The Wuhan Lab Leak Theory is Gaining Steam
File under: Small wonder. For your consideration:
[Thread] My new @MintPressNews long form article on why the lab leak has gone viral in independent/alternative media, despite the lack of evidence supporting it. https://t.co/qLT8auO4in
— Alan MacLeod (@AlanRMacLeod) July 9, 2021
(a few snippets of the long exposé above marked Creative Commons):
“WUHAN, CHINA — The theory that the COVID-19 pandemic began life in a Chinese laboratory is going viral. Once considering it an anti-science conspiracy theory, the corporate press has done a full 180° turn — and many progressive, alternative media figures are following in its footsteps.
Progressive news show “The Young Turks” recorded what was effectively an apology video to their audience, explaining their new direction. “It does appear that there is some indication that a lab leak in Wuhan, China, is the origin of the coronavirus pandemic,” host Ana Kasparian told viewers. Condemning the scientific journal The Lancet, co-host Cenk Uygur explained that he had falsely placed his faith in scientists with political motives who had led him astray. Writing in The Guardian, left-wing commentator Thomas Frank flagellated himself for his “complacency” in believing the idea was a far-right conspiracy theory. The lab leak is “the most likely explanation for the origin of COVID-19,” Saagar Enjeti told his mostly progressive viewership of “Rising,” announcing that, from now on, we should be “ten times more skeptical of the Chinese government.”
This new change in outlook for so many progressive media outlets is not based on new evidence. Rather, it appears to be a result of two new articles and a change in stance from the Biden administration itself. In early May, The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists republished a Medium blog post by controversial science writer Nicholas Wade. In an 11,000-word essay, Wade claims that Wuhan itself is simply far too far away from Yunnan Province — where coronavirus-carrying bats make their home — for it to be the natural source of COVID-19. The most logical explanation, Wade asserts, is that the virus escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.” [...]
“Professor David Robertson — Head of Viral Genomics and Bioinformatics at the University of Glasgow, U.K. — told MintPress:
It’s not very clear, given the lack of new (or any) credible evidence for a lab leak, why it’s been getting so much attention. There was a letter published in Science in May that quite sensibly supports the need for further investigation but this seems to have been hijacked by a vocal minority who are essentially advocates for a lab being involved as opposed to looking at the broader range of possibilities, and what the available evidence points towards.”
In addition to mainstream outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, a host of alternative media figures have lent credibility to Wade, basing their new opinions on his work. On the “Bad Faith” podcast with former Bernie Sanders Press Secretary Briahna Joy Gray, Thomas Frank described Wade’s article as an “incredible piece of journalism,” “quite impressive” and “the likeliest explanation.” Gray appeared to agree, the two having a long conversation about the origins of COVID-19 as if Wade’s thesis has effectively been proven correct. Journalist Michael Tracey wrote that Wade’s words prove the theory is “highly plausible.” Current Affairs Editor-in-Chief Nathan J. Robinson praised Wade’s report, agreeing that it is “at the very least, a spectacular coincidence” that COVID-19 exploded so close to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Meanwhile, Enjeti based a segment called “Media’s Lab Leak Failure Is the Next Iraq WMD” on the Wall Street Journal article, telling viewers that the lab leak theory is now “the most likely explanation for the origin of COVID-19.” Popular writer Matt Taibbi also took The Wall Street Journal’s accusations at face value, claiming that “the toothpaste [is] fully out of the tube: there [is] no longer any way to say the ‘lab origin’ hypothesis [is] too silly to be reported upon.”
Other headings include:
A theory resting on shaky ground
One excerpt:
“What is particularly worrying in all this is that there are huge, gaping flaws in the analysis. First, Wade is not some neutral expert but a discredited, racist pseudoscientist. His 2014 book, “A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History,” contends that humanity could be broken down genetically into three distinct groups — Africans, Caucasians and East Asians — and that each are sufficiently genetically distinct from each other as to qualify as subspecies. He argued that Caucasians’ genes could explain “the rise of the West” and that African nations are poorer because they are inherently more violent and lazy, writing: “Variations in their nature, such as their time preference, work ethic and propensity to violence, have some bearing on the economic decisions [Africans] make.” Laughably, he later speculates that Asian women have smaller breasts because that is what is “much admired by Asian men.”
