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Some Ask a Taboo Question: Is America Overreacting to Coronavirus?

Hoops watcher said:
IdaGriz01 said:
Sad, sad, sad.

An "autonomous" HK was never going to work, IMO, barring a major revolt in mainland China. To be honest, I did not think it would last even this long.

And with many of the Chinese people apparently showing approval of the "social credit" system -- because it will make them feel "safer" -- things will likely only get worse. Question (given the general lack of reliable information out of China): Are "average" people in China really so brainwashed that they think that the full-time monitoring of all behavior, leading to social credit scores, is a good thing? Or are they just even more afraid to speak up?

Take on Hong Kong: https://nationalinterest.org/feature/chinas-path-self-destruction-starts-hong-kong-156641. Another from The Atlantic:https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/05/china-hong-kong-pandemic-autonomy-law-aggression/611983/. Reason:
https://reason.com/2020/05/22/a-huge-blow-to-hongkongers-freedoms/?fbclid=IwAR3Ni3SW_aTlO9XB4lcRYCWs-bjGtjrh2KPQbO3xU0g8eY0I6ELxgQ0yxxs. Spectator: https://spectator.us/blame-china-communist-wuhan-coronavirus/

I think when all is said and done the changes in the world's relationship with Xi's version of China will have a far more lasting effect on history than this pandemic. I don't know the result, but I have no doubt it will be fundamental.

I hope you are right.
 
PlayerRep said:
Hoops watcher said:
Take on Hong Kong: https://nationalinterest.org/feature/chinas-path-self-destruction-starts-hong-kong-156641. Another from The Atlantic:https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/05/china-hong-kong-pandemic-autonomy-law-aggression/611983/. Reason:
https://reason.com/2020/05/22/a-huge-blow-to-hongkongers-freedoms/?fbclid=IwAR3Ni3SW_aTlO9XB4lcRYCWs-bjGtjrh2KPQbO3xU0g8eY0I6ELxgQ0yxxs. Spectator: https://spectator.us/blame-china-communist-wuhan-coronavirus/

I think when all is said and done the changes in the world's relationship with Xi's version of China will have a far more lasting effect on history than this pandemic. I don't know the result, but I have no doubt it will be fundamental.

I hope you are right.

it will be interesting to see how much money flows out of hong kong because of the national security law. it will likely make criticizing xi or the ccp illegal, with the chance of being hauled to the mainland and subjected to the chinese treatment of putting prisoners alone in rooms, with the light on constantly, and the 'detainees' being woken up at random times throughout the day and night (this really screws with the mind). also, the nationalist article did provide an accurate description of xi: he believes that han chinese are ethnically superior, can't tolerate any kind of freedom of thought, and is an imperialist who is determined to take control over as much territory as possible. also, while his propaganda machine does have some success in the mainland and has stirred up considerable nationalism, that same propaganda machine tries in other countries to use the same strategy as they do in the mainland, and does nothing but stir up animosity. taiwan is particularly good at rebuffing that nonsense, by throwing the same type of verbiage back in the ccp's face. i posted this before, but it is a good example, particularly the comment about the ccp's inability to self-reflect, which is something the ccp would say to others, in a very condescending manner:

Taiwan slams national security legislation for Hong Kong
Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council slammed the proposed national security law for Hong Kong, saying it violated the democratic and human rights of the city's people. It said the legislation would increase dissatisfaction and endanger all people in the city, as well as its status as an international financial centre.
“In a reflection of the CCP's inability to self-reflect, it is blindly ignoring the root of Hong Kong’s instability and blaming it instead on external forces and ‘Hong Kong independence’ forces, and is therefore anxious to legislate to be on guard against any national security loopholes,” the council said in a statement.
“The laws of any civilised country should be the protector of the people, not the shackles of freedom,” it said. “We hope the relevant parties will think twice, and not make the wrong decision, to plunge Hong Kong into further chaos."
 
blackfoot griz said:
Dutch, respectfully, in your opinion, did the Trump Administration's China travel ban come too soon or too late? He got absolutely hammered as being xenophobic, etc. when it was initiated. Now, many are saying it was too late.

I am curious how people feel about this at this point in the game.

Actually the biggest missed step was to not follow the basics of a pandemic which is 1)identify, 2) trace and contain. That is the WHO recommendations which weren’t followed. So the correct answer would have been to do nothing in regard to declaring travel bans. First in today’s world they are hard to make air tight so they only work in the earliest stages. The Obama model of responding was to immediately take charge of the international response and aggressively go to the virus like what happened with Ebola. We contained it in Africa through a concerted world wide effort. The US should have been out front end directing a world wide effort to stay put and slow the spread.

The travel ban talk actually backfired and panicked hundreds of thousands of people to started fleeing from Europe back to the US in order to get back and not get locked out. Same thing with people getting out of China. Cause a mass panic that didn’t have to happen. The science based approach to a new virus is to stay put and don’t spread it by running back to your home country which millions of people did all over the world. That then sealed it for the US. The New York outbreak is traced back to Europe. New York gets a bad wrap however, because the feds funneled all international flight to only 7 airports New York being one. So you can’t blame governors in the states where the flights were directed to land. There’s a good article in the New York’s times about this phenomenon of border closings causing more and more people to try to get back to there home countries making the virus spread across the world in record time. Trump isn’t responsible for the pandemic but he is absolutely responsible for the decisions made to ignore previous administrations game plans and responses and to wait almost 2 months to accept the reality of the crisis. My main criticism of Trump is he minimized repeatedly for almost 2 months and continued to lie to the country and the world. Then it’s too late to contain it. In my opinion the lock down was a result of inaction and early steps not taken. Long answer I know but there are some third world countries that handled it better then we did, look at Vietnam. And also look at first world counties like Taiwan, New Zealand and South Korea.
 
argh! said:
PlayerRep said:
I hope you are right.

it will be interesting to see how much money flows out of hong kong because of the national security law. it will likely make criticizing xi or the ccp illegal, with the chance of being hauled to the mainland and subjected to the chinese treatment of putting prisoners alone in rooms, with the light on constantly, and the 'detainees' being woken up at random times throughout the day and night (this really screws with the mind). also, the nationalist article did provide an accurate description of xi: he believes that han chinese are ethnically superior, can't tolerate any kind of freedom of thought, and is an imperialist who is determined to take control over as much territory as possible. also, while his propaganda machine does have some success in the mainland and has stirred up considerable nationalism, that same propaganda machine tries in other countries to use the same strategy as they do in the mainland, and does nothing but stir up animosity. taiwan is particularly good at rebuffing that nonsense, by throwing the same type of verbiage back in the ccp's face. i posted this before, but it is a good example, particularly the comment about the ccp's inability to self-reflect, which is something the ccp would say to others, in a very condescending manner:

Taiwan slams national security legislation for Hong Kong
Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council slammed the proposed national security law for Hong Kong, saying it violated the democratic and human rights of the city's people. It said the legislation would increase dissatisfaction and endanger all people in the city, as well as its status as an international financial centre.
“In a reflection of the CCP's inability to self-reflect, it is blindly ignoring the root of Hong Kong’s instability and blaming it instead on external forces and ‘Hong Kong independence’ forces, and is therefore anxious to legislate to be on guard against any national security loopholes,” the council said in a statement.
“The laws of any civilised country should be the protector of the people, not the shackles of freedom,” it said. “We hope the relevant parties will think twice, and not make the wrong decision, to plunge Hong Kong into further chaos."

