Open Thread Friday 3-20-2020
The world as you know it ends today. Usually we experience this in small unrelated episodes unnoticed by the rest of the world. The car accident, job loss, debilitating injury, cancer diagnosis, fatal infectious diseases, now living with a chronic physical or mental disease and loss of a loved one are endured in silence.
Coronavirus is different. It is a collective worldwide event. We are experiencing the COVID-19 event even if not infected with the virus. The fear, the closing down of communities, the actual infection and the recovery is being played out in each nation. The resilience of each country's government and their population is open for the whole world to observe.
Some perspective (if you want some simple ingredient recipes check out Townsends channel)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGr-8P_vEZA]
The United States was distracted with an impeachment trial when the World Health Organization was notified by China December 31 of several unusual cases of pneumonia in Wuhan. President Trump signed part one of trade agreement with China January 15.
As part of the first phase of a broader trade deal (PDF), the White House recently signed with Beijing to resolve the dispute, China has promised to implement some American-style enforcement of drug patent rights. These include allowing for a preliminary injunction against a generic maker amid a patent fight.
The same day Patient Zero of the Washington state outbreak flew back from Wuhan, China. On the 19th he went to the local emergency room and January 20th CDC confirmed he tested positive for COVID-19. Day 7 of his hospitalization treatment with intravenous remdesivir was started and his condition improved.
Chinese physicians had been successfully using Gilead Sciences Inc. experimental drug remdesivir. January 21, Wuhan Institute of Virology filed for a patent on the use of experimental antiviral drug remdesivir to treat COVID-19. Concerns over patent rights are limiting production of the drug for COVID-19 patients.
The patent application was made on Jan. 21, according to a statement posted on the website of the virology institute in Wuhan, the central Chinese city at the epicenter of the epidemic. Scientists there have found Gilead’s remdesivir, and chloroquine, an 80-year-old malaria drug, “highly effective” in laboratory studies at thwarting the novel coronavirus, they said Tuesday in a paper in the journal Cell Research. The two drugs’ efficacies on humans required further clinical tests, the institute said in the statement.
March 19, 2020 AsiaTimes reports Australia lab may have found Covid-19 cure (Same drugs identified by China in January.)
“There have already been patients treated with these in Australia and there’s been successful outcomes, but it hasn’t been done in a controlled or comparative way,” said David Paterson, director of the Center for Clinical Research at Queensland University, which is leading the trials.
“What we want to do at the moment is a large clinical trial across Australia, looking at 50 hospitals, and what we’re going to compare is one drug versus another drug, versus the combination of the two drugs,” he said.
Stanford University School of Medicine reported on Friday that a former malaria treatment known as chloroquine may have been effective in treating the disease in China and Singapore.
There is also anecdotal evidence that the redundant AIDS drug remdesivir may have worked in treating patients in China, the initial epicenter of the now global pandemic.
...
Trial data of the drug’s use, however, has not been made available by China. Scientists have dismissed a widely quoted online report that about 12,000 patients have been completely cured of Covid-19 in China after taking chloroquine.Paterson said laboratory tests using a combination of the two drugs had indicated that they might provide a “cure” from the virus.
“It’s a potentially effective treatment. Patients would end up with no viable coronavirus in their system at all after the end of therapy,” he said.
The March 18 decision to go ahead with the human tests was only made after the researchers made an extraordinary global appeal for donations to cover the funding cost, estimated at A$750,000 (US$451,415).
Investment bankers are ready to keep the focus on profit during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gilead Sciences, the company producing remdesivir, the most promising drug to treat Covid-19 symptoms, is one such firm facing investor pressure.
Remdesivir is an antiviral that began development as a treatment for dengue, West Nile virus, and Zika, as well as MERS and SARS. The World Health Organization has said there is “only one drug right now that we think may have real efficacy in treating coronavirus symptoms” — namely, remdesivir.
The drug, though developed in partnership with the University of Alabama through a grant from the federal government’s National Institutes of Health, is patented by Gilead Sciences, a major pharmaceutical company based in California. The firm has faced sharp criticism in the past for its pricing practices. It previously charged $84,000 for a yearlong supply of its hepatitis C treatment, which was also developed with government research support. Remdesivir is estimated to produce a one-time revenue of $2.5 billion.
