Why would the UK need to 'cope' with Poland gaining influence on the continent? We would be blessed not to have any continental entanglements at all - each and every time we get involved in a continental territorial conflict, we end up the poorer for it; this time is no exception. We need to learn to let them get on with it and mind our own fucking business.
As for who is going to pay for Ukraine's reconstruction, having contributed handsomely to its destruction, I am not looking forward to our share of the bill for putting it all back up again. Russia should pay most of it but I don't see that happening unless they hold the territory that is being repaired.
A post war Ukraine of any stability will represent an incredible investment opportunity - vast returns possible as part of rebuilding country and from it “levelling up” with the rest of Europe.
I would dust down 'heavy lifting', but I'd be unsure of which part of this is straining its biceps the most.
You have a country, poor in development, but rich in people and with lots of education.
Historically that is a goldmine to invest in. Providing corruption can be reined in.
A zillion examples of that - Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Poland, Bulgaria, to name but a few.
I'm not going to put down the Ukrainians.
However, the US now (if not before) as good as owns them, by virtue of all their military aid being loans. Ukraine must have racked up several times its yearly budget in US military equipment now. The US will award reconstruction contracts, primarily to US companies, and recalling the reconstruction of Iraq, being a staunch ally did not get you first dibs even on what was left.
That won't be much of an issue for them, particularly compared to the horrors Russia would commit, and are committing.
I have never suggested it would be. For most Ukrainians, it's their preferred choice. I am saying that for us, like Iraq, the conflict is financially deleterious and will continue to be so in its aftermath.
Disclaimer: this is not a pleasant way to look at things from a moral viewpoint:
At the moment, the war is giving the west rewards far in excess of what we are spending. One of the two big powers we've spent countless trillions over decades to counter, is being worn down, and potentially defeated, for around $50 billion (and that's a maximum figure via rather creative accounting).
The US spent about $2 trillion on the Iraq war alone, and lost thousands of soldiers and contractors.
The bang-for-buck that the US and west are getting from this war is incredible 'value'. Not that we wanted it, but it is turning the feared Russian army into very much a third-tier military, whose only unusual power is nukes.
I agree that for the US, it is very rewarding financially and strategically.
If we wanna talk serious, how about this Project Veritas takedown of a major Pfizer executive, who, inter alia, says Yeah of course it came from the lab and Yeah we are still mutating the virus to develop new vaccines but DON’T TELL ANYONE
His explosive reaction at the end as he realises he has spilled the beans to the world, and by the by self destructed his own career is quite intense
“Like, it makes no sense that the virus popped out of nowhere”
NO FUCKING KIDDING, SHERLOCK
Interesting that this "major Pfizer executive" is totally unfindable on the Internet.
I suppose the brain-dead will take that as proof of a cover-up ...
Yes. Totally impossible to find on the internet
There is plenty of evidence this guy really exists, unless boston consulting group is some fake organisation....(its not its a 60 year old company, with 25000 employees).
The Near-Term Outlook for COVID-19 Therapeutic Treatments MAY 08, 2020 By Ciarán Lawlor, Ahad Wahid, MD, Jordon Walker, and Josh Kellar
Doesn't mean he wasn't bullshitting / exaggerating to his date, but he isn't some false flag PV actor.
It does neatly demonstrate that his role in Pfizer mRNA vaccine science is pretty tangential, given he was writing such reports for BCG in 2020.
And fits in with the tweets I posted upthread.
I haven't followed this story 100%, but I don't think PV claimed he was actually doing the mRNA research, and that I believe he is on secondment from BCG to Pfizer as a (management) consultant. Rather, I think its a bit of a classic PV tactic, where they don't make it clear what his job title actually means and they leave it to the viewer to wrongly infer things.
Sure. The real point is that he sounds as though he doesn’t have a clue what he’s on about. As no one seems to be noting the points from my first post, I’ll copy the Twitter thread below.
Here, Project Veritas is implying that directed evolution = gain-of-function research on the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID.
My take is that this is likely NOT the case
Just a background on Directed Evolution - it mimics natural selection and do it faster. This is most commonly done by error prone PCR.
Remember the mRNA vaccine is just the sequence of the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Now with different variants of SARS-CoV-2, the spike protein sequence can mutate as well, leading to less efficacy of vaccines.
This is why the FDA wants the COVID vaccine to be updated yearly to target variants
There are many variants. And if you are to forced to choose 1 spike protein seq that can be effective against the most concerning variants, that might be tough.
So if you were to choose 1 mRNA vaccine sequence, how would you choose? Well, it is impossible to predict efficacy of 1 sequence against multiple variants.
This is where Directed Evolution comes in.
You can generate many different spike protein sequences by running an error prone PCR on the spike protein DNA template. And perhaps one of these sequence will manage to generate a robust enough response against the most problematic SARS-COV-2 variants.
Of course, it is not so simple, because you need to design a selection system to select for sequences that can elicit meaningful immune response against multiple variants.
I suspect Pfizer scientists are using directed evolution to identify such sequences.
This is NOT the same as gain-of-function research where you are creating actual SARS-CoV-2 viruses. because you are NOT producing a virus.
All you are doing is producing variants of the mRNA spike protein vaccine and test them in animal models infected with different problematic variants right now.
If you get lucky, you can fish out an mRNA vaccine seq that is effective against the most problematic variants
This is likely what Jordon Walker was talking about. It is not gain-of-function research because you are NOT generating new *virus variants*, you are just generating new vaccine variants.
Just because something "sounds like" gain-of-function research to someone who doesn't understand molecular biology, it doesn't mean it is!
In EVERY biology dept in EVERY university, EVERY DAY, there is someone doing "Directed Evolution" by running error prone PCR. END/
If we wanna talk serious, how about this Project Veritas takedown of a major Pfizer executive, who, inter alia, says Yeah of course it came from the lab and Yeah we are still mutating the virus to develop new vaccines but DON’T TELL ANYONE
His explosive reaction at the end as he realises he has spilled the beans to the world, and by the by self destructed his own career is quite intense
“Like, it makes no sense that the virus popped out of nowhere”
NO FUCKING KIDDING, SHERLOCK
Interesting that this "major Pfizer executive" is totally unfindable on the Internet.
I suppose the brain-dead will take that as proof of a cover-up ...
Yes. Totally impossible to find on the internet
There is plenty of evidence this guy really exists, unless boston consulting group is some fake organisation....(its not its a 60 year old company, with 25000 employees).
The Near-Term Outlook for COVID-19 Therapeutic Treatments MAY 08, 2020 By Ciarán Lawlor, Ahad Wahid, MD, Jordon Walker, and Josh Kellar
Doesn't mean he wasn't bullshitting / exaggerating to his date, but he isn't some false flag PV actor.
It is incredible, to me, that apparently sane people are so eager to believe that he is a fake. Deluded fools that they are
Obviously he’s real. And, equally obvious, there have been fairly lame attempts to hide him on the internet (taking down his LinkedIn page for example) - presumably this is him doing it himself, or his concerned colleagues/friends/family. And I can empathise with their concern
What he admits/claims in that video - even if it WAS bullshit to impress a date - is enough to destroy a career and a life
I feel for him. He did something stupid. But he said what he said and now it is out there
For me the most interesting part is the casual acceptance that Covid almost certainly came from the lab. “Like, of course it did, we all know that.” He’s not even trying to impress at that point. It is his honest opinion as a Pfizer insider (seconded from BCG, it seems)
Well, PV / James O'Keefe in the past got done for making shit up. You have to be careful in that their videos are carefully edited, the roles of people they snare aren't necessarily quite as important as they spin it and obviously PV have an ideological bent.
I do find it slightly odd that the normal repost is that they use deceptive practices to get this undercover films. Isn't that what every investigative journalist does? The lady who investigated the dog breeding for Panorama last Monday pretended to be somebody she wasn't for months in order to get access and film the breeders.
This is not fake
Look at his reaction when he realises that 1. He has been filmed and 2. He has fucked Pfizer snd 3. His career is likely over
i feel for him. But this is not fakery or clever editing
Well you do have to be careful if that they have got caught in the past where they will ask a question along the lines of hypothetically what would happen if......and they push this line for ages. And eventually the person plays ball and they cut out the pretext.
Yes, I agree. But the attempt to pretend this guy does not exist and the panicky response from Pfizer is not a good look
That been said, the big tech and media ones they have had in recent years, I don't think they needed to do much selective editing, that CNN, Twitter, etc employees were all too keen to bitch about Trump, Musk, etc, and massive biased against them.
It was such a sad, grim, miserable place, with people trying to live their lives with very few of the freedoms we take for granted. No food in the shops, and surrounded by patently absurd state propaganda. It’s why I get annoyed when the likes of ex-MP Nick of this parish are so blasé about their communist-supporting past.
Well, yes - as I've often said, when I supported them it was the Euro-communist version - the pro-democracy, anti-dictatorship variant championed by Berlinguer in Italy and Hermannson in Sweden. It's more than 50 years ago now, but it was a perfectly reasonable choice at the time, and it's a bit bizarre that it bothers you now. It bore as much relationship to the Romanian dictatorship as President Kennedy did to tinpot autocrats in Latin America.
I see that distinction as similar to the "I was an Italian fascist, not a Nazi!"
IMV the idea that there is a form of Communism that is soft, cuddly and will work is sadly an foolish one, and one that is often used to hide the evils of red-in-tooth-and-claw communism that has always been tried.
Didn't someone in the media call themselves a 'liberal communist' or somesuch?
It is, but in his defence a large chunk of Labour believed that, or pretended to believe it, during the Corbyn years, and it wasn't actually unheard of even before then to hear people claim New Labour won in 1997 by becoming the Tories, silly though that might be.
HYUFD has a long history of pretending to know about Labour Party leaders, internal politics and history when he knows very little. He's been shown up so many times, it is embarrassing he keeps posting this drivel.
Blair was closer to a 19th century Liberal PM like Palmerston than he was to the other Labour PMs of the 20th century or indeed Gordon Brown who succeeded him in the 21st.
Palmerston was also of course the last non Tory PM to win 3 consecutive general election majorities before Blair
If we wanna talk serious, how about this Project Veritas takedown of a major Pfizer executive, who, inter alia, says Yeah of course it came from the lab and Yeah we are still mutating the virus to develop new vaccines but DON’T TELL ANYONE
His explosive reaction at the end as he realises he has spilled the beans to the world, and by the by self destructed his own career is quite intense
“Like, it makes no sense that the virus popped out of nowhere”
NO FUCKING KIDDING, SHERLOCK
Interesting that this "major Pfizer executive" is totally unfindable on the Internet.
I suppose the brain-dead will take that as proof of a cover-up ...
Yes. Totally impossible to find on the internet
There is plenty of evidence this guy really exists, unless boston consulting group is some fake organisation....(its not its a 60 year old company, with 25000 employees).
The Near-Term Outlook for COVID-19 Therapeutic Treatments MAY 08, 2020 By Ciarán Lawlor, Ahad Wahid, MD, Jordon Walker, and Josh Kellar
Doesn't mean he wasn't bullshitting / exaggerating to his date, but he isn't some false flag PV actor.
It is incredible, to me, that apparently sane people are so eager to believe that he is a fake. Deluded fools that they are
Obviously he’s real. And, equally obvious, there have been fairly lame attempts to hide him on the internet (taking down his LinkedIn page for example) - presumably this is him doing it himself, or his concerned colleagues/friends/family. And I can empathise with their concern
What he admits/claims in that video - even if it WAS bullshit to impress a date - is enough to destroy a career and a life
I feel for him. He did something stupid. But he said what he said and now it is out there
For me the most interesting part is the casual acceptance that Covid almost certainly came from the lab. “Like, of course it did, we all know that.” He’s not even trying to impress at that point. It is his honest opinion as a Pfizer insider (seconded from BCG, it seems)
Well, PV / James O'Keefe in the past got done for making shit up. You have to be careful in that their videos are carefully edited, the roles of people they snare aren't necessarily quite as important as they spin it and obviously PV have an ideological bent.
I do find it slightly odd that the normal repost is that they use deceptive practices to get this undercover films. Isn't that what every investigative journalist does? The lady who investigated the dog breeding for Panorama last Monday pretended to be somebody she wasn't for months in order to get access and film the breeders.
This is not fake
Look at his reaction when he realises that 1. He has been filmed and 2. He has fucked Pfizer snd 3. His career is likely over
i feel for him. But this is not fakery or clever editing
Well you do have to be careful if that they have got caught in the past where they will ask a question along the lines of hypothetically what would happen if......and they push this line for ages. And eventually the person plays ball, and they cut out the pretext, so it sounds like the person has just started spilling the beans on something, when it only came about because somebody was giving the come on and kept prompting them to go on just imagine if.....sucks on straw suggestively....
There is also the possibility that he was telling the truth, of course - Pfizer are manipulating the virus with directed evolution so as to keep it menacing so that they can justify new vaccines which earn them trillions
Not a nice thing to imagine - I really hope it is not true - but then two years ago we were banned from imagining that it came from the lab….
What we need is Nuremberg Tribunals where everyone important has to give evidence on oath. This will be deeply uncomfortable. It is highly possible some scientists might go to jail for a long time for their role in what was, unquestionably, an attempt to cover up the likely lab origin at the start. Scientists at the labs might face worse than jail time
We also need evidence from politicians, medics, virologists, everyone. On oath
Yes, China will not cooperate but 20 million people are dead. Enough. We deserve investigations and answers
Though the Pfizer statement says they’re not engaging in directed evolution research. https://www.pfizer.com/news/announcements/pfizer-responds-research-claims Allegations have recently been made related to gain of function and directed evolution research at Pfizer and the company would like to set the record straight.
In the ongoing development of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer has not conducted gain of function or directed evolution research. Working with collaborators, we have conducted research where the original SARS-CoV-2 virus has been used to express the spike protein from new variants of concern. This work is undertaken once a new variant of concern has been identified by public health authorities. This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing vaccine to induce antibodies that neutralize a newly identified variant of concern. We then make this data available through peer reviewed scientific journals and use it as one of the steps to determine whether a vaccine update is required.
In addition, to meet U.S. and global regulatory requirements for our oral treatment, PAXLOVID™, Pfizer undertakes in vitro work (e.g., in a laboratory culture dish) to identify potential resistance mutations to nirmatrelvir, one of PAXLOVID’s two components. With a naturally evolving virus, it is important to routinely assess the activity of an antiviral. Most of this work is conducted using computer simulations or mutations of the main protease–a non-infectious part of the virus. In a limited number of cases when a full virus does not contain any known gain of function mutations, such virus may be engineered to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells. In addition, in vitro resistance selection experiments are undertaken in cells incubated with SARS-CoV-2 and nirmatrelvir in our secure Biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory to assess whether the main protease can mutate to yield resistant strains of the virus. It is important to note that these studies are required by U.S. and global regulators for all antiviral products and are carried out by many companies and academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world...
If we wanna talk serious, how about this Project Veritas takedown of a major Pfizer executive, who, inter alia, says Yeah of course it came from the lab and Yeah we are still mutating the virus to develop new vaccines but DON’T TELL ANYONE
His explosive reaction at the end as he realises he has spilled the beans to the world, and by the by self destructed his own career is quite intense
“Like, it makes no sense that the virus popped out of nowhere”
NO FUCKING KIDDING, SHERLOCK
Interesting that this "major Pfizer executive" is totally unfindable on the Internet.
I suppose the brain-dead will take that as proof of a cover-up ...
Yes. Totally impossible to find on the internet
There is plenty of evidence this guy really exists, unless boston consulting group is some fake organisation....(its not its a 60 year old company, with 25000 employees).
The Near-Term Outlook for COVID-19 Therapeutic Treatments MAY 08, 2020 By Ciarán Lawlor, Ahad Wahid, MD, Jordon Walker, and Josh Kellar
Doesn't mean he wasn't bullshitting / exaggerating to his date, but he isn't some false flag PV actor.
It does neatly demonstrate that his role in Pfizer mRNA vaccine science is pretty tangential, given he was writing such reports for BCG in 2020.
And fits in with the tweets I posted upthread.
I haven't followed this story 100%, but I don't think PV claimed he was actually doing the mRNA research, and that I believe he is on secondment from BCG to Pfizer as a (management) consultant. Rather, I think its a bit of a classic PV tactic, where they don't make it clear what his job title actually means and they leave it to the viewer to wrongly infer things.
Sure. The real point is that he sounds as though he doesn’t have a clue what he’s on about. As no one seems to be noting the points from my first post, I’ll copy the Twitter thread below.
I think a problem is when these big tech companies try to memory hole this stuff it just makes it look dodgy. Rather than actually address the issues i.e. this bloke isn't really an important person and unlikely to really know about the research that is going on.
Just logged in to say this is a great piece, @viewcode
Thanks.
I hadn’t really thought about the dynamics re: Poland - and it’s an angle that is absent from most English language geo-politics / euro-politics / international relations / military strategy discussion. At least the stuff on my radar, and I’m way more informed than most.
You make an excellent point, though.
The angle that I consider most important - and rather inadequately covered - re: Ukraine/Russia, is China.
This could get written into the history books as their US/suez moment.
Poland will undoubtedly be the leading force in Eastern Europe against Russia as the article suggests, Germany having little interest in the role and Poland being far more supportive of Ukraine.
However the UK has never taken a leading role in Eastern Europe, it has been part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro Hungarian Empire and fought over by them, the Ottoman Empire and Turks and Russians and part of the Prussian and then German Empires too. In WW1 it was again divided between the Russians, Germans and Austro Hungarians and in WW2 by the Nazis and Soviet Union (who then took over most of it until the end of the Cold War).
The UK's European focus has always been on containing the power of Spain and the France and ultimately Germany ie western Europe. Eastern Europe has not been a major concern for it
Disraeli would actually be horrified at this comment, given the amount of time he spent on the 'Eastern Question.'
Salisbury wouldn't be much better pleased, nor would Lloyd George. As for Neville Chamberlain...
Palmerston would also be slightly surprised given he became PM during the Crimean War.
The Eastern question was more to do with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire than Eastern Europe per se, as was the Crimean War and the UK was really supporting the Turks along with France than playing the role of lead power in Eastern Europe.
Lloyd George and Chamberlain's main focus was containing Germany not Russia.
The UK has never been the regional superpower in Eastern Europe
Why would the UK need to 'cope' with Poland gaining influence on the continent? We would be blessed not to have any continental entanglements at all - each and every time we get involved in a continental territorial conflict, we end up the poorer for it; this time is no exception. We need to learn to let them get on with it and mind our own fucking business.
As for who is going to pay for Ukraine's reconstruction, having contributed handsomely to its destruction, I am not looking forward to our share of the bill for putting it all back up again. Russia should pay most of it but I don't see that happening unless they hold the territory that is being repaired.
A post war Ukraine of any stability will represent an incredible investment opportunity - vast returns possible as part of rebuilding country and from it “levelling up” with the rest of Europe.
