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bolverk

Certifiably Surly
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Posts posted by bolverk

  1. 54 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

    No idea what would be involved from the manufacturing and supply chain perspective to shift over. I would assume that it would vary depending on the vaccine type that was being geared up to produce.  There are lots of irons in the fire.  You got adenovirus vectors, mrna, dna, live inactivated vax types all in play.  I would hope that everyone is contingency planning to optimize mass production. 

    Here's a summary from a while back (most appear to be targeting the spike protein mentioned earlier as a mutation site). 

    https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2020/04/23/a-close-look-at-the-frontrunning-coronavirus-vaccines-as-of-april-23

     

     

    Side note: About ten years ago when I was at my old consulting gig, I did a project in Owensboro, KY, and they had a tobacco research lab that they were setting up to test out vaccines instead of using the old egg culture deal. I can't remember all the specifics, but the two things I recall them saying that gave the tobacco plant an advantage was 1) grows fast and 2) cloned (I think?) plants that provided more consistent results. When talking to them, they felt their facility would eventually be very useful in quickly cranking out vaccines during a pandemic-type of event.

    Just did a quick google, and here's a recent story discussing the place and their efforts.

    https://www.cspdailynews.com/tobacco/tobacco-firm-making-possible-covid-19-vaccine

    I'm not qualified to really judge the efficacy of their approach but I thought you, in particular, would find this interesting.

    • Like 1
  2. Welp...I hope this isn't the next evolution in this seemingly confounding virus. /not_a_doc

    N.Y. doctors warn about a mysterious illness affecting children that might be related.

    Fifteen children, many of whom had fallen ill the virus, have recently been hospitalized in New York City with a mysterious syndrome that doctors do not yet fully understand but that has also been reported in several European countries, health officials announced on Monday night.

    Many of the children, ages 2 to 15, have shown symptoms associated with toxic shock or Kawasaki disease, a rare illness in children that involves inflammation of the blood vessels, including coronary arteries, the city’s health department said.

    None of the New York City patients with the syndrome have died, according to a bulletin from the Health Department, which described the illness as a “multisystem inflammatory syndrome potentially associated with Covid-19,” the disease caused by the virus.

    Reached late Monday night, the state health commissioner, Dr. Howard A. Zucker, said state officials were also investigating the unexplained malady.

    The syndrome has received growing attention in recent weeks as cases have begun appearing in European countries hit hard by the virus.

    Spoiler

     

    Last week, an alert was sent to general practitioners in London warning that “there has been an apparent rise in the number of children of all ages presenting with a multisystem inflammatory state requiring intensive care across London and also in other regions of the U.K.”

    The chief medical officer for England, Chris Whitty, told reporters that a link with the virus was “certainly plausible.”

    Asked about the British reports, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, a World Health Organization scientist, told reporters last week that the inflammatory syndrome “seems to be rare.”

    “There are some recent rare descriptions of children in some European countries that have had this inflammatory syndrome, which is similar to the Kawasaki syndrome, but it seems to be very rare,” she said.

    Pediatricians in France, Italy and Spain have also reported dozens of cases of children presenting symptoms of toxic shock or Kawasaki syndrome, but doctors have said that it is too early to link them.

    In the northern Italian town of Bergamo, one hospital saw 20 cases in April alone, and in four Parisian hospitals, 20 children have been hospitalized with inflammatory heart conditions. Spain has recorded a few dozen cases, and Switzerland and Belgium have reported a handful.

    No deaths have been recorded as yet.

    The New York City health commissioner, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, said in a statement: “Even though the relationship of this syndrome to Covid-19 is not yet defined, and not all of these cases have tested positive for Covid-19 by either DNA test or serology, the clinical nature of this virus is such that we are asking all providers to contact us immediately if they see patients who meet the criteria we’ve outlined.”

    “And to parents,” she added, “if your child has symptoms like fever, rash, abdominal pain or vomiting, call your doctor right away.”

     

     

    • Like 1
  3. 5 hours ago, Dnaguy said:

    How many people do you know personally that died? Seriously? 

    I know you're being sarcastic, but in all honesty I actually know one fatality who died from it in Lubbock the week before last -- a guy I've known since the 2nd grade. He was my age (48-49) and did have some underlying health conditions, but this shit is still deadly. He had a golden soul and was a healthcare worker. He went into the hospital having difficulty breathing with his kidneys shutting down. Two days later he was dead.

  4. 17 minutes ago, Bama Chick said:

    Someone get the men in the white coats.

     

    That doesn't even sound like English. Was that from today? I *think* the only word I understood was "allergic" but I'm not really sure about that.

  5. 44 minutes ago, GRHorn said:

    Glad these states are starting to open up. We overshot the mark. 

    As of this moment, today, there have been more than 56,000 American souls lost to this virus since the middle of March, and that number has been kept this low because of the extraordinary measures we've taken. In your opinion, what would have been an acceptable death toll so far and what would be the ultimate figure until we get a vaccine? What mark should have we been shooting for?

  6. 50 minutes ago, JimmyJames said:

    So does this mean the daily beatings are coming to an end? If so, praise Jesus!

    They likely have seen the polls that show the press conferences are hurting him more than helping, and he's trying to find an excuse to end them.

  7. Dipping my toes in this thread for the first time and having only read this page and the last, my spidey senses tell me that Joe will select Harris as his running mate. From what I can tell as a spectator, their individual personalities (and age plus experience) just match really well, and I think that she checks off all his boxes.

    To be clear, neither was my first choice, but I think the above simply makes too much sense, given the situation, expectations, and political strategies.

    • Like 1
  8. 1 hour ago, RomaVicta said:

    We need cameras set up in hospital ERs and ICUs now. These idiots don't get what they're talking about. 

