April 10, 2020

At the Morning Moon Café...

FD4D0F82-166B-4D02-A318-29547BDDF5FE_1_201_a

... talk about whatever you like.

190 comments:

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

I've heard about Friday News Dumps. Now we have a Good Friday News Dump. That is only for news that they want no one to notice.

FBI determined the Steele dossier was fake and Russian disinformation in December 2016.

People need to go to jail.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mark said...

Talk about anything?? Yeah. As if.

They just posted the new projections. Downward. They are saying nationally we will hover at the current death count for a few days, then go down.

Mark said...

FBI determined the Steele dossier was fake and Russian disinformation in December 2016.

The FBI was slow on the go then. Most thinking and fair-minded people figured it out about ten minutes after they first heard about it.

Mark said...

There are still known Cylons on board.

Josephbleau said...

"There are still known Cylons on board."

If they remain still, they can't hurt us.

Mark said...

Taking the body of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea wrapped him in clean linen and laid him in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock. Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb and departed. But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained sitting there, facing the tomb.

Josephbleau said...

And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger,

JackWayne said...

Wisconsin Tracking Potential Spread of Wuhan Virus From Tuesday’s Election.

Sebastian said...

"They just posted the new projections. Downward. They are saying nationally we will hover at the current death count for a few days, then go down"

Mark! Say it ain't so! This way we won't even get to 60K.

And IHME told us we are near peak already, so this is not gonna help with the panic epidemic.

What are we gonna do with all the ventilators, the ones we flattened the curve for, at $multitrillions?

Rory said...

Coming up on Hogan's Heroes: Carter does his Hitler impersonation.

William said...

I'm trying to get through the Chernow bio of Grant, but I spend way too much time watching television. I have a need to be distracted....Here's a random observation about Grant and Hollywood. There have been hagiographic biopics on Andrew Johnson and Woodrow Wilson. These are two of the worst Presidents in American history. Grant had an interesting and dramatic life. I wonder why no one in Hollywood ever thought his life was worth dramatizing.....Lincoln is deservedly the most dramatized President. Maybe Andrew Jackson comes in at number two. He did have an interesting life, although I guess nowadays his vogue has passed. FDR, JFK, and even that scumbag LBJ have had admiring biopics, but still nothing on Grant. It's good to be a Democrat.

AtmoGuy said...

So I've formulated a plan:
1) Have someone scour the Wisconsin Constitution and find some plausible legal reason why Tony Evers's house arrest/kill the economy order is unconstitutional in some way.
2) File a lawsuit in some Circuit Court asking for an injunction striking it down. It will get rejected.
3) Appeal to the Court of Appeals. It will get rejected.
4) Appeal to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
5) Have various pro-business groups like WMC, Wisconsin Club for Growth, etc. make it abundantly clear that any justices who vote to strike down the order will get their endorsements and lots of third-party spending come re-election time.
6) Go back to work and school and life.

Thoughts?

gilbar said...

Declassified footnotes to a Justice Department inspector general report show that the Federal Bureau of Investigation team investigating members of the Trump campaign received classified reports in 2017 identifying key pieces of the Steele dossier as products of a Russian disinformation campaign.

see? they Knew there WAS russian collusion, because it was the FBI with whom they were colluding!

CStanley said...

Blogger Josephbleau said...
And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger,


Foreshadowing the burial cloths, and the manger prefigured the altar.

Darkisland said...

 Last Friday Bruce Gee said... 

Once there he travelled north to Oregon and joined a lumbering crew, intent on learning thenew language.
In the Spring, he sauntered into San Francisco, swaggered into a bar, and ordered a beer in his new language.

He was met by puzzled looks. He repeated the order. A German standing at the bar asked him what he was about. "I'm ordering a beer in English!" he replied.

"Son, that isn't English. That's Finnish."


That was one of the funniest things I'd read in a long time. Based strictly on this I downloaded the sample of Annie Dillard's "The Living". I figuerd that I really wanted to read anyone who could write a story like that.

I'm now about halfway through the book and enjoying it thoroughly. It puts me in mind of ken kesey meets James Michener. John dos Passos seems to drop in for a paragraph or a page from time to time. That's not a criticism. Dillard has her own style but I hear echoes of the others and like it.

Her style is somewhat verbose and some authors can't get away with that. She can.

However, when I got to the Finish story, it was different than I'd recalled from the comments. Still a great story but different.

And not quite as good.

I went back and looked up Bruce's version. It was then I noticed he was paraphrasing not quoting.

Now I want to read Bruce! Have you published any books, Bruce?

John Henry

Original Mike said...

Is the moon still open?

Darkisland said...

Narciso had recommended Scorpion a few weeks back. I read the sample of the first in the series and found it a bit off-putting.

When I mentioned this last week, he suggested the 3rd novel, Scorpion Winter.

I downloaded the sample, liked it and bought the full book via Ann's portal. Having finished it, I can say that it was a good read but nothing to get excited about. It felt a bit repetious. But it didd keep me avidly reading to the end.

I may look at some of Kaplans other books.
Thanks again for the recommendation, Narciso

What's everyone else reading?

John Henry

walter said...

JackWayne,
If they track whether from voting (hard to determine that btw), hopefully they'll keep track of where it was worse and determine how many lives could have been saved with more polls open and staffed by National Guard

Birkel said...

https://pjmedia.com/trending/police-state-chaos-man-dragged-off-philly-bus-for-not-wearing-mask/

Shut down all the things.
And exert police power wherever possible.

This is the predicted result.
All who disagreed, you were wrong.

J. Farmer said...

As usual, my hometown is in the news for all the wrong reasons. I've been to Big Cat Rescue and know a lot of people who have volunteered there. I had no idea it was the sworn enemy of a gay meth head and big cat enthusiast. I haven't seen any of the Tiger King miniseries on Netflix and have no plans to, but it sounds like the documentary equivalent of a Jerry Springer show. Line a bunch of oddballs up and gawk at them.

walter said...

Both Comey and Brennan haven't Tweeted since 4/4.
Maybe they're social distancing, together.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Did FDR boast about his ratings during his fireside chats? Maybe Doc Mike might know.

Francisco D said...

BREAKING NEWS: Washington University Med School researchers (in tandem with Monsanto and Searle) have discovered a vaccine for COVID-19.

The FDA is fast tracking clinical trials, but there is one big problem.

They have yet to figure out how to make the vaccine cause autism.

Darkisland said...

 Sebastian said...

Mark! Say it ain't so! This way we won't even get to 60K. 

I've got $5 says that we don't even get to 15,000 actual kung flu deaths.

Key word "actual". They're juicing the stats as hard as they can. Not even trying to hide it. Someone died and might have had it? Boom! Into the death count they go. I doubt we'll even get to 25m reported deaths.

It's a massive scam. I want retribution. I want scamster blood in the streets.

