There is certain risk involved, no doubt. But I am personally of the opinion that I would rather have it domestically done than outsourced (in this case to China). We have rigorous protocols and we don’t sell our lab animals for food . I probably would not have been incredibly committed one way or the other before the pandemic.
Gain of function research is important, but much like stem cell research it involves sticky ethics, and it also rides a line close to what might be considered biological weapons research which is prohibited. Which, incidentally, I’d rather have here than not. As much as I distrust our intel services with domestic surveillance and other civil liberty infringing work I would much rather have US in control of said borderline research than a country that does not share anything freely… Even to those they “partner” with. Wheels within wheels so to speak.
The idea behind gain of function research - for non weapon use anyway - is to understand what areas of the genetic code are critical for dangerous mutation and what are not. This is meant to give us a head start on identifying ways to treat the virus, or disable it. Along with the genetics it’s also to understand how the 3D shape of the virus or its proteins determines function and ability to bind to receptors in the body. These are things we can try to model with supercomputers but we can’t confirm our hypotheses unless we see it actually work out the way we THINK it is going to. We do similar things with cancer cells and in other areas of biochemistry (various animal models come to mind for examining the effects of knocking out a gene, etc).
It’s interesting to note that our original work on nuclear weapons spawned the seeds that became most of the modern conveniences we take for granted. Gain of function research for benign purposes has the potential to do something similar.
Yeah, there are the two key concerns - both inadvertently causing a pandemic and also facilitating prohibited bio or chemical weapons research. It’s a difficult line to walk in is anything but black and white. For instance a lot of nuclear research has clear weapons implications, but being that we’ve already developed the ability to kill the globe 50 times over with the number of warheads we have now… Well nobody really cares about that and it’s used mostly for energy purposes.
It’s been clear COVID was a man-modified virus from the get-go. COVID was incredibly communicable among humans from day 1. That doesn’t happen naturally when a virus jumps from one species to another. It takes time for the virus to adapt to the new host species. The virus most likely got out due to half-ass’d disposal protocols on the part of the Chinese. The Biden administration knows this, just like the Trump administration knew it. I expect the Biden response to be the same as the Trump response - rhetoric with no action.
You don’t need China money or China apologies when you’ve Made Action Movies Great Again. That was part of Trump’s second term agenda but the most voted-for politician in American history is making sure we produce more shitty movies that cater to the CCP.
No doubt I’m going to have criticisms of Biden foreign policy in the next 4 years, but it is really nice to see the change in vibe. No matter how powerful the US is, it can’t go it alone in geopolitics.
I believe the original Politico piece started with “The heavens opened up, a single ray of sunshine peaked through and the chosen one rode down to the meet the other G-7 members who were trembling with excitement, anticipation and awe” but ended with this after a few external reviews
Lol! I’d like to see a news article start out that way just once, give a strong LOTR intro.
There’s no doubt it’s a rosy article. One might even say friendly. But I think there is a kernel of truth as well - one of the trends I’ve noticed since 2016 has been Macron, Merkel and others trying to take EU or even global leadership amid a disinterested Trump admin. I think they allude to this when they say that Merkel and others thought that Biden would take up their agenda, when he wants them to take up the US’s.
Frankly - speaking very strictly from a hard “U-S-A #1 forever” fanboy perspective - the worst thing Trump did with FP was basically step back and let the other leaders step up to begin trying to drive agendas without us. I compare it - and please loppar don’t criticize me too roundly for the obviously poor analogy - to a monarch ceding prominence to their nobles where realm politics are concerned. (Yes, I have been back into reading history lately, specifically British).
A certain amount of power can be gained by playing the capricious Machiavellian Prince card, but that’s not really what Trump succeeded at IMHO even if it was his goal. Instead I see the effect as being an abdication, and I’ve said so in past years. I obviously disagree with this but want to point out it is on independent grounds to my general never Trump attitude.
So, I found the article interesting even if overly flattering. Also I do believe there is a large amount of truth to the idea that European leaders are actually relieved they don’t have to guess Trump’s mood and behavior.
Well, first I never called for censorship on the part of posters. I did call one a conspiracy theorist. However the context of that was NOT an accidental lab leak accusation but a “genetic engineering deliberate supervillain release” type accusation. The two are different IMO. I was openly skeptical of a lab leak in a level 4 containment lab (and I believe I said as much) but that’s not the same thing as was being said… At least as I understood it. And the poster in question has a history of buying into conspiracies.
I think everything credible should be investigated. And as much as it might pain some people I do change my opinion based on evidence lol.
I’m not friendly to the left at all. But I don’t think I’d call Biden a puppet. I understand his values tend to align with theirs more than Trump’s, but I also think there’s a difference between him being able to discuss/debate/compromise and Trump throwing fits. I never thought this was an effective way of getting things done on a global scale. Trump lacks the ability for subtlety…which is required at for geopolitics. You can make up a certain amount in unpredictability but not everything.
I believe he suffered from insecurity when dealing with foreign leaders. He knew he was out of his depth and couldn’t hold up his end of a conversation with them. Angela Merkel, for example, has a doctorate in chemistry I believe. Macron is also, by our politicians’ standards, over educated. I would love to see him talk about economics with AOC just to see how long it would take before his head exploded.
Macron and Merkel are very strong leaders. They also do not have children, which makes them a bit dangerous. Always worry about powerful politicians without children, because they do not care much about the future.
In comparison Biden is like the old grandpa who does not hear and nobody engages with him talking, or laughs when he hears wrongly and reaponds comically.
This is something a political extremist would say… Not trying to defame your character, however this statement showcases extreme and perhaps nonsensical bias. From the polls I’ve seen, less than one third of democrats support “defunding the police”, the statistical majority appear to be vehemently opposed to the agenda.
You get fuckwits like Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who spout constant bullshit just as much of what Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks of equates to a cascade of verbal diarrhoea. If I were to state the right are a cancer based upon the likes of her I’d be pushing a biased and dogmatic fairytale of an agenda.
As to supporting antifa, I’d wager those who affiliate with antifa are a stark, stark minority. Just because you happen to consistently be up against the likes of the far left as a byproduct of your position of employment doesn’t equate to the entirety of the left wing spectrum consisting of the worst dregs of society. There are “left stances” that aren’t all that bad. Aggressive Climate change policy and universal healthcare so Brad doesn’t have to pay 50$ for insulin to treat his diabetes shine out to me in particular. Universal healthcare in Aus, many Nordic countries, Germany and the UK works very well, I can’t for the life of me fathom why the USA hasn’t adopted this policy yet.
If I were to work as a bartender I’d probably have a disproportionate exposure to alcoholism that wouldn’t be entirely reflective of greater society.
. I probably would not have been incredibly committed one way or the other before the pandemic.