During an investor conference earlier this month, Phil Nadeau, managing director at investment bank Cowen & Co., quizzed Gilead Science executives over whether the firm had planned for a “commercial strategy for remdesivir” or could “create a business out of remdesivir.”
Johanna Mercier, executive vice president of Gilead, noted that the company is currently donating products and “manufacturing at risk and increasing our capacity” to do its best to find a solution to the pandemic. The company at the moment is focused, she said, primarily on “patient access” and “government access” for remdesivir.
The China model of gaining control of the COVID-19 infections included large scale testing, symptom screening and quarantine. Testing is the only way to identify asymptomatic patients who can spread the virus. (my bold)
South Korea’s swift action stands in stark contrast to what has transpired in the United States. Seven weeks after the train station meeting, the Koreans have tested well over 290,000 people and identified over 8,000 infections. New cases are falling off: Ninety-three were reported Wednesday, down from a daily peak of 909 two weeks earlier.
The United States, whose first case was detected the same day as South Korea’s, is not even close to meeting demand for testing. About 60,000 tests have been run by public and private labs in a country of 330 million, federal officials said Tuesday.
As a result, U.S. officials don’t fully grasp how many Americans have been infected and where they are concentrated - crucial to containment efforts. While more than 7,000 U.S. cases had been identified as of Wednesday, as many as 96 million people could be infected in coming months, and 480,000 could die, according to a projection prepared for the American Hospital Association by Dr. James Lawler, an infectious disease expert at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
“You cannot fight what you cannot see,” said Roger Klein, a former laboratory medical director at the Cleveland Clinic and previously an adviser to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on clinical laboratory issues.
As facts are verified and new information collected multiple myths continue to circulate regarding coronavirus. For the full list rad the article at Moon of Alabama.
Myth:
The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is a Chinese virus that comes from bats. It infected people because Chinese people eat bats.
Facts:
The source of the virus is actually not known. The patient number 1, the person who first carried the virus, has not been found. The Wuhan wet market where exotic animals are sold was not the source of the outbreak:
The paper, written by a large group of Chinese researchers from several institutions, offers details about the first 41 hospitalized patients who had confirmed infections with what has been dubbed 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). In the earliest case, the patient became ill on 1 December 2019 and had no reported link to the seafood market, the authors report. “No epidemiological link was found between the first patient and later cases,” they state. Their data also show that, in total, 13 of the 41 cases had no link to the marketplace. “That’s a big number, 13, with no link,” says Daniel Lucey, an infectious disease specialist at Georgetown University.
While the novel corona virus might be one that was originally carried by bats it is unlikely to have jumped from a bat to a human. The older SARS virus, which is somewhat similar to the novel coronavirus, originated from bats but first spread to other animals before mutating from there into a form that infects humans.
The only place where bats are used as regular food is the Pacific island Palau which is more or less a U.S. colony. Videos showing Chinese citizens eating fruit bat soup were actually filmed on that island.
United States is increasing sanctions on Iran. China is sending assistance around the world.
A team of nine Chinese medical staff arrived late on Thursday with some 30 tonnes of equipment on a flight organized by the Chinese Red Cross.
“In this moment of great stress, of great difficulty, we are relieved to have this arrival of supplies. It is true that it will help only temporarily, but it is still important,” said the head of the Italian Red Cross, Francesco Rocca.
“We have a desperate need for these masks right now. We need respirators that the Red Cross will donate to the government. This is for sure a really important donation for our country,” Rocca said.
The outbreak risks overwhelming Italian hospitals and some key supplies are running low.
In contrast to China, Italy’s partners in the European Union earlier this month refused Rome’s requests for help with medical supplies as they looked to stockpile face masks and other equipment to help their own citizens.
Taking care of yourself
It is hard to find medical information not heavily influenced by pharmaceutical companies. Dr John Campbell whom I have suggest for coronavirus information has been creating teaching videos and posting to youtube for 12 years. I have listed to a few and find hem an easy to follow teacher. Of course I started with the ones most people will find boring.