I would dust down 'heavy lifting', but I'd be unsure of which part of this is straining its biceps the most.
You have a country, poor in development, but rich in people and with lots of education.
Historically that is a goldmine to invest in. Providing corruption can be reined in.
A zillion examples of that - Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Poland, Bulgaria, to name but a few.
I'm not going to put down the Ukrainians.
However, the US now (if not before) as good as owns them, by virtue of all their military aid being loans. Ukraine must have racked up several times its yearly budget in US military equipment now. The US will award reconstruction contracts, primarily to US companies, and recalling the reconstruction of Iraq, being a staunch ally did not get you first dibs even on what was left.
That won't be much of an issue for them, particularly compared to the horrors Russia would commit, and are committing.
I have never suggested it would be. For most Ukrainians, it's their preferred choice. I am saying that for us, like Iraq, the conflict is financially deleterious and will continue to be so in its aftermath.
Disclaimer: this is not a pleasant way to look at things from a moral viewpoint:
At the moment, the war is giving the west rewards far in excess of what we are spending. One of the two big powers we've spent countless trillions over decades to counter, is being worn down, and potentially defeated, for around $50 billion (and that's a maximum figure via rather creative accounting).
The US spent about $2 trillion on the Iraq war alone, and lost thousands of soldiers and contractors.
The bang-for-buck that the US and west are getting from this war is incredible 'value'. Not that we wanted it, but it is turning the feared Russian army into very much a third-tier military, whose only unusual power is nukes.
I agree that for the US, it is very rewarding financially and strategically.
And morally.
Don't forget that - what Russia is doing is an evil. If they are defeated in this evil, at vast cost to themselves, their people, their economy and their reputation, then it makes future dictators think twice about launching such a conflict.
Theirs is a war of conquest; They have tried to absorb parts of a sovereign nation into their own country - a wheeze that fortunately almost every other country in the world has ignored, for obvious reasons.
Though the Pfizer statement says they’re not engaging in directed evolution research. https://www.pfizer.com/news/announcements/pfizer-responds-research-claims Allegations have recently been made related to gain of function and directed evolution research at Pfizer and the company would like to set the record straight.
In the ongoing development of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer has not conducted gain of function or directed evolution research. Working with collaborators, we have conducted research where the original SARS-CoV-2 virus has been used to express the spike protein from new variants of concern. This work is undertaken once a new variant of concern has been identified by public health authorities. This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing vaccine to induce antibodies that neutralize a newly identified variant of concern. We then make this data available through peer reviewed scientific journals and use it as one of the steps to determine whether a vaccine update is required.
In addition, to meet U.S. and global regulatory requirements for our oral treatment, PAXLOVID™, Pfizer undertakes in vitro work (e.g., in a laboratory culture dish) to identify potential resistance mutations to nirmatrelvir, one of PAXLOVID’s two components. With a naturally evolving virus, it is important to routinely assess the activity of an antiviral. Most of this work is conducted using computer simulations or mutations of the main protease–a non-infectious part of the virus. In a limited number of cases when a full virus does not contain any known gain of function mutations, such virus may be engineered to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells. In addition, in vitro resistance selection experiments are undertaken in cells incubated with SARS-CoV-2 and nirmatrelvir in our secure Biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory to assess whether the main protease can mutate to yield resistant strains of the virus. It is important to note that these studies are required by U.S. and global regulators for all antiviral products and are carried out by many companies and academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world...
Do you have some personal vested interest in this?
You are allergic to the lab leak hypothesis to the point - now - of absurdity, and you are strenuously trying to deny this intriguing video says anything interesting at all
It was such a sad, grim, miserable place, with people trying to live their lives with very few of the freedoms we take for granted. No food in the shops, and surrounded by patently absurd state propaganda. It’s why I get annoyed when the likes of ex-MP Nick of this parish are so blasé about their communist-supporting past.
Well, yes - as I've often said, when I supported them it was the Euro-communist version - the pro-democracy, anti-dictatorship variant championed by Berlinguer in Italy and Hermannson in Sweden. It's more than 50 years ago now, but it was a perfectly reasonable choice at the time, and it's a bit bizarre that it bothers you now. It bore as much relationship to the Romanian dictatorship as President Kennedy did to tinpot autocrats in Latin America.
It bothers me because no-one would ever post on a public forum nowadays that they used to be a fascist supporter in their youth, because they admired the way Italian trains arrived on time and didn't see any link between that regime and the one that went on to send millions of innocents to their death.
There are some mistakes of youth of about which, in maturity, it is better to be ashamed rather than proud.
If we wanna talk serious, how about this Project Veritas takedown of a major Pfizer executive, who, inter alia, says Yeah of course it came from the lab and Yeah we are still mutating the virus to develop new vaccines but DON’T TELL ANYONE
His explosive reaction at the end as he realises he has spilled the beans to the world, and by the by self destructed his own career is quite intense
Hasn’t the UK always had traditionally had strong relationships with Poland? I can’t see it being a bad thing is Poland - with much of Eastern Europe - come to dominate any military alliance / the EU itself
Though the Pfizer statement says they’re not engaging in directed evolution research. https://www.pfizer.com/news/announcements/pfizer-responds-research-claims Allegations have recently been made related to gain of function and directed evolution research at Pfizer and the company would like to set the record straight.
In the ongoing development of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer has not conducted gain of function or directed evolution research. Working with collaborators, we have conducted research where the original SARS-CoV-2 virus has been used to express the spike protein from new variants of concern. This work is undertaken once a new variant of concern has been identified by public health authorities. This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing vaccine to induce antibodies that neutralize a newly identified variant of concern. We then make this data available through peer reviewed scientific journals and use it as one of the steps to determine whether a vaccine update is required.
In addition, to meet U.S. and global regulatory requirements for our oral treatment, PAXLOVID™, Pfizer undertakes in vitro work (e.g., in a laboratory culture dish) to identify potential resistance mutations to nirmatrelvir, one of PAXLOVID’s two components. With a naturally evolving virus, it is important to routinely assess the activity of an antiviral. Most of this work is conducted using computer simulations or mutations of the main protease–a non-infectious part of the virus. In a limited number of cases when a full virus does not contain any known gain of function mutations, such virus may be engineered to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells. In addition, in vitro resistance selection experiments are undertaken in cells incubated with SARS-CoV-2 and nirmatrelvir in our secure Biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory to assess whether the main protease can mutate to yield resistant strains of the virus. It is important to note that these studies are required by U.S. and global regulators for all antiviral products and are carried out by many companies and academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world...
Do you have some personal vested interest in this?
You are allergic to the lab leak hypothesis to the point - now - of absurdity, and you are strenuously trying to deny this intriguing video says anything interesting at all
I think he's just being sceptical, which seems fair. Your comment could be thrown back at you: why are you so vested in wanting it to be a lab leak?
My own view: it's unproved either way - though I *lean* towards a natural, non-lab origin. I wouldn't argue it either way, unless someone came on claiming it was *certainly* one thing or the other.
An excellent and interesting piece - the conclusions are thought provoking in the least and pander to an issue talked about since 1989 but which has yet to happen - the strategic disengagement from Europe of the USA. The long-awaited turn to the Pacific where the global's military and economic superpowers, America and China, will face each other in the decades to come, one hopes in amity.
Europe, perhaps for the first time in five hundred years, no longer matters and is ceasing to be the centre of the world. In our new backwater, on the wrong side of the globe from the "action", the nation states and economic blocs (not always the same) will struggle to make sense of the new reality.
The two big strategic questions of recent European history - the Franco-German rivalry and the German-Russian-Poland relationship, which have basically dominated European politics since 1815, are now coming to a conclusion. The former ended in 1945 and the latter is being ended by Russia's failure in the Ukraine which is encouraging its neighbours to look away from Washington and NATO and toward their own collective defence.
What then is the future? The Western European nations are now at peace and central and eastern Europe faces only Russia, which retains a modicum of influence via nuclear weapons and may yet become an economic dependency of China (not without its own demographic challenges).
There are valid questions about mid 21st century Africa and the socio-economic impacts of climate challenge and the likely impact on southern Europe (will we see a new Fortress Europe mentality emerge?).
Just logged in to say this is a great piece, @viewcode
Thanks.
I hadn’t really thought about the dynamics re: Poland - and it’s an angle that is absent from most English language geo-politics / euro-politics / international relations / military strategy discussion. At least the stuff on my radar, and I’m way more informed than most.
You make an excellent point, though.
The angle that I consider most important - and rather inadequately covered - re: Ukraine/Russia, is china.
This could be their suez moment.
Eastern Europe wasn’t a great part of the worldview of anyone in the west as an independent geopolitical area, thanks to its half century of vassalage to the Soviet empire. But if you look back at the century which preceded WWII, it had several moments of almost but not quite hegemony in its own sphere.
The wealthier bits of provincial Poland have a GDP of about 24000 euros per head. The poorer bits of England have a GDP of about 24000 euros per head.
Lots of ways that those numbers aren't strictly comparable (they are from 2019 and 2018 respectively for a start), but it seems reasonable to say that they're not that different.
Though the Pfizer statement says they’re not engaging in directed evolution research. https://www.pfizer.com/news/announcements/pfizer-responds-research-claims Allegations have recently been made related to gain of function and directed evolution research at Pfizer and the company would like to set the record straight.
In the ongoing development of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer has not conducted gain of function or directed evolution research. Working with collaborators, we have conducted research where the original SARS-CoV-2 virus has been used to express the spike protein from new variants of concern. This work is undertaken once a new variant of concern has been identified by public health authorities. This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing vaccine to induce antibodies that neutralize a newly identified variant of concern. We then make this data available through peer reviewed scientific journals and use it as one of the steps to determine whether a vaccine update is required.
In addition, to meet U.S. and global regulatory requirements for our oral treatment, PAXLOVID™, Pfizer undertakes in vitro work (e.g., in a laboratory culture dish) to identify potential resistance mutations to nirmatrelvir, one of PAXLOVID’s two components. With a naturally evolving virus, it is important to routinely assess the activity of an antiviral. Most of this work is conducted using computer simulations or mutations of the main protease–a non-infectious part of the virus. In a limited number of cases when a full virus does not contain any known gain of function mutations, such virus may be engineered to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells. In addition, in vitro resistance selection experiments are undertaken in cells incubated with SARS-CoV-2 and nirmatrelvir in our secure Biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory to assess whether the main protease can mutate to yield resistant strains of the virus. It is important to note that these studies are required by U.S. and global regulators for all antiviral products and are carried out by many companies and academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world...
Do you have some personal vested interest in this?
You are allergic to the lab leak hypothesis to the point - now - of absurdity, and you are strenuously trying to deny this intriguing video says anything interesting at all
No. I’ve always said the lab leak hypothesis is possibly true; it remains so. This video is pretty obvious balls, though.
I’m no virologist, but this guy sounds more ignorant than me.
Though the Pfizer statement says they’re not engaging in directed evolution research. https://www.pfizer.com/news/announcements/pfizer-responds-research-claims Allegations have recently been made related to gain of function and directed evolution research at Pfizer and the company would like to set the record straight.
In the ongoing development of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer has not conducted gain of function or directed evolution research. Working with collaborators, we have conducted research where the original SARS-CoV-2 virus has been used to express the spike protein from new variants of concern. This work is undertaken once a new variant of concern has been identified by public health authorities. This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing vaccine to induce antibodies that neutralize a newly identified variant of concern. We then make this data available through peer reviewed scientific journals and use it as one of the steps to determine whether a vaccine update is required.
In addition, to meet U.S. and global regulatory requirements for our oral treatment, PAXLOVID™, Pfizer undertakes in vitro work (e.g., in a laboratory culture dish) to identify potential resistance mutations to nirmatrelvir, one of PAXLOVID’s two components. With a naturally evolving virus, it is important to routinely assess the activity of an antiviral. Most of this work is conducted using computer simulations or mutations of the main protease–a non-infectious part of the virus. In a limited number of cases when a full virus does not contain any known gain of function mutations, such virus may be engineered to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells. In addition, in vitro resistance selection experiments are undertaken in cells incubated with SARS-CoV-2 and nirmatrelvir in our secure Biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory to assess whether the main protease can mutate to yield resistant strains of the virus. It is important to note that these studies are required by U.S. and global regulators for all antiviral products and are carried out by many companies and academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world...
Do you have some personal vested interest in this?
You are allergic to the lab leak hypothesis to the point - now - of absurdity, and you are strenuously trying to deny this intriguing video says anything interesting at all
I think he's just being sceptical, which seems fair. Your comment could be thrown back at you: why are you so vested in wanting it to be a lab leak?
My own view: it's unproved either way - though I *lean* towards a natural, non-lab origin. I wouldn't argue it either way, unless someone came on claiming it was *certainly* one thing or the other.
It seems an awfully big coincidence that the city in which bat viruses were being researched was also the city where Covid first appeared.
Not impossible, of course, for it to be entirely zoonotic. But it seems unlikely.
That said (as I have repeated ad infinitum), there are many different levels of "lab leak". And different leaks have different levels of culpability.
Just logged in to say this is a great piece, @viewcode
Thanks.
I hadn’t really thought about the dynamics re: Poland - and it’s an angle that is absent from most English language geo-politics / euro-politics / international relations / military strategy discussion. At least the stuff on my radar, and I’m way more informed than most.
You make an excellent point, though.
The angle that I consider most important - and rather inadequately covered - re: Ukraine/Russia, is China.
This could get written into the history books as their US/suez moment.
I think China is covered a fair bit, but the problem is that the government over there is rather hard to read, and at times officials say different things (which is true for all governments to a certain extent). I read something recently which suggested that there is not a single view on Ukraine/Russia within the Chinese government; rather different parts of the regime have different views. Or that is what they like to show.
It'll be interesting to see how the 'tech war' (as highlighted by the US restrictions on chip tech) will affect China's relationships with other countries.
Obviously the right decision, but a tacit admission that the safeguards don’t work. The safety of women prisoners in Scotland appears to depend on the press shaming politicians into action, which cannot be right. https://twitter.com/staylorish/status/1619734995035369473 BREAKING: Scottish Government intervenes today to immediately block any trans prisoner “with a history of violence against women” from being held or transferred to all-female jails.
If we wanna talk serious, how about this Project Veritas takedown of a major Pfizer executive, who, inter alia, says Yeah of course it came from the lab and Yeah we are still mutating the virus to develop new vaccines but DON’T TELL ANYONE
His explosive reaction at the end as he realises he has spilled the beans to the world, and by the by self destructed his own career is quite intense
“Like, it makes no sense that the virus popped out of nowhere”
NO FUCKING KIDDING, SHERLOCK
Interesting that this "major Pfizer executive" is totally unfindable on the Internet.
I suppose the brain-dead will take that as proof of a cover-up ...
Yes. Totally impossible to find on the internet
Obviously I don't mean that no one with the same first and last names exists!
Does it not cross your tiny mind that if they were telling the truth about his being a "major Pfizer executive" that would be instantly verifiable?
This is simply embarrassing. It is accepted that he works for Pfizer
He graduated Yale in 2013, he was at BCG, he more recently went to Pfizer
What he “admits” in that video is so mortifying and endangering to Pfizer’s reputation there were some half assed attempts to erase him from the Net, but that failed. Pfizer does not deny he is an executive
The fact that you would rather believe all this is some kind of massive elaborate fake is…. Quite strange
Obviously the right decision, but a tacit admission that the safeguards don’t work. The safety of women prisoners in Scotland appears to depend on the press shaming politicians into action, which cannot be right. https://twitter.com/staylorish/status/1619734995035369473 BREAKING: Scottish Government intervenes today to immediately block any trans prisoner “with a history of violence against women” from being held or transferred to all-female jails.
Well, common sense prevails (after we have tried everything else, of course). To be honest I give Sturgeon some credit for this. At least she is willing to admit she was wrong. It can't have been easy.
If we wanna talk serious, how about this Project Veritas takedown of a major Pfizer executive, who, inter alia, says Yeah of course it came from the lab and Yeah we are still mutating the virus to develop new vaccines but DON’T TELL ANYONE
His explosive reaction at the end as he realises he has spilled the beans to the world, and by the by self destructed his own career is quite intense
“Like, it makes no sense that the virus popped out of nowhere”
NO FUCKING KIDDING, SHERLOCK
Interesting that this "major Pfizer executive" is totally unfindable on the Internet.
I suppose the brain-dead will take that as proof of a cover-up ...
Yes. Totally impossible to find on the internet
Obviously I don't mean that no one with the same first and last names exists!
Does it not cross your tiny mind that if they were telling the truth about his being a "major Pfizer executive" that would be instantly verifiable?
This is simply embarrassing. It is accepted that he works for Pfizer
He graduated Yale in 2013, he was at BCG, he more recently went to Pfizer
What he “admits” in that video is so mortifying and endangering to Pfizer’s reputation there were some half assed attempts to erase him from the Net, but that failed. Pfizer does not deny he is an executive
The fact that you would rather believe all this is some kind of massive elaborate fake is…. Quite strange
You do need to concede, though, that he is a management consultant who recently joined Pfizer, rather than someone with any specialist expertise in virology.
Obviously the right decision, but a tacit admission that the safeguards don’t work. The safety of women prisoners in Scotland appears to depend on the press shaming politicians into action, which cannot be right. https://twitter.com/staylorish/status/1619734995035369473 BREAKING: Scottish Government intervenes today to immediately block any trans prisoner “with a history of violence against women” from being held or transferred to all-female jails.
Well, common sense prevails (after we have tried everything else, of course). To be honest I give Sturgeon some credit for this. At least she is willing to admit she was wrong. It can't have been easy.
Up to a point, Lord Copper....
"And there are some people that I think have decided to use women's rights as a sort of cloak of acceptability to cover up what is transphobia. Now, again, that's not everybody who opposes this bill. I want to be very clear about that.
"But there are people who have opposed this bill that cloak themselves in women's rights to make it acceptable, but just as they're transphobic you'll also find that they're deeply misogynist, often homophobic, possibly some of them racist as well."
regardless of your views on this matter, this is a textbook example of “these are my principles and if you don’t like them, I have others” from Sturgeon.
Female ex-prisoner in Scotland describes the daily reality of being forced to share shower areas and cells with trans women convicted of domestic abuse and murder. This is the very definition of cruel and degrading punishment.
If we wanna talk serious, how about this Project Veritas takedown of a major Pfizer executive, who, inter alia, says Yeah of course it came from the lab and Yeah we are still mutating the virus to develop new vaccines but DON’T TELL ANYONE
His explosive reaction at the end as he realises he has spilled the beans to the world, and by the by self destructed his own career is quite intense
“Like, it makes no sense that the virus popped out of nowhere”
NO FUCKING KIDDING, SHERLOCK
Interesting that this "major Pfizer executive" is totally unfindable on the Internet.
I suppose the brain-dead will take that as proof of a cover-up ...