John Henry

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Mark said...

They are saying nationally we will hover at the current death count for a few days, then go down.

So if the death count goes down, does that mean that someone who was dead will no longer be dead? In a few days...maybe Sunday morning?

Sounds about right.

Drago said...

ARM: "Did FDR boast about his ratings during his fireside chats?"

Lefty dem brings up FDR!

Bad timing......

"In a sit-down interview with CBS Evening News’ Katie Couric that aired Sept. 22, Sen. Joe Biden tried to make a historical comparison between political leadership during the trying economic times of today and yesterday. But he got some of his history wrong. Biden told Couric: “When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed.”

The Stock Market crashed in 1929, 3 years before FDR was elected President.

Number of televisions owned by the general public in 1929? Zero

And this interview was in 2008......12 years ago. Biden has been that stupid for that long.

Sebastian said...

John H: "I want retribution."

I believe Meade himself referred to vengeance at one point, a low point in the history of this blog as far as I am concerned.

He did not mean it in your sense, of course.

Honest members of the pro-panic faction will have regrets, as I suspect he will.

But others will resort to the backtracking tropes already catalogued here a while ago when we began to see through the BS numbers an projections and ruinous shutdown policies. We had real calculations! We followed the experts! What if we hadn't! And so on.

What sort of retribution do you have in mind?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

What a train wreck looks like:

Donald Trump lashes out at 'RINO' Republicans including Lindsey Graham who want him to cut back on coronavirus briefings - then spends two hours and 16 minutes at the podium to prove his point

mockturtle said...

From KIRO News, Seattle: Kirkland ER Doctor in critical condition with COVID-19, saved with experimental drug

Drago said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JackWayne said...

Chaos In Wisconsin As Thousands Of Absentee Ballots Never Reached Voters.

Must be a nice place to live...

Drago said...

Looks like Trump's taking on China is leaving a mark.

Recall, Trump signed an executive order several weeks ago prohibiting US companies from using any telecom equipment manufactured by China’s Huawei.

That's in addition to Trump pressuring US allies to refuse to use Huawei equipment in their networks.

And now Huawei's public pronouncements, which are always heavily massaged, show massive top line and net profit decreases.

Hitting the ChiCom's where they live in terms of expansion of Chinese tech influence in the west.

That is just one reason of hundreds the Dems and LLR's have fully aligned with the ChiComs.

Darkisland said...

 Francisco D said...

BREAKING NEWS: Washington University Med School researchers (in tandem with Monsanto and Searle) have discovered a vaccine for COVID-19.

Searle? There's a same I've not heard in a while. I thought it disappeared 35 years ago when Monsanto bought them.

Now, looking them up in Wikipedia, I find trans pfizer owns the brand and uses it for some of their products. They stayed doing something similar with the old Upjohn last year.

And how does Monsanto get into the mix?

Pharma is a weird industry. I try but can't keep track of who owns who anymore.

John Henry



Darkisland said...

 Sebastian said...

What sort of retribution do you have in mind?

Rope, lampposts. Some assembly required.

Metaphorically, of course.

John Henry

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Someone didn't do the required reading.

Now U.S. spies are reported to have produced a 'situation report' at the end of November hinting at a public health crisis in China after seeing evidence of increased activity at hospitals

narciso said...

Youre welcome john henry.

Kaplan who has done some homeland orequels strives for authenticity in his descriptions

Josephbleau said...

"Chaos In Wisconsin As Thousands Of Absentee Ballots Never Reached Voters.

Must be a nice place to live."

Democrat election fraud is truly a 3 Dimensional chess game.

J. Farmer said...

While the Never Trumpers and the Ever Trumpers are busy hurling snowballs at each other, we are all witnessing the early stages of the United States (as a nation) disintegrating. This is a systemic problem that has been in the works for years. It cannot be solved merely at the ballot box. The war for the nation is being lost with each passing year, but people are mostly content to debate endlessly over minor skirmishes.

rehajm said...

Armadillo safari tonight. Saw three....

Darkisland said...

More seriously,

We need to take on China. Recognize taiwan as a country in its own right. Embassies, white house visit, "the whole load" as biden would say. Not as the govt of mainland china, of course. The Chicomms are still in charge there.

No trade deals. Discourage us companies there and so on.

What pdjt just did with huawei. More like that. Publicly recommending against use of zoom, tiktok and other spyware. If possible ban it.

At home go after those who promoted this thinking it could bring pdjt down. Name and shame them. Investigate and, if they broke any laws come down on them like the hammer of God.

No mercy whatever.

John Henry

Drago said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

ARM: "Now U.S. spies are reported to have produced a 'situation report' at the end of November hinting at a public health crisis in China after seeing evidence of increased activity at hospitals"

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Already debunked several days ago!!

This story was so screwed up the Director of the NCMI, Col Shane Ray, had to issue statements just the other day and then again TODAY refuting these latest ChiCom driven lies!!

https://www.foxnews.com/media/dni-cnn-coronavirus-report-inaccurate-information

"The Office of the Director of National Intelligence accused CNN of publishing inaccurate information on Thursday."

"ABC News reported on Wednesday that a November intelligence assessment warned about a rapidly spreading coronavirus in China that posed a threat to American forces in the region – but the official said no such assessment existed.

ABC News cited unnamed officials with knowledge of the assessment by the military's National Center for Medical Intelligence (NCMI) that raised concerns of the coronavirus and highlighted how it was disrupting daily life and business in the area.

Col. R. Shane Day, the director of the NCMI, a component of the Defense Intelligence Agency, refuted the ABC News report in a statement."

And wouldn't you know it?

This hoax story about a hoax report is the same talking point being pushed by ARM's beloved ChiCom's!

Good old ARM! Always ready, willing and able to act as Xi's cuckholster!

Unexpectedly.

ARM, why don't you just go back to pimping the hoax russian dossier?! BTW, did you see that the release from just this morning of the unredacted Horowitz report footnotes PROVE conclusively that the FBI and CIA KNEW the hoax dossier was a hoax in.....(wait for it, wait for it).......October of 2016. (See Catherine Herridge twitter from this morning)

Yes, October of 2016.

But its even worse than that! The FBI/CIA KNEW it was actually russian disinformation!

So yes, our own obiden-bama intel/law enforcement agencies purposely used russian disinformation to spy on a domestic political opponent!

That should make for a great question for sleepy Joe!

Drago said...

Seriously ARM, is it difficult to type with your forehead pressed so firmly against Xi's abdomen?

narciso said...

With satraps like whitmer and evers, you can add that punk dewine and a few othet top men,

walter said...

LA County Sheltering extended to May 15th.
Garcetti stood behind pollster who claims public support...some wanting more, whatever that means.
Close to 50% residents either out of job or reduced hrs currently.

Mark said...

I didn't see it before.

