This, and my friend got his Trek a couple weeks ahead of schedule a couple days ago told me that when he picked it up and test rode it, it was like they hired 3rd graders to assemble it...

total sellers market...

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:

quote:

Originally posted by holdem:
I work in this industry. And you are not wrong. Overall bicycle sales, nationwide, jumped 75% in April.

Drill down to statewide, and some stores were completely closed, but in places like FL, where the weather was really, really nice in April and the stores were open, it was not uncommon for a store to report triple their normal sales volume in April. May was the same. June has continued to be the same.

If you walk into a random store and ask for a $750 mountain bike, you are likely to get laughed out the door. They are being produced as fast as possible, they are being airfreighted over, but there is no way the system can keep up with this demand.

I have an entry level Trek that I rode at work, don't need it anymore but it needs a tune up. Even service is backed up sometimes up to 3 weeks. Was looking to get it tuned up before selling the bike but that might not happen now.

I have been calling Trek stores looking for a Madone or Domane in the $3500 price range. Most stores are out of stock and orders won't arrive until late August. I was mistaken in thinking it was just the large retail stores which had their bikes sold out.

Good article 209.

The author uses the words "artificial" and "gain of function".

That's called Bio-engineering. I guess there is a very fine line between bio-research and bio-weaponization.

Is the COVID Surge More Fake News?

By Brian C.Joondeph, MD

“The coronavirus surge is real, and it’s everywhere” says Axios and most of the DNC media.

Time to panic. They pile on, “The coronavirus pandemic is getting dramatically worse in almost every corner of the U.S.”

We are told new cases are rising by double-digit percentages, including: “The number of people hospitalized with coronavirus.” Hospitalized with or from coronavirus? Is this really a surge or simply fear-mongering fake news?

Texas features prominently in the surge scare. Coincidently Texas is a red state that if flipped to blue would prevent a Republican from ever winning the White House for the foreseeable future. Everything is bigger in Texas, including the Chinese coronavirus surge.

A Texas hospital CEO lets the fake news cat out of the bag.

Health officials in Texas are logging every single COVID-19-positive hospital patient in the state as a COVID-19 hospitalization, even if the patients themselves are admitted seeking treatment for something other than the coronavirus.

Most hospitals require a COVID test before elective surgery. This means that patients coming to the hospital for a non-COVID reason are tested for COVID, and if positive are being counted as a “COVID hospitalization.” If a patient goes to the hospital for a new hip or cataract surgery, and happens to test positive for COVID, they are counted as a COVID hospitalization.

Just like inflated death counts, there is a big difference between dying or being hospitalized due to coronavirus or with coronavirus.

This surge hit the news about two weeks ago, after the BLM protests and riots peaked and agitators were starting to be arrested. Is this the latest chapter in the ongoing saga to beat on Trump and interfere in the upcoming presidential election?

States experiencing this surge began reopening two months ago, including Florida, Texas, and Arizona. With a coronavirus incubation period of 5-6 days, according to the World Health Organization, any surge due to reopening should have occurred a week or two after states reopened, not two months later.

Not mentioned are the BLM protests, all within the past month. Mass gatherings in many U.S. cities, without masks or social distancing, everything the basketball player and scarf queen warned against, are far more likely the cause of increasing positive tests.

The CDC director recommended protesters get tested for COVID and likely many did, driving up the case numbers or so-called surge. Most infected young people are asymptomatic, especially teenagers where about 80 percent of those infected show no symptoms.

It’s young people out protesting, not senior citizens. Ignoring distancing and mask recommendations, many get infected, then tested, and voila, we see a surge in cases.

A more useful metric would be hospitalizations and deaths. Houston Methodist CEO Marc Boom noted,

His hospital one year ago was at 95% ICU capacity, similar to the numbers the hospital is seeing today. “It is completely normal for us to have ICU capacities that run in the 80s and 90s," he said. "That's how all hospitals operate."

As of last week, “Texas had around 13,000 open hospital beds statewide.” Yet the Washington Post pushes fear porn, “Arizona, Florida, Texas are latest coronavirus epicenters.” Remember how coronavirus patients in New York City were supposedly dying in hospital parking lots since hospital beds were full? Yet a hospital ship and multiple makeshift hospitals in NYC were largely empty.

It gets worse. Texas can’t even count their test positive cases correctly. “State health officials acknowledged they have been releasing inaccurate figures because they were combining the number of positive COVID-19 antigen tests with the number of positive antibody tests.”

