-The Sudden Rise of the Coronavirus Lab-Leak Theory — a good write up and analysis. But finding the answer might take a while, all the while there is little to no new evidence on either side. And to me, still the key question should be why the US response was so horrible?
The original animal source of the sars pandemic (bats) was not pinpointed until 2017, fifteen years after the global outbreak. (Incidentally, the discovery was made at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.) The likely source of H.I.V., which spilled over from chimpanzees, perhaps as early as the late eighteen-hundreds, was not located until 1999. … there were two possible explanations for SARS-CoV2: either it came from a zoonotic spillover or a lab. The lab-leak theory had gained enthusiasm largely because the zoonotic-spillover hypothesis lacked crucial evidence. But both of them also recognized that there wasn’t direct evidence for a lab leak, either. David Relman, a prominent microbiologist at Stanford who had helped organize the letter in Science, told me, “It’s all circumstantial.”
-Estimation of total mortality due to COVID-19 — crazy to see this level of under reporting.
-Scientology’s secrets spill into open in Danny Masterson rape case — have been interested in Scientology ever since I had friends who tried to get out of the “church” and seeing their harassment first hand, followed by reading Hubbard’s book about martians and UFOs which makes for a horrible sci-fi novel, but seems to be ok as the foundation for a cult.