Kai Winn is Hillary Clinton.

Temujin said...

Mail in elections anyone?
Voting issues in Wisconsin

walter said...

Beverly Hills requires masks while driving.
Gucci?

Spiros Pappas said...

There are a lot of Asian hate crimes happening right now. If it's not right wing nutcases who believe the coronavirus is a hoax, then who's committing these crimes?

narciso said...

When i was high school thomas and isaacsons wise men a dissection of the eastern mandarins although he includesgeorge kennan who was kind of an iconoclast, thats in the big thematic biolgraphy category.

Michael K said...

ARM, were those US spies the ones that were all executed after Obama's CIA blew the information system ?

You know, the super secret one that Obama's First Hispanic OPM director hired the ChiCom for?

Drago said...

You want to know what a complete moron ARM is?

This is from his very own link: "Col. R. Shane Day, who heads the National Center for Medical Intelligence Center, issued a statement saying a report the agency produced a coronavirus-related 'product/assessment in November of 2019' was incorrect.

Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Hyten joined in the pushback, telling CNN he didn't see intelligence reports about an outbreak until January."

ARM goes Full Inga and only read the headline.

Dare I say it?

"Unexpectedly".

Bay Area Guy said...

I took the fam out for a day trip this Good Friday. It was sunny and beautiful in San Francisco. First, we cruised by Mel's Diner on Lombard St to get curbside-take out burgers and cokes. (Remember Mel's Diner from American Grafitti? That's the one). Problem - Muir Beach and Stinson Beach are closed. Goddam lockdown. Plan B - cruise over to the Presidio. Ever been there? The most beautiful army base on par with West Point on the Hudson. Old red brick buildings, the O Club, well-tendered greens, stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Had a nice picnic on the grass. Plenty of room for everyone. The dog was happy. The kids were happy. The wife was happy (not in that order).

A very nice Good Friday.

Drago said...

Spiros Pappas: "There are a lot of Asian hate crimes happening right now. If it's not right wing nutcases who believe the coronavirus is a hoax, then who's committing these crimes?"

Nigerians?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

J. Farmer said...
we are all witnessing the early stages of the United States (as a nation) disintegrating.


I think this is a bit hysterical (not you Drago). Politics has always been tough. What has changed is the status of the US in the world. The mishandling of this crisis, the high profile gifts of medical supplies from Russia and China, the unwillingness of the US to help other countries and the general lack of global leadership, all represent an extraordinary loss of US power and prestige.

Drago said...

Looks like the dems are ginning up another Hatecrime Explosion ploy to match all their previously and easily debunked ones.

I feel for these idiot dems really.

They have Slow Joe at the top of the ticket (for now, anyway), so what else are they going to do?

I suspect more hate crime hoax headlines and more hoax "documents" to emerge as the weeks go by.

Mark said...

About those projections, they don't have Virginia peaking until late April, but all the surrounding jurisdictions are supposed to peak in the next few days. It doesn't make sense that Virginia would lag.

Josephbleau said...

"While the Never Trumpers and the Ever Trumpers are busy hurling snowballs at each other, we are all witnessing the early stages of the United States (as a nation) disintegrating. This is a systemic problem that has been in the works for years. It cannot be solved merely at the ballot box. The war for the nation is being lost with each passing year, but people are mostly content to debate endlessly over minor skirmishes."

A virus will destroy our nation, perhaps. But a bloody civil war ended in reconciliation. Congressmen used to beat each other to near death on the floor. I don't think we have crossed the styx yet.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Canadian military intelligence unit issued warning about Wuhan outbreak back in January

Drago said...

ARM: "...the high profile gifts of medical supplies from Russia and China..."

All of China's "high profile gifts" are being returned for reasons of defects.

Unbelievable.

Even now, you are still pushing the ChiCom lines.

Even now.

"(UK) Government seeks refund for millions of coronavirus antibody tests (from China)"

"Coronavirus: Countries reject Chinese-made equipment"

The entire world is rejecting defective and substandard ChiCom gear as fast as ARM is vomiting up ChiCom talking points.

mockturtle said...

But, ARM, we were told by both China and WHO that 'there is no evidence of human to human' transmission.

J. Farmer said...

@Josephbleau:

A virus will destroy our nation, perhaps. But a bloody civil war ended in reconciliation. Congressmen used to beat each other to near death on the floor. I don't think we have crossed the styx yet.

I am not talking about the virus.

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Drago said...

mockturtle: "But, ARM, we were told by both China and WHO that 'there is no evidence of human to human' transmission."

And that was on January 14.

And ARM would never, ever, under any circumstances, doubt anything his "betters" the ChiCom's and their lackeys at the WHO would say.

Ever.

chickelit said...

And how does Monsanto get into the mix?

Monsanto got into pharma in the '70's with an ingenious way to make L-Dopa which was (is?) used to treat Parkinson's. A chemist there named William Knowles shared a chemistry Nobel for the work.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

mockturtle said...
we were told by both China and WHO that 'there is no evidence of human to human' transmission.


I should have added, and the loss of of US intelligence and scientific authority to make independent and accurate judgements.

J. Farmer said...

@ARM:

I think this is a bit hysterical (not you Drago). Politics has always been tough. What has changed is the status of the US in the world. The mishandling of this crisis, the high profile gifts of medical supplies from Russia and China, the unwillingness of the US to help other countries and the general lack of global leadership, all represent an extraordinary loss of US power and prestige.

I am not talking about the nature of politics. And I am not talking about the state. I am talking about the nation. I am not an advocate for "US leadership" and is not something I think the US should even strive for. Depending on when you want to start the clock, you could say that US global power has been steadily declining since the late 1940s.

The problem I am referring to is primarily demographic in nature. As we become an ever more diverse society, ever more divisiveness is in our future.

Francisco D said...

John Henry said ...Searle? There's a same I've not heard in a while. I thought it disappeared 35 years ago when Monsanto bought them.

I consulted to Searle (mid to late 90's) when they were putting Celebrex through Phase 3 trials. They were owned by Monsanto and the Chief Medical officer was the former Chair of Washington U. Med School.

After the FDA approved Celebrex, Searle made a fortune. They beat Merck to market, but then Merck's formulation (both drugs were cox-2 inhibitors) was found to cause cardiac problems - end of multi-billion yearly sales.

I have not kept track of Searle, but some of the people I worked with are still in the Pharma business. They were the ones who only got 6 figure bonuses.

Drago said...

Lets get even more granular, okay?

From my BBC link above (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52092395), which speaks of western nations demanding refunds and kicking defective ChiCom gear back to the ChiCom's:

"In a blog post last week, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell warned that there is “a geo-political component including a struggle for influence through spinning and the ‘politics of generosity’.

“China is aggressively pushing the message that, unlike the US, it is a responsible and reliable partner,” he wrote. "Armed with facts, we need to defend Europe against its detractors."