Antibody tests are now readily available, and individuals exposed or symptomatic in March or April can be tested today. Many will have COVID antibodies, indicating past, but not currently active infection. Yet they are part of the so-called surge.

That’s nonsensical thinking, much like saying there is a surge in gun violence this week, counting all gun crimes for the past four months and attributing them all to this past week.

The surge is due to more testing and more test-positive individuals, especially young people who have been out and about as the state lockdowns lifted. Last March and April, testing was available only for those admitted to the hospital for presumed COVID. Now one can get a COVID antigen or antibody test on demand through major testing centers such as Quest Diagnostics.

Texas increased daily COVID testing by over 50 percent during the past five weeks. More tests means more positive cases.

What else might be causing more cases in Texas? How about the border with Mexico which is having its own surge in coronavirus cases. How many infected are crossing our southern border? Further west along the border, the New York Times reported, “Coronavirus jumps the border, overwhelming hospitals in California.” How many of these border crossers were routed to California simply to overwhelm the local hospitals and give state officials an excuse to shut everything down again?

How convenient that we are seeing a surge in coronavirus cases as the economy is beginning to rebound and the great Democrat hope Joe Biden still can’t utter a coherent sentence. Deep state seditious shenanigans are coming to light as President Trump continues his unending quest to drain the swamp. Yet the news is all about surging coronavirus cases, drowning out everything else.

A surge in cases puts pressure on Trump to scale back or stop his rallies while Biden can continue to hide in his basement. Debates may be risky or entirely unnecessary now as the Washington Post claimed. Funny how they were still quite relevant when glib Barack Obama debated tongue-tied McCain and Romney.

Biden admitted as much, “I’m going to follow the doc’s orders, I will not hold any rallies.” Want to bet this morphs into him skipping the debates, based on “doctor’s orders,” avoiding Trump schlonging him on a national stage?

This has always been about the election, along with the protests and riots. The so-called surge is just the latest chapter in the left’s quest to deny President Trump a second term.

Expect to see impeachment resurrected based on fake news of Trump ignoring bounties on American troops. And if all else fails, why not another viral pandemic?

As the BBC recently reported,

A new strain of flu that has the potential to become a pandemic has been identified in China by scientists.

It emerged recently and is carried by pigs, but can infect humans, they say.

The researchers are concerned that it could mutate further so that it can spread easily from person to person and trigger a global outbreak.

While it is not an immediate problem, they say, it has "all the hallmarks" of being highly adapted to infect humans and needs close monitoring.

As it's new, people could have little or no immunity to the virus.

How convenient. It was never really about the virus but instead the election, and the last gasps of the deep state desperately trying to keep their crimes against Trump and humanity hidden away in the hopes that Biden’s handlers can bury everything if Biden stumbles across the finish line in November.

Brian C. Joondeph, MD, is a Denver-based physician and freelance writer

https://www.americanthinker.co..._more_fake_news.html

This message has been edited. Last edited by: parabellum,

Sig209, thanks for posting that article.

What a pleasure to read something actually intelligent about the subject.

Yes, great find there. Interviewee's comments about his as of yet unpublished study. Interviewee runs Immunor AS that is working on a potential vaccine for SARS-CoV-2. Of course, he has nothing to gain by getting his name out there along with the name of the of his potential vaccine, does he?

Instead, it's a worldwide conspiracy to suppress the truth that the virus was engineered and released by the Chinese.

Hang on. I found the spike.



Ain't no wonder. All that physical contact. Those sumbitches were laying up to ten miles of track a day. I hope they were at least wearing condoms.

I know for some the 209 article is a bit conspiritoryish. But I have believed from the beginning of this deal that was the case. This thing is no accident or natural occurring phenomenon.
For one thing it was forecasted a couple of years ago by shorty.

Where is that dang spike??? Why can't we figure this out??



This policy has been extended to all 'contact tracers', not just in NYC.

Where is that dang spike???? It's gotta be from Karen not wearing her mask while driving alone in her car!!

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
[IMG]https://i.postimg.cc/9FDRRKsB/Screenshot-2020-07-03-10-42-57-2.png[/IMG

Why you didn't take this opportunity to post an image of the women's Brazilian volleyball team I'll never know.

this has all been a cruel test to see how long the sheep will willingly follow their master.

Probably because, if I'm not mistaken, Para doesn't care for T and A on his forum?

quote:

Originally posted by BOATTRASH1:
Probably because, if I'm not mistaken, Para doesn't care for T and A on his forum?

That's right. Besides the guy in the black shirt spiking the ball went onto the win gold for America in the 1996 Olympics. Not anywhere near as consequential as the Golden Spike Para posted, but it was a spike for gold.