Pharmacology nurses training (30:01)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeGs3MQzkvY]
Continuing the Journey into Chinese Medicine
This is a long article not technically on medicine. It does go into the idea since China has not Westernized it does not understand the rest of the world. I find it disturbing this underlying thread of thought which shows up pretty consistently in writings over the last century. China should abandon its own thoughts on its history and culture, western sinologists have a better understanding of China's place in the world than the Chinese,
China’s rise may not be inevitable
It had to ravage Italy to wake up the rest of the world to its dangers. Western countries are now coming to grips with the reality of the disease. The outbreak is like a war. Perhaps America and Europe should encourage NATO to coordinate efforts and re-establish public confidence to help stabilize markets.
People didn’t really understand and didn’t really believe what was happening in China. Instead, they had to witness the tragic developments in Lombardy to comprehend the threats of the new flu. Even in these very trying times, Beijing is failing to communicate effectively with the world because it does not understand how the world wants to be talked to.
China reacted slowly but then effectively to the spread of the virus. It brought it under control, and the flu didn’t become the Chernobyl moment for China many foreign pundits predicted. Italy saw it immediately but took a long time to react to it. However, after the Italians realised how dire the situation was, they told the world more than the apparently effective but secretive Chinese.
....
In China’s current immense perception of itself, we will see how the coronavirus affects this image, too: China refuses to come to what the West sees as “pragmatic agreements” with neighbors, who have accepted the vision of the Western world.In doing this, China demonstrates it is incapable of grasping actual power ratios, and it is encouraged by the echo of certain American, but also Asian, assessments of Beijing’s inevitable ascent to world primacy. China has thus adopted conduct typical of a power at the height of its development. It is a serious mistake, despite the enormous economic growth of the last decades, in which endogenous hubris and Western narratives of the “Chinese miracle” have contributed to widening the gap between reality and boundless ambitions.
....
The parable of every dynasty in China – from the Song to the Tang, from the Ming to the Qing – followed a script that foresaw, after growth and stabilization phases, a sudden collapse of the system.On the other hand, the longevity of the Roman empire and its decline continued for at least 1,500 years. Even when the empire fell in 1453 by the hand of Mehmet II, the Turk proclaimed himself heir of Roman empire, providing a different paradigm for interpreting the Western reality.
In general, the West boasts a superior historical continuity and a formidable ability to overcome critical phases, especially evident in the American case. The 2008 financial crisis was perceived by Beijing as a sign of an inevitable eclipse of the US as a superpower, rather than what it actually was – an accident on the way, although its structural causes are still present. It is precisely because this continuity generally escapes America’s enemies that the US has become the latest incarnation of Western civilization.
....
The strategic goal of China, beyond the strategic imperatives and economic repercussions, remains the return to greatness. This may be acceptable if it were to happen within the present cultural boundaries as defined by five centuries of Western/Mediterranean culture (of which even Islam or Russia are part). Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan all developed because they accepted a culturally different world vision, the Western one.
...
As summarized by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo – in the midst of a contagion the World Health Organization called a global emergency worse than terrorism – the Chinese Communist Party is the main threat of our time. This seems to be the tombstone on Washington’s approach to the Beijing regime, which leaves no room for future corrections.The strategic goal of the United States is to weaken the People’s Republic, including by discounting its possible fragmentation into anything other than “One China”.
edit: corrected link to "China’s rise may not be inevitable" article on asiatimes.com
Comments
Thanks for the update
I've been watching Dr Campbell and Chris at peak prosperity almost everyday. Another source of interest is medcram for a more technical examination.
Caught an older clip of John Campbell making broccoli soup
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFxBeycQUqU
very similar to my recipe. I don't use the potatoes, and I use more cheese (i like pepper jack to spice it up). I sometimes add spinach or other leaf greens too depending on what's at hand. I like to top the soup with a little crumbled salmon and a drizzle of olive oil. Highly recommended!
This is a period of rapid change. The UK is focusing on an antibody test to see who has been infected in order to ID non symptomatic folks who have (or have had) the COVID-19 without even knowing it. I hear bouncing percentages of those asymptomatic people. We simply won't know the answer until we have massive test results...and in the US we are only testing symptomatic folks.
