Coronavirus around the world

There are 1,097 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 150,133 times. The latest Post () was by Rice.

    Those who work in government who find ways to spend money, to inflate budgets, will rise to positions of influence and power. They create their own elite culture. The rest become worker bees. Thus, the "merit", the "fitness", that leads to advancement in government is the same class of behaviors that make parasitic infections successful. A pattern of precautionary mandates by governments is not an argument of prudent scientific reasons. It is a response to the "do something" impulse in the population when they are shocked by news that is almost always inaccurate and misunderstood. Precautionary measures may be prudent, and maybe not. The lockdowns may have damaged or destroyed (by suicide), the lives of countless young people who were essentially invulnerable to the virus.


    FBI Assistant Director Thomas Fuentes:


    "If you’re submitting budget proposals for a law enforcement agency, for an intelligence agency, you’re not going to submit the proposal that “We won the war on terror and everything’s great,” cuz the first thing that’s gonna happen is your budget’s gonna be cut in half. You know, it’s my opposite of Jesse Jackson’s ‘Keep Hope Alive’—it’s ‘Keep Fear Alive.’ Keep it alive."

    Quote from Rice

    I’d like to see the complete document that Fuentes quote was taken from, if you have it. While the sentiment is believable enough, I have trouble taking seriously the “gonna” and “cuz” usage.

    Congressional testimony on video.


    There are countless such instances that I can recall from my work for the federal government, almost on a daily basis, but I won't bother trying to win your confidence. In summary, however, I had to come to grips with this kind of mentality at high management levels that government spending is an intrinsically beneficial exercise, no matter the consequences. I was sometimes ridiculed and sometimes seen as an enemy for striving to execute projects in a cost effective manner, or to produce a non-catastrophic result. As the Inspector General described my experiences to me, it was truly Kafkaesque.


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ne…-control-behaviour-covid/


    The nature of government is that it is an organ of expedience to handle things that cannot be effectively managed by what was called "private sector", i.e. profit making or charitable groups. These are fading fast. They were far from perfect, but they had very limited power and criticizing them would probably not result in getting canceled. Problems with government being THE problem solver are too many to list here. Why would scientists use bogus computer models or exaggerate dangers that inflame the public? If you want a grant renewed, you support the dominant narrative. It becomes habitual and leads to groupthink (or consensus) science, which sure makes for team work, but teams, as important as they are to science, are not science.


    When I first heard the phrase, "crisis management", I assumed it meant managing a crisis, but the ominous tone used in that phrase by more senior staff told me that my interpretation was naive. Here is an expression of similar sentiment, which you have no doubt heard previously.


    Hydrino , you needn’t be concerned about trying to win my confidence. I’m interested only in accuracy vs ingrained bias.


    I think your interest in “striving to execute projects in a cost effective manner, or to produce a non-catastrophic result” is to be applauded.

    Naturally, my supervisors would agree that avoiding catastrophes and saving money are worthy goals, but when that goal was found in opposition to some high level manager getting an advancement, it wasn't so simple. I've seen managers allow conditions deteriorate to a dangerous situation, in order that higher-ups would respond to a subsequent emergency and turn on the money spigot. It's not reasonable, but we don’t live in a reasonable world.

    From today’s Times:


    “The number of reported coronavirus cases has fallen for the sixth day in a row, offering further hope that the peak of a third wave has passed. There were 24,950 positive cases in the UK yesterday, a decrease of 15,000 from 39,950 last Monday and down from 54,000 on July 17. One model shows the R number at below one, suggesting that the pandemic is shrinking.“

    NYT, July 28, 2021, 9:53 a.m. ET


    Fully vaccinated travelers from the United States and the European Union will be allowed to enter England without quarantining upon arrival starting Aug. 2, the British authorities said on Wednesday as they seek to attract tourists after months of restrictions.

    Quote from Splinter

    Reminds of the infamous email sent by a civil servant in the British government on the morning of 9/11 in which she is quoted as saying "Now would be a good time to..." I forget what the actual subject was, but the two towers were still burning and people were dying in the USA.

    Without even knowing who had done what, or even what had happened, catastrophes were seen by careerists as springboards into opportunities. That's not a false assessment, but it sure is disgusting. The really terrifying part is the 'moral hazard' (as it is phrased in fedspeak).

    Quote from serafina

    The flu?

    The flu is not a disease, but a set of symptoms caused by a range of infective agents. Natural immunity for one of these agents is effective, just as a vaccine for one of the agents is effective, although they usually miss the mark by a wide margin. The same is true for pneumonia. Viruses, bacteria and fungi can all cause pneumonia.


    The question to ask is the headline of this WSJ article, 'Why is the FDA attacking a Safe, Effective Drug?'


    Opinion | Why Is the FDA Attacking a Safe, Effective Drug?
    Ivermectin is a promising Covid treatment and prophylaxis, but the agency is denigrating it.
    www.wsj.com


    Answer this question and you may understand this "mystery" of today's NYT.


    More Covid Mysteries
    There’s much to learn about how the virus spreads.
    www.nytimes.com


    NYT calls it a mystery, but in India, just like every other place where ivermectin has been widely distributed, like Mexico, India, Bolivia, and in less widely distributed localities, COVID infestations declined very rapidly. Indonesia recently declared that they will emphasize the use of repurposed therapeutics, like ivermectin, after a large outbreak. I expect we'll see another "mystery" in Indonesia if they proceed using non-vaccine methods.


    The vaccines are "non-sterilizing", meaning they do not kill the existing virus in the patient. This creates a perfect environment for creating variants. There are nearly 4000 variants and growing rapidly. We are on a never ending treadmill of new variants. Everyone will need more and more vaccines. Intended or not, predictable effect is to eliminate masses of what Dr. Mengele might consider "undesirables" of no means. Cui bono?


    Israel is doing a 3rd shot now. Ivermectin is very effective against all variants because it has so many mechanisms of antiviral action.


    The mechanisms of action of Ivermectin against SARS-CoV-2: An evidence-based clinical review article - The Journal of Antibiotics
    www.nature.com

    Covax is struggling

    The multibillion-dollar alliance of international health systems and nonprofits was supposed to ensure that poor countries received vaccines as quickly as rich ones did. Instead, Covax struggled in its attempts to secure doses, falling half a billion short of its target, and is now failing to deliver the vaccine.

    Chad received 100,000 doses in June, but five weeks later, some 94,000 doses remain. Nearby in Benin, only 267 shots were being given each day — a pace so slow that 110,000 of the program’s AstraZeneca doses expired.

    The shortfalls are leaving poor countries dangerously unprotected as the Delta variant of the virus runs rampant. And without billions more shots, experts warn, new variants could keep emerging across the globe.

    “Covax hasn’t failed, but it is failing,” said Dr. Ayoade Alakija, a co-chair of the African Union’s vaccine delivery program. “We really have no other options. For the sake of humanity, Covax must work.”

    NYT, 2 August 2021