I never understood why the British simply gave up its leasehold on Hong Kong. What if they would have said we don’t recognize the ccp as having any privity to the agreement and then late the world court spend the next 50 years sorting it out.
 
Dutch Lane said:
blackfoot griz said:
Dutch, respectfully, in your opinion, did the Trump Administration's China travel ban come too soon or too late? He got absolutely hammered as being xenophobic, etc. when it was initiated. Now, many are saying it was too late.

I am curious how people feel about this at this point in the game.

Actually the biggest missed step was to not follow the basics of a pandemic which is 1)identify, 2) trace and contain. [That's what the US had been doing.]That is the WHO recommendations which weren’t followed. [Please link to, or quote, the WHO recommendations. See below for March 18 article where WHO was announcing/discussing this.] So the correct answer would have been to do nothing in regard to declaring travel bans. First in today’s world they are hard to make air tight so they only work in the earliest stages. [[That's why Trump acted quickly, and stopped most flying from China. Huge success.] The Obama model of responding was to immediately take charge of the international response [So, Obama would have taken charge of China and WHO? Now that's pretty funny.] and aggressively go to the virus like what happened with Ebola. [Oh please, Ebola was never a threat to the US.] We contained it in Africa through a concerted world wide effort. The US should have been out front end directing a world wide effort to stay put and slow the spread. [The US could not going out in front of the virus, as China, with WHO's blessing, hid it for too long. It would not be possible for the US or any country to "direct" the effort.]

The travel ban talk actually backfired and panicked hundreds of thousands of people to started fleeing from Europe back to the US in order to get back and not get locked out. [Not true except perhaps briefly. And Americans would always welcome to come back, even after the ban. Sooner or later they were coming back. ] Same thing with people getting out of China. Cause a mass panic that didn’t have to happen. [Don't think there was a mass panic to get out China, except for Americans, who were welcome to come back anytime. ] The science based approach to a new virus is to stay put and don’t spread it by running back to your home country which millions of people did all over the world. That then sealed it for the US. [I call BS to that. People were going to come back to their countries, no matter what.]The New York outbreak is traced back to Europe. New York gets a bad wrap however, because the feds funneled all international flight to only 7 airports New York being one. So you can’t blame governors in the states where the flights were directed to land. [there were 13 airports: " including announcing 13 airports as federally-approved ports of entries for anyone traveling from restricted countries."Most of the people who spread the virus in NYC metro area lived there. They weren't traveling through the airport and spreading, at the airport.] There’s a good article in the New York’s times about this phenomenon of border closings causing more and more people to try to get back to there home countries making the virus spread across the world in record time. [Link the article. Again, people were going to come back to the US anyway. I have not seen any article saying that those people who can't back at that time, brought and spread the virus. Not saying that didn't happen, but haven't seen any examples. Also, shutting down travel from Europe has kept probably millions from coming from Europe to the US to potentially bring the virus..] Trump isn’t responsible for the pandemic but he is absolutely responsible for the decisions made to ignore previous administrations game plans and responses [I've read that the Trumpees had their own more current plans.] and to wait almost 2 months to accept the reality of the crisis. [The federal government was reacting to the virus starting in early January.] My main criticism of Trump is he minimized repeatedly for almost 2 months and continued to lie to the country and the world. [Again, name one specific thing that should have been done in your 2 months. Please, no general stuff. Be specific.] Then it’s too late to contain it. In my opinion the lock down was a result of inaction and early steps not taken. [The lockdowns were done, because China hit the ball for a month or more, with WHO going along with it.] Long answer I know but there are some third world countries that handled it better then we did, look at Vietnam. And also look at first world counties like Taiwan, New Zealand and South Korea. [Those are all tiny countries which are very different than the US. Try comparing to countries like the US.]

See my embedded and bolded comments above. Virtually nothing you said is accurate.

Here's what the WHO said, in February, on travel bans:

"“Measures on movement restriction have delayed the dissemination of the outbreak two or three days within China and a few weeks outside China,” Sylvie Briand, director of Infectious Hazard Management at the WHO, told reporters this week."

This is what Fauci said in February on the travel ban: "“I think most health officials agree that at best [quarantine or travel restriction] delays and … kind of pauses things,” Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told reporters. “What we needed was a delay to essentially prepare better.”

This is what the NY Times science writer said in Februrary:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/28/sunday-review/coronavirus-quarantine.html

"There are two ways to fight epidemics: the medieval and the modern.

The modern way is to surrender to the power of the pathogens: Acknowledge that they are unstoppable and to try to soften the blow with 20th-century inventions, including new vaccines, antibiotics, hospital ventilators and thermal cameras searching for people with fevers.

The medieval way, inherited from the era of the Black Death, is brutal: Close the borders, quarantine the ships, pen terrified citizens up inside their poisoned cities.

For the first time in more than a century, the world has chosen to confront a new and terrifying virus with the iron fist instead of the latex glove.

At least for a while, it worked, and it might still serve a purpose.

Keep in mind that when Trump restricted travel from China a month ago, many of the same liberal news outlets that are now calling him ineffective were then slamming him for supposed xenophobia for imposing the restrictions.

The White House, in defiance of recent American history, also opted to go medieval by aggressive measures like barring entry to non-Americans who were recently in China and advising Americans not to go to China or South Korea."

"The W.H.O.’s epidemic-modeling teams concluded that travel restrictions had slowed the spread of the virus outside China by two to three weeks."

A quote I found in recent article: "Without the Europe restrictions, “you would have probably seen a higher seeding in the United States,” and infections would still be rising, one official said. “This is the advice we were getting from Birx, Fauci and others.”
 
PlayerRep said:
Dutch Lane said:
Actually the biggest missed step was to not follow the basics of a pandemic which is 1)identify, 2) trace and contain. [That's what the US has been doing.]That is the WHO recommendations which weren’t followed. [Please link to, or quote, the WHO recommendations.] So the correct answer would have been to do nothing in regard to declaring travel bans. First in today’s world they are hard to make air tight so they only work in the earliest stages. [[That's why Trump acted quickly, and stopped most flying from China. Huge success.] The Obama model of responding was to immediately take charge of the international response [So, Obama would have taken charge of China and WHO? Now that's pretty funny.] and aggressively go to the virus like what happened with Ebola. [Oh please, Ebola was never a threat to the US.] We contained it in Africa through a concerted world wide effort. The US should have been out front end directing a world wide effort to stay put and slow the spread. [The US could not going out in front of the virus, as China, with WHO's blessing, hid it for too long. It would not be possible for the US or any country to "direct" the effort.]