So how and when will we get back to "normal"? A vaccine would help, but that's next year at best. Once someone is over the COVID-19 they are no longer able to spread the disease evidently. So those folks could provide help to the people that have active cases. Last I looked there were 80 something thousand recovered. They could provide all sorts of important services to both infected and non-infected people.
On we go. Be prudent, eat well, and stay healthy everyone!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
China has been using donated plasma from recovered
COVID-19 patients to treat active cases. A more formal collection process began in February. Could not find the report, but I believe they have exported some plasma to other countries for treatments.
Take care.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Lo the arrogant hubris of Westerners
China has remained China for 3000 years, while the Roman Empire and various successors came and went.
I would say that the problem is not that the Chinese don't understand the Western world - it is that the Western world does not understand China (and apparently does not want to).
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
Is this why trumpet refers to the flu virus
as the China virus?
Misunderstanding everything.
Agree with your conclusions
This paragraph struck me as absurd.
I guess any economic hardship we experienced due to 2008 is simply an accident on our way to further greatness.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Japanese made Flu Drug worked well in a small chinese test group
I've seen very little about this drug in the US news.
link to article from forbes
A few challenges with the drug as a universal treatment
1) it is not an United States company 2) It appears Nikkei have cooperated with the Chinese on production. 3) There are some known side effects that would limit the use in some patient populations.
Thanks for the link. Antiviral drug options have increased with search for AIDs treatments over the years.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
This is how the local farmers are responding
Dear Friends,
We hope you are well and taking care of yourselves. This will be the understatement of the year, but what a strange time in which we find ourselves. Calving season has just begun and we’ve already had three calves born in the past few days. Life goes on much as normal on a farm, with animals to tend to, chores to get done, and calves to coo over. Thank goodness for the distraction from everything else happening around us, at least for some moments.
In these times, and with these new risks, we are re-thinking everything we do in order to prioritize the health and well-being of our amazing group of employees and the health and well-being of those beautiful Jersey cows that bring us such joy and amazing dairy products. From staggering our staff’s schedules to maximize distance, to taking our cleaning regimen to a new level (which is really saying something, if you have ever visited a cheesemaking dairy…), to re-thinking how we can safely get you, our incredibly important community, the nutrient dense foods our farm makes, it is a complete re-think.
Here is where we are.
We are taking a temporary pause from attending farmer’s markets, while we focus on calving season and figuring out what the new normal will look like. This is hard step to take for us, since we derive great inspiration and encouragement from you, our customers. But this will be temporary. In the very near term, we won’t be at the Pawtucket Wintertime Market this Saturday.
Instead, starting this week you will be able to get our cheese, grass-fed veal and pastured beef via pre-order on our website for pickup at our Home Stand. Weisswurst is back in stock, along with a new experiment, Beef Frankfurters. We’ll be offering orders for self-service pickup this Saturday, March 21st, from 10 am-4 pm (later than our typical 1pm ending time to accommodate a spreading out of customers to maximize distancing). Our Home Stand is at 68 Shaw Road in Little Compton. Please place your order by 7 am Friday here. Of course, if Saturday doesn’t work for some reason, please let us know by sending us an email at sweetandsaltyfarm@gmail.com and we can find an alternate pickup day.
In a change to our usual pickup process, we’ll be encouraging everyone to pay ahead of time by credit card to minimize contact during pickup. Once you place your order through our order form, after we pack your order on Friday, we’ll email you with an invoice from Square. You can click through the email invoice to pay by credit card. When you arrive to pick up, please wait in your car until the prior customer has finished picking up. Find a cooler with your name; we’ll organize it alphabetically, and you can take your cheese and meat home. We might be short on bags, so if you are able to bring a tote or box, that would be helpful. We will probably wave from the window.
We’re also launching a home delivery business with our friends at Pat’s Pastured, Wishing Stone Farm, Walrus & Carpenter Oysters, and Robin Hollow Farm. We have a limited delivery capacity at the moment while we fine-tune logistics, so thank you for your patience if you’ve tried to order and were too late. There is clearly a very high demand for home delivery, and we hope to figure out how to make it all work. Farms are here, open for business, in need of your support, and we hope to continue supplying our communities when they need it most. This weekend, we know that Wishing Stone Farm right across the street from us will be open both Saturday and Sunday from 10 am-4 pm. And our friends at Skinny Dip Farm in Little Compton will be offering their pre-order service as much as possible. You can sign up for their email list by emailing them at skinnydipfarm@yahoo.com. And, Roots Farm in Tiverton is offering pre-order for pickup in Tiverton, Bristol and Newport here on their website.
