Mega-Thread: Coronavirus Pandemic

[Edge-]

something, something God wouldn’t approve of them being parents or some shit.

That seems to be more of a metaphysical issue rather than a legal issue of child endangerment/abuse. Shouldn't they let the metaphysical sort out the metaphysical issues?

[Zan15]

man all those deleted pages....what did i miss


spent the morning listening to morons talk about the vaccine at work.

Soon as i said, "what do you think the vaccine is capable of doing to you that is so bad", they had nothing.

then i upped the stakes by saying "what happened to you in the last 40 years with the 20+ vaccinations that you got"


at that point they walked away. I am sure they will be back at it later when i am not around.
These people just want to spout nonsense to like minded people.

[Forogil]

Seems that some scientist now believe that they have found the solution for blood clots from vector-vaccines like AstraZeneca, Janssen (or J&J), and Sputnik V; and even a possible solution. Basically the DNA of the vaccine is split and some of the split parts cause the reaction - so just change the vaccine to avoid parts that when split cause the problem!
https://www.ft.com/content/f76eb802-...6-b250115d0577
https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-558954/v1

However, even if the solution may seem simple I would assume the vaccine variants would still need to be developed, tested, and manufactured, which will likely take months - and thus be largely irrelevant for the developed world. For the developing world it might be relevant - but then we likely have a situation where we need yearly booster shots, and those vaccines aren't suitable for that.

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They'll be called India 1 and India 2 and India 3.

Alternatively they could do as in the uk and name them after regions (the uk variant is called "Kent" variant in the uk, making room for a number of uk-variants), so we have Pune, Pradesh, Punjab, Arunachal Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh variants.

I don't know what we will do when the uk develops a variant of the Indian variant; call it imported curry? :-)

[Rasulis]

Seems that some scientist now believe that they have found the solution for blood clots from vector-vaccines like AstraZeneca, Janssen (or J&J), and Sputnik V; and even a possible solution. Basically the DNA of the vaccine is split and some of the split parts cause the reaction - so just change the vaccine to avoid parts that when split cause the problem!
https://www.ft.com/content/f76eb802-...6-b250115d0577
https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-558954/v1

However, even if the solution may seem simple I would assume the vaccine variants would still need to be developed, tested, and manufactured, which will likely take months - and thus be largely irrelevant for the developed world. For the developing world it might be relevant - but then we likely have a situation where we need yearly booster shots, and those vaccines aren't suitable for that.

- - - Updated - - -


Alternatively they could do as in the uk and name them after regions (the uk variant is called "Kent" variant in the uk, making room for a number of uk-variants), so we have Pune, Pradesh, Punjab, Arunachal Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh variants.

I don't know what we will do when the uk develops a variant of the Indian variant; call it imported curry? :-)

I thought curry was entirely a British invention. Just like Chicken Tikka Masala was created by a Bangladeshi chef in Glasgow.

[Witchblade77]

I thought curry was entirely a British invention. Just like Chicken Tikka Masala was created by a Bangladeshi chef in Glasgow.

curry powder is. its basically an attempt by british to replicate indian flavors. but curry as a term in general is bastardization of several possible words and dishes primarily by the British... so in a way the term would fit, no need to even add imported.

[Rasulis]

California to offer $116M in coronavirus vaccine prize money

California isn’t the first state to offer vaccine prizes, though its pot of money is the largest, and so is the most valuable single prize: $1.5 million.

The state's reopening is pegged for June 15, and on that day a drawing will be held to award 10 vaccinated people the top prize.

Another 30 people will win $50,000 each, with those drawings taking place June 4 and June 11.

Anyone 12 and older who has received at least one shot will be eligible, regardless of immigration status, Newsom said. Exceptions include those who are incarcerated, non-California residents and other "categories," such as individuals who work for the state lottery.

People who have received at least one shot are already in the registry for the drawing, he added.

"If you're disappointed on June 4, you didn't win $50,000, you got June 11, your name will automatically be in that pool, and then again on June 15," Newsom said.

The next 2 million people who get vaccinated will get $50 digital gift cards, effective Thursday. Individuals will receive them either through email or text message after their one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine or second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

Newsom said more ideas are coming after June 15, but did not share additional details.

"These are real incentives, these are opportunities to say thank you to those not only seeking to get vaccinated as we move forward, but also those who have been vaccinated," Newsom said.

Better odds than the lottery.

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Rock concert selling tickets for $18 if you're vaccinated – $1,000 if you're not

That's one way to get around DeSantis prohibition against denying access to unvaccinated people.

