Open Thread Friday 6-19-2020
Morning, this is not a cheery diary today. I thought I was done writing about China, but changes in current events keep happening fast.
The first phase of coronavirus infections are on an upswing as lockdowns in the United States are easing. Nearly half of US states seeing an uptrend in new US cases, and 10 seeing 7-day averages climb to their highest levels since the beginning of the crisis. This is not the second wave. A second wave will happen after we have reestablished a new normal and Covid-19 cases are naturally diminished for a while.
Moving past what I consider the first hurdle necessary to successfully address treatment and prevention. Healthcare providers fearing their patients. The current interviews and videos of health care professional do not show the same level of fear in their eyes.
We are getting closer to the stage of considering it like any other other contagious illness. Take appropriate precautions to avoid catching, early treatment and protocol to follow as seriousness of the condition increases in a patient.
New strain of coronavirus has appeared in Beijing and a new round of lockdowns have began.
More bad news regarding Covid-19 coming out of China. This is not a peer reviewed study, but but does have implications for prevention and control methods used for Covid-19.
Patients with confirmed infections, where the symptoms were usually more obvious, tended to produce more antibodies, according to the researchers. An earlier study found all confirmed cases they looked at had developed the IgG antibody two weeks after the disease onset.
Wang’s team also suggested that more than 10 per cent of the people in their study may have lost antibody protection within a month or so.
“Our findings have important implications for herd immunity, antibody-based therapeutics, public health strategies, and vaccine development,” they said.
Based on their research, they said antibody tests may not be enough to tell whether someone had been infected, and the presence of antibodies like IgG may not necessarily provide immunity later.
“The idea of an immune certificate for recovered Covid-19 patients is invalid,” Wang wrote.
...
But Wu Yingsong, director of antibody engineering research at the Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, said the Wuhan study should be treated with caution. He noted that most antibody tests only checked for a couple of antibodies to save time and cost – and that could mean false results.“There are still a lot of fundamental things about the coronavirus we don’t understand,” he said.
There is a tragic legacy of medical experimentation in China's history by the Japanese Imperial Army during WWII and allegations of biological warfare during the Korean War.
Unit 731 was set up in 1938 in Japanese-occupied China with the aim of developing biological weapons. It also operated a secret research and experimental school in Shinjuku, central Tokyo. Its head was Lieutenant Shiro Ishii.
In 1946, US General Douglas MacArthur granted all the Japanese scientists immunity from war crimes prosecution in exchange for the germ warfare data gathered from experiments in Harbin.
As explained in an internal War Department memorandum, dated June 23, 1947: ”
Since it is believed that the USSR possesses only a small portion of the technical information, and since any war-crimes action would completely reveal such data to all nations, it is felt that such publicity must be avoided in the interests of defense and security of the U.S.
It is believed also that the war-crimes prosecution of Gen. Ishii and his associates would serve to stop the flow of much additional information of a technical and scientific nature.”
Gen. Ishii lived on the outskirts of Tokyo until his death in 1959. Other “graduates” of Unit 731 include the former governor of Tokyo, the former president of the Japan Medical Association, the former director of the health ministry’s preventive health research centre, the former chairman and president of Green Cross Corp. and the past heads of a number of Japanese medical schools. The man in charge of vivisections, Yoshisuke Murata, became director of the respected Kyoto University medical school, and later medical director at Kinki University.
The charges of U.S. use of biological weapons during the Korean War are even more incendiary than the now-proven claims the U.S. amnestied Japanese military doctors and others working on biological weapons who experimented on human subjects, and ultimately killed thousands in operational uses of those weapons against China during the Sino-Japanese portion of World War Two. The amnesty was the price paid for U.S. military and intelligence researchers to get access to the trove of research, much of it via fatal human experiments, the Japanese had developed over years of studying and developing weapons for biological warfare.
During the Korean War, the U.S. strenuously denied charges of use of germ weapons and demanded an international investigation through the United Nations. The Chinese and North Koreans derided such offers, as it was United Nations-sanctioned forces that were opposing them in war and bombing their cities. But behind the scenes, the U.S. government initiated a campaign to impugn the ISC report, something they found difficult, as it turned out, according to a CIA-released document I revealed in December 2013. The document also showed the U.S. considered the call for a UN investigation to be mere propaganda.
Thesaker had one of the best review articles I read this week on background on the expanding conflict between India and China.