The travel ban talk actually backfired and panicked hundreds of thousands of people to started fleeing from Europe back to the US in order to get back and not get locked out. [Not true. And Americans would always welcome to come back, even after the ban.] Same thing with people getting out of China. Cause a mass panic that didn’t have to happen. The science based approach to a new virus is to stay put and don’t spread it by running back to your home country which millions of people did all over the world. That then sealed it for the US. [I call BS to that. People were going to come back to their countries, no matter what.]The New York outbreak is traced back to Europe. New York gets a bad wrap however, because the feds funneled all international flight to only 7 airports New York being one. So you can’t blame governors in the states where the flights were directed to land. [there were 13 airports: " including announcing 13 airports as federally-approved ports of entries for anyone traveling from restricted countries."Most of the people who spread the virus in NYC metro area lived there. They weren't traveling through the airport and spreading. at the airport.] There’s a good article in the New York’s times about this phenomenon of border closings causing more and more people to try to get back to there home countries making the virus spread across the world in record time. [Link the article. Again, people were going to come back to the US anyway.] Trump isn’t responsible for the pandemic but he is absolutely responsible for the decisions made to ignore previous administrations game plans and responses and to wait almost 2 months to accept the reality of the crisis. [The federal government was reacting to the virus starting in early January.] My main criticism of Trump is he minimized repeatedly for almost 2 months and continued to lie to the country and the world. [Again, now one specific thing that should have been done in your 2 months. Please, no general stuff. Be specific.] Then it’s too late to contain it. In my opinion the lock down was a result of inaction and early steps not taken. Long answer I know but there are some third world countries that handled it better then we did, look at Vietnam. And also look at first world counties like Taiwan, New Zealand and South Korea. [Those are all tiny countries which are very different than the US. Try comparing to countries like the US.]

See my embedded and bolded comments above. Virtually nothing you said is accurate.

Here's what the WHO said, in February, on travel bans:

"“Measures on movement restriction have delayed the dissemination of the outbreak two or three days within China and a few weeks outside China,” Sylvie Briand, director of Infectious Hazard Management at the WHO, told reporters this week."

This is what Fauci said in February on the travel ban: "“I think most health officials agree that at best [quarantine or travel restriction] delays and … kind of pauses things,” Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told reporters. “What we needed was a delay to essentially prepare better.”

This is what the NY Times science writer said in Februrary:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/28/sunday-review/coronavirus-quarantine.html

"There are two ways to fight epidemics: the medieval and the modern.

The modern way is to surrender to the power of the pathogens: Acknowledge that they are unstoppable and to try to soften the blow with 20th-century inventions, including new vaccines, antibiotics, hospital ventilators and thermal cameras searching for people with fevers.

The medieval way, inherited from the era of the Black Death, is brutal: Close the borders, quarantine the ships, pen terrified citizens up inside their poisoned cities.

For the first time in more than a century, the world has chosen to confront a new and terrifying virus with the iron fist instead of the latex glove.

At least for a while, it worked, and it might still serve a purpose.

Keep in mind that when Trump restricted travel from China a month ago, many of the same liberal news outlets that are now calling him ineffective were then slamming him for supposed xenophobia for imposing the restrictions.

The White House, in defiance of recent American history, also opted to go medieval by aggressive measures like barring entry to non-Americans who were recently in China and advising Americans not to go to China or South Korea."

"The W.H.O.’s epidemic-modeling teams concluded that travel restrictions had slowed the spread of the virus outside China by two to three weeks."

Regarding the WHO on tracing and tracing, here's an article on the head of WHO announcing this on March 18:

"WHO coronavirus briefing: Isolation, testing and tracing comprise the 'backbone' of response"

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/testing-tracing-backbone-who-coronavirus-wednesdays-briefing/
 
Today's MT virus report:

O new cases, 3 hospitalizations, and 22 active cases.

5 new cases in last week, excluding the 7-case employee group at Stock Farm.
 
PlayerRep said:
argh! said:
that isn't a legit comparison - the virus count is for about two months, the lightening a year. if you are generous and call it three months, that would be eleven per month, or one hundred thirty two per year.

Feel free to contact the author of the article:

Alistair Haimes

Alistair Haimes has worked with data professionally for 25 years. @AlistairHaimes

why?
 
1. "Dr. Atlas on coronavirus lockdowns: 'The policy ... is killing people'

Coronavirus lockdowns may be "killing" just as many people as the virus because many people with serious conditions unrelated to the virus have been skipping treatment, Hoover Institution senior fellow Dr. Scott Atlas said Saturday on "Fox Report."

"Coronavirus lockdowns may be "killing" just as many people as the virus because many people with serious conditions unrelated to the virus have been skipping treatment, Hoover Institution senior fellow Dr. Scott Atlas said Saturday on "Fox Report."

"I think one thing that's not somehow receiving attention is the CDC just came out with their fatality rates," Atlas said. "And lo and behold, they verify what people have been saying for over a month now, including my Stanford epidemiology colleagues and everyone else in the world who's done this analysis -- and that is that the infection fatality rate is less than one-tenth of the original estimate."

Even White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci is acknowledging the harm caused by the lockdown, Atlas said.

"The policy itself is killing people. I mean, I think everyone's heard about 650,000 people on cancer, chemo, half of whom didn't come in. Two thirds of cancer screenings didn't come in. 40 percent of stroke patients urgently needing care didn't come in," Atlas said. "And now we have over half the people, children in the United States not getting vaccinations. This is really what [Fauci] said was irreparable harm."

"And I and my colleagues from other institutions have calculated the cost of the lockdown in terms of lives lost," Atlas said. "Every month is about equal to the entire cost of lives lost during the COVID infection itself. This is a tragic, misguided public policy to extend this lockdown, whether or not it was justifiable in the beginning."

The doctor also argued against keeping children out of schools, saying there's no reason they can't go back.

"There's no science whatsoever to keep K-through-12 schools closed, nor to have masks or social distancing on children, nor to keep summer programs closed," Atlas said. "What we know now is that the risk of death and the risk of even a serious illness is nearly zero in people under 18."

Read in Fox News: https://apple.news/ApQRtRt2BRpmGuNspT_mXcg

2. "Coronavirus: How scared should we be?

As lockdown restrictions begin to be eased across the UK, understanding risk will be crucial."

"The need to balance competing risks

So what should we do? Some have argued restrictions need to continue until safety can be guaranteed. But those arguments generally ignore the fact that continuing to do so carries risk in itself.

UK chief medical adviser Prof Chris Witty often describes these as the "indirect costs" of the pandemic. They include everything from poor access to healthcare for other conditions through to rises in mental illness, financial hardship and damage to education.
So as restrictions ease, society and individuals themselves are going to have to make decisions based on balancing competing sets of risks.


Why you should not expect to be 100% safe

Prof Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at Edinburgh University, says the question we should be asking is whether we are "safe enough".

"There will never be no risk. In a world where Covid-19 remains present in the community it's about how we reduce that risk, just as we do with other kinds of daily dangers, like driving and cycling."

