lol-ing my way through the day with a smile. Gratitude.
PS: My email signature line now appears like this based upon your recent revelation that you'll be deep-sixing your Substack presence (sans today's April Fools offering):
M.H. "Reggie" VanderVeen, D.D.S.
"Be happy. Shop at REI. The rest is just details."
--Alex Washburne, PhD (upon his exit from Substack)
Ooooh! I shared this to my FB page and was amazed to see it at the top of my news feed (usually everything I post other than cute animal pictures gets buried at the bottom of the feed). So, the title fooled the Algos! Yes...they are still at the censoring game at FB. Thanks Alex! LOL
Enjoyed your post. Too bad it wasn't true that we had some conclusive proof one way or the other. But at this point I'm afraid we won't see any more proof. Both sides have settled into trench warfare, lobbing bombs at each other. No peace negotiations are in process, putting anything productive in doubt.
It was nice to see your name in Jeffrey Sachs's article "What Might the US Owe the World for Covid-19?" last month:
"A powerful recent assessment by mathematical biologist Alex Washburne reaches the conclusion 'beyond reasonable doubt that SARS-CoV-2 emerged from a lab…' He also notes that the collaborators 'proceeded to mount what can legitimately be called a disinformation campaign' to hide the laboratory origin."
Jeffrey Sachs did urge three "urgent actions" in his article:
-- an independent scientific investigation in which all laboratories involved in the EcoHealth Alliance research program in the US and China fully open their books and records to independent investigators.
-- a worldwide halt on gain of function research until an independent global scientific body sets grounds rules for biosafety.
-- the UN General Assembly to establish rigorous legal and financial accountability for governments that violate international safety norms through dangerous research activities that threaten the health and security of the rest of the world.
Interesting ideas, and it's productive to see concrete solutions. But none of the three seems likely to happen, and I still think a different effort would be more helpful. Something more like an Asolimar Conference and/or constructive exchanges in scientific journals. But that's human relations, not science, and I don't see either of those ideas happening either.
It does seem like we’re on track to not learn the lessons of COVID-19, although quietly in 2020 China did change its biosafety policy to outlaw gain of function research or concern on viruses not presently endemic in human populations, and at least in the US we’re seeing more policymakers and funders demonstrate an awareness of how gain of function research of concern could end their professional lives if it goes wrong.
There are three types of people in the world, and similarly three types of ways I see groups of people learning. Some can deduce it from first principles, others can learn by reading or hearing about it, and then there are those who have to actually piss on the electric fence to understand it. From climate change to the enhancement of potential pandemic pathogens, it seems humanity has a proclivity to be the third type of person. One hopes the electric fence of the next biological accident appropriately attributed to a lab will not be fatal.
Good to hear that changes may be happening more in private actions even if public stances remain firm. We'll see what happens.
Good luck to you. I know you will rarely post here anymore, so you can work on your book. Your announcement was exciting -- I had wondered if you ever thought of writing a book, but had never asked. Have you decided what your book is going to be about?
I hope you are more conscientious at writing than It's hard to stop grazing on social media to instead put a shoulder to the plow with writing. I am. As Peter Cook joked, "Two men are talking in a pub. One says, 'I'm writing a book'. The other replies, 'neither am I'." Maybe we can change the punchline to "so am I!" Not funny, but better.
So glad to hear from you and your summary. Obviously these labs have little supervisory oversight. It’s a subject that most in government don’t have a clue about, just that it’s something to do with saving the world from toxic viruses. Rand Paul seems to be on a bit of a tear about it but he’s the only one I’m aware of. Does anyone know if there is any kind of a legitimate inquiry taking place? Elaine DeWar’s book on the origin of the deadliest pandemic in 100 years goes into some depth about the origins with a list of the usual suspects. There needs to be a very serious investigation into their deceit and goals. Why are they working on making deadly viruses that don’t even exist in nature? Is there a more sinister motivation? The whole thing plus the acceptance of the whitewash is truly scary. Weren’t the “vaccines” concocted using the engineered spike leaving untold numbers seriously injured. This evil deed more than likely will be followed by an even deadlier evil deed if the deranged culprits at the top go unchecked.