So, lets see now...."China is aggressively pushing the message that, unlike the US, it is a responsible and reliable partner"

And what did ARM write on this very blog this very evening?.......Oh, yes, here it is:

ARM: "What has changed is the status of the US in the world. The mishandling of this crisis, the high profile gifts of medical supplies from Russia and China, the unwillingness of the US to help other countries and the general lack of global leadership, all represent an extraordinary loss of US power and prestige."
4/10/20, 9:41 PM

ARM's comment might just as well have been drafted in Beijing.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

Governor Abbott will sign an executive order next week outlining the reopening plan.

God Bless Texas <3

My prediction is that some businesses in low risk areas (outside of the biggest cities) will be cleared to reopen May 1, maybe some others on May 15, maybe some recommendations about masks and reduced capacity in theaters and restaurants, etc.

I think the teachers' lobbyists will stomp their feet to cancel the rest of the school year - currently we're only out through May 1. But they already got standardized tests cancelled as well as school evaluations by the Texas Education Association so maybe they'll be ok with going back for the three weeks in May. We'll see. One of my close friends is a teacher and she's itching to go back.

https://www.click2houston.com/news/texas/2020/04/10/live-gov-abbott-to-provide-coronavirus-update/

Bay Area Guy said...

Another reason to love Texas.

Texas gov Abbott eyes reopening state businesses as he preps executive order laying out guidelines

Bay Area Guy said...

Pamts beat me to it, y'all.

Drago said...

ARM: "I should have added, and the loss of of US intelligence and scientific authority to make independent and accurate judgements."

LOLOLOLOLOL

ARM writes that on the heels of the release of the documents that the intel agencies under Obiden-bama knowingly, happily, used hoax russian disinformation as the basis to spy on a domestic political rival!

We've also learned in just the last week the Mueller crew knew in March of 2017 that there was nothing to the Trump tower meeting.....and yet Mueller and his crew "forgot" to include that exoneration info in their "report".

Great timing ARM!

Kyzer SoSay said...

"From KIRO News, Seattle: Kirkland ER Doctor in critical condition with COVID-19, saved with experimental drug"

So this doctor was treated with an immuno suppressant drug usually used for arthritis. If they can prove, or give strong biochemical reasons, that it worked, I'm all on board. However, one thing we need to keep in mind is that some patients who recover will relapse later, with moderate to severe symptoms recurring within 2 weeks or so. From the beginning, there has been hype around the cytokine storm of immune reaction that occurs in patients (this was all long before the HCQ+Zinc+ZPak treatment was known, BTW) who become critical - this reaction doing as much damage as the virus itself and many times dooming the patient. It makes sense therefore to use immuno suppressant drugs to prevent or limit this cytokine storm, right?

Well, at the time yes. If you can prevent something from causing damage, be it the viroid itself or the immune response, you do. But with the reports of these relapse cases, I'm wondering if patients who were treated to suppress the cytokine storm are more prone to undergo a relapse than patients who, for whatever reason, weren't. Does the act of suppressing the immune response give rise to a larger population of relapses down the line? I don't know, but I'd be interested in seeing a scientific analysis done.

Hopefully, now that we have a KNOWN good treatment, and a biochemical chain of evidence as to how it probably works, I personally think the only thing left to do is make as much HCQ as possible for a while and continue working and testing on vaccines.

walter said...

Don't politicize this!
Do you want "more body bags"?

narciso said...

Our governor desantis is on a similar wave length, we cannot keep the economy on dry ice much longer the ppp is woefully deficient but its probably the only thing that could get past dominion pelosi.

Michael K said...

ARM, were those US spies the ones that were all executed after Obama's CIA blew the information system ?

You know, the super secret one that Obama's First Hispanic OPM director hired the ChiCom for?

God ! Blogger is a piece of shit !

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

J. Farmer said...
I am not an advocate for "US leadership"


I am very definitely an advocate of US leadership in science and technology. That is/was the source of the country's strength. No one is going to remember the US century for our authors or painters or orators or lawyers, they will remember the Nobel prizes, the moonshot, mass production, the internet and digital revolution, skyscrapers and the fabulous cars.

walter said...

" Does the act of suppressing the immune response give rise to a larger population of relapses down the line? I don't know, but I'd be interested in seeing a scientific analysis done."
You'd think antibody testing would help inform this.

Drago said...

ARM: "I am very definitely an advocate of US leadership in science and technology."

LOL

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Golf, handshakes and a Mar-a-Lago conga line: Squandered week highlights Trump’s lack of COVID-19 focus


Drago said...

More "fun and hijinks" from ARM's "heroic" ChiCom allies:

"In a rather hilarious and an uncanny incident, China, the now 'fair-weathered' friend of Pakistan, had promised 'top quality' medical aid to Pakistan for fighting the deadly coronavirus infection has ended up sending N95 masks made out of underwear. China actually duped Pakistan as its 'top quality' aid failed to be of any help for Pakistan."

https://www.ibtimes.co.in/pakistan-gets-chinese-underwear-n95-masks-816723

There is literally nothing that ARM won't write if it advances ChiCom talking points.

Drago said...

ChiCom "top quality" gear...... = underwear.

And for this, ARM's sings praises to his Beijing buddies.

Kyzer SoSay said...

"ARM's comment might just as well have been drafted in Beijing."

Honestly, once you see it, it's impossible to unsee. Kinda messed up, really.

Rory said...

Baseball in Taiwan starts at 5 am ET Saturday. It's rumored that robots will replace human fans in the stands:

https://mobile.twitter.com/ElevenSportsTW/status/1248626253331984387?s=20

Churchy LaFemme: said...

Would Taiwan welcome recognition as an independent state? That's never been their position. I think obviously that an independent Formosa would be a good thing in an abstract world, but it upsets the current position where both sides pretend there is just "China" and argue over where the Capital is..

Drago said...

Kyzer SoSay: "Honestly, once you see it, it's impossible to unsee. Kinda messed up, really."

Indeed.

Impossible really.

It's like watching the Trump campaign video of ChiCom-owned "Handsy" Joey Biden. Once you see it you cannot unsee it.

There is now clear desperation on the pro-ChiCom dem/LLR side of the house so expect to see even more mud thrown against the wall to see what will stick.

They have nothing else left.

I fully expect another hoax impeachment effort prior to the election with increased assertions that Trump murdered Americans, as so many of the lefty commentators and political types were pushing today.

Sprezzatura said...

This blog re comments is almost perfect. Just need to get rid of ARM.

J. Farmer said...

@ARM:

I am very definitely an advocate of US leadership in science and technology.

Well, as the US gets closer to the demographics of Latin America, you can expect advanced in that field to decline. Also, the love of my nation has nothing to do with its technological production. I love the nation because it's my home.

Drago said...

