Latest Twitter Threads by @Laurie_Garrett on Thread Reader App

May 22 • 5 tweets • 5 min read

OK, let's pause to reflect on some details here.
The PRC🇨🇳 govt is not denying a dire prediction that the #SARSCoV2 #XBB variants have, for the first time, hit #China and will cause a massive epidemic over the next 6-to-8 weeks.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
MORE 2/ Zhong Nanshan is a national hero in China, having led combat against SARS2003. At a biotech conference in Guangzhou today he said:
- #XBB will cause 40 million infections/week by the end of May, before peaking at 65 M/wk in late June
- PRC is rushing on a XBB #vaccine
MORE

May 20 • 11 tweets • 7 min read

The #G7HiroshimaSummit seems to be unusually productive, with the leaders agreeing on a very large list of actions. Among them, combined with new bilateral US/Australia pacts, are possibly profound energy & #climate resolutions.

2/I'll quote a few examples from the Joint Declaration.
- accelerate achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (#SDGs ), recognizing that reducing poverty & tackling the #climate and nature crisis go hand in hand;
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Apr 30 • 6 tweets • 5 min read

Some @POTUS @JoeBiden quips at last night's @WhiteHouse Correspondents Dinner:
"Like I often say, don’t compare me to the Almighty, compare me to the alternative.
We added 12 million jobs, and that's just counting the lawyers -- who defended the president." (Laughter.)
MORE

2/ "I had a lot of #RonDeSantis jokes ready, but Mickey Mouse beat the hell out of me & got there first. (Laughter & applause)
Now, look, can’t be too rough on the guy. After his reelection as governor, he was asked if he had a mandate. He said, 'Hell no, I’m straight'.”
MORE

Mar 27 • 13 tweets • 5 min read

Boy, I goofed. I confused in my memory banks two different original outbreaks -- Lassa and Marburg, mis-recalling things I wrote nearly 30 years ago.
I apologize. And here, I will quote a section of THE COMING PLAGUE referring to #Marburg in a thread.

2/"In August 1967 three factory workers in #Marburg, German, reported in sick, suffering from muscle aches & mild fevers. The three men were employed at Behringwerke AG, the vaccine-producing subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Hoechst AG, and though their ailments looked.."
MORE

Mar 23 • 8 tweets • 7 min read

The #MarburgVirus is a cousin of #Ebola & there are outbreaks now in Equatorial Guinea, on the borders of Gabon & Cameroon & on other side of Africa, in Tanzania, all on the heels of Ghana outbreak last year. @WHOAFRO @WHO & African CDC are mobilized.
MORE
who.int/emergencies/di… There are 6 major subtypes of #Marburg which is a bat-carried hemorrhagic RNA virus. The subtypes seem to have different fatality rates in humans -- up to 100%. The current strains have not yet been genotyped, so it is unclear what is going on, @WHO says.
MORE

Mar 12 • 4 tweets • 3 min read

Ten Numbers to Mark Three Years of COVID-19
Jennifer Kates Follow @jenkatesdc on Twitter and Josh Michaud Follow @joshmich on Twitter
kff.org/coronavirus-co…
MORE On March 11, 2020, @pahowho characterized #COVID19 as a “pandemic,” stating, “We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear.”
Here @KFF lists 10 key data points that illuminate the challenges, and progress, made to date.
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Mar 8 • 17 tweets • 9 min read

NEW -- 2023 ANNUAL THREAT ASSESSMENT OF THE U.S. INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY
Some highlights:
"#China will persist w/efforts to acquire foreign science & technology information & expertise,
making extensive use of foreign scientific collaborations & partnerships, investments..."
MORE

Intel/2
"...and acquisitions, talent recruitment, economic espionage, & cyber theft to acquire & transfer technologies & technical knowledge."
"China’s dominance in the mining & processing of several strategic materials, including rare-earth
elements, presents a major..."
MORE

Mar 3 • 4 tweets • 4 min read

Today @DrTedros @WHO on #COVID19 origins:
"#WHO continues to call for #China to be transparent in sharing data, and to conduct the necessary investigations and share the results. To that effect, I have written to, and spoken with, high-level Chinese leaders..."
MORE

2/"...on multiple occasions, as recently as just a few weeks ago.
Until then, all hypotheses on the origins of the virus remain on the table.
At the same time, the continued politicization of the origins research has turned what should be a purely scientific process into..."
MORE

Feb 28 • 6 tweets • 11 min read

Feb 16 • 10 tweets • 5 min read

I’m just spit-balling here, not more than that. Work with me on this silliness.
What if this story (from PRC State media) is actually true:

https://twitter.com/qingqingparis/status/1626147285636878337

??
Meaning, something that seems like #SpyBalloons are drifting over #China…
MORE 2/
If I were writing a movie script, my opening fast/cut scenes would depict “#SpyBalloons ” causing panic in Canada, the USA…and then in China. Cross accusations would heighten tensions between East & West.
Cut to Scene 2 --MORE

Feb 14 • 8 tweets • 2 min read

Amen, Sisters.
“I see my male counterparts — they’re also abused, but not abused for their bodies, their genital parts. If they’re attacked, they’re just targeted for their political views. When a woman is attacked, she’s attacked about her body parts.”
washingtonpost.com/investigations… “Heavily partisan pseudo-journalists & disinfo agents trigger pile-ons against particular journalists...to discredit them. Ultimately, they discredit the journalist not just w/their audience but also to their employers, who in the worst cases have pushed them out of their jobs.”