Yes. Totally impossible to find on the internet
Obviously I don't mean that no one with the same first and last names exists!
Does it not cross your tiny mind that if they were telling the truth about his being a "major Pfizer executive" that would be instantly verifiable?
This is simply embarrassing. It is accepted that he works for Pfizer
You must know that's not true, if you know anything (which I sometimes wonder).
The claim seems to be that at one time he worked for a consultancy company and was temporarily seconded to Pfizer. He's obviously not a "major Pfizer executive", as claimed.
If we wanna talk serious, how about this Project Veritas takedown of a major Pfizer executive, who, inter alia, says Yeah of course it came from the lab and Yeah we are still mutating the virus to develop new vaccines but DON’T TELL ANYONE
His explosive reaction at the end as he realises he has spilled the beans to the world, and by the by self destructed his own career is quite intense
“Like, it makes no sense that the virus popped out of nowhere”
NO FUCKING KIDDING, SHERLOCK
Interesting that this "major Pfizer executive" is totally unfindable on the Internet.
I suppose the brain-dead will take that as proof of a cover-up ...
Yes. Totally impossible to find on the internet
Obviously I don't mean that no one with the same first and last names exists!
Does it not cross your tiny mind that if they were telling the truth about his being a "major Pfizer executive" that would be instantly verifiable?
This is simply embarrassing. It is accepted that he works for Pfizer
He graduated Yale in 2013, he was at BCG, he more recently went to Pfizer
What he “admits” in that video is so mortifying and endangering to Pfizer’s reputation there were some half assed attempts to erase him from the Net, but that failed. Pfizer does not deny he is an executive
The fact that you would rather believe all this is some kind of massive elaborate fake is…. Quite strange
You do need to concede, though, that he is a management consultant who recently joined Pfizer, rather than someone with any specialist expertise in virology.
No, he is a qualified doctor - from Yale - with science degrees in molecular and cellular biology. He has expertise. He is not some glorified PR exec
Obviously the right decision, but a tacit admission that the safeguards don’t work. The safety of women prisoners in Scotland appears to depend on the press shaming politicians into action, which cannot be right. https://twitter.com/staylorish/status/1619734995035369473 BREAKING: Scottish Government intervenes today to immediately block any trans prisoner “with a history of violence against women” from being held or transferred to all-female jails.
Well, common sense prevails (after we have tried everything else, of course). To be honest I give Sturgeon some credit for this. At least she is willing to admit she was wrong. It can't have been easy.
She must be getting behind the scenes criticism from some of her trusted supporters. How long before she blames the greens?
- “When things settle down, Poland will be the regional superpower in Europe and will be able to dominate the local military space, far in excess of UK. I wonder how UK will cope… ”
Correct.
Forget ‘il sorpasso’, here comes ‘proszkowanie’.
Indeed. I’ve made a fair few visits to Poland, one of the few soviet bloc countries I hadn’t visited when it was behind the Iron Curtain. The first time was just a year after the wall fell, when the only vehicles on the roads were horses and carts, army vehicles, and the occasional lorry carrying fuel or logs and belching smoke. The housing was mostly grim Soviet era tower blocks; we had dinner with a middle aged friend who struggled to survive in conditions that made any British council block luxurious; almost everything in her tiny cramped flat was jerry-built or bodged and was either falling apart or didn’t work. The currency had collapsed - you could have a full meal and drink at the best restaurant in town for £3.50 and everywhere there were Germans buying up stuff and loading it into their cars. The sign of hope was the unleashing of entrepreneurial spirit - you could drive 200 miles along one of the main roads (no motorways back then) and every half mile there’d be a guy with a roadside barbecue cooking sausages for passing Germans. And near the towns, younger women with their own retail offer for the same clientele.
On each subsequent visit the progress being made, economically if not always politically, was obvious. More traffic each time, more shops, signs advertising the significant injections of funds from the EU into improving infrastructure. They’ve done wonders with the housing, insofar as that was possible, essentially giving away the publicly-owned blocks to housing association type organisations that have refurbished them, dramatically, inside and out.
On my last visit, to Wrocław in western Poland, I realised that from the general appearance of the place - the prosperity evidenced by the retail offering, the types of cars on the street, people’s clothing - it was only the Polish writing on the shop fronts that gave away the location; without that you could guess you were in any southern European country.
Yes, there are still significant issues - embedding liberal western politics remains a challenge, and the benefits of change have fallen toward the principal towns and to the more prosperous west of the country, with the rural east benefitting the least.
But, in the round, Poland’s transition is one of our lifetime’s genuinely inspiring success stories - the EU’s leading role explaining why Ukraine is so keen to join - and you don’t have to read very much of Poland’s tragic history to realise that such a miraculous happy ending is both less than they deserve but more than they expected.
The changes in Poland and Bulgaria (the ones I know personally) are pretty startling.
One of my best friends married a Romanian lass, from the northeast of the country. He probably first knew her in about 2000. He described driving down a dual carriageway in the country, and having one lane taken up by horses and carts, and that it was usual rather than noteworthy for them. He says the country - or that part of it - has changed massively in a decade, let alone two, and it is far more modern/western.
Incidentally, banning horses off main roads may have led to another scandal, in an example of negative consequences from well-meant actions
I travelled around Romania as a student in the early 1980s, on an Interrail trip. Which was most educational, but I can honestly say that communist Romania was the most miserable place that I have visited in my lifetime.
I was there not long after communism fell. My mother was volunteering in an orphanage. The stories she had of the state of 'the care' were truly, truly grim.
Poland will undoubtedly be the leading force in Eastern Europe against Russia as the article suggests, Germany having little interest in the role and Poland being far more supportive of Ukraine.
However the UK has never taken a leading role in Eastern Europe, it has been part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro Hungarian Empire and fought over by them, the Ottoman Empire and Turks and Russians and part of the Prussian and then German Empires too. In WW1 it was again divided between the Russians, Germans and Austro Hungarians and in WW2 by the Nazis and Soviet Union (who then took over most of it until the end of the Cold War).
The UK's European focus has always been on containing the power of Spain and the France and ultimately Germany ie western Europe. Eastern Europe has not been a major concern for it
Disraeli would actually be horrified at this comment, given the amount of time he spent on the 'Eastern Question.'
Salisbury wouldn't be much better pleased, nor would Lloyd George. As for Neville Chamberlain...
Palmerston would also be slightly surprised given he became PM during the Crimean War.
The Eastern question was more to do with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire than Eastern Europe per se, as was the Crimean War and the UK was really supporting the Turks along with France than playing the role of lead power in Eastern Europe.
Lloyd George and Chamberlain's main focus was containing Germany not Russia.
The UK has never been the regional superpower in Eastern Europe
Are you actually unaware that much of the Ottoman Empire, including its capital, was in Eastern Europe?
Edit - I've also got to assume now that you've never heard of Chanak. Or allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. Or the Sudeten Crisis.
Poland will undoubtedly be the leading force in Eastern Europe against Russia as the article suggests, Germany having little interest in the role and Poland being far more supportive of Ukraine.
However the UK has never taken a leading role in Eastern Europe, it has been part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro Hungarian Empire and fought over by them, the Ottoman Empire and Turks and Russians and part of the Prussian and then German Empires too. In WW1 it was again divided between the Russians, Germans and Austro Hungarians and in WW2 by the Nazis and Soviet Union (who then took over most of it until the end of the Cold War).
The UK's European focus has always been on containing the power of Spain and the France and ultimately Germany ie western Europe. Eastern Europe has not been a major concern for it
Disraeli would actually be horrified at this comment, given the amount of time he spent on the 'Eastern Question.'
Salisbury wouldn't be much better pleased, nor would Lloyd George. As for Neville Chamberlain...
Palmerston would also be slightly surprised given he became PM during the Crimean War.
Before the nobility wrecked the place, Poland/Lithuania was virtually a superpower. It was more powerful than Austria or Russia, up till the late 17th century, and a competitor to the Ottoman Empire.
Gove's more open and honest approach to Grenfell might well have captured the headlines had it now been for Zahawi's sacking and it looks unfortunate from a media management standpoint.
Gove's "mea culpa" on Grenfell was a refreshing change and the recognition of Government culpability is one of those areas where the "floating voter" might at least acknowledge the Minister's honesty but it's all now about Zahawi and therefore it'll be about "sleaze".
Yes, Sunak acted quickly and he can be given a modicum of credit but to lose the Conservative Party Chairman in such circumstances doesn't augur well.
I thought we might get an Opinium poll last evening.
Though the Pfizer statement says they’re not engaging in directed evolution research. https://www.pfizer.com/news/announcements/pfizer-responds-research-claims Allegations have recently been made related to gain of function and directed evolution research at Pfizer and the company would like to set the record straight.
In the ongoing development of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer has not conducted gain of function or directed evolution research. Working with collaborators, we have conducted research where the original SARS-CoV-2 virus has been used to express the spike protein from new variants of concern. This work is undertaken once a new variant of concern has been identified by public health authorities. This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing vaccine to induce antibodies that neutralize a newly identified variant of concern. We then make this data available through peer reviewed scientific journals and use it as one of the steps to determine whether a vaccine update is required.
In addition, to meet U.S. and global regulatory requirements for our oral treatment, PAXLOVID™, Pfizer undertakes in vitro work (e.g., in a laboratory culture dish) to identify potential resistance mutations to nirmatrelvir, one of PAXLOVID’s two components. With a naturally evolving virus, it is important to routinely assess the activity of an antiviral. Most of this work is conducted using computer simulations or mutations of the main protease–a non-infectious part of the virus. In a limited number of cases when a full virus does not contain any known gain of function mutations, such virus may be engineered to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells. In addition, in vitro resistance selection experiments are undertaken in cells incubated with SARS-CoV-2 and nirmatrelvir in our secure Biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory to assess whether the main protease can mutate to yield resistant strains of the virus. It is important to note that these studies are required by U.S. and global regulators for all antiviral products and are carried out by many companies and academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world...
Do you have some personal vested interest in this?
You are allergic to the lab leak hypothesis to the point - now - of absurdity, and you are strenuously trying to deny this intriguing video says anything interesting at all
I think he's just being sceptical, which seems fair. Your comment could be thrown back at you: why are you so vested in wanting it to be a lab leak?
My own view: it's unproved either way - though I *lean* towards a natural, non-lab origin. I wouldn't argue it either way, unless someone came on claiming it was *certainly* one thing or the other.
It seems an awfully big coincidence that the city in which bat viruses were being researched was also the city where Covid first appeared.
Not impossible, of course, for it to be entirely zoonotic. But it seems unlikely.
That said (as I have repeated ad infinitum), there are many different levels of "lab leak". And different leaks have different levels of culpability.
There is a suggestion that two separate lineages of the virus were detected early on from the market, and this indicates it may have jumped from animals to humans twice, a significant period apart. If that was the case, it is highly unlikely for it to be a single lab leak. And a double lab leak of slightly different variants of the same virus seems highly unlikely.
If we wanna talk serious, how about this Project Veritas takedown of a major Pfizer executive, who, inter alia, says Yeah of course it came from the lab and Yeah we are still mutating the virus to develop new vaccines but DON’T TELL ANYONE
His explosive reaction at the end as he realises he has spilled the beans to the world, and by the by self destructed his own career is quite intense
“Like, it makes no sense that the virus popped out of nowhere”
NO FUCKING KIDDING, SHERLOCK
Interesting that this "major Pfizer executive" is totally unfindable on the Internet.
I suppose the brain-dead will take that as proof of a cover-up ...
Yes. Totally impossible to find on the internet
There is plenty of evidence this guy really exists, unless boston consulting group is some fake organisation....(its not its a 60 year old company, with 25000 employees).
The Near-Term Outlook for COVID-19 Therapeutic Treatments MAY 08, 2020 By Ciarán Lawlor, Ahad Wahid, MD, Jordon Walker, and Josh Kellar
Doesn't mean he wasn't bullshitting / exaggerating to his date, but he isn't some false flag PV actor.
It does neatly demonstrate that his role in Pfizer mRNA vaccine science is pretty tangential, given he was writing such reports for BCG in 2020.
And fits in with the tweets I posted upthread.
I haven't followed this story 100%, but I don't think PV claimed he was actually doing the mRNA research, and that I believe he is on secondment from BCG to Pfizer as a (management) consultant. Rather, I think its a bit of a classic PV tactic, where they don't make it clear what his job title actually means and they leave it to the viewer to wrongly infer things.
Sure. The real point is that he sounds as though he doesn’t have a clue what he’s on about. As no one seems to be noting the points from my first post, I’ll copy the Twitter thread below.
I think a problem is when these big tech companies try to memory hole this stuff it just makes it look dodgy. Rather than actually address the issues i.e. this bloke isn't really an important person and unlikely to really know about the research that is going on.
Big business in general is pretty awful when it comes to transparency. Tech is perhaps worse, since it depends (and biotech particularly so) on keeping IP as secret as it can, while in development.
If we wanna talk serious, how about this Project Veritas takedown of a major Pfizer executive, who, inter alia, says Yeah of course it came from the lab and Yeah we are still mutating the virus to develop new vaccines but DON’T TELL ANYONE
His explosive reaction at the end as he realises he has spilled the beans to the world, and by the by self destructed his own career is quite intense
“Like, it makes no sense that the virus popped out of nowhere”
NO FUCKING KIDDING, SHERLOCK
Interesting that this "major Pfizer executive" is totally unfindable on the Internet.
I suppose the brain-dead will take that as proof of a cover-up ...
Yes. Totally impossible to find on the internet
Obviously I don't mean that no one with the same first and last names exists!
Does it not cross your tiny mind that if they were telling the truth about his being a "major Pfizer executive" that would be instantly verifiable?
This is simply embarrassing. It is accepted that he works for Pfizer
You must know that's not true, if you know anything (which I sometimes wonder).
The claim seems to be that at one time he worked for a consultancy company and was temporarily seconded to Pfizer. He's obviously not a "major Pfizer executive", as claimed.
Do you want to shut up now? I think it is best, for all, if you do
Poland will undoubtedly be the leading force in Eastern Europe against Russia as the article suggests, Germany having little interest in the role and Poland being far more supportive of Ukraine.
However the UK has never taken a leading role in Eastern Europe, it has been part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro Hungarian Empire and fought over by them, the Ottoman Empire and Turks and Russians and part of the Prussian and then German Empires too. In WW1 it was again divided between the Russians, Germans and Austro Hungarians and in WW2 by the Nazis and Soviet Union (who then took over most of it until the end of the Cold War).
The UK's European focus has always been on containing the power of Spain and the France and ultimately Germany ie western Europe. Eastern Europe has not been a major concern for it
Disraeli would actually be horrified at this comment, given the amount of time he spent on the 'Eastern Question.'
Salisbury wouldn't be much better pleased, nor would Lloyd George. As for Neville Chamberlain...
Palmerston would also be slightly surprised given he became PM during the Crimean War.
The Eastern question was more to do with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire than Eastern Europe per se, as was the Crimean War and the UK was really supporting the Turks along with France than playing the role of lead power in Eastern Europe.
Lloyd George and Chamberlain's main focus was containing Germany not Russia.
The UK has never been the regional superpower in Eastern Europe
Are you actually unaware that much of the Ottoman Empire, including its capital, was in Eastern Europe?
Edit - I've also got to assume now that you've never heard of Chanak. Or allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. Or the Sudeten Crisis.
Up until the 1770's, the Ottomans were probably the top power in Eastern Europe.
The submitted article contained the credits and the sources, which could not be included because there were quite a lot of them. The above is a truncated version of the short version (ie without the credits and sources). Advance copies of the short version were given to @MattW , @Nigelb, @SeanF in a backstage forum. A longer version back to the 1920's will be written and will include at least one map and an extended list of sources. It will include Stalin's Eastern Bloc, Haushofer's Lebensraum, and Piłsudski's Międzymorze. A discussion forum will be held on either Feb 7 or Feb 14, depending on availabilty.
If you have any questions add them here and I will address them fully in the discussion forum
Thank you @viewcode. A really interesting article.
Coincidentally I have been listening to The Invention of Russia and The Invention of Poland by Misha Glenny on BBC Sounds which cover some of the same ground.
That's such a gem of a show. Always happy when a new episode comes out.
Gove's more open and honest approach to Grenfell might well have captured the headlines had it now been for Zahawi's sacking and it looks unfortunate from a media management standpoint.
Gove's "mea culpa" on Grenfell was a refreshing change and the recognition of Government culpability is one of those areas where the "floating voter" might at least acknowledge the Minister's honesty but it's all now about Zahawi and therefore it'll be about "sleaze".
Yes, Sunak acted quickly and he can be given a modicum of credit but to lose the Conservative Party Chairman in such circumstances doesn't augur well.
I thought we might get an Opinium poll last evening.
If that's acting quickly, I'd hate to see an example of dithering.
If we wanna talk serious, how about this Project Veritas takedown of a major Pfizer executive, who, inter alia, says Yeah of course it came from the lab and Yeah we are still mutating the virus to develop new vaccines but DON’T TELL ANYONE
His explosive reaction at the end as he realises he has spilled the beans to the world, and by the by self destructed his own career is quite intense
“Like, it makes no sense that the virus popped out of nowhere”
NO FUCKING KIDDING, SHERLOCK
Interesting that this "major Pfizer executive" is totally unfindable on the Internet.
I suppose the brain-dead will take that as proof of a cover-up ...
Yes. Totally impossible to find on the internet
Obviously I don't mean that no one with the same first and last names exists!
Does it not cross your tiny mind that if they were telling the truth about his being a "major Pfizer executive" that would be instantly verifiable?
This is simply embarrassing. It is accepted that he works for Pfizer
He graduated Yale in 2013, he was at BCG, he more recently went to Pfizer
What he “admits” in that video is so mortifying and endangering to Pfizer’s reputation there were some half assed attempts to erase him from the Net, but that failed. Pfizer does not deny he is an executive
The fact that you would rather believe all this is some kind of massive elaborate fake is…. Quite strange
You do need to concede, though, that he is a management consultant who recently joined Pfizer, rather than someone with any specialist expertise in virology.
No, he is a qualified doctor - from Yale - with science degrees in molecular and cellular biology. He has expertise. He is not some glorified PR exec
He doesn't even have a Masters and spent a year as a urologist.
Obviously the right decision, but a tacit admission that the safeguards don’t work. The safety of women prisoners in Scotland appears to depend on the press shaming politicians into action, which cannot be right. https://twitter.com/staylorish/status/1619734995035369473 BREAKING: Scottish Government intervenes today to immediately block any trans prisoner “with a history of violence against women” from being held or transferred to all-female jails.
Well, common sense prevails (after we have tried everything else, of course). To be honest I give Sturgeon some credit for this. At least she is willing to admit she was wrong. It can't have been easy.
Up to a point, Lord Copper....
"And there are some people that I think have decided to use women's rights as a sort of cloak of acceptability to cover up what is transphobia. Now, again, that's not everybody who opposes this bill. I want to be very clear about that.
