Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[lineygoblue]

I'll keep quiet if you'll - name the thing you most want the PRC to do. It's called strategic leverage. A step down from brinksmanship.

I've got a list I'd suggest:

1. Grant Taiwan its independence and give up all claims to the island.
2. Start keeping the promises they made to the Brits when they abandoned Hong Kong.
3. Tell Kim Jong Un he's going to give up his nukes. Now. Or else.
4. Stop stealing intellectual properties, patents, etc., from the West and calling them their own.
5. Stop threatening to expand Chinese Communism all over SE Asia and Australia.
6. Stop providing funds and weapons for Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas.

Those would be a nice start.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Yesterday I posted about a NYT's teaser that identified "unexamined evidence" held by the US intelligence community that might identify which of the two existing theories of where SARS2 came from is most likely. This morning the Economist published a good article on this question. One of the central pieces of information that might help identify patient #1 and what the genome of the virus he/she became infected with looked like was this person's medical records. Those medical records are among several of the earliest people to have become infected, possibly as early as October, 2019. These were requested by the WHO team that went to China in February of this year. The Chinese refused. The article opines that the reason for the refusal is that the Chinese already know what this will lead to (a discovery with proof of a massive fuck up) or don't know because they don't want to know. I favor the former.

Here's a quote from the paywalled article:

These data are crucial. Not all the early cases of covid-19 were from the market. Rather than being the source of the outbreak, it could simply have been a place where the virus was amplified. That speaks to the need to look at other possible sources, and that requires individualised data on every early case. The lack of such data meant that the who team was unable to do a standard epidemiological investigation, Dominic Dwyer, an Australian microbiologist, told the Wall Street Journal at the time. These early cases of covid-19 could point clearly in the direction of either an animal or laboratory source.

I think the spooks have this data and know the answer to maybe the biggest question in recent history. Did the Chinese fuck up and then cover-up a lab leak or was it just a coincidence that two big Chinese virology labs are located near the wild animal market at ground zero of the initial outbreak - Wuhan - that was nothing more than a zoonotic transfer from pangolins being sold in that market. If the "Furin Cleavage site" was present in the genomes of the virus specimens collected from those early COVID patients that becomes the "smoking virus." The insertion of that genomic set does not happen in nature. It is a common insertion in gain of function experiments on a whole range of viruses including what researchers in Wuhan were doing with SARS.

The Economist article speculates about a more benign reason the Chinese may not have been forthcoming about a lab leak:

Most alarmingly, the h1n1 strain of influenza which started spreading around the world in 1977 is now known to have been released from a north-east Asian lab—possibly in China, possibly in Russia. Some Western observers suspected this at the time, but they made little fuss about it, perhaps afraid that doing so would lead to China and/or Russia pulling out of international flu-surveillance efforts, or spark a backlash against virology.

This issue has already come into focus as the author of the piece Talent linked to a few weeks ago addresses the "omerta' " that virologists practice when it comes to criticizing the work of colleagues. Most notably those working on "gain of function" research. IMO, this gives those fucks too much credit. Deceitful is a very common characteristic in Chinese culture and is amplified within China governed by the PRC. Interestingly, there are some actual freedom loving Chinese who hide in the background and keep out of sight of Chinese "watchers" that are professionals in that they operate on the basis of the value of facts and honesty in science. There have been examples of Chinese scientists and doctors that spoke too freely about SARS2 and COVID and suddenly disappeared. The spooks may have gotten ahold of one of these types.

[Da Geezer]

What I am waiting for is the lawsuit to be filed against the Wuhan lab, the CCP, and all individual actors in this screw-up. Get the judgment and enforce it against the CCP. and the individuals running things. At least it would give the plaintiffs the right to see all the US government's information. I bet we know where money is stashed in the West by members of the Central Committee.

[foxhopper]

No mention here of our hero Fauci who had a major hand in funding the lab? But all of this shit was common knowledge over a year ago. But you know conspiiiiiracys...

[lineygoblue]

Thou shalt not besmirch the name of Dr. F. That is cause for immediate cancellation.

[Hannibal]

[Jeff Buchanan]

Memorial Day. Today, it was reported the Chinese government announced married couples can have three kids - that's up from two. Recall that we enjoy freedom and democratic governance because of the sacrifices of many, just not in combat but in every aspect of service American men and women volunteer for to keep it that way.

BTW, stop thanking me and other members of the armed forces for our service. We serve(d) because it's our duty; we cherish freedom.

[Ghengis Jon]

Jeff, Liney, Stan - Remember Tom Shannon at CKLW? He passed away.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/obituaries/2021/05/27/dj-tom-shannon-top-jock-cklw-during-golden-era-has-died/5198149001/?itm_medium=recirc&itm_source=taboola&itm_campaign=internal&itm_content=BelowArticleFeed-FeedRedesign

[Jeff Buchanan]

Jeff, Liney, Stan - Remember Tom Shannon at CKLW? He passed away.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/obituaries/2021/05/27/dj-tom-shannon-top-jock-cklw-during-golden-era-has-died/5198149001/?itm_medium=recirc&itm_source=taboola&itm_campaign=internal&itm_content=BelowArticleFeed-FeedRedesign

Yep ....... lots of memories. I was 14 when we moved from Chicago (loved WLS) to the Detroit burbs. When I was just 16, CKLW was on in the background in my Dad's car that he gave me the keys to for a date. We were parked on a dead end street. First time I got to second base with my girlfriend. You remember shit like that.