She says part of that equation depends on the steps taken by government on things such as social distancing, the provision of protective equipment and the availability of testing and then tracing of contacts to contain local outbreaks. She has been critical of the way the government has handled all of them.

How much risk do individuals face?

But as more freedoms are returned, the role of individual decision-making will come more to the fore.

It is perhaps not about finding the right option, rather finding the least worst option.
Statistician Prof Sir David Spiegelhalter, an expert in risk from Cambridge University and government adviser, says it has, in effect, become a game of "risk management" - and because of that we need to get a handle on the magnitude of risk we face.
There are two factors that influence the risk we face from coronavirus - our risk of becoming infected and, once infected, our risk of dying or becoming seriously ill.

If we are not in hospital or a care home our best guide to the risk of infection comes from the government's surveillance programme run by the Office for National Statistics.
The data published this week suggests around one in 400 people is currently infected.

For example, an average person aged 40 has around a one-in-1,000 risk of not making it to their next birthday and an almost identical risk of not surviving a coronavirus infection.
And that is the average risk - for most individuals the risk is actually lower than that as most of the risk is held by those who are in poor health in each age group."

Read in BBC News: https://apple.news/AQ5wUr35TSoi7bTw2-KN4Cg

3. "From near disaster to success story: How Japan has tackled coronavirus

Criticism of government reaction has given way to plaudits for public’s virus-challenging habits"

"On 7 April, the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, belatedly declared a state of emergency in the capital and other affected areas that was later expanded to include all 47 of the country’s prefectures."

"So far, Japan – a country of 126 million people with one of the biggest elderly populations in the world – has confirmed 16,433 infections and 784 deaths, out of a global death toll of more than 300,000 people.

In Tokyo, where almost 14 million people live, new cases have remained below 40 for more than a fortnight, with just five cases reported on two consecutive days this week. That compares with a peak of 206 new cases reported on 17 April.

But Japan’s version of “lockdown” – requests to avoid unnecessary outings, work from home and observe social distancing – came across as a timid response to a situation that risked spiraling out of control. The dispatch of two reusable masks to every household was met with derision,...

“I don’t think the falling number of infections is due to government policies,” said Ryuji Koike, the assistant director of Tokyo Medical and Dental university hospital. “I think it looks like Japan is doing well thanks to things that can’t be measured, like daily habits and ‘Japanese behaviour’.”

Personal habits and cultural traits, however, tell only part of the story. While Japan hesitated before imposing restrictions on overseas visitors, it was quick to recognise the dangers of mass gatherings.

Japan’s incremental exit from the state of emergency continues. Last week, Abe ended the measure in 39 prefectures, adding another three this week. Tokyo and four other prefectures could join them as early as Monday, according to media reports.

But experts are warning against complacency given that the low rates of testing may be distorting the extent of infections – a hazard recognised by the government’s own expert, Shigeru Omi, who admitted that nobody knows whether the true number of coronavirus cases “could be 10 times, 12 times or 20 times more than reported”.

As Tokyo’s backstreet bars and restaurants started filling up again this week – with some staying open beyond the 8pm closing time requested by the city’s governor – Abe sought to balance cautious optimism with a dose of post-pandemic reality."

Experts have pointed to universal healthcare, low obesity rates and expertise in treating pneumonia. "

Read in The Guardian: https://apple.news/AEttBi3DmQsqUbZsIw_LNag

4. "Making do: Arlee doing its best to cope with virus crisis"

"It’s going to be hard on everyone this Fourth of July to drive by an empty Arlee Powwow grounds. The celebration committee decided on May 5 to cancel this year’s five-day event due to COVID-19 concerns, breaking a streak of 122 consecutive powwow summers.

Another COVID-19 consequence: When the Weavers attend grand-daughter Malaia’s high-school graduation Sunday afternoon, they’ll be wearing guest wristbands and sitting at the Arlee football field.

Peyton Lammerding will be there too. She’ll climb the steps to the stage on her brother’s flatbed that she, her mother and a couple of senior classmates decorated and deliver her valedictorian address.

School superintendent Jim Baldwin said the outdoor ceremony at 3 p.m. for 31 Arlee High seniors will take place rain or shine, unless there’s lightning. It’ll be a memorable, unusual exit for the Class of 2020.

Grants totaling some $25,000 to purchase food were secured from the Headwaters Foundation of Missoula [This is the foundation that resulted from the sale proceeds of Missoula Community Hospital.], the Lower Flathead Valley Community Foundation in Ronan and the Bozeman-based Gianforte Family Foundation."

https://missoulian.com/content/tncms/live/

5. "Wuhan Lab: Yes, We Had Sick Bats But They Didn’t Have COVID-19

The lab in the city of Wuhan, where the pandemic started, said the coronavirus bat strains they were researching were not the same as COVID-19."

"The director of the virology lab in Wuhan, China, which members of the Trump administration have accused of starting the coronavirus pandemic, says they were working on three live strains of bat coronavirus, but that none of them matched the COVID-19 strain, according to the Guardian. Wang Yani made the remarks on Chinese broadcaster CGTN on Sunday, saying that the COVID-19 strain only had a match rate of 79.8 percent to the bat viruses they were working on last winter. “Our institute first received the clinical sample of the unknown pneumonia on December 30 last year,” she said. “We didn’t have any knowledge before that, nor had we ever encountered, researched or kept the virus. In fact, like everyone else, we didn’t even know the virus existed. How could it have leaked from our lab when we never had it?”

The attempt by the laboratory to refute the claims is nevertheless likely to add more fuel to theories that the coronavirus pandemic came from a lab in Wuhan.

The scientific community has largely rejected theories that the virus came from a lab but the origins of the illness have become increasingly political as questions of accountability have begun to strain China’s diplomatic relations."

Read in The Daily Beast: https://apple.news/AEZ4_6MdlQeSsggoK_5fDHA

6. "The Fragile Existence of Sex Workers During the Pandemic

"With each passing day, the strip club in downtown Manhattan grew a little emptier. Fewer customers were drinking premium liquor and eating steaks in the plush banquettes; fewer patrons were sitting at the edge of the blue-lit stage; fewer clients were throwing dollar bills at the dancers performing on poles or in their laps. “It felt weird. There was an air of desperation, almost,” Nico, a dancer at the club, told me. As the city slowly woke up to the spread of the coronavirus this spring, so, too, did the dancers at clubs across town, whose work necessitates being physically close to strangers: talking to them, consoling them, and entertaining them. By late March, most of New York’s strip clubs had shut down—clubs in much of the rest of the country did, too—and, now, like hundreds of thousands of other workers, at the very least, in the sex industry, dancers are facing not only a drop in employment but also discrimination and stigma as they search for relief. Nico, who describes stripping as her economic “safety net,” said, “This line of work has the word ‘independent’ built into the job description. The club was not going to take care of us. We were left to fend for ourselves.”