"But there are people who have opposed this bill that cloak themselves in women's rights to make it acceptable, but just as they're transphobic you'll also find that they're deeply misogynist, often homophobic, possibly some of them racist as well."
regardless of your views on this matter, this is a textbook example of “these are my principles and if you don’t like them, I have others” from Sturgeon.
Female ex-prisoner in Scotland describes the daily reality of being forced to share shower areas and cells with trans women convicted of domestic abuse and murder. This is the very definition of cruel and degrading punishment.
She wrote off that possibility when she referred to "that women from the UN" in contemptuous terms . The price that she has been willing to pay for this is inexplicable.
Obviously the right decision, but a tacit admission that the safeguards don’t work. The safety of women prisoners in Scotland appears to depend on the press shaming politicians into action, which cannot be right. https://twitter.com/staylorish/status/1619734995035369473 BREAKING: Scottish Government intervenes today to immediately block any trans prisoner “with a history of violence against women” from being held or transferred to all-female jails.
Well, common sense prevails (after we have tried everything else, of course). To be honest I give Sturgeon some credit for this. At least she is willing to admit she was wrong. It can't have been easy.
She must be getting behind the scenes criticism from some of her trusted supporters. How long before she blames the greens?
Heavens know's they've given her enough ammunition....
Dundee-based MSP wants to ‘explore’ allowing children as young as eight to change gender Green politician Maggie Chapman says Holyrood should "explore" whether children as young as eight can decide to legally change their gender, and criticised secondary school text books on biology.
Scottish government: no man would ever pretend to be trans for nefarious purposes, people just want to live, very violent scaremongering to suggest there's any conflict between self-id and women's safety
Scottish government two seconds later: um actually
If we wanna talk serious, how about this Project Veritas takedown of a major Pfizer executive, who, inter alia, says Yeah of course it came from the lab and Yeah we are still mutating the virus to develop new vaccines but DON’T TELL ANYONE
His explosive reaction at the end as he realises he has spilled the beans to the world, and by the by self destructed his own career is quite intense
“Like, it makes no sense that the virus popped out of nowhere”
NO FUCKING KIDDING, SHERLOCK
Interesting that this "major Pfizer executive" is totally unfindable on the Internet.
I suppose the brain-dead will take that as proof of a cover-up ...
Yes. Totally impossible to find on the internet
Obviously I don't mean that no one with the same first and last names exists!
Does it not cross your tiny mind that if they were telling the truth about his being a "major Pfizer executive" that would be instantly verifiable?
This is simply embarrassing. It is accepted that he works for Pfizer
He graduated Yale in 2013, he was at BCG, he more recently went to Pfizer
What he “admits” in that video is so mortifying and endangering to Pfizer’s reputation there were some half assed attempts to erase him from the Net, but that failed. Pfizer does not deny he is an executive
The fact that you would rather believe all this is some kind of massive elaborate fake is…. Quite strange
You do need to concede, though, that he is a management consultant who recently joined Pfizer, rather than someone with any specialist expertise in virology.
No, he is a qualified doctor - from Yale - with science degrees in molecular and cellular biology. He has expertise. He is not some glorified PR exec
Though the Pfizer statement says they’re not engaging in directed evolution research. https://www.pfizer.com/news/announcements/pfizer-responds-research-claims Allegations have recently been made related to gain of function and directed evolution research at Pfizer and the company would like to set the record straight.
In the ongoing development of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer has not conducted gain of function or directed evolution research. Working with collaborators, we have conducted research where the original SARS-CoV-2 virus has been used to express the spike protein from new variants of concern. This work is undertaken once a new variant of concern has been identified by public health authorities. This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing vaccine to induce antibodies that neutralize a newly identified variant of concern. We then make this data available through peer reviewed scientific journals and use it as one of the steps to determine whether a vaccine update is required.
In addition, to meet U.S. and global regulatory requirements for our oral treatment, PAXLOVID™, Pfizer undertakes in vitro work (e.g., in a laboratory culture dish) to identify potential resistance mutations to nirmatrelvir, one of PAXLOVID’s two components. With a naturally evolving virus, it is important to routinely assess the activity of an antiviral. Most of this work is conducted using computer simulations or mutations of the main protease–a non-infectious part of the virus. In a limited number of cases when a full virus does not contain any known gain of function mutations, such virus may be engineered to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells. In addition, in vitro resistance selection experiments are undertaken in cells incubated with SARS-CoV-2 and nirmatrelvir in our secure Biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory to assess whether the main protease can mutate to yield resistant strains of the virus. It is important to note that these studies are required by U.S. and global regulators for all antiviral products and are carried out by many companies and academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world...
Do you have some personal vested interest in this?
You are allergic to the lab leak hypothesis to the point - now - of absurdity, and you are strenuously trying to deny this intriguing video says anything interesting at all
I think he's just being sceptical, which seems fair. Your comment could be thrown back at you: why are you so vested in wanting it to be a lab leak?
My own view: it's unproved either way - though I *lean* towards a natural, non-lab origin. I wouldn't argue it either way, unless someone came on claiming it was *certainly* one thing or the other.
It seems an awfully big coincidence that the city in which bat viruses were being researched was also the city where Covid first appeared.
Not impossible, of course, for it to be entirely zoonotic. But it seems unlikely.
That said (as I have repeated ad infinitum), there are many different levels of "lab leak". And different leaks have different levels of culpability.
There is a suggestion that two separate lineages of the virus were detected early on from the market, and this indicates it may have jumped from animals to humans twice, a significant period apart. If that was the case, it is highly unlikely for it to be a single lab leak. And a double lab leak of slightly different variants of the same virus seems highly unlikely.
That’s the Worobey thesis, which has been completely debunked (and is indeed facing allegations of deliberate duplicity in its sampling of data). Next
Obviously the right decision, but a tacit admission that the safeguards don’t work. The safety of women prisoners in Scotland appears to depend on the press shaming politicians into action, which cannot be right. https://twitter.com/staylorish/status/1619734995035369473 BREAKING: Scottish Government intervenes today to immediately block any trans prisoner “with a history of violence against women” from being held or transferred to all-female jails.
Well, common sense prevails (after we have tried everything else, of course). To be honest I give Sturgeon some credit for this. At least she is willing to admit she was wrong. It can't have been easy.
Up to a point, Lord Copper....
"And there are some people that I think have decided to use women's rights as a sort of cloak of acceptability to cover up what is transphobia. Now, again, that's not everybody who opposes this bill. I want to be very clear about that.
"But there are people who have opposed this bill that cloak themselves in women's rights to make it acceptable, but just as they're transphobic you'll also find that they're deeply misogynist, often homophobic, possibly some of them racist as well."
regardless of your views on this matter, this is a textbook example of “these are my principles and if you don’t like them, I have others” from Sturgeon.
Female ex-prisoner in Scotland describes the daily reality of being forced to share shower areas and cells with trans women convicted of domestic abuse and murder. This is the very definition of cruel and degrading punishment.
She wrote off that possibility when she referred to "that women from the UN" in contemptuous terms . The price that she has been willing to pay for this is inexplicable.
I'm surprised the UN hasn't been called "anti-Scottish" yet, after another Rapporteur weighed in today:
#Scotland: Female prisoners have a right to be protected from violent sex offenders no matter how they identify. Where is the common sense? Clearer guidelines are needed.
Tiffany Scott: Call to block trans prisoner's move to women's jail
Though the Pfizer statement says they’re not engaging in directed evolution research. https://www.pfizer.com/news/announcements/pfizer-responds-research-claims Allegations have recently been made related to gain of function and directed evolution research at Pfizer and the company would like to set the record straight.
In the ongoing development of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer has not conducted gain of function or directed evolution research. Working with collaborators, we have conducted research where the original SARS-CoV-2 virus has been used to express the spike protein from new variants of concern. This work is undertaken once a new variant of concern has been identified by public health authorities. This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing vaccine to induce antibodies that neutralize a newly identified variant of concern. We then make this data available through peer reviewed scientific journals and use it as one of the steps to determine whether a vaccine update is required.
In addition, to meet U.S. and global regulatory requirements for our oral treatment, PAXLOVID™, Pfizer undertakes in vitro work (e.g., in a laboratory culture dish) to identify potential resistance mutations to nirmatrelvir, one of PAXLOVID’s two components. With a naturally evolving virus, it is important to routinely assess the activity of an antiviral. Most of this work is conducted using computer simulations or mutations of the main protease–a non-infectious part of the virus. In a limited number of cases when a full virus does not contain any known gain of function mutations, such virus may be engineered to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells. In addition, in vitro resistance selection experiments are undertaken in cells incubated with SARS-CoV-2 and nirmatrelvir in our secure Biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory to assess whether the main protease can mutate to yield resistant strains of the virus. It is important to note that these studies are required by U.S. and global regulators for all antiviral products and are carried out by many companies and academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world...
Do you have some personal vested interest in this?
You are allergic to the lab leak hypothesis to the point - now - of absurdity, and you are strenuously trying to deny this intriguing video says anything interesting at all
I think he's just being sceptical, which seems fair. Your comment could be thrown back at you: why are you so vested in wanting it to be a lab leak?
My own view: it's unproved either way - though I *lean* towards a natural, non-lab origin. I wouldn't argue it either way, unless someone came on claiming it was *certainly* one thing or the other.
It seems an awfully big coincidence that the city in which bat viruses were being researched was also the city where Covid first appeared.
Not impossible, of course, for it to be entirely zoonotic. But it seems unlikely.
That said (as I have repeated ad infinitum), there are many different levels of "lab leak". And different leaks have different levels of culpability.
There is a suggestion that two separate lineages of the virus were detected early on from the market, and this indicates it may have jumped from animals to humans twice, a significant period apart. If that was the case, it is highly unlikely for it to be a single lab leak. And a double lab leak of slightly different variants of the same virus seems highly unlikely.
That’s the Worobey thesis, which has been completely debunked (and is indeed facing allegations of deliberate duplicity in its sampling of data). Next
Leon, the problem is that you are so wedded to the 'lab leak' hypothesis, that I don't see you as an unbiased actor when you say that.
Poland will undoubtedly be the leading force in Eastern Europe against Russia as the article suggests, Germany having little interest in the role and Poland being far more supportive of Ukraine.
However the UK has never taken a leading role in Eastern Europe, it has been part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro Hungarian Empire and fought over by them, the Ottoman Empire and Turks and Russians and part of the Prussian and then German Empires too. In WW1 it was again divided between the Russians, Germans and Austro Hungarians and in WW2 by the Nazis and Soviet Union (who then took over most of it until the end of the Cold War).
The UK's European focus has always been on containing the power of Spain and the France and ultimately Germany ie western Europe. Eastern Europe has not been a major concern for it
Disraeli would actually be horrified at this comment, given the amount of time he spent on the 'Eastern Question.'
Salisbury wouldn't be much better pleased, nor would Lloyd George. As for Neville Chamberlain...
Palmerston would also be slightly surprised given he became PM during the Crimean War.
Before the nobility wrecked the place, Poland/Lithuania was virtually a superpower. It was more powerful than Austria or Russia, up till the late 17th century, and a competitor to the Ottoman Empire.
Truly pitiful displays of argumentation from PB tonight
This guy does not exist. OK he exists but he never worked for Pfizer. OK he worked for Pfizer but it was just temporary. OK he still works for Pfizer but he’s just a secretary. OK he works for Pfizer as an executive but he’s just a management consultant. OK he’s a senior executive at Pfizer with a medical degree from Yale and a specialism in molecular and cellular biology and he has published papers on Covid but he’s more interested in penises
If we wanna talk serious, how about this Project Veritas takedown of a major Pfizer executive, who, inter alia, says Yeah of course it came from the lab and Yeah we are still mutating the virus to develop new vaccines but DON’T TELL ANYONE
His explosive reaction at the end as he realises he has spilled the beans to the world, and by the by self destructed his own career is quite intense
“Like, it makes no sense that the virus popped out of nowhere”
NO FUCKING KIDDING, SHERLOCK
Interesting that this "major Pfizer executive" is totally unfindable on the Internet.
I suppose the brain-dead will take that as proof of a cover-up ...
Yes. Totally impossible to find on the internet
Obviously I don't mean that no one with the same first and last names exists!
Does it not cross your tiny mind that if they were telling the truth about his being a "major Pfizer executive" that would be instantly verifiable?
This is simply embarrassing. It is accepted that he works for Pfizer
He graduated Yale in 2013, he was at BCG, he more recently went to Pfizer
What he “admits” in that video is so mortifying and endangering to Pfizer’s reputation there were some half assed attempts to erase him from the Net, but that failed. Pfizer does not deny he is an executive
The fact that you would rather believe all this is some kind of massive elaborate fake is…. Quite strange
You do need to concede, though, that he is a management consultant who recently joined Pfizer, rather than someone with any specialist expertise in virology.
No, he is a qualified doctor - from Yale - with science degrees in molecular and cellular biology. He has expertise. He is not some glorified PR exec
He doesn't even have a Masters and spent a year as a urologist.
You're making my point here.
Little known fact.. Andrew Bridgen has a degree in genetics.
Poland will undoubtedly be the leading force in Eastern Europe against Russia as the article suggests, Germany having little interest in the role and Poland being far more supportive of Ukraine.
However the UK has never taken a leading role in Eastern Europe, it has been part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro Hungarian Empire and fought over by them, the Ottoman Empire and Turks and Russians and part of the Prussian and then German Empires too. In WW1 it was again divided between the Russians, Germans and Austro Hungarians and in WW2 by the Nazis and Soviet Union (who then took over most of it until the end of the Cold War).
The UK's European focus has always been on containing the power of Spain and the France and ultimately Germany ie western Europe. Eastern Europe has not been a major concern for it
Disraeli would actually be horrified at this comment, given the amount of time he spent on the 'Eastern Question.'
Salisbury wouldn't be much better pleased, nor would Lloyd George. As for Neville Chamberlain...
Palmerston would also be slightly surprised given he became PM during the Crimean War.
Before the nobility wrecked the place, Poland/Lithuania was virtually a superpower. It was more powerful than Austria or Russia, up till the late 17th century, and a competitor to the Ottoman Empire.
And was the literary language in what is now Ukraine.
Unfortunately, the Poles chose an awful form of government, that gave almost unlimited power to the nobles at the expense of everybody else, and the nobles were then bought by neighbouring powers.
Though the Pfizer statement says they’re not engaging in directed evolution research. https://www.pfizer.com/news/announcements/pfizer-responds-research-claims Allegations have recently been made related to gain of function and directed evolution research at Pfizer and the company would like to set the record straight.
In the ongoing development of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer has not conducted gain of function or directed evolution research. Working with collaborators, we have conducted research where the original SARS-CoV-2 virus has been used to express the spike protein from new variants of concern. This work is undertaken once a new variant of concern has been identified by public health authorities. This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing vaccine to induce antibodies that neutralize a newly identified variant of concern. We then make this data available through peer reviewed scientific journals and use it as one of the steps to determine whether a vaccine update is required.
In addition, to meet U.S. and global regulatory requirements for our oral treatment, PAXLOVID™, Pfizer undertakes in vitro work (e.g., in a laboratory culture dish) to identify potential resistance mutations to nirmatrelvir, one of PAXLOVID’s two components. With a naturally evolving virus, it is important to routinely assess the activity of an antiviral. Most of this work is conducted using computer simulations or mutations of the main protease–a non-infectious part of the virus. In a limited number of cases when a full virus does not contain any known gain of function mutations, such virus may be engineered to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells. In addition, in vitro resistance selection experiments are undertaken in cells incubated with SARS-CoV-2 and nirmatrelvir in our secure Biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory to assess whether the main protease can mutate to yield resistant strains of the virus. It is important to note that these studies are required by U.S. and global regulators for all antiviral products and are carried out by many companies and academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world...
Do you have some personal vested interest in this?
You are allergic to the lab leak hypothesis to the point - now - of absurdity, and you are strenuously trying to deny this intriguing video says anything interesting at all
I think he's just being sceptical, which seems fair. Your comment could be thrown back at you: why are you so vested in wanting it to be a lab leak?
My own view: it's unproved either way - though I *lean* towards a natural, non-lab origin. I wouldn't argue it either way, unless someone came on claiming it was *certainly* one thing or the other.
It seems an awfully big coincidence that the city in which bat viruses were being researched was also the city where Covid first appeared.
Not impossible, of course, for it to be entirely zoonotic. But it seems unlikely.
That said (as I have repeated ad infinitum), there are many different levels of "lab leak". And different leaks have different levels of culpability.
There is a suggestion that two separate lineages of the virus were detected early on from the market, and this indicates it may have jumped from animals to humans twice, a significant period apart. If that was the case, it is highly unlikely for it to be a single lab leak. And a double lab leak of slightly different variants of the same virus seems highly unlikely.
That’s the Worobey thesis, which has been completely debunked (and is indeed facing allegations of deliberate duplicity in its sampling of data). Next
Leon, the problem is that you are so wedded to the 'lab leak' hypothesis, that I don't see you as an unbiased actor when you say that.
If we wanna talk serious, how about this Project Veritas takedown of a major Pfizer executive, who, inter alia, says Yeah of course it came from the lab and Yeah we are still mutating the virus to develop new vaccines but DON’T TELL ANYONE
His explosive reaction at the end as he realises he has spilled the beans to the world, and by the by self destructed his own career is quite intense
“Like, it makes no sense that the virus popped out of nowhere”
NO FUCKING KIDDING, SHERLOCK
Interesting that this "major Pfizer executive" is totally unfindable on the Internet.
I suppose the brain-dead will take that as proof of a cover-up ...
Yes. Totally impossible to find on the internet
Obviously I don't mean that no one with the same first and last names exists!
Does it not cross your tiny mind that if they were telling the truth about his being a "major Pfizer executive" that would be instantly verifiable?
This is simply embarrassing. It is accepted that he works for Pfizer
He graduated Yale in 2013, he was at BCG, he more recently went to Pfizer
What he “admits” in that video is so mortifying and endangering to Pfizer’s reputation there were some half assed attempts to erase him from the Net, but that failed. Pfizer does not deny he is an executive
The fact that you would rather believe all this is some kind of massive elaborate fake is…. Quite strange
You do need to concede, though, that he is a management consultant who recently joined Pfizer, rather than someone with any specialist expertise in virology.
No, he is a qualified doctor - from Yale - with science degrees in molecular and cellular biology. He has expertise. He is not some glorified PR exec
He doesn't even have a Masters and spent a year as a urologist.
Poland will undoubtedly be the leading force in Eastern Europe against Russia as the article suggests, Germany having little interest in the role and Poland being far more supportive of Ukraine.
However the UK has never taken a leading role in Eastern Europe, it has been part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro Hungarian Empire and fought over by them, the Ottoman Empire and Turks and Russians and part of the Prussian and then German Empires too. In WW1 it was again divided between the Russians, Germans and Austro Hungarians and in WW2 by the Nazis and Soviet Union (who then took over most of it until the end of the Cold War).