Cold warriors’ favorite theory
Ignoring the science
One excerpt:
“While distinctly unfashionable in 2020, the lab leak idea was kept alive by warmongering neoconservative journalists like Josh Rogin of The Washington Post, who is now a regular guest on progressive media platforms like Krystal Ball and Enjeti’s “Breaking Points.” “You almost have to see it to believe how depraved this is. Indistinguishable from ‘Fox and Friends,’” remarked a dismayed Sam Sacks of Means TV.
The coming war on China
(A few bits and bobs:)
“Earlier this year, NATO think tank the Atlantic Council published a 26,000-word report laying out its strategy to suffocate the People’s Republic. It advised Biden to draw a number of red lines around the country, past which the U.S. would directly intervene (presumably militarily). These include Chinese attempts to expand into the South China Sea, an attack on the disputed Senkaku Islands, and moves against Taiwan’s independence. A North Korean strike on any of its neighbors would also necessitate an American response against China, the report insists, because “China must fully own responsibility for the behavior of its North Korean ally.” Any backing down from this stance, the Council states, would result in national “humiliation” for the United States. If this could all be established, it noted, regime change in Beijing could be a distinct possibility. Top military officials like Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster have called for the establishment of an “Asian NATO” to achieve this dream. already there are well over 400 military bases encircling the country.” [...]
“In addition to the military buildup, the U.S. has begun an economic and information war against Beijing, the Trump administration placing sanctions on the country and attempting to halt the expansion of the Belt and Road initiative, block Huawei’s global 5G rollout, and force Chinese-owned social media app TikTok to sell to an American company. At the same time, Twitter, under counsel from a U.S.-funded think tank, decided to delete more than 170,000 Chinese accounts in a single day, the think tank having accused them of spreading pro-China narratives.
Also by Alan Macleod, this deep exposé. Given that a) I used to like The Rising duo, but haven’t watched for ages due to extreme health concerns, b) I haven’t watched their Breaking Points, so c) I’d find your feedback welcome, even knowing that I may not answer in anything close to ‘in a timely fashion’. Real Life chores and obligations for me proceed at a snail’s pace.
‘War-Hawk “Rising”; Saagar Enjeti: The Pseudo-Populist Mainlining Neocon Ideas into Progressive Politics; While he is undeniably a charismatic and confident host, Saagar Enjeti’s schtick is remarkably similar to that of his former employer Tucker Carlson, who also rails against elites while being one of them’, July 2, 2021
@esaagar
Jul 1 1/ It's been 1 month since @krystalball and I announced Breaking Points. In that month we have nearly half a million subscribers on Youtube, became the number 1 political podcast in the country, and routinely trash cable news primetime in overall/key demo numbers
“Ball is a progressive while Enjeti is a conservative. Nevertheless, both present themselves as populists who have a lot in common, something that was the central message of their bestselling book, “The Populist’s Guide to 2020: A New Right and Left are Rising.” While Ball’s political outlook could be described as relatively standard, Bernie Sanders-style populism, Enjeti is more of an enigma. While he identifies as a conservative Republican, he also labels himself a pro-worker, pro-union populist.
Key to his appeal is convincing progressive audiences that, although a conservative, he is still a political outsider with views not too dissimilar from their own. Yet a look into Enjeti’s background and professional career suggests otherwise — that he is very much an insider and is pulling a similar trick to so many Republicans of late who are rebranding as anti-elite, anti-deep state warriors, all the while mainstreaming some highly problematic viewpoints to his audience.”
Other fascinating, if damning, headings include:
A neocon in the making
Gonna study war some more
A Hudson obsession
The populist’s guide to hating China
One outtake:
“While “Rising” has a distinctly progressive audience, Enjeti has been pushing the Hudson’s neoconservative talking points on foreign policy. Enjeti is an unabashed imperialist who wants the United States to control the planet. As he stated himself on “The Realignment:”:
I am not for a multipolar world…I want to be the only blue water navy, I don’t want the Chinese ruling the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea.”