Also of note, Nick Patterson, the British mathematician who devised the mathematical techniques used by David Reich's lab at Harvard to analyze ancient human DNA has posted an essay on his substack:
"An earlier blog post outlined what I believe to be overwhelming evidence that this dreadful pandemic originated in a Chinese lab, the Wuhan Institute of Virology ... In a rational world, the issue of the origins of the pandemic is not so important. There is absolutely no doubt that extremely dangerous experiments that could readily have led to a pandemic, were carried out, and more were planned. They need to be shut down. ...
"Summing up:
• It is very probable that COVID-19 originated in an accidental virus escape from WIV.
• It is essentially certain that attempts were made by US offcials and some virologists to deny the possibility of a lab-leak, and especially the likelihood that US science is implicated in this disaster. ...
• Beyond any doubt some senior virologists including Daszak, Baric and Shi wanted to carry out experiments in Wuhan which were insanely dangerous.
"... Right now there is controversy about whether regulations limiting gain-of-function work need to be tightened. Some virologusts are saying that it’s important not to limit research. But I believe that virology initiated the COVID-19 pandemic causing planet-wide economic loss, massive su?ering and twenty million deaths. If some more limitation of research can prevent another pandemic, I am all in favor."
It was not a lab leak, it was deliberately released all over the world to create the illusion of a "pandemic". It was a worldwide biological weapons attack.
The 'implausible' conclusion in the Lancet article was something the journal required in order to publish. This itself exposes a flawed scientific process, as it went against what the authors themselves believed was justified by the data. It's strange though that none have broken ranks and since admitted this was the case, that they acquiesced to get publication, which seems like the pressure to conform is very strong. But I just can't imagine Einstein, Darwin, Sagan or Feynmann et al behaving this way, none of these ever cared what the Establishment thought.
Regarding this: "The now disproven Proximal Origins article called a lab origin “implausible” yet it is now known to have been written at a time when its lead author Kristian Andersen believed a lab origin was “so friggin likely”
It's my understanding that the sequence of events is as follows:
1. Anderson wrote privately that lab leak was so friggin likely
2. A naturally occurring virus with the furin cleavage site was found (the first ever). This caused Andersen and other scientists to immediately consider natural origin overwhelmingly likely
No such naturally occurring sarbecovirus with a furin cleavage site has been found. The “so friggin likely” remark came a month after the paper was published, and reflected Andersen’s frequent remarks to that effect during the drafting of the MS
I see, thank you for the clarification. I have read that during the COVID investigations prior to the publication of Proximal Origins, some first-ever natural virus was found that had some sort of furin cleavage site. Is that at least accurate?
The main reason the researchers have continued to be concerned about a lab leak is the existence in the COVID virus of something called a "furin cleavage site." Nothing like this has been seen in any similar virus, and it's amazingly well adapted to human transmission.
However, since Nature had rejected the paper the authors continued to work on it while they looked for a different home. On February 24th Eddie Holmes discovers something big:
Holmes: See attached....Yunnan bat from 2019....Still different in the RBD but other thing is obvious. Discuss.
[The "other thing" is an insertion of four amino acids at the same location as the furin cleavage site in SARS-CoV-2.]
Garry: Holy crap - that's amazing.
Andersen: I think this lends pretty strong support for an animal origin of the 'confusing' features of the virus....None of this disproves accidental lab infection, however, it shows that all the steps can occur in nature....Makes it much more likely the full furin site could have been acquired very early in humans or potentially in an intermediate host.
Holmes: I am now strongly in favor of a natural origin.
Rambaut: OK. To return to the paper - so are we going to: (1) Re-nuance it to explicitly lower our bet on the lab passaging scenario on the basis that both cleavage site insertions and the full RBD exist in nature.