Feb 10 • 6 tweets • 5 min read

In coming days the UK and much of Europe is going to suffer DEEP freeze due to a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event. Warnings are out all over Europe due to a dramatic shift in atmospheric air moving from the North Pole. MORE
news.sky.com/story/uk-weath… 2/SSWs are tied to #GlobalWarming weakening of the #PolarVortex system that clockwise circles the North Pole, holding subzero air over the #Arctic. Severe SSWs reverse the spin, shift warm ocean currents & slam the No Hemisphere w/deep freeze air.
MORE
washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/0…

Feb 4 • 8 tweets • 5 min read

I don't think we can rule out mega-error as the source of the #ChineseSpyBalloon . Whether it was launched for "research" or "intelligence" purposes, it may never have been intended for Montana skies.
Here's my thinking (thread).
In the last week of January China --
MORE

2/
...from Beijing to Siberia, experienced the coldest weather ON RECORD, with temperatures hitting -63 F in the far north. The frigid Polar Vortex air moved east, hit ocean, warmer air, and soared in an atmospheric river north towards Alaska/Yukon.
MORE
washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/0…

Jan 30 • 4 tweets • 4 min read

The @WHO Executive Board is meeting in Geneva right now, with a very full plate:
- #pandemic security
- dearth of diagnostics
- universal healthcare
- multibillion $ budget shortfall
- ongoing fights over patented drug & vaccine access for all
ghtcoalition.org/blog/who-eb-20…

Opening speech by @WHO DG @DrTedros
"As we enter the 4th year of the #pandemic, there is no doubt we are in a far better situation now than we were when the #Omicron wave was at its peak.
But...In the past 8 wks >170,000 people have lost their lives to #COVID19 ."
MORE

Jan 27 • 6 tweets • 3 min read

LIVE now: the #NSABB is meeting to discuss the safety of work on pathogens: biosecurity, gain-of-function, dual-use research, counter-measures & vaccine R&D. W/some #Republicans claiming #SARSCoV2 arose from NIH-sponsored GOF work, this is a hot potato.
videocast.nih.gov/livew.asp?live…

Continueing

Jan 20 • 13 tweets • 9 min read

Lots of @WSJ & @elonmusk & #GOP chatter today about the US debt ceiling and the "need" to drastically slash federal social services, and raise taxes on poor and middle classes. Musk claims taxing billionaires won't "put a dent" in the national debt.

Let's look, shall we?

MORE

2/
"FORTUNE 500 companies represent two-thirds of the U.S. GDP with $16.1 trillion in revenues (up 17%), $1.84 trillion in profits (up 114%), $37 trillion in market value (up 13%), and employ 29.7 million people worldwide."
- from @FortuneMagazine

BUT...

MORE

Jan 17 • 9 tweets • 7 min read

When @wef opens in #Davos , @Oxfam puts out their alternative State of the World rpt. This year's shows that:
• The richest 1% hold 45.6% of global wealth, while the poorest half of the world have just 0.75%.
• 81 Billionaires hold more wealth than 50% of the world.
MORE

OXFAM2/
• 10 billionaires own more than 200 million African women combined.

The richest got WAY richer during the #pandemic -- the top 1% richest got 63% wealthier in 2020-21. We mere mortals got only 10% richer in 2 years, on average.
MORE

policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/surv…

Dec 28, 2022 • 5 tweets • 9 min read

Many studies show that #COVID19 #SARSCoV2 causes premature aging of the brain, often producing dementia. See @DrJohnHhess thread below.
I'm sending some references.
sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
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mdpi.com/2076-0817/11/1…
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doi.org/10.1038/s41586…
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sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
MORE

https://twitter.com/DrJohnHhess/status/1607868082730700800

2/
doi.org/10.1038/d41586…
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academic.oup.com/jnen/article/8…
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doi.org/10.1101/2022.1…
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doi.org/10.1016/j.neur…
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sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
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abc.es/salud/enfermed…
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doi.org/10.1101/2022.0…
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science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…
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journals.lww.com/jonmd/Abstract…
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nationalgeographic.co.uk/science-and-te…
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Dec 21, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read

Many Americans prefer to ignore our Nation's legacy of slavery or worse: claim there were "happy slaves" in the Old South.
#Brooklyn once had the world's largest freed & escaped slave community, thanks to the Underground Railroad.
This #Christmas --
MORE
nytimes.com/2022/12/20/nyr… ...you may make a year-end contribution to help save one of the original Stations on the Underground Railroad, an key part of African American history. Helping "the Tents" means recognizing that the flight to freedom is at the core of our National story.
unitedorderoftentseasterndistrict3.org/home

Dec 12, 2022 • 12 tweets • 11 min read

Dear Mr. Musk (@elonmusk );
You are destroying @Twitter in countless ways. The most egregious are your calls for Star Chamber prosecution of #TonyFauci . But you have done so much more damage -- enough, that @Tesla is suffering as its stock drops & EV buyers turn elsewhere.
MORE

https://twitter.com/Marc_Veld/status/1602099443251175424

2/ Despite the snarky & sometimes cruel comments levied against me @Twitter (including more than one death threat) I have usually found it a terrific platform. It's like a great newspaper: you have a window into everything from pop music to astrophysics, kittens to kinases.
MORE

Dec 1, 2022 • 13 tweets • 10 min read

It's World AIDS Day: time to take stock. Because there is no #HIV #vaccine and women can't compel men to use condoms, people continue to get newly infected. And because the majority of them live in poor parts of the world, the undeclared #pandemic is very expensive.
MORE

2/AIDS
Inside the USA federal spending on HIV/AIDS $7.6 billion/year.
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