"Undisclosed in all this is the gigantic conflict of interest inherent in the fact that Enjeti’s salary at the Hudson Institute came courtesy of piles of cash donated by the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry.”
(cross-posted from Café Babylon)
Comments
BBC also "manufacturing consent" for the coming
conflict with China. They have been heavily pushing the Chinese Uighur genocide that is supposed to be occurring in Xinjiang.
it's quite a campaign,
made easier when 'populist' alt indie media join in. i know you and pluto's republic are C99 sinophiles beyond compare. but no, i cannae risk watching your videos, but it's not hard to imagine what's inside. ; )
a companion piece
came on the popular resistance newsletter yesterday (i hadn't read it then):
China’s Xi urges countries to confront ‘technology blockades’ in swipe at US
the longish rest is here.
Typical American RW bullsh1t.
Add in such “shining” stars as the Hudson Institute and the Atlantic Council. God, I am so SICK of these stupid, warmongering, corrupt creeps, I could choke to death from vomiting. These aholes do NOT represent nor speak for me. You’ve got similar garbage running China, Russia, etc. Will it ever end? Like the U.S. has never developed biological weapons? Right. Rec’d!
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
I had rejected the Lab Leak Theory originally,
but admit I found the lengthy article by Wade to be fairly persuasive. A few things I factored in:
Most of those now supporting Lab leak theory (LLT) use very careful language to say that it is a theory worth considering, but still unproven. I find believability in those who use this kind of careful language as compared to those who come out saying with absolute certainty that LLT has no merit at all.
Trump suggested LLT very early on. Those suffering from TDS immediately had to take the opposite position.
Many of those who are supporting LLT point out that USA is every bit as culpable as China for having funded and done research in this lab. It would be plausible that if this whole pandemic is a lead in to WW3 that USA developed the virus and then had it released at Wuhan as an antagonistic move.
Early during the pandemic there was a story going thru China that suggested that an elite bicycle racer of American origin had traveled to China for a competititon. He may have been a sponsored rider, riding on behalf of a US military racing team. And many Chinese believed that this rider caused the pandemic, was the original case, and was actually part of an operation to spread the virus. I have not a shred of evidence that this story is true. Just know that it became "urban legend".
Whatever the case is as to origin, the real story is how we (humanity as a whole, and citizens as individuals) are reacting to it. This could have been a moment that humanity came together to help one another, to work collaboratively to end some suffering. A moment when we put aside past grievances and grudges, forgave debts and ended sanctions. Worked on strengthening public health institutions and social safety nets. That America could not pass M4A during a pandemic shows that we are capable of squandering every opportunity. Turning anything into an antagonizing event rather than a healing moment.
now if you've read all of macleod's long
article, focusing as well on the sub-headings A theory resting on shaky ground and Ignoring the science and still find Wade's theory possible/plausible, i'll respect your opinion. it's all far beyond my kken, to ay the truth, but i did just find these simpler pieces at wsws.org:
Scientists demolish “Wuhan lab” conspiracy theory of coronavirus origins
Andre Damon, 9 July 2021
now with respect, i think the larger story is that the LLT is another huge arrow in the demonization of china quiver, and chinese americans as well. how many have been attacked recently? wish i cold remember.
but yes, your final paragraph might have been a glorious response.
Our concern for Muslims in China
after killing millions since the 9/11 shows how big of hypocrites we are. Didn’t Obama hire some to join AQ to remove Assad and I wonder how many Muslims were killed because of it.
The amount of regime change attempts, playing chicken in the Black a S China seas, bombings in Iraq and Syria. Continuing the Yemen genocide, supporting Israel’s continuing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and whatever else we are doing around the world makes me guess that Susan Powers, Tony Blinken, Austin and others connected to think tanks are the ones who are actually running the Biden administration. But then as moonbat posted:
Yeah we know that Biden’s not the most progressive person, but once in office we will push him left and then he will be FDR. Actually like Obama if Joe doesn’t get to helping millions of working class on the brink of eviction he will join the ex President Hoover club. Already homelessness is rising everywhere and congress is ignoring what their owners are doing to the housing market. But just like in 2008 when Blackstone/Rock bought homes for pennies on the dollar they got a huge infusion of cash to do it. Not that they needed more money, but why spend your own if you can spend ours? Congress also wrote bills allowing hedge funds to steal people’s pensions. Just the cost of doing business in the USA.