[Edge-]

Looks like accidental lab leak theory is now being considered a likely scenario. Its really scary how an engineered more lethal and contagious virus which already exist in the not so well protected labs around the world can be used by very few people to create an apocalypse, since so many countries in the world are so not ready for such an attack.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/covid...eory-1.6042038

Some talk on possibility of engineering such attacks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaRfbJE1qZ4

Not "likely", but it's being investigated. There's no direct evidence backing it yet.

Also, there's no evidence to suggest it was intentionally released or created with this specific goal in mind.

[Edge-]

I wouldn’t be surprised, tbh. All it takes is for one person with access to have a Thanos moment... and here we are.

It's possible, but absent evidence it's just an unfounded theory. We've seen similar outbreaks in natural conditions before, so while it's not ruled out it's also not super likely.

But because it's being considered as part of the ongoing investigations into the origin is getting folks all hot and bothered about it.

[Forogil]

Looks like accidental lab leak theory is now being considered a likely scenario. Its really scary how an engineered more lethal and contagious virus which already exist in the not so well protected labs around the world can be used by very few people to create an apocalypse, since so many countries in the world are so not ready for such an attack.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/covid...eory-1.6042038

There are several variants of the lab leak:

• The lab got hold of a natural virus and accidentally released it.
• The lab experimented with the virus to make it more lethal and contagious and accidentally released it.
• The lab experimented with the virus to make it more lethal and contagious and deliberately released it.

People are only seriously considering the first option, since the virus doesn't show the signs of being engineered (none of usual scaffolding) and already last year people noted that the virus seemed sub-optimal from the virus point-of-view, and the newer variants show that it would be possible to make a more lethal and contagious virus.

The first variant also means that even if the lab is involved it might be not have been a leak from within the actual "lab", as it might have been that the people who collected the wild animals with rare diseases might have been infected on the way to the lab, and then spread it, and in that case it might be that they only caused the pandemic to start a bit earlier.
When searching I found that NY Post is also going with that story, https://nypost.com/2021/05/28/scient...y-bats-report/ , - which unfortunately makes it less credible.

[PC2]

Not "likely", but it's being investigated. There's no direct evidence backing it yet.

Also, there's no evidence to suggest it was intentionally released or created with this specific goal in mind.

There's no basis for saying it's more or less likely than the other explanations. There's currently no "direct" evidence of any theory whatsoever.

[Edge-]

There's no basis for saying it's more or less likely than the other explanations. There's currently no "direct" evidence of any theory whatsoever.

Ah yes, the good old "History only matters selectively when it agrees with my opinion" argument. It's still as boring now as it's been for the years you've hypocritically spewed this garbage.

[PC2]

Ah yes, the good old "History only matters selectively when it agrees with my opinion" argument. It's still as boring now as it's been for the years you've hypocritically spewed this garbage.

If it's boring then the truth is boring. Historical information never justifies a theory because only *explanations* justify a theory.

[Edge-]

If it's boring then the truth is boring.

No, just your hypocrisy is boring.

Historical information never justifies a theory because only *explanations* justify a theory.

History is used as the basis for our view of the future and present. All types of history. Put your hand on a hot stove and get burned? You can think back to your history of putting your hand on a hot stove and being burned the next time you think about touching a hot stove. Contagious virus from a region causes a pandemic? Look to the other contagious viruses originating from that region to see if it's something that has occurred naturally before and if reoccurrence is reasonable, or if there's a more nefarious reason.

[PC2]

No, just your hypocrisy is boring.

History is used as the basis for our view of the future and present. All types of history. Put your hand on a hot stove and get burned? You can think back to your history of putting your hand on a hot stove and being burned the next time you think about touching a hot stove. Contagious virus from a region causes a pandemic? Look to the other contagious viruses originating from that region to see if it's something that has occurred naturally before and if reoccurrence is reasonable, or if there's a more nefarious reason.

Again no, you should not project events into the future but instead you should explain them. If you cannot answer the why and how questions then that means you don't truly understand the phenomena. In the case of Covid we have many proposed explanations but no direct evidence for any of them.

[PhaelixWW]

Again no, you should not project events into the future but instead you should explain them. If you cannot answer the why and how questions then that means you don't truly understand the phenomena. In the case of Covid we have many proposed explanations but no direct evidence for any of them.

You and your past statements really indicate that you have no clue how the scientific method actually works, as you'll selectively ignore observed phenomena simply because it doesn't fit your desired understanding.

I just will never understand why people choose to be this willfully ignorant.