Unknown: "Would Taiwan welcome recognition as an independent state? That's never been their position. I think obviously that an independent Formosa would be a good thing in an abstract world, but it upsets the current position where both sides pretend there is just "China" and argue over where the Capital is."

Taiwan is a major area of concern right now as it represents a clear target for ARM's beloved ChiCom's to "distract" their own population from the economic woes Trump has inflicted upon China.

And this is why Xi might well be tempted to do something just like that. Particularly because Xi is now facing unprecedented (for him) opposition within his own country due to Trump's squeezing of China in every dimension.

See this from March 23 of this year (not you ARM, it would just make you sad):

"Xi’s enemies grow bolder as missteps continue"
By Paul Lin

"Members of the “business clan,” such as Wang and former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji (朱鎔基), have long been unhappy with Xi’s handling of the trade dispute, which has been disastrous to China and its people, and they are furious with the cover-up of the epidemic, which seriously harmed the Chinese economy."

narciso said...

Now you can detect isaacsons disdain againsr the house republicans and unwilling to admit that hiss was a spy.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

Poorly Drawn Lines: Good Ideas and Amazing Stories
by Reza Farazmand

Poorlier Drawn Lines
by Reza Farazmand

I don't usually review comic books or comic strip collections I may have read (and I read quite a few), but I picked up these two webcomic collections over the New Year's break, and enjoyed them quite a bit. It's hard to describe the humor here, but if you find this:

http://www.poorlydrawnlines.com/comic/an-idea/

funny, then you may find the collections so as well. Some are even genre *and* touching:

http://www.poorlydrawnlines.com/comic/astronaut-bill-iv/

Drago said...

narciso: "Now you can detect isaacsons disdain againsr the house republicans and unwilling to admit that hiss was a spy."

That used to be one of my "intro" questions to lefties regardless of what the topic was.

If the lefty couldn't admit that Hiss was a Soviet spy, then there was no point going any further.

This is similar to Althouse blog where we still have leftists like Inga refusing to admit the russia hoax was a hoax and ARM who refuses to offer up any criticism of his beloved ChiCom "heroes".

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

anti-de Sitter space said...
Just need to get rid of ARM.


An almost universal view, yet I remain beloved.

Drago said...

Interesting sidenote: While the entire free press in Asia is talking about Xi's difficulties brought about by Trump's strategic squeeze policies and Xi's clear missteps, you have ARM running around pretending Xi is winning across the board with the US.

We shouldn't be surprised at that of course.

Drago said...

ARM: "An almost universal view, yet I remain beloved."

Most notably in Beijing.

Shouting Thomas said...

Why are you lonely, ARM?

You’re here a lot, which means you’re lonely. Why?

I’m only lonely at times. My wife is gone, never to be replaced.

But I’ve got a life full of grandkids.

Shouting Thomas said...

Drago, too. You’ve obviously lonely.

Why talk about politics instead of talking about why you’re lonely?

Shouting Thomas said...

My grandkids, all younger than 6 argue and fight a lot.

It’s a form of entertainment. It’s the easiest form of entertainment, really.

It doesn’t take any skill, it’s dramatic and it gets the nerves jangling.

narciso said...

Now this was before the venona decrypts, yes china has certainly lost face. In the non fiction category there is sam keens the dissapearing spoon, a very infirmative first volume about the periodic chart.

Drago said...

ST: "Why talk about politics instead of talking about why you’re lonely?"

I'm working. This is how I relax for a few moments before diving back in and out again. I'm on deadline tonight for an RFQ as well as doing some work on another credential (since there has been significant dead time lately, as you might have noticed).

In a few moments I'll begin on the dishes since they've been staring at me for some time now.

J. Farmer said...

@Drago:

That used to be one of my "intro" questions to lefties regardless of what the topic was.

If the lefty couldn't admit that Hiss was a Soviet spy, then there was no point going any further.


If I recall correctly, that was a Hugh Hewitt gimmick.

Shouting Thomas said...

Request for estimate for what?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Drago said...
Most notably in Beijing.


Finally, a good joke. You should thank de Sitter for the assist.

Which reminds me, de Sitter should be unbanned. He is one of the funniest commenters here.

Drago said...

Farmer: "If I recall correctly, that was a Hugh Hewitt gimmick."

You recall correctly, and it irritates me that I don't get credit! (See "The Italian Job" with Mark Wahlberg and you'll get my point)

One of the first times I really came to respect Alan Dershowitz is when, after the flood of overwhelming evidence was no longer remotely deniable, Dershowitz said (and wrote I believe) that (and I think this is a pretty accurate quote): Any future discussion of Hiss must begin with the fact that Hiss was a Soviet spy.

I Callahan said...

There are a lot of Asian hate crimes happening right now.

Link to one, or admit you’re a liar.

Shouting Thomas said...

My church work has kept me quite busy this week, producing videos of hymns, preludes and postludes.

My grandkids live upstairs and they’re around all the time.

But at age 70, I don’t think I’ll do romance again. Seems unlikely.

narciso said...

Science texts are terribly dry, you cant always associate an anecdote with each element.

Drago said...

ARM: "Finally, a good joke."

I'm not making jokes.

I'm pointing out the reality of your hoax narratives which you seem to have embraced ever more passionately since the "disappearance" of a certain LLR of note.

J. Farmer said...

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/apr/11/the-beatles-handwritten-hey-jude-lyrics-sell-for-910000-at-auction

Wow. I remember hearing Lester Bangs once refer to Mark David Champman as "the ultimate Beatlemaniac."

Shouting Thomas said...

So, ARM, what is it you do?

Josephbleau said...

I am understanding you more each day Farmer.

Shouting Thomas said...

No takers?

Rehashing the same argument you’ve already had dozens of times and repeating the same lines is more important?

effinayright said...

A question for our M.D. commenters:

Today Rush had a caller who claimed he and number of construction workers, all working in confined quarters on a project in New York, contracted a very nasty illness last December that involved a severe dry cough and chest congestion lasting for weeks. (I'm paraphrasing, but I think that's the gist of his claim).

All eventually recovered, and none has since come down with any overt CoVid-19 symptoms.

I myself went through such an illness. It began just before Thanksgiving and persisted well into December. I referred to it as the "worst cold of my life". (Since I already had a flu shot and experienced no fever, I didn't think I had come down with a flu variant.) But the chest congestion was unusually severe, as my chest shook and my lungs seemed to go into spasms.

I finally went to a doctor and got Z-pak to fight the illness. It took until mid-January to clear up the chest congestion.

Here's the thing: I know several other older people in my neighborhood outside Boston who went through the same experience, one who required a double dose of Z-pak. my ears perked up when the caller wondered if he and his fellow workers could have come down with a strain of coronavirus that conferred immunity to ChiCom-19.