We are hurting on behalf of our restaurant friends, chefs, servers, and the food producers who rely on restaurant sales. If you want to do something to support them in the short term, buy a gift card to a restaurant, order take-out, or mail order their goods.
One particular group of kindred spirits that could use your support and creativity are the shellfish growers of our region. As lovers of oysters and clams ourselves, we realize that usually when we get to enjoy oysters, it’s at a restaurant. Restaurants comprise the majority of sales for shellfish growers in our area, including our friends at Walrus & Carpenter Oysters. With restaurants closed for an unknown amount of time, these folks are scrambling to keep their sea farms afloat. Walrus & Carpenter’s mission mirrors ours, except on sea, instead of on land. Straight from them: “Our mission is to farm the ocean, restore the environment, and distribute the sustainable seafood we raise directly to our community.”
You can help. You can order their oysters and clams via the collaborative delivery effort we have established via the Pat’s Pastured website. Or, you can order for mail order delivery in RI, MA, CT, NY, NJ, NH, VT and ME here. For those that love oysters, but don’t know how to shuck them yourselves yet, let us assure you it is not difficult. Even Andrew can do it and he’s pretty uncoordinated. With all this extra time at home you might be finding, watch a few online videos and away you go. Walrus & Carpenter will even sell you the tools to do it. If you are staying close to home with your special someone, oysters are a great elixir. We’ll leave it at that.
Thank you all for your support and kind words. We are grateful to be part of a wonderful community and hope to do everything we can to provide moments of peace and joy through cooking and eating. We will get through this only by supporting everyone else, one day at a time.
Take care of yourselves, and each other,
Laura, Andrew, Annie, Karen, Glenn, Julia, Rebecca, Ashley, Heather and Serena, your Sweet and Salty Farmers
They are using drive thru at our local farm
On-Farm Market This Week:
(Expanded Hours) Thursday & Friday 1-5 PM CST Drive-Thru Service at the Farm.
First, we hope and pray that you are doing well in this unprecedented time. Earlier this week we sent out an update on social media, letting you know we are here and committed to continuing to grow healthy food and work to offer it to our community in a safe way. This Friday we have been planning to open our On-Farm Market, but have decided to expand our hours to better serve those who are interested in purchasing.
Given the current statements coming out from the CDC, we will be offering all of our products to customers at the farm this week in a "drive-thru" style market and store experience. We are carefully harvesting, washing, and packaging all our produce so that we can get our nutritious food to you safely when you come to purchase from us this week. Along with our available produce, we'll be offering all of our grass-fed and finished beef, pastured pork, and pasture-raised eggs while supplies last. Fresh spinach, arugula, greens mix, and herbs were harvested this morning, and our storage room is still full of many of last fall's sweet potatoes!
As customers arrive at our On-Farm Market (445 Road 942 Mentone, Al 35984) we’ll be directing them to park and allow us to serve them and take their payments from their car. Hours of operation will again be held this Thursday and Friday (March 19 & 20) from 1-5 PM CST. **We posted in the COMMENTS below our meat price sheet that includes a complete list of our pork and beef products, including some discounted pricing on last year’s beef. As always, thank you for your support and don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
good stuff
thanks for sharing responses in your neck of the woods
what impresses me, here, is how the locals are pulling together
their resources for the benefit of the community
has the makings of a local co-operative effort
my next project...
Drive through farm stands with prepay - great idea n/t
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Broad spectrum antivirals
To add a bit to Studentofearth's essay, I had wondered why broad spectrum antivirals that have already been shown to be safe for use in humans (Remdesivir would be an example) are not being tested for treatment of COVID-19 patients. This seems like a very obvious thing to do. It turns out that they are, although there seems to be less news coverage than is warranted. (I think the average IQ of news reporters has dropped 20 points in the past 30 years. Yea, I know IQ is a phony number, but you get the point.)