As a matter of fact, India has disputes with all its neighbors like China, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Srilanka, and the Maldives. Indian expansionist theory of “greater India” is the cause of real trouble. In the past, India has occupied some of its neighboring independent sovereign states like Sikkim, Nagaland, Jammu & Kashmir, Hyderabad, Juna Garh, etc. India has a track record of aggression and coercion against its small neighbors. But may face a tough time from China. The lesson learned in the 1962 war, Indians should not have to develop enmity with China.
Historically, the border disputes existed since 1947, when India got independence from British rule. This was the era of the Chinese revolution when a weak, corrupt and naïve government of Nationalist Party (Guo Ming Dang) was in power in Beijing, and the Communist Party of China, led by Chairman Mao, was over-engaged in the power struggle. The Government in China at that time was not strong, not stable, or not visionary and were fighting for their own survival. They were least bothered with their International borders, whereas, they were focusing on their grip on Beijing city only, as a symbol of their Government. The Britsh demarcation of the border was unjust and one-sided. There were Chinese territories marked into Indian control and vis-à-vis. The people’s republic of China was established in 1949, since then, China was demanding a rational border, but India was denying and delaying to resolve the border disputes.
...
India is openly opposing Belt and Road Initiatives (BRI), which is included in the Chinese Constitution and mega initiative of the Chinese Government. China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is a flagship project of BRI, India, is engaged in sabotaging and damaging it. India opposes China on all issues in the International platforms. Indian over-tilt toward the US is also alarming for China. India has become the largest beneficiary of US aid after the state of Israel. The US will not offer a “free lunch” to India, but rather task India to “Count China,” “Contain China,” and “Resist China’s Rise.”
...
It is worth mentioning that the population of China is 1.4 Billion, India 1.3 Billion, Pakistan 220 Million, Bangladesh 165 Million, the total population of this region is almost half of the Whole World’s population. Any misadventure may threaten half of the World. International Community may take serious notice and may step in to avert any disaster. We must think, not once or twice, but multiple times!
Long read. Putin's article on World War II.
Mr Putin wrote a comprehensive history on the 2ndWW, which surprisingly first appeared in the The National Interest and released today. This writing leads to a further support for the request that Mr Xi Jinping, Mr Macron, Mr Trump and Mr Johnson – gather together to to hold a meeting of the leaders of the five nuclear-weapon states, permanent members of the Security Council, with the focus being: ” a solid basis for successful negotiations and concerted action for the sake of enhancing the stability and security on the planet, for the sake of prosperity and well-being of all states. ”
Controversy is beginning to show .. with Foreign Policy saying he is rewriting history and the Moscow Times describing it as “Putin’s Latest Obsession: A New World War II Narrative”
Open thread all discussions are welcome.
Comments
All's not bad on the COVID front
Though cases continue to grow, deaths are in decline. (about 2 min)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blG0xOyVXlo&t=6m52s]
Ideas why the number of daily COVID 19 deaths is decreasing while confirmed coronavirus cases are increasing in many US states and countries. (This video was recorded June 18, 2020).
Sorry to read in your piece there appears to be no long term immunity. I suspect it varies widely among individuals. Around here almost no one wears masks. That's the technique we know is successful, yet there's no big push. Social distancing does have some traction though depending on the place and event.
Hope all is well on the farm. Been fighting Jap. Beetles here on the new fruit trees. Been drowning them in soapy water, and have neem oil on order to spray. Otherwise things are growing well. It's been cool and beautiful this week...although it is dry and I'm having the water.
All the best!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Here's an option
for turning those beetles into chicken feed:
Reason why cases going up but less deaths
More testing. Early on there weren't enough tests.
"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott
So true
Plus New York hospitals quit sending infected patients to nursing homes for convalescence.
In Oregon initially the initial response was to restrict testing to hospitalized patients only and not test nursing home patients or staff. The current focus is to prevent infection spread by mandatory testing of all new admissions.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
May also be...
the virus is losing it's virulence.
And/or, distancing and masks are reducing viral infection load and therefore disease severity.
And/or, there are better treatments/procedures.
And/or the most vulnerable have already died.
Testing explains the increase in cases, but not the decreasing death (not rates but actual numbers).
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Morning Lookout
I have aphids on my small potted hibiscus trees. Will spraying them with soapy water help?
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
yes, it helps
other ideas include:
Vinegar Aphid Spray Recipe
1 tablespoon Castile soap
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 gallon of water
Neem Oil Based Aphid Spray
1 tbsp neem oil
1/3 tbsp liquid dish soap
5 cups of (hot) water
If it is a small plant you can use a sponge to wipe the underside of the leaves.
