US Politics Thread 2021-24

[3catcircus]

Originally Posted by Dowly

No, it isn't the 'most likely explanation' since it can occur naturally.


The article is behind a paywall so I can't read it, but neither of the authors of that opinion piece have any expertise on the subject matter.

Here's the relevant text:

"Of the 36 possible genome pairings that can produce two arginine amino acids in a row — which results in boosting a virus’ lethality — the one most commonly used in gain-of-function research is CGG-CGG, or double CGG, wrote Quay and Muller.

“The insertion sequence of choice is the double CGG,” wrote Quay, the founder of Atossa Therapeutics, and Muller, a former top scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who now teaches physics at the University of California’s Berkeley campus.

“That’s because it is readily available and convenient, and scientists have a great deal of experience inserting it,” they wrote. “An additional advantage of the double CGG sequence compared with the other 35 possible choices: It creates a useful beacon that permits the scientists to track the insertion in the laboratory.”

The pair noted that the double CGG sequence has never been found naturally among the entire group of coronaviruses that includes CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.

But, in what Quay and Muller called a “damning fact,” it was found in CoV-2."

Considering their backgrounds and experience, they are subject matter experts on the topic.

Here's the paper in question that the WSJ opinion piece is based on.

https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=...d%2F4477081%23

I'll trust a bayesian inference analysis from a doctor whose company is researching covid therapeutics over your unqualified opinion.

Try again.

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by 3catcircus

Here's the paper in question that the WSJ opinion piece is based on.

https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=...d%2F4477081%23

I encourage everyone to read this. No, not fully, that'd be cruel, but do take a look.

[Catfish]

^ It sure does not disppoint.. as one of the scientists said "it looks like quack bullsh!t".

Article has it right that some sequence of the SARS-Cov-2 looks like a "vector" sequence, but it is a naturally occurring coronavirus and "he confuses plasmid vs a vector".
"This unique sequence is not specific to SARS-CoV-2. By aligning several coronaviruses discovered from natural sources, our result showed that this “unique” sequence (1378 bp) from SARS-CoV-2 was also found in other coronavirus (Figure 1), with a high sequence identity. This indicated that this particular fragment in SARS-CoV-2 spike gene was widely spread in naturally existing coronaviruses and was not from laboratory."

"Just because the Chinese government lies a lot, it doesn't mean they are lying about this. There is no need."

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full...1.2020.1738279

I remember it all has been debunked in early 2020, no idea why someone warms it up in 2021

"A months long Vanity Fair investigation, interviews with more than 40 people, and a review of hundreds of pages of U.S. government documents, including internal memos, meeting minutes, and email correspondence, found that conflicts of interest, stemming in part from large government grants supporting controversial virology research, hampered the U.S. investigation into COVID-19’s origin at every step. In one State Department meeting, officials seeking to demand transparency from the Chinese government say they were explicitly told by colleagues not to explore the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s gain-of-function research, because it would bring unwelcome attention to U.S. government funding of it." -> plot twist

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021...id-19s-origins

[3catcircus]

Originally Posted by Catfish

^ It sure does not disppoint.. as one of the scientists said "it looks like quack bullsh!t".

Article has it right that some sequence of the SARS-Cov-2 looks like a "vector" sequence, but it is a naturally occurring coronavirus and "he confuses plasmid vs a vector".
"This unique sequence is not specific to SARS-CoV-2. By aligning several coronaviruses discovered from natural sources, our result showed that this “unique” sequence (1378 bp) from SARS-CoV-2 was also found in other coronavirus (Figure 1), with a high sequence identity. This indicated that this particular fragment in SARS-CoV-2 spike gene was widely spread in naturally existing coronaviruses and was not from laboratory."

"Just because the Chinese government lies a lot, it doesn't mean they are lying about this. There is no need."

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full...1.2020.1738279

I remember it all has been debunked in early 2020, no idea why someone warms it up in 2021

"A months long Vanity Fair investigation, interviews with more than 40 people, and a review of hundreds of pages of U.S. government documents, including internal memos, meeting minutes, and email correspondence, found that conflicts of interest, stemming in part from large government grants supporting controversial virology research, hampered the U.S. investigation into COVID-19’s origin at every step. In one State Department meeting, officials seeking to demand transparency from the Chinese government say they were explicitly told by colleagues not to explore the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s gain-of-function research, because it would bring unwelcome attention to U.S. government funding of it." -> plot twist

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021...id-19s-origins

Why are you conflating the Lyons-Weiler article from February of *last* year with the Quay paper from *this* year? Why are you putting trust into a paper funded by a Chinese government agency, given the well-known penchant amongst the CHICOMs to be less than transparent - there is a massive conflict of interest that a government accused of hiding the possibility that they let it escape from a lab paid for research refuting that claim.

