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Lab leak most likely origin of Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. agency now says

wsj.com

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Re: Lab leak most likely origin of Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. agency now says

#761

Post by fallingfrog »

ilrwbwrkhv wrote: post #740
benlivengood wrote: post #739

Does it matter? Is it possible that a worldwide pandemic was created in a laboratory and we were powerless to stop it? Yes. Is that a problem? Yes! Is it possible that a novel animal virus became viable in humans and became a worldwide pandemic that we were powerless to stop? Yes. Is that a problem? Yes! The best outcome is: figure out how to combat both the origin of novel viruses under any cases and how to eradicat…

The problem is China as a country caused irreparable harm. It needs to be punished.

This would be counterproductive.

Re: Lab leak most likely origin of Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. agency now says

#762

Post by fallingfrog »

boeingUH60 wrote: post #6

Nothing seems certain at this point, but, let’s say the pandemic was actually caused by a lab leak. That’ll mean the world was brought to an economic standstill and millions of people died because of the errors and carelessness of some people…will there be consequences? What will be the assurance that such deadly mistake won’t occur again? If it was actually a lab leak, then it’ll definitely rank as the most costly a…

The most costly and fatal mistake so far.

Re: Lab leak most likely origin of Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. agency now says

#763

Post by [deleted] »

kilgnad wrote: post #676
Godel_unicode wrote: post #642

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our ability to prove a theory or not is entirely dependent on our ability to gather evidence for or against. How many other theories can be thought of is totally irrelevant. Low confidence means inability to prove or disprove. That is it. Edit: extrapolating further about this is just a Rorschach test.

This is just vocabulary. If you can't find evidence to support a theory confidently... I call it a crap theory.

[deleted]

Re: Lab leak most likely origin of Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. agency now says

#764

Post by uonpopular_th »

csours wrote: post #271
khazhoux wrote: post #234

Time once again to post Jon Stewart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSfejgwbDQ8 I still don't understand how in 2020 people were branded as racist sinophobes for saying that the coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, probably originated from the coronavirus research lab in Wuhan . I know suspicion isn't fact, but that should have always been the leading theory to be disproved. Instead, IIRC Twitter and FB were flaggi…

That is the nature of a "dog whistle" - it has a legitimate meaning, and some people use the legitimate meaning. That legitimacy gives malicious people plausible deniability. Social media sites cannot tell the difference, and quite often it's very hard for people to tell the difference as well. Social media sprays weed killer on all the discussions because they don't want their app covered in weeds; not having flower…

[flagged]

Re: Lab leak most likely origin of Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. agency now says

#765

Post by Retric »

tootie wrote: post #737
WaxProlix wrote: post #659

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw a lot of folks saying that the theories all kinda stank at the time, and to wait and see. Interestingly, a lot of folks also kept quiet and didn't champion any theories. Maybe I can link you to a lack of comment two years ago to back up my bona fides?

It seems that lo these many years later all the theories are still full of holes. Lab leak is plausible but there's no public evidence to back it. Somehow the DOE thinks they have something but we haven't seen it. Just based on history, zoonotic remains most likely but no host has been found.

There’s evidence that it’s more likely than various other theories, but there isn’t a smoking gun. That’s the kind of nuance that’s easy to ignore in favor of your preconceived notions because weak evidence is rarely worth changing your mind over.

At a practical level I don’t think there’s much difference between the lab link being a 7% chance vs a 70% chance. What’s more concerning is the potential of future leaks and what responses they might result in. The possibility that local officials get in CYA mode over a possible lab leak of a more dangerous virus is seriously concerning.

Re: Lab leak most likely origin of Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. agency now says

#766

Post by [deleted] »

hotpotamus wrote: post #411
chitowneats wrote: post #389

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Muslims in Xinjiang are not Han Chinese. You're buying into the propaganda. In any case, the world should not be okay with this.

If you want the US to care, it's probably better not to mention that they're Muslims though. I've noticed they just call them Uyghurs and suspect that's the reason.

[deleted]

Re: Lab leak most likely origin of Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. agency now says

#767

Post by uonpopular_th »

ss108 wrote: post #451
khazhoux wrote: post #234

Time once again to post Jon Stewart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSfejgwbDQ8 I still don't understand how in 2020 people were branded as racist sinophobes for saying that the coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, probably originated from the coronavirus research lab in Wuhan . I know suspicion isn't fact, but that should have always been the leading theory to be disproved. Instead, IIRC Twitter and FB were flaggi…

Because we had a racist president who said stuff like "China virus" in a stupid and demeaning way--i.e. what may have been a valid and reasonable argument or position had its credibility ruined by being taken up by Trump and his ilk for their own ends.

[flagged]

Re: Lab leak most likely origin of Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. agency now says

#768

Post by uonpopular_th »

credit_guy wrote: post #41
boeingUH60 wrote: post #6

Nothing seems certain at this point, but, let’s say the pandemic was actually caused by a lab leak. That’ll mean the world was brought to an economic standstill and millions of people died because of the errors and carelessness of some people…will there be consequences? What will be the assurance that such deadly mistake won’t occur again? If it was actually a lab leak, then it’ll definitely rank as the most costly a…

The only reason to not say it was a lab leak is to avoid embarrassing those responsible, China first and America second. But little by little people will start accepting that. What should the consequences be? At the very least a tightening of the controls around labs doing bio research. Of course, this amounts to nothing if someone is allowed to outsource research to labs in countries that don't follow the stringent…

[flagged]

Re: Lab leak most likely origin of Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. agency now says

#769

Post by iaseiadit »

alchemist1e9 wrote: post #154
aaronbrethorst wrote: post #151

There's a lot of bad headline-writing on this subject today. Here's the NYT's headline: Lab Leak Most Likely Caused Pandemic, Energy Dept. Says And then the sub-head (or dek, if you want to sound like you're in the know): The conclusion, which was made with “low confidence,” came as America’s intelligence agencies remained divided over the origins of the coronavirus. So we have a conclusion: 'lab leak most likely cau…

Also article mentions FBI has “moderate” confidence it was lab leak. I find that very interesting given it wouldn’t be so much based on scientific analysis but some intelligence collection the FBI has.

“The FBI employs a cadre of microbiologists, immunologists and other scientists and is supported by the National Bioforensic Analysis Center, which was established at Fort Detrick, Md., in 2004 to analyze anthrax and other possible biological threats.” -the article

Re: Lab leak most likely origin of Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. agency now says

#770

Post by lgvln »

MKais wrote: post #370

I still don't understand why the expert's opinions are ignored on this issue. This one for example is a professor in virology, working in BSL-3 lab. Politics? https://twitter.com/angie_rasmussen/status/16299562794466918... https://twitter.com/angie_rasmussen/status/15519378265808240... I mean, if you have a toothache, you probably do see a dentist, not your butcher right? If we take a plane, we won't choose one of us…

Some others have pointed out, the reason might be geopolitics.
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