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#161 Nparker

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Posted 25 February 2023 - 02:08 PM

You're just making the point for masks and distancing to curtail covid transmission...


The greatest long-term effect from COVID: permanent inability to detect sarcasm/humour.
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#162 todd

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Posted 25 February 2023 - 02:20 PM

Whatever happened to MonkeyPox?

I’m not surprised with the 8K televisions and modern whatnots. Hopefully the same will happen with the other avalanches of STIs this country is facing

#163 Matt R.

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Posted 25 February 2023 - 05:43 PM

You're just making the point for masks and distancing to curtail covid transmission...


Plus, who doesn’t like a nice cock cage.

#164 sebberry

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Posted 25 February 2023 - 05:50 PM

Plus, who doesn’t like a nice cock cage.

 

A bit too claustrophobic for some, apparently...

 

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#165 Matt R.

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Posted 26 February 2023 - 10:26 AM

WSJ reporting today that the US DOE now believes that it's likely Covid escaped that lab in Wuhan. 



#166 sebberry

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Posted 26 February 2023 - 01:43 PM

WSJ reporting today that the US DOE now believes that it's likely Covid escaped that lab in Wuhan. 

 

uh huh...

 

https://www.nbcnews....-chin-rcna72378

 


WASHINGTON — The Energy Department concluded with "low confidence" that the Covid-19 pandemic "likely" originated from a laboratory leak in Wuhan, China, according to a classified report delivered to key lawmakers on the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, two sources with direct knowledge told NBC News.

Key lawmakers on the intelligence committees were briefed last month by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence about the classified report, the sources said.

 

The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.

However, one source cautioned to NBC News that the DOE's conclusion was not being viewed as hugely significant among the intelligence community due to interagency disagreements about Covid’s origins.


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#167 Matt R.

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Posted 26 February 2023 - 01:52 PM

yeah, low confidence but confidence.  How do we interpret that.



#168 Mike K.

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Posted 26 February 2023 - 03:05 PM

We interpret that as the original information we heard back in 2020 was legit.

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#169 todd

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Posted 26 February 2023 - 03:13 PM

One thing is for sure, a disease would never ever start in America


2020: “The Lost Month: How a Failure to Test Blinded the U.S. to Covid-19”: https://www.nytimes....s-pandemic.html

Edited by todd, 26 February 2023 - 03:28 PM.


#170 amor de cosmos

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Posted 03 March 2023 - 08:21 AM

A judge in Washington issued an arrest warrant Thursday for a Tacoma woman who has refused to have her active, contagious case of tuberculosis treated for over a year, violating numerous court orders. The judge also upheld an earlier order to have her jailed, where she can be  tested and treated in isolation.

On Thursday, the woman attended the 17th court hearing on the matter and once again refused a court order to isolate or comply with testing and treatment—an order that originally dates back to January 19, 2022. Pierce County Superior Court Judge Philip Sorensen rejected her objections to being treated and upheld a finding of contempt. Though it remains unclear what her objections are, the woman's lawyer suggested it may be a problem with understanding, according to The News Tribune. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, however, argued that she “knowingly, willfully, and contemptuously violated this court’s orders,” noting the lengthy process and numerous proceedings and discussions in which interpreters, translated documents, and speakers of her native language were made available.
 
Sorenson ordered a civil warrant for her arrest, to be enforced on or after March 3, and again ordered her to jail to undergo involuntary testing and treatment until health officials deem it safe to release her. The order also authorized the Pierce County Jail to place her in a facility equipped to handle her isolation, testing, and treatment.
 
In a statement emailed to Ars and posted in an online blog, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department noted that the woman "is still refusing to isolate and get the treatment she needs to treat her tuberculosis. … We will continue to work through the court and to pursue all our options to protect the community and persuade the patient to voluntarily seek the life-saving treatment she needs."

https://arstechnica....or-over-a-year/



#171 Ismo07

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Posted 03 March 2023 - 08:54 AM

We interpret that as the original information we heard back in 2020 was legit.

 

Why would the DOE be investigating and reporting on any virus?  Am I missing something?  P.S. Ah I guess Biden has asked everyone to look investigate cause he wants to get to the bottom of it.  But how does the DOE have more info than others.

 

U.S. Department of Energy

The Department of Energy manages the United States' nuclear infrastructure and administers the country's energy policy. The Department of Energy also funds scientific research in the field.


Edited by Ismo07, 03 March 2023 - 09:08 AM.

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#172 amor de cosmos

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Posted 04 March 2023 - 08:32 AM

Estimates of the extent of public investment for COVID-19 vaccines vary widely. So, a team of U.S. researchers at the Program on Regulation, Therapeutics, and Law (PORTAL) at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, set out to assess how much the U.S. government invested in research that directly led to the development of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.

They identified public funding from January 1985 to March 2022 through three primary data sources—the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool Expenditures and Results (RePORTER), the Department of Defense (DoD) Contracts database, and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) Medical Countermeasures Portfolio.

NIH-funded grants were scored as directly, indirectly, or not likely related to four key innovations underlying mRNA COVID-19 vaccines—lipid nanoparticle, mRNA synthesis or modification, prefusion spike protein structure, and mRNA vaccine biotechnology—and were grouped into pre-pandemic (1985–2019) vs. pandemic (2020–March 31, 2022).

The researchers identified 34 NIH-funded research grants that were directly related to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. These grants combined with other identified U.S. government grants and contracts totaled $31.9 billion, of which $337 million was invested pre-pandemic.

*snip*

In a linked editorial, Victor Roy at Yale School of Medicine agrees that the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have been a remarkable achievement.

However, he says their development "also serves as a cautionary tale of a system in which the risks of pursuing innovation were socialized, while the lion's share of rewards became privatized to corporate shareholders."

