The World Health Organisation announced Monday that it will not be visiting the Wuhan Institute of Virology during its investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, despite the fact that the lab held samples of coronavirus that were almost exactly the same as that which caused a global pandemic.

The Worst Is Over For Arizona's COVID Breakout

Several months ago, the coronavirus pandemic mutated from a purely epidemiological phenomenon and became a full-blown political issue, with clear ideological divisions forming along the lines of whether or not to pursue strict shutdowns (and in some cases, whether to engage in another round of economic closures) all the way down to whether masks should be worn. The drivers here were self-evident: opponents of Trump and the current administration demanded even more caution, in some cases arguably in pursuit self-serving hopes of further economic pain (and more stimulus payments) that would make a Trump re-election difficult; in light of this it is understandable why the president hoped to put the pandemic in the rearview mirror and to accelerate the reopening of the economy which has cost tens of millions in jobs and trillions in new debt.

In recent weeks, a similar divide has also emerged on Wall Street, where pessimists such as Goldman have been emphasizing the recent surge in new cases across sunbelt states, warning that these would result in another spike in deaths, as well as reduction in mobility and overall cosumption and thus a fresh hit to the economy, as a new round of shutdowns - either mandatory or voluntary - were enacted. Optimists, meanwhile, would note that higher cases are merely a function of widespread testing...

Last week, in a note that was clearly in the "optimistic" camp, BofA's Hans Mikkelsen wrote that sharply elevated new daily Covid-19 case numbers highlight first and foremost more successful testing strategies (more tests, contact tracing, etc.), according to the University of Washington IHME model.

The strategist also said that "to gauge the spread of Covid-19 we prefer to look at number of hospitalized people that, although a bit lagged (in March/April the peak in number of hospitalized came 17 days after the peak in newly infected, according to the IHME model), is less dependent on testing strategy."



While hospitalizations were clearly up in the U.S., BofA pointed out that if one excludes the four states "we find they are more accurately described as flat lining." Moreover, BofA calculates that in the new outbreak the daily number of infected people peaked on June 21st at 75,179, up from 71,112 on June 1st, and sharply above yesterday's 69,987 estimate, again according to the IHME model.

The optimistic conclusion: "Should hospitalizations again be lagged 17 days that would imply (local) peak hospitalizations on July 8."

Fast forward to today, when following several weeks of downbeat comments, Goldman may have also turned somewhat optimistic on US chances, with chief economist Jan Hatzius (we are all epidemiologists now) writing that "today, confirmed new cases (7-day moving average) are now lower compared to one week ago" and noting that "it is possible that case growth could be at the beginning of a sustained downward trajectory" even though as he concedes, the positive test rate remains very high, and virus spread is weighing significantly on the state's available hospital resources. A sustained decline in new cases would take several days to translate to lower hospitalizations and more available hospital capacity.

https://www.zerohedge.com/mark...eakout-goldman-finds

I'm going to toss this one here since I am guessing it is due to Covid-

Anyone else getting Canadian McDonald's paper bags? They have a red maple leaf, text in English and French, and the website printed as McDonalds.ca

I am curious how widespread this is and I suppose we can only guess why. Makes you wonder where the US bags came from before.

I just heard from a radio news station that Wal Mart, Sams Club, Best Buy and Starbucks are going to be forcing masks on customers starting next week. Yes, the virus has never, ever been more deadly, masks are mankind’s last hope for life on earth.

Walmart, Sam's Club make coronavirus masks mandatory
Walmart 'Health Ambassadors' will enforce policy...
https://www.foxbusiness.com/li...-club-face-mask-shop

With all the hysteria over Florida's infection rates, it has now been revealed that many health departments doing the reporting have released false positive results and some have even gone as far as reporting 100% positive test results and ignored negative results. This report is on Fox News.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news...16LnNw?ocid=msedgntp

You don't say

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
I'm going to toss this one here since I am guessing it is due to Covid-

Anyone else getting Canadian McDonald's paper bags? They have a red maple leaf, text in English and French, and the website printed as McDonalds.ca

I am curious how widespread this is and I suppose we can only guess why. Makes you wonder where the US bags came from before.

The US bags come from Duro. Novolex in northern Kentucky. Micky Ds prolly has a huge stock as they are made in the millions per 3 shifts.

quote:

Originally posted by tleo205:
With all the hysteria over Florida's infection rates, it has now been revealed that many health departments doing the reporting have released false positive results and some have even gone as far as reporting 100% positive test results and ignored negative results. This report is on Fox News.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news...16LnNw?ocid=msedgntp

So it sounds like the virus is so deadly powerful that it is exerting some kind of mutant mind control that makes honest well-meaning people lie! "The virus made me do it!"

Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus

If they wanted us to believe them about anything they claim, they shouldn't have lied to us.