( IIRC Rush had speculated whether California and Oregon had such a low number of cases because people in those states had been exposed to the virus or its variant earlier than when detected in Washington and New York.)

Is that possible? Could this be a situation like cowpox being used in the 18th century to inoculate people against the more virulent smallpox?

I suspect an antibody test would be needed to determine if I actually have immunity against ChiCom-19. But I don't know if what I'm presenting is within the realm of possibility.

Is it?


walter said...

ST is subbing at the Coop Couch. Big ups for the brevity.

https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/local/2020/04/07/neenah-police-backtrack-haircuts-officers-amid-salon-closures/2960585001/
NEENAH - Police Chief Aaron Olson has come under fire for arranging a hair stylist to cut the hair of Neenah police officers amid the government shutdown of all salons.

Olson said he made arrangements for the hair stylist to come to the Neenah police station from 4 to 8 p.m. twice per week because officers "still need to look presentable to the public."

"We did this with the best of intentions, but obviously people are not looking at it the same way we did," Olson told The Post-Crescent on Tuesday. "I take full responsibility for that. It's unfortunate that this is even newsworthy."

Drago said...

Off topic in a thread with no topic, if you haven't caught the musical stylings of the rock/jazz cover band known as "Leonid and Friends", do yourself a favor and look them up on Youtube.

They have created covers for quite a few Chicago, Earth Wind and Fire songs, amongst others. Fantastic vocals, great horns, etc.

They've toured the US a few times and Chicago's drummer (Danny Seraphine) actually uploaded one of Leonids songs to the official Chicago website and played with them in concert.

That's how good they are.

I'll post a link to their story video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVXUlV86bAM&t=1387s

J. Farmer said...

@Drago:

You recall correctly, and it irritates me that I don't get credit! (See "The Italian Job" with Mark Wahlberg and you'll get my point)

Never been a particular fan of Hewitt's. He reminds me of a lot of those pop conservative authors like Sean Hannity or Mark Levin who churn out one preaching-to-the-choir book after another. I have a general exception for Ann Coulter, though, because she's an extremely funny writer.

Josephbleau said...

S.T. You seem to be doing well, so be happy about it. Do your thing and don’t think it is fun to be angry. Please.

Shouting Thomas said...

I do miss my haircuts. Louise cuts my hair. She’s 78.

Was a groupie for Woodstock bands back in the 60s.

Always good for stories about partying. Still pretty frisky for an old lady.

Drago said...

Here's Leonid and Friends covering "Feelin' Stronger Every Day"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwYV4H9rU6o

wildswan said...

"JackWayne said...
Chaos In Wisconsin As Thousands Of Absentee Ballots Never Reached Voters.

Must be a nice place to live."

My sister got her absentee ballot but her husband did not. They live in one of the areas where ballots were not mailed out or were returned for no reason anyone knows. So I believe that in these shoe boxes, I mean tubs, of ballots, there are valid requests for ballots. The election will then be challenged on behalf of valid voters. But what else has been put into these unsecured, lost boxes? Wisconsin will not ask how or why the Post Office lost and found so many ballots. But the Post Office is a Federal agency and I think the non-delivery of ballots is civil rights issue in the Federal dimension.

narciso said...

I linked them last week including their very attractive back up singer

Shouting Thomas said...

Sometimes, it is fun to be angry.

As I said, my grandkids’ play is very much like an all night argument in an Althouse cafe.

The exact content of the argument isn’t really important. Shifting alliances and the thrill of getting dramatic and screeching and yelling is what’s really important.

Drago said...

Farmer: "Never been a particular fan of Hewitt's. He reminds me of a lot of those pop conservative authors like Sean Hannity or Mark Levin who churn out one preaching-to-the-choir book after another."

Not even close to being true.

He couldn't be more different.

I don't necessarily care for him for other reasons. But he's essentially an anti-Hannity.

Drago said...

By the way, Leonid and Friends come from 5 different former Soviet republics.

J. Farmer said...

@Shouting Thomas:

Was a groupie for Woodstock bands back in the 60s.

Now there's a subject we haven't heard enough about!

Actually, I am prone to agree with your assessment. Far too often these threads devolve into the exact same arguments over and over again. My hands are not entirely clean in this regard, but it gets very boring to come here and see the same dumb debates from the mainstream political press being rehashed.

narciso said...

forget link etiqutte already

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

. Farmer said...
the love of my nation has nothing to do with its technological production. I love the nation because it's my home.


Tasmanians love Tasmania, but other than Errol Flynn not much to talk about. John Lennon observed, 'If I'd lived in Roman times, I'd have lived in Rome. Today, America is the Roman empire, and New York is Rome itself. New York is the center of the earth.' Being part of something bigger than yourself, something that is of historical importance has a value that you would miss if it were gone. Spend some time with the English, and they have some very nice places to call home.

Mark said...

Lots of people have gotten by with sitting on a chair and some family member going over their head with electric hair clippers.

It is certainly what I have resorted to. Of course, it's tough to do the back, sight unseen, by myself.

Shouting Thomas said...

When I was in high school, and gas was very cheap, my friends and I would pile up in a car, bribe the town drunk to buy us some beer and whiskey, and drive around the roads thru the corn fields all night.

I don’t exactly remember what it was we talked about.

Andrew said...

@wholelottasplainin',

Not an MD, just a low level attorney. But my best friend is a realtor, and in late January he came down with a severe illness, one that really scared him. I remember him calling me, saying he had never experienced anything like it. He thought it was maybe bronchitis, but he had been through that before, and it was more extreme. His doctor prescribed some antibiotics, and my friend just rode it out for a week. He almost went to an ER but decided not to.

He's now fairly certain he had the virus. The only reason he's not absolutely sure is that he didn't seem to contaminate anyone (including me). But what's also strange is we didn't have a confirmed case in Ohio until March.

J. Farmer said...

@Drago:

I don't necessarily care for him for other reasons. But he's essentially an anti-Hannity.

The only point of comparison was that they both write in the genre I call "pop conservative."

Josephbleau said...

S.T. That’s right, acting angry can be exiting, but being angry is harmful. You know peace is what is fun.

Shouting Thomas said...

I loved living in NYC. And hated it too.

It’s a great place for a hustler, and I was a great hustler when I was young.

There’s always work, always another employer, always another gig, always another everything.

It’s also a great place for enthusiasts of every kind of sexual carrying. Always has been.

J. Farmer said...

p.s. I will say, though, that Hewitt and Hannity are both part of mainstream conservatism. Dissident conservatives hate mainstream conservatives.

Shouting Thomas said...

NYC is, however, hard assed as hell.

I always had my cabin in the mountains outside Woodstock as an escape valve.

J. Farmer said...

@ARM:

Spend some time with the English, and they have some very nice places to call home.

Yes, Northern European peoples have been an exceptionally productive people in world historical terms. And with each passing day, they make up a smaller piece of the American pie. A nation is the conglomeration of its people. Change the people, and you will change the nation.

