[BBC] As Wuhan - the Chinese city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak - remains under lockdown, groups of volunteers have stepped in to help by taking patients to hospital and acting as taxis for health workers who have no transport.
The BBC spoke to one such volunteer, a man surnamed Zhou, who described how the network of volunteers emerged as normal life in the city shut down.
2. Effectively, this means the govt is giving doctors greater discretion to clinically diagnose patients. Previously, they could only confirm cases with the nucleic acid test kits. But a govt expert said recently these were only 30-40 percent accurate.
#3
ZeroHedge whom I do not trust any further than I can throw their server just published a very good article about this virus. It is a LONG article but it clearly states what I said two days after the outbreak. This virus is manmade, it is a manipulated virus originating from a supposedly BioHazard Level IV biological research facility that is essentially within a couple of blocks of the infamous meat market.
The General in charge of the PLA's bioweapons program has taken over the lab in Wuhan and has brought in the PLA to run the containment etc., of this virus.
A graph in the ZeroHedge article indicates that the virus infection is approaching an exponential rate.
The precursor virus was stolen from a lab in Canada by the Chinese and all of the Chinese staff of that lab were fired when the theft was discovered. The fired staff almost in toto were running the "research" lab in Wuhan.
This is a biological weapon that was accidentally released before they could perfect a vaccine for it.
Let's all hope the PLA, the EU, and the US can adequately contain this mess.
Tied to this is the potentially high number of infected individuals coming in from Latin America.
Lastly the Anti-Vaxxers and their pathological germ phobic behavior with their children leave their children with underdeveloped immune systems and exposure to this virus for them in particular will be catastrophic.
#5
Lastly the Anti-Vaxxers ...leave their children with underdeveloped immune systems and exposure to this virus for them in particular will be catastrophic.
I had been calling it Coronavirus 2019 (or 2020), others had called it nCov2019 or other things
The WHO now calls it COVID 2019 and the CDC agrees
regarding the origin
The vast majority of the persons who were first found to be infected had visited the Huanan seafood and live animal market in Wuhan. I've never visited this (and have no desire to go) but if you've seen pictures of this, it will go a ways toward convincing you of the plausibility of this market as the source. ZeroHedge's theory that the Bioweapon went first to the market is possible but IMO quite unlikely.
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/13/2020 9:10 Comments ||
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#9
the main reason I discount ZH's theory is that there is no need for it -- virus mutation, infection, etc. can all Huanan market in Wutan
the SARS virus is now reliably traced via DNA retro tracing to bats
another reason is that creating a virus as a military weapon is a terrible idea for a lot of reasons
- risk to your own high value medical team that works at the lab
- risk to your own population
- the fact that if you did come up with a weapon it would mutate in uncontrollable ways and almost certainly would not do what you designed it to do
this is not to say that all research in virology is bad, in fact such research is obviously worth doing
and yes, in medicine as in other fields you get people who are megalomaniac or careless and so it is not impossible that ZH is correct
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/13/2020 10:01 Comments ||
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un quickly placed those returning from China in a quarantine. But according to reports an official was spotted breaching the order
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/13/2020 13:31 Comments ||
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#13
Federal Reserve is now closely monitoring global risks the virus is causing. Economies collapsing yet anyone???
[Mil.com] Legendary actor and activist for veteran causes Gary Sinise was honored by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society with its Patriot Award on February 5th at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.
The Congressional Medal of Honor Society is a group made up of Medal of Honor recipients. Each year they present the Patriot Award to "those persons, who through their life's work, have distinguished themselves as Americans who are dedicated to freedom and the ideals represented," according to a Department of Defense release.
The Patriot Award committee also looks to honor individuals who demonstrate of the six values embodied by the Medal of Honor: courage, sacrifice, commitment, integrity, citizenship and patriotism. Most recently that was Sinise.
"I've made such good friends amongst this incredible group of people, and to have them acknowledge me is just a great, great honor," Sinise said during the ceremony.
#2
Indeed, well deserved. Sinese is a good, hard-working, humble guy; working hard for vets. Refreshing in a time when so many in Hollywood are Meatheads.
[Page Six] Prince Harry is reportedly in talks with banking giant Goldman Sachs — the start of what a PR guru predicts could be a billion-dollar empire.
The Duke of Sussex — who is believed to have been paid more than $1 million to attend a recent summit hosted by JP Morgan — first held talks with Goldman Sachs in November, according to the Mirror.
It suggests the 35-year-old prince and his wife, Meghan Markle, 38, were considering their financial futures months before their stunning January announcement that they were quitting the royal family, the paper notes.
Potentially, the talks could be to get Harry as the latest high-profile speaker at the bank’s “Talks at GS” series, the UK paper notes. Speakers are not paid for their appearance, but sources told the Mirror that it will pave the way for a lucrative future relationship. Previous speakers have included stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow and business leaders such as Dropbox co-founder and CEO Drew Houston.
A royal insider confirmed the talks to the Daily Mail — but insisted it was on behalf of one of Harry’s charitable patronages.
#2
Why is this "grifting"? If Goldman Sachs wants to shower them with money, that's their business. I'm pretty sure they have calculated this carefully.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/13/2020 6:41 Comments ||
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#3
Probably shower them with children for sex parties, too. Flights to private creepy island optional.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
02/13/2020 7:25 Comments ||
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#4
EC - you're probably right, given that the former prince and his wife are private citizens now who no longer have influence or public office to trade.