The UK's European focus has always been on containing the power of Spain and the France and ultimately Germany ie western Europe. Eastern Europe has not been a major concern for it
Disraeli would actually be horrified at this comment, given the amount of time he spent on the 'Eastern Question.'
Salisbury wouldn't be much better pleased, nor would Lloyd George. As for Neville Chamberlain...
Palmerston would also be slightly surprised given he became PM during the Crimean War.
Before the nobility wrecked the place, Poland/Lithuania was virtually a superpower. It was more powerful than Austria or Russia, up till the late 17th century, and a competitor to the Ottoman Empire.
And was the literary language in what is now Ukraine.
Unfortunately, the Poles chose an awful form of government, that gave almost unlimited power to the nobles at the expense of everybody else, and the nobles were then bought by neighbouring powers.
That, though, was the basis of the ‘Commonwealth’. It was a multinational alliance of nobles.
Though the Pfizer statement says they’re not engaging in directed evolution research. https://www.pfizer.com/news/announcements/pfizer-responds-research-claims Allegations have recently been made related to gain of function and directed evolution research at Pfizer and the company would like to set the record straight.
In the ongoing development of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer has not conducted gain of function or directed evolution research. Working with collaborators, we have conducted research where the original SARS-CoV-2 virus has been used to express the spike protein from new variants of concern. This work is undertaken once a new variant of concern has been identified by public health authorities. This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing vaccine to induce antibodies that neutralize a newly identified variant of concern. We then make this data available through peer reviewed scientific journals and use it as one of the steps to determine whether a vaccine update is required.
In addition, to meet U.S. and global regulatory requirements for our oral treatment, PAXLOVID™, Pfizer undertakes in vitro work (e.g., in a laboratory culture dish) to identify potential resistance mutations to nirmatrelvir, one of PAXLOVID’s two components. With a naturally evolving virus, it is important to routinely assess the activity of an antiviral. Most of this work is conducted using computer simulations or mutations of the main protease–a non-infectious part of the virus. In a limited number of cases when a full virus does not contain any known gain of function mutations, such virus may be engineered to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells. In addition, in vitro resistance selection experiments are undertaken in cells incubated with SARS-CoV-2 and nirmatrelvir in our secure Biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory to assess whether the main protease can mutate to yield resistant strains of the virus. It is important to note that these studies are required by U.S. and global regulators for all antiviral products and are carried out by many companies and academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world...
Do you have some personal vested interest in this?
You are allergic to the lab leak hypothesis to the point - now - of absurdity, and you are strenuously trying to deny this intriguing video says anything interesting at all
I think he's just being sceptical, which seems fair. Your comment could be thrown back at you: why are you so vested in wanting it to be a lab leak?
My own view: it's unproved either way - though I *lean* towards a natural, non-lab origin. I wouldn't argue it either way, unless someone came on claiming it was *certainly* one thing or the other.
It seems an awfully big coincidence that the city in which bat viruses were being researched was also the city where Covid first appeared.
Not impossible, of course, for it to be entirely zoonotic. But it seems unlikely.
That said (as I have repeated ad infinitum), there are many different levels of "lab leak". And different leaks have different levels of culpability.
There is a suggestion that two separate lineages of the virus were detected early on from the market, and this indicates it may have jumped from animals to humans twice, a significant period apart. If that was the case, it is highly unlikely for it to be a single lab leak. And a double lab leak of slightly different variants of the same virus seems highly unlikely.
That’s the Worobey thesis, which has been completely debunked (and is indeed facing allegations of deliberate duplicity in its sampling of data). Next
Leon, the problem is that you are so wedded to the 'lab leak' hypothesis, that I don't see you as an unbiased actor when you say that.
Next.
I just know a billion times more about this than you. This is mainly because I have so much spare time I can arse about online researching, it’s not a boast, it’s simply a fact. You have to run a marathon every week. I hope it goes well
RIGHT it is midnight in the Kok and I want to watch Stranger Things 3
Though the Pfizer statement says they’re not engaging in directed evolution research. https://www.pfizer.com/news/announcements/pfizer-responds-research-claims Allegations have recently been made related to gain of function and directed evolution research at Pfizer and the company would like to set the record straight.
In the ongoing development of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer has not conducted gain of function or directed evolution research. Working with collaborators, we have conducted research where the original SARS-CoV-2 virus has been used to express the spike protein from new variants of concern. This work is undertaken once a new variant of concern has been identified by public health authorities. This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing vaccine to induce antibodies that neutralize a newly identified variant of concern. We then make this data available through peer reviewed scientific journals and use it as one of the steps to determine whether a vaccine update is required.
In addition, to meet U.S. and global regulatory requirements for our oral treatment, PAXLOVID™, Pfizer undertakes in vitro work (e.g., in a laboratory culture dish) to identify potential resistance mutations to nirmatrelvir, one of PAXLOVID’s two components. With a naturally evolving virus, it is important to routinely assess the activity of an antiviral. Most of this work is conducted using computer simulations or mutations of the main protease–a non-infectious part of the virus. In a limited number of cases when a full virus does not contain any known gain of function mutations, such virus may be engineered to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells. In addition, in vitro resistance selection experiments are undertaken in cells incubated with SARS-CoV-2 and nirmatrelvir in our secure Biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory to assess whether the main protease can mutate to yield resistant strains of the virus. It is important to note that these studies are required by U.S. and global regulators for all antiviral products and are carried out by many companies and academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world...
Do you have some personal vested interest in this?
You are allergic to the lab leak hypothesis to the point - now - of absurdity, and you are strenuously trying to deny this intriguing video says anything interesting at all
I think he's just being sceptical, which seems fair. Your comment could be thrown back at you: why are you so vested in wanting it to be a lab leak?
My own view: it's unproved either way - though I *lean* towards a natural, non-lab origin. I wouldn't argue it either way, unless someone came on claiming it was *certainly* one thing or the other.
It seems an awfully big coincidence that the city in which bat viruses were being researched was also the city where Covid first appeared.
Not impossible, of course, for it to be entirely zoonotic. But it seems unlikely.
That said (as I have repeated ad infinitum), there are many different levels of "lab leak". And different leaks have different levels of culpability.
There is a suggestion that two separate lineages of the virus were detected early on from the market, and this indicates it may have jumped from animals to humans twice, a significant period apart. If that was the case, it is highly unlikely for it to be a single lab leak. And a double lab leak of slightly different variants of the same virus seems highly unlikely.
That’s the Worobey thesis, which has been completely debunked (and is indeed facing allegations of deliberate duplicity in its sampling of data). Next
Leon, the problem is that you are so wedded to the 'lab leak' hypothesis, that I don't see you as an unbiased actor when you say that.
Next.
I just know a billion times more about this than you. This is mainly because I have so much spare time I can arse about online researching, it’s not a boast, it’s simply a fact. You have to run a marathon every week. I hope it goes well
RIGHT it is midnight in the Kok and I want to watch Stranger Things 3
Goodnight, all. January is nearly over
SPRING IS COMING
XX
"I just know a billion times more about this than you."
There are appeals to authority, and there's... this.
Poland will undoubtedly be the leading force in Eastern Europe against Russia as the article suggests, Germany having little interest in the role and Poland being far more supportive of Ukraine.
However the UK has never taken a leading role in Eastern Europe, it has been part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro Hungarian Empire and fought over by them, the Ottoman Empire and Turks and Russians and part of the Prussian and then German Empires too. In WW1 it was again divided between the Russians, Germans and Austro Hungarians and in WW2 by the Nazis and Soviet Union (who then took over most of it until the end of the Cold War).
The UK's European focus has always been on containing the power of Spain and the France and ultimately Germany ie western Europe. Eastern Europe has not been a major concern for it
Disraeli would actually be horrified at this comment, given the amount of time he spent on the 'Eastern Question.'
Salisbury wouldn't be much better pleased, nor would Lloyd George. As for Neville Chamberlain...
Palmerston would also be slightly surprised given he became PM during the Crimean War.
The Eastern question was more to do with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire than Eastern Europe per se, as was the Crimean War and the UK was really supporting the Turks along with France than playing the role of lead power in Eastern Europe.
Lloyd George and Chamberlain's main focus was containing Germany not Russia.
The UK has never been the regional superpower in Eastern Europe
Are you actually unaware that much of the Ottoman Empire, including its capital, was in Eastern Europe?
Edit - I've also got to assume now that you've never heard of Chanak. Or allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. Or the Sudeten Crisis.
Most of Eastern Europe was never under Ottoman control, even before Lepanto and the siege of Vienna.
Certainly the majority of Eastern Europe and the Intermarium was not under Ottoman control by the 19th and early 20th century when the British were most focused on what happened to the Ottoman Empire.
Greece and the Bosporus are really SouthEastern Europe not Eastern or even Central Europe
Virtually every western power backed the White Russians, the UK was certainly not the lead on it and didn't even try and rescue the Tsar and his family from the Bolsheviks
Truly pitiful displays of argumentation from PB tonight
This guy does not exist. OK he exists but he never worked for Pfizer. OK he worked for Pfizer but it was just temporary. OK he still works for Pfizer but he’s just a secretary. OK he works for Pfizer as an executive but he’s just a management consultant. OK he’s a senior executive at Pfizer with a medical degree from Yale and a specialism in molecular and cellular biology and he has published papers on Covid but he’s more interested in penises
How can we be sure anyone on the internet exists?
For example, how do we know that you are an artisanal flint knapper from Hereford living the life of a jetsetter? You may be a tired alcoholic from Newent eking out a bare living behind the bar of the George, indulging in your fantasies to a bunch of credulous idiots online.
If we wanna talk serious, how about this Project Veritas takedown of a major Pfizer executive, who, inter alia, says Yeah of course it came from the lab and Yeah we are still mutating the virus to develop new vaccines but DON’T TELL ANYONE
His explosive reaction at the end as he realises he has spilled the beans to the world, and by the by self destructed his own career is quite intense
“Like, it makes no sense that the virus popped out of nowhere”
NO FUCKING KIDDING, SHERLOCK
Interesting that this "major Pfizer executive" is totally unfindable on the Internet.
I suppose the brain-dead will take that as proof of a cover-up ...
Yes. Totally impossible to find on the internet
There is plenty of evidence this guy really exists, unless boston consulting group is some fake organisation....(its not its a 60 year old company, with 25000 employees).
The Near-Term Outlook for COVID-19 Therapeutic Treatments MAY 08, 2020 By Ciarán Lawlor, Ahad Wahid, MD, Jordon Walker, and Josh Kellar
Doesn't mean he wasn't bullshitting / exaggerating to his date, but he isn't some false flag PV actor.
It does neatly demonstrate that his role in Pfizer mRNA vaccine science is pretty tangential, given he was writing such reports for BCG in 2020.
And fits in with the tweets I posted upthread.
I haven't followed this story 100%, but I don't think PV claimed he was actually doing the mRNA research, and that I believe he is on secondment from BCG to Pfizer as a (management) consultant. Rather, I think its a bit of a classic PV tactic, where they don't make it clear what his job title actually means and they leave it to the viewer to wrongly infer things.
Sure. The real point is that he sounds as though he doesn’t have a clue what he’s on about. As no one seems to be noting the points from my first post, I’ll copy the Twitter thread below.
I think a problem is when these big tech companies try to memory hole this stuff it just makes it look dodgy. Rather than actually address the issues i.e. this bloke isn't really an important person and unlikely to really know about the research that is going on.
Big business in general is pretty awful when it comes to transparency. Tech is perhaps worse, since it depends (and biotech particularly so) on keeping IP as secret as it can, while in development.
Poland will undoubtedly be the leading force in Eastern Europe against Russia as the article suggests, Germany having little interest in the role and Poland being far more supportive of Ukraine.
However the UK has never taken a leading role in Eastern Europe, it has been part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro Hungarian Empire and fought over by them, the Ottoman Empire and Turks and Russians and part of the Prussian and then German Empires too. In WW1 it was again divided between the Russians, Germans and Austro Hungarians and in WW2 by the Nazis and Soviet Union (who then took over most of it until the end of the Cold War).
The UK's European focus has always been on containing the power of Spain and the France and ultimately Germany ie western Europe. Eastern Europe has not been a major concern for it
Disraeli would actually be horrified at this comment, given the amount of time he spent on the 'Eastern Question.'
Salisbury wouldn't be much better pleased, nor would Lloyd George. As for Neville Chamberlain...
Palmerston would also be slightly surprised given he became PM during the Crimean War.
Before the nobility wrecked the place, Poland/Lithuania was virtually a superpower. It was more powerful than Austria or Russia, up till the late 17th century, and a competitor to the Ottoman Empire.
And was the literary language in what is now Ukraine.
Unfortunately, the Poles chose an awful form of government, that gave almost unlimited power to the nobles at the expense of everybody else, and the nobles were then bought by neighbouring powers.
Poland will undoubtedly be the leading force in Eastern Europe against Russia as the article suggests, Germany having little interest in the role and Poland being far more supportive of Ukraine.
However the UK has never taken a leading role in Eastern Europe, it has been part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro Hungarian Empire and fought over by them, the Ottoman Empire and Turks and Russians and part of the Prussian and then German Empires too. In WW1 it was again divided between the Russians, Germans and Austro Hungarians and in WW2 by the Nazis and Soviet Union (who then took over most of it until the end of the Cold War).
The UK's European focus has always been on containing the power of Spain and the France and ultimately Germany ie western Europe. Eastern Europe has not been a major concern for it
Disraeli would actually be horrified at this comment, given the amount of time he spent on the 'Eastern Question.'
Salisbury wouldn't be much better pleased, nor would Lloyd George. As for Neville Chamberlain...
Palmerston would also be slightly surprised given he became PM during the Crimean War.
The Eastern question was more to do with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire than Eastern Europe per se, as was the Crimean War and the UK was really supporting the Turks along with France than playing the role of lead power in Eastern Europe.
Lloyd George and Chamberlain's main focus was containing Germany not Russia.
The UK has never been the regional superpower in Eastern Europe
Are you actually unaware that much of the Ottoman Empire, including its capital, was in Eastern Europe?
Edit - I've also got to assume now that you've never heard of Chanak. Or allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. Or the Sudeten Crisis.
Most of Eastern Europe was never under Ottoman control, even before Lepanto and the siege of Vienna.
Certainly the majority of Eastern Europe was not under Ottoman control by the 19th and early 20th century when the British were most focused on what happened to the Ottoman Empire.
Greece and the Bosporus are really SouthEastern Europe not Eastern or even Central Europe
Virtually every western power backed the White Russians, the UK was certainly not the lead on it and didn't even try and rescue the Tsar and his family from the Bolsheviks
Have you ever heard of the No True Scotsman fallacy?
I've glanced at Nicola Sturgeon's Wikipedia biography, which left me wondering about questions such as these: How much does she know about biology? Does she believe in the theory of evolution? Would she have learned anything about such subjects at Greenwood Academy? Does she know about the demographic problems facing so many industrial nations? If so, does she have any propsoed solutions?
(It is entirely possible for a lawyer in the US to know almost nothing about science, and little about history, so I wonder if the same might be true in Scotland.)
How long before Poland is so prosperous that it needs to employ British plumbers?
I think there were a lot of Ukranian and Belarussian construction workers and tradespeople in Poland, even before the refugee crisis. I suspect too that a fair number of Ukranian refugees will settle permanently in Poland, a major injection to its workforce.
Overall, bringing the Intermarium into the EU after the collapse of the Iron Curtain, and the economic aid to turn potential failed states into prosperous states with strengthening democracies was a fine achievement.
Yes, it was costing us money to help develop these states, but we transformed them for the better, and shifted the border with the barbarians hundreds of miles further East. The European Project is a fine one, and with further work to do.
It was such a sad, grim, miserable place, with people trying to live their lives with very few of the freedoms we take for granted. No food in the shops, and surrounded by patently absurd state propaganda. It’s why I get annoyed when the likes of ex-MP Nick of this parish are so blasé about their communist-supporting past.
Well, yes - as I've often said, when I supported them it was the Euro-communist version - the pro-democracy, anti-dictatorship variant championed by Berlinguer in Italy and Hermannson in Sweden. It's more than 50 years ago now, but it was a perfectly reasonable choice at the time, and it's a bit bizarre that it bothers you now. It bore as much relationship to the Romanian dictatorship as President Kennedy did to tinpot autocrats in Latin America.
It bothers me because no-one would ever post on a public forum nowadays that they used to be a fascist supporter in their youth, because they admired the way Italian trains arrived on time and didn't see any link between that regime and the one that went on to send millions of innocents to their death.
There are some mistakes of youth of about which, in maturity, it is better to be ashamed rather than proud.
I wouldn't compare eurocommunism to fascism, speaking personally. Despite the name, eurocommunism was a strongly anti-dictatorial and decentralising movement popular in France and Germany that people like Varoufakis supported. It really had a bit more in common with anarchism, I would say.
Though the Pfizer statement says they’re not engaging in directed evolution research. https://www.pfizer.com/news/announcements/pfizer-responds-research-claims Allegations have recently been made related to gain of function and directed evolution research at Pfizer and the company would like to set the record straight.
In the ongoing development of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer has not conducted gain of function or directed evolution research. Working with collaborators, we have conducted research where the original SARS-CoV-2 virus has been used to express the spike protein from new variants of concern. This work is undertaken once a new variant of concern has been identified by public health authorities. This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing vaccine to induce antibodies that neutralize a newly identified variant of concern. We then make this data available through peer reviewed scientific journals and use it as one of the steps to determine whether a vaccine update is required.
In addition, to meet U.S. and global regulatory requirements for our oral treatment, PAXLOVID™, Pfizer undertakes in vitro work (e.g., in a laboratory culture dish) to identify potential resistance mutations to nirmatrelvir, one of PAXLOVID’s two components. With a naturally evolving virus, it is important to routinely assess the activity of an antiviral. Most of this work is conducted using computer simulations or mutations of the main protease–a non-infectious part of the virus. In a limited number of cases when a full virus does not contain any known gain of function mutations, such virus may be engineered to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells. In addition, in vitro resistance selection experiments are undertaken in cells incubated with SARS-CoV-2 and nirmatrelvir in our secure Biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory to assess whether the main protease can mutate to yield resistant strains of the virus. It is important to note that these studies are required by U.S. and global regulators for all antiviral products and are carried out by many companies and academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world...
Do you have some personal vested interest in this?
You are allergic to the lab leak hypothesis to the point - now - of absurdity, and you are strenuously trying to deny this intriguing video says anything interesting at all
I think he's just being sceptical, which seems fair. Your comment could be thrown back at you: why are you so vested in wanting it to be a lab leak?
My own view: it's unproved either way - though I *lean* towards a natural, non-lab origin. I wouldn't argue it either way, unless someone came on claiming it was *certainly* one thing or the other.