Drago said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

Farmer: "The only point of comparison was that they both write in the genre I call "pop conservative."

Then modify your categorizations as they are wrong. Hewitt is much more a Laura Ingraham with one major difference, Ingraham has moved more towards a populist outlook, though not as far as Tucker, whereas Hewitt can't help himself. He is still too wedded to the republican establishment.

Mark Levin is Pat Buchanan with lots more legal experience.

RK said...

p.s. I will say, though, that Hewitt and Hannity are both part of mainstream conservatism. Dissident conservatives hate mainstream conservatives.

In the movies, haters are all on the right. But in real life, the haters are all on the left. Nobody hates Hewitt and Hannity except lefties.

Shouting Thomas said...

Maybe you guys need to play the game of throwing back a shot of whiskey every time you post a comment.

That might loosen you up.

Shouting Thomas said...

Oh, well, I’m throwing in the towel.

Got to get back up tomorrow morning and back into my studio.

I’m very fortunate to still be working at 70. I’m still working even thru this mess.

J. Farmer said...

@Drago:

[Hewitt] is still too wedded to the republican establishment.

That alone puts him close enough to Sean Hannity in my book. And that's the basic problem with mainstream conservatism.

Crazy World said...

What do you suggest for a cure Farmer 9:16? Because masking up ain’t working for me on my little island 🌴

J. Farmer said...

p.s. Mark Levin's foreign policy is quite different from Pat Buchanan's

J. Farmer said...

@RK:

Nobody hates Hewitt and Hannity except lefties.

You obviously don't spend much time in dissident right circles. Hewitt himself has stated overtly that the alt right needs to be driven from the GOP.

HistoryDoc said...

I also discovered Leonid and friends this past week, couldn't believe how great they performed many of my old favorite songs. Also great video editing. Took me back to younger days...

J. Farmer said...

@Crazy World:

What do you suggest for a cure Farmer 9:16? Because masking up ain’t working for me on my little island

Emigration if you have the ability. Best thing to do when you find yourself on a sinking ship is get off of it. Eastern Europe or somewhere in East Asia are likely to be your best bets. They are some of the few places left on earth that have a relatively high standard of living and are not poisoned to the gills with white guilt.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

Have you heard The Barberettes?

You got me rockin' & a rollin', rocking & reeling..

Yancey Ward said...

"I have not kept track of Searle, but some of the people I worked with are still in the Pharma business."

Pfizer bought Searle, mainly to get Celebrex, which, by the way, is still marketed. The COX-2 inhibitors probably got a bad rap from all the data that has come out since- they are basically no worse for those particular side effects that got Vioxx taken off the market than the non-selective inhibitors like Ibuprofen and Naproxen.

mockturtle said...

As a person over 65 I would be content to be a hermit for a while longer if it means the working folk could get back to work. But I'd like to fill up my gas tank while gas is still cheap. ;-)

Yancey Ward said...

"Seriously ARM, is it difficult to type with your forehead pressed so firmly against Xi's abdomen?"

I imagine it easier than talking.

J. Farmer said...

@Crazy World:

The problem is that there is only so much effect you can have through the Madisonian institutions. The rot is much more pervasive than that. It is in the educational system, the business world, and most of the cultural institutions. When you consider the scale of the problem, Trump's victories are laughable. Tax cuts, deregulation, some tweaking of managed trade deals, getting out of the Iran nuclear deal, moving an embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. We're on the Titanic, and our political rulers are arguing over how to arrange the deckchairs.

Crazy World said...

Very cool BAG Blessed Good Friday indeed.

narciso said...

just the detritut of culture

narciso said...

I saw the first episode of line of duty not that interesting,

Drago said...

"[Hewitt] is still too wedded to the republican establishment.

Farmer: "That alone puts him close enough to Sean Hannity in my book. And that's the basic problem with mainstream conservatism."

Not even close.

Yancey Ward said...

Give "Line of Duty" some time. It is worth it.

If you don't like it, try "A Touch of Frost".

J. Farmer said...

@Drago:

Not even close.

That Hewitt is "still too wedded to the republican establishment" is your own assessment.

Drago said...

HistoryDoc: "I also discovered Leonid and friends this past week, couldn't believe how great they performed many of my old favorite songs. Also great video editing. Took me back to younger days..."

They are scheduled for a number of cities in the US this summer so we'll see if that happens.

They've already cancelled or rescheduled most of their June itinerary. It looks like the latest schedule iteration will have them in Reno on Aug 6 and in Vegas on Aug 8. The 2 cities closest to me.

Drago said...

Farmer "That Hewitt is "still too wedded to the republican establishment" is your own assessment."

That Hannity and Hewitt are bookends is your own assessment.

Crazy World said...

Thank you Farmer for your comments, we are both actually lucky to still be working, tourism is dead but the locals still carry on. Tomorrow is one person canoe today.
I ADORE the Cook Islands, Aututaki in particular.
Just gotta up my mask activity for a few more weeks, Aloha.

Birkel said...

If people have a target date to start a turn to normalcy, they can at least make headway and regain hope. The local public interest stories are all single mothers and sole-breadwinner fathers talking about their dread and insecurity. I'm sure that's playing out all over the country.

Meanwhile, Pelosi is acting like she will not call the House back into session. I imagine Trump will call them back into session if Pelosi refuses. She is playing a political game she cannot win. And it's gross.

Meanwhile, many people will be looking at May's rent bill without a prayer of paying it. And those effects will ripple through the economy and nobody can know how bad it will get from there.

In any case the ROW economy is going full-on depression.

J. Farmer said...

That Hannity and Hewitt are bookends is your own assessment.

My point is not that they are bookends, but the fact that they are both "wedded to the republican establishment" is enough to cancel out any meaningful differences, most of which appear to be stylistic. Hewitt fancies himself an intellectual, and Hannity prefers the Irish Catholic everyman shtick.

narciso said...

The link is what happens when you subordinage polemics to good story telling, i tolerated patrick stewart in the x men franchise, but hes forgotten whats made him interesting.

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

Farmer: "My point is not that they are bookends, but the fact that they are both "wedded to the republican establishment" is enough to cancel out any meaningful differences, most of which appear to be stylistic."

I disagree.

narciso said...

Ill give it another shot, bodyguard is by the same producer.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

I think Stewart deserved a best-supporting-actor Oscar for his "Old Professor-X" in Logan. Truly a great bit of work. Haven't seen Picard as I don't do streaming.

Jon Ericson said...

I like V.D.H.

Yancey Ward said...

Character vandalization- I like that from Dave Cullen. There is so much of that going on these days. The Critical Drinker is doing an entire new series of rants on just this particular thing, and I think his motivation for doing so is exactly "Picard", though he started with "Fat Thor."