This is a good layman's summary:
https://scitechdaily.com/broad-spectrum-antiviral-agents-could-be-a-quic...
There is an NIH phase III trial on Remdesivir, althought there are no results reported on the NIH site and it is not scheduled to end until April 1, 2023. One hopes the results will be available sooner.
These are potentially a VERY BIG DEAL and they do not get enough attention. For most people that get COVID-19, it is not a big deal. However, for a non-trivial number of people, most but not all of which are relatively old and/or have other health issues it can be lethal. If we can treat those sicker patients so that their outcomes are as good, for example, as they would be with influenza, COVID-19 becomes much less of a threat and we can go back to our normal lives, more or less.
Let me add that the response of the US and Europe to COVID-19 has been pathetic. Ignoring it as long as possible and then panicking.
A good vid by NinjaScienceNerds discusses remdesivir and ...
...chloroquine mechanism of action as well as some other treatments: Coronavirus: Treatment, Prognosis, Precautions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdoN_XsHWBI
They also have an earlier related presentation: Coronavirus: Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, Diagnostics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWzbArPgo-o
Thanks for the video links
He does a good job with the whiteboard to illustrate his information.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Yes, these folks have years of medical topics videos
Many medical students use them as a supplement to what they learn in their classes and for test prep aid.
Remdesivir
Looks promising...
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200301/Drug-for-Ebola-MERS-effective...
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
It has also been approved
(as of March 17) for experimental use on seriously ill COVID-19 patients in the Czech Republic.
Even generic antivirals are expensive. I wonder how many
insurance companies require pre-approval prior to dispensing before part of the cost is paid. The per-approval process has changed prescribing habits. Plus we have been testing so few people early stage prescribing has not been an option. Maybe in the near future we will see some information.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
It is not intrinsically expensive
I think the standard synthesis is 9 steps. It is expensive because Gilead wants to make a lot of money off it. However, it is a matter of life and death and any decent government would make sure it was tested and made available if it worked.
So true the price of a drug to a patient and insurance
does not reflect cost of manufacture, research and obtaining FDA approval. The estimates of $$$ to bring a drug to market include marketing costs. Profits historically have been kind of whispered about. Now open discussions on the reduction of profitability and shareholder value if someone is cured.
I believe Gilead Sciences's antiviral remdesivir had significant development money from the National Institute of Health money.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
yes, with research at UAB
University of Alabama in B'ham.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Tulsi's endorsement
Anyone else see this:
https://twitter.com/america_vest/status/1240781262849101825
Interesting if true and sadly, this makes a lot more sense to me. I hope she speaks on it.
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.
That makes me feel better about the bye-done endorsement
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Me, not so much
It is easy to understand why she did not throw her support to Bernie, but she did not need to support Biden. She could have thanked her supporters and pledged to continue to work for ...... You get the drill.
All I said was better...
,,,and I agree that no endorsement would have been best. Think Bernie thought her endorsement would hurt him? WTF?
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I can't see how it would hurt.
She doesn't have enough support to make a lot of difference. Maybe he has given up and thinks it would be good for her career to support Biden. My personal view is that the Democratic establishment will never do anything substantively positive for Bernie or Tulsi. Daring to question their corporate/security state lords and masters is an unpardonable sin.
Assuming this tweet is real
I agree to some extent with Jai Gabbard. I have noticed that the 2020 campaign lacks spark, has moved a bit toward the Dem mainstream (e.g. more IDPol) and in the most recent debate Bernie seemed a bit like a one trick pony (e.g. returning over and over to MFA). Bernie has raised a hell of a lot of money this time, but it is not clear that it has been spent well. They clearly were not ready for the pre-super-Tuesday, switch to Biden and they should have been ready for that after SC if not before. What do people in states that have held primaries think about this? You would have seen his adds and seen how the campaign played out.
Bernie won't challenge the Democrat establishment
and he distances himself from anyone who does. He's done it with Tulsi, Teachout, third parties/the Greens, the voters who sued the DNC, etc. It's his biggest problem, IMHO, and I don't exactly understand why he's like this. I've heard all the theories, but none of them are really satisfying to me.