Interesting study out from Germany, seems that schools being open may not be the risk factor that Doctor Fausi and the CDC are claiming.

In fact they may provide a break on the infection rate....

Link

German study finds low Covid-19 infection rate in schools

Tests of pupils and teachers in Saxony suggest children may act as brake on infection

Very few of 2,000 schoolchildren and teachers tested in the German state of Saxony showed antibodies to Covid-19, a study has found, suggesting schools may not play as big a role in spreading the virus as some had feared.

Germany began reopening schools in May, though debate continues as to the role children may play in spreading the virus to vulnerable adults at home as well as to older teachers and school staff.

The study by the University hospital in Dresden analysed blood samples from almost 1,500 children aged between 14 and 18 and 500 teachers from 13 schools in Dresden and the districts of Bautzen and Görlitz in May and June.

The largest study conducted in Germany on schoolchildren and teachers included testing in schools where there were coronavirus outbreaks.


Of the almost 2,000 samples, only 12 had antibodies, said Reinhard Berner , a professor of paediatrics at the hospital, adding that the first results gave no evidence that schoolchildren played a role in spreading the virus particularly quickly.

“Children may even act as a brake on infection,” Berner told a news conference, saying infections in schools had not led to an outbreak, while the spread of the virus within households was also less dynamic than previously thought.

Saxony’s education minister, Christian Piwarz, said the study showed schools in the state could reopen as normal after the summer holiday at the end of August – but with some conditions, such as mask wearing and social distancing where possible.

Berner said the study was representative for the state of Saxony, which has a relatively low rate of infection compared with other parts of Germany.

For other states with low infection rates, the study suggests schools could be reopened without causing widespread outbreaks of the virus, he said.

A separate study of blood donors found antibodies against Covid-19 in only 1.3% of 12,000 samples, the president of the Robert Koch Institute for public health, Prof Lothar Wieler, said.

America faces an epic choice ...
... in the coming year, and the results will define the country for a generation. These are perilous times. Over the last three years, much of what the Guardian holds dear has been threatened – democracy, civility, truth.

The country is at a critical crossroads. Science and reason are in a battle to be heard and to try to drive public policy in the middle of a pandemic. At the same time, the US is in the midst of a historic reckoning with centuries of racial injustice – even as the White House stokes division along racial lines. Meanwhile the pandemic has exposed the painful inequities underlying American life. The coming months will determine whether they might finally be addressed.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus

If they wanted us to believe them about anything they claim, they shouldn't have lied to us.

Isn't this a case of argumentum falsum dilemma?

While we can't believe anything they tell us, it's also not accurate that nothing is true, completely or partially? Not saying that doesn't make it pretty challenging to suss that out and we shouldn't have to have so much doubt.

Or in the words of Lewis Black, just give us the fact-facts!

quote:

argumentum falsum dilemma

Actually, it's a classic case of clusterus fuckum.

Unreasonable or no, I am serious when I say that their constant lies mean that I believe nothing they tell us. Infection rates, death rates, Motel 6 rates, what have ya. Whatever they claim, is a complete lie.

The truth does not benefit them, nor are they capable of recognizing the truth in the first place.

Perhaps the term hyper-skepticism fits the bill.

Say that I'm "out there" (really don't care), but I honestly look at this face mask nonsense as some level of the "Mark of the Beast". Was just having this passing conversation with a buddy of mine over dinner last week and I related what it says in the Bible...

"It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name." - Revelation 13:16-17

Just replace "receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads" with "wear Government-mandated face masks" and there you have it. No face mask? Unable to conduct commerce.

So, to restate the verse, "It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to wear Government-mandated face masks, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mask, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name."

Just my humble thought for the day.....

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
Revelation 13:16-17

We should be thankful that Rev 13 is talking about a past event and not a future one.

I know one thing for sure, I wouldn’t cross Governor Kay Ivey!

quote:

Originally posted by BlackTalonJHP:

We should be thankful that Rev 13 is talking about a past event and not a future one.

It refers to both if you believe history is doomed to repeat itself.

quote:

Originally posted by tleo205:
With all the hysteria over Florida's infection rates, it has now been revealed that many health departments doing the reporting have released false positive results and some have even gone as far as reporting 100% positive test results and ignored negative results. This report is on Fox News.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news...16LnNw?ocid=msedgntp

My understanding is they just sent in their positive test results and not the negatives. No one falsified any info and it ultimately didn't impact the total number of positive cases. The labs just got lazy and decided to not bother sending in the negatives. It seems like much ado about nothing.

I dont see how one report saying "we had 100 positive tests" vs one saying "we had 100 positive tests and 900 negatives" makes any practical difference. I'm guessing thats why some labs didn't bother.

If you had any remaining thoughts that this guy isn't an arrogant, narcissistic, prick, I offer this. This guy can't go away soon enough.