As for the Wuhan lab leak has ANYONE determined that the virus even leaked from a lab? Oh yeah guess who is cheering for regime change in Cuba! Crimes against humanity are only bad when it’s a republican that’s doing it. I remember how they reacted when Trump redid the embargo on them. It’s nice to see people cheering for what just 7 months ago they were against. They are now supporting Trumps policies. And of course y’all know that Biden kept Trump’s Russian ambassador who democrats said was….Russia Russia….but it’s okay now. Pretzeling one’s brain like that has got to hurt. It makes mine hurt just thinking about it.
Oh look. On Cuba.
Who makes the final decision on things if it isn’t Joe Biden? Oh and lotta people spoke at the MEK hullabaloo, but Susan Powers wasn’t aware that they used to be considered a terrorist organization. Sure she wasn’t there when HerHeinous decided that they were no longer terrorists.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
Goldman-Sachs?
Whoever it is, it isn't Joe Biden.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
nice rant, snoop,
and wide-ranging to boot. might you mean Samantha Power, rather? friend of genocidaire paul kagame?
nope, it's a Theory that it leaked from a lab, the theory being that the chinese built it as a bio-weapon, ye gods and little fishes.
uh oh; real life is callin' my name. back as i'm able....
Yeah Sam Powers
I remember thinking that if women ran the world there would be peace. Yep I was that naive once. I guess I just can’t wrap my head around evil. I’m taking that as a good thing.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
i'd forgotten her hubbie's
name, but not his odious face: cass sunstein.
i hear you on your early belief that if women ran the world...too many to list, starting with margaret thatcher. brrrrr; i wish i were unable to wrap my mind around evil, but i'm not really certain of that.
if women ran the world there would be peace ...
When I was around 10 to 12 years (late fifties) old, I read tons of books about the concentration camps and autobiographical stories about holocaust survivors. I learned through those books and their stories about women guards in the concentration camps that made me never ever to believe that women are less evil than men and more peace oriented. I remember my mother realized that I was reading that material. She was worried about it but said nothing.
I don't know why I read those documentary stories and books. Some things are just coincidental. But I think it cured me to find any interest in gender ID issues and their discussions today.
Business as usual
At the risk of touching off a "purity" argument, this isn't exactly the far left he's talking about. These are the people who may (or not) be left of the current Democrat party, but at the end of the day, aren't trying to burn it down either. This isn't exactly the crew trying to radically remake the system, though they may criticize it from the left.
The impression I get from this lot is they believe the Democrats are (sometimes) wrong, but not malicious and that they can be pushed left or voted back into shape. So, I wouldn't be surprised if the Democrat hive mind swings a certain way, they will follow. They have all done it before about various things and to various degrees. At the end of the day, they're all closer to Democrats than radical lefties.
As for Rising/Breaking Point, I lost interest in them because of Saagar unloading nonsense like this and Krystal's refusal to take him to task on it. I understand working relationships and all that, but I think the Tucker Carlson comparison is apt. And being on a platform like this, claiming to be progressive, and allowing this to go unchallenged is really bad form, IMHO. But there I go gatekeeping again.
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.
My take as well.
Class One Fools -- those who embraced a Wuhan Lab leak claim (not even good enough to call it a hypothesis) because Trump touted it.
Class Two Fools -- those who dismissed the Wuhan Lab leak claim because Trump touted it.
Both exhibit scientific illiteracy and weak logical thinking. They'll follow any poppycock advanced by their chosen team. Should a split emerge in their team over the poppycock the Class Fools will also split in roughly the same proportion as the split among the team members. Hence, on WMD among the DP officials was roughly 45% pro and 55% con (and GOP 95% to 5%). On Russiagate, there were small splits within the two teams. More within the GOP official team (because they also loathed Trump), but less among the GOP voters. The split among the DEM official team was infinitesimal, but not insignificant among DEM voters.