I do agree that Tulsi still didn't need to endorse Biden. In the scheme of things, it doesn't matter at all, but it does seem like it's off brand.
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.
Apparently she has a history of sucking up to Biden
based on a friendship with his late son Beau. Did you wonder why she seemed to treat him with kid gloves?
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
isn't the goodwill and being
of the millions of citizens a bit more important
than a 'personal relationship' with a deceased
offspring of a potential
rivalemployeror anyone else for that matter #tulsicaved#
Yep
I saw yesterday that many of her supporters are shocked at her endorsement of Biden. Some insist there was never any clues of where she would go. But. There were clues. In fact, there were Tulsi’s own words, saying that she is a loyal democrat, that she would support the party’s nominee regardless, and that she would not make any outside attempt to sabotage the dem party. I don’t know why her supporters didn’t believe her.
There were clues early on, like this tweet exchange from back in July where she inexplicably defended Biden. I did notice that she never went after him in the debates, even as everyone cheered her take downs of the centrist also-rans who were challenging him. I did not know she was personal friends with Beau Biden. That does help explain her loyalty to Old Joe. Because that has been a mystery to me for some time.
I also wondered from the beginning why she ran against Bernie this time, instead of supporting him as she did in 2016. She never gave any specific reason why Bernie wasn’t good enough any more. Looking back, if her goal was to help Biden then siphoning off support from Bernie makes perfect sense.
You know, I was always skeptical of her and had a bad vibe, which I did speak about a little bit, but not much, out of respect for those who did support her.
But honestly, even as cynical as I was, I never imagined that she was running to help Joe effng Biden. Good grief. I thought she might be in it basically for the money (she did raise several million dollars at least, and has seemed to spend most of her resources and time lately doing outdoor sports, posting workout videos, writing tweets, appearing on Fox News shows, and suing Hillary Clinton — none of which did a thing to help her campaign.) I thought she might be hoping for a job as a political commentator, such as other drop-out candidates have landed. In other words, I was cynical about her, but I thought she was in it for herself. I did wonder why she seemed to be propping up Joe Biden, but still it didn’t occur to me that she had that much loyalty to him. I suppose we will never know for sure. Her motives are known for sure only by her. But it is hard at this point not to look back and see that it might have been a much bigger ruse than even us cynics imagined.
Seriously?
Tulsi: Endorses Biden before the primary is over.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Good morning, thank you. Good column and good info. A look
into history shows us that time and again discoveries were made in China or its environs well before they were here in the west Regardless of their myths and mythos, they are the longest running civilization on this orb. It seems that what they missed out on and lacked was a certain fanatical messianic religion and the concomitant ability to subsume a rapacious drive to extractive and exploitive colonization within its mantle, justifying and blessing global marauding and murdering. As a result, they also fell behind on certain technological and cultural adjuncts of this drive to expand and infect and then suffered from wars, incursions, and invasions with, principally, Japan, Russia, and US/UK/Netherlands as well as a hellacious civil war. That was followed by some near global boycotts of the mainland by all those whose ideology, capitalistic fascism, was adopted by the loser in that civil war. Nobody can really forsee or predict the future, but it isn't wise to bet against them. Among other things, they have a store of practices and precepts (folk lore) endlessly refined for many centuries that reflect kernals of insight and wisdom that are veiled and concealed because of the methods or expression, visualization and conceptualization. They have, so far, led in this current upheaval, and should not be dismissed and ignored.
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 --
Some general health information -
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/a-hot-bath-has-benefits-similar-to-ex...
Benefits of passive heating, saunas, hot baths, etc. on blood pressure, diabetes, and more; take a look.
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 --
Spa therapy was very popular prior to antibiotics
and the increase in safe surgery with antibiotic use. They were moved into the vast realms of quackery. Good to see some of the therapies relooked at with current scientific methods. We can now monitor so many more biological functions that may be effected.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Fun SFGate headline:
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 --
I disagree with your report that China
I suggest it is the other way around. Western media, especially in the US and UK, have taken every opportunity to denigrate China. Operation Mockingbird is alive and well.
You can't fault China for other nations not taking heed. The facts were available from the WHO - the agency designated to handle global pandemics.