The experience of sex workers, who find the most stable work as independent contractors, is no different. (Some strip clubs offer workers employee status, but they are in the minority; in Nevada, where prostitution is legal in some counties, workers at brothels are considered independent contractors.) Like undocumented workers who are barred from getting government benefits in exchange for their labor, and prison laborers who receive little consideration of their rights as workers, sex workers have few places to turn for help. Federal law bars the issuance of disaster loans and grant assistance to applicants who “present live performances of a prurient sexual nature” or who earn income “through the sale of products or services, or the presentation of any depictions or displays, of a prurient sexual nature.” Strippers, pornography performers, and owners of sex-toy and other adult-entertainment businesses are ineligible. Sex workers who make their money on the street and cannot access public assistance are also wary of trying to access social services, for fear of being arrested.

Of the dozen or so sex workers whom I talked to, some qualified for unemployment if they had paid taxes as independent contractors, and they were still trying to apply for it. Others did not qualify but had savings or family to lean on. And still others were doing whatever they could to piece together a living. Most were also hoping for the generosity of past clients and mutual aid from within their communities.

OnlyFans [never heard of it] began in 2016, before sex workers began to face the aftermath of the SESTA-FOSTA bills, legislation passed in Congress which targeted Web sites on which sex workers advertised, such as Craigslist and Backpage. The sites were penalized for hosting content that was allegedly related to sex trafficking; Backpage shut down, and Craigslist eliminated its personals section. Many online sex workers turned to posting on OnlyFans. The coronavirus lockdown has given the platform unexpected cachet, a cult appeal. Social-media influencers and minor celebrities have proudly announced to their followers that they have started explicit pages on the site. Beyoncé recently rapped about the platform: sexuality seemingly empowered and coolly monetized. The impulse to glamorize OnlyFans is, at its core, a sign of the times: capitalistic even as our economy has failed many workers, and seductive as the rituals of sex and dating have been upended. But, for most sex workers on OnlyFans, the platform not only takes twenty per cent of their income, it also requires an enormous amount of labor to attract and keep followers happy and simply make a profit.

As life under quarantine took hold in the United States and around the world, global consumption of Internet pornography rose. Porn Web sites reported increased traffic; sex workers with already-popular fan pages saw an increase in new subscribers. Receding into our homes, we looked for distraction and titillation and intimacy through our computers and phones. A few sex workers told me that their labor should be classified as essential—and they were only partly joking."

Read in The New Yorker: https://apple.news/A3D2jeQqcTf2rHRe0qHjGuA

7. "University of Michigan Head: What School Decides for Fall Will Likely Stick for Year

The Wolverines football team won’t have a season unless students are back on campus, says university president, an immunologist by training"

"The University of Michigan won’t have a football season this fall unless all students are able to be back on campus for classes. And, according to President Mark Schlissel, that isn’t a sure thing.

Dr. Schlissel, an immunologist by training, said he expects to make a call in the coming weeks on what the new school year will look like
for the prestigious public university, which has about 46,000 undergraduate and graduate students and a football program that is a perennial powerhouse.

Any decision we make for this coming fall is likely going to be the case for the whole academic year. What’s going to be different in January?” he said, noting public health concerns could be even worse then as flu season ramps up during the cold-weather months.

Dr. Schlissel’s measured approach strikes a different tone than the rosy predictions made by many of his peers, both within the Big Ten athletic conference and across the country at major research institutions. Auburn University President Jay Gogue, for instance, promised incoming freshmen that the fall semester would hold football, fraternities and extracurricular activities as usual.

Michigan also has one of the biggest athletic-department budgets in the country. It generated over $190.7 million in revenue in the 2019 fiscal year. About $83 million of that, or 43%, came from football through ticket sales, television rights disbursements, concessions and parking. The Wolverines’ television deal with the Big Ten and Big Ten Network nets the university more than $50 million annually."

https://www.wsj.com/articles/university-of-michigan-president-takes-measured-approach-on-reopening-11590321600?mod=hp_lead_pos48

8. "The Pandemic Prom: Tuxedos, Corsages and Dancing at Home Alone

A high-school tradition gets a coronavirus-era makeover on computer screens and in living rooms across the country"

"My School Dance, a ticketing portal for school events, created a new concept called Virtual Prom Live after the pandemic caused all 75 of its proms scheduled since March to be canceled, says operations manager Taylor Buckley. Virtual Prom Live streams a party atmosphere—providing a free platform where DJs play music and offer giveaways. Students from all over the country can chat on the screen and send emojis.

As the pandemic ruled out traditional dances, schools got creative. Officials at Strawberry Crest High School in Dover, Fla., recently, put on a drive-through prom parade in lieu of a school dance, which was canceled last month.

“We formed a snake through our parking lot, set up traffic cones and made stops for the kids,” says principal Christie Raburn. The lot was festooned with balloons in student-selected prom colors of black and gold. At six stations marked by traffic cones, cars stopped for snacks such as cups of custard or cupcakes. They had Covid-themed pictures taken, with rolls of toilet paper and Lysol. A DJ played music and Ms. Raburn let parents of the 489 seniors decide how many people to have in their car for the drive-through.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-pandemic-prom-tuxedos-corsages-and-dancing-at-home-alone-11590318001?mod=hp_lista_pos2
 
Today's MT virus report:

No new cases, 3 hospitalizations, and 22 pending cases.

Only 65 hospitalizations, out of 479 cases, for the entire virus crisis. So, about 1 out of 7.5 cases required hospitalization.
 
grizghost said:
Dutch Lane said:
Thanks for the shout out PR. No I have not seen or looked for that data either. Don’t know the answer to whether obesity and lack of health care coverage are related. Sweden’s obesity rate is like 20% one of the lowest rates for developed countries and the U.S has a rate of 36% which is THE highest rate for developed countries. One has universal healthcare the other doesn’t. So there’s that.

My view is the virus problem is not simply a result of coverage or lack of coverage. My view of the virus problem is the abject failure of the Trump administration to take steps early on to prepare by following well established WHO protocols, which are to identify, trace and quarantine. I believe that early strategic decisions on how to react to the crisis were driven by craven re-election politics rather then science. The metric that history will use to judge Trump will be comparisons to the successful responses of SARS, MERS, Ebola, n1h1 as compared to covid 19. History will not be kind. What is your view on why the US has the most infections and deaths? Do you think any mistakes were made by Trump and what should he have done differently? Thanks

….In my view... history will play little on what the Trump administration did but will mostly focus on the Chinese deception...
this will become clearer once countries like Taiwan can be heard...yes history will not be kind to China and how they deceived
and controlled the WHO and media..the world suffered..there's only one to blame here and its not Trump!
Ghost I agree with you China has a lot of explaining to do, but Trumps response to covid 19 does too, imo. How is WHO complicit with China or at fault in yours and Trumps opinion? Remember in the end it always comes down to the final score. Trump is losing badly on the covid 19 Scoreboard. Thanks and be careful out there.