Garry: Paper will get a significant upgrade.
Andersen: I'm still favoring a pre-circulation scenario and I believe the furin site could have been fully formed in humans.
Andersen's about-face regarding the likelihoods of lab vs natural, rests entirely on that discovery. I've never read of any other reason. And the about-face is a matter of indisputable record.
We were not only following the path from 1979 until 2010 of the network that stole and created this and other nano particle Frankenstein monsters, but we were in the core network until 2010, long after its development in what we now call covid. SAC had NOC teams dedicated to the surveillance of illegal labs and persons tied to nuclear and biological programs started in the 80s. We were in the core of one of those networks. The unit I worked within all had the same family ties to the same core network historically. Nano particle and atom stitching has made nuclear warfare obsolete just as global order has made national boarders a thing of the past. The global alliance is not new but its war program is. Trotsky and Felix Derinski made the biological war possible with the start of the world revolution of sept 11th 1901. In 1909-10 They trained Chen Duxia and a long list of others including Hitler and my grandfather to wage ware in a different manner. The vaccine of 1917 was the craft of Felix Derenski and Marc Francis. the start of the 2001 revolution we all know and are familiar with including Anthrax. What isn't public is thousands of records collected for the Felix files and the Trotskyist networks that worked hard for the revolution and project contagion that should be released. The CCP didn't create this, the globalist in the US, Iran, Israel and the Ukraine did. Hello Volkow, Francis, Gallo, Kawoka, McGarr, Gates, Strauss and the rest. Fauci is just a gopher.
You, a**h***. You got me. DAMN!
lol-ing my way through the day with a smile. Gratitude.
PS: My email signature line now appears like this based upon your recent revelation that you'll be deep-sixing your Substack presence (sans today's April Fools offering):
M.H. "Reggie" VanderVeen, D.D.S.
"Be happy. Shop at REI. The rest is just details."
--Alex Washburne, PhD (upon his exit from Substack)
Happy April Fool's Day to you, as well! Outstanding summary!
Ooooh! I shared this to my FB page and was amazed to see it at the top of my news feed (usually everything I post other than cute animal pictures gets buried at the bottom of the feed). So, the title fooled the Algos! Yes...they are still at the censoring game at FB. Thanks Alex! LOL
Thank you, Al! Truth will prevail!!
Enjoyed your post. Too bad it wasn't true that we had some conclusive proof one way or the other. But at this point I'm afraid we won't see any more proof. Both sides have settled into trench warfare, lobbing bombs at each other. No peace negotiations are in process, putting anything productive in doubt.
It was nice to see your name in Jeffrey Sachs's article "What Might the US Owe the World for Covid-19?" last month:
"A powerful recent assessment by mathematical biologist Alex Washburne reaches the conclusion 'beyond reasonable doubt that SARS-CoV-2 emerged from a lab…' He also notes that the collaborators 'proceeded to mount what can legitimately be called a disinformation campaign' to hide the laboratory origin."
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/covid-19-gain-of-function-us-research
Jeffrey Sachs did urge three "urgent actions" in his article:
-- an independent scientific investigation in which all laboratories involved in the EcoHealth Alliance research program in the US and China fully open their books and records to independent investigators.
-- a worldwide halt on gain of function research until an independent global scientific body sets grounds rules for biosafety.
-- the UN General Assembly to establish rigorous legal and financial accountability for governments that violate international safety norms through dangerous research activities that threaten the health and security of the rest of the world.
Interesting ideas, and it's productive to see concrete solutions. But none of the three seems likely to happen, and I still think a different effort would be more helpful. Something more like an Asolimar Conference and/or constructive exchanges in scientific journals. But that's human relations, not science, and I don't see either of those ideas happening either.
It does seem like we’re on track to not learn the lessons of COVID-19, although quietly in 2020 China did change its biosafety policy to outlaw gain of function research or concern on viruses not presently endemic in human populations, and at least in the US we’re seeing more policymakers and funders demonstrate an awareness of how gain of function research of concern could end their professional lives if it goes wrong.