Shine on, you crazy diamond...

[Onkel Neal]

Former California Sen. Barbara Boxer victim of assault and theft

Former US Sen. Barbara Boxer of California was a victim of assault and theft Monday in the Jack London Square neighborhood of Oakland, her office said.

"The assailant pushed her in the back, stole her cell phone and jumped in a waiting car," a spokesperson from Boxer's office said. "She is thankful that she was not seriously injured."
The assault and robbery occurred Monday at 1:15 p.m. local time in the 300 block of 3rd Street, the Oakland Police Department confirmed to CNN.
The suspect "forcefully took" Boxer's cell phone and fled the area in a nearby waiting vehicle, police said.
This incident is currently being investigated by the police department's robbery section, police said. The department is offering up to $2,000 as a reward leading to an arrest in the case.

That's under $950, it's not theft in Kalifornia. She should consider it a donation to someone who needs it more.

[em2nought]

Originally Posted by Onkel Neal

Former California Sen. Barbara Boxer victim of assault and theft

This is exactly what we need, criminals need to step up and start targeting politicians and elites. Leave the average joe alone.

[Buddahaid]

Political satire aside it's a pretty pathetic form of elder abuse and I hope they choke on it.

[Rockstar]

What do you expect when the Democrats judicial system is modeled after Fish and Wildlife’s catch and release program? Catch a criminal, release a criminal. He’s just doing what criminals do, he should have been jail. Do police in California always offer $2,000 rewards or does this have something to do with white privilege liberals and snowflakes been crying about?

[MaDef]

The reward is offered because Boxer is/was a prominent political figure in California. Had this happened to my mother-in-law or wife, when I called to report it I would be directed to fill out a police report via their online website and would have received a case # via email and no reward would have been offered.

[mapuc]

Originally Posted by 3catcircus

Why are you conflating the Lyons-Weiler article from February of *last* year with the Quay paper from *this* year? Why are you putting trust into a paper funded by a Chinese government agency, given the well-known penchant amongst the CHICOMs to be less than transparent - there is a massive conflict of interest that a government accused of hiding the possibility that they let it escape from a lab paid for research refuting that claim.

Shine on, you crazy diamond...

This is one of many reason to why I do not believe anything anymore.

I have decided to believe Corona does exist and I shall follow our authorities restriction...

Otherwise I have no education in these fields and can therefore not say what's correct and what's incorrect.

I believe in myself and my cat.

Markus

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Rockstar

What do you expect when the Democrats judicial system is modeled after Fish and Wildlife’s catch and release program? Catch a criminal, release a criminal. He’s just doing what criminals do, he should have been jail. Do police in California always offer $2,000 rewards or does this have something to do with white privilege liberals and snowflakes been crying about?

Oh, white liberal privilege, no doubt. If you or I had been robbed, the police world have simply said "Thank you for filling out a report" and that would have been the end of it.

I think the crook should turn himself in and collect the $2000 reward. Then he could skip out of jail on a no bail and continue on in time for the next BLM looting spree.

[3catcircus]

Originally Posted by mapuc

This is one of many reason to why I do not believe anything anymore.

I have decided to believe Corona does exist and I shall follow our authorities restriction...

Otherwise I have no education in these fields and can therefore not say what's correct and what's incorrect.

I believe in myself and my cat.

Markus

Mostly just the cat...

One does not need to be a subject matter expert to be able to apply logic and reason - skills that are all but a lost art amongst those who rely on curated Google search results and Wikipedia as authoritative sources and who consider the news media as information rather than entertainment.

[Dowly]

So, can we then agree that the WSJ news media opinion piece you posted was just entertainment?

[August]

Originally Posted by 3catcircus

Shine on, you crazy diamond...

Don't hold your breath for an answer. I don't think Catfish will reply. Using the ChiComs as a source would be like relying on the word of Al Capone that he had nothing to do with the St. Valentines Day Massacre. Indefensible.

[August]

Originally Posted by mapuc

I believe in myself and my cat.

Markus

You can believe in dogs too. They have little or no capacity for guile.