This is the part that really interests me. As for myself, I don't understand the science well enough to have a strong view about climate change; my instincts are with the lukewarmers:
The planet will warm; but most of us will survive--or our descendents will--and humanity will figure out ways to cope. We've got hydrogen bombs pointed at our heads--this very minute--which strikes me as a much more pressing problem. That said,
I hadn't appreciated until I read that paragraph that young people might just *need,* emotionally, to feel they're saving the world. And compared to many other ways they could express this sentiment, building lots of solar panels and becoming vegetarians is fine with me.
Especially the latter part. I'm in favor of anything that reduces the suffering of animals.
Let young people try being Greens, I guess. Every generation needs to have a go at saving the world. And I like nature, too.
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I did not finish this, and it seems it was a bit too technical to interest anyone, but man, it is in the technical parts that the interest lies, and again, if there's a #virologist out there who can rebut this, I am very eager to hear why this is wrong.
Wade writes: "of all known SARS-related beta-coronaviruses, only SARS2 possesses a furin cleavage site. All the other viruses have their S2 unit cleaved at a different site and by a different mechanism." True? False?
He then writes, "A string of amino acids like that of the furin cleavage site is much more likely to be acquired all together through a quite different process known as recombination." This seems to me alas very likely to be true.
I would like to hear from any qualified #virologist who could tell me if this essay strikes him or her as unconvincing in its outline or its particulars, and why, precisely. It seems to me as close to conclusive as we can be absent direct evidence--
but I am not a virologist, nor even a biologist; surely there are aspects of this I don't understand. Nonetheless, here are the points he makes that strike me as compelling, and my specific questions about them:
1) The statement in the Lancet was organized by Daszak, who did indeed have a conflict of interest. That alone wouldn't especially strongly bother me--it's a fallacy to assume the statement wasn't correct because of that. But this does:
Looks like Macron opted for what, at the time, my grandfather suggested as the solution to Reagan's Bitburg dilemma. Anyone remember that? How Reagan got himself into a pickle when he agreed to visit Bitburg on the 40th anniversary of the end of WWII? nytimes.com/2021/05/05/wor…
He, or his protocol officials, apparently didn't know that 49 members of the Waffen-SS were buried there--and this was back when people still remembered who they were and what had happened in WW2--so there was quite a bit of agonized controversy:
If he pulled out, it would be terribly offensive; if he went, it would also be terribly offensive.
My grandfather--a Jewish refugee from Germany who joined the Légion étrangère and fought the Nazis on the Belgian border, so he knew the Nazis all too well--
Thanks, @NicSumner! Do you mean this one? claireberlinski.substack.com/p/on-the-futil… On the futility of global climate accords, but the quiet utility of Biden's other plans? I thought it was really good, too! And for those of you who don't know ...
This week is Energy Week at @cosmo_globalist. Have you ever wondered what the best way to provide energy for the whole planet really is? (If not, why not?) If so: This week and next, we're sorting this out: claireberlinski.substack.com/p/welcome-to-e…
"Those doses will be exported around the world, pending an FDA safety review," Axios reports. Why the hell are they wasting their time on this? The case fatality rate in Delhi is 1.4 percent and 32.72 of the population is infected: business-standard.com/article/curren…
The double-mutant is so contagious that the odds of infection, even with social distancing, are overwhelming. Perhaps not "100 percent," but damned close.
So the only way delay could be rational is if the FDA genuinely believes this vaccine might kill more than 1.4 percent of the people who receive it. This supposition would be insane. Absolutely insane.
All of our readers are welcome—encouraged—to participate. We’ll be running a number of excellent essays about fossil fuels, nuclear power, and green tech; we’ll be taking all questions from our readers—as well as submissions, should they wish to write at length.
At the end of the week, we’ll wrap it up with a Grand Cosmopolicast Debate ... followed by the announcement of a winner.
We aim to showcase a wide variety of opinions, because we wish not only to discuss energy without partisanship or empty slogans--