I have been following this from day one on Chinese international media.
The Point: Coronavirus outbreak: How is China fighting it?
•Jan 22, 2020
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq8rvH-QXP0&list=PLt-M8o1W_GdSNhViAVk4Fq...
How does the SARS tragedy influence China's response this time around?
•Jan 25, 2020
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yC8gVoNkUs&list=PLt-M8o1W_GdSNhViAVk4Fq...
The Point: Misconceptions about China's fight against virus outbreak
•Jan 31, 2020
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42zhLp-hCe4&list=PLt-M8o1W_GdSNhViAVk4Fq...
China "reacted slowly" "apparently effective but secretive China"?
That is nonsense. You have been listening to the "foreign pundits" NOT the Chinese.
The WHO was working with the Chinese almost from DAY ONE!
Does this look like China reacted slowly?
You cannot fault China for the world refusing to listen to the WHO, especially the US government. The WHO recommended test kits which those in charge refused. Instead, they opted to come up with a Made in America brand. This fuckup cost the country 3-4 precious weeks which the US media blamed China for.
The US STILL hasn't produced a fraction of what is required. This going to cost the US dearly, in blood and treasure. Meanwhile, countries in Europe are hoarding them while China is currently shipping them to Italy, Iran, Syria, S. Korea and a number of other countries.
The US surpassed South Korea and France in confirmed cases in the previous two days and is coming up to Germany's count at a rapid pace.
Germany cases 18,361 deaths 52
United States cases 15,888 deaths 206
What is scary is the relatively higher death rates in the US. Will the country perform like Italy has?
I leave you with the following:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3gBKE5wNGE]
yup, us govt is exceptionally dense
dealing with global issues
is not the time to hide behind
the mask of might be right
Attitudes of Western thought on China needs to be explored.
What we read, listen and discuss shapes our opinions often without conscious thought of where our biases originate. My exploration into China culture and history is recent endeavor in an effort to better understand the theories and evolution of medicine and health practices. What I am becoming aware of is not new and several C99 members are probably better versed in the subject. I would enjoy a fairly regular diary and discussion on various views on China and how they are reflected in our culture.
Would be interested in suggested English language website list to obtain various Asian and Chinese viewpoints and news. My regular sites are fairly limited.
Last year this interchange occurred between October 19 and December 22 on AsiaTimes website. It again reflects the predisposition of a Western writer on China, but included a rebuttable from a Chinese scholar. You might find it interesting. I was shocked at the core viewpoints of the Western author, David Goldman, aka Spengler, a regular contributor to AsiaTimes. After contemplating the series, I can see the relationship to our foreign policy to ingrained biases.
‘You can never be China’s friend’: Spengler Asia specialist and distinguished columnist David P Goldman is convinced the US and Europe stand a chance against the Red Dragon – but the clock is ticking an interview of David Goldman by Urs Gehriger
David Goldman could have learned more about China Parts of 'You can never be China's friend' are only partly correct while most other parts are completely wrong rebuttal part one December 5 by Wen Yang
More about China that Goldman could have learned By Qin Dynasty times, China was an empire too vast to be understood by western political philosophy rebuttal part two December 8 by Wen Yang
David Goldman sees Huawei, China as ‘Yellow Peril’ Neither western-style hegemonic nor Russian-style expansionist, China 'must be' a Jewish commercialist state rebuttal part three December 21 by Wen Yang
Can China learn from Jewish history? David Goldman responds to comments by Fudan University's Professor Wen Yang final artical in series December 22 by David Goldman
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
thanks student of earth
for the western mindset to perceive
oriental thinking is a challenge
worth investigating
Townsends
I love that channel; been following them for about four years now. I'm not ready to go out and build a clay oven, but they have very good information about how people cooked and survived before modern times and how everyday life was back then. Highly recommend!
This shit is bananas.
Finally understand why older recipies had two oven temps
start at 400 for 15 minutes, then 350 for 30 minutes. They were trying to mimic the heat changes in the old ovens after the coals were removed. Pie crust were to keep the flavor of smoke out of the food. While I like a good barbecue, I don't think I would like a smoke infused white cake.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Corrected Link to referenced article n/t
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.