Dutch
 
My understanding is we need to get to a 70-80 percent infection rate along with an effective vaccine to become post pandemic. This could happen within 18 months to 3 years in a perfect world. However this isn’t a perfect world. Recent polling found that 44% of republicans think that Bill Gates is using the pandemic to implant micro chips into them with a vaccine for covid 19, which leads many experts to worry that the anti vaxxers movement is making real progress which will result in a delay of the development of a herd immunity. Now if that isn’t a kick in the nuts. Why doesn’t the Trump administration stamp that shit out in his daily briefings in the interest of national public health? PR, Ghost,
arg! anyone?
 
Would this work in Missoula? Seems more appropiate than the milkman.

https://theknow.denverpost.com/2020/05/20/craft-alley-denver-crowlers-coronavirus/239213/
 
Dutch Lane said:
grizghost said:
….In my view... history will play little on what the Trump administration did but will mostly focus on the Chinese deception...
this will become clearer once countries like Taiwan can be heard...yes history will not be kind to China and how they deceived
and controlled the WHO and media..the world suffered..there's only one to blame here and its not Trump!
Ghost I agree with you China has a lot of explaining to do, but Trumps response to covid 19 does too, imo. How is WHO complicit with China or at fault in yours and Trumps opinion? Remember in the end it always comes down to the final score. Trump is losing badly on the covid 19 Scoreboard. Thanks and be careful out there.

Dutch

Dutch, you need to open your eyes. There are zillions of articles on this subject

"The World Health Organization must stop covering up China’s mistakes"

[From Market Watch, a respected publication.]

NEW DELHI, India — The COVID-19 pandemic, much like a major war, is a defining moment for the world — one that demands major reforms of international institutions. The World Health Organization, whose credibility has taken a severe beating of late, is a good place to start.

The WHO is the only institution that can provide global health leadership. But, at a time when such leadership is urgently needed, the body has failed miserably.

Before belatedly declaring the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, the WHO provided conflicting and confusing guidance. More damaging, it helped China, where the crisis originated, to cover its tracks.


It is now widely recognized that China’s political culture of secrecy helped to turn a local viral outbreak into the greatest global disaster of our time. Far from sounding the alarm when the new coronavirus was detected in Wuhan, the Communist Party of China (CPC) concealed the outbreak, allowing it to spread far and wide.

Months later, China continues to sow doubt about the pandemic’s origins and withhold potentially life-saving data.

The WHO has been complicit in this deception. Instead of attempting independently to verify Chinese claims, the WHO took them at face value — and disseminated them to the world.

In mid-January, the body tweeted that investigations by Chinese authorities had found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus. Taiwan’s Dec. 31 warning that such transmission was likely happening in Wuhan was ignored by the WHO, even though the information had been enough to convince the Taiwanese authorities — which may have better intelligence on China than anyone else — to institute preventive measures at home before any other country, including China.

The WHO’s persistent publicizing of China’s narrative lulled other countries into a dangerous complacency, delaying their responses by weeks.

In fact, the WHO actively discouraged action. On Jan. 10, with Wuhan gripped by the outbreak, the WHO said that it did “not recommend any specific health measures for travelers to and from Wuhan,” adding that “entry screening offers little benefit.” It also advised “against the application of any travel or trade restrictions on China.”

Even after China’s most famous pulmonologist, Zhong Nanshan, confirmed human-to-human transmission on Jan. 20, the WHO continued to undermine effective responses by downplaying the risks of asymptomatic transmission and discouraging widespread testing.

Meanwhile, China was hoarding personal protective equipment — scaling back exports of Chinese-made PPE and other medical gear and importing the rest of the world’s supply. In the final week of January, the country imported 56 million respirators and masks, according to official data.

By the time the WHO finally labeled the epidemic a public-health emergency on Jan. 30, travelers from China had carried COVID-19 to far-flung corners of the world, including Australia, Brazil, France, and Germany. Yet, when Australia, India, Indonesia, Italy, and the U.S. imposed restrictions on travel from China, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus roundly criticized the actions, arguing that they would increase “fear and stigma, with little public-health benefit.”

At the same time, Tedros extolled Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “very rare leadership” and China’s “transparency.” The bias has been so pronounced that Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso recently noted that, for many, the WHO is looking more like the “CHO” — the Chinese Health Organization.

Yet, despite the WHO’s repeated deference to China, the authorities there did not allow a WHO team to visit until mid-February. Three of the team’s 12 members were allowed to visit Wuhan, but no one was granted access to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the high-containment laboratory from which a natural coronavirus derived from bats is rumored to have escaped.

In fact, a study conducted at the South China University of Technology in Guangzhou with support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China concluded in February that “the killer coronavirus probably originated from a laboratory in Wuhan” working on bat coronaviruses.

China did not always enjoy deferential treatment from the WHO. When the first 21st-century pandemic — severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) — emerged from China in 2002, the agency publicly rebuked the Chinese authorities for concealing vital information in what proved to be a costly cover-up.

Why has the WHO changed its tune? The answer is not money: China remains a relatively small contributor to the WHO’s $6 billion budget. The issue is the WHO’s leadership.

Tedros, who became the agency’s first non-physician chief in 2017 with China’s support, was accused of covering up three cholera outbreaks while serving as Ethiopia’s health minister. Nonetheless, few would have imagined that, as WHO chief, the microbiologist and malaria researcher would be complicit in China’s deadly deception.

Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies at the New Delhi-based Center for Policy Research and fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin, is the author of nine books, including “Asian Juggernaut, “Water: Asia’s New Battleground,” and “Water, Peace, and War: Confronting the Global Water Crisis.”

"The World Health Organization must stop covering up China’s mistakes"

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-who-has-a-big-china-problem-2020-04-22
 
Dutch:

Have you figured out yet that the reason that more virus spread from Europe to the East Coast and other places, than from Wuhan and China to the West Coast, was because Trump closed off air traffic for non-Americans from China almost 2 weeks before air traffic from Europe was closed. See how that works. Close off traffic from China and not as much virus comes from China.

Also, have you figured out that closing air traffic from Europe has now kept millions of non-Americans from traveling to the US from Europe, so causing X thousand Americans to come home sooner from Europe isn't a big deal, and certainly not a big deal in comparison. Especially, when all of those Americans could have come home anytime, and most probably would have.
 
PlayerRep said:
Dutch Lane said:
Ghost I agree with you China has a lot of explaining to do, but Trumps response to covid 19 does too, imo. How is WHO complicit with China or at fault in yours and Trumps opinion? Remember in the end it always comes down to the final score. Trump is losing badly on the covid 19 Scoreboard. Thanks and be careful out there.

Dutch

Dutch, you need to open your eyes. There are zillions of articles on this subject

"The World Health Organization must stop covering up China’s mistakes"

[From Market Watch, a respected publication.]

NEW DELHI, India — The COVID-19 pandemic, much like a major war, is a defining moment for the world — one that demands major reforms of international institutions. The World Health Organization, whose credibility has taken a severe beating of late, is a good place to start.

The WHO is the only institution that can provide global health leadership. But, at a time when such leadership is urgently needed, the body has failed miserably.

Before belatedly declaring the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, the WHO provided conflicting and confusing guidance. More damaging, it helped China, where the crisis originated, to cover its tracks.