    The policy works! Abandon it because the numbers are lower than expected! There's not much chance you'll die, so it's okay.

    What a bunch of morons.

    If gawd forbid there's a break-out among them, I at least hope they show up at the ER in their MAGA gear. 

  9. 17 minutes ago, utee94 said:

     

    I think it's completely possible to discuss the current situation, and the reactions to it, and the overall policy, without interjecting opinion on WHY you think a person of a certain political party or background might have done something.  First of all, that's just opinion and not fact and certainly not "current events" so it doesn't belong here.  Second, it clearly devolves into a crapfest when it happens, so it also doesn't belong here.

    Party politics affect many, most, or perhaps even all, policy decisions.  But luckily for all surly dwellers, there is another forum and thread on this site, for that kind of discussion.

    It's not an impossible ask, to keep opinions regarding WHY policy decisions were made, on another thread, if that opinion centers on leaders of one party or the other, making their decisions based on party politics.  It's not impossible simply to not state that opinion and reserve it for elsewhere, it really isn't.  And there are pages and pages where this thread hums along relatively fine, without it.  

    I don't really read or post in Cloak Room, I don't really know or care who the various posters are that have some obvious history and division along party lines.  I mean, I can read the call-outs and attacks here and "get it" but since I don't read or post there, I don't the history, and most importantly I don't care about it.  I don't want to see political opinions about motives, and I don't want to read posters here, calling out posters from another forum, for being a "cabal" or whatever, and dragging that crap here.  It doesn't belong.  And the site owner and mods have also made their position pretty clear, regarding this thread.

    Anyway, talking about the bullshit, becomes even more distracting than the bullshit itself,  so I'll stop now,  but I did feel like your post was thoughtful enough to deserve what I hope, is a similarly thoughtful response.

     

     

     

    I agree wholeheartedly and have refrained from any partisanship and have never included politicians' names nor their motives in this thread but was met with accusations of "hating the United States" and"cutting myself in anguish of how terrible the United States is" when I said that "the United States is responsible for its own self-defense."

     

    • Like 1
  10. 4 minutes ago, Wanker Bob said:

    The bordering states need to set up blockades to not let anyone out if they actually do this. 

    I don't think Louisiana and Arky have it in them to LARP a southern fried Bridge Over the River Kwai scenario unfortunately, so that fucks up the western border.

  11. 5 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

    Nope all those topics can be discussed with out  politics invading  them

    Do you mean partisanship or politics? Because ANY discussion about policy is inherently political. If we can play the blame game with China (which they deserve) and talk about the federal response to their external threat, then we should also be able to play the same blame game (which we deserve) with our internal response.

    As I understand the rules set out for this thread, only State and Local policy decisions and governmental actions are supposed to be allowed on this thread. And yet there are innumerable examples of violations occurring daily from BOTH sides right now regarding various potential federal responses.

    If we're going to be truthful, the two boards should be divvied up like a newspaper where the News section is devoted to Current Events & Analysis and the Op/Ed section is for Political Opinions & Partisanship. If posters don't want to talk about politics, then they need to stick with current events and nothing else (which I'm happy to do). But let's not play a disingenuous game that leads to two separate little media bubbles.

    • Like 3
  12. 1 minute ago, TXSG8R said:

    Oh, no doubt.  That's the slant I'm talking about.  The only posts I see people flip the NO CR shit on are posts they perceive as left of center.  Doesn't even have to be remotely political, just not 'Murica enough.  

    Precisely. That's what set me off last weekend when one poster stated, without sarcasm, that I "hated America" for stating something to the effect that I understand that it feels good to point fingers and blame others for the virus but that we needed to also collectively reflect on the shortcomings of our own response.

  13. 21 minutes ago, workswithseed said:

    I'm probably one of the dumbest, and uneducated posters on this site, but i just don't see how this place is any better than the DT thread. I see this place as the reaction to Trump, and that's not a bad thing since Trump is a liar, egomaniac man who unfortunately runs our country. That doesn't mean everything in this thread is all knowing and true. The worst offender was the lady who drunk fish cleaner.

    Anastasis, bernorange, EMAWsome, and Occasionally Axiom of Choice (when something deals with religion) come over and post. Other than that it's usually an echo chamber. I'm not saying it's a bad thing since it's good to get many different opinions, but it's usually the same opinion.

    The problem with the DT thread is that former CR posters are over there making both covert and overt political statements yet somehow get pissed when someone with a different political viewpoint says something they disagree with and get shouted down for cloaking up their totally-not-a-political thread.

    It's become Surly's version of screaming "FAKE NEWS!!!" at anything they disagree with.

    If they're going to be that insistent on restricting conversation, then ANY opinion on policy should be restricted to the political board. Same goes to batshit conspiracy discussion.

    Edit: I'll add that the two boards ought to be treated like a newspaper. There's the News section discussing current events and analysis, and then there's the Op/Ed section for political opinions and partisanship. But, no, just like the broader mass media problem is that they want to live in their own little information bubble.

    • Like 3
  14. 21 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

    Politics has been kept out of here as much as possible. What you, and the cabal want to do is make this yet another condemn Trump/ other guys party thread.  He has blame, and so do other agencies, heads of agencies, and other governments all over the world.  Have state govs/ been attacked using politics as the motivating factor here ?

     Anyone pushing back on that would be attacked, and jihaded, and the whole thread would turn into the shit hole CR has become.  

    If we're going actually apply a standard of "no politics" in this thread, how about leaving ALL the blame game in the CR? There is, after all, a "Fuck China" thread over there as that is undoubtedly also a political statement. Leave this thread for just for the current ongoing events discussion.

    I'd also add that conspiracy theory stuff should probably all go over there too since folks who buy into that shit are alluding to some political force that might be behind whatever is being alleged, such as cooking the books on numbers.

    • Like 3
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