A new study suggests Hydroxychloroquine helps. https://www.yahoo.com/news/hyd...cover-162127157.html

I have fully acknowledge that I am in the straddle-the-fence-camp of concerned about what we don’t know, coupled with recognizing the insanity that we’re seeing in some places. This message we just got from a restaurant in Jackson is an example of the latter.

quote:

We are sure you've heard the news that the City of Jackson has a face mask mandate, for all public spaces in the City of Jackson.
You're probably wondering how does this affect you, when dining with us...

It is very simple, when walking in please have a mask on, once you are seated at your table, you can remove your mask. If for any reason you have to leave your table, please use your face mask. Wear it in, wear it out. It’s easy and effective for all.

We know that you place your trust in us to ALWAYS Do the Right Thing... and serving you in today’s climate is the epitome of the time for us to shine. That is why we created the "I BRING and I TAKE" shirts for all our service staff at each restaurant. The staff members who wait on you and give you things (the BRING shirts) , they will never touch something a guest has touched or used. They will only bring you new items (food, drink, silverware, etc).

The staff in the TAKE shirts are the ones who remove all your used items be it something as small as a plastic straw wrapper all the way to your final dessert plate and coffee cup. They will NEVER hand you anything ... they are only taking things away. By separating our service style, we are eliminating the potential for any cross-contamination.

This, coupled with our rigorous safety and sanitation protocols (far too many to list here!) work in tandem to ensure BRAVO!, Broad Street and Sal & Mookie’s are safe, wholesome places where you can enjoy time out with your loved ones.
And speaking of that, please don’t ask us to seat you more than 6 to a table... we will not. Our state guidelines clearly set the maximum at one table at 6 individuals... and six feet between tables. We will gladly seat you at side by side tables, but we will maintain your separation).

We understand that all of this can be a but overwhelming, but everything we do is to help protect you, and of course, our staff.

If you have questions, please reach out and ask. Nothing has changed in our core mission— we are here to serve you. We sincerely thank you for your help, as we navigate these uncharted waters.

Forward, together.
Jeff Good

I only hope they have them in Dr. Seuss outfits.

quote:

Originally posted by az4783054:
this has all been a cruel test to see how long the sheep will willingly follow their master.

And not unsurprisingly, they're still falling in line to follow whatever they're told. Someone posted it somewhere in this thread, but to restate it again, if this country ever does face a 'real' crisis in the future, we're done.

They look way to thrilled talking about the next virus.
“That will get attention, this time.”

Can someone please interpret what he is saying for me?
Because it sure sounds like he has involvement in releasing another virus to me.
But maybe it’s just the way I am interpreting what he is saying.

quote:

Can someone please interpret what he is saying for me?
Because it sure sounds like he has involvement in releasing another virus to me.

I don't know about that, but I guarantee he'll have a way of making money off almost anything that comes down the pike.

Didn't gates invest a few million into the wuhan lab with falsi?

most people have forgotten about this little event...

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr...parate-china-related


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Harvard University Professor and Two Chinese Nationals Charged in Three Separate China Related Cases

The Department of Justice announced today that the Chair of Harvard University’s Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department and two Chinese nationals have been charged in connection with aiding the People’s Republic of China.

Dr. Charles Lieber, 60, Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, was arrested this morning and charged by criminal complaint with one count of making a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement. Lieber will appear this afternoon before Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts.

Yanqing Ye, 29, a Chinese national, was charged in an indictment today with one count each of visa fraud, making false statements, acting as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy. Ye is currently in China.

Zaosong Zheng, 30, a Chinese national, was arrested on Dec. 10, 2019, at Boston’s Logan International Airport and charged by criminal complaint with attempting to smuggle 21 vials of biological research to China. On Jan. 21, 2020, Zheng was indicted on one count of smuggling goods from the United States and one count of making false, fictitious or fraudulent statements. He has been detained since Dec. 30, 2019.