The correct term is not grifting but prostitution: Harry is clearly seeking to engage in transactions by which he publicly dramatizes his pain at his mother's death -- and indirectly, his wife's bogus accusations of "racism" against his family -- in return for cash.
#6
Calling all Goldman Sachs shareholders--be sure to let them know what you think about this!
Posted by: Tom ||
02/13/2020 14:19 Comments ||
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#7
To paraphrase a much beloved blogger here, "I don't want to hear about one more goddamn teacher having to buy classroom supplies out of his / her pocket until this shit stops..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/13/2020 15:15 Comments ||
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#8
Wasn't GS given the sweetheart deals in the 2008-9 bailouts? Just asking.
[Aljazeera] Matamoros, Mexico - Preparing for lunch hour, Maria* adds firewood to her wide mud stove shaded by a tarp shelter amid hundreds of similar structures home to asylum seekers like her, waiting for months in this camp with hopes to cross the border, just a few paces away, into the United States.
Maria, 38, serves grilled meat, rice, salad and tortillas for lunch to some of her neighbours encamped on the bank of the Rio Grande in Matamoros, Mexico, just across from Brownsville, Texas.
Dozens of other cooking fires like Maria's burn throughout the camp all day. Hundreds of mismatched camping tents cluster between the scraggly mesquite trees, picked clean for firewood. Families without tents sleep under plastic tarps hoisted over branches and tied to wooden stakes in the mud.
"The Federal Executive shall have the exclusive power to compel any foreigner whose remaining he may deem inexpedient to abandon the national territory immediately and without the necessity of previous legal action."
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
02/13/2020 6:54 Comments ||
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[Jerusalem Post] Local med-tech start-up P-Cure is working hard to break economic barriers so that proton radiation therapy becomes accessible to all eligible cancer patients.
Based in Shilat, near Modi’in, P-Cure makes the most advanced type of proton therapy available.
"We truly believe that this is a new era of radiation therapy of cancer," CEO and founder Michael Marash told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
The company, he explained, has developed technology that "unprecedentedly removed economic barriers prohibiting proton therapy use in the mainstream clinical practice."
Marash highlighted that P-Cure’s manufactured proton therapy solution "is the only 360-degrees gantry-less proton therapy system that fits into any operating radiation oncology department."
Proton therapy is the most technologically advanced method of delivering radiation treatments to cancerous tumors that is available today.
"The unique characteristics of how protons interact within the human body allow it to deliver curative radiation doses while reducing doses to healthy tissues and organs, resulting in fewer complications and side effects than standard radiation therapy," Marash explained. "Understanding how proton therapy works provides patients and physicians with insight into the clinical advantages of this treatment modality."
[Defense Post] The U.S. Defense Department is requesting $111.2 million from Congress to develop the so-called Next Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW) to replace the M4A1 Carbine, M16 and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) by the end of 2023.
The budget request, made public on Monday, February 10, asks more than double last year’s funding for the NGSW program and includes $35.8 million for procurement.
One aim of the NGSW is to give U.S. Army infantry greater effective range by replacing the squad’s 5.56 mm NATO-chambered weapons with rifles that fire a new and unique 6.8 mm round.
The Army in August 2019 selected Textron Systems, General Dynamics and Sig Sauer to develop prototypes for the new line of weapons.
The Defense Department intends the funds to complete prototyping for the new rifle, automatic rifle (AR) and ammunition and will select one of the three versions by the end of 2021.
"The new more lethal carbine and Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) provides Brigade Combat Teams with additional capability when engaging an adversaries [sic] ground forces," the request reads.
The M249 SAW was introduced in 1984 to give infantry squads a belt-fed weapon with a high rate of fire. The U.S. Marine Corps has already begun replacing the M249 with the new M27, a variant of Heckler and Koch’s HK 416. The Army has said it has no plans to adopt the M27.
The overhaul comes amidst a strategic shift from two decades of fighting insurgencies in the Middle East towards preparation to counter the evolving capabilities of Russia and China.
#4
When I was in during the early 90s, the SAW was a Belgium made piece of shit. It constantly had springs pop out of the top belt feed cover. Had to carry a bag of the fuckers with you and replace them during firefights.
Colt took it over and they got better, but I'm still no big fan of them.
#5
The Army 'planners' didn't want the squads to have an M60 machine gun. About the same reason the Old Army didn't want the troops on the frontier to have repeaters even if the natives got hold of them.
#6
Just think if way back when the decision was made to go with a scaled up M3
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/13/2020 14:23 Comments ||
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#7
Can't decide on a uniform. Can't decide on a weapon. Can't decide on a vehicle. Can't decide on a helicopter. Can't decide on a division or a brigade. Can't decide on a man or a woman.
#9
Can't decide on a ...
The Real money is in the cost-plus development projects. Guaranteed cash flow while you "research" and maybe you will sell something at the end... maybe.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Mil.com] Legendary actor and activist for veteran causes Gary Sinise was honored by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society with its Patriot Award on February 5th at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.
[Page Six] Prince Harry is reportedly in talks with banking giant Goldman Sachs — the start of what a PR guru predicts could be a billion-dollar empire.