It is now widely recognized that China’s political culture of secrecy helped to turn a local viral outbreak into the greatest global disaster of our time. Far from sounding the alarm when the new coronavirus was detected in Wuhan, the Communist Party of China (CPC) concealed the outbreak, allowing it to spread far and wide.

Months later, China continues to sow doubt about the pandemic’s origins and withhold potentially life-saving data.

The WHO has been complicit in this deception. Instead of attempting independently to verify Chinese claims, the WHO took them at face value — and disseminated them to the world.

In mid-January, the body tweeted that investigations by Chinese authorities had found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus. Taiwan’s Dec. 31 warning that such transmission was likely happening in Wuhan was ignored by the WHO, even though the information had been enough to convince the Taiwanese authorities — which may have better intelligence on China than anyone else — to institute preventive measures at home before any other country, including China.

The WHO’s persistent publicizing of China’s narrative lulled other countries into a dangerous complacency, delaying their responses by weeks.

In fact, the WHO actively discouraged action. On Jan. 10, with Wuhan gripped by the outbreak, the WHO said that it did “not recommend any specific health measures for travelers to and from Wuhan,” adding that “entry screening offers little benefit.” It also advised “against the application of any travel or trade restrictions on China.”

Even after China’s most famous pulmonologist, Zhong Nanshan, confirmed human-to-human transmission on Jan. 20, the WHO continued to undermine effective responses by downplaying the risks of asymptomatic transmission and discouraging widespread testing.

Meanwhile, China was hoarding personal protective equipment — scaling back exports of Chinese-made PPE and other medical gear and importing the rest of the world’s supply. In the final week of January, the country imported 56 million respirators and masks, according to official data.

By the time the WHO finally labeled the epidemic a public-health emergency on Jan. 30, travelers from China had carried COVID-19 to far-flung corners of the world, including Australia, Brazil, France, and Germany. Yet, when Australia, India, Indonesia, Italy, and the U.S. imposed restrictions on travel from China, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus roundly criticized the actions, arguing that they would increase “fear and stigma, with little public-health benefit.”

At the same time, Tedros extolled Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “very rare leadership” and China’s “transparency.” The bias has been so pronounced that Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso recently noted that, for many, the WHO is looking more like the “CHO” — the Chinese Health Organization.

Yet, despite the WHO’s repeated deference to China, the authorities there did not allow a WHO team to visit until mid-February. Three of the team’s 12 members were allowed to visit Wuhan, but no one was granted access to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the high-containment laboratory from which a natural coronavirus derived from bats is rumored to have escaped.

In fact, a study conducted at the South China University of Technology in Guangzhou with support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China concluded in February that “the killer coronavirus probably originated from a laboratory in Wuhan” working on bat coronaviruses.

China did not always enjoy deferential treatment from the WHO. When the first 21st-century pandemic — severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) — emerged from China in 2002, the agency publicly rebuked the Chinese authorities for concealing vital information in what proved to be a costly cover-up.

Why has the WHO changed its tune? The answer is not money: China remains a relatively small contributor to the WHO’s $6 billion budget. The issue is the WHO’s leadership.

Tedros, who became the agency’s first non-physician chief in 2017 with China’s support, was accused of covering up three cholera outbreaks while serving as Ethiopia’s health minister. Nonetheless, few would have imagined that, as WHO chief, the microbiologist and malaria researcher would be complicit in China’s deadly deception.

Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies at the New Delhi-based Center for Policy Research and fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin, is the author of nine books, including “Asian Juggernaut, “Water: Asia’s New Battleground,” and “Water, Peace, and War: Confronting the Global Water Crisis.”

"The World Health Organization must stop covering up China’s mistakes"

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-who-has-a-big-china-problem-2020-04-22
PR you really need to get your head out of your ass and try and do some critical thinking and analysis for yourself rather then parrot Trumps weak deflections. You do know that India and China are mortal enemies right and they both spew propaganda trashing the other?
 
Dutch Lane said:
PlayerRep said:
Dutch, you need to open your eyes. There are zillions of articles on this subject

"The World Health Organization must stop covering up China’s mistakes"

[From Market Watch, a respected publication.]

NEW DELHI, India — The COVID-19 pandemic, much like a major war, is a defining moment for the world — one that demands major reforms of international institutions. The World Health Organization, whose credibility has taken a severe beating of late, is a good place to start.

The WHO is the only institution that can provide global health leadership. But, at a time when such leadership is urgently needed, the body has failed miserably.

Before belatedly declaring the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, the WHO provided conflicting and confusing guidance. More damaging, it helped China, where the crisis originated, to cover its tracks.


It is now widely recognized that China’s political culture of secrecy helped to turn a local viral outbreak into the greatest global disaster of our time. Far from sounding the alarm when the new coronavirus was detected in Wuhan, the Communist Party of China (CPC) concealed the outbreak, allowing it to spread far and wide.

Months later, China continues to sow doubt about the pandemic’s origins and withhold potentially life-saving data.

The WHO has been complicit in this deception. Instead of attempting independently to verify Chinese claims, the WHO took them at face value — and disseminated them to the world.

In mid-January, the body tweeted that investigations by Chinese authorities had found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus. Taiwan’s Dec. 31 warning that such transmission was likely happening in Wuhan was ignored by the WHO, even though the information had been enough to convince the Taiwanese authorities — which may have better intelligence on China than anyone else — to institute preventive measures at home before any other country, including China.

The WHO’s persistent publicizing of China’s narrative lulled other countries into a dangerous complacency, delaying their responses by weeks.

In fact, the WHO actively discouraged action. On Jan. 10, with Wuhan gripped by the outbreak, the WHO said that it did “not recommend any specific health measures for travelers to and from Wuhan,” adding that “entry screening offers little benefit.” It also advised “against the application of any travel or trade restrictions on China.”

Even after China’s most famous pulmonologist, Zhong Nanshan, confirmed human-to-human transmission on Jan. 20, the WHO continued to undermine effective responses by downplaying the risks of asymptomatic transmission and discouraging widespread testing.

Meanwhile, China was hoarding personal protective equipment — scaling back exports of Chinese-made PPE and other medical gear and importing the rest of the world’s supply. In the final week of January, the country imported 56 million respirators and masks, according to official data.

By the time the WHO finally labeled the epidemic a public-health emergency on Jan. 30, travelers from China had carried COVID-19 to far-flung corners of the world, including Australia, Brazil, France, and Germany. Yet, when Australia, India, Indonesia, Italy, and the U.S. imposed restrictions on travel from China, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus roundly criticized the actions, arguing that they would increase “fear and stigma, with little public-health benefit.”

At the same time, Tedros extolled Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “very rare leadership” and China’s “transparency.” The bias has been so pronounced that Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso recently noted that, for many, the WHO is looking more like the “CHO” — the Chinese Health Organization.

Yet, despite the WHO’s repeated deference to China, the authorities there did not allow a WHO team to visit until mid-February. Three of the team’s 12 members were allowed to visit Wuhan, but no one was granted access to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the high-containment laboratory from which a natural coronavirus derived from bats is rumored to have escaped.