Neither class of fools bothers to question a 180 by their team. Liberals/Democrats (they aren't leftists or progressives) are only slightly embarrassed about their prior position (anti-Trump) and not ashamed at all by the absence of data, facts, etc for either position they've taken.
Earlier I was open to the remote possibility of a Wuhan Lab (or some other lab) leak and had no objection to investigations into its origins; just as back in 2002 early 2003 I was open to the possibility that Saddam had some old stores of WMD (nothing that could be delivered and a threat to the US). Shortly after "Shock and Awe," it was easy to conclude that Saddam didn't have diddly squat. Over a year and a half into the Covid-19 pandemic, there's enough information to reject the Wuhan Lab leak claim. Politicizing this is counterproductive to researching and origin.
A leak doesn't have to be intentional.
What i find incredible is that Dr. Whatshisname, a Chinese National, worked at Aberdeen and if he did, was allowed to return to China.
Akin to having a Soviet scientist work on the H-bomb then return to Russia,
so much for "Security".
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
If accidental, there would have been
Covid-19 clusters among the lab workers and family and friends or at least one lab worker and family and friends. There were no lab worker infections and these are people that are far more alert to "mysterious" illness than any other sector of the public. Can't eliminate the possibility of a single worker inadvertently taking it home with him/her. However, the amount of cover-up required in that scenario -- destruction of the lab virus and silencing of all infected contacts, their neighbors, and their doctors and nurses -- would take an extraordinary effort, and one that couldn't even have been started until approximately two months after the accident.
your purity non-argument is lost on
me, as i can't make sense out of your first two paragraphs; my fault entirely, i'm sure.
as to your final one, may i ask about this:
do you have reason to believe that she disagreed w/ him on this issue, but kept silent?
The problem with the lab leak hypothesis
It seems that the main argument for the lab leak hypothesis is that discussions about it were censored. And that implicitly, it therefore must be true. And another seems to be that there is no evidence for animal transfer.
But as I looked into this issue, many virologists, etc. believe the most likely case is animal transfer. In fact, in March of last year, a number of experts published what I assume is a juried article in Nature making the case that the transfer was zoonotic. Here is the article:
The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2
The authors push a scientific argument that the lab theory is incorrect. And they admit information is lacking in some areas.
There is also a series on YT called The Week in Virology (TWiV) in which a number of experts say there is enough data to point to animal transfers.
Vincent Racaniello
TWiV 760: SARS-CoV-2 origins with Peter Daszak, Thea Kølsen Fischer, Marion Koopmans
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxwrDSYrhjU&t=2218s]
Just found this:
The Origins of SARS-CoV-2: A Critical Review
All of the discussions can become highly technical. Which in a way is a problem as far as I can tell; no clear voice in the virology community has emerged to explain to the lay person the technical aspects which point to a zoonotic transmission.
And admittedly, I am appealing to authority, and authorities regarding the pandemic have been suspect and not to be generally trusted. But the sources for the zoonotic transmission in general are research scientists with research creds crossing many fields.
And yes, this issue is hiding a lot of China bashing and developing WND type of propaganda.
your link under the video
was one source i'd brought from andre damon at wsws.org above. yes, it's all very technical, but apparently many agree that the virus can pass from animal to human, even back:
lol; plus the lords of the universe at the WEF had gamed out a sars virus a few years ago, but they swear by jehovah it wasn't this one! was it the following year they began The Great Reset?
i applaud your final 2 graphs highly, especially this:
American Pravda: Covid as Lab-Leak or Biowarfare?
RON UNZ • JULY 12, 2021 • 13,100 WORDS PDF
CB, do you still like the PDF of the multiple points of
origin? I thought your contribution of the link was excellent. I've read this through twice, and it seems to make a lot of sense.
Multiple points of SARS-CoV2
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
i sincerely thank you for bringing
the cliffs notes, amigo. that's quite a showstopper, and only too believable. it also echoes pluto's republic's surmise.
the western empire lies and points fingers at other nations regularly, for instance no how many OPCW whistleblowers step forward, it's still: Assad Gassed His Own People. but then that's another proxy war, isn't it?
the levels of malevolence wrought in search of blocking a multi-polar planet are almost too much for one's mind, heart, and soul to absorb.
the western political axiom is always: Power is Zero Sum, and Can't Be Shared.