Hope that helps. Good luck!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thank you Lookout
I’ve been finding the aphids not on the leaves themselves but hiding inside the new buds. Right now I’ve been inspecting all the new buds and clipping them off when I find aphids in them but I can’t sustain that “remedy” indefinitely for obvious reasons. Will try your recipe instead. Fingers crossed!
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Spent the morning repairing underground pipe
Been using a hose work around for critical watering until there was time for a permanent solution. It has been a dry winter and spring.
The information you have been providing on keeping healthy and wearing masks is a great place to start. The instances of patient overloading the healthcare infrastructure has been so variable across the country is hard to maintain a nationwide plan of intense suppression without it becoming a political issue.
Locally payment changes increased telemedicine visits instead of traveling to the various medical clinics. Healthcare is almost 19% of our economy and the patient visits had dropped dramatically with the lockdowns. Canada has used telemedicine since the 1970's to serve some remote areas.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Watering is key isn't it?
This has been the first week when we needed to water cause we've had so much rain....other than transplants which I always water in deep.
Just started hauling water to the new trees in buckets. This first year is critical. We're due a rain next week according to the forecast.
Take care and be well!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good morning soe. Happy Juneteenth everybody. Finally
did a system upgrade on my home computer from 18.04.4 to 20.04, and the updated open database package can't open any of my databases. So I will be spending some time rebuilding some of the more frequently (daily) used ones as big motha spreadsheets for a few days. First world problem, but a pisser nonetheless.
Thanks for the OT and all the info soe. India seems to have stepped into Britain's shoes and adopted some of its worst habits. Too long of a too close association perhaps.
That they still don't have a handle on covid-19 is no big surprise. We tend to think of smallpox as a template, but smallpox was easy. All the same, on a global basis still slow. Compare to Polio, not quite so easy and a lot slower at every stage. Now everything is also really further hampered by nation state and regional propaganda warfare and profit seeking secrecy piled on top of the still ever-present superstition, ignorance and fear(and fear-mongering). The ideological war(s) are also an impediment, especially for those nations that have economies that are fully dependent on extraction and exploitation to the extent that every decision is based on cost-benefit viewed strictly from the owner/rentier perspective meaning, among other things, that human deaths, suffering, poverty and want don't enter into the equations unless they somehow are sufficiently severe as to reduce consumption or the supply of labor. I don't think that odrinary people are sufficiently aware that we are in it for the long haul because that isn't being communicated by the elites controlling the global narrative machines. It doesn't benefit them at all to even so much as hint that such is the case.
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 --
Could not agree more
Economy was already showing signs of problems, quality markers of Americans personal health has been going in the wrong direction, inaction of political leaders to address any general citizenry issues beyond window dressing and lets start more conflicts with our allies and trade partners.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Good Morning Everyone
I didn’t know where else to put this question, but does anyone know why the Trump re-election campaign cancelled his rally in Tulsa for today? Was it a response to the backlash? If so, the black lash must’ve been pretty severe to change those obstinate dog whistling minds, what?
Btw, crew members in several of our stores have organized a show of solidarity with BLM by wearing all black today. This is without management’s acknowledgement because any overt political statements of this kind is not encouraged because some customers will complain. We know that, but will be doing it anyway. Happy Juneteenth.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Trump's rally was changed to tomorrow
because of the backlash about Juneteenth. None of Trump's advisors knew what significance of the date was. Finally one of his secret service members, an African American, told him. So they changed rally to tomorrow.
A part of me believes and dis-believes that
At the same time. If that makes sense. Thanks for the reply.
In honor of Juneteenth, and as fellow crew members and I get ready to show our solidarity to racial justice, I’ve been sending Garrick McFadden’s letter to fellow crew members and the response has been very good. Young people have a lot of contacts through social media, so I’m hoping that on Juneteenth, Mr. McFadden’s powerful words will spark the kind of conversations we all need to be having.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
I got that information
from an article in the Guardian yesterday.
actually, it was far more
hilarious than that. iirc correctly, i'd brought it to magiamma's post the other day, the one on which she'd featured kimberly jones.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkedkvNn5V0]
'Many of my AA friends and supporters', lol. the subtweets are pretty funny, as well.
Afternoon
Close quarters in a political rally does not seem to be the best way to spend one's time.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
@Anja Geitz
Wikipedia already cited the day change a controversy before my regular sites for a morning read included the information.
There has been some good articles this week regarding regional race issues this week.
