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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| The giant institution vs the virus |
| 2020-01-25 |
| [PJ] - Without much fanfare one of the most dramatic changes in modern history occurred. Britain left the European Union. Boris Johnson tweeted, "the Withdrawal Agreement has received Royal Assent and is now law. We will leave the EU on January 31st". A similar resolution has eluded America. Yet while the US Senate is preparing to begin what will probably be a failed impeachment trial of Donald Trump, the old global world continues to be shaken by unforeseen developments. China's lunar new year -- its most festive occasion -- was ruined by the outbreak of a new coronavirus, 2019-nCoV. A quarantine zone has encloses more than 10 cities and a population the size of Canada. But its impact was global. Canada already teetering on the edge of an economic slowdown "would face a major test if the disease spreads into the North American country, economists said." Skynews described how a virus that may have started in a local wild animal fresh meat market in central China's Wuhan spread around the world. ...It was an example of 'No Borders' but not in a good way. The pathogen got on a plane abetted by a delay in acknowledgement. "The Chinese government failed to act quickly enough to curb the spread of the Wuhan virus, risking further outbreaks," Guan Yi, the Director of the State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Hong Kong told the Asia Times. The Chinese government's own data, hosted on Wikipedia, confirms this. It shows how at the beginning the numbers were small, the infection still all in one place. After a week it blew up. This illustrates how giant totalitarian governments like China's can be at a disadvantage in dealing with emergent events. What it gains in ruthless response cannot always make up for lost response time caused by the official denial of embarrassing facts. That explains why establishments are often surprised by events like Brexit and Hillary Clinton's shock loss. They are unexpected because they were not in the 5 year plan. They arrive like a bolt from the blue. When the unexpected happens the official Narrative often increases the reaction time of the system. While events are slow moving there may be no penalty but in the fast moving global world threats like the coronavirus may hit the public even before institutions admit it exists. The old model of globalization has paradoxically both speeded up the rate at which events occur and slowed the rate at which behemoth transnational institutions can respond. ...Even the mighty Chinese state has conceded it has to surrender some control to achieve results. The Washington Post reports on Beijing's new openness:
The genome was posted on a Friday night on an open-access repository for genetic information. By Saturday morning, Andrew Mesecar, a professor in cancer structural biology at Purdue University, had redirected his laboratory to start analyzing the DNA sequence, which bore a striking resemblance to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the 2002 viral outbreak that sickened more than 8,000 people and killed nearly 800. Scientists at the federal Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana asked a company to turn the information from a string of letters on a computer screen into actual DNA they could study in lab dishes. At unprecedented speed, scientists are starting experiments, sharing data and revealing the secrets of the pathogen ‐ a race that is made possible by new scientific tools and cultural norms in the face of a public health emergency. "The pace is unmatched," said Karla Satchell, a professor of microbiology-immunology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "This is really new. Lots of people [in science] still try to hide what they’re doing, don’t want to talk about what they’re doing, and everybody out there is like: This is the case where we don’t worry about egos, we don’t worry about who’s first, we just care about solving the problem. The information flow has been really fast." The obvious question is how the Chinese had the complete DNA sequence in 10 days - please spare me the story of a virus jumping from snakes to bats to humans. |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #10 So, how does a rich engineer Cut loose in his bar without fear? An impregnable suit! "He'll do anything cute." "Looky here!" "Hold my beer." A John Deere. |
| Posted by: Ulomons Grundy7910 2020-01-25 23:15 |
| #9 Coronavirus cure: HIV drug could STOP deadly disease in major breakthrough - REVEALED U.K. Daily Express |
| Posted by: Anomalous Sources 2020-01-25 20:55 |
| #8 ^ I've heard of beer googles but welder's goggles must be interesting. |
| Posted by: Matt 2020-01-25 12:47 |
| #7 I wear welder's gloves at the local bar. The helmet makes it hard to drink, tho'.... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2020-01-25 12:17 |
| #6 A nice thought, TW. Long gloves like Holly Golightly's or Jackie Kennedy's would be exquisite. |
| Posted by: Lex 2020-01-25 11:58 |
| #5 it will be like 1917-18. Washing your hands with soap every two hours and avoiding touching your T-zone (eyes, nose, mouth) will do much to keep you from getting infected — with anything. I keep waiting for germophobic fashionistas to bring back gloves as a necessary fashion accessory... |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2020-01-25 11:53 |
| #4 All this action with the virus is moving very fast. My PhD wife said it will be like 1917-18. I am doubtful but who knows? |
| Posted by: Dino McCoy5459 2020-01-25 11:02 |
| #3 I joked to my buddy Patrick (both his parents were born in Hong Kong; he was born in MA and we grew up in Manchester NH) about going to the local Asian food market - 'looks like I'm not going there for a few months.' He just nodded. |
| Posted by: Raj 2020-01-25 09:17 |
| #2 www.gov.uk - Wuhan novel coronavirus: information for the public. Diagnosis and analysis Based on current evidence, Wuhan novel coronavirus presents with flu-like symptoms including a fever, a cough, or difficulty breathing. The current evidence is that most cases appear to be mild. Those who have died in Wuhan appear to have had pre-existing health conditions. The UK is now one of the first countries outside China to have a prototype specific laboratory test for this new disease. Healthcare professionals who are contacted by a patient with symptoms following travel to Wuhan have been advised to submit samples to PHE for testing. Individuals should be treated in isolation |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-01-25 07:25 |
| #1 Probably just a coincidence, lot of coincidences going around you know. Snakes and bats? Anyone check the cages ? Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory The National Biosafety Laboratory, Wuhan (NBL4) has 2 cellular biosafety labs, 1 small-sized animal lab, 1 medium-sized animal lab, and 1 culture (virus) collection & use lab. Meanwhile, it is equipped with 4 double door leaf sterilizers, 1 sewage treatment unit, 14 ventilation and air conditioning systems as well as high efficiency filtration systems, 4 chemical showers, and 1 life support system to guarantee its safe operation. It possesses complete level 4 biosafety protection facilities, management and personnel system, and has the comprehensive abilities to conduct level 4 detection, isolation and identification, pathogenic characteristic analysis, research on infection and pathogenic mechanisms, and the verification of antiviral drugs and vaccines on harmful virus, etc. It has been approved by the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China to conduct pathogenic activities |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-01-25 07:06 |