It seems an awfully big coincidence that the city in which bat viruses were being researched was also the city where Covid first appeared.
Not impossible, of course, for it to be entirely zoonotic. But it seems unlikely.
That said (as I have repeated ad infinitum), there are many different levels of "lab leak". And different leaks have different levels of culpability.
There is a suggestion that two separate lineages of the virus were detected early on from the market, and this indicates it may have jumped from animals to humans twice, a significant period apart. If that was the case, it is highly unlikely for it to be a single lab leak. And a double lab leak of slightly different variants of the same virus seems highly unlikely.
That’s the Worobey thesis, which has been completely debunked (and is indeed facing allegations of deliberate duplicity in its sampling of data). Next
Leon, the problem is that you are so wedded to the 'lab leak' hypothesis, that I don't see you as an unbiased actor when you say that.
Next.
I just know a billion times more about this than you. This is mainly because I have so much spare time I can arse about online researching, it’s not a boast, it’s simply a fact. You have to run a marathon every week. I hope it goes well
RIGHT it is midnight in the Kok and I want to watch Stranger Things 3
Goodnight, all. January is nearly over
SPRING IS COMING
XX
"I just know a billion times more about this than you."
There are appeals to authority, and there's... this.
His big brother is bigger than your big brother too. So watch it!
On topic (I think): As I understand it, some earlier history ofthe same area is covered in Timothy Snyder's "Bloodlands". It's received many positive reviews here in the US.
(I haven't read it, though it is on my long list of books I perhaps should read some day.)
Poland will undoubtedly be the leading force in Eastern Europe against Russia as the article suggests, Germany having little interest in the role and Poland being far more supportive of Ukraine.
However the UK has never taken a leading role in Eastern Europe, it has been part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro Hungarian Empire and fought over by them, the Ottoman Empire and Turks and Russians and part of the Prussian and then German Empires too. In WW1 it was again divided between the Russians, Germans and Austro Hungarians and in WW2 by the Nazis and Soviet Union (who then took over most of it until the end of the Cold War).
The UK's European focus has always been on containing the power of Spain and the France and ultimately Germany ie western Europe. Eastern Europe has not been a major concern for it
Disraeli would actually be horrified at this comment, given the amount of time he spent on the 'Eastern Question.'
Salisbury wouldn't be much better pleased, nor would Lloyd George. As for Neville Chamberlain...
Palmerston would also be slightly surprised given he became PM during the Crimean War.
The Eastern question was more to do with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire than Eastern Europe per se, as was the Crimean War and the UK was really supporting the Turks along with France than playing the role of lead power in Eastern Europe.
Lloyd George and Chamberlain's main focus was containing Germany not Russia.
The UK has never been the regional superpower in Eastern Europe
Are you actually unaware that much of the Ottoman Empire, including its capital, was in Eastern Europe?
Edit - I've also got to assume now that you've never heard of Chanak. Or allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. Or the Sudeten Crisis.
I believe that in the 18th Century the Baltic trade was the most important trading route of Britain, so dependent were we on the lumber, tar etc as raw materials for our naval supremacy.
Poland will undoubtedly be the leading force in Eastern Europe against Russia as the article suggests, Germany having little interest in the role and Poland being far more supportive of Ukraine.
However the UK has never taken a leading role in Eastern Europe, it has been part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro Hungarian Empire and fought over by them, the Ottoman Empire and Turks and Russians and part of the Prussian and then German Empires too. In WW1 it was again divided between the Russians, Germans and Austro Hungarians and in WW2 by the Nazis and Soviet Union (who then took over most of it until the end of the Cold War).
The UK's European focus has always been on containing the power of Spain and the France and ultimately Germany ie western Europe. Eastern Europe has not been a major concern for it
Disraeli would actually be horrified at this comment, given the amount of time he spent on the 'Eastern Question.'
Salisbury wouldn't be much better pleased, nor would Lloyd George. As for Neville Chamberlain...
Palmerston would also be slightly surprised given he became PM during the Crimean War.
The Eastern question was more to do with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire than Eastern Europe per se, as was the Crimean War and the UK was really supporting the Turks along with France than playing the role of lead power in Eastern Europe.
Lloyd George and Chamberlain's main focus was containing Germany not Russia.
The UK has never been the regional superpower in Eastern Europe
Are you actually unaware that much of the Ottoman Empire, including its capital, was in Eastern Europe?
Edit - I've also got to assume now that you've never heard of Chanak. Or allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. Or the Sudeten Crisis.
Most of Eastern Europe was never under Ottoman control, even before Lepanto and the siege of Vienna.
Certainly the majority of Eastern Europe was not under Ottoman control by the 19th and early 20th century when the British were most focused on what happened to the Ottoman Empire.
Greece and the Bosporus are really SouthEastern Europe not Eastern or even Central Europe
Virtually every western power backed the White Russians, the UK was certainly not the lead on it and didn't even try and rescue the Tsar and his family from the Bolsheviks
Have you ever heard of the No True Scotsman fallacy?
The thread header is about the Intermarium, not the Bosporus
Poland will undoubtedly be the leading force in Eastern Europe against Russia as the article suggests, Germany having little interest in the role and Poland being far more supportive of Ukraine.
However the UK has never taken a leading role in Eastern Europe, it has been part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro Hungarian Empire and fought over by them, the Ottoman Empire and Turks and Russians and part of the Prussian and then German Empires too. In WW1 it was again divided between the Russians, Germans and Austro Hungarians and in WW2 by the Nazis and Soviet Union (who then took over most of it until the end of the Cold War).
The UK's European focus has always been on containing the power of Spain and the France and ultimately Germany ie western Europe. Eastern Europe has not been a major concern for it
Disraeli would actually be horrified at this comment, given the amount of time he spent on the 'Eastern Question.'
Salisbury wouldn't be much better pleased, nor would Lloyd George. As for Neville Chamberlain...
Palmerston would also be slightly surprised given he became PM during the Crimean War.
The Eastern question was more to do with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire than Eastern Europe per se, as was the Crimean War and the UK was really supporting the Turks along with France than playing the role of lead power in Eastern Europe.
Lloyd George and Chamberlain's main focus was containing Germany not Russia.
The UK has never been the regional superpower in Eastern Europe
Are you actually unaware that much of the Ottoman Empire, including its capital, was in Eastern Europe?
Edit - I've also got to assume now that you've never heard of Chanak. Or allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. Or the Sudeten Crisis.
Most of Eastern Europe was never under Ottoman control, even before Lepanto and the siege of Vienna.
Certainly the majority of Eastern Europe was not under Ottoman control by the 19th and early 20th century when the British were most focused on what happened to the Ottoman Empire.
Greece and the Bosporus are really SouthEastern Europe not Eastern or even Central Europe
Virtually every western power backed the White Russians, the UK was certainly not the lead on it and didn't even try and rescue the Tsar and his family from the Bolsheviks
Have you ever heard of the No True Scotsman fallacy?
I suppose HYUFD has a point in one respect - the UK did seem to be more interested in Greece, and during Disraeli's time southern parts of the Balkans nearer to it, than central-eastern Europe. Didn't Disraeli also travel from Italy to Greece, shortly after its independence, and onto the Middle East, in his youth, thus forming some of his views ? Something of a southern bias there, perhaps, too.
But @NicolaSturgeon's made it very clear that every woman's group and safeguarding expert raising concerns about her supposedly progressive agenda is a bigot. What can possibly have changed? Surely not her cast iron principles?
On topic (I think): As I understand it, some earlier history ofthe same area is covered in Timothy Snyder's "Bloodlands". It's received many positive reviews here in the US.
(I haven't read it, though it is on my long list of books I perhaps should read some day.)
Yes, mostly the 20th Century history of the Intermarium area, but very good indeed.
It was such a sad, grim, miserable place, with people trying to live their lives with very few of the freedoms we take for granted. No food in the shops, and surrounded by patently absurd state propaganda. It’s why I get annoyed when the likes of ex-MP Nick of this parish are so blasé about their communist-supporting past.
Well, yes - as I've often said, when I supported them it was the Euro-communist version - the pro-democracy, anti-dictatorship variant championed by Berlinguer in Italy and Hermannson in Sweden. It's more than 50 years ago now, but it was a perfectly reasonable choice at the time, and it's a bit bizarre that it bothers you now. It bore as much relationship to the Romanian dictatorship as President Kennedy did to tinpot autocrats in Latin America.
It bothers me because no-one would ever post on a public forum nowadays that they used to be a fascist supporter in their youth, because they admired the way Italian trains arrived on time and didn't see any link between that regime and the one that went on to send millions of innocents to their death.
There are some mistakes of youth of about which, in maturity, it is better to be ashamed rather than proud.
I wouldn't compare eurocommunism to fascism, speaking personally. Despite the name, eurocommunism was a strongly anti-dictatorial and decentralising movement popular in France and Germany that people like Varoufakis supported. It really had a bit more in common with anarchism, I would say.
I agree, what distinguished Eurocommunists, and similar groupings in India and Chile etc was their commitment to democracy. To paint them as Stalinist or Tankies is quite a misunderstanding.
Incidentally, we're just watching Digging for Britain, and they're examining a skeleton. It reminds me of stuff I've heard/read recently, that deciphering the sex of skeletal remains is a lot more inexact than we used to think. Factors such as pelvic size, or eyebrow ridges, are indicators, but not definitive proof. And grave goods can be really poor indicators - having a sword in a grave does not make a skeleton male; or beads female.
"... good example of this appears within Viking/Scandinavian studies, where early 20th- century European archaeologists initially assumed that individuals buried with swords were warriors and therefore male, as being a soldier was associated with men in the archaeologist’s own culture. Through the re-examination of these remains, using both skeletal and, in some cases, aDNA evidence, it has been shown that some individuals buried with swords were biologically female or, in one case, intersex."
Poland will undoubtedly be the leading force in Eastern Europe against Russia as the article suggests, Germany having little interest in the role and Poland being far more supportive of Ukraine.
However the UK has never taken a leading role in Eastern Europe, it has been part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro Hungarian Empire and fought over by them, the Ottoman Empire and Turks and Russians and part of the Prussian and then German Empires too. In WW1 it was again divided between the Russians, Germans and Austro Hungarians and in WW2 by the Nazis and Soviet Union (who then took over most of it until the end of the Cold War).
The UK's European focus has always been on containing the power of Spain and the France and ultimately Germany ie western Europe. Eastern Europe has not been a major concern for it
Disraeli would actually be horrified at this comment, given the amount of time he spent on the 'Eastern Question.'
Salisbury wouldn't be much better pleased, nor would Lloyd George. As for Neville Chamberlain...
Palmerston would also be slightly surprised given he became PM during the Crimean War.
The Eastern question was more to do with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire than Eastern Europe per se, as was the Crimean War and the UK was really supporting the Turks along with France than playing the role of lead power in Eastern Europe.
Lloyd George and Chamberlain's main focus was containing Germany not Russia.
The UK has never been the regional superpower in Eastern Europe
Are you actually unaware that much of the Ottoman Empire, including its capital, was in Eastern Europe?
Edit - I've also got to assume now that you've never heard of Chanak. Or allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. Or the Sudeten Crisis.
I believe that in the 18th Century the Baltic trade was the most important trading route of Britain, so dependent were we on the lumber, tar etc as raw materials for our naval supremacy.
Certainly lumber. Although the ships of the Royal Navy were built of domestic oak, most of the masts were of yellow pine from Memel (now Klaipeda, Lithuania). The British kept large fleets in the Baltic throughout the Napoleonic wars to protect that trade route.
Later on, many timber railway bridges - those of Brunel, for example - were built with Baltic yellow pine. The timber had an average lifespan of 30 years, some trunks lasting as long as sixty years. And they were strong and very stable. An engine even blew up on one of them once without damaging the structure.
Though the Pfizer statement says they’re not engaging in directed evolution research. https://www.pfizer.com/news/announcements/pfizer-responds-research-claims Allegations have recently been made related to gain of function and directed evolution research at Pfizer and the company would like to set the record straight.
In the ongoing development of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer has not conducted gain of function or directed evolution research. Working with collaborators, we have conducted research where the original SARS-CoV-2 virus has been used to express the spike protein from new variants of concern. This work is undertaken once a new variant of concern has been identified by public health authorities. This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing vaccine to induce antibodies that neutralize a newly identified variant of concern. We then make this data available through peer reviewed scientific journals and use it as one of the steps to determine whether a vaccine update is required.
In addition, to meet U.S. and global regulatory requirements for our oral treatment, PAXLOVID™, Pfizer undertakes in vitro work (e.g., in a laboratory culture dish) to identify potential resistance mutations to nirmatrelvir, one of PAXLOVID’s two components. With a naturally evolving virus, it is important to routinely assess the activity of an antiviral. Most of this work is conducted using computer simulations or mutations of the main protease–a non-infectious part of the virus. In a limited number of cases when a full virus does not contain any known gain of function mutations, such virus may be engineered to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells. In addition, in vitro resistance selection experiments are undertaken in cells incubated with SARS-CoV-2 and nirmatrelvir in our secure Biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory to assess whether the main protease can mutate to yield resistant strains of the virus. It is important to note that these studies are required by U.S. and global regulators for all antiviral products and are carried out by many companies and academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world...
Do you have some personal vested interest in this?
You are allergic to the lab leak hypothesis to the point - now - of absurdity, and you are strenuously trying to deny this intriguing video says anything interesting at all
I think he's just being sceptical, which seems fair. Your comment could be thrown back at you: why are you so vested in wanting it to be a lab leak?
My own view: it's unproved either way - though I *lean* towards a natural, non-lab origin. I wouldn't argue it either way, unless someone came on claiming it was *certainly* one thing or the other.
It seems an awfully big coincidence that the city in which bat viruses were being researched was also the city where Covid first appeared.
Not impossible, of course, for it to be entirely zoonotic. But it seems unlikely.
That said (as I have repeated ad infinitum), there are many different levels of "lab leak". And different leaks have different levels of culpability.
There is a suggestion that two separate lineages of the virus were detected early on from the market, and this indicates it may have jumped from animals to humans twice, a significant period apart. If that was the case, it is highly unlikely for it to be a single lab leak. And a double lab leak of slightly different variants of the same virus seems highly unlikely.
That’s the Worobey thesis, which has been completely debunked (and is indeed facing allegations of deliberate duplicity in its sampling of data). Next
Leon, the problem is that you are so wedded to the 'lab leak' hypothesis, that I don't see you as an unbiased actor when you say that.
Next.
I just know a billion times more about this than you. This is mainly because I have so much spare time I can arse about online researching, it’s not a boast, it’s simply a fact. You have to run a marathon every week. I hope it goes well
RIGHT it is midnight in the Kok and I want to watch Stranger Things 3
Goodnight, all. January is nearly over
SPRING IS COMING
XX
"I just know a billion times more about this than you."
There are appeals to authority, and there's... this.
His big brother is bigger than your big brother too. So watch it!
My big brother routinely deals with gas turbines and very high voltage electricity, so his big brother should watch out.
Though the Pfizer statement says they’re not engaging in directed evolution research. https://www.pfizer.com/news/announcements/pfizer-responds-research-claims Allegations have recently been made related to gain of function and directed evolution research at Pfizer and the company would like to set the record straight.
In the ongoing development of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer has not conducted gain of function or directed evolution research. Working with collaborators, we have conducted research where the original SARS-CoV-2 virus has been used to express the spike protein from new variants of concern. This work is undertaken once a new variant of concern has been identified by public health authorities. This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing vaccine to induce antibodies that neutralize a newly identified variant of concern. We then make this data available through peer reviewed scientific journals and use it as one of the steps to determine whether a vaccine update is required.
In addition, to meet U.S. and global regulatory requirements for our oral treatment, PAXLOVID™, Pfizer undertakes in vitro work (e.g., in a laboratory culture dish) to identify potential resistance mutations to nirmatrelvir, one of PAXLOVID’s two components. With a naturally evolving virus, it is important to routinely assess the activity of an antiviral. Most of this work is conducted using computer simulations or mutations of the main protease–a non-infectious part of the virus. In a limited number of cases when a full virus does not contain any known gain of function mutations, such virus may be engineered to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells. In addition, in vitro resistance selection experiments are undertaken in cells incubated with SARS-CoV-2 and nirmatrelvir in our secure Biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory to assess whether the main protease can mutate to yield resistant strains of the virus. It is important to note that these studies are required by U.S. and global regulators for all antiviral products and are carried out by many companies and academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world...
Do you have some personal vested interest in this?
You are allergic to the lab leak hypothesis to the point - now - of absurdity, and you are strenuously trying to deny this intriguing video says anything interesting at all
I think he's just being sceptical, which seems fair. Your comment could be thrown back at you: why are you so vested in wanting it to be a lab leak?
My own view: it's unproved either way - though I *lean* towards a natural, non-lab origin. I wouldn't argue it either way, unless someone came on claiming it was *certainly* one thing or the other.
It seems an awfully big coincidence that the city in which bat viruses were being researched was also the city where Covid first appeared.
Not impossible, of course, for it to be entirely zoonotic. But it seems unlikely.
That said (as I have repeated ad infinitum), there are many different levels of "lab leak". And different leaks have different levels of culpability.
There is a suggestion that two separate lineages of the virus were detected early on from the market, and this indicates it may have jumped from animals to humans twice, a significant period apart. If that was the case, it is highly unlikely for it to be a single lab leak. And a double lab leak of slightly different variants of the same virus seems highly unlikely.
That’s the Worobey thesis, which has been completely debunked (and is indeed facing allegations of deliberate duplicity in its sampling of data). Next
Leon, the problem is that you are so wedded to the 'lab leak' hypothesis, that I don't see you as an unbiased actor when you say that.
Next.
I just know a billion times more about this than you. This is mainly because I have so much spare time I can arse about online researching, it’s not a boast, it’s simply a fact.
Though the Pfizer statement says they’re not engaging in directed evolution research. https://www.pfizer.com/news/announcements/pfizer-responds-research-claims Allegations have recently been made related to gain of function and directed evolution research at Pfizer and the company would like to set the record straight.
In the ongoing development of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer has not conducted gain of function or directed evolution research. Working with collaborators, we have conducted research where the original SARS-CoV-2 virus has been used to express the spike protein from new variants of concern. This work is undertaken once a new variant of concern has been identified by public health authorities. This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing vaccine to induce antibodies that neutralize a newly identified variant of concern. We then make this data available through peer reviewed scientific journals and use it as one of the steps to determine whether a vaccine update is required.