There are three types of people in the world, and similarly three types of ways I see groups of people learning. Some can deduce it from first principles, others can learn by reading or hearing about it, and then there are those who have to actually piss on the electric fence to understand it. From climate change to the enhancement of potential pandemic pathogens, it seems humanity has a proclivity to be the third type of person. One hopes the electric fence of the next biological accident appropriately attributed to a lab will not be fatal.
Good to hear that changes may be happening more in private actions even if public stances remain firm. We'll see what happens.
Good luck to you. I know you will rarely post here anymore, so you can work on your book. Your announcement was exciting -- I had wondered if you ever thought of writing a book, but had never asked. Have you decided what your book is going to be about?
I hope you are more conscientious at writing than It's hard to stop grazing on social media to instead put a shoulder to the plow with writing. I am. As Peter Cook joked, "Two men are talking in a pub. One says, 'I'm writing a book'. The other replies, 'neither am I'." Maybe we can change the punchline to "so am I!" Not funny, but better.
So glad to hear from you and your summary. Obviously these labs have little supervisory oversight. It’s a subject that most in government don’t have a clue about, just that it’s something to do with saving the world from toxic viruses. Rand Paul seems to be on a bit of a tear about it but he’s the only one I’m aware of. Does anyone know if there is any kind of a legitimate inquiry taking place? Elaine DeWar’s book on the origin of the deadliest pandemic in 100 years goes into some depth about the origins with a list of the usual suspects. There needs to be a very serious investigation into their deceit and goals. Why are they working on making deadly viruses that don’t even exist in nature? Is there a more sinister motivation? The whole thing plus the acceptance of the whitewash is truly scary. Weren’t the “vaccines” concocted using the engineered spike leaving untold numbers seriously injured. This evil deed more than likely will be followed by an even deadlier evil deed if the deranged culprits at the top go unchecked.
lol
Wow! Your title immediately caught my attention! Great summary of what really happened.
Fred Plapp
Got me too. :-)
Got me.
Also of note, Nick Patterson, the British mathematician who devised the mathematical techniques used by David Reich's lab at Harvard to analyze ancient human DNA has posted an essay on his substack:
https://npatterson.substack.com/p/yet-more-on-covid-origins
"An earlier blog post outlined what I believe to be overwhelming evidence that this dreadful pandemic originated in a Chinese lab, the Wuhan Institute of Virology ... In a rational world, the issue of the origins of the pandemic is not so important. There is absolutely no doubt that extremely dangerous experiments that could readily have led to a pandemic, were carried out, and more were planned. They need to be shut down. ...
"Summing up:
• It is very probable that COVID-19 originated in an accidental virus escape from WIV.
• It is essentially certain that attempts were made by US offcials and some virologists to deny the possibility of a lab-leak, and especially the likelihood that US science is implicated in this disaster. ...
• Beyond any doubt some senior virologists including Daszak, Baric and Shi wanted to carry out experiments in Wuhan which were insanely dangerous.
"... Right now there is controversy about whether regulations limiting gain-of-function work need to be tightened. Some virologusts are saying that it’s important not to limit research. But I believe that virology initiated the COVID-19 pandemic causing planet-wide economic loss, massive su?ering and twenty million deaths. If some more limitation of research can prevent another pandemic, I am all in favor."
It was not a lab leak, it was deliberately released all over the world to create the illusion of a "pandemic". It was a worldwide biological weapons attack.
More here; https://truthaddict.substack.com/p/lab-leak-zoonotic-spillover-or-deliberate
The 'implausible' conclusion in the Lancet article was something the journal required in order to publish. This itself exposes a flawed scientific process, as it went against what the authors themselves believed was justified by the data. It's strange though that none have broken ranks and since admitted this was the case, that they acquiesced to get publication, which seems like the pressure to conform is very strong. But I just can't imagine Einstein, Darwin, Sagan or Feynmann et al behaving this way, none of these ever cared what the Establishment thought.