Wow, a huge long hit piece
That manages to never actually address a single piece of evidence. Furin? Was the word even mentiobed?
So much evidence, not one single sentence addressing any of it.
If you're even mentioning Trump you've not really dug deeper. If you're saying things like "seems like" you need to dig deeper.
The furin cleavage site can be naturally occurring
Personally, I believe SARS CoV-2 WAS engineered - but NOT by the Chinese at the Wuhan Laboratory. There has been NO definitive proof that this was the source - other than hearsay.
Your report marks a certain watershed
...point in the US extinction event that is now underway.
I do not believe that there is a single nation on this planet that is not aware of America's deep insecurity about its Empire — and aware of America's obsessive regime-change pathology, which is driving this Trumpish and assault on China. Biden has no agency here, even if he had a functioning mind.
The rogue Neocon government in the US is only aware that they cannot compete with the more enlightened Chinese. The US will not prevail economically, scientifically, or intellectually. Or morally, for that matter. Hegemony, weapons, and a proven psychopathic mindset are the only advantages that the US still has, although these grow weaker by the day.
So, to launch their pre-emptive war, the Neocons must appeal to humankind, using propaganda and lies to trigger the primitive emotions and base depravity that still lingers in the human brainstem. They must ignite a burning hatred among the People to support their evil actions.
xThere is ample science, dozens of studies that I've read, and leaked intelligence that clearly demonstrate that Covid-19 was active in the world before it came to Wuhan. The dichotomy embedded in the accusation should not be overlooked.
1. The virus was carelessly leaked by a bioweapons lab.
2. The virus was deliberately evolved in a bioweapons lab.
There are many reasons why scientists and investigators believe #1 to be unlikely. For one, there is a complete lack of physical evidence that makes that connection, and a great deal of physical evidence that makes it impossible. However, for #1 to be true, then #2 becomes an implied truth.
Scientists cannot tell by looking at this virus whether or not it was created in a lab. There is no evidence that shows that SARS-CoV-2 was a lab creation. A group of scientists at the Wuhan lab began studying coronaviruses as a service to the US, after these viruses were removed from the US homeland. Many studies have since been published showing that humans in different parts of the world became infected as early as 2019, long before the Wuhan incident.
I follow the science. But that doesn't mean I don't have an opinion about all of this. While the science takes Wuhan out of the picture as the site of the first infection, I am of the opinion that SARS-CoV-2 was indeed birthed in a US-owned biolab. The US military, however, remains adamant that SARS-CoV-2 was NOT created in a lab. Make of that what you will.
.
The American Jihad has doom written all over it. It's the final conflict between conscious evolution and religious superstition.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
holy crow, what a lot of
food for thought, the fox piece was quite a read, even though i bogged down toward the end (concerning horseshoe bats having caused a different sort of SARS (?) in 2003.
or: boxed, wrapped, and tied with ribbon and bow. and let's hope that these really are the loose cannon last gasps of this Dying Empire.
If there's a last gasp
...we are all going to share it. The Neocons don't intend to go down alone and leave the world intact. They will take the world with them, all the while hiding behind "human rights.
Better dead than Red.
Better a dying Feudal nightmare than an egalitarian utopia.
Beckoning the Rapture and handing the Jewish State over to Jesus is the sick fantasy behind their Christian religious hallucination. The ultimate depravity of Western religion is the agency that has delivered our doom. Religion is the enemy of Enlightenment. It has systematically chased Enlightenment down and murdered it over the past 10,000 years. Now that they can, these psychopaths plan to destroy the entire planet to put an end to Enlightened evolutionary thought.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Christian/Religious BS superstition
has been dying a slow death for quite sometime. Just ask a young person. However, there are the usual bunch of demagogic power hungry greedballs hiding behind it. They won’t give up that power without a fight. I am much more worried about the greedballs causing climate catastrophe than I am the yahoos stirring up Sinophobia.