[PC2]

You and your past statements really indicate that you have no clue how the scientific method actually works,

I know how the scientific method works but I fundamentally disagree with its validity because Karl Popper demolished the concept in his books. He shows that science actually comes from hypothetico-deduction and not the classical scientific method which is a myth. So for example with the Covid theories, there's nothing scientific about any of them unless they can be *tested* where it's possible for an observation to falsify the theory. Currently there is no way to test the 2 main Covid theories which is why there is so much uncertainty on the topic. It might always be a mystery, although it depends on whether people make a new discovery on the topic.

as you'll selectively ignore observed phenomena simply because it doesn't fit your desired understanding.

I just will never understand why people choose to be this willfully ignorant.

What did I ignore? Sometimes mutations happen in the wild and that could be the explanation for Covid, but just because that has happened in other cases in the past that doesn't mean you should automatically assume it is true without proof. Anyone who is certain and close-minded about either theory is simply being dogmatic.

[PhaelixWW]

I know how the scientific method works but I fundamentally disagree with its validity because Karl Popper demolished the concept in his books. He shows that science actually comes from hypothetico-deduction and there's no such thing as the scientific method.

The really sad thing is that you think inductive and deductive reasoning are mutually exclusive, and that both don't play a part in the modern scientific method. As evidenced by your belief that Popper "demolished" the concept of the scientific method, you're literally falling victim the same kind of thinking that you're claiming to be fighting against.

Again, that's simply willful ignorance, and it's just sad.

What did I ignore? Sometimes mutations happen in the wild and that could be the explanation for Covid, but just because that has happened in other cases in the past that doesn't mean you should automatically assume it is true without proof. Anyone who is certain and close-minded about either theory is simply being dogmatic.

There's a vast difference, which you ignore, between stating that something is likely, based on observations past and present, and "automatically assuming it is true". Your response, on the other hand is: "We don't know for sure, therefore there's a 50% chance either way."

That's just completely asinine, and shows that you don't really understand critical thinking even a little bit. You're just attempting to give yourself license to disagree with anything you want, ever. Which is why people don't really take your statements very seriously.

[JohnBrown1917]

There's no basis for saying it's more or less likely than the other explanations. There's currently no "direct" evidence of any theory whatsoever.

Pandemics caused by nature = Dozens
Pandemics caused by creating and releasing a virus on purpose = zero.


Yeah, seems very likely. And we all know how much China benefited from this pandemic with all the economic hits it and its trading partners took and will continue to take.

[PC2]

The really sad thing is that you think inductive and deductive reasoning are mutually exclusive, and that both don't play a part in the modern scientific method. As evidenced by your belief that Popper "demolished" the concept of the scientific method, you're literally falling victim the same kind of thinking that you're claiming to be fighting against.

Again, that's simply willful ignorance, and it's just sad.

That's the classical scientific method. If you subscribe to that instead of Popper's scientific method then that's fine, it's your prerogative. Debating the topic any further would require a separate thread or private messages.

There's a vast difference, which you ignore, between stating that something is likely, based on observations past and present, and "automatically assuming it is true". Your response, on the other hand is: "We don't know for sure, therefore there's a 50% chance either way."

That's just completely asinine, and shows that you don't really understand critical thinking even a little bit. You're just attempting to give yourself license to disagree with anything you want, ever. Which is why people don't really take your statements very seriously.

Creating a probability number out of thin air would be subjective. I simply don't know which explanation is right, but it's a good thing that we didn't just jump to conclusions in 2020 because scientists still need to study Covid's genome and phylogenetics in order to figure out the plausibility or implausibility of Covid occurring naturally versus intentionally. Where "intentionally" doesn't necessarily mean there is any malice involved because problems often times arise as a result of a stupid or lazy mistake and not as a result of evil. There is obviously circumstantial evidence for the lab leak but the non-circumstantial evidence is the difficult part that will take years to fully flesh out.

Humanity has only recently gained the ability to modify the genes of viruses with a medium amount of precision. Which means new viruses throughout most of history were not directly man-made, so if you simply want to make assumptions purely based on history then that is fine. There's plenty of other smart people and scientists who are looking into the other theories so not everyone needs to be concerned with the topic.

Pandemics caused by nature = Dozens
Pandemics caused by creating and releasing a virus on purpose = zero.

Yeah it's a recent capability. You could make it a trillion instead of a "dozen" though and it still wouldn't mean that the future must conform to a past trend.

[Thepersona]

Pandemics caused by nature = Dozens
Pandemics caused by creating and releasing a virus on purpose = zero.


Yeah, seems very likely. And we all know how much China benefited from this pandemic with all the economic hits it and its trading partners took and will continue to take.

I'm more inclined with an accidental leak of a virus that was isolated in a lab for further study from a bat population (so, naturally evolved), or that the virus simply jumped from the wet markets to a human host.

And no, it was not engineered or even less deliberately leaked.