Regarding this: "The now disproven Proximal Origins article called a lab origin “implausible” yet it is now known to have been written at a time when its lead author Kristian Andersen believed a lab origin was “so friggin likely”
It's my understanding that the sequence of events is as follows:
1. Anderson wrote privately that lab leak was so friggin likely
2. A naturally occurring virus with the furin cleavage site was found (the first ever). This caused Andersen and other scientists to immediately consider natural origin overwhelmingly likely
3. Proximal Origins paper is written
No such naturally occurring sarbecovirus with a furin cleavage site has been found. The “so friggin likely” remark came a month after the paper was published, and reflected Andersen’s frequent remarks to that effect during the drafting of the MS
I see, thank you for the clarification. I have read that during the COVID investigations prior to the publication of Proximal Origins, some first-ever natural virus was found that had some sort of furin cleavage site. Is that at least accurate?
No - there were reports of a pangolin coronavirus that Andersen et al hoped would have a furin cleavage site, but it didn’t.
This is the discovery I was remembering. An overview of the Proximal Origins paper's private messages:
https://jabberwocking.com/i-read-the-entire-slack-archive-about-the-origin-of-sars-cov-2-there-is-no-evidence-of-improper-behavior/
February 24-25
The main reason the researchers have continued to be concerned about a lab leak is the existence in the COVID virus of something called a "furin cleavage site." Nothing like this has been seen in any similar virus, and it's amazingly well adapted to human transmission.
However, since Nature had rejected the paper the authors continued to work on it while they looked for a different home. On February 24th Eddie Holmes discovers something big:
Holmes: See attached....Yunnan bat from 2019....Still different in the RBD but other thing is obvious. Discuss.
[The "other thing" is an insertion of four amino acids at the same location as the furin cleavage site in SARS-CoV-2.]
Garry: Holy crap - that's amazing.
Andersen: I think this lends pretty strong support for an animal origin of the 'confusing' features of the virus....None of this disproves accidental lab infection, however, it shows that all the steps can occur in nature....Makes it much more likely the full furin site could have been acquired very early in humans or potentially in an intermediate host.
Holmes: I am now strongly in favor of a natural origin.
Rambaut: OK. To return to the paper - so are we going to: (1) Re-nuance it to explicitly lower our bet on the lab passaging scenario on the basis that both cleavage site insertions and the full RBD exist in nature.
Garry: Paper will get a significant upgrade.
Andersen: I'm still favoring a pre-circulation scenario and I believe the furin site could have been fully formed in humans.
Andersen's about-face regarding the likelihoods of lab vs natural, rests entirely on that discovery. I've never read of any other reason. And the about-face is a matter of indisputable record.
We were not only following the path from 1979 until 2010 of the network that stole and created this and other nano particle Frankenstein monsters, but we were in the core network until 2010, long after its development in what we now call covid. SAC had NOC teams dedicated to the surveillance of illegal labs and persons tied to nuclear and biological programs started in the 80s. We were in the core of one of those networks. The unit I worked within all had the same family ties to the same core network historically. Nano particle and atom stitching has made nuclear warfare obsolete just as global order has made national boarders a thing of the past. The global alliance is not new but its war program is. Trotsky and Felix Derinski made the biological war possible with the start of the world revolution of sept 11th 1901. In 1909-10 They trained Chen Duxia and a long list of others including Hitler and my grandfather to wage ware in a different manner. The vaccine of 1917 was the craft of Felix Derenski and Marc Francis. the start of the 2001 revolution we all know and are familiar with including Anthrax. What isn't public is thousands of records collected for the Felix files and the Trotskyist networks that worked hard for the revolution and project contagion that should be released. The CCP didn't create this, the globalist in the US, Iran, Israel and the Ukraine did. Hello Volkow, Francis, Gallo, Kawoka, McGarr, Gates, Strauss and the rest. Fauci is just a gopher.
PS April Fool so funny!