J. Farmer said...

@Drago:

I disagree.

Clearly. But hey, if you get something out of listening to Hewitt, more power to you.

J. Farmer said...

I like V.D.H.

Hanson has long been good on immigration, and he made a good contribution to the 90s culture wars with his book Who Killed Homer. Unfortunately, he was all in with the global war on terror nonsense.

narciso said...

It had its moments, jackman played a character as savage as the source material, there were some gruesome set pieces, stewart was just too downbeat, from sejanus in i claudius to this.

narciso said...

Hes a jacksonian, thats clear fron his inspirations. I think letting islam be the central axis in both iraq and affganistan did not help things, thanks noah feldman

J. Farmer said...

Walter Russell Mead has made a cottage industry of it, but I never Wilson, Jacksonian, etc. classification system particularly useful for understanding the president. And I think he strained efforts to shoehorn a Trump foreign policy doctrine into the supposed Jacksonian tradition particularly miss the mark. He made the same mistake with Obama and the Jeffersonian tradition. I tend to find Mead long on gimmicks and short on analysis.

walter said...

Someone needs to fit little masks on the pigeons.

StephenFearby said...

Another possible Deus ex Machina. (The one the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine announced on April 4th was probably the first.)

Saturday, April 11, 2020, 12.01am BST, The Times of London

Coronavirus vaccine could be ready by September
Leading scientist ‘80 percent’ sure drug will work


'A vaccine against coronavirus could be ready as soon as September, the British scientist leading one of the world’s most advanced efforts has said.

Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at Oxford University, told The Times she was “80 per cent confident” that the vaccine being developed by her team would work, with human trials due to begin in the next fortnight.

The government signalled that it would be willing to fund the manufacture of millions of doses in advance if results looked promising. This would allow it to be available immediately to the public if it were proven to work.

With ministers struggling to find a strategy to exit the lockdown, long-term hopes of a return to normality rely on a vaccine.

Even if measures to stop the spread of coronavirus are eased in the coming weeks, officials are expecting that without a vaccine some element of social distancing, such as shielding of the vulnerable or working from home, would remain in place for a long time.'

'...Professor Gilbert’s team is one of dozens around the world trying to find a vaccine and is the most advanced in Britain. She has been working seven days a week to rush through the development stages.

“I think there’s a high chance that it will work based on other things that we have done with this type of vaccine,” she said. “It’s not just a hunch and as every week goes by we have more data to look at . . . I would go for 80 per cent, that’s my personal view.”

Initial safety trials are due to begin soon, with further studies following around the world to see if the vaccine reduces the risk of catching coronavirus.

Lockdown makes it harder to test a vaccine when the virus is not spreading, Professor Gilbert said. However, if one of the countries in which it is trialled “turns out to have a high rate of virus transmission then we will get our efficacy results very quickly, so that is the strategy for reducing the time”.

Asked if the most optimistic scenario for a working vaccine was September, she said: “Yes and we have to go for that.” Success by the autumn was “just about possible if everything goes perfectly”.

However, she added: “Nobody can promise it’s going to work.” Manufacturing millions of doses can take months and Professor Gilbert said she was talking to the government about going into production before final results were in.

Winter flu vaccines are typically 40-60 per cent effective, although this varies depending on the annual strain. Ministers think that if a vaccine looks viable it will be worth spending tens of millions of pounds to have it ready for use given the economic cost of lockdown.

The US philanthropist Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, says that he will “waste” billions of dollars manufacturing vaccines, even though most will fail, in order to avoid a delay for any that prove successful.'


Although an 80% confidence level is probably nothing to write home about, maybe it's an example of British understatement.

Bloomberg wasted half a billion running for president. Only crickets on doing the same for vaccines, although he did give $3 million recently to John Hopkins for a blood plasma study.

Rory said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rory said...

"Baseball in Taiwan starts at 5 am ET Saturday. It's rumored that robots will replace human fans in the stands:"

Rainout.

tim in vermont said...

"Could this be a situation like cowpox being used in the 18th century to inoculate people against the more virulent smallpox?”

Early on there was talk of a “S strain” and an “L strain” of differing virulence. Inga mentioned it, and I read it elsewhere, but I haven’t seen anything about it in a while. I wondered if that might explain what has happened in California. There is still so much we don’t know, it’s all speculation now. There are also two flu strains this year, A and B. My SIL had the shot for A and tested positive for it anyway. She was pretty sick for 10 days or so and her voice is still different many weeks later.

tim in vermont said...

I wonder how hard these antibody tests are going to be to get.

tim in vermont said...

"Hewitt fancies himself an intellectual, and Hannity prefers the Irish Catholic everyman shtick”

That sums ‘em up pretty nicely.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

J. Farmer said...
Northern European peoples have been an exceptionally productive people in world historical terms. And with each passing day, they make up a smaller piece of the American pie. A nation is the conglomeration of its people. Change the people, and you will change the nation.


Yours is essentially the viewpoint of the modern day Little Englanders. There is a middle ground between the idiotic adventurism of the Bushes and the self-defeating isolationism of Trump.

brylun said...

Former Biden staffer who claims he sexually assaulted her in 1993 files formal criminal complaint in Washington D.C.

Poor Tara Reade, no feminist will listen to her: "He put his hand down my pants and penetrated me with two fingers... ."

She can't get the U.S. media to publish her complaint. No bloggers either...

On the other hand, Christine Blasey Ford...

iowan2 said...

How about a shout out the Catherine Herridge? Now with CBS, was FOX NEWS, Doing work 1000's of phony journalist are refusing to do??? She's reporting the information as facts and documents are made public, showing how President Obama knew the Russian Hoax is in fact a hoax. Documents revealing FBI communications show Comey knew the Steele dossier is Russian misinformation.

Also, on Ingram, Barr reports Durham is wrapping up the FISA crimes investigation. When asked when the report would drop, Barr responded that Durham is not writing a report, he is writing indictments. So once again, President Obama was leading the soft coup of President Trump. Having the FBI lies an FISA warrants, and telling Brenen and Clapper to work with other intel agencies, attempting to entrap the Trump campaign. Corrupt agencies. FBI, DoJ, CIA, IC, State Department. These are now documented realities.

So I want everyone to understand. President Trump is responsible for not restocking the PPE emergency stockpiles that were used by Obama.

President Obama is responsible for corroborating the use of Govt agencies to spy on a political opponent, and, investigate a sitting President, using known fake documents, as a predicate.

tim in vermont said...

"There is a middle ground between the idiotic adventurism of the Bushes and the self-defeating isolationism of Trump. “

Let me guess: China Joe Biden.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

The Republicans need to stop veering crazily from one extreme to the other. That the Iraq war was a monumental mistake doesn't mean that we should stop providing masks to Canada.

Birkel said...

If Canada is depending on a foreign country to provide its critical supplies, they are fucked.