He points out that, since their launch, Moderna and Pfizer have accumulated more than $100bn in global revenues from sales of COVID-19 vaccines—more than 20 times the World Health Organization's biennial budget in 2020–21.

He therefore suggests an alternate innovation strategy that includes directionality, conditionality, and public options.

"Instead of maximizing value for corporate shareholders, these alternatives would enable governments to translate public investments more fully in the service of public health—a fundamental priority as we examine our response to this pandemic and prepare for the next," he concludes.

https://medicalxpres...rna-covid-.html

https://www.bmj.com/...bmj-2022-073747
 

A significant portion of the vaccine-derived profits, Roy points out, are not being reinvested into medical research and development. Between 2021 and 2022, Moderna has announced or executed $7 billion in share buybacks – $3 billion more than it has spent on research and development.
 
Pfizer, meanwhile, spent $115 billion on shareholder payouts in the decade before the pandemic, $34 billion more than it invested in its R&D division. 
 
“Without public investment, there would be no mRNA vaccines,” said People’s Vaccine Alliance policy co-lead Mogha Kamal-Yanni in reaction to the study. “Pharmaceutical companies have sold a false narrative to the public: that it was their investment which gave us mRNA vaccines, and that they deserve the $75 billion profit made from COVID-19 vaccines.
 
“As this research shows, that claim is a total myth,” she said.

https://healthpolicy...nd-procurement/



#173 amor de cosmos

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Posted 10 March 2023 - 07:53 AM

“Zombie” viruses that spent up to 48,500 years frozen in the ground could reawaken as the permafrost melts due to climate change, scientists warn.
 
Noticeably warmer temperatures in the Arctic are already thawing the region’s permafrost, the permanently frozen layer below Earth’s surface.
 
Researchers are now trying to assess how big a risk the bacteria and viruses trapped inside might pose for humans - and they’re carefully reviving some of them in the process.
 
“Fortunately, we can reasonably hope that an epidemic caused by a revived prehistoric pathogenic bacterium could be quickly controlled by the modern antibiotics at our disposal [...] even though bacteria carrying antibiotic-resistance genes appear to be surprisingly prevalent in permafrost,” authors of a study published in February in the journal Viruses wrote.
 
It warned “the situation would be much more disastrous in the case of plant, animal, or human diseases caused by the revival of an ancient unknown virus” for which there would be no specific treatment or vaccine immediately available.

https://www.euronews...tics-permafrost

via https://www.ndtv.com...-arctic-3850163


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#174 Mike K.

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Posted 10 March 2023 - 12:25 PM

On April 3, unvaccinated provincial workers can return to the public service, or have their leave rescinded:

As of April 3, 2023, BC Public Service employees will no longer be required to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19.

The decision to rescind the policy was made based on the high level of vaccination among public-service employees and the current state of the pandemic. More than 98% of employees met the requirement, which helped keep everyone safe.

Rescinding the vaccination policy means a small number of employees on administrative leave due to non-compliance will be provided the opportunity to return to the workplace. The Public Service Agency has provided direction to ministries and will work with supervisors to support a smooth transition. This change also means that contractors and other non-employees do not need to be vaccinated to enter BC Public Service workplaces.

While the public service is removing its policy, people are still required to be vaccinated if they work in settings with provincial health officer orders or other vaccination requirements. Vaccine mandates remain in highest-risk settings where the most vulnerable live and are cared for. This includes facilities in the health-care system.

The vaccination requirement for public-service employees, introduced in November 2021, was always intended as a temporary measure to help protect employees and the people they serve. While it is now possible to remove this policy, the pandemic is not over and the Public Service Agency continues to encourage all BC Public Service employees to remain up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations, including booster doses.

Vaccination continues to be the best protection against severe illness with COVID-19 for individuals, including children and youth, and has helped protect B.C.’s health-care system and the economy.

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#175 Nparker

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Posted 10 March 2023 - 01:37 PM

...While it is now possible to remove this policy, the pandemic is not over and the Public Service Agency continues to encourage all BC Public Service employees to remain up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations...

Most people are vaccinated and COVID-19 related illnesses among the general population are low. From a public health perspective the pandemic is over.



#176 max.bravo

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Posted 10 March 2023 - 04:49 PM

Many BC public servants have already been terminated for non compliance. They aren’t being offered their old positions. This is from my friends in the bc public servants for freedom telegram group. Apparently if you were on unpaid leave and they hadn’t processed your termination yet, you get your job back. But if the HR people were more swift on your file and you’ve been terminated, you’re SOL.

I’m glad they are finally rescinding the policy. But the whole thing is arbitrary and therefore malicious. These were serious policies that had serious consequences for real people. There have never been more strict employment policies in place- and they were mishandled.
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#177 Nparker

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Posted 10 March 2023 - 05:04 PM

This was not the first time (and likely won't be the last time) the BC Public Service treated its employees with callousness and disrespect. Guilty until proven innocent is their modus operandi. And if you think the BCGEU is there to defend its members, you are gravely mistakenI was fortunate to get out mostly unscathed.


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#178 phx

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Posted 10 March 2023 - 06:33 PM

 From a public health perspective the pandemic is over.

 

It was over a year ago. Did some people not get the message?



#179 amor de cosmos

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Posted 10 March 2023 - 07:23 PM

the pandemic being over means the numbers are more or less constant now, meaning there are no more waves or surges. the bug is definitely still out there & i'm pretty sure it's still not something to mess with sort of like hepatitis c or many other things that aren't causing a pandemic right now.


Edited by amor de cosmos, 10 March 2023 - 07:25 PM.


#180 sebberry

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Posted 10 March 2023 - 07:47 PM

Is this what 'over' looks like?

 

Tell that to all the folks dealing with long-covid.

 

 

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