[lineygoblue]

Memorial Day. Today, it was reported the Chinese government announced married couples can have three kids - that's up from two. Recall that we enjoy freedom and democratic governance because of the sacrifices of many, just not in combat but in every aspect of service American men and women volunteer for to keep it that way.

BTW, stop thanking me and other members of the armed forces for our service. We serve(d) because it's our duty; we cherish freedom.

Especially that final thought.

I never served in combat. My military service was all served stateside, in a nice warm in the winter, cool in the summer office, where I distributed mail, typed letters for the CO, printed a flight schedule, and posted the "Plan of the Day" (POD). There were never any bullets whizzing by my head, or having to take cover because people who have never known me were trying to kill me. I sometimes feel guilty when people say to me, "thank you for your service", when I know I really didn't do anything that deserves their thanks. But, I am proud of what the USCG does, and that I was a small part of it for 4 years. My biggest regret about my military service, is that I didn't stay in the USCG Reserves when I finished active duty. I should have served the remaining 16 years in the Reserves, and if I could do it over again, that's what I'd do.

I salute the men who were the real heroes, the guys who stormed Normandy, who knew that in minutes they'd likely be dead, but they stormed the beaches anyway. Without them, the world would be a terribly awful place right now. If Hitler would have won, the faux "nazi's" people like to talk about now would seem like altar boys, compared to what the real Nazi's would have done. If I ever get to travel overseas, a MUST visit for me will be Normandy.

[UMStan White]

Ah yes CKLW Byron McGregor shouting the news. He married Jo Jo Shutee (sp) the helicopter traffic lady. Tom Shannon, the voice of CKLW

Jeff. I grew up listening to WLS through grade school high school and college. Listened to it when I moved back to SW Michigan following law school. Dick Biondi, the wild eyed Italian kicked off the air for telling dirty joke.

Story of parking with your girlfriend at 16 brings back fond memories parking out at the small municipal airport in Niles. Ah yes, some memories never die.

Whether you want it or not I thank you (and Liney) for your service. We may differ in our political beliefs but we share an undying respect for our military members.

[Mike]

Pardon the sentimentality for a moment but the older I get, the more these things bother me. While there’s a few moments left of Memorial Day weekend allow me to share the story of SGT Cory Mracek: pride of Hay Springs, Nebraska!

https://honorandremembernebraska.org/cory-mracek/

He came to my unit in Dec. 2003 and we received orders to Iraq soon after. We all went home for a couple weeks and deployed in Jan 2004. In the meantime, I got to know the somewhat goofy guy from Nebraska who was a staunch Cornhusker and Avalanche fan... which meant we argued about sports a lot.

8 days after arriving in Iraq, Cory was killed by an IED that also claimed the lives of 2 others while seriously wounding 6 more. His LT thought it would be a good idea to investigate something suspicious on the side of the road while out on patrol. As an FO, SGT Mracek was always in the platoon leader’s hip pocket. But when his (Mracek’s) radio man jumped out of the truck to go with him, he told him to stay there because he didn’t like what was going on. Moments later a large explosive was remotely detonated. Cory died instantly. His radio man was unharmed.

Months later the rest of us returned to Fort Bragg. I don’t know how other divisions do it but in the 82nd when you descend the steps of the plane, there is a floor mat so you can wipe from your boots whatever remnants remain from the shithole country from which you just returned. That is met by a long red carpet to welcome you home. Usually, there’s some high ranking brass that wants to glad hand everyone and slap you on the back. But this time we were immediately greeted by survivors of that early IED attack; prosthetics and disfigurement on full display. Standing tall and proud, uniforms crisp, boots a mirror shine. Smiles ear to ear. That’s my kind of walk on the red carpet.

Those are the dudes...

[froot loops]

[iam416]

Oh, Kamala, how out of your depth you really are. CNN of all places is reporting her desperate attempts to distance herself from the Border It's Not A Crisis. https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/01/polit...ion/index.html

The National Review has fun making fun: https://www.nationalreview.com/corne...om-the-border/

Remember, Chairman Joe could think of no person more qualified than Kamala to get the Border It's Not a Crisis situation fixed. Somehow, I actually believe that Chairman Joe actually couldn't think of anyone else...

Welp, now Kamala is tabbed the "Voting Rights" Czar in the Progs outlandish efforts to federalize every goddamn election in this country. Hopefully she'll do as good as job. And, actually, if past is at all prologue, there's almost a 100% chance that's the case. So, that's good news.

JIM CROW ON STEROIDS!!!!

[iam416]

Meanwhile, the Progs cheer the heroics of the Texas Ds for literally not showing up to work so that there couldn't be a quorom to vote on the sensible Texas voting law. These are, remember, the same people who want to abolish the filibuster in Washington.