For Black Tulsans, Trump's visit evokes painful legacy of 1921 massacre
History in Oregon was well hidden and not general knowledge until recently. Oregon voted not to become a slave state when it joined the Union by a close margin. On the same ballot 97% of the voters voted for the black exclusion clause. Oregon’s founders sought a ‘white utopia,’ a stain of racism that lives on even as state celebrates its progressivism
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Very few people in Japan
Know anything about Unit 731.
Macarthur, in my book, was criminal scum. Not only
did he let criminals like Ishii off the hook, he and
Dulles (Allen, I think) cut deals to head off demands of
allies (Australia, the Soviets and others) for prosecution
of members of the Japanese royal family and for reparations.
In exchange for the Japanese assurances that the occupation would
run smoothly, the Japanese elite was allowed to hang on to stolen wealth
(while the people were starving) and a number of Class A war criminals were
allowed to escape prosecution. The current Prime Minister, Abe and former PM
and current top cabinet minister Taro Aso are the literal descendants of
people that MacArthur let off the hook.
If that weren't bad enough, MacArthur engineered the shameful kangaroo court
tribunal in Manila just after the conclusion of hostilities to prosecute Generals
Tomoyuki Yamashita and Masaharu Honma. Both of whom had been among the most successful
Japanese generals though they were against war with America and opposed to Tojo - the military leader of Japan until late in the war.
Yamashita, in particular, was popular with the Japanese people and the Tojo-allied faction feared his ever being allowed to return to Japan, although Yamashita had no apparent political ambitions. Despite valiant efforts of their appointed defense teams the pre-ordained guilty verdicts were handed down and upheld 7-2 by the US Supreme Court and both were executed in the Philippines - Honma by firing squad and Yamashita by hanging.
Both are pretty much unknown in Japan now and the precedent of their trial by military tribunal was trotted out to defend their use post-9/11.
Recommended reading:
The Emperor's General (fiction)
by James Webb (former VA Senator and 2016 Presidential candidate)
The Case of General Yamashita
by Frank Reel (member of Yamashita's defense team)
The Trial of General Honma
by Hampton Sides
Gold Warriors and The Yamato Dynasty by Frank and Peggy Seagrave
Dissent of Justice Murphy in IN RE YAMASHITA (1946)
Thanks for the reading list, my awarness is from the late 80's
from some fiction book. It has always disturbed me western medical tradition is so wrapped up in animal and human testing. The base knowledge is from some really horrific practices around the world and domestically.
General MacArthur showed he had no respect for human life in 1933.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Hoover
got something of a bum rap on that attack - IIRC congress adjourned and left town without acting on the legislation the marchers were demanding. Then Roosevelt made it a major issue in his campaign against Hoover.
Also, IIRC Dwight Eisenhower was MacArthur's executive officer during the operation. Don't know if Eisenhower ever commented on what happened or what his opinion of MacArthur was. Kind of ironic that Ike, as president, ended up firing MacArthur from his command of the Korean conflict - over what amounted to insubordination.
O/T - Amy faces reality after a three period of denial
But she threw in a bit of revenge with her call to Biden to "put a woman of color on the ticket" because none on the short list of such women can enhance the Democratic ticket.
Max trolls Trump re-tweet
Began with:
Trump retweeted. Then Max changed the header to "US sanctions kill kids" More header changes Finally Trump un-tweeted. Or noted Max's follow-up tweet.
Trump's eagerness for praise reveals his stupidity. In this case, his tweet trigger finger may expanded Max's followers and that could be a positive for the left.
Unfortunately Twitter dialog often degrades to scoring points
and not improving communication between people with differing world views. There are quite a few people on the right side of the political ideology who are anti-war. Not sure if he will gain a bigger following from this interchange.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Only meant that it could results in rightwingers
seeing truthful and credible information from the left. Even if some might in someway oppose foreign military adventures, they stick to the rightwing media bubble for how they're supposed to think and venture no further than the Democratic media bubble that they can scoff at for peddling lies, which they do, and think that bubble is fully representative of all information and thought to the left of the GOP.
Thanks for the link to The Saker.
75th Victory Day celebration in Russia should have been on May 9.
It was postponed because of the virus and will take place on June 24.
Cities all over Russia are shutting down their main drags for parade practice.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4eBdB4S7OM width:500 height:300]
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
Welcome, our minimizing the contribution of other countries
leaves our current and future leaders with the illusions - World Wars are an economic opportunity with manageable downsides. USA saved Russia and China and if in a conflict with us they would be easily defeated.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.