In fact, a study conducted at the South China University of Technology in Guangzhou with support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China concluded in February that “the killer coronavirus probably originated from a laboratory in Wuhan” working on bat coronaviruses.

China did not always enjoy deferential treatment from the WHO. When the first 21st-century pandemic — severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) — emerged from China in 2002, the agency publicly rebuked the Chinese authorities for concealing vital information in what proved to be a costly cover-up.

Why has the WHO changed its tune? The answer is not money: China remains a relatively small contributor to the WHO’s $6 billion budget. The issue is the WHO’s leadership.

Tedros, who became the agency’s first non-physician chief in 2017 with China’s support, was accused of covering up three cholera outbreaks while serving as Ethiopia’s health minister. Nonetheless, few would have imagined that, as WHO chief, the microbiologist and malaria researcher would be complicit in China’s deadly deception.

Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies at the New Delhi-based Center for Policy Research and fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin, is the author of nine books, including “Asian Juggernaut, “Water: Asia’s New Battleground,” and “Water, Peace, and War: Confronting the Global Water Crisis.”

"The World Health Organization must stop covering up China’s mistakes"

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-who-has-a-big-china-problem-2020-04-22
PR you really need to get your head out of your ass and try and do some critical thinking and analysis for yourself rather then parrot Trumps weak deflections. You do know that India and China are mortal enemies right and they both spew propaganda trashing the other?

Most of the world is saying the same thing. Not just India. Try using Google. Scores of articles. Try reciting anything in the article. I don’t pay much attention to Trump. Independent thinker here. See if you can get any posters to agree with you on this.

You are the one with your head up your ass. You have Trump Derangement Syndrome so bad that you are blind.

Plus, your views on border closings were wrong and really a total joke.
 
Dutch Lane said:
PlayerRep said:
Dutch, you need to open your eyes. There are zillions of articles on this subject

"The World Health Organization must stop covering up China’s mistakes"

[From Market Watch, a respected publication.]

NEW DELHI, India — The COVID-19 pandemic, much like a major war, is a defining moment for the world — one that demands major reforms of international institutions. The World Health Organization, whose credibility has taken a severe beating of late, is a good place to start.

The WHO is the only institution that can provide global health leadership. But, at a time when such leadership is urgently needed, the body has failed miserably.

Before belatedly declaring the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, the WHO provided conflicting and confusing guidance. More damaging, it helped China, where the crisis originated, to cover its tracks.


It is now widely recognized that China’s political culture of secrecy helped to turn a local viral outbreak into the greatest global disaster of our time. Far from sounding the alarm when the new coronavirus was detected in Wuhan, the Communist Party of China (CPC) concealed the outbreak, allowing it to spread far and wide.

Months later, China continues to sow doubt about the pandemic’s origins and withhold potentially life-saving data.

The WHO has been complicit in this deception. Instead of attempting independently to verify Chinese claims, the WHO took them at face value — and disseminated them to the world.

In mid-January, the body tweeted that investigations by Chinese authorities had found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus. Taiwan’s Dec. 31 warning that such transmission was likely happening in Wuhan was ignored by the WHO, even though the information had been enough to convince the Taiwanese authorities — which may have better intelligence on China than anyone else — to institute preventive measures at home before any other country, including China.

The WHO’s persistent publicizing of China’s narrative lulled other countries into a dangerous complacency, delaying their responses by weeks.

In fact, the WHO actively discouraged action. On Jan. 10, with Wuhan gripped by the outbreak, the WHO said that it did “not recommend any specific health measures for travelers to and from Wuhan,” adding that “entry screening offers little benefit.” It also advised “against the application of any travel or trade restrictions on China.”

Even after China’s most famous pulmonologist, Zhong Nanshan, confirmed human-to-human transmission on Jan. 20, the WHO continued to undermine effective responses by downplaying the risks of asymptomatic transmission and discouraging widespread testing.

Meanwhile, China was hoarding personal protective equipment — scaling back exports of Chinese-made PPE and other medical gear and importing the rest of the world’s supply. In the final week of January, the country imported 56 million respirators and masks, according to official data.

By the time the WHO finally labeled the epidemic a public-health emergency on Jan. 30, travelers from China had carried COVID-19 to far-flung corners of the world, including Australia, Brazil, France, and Germany. Yet, when Australia, India, Indonesia, Italy, and the U.S. imposed restrictions on travel from China, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus roundly criticized the actions, arguing that they would increase “fear and stigma, with little public-health benefit.”

At the same time, Tedros extolled Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “very rare leadership” and China’s “transparency.” The bias has been so pronounced that Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso recently noted that, for many, the WHO is looking more like the “CHO” — the Chinese Health Organization.

Yet, despite the WHO’s repeated deference to China, the authorities there did not allow a WHO team to visit until mid-February. Three of the team’s 12 members were allowed to visit Wuhan, but no one was granted access to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the high-containment laboratory from which a natural coronavirus derived from bats is rumored to have escaped.

In fact, a study conducted at the South China University of Technology in Guangzhou with support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China concluded in February that “the killer coronavirus probably originated from a laboratory in Wuhan” working on bat coronaviruses.

China did not always enjoy deferential treatment from the WHO. When the first 21st-century pandemic — severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) — emerged from China in 2002, the agency publicly rebuked the Chinese authorities for concealing vital information in what proved to be a costly cover-up.

Why has the WHO changed its tune? The answer is not money: China remains a relatively small contributor to the WHO’s $6 billion budget. The issue is the WHO’s leadership.

Tedros, who became the agency’s first non-physician chief in 2017 with China’s support, was accused of covering up three cholera outbreaks while serving as Ethiopia’s health minister. Nonetheless, few would have imagined that, as WHO chief, the microbiologist and malaria researcher would be complicit in China’s deadly deception.

Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies at the New Delhi-based Center for Policy Research and fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin, is the author of nine books, including “Asian Juggernaut, “Water: Asia’s New Battleground,” and “Water, Peace, and War: Confronting the Global Water Crisis.”

"The World Health Organization must stop covering up China’s mistakes"

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-who-has-a-big-china-problem-2020-04-22
PR you really need to get your head out of your ass and try and do some critical thinking and analysis for yourself rather then parrot Trumps weak deflections. You do know that India and China are mortal enemies right and they both spew propaganda trashing the other?

similar articles abound, from other countries.
 
closer to home, argh! tried out a rapid (8 - 10 min) covid test in an emergency room on sunday morning, prior to emergency surgery. said test proved negative, despite argh!'s slightly raised temperature, which was deemed to be due to a his contradictory nature, and aggressive stance towards having to have his brain probed twice by long q-tips.
 
partially due to the coronavirus screw-up, looks like the ccp is going to accept it is going to be shunned by a considerable part of the rest of the world, develop a domestic-market based economy. met a nurse from taiwan soon after i had my brain probed with q-tips again on sunday, and she was livid about what the ccp has done, and wants them the hell out of her country.

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3085969/chinas-economic-strategy-shift-shows-xi-jinping-preparing
 
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