perform Her two latest songs: My Best Friends are in the Media and Mama's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be George Bell. Sid Salter of The Clarion-Ledger will host "Pin the Tail on the Trial Lawyer", sponsored by State Farm.

There will be a hugging booth where in exchange for your young son, Frank Melton will give you a loooong hug. Trollfest will have a dunking booth where Muhammed the terrorist will curse you to Allah as you try to hit a target that will drop him into a vat of pig grease. However, in the true spirit of Separate But Equal, Don Imus and someone from NE Jackson will also sit in the dunking booth for an equal amount of time. Tom Head will give a reading for two hours on why he can't figure out who the hell he is. Cliff Cargill will give lessons with his .80 caliber desert eagle, using Frank Melton photos as targets. Tackleberry will be on hand for an autograph session. KIM Waaaaaade will be passing out free titles and deeds to crackhouses formerly owned by The Wood Street Players.

If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

Note: Security provided by INS
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