In addition, to meet U.S. and global regulatory requirements for our oral treatment, PAXLOVID™, Pfizer undertakes in vitro work (e.g., in a laboratory culture dish) to identify potential resistance mutations to nirmatrelvir, one of PAXLOVID’s two components. With a naturally evolving virus, it is important to routinely assess the activity of an antiviral. Most of this work is conducted using computer simulations or mutations of the main protease–a non-infectious part of the virus. In a limited number of cases when a full virus does not contain any known gain of function mutations, such virus may be engineered to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells. In addition, in vitro resistance selection experiments are undertaken in cells incubated with SARS-CoV-2 and nirmatrelvir in our secure Biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory to assess whether the main protease can mutate to yield resistant strains of the virus. It is important to note that these studies are required by U.S. and global regulators for all antiviral products and are carried out by many companies and academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world...
Do you have some personal vested interest in this?
You are allergic to the lab leak hypothesis to the point - now - of absurdity, and you are strenuously trying to deny this intriguing video says anything interesting at all
I think he's just being sceptical, which seems fair. Your comment could be thrown back at you: why are you so vested in wanting it to be a lab leak?
My own view: it's unproved either way - though I *lean* towards a natural, non-lab origin. I wouldn't argue it either way, unless someone came on claiming it was *certainly* one thing or the other.
It seems an awfully big coincidence that the city in which bat viruses were being researched was also the city where Covid first appeared.
Not impossible, of course, for it to be entirely zoonotic. But it seems unlikely.
That said (as I have repeated ad infinitum), there are many different levels of "lab leak". And different leaks have different levels of culpability.
There is a suggestion that two separate lineages of the virus were detected early on from the market, and this indicates it may have jumped from animals to humans twice, a significant period apart. If that was the case, it is highly unlikely for it to be a single lab leak. And a double lab leak of slightly different variants of the same virus seems highly unlikely.
That’s the Worobey thesis, which has been completely debunked (and is indeed facing allegations of deliberate duplicity in its sampling of data). Next
Leon, the problem is that you are so wedded to the 'lab leak' hypothesis, that I don't see you as an unbiased actor when you say that.
Next.
I just know a billion times more about this than you. This is mainly because I have so much spare time I can arse about online researching, it’s not a boast, it’s simply a fact. You have to run a marathon every week. I hope it goes well
RIGHT it is midnight in the Kok and I want to watch Stranger Things 3
Goodnight, all. January is nearly over
SPRING IS COMING
XX
"I just know a billion times more about this than you."
There are appeals to authority, and there's... this.
His big brother is bigger than your big brother too. So watch it!
My big brother routinely deals with gas turbines and very high voltage electricity, so his big brother should watch out.
Though the Pfizer statement says they’re not engaging in directed evolution research. https://www.pfizer.com/news/announcements/pfizer-responds-research-claims Allegations have recently been made related to gain of function and directed evolution research at Pfizer and the company would like to set the record straight.
In the ongoing development of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer has not conducted gain of function or directed evolution research. Working with collaborators, we have conducted research where the original SARS-CoV-2 virus has been used to express the spike protein from new variants of concern. This work is undertaken once a new variant of concern has been identified by public health authorities. This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing vaccine to induce antibodies that neutralize a newly identified variant of concern. We then make this data available through peer reviewed scientific journals and use it as one of the steps to determine whether a vaccine update is required.
In addition, to meet U.S. and global regulatory requirements for our oral treatment, PAXLOVID™, Pfizer undertakes in vitro work (e.g., in a laboratory culture dish) to identify potential resistance mutations to nirmatrelvir, one of PAXLOVID’s two components. With a naturally evolving virus, it is important to routinely assess the activity of an antiviral. Most of this work is conducted using computer simulations or mutations of the main protease–a non-infectious part of the virus. In a limited number of cases when a full virus does not contain any known gain of function mutations, such virus may be engineered to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells. In addition, in vitro resistance selection experiments are undertaken in cells incubated with SARS-CoV-2 and nirmatrelvir in our secure Biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory to assess whether the main protease can mutate to yield resistant strains of the virus. It is important to note that these studies are required by U.S. and global regulators for all antiviral products and are carried out by many companies and academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world...
Do you have some personal vested interest in this?
You are allergic to the lab leak hypothesis to the point - now - of absurdity, and you are strenuously trying to deny this intriguing video says anything interesting at all
I think he's just being sceptical, which seems fair. Your comment could be thrown back at you: why are you so vested in wanting it to be a lab leak?
My own view: it's unproved either way - though I *lean* towards a natural, non-lab origin. I wouldn't argue it either way, unless someone came on claiming it was *certainly* one thing or the other.
It seems an awfully big coincidence that the city in which bat viruses were being researched was also the city where Covid first appeared.
Not impossible, of course, for it to be entirely zoonotic. But it seems unlikely.
That said (as I have repeated ad infinitum), there are many different levels of "lab leak". And different leaks have different levels of culpability.
There is a suggestion that two separate lineages of the virus were detected early on from the market, and this indicates it may have jumped from animals to humans twice, a significant period apart. If that was the case, it is highly unlikely for it to be a single lab leak. And a double lab leak of slightly different variants of the same virus seems highly unlikely.
That’s the Worobey thesis, which has been completely debunked (and is indeed facing allegations of deliberate duplicity in its sampling of data). Next
Leon, the problem is that you are so wedded to the 'lab leak' hypothesis, that I don't see you as an unbiased actor when you say that.
Next.
I just know a billion times more about this than you. This is mainly because I have so much spare time I can arse about online researching, it’s not a boast, it’s simply a fact. You have to run a marathon every week. I hope it goes well
RIGHT it is midnight in the Kok and I want to watch Stranger Things 3
Goodnight, all. January is nearly over
SPRING IS COMING
XX
"I just know a billion times more about this than you."
There are appeals to authority, and there's... this.
His big brother is bigger than your big brother too. So watch it!
My big brother routinely deals with gas turbines and very high voltage electricity, so his big brother should watch out.
On the earlier point, perhaps 19th century Britain always thought the Mediterranean was the key. There's a long thread of British involvement there, ending up with that base in Cyprus.
Except for that base, nowadays France is arguably the dominant Western power there, too, with Britain being the one with clearly more influence in north-eastern europe .. until it left the EU.
Brighton have sold many of their top players (Bissouma, White, Cucurella, Burn, Trossard) and can still beat Liverpool and improve their league position. Impressive - a well-run club.
Brighton have been run well. Not just finding gems, but integrating them so they shine, and having gem after gem lined up for when those further up layer cake start tapping up.
However I thought Liverpool really competed and the better side today, Elliot and Capko caught the eye, for much of the second half Pool had Brighton trapped unable to break out. There were a few bad fouls Liverpool got away with before the winning goal. Mitoma stock must be rising faster than any other league player, frightening acceleration, and for the goal composure and control.
Brighton have sold many of their top players (Bissouma, White, Cucurella, Burn, Trossard) and can still beat Liverpool and improve their league position. Impressive - a well-run club.
Brighton have been run well. Not just finding gems, but integrating them do they shine, and having gem after gem lined up for when those further up layer cake start tapping up.
However I thought Liverpool really competed and the better side today, Elliot and Capko caught the eye, for much of the second half Pool had Brighton trapped unable to break out. There were a few bad fouls Liverpool got away with before the winning goal. Mitoma stock must be rising faster than any other league player, frightening acceleration, and for the goal composure and control.
Mitoma was far and away their best player when we drew 2:2 with Brighton last week. Before kick off I would have taken a draw, such was their form and Leicester's, but the manner that we lost when a goal ahead with 10 minutes to go was dismal. Our goals were rather against the run of play, but the Brighton defence looked rather shaky to me.
On the earlier point, perhaps 19th century Britain always thought the Mediterranean was the key. There's a long thread of British involvement there, ending up with that base in Cyprus.
Except for that base, nowadays France is arguably the dominant Western power there, too.
Andrew Neil was at it again, in the Mail yesterday. Apparently, the war in the Ukraine is going to turn out well for "Brexit Britain" (not Great Britain or Britain) and of course badly for Paris and Berlin (though compared to how it will be for Ukraine and Russia all fairly relative).
Just the same as everything else - there's one thing "not talking down Britain" but the man is so obsessed with us leaving the EU he's become our version of Comical Ali. Everything that happens is now good for Brexit Britain because we've left the EU whereas of course if we were still in the EU.....
On the earlier point, perhaps 19th century Britain always thought the Mediterranean was the key. There's a long thread of British involvement there, ending up with that base in Cyprus.
Except for that base, nowadays France is arguably the dominant Western power there, too.
Andrew Neil was at it again, in the Mail yesterday. Apparently, the war in the Ukraine is going to turn out well for "Brexit Britain" (not Great Britain or Britain) and of course badly for Paris and Berlin (though compared to how it will be for Ukraine and Russia all fairly relative).
Just the same as everything else - there's one thing "not talking down Britain" but the man is so obsessed with us leaving the EU he's become our version of Comical Ali. Everything that happens is now good for Brexit Britain because we've left the EU whereas of course if we were still in the EU.....
It may well prove good for our prestige but I'm not sure what we'll get out of directly. And of course our Ukraine policy was set up whilst a member of the EU. It remains David Cameron's one undeniable achievement.
On the earlier point, perhaps 19th century Britain always thought the Mediterranean was the key. There's a long thread of British involvement there, ending up with that base in Cyprus.
Except for that base, nowadays France is arguably the dominant Western power there, too.
Andrew Neil was at it again, in the Mail yesterday. Apparently, the war in the Ukraine is going to turn out well for "Brexit Britain" (not Great Britain or Britain) and of course badly for Paris and Berlin (though compared to how it will be for Ukraine and Russia all fairly relative).
Just the same as everything else - there's one thing "not talking down Britain" but the man is so obsessed with us leaving the EU he's become our version of Comical Ali. Everything that happens is now good for Brexit Britain because we've left the EU whereas of course if we were still in the EU.....
It may well prove good for our prestige but I'm not sure what we'll get out of directly. And of course our Ukraine policy was set up whilst a member of the EU. It remains David Cameron's one undeniable achievement.
I would suggest gay marriage ranks equally highly.
On the earlier point, perhaps 19th century Britain always thought the Mediterranean was the key. There's a long thread of British involvement there, ending up with that base in Cyprus.
Except for that base, nowadays France is arguably the dominant Western power there, too.
Andrew Neil was at it again, in the Mail yesterday. Apparently, the war in the Ukraine is going to turn out well for "Brexit Britain" (not Great Britain or Britain) and of course badly for Paris and Berlin (though compared to how it will be for Ukraine and Russia all fairly relative).
Just the same as everything else - there's one thing "not talking down Britain" but the man is so obsessed with us leaving the EU he's become our version of Comical Ali. Everything that happens is now good for Brexit Britain because we've left the EU whereas of course if we were still in the EU.....
It may well prove good for our prestige but I'm not sure what we'll get out of directly. And of course our Ukraine policy was set up whilst a member of the EU. It remains David Cameron's one undeniable achievement.
I would suggest gay marriage ranks equally highly.
He was particularly proud of that, and rightly so.
It was such a sad, grim, miserable place, with people trying to live their lives with very few of the freedoms we take for granted. No food in the shops, and surrounded by patently absurd state propaganda. It’s why I get annoyed when the likes of ex-MP Nick of this parish are so blasé about their communist-supporting past.
Well, yes - as I've often said, when I supported them it was the Euro-communist version - the pro-democracy, anti-dictatorship variant championed by Berlinguer in Italy and Hermannson in Sweden. It's more than 50 years ago now, but it was a perfectly reasonable choice at the time, and it's a bit bizarre that it bothers you now. It bore as much relationship to the Romanian dictatorship as President Kennedy did to tinpot autocrats in Latin America.
It bothers me because no-one would ever post on a public forum nowadays that they used to be a fascist supporter in their youth, because they admired the way Italian trains arrived on time and didn't see any link between that regime and the one that went on to send millions of innocents to their death.
There are some mistakes of youth of about which, in maturity, it is better to be ashamed rather than proud.
I wouldn't compare eurocommunism to fascism, speaking personally. Despite the name, eurocommunism was a strongly anti-dictatorial and decentralising movement popular in France and Germany that people like Varoufakis supported. It really had a bit more in common with anarchism, I would say.
It was such a sad, grim, miserable place, with people trying to live their lives with very few of the freedoms we take for granted. No food in the shops, and surrounded by patently absurd state propaganda. It’s why I get annoyed when the likes of ex-MP Nick of this parish are so blasé about their communist-supporting past.
Well, yes - as I've often said, when I supported them it was the Euro-communist version - the pro-democracy, anti-dictatorship variant championed by Berlinguer in Italy and Hermannson in Sweden. It's more than 50 years ago now, but it was a perfectly reasonable choice at the time, and it's a bit bizarre that it bothers you now. It bore as much relationship to the Romanian dictatorship as President Kennedy did to tinpot autocrats in Latin America.
It bothers me because no-one would ever post on a public forum nowadays that they used to be a fascist supporter in their youth, because they admired the way Italian trains arrived on time and didn't see any link between that regime and the one that went on to send millions of innocents to their death.
There are some mistakes of youth of about which, in maturity, it is better to be ashamed rather than proud.
I wouldn't compare eurocommunism to fascism, speaking personally. Despite the name, eurocommunism was a strongly anti-dictatorial and decentralising movement popular in France and Germany that people like Varoufakis supported. It really had a bit more in common with anarchism, I would say.
When, a few years before the Greek crisis, a professor of economics at Athens University suggested that Greece needed to reduce the deficit, he received death threats. Including from the lefty Greek terrorists.
Varoufakis stated the prof deserved the threats on the grounds that he was “going against the will of the people”.
Poland will undoubtedly be the leading force in Eastern Europe against Russia as the article suggests, Germany having little interest in the role and Poland being far more supportive of Ukraine.
However the UK has never taken a leading role in Eastern Europe, it has been part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro Hungarian Empire and fought over by them, the Ottoman Empire and Turks and Russians and part of the Prussian and then German Empires too. In WW1 it was again divided between the Russians, Germans and Austro Hungarians and in WW2 by the Nazis and Soviet Union (who then took over most of it until the end of the Cold War).
The UK's European focus has always been on containing the power of Spain and the France and ultimately Germany ie western Europe. Eastern Europe has not been a major concern for it
Disraeli would actually be horrified at this comment, given the amount of time he spent on the 'Eastern Question.'
Salisbury wouldn't be much better pleased, nor would Lloyd George. As for Neville Chamberlain...
Palmerston would also be slightly surprised given he became PM during the Crimean War.
The Eastern question was more to do with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire than Eastern Europe per se, as was the Crimean War and the UK was really supporting the Turks along with France than playing the role of lead power in Eastern Europe.
Lloyd George and Chamberlain's main focus was containing Germany not Russia.
The UK has never been the regional superpower in Eastern Europe
Are you actually unaware that much of the Ottoman Empire, including its capital, was in Eastern Europe?
Edit - I've also got to assume now that you've never heard of Chanak. Or allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. Or the Sudeten Crisis.
Most of Eastern Europe was never under Ottoman control, even before Lepanto and the siege of Vienna.
Certainly the majority of Eastern Europe was not under Ottoman control by the 19th and early 20th century when the British were most focused on what happened to the Ottoman Empire.
Greece and the Bosporus are really SouthEastern Europe not Eastern or even Central Europe
Virtually every western power backed the White Russians, the UK was certainly not the lead on it and didn't even try and rescue the Tsar and his family from the Bolsheviks
Have you ever heard of the No True Scotsman fallacy?
The thread header is about the Intermarium, not the Bosporus
On topic (I think): As I understand it, some earlier history ofthe same area is covered in Timothy Snyder's "Bloodlands". It's received many positive reviews here in the US.
(I haven't read it, though it is on my long list of books I perhaps should read some day.)
The Reconstruction of Nations is more specifically relevant.
Bloodlands deals with the genocides before and during WWII. It's a brilliant book, but not an easy read.
Poland will undoubtedly be the leading force in Eastern Europe against Russia as the article suggests, Germany having little interest in the role and Poland being far more supportive of Ukraine.
However the UK has never taken a leading role in Eastern Europe, it has been part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro Hungarian Empire and fought over by them, the Ottoman Empire and Turks and Russians and part of the Prussian and then German Empires too. In WW1 it was again divided between the Russians, Germans and Austro Hungarians and in WW2 by the Nazis and Soviet Union (who then took over most of it until the end of the Cold War).
The UK's European focus has always been on containing the power of Spain and the France and ultimately Germany ie western Europe. Eastern Europe has not been a major concern for it
Disraeli would actually be horrified at this comment, given the amount of time he spent on the 'Eastern Question.'
Salisbury wouldn't be much better pleased, nor would Lloyd George. As for Neville Chamberlain...
Palmerston would also be slightly surprised given he became PM during the Crimean War.
The Eastern question was more to do with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire than Eastern Europe per se, as was the Crimean War and the UK was really supporting the Turks along with France than playing the role of lead power in Eastern Europe.
Lloyd George and Chamberlain's main focus was containing Germany not Russia.
The UK has never been the regional superpower in Eastern Europe
Are you actually unaware that much of the Ottoman Empire, including its capital, was in Eastern Europe?
Edit - I've also got to assume now that you've never heard of Chanak. Or allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. Or the Sudeten Crisis.
I believe that in the 18th Century the Baltic trade was the most important trading route of Britain, so dependent were we on the lumber, tar etc as raw materials for our naval supremacy.
It was so important that we attacked Denmark twice (1801, 1807) to ensure we could get those supplies.
It was such a sad, grim, miserable place, with people trying to live their lives with very few of the freedoms we take for granted. No food in the shops, and surrounded by patently absurd state propaganda. It’s why I get annoyed when the likes of ex-MP Nick of this parish are so blasé about their communist-supporting past.
Well, yes - as I've often said, when I supported them it was the Euro-communist version - the pro-democracy, anti-dictatorship variant championed by Berlinguer in Italy and Hermannson in Sweden. It's more than 50 years ago now, but it was a perfectly reasonable choice at the time, and it's a bit bizarre that it bothers you now. It bore as much relationship to the Romanian dictatorship as President Kennedy did to tinpot autocrats in Latin America.
It bothers me because no-one would ever post on a public forum nowadays that they used to be a fascist supporter in their youth, because they admired the way Italian trains arrived on time and didn't see any link between that regime and the one that went on to send millions of innocents to their death.
There are some mistakes of youth of about which, in maturity, it is better to be ashamed rather than proud.
I wouldn't compare eurocommunism to fascism, speaking personally. Despite the name, eurocommunism was a strongly anti-dictatorial and decentralising movement popular in France and Germany that people like Varoufakis supported. It really had a bit more in common with anarchism, I would say.
It was such a sad, grim, miserable place, with people trying to live their lives with very few of the freedoms we take for granted. No food in the shops, and surrounded by patently absurd state propaganda. It’s why I get annoyed when the likes of ex-MP Nick of this parish are so blasé about their communist-supporting past.
Well, yes - as I've often said, when I supported them it was the Euro-communist version - the pro-democracy, anti-dictatorship variant championed by Berlinguer in Italy and Hermannson in Sweden. It's more than 50 years ago now, but it was a perfectly reasonable choice at the time, and it's a bit bizarre that it bothers you now. It bore as much relationship to the Romanian dictatorship as President Kennedy did to tinpot autocrats in Latin America.