Dr. Charles Lieber

According to court documents, since 2008, Dr. Lieber who has served as the Principal Investigator of the Lieber Research Group at Harvard University, which specialized in the area of nanoscience, has received more than $15,000,000 in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Department of Defense (DOD). These grants require the disclosure of significant foreign financial conflicts of interest, including financial support from foreign governments or foreign entities. Unbeknownst to Harvard University beginning in 2011, Lieber became a “Strategic Scientist” at Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) in China and was a contractual participant in China’s Thousand Talents Plan from in or about 2012 to 2017. China’s Thousand Talents Plan is one of the most prominent Chinese Talent recruit plans that are designed to attract, recruit, and cultivate high-level scientific talent in furtherance of China’s scientific development, economic prosperity and national security. These talent programs seek to lure Chinese overseas talent and foreign experts to bring their knowledge and experience to China and reward individuals for stealing proprietary information. Under the terms of Lieber’s three-year Thousand Talents contract, WUT paid Lieber $50,000 USD per month, living expenses of up to 1,000,000 Chinese Yuan (approximately $158,000 USD at the time) and awarded him more than $1.5 million to establish a research lab at WUT. In return, Lieber was obligated to work for WUT “not less than nine months a year” by “declaring international cooperation projects, cultivating young teachers and Ph.D. students, organizing international conference[s], applying for patents and publishing articles in the name of” WUT.

The complaint alleges that in 2018 and 2019, Lieber lied about his involvement in the Thousand Talents Plan and affiliation with WUT. On or about, April 24, 2018, during an interview with investigators, Lieber stated that he was never asked to participate in the Thousand Talents Program, but he “wasn’t sure” how China categorized him. In November 2018, NIH inquired of Harvard whether Lieber had failed to disclose his then-suspected relationship with WUT and China’s Thousand Talents Plan. Lieber caused Harvard to falsely tell NIH that Lieber “had no formal association with WUT” after 2012, that “WUT continued to falsely exaggerate” his involvement with WUT in subsequent years, and that Lieber “is not and has never been a participant in” China’s Thousand Talents Plan.

Yanqing Ye

According to the indictment, Ye is a Lieutenant of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the armed forces of the People’s Republic of China and member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). On her J-1 visa application, Ye falsely identified herself as a “student” and lied about her ongoing military service at the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT), a top military academy directed by the CCP. It is further alleged that while studying at Boston University’s (BU) Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering from October 2017 to April 2019, Ye continued to work as a PLA Lieutenant completing numerous assignments from PLA officers such as conducting research, assessing U.S. military websites and sending U.S. documents and information to China.

According to court documents, on April 20, 2019, federal officers interviewed Ye at Boston’s Logan International Airport. During the interview, it is alleged that Ye falsely claimed that she had minimal contact with two NUDT professors who were high-ranking PLA officers. However, a search of Ye’s electronic devices demonstrated that at the direction of one NUDT professor, who was a PLA Colonel, Ye had accessed U.S. military websites, researched U.S. military projects and compiled information for the PLA on two U.S. scientists with expertise in robotics and computer science. Furthermore, a review of a WeChat conversation revealed that Ye and the other PLA official from NUDT were collaborating on a research paper about a risk assessment model designed to decipher data for military applications. During the interview, Ye admitted that she held the rank of Lieutenant in the PLA and admitted she was a member of the CCP.

Zaosong Zheng

In August 2018, Zheng entered the United States on a J-1 visa and conducted cancer-cell research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston from Sept. 4, 2018, to Dec. 9, 2019. It is alleged that on Dec. 9, 2019, Zheng stole 21 vials of biological research and attempted to smuggle them out of the United States aboard a flight destined for China. Federal officers at Logan Airport discovered the vials hidden in a sock inside one of Zheng’s bags, and not properly packaged. It is alleged that initially, Zheng lied to officers about the contents of his luggage, but later admitted he had stolen the vials from a lab at Beth Israel. Zheng stated that he intended to bring the vials to China to use them to conduct research in his own laboratory and publish the results under his own name.

The charge of making false, fictitious and fraudulent statements provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of visa fraud provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of acting as an agent of a foreign government provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of conspiracy provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of smuggling goods from the United States provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Field Division Joseph R. Bonavolonta; Michael Denning, Director of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Boston Field Office; Leigh-Alistair Barzey, Special Agent in Charge of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Northeast Field Office; Philip Coyne, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; and William Higgins, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement, Boston Field Office made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys B. Stephanie Siegmann, Jason Casey and Benjamin Tolkoff of Lelling’s National Security Unit are prosecuting these cases with the assistance of trial attorneys William Mackie and David Aaron at the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

These case are part of the Department of Justice’s China Initiative, which reflects the strategic priority of countering Chinese national security threats and reinforces the President’s overall national security strategy. In addition to identifying and prosecuting those engaged in trade secret theft, hacking and economic espionage, the initiative will increase efforts to protect our critical infrastructure against external threats including foreign direct investment, supply chain threats and the foreign agents seeking to influence the American public and policymakers without proper registration.

Press release 20-99