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
i'm not terribly familiar
with either Enlightenment, nor Enlightened Leaders, but i see why you say that western religion has murdered it...i think.
oh, yes, the blowback will take us with it, or try. but as commenter shoot that arrow used to quip at café babylon:
Who will stop us? Those who can...and must.
the Q will be will it be by nuclear WW III or the Death of Most Humans by climate chaos, a starvation, dearth of potable water, poisoned aquifers, the disappearance of pollinator species, rising sea levels, or: i can't imagine being able to reverse ANY of it by now.
for myself, i'm old, in the way & in 2 much pain, so i'm ready to cross to the other side...if mr. wd could come with me. ; )
we'll live in this small hand-built hogan on these glorious 20 acres we homesteaded in 1975 (maybe? i live in a time warp) until we go (if we can afford to keep it). hundreds of trees and shrubs we planted, a small garden now, deer, raccoons, an occasional black bear...and birds galore.
but the drought's been killing a lot here, and who knows when or if the reservoirs will fill again?
but It didn't Have to Be This Way, did it? the indigenous tried to speak to the issue at the Rio 2012 Earth Sustainability conference...but they weren't allowed in, and had to hold side meetings. Too Pink, i reckon. even those extra years...might have helped.
but you've caused me to think of this great old tune, not entirely apropos, but:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwtdhWltSIg]
bless your heart, bless all of our hearts during the hard times to come.
I wish I didn’t know the things I do.
I wish I could reclaim the time I wasted on politics.
Thanks for the music, wendy. It made me smile.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Thanks Wendy.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
welcome, sea otter,
and you, too. i'm hoping to have bit of 'extra' time to make some new perfumes. got started after reading Tom Robbins' Jitterbug Perfume in 1985, and still have dozens of bottles of essential oils, spray bottles, and all.
I'm just going to put something here that quite by
some kind of fortune set it in front of us just this week.
Mr. Meta and I got caught up in working on Tick-borne infections personally and professionally in the early 2000s. Mr. Meta actually did some study analysis for a researcher and produced papers for journals on infectious disease during this time.
We never were fans of the Plum Island and Fort Detrick bio insectfare that came and went a few times. Theory being that accidental and possibly purposeful release in the areas near the labs caused people in Lyme, Connecticut and Long Island to get Tick vectored diseases.
It also didn't seem to account for the appearance on the West coast of variants of babesiosis East of the Rockies and the duncanii variations found first on the West coast. From the CDC
Well, unfortunately, to quote Pluto, we are unhappy to know what we know.
This came out this week.
Requester’s Voice: Kris Newby, author of Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons from State of the Nation.
Kris became a citizen and eventually trained journalist and wrote a book. This interview is about as well done as a personal story can be. The unfortunate piece is during her decade plus of trying to help herself and her husband, she also dug deeply into what and how L. Borreliosis became such a pervasive yet ignored disease.
Kris managed to connect with Willy Burgdorf the original discoverer of Borrelia burgdorferi or Lyme Disease. He worked in bioweapons labs in the US after WWII. She also use foia requests to get more information and eventually was able to go through Willy Burgdorf's partial archives.
I feel she is after all this time still naive. She states that since it's been fifty years since alot of this happened, the government should unclassify their records and then try to help people who have gotten sick because of their 'experiments'. They will not do such a thing, I don't believe.
There is a lot more to the interview which fills in many gaps and answers many questions. The use of labs throughout the US for Tick-borne disease study and use is how variants got from one coast to the other. And we know that birds carry and drop Ticks often.
I am now comfortable that one of the last puzzles we had in going through our own quest for knowledge has been answered.
We are also aware of how other toxins like pesticides and mold can enhance the problems for the immune system to handle all the exposures that come a person's way.
We feel we can close this chapter of what we have waded through for over two decades.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
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it's closing time for me,
as i'm usually up about 4:30 so i can milk the chickens and all that jazz.
i'd like to thank you all for such a brilliant conversation, albeit i couldn't make sense of some of the comments. my fault entirely.
i'd like to close with Time Dreams, santee sioux john trudell's final recording before his 'ride came for him' with quiltman and the pines. his bio, including
a brilliant alchemist who turned poison into medicine like no other, imo:
i wish you all, u all...Time Dreams..
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRTMe_EPgSM&list=RDfRTMe_EPgSM&start_rad...