It bothers me because no-one would ever post on a public forum nowadays that they used to be a fascist supporter in their youth, because they admired the way Italian trains arrived on time and didn't see any link between that regime and the one that went on to send millions of innocents to their death.
There are some mistakes of youth of about which, in maturity, it is better to be ashamed rather than proud.
I wouldn't compare eurocommunism to fascism, speaking personally. Despite the name, eurocommunism was a strongly anti-dictatorial and decentralising movement popular in France and Germany that people like Varoufakis supported. It really had a bit more in common with anarchism, I would say.
When, a few years before the Greek crisis, a professor of economics at Athens University suggested that Greece needed to reduce the deficit, he received death threats. Including from the lefty Greek terrorists.
Varoufakis stated the prof deserved the threats on the grounds that he was “going against the will of the people”.
Perhaps, although no link provided, but we've heard that phrase to justify threats somewhere more recently nearer to home, too. Varoufakis's record of opposing the Stalinists and throughout the 70s and 80s seems to be reasonably agreed on.
Many people who supported the Eurocommunists hated the Eastern Bloc. I always think of it as a sort of trendy French Left Bank socialism of the 70s, but without the appalling Stalinist or Maoist politics of people like Sartre or Godard.
If we wanna talk serious, how about this Project Veritas takedown of a major Pfizer executive, who, inter alia, says Yeah of course it came from the lab and Yeah we are still mutating the virus to develop new vaccines but DON’T TELL ANYONE
His explosive reaction at the end as he realises he has spilled the beans to the world, and by the by self destructed his own career is quite intense
“Like, it makes no sense that the virus popped out of nowhere”
NO FUCKING KIDDING, SHERLOCK
Fairly evil really. They should be banned from having their drugs prescribed by the NHS.
Because preventing access to safe and efficacious medicine would benefit the British people how, precisely?
I think there are good alternatives to Pfizer drugs that would probably cost a great deal less. I found their taking of vast profits on their covid jab distasteful already.
Less distasteful than Moderna - at least it was funded privately - but not the approach I would have taken.
There are good alternatives for many Pfizer drugs - and prices for those are amongst the lowest in the UK in any developed country. And NICE is very disciplined on prices for innovative drugs
If we wanna talk serious, how about this Project Veritas takedown of a major Pfizer executive, who, inter alia, says Yeah of course it came from the lab and Yeah we are still mutating the virus to develop new vaccines but DON’T TELL ANYONE
His explosive reaction at the end as he realises he has spilled the beans to the world, and by the by self destructed his own career is quite intense
“Like, it makes no sense that the virus popped out of nowhere”
NO FUCKING KIDDING, SHERLOCK
Fairly evil really. They should be banned from having their drugs prescribed by the NHS.
Because preventing access to safe and efficacious medicine would benefit the British people how, precisely?
I think there are good alternatives to Pfizer drugs that would probably cost a great deal less. I found their taking of vast profits on their covid jab distasteful already.
Less distasteful than Moderna - at least it was funded privately - but not the approach I would have taken.
There are good alternatives for many Pfizer drugs - and prices for those are amongst the lowest in the UK in any developed country. And NICE is very disciplined on prices for innovative drugs
Well, that is big pharma for you. Vast profits when a drug becomes a blockbuster, but they get no sympathy when a vast fortune is spent on a compound that never makes it to market. It is like the film industry, with a few blockbusters necessary every now and again to make up for all the money losing duds.
Comments
The real point is that he sounds as though he doesn’t have a clue what he’s on about.
As no one seems to be noting the points from my first post, I’ll copy the Twitter thread below.
Here, Project Veritas is implying that directed evolution = gain-of-function research on the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID.
My take is that this is likely NOT the case
Just a background on Directed Evolution - it mimics natural selection and do it faster. This is most commonly done by error prone PCR.
Remember the mRNA vaccine is just the sequence of the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Now with different variants of SARS-CoV-2, the spike protein sequence can mutate as well, leading to less efficacy of vaccines.
This is why the FDA wants the COVID vaccine to be updated yearly to target variants
There are many variants. And if you are to forced to choose 1 spike protein seq that can be effective against the most concerning variants, that might be tough.
So if you were to choose 1 mRNA vaccine sequence, how would you choose? Well, it is impossible to predict efficacy of 1 sequence against multiple variants.
This is where Directed Evolution comes in.
You can generate many different spike protein sequences by running an error prone PCR on the spike protein DNA template. And perhaps one of these sequence will manage to generate a robust enough response against the most problematic SARS-COV-2 variants.
Of course, it is not so simple, because you need to design a selection system to select for sequences that can elicit meaningful immune response against multiple variants.
I suspect Pfizer scientists are using directed evolution to identify such sequences.
This is NOT the same as gain-of-function research where you are creating actual SARS-CoV-2 viruses. because you are NOT producing a virus.
All you are doing is producing variants of the mRNA spike protein vaccine and test them in animal models infected with different problematic variants right now.
If you get lucky, you can fish out an mRNA vaccine seq that is effective against the most problematic variants
This is likely what Jordon Walker was talking about. It is not gain-of-function research because you are NOT generating new *virus variants*, you are just generating new vaccine variants.
Just because something "sounds like" gain-of-function research to someone who doesn't understand molecular biology, it doesn't mean it is!
In EVERY biology dept in EVERY university, EVERY DAY, there is someone doing "Directed Evolution" by running error prone PCR. END/
Palmerston was also of course the last non Tory PM to win 3 consecutive general election majorities before Blair
Not a nice thing to imagine - I really hope it is not true - but then two years ago we were banned from imagining that it came from the lab….
What we need is Nuremberg Tribunals where everyone important has to give evidence on oath. This will be deeply uncomfortable. It is highly possible some scientists might go to jail for a long time for their role in what was, unquestionably, an attempt to cover up the likely lab origin at the start. Scientists at the labs might face worse than jail time
We also need evidence from politicians, medics, virologists, everyone. On oath
Yes, China will not cooperate but 20 million people are dead. Enough. We deserve investigations and answers
https://www.pfizer.com/news/announcements/pfizer-responds-research-claims
Allegations have recently been made related to gain of function and directed evolution research at Pfizer and the company would like to set the record straight.
In the ongoing development of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer has not conducted gain of function or directed evolution research. Working with collaborators, we have conducted research where the original SARS-CoV-2 virus has been used to express the spike protein from new variants of concern. This work is undertaken once a new variant of concern has been identified by public health authorities. This research provides a way for us to rapidly assess the ability of an existing vaccine to induce antibodies that neutralize a newly identified variant of concern. We then make this data available through peer reviewed scientific journals and use it as one of the steps to determine whether a vaccine update is required.
In addition, to meet U.S. and global regulatory requirements for our oral treatment, PAXLOVID™, Pfizer undertakes in vitro work (e.g., in a laboratory culture dish) to identify potential resistance mutations to nirmatrelvir, one of PAXLOVID’s two components. With a naturally evolving virus, it is important to routinely assess the activity of an antiviral. Most of this work is conducted using computer simulations or mutations of the main protease–a non-infectious part of the virus. In a limited number of cases when a full virus does not contain any known gain of function mutations, such virus may be engineered to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells. In addition, in vitro resistance selection experiments are undertaken in cells incubated with SARS-CoV-2 and nirmatrelvir in our secure Biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory to assess whether the main protease can mutate to yield resistant strains of the virus. It is important to note that these studies are required by U.S. and global regulators for all antiviral products and are carried out by many companies and academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world...
Thanks.
I hadn’t really thought about the dynamics re: Poland - and it’s an angle that is absent from most English language geo-politics / euro-politics / international relations / military strategy discussion. At least the stuff on my radar, and I’m way more informed than most.
You make an excellent point, though.
The angle that I consider most important - and rather inadequately covered - re: Ukraine/Russia, is China.
This could get written into the history books as their US/suez moment.
Lloyd George and Chamberlain's main focus was containing Germany not Russia.
The UK has never been the regional superpower in Eastern Europe
Don't forget that - what Russia is doing is an evil. If they are defeated in this evil, at vast cost to themselves, their people, their economy and their reputation, then it makes future dictators think twice about launching such a conflict.
Theirs is a war of conquest; They have tried to absorb parts of a sovereign nation into their own country - a wheeze that fortunately almost every other country in the world has ignored, for obvious reasons.
You are allergic to the lab leak hypothesis to the point - now - of absurdity, and you are strenuously trying to deny this intriguing video says anything interesting at all
There are some mistakes of youth of about which, in maturity, it is better to be ashamed rather than proud.
Does it not cross your tiny mind that if they were telling the truth about his being a "major Pfizer executive" that would be instantly verifiable?
My own view: it's unproved either way - though I *lean* towards a natural, non-lab origin. I wouldn't argue it either way, unless someone came on claiming it was *certainly* one thing or the other.
An excellent and interesting piece - the conclusions are thought provoking in the least and pander to an issue talked about since 1989 but which has yet to happen - the strategic disengagement from Europe of the USA. The long-awaited turn to the Pacific where the global's military and economic superpowers, America and China, will face each other in the decades to come, one hopes in amity.
Europe, perhaps for the first time in five hundred years, no longer matters and is ceasing to be the centre of the world. In our new backwater, on the wrong side of the globe from the "action", the nation states and economic blocs (not always the same) will struggle to make sense of the new reality.
The two big strategic questions of recent European history - the Franco-German rivalry and the German-Russian-Poland relationship, which have basically dominated European politics since 1815, are now coming to a conclusion. The former ended in 1945 and the latter is being ended by Russia's failure in the Ukraine which is encouraging its neighbours to look away from Washington and NATO and toward their own collective defence.
What then is the future? The Western European nations are now at peace and central and eastern Europe faces only Russia, which retains a modicum of influence via nuclear weapons and may yet become an economic dependency of China (not without its own demographic challenges).
There are valid questions about mid 21st century Africa and the socio-economic impacts of climate challenge and the likely impact on southern Europe (will we see a new Fortress Europe mentality emerge?).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_Union_regions_by_GDP
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regions_of_the_United_Kingdom_by_GRP_per_capita
The wealthier bits of provincial Poland have a GDP of about 24000 euros per head.
The poorer bits of England have a GDP of about 24000 euros per head.
Lots of ways that those numbers aren't strictly comparable (they are from 2019 and 2018 respectively for a start), but it seems reasonable to say that they're not that different.
I’ve always said the lab leak hypothesis is possibly true; it remains so.
This video is pretty obvious balls, though.
I’m no virologist, but this guy sounds more ignorant than me.
Not impossible, of course, for it to be entirely zoonotic. But it seems unlikely.
That said (as I have repeated ad infinitum), there are many different levels of "lab leak". And different leaks have different levels of culpability.
It'll be interesting to see how the 'tech war' (as highlighted by the US restrictions on chip tech) will affect China's relationships with other countries.
https://twitter.com/staylorish/status/1619734995035369473
BREAKING: Scottish Government intervenes today to immediately block any trans prisoner “with a history of violence against women” from being held or transferred to all-female jails.
It means Ministers have today essentially blocked the planned move of Tiffany Scott.
@SkyNews
https://twitter.com/ConnorGillies/status/1619733168621494272
He graduated Yale in 2013, he was at BCG, he more recently went to Pfizer
What he “admits” in that video is so mortifying and endangering to Pfizer’s reputation there were some half assed attempts to erase him from the Net, but that failed. Pfizer does not deny he is an executive
The fact that you would rather believe all this is some kind of massive elaborate fake is…. Quite strange
"And there are some people that I think have decided to use women's rights as a sort of cloak of acceptability to cover up what is transphobia. Now, again, that's not everybody who opposes this bill. I want to be very clear about that.
"But there are people who have opposed this bill that cloak themselves in women's rights to make it acceptable, but just as they're transphobic you'll also find that they're deeply misogynist, often homophobic, possibly some of them racist as well."
https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/nicola-sturgeon-some-gender-reform-critics-using-womens-rights-to-hide-bigotry-4003492
regardless of your views on this matter, this is a textbook example of “these are my principles and if you don’t like them, I have others” from Sturgeon.
https://twitter.com/euanmccolm/status/1619738548311326720
Female ex-prisoner in Scotland describes the daily reality of being forced to share shower areas and cells with trans women convicted of domestic abuse and murder. This is the very definition of cruel and degrading punishment.
https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1619685066061520898
I think that UN job is out the window....
The claim seems to be that at one time he worked for a consultancy company and was temporarily seconded to Pfizer. He's obviously not a "major Pfizer executive", as claimed.
https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1619689065393037314
German Rheinmetall is ready to boost production of tank rounds to 240,000 per year, 155mm artillery rounds to 500,000. In 2022, it was 70,000 rounds each of tank & artillery shells
The company is also negotiating to begin the production of HIMARS, CEO said
Edit - I've also got to assume now that you've never heard of Chanak. Or allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. Or the Sudeten Crisis.
Gove's "mea culpa" on Grenfell was a refreshing change and the recognition of Government culpability is one of those areas where the "floating voter" might at least acknowledge the Minister's honesty but it's all now about Zahawi and therefore it'll be about "sleaze".
Yes, Sunak acted quickly and he can be given a modicum of credit but to lose the Conservative Party Chairman in such circumstances doesn't augur well.
I thought we might get an Opinium poll last evening.
Tech is perhaps worse, since it depends (and biotech particularly so) on keeping IP as secret as it can, while in development.
You're making my point here.
Dundee-based MSP wants to ‘explore’ allowing children as young as eight to change gender
Green politician Maggie Chapman says Holyrood should "explore" whether children as young as eight can decide to legally change their gender, and criticised secondary school text books on biology.
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/politics/scottish-politics/4062886/gender-recognition-maggie-chapman/
Scottish government: no man would ever pretend to be trans for nefarious purposes, people just want to live, very violent scaremongering to suggest there's any conflict between self-id and women's safety
Scottish government two seconds later: um actually
https://twitter.com/sarahditum/status/1619739539031101440
#Scotland: Female prisoners have a right to be protected from violent sex offenders no matter how they identify. Where is the common sense? Clearer guidelines are needed.
Tiffany Scott: Call to block trans prisoner's move to women's jail
https://twitter.com/DrAliceJEdwards/status/1619579182245347330
Just watch: no-one will take any responsibility for this because if they did, you’d have to start at the very top of the government..
https://twitter.com/alexmassie/status/1619742072856248320
Already 9th on the Most Read table on the home page.
Next.
https://culture.pl/en/article/when-polish-was-king
And was the literary language in what is now Ukraine.
This guy does not exist. OK he exists but he never worked for Pfizer. OK he worked for Pfizer but it was just temporary. OK he still works for Pfizer but he’s just a secretary. OK he works for Pfizer as an executive but he’s just a management consultant. OK he’s a senior executive at Pfizer with a medical degree from Yale and a specialism in molecular and cellular biology and he has published papers on Covid but he’s more interested in penises
There’s no real arguing with that.
As, my lab coat. Thank you.
RIGHT it is midnight in the Kok and I want to watch Stranger Things 3
Goodnight, all. January is nearly over
SPRING IS COMING
XX
There are appeals to authority, and there's... this.
Certainly the majority of Eastern Europe and the Intermarium was not under Ottoman control by the 19th and early 20th century when the British were most focused on what happened to the Ottoman Empire.
Greece and the Bosporus are really SouthEastern Europe not Eastern or even Central Europe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Europe#/media/File:Grossgliederung_Europas-en.svg
Virtually every western power backed the White Russians, the UK was certainly not the lead on it and didn't even try and rescue the Tsar and his family from the Bolsheviks
For example, how do we know that you are an artisanal flint knapper from Hereford living the life of a jetsetter? You may be a tired alcoholic from Newent eking out a bare living behind the bar of the George, indulging in your fantasies to a bunch of credulous idiots online.
Unfortunately, the Poles chose an awful form of government, that gave almost unlimited power to the nobles at the expense of everybody else, and the nobles were then bought by neighbouring powers.Bought? I thought they were rented….
https://twitter.com/Ryanair/status/1619693958610960385
(It is entirely possible for a lawyer in the US to know almost nothing about science, and little about history, so I wonder if the same might be true in Scotland.)
Overall, bringing the Intermarium into the EU after the collapse of the Iron Curtain, and the economic aid to turn potential failed states into prosperous states with strengthening democracies was a fine achievement.
Yes, it was costing us money to help develop these states, but we transformed them for the better, and shifted the border with the barbarians hundreds of miles further East. The European Project is a fine one, and with further work to do.
I'm no feminist, but I wondered why women were putting up with it.
(I haven't read it, though it is on my long list of books I perhaps should read some day.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermarium
But @NicolaSturgeon's made it very clear that every woman's group and safeguarding expert raising concerns about her supposedly progressive agenda is a bigot. What can possibly have changed? Surely not her cast iron principles?
https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1619747386963922945
https://www.babao.org.uk/news-and-announcements/babao-statement-on-sex
And combining it with another topic of interest:
"... good example of this appears within Viking/Scandinavian studies, where early 20th- century European archaeologists initially assumed that individuals buried with swords were warriors and therefore male, as being a soldier was associated with men in the archaeologist’s own culture. Through the re-examination of these remains, using both skeletal and, in some cases, aDNA evidence, it has been shown that some individuals buried with swords were biologically female or, in one case, intersex."
Quite fascinating stuff.
Later on, many timber railway bridges - those of Brunel, for example - were built with Baltic yellow pine. The timber had an average lifespan of 30 years, some trunks lasting as long as sixty years. And they were strong and very stable. An engine even blew up on one of them once without damaging the structure.
Except for that base, nowadays France is arguably the dominant Western power there, too, with Britain being the one with clearly more influence in north-eastern europe .. until it left the EU.
However I thought Liverpool really competed and the better side today, Elliot and Capko caught the eye, for much of the second half Pool had Brighton trapped unable to break out. There were a few bad fouls Liverpool got away with before the winning goal. Mitoma stock must be rising faster than any other league player, frightening acceleration, and for the goal composure and control.
Just the same as everything else - there's one thing "not talking down Britain" but the man is so obsessed with us leaving the EU he's become our version of Comical Ali. Everything that happens is now good for Brexit Britain because we've left the EU whereas of course if we were still in the EU.....
https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/62722004/
Varoufakis stated the prof deserved the threats on the grounds that he was “going against the will of the people”.
So, one would say "when Boris married Carrie, his intermarium came to an end".
Bloodlands deals with the genocides before and during WWII. It's a brilliant book, but not an easy read.
Many people who supported the Eurocommunists hated the Eastern Bloc. I always think of it as a sort of trendy French Left Bank socialism of the 70s, but without the appalling Stalinist or Maoist politics of people like Sartre or Godard.
There are good alternatives for many Pfizer drugs - and prices for those are amongst the lowest in the UK in any developed country. And NICE is very disciplined on prices for innovative drugs